Japan and India

Medieval Japan: Empire feudalism

The Yamato Empire emerged in Japan during the second century. This empire was based
on a federation of clans (uji) which formed the nobility and were linked to a hegemonic uji,
which was the imperial family. The peasants made up the majority of the population, but it
was the poorest sector that should pay taxes. Yamato emperors extended their power to
Korea. Through this country, Japan received Chinese influence, manifested in its culture
and its administrative system: the state was centralized, professionalized bureaucracy and
the emperor became an absolute monarch. By the ninth century, Japanese culture acquired
traits and political structure became Yamato. The emperors began to move away from
power, they left in the hands of a noble family: the Fujiwara. However, the power of the
Fujiwara began to decline since the eleventh century, while the provinces were under the
power of the landed nobility supported by the military caste of the samurai. This provoked
a civil war that ended in 1185 with the victory of the Minamoto clan. The Minamoto
established the shogunate, a dictatorship in command of a shogun (military chief)
appointed by the emperor, who was reduced to religious functions. Japanese feudal stage
so began under the hegemony of the feudal nobility supported by the samurai.

The medieval India

Among the second centuries. C. and XII d. BC, India was dominated by various States
without any controlled all the country. During this period, known as the media realms, India
achieved great cultural splendor. One was the Kushan Empire, a cosmopolitan state that
had its heyday between the first and third centuries. C. Subsequently, between the fourth
to sixth centuries, a dynasty imposed its rule over most of the Indian territory: the Gupta
Empire. Under the leadership of Chandragupta II (374-415), the brighter its ruler, the empire
reached its maximum political power. However, from the tenth century, the invasions of the
White Huns (nomadic people from the steppes of Asia) gradually weakened and destroyed
the empire. During the period Gupta, India underwent a period of great cultural
development: literature, art and science reached their highest level. Indian mathematicians
made progress as the use of zero, the decimal system and numerals symbols, advances
were subsequently retaken by the Muslims. After the fall of the Gupta Empire, India was
fragmented. On the other hand, since the eighth century, Muslims occupied the country and
Islamic culture began to exert its influence throughout the country. By the tenth century,
they began to form their own states and founded the Sultanate of Delhi (1206-1536). This
domain caused the religious confrontation between Indians, who mostly practiced Hindu
religion, and Muslims. In the south, the Vijayanagara (1336-1565) Empire was the last center
of Hindu resistance.