111-464: Akhand Bharat ( transl. Undivided India ), also known as Akhand Hindustan , is a term for the concept of a unified Greater India . It asserts that modern-day Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Bhutan , India , Maldives , Myanmar , Nepal , Pakistan , Sri Lanka and Tibet are one nation. During the Indian independence movement , Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi advocated for Akhand Hindustan ,
222-516: A European Union-style Akhand Bharat would form. Former Indian Supreme Court Judge Markandey Katju advocated in Pakistani newspaper The Nation that the only solution to the ongoing dispute between India and Pakistan is the reunification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh under a strong, secular, modern-minded government. He expanded on the reasons for his support for a reunified India in an article for Newslaundry ; Katju advocated that such
333-521: A God who battled and defeated the wrong doers that threaten the ethical order of the world. Hinduism does not have a single historical founder, a centralized imperial authority in India proper nor a bureaucratic structure, thus ensuring relative religious independence for the individual ruler. It also allows for multiple forms of divinity, centered upon the Trimurti the triad of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva,
444-548: A Pakistani political activist and founder of the Marxist organization The Struggle , suggested that undoing the partition is a necessity because it would resolve the Kashmir conflict , as well as reduce the power of the "security-bureaucratic machine", thus guaranteeing a true secular, socialist and democratic society. Advocating for a common revolution, Khan declared that "Five thousand years of common history, culture and society
555-536: A benign and uncoercive world civiliser and font of global enlightenment," stayed away from explicit "Greater India" formulations. In addition, some scholars have seen the Hindu/Buddhist acculturation in ancient Southeast Asia as "a single cultural process in which Southeast Asia was the matrix and South Asia the mediatrix." In the field of art history, especially in American writings, the term survived due to
666-729: A campaign for Indian reunification among the Muslim community of Pakistan. Indian nationalists felt that following the departure of the British from the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan would destabilize and reunite with India; both the British, as well as the Indian National Congress thus thought it would be best for the British to leave sooner. On the other hand, Muhammad Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League wished to delay
777-467: A common lingua franca, Hindustani , "wear the same dress, eat the same food, enjoy the same music and movies, and communicate in the same style and on a similar wavelength". He argues that uniting would be a challenge, though not impossible, citing the fall of the Berlin Wall and the consequent German Reunification as an example. French journalist François Gautier wrote that: Kashmir may hold
888-630: A distinctly developed regional culture, style, and expression. Southeast Asia is called Suvarnabhumi or Sovannah Phoum – the golden land and Suvarnadvipa – the golden Islands in Sanskrit. It was frequented by traders from eastern India, particularly Kalinga . Cultural and trading relations between the powerful Chola dynasty of South India and the Southeast Asian Hindu kingdoms led the Bay of Bengal to be called "The Chola Lake", and
999-418: A division of India along religious lines would breed fundamentalism and extremism on both sides of the border. Mashriqi thought that "Muslim majority areas were already under Muslim rule, so if any Muslims wanted to move to these areas, they were free to do so without having to divide the country." To him, separatist leaders "were power hungry and misleading Muslims in order to bolster their own power by serving
1110-539: A future Indo-Pakistani Confederation that would possess a common currency and laws. Durrani stated that such an Indo-Pakistan Confederation would soften the borders of India and Pakistan and eventually integrate the armed forces of both entities, paving the way for peaceful Indian reunification, in which Delhi would serve as the capital city of united India. The Mumbai President of the Nationalist Congress Party , Nawab Malik , said in 2020 that
1221-572: A game) may involve the use of a Sanskrit phrase. Scholars like Sheldon Pollock have used the term Sanskrit Cosmopolis to describe the region and argued for millennium-long cultural exchanges without necessarily involving migration of peoples or colonisation. Pollock's 2006 book The Language of the Gods in the World of Men makes a case for studying the region as comparable with Latin Europe and argues that
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#17327721199051332-855: A lesser extent, with a large proportion of words being derived from Arabic . Similarly, Philippine languages such as Tagalog have many Sanskrit loanwords . A Sanskrit loanword encountered in many Southeast Asian languages is the word bhāṣā , or spoken language, which is used to mean language in general, for example bahasa in Malay, Indonesian and Tausug , basa in Javanese, Sundanese , and Balinese , phasa in Thai and Lao, bhasa in Burmese , and phiesa in Khmer . Scripts in Sanskrit discovered during
1443-517: A proposition that Mahatma Gandhi agreed with, believing that as Britain wanted to retain their empire by pursuing a policy of divide and rule , Hindu–Muslim unity could not be achieved as long as the British were there. In addition, Mazhar Ali Khan wrote that "the Khan brothers [were] determined to fight for Akhand Hindustan , and challenged the League to fight the issue out before the electorate of
1554-653: A selected group of nobles only. Many struggle to date and determine when Indianizaton in Southeast Asia occurred because of the structures and ruins found that were similar to those in India. States such as Srivijaya , Mataram , Majapahit and the Khmer empire had territorial continuity, resilient population and surplus economies that rivaled those in India itself. Borobudur and Prambanan in Java and Angkor in Cambodia are, apart from their grandeur, examples of
1665-622: A spokesman for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , a Hindu nationalist organisation, stated that “The RSS still believes that one day these parts, which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created.” A group of 200 Islamic clerics gathered in Pune in July 2017 and issued a statement calling for Indian Reunification: Until and unless
1776-745: A state would be administered by a secular government. Katju serves as the chairman of the Indian Reunification Association (IRA), which seeks to campaign for this cause. The former Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani , in April 2004, similarly endorsed a confederation of the sovereign nations of India and Pakistan as a powerful geopolitical entity rivalling the European Union , United States of America, Russian Federation and People's Republic of China. Hindu nationalist political groups such as Shiv Sena, have sought
1887-716: A threat that "aim[ed] at depoliticizing the Muslims, weaning them away from struggle for independence." In the view of Madani, support for a two-nation theory would result of the entrenchment of British colonial rule. The pro-separatist All-India Muslim League , on the other hand, campaigned for a separate country, Pakistan, and their demand for the partition of India took place. Since that time, various individuals and political parties, as well as religious groups have called for Indian reunification. Mahatma Gandhi , for example, had wished to settle in Noakhali in order to start
1998-474: A trade union magazine of the same organization also included Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar. While the leadership of the right-wing BJP wavers on the issue, the RSS has always been a strong proponent of the idea. RSS leader H. V. Seshadri's book The Tragic Story of Partition stresses the importance of the concept of Akhand Bharat. The RSS-affiliated magazine Organiser often publishes editorials by leaders such as
2109-432: A voluntary socialist federation. The main dynamic will be the programme and perspective of the revolutionary party, leading the insurrection. The programme must be based on the principles of scientific socialism. The eradication of misery, poverty, disease, ignorance, exploitation, national oppression and the subjugation of women and minorities in society is only possible through the overthrow of capitalism. The annihilation of
2220-551: Is being expressed from various quarters over the map." Several Nepali politicians also expressed concern. While the spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs , Arindam Bagchi , stated it symbolized "the idea of responsible and people-oriented governance that [Ashoka] adopted and propagated", other politicians in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party declared it a symbol of Akhand Bharat, with Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi tweeting "The resolve
2331-618: Is clear. Akhand Bharat". Greater India Dark orange : The Indian subcontinent Light orange : Southeast Asia culturally linked to India (except Northern Vietnam , Philippines and Western New Guinea ) Traditional Greater India , also known as the Indian cultural sphere , or the Indic world , is an area composed of several countries and regions in South Asia , East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture , which itself formed from
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#17327721199052442-539: Is different from direct colonialism in that these Indianized lands were not inhabited by organizations or state elements from the Indian subcontinent, with exceptions such as the Chola invasions of medieval times. Instead, Indian cultural influence from trade routes and language use slowly permeated through Southeast Asia, making the traditions a part of the region. The interactions between India and Southeast Asia were marked by waves of influence and dominance. At some points,
2553-548: Is documented from geological record of Asia and the Himalaya as up to approximately 2,350 km (1,460 mi) less. The use of Greater India to refer to an Indian cultural sphere was popularised by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s who were all members of the Calcutta-based Greater India Society. The movement's early leaders included the historian R. C. Majumdar (1888–1980);
2664-537: Is growing in strength", with reference to the Awami League , possibly in an attempt to lambast it. Lord Listowel remarked that "It is greatly to be hoped that when the disadvantages of separation have become apparent in the light of experience, the two Dominions will freely decide to reunite in a single Indian Dominion, which might achieve that position among the nations of the world to which its territories and resources would entitle it." The subject of undoing
2775-483: Is too strong to be cleavaged by this partition." His views are described his book "Crisis in the Indian Subcontinent, Partition: Can it be Undone?" in which Khan states that "revolutionary transformation of the economies and societies is an essential prerequisite for the reunification of the subcontinent." Reunification cannot be imposed on any nationality, community, religion or ethnic group. It must be
2886-430: The devaraja concept of kingship, and Sanskrit as official writing. Despite the fundamental cultural integration, these kingdoms were autonomous in their own right and functioned independently. Not only did Indianization change many cultural and political aspects, but it also changed the spiritual realm as well, creating a type of Northern Culture which began in the early 14th century, prevalent for its rapid decline in
2997-767: The Hindu Mahasabha , Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , Vishva Hindu Parishad , Shiv Sena , the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena , the Hindu Sena , Hindu Janajagruti Samiti , the Bharatiya Janata Party etc. One organization sharing this goal, the Akhand Hindustan Morcha , bears the term in its name. Pre-1947 maps of India, showing the modern states of Pakistan and Bangladesh as part of British India illustrate
3108-667: The Indian subcontinent . The Indian National Congress , as well as the All India Azad Muslim Conference , opposed the partition of India ; the president of the All India Azad Muslim Conference and Chief Minister of Sind, Shadeed Allah Bakhsh Soomro , stated that “No power on earth can rob anyone of his faith and convictions, and no power on earth shall be permitted to rob Indian Muslims of their just rights as Indian nationals.” Khaksar Movement leader Allama Mashriqi opposed
3219-685: The Japanese gassho and Thai wai . Beyond the Himalaya and Hindukush mountains in the north, along the Silk Route, Indian influence was linked with Buddhism. Tibet and Khotan were direct heirs of Gangetic Buddhism, despite the difference in languages. Many Tibetan monks even used to know Sanskrit very well. In Khotan the Ramayana was well cicrulated in Khotanese language, though
3330-678: The Malabar Coast (present-day Kerala ) to India extra Gangem (lit. "India, beyond the Ganges," but usually the East Indies , i.e. present-day Malay Archipelago ) and India Minor , from Malabar to Sind . Farther India was sometimes used to cover all of modern Southeast Asia. Until the fourteenth century, India could also mean areas along the Red Sea, including Somalia , South Arabia , and Ethiopia (e.g., Diodorus of Sicily of
3441-717: The Philippines . The Ramayana and the Mahabharata have had a large impact on South Asia and Southeast Asia. One of the most tangible evidence of dharmic Hindu traditions is the widespread use of the Añjali Mudrā gesture of greeting and respect. It is seen in the Indian namasté and similar gestures known throughout Southeast Asia; its cognates include the Cambodian sampeah , the Indonesian sembah ,
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3552-531: The Tanjur ). Buddhism was similarly introduced to China by Mahayanist missionaries mostly through translations of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit texts, and many terms were transliterated directly and added to the Chinese vocabulary. In Southeast Asia, languages such as Thai and Lao contain many loan words from Sanskrit, as does Khmer to a lesser extent. For example, in Thai, Rāvaṇa ,
3663-643: The rule of the East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Katju serves as the chairman of the Indian Reunification Association (IRA), which seeks to campaign for this cause. Pakistani historian Nasim Yousaf, the grandson of Allama Mashriqi , has also championed Indian Reunification and presented the idea at the New York Conference on Asian Studies on 9 October 2009 at Cornell University ; Yousaf stated that
3774-440: The " Look East " policy, and more recently has involved deepening military ties as well. Sri Lanka also continues to have strong political links with South East Asia, asked by ASEAN to be a founding member, and has recently been increasing integration with South East Asia through its own "Look East" policy; politicians view the relationship between Sri Lanka and South East Asia as second only to South Asia. Culture spread via
3885-429: The 1970s. The concept of "Indianized kingdoms" and "Indianization", coined by George Coedès , originally describes Southeast Asian principalities that flourished from the early common era as a result of centuries of socio-economic interaction having incorporated central aspects of Indian institutions, religion, statecraft, administration, culture, epigraphy, literature and architecture. The term Greater India and
3996-773: The BJP National Secretary Ram Madhav (in an interview with Al Jazeera's Mehdi Hassan) described that "The RSS still believes that one day [India, Pakistan and Bangladesh], which have for historical reasons separated only 60 years ago, will again, through popular goodwill, come together and Akhand Bharat will be created." In March 2019, RSS leader Indresh Kumar claimed that Pakistan would reunite with India by 2025, that Indians would settle in and migrate to Lahore and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet, that an Indian-allied government had been ensured in Dhaka , and that
4107-528: The British agenda." The author of Composite Nationalism and Islam , Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani , a Deobandi Muslim scholar and proponent of a united India, argued that in order to maintain their divide and rule policies, the British colonial government were attempting to "scare Muslims into imagining that in a free India, Muslims would lose their separate identity and be absorbed into the Hindu fold",
4218-614: The British. This was also bound to influence the attitude of India. With a British base in Pakistan, India would have to pay far greater attention to British interests than she might otherwise do. ... The partition of India would materially alter the situation in favour of the British. Yousaf holds that "Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the President of the All-India Muslim League and later founder of Pakistan, had been misleading
4329-547: The Buddhist world including Ceylon , Tibet, Central Asia, and even Japan were held to fall within this web of Indianizing culture colonies " This particular usage – implying cultural "sphere of influence" of India – was promoted by the Greater India Society , formed by a group of Bengali men of letters , and is not found before the 1920s. The term Greater India was used in historical writing in India into
4440-572: The Chola attacks on Srivijaya in the 10th century CE are the sole example of military attacks by Indian rulers against Southeast Asia. The Pala dynasty of Bengal , which controlled the heartland of Buddhist India, maintained close economic, cultural and religious ties, particularly with Srivijaya. The pre-Indic political and social systems in Southeast Asia were marked by a relative indifference towards lineage descent. Hindu God kingship enabled rulers to supersede loyalties, forge cosmopolitan polities and
4551-507: The Common Era and eventually settled there. Strong impulse most certainly came from the region's ruling classes who invited Brahmans to serve at their courts as priests, astrologers and advisers. Divinity and royalty were closely connected in these polities as Hindu rituals validated the powers of the monarch. Brahmans and priests from India proper played a key role in supporting ruling dynasties through exact rituals. Dynastic consolidation
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4662-400: The Hindu and Buddhist cultures there. They introduced the caste system to the region, especially to Java , Bali, Madura , and Sumatra. The adopted caste system was not as strict as in India, tempered to the local context. There are multiple similarities between the two caste systems such that both state that no one is equal within society and that everyone has his own place. It also promoted
4773-402: The Indian cultural sphere was popularised by a network of Bengali scholars in the 1920s, but became obsolete in the 1970s. Since around 500 BCE, Asia's expanding land and maritime trade had resulted in prolonged socio-economic and cultural stimulation and diffusion of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs into the region's cosmology, in particular in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka . In Central Asia,
4884-590: The Indian culture solely found its way into the region, and at other points, the influence was used to take over. Southeast Asia was now situated in the central area of convergence of the Indian and the East Asian maritime trade routes, the basis for economic and cultural growth. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan and Champa. Adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual adaptation stimulated
4995-465: The Indian kingdoms. The decline of Hindu kingdoms and spark of Buddhist kingdoms led to the formation of orthodox Sinhalese Buddhism and is a key factor leading to the decline of Indianization. Sukhothai and Ceylon are the prominent characters who formulated the center of Buddhism and thus became more popularized over Hinduism. Not only was the spark of Buddhism the driving force for Indianization coming to an end, but Islamic influence took over as well in
5106-574: The Indian nation and to the Indian state shall be treated with perfect equality and shall share duties and obligations equally in common, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, and the representation also shall either be on the basis of one man one vote or in proportion to the population in case of separate electorates and public services shall go by merit alone." The call for creation of the Akhand Bharat or Akhand Hindustan has on occasion been raised by Hindu nationalist organisations such as
5217-467: The Indian sub-continent was at a deficiency for gold due to extensive control of overland trade routes by the Roman Empire . This made many Vaishya traders look to the seas to acquire new gold, of which Southeast Asia was abundant. However, the conclusion that Indianization was just spread through trade is insufficient, as Indianization permeated through all classes of Southeast Asian society, not just
5328-559: The Kashmir problem is ineluctably tied to the partition of India, all Indians should have had a say in their future in the India that preceded partition." In The Nation , Kashmiri Indian thinker Markandey Katju has advocated the reunification of India with Pakistan under a secular government. Katju claimed that the primary causes of the partition were divide and rule policies of the British colonial government, which were implemented after Hindus and Muslims joined forces to fight against
5439-477: The Muslim League for destroying the unity of the subcontinent when the British agreed to independence." Many Hindus were devastated by the fact that "part of the motherland envisaged in the ancient Hindu scriptures" was partitioned from India. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh , a Hindu political organisation held the creation of Akhand Bharat as one of its objectives; in this context, Akhand Bharat's borders were that of India, before its partition in 1947. Ram Madhav,
5550-590: The Muslim advance for two centuries, with the Kabul Shahi and Zunbils remaining unconquered until the Saffarid and Ghaznavid conquests. The significance of the realm of Zun and its rulers Zunbils had laid in them blocking the path of Arabs in invading the Indus Valley . According to historian André Wink , "In southern and eastern Afghanistan, the regions of Zamindawar (Zamin I Datbar or land of
5661-475: The Muslim community in order to go down in history as the saviour of the Muslim cause and to become founder and first Governor General of Pakistan." Allama Mashriqi, a nationalist Muslim, thus saw Jinnah as "becoming a tool in British hands for his political career." Besides the pro-separatist Muslim League, Islamic leadership in British India rejected the notion of partitioning the country, exemplified by
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#17327721199055772-633: The NCP advocates that "India, Pakistan and Bangladesh should be merged". Malik compared this to German reunification : "If the Berlin wall can be demolished then why not India, Pakistan and Bangladesh come together?" In 2018, a public debate at the Oxford Union Society on the issue resulted in the conclusion "This House Regrets the Partition of India", with a majority of 108 votes holding that
5883-469: The Partition and were "supportive of any efforts of reunification". Additionally, of those surveyed, only 44% were supportive of Bangladesh becoming independent from Pakistan. According to Gallup Pakistan (not affiliated with Gallup based in the United States), 73% of Pakistanis who participated in a 2021 poll held the opinion that the partition of India was a good step for relations between Muslims and Hindus. In 2016, when Gallup Pakistan asked Pakistanis
5994-480: The Province." On 7–8 October 1944, in Delhi, Radha Kumud Mukherjee presided over the Akhand Hindustan Leaders' Conference . The Indian activist and Hindu Mahasabha leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at the Hindu Mahasabha 's 19th Annual Session in Ahmedabad in 1937 propounded the notion of an Akhand Bharat that "must remain one and indivisible" "from Kashmir to Rameswaram, from Sindh to Assam." He said that "all citizens who owe undivided loyalty and allegiance to
6105-404: The Sanskrit language was its unifying element. Scripts in Sanskrit discovered during the early centuries of the Common Era are the earliest known forms of writing to have extended all the way to Southeast Asia. Its gradual impact ultimately resulted in its widespread domain as a means of dialect which evident in regions, from Bangladesh to Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and additionally a few of
6216-594: The South Asian peninsula and Hinter-Indien as Southeast Asia. Greater India , or Greater India Basin also signifies "the Indian Plate plus a postulated northern extension", the product of the Indian–Asia collision . Although its usage in geology pre-dates Plate tectonic theory, the term has seen increased usage since the 1970s. It is unknown when and where the India–Asia (Indian and Eurasian Plate ) convergence occurred, at or before 52 million years ago. The plates have converged up to 3,600 km (2,200 mi) ± 35 km (22 mi). The upper crustal shortening
6327-431: The Western colonialism of the early 20th century. By some accounts Greater India consists of "lands including Burma, Java , Cambodia, Bali , and the former Champa and Funan polities of present-day Vietnam ," in which Indian and Hindu culture left an "imprint in the form of monuments, inscriptions and other traces of the historic " Indianizing " process." By some other accounts, many Pacific societies and "most of
6438-422: The adoption of many Indian style law codes and architecture into Southeast Asian society It is unknown how immigration, interaction, and settlement took place, whether by key figures from India or through Southeast Asians visiting India who took elements of Indian culture back home. It is likely that Hindu and Buddhist traders, priests, and princes traveled to Southeast Asia from India in the first few centuries of
6549-519: The borders of India are peaceful we won’t be able to achieve economical, societal and educational development. Tensions at borders are leading to enormous expenditures and development work is stalled. The division made by British was unnatural so we request honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use all military options and unite Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to make Akhand Bharat. The dream saw by Indian leaders before and after independence will come true and India will become most powerful country in
6660-503: The borders of a proto- Akhand Bharat . The creation of an Akhand Bharat is also ideologically linked with the concept of Hindutva (Hindu nationalism) and the ideas of sangathan (unity) and shuddhi (purification). The first chapter of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh textbook for standard VII students at Akhil Bharatiya Sanskrit Gyan Pariksha included a map depicting Pakistan and Bangladesh, which along with post-partition India, were territories that were part of "Akhand Bharat" and
6771-432: The cultural and political frontier zone between India and Persia ." He also wrote, "It is clear however that in the seventh to ninth centuries the Zunbils and their kinsmen the Kabulshahs ruled over a predominantly Indian rather than a Persianate realm. The Arab geographers, in effect, commonly speak of 'that king of al-Hind ... (who) bore the title of Zunbil." Indian reunification Indian reunification refers to
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#17327721199056882-448: The deities responsible for the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe. The effects of Hinduism and Buddhism applied a tremendous impact on the many civilizations inhabiting Southeast Asia which significantly provided some structure to the composition of written traditions. An essential factor for the spread and adaptation of these religions originated from trading systems of the third and fourth century. In order to spread
6993-425: The departure of the British as he felt that it would allow the newly created state of Pakistan to receive its share of joint assets. In August 1953, several newspapers in India reported that meetings held on United India Day presented Indian reunification as the goal of patriots. One of them, Parbhat wrote that: "Pakistani leaders are well aware of the fact that the majority of the Indian population does not accept
7104-490: The early centuries of the Common Era are the earliest known forms of writing to have extended all the way to Southeast Asia. Its gradual impact ultimately resulted in its widespread domain as a means of dialect which evident in regions, from Bangladesh to Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and additionally a few of the larger Indonesian islands. In addition, alphabets from languages spoken in Burmese, Thai, Laos, and Cambodia are variations formed off of Indian ideals that have localized
7215-419: The early half of the third century. Indian religion was profoundly absorbed by local cultures that formed their own distinctive variations of these structures in order to reflect their own ideals. Champa , Dvaravati , Funan , Gangga Negara , Kadaram , Kalingga , Kutai , Langkasuka , Pagan , Pan Pan , Po-ni , and Tarumanagara had by the 1st to 4th centuries CE adopted Hinduism's cosmology and rituals,
7326-432: The east. To the west, Indian culture converged with Greater Persia via the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains . The concept of the Three Indias was in common circulation in pre-industrial Europe. Greater India was the southern part of South Asia , Lesser India was the northern part of South Asia , and Middle India was the region near the Middle East . The Portuguese form ( Portuguese : India Maior )
7437-576: The emergence of centralized states and localized caste systems in Southeast Asia. As conclusive evidence is missing, numerous Indianization theories of Southeast Asia have emerged since the early 20th century. The central question usually revolves around the main propagator of Indian institutional and cultural ideas in Southeast Asia. Iron Age trade expansion caused regional geostrategic remodeling. Austronesian sailors from Island Southeast Asia first established contact and trade with Southern India and Sri Lanka as early as 500 BCE. This resulted in
7548-563: The emergence of centralized states and the development of highly organized societies. Ambitious local leaders realized the benefits of Hinduism and Indian methods of administration, culture, literature, etc. Rule in accord with universal moral principles, represented in the concept of the devaraja , was more appealing than the Chinese concept of intermediaries. The earliest Hindu kingdoms emerged in Sumatra and Java, followed by mainland polities such as Funan and Champa. Adoption of Indian civilization elements and individual adaptation stimulated
7659-429: The exchange of commodities. Another theory of the spread of Indianization that focuses on the caste of Vaishya traders and their role for spreading Indian culture and language into Southeast Asia through trade. There were many trade incentives that brought Vaishya traders to Southeast Asia, the most important of which was gold. During the 4th century C.E., when the first evidence of Indian trader in Southeast Asia,
7770-515: The existing decaying and repressive states will be linked to the creation of a greater proletarian state based on a workers’ democracy. —Lal Khan Educationalist P. A. Inamdar commented at the Rangoonwala College of Dental Science in July 2017 that the reunification of Pakistan and Bangladesh with India would "keep India prosperous and peaceful". Lieutenant General Asad Durrani , the former director-general of both Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence , envisioned in 2018
7881-580: The fact that most Muslims in the heartland of the subcontinent remained where they were, rather than migrating to newly created state of Pakistan. India and Pakistan are currently allocating a significant amount of their budget into military spending—money that could be spent in economic and social development. Poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, terrorism and a lack of medical facilities, in Yousaf's eyes, would not be plaguing an undivided India as it would be more advantaged "economically, politically, and socially." Yousaf has stated that Indians and Pakistanis speak
7992-516: The fate of a quarter of the population of the globe was decided arbitrarily by the representative of an imperial power and by those who were not even duly elected by adult franchise.” In view of this, Sharma, Cox, Ahmad and Singh in The New York Times in 1992 demanded that "a plebiscite be held over the entire territory that comprised British India on the question of its partition into India and Pakistan." These professors argued that "As
8103-530: The figure of a permanent division of the country. It is hoped that the Congress and the nation will not accept the settled fact as for ever settled, or as anything more than a temporary expedient. For if it lasts, India may be seriously weakened, even crippled: civil strife may remain always possible; possible even a new invasion and foreign conquest. The Partition of the Country Must Go. " Lal Khan ,
8214-516: The first century BC says that "the Nile rises in India" and Marco Polo of the fourteenth century says that "Lesser India ... contains ... Abash [Abyssinia]"). In late 19th-century geography, Greater India referred to a region that included: "(a) Himalaya , (b) Punjab , (c) Hindustan , (d) Burma , (e) Indo-China , (f) Sunda Islands , (g) Borneo , (h) Celebes , and (i) Philippines ." German atlases distinguished Vorder-Indien (Anterior India) as
8325-426: The influence of art theorist Ananda Coomaraswamy . Coomaraswamy's view of pan-Indian art history was influenced by the "Calcutta cultural nationalists." Its modern meanings often invoke images of soft power. The region is considered in Indian political circles as part of India's extended neighbourhood, and modern integration was propelled through a multifaceted acceleration of economic and strategic interaction under
8436-601: The introduction of Southeast Asian material culture (including catamarans , outrigger boats , sewn-plank boats, and paan ) and cultigens (like coconuts , sandalwood , bananas , and sugarcane ) to South Asia; as well as connecting the material cultures of India and China . These early Austronesian trade routes linking Island Southeast Asia with India also became the maritime aspect of the wider spice trade network, which were later also used by Tamil and Arab maritime trade. The sustained contact between Southeast Asia and South Asia resulted in cultural exchange, in addition to
8547-587: The justice giver, the classical Arachosia ) and Zabulistan or Zabul (Jabala, Kapisha , Kia pi shi) and Kabul , the Arabs were effectively opposed for more than two centuries, from 643 to 870 AD, by the indigenous rulers the Zunbils and the related Kabul-Shahs of the dynasty which became known as the Buddhist-Shahi. With Makran and Baluchistan and much of Sindh this area can be reckoned to belong to
8658-579: The key to India's reunification with Pakistan, whether by force or by mutual consent. For that is the crux of the problem: as long as Pakistan and India are divided there will be other Kashmirs, other Ayodhyas, other wars with Pakistan--nuclear maybe--and India will never be at peace with its own Muslim community, which is a permanent danger to herself. For India and Pakistan Are one. Yet they are two different entities, each one with its own personality . Remember Sri Aurobindo's words in 1947, "The old communal division into Hindu and Muslim seems to have hardened into
8769-403: The language. The utilization of Sanskrit has been prevalent in all aspects of life including legal purposes. Sanskrit terminology and vernacular appears in ancient courts to establish procedures that have been structured by Indian models such as a system composed of a code of laws. The concept of legislation demonstrated through codes of law and organizations particularly the idea of "God King"
8880-564: The larger Indonesian islands. In addition, alphabets from languages spoken in Burmese, Thai, Laos, and Cambodia are variations formed off of Indian ideals that have localized the language. Sanskrit and related languages have also influenced their Tibeto-Burman -speaking neighbors to the north through the spread of Buddhist texts in translation. The spread of Buddhism to Tibet allowed many Sanskrit texts to survive only in Tibetan translation (in
8991-526: The legendary emperor of Sri Lanka , is called 'Thosakanth' which is derived from his Sanskrit name 'Daśakaṇṭha' ("having ten necks"). Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in Austronesian languages , such as Javanese particularly the old form from which nearly half the vocabulary is derived from the language. Other Austronesian languages, such as traditional Malay , modern Indonesian , also derive much of their vocabulary from Sanskrit, albeit to
9102-548: The malaise and sectarian violence within South Asia is a consequence of the partition of India , which took place without a referendum in pre-1947 colonial India; these professors have stated that "Inhabitants of the subcontinent of India are poignantly reminded at this moment of the grave injustice that was done to them in 1947, when British India was partitioned without taking the wishes of its inhabitants into account." Sharma, Cox, Ahmad and Singh further expressed “regret that
9213-482: The merchant classes. Another theory states that Indianization spread through the warrior class of Kshatriya . This hypothesis effectively explains state formation in Southeast Asia, as these warriors came with the intention of conquering the local peoples and establishing their own political power in the region. However, this theory hasn't attracted much interest from historians as there is very little literary evidence to support it. The most widely accepted theory for
9324-576: The message of these religions Buddhist monks and Hindu priests joined mercantile classes in the quest to share their religious and cultural values and beliefs. Along the Mekong delta, evidence of Indianized religious models can be observed in communities labeled Funan. There can be found the earliest records engraved on a rock in Vocanh. The engravings consist of Buddhist archives and a south Indian scripts are written in Sanskrit that have been dated to belong to
9435-579: The midst of the thirteenth century to trump the Hindu kingdoms. In the process of Islam coming to the traditional Hindu kingdoms, trade was heavily practiced and the now Islamized Indians started becoming merchants all over Southeast Asia. Moreover, as trade became more saturated in the Southeast Asian regions wherein Indianization once persisted, the regions had become more Muslim populated. This so-called Islamic control has spanned to many of
9546-646: The narrative is slightly different from the Gangetic version. In Afghanistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan many Buddhist monasteries were established. These countries were used as a kind of springboard for the monks who brought Indian Buddhist texts and images to China. Further north, in the Gobi Desert , statues of Ganesha and Kartikeya were found alongside Buddhist imagery in the Mogao Caves . Indians spread their religion to Southeast Asia, beginning
9657-417: The notion of an explicit Hindu expansion of ancient Southeast Asia have been linked to both Indian nationalism and Hindu nationalism . The English term was popularised in the late 19th and the 20th century as a view of an expansionist India within the context of East Asia. However, many Indian nationalists, like Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore , although receptive to "an idealisation of India as
9768-457: The partition and reunifying India has been discussed by both Indians and Pakistanis, especially in recent times. Arvind Sharma (Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University ), Harvey Cox (Professor of Divinity at Harvard University ), Manzoor Ahmad (Professor at Concordia University ) and Rajendra Singh (Professor of Linguistics at the Université de Montréal ) have stated that
9879-490: The partition of 1947 and will come out in the open to do away with it at the first opportunity." In the 1950s, the Sri Aurobindo Sevak Sangha included in their programme "Annulment of the ill-fated partition and reunification of India." On 4 February 4, 1957, the Muslim League's Morning News published an article stating that "there is a party even in Pakistan which is working for reunification and it
9990-408: The partition of India because he felt that if Muslims and Hindus had largely lived peacefully together in India for centuries, they could also do so in a free and united India ( cf . Hindu-Muslim unity ). Mashriqi claimed the two-nation theory was a British plot to maintain control of the region more easily, if India was divided into two countries that were pitted against one another. He reasoned that
10101-551: The partition of India itself was a result of the divide and rule policies of the British government that sought to create another buffer state between the Soviet Union and India to prevent the spread of Communism, as well the fact that a "division of the people and territory would prevent a united India from emerging as a world power and keep the two nations dependent on pivotal powers." Yousaf cited former Indian National Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad , who wrote in
10212-611: The partition of India was harmful and a minority of 76 votes that were in favour of it. In 2022, a survey published by the Centre for Voting Opinion & Trends in Election Research "found that 44 per cent of Indians would support reunification with Pakistan." Moreover, 57% of Indians above age 55 thought that the partition of India should have not occurred. The Indian states of western India (including Gujarat , Maharashtra , Rajasthan and Goa ) were largely critical of
10323-572: The philologists Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977) and P. C. Bagchi (1898–1956), and the historians Phanindranath Bose and Kalidas Nag (1891–1966). Some of their formulations were inspired by concurrent excavations in Angkor by French archaeologists and by the writings of French Indologist Sylvain Lévi . The scholars of the society postulated a benevolent ancient Indian cultural colonisation of Southeast Asia, in stark contrast – in their view – to
10434-528: The potential reunification of India (the Republic of India) with Pakistan and Bangladesh , which were partitioned from British India in 1947. In 1947, British India was partitioned into the modern Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan , the latter of which included northwest India and part of eastern India. Those who opposed it often adhered to the doctrine of composite nationalism in
10545-416: The present Sarsanghachalak , Mohan Bhagwat , espousing the philosophy that only Akhand Bharat and sampoorna samaj (united society) can bring "real" freedom to the people of India. The call for Indian reunification has been supported by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi , and BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav . In December 2015, following Narendra Modi's diplomatic visit to Lahore, Pakistan,
10656-458: The question: "If you were a mature adult in 1947 (capable of voting). Would you have voted in favor of or in opposition of Pakistan's creation", 92% said they would have voted in favour of it. According to Gallup Pakistan, 71% of Pakistanis in 2016 believed that Muslims have benefited from the creation of Pakistan, and 80% said that they would have supported the two-nation theory in 1947. Kingsley Martin observed that "Hindus ... have not forgiven
10767-618: The reclamation of Pakistan-administered Kashmir under the pretence of Akhand Bharat, especially after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution (removing the semi-autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir) in August 2019. On 17 November 2020, the RSS campaigners released a calendar based on the "Akhand Bharat" theme. This calendar was prepared by the province patron of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in Jaipur . In 2023,
10878-412: The same vein: If a united India had become free...there was little chance that Britain could retain her position in the economic and industrial life of India. The partition of India, in which the Muslim majority provinces formed a separate and independent state, would, on the other hand, give Britain a foothold in India. A state dominated by the Muslim League would offer a permanent sphere of influence to
10989-672: The south Indian Pallava dynasty and Chalukya dynasty . These Indianized kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès in his work Histoire ancienne des états hindouisés d'Extrême-Orient , were characterized by resilience, political integrity, and administrative stability. To the north, Indian religious ideas were assimilated into the cosmology of Himalayan peoples, most profoundly in Tibet and Bhutan, and merged with indigenous traditions. Buddhist monasticism extended into Afghanistan , Uzbekistan , and other parts of Central Asia , and Buddhist texts and ideas were accepted in China and Japan in
11100-514: The south and the Khmer Empire to the north competed for influence in the region. A defining characteristic of the cultural link between Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent was the adoption of ancient Indian Vedic /Hindu and Buddhist culture and philosophy into Myanmar , Tibet , Thailand , Indonesia , Malaya , Laos and Cambodia. Indian scripts are found in Southeast Asian islands ranging from Sumatra, Java, Bali, South Sulawesi and
11211-532: The spread of Indianization into Southeast Asia is through the class of Brahman scholars. These Brahmans brought with them many of the Hindu religious and philosophical traditions and spread them to the elite classes of Southeast Asian polities. Once these traditions were adopted into the elite classes, it disseminated throughout all the lower classes, thus explaining the Indianization present in all classes of Southeast Asian society. Brahmans were also experts in art and architecture, and political affairs, thus explaining
11322-858: The trade routes that linked India with southern Burma , central and southern Siam , the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra to Java , lower Cambodia and Champa . The Pali and Sanskrit languages and the Indian script, together with Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism , Brahmanism and Hinduism , were transmitted from direct contact as well as through sacred texts and Indian literature. Southeast Asia had developed some prosperous and very powerful colonial empires that contributed to Hindu-Buddhist artistic creations and architectural developments. Art and architectural creations that rivaled those built in India, especially in its sheer size, design and aesthetic achievements. The notable examples are Borobudur in Java and Angkor monuments in Cambodia. The Srivijaya Empire to
11433-434: The trading centers across the regions of Southeast Asia, including one of the most dominant centers, Malacca, and has therefore stressed a widespread rise of Islamization. The eastern regions of Afghanistan were considered politically as parts of India. Buddhism and Hinduism held sway over the region until the Muslim conquest. Kabul and Zabulistan which housed Buddhism and other Indian religions , offered stiff resistance to
11544-418: The transmission of ideas was predominantly of a religious nature. By the early centuries of the common era , most of the principalities of Southeast Asia had effectively absorbed defining aspects of Indian culture, religion, and administration. The notion of divine god-kingship was introduced by the concept of Harihara , and Sanskrit and other Indian epigraphic systems were declared official , like those of
11655-634: The unveiling of a mural in India's new parliament building , said to depict a map of the Maurya Empire under Ashoka , sparked controversy and criticism from several of India's neighbouring countries. Spokesperson for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Mumtaz Zahra Baloch , criticized it as a "manifestation of a revisionist and expansionist mindset", while the Bangladeshi junior minister for foreign affairs stated "Anger
11766-484: The upbringing of highly organized central states. Indians were still able to implement their religion, political ideas, literature, mythology, and art. It is conjectured that certain traditional Indian games spread throughout Southeast Asia, as variations of Indian games such as atya-patya and gilli danda can be found throughout the region. Also, the Indonesian hom pim pa (a method of selecting players before
11877-400: The various distinct indigenous cultures of South Asia . It is an umbrella term encompassing the Indian subcontinent and surrounding countries, which are culturally linked through a diverse cultural cline. These countries have been transformed to varying degrees by the acceptance and introduction of cultural and institutional elements from each other. The term Greater India as a reference to
11988-570: The worship of Shiva and Vishnu was combined with ancestor worship, so that Khmer, Javanese, and Cham rulers claimed semi-divine status as descendants of a God. Hindu traditions, especially the relationship to the sacrality of the land and social structures, are inherent in Hinduism's transnational features. The epic traditions of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa further legitimized a ruler identified with
12099-483: Was embraced by numerous rulers of Southeast Asia. The rulers amid this time, for example, the Lin-I Dynasty of Vietnam once embraced the Sanskrit dialect and devoted sanctuaries to the Indian divinity Shiva. Many rulers following even viewed themselves as "reincarnations or descendants" of the Hindu gods. However once Buddhism began entering the nations, this practiced view was eventually altered. Indianization
12210-536: Was the basis for more centralized kingdoms that emerged in Java, Sumatra, Cambodia, Burma, and along the central and south coasts of Vietnam from the 4th to 8th centuries. Art, architecture, rituals, and cultural elements such as the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata had been adopted and customized increasingly with a regional character. The caste system, although adopted, was never applied universally and reduced to serve for
12321-499: Was used at least since the mid-15th century. The term, which seems to have been used with variable precision, sometimes meant only the Indian subcontinent; Europeans used a variety of terms related to South Asia to designate the South Asian peninsula, including High India , Greater India , Exterior India and India aquosa . However, in some accounts of European nautical voyages, Greater India (or India Major ) extended from
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