India’s Golden Age The Gupta Empire existed from circa 320–535 C.E. and was located on the Indian Subcontinent, with the Ganges as the core area. The time period of the Gupta Empire is often referred to as India’s Golden Age, and a classical age, because during this time there were considerable inventions and discoveries in the elements that shaped the Hindu culture. This essay will analyse the different aspects that caused this Golden Age in India and the impacts these causes had on the neighbouring societies of the Gupta Empire. This analysis will be supported by three academic sources, and the middle part of this essay will be divided in three different subjects: Expansion and Politics, Economic Expansion, and Religion. In his Journal …show more content…
H. Ingalls states that the Gupta Empire is distinguished from other dynasties of India because they “brought about a revival of native Indian power after a long period of foreign dominance.” (15). After about half a millennium, the Guptas created the first native Indian government in northern India. The origin of the Gupta Empire started with Chandragupta I in the lower Doab region, the lower area between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers. During that time, the Licchavis ruled over the Magadha region, and because Chandragupta I married a Licchavi princess, he was able to expand the Gupta Empire with the Magadha region. After his death in 350 C.E., his son Samudragupta became his successor. Samudragupta conquered a lot of land, mostly southward, but he only annexed his close neighbours, not the lands that were further away, because he was considered a chakravartin, an ideal universal ruler, and chakravartins were not supposed to rule outer regions of the earth directly (Ingalls 16). Chandragupta II, Samudragupta’s son and successor, conquered the western part of India. He conquered this land by marrying the daughter of the master of the Vindhya hills, and this led …show more content…
Thanks to the spread of rice paddies in southern Asia, the food production increased. And even though a large part of the harvest was taken away by raiders or tax collectors, more food lead to more people. Because of the increased production, and the increase in population, there was more work. The expansion of the rice paddies could not take place if it weren’t for the transformation of great blocks of tropical forest into these paddies. This meant that Indian rice farmers intruded on the land of various forest peoples that lived near their paddies. As a result, there were more resources for the respective ruling classes. Through the ports on the east coast, northern India was able to trade with South-East Asia. Trading with the Mediterranean region and Western Asia happened from the west coast. Apart from the maritime trade, the Gupta Empire also knew and used some inland routes that connected them with China. Though, the inter-oceanic trade was the most important event in the economic history of East and South-East Asia. Because of the inter-oceanic trade, the Gupta Empire had more influence on South-East Asia. This trade led to Indian settlements there and created an Indian influence that permeated the local pattern of life, particularly in Thailand, Cambodia and Java (Chakrabarti 196). India mostly exported spices like pepper and cinnamon,
In the Background Essay Q’s, Doc B, Box 1, it mentions Hinduism. Doc A box 3 mentions confucianism. Rome worships christianity. Hinduism is technically Buddhism. These reasons explain that trade was never JUST physical items, but ideas and beliefs as well. The Silk Road made sure if you didn’t trade items you can hold, then you can trade items you can cherish. Finally, in the western civilizations (Rome), was accessed by boat. Boats could carry a ton more items and it was less of a walk for the merchants/traders. However, the Silk Road did lead a small backup path up north of Parthia. Around 27 B.C.E., the Roman Empire had only begun, but the silk road had been a thing for a very long time before that. About 3,073 years to be close to proximity. This took trade across seas! This was also how the Silk Road was Forgotten...boat travel became popular, less expensive, and easier to carry bigger loads.On Doc A, the map shows a series of dashes across the Mediterranean Sea. This represents the route to Rome by boat. Also on Doc A, the dashes on the backup path lead from east of India, to the north of the Caspian Sea, then south to Rome. Also, the timeline says 27 B.C.E.- Roman Empire begins. This time subtracted from 4000 B.C.E- Silk Cultivation in China, is about 3,073
As new ideas traveled main trade routes, such as the Silk Road and the Mediterranean, the effects of such were felt through an influx of contact between countries due to increased desire for new information and countries gaining a larger presence on the world stage. This phenomenon can also be seen through the lens of cultural exchange that took place during this same time period in Eurasia. A major component of the Eurasian trade networks, such as the Silk Road and Indian Ocean, was that they fostered interregional contacts that had ceased to previously exist. When a country had a desire for study or technology, they earned more respect on the global stage. This can be further examined by looking at Marco Polo’s voyage into Asia.
Across the Indian Ocean, from 650- 1750 C.E., commerce had many changes and continuities. Trade along this route stayed the same with its spread of goods from one place to another, but changed because of the ways goods were traded along this trade route. Ships were still the main mode of transportation however they were made differently. However, countries that traded in the Indian Ocean expanded while African countries still traded heavily. The Islamic Empire and some European counties controlled much of the trade.
After Europeans arrived in East Asia via the Indian Ocean, trade in the Far East changed dramatically moving towards a globalized economy. Between 1450 (39 years before the arrival of Vasco Da Gama) until 1750, the levels of trade in Asia reached a new peak; initial changes came in the form of the addition of new goods; and the eventual addition of colonization into the Indian Ocean Trade Network ultimately turned traditional “trade” into imperial relations. However, the importance of raw materials and the main Asian groups involved in the Indian Ocean trade network largely remained constant after European exposure until the start of British Imperial rule of India. Throughout these three centuries, economic superpowers rose and fell, leadership changed, and cultural exchange was highly prevalent, but the general philosophies, and religions of the societies involved in trade remained intact, resulting in far more positive interaction than in the New World.
There were many things that were continuities in the Indian Ocean Basin. One major continuity in the commerce of the Indian Ocean Basin was the emergence and use of the same trade routes for both imports and exports of goods. Another continuity was the goods being traded during this time period. The goods being traded included gold, ivory, and iron. These were major exports from Africa due to the profit that came from exporting these materials. Also, the way that the traders traveled was tradition. The sailors on the trade routes used the monsoon winds to help sail their ships.
First of all, the goods in the commerce in the Indian Ocean region were almost the same. Ships with a huge number of spices set the sailing from India. Vessels with mountains of gold and silvers from Africa went through the Indian Ocean. China sent ships to the Indian Ocean, starting the Maritime Silk Road, spreading the delicate silk to the kings in the states surrounding the Indian Ocean. Thanks to the Indian Ocean Trade, different people were able to experience various goods in different places. However, changes still occur. Following the European exploration, the European goods also participated in the commerce in the Indian Ocean, though the European traders usually played the role of colonizers and exploiters.
Culture can be defined as the practises and beliefs that are particularly native to one region. Culture can be shaped by geographic features, government, and society as a whole. A golden age is when a society or culture has reached a height of intelligence and industrialism. This essay will address the Han and Gupta empires and their culture and golden age.
1.) As a whole, the entry of the Europeans into the Asian sea trading network had relatively little effect on the entire system. The entry of the Europeans into the network led to the establishment of new trade routes in the Indian Ocean to the southern Atlantic near the Cape of Good Hope. In water, the Europeans were superior militarily, but on land against fortified Asian settlements, the Asians far surpassed the Europeans technologically. The only superior items that the Europeans had were small, fast sea vessels such as caravels, clocks, and weaponry.
Trade in the Indian Ocean region facilitated the spread of goods, technology, and ideas; the span of Indian Ocean trade reached from Southeast Africa and across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, including Southwest Asia, India, and China along the way. From 650 C.E. to 1750 C.E., commerce in the Indian Ocean region changed in terms of who was involved and the technology that was developed, but the items traded remained the same.
The Mauryan Empire was a very intriguing empire, with rulers of different beliefs and ways of ruling, as well as antithetical ways that the rulers gained and maintained their power. Important events occurred during this period of time that affected future generations. The Empire’s people mainly had a Buddhist religion. The people of the Mauryan Empire contributed greatly to the fields of art, and architecture. The Mauryan Empire was very important to India’s way of life.
A society that is often overlooked that has made great achievements and who has had a significant impact on modern day society is nonetheless, India and ancient Indian civilization. After the fall of the Gupta Empire in 480, small kingdoms throughout the region, which was invaded by the Turks and Mongols, but was not conquered, would rule India. The northern parts of India frequently were raided and invaded by the Turks, all the way from Afghanistan to Central Asia. Muslim Turks decided to rule a state in north India called the Delhi sultanate, which was ruled for several centuries, and in the mean time Islam gained its adherents throughout the southern regions of Asia. Hinduism continued to flourish throughout the nation, while Buddhism went into a deep decline, and Islam would begin to convert many of its people. The encounters that the ancient Indian people had to endure with the Turks, Mongols, and Islam have had the most memorable impact and impression on Indian culture and other societies throughout the east.
The influence of trading between Europe, Africa, and Asia and the influence of exploration in these countries is extremely extensive and still a big part of the world of trading today. The first question to the prompt asks, “Who traded with who? Why?”. Asia mainly traded around the east African coast and in India, the merchants who traded with these countries traveled by sea, so this was the most logical way to get to where they needed to go. They also had a guidebook called the Periplus which was written by an unknown merchant in Egypt, this guidebook told the people where to go, what to do when it came to the trading, and who they traded with. In Africa, they mainly traded with the Mediterranean’s and the slave owners in Mali. Furthermore,
Pandey, T. N., 2014. Lecture 1/9/14: Culture of India: Aryan and Indigenous Population. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz.
2 Stein, Burton (2001), A History of India, New Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xiv, 432,
dominant power in India. The military campaigns of Robert Clive and the administrative enterprise of Warren