Asiatic Characteristics
An account, in this chapter, of the principal articles dealing with the history of India, China and Japan, will sufficiently indicate to the student the plan adopted in the Britannica’s treatment of all the countries in the far East. But before turning to these three groups of articles, he should read Asia (Vol. 2, p. 734), which defines the social and economic position of the Orient in general, and gives a survey of the field covered by articles on Eastern countries other than the three dealt with in this chapter. This article, equivalent in length to 65 pages of this Guide, is by Sir Richard Strachey, the famous Indian administrator; Sir Charles Eliot, of the British diplomatic service Sir T. H. Holdich, of the Indian Frontier Survey; and Philip Lake, the Oriental geologist. The general survey of Asiatic characteristics, as revealed by history, with which the historical section (p. 749) of the article begins, is noteworthy in connection with current political questions:
The words “Asiatic” and “oriental” are often used as if they denoted a definite and homogeneous type, but Russians resemble Asiatics in many ways, and Turks, Hindus, Chinese, etc., differ in so many important points that the common substratum is small. It amounts to this, that Asiatics have not the same sentiment of independence and freedom as Europeans. Individuals are thought of as members of a family, state or religion, rather than as entities with a destiny and rights of their own. This leads to autocracy in politics, fatalism in religion, and conservatism in both.
All three of these are certainly conspicuous in the history of the first Eastern country dealt with in this chapter.
INDIA
In the article India (Vol. 14, p. 375), (equivalent to 140 pages of this Guide) there is much of value to the historical student besides the chapter on History (p. 395), which is written by Sir William Wilson Hunter, administrative head of the statistical survey of India and one of the editors of The Imperial Gazetteer of India, and by James Sutherland Cotton, editor of this same Gazetteer. Particularly important are the sections, The People (p. 382), Administration (p. 385), and Indian Costume (p. 417), illustrated from pen-and-ink drawings by J. Lockwood Kipling, known to many as the illustrator of his son’s book Kim. And the student of Oriental history will find it possible to gain a little comprehension—at least—of Oriental ways of thought, Eastern setting and colour, by reading in the Britannica such articles as Caste (Vol. 5, p. 464), Hinduism (Vol. 13, p. 501), Brahmanism, Brahman and Brahmana (Vol. 4, p. 378), all by Prof. Julius Eggeling, Edinburgh; Buddha and Buddhism (Vol. 4, p. 737), both by Prof. T. W. Rhys Davids of Manchester, author of Sacred Books of the Buddhas, etc.; Mahomet (Vol. 17, p. 399), by Prof. D. G. Margoliouth, Oxford; Mahommedan Institutions and Mahommedan Law (Vol. 17, p. 411), by Prof. D. S. Macdonald, Hartford Theological Seminary, and Mahommedan Religion (Vol. 17, p. 417), by Rev. G. W. Thatcher, Camden College, Sydney, N. S. W.; Indian Law (Vol. 14, p. 434), by Sir William Markby, author of Lectures on English Law, etc.; and Zoroaster (Vol. 28, p. 1039), by Prof. Karl Geldner, Marburg, and Parsees (Vol. 20, p. 866). This list of articles subsidiary to the history of India could be prolonged almost indefinitely, but enough has been given to put the student on the track of valuable articles which might otherwise escape his notice.
Before we come to the authentic history of India there is a legendary period, the only historic test for which is the rock inscriptions,—see the article Inscriptions, Indian (Vol. 14, p. 621), by J. F. Fleet, author of Inscriptions of the Early Gupta Kings. On the earliest literary description of the Aryans in India and their contests with the Dravidians see the article Sanskrit, Vedic Period (especially p. 161 of Vol. 24, on the Rig Veda)—and in general the articles Aryan and Dravidian. An interesting reconstruction of the civilization of the primitive Aryans on the basis of languages will be found in the article Indo-European Languages (Vol. 14, especially pp. 498–500), by Dr. Peter Giles, Cambridge, author of Manual of Comparative Philology; and this picture of Aryan life before the conquest of India will hold in the main for the earlier period of the Aryans in India.
Early Buddhism
With the 6th century we come to the beginning of the Buddhist period. See the article Jains, the articles on Buddhism already mentioned, and the articles: Asoka, the great Buddhist emperor and organizer of the faith, whose rock inscriptions throughout India are so valuable as historical records; Kanishka, the Buddhist king of Kabul and Kashmir; Fa-Hien and Hsüan Tsang, the Chinese pilgrims of India, who left important records of early Buddhism and of Brahmanism, which was steadily growing in power and strength.
The Hindu period, overlapping the Buddhist, is marked by the beginning of Western influences on India. For the Persians in India see the articles Persia (Vol. 21, especially pp. 209–210), Darius (Vol. 7, p. 832), and Scylax, the Greek who under Darius’s orders explored the course of the Indus. Far more important was the conquest by Alexander the Great and the establishment of the Hellenistic empire of the Seleucids in Syria, Bactria and India: see Alexander the Great (Vol. 1, especially p. 548), Nearchus, Alexander’s admiral and navigator, and Seleucid Dynasty. The first paramount ruler of India was Chandragupta (Vol. 5, p. 839), whom the Greeks called Sandracottus and who crushed the Seleucid power and founded the Maurya dynasty. Of his grandson Asoka we have already spoken in outlining the growth and decline of Buddhism. In this period Greek thought and art influenced India greatly, and in the period immediately following—2nd century B.C.—northwestern India was invaded again by western troops: see Demetrius, Eucratides, Menander. The records of the next four centuries are confused and vague; on the invasions from the North, see Saka and Yue-Chi, by Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe Eliot.