Threats to Existence

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You will learn

• Types of internal and external threats
• How these threats brought about the fall of
  kingdoms and empires in ancient India, China and
  Southeast Asia
• The measures each civilisation took to respond to
  these threats

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EXTERNAL INTERNAL THREATS
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• Lets look at the causes of decline of the Indus
  Valley civilisation, the Mauryan and Gupta
  dynasties
• Indus Valley civilisation
• began in 2500 B.C.
• Abrupt end in 1500 B.C.

Mauryan Silver

• Remember the well-planned cities of Mohenjo-Daro
  and Harappa?
• What caused them to decline?

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• Foreign Invasion
• Natural Disasters
• Succession issue
• Poor government

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• Attacked by the Aryans, invaders from Central
  Asia, who migrated to India
• Indus people forced southwards where they settled

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• Could explain the mysterious disappearance of the
  Indus Valley civilisation
• Earthquakes and floods could have caused decline
• Indus River could have overflowed, flooding its
  banks and causing severe damage to the cities

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• Successors unable to fill leadership gap of a
  great ruler
• Not as capable
• Great Mauryan Dynasty came to an end after the
  death of Asoka
• Mainly because his successors were weak
• Imposed heavy taxes on people
• Much unrest and dissatisfaction with the govt
• Many rebellions resulted empire declined

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• Another reason Buddhism not promoted as
  strongly after Asokas death
• Did not have a great influence on people
• No common set of beliefs to hold people together
  as had been in Asokas time
• Final result Last Mauryan king was murdered in
  185 B.C. a new dynasty established

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• Foreign invasion also caused the downfall of the
  Gupta Dynasty
• Reign of Skanda Gupta (A.D. 335-367) repeatedly
  attacked by tribes from Central Asia
• One was the Xiongnu, also known as the Huns
• They had already begun attacking the empire
  during the rule of Kumara Gupta who ruled before
  Skanda
• Kumara had managed to keep the empire intact
• These attacks greatly weakened the Gupta Dynasty
• Eventually collapsed at the end of the 5th
  century A.D.

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• In South India rivalry and constant warfare
  among rival kingdoms led to their rise and fall
• Kingdoms Pandya, Chera, Pallava, Chola
• Later part of 6th century A.D., Pallava had
  become strongest power in south India
• Strong rival in the north Chalukya kingdom
• A.D. 642 Pallava king invaded Chalukya capital
  and killed the king
• Since then, the two kingdoms continued to fight
  each other for the next 200 years

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• Both kingdoms became weak
• Pallava eventually conquered by another kingdom,
  the Chola in A.D. 891
• Ended Pallava dominance and marked the rise of
  the Cholas

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• Causes for the decline of Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han,
  Tang, Song dynasties
• Harsh and unpopular laws and/or rules
• No unity or central control weak leader
• Foreign invasions
• Natural disasters

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• Shang Dynasty ended in 11th century B.C.
• Last Shang king was a cruel ruler
• Forced people to build luxurious palaces and
  parks for his own enjoyment
• Subjects punished severely for disobedience
• Led a much unhappiness among his people
• When Zhou king attacked, the Shang slaves led him
  and his soldiers into the Shang capital instead

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• A dynasty could collapse because there was no
  unity or central control
• Look at feudalism during the Zhou Dynasty
• Feudal worked well provided there is a strong
  king who could aontrol the feudal lords
• Later Zhou Period period of the Warring States
  in-fighting among the feudal lords for power
  and territories
• All because the king was weak
• Powerful feudal states would conquer the weaker
  ones
• Zhou Dynasty fell when the powerful state of Qin
  emerged as the victor

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• Cruel and harsh methods used by kings also
  resulted in rebellions
• This was the case with QSH which led to the end
  of his empire
• QSH wanted his dynasty to last 10,000 generations
• His wish never fulfilled
• Qin Dynasty came to an end in 206 B.C. (founded
  in 221 B.C.)

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• QSHs son and successor, Hu Hai, was a weak ruler
• Indifferent to the sufferings of the people
• Increased taxes demanded more military service
  and public labour
• Killed his capable Prime Minister Li Si
• Hu Hai later committed suicide

Qin Shihuang
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• The third and last Qin emperor had his adviser
  and chief eunuch, Zhao Gao, killed
• Without effective leadership, the Qin Dynasty
  ended in 206 B.C.
• The last Qin emperor defeated by a peasant named
  Liu Bang who established the Han Dynasty

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• China often attacked by nomadic tribes of the
  north especially the Xiongnu
• Lived in the deserts north of China
• Brought the other tribes under its control

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• The Xiongnu was a Turkish-speaking tribe
• They were later known in Europe as the Huns
• Often raided border villages of China
• Robbed people of their animals and crops

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• Reign of Liu Bang or Emperor Han Gaozu Xiongnu
  attacked and defeated the Han Chinese in 201 B.C.
• This defeat was only a temporary setback for the
  Han
• Foreign invasion was not the main cause of the
  decline of the Han Dynasty

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Source http//www.chinapage.com/poem/liubang/liu
bang2n.html
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Source http//www.chinapage.com/poem/liubang/liu
bang2n.html
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• Remember what we learnt about the Chinese
  believing that the the Emperor ruled because he
  had the Mandate of Heaven?
• Natural disasters were taken by the Chinese as a
  sign that the Emperor had not governed well
• They believed that Heaven had withdrawn this
  Mandate
• Thus they could rebel against the emperor
• Remember how earthquakes indicated that the
  Emperor was not favoured by Heaven and needed to
  be overthrown?

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• Natural disasters also caused hardship to the
  people
• Contributed to the decline of kingdoms or empires
• Eg Later Han period A.D. 25 220 poor peasants
  struggled to survived
• Country hit by drought, famines and floods
• Followed by outbreak of infectious diseases
• People so poor that they had to sell their wives
  and children to survive
• They blamed the government and rebelled
• Can you blame them?

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• Emperor of Later Han period had to rely on his
  military to crush these rebellions
• However, one of the military leaders forced the
  last Han emperor to step down in A.D. 220
• This ended the Han Dynasty

Han ruins
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• The Tang Dynasty also experienced a great
  rebellion by An Lushan, a general and adopted son
  of Emperor Xuanzong his favourite concubine
  Yang Gueifei
• An Lushan tried to seize the throne in A.D. 755
• Emperor his concubine had to flee the capital,
  Changan
• An Lushan rebellion took a decade to put down
• Weakened the Tang Dynasty so much that it never
  really recovered from it

A painting on silk of Yang Kwei-fei by Chobunsai
Eishi (1756-1829). Source http//www.taleofgenji
.org/yang_kwei-fei.html
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• The generals sent to the provinces to put down
  the rebellion later set themselves up there
• They became independent of the central government
• More rebellions took place towards the end of the
  9th century
• Weakened the government further
• Last Tang emperor too weak to stop his generals
  from splitting up his empire
• Forced to give up his throne in A.D. 907 thus
  ending the Tang Dynasty

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• The Song Dynasty was also troubled by foreign
  attacks
• 1126 A.D. northern China was conquered by the
  Jurchen tribe from north-eastern Manchuria
• The Song capital Kaifeng as well as the
  emperor was captured
• One of the Songs emperors sons, Gaozong,
  escaped to the south
• There he became the emperor of southern China
• His dynasty became known as the Southern Song
• This China was divided into two

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Imperial Order from Emperor Song Gaozong to
General Yueh Fei Source http//www.chinapage.com
/callig1.htmlsgz
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• Another group of foreign invaders, the Mongols,
  attacked China in the 13th century
• By this time, China had weak rulers
• The Mongols defeated the Jin
• The weak Song soldiers and the Great Wall could
  not stop the Mongols
• The Mongols, under Kublai Khan, had a
  well-trained army and excellent horses
• Conquered China in 1279 A.D.

Source http//www.chinapage.com/painting/kublai.
html
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• Causes for decline of Funan, Srivijaya and Melaka
• Funan Srivijaya foreign invaders

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• Funan
• conquered by kingdom of Chenla in 6th century
  A.D.
• People of Chenla moved south and occupied fertile
  plains of Funan

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• Srivijaya
• Decline of Srivijaya
• Began when Rajendra (A.D. 1014 to 1044) RULER OF
  CHOLA KINGDOM from South India attacked Srivijaya
• Captured Palembang in A.D. 1025
• Chola controlled and ruled these territories for
  about a century
• Srivijaya further weakened when more territories
  were conquered in 13th century
• Northern part of Malay Peninsular taken by Siam
• King Kertanegara from rival kingdom of Singhasari
  (in Java) took over Srivijayas territories in
  south-eastern Sumatra

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• Srivijaya
• External threats can also be economic in nature
• Srivijaya declined partly because of the growth
  of other ports in Southeast Asia
• Many traders sailed directly to ports of Eastern
  Java to trade
• Palembang, the Srivijayan port, became one of the
  port of call for these traders

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• Srivijaya
• Majapahit was one of the kingdoms that took trade
  away from Srivijaya
• Later, Majapahit declined because of the rise of
  the kingdom of Melaka
• 15th century Melaka risen to become a great
  port and emporium in SE Asia
• Many small kingdoms broke away from control of
  Majapahit and traded with Melaka

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• Melaka declined in the 15th century several
  causes
• Main causes weak and corrupt leadership
  disloyalty
• Last sultan, Mahmud, was unsuitable
• Weak character not interested in state affairs
• No capable PM to help him
• After the great Tun Perak (Chief Minister
  Bendahara of Melaka) died in 1498, his brother
  Tun Puteh succeeded him
• Tun Puteh an old man, Bendahara for only 2 years

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• Replaced by Tun Mutahir greedy and corrupt
• Executed by Sultan for plotting against him
• Replaced by Paduka Tuan, a toothless, paralysed
  old man
• Thus Malacca was without capable leadership when
  the Portugese attacked in 1511

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• Another reason lack of unity among its people
• Two factions/groups in Melaka
• Malays and Indian Muslims
• Quarrels and political intrigues common
• Appt of Tun Mutahir, an Indian Muslim, as
  Bendahara made the Malay faction unhappy
• Tun Mutahir appointed his own relatives to power
• Malay faction became jealous

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• Rich and powerful foreign merchants of Melaka,
  especially the Javanese, did not help defend
  Melaka
• Afraid their business would be affected once the
  Portugese took over
• Some secretly supported the Portugese
• Others openly helped them
• Local Malays not loyal to Sultan as Melaka was a
  feudal state
• Many forced to work as slaves for the Sultan and
  nobles
• No reforms to improve welfare of the people
• People thus had no love for and no loyalty to the
  Sultan
• Offered little resistance to the Portugese

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• Melaka depended on Javanese mercenaries for her
  defence
• They were not prepared to sacrifice their lives
  for Melaka
• When Portugese victory inevitable, some deserted
  the army
• Others joined the Portugese
• Melaka was also dependent on foreign food
  supplies
• When besieged by the Portugese, she was doomed

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• The great Melaka Sultanate ended in 1511 A.D.
  after a century of prosperity
• Melaka Malays were no match for the guns and
  cannons of the Portugese
• Portugese soldiers well-armed and well-trained
• Disciplined and experienced fighters
• Had a good leader in Alfonso dAlbuquerque

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DEFENSIVE MEASURES

• Strong walls or fortifications for protection
• Kings maintained large armies
• Horses, chariots and elephants to defend
  themselves
• These measures were inadequate when foreign
  armies were superior
• Weak leaders make it easier for foreign troops to
  take over a kingdom

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CHANDRAGUPTA

• Chandraguptas empire put security as an
  important aim
• The capital, Pataliputra, had 570 watch towers
• A moat surrounded the city
• He had a War Office of 30 officials
• His army 700,000 soldiers, 8,000 chariots and
  9,000 elephants

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DIPLOMACY

• Nations often use diplomacy to avoid war and
  maintain peace
• Diplomacy is the art and practice of continuing
  relations between nations
• Asoka sent missionaries to Tibet, Myanmar and
  even Greece to spread Buddhism
• Through Buddhism, India made friends with other
  countries

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THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

• Zhou Dynasty Zhou kings built sections of what
  is known as the Great Wall of China to ward off
  the Xiongnu
• These walls were later joined and strengthened by
  Qin Shihuang in 221 B.C.
• QSH also extended the wall across the length of
  northern China, spanning thousands of kilometres
• Later dynasties also continued with the building
  of the Great Wall

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EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GREAT WALL

• Managed to put invaders off
• But could not ensure the safety of China forever
• Chinese thus also adopted diplomatic measures
• Help to prevent attacks from taking place

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POLITICAL MARRIAGES

• Political marriages an act of diplomacy
• Han Gaozu successors sent the Xiongnu precious
  gifts like silk annually
• Even offered Chinese princesses as brides to
  marry the Xiongnu chiefs
• Not entirely successful though
• Xiongnu still launch attacks

Han Gaozu
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POLITICAL ALLIANCES

• Chinese emperors formed alliances with other
  kingdoms for survival
• When Han Wudi decided to attack the Xiongnu, he
  sought the help of allies or friends
• Sent an official, Zhang Qian (remember him?) to
  make friends with a tribe from Central Asia who
  had been defeated by the Xiongnu earlier.

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POLITICAL ALLIANCES

• Attempt failed because Zhang Qian was captured by
  the Xiongnu and imprisoned
• In the end, Han Wudi decided to attack the
  Xiongnu himself
• 129 B.C. to 119 B.C., he carried out several
  campaigns against the Xiongnu
• Managed to drive them further north into the
  desert

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SIAM AS OVERLORD

• Melaka constantly under threat of Siam after its
  founding
• Parameswara had earlier offended the Siamese
• He had no choice but to recognise Siam as his
  overlord
• Sent tributes or gifts to the king of Siam
• This meant Melaka was a vassal state of Siam
• Paid tribute to Siam and recognised Siam as a
  stronger power

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THE CHINA FACTOR

• Parameswara did not trust the Siamese
• 1403 Asked for Chinese protection as China was
  stronger than Siam
• Asked to be a vassal state of China
• The Ming Emperor agreed
• 1411 Parameswara visited China to further
  strengthen his friendship with China
• His successors continued this policy of
  friendship with China by sending missions and
  gifts

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DIPLOMACY

• Diplomacy achieved by befriending countries
  that could offer protection against another power
• 1407 China warned Siam not to attack Melaka
• Siam obeyed
• 1419 Siam warned again
• 1431 Ming Admiral Zheng He warned the Siamese
  when they tried to attack Melaka
• In this way, Melaka was protected from enemy
  attacks
• Able to enjoy peace and prosperity

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PORTUGUESE ATTACK

• This protection helped trade with China to grow
• Now that Melaka was safe from Siamese attacks,
  more foreign traders flocked to Melaka
• However, no guarantee that protection from a
  strong power would always come when needed
• 1511 when Melaka was attacked by the
  Portuguese, no help came from China
• Thus Melaka fell easily to Portugal

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• Emperor Xuanzong - grandson of Wu Zetian
• Dedicated and concerned ruler initially
• Fell in love with Yang Gueifei
• spent all his time with his favorite concubine
• neglected state affairs
• While fleeing Changan, Xuanzongs soldiers
  threatened to leave him unless he killed Yang
  Gueifei
• Xuanzong had no choice but to witness his
  concubine killed whilst escaping

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• Earthquakes
• The earths surface is made up of plates of rock
  which are constantly moving against each other,
  thus creating fault lines
• In 1995, 5000 people died when an earthquake hit
  the port of Kobe on the western island of Honshu
• It measured 7.6 on the Richter Scale
• According to the Nevada Seismological Laboratory
  in the US, the worlds largest nuclear weapon
  only packs a punch equal to 5 on the Richter
  Scale
• Source The New Paper on Sunday, 18 Aug 2002