The 5th and 6th centuries BC were a period of consolidation in India and China

By peace in Featured Posts, History, Photos

Army of the Ch'in Dynasty, China

In India there were 16 political units in 600 BC which were reduced to only 4 by the end of 5^th century. In China by 400 BC the multiple principalities which earlier exited had disappeared and now there were seven major states that were contending for supremacy. In both the countries the advent of iron tools started increasing the agricultural productivity and the resources of the rising states. In China the area of civilization had expanded from the Yellow River to the Yangtze valley and beyond. In India the deforestation of the north shifted the center of power from the Indus , the seat of the earliest civilization to the fertile plains of the Ganges river. Here the kingdom of Magadha emerged as the nucleus of the first Indian empire.

Rajagaha was the first capital of kingdom of Magadha, India

Politically nevertheless it was a period of continuous strife and the resulting social tension were a major factor in the emergence of the great religious and ethical systems. Buddhism Taoism Confucianism and Jainism which in various ways expressed a yearning for a more stable world order. In India the turning point came in 320 BC when Chandragupta’s grandson Asoka (273-236) conquered Kalinga on the Bay of Bengal and the greater part of the subcontinent was brought under one rule. His edicts, inscribed on pillars and rocks evidence Asoka’s conversion to Buddhism.

In China the turning point came with the rise of the state of Ch’in (328-308 BC) which finally dominated China in 221 BC. But the ruthless centralizing policy of the first Ch’in emperor Shih Huang-ti 221-206 BC) provoked a reaction and after his death his empire collapsed. It was revived after a period of civil war , by the Han dynasty, which compromised between centralizing policies and the feudal principalities. In India also the death of Asoka introduced a long period of decentralization , punctuated by invasion from the north which was not overcome until AD 320 when the Guptas based again on Magadha imposed a new imperial rule. This classical age of Indian civilization survived beyond the collapse of the Gupta empire caused by the barbarian invasion of the 5^th century.

The barbarian invasions were also a turning point in China. The Ch’in and the Han built and extended the Great Wall against the nomad Hsiungnu in the north. Under the emperor Wu-ti (140-87 BC) the Han extended their power to central Asia. With its efficient administration, a large export trade and an extensive network of roads and canals, Han China became an extremely prosperous country with its capital at Changan. However the control of Han over south was tenuous, while in the north feudal magnates still exercised greater power, which grew with the threat of war. Crisis came in AD 9 and although Han rule was restored, disintegration set in after 160 AD. In 302 AD Hsiungnu broke through China Wall and thereafter China remained divided until 589 AD.