The term Greater India refers to the historical spread of the culture of India beyond the Indian subcontinent proper.This concerns the spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia in particular, introduced by the Indianized kingdoms of the 5th to 15th centuries, but may also extend to the earlier spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia and China by way of the Silk Road during the early centuries of the Common Era. To the west, Greater India overlaps with Greater Persia in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains. Historically, the term is also tied to the geographic uncertainties surrounding the "Indies" during the Age of Exploration.Evolution of the term
In detail, the notion of Greater India can be discussed in terms of several related meanings:
In medieval literature and geography: the term "Greater India" (Portuguese: Indyos mayores[1]) was used at least from the mid-15th century.[1] The term, which seems to have been used with variable precision,[2] sometimes meant only the Indian subcontinent;[3] however, at other times, in some accounts of European nautical voyages, "Greater India" (or "India Major") extended from the Malabar (present-day Kerala) to India extra Gangem[4] (lit. "India, beyond the Ganges," but usually the East Indies, i.e. present-day Malay Archipelago) and "India Minor," from Malabar to Sind.[5]
In 20th-century history, art history, linguistics, and allied fields: The term "Greater India," now largely out of favor,[7] consists of "lands including Burma, Java, Cambodia, Bali, and the former Champa and Funan polities of present-day Vietnam,"[7] in which pre-Islamic Indian culture left an "imprint in the form of monuments, inscriptions and other traces of the historic ‘Indianising’ process."[7] In some accounts, many Pacific societies and "most of the Buddhist world including Ceylon, Tibet, central Asia, and even Japan were held to fall within this web of Indianising ‘culture colonies’"[7] This particular usage—implying cultural "sphere of influence" of India—was spurred by the (Image-1 A statue of Hindu deity Murugan at theBatu Caves in Malaysia) formation of The Greater India Society by a group of Bengali men of letters[8] and does not go back to before the 1920s (lasting well into the 1970s in history and later in other fields).
In geology: The term "Greater India," still current, is used to mean "the Indian sub-continent plus a postulated northern extension,"[9] in plate tectonic models of the India–Asia collision. Although its usage in geology pre-dates plate tectonic theory,[10] the term has seen increased usage since the 1970s.
Indian cultural sphere
The meaning of "Greater India" as an Indian cultural sphere was popularized 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); the philologists Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977) and P.C. Bagchi (1898–1956), the historians Phanindranath Bose and Kalidas Nag (1891–1966).[11]
Some of their formulations were inspired by the then ongoing 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 colonization of Southeast Asia, in stark contrast—in their view—to the colonialism of the early 20th century.[12][13]
“ The ancient Hindus of yore were not simply a spiritual people, always busy with mystical problems and never troubling themselves with the questions of 'this world'... India also has its Napoleons and Charlemagnes, its Bismarcks and Machiavellis. But the real charm of Indian history does not consist in these aspirants after universal power, but in its peaceful and benevolent Imperialism—a unique thing in the history of mankind. The colonizers of India did not go with sword and fire in their hands; they used... the weapons of their superior culture and religion... The Buddhist age has attracted special attention, and the French savants have taken much pains [sic] to investigate the splendid monuments of the Indian cultural empire in the Far East. ”
The term was used in historical writing in India well into the 1970s.[14]
“ "Colonial and Cultural Expansion (of Ancient India)", and written by R. C. Majumdar, concluded with: "We may conclude with a broad survey of the Indian colonies in the Far East. For nearly fifteen hundred years, and down to a period when the Hindus had lost their independence in their own home, Hindu kings were ruling over Indo-China and the numerous islands of the Indian Archipelago, from Sumatra to New Guinea. Indian religion, Indian culture, Indian laws and Indian government moulded the lives of the primitive races all over this wide region, and they imbibed a more elevated moral spirit and a higher intellectual taste through the religion, art, and literature of India. In short, the people were lifted to a higher plane of civilization." ”
Recently, scholars like Sheldon Pollock have written about this region by using the term "Sanskrit Cosmopolis" and argued for the millennium-long cultural exchanges, without necessarily involving migration of peoples or colonization. Pollock's 2006 book "The Language of the Gods in the World of Men" makes a case for studying this region as comparable with the Latin Europe and argues that the Sanskrit language was the unifying element of this region.
Cultural commonalities
A defining characteristic of the cultural link between South East Asia and Indian subcontinent is the spread of ancient Indian Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist culture and philosophy into Myanmar, Thailand, Malaya, Laos and Cambodia. Indian scripts are also found in South East Asian islands ranging from Sumatra, Java, Bali, south Sulawesi and most of the Philippines.[25] The impact of Indian culture is visible in the following notable examples:
Hinduism is practiced by the majority of Bali's population.[26]
Hindu mythological figure Garuda features in the coats-of-arms of Indonesia, Thailand and Ulan Bator.
Hindu temple architecture-style features prominently on several ancient temples in South East Asia including Angkor Wat, which was dedicated to Hindu god Vishnu and features on the flag of Cambodia.
Older mosques in Indonesia, such as the Great Mosque of Demak and Kudus mosque minaret resemble temples.
Many Indonesian names have Sanskrit origin (eg. Megawati Sukarnoputri, Suharto).
Batu Caves in Malaysia is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. It is the focal point of the annual Thaipusam festival in Malaysia and attracts over more than 1.5 million pilgrims, making it one of the largest religious gatherings in history.[27]
Erawan Shrine, dedicated to Brahma, in Thailand is one of the most popular religious shrines in the country.[28]
Kaharingan, an indigenous religion followed by Dayak people of Borneo, is categorized as a form of Hinduism in Indonesia.
Beliefs of some Filipino people, including that of the supreme god Bathala and the concept of Diwata and Karma, are all derived from Hindu-Buddhist concepts.
Street signs in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, are often written in Indian-derived Kawi script.
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