Culture of Asia: Difference between revisions

===South Asia===

Evidence of [[Neolithic India|Neolithic culture]] has been found throughout the modern states Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that represent South Asia (also known as the [[Indian subcontinent]]). Since 3,300 B.C. in modern-day northeastern Afghanistan, in Pakistan and northwestern India a sophisticated [[Bronze Age]] cultural tradition emerged, that after only a few centuries fully flourished in urban centers. Due to the high quality of its arts, crafts, metallurgy and buildings, the accomplishments in urban planning, governance, trade and technology etc. it has been classified as one of the principal [[Cradle of civilization|Cradles of civilization]]. Referred to as the [[Indus Valley civilisation]] or Harappan Civilisation it thrived for almost 2.000 years until the onset of the [[Vedic period]] (c. 1500 – c. 600 B.C.).<ref>{{cite journal| title= Fluvial landscapes of the Harappan civilization | journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume= 109 | issue= 26 | pages= E1688–E1694 |author= Liviu Giosan, Peter D. Clift, Mark G. Macklin, Dorian Q. Fuller, Stefan Constantinescu, Julie A. Durcan, Thomas Stevens, Geoff A. T. Duller, Ali R. Tabrez, Kavita Gangal, Ronojoy Adhikari, Anwar Alizai, Florin Filip, Sam VanLaningham, James P. M. Syvitski  |publisher= PNAS |date= June 26, 2012 | doi= 10.1073/pnas.1112743109 | pmid= 22645375 | pmc= 3387054 | doi-access= free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9TSAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA296 | title= Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey |author= John L. Brooke  |date=  2014-03-17| publisher= Cambridge University Press | access-date=April 21, 2018 | isbn= 9780521871648 }}</ref> The great significance of the Vedic texts (that don't mention cities or urban life) for South Asian culture, their impact on family, societal organisation, religion, morale, literature etc. has never been contested. The Indus Valley Civilisation on the other hand has only come to light by means of 20th century archaeology. Scholars, who employ several periodization models argue over whether South Asian tradition is consciously committed to the Harappan culture.{{sfn|Kenoyer|1991}}{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|p=27}}

Declining climatic conditions, ([[aridification]]) and population displacement ([[Indo-Aryan migration]]) are regarded as to have caused the fatal disruption of the Harappa culture, that was superseded by the rural Vedic culture.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lBb91WNaed8C&pg=PR24 | title= The Arthaśāstra: Selections from the Classic Indian Work on Statecraft |author= Mark McClish, Patrick Olivelle  |date=  2012-09-07| publisher= M.S. Koṭhārī | access-date=April 21, 2018 | isbn= 9781603849036 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&q=Great+States+Upinder+singh&pg=PA260 | title= A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the ... |author=Upinder Singh  | access-date=April 22, 2018 | isbn= 9788131711200 | year= 2008 | publisher= Pearson Education India }}</ref>

Following the Indo-Aryan settlement in the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] and the establishment of the characteristic social groups (Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras) in the [[Caste system in India|caste system]] based on the [[Jāti]] model in the [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna order]], the tribal entities variously consolidated into oligarchic chiefdoms or kingdoms (the 16 [[Mahajanapada]]s), beginning in the sixth century B.C. The late Vedic political progress results in urbanization, strict social hierarchy, commercial and military rivalries among the settlers, that have spread all over the entire sub-continent.{{sfn|Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Mediaeval India|2008|p=200}} The large body of Vedic texts and literature, supported by the archaeological sequence allows researchers to reconstruct a rather accurate and detailed image of the Vedic culture and political organisation. The [[Vedas]] constitute the oldest work of Sanskrit literature and form the basis of religious, ethic and philosophic ideas in South Asia. They are widely, but not exclusively regarded the basics and scriptural authority on worship, rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices, meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge for the future Hindu and Buddhist cosmology. Commentaries and discussions also focus on the development of [[Satya|valid]] political ideas and concepts of societal progress and [[Rta|ethic]] conformity.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf | title= The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools : The Social and Political Milieu |author=Michael Witzel  |publisher= Harvard University  | access-date=April 22, 2018 }}</ref>