Expansion of Indian Territory Outside India: Historical Conquests and Cultural Influence

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Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-01
Image – Wikimedia

Introduction

Historically, India has had many great kings and emperors who were instrumental in conquering the other regions outside the Indian subcontinent. All of these demands were arising depending on the needs in search of wealth, aims to spread religion and the need for large empires. There are Southeast Asia, Central Asia and a portion of the Middle East, which were controlled by India’s ruling members in ancient as well as medieval ages. In this essay, the author aims at examining different Indian empires and kingdoms that performed such expansion exercises, their purposes, strategies they used and general consequences of their reign on conquered territories.

The Maurya Empire

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-Mouryans
The Mauryan Empire, c. 321 – 185 BCE. Image: Simeon Netchev, Creative Commons License.

The first example of Indian rulers’ imperialism outside the Indian peninsula is in the Mauryan Empire in Ashoka’s reign. The Maurya Empire which rose in the late 4th century BC has been acknowledged one of the greatest empires ever in Indian history. Of these the most famous is Ashoka, who reigned during 268 to 232 BCE and who is especially remembered for his attempts to take Buddhism out of India.

However, the expansion that Ashoka had was not purely military. He lived like a king of Kalinga and after the gruesome Kalinga war, he turned into a follower of Buddhism and believed in non-violence and the law of dharma. Ashoka has spread his mission to different regions of Asia and parts of southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Central Asia. These missions have enhanced the process of the spread of Buddhism that contributed much to the cultural and religious dimensions of the regions. Ashoka’s edicts are recorded in different parts of the Indian subcontinent up to modern day Afghanistan and Nepal.

The Chola Dynasty

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-The-Chola-Dynasty
Chola Empire. Image: Wikimedia

India rulers have also enlarged their dominion concerns to countries beyond India; the Chola dynasty, for example, of the southern part of India that thrived between the 9th and 13th centuries. The Cholas were great sea faring people, their power, therefore, geographical spread to the Indian Ocean and beyond down to South-east Asia.

Thus, it may be stated that the Chola dynasty flourished under two powerful kings Rajaraja Chola I (985 – 1014 CE) and his son Rajendra Chola I (1014-1044 CE) who were responsible for imperialism of the empire. They performed effective and significant campaigns of warfare on Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and parts of South East Asia particularly on the Sumatra region of the Srivijaya Empire. The Chola navy was instrumental in these expansions so as to have control over strategic sea routes that were strengthened with trade. In these regions, the Cholas made their mark as they impacted the structure and the subsequent creative abilities of structures there.

The Pallava Dynasty

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-The-Pallava-Dynasty

Territorial expansion that also extended beyond the sub-continent was done by the Pallavas who were a ruling dynasty of parts of southern India during the 3rd-9th centuries. They are especially famous regarding their cultural and diplomatic relations with Southeast Asia. King Narasimhavarman II of the early eighth century invited Chinese and Southeast Asian kingdoms envoys to empower the trade relations.

But the impact of the Pallavas in Southeast Asia can be seen in architectural changes in this region, change of scripts and modification of religious practices. Many later temple complexes like the Angkor Wat in Cambodia developed by Khmer Empire bear strong resemblance to Pallava style, which demonstrate the southern Indian archetype of the great cultural exchanges patronized by the Pallavas.

The Gupta Empire

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-The-Gupta-Dynasty
Extent of the Gupta Empire, 320-550 CE. Image CC Avantiputra via Worldhistory.org

The Gupta Empire also known as the Golden age of India started from the early 4th century to the last part of the 6th century. The Guptas were a major power in India and had many scientific, mathematical, astronomical, and artistic developments during their reign, Though the Guptas were not very active in foreign conquests or invasions outside of the Indian subcontinent, their civilization’s culture and learning spread throughout the other regions of the world.

Many foreign kings came to relations with the Gupta rulers in commercial as well as diplomatic alliances; these kings were from Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Europe. The contacts can be credited to popular Indian culture, science and religion at the time. The perceived civilization of learning degree and demonstration institutes like Nalanda University in India inspired the students from all over Asia, while the students took the Indian knowledge and practices to their regions on their return.

The Mughal Empire

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-The-Mughal-Empire
Mughal Empire, 1707. Image – Wikimedia

The Mughal empire which dominated India right from the turn of the 16th century up to the mid 19th century also had territorial control outside of India. The ruling family of Mughals came from Central Asia and they married Indian culture and architecture with the one they brought with them.

Thus, Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) and his successors continued the policy of establishing diplomatic relations with many foreign countries, such as the Safavid Empire in Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and the European colonial nations. This made trading relations between the Mughals and these regions advantageous since availability of these items meant change of ideas ,art and technology that shaped the Indian subcontinent and the rest of the world.

The Maratha Empire

Expansion-of-Indian-Territory-Outside-India-by-The-Maratha-Empire
MarathaEmpire 1759. Image – Wikimedia

The Maratha Empire that emerged in the seventeenth and the eighteenth century also waged territorial expansion outside India. Marathas were in search of fresh pastures as they challenged the Mughals when led by great personalities such as Shivaji and later the Peshwas dominated large parts of India.

They were also involved in naval raids and extended their domination on the western coastal areas of India and other parts as well. They sustained a strong naval force; they ensured they dominated the Arabian Sea and vital sea-lanes for commerce. Apart from spreading their dominance across the Indian subcontinent, the interactions of the Marathas with the European colonial powers even including the Portuguese and the British added more dominion of the Marathas beyond the Indian subcontinent.

Cultural and Religious Expansion

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Hinduism Expansion in Asia. Image – Wikimedia

Apart from military and political explorations; Indian rulers also contributed a major part of cultural and religious progression beyond the geographical boundaries of India. The religion of Buddhism spread in India and some other parts of Asia by missionaries while Hinduism spread across different parts of Asia through traders and settlers, followed by Islam.

In general, Buddhism was spread partly in Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Central Asia with the help of Indian rulers and monks. In the ancient kingdoms of Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand Hinduism as well as Indian culture were globalized, especially the Ramayana and Mahabharata became a significant part of folk culture.

Conclusion

Indian rulers generated a lasting image on the areas they overpowered and this was not limited to the Indian subcontinent alone . The legacy of the rulers has been the Historical heritage of India starting from Maurya & Gupta empires and then from Chola & Pallava to Mughal & Maratha empires in the major parts of Asia. All these expansions were to some extent due to military strength, trade, diplomacy, and propagation of religion and culture. These expansions’ echo is still seen in modern society through the historical and cultural relations between India and other regions in Asia. A great body and huge variety of extensive endeavors to go beyond the territorial confines of India has been the vibrant history of the extent of the impact of Indian civilization in the worldly sphere.

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