Historical Development of South Asia

There is abundant evidence that man has been in continuous occupation of South Asia since the Middle Pleistocene period (several hun­dred thousand years ago) of geological history, although beginnings of mature ur­ban civilization may be traced to the Indus Valley culture in the third millennium B.C. This civilization persisted for about 1,000 years and covered an area of over half a million sq. miles stretching from Baluchistan in Pakistan to the Ganga Ba­sin, northeast of modern Delhi and south to southwest Maharashtra in India.

Re­markably uniform in several cultural traits (agricultural products, inscriptions on seals, figurines and artifacts of presumably religious significance), the Indus Valley culture region was an urban and commer­cial civilization. Internal communication links were developed mainly along the river.

Trading connections with the out­side world were established through several ports on the Arabian Sea. Cities were supported by a vast agricultural base in the fertile river basins. Between 2500 and 1700 B.C. the agri­cultural settlements and the associated urban economic structure of this civilization dominated the Indus Basin. As external commercial contacts developed, the civilization diffused to the Ganga Basin and parts of western India. For reasons not properly understood, this urban civiliza­tion declined quite suddenly by 1500 B.C.

Geological and ecological factors, such as changes in river courses, salinization and water-logging of soils, expansion of desert, and climatic changes which made the area physically inhospitable, have been advanced for its nearly complete disappearance. An­other theory is that the civilization fell victim to invading Aryans.

Despite its impressive development, the Indus Valley Civilization left no endur­ing mark on Indian civilization. It is significant to note that contemporary In­dian culture stems largely from the confluences of three major streams of tradi­tion: the establishment of Hindu thought starting with the Indo-Aryans but devel­oped, refined and greatly transformed subsequently, the Indo-Islamic synthesis, and the host of alien ideas brought by the British.

The establishment of Hindu tradition starts with the Indo-Aryans. Little is known about them. Linguistic and literary evidence, however, points to their unmis­takable links with the Indo-Europeans as well as to the fact that they came from the northwest, the direction of the Iranian Pla­teau, in successive waves between 2000 and 600 B.C.

Early Aryan literature known as the Vedas, as well as the contemporary Ira­nian Avesta, attests to such migrations although precise source-regions and timing are still obscure. Most scholars favor the idea that the migrations originated in Cen­tral Asia. They were probably a part of the great and complex folk movements which brought ancient Persians into Iran and Greeks into Greece.

The early Aryans were nomadic pastoralists. As they moved into the north Indian plains and finally penetrated into southern India, they gradually cleared the forests and estab­lished agrarian communities. During the 6th century B.C., two sects, Buddhism and Jainism, stood up against the ritualistic and polytheistic forms which had crept into society. Each also struck against the entrenched caste system within society. In this last effort they ultimately failed, for most partici­pants in the system clung to the norms of Hinduism.

In 326 B.C. Alexander of Greece in­vaded northwestern India through the passes from Afghanistan. He could not ad­vance beyond the Beas River in present-day Punjab. His fleeting stay and sudden departure left few marks on Indian society. Shortly thereafter, the Mauryan kings (321-150 B.C.) consolidated the vari­ous tribes in northern and northwestern India into a large unified empire which in times covered all of the subcontinent. Their administration centered on a bu­reaucracy headed by the emperor.

The imperial system was sustained financially by the income derived from land taxes, in­ternal commerce and foreign trade. Cities flourished and were connected by a well- developed system of highways. Artisans formed a major section of the urban popu­lation. The state maintained a large standing army.

After a lapse of several centuries, large sections of the country, at least in north and central India, which had disintegrated into several principalities, were united by the Gupta Kings who attempted to revive the imperial idea of a Chakravartin (Su­preme Ruler) of a pan-Indian empire.

In addition to its military glories, the Gupta Age (320-540 A.D.) achieved notable suc­cesses in artistic and humanistic spheres and is often acclaimed as the Classical Age of India. Peninsula India over the centu­ries developed its own linguistic, philosophic, and cultural traditions. Only rarely did the military arm of the north In­dian emperors interfere in the political and administrative affairs of the south.

By the 8th century, Islam was firmly rooted in Arabia and Iran, and started to encroach upon the lower Indus Basin. Un­til the 10th century Islamic invasions of northwestern parts of the subcontinent were sporadic, but during succeeding cen­turies the petty, warring Hindu principalities could no longer withstand their onslaughts. Islam finally came to South Asia, but not mainly from Central Asia, rather than from its Arabian home­land. By the 10th century the Turks had begun penetration from the northwest, from present-day Afghanistan and Paki­stan, through the several passes in the area.

The establishment of Mughal rule in India in 1526 A.D. opened a new and long chapter of Islamic factor in Indian history. Originally natives of Central Asia, the Mughals established a vast empire encom­passing not only the northern part of India, but during its greatest extension, al­most all of south India as well. Gradually they intermarried with the natives and were, to a degree, assimilated into society. Under them India became one of the world’s richest and most powerful coun­tries, with which Persia, Turkey and several European nations sought friendly relations and commercial links.

The Mughal rulers were patrons of ar­chitecture, art and literature. They introduced a new court language, Urdu which arose out of an interaction of Hindi (the existing language) and Persian brought by them. More importantly, the final out­come of the Muslim interaction with the Indian society was the ongoing develop­ment of a distinctive Indian civilization in which Muslims became a significant ele­ment in Indian national life, although Hindus remained a primary and dominant factor in a plural society.

The Europeans arrived in South Asia in search of profitable trade in spices, gems and textiles. After passing through stages of intrigue and rivalry with the other European companies, the British East India Company had emerged victorious as the single most important force in the country by 1750. The company successfully inter­ceded in the internal affairs of the weak rulers of Bengal and swiftly gained a stronghold in the lower Ganga plain, as well as controlling the strategic ports of Chennai and Mumbai.

Between 1757 and 1803 British su­premacy was consolidated in the Indus- Ganga plains and the coastal areas, and was eventually extended to the entire subconti­nent. Although most of the country had fallen to British control, within the British occupied territories lay over 572 states which were internally administered by na­tive princes.

The British not only controlled the external affairs of these states, but also their internal security. By the establishment of military stations (known as “cantonments”) at key loca­tions and by the institution of grants and favors to the rulers, the Crown was able to control the princely states, but after peri­ods of political disorder, and in the absence of a male heir to the princely throne, it an­nexed many princely territories into British India.

An elite class of English-educated Indi­ans emerged during British rule. Trained in the British system of jurisprudence, justice, and equality, these young men started agi­tation for participation of Indians in the administration and formed the Indian Na­tional Congress in 1885.

Later, their objectives changed from mere legislative participation to complete independence and a long and strenuous struggle to achieve that objective began. The Indian National Congress, which had mobilized a broadly based nationalist support, felt hampered in dealing with the British by it­self.

In 1940 the Muslim leadership opted for a separate independent “homeland” for the Muslims to be named Pakistan and to be carved out of the subcontinent. Two in­dependent nations were thus created out of the subcontinent in 1947, principally ac­cording to the geographical concentrations of Muslims and non-Muslims in the sub­continent.

The initial years of independence were full of turmoil for both countries. Even before the partitioning of the sub­continent, Hindu-Muslim riots had erupted in those areas which were likely to be divided between the countries, notably Punjab in the west, and Bengal in the east.

Over 12 million persons, Hindus Sikhs, and Muslims left their ancestral homes and migrated to areas of their religious affili­ations across the newly created international borders. Over a million per­ished in the tragic events of the partitioning of the subcontinent. The new borders posed other problems as well.

The international boundary of the new coun­tries had little regard for established networks of railroads and irrigation canals, or for the linkages between manufacturing areas and the areas that supplied them. Fortunately, well-trained Indian and Paki­stani officers quickly brought civil order to the two new countries.

The preceding overview of the history of Indian civilization points out that a re­current pattern of territorial instability and development of sub-regionalism in the subcontinent has been a major theme of Indian historical geography. The cherished dream of establishing a pan-Indian empire was accomplished only a few times, most notably under Ashoka, Aurangzeb, and more recently during the British period.