Medieval India & Early and Medieval Southeast Asia

Chapter 6 (Medieval India)

1. The Delhi sultanate created a hybrid culture in northern India. What were the major sources of this culture?
2. Why was Delhi selected as the political center of Muslim authority in India? Why was northern India unable to mount a successful defense against the Turko-Afghan warriors?
3. Who were the Rajputs and Marathas and what may have contributed to their success in resisting incorporation into the Muslim states of northern India?
4. How did the Islamic Qur'an provide religious justification for the forced conversion of India's Hindu populations by the Delhi sultans? How did this contribute to the character of Muslim rule over Hindus?
5. Who were the mamluks, and what was their significance in the Turkish military system?
6. What was the role of temples in the southern Indian Chola state? Why is our knowledge of Chola society so limited?
7. Explain why Muslim rule did not significantly extend into southern India?

Chapter 7 (Early and Medieval Southeast Asia)

1. How did geography determine the rise of early political and societal centers in Southeast Asia?
2. To what extent is the literate culture of Southeast Asia imported from India and China?
3. How would you characterize the rise and fall of Angkor? What was the significance of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in the Angkor political system?
4. How did the polical systems of the
   Angkor and Majapahit kings compare with those of their contemporaries in medieval Europe, India, and China?
5. What role did Southeast Asia assume in the early Indian Ocean trae networks, and what were the consequences both to Southeast Asia as well as the remainder of Asia? What was the normal relationship between China and maritime Southeast Asia as reflected in the Mongol naval expedition to Java in the late thirteenth century--as well as in the Tang-era poem in the next chapter? What products did Southeast Asia have that attracted the later sixteenth-century voyages of the Portuguese and Spanish?
6. What was the initial appeal of Islam in Southeast Asia, and how did its spread there differ from its introduction to South Asia?
7. The Philippines were largely characterized by tribal societies that were isolated from other regional developments prior to the coming of the Spanish in the early sixteenth century. Why didn't all the Philippines convert to Islam?

Ancient Civilizations of India and China

Chapter 4 (The Civilization of Ancient India)

1. What can we learn about Vedic society from its classical texts? What are their limitations as historical sources?
2. Why was the Mauryan king Ashoka successful in his rule over India's diverse populations?
3. How has the repeated conquest of northern India by foreign warriors contributed to the South Asian worldview?
4. What evidence shows that India was in regular contact with the West following the Invasion of Alexander the Great, in the Mauryan and post-Mauryan eras? What was the nature of these contacts, and what was their result--from both an Indian and a Western perspective?
5. Why is the Gupta era frequently regarded as India's "classical age?" What were the contributions of the Gupta era top Asian civilizations, both in India and beyond?

Chapter 5 (Ancient China)

1. What does the Shang era  contribute to the Chinese dynastic tradition? What changes in Chinese society took place during the Zhou era that followed?
2. How do the beliefs of Confucius and Mencius reflect the circumstances of their times?
3. What ere the Qin solutions to the divided political landscape if China? What did the Qin dynasty have such a brief reign? What was the legacy of the Qin to China's future?
4. What was the difference between Qin Legalism and the teachings of Confucius and Mencius? What aspects of Qin Legalism continued under the Han? What changed?
5. Han Wudi is often viewed as China's greatest emperor. Is this warranted? What were his accomplishments, and what was his legacy to China's future?
6. What might have changed had the Han and imperial Rome met?
7. What recurring problems in the Chinese imperial social system did Wang Mang try to address during his reign?
8. How does Chinese history in the period up to the fall of the Han compare to Indian history over the same period?

Asian Religions & Asian Societies

Next week's readings are absolutely foundational for everything we do going forward, so please take time to read carefully and thoughtfully. If you still don't have the textbook, a scanned copy of Chapter 2 is posted it on the Moodle for our class. There are also two copies of the textbook on reserve in the library.

Have an excellent long weekend--see you Wednesday!

Chapter 2 (Asian Religions and their Cultures)

1. Even though all major religions originated in Asia, including Christianity and Islam, those that have remained dominant in Asia show clear difference from the Christianity and Judaism dominant in the West. How does the phrase "Eden was preserved in the East" reflect these differences?
2. What are the fundamental differences between Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism; Daoism and Confucianism; Hinduism and Buddhism; Buddhism and Confucianism; Shintō and Buddhism; Islam and Hinduism; Sunni/Shi'a and Sufi Islam?
3. Is Confucianism  a religion or is it better thought of as a moral code?
4. What do Sufi Islam and Bhakti Hinduism have in common? What were the features of Sufi Islam, in contrast to the Shi'a and Sunni traditions, which initially made it the most appealing version of Islam and the basis of early conversions among already well-established Asian societies?
5. What role do female divines assume in Asian religious tradition?

“The Living Chinese”
Exhibited under the auspices of P.T. Barnum, proprietor of American and Chinese museums New York and Barnum’s Museum Philadelphia.
From L to R: Miss Pwam-Ye-Koo, aged 17 years a young lady with feet 2-1/2 inches long.  Miss Lum-Akum, aged 23 years her maid servant. Miss Amoon, aged 7 years, Master Mun-Chung, aged 5 years, son and daughter of the professor. Mr. Aleet-Mong, aged 18 years an interpreter.  Mr. Soo-Chune, aged 32 years, professor of Music. 
Library of Congress, control number 2002708598 

Chapter 3 (The Societies of Asia)

1. Why did the Indian caste system develop? What was its appeal among South Asians?
2. Why do Indians, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese stress the importance of the birth of sons? Why is this less an issue in Southeast Asia?
3. Why did Asian societies widely discriminate against women? What social factors would encourage the practice of foot-binding in China?
4. Why might some have seen Asian families sometimes as  the greatest threat to the modern Asian nation-state? Is there support fort the argument that Asian emphasis on family continuity facilitates economic development?
5. How are issues of poverty, social order, education, corruption, wealth, and conflict dealt with among traditional Asian societies?
6. What patterns of banditry and piracy are apparent in Asian Societies?

Welcome to Monsoon Asia

Your first dangerous assignment is to create your own dedicated Asian Studies blog, preferably with blogger.com, and send me the URL (e.g., http://xx.blogger.com).

For Wednesday's class, please read the introduction and first chapter of our textbook, and answer in writing the chapter questions:

Introduction

1. What are monsoons, and what are their impact on Asian society and culture? What are Asia's monsoon seasons?
2. What distinguishes "monsoon Asia" from the remainder of Asia? What are the consequent differences between the two?
3. How has Chinese civilization linked monsoon Asia to Central Asia over time?
4. According to the text, what is "exceptional" about south Indian and Southeast Asian civilizations in relation to the rest of monsoon Asia?
5. What are the social consequences of an irrigation wet-rice society?
6. Where did the most populous early Asian societies form and why?
7. What is a "vegetable civilization"? What are its consequences?
8. What are the common features among monsoon Asia's societies and cultures?

Chapter 1 (Prehistoric Asia)

1. What is the Neolithic revolution" and what are its distinguishing features? Why are pottery fragments important in telling us about earliest societies?
2. What factors help explain the rise and fall of the Indus Valley civilization? What is known about its relationship to Sumer and the Aryan culture?
3. Although Southeast Asia is a distinct cultural region, it continues to share much with both China and India. How did this blending occur? What made Southeast Asia distinct from its Asian neighbors? What did it share with them? How did Southeast Asia potentially contribute tot the development of Chinese civilization?
4. What role did the migrations of populations by land and by sea into already settled regions play in the development of Asia's civilizations?
5. Why did China's initial center of civilization develop in north China? What did the Yellow River contribute to these developments?
6. How were Korea and Japan connected in prehistoric times?
7. What were the characteristics of Japan's Jōmon culture?