Indian Cultural Contacts with Asian Countries

Introduction

Various Asian countries like China, Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and many more were connected with India commercially and culturally. The cultures, arts, scripts, and various languages were contributed by India to its neighbour Asian countries.

India also gained many valuable cultures and arts from those countries. India gained various art of rising silk from China, and the skill of minting coins of gold from the countries like the Romans and the Greeks.

Indian Culture in Ancient Times

India always had its own rich culture from ancient times. There remained so many dynasties and kingdoms that ruled over India for a long time. Those kingdoms and dynasties had their own respective cultures and they spread those cultures all over India.

The emperors and the kings of various kingdoms were the worshippers of the great and rich cultures, arts, architecture and many more. There were several types of rituals and the form of dances that were cultivated in every region of India. Languages like Sanskrit, Pali and many more went from India. There were various types of festivals were celebrated across the whole of India.

Spread of Indian Culture in Central Asia

Contact with Asian countries began in the early period of the Christian era. The traders, emissaries, missionaries and visitors were the primary medium by which the culture of India was spread into those Asian countries.

The great centre of the culture of India was Central Asia in the early period of the era of Christianism. Kuchi was a famous place in central Asia that was a very flourishing and significant centre of the culture of India.

The famous silk route by which China crossed their chief commercial thing silk, was situated among the kingdom Kuchi. The traders, scholars, missionaries, and wanderers used this route.

They came from various Asian countries and lived among the Indian culture and also took the culture from India and spread them into their respective countries. The religion of Buddhism was also spread across the countries of Central Asia through many missionaries.

Spread of Indian Culture in East Asia

The culture of India also spread to several countries in East Asia.

• The countries of East Asia like China, Japan, Korea, and many more were the primary centre where the culture of India was spread. The relationship between China and India started many years ago.

• ⦁ Two monks of India named Kashyapa Martanga and Dharmarakshita reached China to attend the invitation of a Chinese emperor and the culture of India first entered with them. After that, many monks entered India from China and many monks reached China and from India and with their hands, the culture of both countries interchanged.

• The missionaries and monks of China became interested about to know Buddhism. They captured the thrill of Buddhism and spread this religion into their country. The notes and the books that were written by those monks and missionaries became the main sources of the history of India and the cultural relationship between these two countries was also found through their books.

• Korea is a country that is situated beside China and the culture of India was spread into this country through China. The Buddhist monk named Sundo reached Korea and spread Buddhism and its morals across Korea. Several temples were made in Korea by Indian missionaries.

• The emperors of Korea sent monks and missionaries to Japan to spread Buddhism. After that, Japan also became a country of Buddhism and many people in Japan became worshipers of Buddhism. The scholars of Japan started to learn the Sanskrit language and spread the language across Japan.

Spread of Indian culture in Southeast Asia

The Indian culture spread like fire in the countries of Southeast Asia also. Sri Lanka was the country where the culture of India spread massively for a long time. The monks and other people who went to India from Sri Lanka heard about Buddhism and learned about the Indian culture. They spread those cultures and religions across the whole country.

The culture of Sri Lanka became so rich with the touch of Buddhism and the culture of India. The culture and the people started to reach Myanmar in the early period of the era of Christianism. Pagan was the place from where Buddhism spread throughout Myanmar and it became a famous centre of Buddhism.

The scriptures of India were translated by the scholars of Myanmar into the Pali language. The culture of India was first spread in Thailand by the traders of India and then by the teachers, monks and missionaries. Many temples were made in Thailand following the tradition of India. Now, Thailand has become a great centre of the culture of India.

Conclusion

The culture and tradition of India spread over Asian countries for a long period of time. This was started at the hands of the traders and later with monks, missionaries and teachers from both India and Asian countries. The rich culture of India and Buddhism was spread into those Asian countries. The cultures of those Asian countries flourished and became rich with the touch of Indian culture and tradition.

FAQs

Qns 1. What was gained by Korea from India?

Ans. Many teachers, monks and scholars went to Korea in ancient times. They spread the cultures, arts, and religions and also became trained in various subjects like astrology, astronomy and many more.

Qns 2. What are the things that proved the cultural contact between India and Asian countries

Ans. The cultural contact between the countries of Central Asia and India is visible clearly. Various discoveries like ancient stupas, monasteries, paintings, images, and temples are found across the countries of Central Asia. Many resting places were discovered where the monks, missionaries, and traders took a rest at the time of their respective jobs. Those places are now used as the learning centre of Buddhism.

Qns 3. Who spread the culture of India across Asian countries?

Ans. The culture of India was spread from the early period of the Christian era. The traders, monks, teachers, wanderers, and missionaries were responsible for spreading the culture of India across Asian countries.