India's Impact on Southeast Asia

India's Impact on Southeast Asia

Causes and Consequences: The transmission of Indian culture of distant parts of Central Asia, China, Japan, and especially Southeast Asia is certainly one of the greatest achievements of Indian history or even of the history of mankind. None of the other great civilizations - not even the Hellenic - had been able to achieve a similar success without military conquest. In this brief survey of India's history, there is no room for an adequate discussion of the development of the 'Indianised' states of Southeast Asia which can boast of such magnificent temple cities as Pagan (Burma; constructed from 1044 to 1287 AD,) Angkor (Combodia; constructed from 889 to c. 1300 AD), and the Borobudur (Java, early ninth century AD). Though they were influenced by Indian culture, they are nevertheless part and parcel of the history of those respective countries. Here we will limit our observations to some fundamental problems oncerning the transmission of Indian culture to the vast region of Sotheast Asia.

Who Spread Indian Culture in Southeast Asia ? 
Historians have formulated several theories regarding the transmission of Indian culture of Southeast Asia :
    (1) the 'Kshatriya' theory; 
    (2) the 'Vaishya' theory;
    (3) the 'Brahmin' theory.

The Kshatriya theory states that Indian warriors colonized Southeast Asia; this proposition has now been rejected by most scholars although it was very prominent some time ago. 

THE ARAB CONQUEST

THE ARAB CONQUEST

The establishment of Arab rule in Sind in 712 A.D. was preceded by a number of efforts to penetrate India. The first military expedition was sent to Tahan near Bombay in 637. More were sent in the coming years against Broach and Debal. The view that the Arbas indeed were not interested in territorial acquisition till the ruler of Sind in 700 A.D. provoked them, is not accepted by the book 'A Comprehensive History of India'. This book relies on the authority of baladhuri, who is regarded as the most reliable authority on the subject. Accroding to the book, the Arabs made systematic inroads on the three kingdoms of Kabul, Zabul and Sind. Very often the first two were united in resisting the aggression of the Arabs. Baladhuri says that after 650 A.D. the Arabs entered India. One more expedition was sent by the Caliphate of Ali to conquer Kabul but was frusterated. Another attempt was made in 698 A.D., which was still less successful.

CHALUKYAS OF BADAMI-RELIGION & ART

CHALUKYAS OF BADAMI-RELIGION & ART

Regarding religion, the Chalukya kings were Hindu brahmins but they respected other faiths too. The Chinese traveler noticed more than one hunred Buddhist monasteries. Buddhism was on the decline although Hieun-Tsang opined that it was popular. Jainsim enjoyed royal patronage. Buddism gradually gave way to Jainism and Brahminis. Sacrifices were given great importance and many treaties were written on them. The king himself performed a number of sacrifices including Asvamedha and Vajpeya. Despite this stress on the orthodox form of Hindu religion, the Puranic version grew popular. It was this popularity that gave momentum to the bulding of temples in honour of Vishnu. Shiva and other gods.

CHALUKYAS OF BADAMI

CHALUKYAS OF BADAMI OR EARLY/WESTERN CHALUKYAS

"Telephone Director" is the epithet used by a Chinese scholar to summarise the nature of the history of India. To any syperficial observer this striking epithet betrays weaknesses of India historical material, and in particular the meager date relating to dynasties like the western Chalykyas. But truly speaking the variegated nature of Indian history is more occasioned by the vastness of the country than anyting else. Besides, the essential harmony and the subtlecontinuity of Indian history are overlooked because of non-appreciation of its underlying currents.

PALLAVA ART

PALLAVA ART

Four distinct stages of architecture can be gleaned from the Pallava temples. The first is the Mahendra style. The influence of the cave style of architecture is to be seen in an ancient pillar engraved in the Ekambaranatha (Kanchipuram) temple. The second is the Mamalla style. The seven Pagodas are small temples, each of which is hewn out of a single rock boulder.

PALLAVA ADMINISTRATION

PALLAVA ADMINISTRATION

Kingship was attributed to define origin. The kings claimed their descent from the God Brahma. It has hereditary. Yet, on one occasion a king was elected. Most of the kings were accomplished scholars. Mahendravarman I wrote the famous burlesque, Masttavilasa Prahsana. Many of the vaishnava alvars and saiva nayanars flourished during their rule.

The kings adopted high-sounding titles like maharajadhiraja, dharma-maharjadhiraja (great king of kings rulling in accordance with the dharma), agnistomavajpeya, asvamedha-yaji (he who has performed the agnithtoma-vajapeya and asvamedha sacrifices) They were assisted by ministers. History shows that the ministerial council played a great part in the state policy in the later period

PALLAVA SOCIETY

PALLAVA SOCIETY

 The Pallavas political history covering four centuries is tortous and complex but their contribution to society is singnificant in two ways - comletion of Aryanisation of southern India, and consmation of traditional or indigenous art.

The Aryanisation of south India as completed during the period of the Pallavas. Their grants show that the Aryan structure of society has gained frim hold on the south by the sixth century. Grants to brahmins are specifically mentioned which show that the north Indian Dharma Sastras had acquired authority in the Pallava kingdom. Sanskrit had established its sway. The university of Kanchi played to doubt a great part in India, and we know from Hiuen-Tsang that it was the greatest center of education in the south.

NOTE ON CHALUKYA-PALLAVA CONFLICT

NOTE ON CHALUKYA-PALLAVA CONFLICT

The Chalukya-Pallava war began with Pulkasin II and ended with the collapse of both the dynasties singnificantly, the power that rose thereafter, the Rushtrakutas and the cholas, continued the same sort of struggle. This was because the Chalukya-Pallava struggled was to a great extent determined by the geographical loation of the Chalukya and Pallava kingdoms.

After the first bout was over, the Pallavas agenged their defeat during the days of Narasimhavarman I. He captured the lost territories . In thie he was assisted by the king of Ceylon. He entered the capital of Bademi in 642 A.D. and assumed the title of Vatapikonda, that is, the conqueror or Vatapi

POLITICAL HISTORY OF PALLAVAS

POLITICAL HISTORY of PALLAVAS

               The first important ruler was Siva Skandavarman who performed an Aswamedha and other Vedic sacrifices. His capital was kanchi. Samudragupta forced the pallava king, Vishnugopa, to acknowledge the Gupta suzerainty. And the story of the Pallavas in the 5th and 6th centuries is very sketchy.

By end of the sixth century the Pallavas re-emerged on the scene. Simhavishnu (575 to 600 A.D.) captured the territory of the Cholas and humbled the pride of his neighbours including Ceylon. He was ovavaishnava faith as borne out by the magnificent reliefs representing Simhavishnu and two of his consorts in the Varsha cave at Mamallpuram.

: Revision of Emoluments of University Grants Commission JRF/SRF Research Scholar

UNIVERSITY OF KERALA

No.432/11/II/Ac.EIV                                       Dated:    19.01.2011

C I R C U L A R

Sub: Revision of Emoluments of University Grants Commission

JRF/SRF Research Scholars – Intimated – reg.

Ref: Letter No.F.19-1/2002 (SA-I/Policy) dated 27

th

 December,

2010 from the Under Secretary (SA-I)/UGC, New Delhi – 1.

 Revision of Emoluments for University Grants Commission Junior

Research Fellow (JRF)/Senior Research Fellow (SRF) candidates who

qualify NET/UGC –CSIR only has been decided upon by the (Selection

&Awards Bureau), University Grants Commission, New Delhi – 1 vide

its Letter No.F.No.19-1/2002 (SA-I) /Policy) dated 27 December 2010

which is appended.

 The contents of the above Circular shall be brought to the

notice of all concerned.

Neo-colonialism

Neo-colonialism

Since the end of the 1990s has been developing an international campaign for debt relief for poor countries, especially Africa.

This kind of action has been gaining adherents and is a sign that global poverty even bother to point to the rich countries to seek solutions to it.

We must remember, however, that the origin of poverty, which condemns to death millions of people around the world, is the intense exploitation perpetrated by world powers for centuries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This process is known as imperialism.

The new European issues

In the nineteenth century for many European countries have colonies meant to have easy and cheap access to raw materials and energy sources for industry such as iron, coal and oil. It also meant building the consumer markets for products manufactured in Europe.

Opium War

Opium War

Until the late eighteenth century, Europeans were only allowed to negotiate with China through the port of Canton. The Chinese, who considered their country self-sufficient, they showed little interest in foreign goods, in exchange for its exports of porcelain, silk and tea. Moreover, the trade could not be done directly with the Chinese population. Should be mediated by special officials, which set quotas and prices of goods.

INDIAN CRISTIANS AND INM

INDIAN CHRISTIANS AND THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT

There are many Hindutva ideologues and organisations that accuse the Christians in India that they did not participate in the freedom struggle. M.S. Golwalkar (1906-1973) who was the leader of the RSS for more than three decades, says in his Bunch of Thoughts (1966,1996) that Christians in India are not merely irreligious but also anti-nationals and internal threats to the security of the nation. He alleges that the Christians, in general, kept themselves aloof from the freedom struggle. In fact, they were on the side of the British who belonged to their own faith. The British in turn helped the Christian missionaries to materialise their ‘agenda’.

Arun Shourie, a prominent BJP leader who was a Cabinet Minister in the former BJP-led NDA government, states in his Missionaries in India (1994) a view similar to that of Golwalkar. Shourie says: “For over a hundred years thus missionary activity was interwoven with, and inextricably tied up with British imperial control of India: that the missionaries – even those of Indian origin – did not join the Independence Movement was not an accident”.