South Asia: Creating Dilemmas of Diversity - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 161

The Mauryan Empire is regarded as the first expres-
sion of the political notion of a state on the subcontinent.
It was highly centralized, and many economic activities
such as mining and land clearance were state monopo-
lies. The fact that death was imposed for defrauding rev-
enues or killing an elephant (a capital asset) suggests
that justice was harsh.
The most memorable Mauryan ruler was Asoka ,
who ruled from about 268 to 233 BC, the first fairly
well-documented period in Indian history . Asoka is
remembered not only because of the size of his em-
pire, but also because he adopted Buddhism as the
state religion. He sent Buddhist missionaries, includ-
ing his own son and daughter, to Sri Lanka. Asoka be-
came a vegetarian. However, meat, including beef, was
still available in the markets. The cow was not yet
considered sacred. Asoka established hospitals, ani-
mal shelters, wells, and water tanks. His ruling princi-
ples and moral doctrines were inscribed on rocks and
sandstone pillars around the country . The capital of
the 40-foot (12 m) pillar of Samath, Gujarat, is a mag-
nificent carving of four back-to-back lions. This offi-
cial seal of Asoka was later adopted as India' s national
emblem.

shadow blacking out the Earth. And all this was deter-
mined in India at least 1,500 years ago!
Fa-hsien , the first of three great Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims to visit India, journeyed from China to India
and Sri Lanka (399-412). He recorded that although
the Gupta kings were Hindus, Buddhism flourished
in the countryside. He commented on the well-being of
the people and the fairness of the justice system. “Even
those who plot treason only have their right hands cut
off.” He also noted that when certain people appeared,
pieces of wood were struck to ensure avoidance of their
evil presence. Fa-hsien had witnessed the caste system
in action.

India's Middle Ages

North India was the focal point of Indian history until
the beginning of the sixth century AD. Then, regional
kingdoms became dominant, only to be reabsorbed after
being toppled by more powerful ones. During this pe-
riod, central and southern India rose into prominence,
and events occurred that would alter the geography of
the entire Asian region. Y ou will learn about Indian ex-
ploits in Southeast Asia in later chapters.
The Chinese pilgrim Hsuan-tsang spent 13 years in
India (630-643) and reported to the domain of King
Harsha , whose empire spread from the Punjab to Orissa
and as far south as the Narmada River. Harsha was the
last north Indian ruler to encroach south to the Narmada
for 600 years. When Hsuan-tsang returned to China, he
brought 20 horses carrying 657 Buddhist texts and 150
relics. He personally translated 74 of these texts, further-
ing the spread of Buddhism in China.
Harsha brought attention to influential western
tribes such as the Rajputs of Rajasthan, who had settled
around Jodpur. As kshatriyas , the Rajputs were highly
militarized and exalted chivalry (Figure 6-8). They were
also noted for their patronage of the arts, including the
construction of the famous temples of Khajuraho.
The Rajputs honored and protected women and
even educated some. At the same time they promoted
child marriage and female infanticide. Being married
to a military chief was a dangerous affair because
wives were expected to die with their husbands on or
off the battlefield. Sati, being burned alive on a hus-
band' s funeral pyre, was enforced. A low-class wife had
the option of having her head shaved by a male un-
touchable, eating one meal a day , and enduring the
degradation of widowhood. These practices diffused
throughout India.

THE GUPTAS AND INDIA 'S GOLDEN AGE
When Asoka died, political conditions became chaotic.
New Aryan migrants such as the Kushans arrived from
the northwest. The Kushans put their capital at Pe-
shawar, gateway to the Khyber Pass. Around 320 AD,
northern India became united under the Guptas, under
whom art and Sanskrit literature flowered. Derived from
ancient sources, the Puranas were shaped and polished
by the Guptas. These valued historic documents include
Hindu myths, philosophical dialogues, ritual prescrip-
tions, and genealogies. Art, science, and mathematics
flourished, as well. The Gupta period marked India' s
Golden Age (Figure 6-7).
Under the Guptas, great strides were taken in math-
ematics. Numerals had been carved on some of Asoka' s
pillars, and these were further developed with the con-
cepts of zero and nine numbers. The Arabs, who intro-
duced them to the West, called them Indisa (Indian
numbers). Europeans called them Arabic numerals.
Aryabhata was the first to solve some basic problems of
astronomy when he calculated pi to be 3.1416 and the
length of the solar year as 365.358605 days. He knew
that the Earth was round and that it rotated on its axis.
He knew that an eclipse was caused by the moon' s