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SPREAD OF INDIAN CULTURE ABROAD BY Dr. Binod Bihari Satpathy MODES OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE - THROUGH TRADERS, TEACHERS, EMISSARIES, MISSIONARIES AND GYPSIES Structure Objective Introduction Colonial and cultural Expansion Causes for the Hindu Cultural Expansion Medium of Indian cultural expansion A Brief History of Outside Contact of India in Ancient Time Indian culture in Central Asia Indian culture in East Asia Indian culture in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia Contacts between India and the Arab civilization India’s contact with Rome The ships and foreign trade Conclusion Summary Key Terms Exercise Further Reading Objectives The chapter deals with spread of Indian culture in different part of ancient world. Emphasis will be on the modes, causes and significance of the hindu cultural expansion in this chapter. The objectives of this unit are to. explain various modes through which Indian culture spread abroad; identify the trade routes through which traders went and became the first cultural ambassadors to spread Indian culture; trace the various causes of Hindu Cultural expansion in ancient India. Describe a brief history of Ancient Indian cultural expansion in west Aisa, Central Asia, South East Asia and Far East. examine the impact of Sanskrit language on the language and literature of these countries; illustrate the shared heritage in the form of huge temples, sculptures and paintings produced over the centuries in these countries; and Introduction The culture of India has been one of the great civilizing and humanizing factors evolved by man. For centuries together, the general spiritual life of the larger part of the continent of Asia ‗meant mainly its response to the call of the eternal ideas discovered, systematized and humanized by the sages and saints of ancient India. In other word, cultures in Asia has been a complex fabric of life woven by several different strands of which India is the most prominent. Undoubtedly, India was a civilizing force in many backward countries of Asia. India was a the civilizer, after the synthesis of Hindu culture, from about the beginning of the first millennium B.C down to the closing centuries of the first millennium A.D. Because it was during this long period that there was the cultural unification if India, and it went on simultaneously with the cultural expansion of India in to overseas countries like Ceylon, Burma, Siam or Thialand, Indo-China, Malaya, Indonesia and to a large extent in to the countries of North-West like Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Turkmenistan in Central Asia. The transformation of the eastern countries like China, Korea and Japan was achieved through their close contact with the spiritual forces from India. Thus in moulding the Asian culture, Indian share has been very significant. But India or more precisely the Hindu culture of India was not a civilizing force merely. It brought to them intellectual awakening, social consciousness and material prosperity. With many backward races of Asia, the sense of social order and organization, arts and crafts seems to have drowned for the first time with the advent of merchants and the Brahman and Buddhist missionaries from India. It not only brought material to uplift these backward peoples, but their dormant intellectual and other powers and talents were quickened to life and they were enabled to attain the fulfillment of those powers without any difficulty or hindrance. The Hindu culture thus helped other peoples to make their own contributions to world civilization, while it absorbed them and participated in the deeper and wider life. The Hindu culture brought to other nations their own spiritual ideas and values. In the case of an ancient and highly cultural people like the Chinese, contact with Indian thought gave the finishing touch in the formation and in the highest expression of their culture. Buddhism which was carried to China by the Indians brought home the Chinese the necessity of going into the fundamental questions of existence and endeavor. Java and Siam, China and Japan enjoyed richness of life and witnessed the astonishing efflorescence of their minds and spirits manifesting itself in literature, fine arts and religious rituals which contact with Indian culture brought about. Assimilation and unfoldment and not hindrance and suppression was the key note of Hindu cultural expansion. Indian philosophy and culture went abroad not to destroy and ruin but to awaken and fulfill. It went there like the refreshing showers and life giving rain and not like the burning wind or the killing blight. Hence their achievement, unlike that of the western culture, is more than that of a mere force of material civilization or civilized organization. Wherever the Indians went and settled, they spread their own culture but at the same time were absorbing the native cultural trends. Consequently, they evolved a new culture the key note of which was Indian. Thus, they created culture in other Asiatic countries, the values of which were awareness of the unity of the life and a love for the ultimate and the universal in preference to the immediate and the particulars. Even though India is surrounded by sea on three sides and the Himalayan in the north but that did not stop Indians from interacting with the rest of the world. In fact they travelled far and wide and left their cultural footprints wherever they went. In return they also brought home ideas, impressions, customs and traditions from these distant lands. However, the most remarkable aspect of this contact has been the spread of Indian culture and civilization in various parts of the world, especially Central Asia, South East Asia, China, Japan, Korea etc. What is most remarkable of this spread is that it was not a spread by means of conquest or threat to life of an individual or society but by means of voluntary acceptance of cultural and spiritual values of India. In this lesson we shall find out how Indian culture spread to other countries and the impact it had on these countries. This lesson also brings forward the beautiful idea that peace and friendship with other nations, other societies, other religions and other cultures help our lives and make it more meaningful. Colonial and cultural Expansion From time immemorial, the people of India had been maintaining free and intimate intercourse with the outside world, even in the pre-historic age, the Neolithic people had relations with countries of the Far East, and they emigrated in large numbers, both by land and sea and settled in Indo-China and the Indian Archipelago. In succeeding ages, while a rich and prosperous civilization of high degree flourished in the Indus valley, there was undoubtedly friendly and familiar intercourse with the countries of western and central Asia. Of the two important races that moulded to a great extent Indian culture and civilization, the Aryans and the Dravidians entered into India from outside and necessary relations were established and maintained by them, at least for a few centuries, with the countries where they had lived before the occupation of India. From very ancient times, India had commercial relations both with the lands of the East and the West. The stories of the Mahabharat, the Jataks and the Katha Sarit Sagar have references to Indian merchants sailing to the countries beyond the seas in search of gain. A Jataka story informs us how Indian merchants sailed to the lands of Baveru (Babylon) with a varied cargo that included an Indian peacock. Other stories relate how Indian traders sailed to the region stretching from Burma to Indonesia-called Suvarnabhumi. Thus India had trade relations with Babylon, Syria and Egypt in the most ancient periods. In the centuries immediately preceding the Christian Era, India had commercial and cultural relations with the countries of Central Asia in the north, Greek kingdoms of the west and the islands of the pacific in the west. In the Mauryan period, such relation became more definite, compared to the past. The accounts of the Periplus and Pliny inform us that Indian merchants and missionaries sailed from such harbours as Barbarika, Barygaza, Muziris, Neleyanda, Bakari, Korkai and Puhar. Later on for the commercial purpose, Indians settled in some islands of the Arabian sea and the island of Sacotra and the port of Alexandria had colonies of Indian merchants. When the Roman Empire came into existence, Indians maintained political and commercial relations with the Romans. In the seventh century, when the Arabs controlled land and sea routes, India carried on active trade with the Arabs. Thus India‘s commercial relations with Babylonia, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Arabia left traces of Indian culture on the Egyptian, Greeks, Roman and Arabian Cultures, because culture and civilization follow in the wake of trade and commerce. Indian merchants, Buddhist and Brahmana missionaries, adventurous Kshatriya princes and enterprising emi9grants sailed from India and settled down in the countries and islands of South- East Asia. There they introduced Indian customs, manners, philosophy, religions, rituals, literature and fine arts. In due course, they intermarried with the local peoples and Indianised them. Indianised kingdom soon came into being, either as a result of Indian imposing himself on the native population, or else through native chief adopting Indian civilization. This process of Indianisation commenced in the third century B.C, and continued till the 13th Century A.D. It would, therefore, be not unreasonable to conclude that India had never led lonely and isolated life, completely cut off from the rest of the world. The view that ancient Indians were a stay-at-home people isolated from rest of mankind by mountains and ocean barriers and leading a peaceful, quit and unadventurous life, within the discoveries. Many remains of Indian culture in various parts of Asia have been brought to light. These indicate that Indians went beyond the sea and the mountains that gird her and established colonies. Indian art and literature reaped its head abroad and Indian culture penetrated into some of the obscure corners of the world. Causes for the Hindu Cultural Expansion It is true that cultures have been spreading in the wake of conquest and commerce. Undoubtedly, the spread of Hindu culture in the Far Eat began through commercial relations between Indian and the countries of the Far East. Lucrative commerce and economic gains encouraged Indians to sail across the Indian Ocean, go to distant lands and suffer innumerable difficulties and dangers. Being situated in the Indian Ocean, India occupied central position and in ancient times was on the sea-routes to culture and civilized countries of the world. Her geographical position enabled India to form a link between the East and the West. Consequently, Indians undertook innumerable voyages for the commerce. In ancient India, Eastern countries like Java, Sumatra, Malaya were regarded as the varitable El Dorado which constantly eluded enterprising traders by promising immense riches to them. This view is reflected in the name suvarnadvipa or Suvaranabhumi (Land of gold) which was applied to this vast region of the Eastern countries. The desire to acquire immense gold provided a potent stimulus to the Indians to sail to these countries. The uncivilized wild races came in close contact with these Indian merchants from whom they learnt the first lessons of culture. Besides the enterprising merchants, the Buddhist missionaries and the Buddhist teachers, the torch-bearers of the Hindu culture accompanied the Indian merchant community to the distant lands. They carried the Indian thought and culture. But they did not go there as members of an alien ruling race with natural advantage by virtue of their superior position. Having no political power and administrative rights, Indian missionaries used to mix amongst the wild and uncultured alien races and in face of overwhelming hindrances and great dangers used to deliver sermons to them and indirectly made them more cultures and civilized. Sometimes, Indian saints and sages set-up their hermitages in foreign lands, which in due course became the significant centres of Indian culture and spread the Indian cultural trends like a radio-station. Kaundinya and Agastya had such hermitages and Ashramas. Kaundinya‘s name is revered in inscriptions as the founder of the Hindu royal families in greater India. Besides these two agencies –Indian merchants and missionaries many Indians who settled in foreign lands, contributed substantially towards Hindu cultural expansion. They had established their own colonies. Naturally, their cultural influence on the foreign peoples was very deep and far reaching. Sometimes, adventurous young Kshatriya princes sailed t the distant regions to seek their fortunes and carve out new kingdoms for themselves. The history of Indo-China provides many examples of such Indian Kshatriya princes and persons of royal blood. Consequently, Indians had established a large number of Kingdoms in the eastern countries. They had offered their own valuable contribution towards the formation of greater India. Thus, the principal agencies for the cultural expansion were merchants, emigrants and Kshatriya princes of royal families. However, it should be noted that the Hindu culture did not spread in the wake of a world conquering king who carried head of his legions fire and sword, savage barbarians and innumerable sufferings. India neither enforced her cultural aggressively nor make herself manifest to the outside world in the person of world shaker and conqueror like Alexander, Ceaser, Mahamad Ghaani, Chengiz Khan, Timur and Nadir Shah. Her Digvijaya or world conquest was the conquest of truth and law- the Dharma Vijaya. Those who disseminated Hindu culture abroad were impelled by inner spiritual urge and conscious will to carry the message of ideal spiritual life into distant lands. Their yearning for the general welfare and salvation of all persons inspired them to settle down in inaccessible lands and sacrifice themselves for the realization of the highest good and the conquest of piety. Herein lays the eternal glory of the Hindu culture. It built a unique empire-an empire sharing not in a political life under a suzerain, but in a common cultural and spiritual life in a commonwealth of free peoples. The empire that India built overseas and overland was conquered by the piety and the religious energy. The guiding principles of this empire was Dharma or religious culture and righteousness Indian colonial empire differed fundamentally from those of western nations. Though Indians had established their colonies in the south-east Asia, but they did not think it right to settle down their growing population there, nor did they regard these colonies as profitable market for their expanding industries and increasing commerce. These colonies were never exploited anyway by the Indian emigrants‘ or conquerors. Moreover, there is nothing to show that the Indian states derived any political advantage or economic gain from this extensive empire. It is even doubtful whether the colonial powers maintained any regular contact with the political powers in India, though the claims of Samudragupta that he exercised suzerainty over all the islands of South-East Asia might have reference to some of them. But the most outstanding effect of the establishment of this overseas Hindu Empire was the spread of Hindu culture and civilization in the distant lands. Medium of Indian cultural expansion In ancient times, traders from India went to distant lands in search of new opportunities in business. They went to Rome in the west and China in the east. As early as the first century BC, they travelled to countries like Indonesia and Cambodia in search of gold. They travelled especially to the islands of Java, Sumatra and Malaya. This is the reason why these countries were called Suvarnadvipa (suvarna means gold and dvipa means island). These traders travelled from many flourishing cities like Kashi, Mathura, Ujjain, Prayag and Pataliputra and from port cities on the east coast like Mamallapuram, Tamralipti, Puri, and Kaveripattanam. The kingdom of Kalinga had trade relations with Sri Lanka during the time of Emperor Ashoka. Wherever the traders went, they established cultural links with those places. In this way, the traders served as cultural ambassadors and established trade relations with the outside world. Like the east coast, many cultural establishments have also been found on and near the west coast. Karle, Bhaja, Kanheri, Ajanta and Ellora are counted among the well known places. Most of these centres are Buddhist monastic establishments. The universities were the most important centres of cultural interaction. They attracted large numbers of students and scholars. The scholars coming from abroad often visited the library of Nalanda University which was said to be a seven storey building. Students and teachers from such universities carried Indian culture abroad along with its knowledge and religion. The Chinese pilgrim Huien-tsang has given ample information about the universities he visited in India. For example, Huien-tsang describes his stay at two very important universities-one in the east, Nalanda and the other in the west, Valabhi. Vikramashila was another university that was situated on the right bank of the Ganges. The Tibetan scholar Taranatha has given its description. Teachers and scholars of this university were so famous that the Tibetan king is stated to have sent a mission to invite the head of the university to promote interest in common culture and indigenous wisdom. Another university was Odantapuri in Bihar which grew in stature under the patronage of the Pala kings. A number of Monks migrated from this university and settled in Tibet. Two Indian teachers went to China on an invitation from the Chinese Emperor in AD 67. Their names are Kashyapa Martanga and Dharmarakshita. They were followcd by a number of teachers from universities like Nalanda, Takshila, Vikramashila and Odantapuri. When Acharya Kumarajiva went to China, the king requested him to translate Sanskrit texts into Chinese. The scholar Bodhidharma, who specialised in the philosophy of Yoga is still venerated in China and Japan. Acharya Kamalasheel of Nalanda University was invited by the king of Tibet. After his death, the Tibetans embalmed his body and kept it in a monastery in Lhasa. Another distinguished scholar was Jnanabhadra. He went to Tibet with his two sons to preach Dharma. A monastery was founded in Tibet on the model of Odantapuri University in Bihar. The head of the Vikramashila University was Acharya Ateesha, also known as Dipankara Shreejnana. He went to Tibet in the eleventh century and gave a strong foundation to Buddhism in Tibet. Thonmi Sambhota, a Tibetan minister was a student at Nalanda when the Chinese pilgrim Huien-tsang visited India. Thonmi Sambhota studied there and after going back, he preached Buddhism in Tibet. A large number of Tibetans embraced Buddhism. Even the king became a Buddhist. He declared Buddhism as the State religion. Among the noteworthy teachers, Kumarajiva was active in the fifth century. Some groups of Indians went abroad as wanderers. They called themselves Romas and their language was Romani, but in Europe they are famous as Gypsies. They went towards the West, crossing the present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. From there, their caravans went through Iran and Iraq to Turkey. Travelling through Persia, Taurus mountains and Constantinople, they spread to many countries of Europe. A Brief Accounts on Outside Contact of India in Ancient Time 4.1.5.1.Indian culture in Central Asia Indian cultures expanded beyond the Himalays in Central Asia. From the 2nd century B.C. onwards India maintained commercial contact with China and Central Asia. Central Asia is a landmass bound by China, Russia, Tibet, India and Afghanistan. Traders to and from China regularly crossed the region despite hardships. The route that was opened by them later became famous as the Silk Route. The route was so named because silk was one of the chief mercantile commodities of China. In later times, the same route was used by scholars monks and missionaries. The route served as a great channel for the transmission of cultures of the then known world. The impact of Indian culture was felt strongly in Central Asia. Among the kingdoms of Central Asia, Kuchi was a very important and flourishing centre of the Indian culture. It was the kingdom where the Silk Route bifurcates and meets at the Dun-huang caves in China again. Thus, there is the Northern and the Southern Silk Route. The Northern route goes via Samarkand, Kashgarh, Tumshuk, Aksu, Karashahr, Turfan and Hami and the Southern route via Yarkand, Khotan, Keriya, Cherchen and Miran. Many Chinese and Indian scholars travelled through these routes in search of wisdom and to propagate the philosophy of Buddhism. Indian colonies were set up along the silk route at Saila Deasa (Kashgar), Chokkuka (Yarkand), Khotamna (Khotan), and also at Domoko, Niya, Dandanoilik, Endre, Lou-Lan, Rawak and Miran etc. Besides at Bharuka (Aqsu district and along Uch-Turfan), Kuchi (Modern Kucha), Yen-ki or Agni Deas (Modern Kara Shahar) and Turfan, in addition to various other localities are few to mentioned where Indian colonies were set up in ancient days. All those flourishing Indian colonies are now buried under the sand of the Gobi desert. The expansion of the Mauryan empire towards the north-west, the missionaries activities of Asoka and domination of Kushana kings over the parts of central Asia led to a continuous commercial intercourse between Central Asia and India. It brought Indian sinto close contact with the peoples of Central Asia. Consequently, partly by the Buddhist missionaries propaganda and partly by political influence of the Kushanas, the torch of Indian culture and civilization was carried beyond the Pamirs into Turkistan and Mongolian regions of the nomadic people that settled in the vast regions extending between the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Wall of China. Colonist Indians from Kashmir and north-western India also settled in large number in the region round Khotan, Kshgar, Yarkand, Khotan and Kushi were the significant centres of Indian culture and relgion especially Buddhism. According to the account of the famous Chinese pilgrim, FA-Hien, Indians were living in this region in the early centuries of Christian Era, and by the fifth century A.D. the whole of Central Asia was completely Indianised. He inform us that the tribes living in the west of the Lake Lobnar had embraced Indian religions and used Indian languages. Even it was during the seventh century A.D that during his travel Hiuen Tsang, he noted the dominance of Buddhism and Indian culture over hat wider area. Cultural exchanges that took place between India and the countries of Central Asia are visible from the discoveries of ancient stupas, temples, monasteries, images and paintings found in all these countries. Along the route there were resting places for Monks and Missionaries, for pilgrims and merchants and later these became famous centres of Buddhist learning. Silk and jade, horses and valuables changed hands, but the most lasting treasure that travelled along the route was Buddhism. Thus, the trade route transmitted religion and philosophy, ideas and beliefs, languages and literature, and art and culture. Khotan was one of the most important outposts. It was on the Southern Silk Route. The history of cultural relationship between India and the kingdom goes back to over two millennia. Khotan was famous for its silk industry, dance, music, literary pursuits, and commercial activities and for gold and jade exports. The history of the Indo-Khotanese relationship is witnessed by a continuous flow of teachers and monks from India to Khotan. Coins found from the first century AD bear engravings in Chinese on the obverse and Prakrit in Kharosthi script on the reverse providing evidence of a composite culture in Khotan. A large number of Sanskrit manuscripts, translations and transcriptions of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit were discovered from the monasteries buried in sand. Indian culture in East Asia From Central Asia, Indian culture spread to China, Korea and Japan. The contact between India and China began around the 2nd Century B.C. Indian culture first entered China with two monk scholars-Kashyapa Martanga and Dharmarakshita who went to China in AD 67 on the invitation of the Chinese Emperor Ming Ti. After Kashyapa Martanga and Dharmarakshita, there was a continuous flow of scholars from India to China and from China to India. The Chinese were a highly cultured people. They listened to the thrilling stories of the Buddha with great attention. The Chinese who came in search of wisdom wrote about India and the Indian culture to such an extent that today they are the most important sources of Indian history. Prominent teachers from the Indian Universities and monasteries became famous in China. For example, a scholar named Bodhidharma went to China from Kanchipuram. He went to Nalanda, studied there and left for China. He carried the philosophy of Yoga with him and popularized the practice of ‘dhyana’, (meditation), which was later known in China as ch’an. Bodhidharma became such an eminent figure that people began to worship him in China and Japan. The Buddhists philosophy appealed to the Chinese intellectuals because they already had a developed philosophical school in Confucianism. In the fourth century A.D the Wei Dynasty came to power in China. Its first Emperor declared Buddhism as the state religion. This gave an impetus to the spread of Buddhism in China. Thousands of Sanskrit books were translated into Chinese. Braving the hazards of a long and perilous journey they came to visit the land of the Buddha. They stayed in India and collected Buddhist relics and manuscripts related to Buddhism and learnt about it staying at the various educational centres. With the spread of Buddhism, China began to build cave temples and monastic complexes on a large scale. Colossal images were carved on the rocks and caves were beautifully painted from the inside. Dun-huang, Yun-kang and Lung-men are among the most famous cave complexes in the world. Indian influences are quite evident on these complexes. The two way traffic of scholars and monks was responsible for cultural contacts and exchange of ideas. Korea: Korea is situated on the Northeast of China. Korea received Indian cultural elements through China. Sundo was the first Buddhist Monk who entered Korea, carrying a Buddha image and sutras in AD 352. He was followed by Acharya Mallananda, who reached there in AD 384. In AD 404, an Indian monk built two temples in the Pyongyang city in Korea. He was followed by a number of teachers from India. They brought philosophy, religion, the art of making images, painting, and metallurgy. Many scholars came to India from Korea in search of knowledge. They were trained in astronomy, astrology, medicine and in several other fields of knowledge. Monasteries and temples acted as centres of devotion and learning all over Korea. A large number of Buddhist texts were translated there. The philosophy of ‘dhyana yoga’ reached Korea in the eighth to ninth century AD. The kings and queens, princes and ministers, even warriors began to practise yoga to be brave and fearless. Out of devotion to wisdom, Buddhist texts were printed by the Koreans in six thousand volumes. Indian scripts had also reached Korea by then. Japan: The story of Indian culture in Japan is believed to go back to more than fïfteen hundred years. But the earliest historical evidence of Indian culture going to Japan is from AD 552. At that time, the Korean Emperor sent a Buddhist statue, sutras, instruments for worship, artists, sculptors, painters and architects as gifts for the Japanese Emperor. Soon, Buddhism was given the status of State Religion. Thousands of Japanese became monks and nuns. Sanskrit was accepted as the sacred language in Japan. Monks were given special training to write the Sanskrit syllables and mantras. The script in which all these are written is known as ‗Shittan‘. Shittan is believed to be Siddham, the script that gives ‘siddhi’ (accomplishment). Even today, there is a keen desire among the Japanese scholars to learn Sanskrit. As the language of Buddhist scriptures, it is a cementing force between India and Japan. Buddhist sutras, translated into Chinese, were brought to Japan during the time of Prince Shotokutaishi in the seventh century, who was highly impressed by their philosophy. Tibet: Tibet is situated on a plateau to the north of the Himalayas. The people of Tibet are Buddhists. The Tibetan king Naradeva is believed to have sent his minister Thonmi Sambhot accompanied by sixteen outstanding scholars to Magadha where they studied under Indian teachers. After sometime, Thonmi Sambhot went to Kashmir. It is said that he devised a new script for Tibet in the seventh century on the basis of Indian alphabets of the Brahmi script. Till today, the same script is being used in Tibet. It also influenced the scripts of Mongolia and Manchuria. It seems Thonmi Sambhot carried with him a number of books from India. On going back to Tibet, he wrote a new grammar for the Tibetans which is said to be based on the Sanskrit grammar written by Panini. The king was so attracted to the literature brought by him that he devoted four years to study them. He laid the foundation for the translation of Sanskrit books into Tibetan. As a result, from seventh to seventeenth century, there were continuous efforts on translation. According to this tradition, ninety-six thousand Sanskrit books were translated into Tibetan. Indian culture in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia King Ashoka made great efforts to propagate Buddhism outside India. He sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka to spread the message of the Buddha. A number of other scholars also joined them. It is said that they carried a cutting of the Bodhi tree from Bodhgaya which was planted there. At that time Devanampiya Tissa was the king of Sri Lanka. The teachings of the Buddha were transmitted orally by the people who had gone from India. For around two hundred years, the people of Sri Lanka preserved the recitation of Buddhist scriptures as transmitted by Mahendra. The first monasteries built there are Mahavihar and Abhayagiri. Sri Lanka became a stronghold of Buddhism and continues to be so even today. Pali became their literary language. Buddhism played an important role in shaping Sri Lankan culture. The Dipavansa and Mahavamsa are well known Sri Lankan Buddhist sources. With Buddhism, Indian Art forms also reached Sri Lanka, where the themes, styles and techniques of paintings, dance, folklores and art and architecture were taken from India. The most renowned paintings of Sri Lanka are found in the cave-shelter monasteries at Sigiriya. King Kashyap is believed to have converted it into a fortified place in the fifth century AD. Figures painted in the cave are in the Amaravati style of India. Myanmar: People and culture of India began to reach Myanmar in the beginning of the Christian era. Myanmar is situated on the route to China. People coming from the port towns of Amaravati and Tamralipti often settled down in Myanmar after the second century AD. The people who had migrated included traders, brahmins, artists, craftsmen and others. In Burma, Pagan was a great centre of Buddhist culture from the eleventh to the thirteenth century. It is still famous for its magnificent Pagodas. King Aniruddha was a great builder who built Shwezegon Pagoda and about a thousand other temples. They also developed their own Pali language and translated both Buddhist and Hindu scriptures in their version of Pali. Indian traditions were quite strong at the Burmese court. Up to the recent times the court astrologers, soothsayers and professors were known to be brahmins called ponnas. Most of them were believed to be from Manipur. Pundits were said to be very active. They were also known for their knowledge of science, medicine, and astrology. Thailand: Till the year 1939, Thailand was called Siam, its original name. Indian cultural influences began to reach there in the first century AD. It was first carried by Indian traders, followed by teachers and missionaries. The Thai kingdoms were given Sanskrit names such as Dwaravati, Shrivijay, Sukhodaya and Ayutthiya. The names of their cities also indicate a strong cultural interflow. For example, Kanchanaburi is from Kanchanapuri, Rajburi is from Rajpuri, Lobpuri is Lavapuri, and names of the cities like Prachinaburi, Singhaburi are all derived from Sanskrit. Even the names of the streets like Rajaram, Rajajrani, Mahajaya and Cakravamsha remind us of the popularity of the Ramayana. Brahminical images and Buddhist temples began to be constructed in third and fourth century AD. The earliest images found from Thailand are those of Lord Vishnu. At different points of time, the Thai kingdom was shifted from one place to another. At every place a number of temples were built. Ayutthiya (Ayodhya) is one such place where large number of temples still stand though today most of the temples there are in ruins. There are four hundred temples in Bangkok, the present capital of Thailand. Cambodia: The famous kingdoms of Champa (Annam) and Kamhuja (Cambodia) were ruled by the kings of Indian origins. The history of deep-rooted cultural relationship between India and Cambodia goes back to the first and second centuries AD. In Kambuja, Kaundinya dynastyof Indian origin ruled from the first century A.D. We can reconstruct their history from numerous Sanskrit inscriptions and from literary works. We can also see their splendor from the magnificent temples. Cambodians constructed huge monuments and embellished them with sculptural representations of Shiva, Vishnu. Buddha and other divinities from Indian Epics and the Puranas. The episodes from these texts were chosen by the kings to symbolise great historical events. Sanskrit remained their language for administration till the fourteenth century. Their kings bore Sanskrit names. Brahmins assumed the highest position. The government was run according to the Hindu polity and Brahminical jurisprudence. Ashrams were maintained in temple vicinities as seats of learning. A large number of localities were given Indian names like Tamrapura, Dhruvapura and Vikramapura. The names of months in their language are known as chet, bisak, jes, asadh and so on. In fact, thousands of such words are still in use with a slight variation in pronunciation. Angkor Vat is supposed to be the abode of Vishnu, that is, Vaikunthadhama. Its five towers are said to be the five peaks of the Sumeru Mountain. The king Suryavarman is portrayed there as an incarnation of Vishnu who had attained a place in heaven because of his meritorious deeds. The temple represents a square mile of construction with a broad moat running around adding to its spectacular charm. Scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata are engraved on the walls of this temple. The largest among all of them is the scène of Samudra manthan that is churning of the ocean. Another grand temple constructed at Yashodharapura in the eleventh century, known as Baphuon, is embellished by scenes from the epics such as the battle between Rama and Ravana, Shiva on mount Kailasha with Parvati and the destruction of Kamadeva. Vietnam (Champa): Indian culture was carried to the distant land of Vietnam by a number of enterprising traders and princes who migrated and established themselves as pioneers in the field of politics and economics. They named the cities there as Indrapura, Amaravati, Vijaya,Kauthara and Panduranga. The people of Champa are called Cham. They built a large number of Hindu and Buddhist temples. The Cham people worshipped Shiva, Ganesha, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Parvati, Buddha and Lokeswara. Images of these deities and Shivalingas were housed in the temples. Most of the temples are in ruin now. Malaysia: Malaysia was known to us since ancient times. There are references in the Ramayana, the Jataka stories, Malindapanha, Shilapadikaram, Raghuvamsha and many other works. Evidence of Shaivism has been discovered in Kedah and in the province of Wellesly. Female figurines with trident have been unearthed. The Head of a Nandi made of granite stone, a relief of Durga image, Ganesha and Shivlingas belonging to the seventh and eighth centuries have been discovered from various sites. Brahmi, in its late form, was the script of ancient Malaysia. Tablets of Buddhist texts written in a script that resembles old Tamil have been found at Kedah. Sanskrit was one of the source languages for them. Till today a fairly large number of Sanskrit words can be seen in their language, for example, svarga, rasa, guna, dahda, mantri, dhïpati, and laksha. Hanuman and Garuda were known in Malaysia for their superhuman qualities. Sanskrit inscriptions are the earliest records of our cultural relations with Malaysia. They are written in Indian script of fourth and fifth centuries AD. The most important inscription is from Ligor. Over fifty temples were found around this place. Indonesia: In the field of religious architecture, the largest Shiva temple in Indonesia is situated in the island of Java. It is called Prambanan. It was built in the ninth century. It has a Shiva temple flanked by Vishnu and Brahma temples. Opposite these three temples are temples constructed for their vahanas. They are Nandi (Bull) for Shiva, Garuda for Vishnu and Goose for Brahma. In between the two rows are the temples dedicated to Durga and Ganesh, numbering eight in all, surrounded by 240 small temples. It is an example of wonderful architecture. The stories of Ramayana and Krishna, carved on the walls of the temple, are the oldest representations in the world. Sanskrit hymns are recited at the time of puja. Over five hundred hymns, stotras dedicated to Shiva, Brahma, Durga, Ganesha, Buddha, and many other deities have been discovered from Bali. In fact Bali is the only country where Hindu culture flourished and survived. Today, while the entire Archipelago has accepted Islam, Bali still follows Hindu culture andreligion. A large number of scriptural works have been found from Java. They are mostly written on palm leaves in their ancient script called Kawi. Kawi script was devised on the basis of Brahmi. Some of them contain Sanskrit verses (shlokas) followed by commentary in Kawi language. Among the texts on Shaiva religion and philosophy, Bhuvanakosha is theearliest and the longest text. This has five hundred and twenty five shlokas in Sanskrit. A commentary is written to explain the meaning. Perhaps no other region in the world has felt the impact of India‘s culture and religion as South East Asia. The most important source of study of the remains of this cultural intercourse and impact are the Sanskrit inscriptions written in Indian script. They have been found all over this region and a study of these inscriptions and other literature shows that the language, literature, religious, political and social institutions were greatly influenced by India. The Varna system and the division of society into the four castes i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras was known to them. But the system was not as rigid as in India. It was more like in the Rig Vedic age where the society was divided on the basis of profession and not on the basis of birth especially in Bali. Even some of their marriage customs are similar. The most popular form of amusement was the shadow play called Wayung (like the Indian puppet shows) where the themes are derived mainly from the epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata, still very popular in South East Asia. Contacts between India and the Arab civilization India‘s links with West Asia, by land as well as sea routes, goes back to very ancient times. These ties between the two culture zones (the idea of nations had not yet developed) became particularly close with the rise and spread of Islamic civilization in West Asia. About the economic aspects of this relationship, we have from about mid-ninth century AD a number of accounts by Arab and other travellers, such as Sulaiman, the Merchant, Al-Masudi, Ibn Hauqal, Al Idrisi, etc, which attest to a flourishing commercial exchange between these areas. Evidence for a very active interaction in the cultural sphere, however, goes back to the eighth century and earlier. The fruitful cultural intercourse between India and West Asia is evident in many areas. We shall see here how the Islamic world was enriched as a result of this. In the field of astronomy, two important works namely the Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta better known to the Arab world as Sindhin and Khandakhadyaka (known as Arkand) were brought to Baghdad by embassies from Sindh. With the help of Indian scholars of these embassies, they were translated into Arabic by Alfazari, who probably also assisted Yakub Iun Tarik. Later Aryabhatta‘s and Varahamihira‘s works on astronomy were also studied and incorporated into the scientific literature of the Arabs. Another important contribution of India to Arab civilization was mathematics. The Arabs acknowledged their debt to India by calling mathematics ‗hindisa’ (pertaining to India). Indian mathematics, in fact, became their favourite field of study and discussion, its popularity being enhanced by the works of Alkindi among others. They were quick to appreciate the revolutionary character of the Indian decimal system with its concept of zero; a contemporary Syrian scholar paid glowing tribute to it: ‗I wish only to say that this computation is done by means of nine signs. If those who believe, because they speak Greek, that they have reached the limits of science, should know these things, they would be convinced that there are also others who know something‖. A number of Arab sources dating back to the tenth and thirteenth centuries inform us about several Indian works on medicine and therapeutics that were rendered into Arabic at the behest of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, the ruler of Baghdad from AD 786 to 809. Indian scholars were also involved in these translations. For instance, the Sushruta Samhita was translated by an Indian called Mankh in Arabic. Apart from astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and medicine, Arabs admired with keen interest many other aspects of Indian culture and civilization as well. They translated Indian works on a wide variety of subjects, but did not remain satisfied with the translations and went on to work out original compositions based on or derived from the treatises they translated. The other fields of Indian knowledge they studied included works on snake poison, veterinary art and books on logic, philosophy, ethics, politics and science of war. In the process their vocabulary was also enriched considerably. For instance, in the field of shipping, of which they were renowned masters, you can easily identify a number of Arabic words that had Indian origin: hoorti (a small boat) from hori, banavi from baniya orvanik, donij from dongi and so on. India’s contact with the Greco-Roman World For a period of about a thousand years from the invasion of Darius to the sack of Rome by the Goath-India was in more or less constant communication with the west. Long before the arrival of Alexander the great on India's north-western border, there are references in early Indian literature calling the Greeks Yavanas. Panini, was acquainted with the word yavana in his composition. Katyayana explains the term yavanani as the script of the Yavanas. The start of the so-called Hellenistic Period is usually taken as 323 BC, the year of death of Alexander in Babylon. During the previous decade of invasion, he had conquered the whole Persian Empire, overthrowing King Darius. He opened large number of colonies on the route through which he reached India and Alexander had indeed opened the East to an enormous wave of immigration, and his successors continued his policy by inviting Greek colonists to settle in their realms. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were evident until the mid-15th century. The overall result of Alexander's settlements and those of his successors was the spread of Hellenism as far east as India. Throughout the Hellenistic Period, Greeks and Easterners became familiar with and adapted themselves to each other's customs, religions, and ways of life. Although Greek culture did not entirely conquer the East, it gave the East a vehicle of expression that linked it to the West. The Greek not only opened the route between east and the west but as noted above largely emigrated and settled them in north- west India. The contact between India and the Hellenic world resulted in synthesis of east and of west which is clearly visible in the art and culture of India in the Pre Christian Era. However, the emergence of Roman Civilisation replaced the Greeks and opened a new chapter in the history of contact between the West and the East. So far as Indo-Roman trade is concerned in the early centuries of Christian Era, south India played a greater role and trade was the medium of contact between the Roman world and the India. As mentioned above, it was Southern India which had the monopoly of the products that were in great demand in the West. In fact, the first three centuries of the Christian era saw a profitable sea- borne trade with the West represented mainly by the Roman Empire which had become India‘s best customer. This trade happened mostly in South India and is testified both by literary texts and finds of Roman coins. Items like pepper, betel, spices, scents and precious stones like gem, diamond, ruby and amethyst, pearls, ivory, silk and muslins were in great demand. This trade with Rome was bound to bring in gold to India which gave her a favourable position in trade and established a stable gold currency for the Kushana Empire of those days. The Tamil kings even employed ‘yavanas’ to guard their tents on the battlefield and the gates of Madurai. In ancient India the term ‘yavana’ was used for people belonging to Western Asia and the Mediterranean region and included Greeks and Romans. Some historians feel that the ‘yavana’ bodyguards might have included Roman legionaries. According to Pliny, India‘s exports included pepper and ginger which fetched a price that was a hundred times more than their original value. There was also a demand for incenses, spices and aromatics from India. Lavish consumption of these commodities took place in Rome. The importance of trade with foreigners was quite high as one can understand from the number of ambassadors that were either sent to or received by the Indian kings. A Pandya king sent an ambassador to Roman Emperor Augustus of the first century BC. Ambassadors were also sent to Troy after AD 99. Claudius (from Ceylon), Trajan, Antonmis, Puis, Instiman and other ambassadors adorned the courts of various Indian kings. The volume of trade with Rome was so high that to facilitate its movement, ports like Sopara, and Barygaza (Broach) came to be built in the west coast, while the Coromandal coast in the east carried on trade with ―Golden Chersonese (Suvarnabhumi) and Golden Chyrse (Suvarnadvipa)‖. The Chola kings equipped their ports with lighthouses, exhibiting blazing lights at night to guide ships to ports. The ships and foreign trade Trade thus became a very important mode that helped in the spread of Indian culture abroad. Even in very ancient times our ships could sail across the vast open seas and reach foreign shores to establish commercial ties with several countries. The literature, art and sculpture of the neighbouring countries clearly shows the influence of Indian culture and civilization. Even in places like Surinam and the Caribbean Islands that are as far as the American coast, there is evidence of ancient Indian culture. Samudra Gupta (AD 340-380) not only had a powerful army but also had a strong navy. Some inscriptions discovered in the Trans-Gangetic Peninsula and the Malaya Archipelago testifies to the activities of Indian navigators in the Gupta age. Hsuan-tsang, who visited India during the reign of Emperor Harsha (AD 606-647), has also written a detailed description of India during those times. The Chola rulers had built a strong navy and conducted raids across the sea. The Portuguese have noted that some merchants in India owned as many as fifty ships. According to them, it was a usual practice for the merchants to have their own ships. Certain objects belonging to the Indus Civilization found at various sites in the West prove that there were trade and cultural contacts with the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations in the third millennium BC. India also had contacts with ancient Persia, Greece and Rome which provided a great impetus to the exchange of cultural, religious and social ideas. This flourishing trade contact with the Roman Empire is confirmed by the Roman historian Pliny who deplored the drain of wealth from Rome to India. Conclusion The Indians learnt many new things from the foreigners for examples minting of gold coins from the people of Greece and Rome. They learnt the art of making silk from China. They learnt how to grow betel from Indonesia. They established trade contact with the foreigners. The art and culture of the various countries got itself reflected over the Indian culture as well as get reflected in the other countries also. The above discussions only throw a brief account on the different part of ancient world with whom India in ancient times maintain relation. In the subsequent chapters we will examine in details about the contact of Indian with above mentioned regions of ancient world with all their aspects. Summary Indian culture spread to various parts of the world in ancient times through different modes. Indian Universities were famous for their standards of education which attracted students from many countries. These students acted as agents for spreading Indian culture. Sanskrit/Buddhist texts were translated into different languages. They became the best modes to spread Indian culture. A large number of monasteries and temples were built in all these countries where Indian culture and religion reached. Indian art styles were adopted by the artists of many countries. Indian Epics are famous in many countries. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are popular Epics in Southeast Asian countries. Sri Lanka was the first country to embrace Buddhism. Indian script Brahmi was the model for many scripts in the Southeast Asian countries. A large number of Sanskrit inscriptions found in these countries are the major sources for the history of Indo-Asian cultural connections. Buddhism is a living religion in countries like Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. An important contribution of India to Arab civilization was mathematics. Exercise What were the various modes through which Indian culture spread abroad? What was the role of the ancient universities in spreading Indian culture abroad? How would Buddhism reach the countries of East Asia as a religion of peace? Give an account of the Indian culture in Thailand? Describe the religious architecture of Indonesia? Briefly describe India‘s trade relations with the Roman Empire. Ancient India had a great access to sea and foreign trade. Discuss. Further Readings Coedes, George (1968) The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press. Daweewarn, Dawee (1982) Brahmanism in South-East Asia. New Delhi: Sterling. Ghoshal, Baladas, ed, (1996) India and Southeast Asia: Challenges and Opportunities. New Delhi: Konark Publishers. Hall, D. G. E. (1981, 4th edition) A History of South-East Asia. New York: St. Martin's Press. Leur, J. C. van (1955) Indonesian Trade and Society: Essays in Asian Social and Economic History. The Hague: W. van Hoeve. Susan Whitfield. Life along the Silk Road. Berkeley, 1999. Focuses on the experiences of ten individuals who lived or traveled along the silk roads. Francis Wood. The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. Berkeley, 2002. A brilliantly illustrated volume discussing the history of the silk roads from antiquity to the twentieth century. ************** Structure Objectives Introduction Unit-IV Chapter-II INDIAN CULTURE IN SOUTH EAST ASIA Cambodia (Funan) Malaya Vietnam Burma Thailand and Laos The Philippines The "Indianised" Empires of Sumatra and Java Hindu Culture in South East-Asia Society Religion and Spirituality Language and Literature Art Administration Indianisation of South East Asia- An Analysis Cultural Dependency Trade & State Formation Trade with India Ritual as a Legitimising Tool Conclusion Summary Exercise Further Reading Objectives In this lesson, students will be informed about spread of Indian culture in the South East Asia. The various causes and consequences of Indianisation of South East Asia will be the primary focus of the lesson. After completing this chapter, you will be able to: understand the colonisation or Indianisation of South East Asia; discuss the different countries of South East Asia indianised in ancient period; describe the influence of Indian culture on the life and culture of South East Asia. identify the various other aspects of relationship between India and South East Asia; and trace the significance of Indianisation of South East Asia. Introduction The colonizing activities of the Hindus and their maritime adventures found heir full scope in the South-East Asia. Across the Bay of Bengal lay Indo-China and the Island of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Bali which were inhabited by primitive, uncultured wild races and had almost a monopoly of the world spice trade. These extensive and fertile regions were also rich in minerals and consequently drew the attention of the Indians. The eastern coast of India, from the mouth of the river Gangas to the Cape Camorin, was studded with many harbours. It was from these ports that Indians had sailed and developed important commercial relations with the South-East from the second century B.C. Indians literature including the Buddhist texts has faithfully preserved the common traditions of the ancient times of such perilious voyages to unknown distant lands beyond the sea. As pointed above , in the beginning of this Unit , the stories in the Jataka , the Katha Sarita Sagara and the Brihat Katha and Katha kosa and other similar collections and books frequently refer to traders voyages to Suvarnabhumi and Suvarnadvipa which was a general designation of several lands in the South-East. Commercial intercourse and sea voyages to Suvarnadvipa, Takkora and China are referred to in Milindo-Panho. The Arthasastra of Katulya also mentions Aguru (Aloe) of Suvarnadvipa. Ptolemy who flourished in the second Century A.D and the writer of the Periplus of Erythrean Sea, who lived in the first Century A.D. refrer to Indian intercourse with these countries of the Far-East and South-East Asia. The Buddhist text Niddesa, which was probably composed in the second century A.D, narrates the voyages and adventures of a sailor who sails the high seas, visits different countries and experiences various kinds of torments and sufferings. It provide the names of twenty four localities to which the merchants sailed and ten difficult land routes which they followed. These stories and Indian folk tales about adventures sea voyages indicate that the spirit of commercial enterprise, exploration and adventures was a characteristic feature of ancient India. Enterprising merchants, adventurers and princes of ancient Indian sailed in ship from Indian ports, reached Suvarnadvipa stayed there and returned home with immense riches. Sometimes many met with ship wreck while a few escaped miraculously. There were considerable dangers, sufferings and miseries of various other kinds. Some stories relate how persons of royal blood and young Kshatriya princess, dispossessed of their hereditary kingdoms sailed to Suvarnadvipa to carve out their destiny. We have reasons to believe that some such Kshatriya enterprise, we owe the foundation of Indian political power in these far-off regions of the South-East Asia. Indian followed both land as well as sea routes for going to the countries of South-East Asia. The land routes lay thorough Bengal, Assam and Manipur hills, they reached the region of upper Burma and through Arakan went to lower Burma. From Burma, it was easy to go to India-China and the main land China. As regard the sea routes, they boarded the ships at Tamralipti. Their ships either sailed along the coast of Bengal and Burma or crossed the Bay of Bengal and undertook a direct voyage to the Malaya peninsula and then to the East Indies and Indo-Chine beyond it. In addition to Tamralipti, there were other port fort eastern voyages, chief beings Palur near Gopalpur in Odisha, and there near Musslipattanam. There were regular voyages from these ports along the eastern coast to Ceylon and to countries of South-Eastern Asia some times, merchants sail from Birukacha on the western coast and making a coastal voyages come to any one of the ports on eastern coast of India. Whence they made a direct voyage to the South Eastern Asia across the Bay of Bengal, trade was the chief stimulus of the intercourse between Indian and the countries of South-East and Asia and Far East. Commercial intercourse began in the last two centuries of the Christian era. Traders carry Indian religion and cultures with them, some of them permanently settled and established their colonies there. They were followed by monks and missionaries to preach and propagate their religion in these countries. They were also torch bearer of Indian culture and religion. In course of time, Indian merchants, missionaries, monks a, adventurer and the princes who were embolden with adventurous spirit, went to these countries. From the second centuries A.D onwards there references to kingdom and principalities ruled by person with Indian names. Their religion, language, social customs all were Indians. They may, therefore, be safely regarded as Indian colonial kingdom. Between the second and and the firth centuries A.D, such kingdoms were successfully set up in Malaya Peninsula, Cambodia, Annam and the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Borneo. The Brahmanical religion, mainly Saivism, flourished in these kingdoms, though Buddhism, especially Mahayana sect, was also followed by the people. The aborigines‘ adopted the master in their life style and other aspects. Hindu institutions, custom and manner were modified to some extent by close contact with these people. Mythology taken from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and the Purana and other Sanskrit texts were observed and followed. Dhramasastra, the sacred law of Hinduism, and in particular the law of Manu were followed in societies. The traditional genealogies of royal families of the Gangetic region with their tradition were adhere to. The conception of royalty characterized by the Hindu and Buddhist conquest. Some of the splendid monuments of Indian art and culture which still survive there are undying testimony to the early colonizing enterprise. Cambodia (Funan) The first of these ―Indianised‖ states to achieve widespread importance was Funan, in Cambodia, founded in the 1st century A.D. - according to legend, after the marriage of an Indian Brahman into the family of the local chief. These local inhabitants were the Khmer people. Khmer was the former name of Cambodia, and Khmer is their language. The Hindu-Khmer empire of Funan flourished for some 500 years. It carried on a prosperous trade with India and China, and its engineers developed an extensive canal system. An elite practised statecraft, art and science, based on Indian culture. Vassal kingdoms spread to southern Vietnam in the east and to the Malay peninsula in the west. Late in the 6th century A.D. dynastic struggles caused the collapse of the Funan empire. It was succeeded by another Hindu-Khmer state, Chen-la, which lasted until the 9th century. Then, a Khmer king, Jayavarman II (about 800-850) established a capital at Angkor in central Cambodia. He founded a cult which identified the king with the Hindu God Siva - one of the triad of Hindu gods, Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, Siva the god symbolising destruction and reproduction. The Angkor expire flourishes from the 9th to the early 13th century. It reached the peak of its fame under Jayavarman VII at the end of the 12th century, when its conquests extended into Thailand in the west (where it had conquered the Mon kingdom of Dyaravati) and into Champa in the east. Its most celebrated memorial is the great temple of Angkor Wat, built early in the 12th century. In the 13th century the Khmer kingdom in Cambodia began to ecline, owing to a succession of weak rulers, and perhaps due to the undermining of the Brahman government by the spread of Buddhism. Thai invasions in the late 13th and early 14th centuries three times captured Angkor, which was abandoned in 1431 as being within too easy reach of Thai expeditions. The capital was moved to Phnom Penh in south eastern Cambodia. Thereafter the Khmer domains steadily diminished. The Thais encroached in the north and west, and the Vietnamese in the east. The Khmer kings were forced from time to time to recognize Siamese suzerainty. Malaya The Malay peninsula had been settled during the period around 2000 to 1500 B.C. by Mongoloid tribes from south-western China, who mixed with other tribes to become the ancestors of the Malays. The Malays came under Indian influence from about the beginning of the Christian era. In Malaya the rise of Islam was bound up with the foundation and subsequent importance of the settlement of Malacca on the west coast. It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century, traditionally by a Sumatran prince, Parameswara, who had fled from the island of Temasek (Singapore). (Temasek in the late 14th century was the scene of struggles between the failing power of Srivijaya, its successor Majapahit, and Siam. In the course of these struggles it was destroyed.) Parameswara was converted to Islam, which under him and subsequent rulers spread throughout the peninsula. Malacca, situated at a strategic point on the trade routes linking India, South East Asia and China, became the main trading port of the East. For a hundred years (the 15th century) Malacca maintained its independence, protected in its early years from Siamese aggression by the diplomatic activity of the Ming rulers of China. And Malacca became the centre of Islam in South East Asia. Vietnam At the eastern extremity of South East Asia, northern Vietnam was originally occupied by Indonesian peoples. About 207 B.C. a Chinese general, taking advantage of the temporary fragmentation of the Chinese Expire on the collapse of the Ch‘in dynasty, created in northern Vietnam the kingdom of Annam. During the first century B.C. Annam was reincorporated in the Chinese Empire of the Han dynasty; and it remained a province of the Expire until the fall of the T'ang dynasty early in the 10th century. It then regained its independence, often as a nominal Vassal of the Chinese Emperor. In south-central Vietnam the Chams, a people of Indonesian stock, established the Indianised kingdom of Champa about A.D.400. Although subject to periodic invasions by the Annamese and by the Khmers of Cambodia, Champa survived and prospered. Further east, Champa in southern Vietnam was subjected in the 13th century to further attacks by the northern Vietnam kingdom of Annam (and towards the end of the century Kublai Khan sent unsuccessful expeditions against both Annam and Champa). In the 14th century Champa became a vassal of Annam, and in the next century was gradually absorbed by Annam until it finally disappeared. During the 16th century Annam was divided by civil war, but at the end of the century it was re-united under the Trinh dynasty. Burma At the western end of the South East Asian mainland, Lower Burma was occupied by the Mon peoples, who are thought to have come originally from western China. In Lower Burma they supplanted an earlier people, the Pyu, of whom little is known except that they practiced Hinduism. The Mons, strongly influenced by their contacts with Indian traders as early as the 3rd century B.C, adopted Indian literature and art and the Buddhist religion; and theirs was the earliest known civilisation in South East Asia. There were several Man kingdoms, spreading from Lower Burma into much of Thailand, where they founded the kingdom of Dvaravati. Their principal settlements in Burma were Thaton and Pegu. From about the 9th century onwards Tibeto-Burman tribes moved south from the hills east of Tibet into the Irrawaddy plain, founding their capital at Pagan in Upper Burma in the 10th century. They eventually absorbed the Mons and their cities, and adopted the Mon civilisation and Buddhism. The Pagan kingdom united all Burma under one rule for 200 years from the 11th to 13th centuries. The zenith of its power was in the reign of King Anawratha (1044-1077), who conquered the Mon kingdom of Thaton. He also built many of the temples for which Pagan is famous. It is estimated that some 13,000 temples once existed in the city - of which some 5,000 still stand. In Burma, Kublai Khan‘s conquest of southern China had devastating repercussions. The Pagan kingdom rejected Kublai Khan's demands for tribute – and raided Yunnan - whereupon the Mongol armies invaded Burma (1287) and the power of Pagan was destroyed. The disruption was taken advantage of by some of the Thai tribes (known in Burma as Shans) displaced from Nan Chao. They moved into Burma and set up a number of petty states in the centre and north of the country. In the south the Mons established a state based on Pegu (notable for having for a time in the 15th century the only female ruler in Burmese history - Queen Shin Sawba). The Burmese abandoned Pagan, which was occupied by the Mongols for thirty years, and in 1365 made Ava in central Burma their new capital. Further south, Toungoo became another centre of Burmese power. Two centuries later, in 1527, Ava was captured and destroyed by the Shans, and Toungoo became the Burmese capital. King Tabin Shweti (1531-1550) of the Toungoo dynasty then conquered the Mon kingdom of Pegu and such of central Burma. His successor Bayinnaung subjugated the Shans, took Ava, and for a time Siam and Luang Prabang (Laos) came under his control. The Thais soon recovered, and invaded Burma. This, and internal rebellions, broke up Burma into a collection of small states, which were re-united in the 17th century by King Anaukpetlun. He moved the capital back to Ava, and Burma under the Toungoo dynasty then retired into isolation from the outside world for the next hundred years. Thailand and Laos At about the same time as the Burmese invasion of Burma, another group of people, the Thai, began moving south and west from their homeland, the Thai kingdom of Nan Chao in southern China. They settled in northern Thailand, and later, in the 10th and 11th centuries, in Loas. This summarises the position cm the South East Asian mainland until about the 12th century. Meanwhile, from about the 6th century, and until the 14th century, there was a series of great Maritime empires based on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. In early days these Indians mostly comes from the ancient Kingdom of Kalinga, on the south-eastern coast of India. Indians in Indonesia are still known as "Klings", derived from Kalinga. In the course of this subjugation the ancient Thai kingdom of Nan Chao in Yunnan (southern China) was crushed. The result was a mass movement of Thai peoples southwards. At first divided into principalities, vassals of the Khmer king, they founded in 1238 the kingdom of Sukothai in west central Thailand. King Ramkamhaeng adopted the Khmer alphabet and gave the Thais a written language; and he introduced Buddhism into his kingdom. In 1350 Prince Ramatibodi founded a rival Thai kingdom in the south, with its capital at Ayuthhia. This soon superseded Sukothai. Ramatibodi, generally regarded as the first King of Siam (or Thailand) was an enlightened ruler. He brought in a new core of law and his armies drove the Khmer back into Cambodia. The Ayuthhia kingdom survived for over 400 years, for much of which Siam was engaged in war with the Khmer in the east and then with Burma in the west. In 1353 - about the same time as the foundation of the Thai kingdom of Ayuthhia - a Buddhist Thai settlement at Luang Prabang in northern Laos united neighbouring communities to form the first Laotian kingdom of Lan Xang (the "land of a million elephants'). Two hundred years later, conflict with Siam and Burma forced the transfer of the capital further south, to Vientiane, but the kingdom maintained its independence. The Philippines The Philippines, so far barely mentioned in this history, had been occupied for many centuries by a mixture of Malays and Indonesians who were organised in tribal units known as ―Barangays". They had their own culture, and traded extensively with Indian, Chinese, and Arab merchants; but they seen to have managed to keep themselves isolated from the various imperial struggles of South East Asia. Many of them were converted to Islam during the 13th to 15th centuries, but they remained uninvolved in outside affairs until the Europeans arrived there in the 16th century. Apart from Malaya, Islam made little impact on the mainland of South East Asia, which remained overwhelmingly Buddhist. The "Indianised" Empires of Sumatra and Java In the islands of South East Asia the first organised state to achieve fame was the Hindu-ised Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, with its capital at Palembang in southern Sumatra. Its commercial pre- eminence was based on command of the sea route from India to China between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula (later known as the Straits of Malacca). In the 6th-7th centuries Srivijaya succeeded Funan as the leading state in South East Asia. Its ruler was the overlord of the Malay Peninsula and western Java as well as Sumatra. Like most of the early kingdoms of South East Asia, Srivijaya was Indian in culture and administration, and Buddhism became firmly entrenched there. The expansion of Srivijaya was resisted in eastern Java, where the powerful Buddhist Sailendra dynasty arose. (From the 7th century onwards there was great activity in temple building in eastern Java. The most impressive of the ruins is at Borobudur, considered to have been the largest Buddhist temple in the world.) Sailendra rule spread to southern Sumatra, and up to Malay Peninsula to Cambodia (where it was replaced by the Angkor kingdom). In the 9th century the Sailendras moved to Sumatra, and a union of Srivijaya and the Sailendras formed an empire which dominated much of South East Asia for the next five centuries. ` With the departure of the Sailendras a new kingdom appeared in eastern Java, which reverted from Buddhism to Hinduism. In the 10th century this kingdom, Mataran, challenged the supremacy of Srivijaya, resulting in the destruction of the Mataran capital by Srivijaya early in the 11th century. Restored by King Airlangger (about 1020-1050), the kingdom split on his death; and the new state of Kediri, in eastern Java, became the centre of Javanese culture for the next two centuries, spreading its influence to the eastern part of island South East Asia. The spice trade was now becoming of increasing importance, as the demand by European countries for spices grew. (Before they learned to keep sheep and cattle alive in the winter, they had to eat salted meat, made palatable by the addition of spices.) One of the main sources was the Molucca Islands (or "Spice Islands") in Indonesia, and Kediri became a strong trading nation. In the 13th century, however, the Kediri dynasty was overthrown by a revolution, and another kingdom arose in east Java. The domains of this new state expanded under the rule of its warrior-king Kartonagoro. He was killed by a prince of the previous Kediri dynasty, who then established the last great Hindu-Javanese kingdom, Majapahit. By the middle of the 14th century Majapahit controlled most of Java, Sumatra and the Malay peninsula, part of Borneo, the southern Celebes and the Moluccas. It also exerted considerable influence on the mainland. After 500 Years of supremacy Srivijaya was superseded by Majapahit. To return to maritime South East Asia: we have seen that in the middle of the 14th century the Hindu-Javanese kingdom of Majapahit held sway over an island empire and exerted considerable influence on the mainland. But it was already facing two threats to its commercial and cultural eminence. In Malaya it was challenged by the rising power of Siam; and in the islands its authority was being undermined by the arrival of Islam. The islands had been in contact with Islam, through Arab traders, for many centuries; but their traditional cultural dependence on India prevented Islam from being acceptable to them until Islam was firmly established under Moslem rulers in the north of India itself, at about the end of the 12th century. Then, in the 13th century, Indian merchants from Gujarat (in north-western India) converted to Islam some of the ports of northern Sumatra. From there Islam spread to the Malay Peninsula, Java, and the Philippines. The various Indianised states and empires of this first 1500 years A.D., though founded by Indian colonisation and maintaining diplomatic contacts with India, remained politically independent of the Indian kingdoms. The only exception to this was the temporary conquest of Malaya by the Chola kingdom of southern India it the 11th century, but the Sailendra kings of Srivijaya were victorious in a long war against the Chola armies. Meanwhile in Indonesia the Majapahit empire broke up into a number of small and weak Moslem states. The island of Bali alone remained - and still remains -Hindu in religion. Hindu Culture in South East-Asia For the nearly fifteen hundred years and even down to the period, when the Hindus lost their political independence in India, Hindu sovereigns were ruling over Indo-China and several other South-Eastern countries and Island. Indian religion and literature, Indian social institutions and custom moulded the life of primitive races and made a through conquest of these far off lands. Peoples of the South East Asian countries have adopted names of important Indian town such as Dwaravati, Champa, Videha, Kalinga, Kamboja, Amaravati, Gandhara etc. They are also used Indian rivers name like Gomati, Chandrabhaga etc. The peoples of South Eastern countries felt the impact f Indian civilization and culture. The aborigines‘ imbibed a more elevated moral spirit, global sense of spirituality and higher intellectual taste through the religion, art and literature of India. Society The social life of the Hindu colony was based on the Indian pattern. The caste system of the Hindu was introduced early enough in the colonies. There are many references to chaturvarna or four castes with the specific mention of Brahmana, Kshatriya, Baisyas and Sudras in literature and the inscription of the countries of South-East Asia. Although the colonial society was divided into four broad division- Brahmana, Kshatriya, Baisyas and Sudras, yet the caste system had not attend at rigidity which is seen in India. The Brahmanas did not occupy a position of unquestioned supremacy, they did not dominate the Kings, the state and administration is some extent like mainland India. Sometimes, the Kshatrya were placed superior to the Brahmana, the Brahmana were divided into two groups designated after the deity which they worship, Siva or Buddha. The king assumes Kshatryahood and took the name of the Varman, meaning protector. Untouchability was not known there. The Sudra forms a distinct caste, Caste were not tied to specific profession of craft. The man of all caste having taken to agriculture, Sudras, in addition, followed other arts and crafts there even today. Marriages among different caste were not prohibited, but a man could marry a girl of his caste or lower caste. The women could marry one of equal or higher caste. The children of mixed marriage belong to the caste of their father, though they might differ in ranks and status according to the caste of the mother. In addition to the social division into caste there prevailed a distinction also between the aristocracy and the common people. The Brahmana and Ksahatiya form a bulk of the aristocracy; they have adopted certain external symbols of distinction as in India. These were. Special article such as dress, ornaments and decoration, Right to use special kind of conveyance such as palanquin and elephants to the accompaniment of music, attendants etc., Claim to get a seat near the king. Women general held high honorable position in society if some ascended the throne; others held high position in administration. A queen Guanapriya ruled with her husband over the island of Bali. Her name was placed before that of her husband. The kind Sindok of eastern Java was succeeded by his daughter Sri Isnatungavijaya. Though she was married to Lokapala, she ruled as a queen and had brothers. Another princess acted as regent for her mother although she had a grownup son. Royal queens and ladies of the harem were noted for their scholarship in Kamboja and actively participated in royal religious and social function. Some educated ladies occupied the highest office of the states and wife of the officials are mentioned in the inscription who have received presents and gifts from the kings along with their husband on various ceremonial occasion. Religion and Spirituality The inscription and images, discovered in the countries of South-East Asia proved that besides the Brahminical religion, Buddhism had also made its influence felt in these regions. Both often mixed together and flourished amicably. Brahmanism was firmly established in many colonies specially Kamboja and Bali. There are references to Hindu philosophical ideas, Vedic religions, Puranic and Epic myths and legends and all prominent Brahminical divinities and ideas. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva were worshiped together with satellite gods and goddess. The images of the gods combined together in trimurti as we‘ll as the image of the composite god Siva and Vishnu were found in Java and Kamboja. The entire Puranic pantheon was known to the people there. Hindu religion, in both canonical and popular aspects, was flourished in fullness. Numerous magnificent temples and shrines were erected and images of all known god and goddess were made. Endowments were provided for the temples and pious religious foundations. Hindu religion is still prevalent in Bali. There the images of Indra, Vishnu and Krishna are installed and Lord Shiva and Durga are worshipped and all those things are used in India for worship are used even to this day in Bali. The Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Purana are recited in the temple there. A silent feature of religion in these countries was that beyond the external forms of religion, there was a higher and deeper spiritual view of life. There appeared a spirit of piety and renunciation, a deep yearning for emancipation from the trammels of birth and evils of the world, and the longing for the attainment of highest bliss and salvation by union with Brahman, the ultimate reality. These ideas have been the basis of Indian religious and spiritual life. A large number of inscriptions in Kamboja and Java reveal these ideas. The royal personas and official were inspired by these high spiritual ideas. This was partly due to the close contact with India and partly to the propagation of these ideas by pious and learned Brahmanas, who went to Kamboja and other countries. Agastya, Diavakara Bhatta, Hiranyadam were such Brahmana. All these lead to the noble and high spiritual outlook of the king and people. Establishment and extension of the Asrama widened the noble spiritual outlook. In addition to Brahminsim, Hinayana and Mahayana form of Buddhism and the most debased Tnantric cult also flourished in these countries. Java became important renowned centre of Buddhism and attracted great scholars like I-Tsing, Dharmapala of Nalanda and Dipanakara Srignana of Vikramasila University for higher studies. Under the royal patronage of Sri Sailendra king, Mahayana Buddhism predominated there. A Large numbers of Buddhist temple, Shrine and monasteries were constreucted and Buddhist images were installed therein. The Buddhist temples of Dong-Duong and Barabuddor bear testimony to popularity of Buddhism there. Inspite of the various Brahminical sects and those of Buddhism, flourishing together, there was no religious persecution, animosity among their followers. A spirit of religious toleration and harmony prevailed there. Language and Literature The Sanskrit language and literature were highly cultivated and most of the records were written in book in almost flawless Sanskrit. The language of the court and the polished society was Sanskrit. Several Sanskrit inscription of a high literary merit have been discovered in KIamboja , Champa, Malaya peninsula and Java. The inscription found in these countries reveals a majesty of Sanskrit Kavya. Some of this inscription excels in literary merit vis-à-vis Sanskrit inscription so far a discovered in India. It seems that the authors of these inscriptions had a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit metres. And the most abstruse rules of Sanskrit rhetoric, prosody and grammars and very close acquaintance with Indian Epics, Purana, Dharamasastra, Philosophy , Veda , Vedanta , Smrits, works of Manu, Panini, Patanjanli, Kalidasa, Vastyayana etc. Epics and religious texts of Brahminism, Buddhism and Jainsim were studies. Royal persons and officials were scholars and took a leading part in literary activities. King Jayaverman V of Kamboja was surrounded by intellectuals, poets, writers and scholars. Indo-Javanses literature is most remarkable product of Indian colonization. In Burma and Ceylon the study of Buddhist texts in Pali led to development of new classical literature adopted everywhere. Art Temple, shrines, stupas and image of the countries of South-East Ais show distinct influence of Indian architecture and sculpture. If some are close imitations, almost replicas of their original Indian models, others are development of local styles with the addition of Indian features. The colonial art, in fact forms a type by itself. Although it went from Indian and the skilled and unskilled workmen imbibed traditions of their mother country (India), yet in their new environments, the Indian engineers, and artisans assimilated ideas and produced works which were different and in some respect assuredly superior to their original standard in India. Their architectural and sculptural monuments have been remarkable for their massive grandeur and artistic excellence. The Siavite temple at Moisan, Po-Ngar, The Buddhist temple at Dong-Duong in Champa have forms or type found in the rock cut temple at Mahabalipuram in India. The massive temple at Ankorvat one of the largest sanctuaries ever executed. The Angorthom, one of the biggest township, in Cambodia has the world renowned monuments which have in a feeble charm and indelible grandeur among the monument of the world. The group of Buddhist temple at Chandikalasan, Chandisari and Chandisevu, The Brahmanical temple at Larajongrang and the fine temple of Chandi Mandut and Chandi Pavol and the greatest Buddhist shrine of Barabudur in Java and the Anand temple at Pagan in Burma are the renowned monuments of Indian colonial art. Administration In addition to art, culture and religion the influence of Hindu civilization and culture is also clearly marked in political ideas and in the system of administration. About the government of the countries of South-East Asia, the Chinese Anal informs us that the king had eight great ministers called the Eight Seats and all were chosen from among the Brahmanas. The Hindu culture in the colony continued to be a dynamic force so long as Hindusim was in full vigor in India. The subsequent downfall of the Hindu in the mainland India led to the decayed of their colonial supremacy in the South Eastern Asia. The cultural expansion of India has its own historic significance. The history of colonies demonstrates the unsoundness of the popular belief that Hinduism cannot be adopted by the foreigner but it is meant only for central Asia and South East Asia show the great vigor with which Indian culture and religion could observe and vitalized foreign culture and could elevate even the aborigines and primitive races to an higher and noble sphere of culture and civilization. In the early centuries of Christian Era, the Indian built an extensive cultural empire in the western, Central, Eastern and South Eastern Asia and within a few succeeding centuries, it flourished luxuriantly an existed for nearly a thousand years. A very large numbers of parts and cities of theses region became the flourishing centre of Indian culture and were rarely subjected to Indian Kings and conquerors, who hardly witnessed the horror and havoc of any Indian military campaign or expedition and were perfectly free politically and economically. There people elevated to nobler sphere by Indian culture, religion and Arts, looked upon India n as holly land, a sacred region of pilgrimage rather an area of jurisdiction and political supremacy. The silent features of the Indian cultural expansion were that it was carried out by the Indians not by the military force but by the persuasion and individual instant of the devotion to deeds, not by arms but by missionaries. The cultural expansion of Indians was never confused by them which colonial domination and their commercial dynamism was never identifies with economic exploitation. They expanded their culture with political objective, commenced an advanced commercial intercourse with imperialist design and established their settlement without colonial excesses. This is the true character of Indian cultural expansion. The Hindu vulture in all its aspect permitted the life of the people of Central Asia, South East Asia and elevated them spiritually. The aspects of true greatness of Indian were not sufficiently and properly emphasized. The spread of Indian culture and civilization to the other parts of Asia constitutes an important chapter in the history of India. India had established commercial contacts with other countries from the earliest times. It had inevitably resulted in the spread of Indian languages, religions, art and architecture, philosophy, beliefs, customs and manners. Indian political adventurers even established Hindu kingdoms in some parts of South East Asia. However, this did not lead to any kind of colonialism or imperialism in the modern sense. On the other hand these colonies in the new lands were free from the control of the mother country. But they were brought under her cultural influence. Indianisation of South East Asia- An Analysis By the early centuries of the Christian era, many parts of Southeast Asia and India were part of the world-trading network. Though this period was marked by the domination of Indian Ocean by roman trade, it also witnessed the establishment of trade relations between India and Southeast Asia. It has been argued that this relationship further resulted in the colonization of South East Asia, but the argument has been firmly countered in the wake of recent research, which emphasize on the mutual influence, rather than partial view of one-sided influence. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the process of state-formation vis-à-vis the interplay of trade to examine the role- played by indigenous factors and the influence of ‗indic‘ elements. It also presents an analysis of relations behind the increased economic activities (trade also) between India and Southeast Asia from 5-6th century onwards and the resultant socio-political, economic and cultural impact of this relationship on both regions. Sources of study for this early relationship between India and Southeast Asia and the scanty and ambiguous in nature. South East Asia has been portrayed and referred as the ‗golden island‘ or "Golden Peninsula" or Yavadipa or Suvarnadipa in the Indian literature from the first centuries AD Apart from Ramayana, the Buddhist Jataka fables also mention about south east Asia. Chinese records provide a satisfactory, yet still incomplete view of the burgeoning Southeast Asian commerce. In the last few decades, archaeological excavations at various sites in southeast Asia has resulted in the yielding of various remains, which presents an entirely different and new picture of the region. The availability of epigraphic sources and inscriptions at various places has been of great use in reconstructing the history of this region. The various categories of inscriptions are Sanskrit, Tamil and indigenous language inscriptions. Cultural Dependency As far as state-formation is concerned, the maritime region has been well served partly due to paucity of intractability of the data, and partly to the fact that most of the scholars dealing with early history of maritime regions are struggling to produce adequate description of the states of the later first millenium A.D. The reflections of the Indian ideas, beliefs and religious culture upon the monumental, artistic and literary remains of the early historic states of south east Asia made the scholar argue for the colonisation/Indianisation of the region. It is argued that the contact with the Brahmana-Buddhist culture of India resulted in the formation of the states that were culturally dependent on India. This proposition began to be questioned when scholars raised the problem of the identity of the Indian incomers and the circumstances under which they arrived and interacted with the local population. The local populace was active participants in the process, though he argued that necessary political and social skills for state-building were acquired from India as these essential ingredients were assumed to be missing in local societies. He argued that the local rulers, having learned of Indian culture through interaction with Indians on the maritime route, recognized the advantages of certain elements of Indian civilization and drew from the Indian tradition for their own benefit. The idea of a mutual sharing process in the evolution of Indianised statecraft in Southeast Asia is also important. The initial contact with the knowledge of Indian cultural tradition came through the south East Asian sailors. The local-rulers, recognizing the fact that Indian culture provided certain opportunities for administrative and technological advantages vis-à-vis their rivals, followed up on these contacts. Thus the initiative was south East Asian, not Indian, and it was a slow process of cultural synthesis rather than Indianisation made possible by the imposition of Hinduism by the influx of the Brahmanas. He continues that South-East Asian region was characterized by the tribal societies, ruled by chiefs and thus, there was no indigenous sense of kingdom and its supra-territorial demands of loyalty among the south east Asians themselves. The rulers/chiefs rather than developing state institutions initiated religious cults to command over the native population. This proposition of Indianisation and its continuity from early centuries of the Christian era to the later times as first contact was made in the peripheral areas which lacked continuity to central areas (east Kalimantan & 8th century Mataram). Apart from south India, Northeastern India (Bengal, Bizarre and Orrin) also played an important part and at time, predominated in some regions. Same is the case with Southeast Asia. The early South-east Asian society was marked by chiefdom, among whom the instrumental exchanges characteristic of a reciprocate mode of integration dominated. Entrepreneurial advances associated with developing commerce created social imbalances as ‗redistributive exchange‘ system emerged-(Funan‘s case). Several Southeast Asian societies developed into ‗mobilisative sectors‘ economics, which developed organizational mechanisms for the acquisition, control and disposal of resources in pursuit of collective goals (generally political) and impersonalism took hold. This led to the development of state-institutions and transformation of chiefs into rulers. The important point on his suggestions concerning the potential destabilizing effects of partial borrowings of economic and political institutions from other cultures, which may be expected to provoke continuing change with the recipient cultures until a new equilibrium can be established. Trade & State Formation The importance of trade in political developments and the possibility of archaeological recovery of the phase of transition from lower to higher levels of political integration through study of evidence from changing trade patterns have begun to be exposed in maritime south east Asia. Archaeological sources have supported the argument that long-distance sea trade itself played a key role in stimulating political development which eventually led to the formation of state. J.W. Christie divides the maritime Southeast Asia into three distinct groupings. The first grouping covers the end of the pre-historic period in the maritime region (5th century BC to 5th century AD), the archaeological remains of which includes megalithic burial sites, inhumation, hoards, boat fragments and settlement sites. The second grouping comprises several set of early inscriptions on stone found in the region, a few other archaeological remains and some other vague references in Chinese records, dating 5th and 6th centuries AD The third grouping dates 7th to 8th centuries AD , and comprises further collections of inscriptions, some rather more reliable Chinese and a number of monumental structures and structural remains assumed to have been produced during this period. Now, it is pertinent to discuss the process of state-formation in few parts of Southeast Asia, as it will help locating the role of indigenous factors/developments. The two foci of early state-formation in the maritime Southeast Asia were the Malacca Straits and the southern sea of the Java shore. These were also the centers of wealth accumulation and trading activities and shared a number of basic political concepts. Political developments occurred in the region owing to the response given by the coastal communities to the same external economic stimuli. The increasing wealth in these two sub-regions was increasingly concentrated in the hands of politically powerful elite who exercised some control over prestige-goods economies. Moreover, the contacts with other regions brought advanced metallurgical techniques and enhanced resource-base of the region to trade. This expansion of economic base of a number of trading communities, possibly in conjunction with increased exposure to more developed political cultures, led to the formation of a series, first of chiefdoms, and then, of nascent states, on the relevant coasts of peninsula and the western islands. Same was the case with Funan, which rose on the account of developed trade and port facilities owing to strategic location and supported by an agrarian base. K.R. Hall argues that Funan may be considered as the first south east Asian ‗state‘ as it was an economic center, with an economic base that supported a more sophisticated level of political integration, and acted as the locus of contact between various regional and local marketing networks. Thus the pre-existing indigenous cultural and ethnic diversity were synthesized with external ideology to create a new systematic higher order cultural base. This is documented in the growing use of Sanskrit in Funan (Sanskrit inscription of 3rd century AD), use of Indian vocabulary and technical knowledge. Thus trade appears to have been key to economic growth control of trade appears to have provided the key to political development. Moreover, trade in this region was information maximizing as it carried a substantial baggage of information and ideas alongwith material commodities. This suggests that the carriers of most of this trade were members of maritime Southeast Asian communities rather than outsiders. Here, an important point to be noted is that none of the communities on the east coast of the Indian sub-continent or on the mainland of Southeast Asia, involved in trade at this time, belonged to sophisticated or powerful state and all these communities were in the process of transforming themselves politically. Thus interaction at this time was on a fairly equal basis. Thus it is evident that in the early period before 200 BC, the above was the case whereas till 300 AD the other argument of outside stimuli would have been the case. The economic stimulation came from India and China, whereas the political and cultural stimulation of the region was primarily from Indian sub-continent, probably carried along Buddhist commercial network. The period between 300-600 A.D witnessed several fully formed states in this maritime region. Clear differences began to develop during this period between coastal trading states of the Malice straits and the increasingly mixed economy. The coastal trading states extended the use of Buddhism as a commercial networking religion, pulling ports of north and west Borneo into their cultural orbit. The elite groups in the states of the Java sea and their dependencies began to add elements of Hinduism-with its royal and agrarian overtones-to the already existing Buddhist cum ‗Megalithic‘ cultural mix of the ports, as they began to attach farming population of the interior to their coastal centers. Lastly by the 7th-9th century AD, when states in both the sub-regions began to produce literature in the indigenous language, it is apparent that the old, small states were being increasingly absorbed into larger, more complex political entities. Trade with India After discussing the process of state-formation in the Southeast Asian region, owing more to indigenous factors with the restricted use of Indian elements, it is significant to discuss the trade between the two regions that brought about this interaction and consequent influences. K.R. Hall has presented four reasons behind growth of this trade. Firstly, historians have theorized that gold became difficult to acquire during this time due to internal disturbances in the central Asian steppe region and slowing down of flow of Roman gold coins. As a consequence Indian merchants ventured into Southeast Asia looking for the mythical wealth of the "Islands of Gold". Secondly, it was due to revolution in boat construction and navigation techniques, which increased the sizes of the ships and sailing efficiency. Thirdly, the adequate ideological support provided by Buddhism played a great role as evident in the distribution of outstanding Dipankara statues of Buddha throughout southeast Asia. And last reason was the Chinese interest. Much of the interaction between Indian and maritime southeast Asian economies were driven by interest in the trade of the South China Sea and the eastern seas of Indonesia. Thus the Southeast Asian trade was entirely dependent upon the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. In the first three centuries of the Christian era, the trading relation with India is established by the distribution of Roman-Indian Rouletted pottery at few coasts including north coasts of Java and Bali and the coast of central Vietnam. In the period between 300-600 AD, Buddhism, pilgrimage grew which reflects commercial links with India and China. The Southeast Asian trade is well documented after 7th century AD onwards. The 7th and 8th century AD witnessed expansion in volume of Asian sea trade involving maritime southeast, due to Chinese interest and parallel rise in the demand from the prosperous centers on the east coast of India. The regions which benefited the most were Javanese State of Ho-ling and Malacca straits port hierarchy of Srivijaya, which also created a bi-polar pattern of trade networking in the archipelago. This was followed by a decline of trade in the late 8th and the 9th centuries owing to the disintegration of the Pallava states in south India. This argument is reinforced not only by epigraphic data from the peninsula and northeast India, but also by archaeological evidence that a postage route across Isthmus of Kra was in use for some decades in that century. The period between early tenth and the early thirteenth centuries was marked by an economic boom, benefiting maritime Southeast Asia the most and it affected sea trade in both the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. The dominant economic force in the eastern sector of the Indian Ocean was the grouping of several south Indian merchant associations or Banigrama, which operated under the aegis of the expanding Chola Empire. Trade in southern and eastern India began to benefit from political consolidation under the Cholas. The maritime trade boom of this period included greater commercial activity, volumes of trade, range of commodities and the number of regular participants were far greater and the region directly involved was far more extensive. The effects on the Indonesian archipelago included increasing carrier of larger volume, lower value cargoes between islands as well as a number of technological and agricultural innovations, particularly in Java and Bali, stimulated by a combination of overseas market opportunities and domestic market pressures. The Chola raids on many southeast Asian ports including Srivijaya itself seems to be more because of the economic interest, rather than mere expansion of territory. Moreover, the effects of these raids appear, for the most part, to have been minimal and transitory and soon Srivijaya grew wealthy. The decline of Srivijaya trade after 1028 AD has been countered by Christie as one points to a diplomatic decision by Chinese court to restrict the burgeoning number of trade missions to port areas. In the context of Kedah conquest, the archaeological remains, though indicate the presence of Indian pottery; argue that the port population was largely of local extraction (religious remains) and thus counters the conquest theory. In southern India, a series of merchant associations developed powerful networks and vertical monopolies, from tied manufacturers to private armies. These are of particular interest in relation to trade with Sumatra and the Malaya peninsula, and to Javanese ands Balinese responses to the growth in trade during the same period. During this period (10th to 13th century AD), there occurred a shift in focus of merchant associations from the west coasts towards the east, stimulated by increasing trade with the east, was accompanied by a broadening of the range of commodities traded (Iron, cotton, textile). The effects on India were developments in the weaving and dying industries as introduction of the Draw Loom and of the spinning wheel and revival of coin-minting. The Indian trade interest in the eastern coast of the Indian Ocean is well reflected in the Tamil language inscriptions and south Indian religious remains found on the eastern fringe of the Indian Ocean, from Burma down to Sumatra. Many of these are bilingual inscriptions which either bear donations or gifts made to religious centers (Monastery and Vishnu and Siva temples) or gives description of trade and the articles involved in trade. These inscriptions refer to South Indian merchant associations- Maningramam, actively involved in transit trade bypassing the Malacca strait; and Nanadesi branch of the Ayyarole. Most of the 13th century Tamil inscriptions do not mention merchant associations, perhaps reflecting the sharp decline of this economic power during this period as evident also from the epigraphic records within southern India. Tamil inscriptions and religious and other remains suggested establishment of the South Indian enclaves to the west of the Malacca straits. These conclaves were confined to regions accessible directly from the Indian Ocean dare to the firm hold of Srivijaya over the groupings, involving very mixed personnel and structures of southeast Asian along with South Asian, as suggested by evidences from Java and Bali, such as formation of the Banigrama. It was followed by the appearance of a local version of the Banigrama in the major north-coast parts of both the islands like at Julah which was a predominantly local merchant association, along with some foreigners. They were indigenous organizations collected to the local economic system as tax farmers licensed by the rulers. This trend was short-lived. The abandonment of the term may reflect both the retreat of organized south Indian groups to the western edge of the archipelago and the fact that in Javanese and Balinese states the relations which tax-farming merchants maintained with the political leadership were essentially personal, patron-client links. Individual foreign traders from south India were present in maritime Southeast Asian ports as merchants and tax-farmers, both were before and after the appearance of Banigrama inscriptions. The items of trade included crops like rice, areca nuts, pepper, mysobalans , iron, cotton (raw and textile) , thread, wax, honey, sandalwood, aloes wood, silk, rose water, yak‘s tail, camphor oil, civet, horses, elephants, medicinal herbs, metals(gold,silver), semi-precious stones, pearls etc. There occurred noticeable changes in the patterns of domestic consumption and production owing to large volumes of foreign imports and their varied distribution. As far as ports are concerned, although the Malacca straits port-hierarchy of Srivijaya played an important role inn manufacturing largely indigenous hold over the sea-trade links eastwards from the India-Ocean, partly by forcing powerful south Indian merchant associations to trade on local terms, it was the state of Mataram in Java played the key role in moulding maritime southeast Asia‘s shared economic culture. Ritual as a Legitimising Tool In context of influence of Indic elements, it was used as a means of elevating the status of indigenous rulers both in the eyes of their own people and with the visiting Indian merchants whose presence was essential to continue prosperity. The Indian rituals and celestial deities provided the sacro-religious legitimacy to local rulers. The Brahmanas played an important part by performing rituals and concocting genealogies for the local rulers, thus providing legitimacy. By 10th century AD many texts like few parvans of Mahabharata were translated into local languages like Javanese prose. Most of Sanskrit language inscriptions were largely religious in context. The continuing impact of cultural borrowings from India was, however reflected in these reflections by the heavy use of Sanskrit conceptual vocabulary, the integration of some Indian weights and measures into the local system and the adoption of Sanskrit or Sanskritised names. The presence of two Buddha statues at Kotachina (Sumatra) points to the influence of Chola sculpture and thus the foreign trade (imported material to build statues). In Kadiri period in east Java, predominance of Vaishnavism is reflected in court poetry of old Javanese literature. Other examples are the great temple of Angkorvat in Cambodia. Translations of many texts took place like Raghuvamsa. Apart from Buddhist sculpture, an Indian affinity is reflected in the particular from of Tantricism in east Java. Islam in these regions also came from Indian subcontinent, not from Arabic world. Conclusion It may be argued that the Southeast Asian states borrowed extensively from the broader Indian religious traditions in manner that suggests a self-conscious balancing of ideas thought to be useful for the maintenance of power in economies at once agrarian and mercantile. Indian export trade provoked shifts in the habits of consumption that in turn stimulated innovations in the local production. The religious and cultural impact was restricted to the rulers and the elite sections of the society and did not make many inroads into the local level. Thus the economic competition and mutual influence rather than forceful confrontation characterized the relations between Southeast Asia and India, which counters the Indianisation/colonization theory. Summary The colonizing activities of the Hindus and their maritime adventures found heir full scope in the South-East Asia. Across the Bay of Bengal lay Indo-China and the Island of Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Bali which were inhabited by primitive, uncultured wild races and had almost a monopoly of the world spice trade. Indians literature including the Buddhist texts has faithfully preserved the common traditions of the ancient times of such perilious voyages to unknown distant lands beyond the sea. Indian followed both land as well as sea routes for going to the countries of South-East Asia. The land routes lay thorough Bengal, Assam and Manipur hills, they reached the region of upper Burma and through Arakan went to lower Burma. From Burma, it was easy to go to India-China and the main land China. As regard the sea routes, they boarded the ships at Tamralipti. Their ships either sailed along the coast of Bengal and Burma or crossed the Bay of Bengal and undertook a direct voyage to the Malaya peninsula and then to the East Indies and Indo-China beyond it. For the nearly fifteen hundred years and even down to the period, when the Hindus lost their political independence in India, Hindu sovereigns were ruling over Indo-China and several other South-Eastern countries and Island. Indian religion and literature, Indian social institutions and custom moulded the life of primitive races and made a through conquest of these far off lands. Peoples of the South East Asian countries have adopted names of important Indian town such as Dwaravati, Champa, Videha, Kalinga, Kamboja, Amaravati, Gandhara etc. They are also used Indian rivers name like Gomati, Chandrabhaga etc. The peoples of South Eastern countries felt the impact f Indian civilization and culture. The aborigines‘ imbibed a more elevated moral spirit, global sense of spirituality and higher intellectual taste through the religion, art and literature of India. The spread of Indian culture and civilization to the other parts of Asia constitutes an important chapter in the history of India. India had established commercial contacts with other countries from the earliest times. It had inevitably resulted in the spread of Indian languages, religions, art and architecture, philosophy, beliefs, customs and manners. Indian political adventurers even established Hindu kingdoms in some parts of South East Asia. However, this did not lead to any kind of colonialism or imperialism in the modern sense. On the other hand these colonies in the new lands were free from the control of the mother country. But they were brought under her cultural influence. Exercise Write short notes: Angkorwat, Borobudur, Cultural contacts between India and Myanmar, India and Bali. Trace the cultural contacts between India and China. Write a short note on Indo-Java Art. Give an account of the spread of Indian culture in South East Asia. Assess the impact of Indian cultural influence in other parts of Asia Further Reading Abraham,M, 1988, Two Medieval Merchant Guilds of South India, New Delhi, Ch 5-p227- 281. Christie, J.W., 1995, State formation In early Maritime Southeast Asia, BTLV Christie, J.W., 1999, The Banigrama in the Indian Ocean and the Java sea during the early Asian trade boom, Communarute‘s maritimes de l‘ocean Indien, Brepols De Casparis, J.G., 1983, India and Maritime Southeast Asia: A lasting Relationship, Third Sri Lanka Endowment Fund Lecture. Hall, K.R., 1985, Maritime Trade and State development in early Southeast Asia, Honolulu.Walters, O.W., 1967, Early Indonesian Commerce, Ithaca. *************** UNIT-IV Chapter-III INDIA, CENTRAL ASIA AND WESTERN WORLD THROUGH AGES Structure Objective Introduction India and Central and East Asia Impact of India on Life and Culture of Central Asia- Religion: Language and Literature Government Social-Economic Life Art India and Arabia Cultural links between India and the Greco-Roman world Early allusion to the Greeks in India Hellenization: The Cultural Legacy Trade in the Hellenic World Innovative years on the borders of India Megasthenes, first Greek ambassador Appearance of coins as the first landmark Rise of Menander Buddhism and the Indo-Greek in India Rise of the Gandhara art Mathura art Infusion of literature Astronomy and astrology Spur on Indian and Greek thought and religion Indo-Roman Relation Trade on Exotic Animals Roman ports Indian ports Summary Exercise Suggested Readings Objective In this lesson, students investigate the spread of Indian culture to Central Asia, Arabian World and East Asia. Throughout the chapter, an emphasis will be on the modes of cultural exchange between the east and west and the significant result of the relation in ancient India. After completing this chapter, you will be able to: understand the influence of Indian culture in Central Asia, Arabian world and Greeco- Roman World;; discuss the concept of Hellenisation of India, describe the various sources which speacks about the cultural and economic relation between India and Greeco-Roman World in ancient age;. identify the various ports, trade routes employed in the above said trade relations; and trace the significance of Indias relationship with different parts of the world in ancient period. Introduction From prehistoric days, India had trade and cultural relations with West Asia, Rome, China and Southeast Asia. India sent its traders and missionaries to these regions and in some places these persons also settled. During the reign of Darius the Great of Persia, Greece and India had their earliest contact in about 510 BCE. After the discovery of the monsoon by Hippalus in first century CE, Roman vessels played directly across the Indian Ocean. The port of Palura on the eastern coast of India had an important role. The ships came here from Arikamedu, crossed the Bay of Bengal and went to the delta of the Irrawaddy, whence they proceeded to the Malay Peninsula. Demand for Eastern goods had the effect of stimulating Indian trading along the Malay Peninsula. It is not surprising that Roman coins, pottery, amphora and other trade goods have been found in the Malay Peninsula originating from coastal regions of eastern India. Indo-Roman contact declined during the third and fourth centuries CE, but India's relationship with Southeast Asia continued. In the spread of Indian culture, the sea played an important role. There was intensification of sea-borne commerce in the early centuries of Common Era. In the following few paragraphs we will examine the significance of interrelationship between the various countries of world with India in ancient days. India and Central and East Asia For several millennia India has interacted with the Central Asian region; Afghanistan, Central Asia and Xinjiang. Trade was the motivating factor throughout history and with trade came cultural interaction. Central Asia‘s location at the juncture of two great civilizations – India and China – was a favorable factor that promoted cultural interaction. Central Asia also played a role in enriching the cultures with which it came in contact. In the words of Academician Babajan Gafurov of Tajikistan ―It was not a mechanical transmission of cultural values from one people to another, it was a creative process in which cultural achievements were further refined before they were passed on‖. A vigorous interaction ensued between the people of the Indus Valley Civilization and those settled in the region since the Bronze Age. A major development in the life of the people many millennia ago was the horse. ―It was the horse‖, writes Ahmad Hasan Dani of Pakistan, ―brought by the Aryans that changed the whole perspective of life in South Asia including political, social, economic and cultural aspects‖. Subsequently, the horse became an integral part of an Emperor‘s fighting force- the cavalry. New research shows that the Indus Valley Civilization had trade and cultural contacts with Altyn Depe, an ancient civilization of Turkmenistan. A milestone in the development of contacts was the spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia and thence to China. A Buddhist scholar from Kashmir, Vairochana, was the first missionary to introduce Buddhism into Central Asia. In due course, Central Asia served as a transit route for Buddhism to China. According to Chinese sources, Buddhism came to China around 217 B.C. Indian emperor Ashoka in 203 B.C. and King Kanishka of the Kushan Empire of Central Asian origin whose empire included Kashmir are mainly credited for spreading the Buddhist tenets in the region. Indeed the spread of Buddhism was so wide and deep that it exercised a strong influence in the Central Asian region. Among his various achievements, Kanishka‘s most outstanding contribution was the convening of the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kashmir where open debates and discussion on various schools of thought on Buddhism took place. The open-mindedness of those days was reflected when the Council accepted and acknowledged that the diverse views expressed were all part of Buddhism. An outcome of these deliberations was that two major strands in Buddhism appeared; the Mahayana which stressed selfless service to the poor, tolerance etc. and Hinayan which emphasized only the monastic order. It was the Mahayana strand that had wider acceptability and became immensely popular in Central Asia. Buddhist monks were indefatigable missionaries who traversed the Central Asian region to propagate the ideals. In the process, several viharas or monasteries were built prominently along the towns and cities that sprang along the silk route. Buddhist texts were translated into local languages, including the Uyghur language. Under the cultural impact of Buddhism, the Gandhara School of Art was born. The School excelled in architecture and the numerous viharas are a testimony to this fact. Archeological finds across the region reveal the deep influence of Buddhism as well as the fine craftsmanship that existed in the ancient past. A twelve-meter long sleeping statute of Buddha in Tajikistan or the massive statues in Bamiyan in Central Afghanistan (destroyed by the Taliban in 2000) or the various historical sites discovered in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan (particularly the Swat Valley) are part of the priceless heritage of mankind. Hiuen Tsang, a famous Chinese pilgrim, came to India in 631 A.D. via the Central Asian route and stayed in Kashmir for fifteen years studying the scriptures and other Buddhist texts. While Buddhism was receding in the subcontinent, possibly due to lack of royal patronage and partly because Lord Buddha was accepted as part of the Hindu pantheon, it continued to flourish in Central Asia until the Arabs introduced Islam. Today Buddhism is practiced with fervor and devotion in Tibet and other areas. An equally significant development from the perspective of religious interaction was the spread of Sufism in the subcontinent. Sufism is a strand within Islam which emphasizes benevolence and tolerance. Although Islam was introduced in the subcontinent by the Arabs in the seventh century, its large scale spread is due to the Sufi saints who popularized the religion. Many Sufi saints along with their disciples came to India from Bukhara, Samarkand and other cities of Central Asia. In this regard a major contribution was made by Sayyid Ali Hamadani, who came to Kashmir from Kulyab in Tajikistan along with his five hundred disciples in the late fourteenth century. Earlier it India, later it was the Sufi saints who spread the message of Islam. In Central Asia Buddhist and Islamic ideas together produced a new, partly syncretised school of thought which percolated back to India. The mystics, particularly the Sufis, represent the syncretic thought and ideas of a single cultural space. While Sufism has played a significant role in molding a tolerant attitude among the people of Central Asia, it continues to wield influence in north India, particularly Kashmir. The rich cultural interaction of the ancient past impacted in diverse ways. The economic dimension has been a constant feature of this engagement. As mentioned, even during the Harappan age trading actively was important. Takshashila (now in Pakistan) was strategically located on the river Indus and the city of Puruspura (near Peshawar in Pakistan) formed major centers of Indian land routes to Central Asia and beyond. Caravan routes and camel traffic continued to traverse the region even after the silk route became operational. The silk route provided a powerful stimulus to trade. Among the prized commodities in great demand were Chinese silk, Indian ivory, Syrian glass and Roman metal ware. In due course, many branches of the silk route emerged connecting China and India with Europe in diverse ways. The oases of Central Asian Bukhara and Samarkand were, however the centers from which the feeder roads branched out. A southern branch of the silk route passed through northern India, Kashmiri shawls and woolen and silk carpets were in great demand in Central Asia. Indian merchants also traversed long distances via Turkmenistan and the Caspian region (the Caspian region) to reach Kolkheti on the Black Sea (now in Georgia). Due to its enormous length, trade passed through many hands. But for the Central Asian segment, Indians were among the traders, along with Parthians and Soghdians. Among the prominent items exported from India were sugar, cotton cloth, namda (woolen carpets), shawls and dyes, while the major items of import were horses, sheep, gold, silver, precious stones, metals and fruits, particularly dried fruits. The expansion and diversification of the caravan trade and the silk route led to the emergence of a large Indian diasporas in the Central Asian region. Bukhara, a commercial hub on the silk route, had 200 caravanserais and Indians were allotted one such serai for their use. In 1832, Alexander Burnes noted that there are about 300 Hindus living in Bukhara. They are chiefly natives of Shikarpoor in Sindh (Pakistan) and their number has of late increased (Burnes 1834, p. 286).4 Besides trading activity, Indians were also engaged in money lending and exchanging. Apart from Bukhara, Indian settlers were found all along the towns and cities on the silk route. Incidentally, in the ancient period the ruling dynasty of Khotan (China) claimed Indian origin. A large number of Indians lived in Andijon, Fergana, Namangan as well as in small towns and villages of Central Asia. Near Tashkent, there were nearly forty Indians actively engaged in trading activity. Indian settlers also built viharas, and left behind texts, a valuable source of information. Many of the Indians were owners of land, horses, caravans and gardens. There were masons and artisans from India who were brought by Timur to work in his capital city, Samarkand. India‘s trading activity with the region suffered a setback with the opening of sea commerce and the rise of British colonialism in the subcontinent. Nevertheless, it is estimated that in the second half of the nineteenth century, there were approximately eight thousand Indian settlers in the region. There were also Central Asians also living in the subcontinent, though their exact number is not known. They lived in separate quarters, or Mahallas. Many of them arrived during the Mughal period and were men of letters occupying high positions in the royal courts. There were artisans and craftsmen whose most visible contribution lay in architecture. A fine specimen of architectural skill is the Taj Mahal at Agra. It was the Central Asians living in Kashmir who introduced the art of tailoring and embroidery, which changed the economic life of Kashmir. Finely embroidered shawls from Kashmir were in great demand among the Central Asian nobility. An important period in the historical ties between Medieval India and Central Asia began with the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) who was in search of Indian riches and led several expeditions to India with this objective. With the beginning of ―Delhi Sultanate‖ phase, the Muslim period of Indian history began. Members of the Khilji dynasty owed their origin to Turkmen tribes and military aristocracy comprised of Central Asian Turks at that time. They created a powerful organization, ―Forty‖, named so due to the number of its founder. In 1526, Babur, hailing from Fergana, laid the foundation of Mughal Empire in India. It was Bairam Khan from the Turkmen region who helped Humayun (son of Babur) to regain his lost empire. Bairam Khan, however, is known as the tutor and mentor of Akbar and his son Abdurrahim Khan was a first rate soldier. Akbar unified large parts of India. Known for his humanism, sense of fairness and justice, and encouragement to art and literature, Akbar occupies a place of high honor in Indian history. The decline of the Mughal Empire began in the eighteenth century due to the absence of worthy successors to the earlier rulers. The mighty Mughal Empire was crumbling and paving the way for British colonialism in the subcontinent. Cultural interaction reached new strengths during the period of the Muslim rule. In this regard, mention must be made of Al Beruni and Abdurazzak Samarkandi of Khorezm (now in Uzbekistan). The latter came to India in the fifteenth century. Their quest for knowledge led the two famous scholars to India. Al Beruni stayed in India for thirteen years, studied Sanskrit and importantly translated valuable treatise on mathematics and astronomy into Arabic. Al Beruni also penned his impressions about India in a book Tarrik-i-Hind (India), an outstanding source of information about eleventh century India for posterity. Mirza Ghalib and Iqbal wrote both in Farsi and Urdu and their poems written in Farsi were extremely popular in Central Asia. Indian medical studies and research were widely known and admired in Central Asia. Indian texts on medicine by Charak and Susrat were translated into Arabic and local languages. Often travelers to India carried back medicines with them. A famous physician from Herat Abu Mansur Mawafaq confessed having adopted the Indian way of learning as they (the Indians) were more sharp sighted in medical sciences than any other people and were more accurate in their research. Other areas where cultural interaction was visible was in the field of painting, including miniatures. The Kyrgyz legendary epic Manas has made references to elephants. Music and musical instruments of the two regions have a striking similarity. Central Asia exerted influence on the art of gardening in India. When a mosque or a tomb was being constructed during the Mughal period, special care had to be taken to ensure that there was enough space for gardens. This vigorous and robust interaction waned with the expansion of British rule in the subcontinent and the Russian advance into Central Asia. In the early nineteenth century the British began collecting information about Central Asia and had even established a monitoring centre at Herat. The orientation of the two regions underwent radical change with the recognition of Afghan independence, the establishment of the Durand Line between Afghanistan and the British Empire and the incorporation of Central Asia in the Tsarist Empire. The Russians began to reorient Central Asia towards the North as Central Asian cotton was essential for the textile factories of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Tashkent became the hub of transport routes going northern. The British in turn constructed the port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, thus orienting Indian trade by sea routes. The silk route was already on the decline and Central and South Asia had started to drift apart. Adding to this distancing was the changing language education in both the regions. While the British introduced English, the Tsarist Empire promoted education in Russian. In the process Persian, a common language, the root of centuries-old cultural links was marginalized. As a perceptive observer noted ―More important was the fundamental change that they managed to mould into the minds of the people as a whole‖. During the Soviet period, India was among the few countries which was able to interact with Central Asian Republics. Indian films and music were extremely popular then and even now. There were exchanges of literary people, artists and people to people contacts. Impact of India on Life and Culture of Central Asia- Indian religion, social and cultural life and art had profoundly affected the life and culture of people of Central Asia. Religion: In the sphere of religion, Buddhism was very popular. Buddhism probably had taken its root in central Asia earlier than the period of the Kushana. Because of the famous Buddhist theologian Ghosaka, born in Tukharstan, attended the Buddhist council at Purusapura , convened by Kanishka. He was one of the distinguished Buddhist personalities there. During the reign of Kaniska, the Sarvastinvada sect of Buddhism was gaining ground in western Turkistan but in the other place Mahayana sect was popular. Numerous Buddhist stupas, shrines and monasteries were constructed and many images of Buddha and Bodhisattava were executed, after their Indian models. Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan and Kuchi were significant centre of Buddhism. The ruler of Kuchi and other countries in the central Asia were devout followed of Buddhism and they had adopted Indian names such as Haripuspa, Suvarnapusa etc. The counry was dotted with Buddhist monasteries where in thousand of monks lived. The monks were known as Sramana or Thera Vikshyu, there Buddhist organization were called Bikshyu Sangha. On the southern route to China, from west to east, Sarikote had ten monasteries with five hundred monks, Wusha had ten monasteries with hundred monks, Kashgar had many hundred monasteries and ten thousand monks and Khotan and over hundred monasteries with five thousand monks. The famous establishment of the Gomati Vihara was at Khotan. On the northern route to Chine fro west to east, Aqsu had about ten monasteries with nearly thousand monks. Knea was almost entirely a Buddhist city, it had royal palace looking like a monastery full of image of Buddha. Buddhism was flourished in the northern Chinese Turkistan, till about the eighteenth century. Beside the Buddhism, Brahminism was also followed by the people of Central Asia. Images of Siva Shakti, Ganesha, Kubera and Naryana have been found there. God Shiva is depicted there having four hands, three faces, seating cross legged and clothed in tight fitting vest and a tiger skin around the middle. Other Brahminical divinities that were revered and worship there were Brahma, Narayana, Indra, Ganesa , Kartikeya etc. Language and Literature In addition to the local dialects, people in central Asia were acquainted with Sanskrit and Prakrit languages. A large number of Buddhist texts, written in Sanskrit and Prakrit, as well as in local languages of central Asia, in Brahmi and Kharosthi script of Indian have been discovered there. Some of the phrases used in the prayers and worshipped by the people were almost identical with those found in Indian inscription of Kushana age. Numerous sacred texts of Buddhism were discovered in Khotan, Kucha, Gilgit and other places. A text of the Dhammapada in Pali language, another text of Udanavarga and the palm leaf manuscript from Turfan containing some portion of the drama of Sariputtaprakarana and other two drama of Asvaghosa have been discovered. Government According to ancient Khotanese tradition an Indian royal dynasties rule Khotan for fifty Six generation. Important states of Central Asia like Khotan, Baruka, Kusha, Agni Desa and Kao-Chang adopted many features of Indian monarchical government. The king adopted Indian royal; title such as Maharayasa, Rayatirayasa, Mahanuaya, Sachadhamastidasa etc. The Khotanese King used Deva with his name such as Maharaja Rajatiraja Deva Vijhita Singha. The divine element in royalty was in conception of royalty. The Ruler of Kushu and other states adopted Indian names like Vijita Simha, Haripusha, Suvarnapuisha etc. Many other people used such names like Bhima, Bangusena, Nadasena etc. The king adopted official designation such as Chara(spy), Dutyua or Dutta etc. About forty coins have been found in Khotan which bear Indian legend in Kharoshti script. This indicates the language and the script used in administration were Indian. Social-Economic Life The patriarchal family system of India was followed there. The male head of the family commanded great reverence and exercise authority over the other members of the family. He led a pious and noble life. Slavery was common practice. The dresses of the people were influence by Indian costumes. They used words for clothes, such as woolen, hem, silk, leather etc. They adopted Indian names for profession such as silpigyan(Sculptor), suranakara(gold smith) etc. The central Asian also adopted Indian system of coinage. Art Indian architecture, sculpture and painting spread all over the region of netral Asia in the early century of Christian Era. The seals with the effigies of Kuvera and Trimukha found at Niya and the painted Ganesha discovered at Endere. The close architectural resemblance between the Turkistan stupa and the corresponding stupa extant in Kabul valley and the north-west frontier region of Pakistan and the wall painting of Indian Buddhist monk in yellow robes with names written in Brahmi, discovered in the Buddhist temples at Bazaklik in the northern part of Central Asia, bear testimony to the profound influence of Indian art on the art of Central Asia. The Greeco- Buddhist art of Gandhara flourishing in the north-western frontier of India, contributed most to shape the Buddhist art of Central Asia. On the southern slope of Tien-Shan mountains, caves of thousand Buddhas were excavated and doctored with mural paintings. These were executed in the period from the seventh to tenth A.D. Some of the states in Central Asia were flourishing Indian colonies. India and Arabia New Islamic political power rose in prominence in Arabia in 8th Century. Bagdad in Arabia was at this time the centre of Muslim world. Indian culture reached Arabia directly as well as through Persia. In the beginning, Indian literature was at first translated into Persian and later on translated from Persian to Arabic. A good example of this fables known as Kalila-wa-dimna, based on Indian works the Panchatantra. Similarly, the Charaka samhita, a treatise on Indian medical science, came to be known to the Arab world through Persian court. Arab interest in Indian literature and culture was aroused directly after the Arab conquest of Sind in the beginning of 8th Century A.D. This interest and intercourse between India and Arabia became more prominent during the reign of Al-Mansur (754-775 A.D.) and Harul-ul-Rashid(786-809 A.D), the Khlaifa of Muslim world with Baghdad as their capital. Indian embassies were sent to this Khalifa. They were accompanied by Indian scholar. The Arabs learnt Indian literature and science including Mathematics and Astronomy, from these Hindu scholar. The scholar who accompanied the embassies carried with them to Arabia, many works on Astronomy and Mathematics including the Brahamasphutasiddhanta and the Khanadakhadyaka of Brahmagupta. Before the translations of Ptolemey‘s Almegest, three Indian works on astronomy were translated with the help of these Indian scholars into Arabic, the most famous of them being Barhmagupta Siddhanat, given in Arabic convenient name Sindhind, translated by Al-Fazari and Yaqub-Ibn-Tariq. Other two work from Hindu astronomy, translated into Arabic were Brahmagupta‘s Khanadakhadyaka and work of Aryabhatta. Digest and commentaries of the Siddhanta continued to be written until the 11th century in the Arab world. Hindu Mathematics left a far more lasting impression on the Arab science. The Indian scholar in Baghdad introduced in Arab the Hindu numerals, particularly the system of decimal- notation, based on the place value of the first nine numbers and use of zero. In the reign of Al- Mamun (813-870) the Arab mathematician Al-Khwarizm adopted Sanskrit numerals to Arabic orthography. An assessment on the Hindu influence on the mathematics can be made from the work of Al-Naswi(980-1040) on Indian arithmetic. Some mathematical and astronomical terms were borrowed into Arabic from Sanskrit. During the period of early Khalifas, contact with India was promoted and the Arab interest in Hindu sciences was aroused chiefly by the efforts of Barmak family, which provided ministers to the Abbasid Khalifa. The founder of the family was a Buddhist high priest of the monastery in Balkh. Though he was converted to Islam from Buddhism, he had great learning towards Indian culture. These Barmakid ministers invited Indian scholar to come Baghdad. They were employed to translate into Arabic Sanskrit works on Mathematics, Algebra, Astronomy, Medicine, Pharmacology, Toxicology and other literature. Many standard Hindu treaties on medicine, material medica and therapeutics were translated into Arabic by order of Khalifa Har-Ulul-Rashid. Such famous work such as Charaka samhita, the susruta, the nidana and the ashtanga of Banabhatta were translated in Arabic. When Indian physician name Mankh cured Har-Ulul-Rashid of chronic deases he was exceedingly delighted and appointed Mankh as the head of royal Hospital. Among the other Sanskrit work, translated into Arabic, were the ethical writings of Chanakya and the Hitopodesa, and works ranging logic to magic, catalogue by Iba-Nadim. Panchtantra was translated into Sassanid, old Persian and then from Persian version to Arabic by Ibn-Ul-Muquaffa and named Kalila-wa-dimna. The fascinating and interesting story of Sindbad, the sailor which was later on incorporated into the Arabians night was partly of Indian origin. Part on the Indian Epic Mahabharata was translated into Arabic by Abu- Salih-Ibn, Shuayb and later by Abul-Hasan-Ali-Jabali. Works dealing with the life and teachings of Buddha were translated from Pahelevi into Arabic and named as Kitab-ul-Budd, Kitab-Balawhar wa Budhasaga and Kitab-Budhasab Mufrad. Many Arabian scholars, Traveler and merchants had given an account of Indian of their period. Sulaiman, the merchant who visited India, wrote of Hindu customs like trial by Ordeal, the cremation of dead and during alive of widow. He praised Hindu proficiency in medicine, astronomy and philosophy. Abu- yed Husan-ul Sayrafi who visited India in 916 A.D showed interest in Hindu ascetics in his accounts. AL-Masud who also visited India in the 10th Century A.D given us a good account on the religious beliefs and practices of India. Hindu religious ideas influenced Islam and it led to the growth and development of Islamic mysticism or Sufism. Titus has observed that India has contributed in thought, religios imageries pf expression and pious practices of Sufism. In fine art such as music , art and architecture Indian influenced the Islami world in many aspects. Cultural links between India and the Greco-Roman world Cyrus the Great (558-530 BC) built the first universal Empire, stretching from Greece to the Indus River. This was the famous Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia. An inscription at Naqsh-i- Rustam, the tomb of his able successor Darius-I (521-486 BC), near Persipolis, records Gadara (Gandhara) along with Hindush (Hindus, Sindh) in the long list of satrapies of the Persian Empire. By about 380 BC the Persian hold on Indian regions slackened and many small local kingdoms arose. In 327 BC Alexander the Great overran the Persian Empire and located small political entities within these territories. The next year, Alexander fought a difficult battle against the Indian monarch Porus near the modern Jhelum River. East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful kingdom of Magadha, under the Nanda Dynasty. Plutarch (AD 46-120) was a Greek historian gives an interesting description of the situation: As for the Macedonian, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at arms and horsemen and elephants. Exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing another giant Indian army at the Ganges River, his army mutinied at the Hydespas (modern Beas River), refusing to march further East. Alexander left behind Greek forces which established themselves in the city of Taxila, now in Pakistan. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Seleucus was nominated as the satrap of Babylon in 320 BC. Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee from Babylon, but, supported by Ptolemy, he was able to return in 312 BC. Seleucus' later conquest includes Persia and Media. He invaded what is now Punjab in northern India and Pakistan in 305 BC. Early allusion to the Greeks in India Long before the arrival of Alexender the Great on India's north-western border, there are references in early Indian literature calling the Greeks Yavanas. Panini, an ancient Sanskrit grammarian, was acquainted with the word yavana in his composition. Katyayanaa explains the term yavanani as the script of the Yavanas. Nothing much is known about Panini‘s life, not even the century he lived in. The scholarly mainstream favours 4th century BC. It is unlikely there would have been first-hand knowledge of Greeks in Gandhara before the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 330s BC, but it is likely that the name was known via the Old Persian word yauna, so that the occurrence of yavanani taken in isolation allows for as early as 520 BC, i.e. the time of Darius the Great's conquests in India. Katyayana (3rd century BC) was Sanskrit grammarian, mathematician and Vedic priest who lived in ancient India. He explains the term yavananias the script of the Yavanas. He takes the same line as above that the Old Persian term yauna became Sanskrtised to name all Greeks. In fact, this word appears in the Mahabharata. Hellenization: The Cultural Legacy The start of the so-called Hellenistic Period is usually taken as 323 BC, the year of death of Alexander in Babylon. During the previous decade of invasion, he had conquered the whole Persian Empire, overthrowing King Darius. The conquered lands included Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia and parts of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of the steppes of central Asia, almost the entire earth known to the Greeks at that time. As Alexander marched deeper into the East, distance alone presented him with a serious problem: how was he to remain in touch with the Greek world left behind? A physical link was vital as his army drew supplies and reinforcement from Greece and, of course, Macedonia. He had to be sure he was never cut off. He thought of a unique plan. He went on planting military colonies and cities in strategic places. At those places Alexander left Greek mercenaries and Macedonian veterans who were no longer involved in active campaign. Besides keeping the supply routes open, those settlements served the purpose of dominating the countryside around them. Their military significance apart, Alexander's cities and colonies became powerful instruments in the spread of Hellenism throughout the East. Plutarch described Alexander's achievements: Having founded over 70 cities among barbarian peoples and having planted Greek magistracies in Asia, Alexander overcame its wild and savage way of life. Alexander had indeed opened the East to an enormous wave of immigration, and his successors continued his policy by inviting Greek colonists to settle in their realms. For seventy-five years after Alexander's death, Greek immigrants poured into the East. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were evident until the mid-15th century. The overall result of Alexander's settlements and those of his successors was the spread of Hellenism as far east as India. Throughout the Hellenistic period, Greeks and Easterners became familiar with and adapted themselves to each other's customs, religions, and ways of life. Although Greek culture did not entirely conquer the East, it gave the East a vehicle of expression that linked it to the West. Hellenism became a common bond among the East, peninsular Greece, and the western Mediterranean. This pre-existing cultural bond was later to prove quite valuable to Rome, itself strongly influenced by Hellenism in its efforts to impose a comparable political unity on the known world. Trade in the Hellenic World The Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties traded as far afield as India, Arabia, and sub- Saharan Africa. Overland trade with India and Arabia was conducted by caravan and was largely in the hands of Easterners. The caravan trade never dealt in bulk items or essential commodities; only luxury goods could be transported in this very expensive fashion. Once the goods reached the Hellenistic monarchies, Greek merchants took a hand in the trade. Essential to the caravan trade from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan and India were the northern route to Dura on the Euphrates River and the southern route through Arabia. The desert of Arabia may seem at first unlikely and inhospitable terrain for a line of commerce, but to the east of it lay the plateau of Iran, from which trade routes stretched to the south and still farther cast to China. Commerce from the East arrived in Egypt and at the excellent harbors of Palestine and Syria. From these ports goods flowed to Greece, Italy and Spain. The backbone of this caravan trade was the camel - shaggy, ill-tempered, but durable. Over the caravan routes travelled luxury goods that were light, rare, and expensive. In time these luxury items became more of a necessity than a luxury. In part this development was the result of an increased volume of trade. In the prosperity of the period more people could afford to buy gold, silver, ivory, precious stones, spices, and a host of other easily transportable goods. Perhaps the most prominent goods in terms of volume were tea and silk. Indeed, the trade in silk gave the major route the name "Silk Road", for not only was this route prominent in antiquity, but it was used until early modern times. In return the Greeks and Macedonians sent east manufactured goods, especially metal weapons, cloth, wine, and olive oil. Although these caravan routes can trace their origins to earlier times, they became far more prominent in the Hellenistic period. Business customs developed and became standardized, so that merchants from different nationalities communicated in a way understandable to all of them. Innovative years on the borders of India There was a succession of more than thirty Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other, from 180 BC to around AD 10. This era is known as the Indo-Greek kingdom in the pages of history. The kingdom was founded when the Greco-Bactrian King Demetrius invaded India in 180 BC, ultimately creating an entity which seceded from the powerful Greco-Bactrian kingdom centred in Bactria (today's northern Afghanistan). Since the term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely described a number of various dynastic polities, it had several capitals, but the city of Taxila in modern Pakistan was probably among the earliest seats of local Hellenic rulers, though cities like Pushkalavati and Sagala (apparently the largest of such residences) would house a number of dynasties in their times. During the two centuries of their rule, the Indo-Greek kings combined the Greek and Indian languages and symbols, as seen on their coins, and blended ancient Greek, Hindu and Buddhist religious practices, as seen in the archaeological remains of their cities and in the indications of their support of Buddhism. The Indo-Greek kings seem to have achieved a level of cultural syncretism with no equivalent in history, the consequences of which are still felt today, particularly through the diffusion and influence of Greco-Buddhist art. According to Indian sources, Greek ("Yavana") troops seem to have assisted Chandragupta Maurya in toppling the Nanda Dynasty and founding the Mauryan Empire. By around 312 BC Chandragupta had established his rule in large parts of the north-western Indian territories as well. In 303 BC, Seleucus I led an army to the Indus, where he encountered Chandragupta. Chandragupta and Seleucus finally concluded an alliance. Seleucus gave him his daughter in marriage, ceded the territories of Arachosia (modern Kandahar), Herat, Kabul and Makran. He in turn received from Chandragupta 500 war elephant which he used decisively at the Battle of Ipsus. The peace treaty, and "an intermarriage agreement" (Epigamia), meaning either a dynastic marriage or an agreement for intermarriage between Indians and Greeks was a remarkable first feat in this campaign. Megasthenes, first Greek ambassador Megasthenes (350 – 290 BC) was a Greek ethnographer in the Hellenistic period, author of the work Indica. He was born in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and became an ambassador of Seleucus I to the court of Sandrocottus, who possibly was Chandragupta Maurya in Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state), India. However the exact date of his embassy is uncertain. Scholars place it before 288 BC, the date of Chandragupta's death. At the start of the Indica, Megasthenes talks about the older Indians who knew about the prehistoric arrival of Dionysus and Hercules in India. This story was quite popular amongst the Greeks during the Alexandrian period. He describes geographical features of India, such as the Himalayas and the island of Sri Lanka. Especially important are his comments on the religions of the Indians. He mentions the devotees of Hercules (Shiva) and Dionysus (Krishna or Indra), but he does not write a word on Buddhists, something that gives ground to the theory that Buddhism was not widely spread in India before the reign of Asoka (269 BC to 232 BC). Indica served as an important source to many later writers such as Strabo and Arrian. The 1st century BC Greek historian Apollodorus, quoted by Strabo, affirms that the Bactrian Greeks, led by Demetrius I and Menander, conquered India and occupied a larger territory than the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, going beyond the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) towards the Himalayas. The Roman historian Justin also cited the Indo-Greek conquests, describing Demetrius as "King of the Indians" ("Regis Indorum"), and explaining that Eucratides in turn "put India under his rule" ("Indiam in potestatem redegit"). "India" only meant the upper Indus for Alexnder the Great. Since the appearance of Megasthenes, "India" meant to the Greeks most of the northern half of the Indian subcontinent. Greek and Indian sources tend to indicate that the Greeks campaigned as far as Pataliputra until they were forced to retreat following a coup in Bactria in 170 BC. Appearance of coins as the first landmark Based on available evidences, it appears that the notion of money was conceived by three different civilizations independently and almost simultaneously. Coins were introduced as a means to trade things of daily usage in Asia Minor, India and China in 6th century BC. Most historians agree that the first coins of world were issued by Greeks living in Lydia and Ionia (located on the western coast of modern Turkey). These first coins were globules of Electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. These were crude coins of definite weight stamped with punches issued by the local authorities in about 650 BC. Both, literary and archaeological evidence confirm that the Indians invented coinage somewhere between the 5th and 6th centuries BC. A hoard of coins discovered at Chaman Huzuri in AD 1933 contained 43 silver punch-marked coins (the earliest coins of India) mixed with Athenian (coins minted by Athens city of Greece) and Achaemenid (Persian) coins. The Bhir (Taxila in modern Pakistan) hoard discovered in AD 1924 contained 1055 punch-marked coins in very worn- out condition and two coins of Alexander in mint condition. This archaeological evidence clearly indicates that the coins were minted in India long before the 4th century BC- i.e. before Greeks advanced towards India. Panini wrote his Ashtadhyayi in the 4th or 5th century BC in which he mentioned Satamana, Nishkas, Sana, Vimastika, Karshapana and its various sub-divisions to be used in financial transactions. Thus, coins were known in ancient Indian literature from 500 BC. There is also a strong belief that silver as a metal which was not available in Vedic India (pre 600 BC). It became abundantly available by 500-600 BC. Most of the silver came from Afghanistan and Persia as a result of international trade. The first Greek coins to be minted in India, those of Menander I and Appolodotus I bear the mention "Saviour king" (Basileos Sothros), a title with high value in the Greek world. For instance, Ptolemy had been Soter (saviour) because he had helped save Rhodes from Demetrius the Besieger, and Antiochus I because he had saved Asia Minor from the Gauls. The title was also inscribed in Pali (the Kharoshthi script) as Tratarasa on the reverse of their coins. Menander and Apollodotus may indeed have been saviours to the Greek populations residing in India. Most of the coins of the Greek kings in India were bilingual, written in Greek on the front and in Pali on the back, a superb concession to another culture never before made in the Helenic world. From the reign of Apollodotus II, around 80 BC, Kharoshthi letters started to be used as mintmarks on coins in combination with Greek monograms and mintmarks. It suggested the participation of local technicians to the minting process. Incidentally, these bilingual coins of the Indo-Greeks were the key in the decipherment of the Kharoshthi script by James Prinsep (AD 1799 –1840). The coinage of the Indo-Greeks remained in fact influential for several centuries throughout the Indian subcontinent: The Indo-Greek weight and size standard for silver drachms was adopted by the contemporary Buddhist kingdom of the Kunindas in Punjab, the first attempt by an Indian kingdom to produce coins that could compare with those of the Indo-Greeks. In central India, the Satavahanas (2nd century BC- 2nd century AD) adopted the practice of representing their kings in profile, within circular legends. The direct successors of the Indo-Greeks in the northwest, the Indo-Scythians and Indo- Parthians continued displaying their kings within a legend in Greek, and on the obverse, Greek deities. To the south, the Western Kshatrapas (1st-4th century AD) represented their kings in profile with circular legends in corrupted Greek. The Kushans (1st-4th century AD) used the Greek language on their coinage until the first few years of the reign of Kanishka, whence they adopted the Bactrian language, written with the Greek script. The Guptas (4th-6th century AD), in turn imitating the Western Kshatrapas, also showed their rulers in profile, within a legend in corrupted Greek, in the coinage of their western territories. The latest use of the Greek script on coins corresponds to the rule of the Turkish Shahi of Kabul, around AD 850. Rise of Menander Menander (Milinda), originally a general of Demetrius, is probably the most successful Indo-Greek king, and the conqueror of the vastest territory. The finds of his coins are the most numerous and the most widespread of all the Indo-Greek kings. From at least the 1st century AD, the "Menander Mons", or "Mountains of Menander", came to designate the mountain chain at the extreme east of the Indian subcontinent, today's Naga Hills and Arakan, as indicated in the Ptolemy world map of the 1st century. Menander is also remembered in Buddhist literature (the Milinda Panha) as a convert to Buddhism: he became an arhat (Buddhist ascetic) whose relics were enshrined in a manner reminiscent of the Buddha. He also introduced a new coin type, with Athens Alkidemos ("Protector of the people") on the reverse, which was adopted by most of his successors in the East. Buddhism and the Indo-Greek in India It is necessary to deal with the coming of Buddhism in India as a turning point in the world of art and culture, philosophy and religion. More than all other religious faiths, the Greco-Indian approach to the new dawn across Asia and Europe was mainly due to the Buddhism during the centuries under discussion here. It is believed that Buddha never intended to set up a new religion and he never looked on his doctrine as distinct from the popular cults of the time. However questionable this view may be, his simpler followers raised his status almost to divinity during his lifetime, and after his death, worshipped him through his symbols-the stupa, recalling his parinirvana and the Bodhitree, recalling his enlightenment. According to tradition, disciples and the neighbouring rulers divided his ashes, and the recipients built stupas over them. In the third century BC, Ashoka uncovered the ashes from their original resting places and dispersed those, creating stupas all over India. The carvings on the stupas of Bharhut and Sanchi, crafted in the second and third centuries BC, show crowds of adoring worshippers leaning down towards the symbol of the Buddha. Indeed, in all the Buddhist sculpture of the period, there is no show of the Buddha himself, but displayed by such emblems as a wheel, an empty throne, a pair of footprints or a pipal tree. Rise of the Gandhara art The Gandhara Schools of art and sculpture in the lower Kabul Valley and the upper Indus around Peshawar and Mathura, both of which flourished under the Kushan kings, vie for the honour of producing the first images of the Buddha. Most Indian authorities, however, believe that the Buddha image originated at Mathura, south of Delhi. Around the time of Menander's death in 140 BC, the Central Asian Kushans overran Bactria and ended Greek rule there. Around 80 BC, the Sakas, diverted by their Parthian cousins from Iran, moved into Gandhara and other parts of Pakistan and Western India. Eventually an Indo-Parthian dynasty succeeded in taking control of Gandhara. The Parthians continued to support Greek artistic traditions. The Kushan period is considered the golden period of Gandhara. Gandharan art flourished and produced some of the best pieces of Indian sculpture. The Gandhara civilization peaked during the reign of the great Kushan King Kanishka (AD 128–151). The cities of Taxila (Takshasila) at Sirsukh and Peshawar flourished. Peshawar became the capital of a great empire stretching from Bengal, the easternmost province of India to Central Asia. Kanishka was a great patron of the Buddhist faith; Buddhism spread farther from Central Asia to the Far East, where his empire met the Han Empire of China. Gandhara became a holy land of Buddhism and attracted Chinese pilgrims to see monuments associated with many Jataka tales. In Gandhara, Mahāyāna Buddhism flourished and Buddha was represented in human form. Under the Kushans new Buddhists stupas were built and old ones were enlarged. Huge statues of the Buddha were erected in monasteries and carved into the hillsides. Kanishka also built a great tower to a height of 400 feet at Peshawar. This tower was reported by Faxian (Fa-hsien), Songyun (Sung-yun) and Xuanzang (Hsuan-tsang). This structure was destroyed and rebuilt many times until it was at last destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century AD. The earliest Hellenistic statues of the Buddha portray him in a style reminiscent of a king. Demetrius may have been deified, and the first Hellenistic statues of the Buddha we know may be representations of the idealized Greek king, princely, yet friendly, protective and open to Indian culture. As they often incorporated more Buddhist elements, they became central to the Buddhist movement, and influenced the image of the Buddha in Greco-Buddhist art. In Gandharan art, the Buddha is often shown under the protection of the Greek god Herakles, standing with his club (and later a diamond rod) resting over his arm. This unusual representation of Herakles is the same as the one on the back of Demetrius' coins, and it is exclusively associated to him (and his son Euthydemus II), seen only on the back of his coins. Deities from the Greek mythological pantheon also tend to be incorporated in Buddhist representations, displaying a strong blend. In particular, Herakles (of the type of the Demetrius coins, with club resting on the arm) has been used aplenty as the symbol of Vajrapani, the protector of the Buddha. Other Greek deities freely used in Greco-Buddhist art are view of Atlas, and the Greek wind god Boreas. Atlas in particular tends to be involved as a sustaining element in Buddhist architectural elements. Boreas became the Japanese wind god Fujin through the Greco-Buddhist Wardo. The mother deity Hariti was inspired by Tyche. Soon, the figure of the Buddha was incorporated within architectural designs, such as Corintian pillars and friezes. Scenes of the life of the Buddha are typically depicted in a Greek architectural environment, with protagonist wearing Greek clothes. Mathura art Mathura, 145 km south of Delhi, is by tradition the birthplace of Krishna, one of the two chief deities in Hindu religion. Mathura is also famous as one of the first two centres of production for images of the Buddha, the other being Gandhara. Human images of the Buddha began to appear at about the same time in both centres in the 1st Century AD but can be distinguished from one another as the Gandharan images are very clearly Greco-Roman in inspiration with the Buddha wearing wavy locks tucked up into a chignon and heavier toga-like robes. The Buddha figurines produced in Mathura more closely resemble some of the older Indian male fertility gods and have shorter, curlier hair and lighter, more translucent robes. Mathuran art and culture reached its zenith under the Kushan dynasty which had Mathura as one of their capitals, the other being Purushapura (Peshawar). The Mathura images are related to the earlier yaksa (male nature deity) figures, a likeness mostly evident in the colossal standing Buddha images of the early Kushan period. The sculptors worked for centuries in the speckled, red sandstone of the locality and the pieces carried far and wide. In these, and in the more representative seated Buddhas, the overall effect is one of enormous energy. The shoulders are broad, the chest swells, and the legs are firmly planted with feet spaced apart. Other characteristics are the shaven head; the usnisa (knob on the top of the head) indicated by a tiered spiral; a round smiling face; the right arm raised in abhaya-mudra (gesture of reassurance); the left arm akimbo or resting on the thigh; the drapery closely moulding the body and arranged in folds over the left arm, leaving the right shoulder bare; and the presence of the lion throne rather than the lotus throne. Later, the hair began to be treated as a series of short flat spirals lying close to the head, the type that came to be the standard representation throughout the Buddhist world. The female figures at Mathura, carved in high relief on the pillars and gateways of both Buddhist and Jaina monuments, are truly sensuous in their appeal. These richly bejeweled ladies, ample of hip and slender of waist, standing suggestively, are reminiscent of the dancing girls of the Indua Valley. Their gay, impulsive sensuality in the backdrop of a resurgent doctrine of piety and renunciation is an example of the remarkable tolerance of the ancient Indian outlook on life, which did not find such display of art and culture improper. These delightful nude or semi-nude figures are shown in a variety of toilet scenes or in association with trees, indicating their continuance of the yaksī (female nature deity) tradition seen also at other Buddhist sites, such as Bharhut and Sanchi. As auspicious emblems of fertility and abundance they commanded a popular appeal that persisted with the rise of Buddhism. Infusion of literature All this did not remain confined in sculptures and statues alone. They seeped into the language as well in northern India during the Greek rule. A few common Greek words were adopted in Sanskrit, such as words related to writing and warfare. Greek was still in official use until the time of Kanishka (AD 120). The Greek script was used not only on coins, but also in manuscripts and stone inscriptions as late as the period of Islamic invasions in the 7th-8th century AD. Astronomy and astrology Vedanga Jyotisha is dated to around 135 BC. It is an Indian text on Jyotisha (astrology and astronomy), compiled by Lagadha. The text is the earliest groundwork in India to the Vedanga discipline of Jyotisha. The text describes rules for tracking the motions of the sun and the moon in horoscopic astrology and advanced astronomical knowledge. Next to this compilation, one of the earliest Indian writings on astronomy and astrology, titled the Yavanajataka or "The Saying of the Greeks", is a translation from Greek to Sanskrit made by "Yavanesvara" ("Lord of the Greeks") in 149–150 AD under the rule of the Western Kshatrapa King Rudrakarman I. The Yavanajataka contains instructions on calculating astrological charts (horoscopes) from the time and place of one's birth. Astrology flourished in the Hellenstic World (particularly Alexandria) and the Yavanajataka reflects astrological techniques developed in the Greek-speaking world. Various astronomical and mathematical methods, such as the calculation of the 'horoskopos' (the zodiac sign on the eastern horizon), were used in the service of astrology. Another set of treatises, the Paulisa Siddhanta and the Romaka Siddhantas, are attributed to later Greco-Roman influence in India. The Paulisa Siddhanta has been tentatively identified with the works of Paulus Alexandrinus, who wrote a well-known astrological hand-book. Indian astronomy is widely acknowledged to be influenced by the Alexandrian school, and its technical nomenclature is essentially Greek: "The Yavanas are barbarians, yet the science of astronomy originated with them and for this they must be reverenced like gods", this is a comment in Brihat-Samhita by the mathematician Varahamihira. Several other Indian texts show appreciation for the scientific knowledge of the Yavana Greeks. Spur on Indian and Greek thought and religion The impact of the Indo-Greeks on Indian thought and religion is unknown. Scholars believe that Mahayana Buddhism as a distinct movement began around the 1st century BC in the North- western Indian subcontinent, corresponding to the time and place of Indo-Greek flowering. Intense multi-cultural influences have indeed been suggested in the appearance of Mahayana. According to Richard Foltz, "Key formative influences on the early development of the Mahayana and Pure Land movements, which became so much part of East Asian civilization, are to be sought in Buddhism's earlier encounters along the Silk Road". As Mahayana Buddhism emerged, it received influences from popular Hindu devotional cults (bhakti), Persian and Greco- Roman theologies which filtered into India from the northwest. Many of the early Mahayana theories of reality and knowledge can be related to Greek philosophical schools of thought: Mahayana Buddhism has been described as "the form of Buddhism which (regardless of how Hinduized its later forms became) seems to have originated in the Greco-Buddhist communities of India, through a conflation of the Greek Democritean- Sophistic-Skeptical tradition with the rudimentary and unformulated empirical and sceptical elements already present in early Buddhism". However, this view can hardly explain the origin of the bodhisattva ideal, already delineated in the Aagamas, which also already contained a well developed theory of selflessness (anaatman) and emptiness (shunyaata), none of these essential Mahāyāna tenets being traceable to Greek roots. Thus, India‘s relation with the Hellenistic world was resulted in the emergence of a composite culture. The influence of Greek on coinage, art and literature as well as culture indeed noticed in the north-west part of India. The Greek were succumbed to the rising power of the Roman Empire. Very soon the Roman Empire subjugated the Greeks politically; however they were culturally subjugated by the Greeks. The Roman also captured the prosperous trade link between the east and west. Thus, in the last century of Pre Christian Era and early centuries of Christian era witnessed vigorous trade relations between the Roman and the oriental world. In the subsequent periods the Roman Empire shared much cultural exchange with India. The subsequent paragraphs will discuss the Indo-Roman trade and cultural relation in the early centuries of Christian Era. Indo-Roman Relation Roman trade with India through the overland caravan routes via Anatolia and Persia, though at a relative trickle compared to later times, antedated the southern trade route via the Red Sea and monsoons which started around the beginning of the Common Era (CE) following the reign of Augustus and his conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE. The route so helped enhance trade between ancient states of India and Rome, that Roman politicians and historians are on record decrying the loss of silver and gold to buy silk to pamper Roman wives, and the southern route grew to eclipse and then totally supplant the overland trade route. So far as Indo-Roman trade is concerned during this period the scene was turned to south India instead of north-west India. Roman and Greek traders frequented the ancient Tamil and Sri Lanka, securing trade with the seafaring Tamil states of the Pandya, Chola and Chera dynasties and establishing trading settlement which secured trade with India by the Greeco-Roman World. As recorded by Strabo, Emperor Augustus of received at Antioch an ambassador from a South Indian King called Pandyan of Dramira. The country of the Pandyas, Pandi Mandala, was described as Pandyan Mediterranea in the Periplus and Modura Regia Pandyan by Ptolemy. The Seleucid dynasty controlled a developed network of trade with India which had previously existed under the influence of the Achaemenid Empire. The Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, controlling the western and northern end of other trade routes to soujthern Arabia and India, had begun to exploit trading opportunities with India prior to the Roman involvement but, according to the historian Strabo, the volume of commerce between India and Greece was not comparable to that of later Indian-Roman trade. The anonymous writer of Periplus of Erythrean Sea mentions a time when sea trade between India and Egypt did not involve direct sailings. The cargo under these situations was shipped to Aden. The Ptolemaic dynasty had developed trade with India using the Red Sea ports. With the establishment of Roman Egypt, the Romans took over and further developed the already existing trade using these ports. Prior to Roman expansion, India had established strong maritime trade with other countries. The dramatic increase in Indian ports, however, did not occur until the opening of the Red Sea by the Greeks and the Romans and the attainment of geographical knowledge concerning India‘s seasonal monsoons. In fact, the first two centuries of the Common Era indicate this increase in trade between western India and Rome. This expansion of trade was due to the comparative peace established by the Roman Empire during the time of Augustus (23 September 63 BC-19 August AD 14), which allowed for new explorations. Thus, archeologists, with evidence from artifacts and ancient literature, suggest that a significant commercial relationship existed between ancient western India and Rome. The west coast of India has been mentioned frequently in foreign literature, such as the Periplus of Erythrean Sea. The area was noted for its severe tidal currents, turbulent waves, and rocky sea-beds. Although many ships have attempted to sail outside it in order to prevent shipwrecks, many ships were still drawn inside the gulf. As a result of the difficulties, the entrance and departure of ships were dangerous for those who possessed little sea experience. The anchors of the ship would be caught by the waves and quickly cut off, which could overturn the ship or ultimately cause a wreck. Stone anchors have been observed near Bet Dwarka, an island situated in the Gulf of Kachchh, due to these frequent shipwrecks. More importantly, the number of discovered anchors and numerous artifacts suggest that Indo-Roman trade and commerce was significant during the early centuries of the Common Era. From Latin literature, Rome imported Indian tigers, rhinoceros, elephants, and serpents to use for circus shows - a method employed as entertainment to prevent riots in Rome. It has been noted in the Periplus of Erythrean Sea that Roman women also wore Indian pearls and used a supply of herbs, spices, pepper, lyceum, costus, sesame oil and sugar for food. Indigo was used as a color while cotton cloth was used as articles of clothing, Furthermore, India exported ebony for fashioned furniture in Rome. The Roman Empire also imported Indian lime, peach, and various other fruits for medicine. Western India, as a result, was the recipient of large amounts of Roman gold during this time. Since one must sail against the narrow gulfs of western India, special large boats were used and ship development was demanded. At the entrance of the gulf, large ships called trappaga and cotymba helped guide foreign vessels safely to the harbor. These ships were capable of relatively long coastal cruises, and several seals have depicted this type of ship. In each seal, parallel bands were suggested to represent the beams of the ship. In the center of the vessel is a single mast with a tripod base. Close trade relations as well as the development of ship building were supported by the discovery of several Roman coins. On these coins were depictions of two strongly constructed masted ships. Thus, these depictions of Indian ships, originating from both coins and literature (Pliny and Pluriplus), indicate India‘s development in seafaring due to the increase in Indo-Roman commerce. In addition, the silver Roman coins discovered in western India primarily come from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th centuries. These Roman coins also suggest that India possessed a stable sea borne trade with Rome during 1st and 2nd century AD. Land routes, during the time of Augustus, were also used for Indian embassies to reach Rome. There were strong Indo-Roman trade relations during the first two centuries of the Common Era. The 3rd century, however, was the demise of the Indo-Roman trade. The replacement of Greece by the Roman Empire as the administrator of the Mediterranean basin led to the strengthening of direct maritime trade with the east and the elimination of the taxes extracted previously by the middlemen of various land based trading routes. Strabo's mention of the vast increase in trade following the Roman annexation of Egypt indicates that monsoon was known and manipulated for trade in his time. By the time of Augustus up to 120 ships were setting sail every year from Myos Hormos to India. So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushana Empire (Kushans) for their own coinage, that Pliny the Elder complained about the drain of specie to India. Trade on Exotic Animals There existed an exotic animal trade between India Ocean harbours and Mediterranean harbours. The evidence of this we can find in the mosaics and frescoes of the remains of Roman villas in Italy. For example Villa del Casale has mosaics depicting the capture of exotic animals in India, Indonesia and in Africa. The intercontinental trade of exotic animals was one of the sources of richness of the owners of the villa. In the mosaic there are also numerous other animals such as a Rhinoceros, an Indian Elephant (recognized from the ears) with his Indian conductor and the Indian Peafowl, along with other exotic birds. The animals were transported in cages and loaded in a ship arrived to Alexandria harbor, all that is represented in the mosaic. Roman ports The three main Roman ports involved with eastern trade were Arsinoe, Berenice and Myos Hormos. Arsinoe was one of the early trading centers but was soon overshadowed by the more easily accessible Myos Hormos and Berenice. The Ptolemaic dynasty exploited the strategic position of Alexandria to secure trade with India. The course of trade with the east then seems to have been first through the harbor of Arsinoe, the present day Suez. The goods from the East Africa trade were landed at one of the three main Roman ports, Arsinoe, Berenice or Myos Hormos. The Romans repaired and cleared out the silted up canal from the Nile to harbor center of Arsinoe on the Red Sea. This was one of the many efforts the Roman administration had to undertake to divert as much of the trade to the maritime routes as possible. Indian ports In India, the ports of Barbaricum (Modern, Karachi), Soungoura (central Bangladesh) Barygaza, Muziris in Kerala, Korkai, Kaveripattinam and Arikamedu on the southern tip of India were the main centers of this trade, along with Kodumanal, an inland city. The Periplus of Erythrean Sea describes Greco-Roman merchants selling in Barbaricum "thin clothing, figured linens, Topaz, coral, storax, frankincense, vessels of glass, silver and gold plate, and a little wine" in exchange for Seric skins, cotton cloth, Silk yarn, and Indigo. In Barygaza, they would buy wheat, rice, sesame oil, cotton and cloth. The Rome-India trade also saw several cultural exchanges which had lasting effect for both the civilizations and others involved in the trade. The Ethiopian kingdom of Aksumwas involved in the Indian Ocean trade network and was influenced by Roman culture and Indian architecture. Traces of Indian influences are visible in Roman works of silver and ivory, or in Egyptian cotton and silk fabrics used for sale in Europe. The Indian presence in Alexandria may have influenced the culture but little is known about the manner of this influence. Clement of Alexandria mentions the Buddha in his writings and other Indian religions find mentions in other texts of the period. Christian and Jewish settlers from Rome continued to live in India long after the decline in bilateral trade. Large hoards of Roman coins have been found throughout India, and especially in the busy maritime trading centers of the south. The Tamilakkam kings reissued Roman coinage in their own name after defacing the coins in order to signify their sovereignty. Mentions of the traders are recorded in the Tamil Sangam literature of India. One such mention reads: "The beautiful warships of the Yavanas came to the prosperous and beautiful Muchiri (Muziris) breaking the white foams of Chulli, the big river, and returned with 'curry' (kari, the black pepper) paying for it in gold.(from poem no. 149 of 'Akananuru' of Sangam Literature)" Following the Roman Persian War, the areas under the Roman Byzantine Empire were captured by Khosrow-II of the Persian Sassanian Dynasty, but the Byzantine emperor Heraclius reconquered them (628). The Arabs, led by Amr-ibn-al-As, crossed into Egypt in late 639 or early 640 CE. This advance marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the fall of ports such as Alexandria, used to secure trade with India by the Roman world since the Ptolemaic dynasty. The decline in trade saw the Ancient Tamil Country turn to South East Asia for international trade, where it influenced the native culture to a greater degree than the impressions made on Rome. However, knowledge of India and its trade was preserved in Byzantine books and it is likely that the court of the emperor still maintained some form of diplomatic relation to India up until at least the time of Constatine VII, seeking an ally against the rising influence of the Islamic states in the Middle East and Persia, appearing in a work on ceremonies called De Ceremonies. The Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the 15th century (1453), marking the beginning of Turkish control over the most direct trade routes between Europe and Asia. The Ottomans initially cut off eastern trade with Europe, leading in turn to the attempt by Europeans to find a sea route around Africa, spurring the Age of Discovery, and the eventual rise of Mercantilism and Colonialism. Summary From prehistoric days, India had trade and cultural relations with West Asia, Rome, China and Southeast Asia. India sent its traders and missionaries to these regions and in some places these persons also settled. During the reign of Darius the Great of Persia, Greece and India had their earliest contact in about 510 BCE. For several millennia India has interacted with the Central Asian region; Afghanistan, Central Asia and Xinjiang. Trade was the motivating factor throughout history and with trade cum cultural interaction. It was not a mechanical transmission of cultural values from one people to another, it was a creative process in which cultural achievements were further refined before they were passed on. Indian religion, social and cultural life and art had profoundly affected the life and culture of people of Central Asia in the sphere of Art, Culture and Religion. Indian culture reached Arabia directly as well as through Persia. The start of the so-called Hellenistic Period is usually taken as 323 BC, the year of death of Alexander in Babylon. During the previous decade of invasion, he had conquered the whole Persian Empire, overthrowing King Darius. He opened large number of colonies on the route through which he reached India and Alexander had indeed opened the East to an enormous wave of immigration, and his successors continued his policy by inviting Greek colonists to settle in their realms. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were evident until the mid-15th century. India‘s links with West Asia, by land as well as sea routes, goes back to very ancient times. These ties between the two culture zones (the idea of nations had not yet developed) became particularly close with the rise and spread of Islamic civilization in West Asia. About the economic aspects of this relationship, we have from about mid-ninth century AD a number of accounts by Arab and other travellers, such as Sulaiman, the Merchant, Al- Masudi, Ibn Hauqal, Al Idrisi, etc, which attest to a flourishing commercial exchange between these areas. Evidence for a very active interaction in the cultural sphere, however, goes back to the eighth century and earlier. The Indians learnt many new things from the foreigners for examples minting of gold coins from the people of Greece and Rome. They learnt the art of making silk from China. They learnt how to grow betel from Indonesia. They established trade contact with the foreigners. The art and culture of the various countries got itself reflected over the Indian culture as well as get reflected in the other countries also. Exercise Write short notes: Hellenisation, India in Central Asia, Puhar, Periplus of Erithrean Sea. Trace the cultural contacts between India and Arab World. Write a short note on Indo-Roman Trade. Give an account of the spread of Indian culture in East Asia. Assess the impact of Indian cultural influence in other parts of Asia. Write an essay on the significance of Hellenistic influence in India. Suggested Readings Chakravarti, Ranabir: Merchants, Merchandise & Merchantmen, in: Prakash, Om (ed.): The Trading World of the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800 (History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, ed. by D.P. Chattopadhyaya, vol. III, 7), Pearson, Delhi, 2012, pp. 53- 116. Chaudhuri, Kirti N.: Trade and Civilisation in the Indian Ocean, CUP, Cambridge, 1985. Malekandathil, Pius: Maritime India: Trade, Religion and Polity in the Indian Ocean, Primus Books, Delhi, 2010. McPherson, Kenneth: The early Maritime Trade of the Indian Ocean, in: ib.: The Indian Ocean: A History of People and The Sea, OUP, 1993, pp. 16-75. Christie, J.W., 1995, State formation In early Maritime Southeast Asia, BTLV Christie, J.W., 1999, The Banigrama in the Indian Ocean and the Java sea during the early Asian trade boom, Communarute‘s maritimes de l‘ocean indien, Brepols De Casparis, J.G., 1983, India and Maritime Southeast Asia: A lasting Relationship, Third Sri Lanka Endowment Fund Lecture. Hall, K.R., 1985, Maritime Trade and State development in early Southeast Asia, Honolulu.Walters, O.W., 1967, Early Indonesian Commerce, Ithaca. *************** 1