Asian History

Tagore, Rabindranath

(1861-1941) was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth-century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in the Upanishads he Brahmo Samaj does not accept the authority of the Vedas, has no faith in avatars (incarnations), and does not insist on belief in karma (causal effects of past deeds) or samsara (the process of death and rebirth). It discards Hindu rituals and adopts some Christian practices in its worship. Influenced by Islam and Christianity, it denounces polytheism, image worship, and the caste system. The society has had considerable success with its programs of social reform but has never had a significant popular following.

Battle of Sekigahara

A decisive battle on October 21, 1600, that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Ieyasu took three more years to consolidate his position of power over the Toyotomi clan and the daimyōs, but Sekigahara is widely considered to be the unofficial beginning of the Tokugawa bakufu, the last shogunate to control Japan.

British East India Company

Also known as the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) or the British East India Company and informally as John Company English and later British joint-stock company Formed to pursue trade with the "East Indies" (in present-day terms, Maritime Southeast Asia), but ended up trading mainly with Qing China and seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent. Rose to account for half of the world's trade[citation needed], particularly in basic commodities including cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea, and opium. The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India.[3] The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, making it the oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies. Wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the company's shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control until 1657 when permanent joint stock was established. During first century of operation, the focus of the company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. Company interests turned from trade to territory during the 18th century as the Mughal Empire declined in power and the East India Company struggled with its French counterpart, the French East India Company (Compagnie française des Indes orientales) during the Carnatic Wars of the 1740s and 1750s. The battles of Plassey and Buxar, in which the British defeated the Bengali powers, left the company in control of Bengal and a major military and political power in India. In following decades it gradually increased the extent of the territories under its control, controlling the majority of the Indian subcontinent either directly or indirectly via local puppet rulers under the threat of force by its Presidency armies, much of which were composed of native Indian sepoys. By 1803, at the height of its rule in India, the British East India company had a private army of about 260,000—twice the size of the British Army, with Indian revenues of £13,464,561, and expenses of £14,017,473.[6][7] Eventually came to rule large areas of India with its private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 and lasted until 1858, when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown's assuming direct control of the Indian subcontinent in the form of the new British Raj. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances. It was dissolved in 1874 as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act passed one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless, and obsolete. The official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies.

B. G. Tilak

An Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and an independence activist. First leader of the Indian Independence Movement. British colonial authorities called him "The father of the Indian unrest." He was also conferred with the title of "Lokmanya", which means "accepted by the people (as their leader)". Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj ("self-rule") and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. He is known for his quote in Marathi: "Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it!". Tilak was considered a radical Nationalist but a Social conservative

Aurangzeb

Commonly known by the sobriquet Aurangzeb (Persian: اورنگ‌زیب‎ "Ornament of the Throne") or by his regnal title Alamgir (Persian: عالمگير‎ "Conqueror of the World") was the sixth, and widely Considered the last effective Mughal emperor. Reign lasted for 49 years from 1658 until his death in 1707 Notable expansionist and during reign, Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, ruling over nearly all of the Indian subcontinent.[7] During his lifetime, victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to 4 million square kilometres and he ruled over a population estimated to be over 158 million subjects Aurangzeb has been subject to controversy and criticism[13] for his policies that abandoned his predecessors' legacy of pluralism and religious tolerance, citing his introduction of the Jizya tax, destruction of Hindu temples, execution or forced conversion of his non-muslim subjects to Islam and execution of the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. [14][15][a] while a minority of historians question this, arguing that his destruction of temples has been exaggerated,[16][13] and noting that he also built temples,[17] also destroyed Islamic mosques, paid for the maintenance of temples,[18] employed significantly more Hindus in his imperial bureaucracy than his predecessors did, and opposed bigotry against Hindus and Shia Muslims.

Battle of Plassey

Decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and French allies on 23 June 1757. Battle consolidated the Company's presence in Bengal, which later expanded to cover much of India over the next hundred years. Took place at Palashi (Anglicised version: Plassey) on the banks of the Bhagirathi River One of the pivotal battles in the control of Indian subcontinent by the colonial powers. British now wielded enormous influence over the Nawab and consequently acquired significant concessions for previous losses and revenue from trade. British further used this revenue to increase their military might and push the other European colonial powers such as the Dutch and the French out of South Asia, thus expanding the British Empire.

Cixi

Empress Dowager Cixi1 (Chinese: 慈禧太后; pinyin: Cíxǐ Tàihòu; Manchu: Tsysi taiheo; 29 November 1835 - 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehenara clan, was a Chinese empress dowager and regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for 47 years from 1861 until her death in 1908. Selected as an imperial concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor in her adolescence, she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856. After the Xianfeng Emperor's death in 1861, the young boy became the Tongzhi Emperor, and she became the Empress Dowager. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed regency, which she shared with Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875, contrary to the traditional rules of succession of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644. Although she refused to adopt Western models of government, she supported technological and military reforms and the Self-Strengthening Movement. Although she agreed with the principles of the Hundred Days' Reforms of 1898, Cixi rejected their sudden implementation, without bureaucratic support, as detrimental to dynastic power. She placed the Guangxu Emperor, who had tried to assassinate her, under virtual house arrest for supporting radical reformers. She may have feared that any perceived weakness in the Imperial Court would have been pounced upon by the Japanese. After the Boxer Uprising led to the invasion of Allied armies, Cixi initially supported the Boxer groups for supporting the dynasty and attacking the foreigners. The ensuing Allied defeat of the Chinese forces was a stunning humiliation. When Cixi returned to Beijing from Xi'an, where she had taken the emperor, she became friendly to foreigners in the capital and began to implement fiscal and institutional reforms that began to turn China into a constitutional monarchy. The death of both Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908 left the court in the hands of Manchu conservatives, a child on the throne, and a restless, rebellious public. Historians both in China and abroad have long portrayed her as a despot responsible for the fall of the Qing dynasty. However, there is a minority that excuse Cixi as being a victim to factors which were beyond her control

Imperial Rescript on Education

Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the Japanese government sought to solidify its position in a climate of increasing Westernization, especially in the field of education. The Imperial Rescript on Education (教育に関する勅語 Kyōiku ni Kansuru Chokugo) was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan. The 315 character document was read aloud at all important school events, and students were required to study and memorize the text. The Rescript requested of the people that they "furthermore advance public good and promote common interests; always respect the Constitution and observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth". The basis of the Rescript was that Japan's unique kokutai(a concept in the Japanese language translatable as "system of government", "sovereignty", "national identity, essence, and character") was based on a historic bond between benevolent rulers and loyal subjects, and that the fundamental purpose of education was to cultivate virtues, especially loyalty and filial piety. After the end of World War II in Asia following the surrender of Japan, the American occupation authorities forbade the formal reading of the Imperial Rescript in schools, and the National Diet officially abolished it on 19 June 1948.

Babur

Founder and first Emperor of the Mughal dynasty in the Indian subcontinent. Direct descendant of Emperor Timur the Great (Tamurlane) from Transoxiana Babur married several times. Notable among his sons are Humayun, Kamran Mirza and Hindal Mirza. Babur died in 1530 and was succeeded by Humayun He ascended the throne of Fergana in its capital Akhsikent in 1494 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion. He conquered Samarkand two years later, only to lose the vilayat of Fergana soon after. In his attempt to reconquer Fergana, he lost control of Samarkand. In 1501, his attempt to recapture both vilayats went in vain as he was defeated by Muhammad Shaybani Khan. In 1504, he conquered Kabul, which was under the rule of the infant heir of Ulugh Begh. Babur formed a partnership with Safavid ruler Ismail I and reconquered parts of Turkistan, including Samarkand, only to again lose it and the other newly conquered lands to the Sheybanids. After losing Samarkand for the third time, Babur turned his attention to creating his empire in north. At that time, the Indo-Gangetic Plain of the northern Indian Subcontinent was ruled by Ibrahim Lodi of the Afghan Lodi dynasty, whereas Rajputana was ruled by a Hindu Rajput Confederacy, led by Rana Sanga of Mewar. According to historical records and Baburnama (autobiography written by Babur himself) Daulat Khan Lodi invited him to attack on Delhi where Ibrahim Lodi was ruling at that time. He sent his ambassador to him to support him in his attack on Delhi. Also in 1524, [Daulat Khan Lodi], a rebel of the Lodhi dynasty, invited Babur to overthrow Ibrahim and become ruler. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 CE and founded the Mughal empire. However, he again faced opposition, this time from Rana Sanga of Mewar and Medini Rai,another rajput ruler in the battle of Chanderi who considered Babur a foreigner. The Rana was defeated in the Battle of Khanwa. Babur married several times. Notable among his sons are Humayun, Kamran Mirza and Hindal Mirza. Babur died in 1530 and was succeeded by Humayun.

Fukuzawa Yukichi

Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤 諭吉, January 10, 1835 - February 3, 1901) was a Japanese author, writer, teacher, translator, entrepreneur and journalist who founded Keio University, Jiji-Shinpō (a newspaper) and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early Japanese civil rights activist and liberal ideologist. Fukuzawa's ideas about the government work, and the structure of social institutions made a lasting impression on a rapidly changing Japan during the Meiji period. Fukuzawa is regarded as one of the founders of modern Japan. Fukuzawa's most important contribution to the reformation effort, though, came in the form of a newspaper called Jiji Shinpō (時事新報, "Current Events"), which he started in 1882, after being prompted by Inoue Kaoru, Ōkuma Shigenobu, and Itō Hirobumi to establish a strong influence among the people, and in particular to transmit to the public the government's views on the projected national assembly, and as reforms began, Fukuzawa, whose fame was already unquestionable, began production of Jiji Shinpo, which received wide circulation, encouraging the people to enlighten themselves and to adopt a moderate political attitude towards the change that was being engineered within the social and political structures of Japan. He translated many books and journals into Japanese on a wide variety of subjects, including chemistry, the arts, military and society, and published many books (in multiple volumes) and journals himself describing Western society, his own philosophy and change, etc. Fukuzawa appears on the 10,000 yen banknote engraved by Oshikiri Katsuzō Fukuzawa was one of the most influential people ever that helped Japan modernize into the country it is today. He never accepted any high position and remained a normal Japanese citizen for his whole life. By the time of his death, he was revered as one of the founders of modern Japan. All of his work was written and was released at a critical juncture in the Japanese society and uncertainty for the Japanese people about their future after the signing of the Unequal treaties, their realization in the weakness of the Japanese government at the time (Tokugawa Shogunate) and its inability to repel the American and European influence. It should also be noted that there were bands of samurai that forcefully opposed the Americans and Europeans and their friends through murder and destruction. Fukuzawa was in danger of his life as a samurai group killed one of his colleagues for advocating policies like those of Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa wrote at a time when the Japanese people were undecided on whether they should be bitter about the American and European forced treaties and imperialism, or to understand the West and move forward. Fukuzawa greatly aided the ultimate success of the pro-modernization forces. Fukuzawa appears on the current 10,000-yen banknote and has been compared to Benjamin Franklin in the United States. Franklin appears on the similarly-valued $100 bill. Although all other figures appearing on Japanese banknotes changed when the recent redesign was released, Fukuzawa remained on the 10,000-yen note. Yukichi Fukuzawa was a firm believer that Western education surpassed Japan's. However, he did not like the idea of parliamentary debates. As early as 1860, Yukichi Fukuzawa traveled to Europe and the United States. He believed that the problem in Japan was the undervalued mathematics and science.[citation needed] Also, these suffered from a "lack of the idea of independence". The Japanese conservatives were not happy about Fukuzawa's view of Western education. Since he was a family friend of conservatives, he took their stand to heart. Fukuzawa later came to state that he went a little too far.[6] One words sums up his entire theme and that is "independence". Yukichi Fukuzawa believed that national independence was the framework to society in the West. However, to achieve this independence, as well as personal independence, Fukuzawa advocated Western learning. He believed that public virtue would increase as people became more educated.

G. K. Gokahle

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (9 May 1866 - 19 February 1915) was one of the social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and also social reform. He was the leader of the moderate faction of the Congress party that advocated reforms by working with existing government institutions. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities by cultivating a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights. Gokhale's first major confrontation with Tilak centred around one of his pet issues, the Age of Consent Bill introduced by the British Imperial Government, in 1891-92. Gokhale and his fellow liberal reformers, wishing to purge what they saw as superstitions and abuses in their native Hinduism, supported the Consent Bill to curb child marriage abuses. Though the Bill was not extreme, only raising the age of consent from ten to twelve, Tilak took issue with it; he did not object per se to the idea of moving towards the elimination of child marriage, but rather to the idea of British interference with Hindu tradition. For Tilak, such reform movements were not to be sought under imperial rule when they would be enforced by the British, but rather after independence was achieved, when Indians would enforce it on themselves. The bill however became law in the Bombay Presidency.[4] The two leaders also vied for the control of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, and the founding of the Deccan Sabha by Gokhale in 1896 was the consequence of Tilak coming out ahead.

Hong Xiuquan

Hong Xiuquan (洪秀全) (1 January 1814[1] - 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Hakka Chinese leader of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ. By 1850 Hong had between 10,000 and 30,000 followers. The authorities were alarmed at the growing size of the sect and ordered them to disperse. A local force was sent to attack them when they refused, but the imperial troops were routed and a deputy magistrate killed. A full-scale attack was launched by government forces in the first month of 1851, in what came to be known as the Jintian Uprising, named after the town of Jintian (present-day Guiping, Guangxi) where the sect was based. Hong's followers emerged victorious and beheaded the Manchu commander of the government army. Hong declared the founding of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Transcendent Peace" on 11 January 1851. Despite this evidence of planning, Hong and his followers faced immediate challenges. The local Green Standard Army outnumbered them ten to one, and had recruited the help of the river pirates to keep the rebellion contained to Jintian. After a month of preparation the rebels managed to break through the blockade and fight their way to the town of Yongan (not to be confused with Yong'an), which fell to them on 25 September 1851. Hong and his troops remained in Yongan for three months, sustained by local landowners who were hostile to the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty. The imperial army regrouped and launched another attack on the rebels in Yongan. Having run out of gunpowder, Hong's followers fought their way out by sword, and made for the city of Guilin, to which they laid siege. However, the fortifications of Guilin proved too strong, and Hong and his followers eventually gave up and set out northwards, towards Hunan. Here, they encountered an elite militia created by a local member of the gentry specifically to put down peasant rebellions. The two forces fought at Soyi Ford on 10 June 1852 where the rebels were forced into retreat, and 20% of their troops were killed. However, in March 1853, Hong's forces managed to take Nanjing and turned it into the capital of their movement. After establishing his capital at Nanjing Hong implemented an ambitious programme of reforms. He created an elaborate civil bureaucracy, reformed the calendar used in his kingdom, outlawed opium use, and introduced a number of reforms designed to make women more socially equal to men.[2] Hong ruled by making frequent proclamations from his Heavenly Palace, demanding strict compliance with various moral and religious rules. Most trade was suppressed, and some communal land ownership was introduced. Polygamy was forbidden and men and women were separated, although Hong and other leaders maintained groups of concubines. Yang Xiuqing, also known as the "East King", was a fellow Taiping leader who had directed successful military campaigns and who often claimed to speak with the voice of God. Hong became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions and his network of spies. In 1856, he and others in the Taiping élite had Yang and his family murdered in a purge that spiralled out of control, resulting in the further purge of its main perpetrator Wei Changhui.[54] Following a failed attempt by the Taiping rebels to take Shanghai in 1860, Qing government forces, aided by Western officers, slowly gained ground.

Matthew C. Perry

In 1852, Perry was assigned a mission by American President Millard Fillmore to force the opening of Japanese ports to American trade, through the use of gunboat diplomacy if necessary.[11] The growing commerce between the United States and China, the presence of American whalers in waters offshore Japan, and the increasing monopolization of potential coaling stations by the British and French in Asia were all contributing factors. The Americans were also driven by concepts of manifest destiny and the desire to expand western civilization to what they perceived as more backward Asian nations. The Japanese were forewarned by the Dutch of Perry's voyage, but were unwilling to change their 250-year-old policy of national seclusion.[12] There was considerable internal debate in Japan on how best to meet this potential threat to Japan's economic and political sovereignty. Perry returned on 13 February 1854, after only half a year rather than the full year promised, and with ten ships and 1600 men. Both actions were calculated to put even more pressure onto the Japanese. After initial resistance, Perry was permitted to land at Kanagawa, near the site of present-day Yokohama on March 8, 1854, where, after negotiations lasting for around a month, the Convention of Kanagawa was signed on March 31, 1854. Perry signed as American plenipotentiary, and Hayashi Akira, also known by his title of Daigaku-no-kami signed for the Japanese side. Perry departed, mistakenly believing the agreement had been made with imperial representatives, not understanding the true position of the shōgun, the de facto ruler of Japan.[20] Perry then visited Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido and Shimoda, the two ports which the treaty stipulated would be opened to visits by American ships. Basically ended Japan seclusion

Malacca

In April 1511, Alfonso de Albuquerque set sail from Goa to Malacca with a force of some 1200 men and seventeen or eighteen ships.[8] They conquered the city on 24 August 1511. After seizing the city Afonso de Albuquerque spared the Hindu, Chinese and Burmese inhabitants but had the Muslim inhabitants massacred or sold into slavery.[9] It soon became clear that Portuguese control of Malacca did not also mean they controlled Asian trade centred there. Their Malaccan rule was severely hampered by administrative and economic difficulties.[10] Rather than achieving their ambition of dominating Asian trade, the Portuguese had disrupted the organization of the network. The centralized port of exchange of Asian wealth had now gone, as was a Malay state to police the Straits of Malacca that made it safe for commercial traffic. Trade was now scattered over a number of ports among bitter warfare in the Straits.[10] Dutch Malacca, c. 1750 The Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier spent several months in Malacca in 1545, 1546, and 1549. The Dutch launched several attacks on the Portuguese colony during the first four decades of the seventeenth century. The first attack took place in 1606 under the command of Dutch Admiral Cornelis Matelief de Jonge who laid siege to the town with the help of his Johor allies. He engaged the Portuguese armada which had been sent from Goa to offer armed relief to the besieged port.[11] In 1641, the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in an effort to capture Malacca, with the help of the Sultan of Johore.[12] The Dutch ruled Malacca from 1641 to 1798 but they were not interested in developing it as a trading centre, placing greater importance on Batavia (Jakarta) on Java as their administrative centre. However they still built their landmark, better known as the Stadthuys or Red Building. Malacca River 1907, Church of St. Francis Xavier in the background Malacca was ceded to the British in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Bencoolen on Sumatra. From 1826 to 1946, Malacca was under the rule of the British, first by the British East India Company and then as a Crown Colony. Due to dissatisfaction with British jurisdiction over Naning, Dol Said, a local chief and the East India Company had a war from 1831 to 1832, which resulted in a decisive British victory. It formed part of the Straits Settlements, together with Singapore and Penang. Malacca went briefly under the rule of Empire of Japan in 1942-1945 during World War II.

New Imperialism

In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[1] The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of overseas territorial acquisitions. At the time, states focused on building their empires with new technological advances and developments, making their territory bigger through conquest, and exploiting their resources. During the era of New Imperialism, the Western powers (and Japan) individually conquered almost all of Africa and parts of Asia. The new wave of imperialism reflected ongoing rivalries among the great powers, the economic desire for new resources and markets, and a "civilizing mission" ethos. Many of the colonies established during this era gained independence during the era of decolonization that followed World War II. The qualifier "new" is used to differentiate modern imperialism from earlier imperial activity, such as the so-called first wave of European colonization between the 15th and early-19th centuries.[1][2] In the first wave of colonization, European powers conquered and colonized the Americas and Siberia; they then later established more outposts in Africa and Asia. New Imperialism gave rise to new social views of colonialism. Rudyard Kipling, for instance, urged the United States to "Take up the White Man's burden" of bringing European civilization to the other peoples of the world, regardless of whether these "other peoples" wanted this civilization or not. This part of The White Man's Burden exemplifies Britain's perceived attitude towards the colonization of other countries:

Aurobindo Ghosh

Indian philosopher, yogi, guru, poet, and nationalist. Joined the Indian movement for independence from British rule, for a while was one of its influential leaders and then became a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution. Sri Aurobindo's participation in the Indian national movement was short but impactful. His writings promoted idea of complete independence for India thereby landing him in jail for political unrest. Came to limelight with his active participation in the freedom struggle against the British in India but gradually evolved to become a spiritual and yogic guru.

Edo

It was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period, it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a "floating world". From the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu headquarters at Edo, the town became the de facto capital and center of political power, although Kyoto remained the formal capital of the country. Edo grew from what had been a small, little-known fishing village in 1457 into the largest metropolis in the world with an estimated population of 1,000,000 by 1721.[1][3] Edo was repeatedly devastated by fires, with the Great Fire of Meireki in 1657 being the most disastrous. An estimated 100,000 people died in the fire. During the Edo period, there were about 100 fires mostly begun by accident and often quickly escalating and spreading through neighborhoods of wooden machiya which were heated with charcoal fires. Between 1600 and 1945, Edo/Tokyo was leveled every 25-50 years or so by fire, earthquakes, or war. Small, sepia-colored map of Edo in the 1840s Map of Edo in the 1840s In 1868, when the shogunate came to an end, the city was renamed Tokyo ("eastern capital"). The emperor moved his residence to Tokyo, making the city the formal capital of Japan

Kang Youwei

Kang Youwei (Chinese: 康有為; Cantonese: Hōng Yáuh-wàih; 19 March 1858 - 31 March 1927) was a Chinese scholar, noted calligrapher and prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing dynasty. He led movements to establish a constitutional monarchy and was an ardent Chinese nationalist and internationalist. His ideas inspired a reformation movement that was supported by the Guangxu Emperor but loathed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Although he continued to advocate a constitutional monarchy after the founding of the Republic, Kang's political theory was never put into practice.

Kojong

Kojong, original name Yi H'ui, (born Sept. 8, 1852, Seoul, Korea [now in South Korea]—died Jan. 21, 1919, Seoul), 26th monarch of the Chosŏn (Yi) dynasty and the last to effectively rule Korea. Kojong became king of Korea while still a young boy. During the first years of his reign, power was in the hands of his father, Taewŏn-gun, who as regent attempted to restore and revitalize the country. When Taewŏn-gun was kidnapped and taken to China in 1882, power passed to Kojong's queen, Min, who opposed all modernization efforts. She was assassinated by the Japanese in 1895. Two years later, in an effort to save the country, Kojong elevated himself from king to emperor and changed the name of the country from Chosŏn to Taehan ("Great Han"), actions symbolic of his independence from China. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, however, Japan invaded Korea and forced the emperor to sign a treaty allowing the Japanese to use the country as a military base and to place advisers in the government. After the war, Japan set up a protectorate in Korea. In 1907 the king was forced to abdicate in favour of his son, after it came to light that he had dispatched emissaries to plead Korea's case at the second Hague Convention. Three years later Japan officially annexed Korea. Kojong's death in 1919 sparked rumours that he had been poisoned by the Japanese, and his funeral served as the impetus for the March 1st independence movement.

An Chunggŭn

Korean independence activist, nationalist, and pan-Asianist. On October 26, 1909, he assassinated Itō Hirobumi, a four-time Prime Minister of Japan and former Resident-General of Korea, following the signing of the Eulsa Treaty, with Korea on the verge of annexation by Japan Ahn was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in 1962 by the South Korean government, the most prestigious civil decoration in the Republic of Korea, for his efforts for Korean independence.

Li Hongzhang

Li Hongzhang, Marquis Suyi (also romanised as Li Hung-chang) (15 February 1823 - 7 November 1901), GCVO, was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important positions in the Qing imperial court, including the Viceroy of Zhili, Huguang and Liangguang. Although he was best known in the West for his generally pro-modern stance and importance as a negotiator, Li antagonised the British with his support of Russia as a foil against Japanese expansionism in Manchuria and fell from favour with the Chinese after their defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. His image in China remains controversial, with criticism on one hand for political and military mistakes and praise on the other for his success against the Taiping Rebellion, his diplomatic skills defending Chinese interests in the era of unequal treaties, and his role pioneering China's industrial and military modernisation. He was presented the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Victoria. The French newspaper Le Siècle described him as "the yellow Bismarck."

Lin Zexu

Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 - 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese scholar-official of the Qing dynasty best known for his role in the First Opium War of 1839-42. He was from Fuzhou, Fujian Province. Lin's forceful opposition to the opium trade was a primary catalyst for the First Opium War. He is praised for his constant position on the "moral high ground" in his fight, but he is also blamed for a rigid approach which failed to account for the domestic and international complexities of the problem.[2] The Daoguang Emperor endorsed the hardline policies advocated by Lin, but then blamed Lin for the resulting disastrous war.[3]

Macao

Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. In 1557 it was leased to Portugal as a trading post. While it was to remain under Chinese sovereignty, the Portuguese came to consider and administer it as a de facto colony. Following the signing of the Treaty of Nanking between China and Britain in 1842, and the signing of treaties between China and foreign powers during the 1860s, establishing the benefit of 'the most favored nation' for them, the Portuguese attempted to conclude a similar treaty in 1862, but the Chinese refused, owing to a misunderstanding over the sovereignty of Macau. In 1887 the Portuguese finally managed to secure an agreement from China that Macao was Portuguese territory, ending 330 years of uncertainty.[1] In 1999 it was handed over to China. Macau was the last extant European territory in continental Asia.

Robert Clive

Major-General Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, KB, FRS (29 September 1725 - 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, Commander-in-Chief of British India, was a British officer and privateer who established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company in Bengal. He is credited with securing a large swath of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) and the wealth that followed, for the British East India Company. In the process, he also turned himself into a multi-millionaire. Together with Warren Hastings he was one of the key early figures setting in motion what would later become British India. Blocking impending French mastery of India, and eventual British expulsion from the continent, Clive improvised a military expedition that ultimately enabled the East India Company to adopt the French strategy of indirect rule via puppet government. Hired by the company to return a second time to India, Clive conspired to secure the Company's trade interests by overthrowing the locally unpopular heir to the throne of "Bengal," the richest state in India, richer than Britain, at the time. Back in England, he sat as a Tory Member of Parliament in London.

Matteo Ricci

Matteo Ricci, S.J. (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtɛːo ˈrittʃi]; Latin: Mattheus Riccius Maceratensis; 6 October 1552 - 11 May 1610), was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. His 1602 map of the world in Chinese characters introduced the findings of European exploration to East Asia. He is considered a Servant of God in Roman Catholicism. Ricci arrived at the Portuguese settlement of Macau in 1582 where he began his missionary work in China. He became the first European to enter the Forbidden City of Beijing in 1601 when invited by the Wanli Emperor, who sought his selected services in matters such as court astronomy and calendrical science. He converted several prominent Chinese officials to Catholicism, such as his colleague Xu Guangqi, who aided in translating Euclid's Elements into Chinese as well as the Confucian classics into Latin for the first time.

Meiji Restoration

Meiji Restoration, in Japanese history, the political revolution in 1868 that brought about the final demise of the Tokugawa shogunate (military government)—thus ending the Edo (Tokugawa) period (1603-1867)—and, at least nominally, returned control of the country to direct imperial rule under Mutsuhito (the emperor Meiji). In a wider context, however, the Meiji Restoration of 1868 came to be identified with the subsequent era of major political, economic, and social change—the Meiji period (1868-1912)—that brought about the modernization and Westernization of the country. The restoration event itself consisted of a coup d'état in the ancient imperial capital of Kyōto on January 3, 1868. The perpetrators announced the ouster of Tokugawa Yoshinobu (the last shogun)—who by late 1867 was no longer effectively in power—and proclaimed the young emperor to be the ruler of the Japan. Yoshinobu mounted a brief civil war that ended with his surrender to imperial forces in June 1869. Besides drastic changes to the social structure of Japan, in an attempt to create a strong centralized state defining its national identity, the government established a dominant national dialect, called "standard language" (標準語 hyōjungo), that replaced local and regional dialects and was based on the patterns of Tokyo's samurai classes. This dialect eventually became the norm in the realms of education, media, government, and business.[10] The Japanese knew that they were behind the European world when American Commodore Matthew C. Perry came to Japan in large warships with armament and technology that far outclassed those of Japan, to try to conclude a treaty that would open up Japanese ports to trade.[1] Figures like Shimazu Nariakira concluded that "if we take the initiative, we can dominate; if we do not, we will be dominated", leading Japan to "throw open its doors to foreign technology." Observing Japan's response to the western powers, Chinese general Li Hongzhang considered Japan to be China's "principal security threat" as early as 1863, five years before the Meiji restoration.[2] The leaders of the Meiji Restoration, as this revolution came to be known, acted in the name of restoring imperial rule to strengthen Japan against the threat represented by the colonial powers of the day, bringing to an end the era known as Sakoku (the foreign relations policy, lasting about 250 years, prescribing the death penalty for foreigners entering or Japanese nationals leaving the country). The word "Meiji" means "enlightened rule" and the goal was to combine "modern advances" with traditional "eastern" values.[3] The main leaders of this were Itō Hirobumi, Matsukata Masayoshi, Kido Takayoshi, Itagaki Taisuke, Yamagata Aritomo, Mori Arinori, Ōkubo Toshimichi, and Yamaguchi Naoyoshi.

Itō Hirobumi

Prince Itō Hirobumi (伊藤 博文, October 16, 1841 - October 26, 1909, born Hayashi Risuke and also known as Hirofumi, Hakubun and briefly during his youth Itō Shunsuke) was a Japanese statesman and genrō. A London-educated samurai of the Chōshū Domain and an influential figure in the early Meiji Restoration government, he chaired the bureau which drafted the Meiji Constitution in the 1880s. Looking to the West for legal inspiration, Itō rejected the United States Constitution as too liberal and the Spanish Restoration as too despotic before ultimately drawing on the British and German models, especially the Prussian Constitution of 1850. Dissatisfied with the prominent role of Christianity in European legal traditions, he substituted references to the more traditionally Japanese concept of kokutai or "national polity", which became the constitutional justification for imperial authority. In 1885 he became Japan's first Prime Minister, an office his constitutional bureau had introduced. He went on to hold the position four times, becoming one of the longest serving PMs in Japanese history, and wielded considerable power even out of office as the occasional head of Emperor Meiji's Privy Council. A monarchist, Itō favoured a large, bureaucratic government and opposed to the formation of political parties. His third term in government was ended by the consolidation of the opposition into the Kenseitō party in 1898, prompting him to found the Rikken Seiyūkai party in response. He resigned his fourth and final ministry in 1901 after growing weary of party politics, but served as head of the Privy Council twice more before his death. Itō's foreign policy was ambitious. He strengthened diplomatic ties with Western powers including Germany, the United States and especially the United Kingdom. In Asia he oversaw the First Sino-Japanese War and negotiated Chinese surrender on terms aggressively favourable to Japan, including the annexation of Taiwan and the release of Korea from the Chinese Imperial tribute system. Itō sought to avoid a Russo-Japanese War through the policy of Man-Kan kōkan - surrendering Manchuria to the Russian sphere of influence in exchange for the acceptance of Japanese hegemony in Korea. A diplomatic tour of the United States and Europe brought him to Saint Petersburg in November 1901, where he was unable to find compromise on this matter with Russian authorities. Soon the government of Katsura Tarō elected to abandon the pursuit of Man-Kan kōkan, and tensions with Russia continued to escalate towards war. The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 made Itō the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea. He initially supported the sovereignty of the indigenous Joseon monarchy as a protectorate under Japan, but he eventually accepted and agreed with the increasingly powerful Imperial Japanese Army, which favoured the total annexation of Korea, resigning his position as Resident-General and taking a new position as the President of the Privy Council of Japan in 1909. Four months later, Itō was assassinated by Korean nationalist An Jung-geun in Manchuria.[2] The annexation process was formalised by another treaty the following year after Ito's death. Through his daughter Ikuko, Itō was the father-in-law of politician, intellectual and author Suematsu Kenchō.

Rammohun Roy

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (22 May 1772 - 26 September 1833) was the founder of the Brahmo Sabha movement in 1828, which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential social-religious reform movement.[1] His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion. He was known for his efforts to abolish the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself in her husband's funeral pyre in some parts of Bengal. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was known as the Father of the Indian Renaissance.

Sakoku

Sakoku (Japanese: 鎖国, literally "country in chains" or "lock up of country")[1] was the foreign policy of Japan under which no foreigner or Japanese could enter or leave the country on penalty of death. The policy was enacted by the Tokugawa Shogunate under Tokugawa Iemitsu through a number of edicts and policies from 1633-1639 and remained in effect until 1853 with the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry and the opening of Japan. It was still illegal to leave Japan until the Meiji Restoration (1868). But Japan was not completely isolated under the sakoku policy. Rather, it was a system in which strict regulations were applied to commerce and foreign relations by the shogunate.

Shah Jahan

Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram[3] (5 January 1592 - 22 January 1666),[7] better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan (Persian: "King of the World"),[8] was the fifth Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1628 to 1658.[9] Shah Jahan was widely considered to be the most competent of Emperor Jahangir's four sons and after Jahangir's death in late 1627, when a war of succession ensued, Shah Jahan emerged victorious. He put to death all of his rivals for the throne and crowned himself emperor in January 1628 in Agra under the regnal title "Shah Jahan" (which was originally given to him as a princely title). Although an able military commander, Shah Jahan is perhaps best remembered for his architectural achievements. The period of his reign is widely considered to be the golden age of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan commissioned many monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal in Agra, which entombs his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. In September 1657, Shah Jahan fell seriously ill, which set off a war of succession among his four sons, in which his third son Aurangzeb, emerged victorious.[10] Shah Jahan recovered from his illness, but Aurangzeb put his father under house arrest in Agra Fort from July 1658 until his death in January 1666.[11] On 31 July 1658, Aurangzeb crowned himself emperor under the title "Alamgir."[12] The Mughal Empire reached the pinnacle of its glory during Shah Jahan's reign and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest Mughal emperors.[13]

Sun Yatsen

Sun Yat-sen (/ˈsʊn ˈjɑːtˈsɛn/; 12 November 1866 - 12 March 1925)[1][2] was a Chinese physician, writer, philosopher, calligrapher[3] and revolutionary, the first president and founding father of the Republic of China. As the foremost pioneer and first leader of a Republican China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic of China (ROC) and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty (the last imperial dynasty of China) during the years leading up to the Xinhai Revolution. He was appointed to serve as Provisional President of the Republic of China when it was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China), serving as its first leader.[4] Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and he remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Taewongun

Taewŏn-gun, also called Yi Ha-ŭng, (born 1821—died 1898), father of the Korean king Kojong. As regent from 1864 to 1873, Taewŏn-gun inaugurated a far-ranging reform program to strengthen the central administration; he modernized and increased its armies and rationalized the administration. Opposed to any concessions to Japan or the West, Taewŏn-gun, though out of power, helped organize the anti-Japanese outbreak in 1882. Considered a troublemaker, he was then kidnapped and taken to China for three years. By the time he returned, his power and many of his reforms had been eliminated.

Muslim League

The All-India Muslim League (popularised as Muslim League) was a political party established during the early years of the 20th century in the British Indian Empire. Its strong advocacy for the establishment of a separate Muslim-majority nation-state, Pakistan, successfully led to the partition of British India in 1947 by the British Empire.

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement was a violent anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, toward the end of the Qing dynasty. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", for many of their members had been practitioners of Chinese martial arts, also referred to in the west as "Chinese Boxing." They were motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments, and by opposition to Western colonialism and the Christian missionary activity that was associated with it. In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu (Junglu), later claimed that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and arrived at Peking on August 14, relieving the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901 provided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 million taels of silver—approximately $10 billion at 2018 silver prices and more than the government's annual tax revenue—to be paid as indemnity over the course of the next thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved. The Empress Dowager then sponsored a set of institutional and fiscal changes in an attempt to save the Dynasty by reforming it, but reform occurred too slowly to avert its inevitable end.

Canton system

The Canton System (1757-1842) served as a means for China to control trade with the west within its own country by focusing all trade on the southern port of Canton (now Guangzhou). Known in Chinese as the Yī kǒu tōng shāng ("Single port commerce system") the policy arose in 1757 as a response to a perceived political and commercial threat from abroad on the part of successive Chinese emperors. From the late seventeenth century onwards, Chinese merchants known as Hongs (háng, 行 ) managed all trade in the port. Operating from the Thirteen Factories located on the banks of the Pearl River outside Canton, in 1760, by order of the Qing Qianlong Emperor, they became officially sanctioned as a monopoly known as the Cohong. Thereafter Chinese merchants dealing with foreign trade (known as yángháng (洋行, literally "ocean traders", i.e. "overseas traders" or "foreign traders") acted through the Cohong under the supervision of the Guangdong Customs Supervisor (Yuèhǎi guānbù jiàn dù), informally known as the "Hoppo", and the Governor-general of Guangzhou and Guangxi.

Columbian Exchange

The Columbian Exchange (also sometimes known as The Great Exchange) one of the most significant events in the history of world ecology, agriculture, and culture. Is the enormous widespread exchange of plants, animals, foods, human populations (including slaves), communicable diseases, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres that occurred after 1492. Many new and different goods were exchanged between the two hemispheres of the Earth, and it began a new revolution in the Americas and in Europe. In 1492, Christopher Columbus' first voyage launched an era of large-scale contact between the Old and the New World that resulted in this ecological revolution: hence the name "Columbian" Exchange. Consequence of rising mercantilism More Gold and Silver = more power The Columbian Exchange greatly affected almost every society on earth, bringing destructive diseases that depopulated many cultures, and also circulating a wide variety of new crops and livestock that, in the long term, increased rather than diminished the world human population. Maize and potatoes became very important crops in Eurasia by the 1700s. Peanuts and manioc flourished in tropical Southeast Asian and West African soils that otherwise would not produce large yields or support large populations. This exchange of plants and animals transformed European, American, African, and Asian ways of life. Coffee from Africa and sugar cane from Asia became the main crops of extensive Latin

V.O.C.

The Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie abbreviated to VOC), was a publicly tradable corporation that was founded in 1602 and became defunct in 1799. It was originally established as a chartered company to trade with India and Indianized Southeast Asian countries when the Dutch government granted it a 21-year monopoly on the Dutch spice trade. The VOC was an early multinational corporation in its modern sense. In the early 1600s, by widely issuing bonds and shares of stock to the general public,[note 5] the VOC became the world's first formally listed public company.[note 6] In other words, it was the first corporation to be ever actually listed on an official stock exchange.[note 7][6] The VOC was influential in the rise of corporate-led globalization in the early modern period. With its pioneering institutional innovations and powerful roles in world history, the company is considered by many to be the first major modern global corporation,[7][8] and was at one stage the most valuable corporation ever.[9][10][11]

Sino-Japanese War

The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 - 17 April 1895) was fought between the Qing Empire and the Empire of Japan, primarily over influence of Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the port of Weihaiwei, the Qing government sued for peace in February 1895. The war demonstrated the failure of the Qing Empire's attempts to modernize its military and fend off threats to its sovereignty, especially when compared with Japan's successful Meiji Restoration. For the first time, regional dominance in East Asia shifted from China to Japan;[1] the prestige of the Qing Empire, along with the classical tradition in China, suffered a major blow. The humiliating loss of Korea as a tributary state sparked an unprecedented public outcry. Within China, the defeat was a catalyst for a series of political upheavals led by Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei, culminating in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution. The war is commonly known in China as the War of Jiawu (Chinese: 甲午戰爭; pinyin: Jiǎwǔ Zhànzhēng), referring to the year (1894) as named under the traditional sexagenary system of years. In Japan, it is called the Japan-Qing War (Japanese: 日清戦争 Hepburn: Nisshin sensō). In Korea, where much of the war took place, it is called the Qing-Japan War (Korean: 청일전쟁; Hanja: 淸日戰爭).

Kabo Reforms

The Gabo Reform, also known as the Kabo Reform, describes a series of sweeping reforms suggested to the government of Korea beginning in 1894 and ending in 1896 during the reign of Gojong of Korea in response to the Donghak Peasant Revolution. Historians debate the degree of Japanese influence in this program,[citation needed] as well as its effect in encouraging modernization. The name Gabo (갑오, 甲午) comes from the name of the year 1894 in the traditional sexagenary cycle. The Gabo Reform was similar to the Meiji Restoration in Japan and produced the following sweeping changes and declarations:[7] -Korea is a sovereign country (i.e., completely independent from China's external interference). Hierarchical society (class system) is abolished. Social privileges of the yangban class are eliminated. -Those with talent are to be allowed to study and appointed to government posts based on merit alone, regardless of social class. -The army is to be established on the basis of conscription, regardless of background. A modern police force and military are established. -All official documents are to be written in Hangul, and not hanja (Chinese characters). Leather working, acting, and so on are to no longer be regarded as degrading work, and the people who do them are no longer outcastes. -A sound system of fiscal management and to use the government's fiscal resources to create wealth for the country is developed. -Torture of suspects and witnesses was banned, guilt by association ended (punishment of family members of criminals) -End of merchant monopolies -Ban of sale of slaves from 1886 confirmed, and all forms of legal slavery ended -Marriage age raised to twenty for men, sixteen for women (outlawing child marriage)

Kapsin Coup

The Gapsin Coup (Korean:갑신정변, 甲申政變), also known as the Gapsin Revolution (갑신혁명, 甲申革命) and Kapsin Incident, was a failed three-day coup d'état which started on 4 December 1884 in the late Joseon dynasty of Korea. The pro-Japanese leaders of the coup were suppressed by a Chinese garrison in Korea. This led to Chinese domination of Korea from 1885-1894. The Korean name for the events takes from the year designator in the traditional sexagenary cycle system of dating, "gapsin" here referring to the year 1884. The Enlightenment Party sought to initiate rapid changes within Korea to open its borders. They sought to eliminate social distinctions, including eliminating the legal privileges of the yangban class. Thwarted by conservative factions within the Joseon court, particularly the pro-Chinese Sugup'a, they launched a coup d'état attempt with Japanese support on 4 December 1884, seizing the royal palace in Seoul.

USS General Sherman

The General Sherman incident (Korean: 제너럴셔먼호 사건) was the destruction of an American armed merchant marine side-wheel steamer that visited Korea in 1866. It was an important catalyst to the end of Korean isolationism in the 19th century. After passing the Keupsa Gate without permission from the Koreans, the United States merchant ship was attacked and fought over for several days before finally being destroyed in Pyongyang.

One-Hundred Day Reform

The Hundred Days' Reform was a failed 104-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement from 11 June to 22 September 1898 in late Qing dynasty China.[1] It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters. Following the issuing of the reformative edicts, a coup d'état ("The Coup of 1898", Wuxu Coup) was perpetrated by powerful conservative opponents led by Empress Dowager Cixi. The reformers declared that China needed more than "self-strengthening" and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change.

Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress (About this sound pronunciation (help·info)) (INC, often called Congress) is a broad-based political party in India.[11] Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Empire in Asia and Africa. The Indian National Congress conducted its first session in Bombay from 28-31 December 1885 at the initiative of retired Civil service officer Allan Octavian Hume. In 1883, Hume had outlined his idea for a body representing Indian interests in an open letter to graduates of the University of Calcutta.[20] Its aim was to obtain a greater share in government for educated Indians, and to create a platform for civic and political dialogue between them and the British Raj. Hume took the initiative, and in March 1885 a notice convening the first meeting of the Indian National Union to be held in Poona the following December was issued.[21] Due to a cholera outbreak there, it was moved to Bombay. Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of Congress; the first session was attended by 72 delegates. Representing each province of India, the delegates comprised 54 Hindus and two Muslims; the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds. Notable representatives included Scottish ICS officer William Wedderburn, Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta of the Bombay Presidency Association, Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, social reformer and newspaper editor Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Justice K.T. Telang, N. G. Chandavarkar, Dinshaw Wacha, Behramji Malabari, journalist and activist Gooty Kesava Pillai, and P. Rangaiah Naidu of the Madras Mahajana Sabha.[22][23] Early years Within the next few years, Congress' demands became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the British government, and the party decided to advocate in favour of the independence movement because it would allow a new political system in which Congress could be a major party. By 1905, a division opened between the moderates led by Gokhale, who downplayed public agitation, and the new "extremists" who advocated agitation, and regarded the pursuit of social reform as a distraction from nationalism. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who tried to mobilise Hindu Indians by appealing to an explicitly Hindu political identity displayed in the annual public Ganapati festivals he inaugurated in western India, was prominent among the extremists.[24] Congress included a number of prominent political figures. Dadabhai Naoroji, a member of the sister Indian National Association, was elected president of the party in 1886, and was the first Indian Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons (1892-95). Congress also included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah — later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. Congress was transformed into a mass movement by Surendranath Banerjea during the partition of Bengal in 1905, and the resultant Swadeshi movement.[23]

Sepoy Rebellion

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major, but ultimately unsuccessful, uprising in India between 1857-58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown.[4][5] The event is known by many names, including the Sepoy Mutiny, the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion, the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and India's First War of Independence.[a][6] The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the Company's army in the garrison town of Meerut, 40 miles northeast of Delhi (now Old Delhi). It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in the upper Gangetic plain and central India,[b][7][c][8] though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east.[d][9] The rebellion posed a considerable threat to British power in that region,[e][10] and was contained only with the rebels' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858.[11] On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities formally to have ended until 8 July 1859. The Indian rebellion was fed by resentment that had emerged from British rule, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes,[12][13] and broader scepticism about the improvements brought about by British rule.[f][14] Many Indians did rise against the British, but many others fought for the British, and the majority remained seemingly compliant to British rule.[g][14] Violence, which sometimes betrayed exceptional cruelty, was inflicted on both sides; on British officers and civilians (including women and children) by the rebels, and on the rebels and their supporters (sometimes including entire villages) by British reprisals. The cities of Delhi and Lucknow were laid waste in the fighting and the British retaliation.[h][14]

Iwakura Mission

The Iwakura Mission or Iwakura Embassy (岩倉使節団, Iwakura Shisetsudan) was a Japanese diplomatic voyage to the United States and Europe conducted between 1871 and 1873 by leading statesmen and scholars of the Meiji period. Although it was not the only such mission, it is the most well-known and possibly most significant in terms of its impact on the modernization of Japan after a long period of isolation from the West. The mission was first proposed by the influential Dutch missionary and engineer Guido Verbeck, based to some degree on the model of the Grand Embassy of Peter I. The aim of the mission was threefold; to gain recognition for the newly reinstated imperial dynasty under the Emperor Meiji; to begin preliminary renegotiation of the unequal treaties with the dominant world powers; and to make a comprehensive study of modern industrial, political, military and educational systems and structures in the United States and Europe.[1] The Iwakura mission followed several such missions previously sent by the Shogunate, such as the Japanese Embassy to the United States in 1860, the First Japanese Embassy to Europe in 1862, and the Second Japanese Embassy to Europe in 1863.

Protectorate Treaty

The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty, Eulsa Unwilling Treaty or Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty, was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1905. Negotiations were concluded on November 17, 1905.[1] The treaty deprived Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty and made Korea a protectorate of Imperial Japan. It resulted from Imperial Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905

Kangxi

The Kangxi Emperor (康熙; 4 May 1654 - 20 December 1722), personal name Xuanye, was the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty,[1] the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Shanhai Pass near Beijing, and the second Qing emperor to rule over that part of China, from 1661 to 1722. The Kangxi Emperor's reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history (although his grandson, the Qianlong Emperor, had the longest period of de facto power) and one of the longest-reigning rulers in the world.[2] However, since he ascended the throne at the age of seven, actual power was held for six years by four regents and his grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. The Kangxi Emperor is considered one of China's greatest emperors.[3] He suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, forced the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan and assorted Mongol rebels in the North and Northwest to submit to Qing rule, and blocked Tsarist Russia on the Amur River, retaining Outer Manchuria and Outer Northwest China. The Kangxi Emperor's reign brought about long-term stability and relative wealth after years of war and chaos. He initiated the period known as the "Prosperous Era of Kangxi and Qianlong" or "High Qing",[4] which lasted for several generations after his death. His court also accomplished such literary feats as the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary.

Macartney mission

The Macartney Embassy, also called the Macartney Mission, was the first British diplomatic mission to China, which took place in 1793. It is named for its leader, George Macartney, Great Britain's first envoy to China. The goals of the mission included the opening of new ports for British trade in China, the establishment of a permanent embassy in Beijing, the cession of a small island for British use along China's coast, and the relaxation of trade restrictions on British merchants in Guangzhou (Canton). Macartney's delegation met with the Qianlong Emperor, who rejected all of the British requests. Although the mission failed to achieve its official objectives, it was later noted for the extensive cultural, political, and geographical observations its participants recorded in China and brought back to Europe.

Spice Islands

The Maluku Islands or the Moluccas (/məˈlʌkəz/) are an archipelago within Banda Sea, Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. The islands were known as the Spice Islands due to the nutmeg, mace and cloves that were originally exclusively found there, the presence of which sparked colonial interest from Europe in the 16th century.[1] Arab merchants began to arrive in the 14th century, bringing Islam. Peaceful conversion to Islam occurred in many islands, especially in the centres of trade, while aboriginal animism persisted in the hinterlands and more isolated islands. Archaeological evidence here relies largely on the occurrence of pigs' teeth, as evidence of pork eating or abstinence therefrom.[6] Portuguese[edit] Drawing of Ternate by a presumably Dutch artist. Inset shows Saint John Baptist Portuguese-built fort on the island The most significant lasting effects of the Portuguese presence was the disruption and reorganization of the Southeast Asian trade, and in eastern Indonesia—including Maluku—the introduction of Christianity.[7] The Portuguese had conquered the city state of Malacca in the early 16th century and their influence was most strongly felt in Maluku and other parts of eastern Indonesia.[3] After the Portuguese annexed Malacca in August 1511, one Portuguese diary noted 'it is thirty years since they became Moors'[8]—giving a sense of the competition then taking place between Islamic and European influences in the region. Afonso de Albuquerque learned of the route to the Banda Islands and other 'Spice Islands', and sent an exploratory expedition of three vessels under the command of António de Abreu, Simão Afonso Bisigudo and Francisco Serrão.[9] On the return trip, Francisco Serrão was shipwrecked at Hitu island (northern Ambon) in 1512. There he established ties with the local ruler who was impressed with his martial skills. The rulers of the competing island states of Ternate and Tidore also sought Portuguese assistance and the newcomers were welcomed in the area as buyers of supplies and spices during a lull in the regional trade due to the temporary disruption of Javanese and Malay sailings to the area following the 1511 conflict in Malacca. The spice trade soon revived but the Portuguese would not be able to fully monopolize nor disrupt this trade.[3] Allying himself with Ternate's ruler, Serrão constructed a fortress on that tiny island and served as the head of a mercenary band of Portuguese seamen under the service of one of the two local feuding sultans who controlled most of the spice trade. Both Serrão and Ferdinand Magellan, however, perished before they could meet one another.[3] The Portuguese first landed in Ambon in 1513, but it only became the new centre for their activities in Maluku following the expulsion from Ternate. European power in the region was weak and Ternate became an expanding, fiercely Islamic and anti-European state under the rule of Sultan Baab Ullah (r. 1570-1583) and his son Sultan Said.[10] Following Portuguese missionary work, there have been large Christian communities in eastern Indonesia through to contemporary times, which has contributed to a sense of shared interest with Europeans, particularly among the Ambonese.[10] By the 1560s there were 10,000 Catholics in the area, mostly on Ambon, and by the 1590s there were 50,000 to 60,000. The central and southern parts of Maluku are populated by a majority of Christians

May Fourth Movement

The May Fourth Movement (Chinese: 五四运动; pinyin: Wǔsì Yùndòng) was an anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement growing out of student participants in Beijing on 4 May 1919, protesting against the Chinese government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles, especially allowing Japan to receive territories in Shandong which had been surrendered by Germany after the Siege of Tsingtao. These demonstrations sparked national protests and marked the upsurge of Chinese nationalism, a shift towards political mobilization and away from cultural activities, and a move towards a populist base rather than intellectual elites. Many political and social leaders of the next decades emerged at this time. The term "May Fourth Movement" in a broader sense often refers to the period during 1915-1921 more often called the New Culture Movement.

Mughal Empire

The Mughal Empire (Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت‬‎, translit. Mughliyah Saltanat)[8][2] or Mogul Empire[9] was an empire in the Indian subcontinent, founded in 1526. It was established and ruled by a Muslim dynasty with Turco-Mongol Chagatai roots from Central Asia,[10][11][12] but with significant Indian Rajput and Persian ancestry through marriage alliances;[13][14] only the first two Mughal emperors were fully Central Asian, while successive emperors were of predominantly Rajput and Persian ancestry.[15] The dynasty was Indo-Persian in culture,[16] combining Persianate culture[9][17] with local Indian cultural influences[16] visible in its traits and customs.[18] The Mughal Empire at its peak extended over nearly all of the Indian subcontinent[6] and parts of Afghanistan. It was the second largest empire to have existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning approximately four million square kilometres at its zenith,[5] after only the Maurya Empire, which spanned approximately five million square kilometres. The Mughal Empire ushered in a period of proto-industrialization,[19] and around the 17th century, Mughal India became the world's largest economic power, accounting for 24.4% of world GDP,[20] and the world leader in manufacturing,[21] producing 25% of global industrial output up until the 18th century.[22] The Mughal Empire is considered "India's last golden age"[23] and one of the three Islamic Gunpowder Empires (along with the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Persia).[24]

Opium War

The Opium Wars were two wars in the mid-19th century involving Anglo-Chinese disputes over British trade in China and China's sovereignty. The disputes included the First Opium War (1839-1842) and the Second Opium War (1856-1860). The wars and events between them weakened the Qing dynasty and forced China to trade with the other parts of the world.[1][2] The First Opium War, during 1839-1842, was concluded by the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. The treaty ceded the Hong Kong island to the United Kingdom in perpetuity, and it established five treaty ports at Shanghai, Canton, Ningpo, Fuchow, and Amoy. Another treaty the next year gave most favored nation status to the United Kingdom and added provisions for British extraterritoriality. Then France secured concessions on the same terms as the British, in treaties of 1843 and 1844. During 1856-1860, British forces fought towards legalisation of the opium trade, to expand coolie trade, to open all of China to British merchants, and to exempt foreign imports from internal transit duties. France joined the British. The war is also known as the "Arrow War", referring to the name of a vessel at the starting point of the conflict. The war resulted in a second group of treaty ports being set up; eventually more than 80 treaty ports were established in China, involving many foreign powers. All foreign traders gained rights to travel within China.

Goa

The Portuguese trading empire established itself in Asia with the seizure of Goa in India in 1510 and Malacca in present-day Malaysia in 1551. Goa remained in Portuguese hands until 1961 n 1510 Portuguese admiral Afonso de Albuquerque attacked Goa at the behest of the local chieftain Thimayya. The Portuguese fleet took possession of Goa from Ismail Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies, who surrendered on 10 December. Albuquerque gained the support of the Hindu population, although this frustrated the initial expectations of Thimayya, who aspired to control the city. Afonso de Albuquerque rewarded him by appointing him chief Aguazil of the city, an administrator and representative of the Hindu and Muslim people; he was a learned interpreter of the local customs. Albuquerque made an agreement to lower yearly dues and taxes. In spite of frequent attacks by raiders, Goa became the centre of Portuguese India, with the conquest triggering the compliance of neighboring kingdoms; the Sultan of Gujarat and the Zamorin of Calicut dispatched embassies, offering alliances and local concessions to be fortified. In Goa, Albuquerque started the first Portuguese mint in the East, after complaints from merchants and Timoja about the scarcity of currency. He used it as an opportunity to announce the territorial conquest by the design of the new coins. The new coin, based on the existing local coins, bore a cross on one side and the design of an armillary sphere (or esfera), King Manuel's badge, on the reverse. Gold, silver and bronze coins were issued: gold cruzados or manueis, esperas and alf-esperas, and leais. More mints were built in Malacca in 1511. Chapel of St. Catherine, built during the Portuguese occupation in Old Goa. It should not to be confused with the Cathedral of Santa Catarina, also in Old Goa. Albuquerque and his successors left the customs and constitutions of the thirty village communities on the island almost untouched, abolishing only the rite of sati, in which widows were burned on their husband's funeral pyre. A register of these customs (Foral de usos e costumes) was published in 1526; it is among the most valuable historical documents pertaining to Goan customs.[46] Goa was the base for Albuquerque's conquest of Malacca in 1511 and Hormuz in 1515. Albuquerque intended it to be a colony and a naval base, distinct from the fortified factories established in certain Indian seaports. Goa was made capital of the Portuguese Vice-Kingdom in Asia, and the other Portuguese possessions in India, Malacca and other bases in Indonesia, East Timor, the Persian Gulf, Macau in China and trade bases in Japan were under the suzerainty of its Viceroy. By mid-16th century, the area under occupation had expanded to most of present-day limits. Goa was granted the same civic privileges as Lisbon. Its senate or municipal chamber maintained direct communications with the king and paid a special representative to attend to its interests at court. In 1563 the governor proposed to make Goa the seat of a parliament representing all parts of the Portuguese east, but this was rejected by the King. The Portuguese set up a base in Goa to consolidate their control of the lucrative spice trade. Goods from all parts of the East were displayed in its bazaar, and separate streets were designated for the sale of different classes of goods: Bahrain pearls and coral, Chinese porcelain and silk, Portuguese velvet and piece-goods, and drugs and spices from the Malay Archipelago. In 1542, St. Francis Xavier mentions the architectural splendour of the city. It reached the height of its prosperity between 1575 and 1625. Travellers marvelled at Goa Dourada, or Golden Goa. A Portuguese proverb said, "He who has seen Goa need not see Lisbon." In the main street, African and Indian slaves were sold by auction. The houses of the rich were surrounded by gardens and palm groves; they were built of stone and painted red or white. Instead of glass, their balconied windows had thin polished oyster-shells set in lattice-work. The social life of Goa's rulers befitted the capitol of the viceregal court, the army and navy, and the church; luxury and ostentation became a byword before the end of the 16th century. Almost all manual labour was performed by slaves. The common soldiers assumed high-sounding titles, and even the poor noblemen who congregated in boarding-houses subscribed for a few silken cloaks, a silken umbrella and a common man-servant, so that each could take his turn to promenade the streets, fashionably attired and with a proper escort.[48] Around 1583, missionary activity in Cuncolim led to conflicts, culminating in the Cuncolim Revolt in which natives killed all the missionaries. The Portuguese authorities called the sixteen chieftains of each ward or vado of the Cuncolim village to the Assolna Fort, ostensibly to form a peace pact with the villagers. At the fort the Portuguese killed the chieftains, except for two who jumped from the fort into the Arabian Sea and presumably swam to Karwar. The villagers lost their traditional leaders and the Portuguese began confiscating the land of the locals. At the same time, they initiated the Goa Inquisition. The 16th-century monument, the Cathedral or Sé, was constructed during Portugal's Golden Age, and is the largest church in Asia, as well as larger than any church in Portugal. The church is 250 ft in length and 181 ft in breadth. The frontispiece stands 115 ft high. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria and is also known as St. Catherine's Cathedral. It was on her feast day in 1510 that Afonso de Albuquerque defeated the Muslim army and took possession of the city of Goa. The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting within the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774-1778, and finally abolished in 1812. The Goan Inquisition is considered a blot on the history of Roman Catholic Christianity in India by both Christians and non-Christians alike. Based on the records that survive, H. P. Salomon and I. S. D. Sassoon state that between the Inquisition's beginning in 1561 and its temporary abolition in 1774, some 16,202 persons were brought to trial. Of this number, only 57 were sentenced to death and executed; another 64 were burned in effigy. Most were subjected to lesser punishments or penances. The Inquisition was established to punish relapsed New Christians, Jews and Muslims who had converted to Catholicism, as well as their descendants, but were suspected of practicing their ancestral religion in secret. Numerous Portuguese Jews (as converted Catholics) had come to Goa and worked as traders. Due to persecution during the Inquisition, most left and migrated to Fort St. George (later Madras/Chennai) and Cochin, where English and Dutch rule, respectively, were more tolerant. In Goa the Inquisition also scrutinised Indian converts from Hinduism or Islam who were thought to have returned to their original ways. It prosecuted non-converts who broke prohibitions against the observance of Hindu or Muslim rites, or interfered with Portuguese attempts to convert non-Christians to Catholicism. While its ostensible goal was to preserve the Catholic faith, the Inquisition was used against Indian Catholics as an instrument of social control, as well as a method of confiscating victims' property and enriching the Inquisitors. Goan Inquisition was abolished in 1812.

Qianlong

The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 1711 - 7 February 1799) was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. Born Hongli, the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796.1 On 8 February, he abdicated in favour of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor.[1] Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power as the Emperor Emeritus (or Retired Emperor) until his death in 1799; he thus was the longest-reigning de facto ruler in the history of China, and dying at the age of 87, the longest-living. As a capable and cultured ruler inheriting a thriving empire, during his long reign the Qing Empire reached its most splendid and prosperous era, boasting a large population and economy. As a military leader, he led military campaigns expanding the dynastic territory to the largest extent by conquering and sometimes destroying Central Asian kingdoms. This turned around in his late years: the Qing empire began to decline with corruption and wastefulness in his court and a stagnating civil society.

Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War (Russian: Русско-японская война, Russko-yaponskaya voina; Japanese: 日露戦争 Nichirosensō; 1904-05) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden in Southern Manchuria and the seas around Korea, Japan and the Yellow Sea. Russia sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean for its navy and for maritime trade. Vladivostok was operational only during the summer, whereas Port Arthur, a naval base in Liaodong Province leased to Russia by China, was operational all year. Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Japan feared Russian encroachment on its plans to create a sphere of influence in Korea and Manchuria. Russia had demonstrated an expansionist policy in the Siberian Far East from the reign of Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century.[4] Seeing Russia as a rival, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea as being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded Korea north of the 39th parallel to be a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan. The Japanese government perceived a Russian threat to its plans for expansion into Asia and chose to go to war. After negotiations broke down in 1904, the Japanese Navy opened hostilities by attacking the Russian Eastern Fleet at Port Arthur, China, in a surprise attack. Russia suffered multiple defeats by Japan, but Tsar Nicholas II was convinced that Russia would win and chose to remain engaged in the war; at first, to await the outcomes of certain naval battles, and later to preserve the dignity of Russia by averting a "humiliating peace". The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The complete victory of the Japanese military surprised world observers. The consequences transformed the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage. It was the first major military victory in the modern era of an Asian power over a European one. Scholars continue to debate the historical significance of the war.

Satsuma Rebellion

The Satsuma Rebellion (西南戦争 Seinan Sensō, "Southwestern War") was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and became home to unemployed samurai after military reforms rendered their status obsolete. The rebellion lasted from January 29, 1877, until September of that year, when it was decisively crushed and its leader, Saigō Takamori, committed seppuku after being mortally wounded. Saigō's rebellion was the last and most serious of a series of armed uprisings against the new government.

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ qanāt as-suwēs) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it was officially opened on November 17, 1872. The canal offers watercraft a shorter journey between the North Atlantic and northern Indian Oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas by avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans, in turn reducing the journey by approximately 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi). It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi), including its northern and southern access channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal (47 per day).[1] In 1854, Ferdinand de Lesseps, the former French consul to Cairo, secured an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal 100 miles across the Isthmus of Suez. An international team of engineers drew up a construction plan, and in 1856 the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years after completion of the work. In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company when it bought up the stock of the new Ottoman governor of Egypt. Seven years later, in 1882, Britain invaded Egypt, beginning a long occupation of the country. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 made Egypt virtually independent, but Britain reserved rights for the protection of the canal.

Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion or the Taiping Civil War was a large-scale rebellion or civil war in China fought between the established Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Christian millenarian movement of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom between 1850 and 1864. The goals of the Taipings were religious, nationalist, and political in nature; they sought the conversion of the Chinese people to the Taiping's version of Christianity, the overthrow of the ruling Manchus, and a wholesale transformation and reformation of the state.[5][6] Rather than simply supplanting the ruling class, the Taipings sought to upend the moral and social order of China.[7] The war was mostly fought in the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hubei, but over 14 years of war the Taiping Army had marched through every province of China proper except Gansu. The war was the largest in China since the Qing conquest in 1644, and it also ranks as one of the bloodiest wars in human history, the bloodiest civil war, and the largest conflict of the 19th century, with estimates of the war dead ranging from 20-70 million to as high as 100 million, with millions more displaced.[8]

Treaty of Kanghwa

The Treaty of Ganghwa, also known in Japan as Korea-Japanese Treaty of Amity (Jp: 日朝修好条規 (Nicchō-shūkōjōki), signed on February 27, 1876, was written by Kuroda Kiyotaka, Governor of Hokkaidō. Kuroda's intention was to open up Korea to Japanese trade. Japan sought to gain Korean's trust by allying with Korea to end Korea's status as a tributary state of China. The treaty describes Korea as an independent state, equal in status to Japan. However, the terms of the treaty were far from equal. The Treaty granted Japanese many rights that were not granted to Korea on an equal basis. The Treaty of Ganghwa was Korea's first formal step toward opening foreign relations after centuries of a strong policy of isolation. Ultimately, it later proved to be the first step towards Korea's submission to Japanese rule some three decades later.

Treaty of Nanjing

The Treaty of Nanking or Nanjing was a peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839-42) between the United Kingdom and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later called the unequal treaties on the ground that Britain had no obligations in return.[2]

Japan's Twenty-One Demands

The Twenty-One Demands (Japanese: 対華21ヶ条要求, Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū, simplified Chinese: 二十一条; traditional Chinese: 二十一條; pinyin: Èrshíyī tiáo) were a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu sent to the government of the Republic of China on January 8, 1915.[1] The demands would greatly extend Japanese control of Manchuria and of the Chinese economy, and were opposed by Britain and the United States. In the final settlement Japan gained a little but lost a great deal of prestige and trust in Britain and the US. The Chinese people responded with a spontaneous nationwide boycott of Japanese goods; Japan's exports to China fell 40%. Britain was affronted and no longer trusted Japan as a partner. With the First World War underway, Japan's position was strong and Britain's was weak. Nevertheless, Britain (and the United States) forced Japan to drop the fifth set of demands that would have given Japan a large measure of control over the entire Chinese economy and ended the Open Door Policy.[2] Japan obtained its first four sets of goals in a treaty with China on May 25, 1915. After China rejected Japan's revised proposal on April 26, 1915, the genrō intervened and deleted 'Group 5' from the document, as these had proved to be the most objectionable to the Chinese government. A reduced set of "Thirteen Demands" was transmitted on May 7 in the form of an ultimatum, with a two-day deadline for response. Yuan Shikai, competing with other local warlords to become the ruler of all China, was not in a position to risk war with Japan, and accepted appeasement, a tactic followed by his successors. The final form of the treaty was signed by both parties on May 25, 1915. The Twenty One Demands were grouped into five groups: Group 1 confirmed Japan's recent seizure of German ports and operations in Shandong Province, and expanded Japan's sphere of influence over the railways, coasts and major cities of the province. Group 2 pertained to Japan's South Manchuria Railway Zone, extending the leasehold over the territory for 99 years, and expanding Japan's sphere of influence in southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, to include rights of settlement and extraterritoriality, appointment of financial and administrative officials to the government and priority for Japanese investments in those areas. Japan demanded access to Inner Mongolia for raw materials, as a manufacturing site, and as a strategic buffer against Russian encroachment in Korea.[4] Group 3 gave Japan control of the Hanyeping mining and metallurgical complex in central China; it was deep in debt to Japan. Group 4 barred China from giving any further coastal or island concessions to foreign powers. Group 5 was the most aggressive. China was to hire Japanese advisors who could take effective control of China's finance and police. Japan would be empowered to build three major railways, and also Buddhist temples and schools. Japan would gain effective control of Fujian, opposite the island of Formosa (modern Taiwan). Katō Takaaki publicly admitted that the ultimatum was invited by Yuan to save face with the Chinese people in conceding to the Demands. American Minister Paul Reinsch reported to the US State Department that the Chinese were surprised at the leniency of the ultimatum, as it demanded much less than they had already committed themselves to concede.

Yangban

The Yangban (Korean: 양반, 兩班), were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The yangban were mainly composed of civil servants and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats who individually exemplified the Korean Confucian idea of a "scholarly official." Basically, they were administrators and bureaucrats who oversaw ancient Korea's traditional agrarian bureaucracy until the Joseon Dynasty ended in 1894. In a broader sense, an office holder's family and descendants as well as country families who claimed such descent were socially accepted as yangban.

Daimyō

The daimyō were powerful Japanese feudal lords who, until their decline in the early Meiji period, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, dai (大) means "large", and myō stands for myōden (名田), meaning private land.[2] Subordinate only to the shōgun, daimyōs were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. From the Shugo of the Muromachi period through the Sengoku to the daimyōs of the Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyō varied considerably; while some daimyō clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet branches of the Imperial family or were descended from the kuge, other daimyōs were promoted from the ranks of the samurai, notably during the Edō period. The term daimyō also sometimes refers to the leading figures of such clans, also called "Lord". It was usually, though not exclusively, from these warlords that a shōgun arose or a regent was chosen. Daimyōs often hired samurai to guard their land and they paid the samurai in land or food as relatively few could afford to pay samurai in money. The daimyō era ended soon after the Meiji Restoration with the adoption of the prefecture system in 1871.

Sankin kōtai

The details changed throughout the 26 decades of Tokugawa rule, but generally, the requirement was that the daimyōs of every han move periodically between Edo and his fief, typically spending alternate years in each place. His wife and heir were required to remain in Edo as hostages while he was away. The expenditures necessary to maintain lavish residences in both places, and for the procession to and from Edo, placed financial strains on the daimyo, making them unable to wage war. The frequent travel of the daimyo encouraged road building and the construction of inns and facilities along the routes, generating economic activity. There were a number of exceptions for certain fudai daimyōs in the vicinity of Edo, who were allowed to alternate their attendance in Edo every six months instead. Temporary exceptional dispensations were also occasionally granted due to illness or extreme extenuating circumstances.[2] In principle, the sankin-kōtai was a military service to the shogun. Each daimyō was required to furnish a number of soldiers (samurai) in accordance with the kokudaka assessment of his domain. These soldiers accompanied the daimyō on the processions to and from Edo. With hundreds of daimyōs entering or leaving Edo each year, processions (大名行列 daimyō-gyōretsu) were almost daily occurrences in the shogunal capital. The main routes to the provinces were the kaidō. Special lodgings, the honjin (本陣), were available to daimyōs during their travels. The sankin-kōtai figures prominently in some Edo-period ukiyo-e woodblock prints, as well as in popular theater such as kabuki and bunraku.

Hideyoshi invasions

The invasions were launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with the intent of conquering the Korean Peninsula and China, which were ruled by the Joseon and by the Ming dynasty, respectively. Japan quickly succeeded in occupying large portions of the Korean Peninsula, but the contribution of reinforcements by the Ming,[23][24][25] as well as the disruption of Japanese supply fleets along the western and southern coasts by the Joseon Navy[26][27][28][29][30] forced a withdrawal of Japanese forces from Pyongyang and the northern provinces to the south, where the Japanese continued to occupy Hanseong (now Seoul) and the southeastern regions. Afterwards, with guerrilla warfare waged against the Japanese with righteous armies (Joseon civilian militias)[31] and supply difficulties hampering both sides, neither the Japanese nor the combined Ming and Joseon forces were able to mount a successful offensive or gain any additional territory, resulting in a military stalemate in the areas between Hanseong and Kaesong. The first phase of the invasion lasted from 1592 until 1596, and was followed by ultimately unsuccessful peace negotiations between Japan and the Ming between 1596 and 1597. In 1597, Japan renewed its offensive by invading Korea a second time. The pattern of the second invasion largely mirrored that of the first. The Japanese had initial successes on land, capturing several cities and fortresses, only to be halted and forced to withdraw to the southern coastal regions of the peninsula. The pursuing Ming and Joseon forces, however, were unable to dislodge the Japanese from their remaining fortresses and entrenched positions in the southern coastal areas,[32][33][34] where both sides again became locked in a ten-month long military stalemate. With Hideyoshi's death in 1598, limited progress on land, and continued disruption of supply lines by the Joseon navy, the Japanese forces in Korea were ordered to withdraw back to Japan by the new governing Council of Five Elders. Final peace negotiations between the parties followed afterwards and continued for several years, ultimately resulting in the normalization of relations.[35]

Akbar

Third Mughal emperor reigned from 1556 to 1605 succeeded father, Humayun Strong personality and a successful general gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include nearly all of the Indian Subcontinent north of the Godavari river. To unify the vast Mughal state he established a centralized system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy To preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects e decreed that schools for the education of both Muslims and Hindus should be established throughout the realm. Holy men of many faiths, poets, architects, and artisans adorned his court from all over the world for study and discussion. Akbar's courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri became centres of the arts, letters, and learning. Perso-Islamic culture began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements, and a distinct Indo-Persian culture emerged characterized by Mughal style arts, painting, and architecture. Disillusioned with orthodox Islam and perhaps hoping to bring about religious unity within his empire, Akbar promulgated Din-i-Ilahi, a syncretic creed derived mainly from Islam and Hinduism as well as some parts of Zoroastrianism and Christianity. A simple, monotheistic cult, tolerant in outlook, it centered on Akbar as a prophet, for which he drew the ire of the ulema and orthodox Muslims. Many of his courtiers followed Din-i-Ilahi as their religion as well, as many believed that Akbar was a prophet. One famous courtier who followed this blended religion was Birbal.

Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康, January 31, 1543 - June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which effectively ruled Japan from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shōgun in 1603, and abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu,[1][2] according to the historical pronunciation of the kana character he. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen (東照大権現). He was one of the three unifiers of Japan, along with his former lord Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Tonghak Uprising

Tonghak Uprising, (1894) Korean peasant rebellion that sparked the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95). Despite being persecuted for it, impoverished peasants turned increasingly to Tonghak ("Eastern Learning"; see Ch'ŏndogyo), a syncretic, nationalistic religion that opposed Western culture and espoused equality of all people. When demonstrations staged by Tonghak followers calling for social reform met with a negative government response, the peasantry united with them in a rebellion that succeeded in defeating government troops in southern Korea. The government called on China for aid; Japan sent in troops without being asked, and China and Japan clashed. The rebels laid down their arms to defuse tensions; nevertheless, the Sino-Japanese War ensued. The leaders of the uprising, including Ch'oe Si-hyŏng, were executed.

Vasco de Gama

Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ]; c. 1460s - 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India (1497-1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and therefore, the West and the Orient. Da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India was significant and opened the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia. Traveling the ocean route allowed the Portuguese to avoid sailing across the highly disputed Mediterranean and traversing the dangerous Arabian Peninsula. The sum of the distances covered in the outward and return voyages made this expedition the longest ocean voyage ever made until then, far longer than a full voyage around the world by way of the Equator.[1]

Bakufu

Was last feudal Japanese military government, which existed between 1600 and 1868. The head of government was the shōgun and each was a member of the Tokugawa clan. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle and the years of the shogunate became known as the Edo period. This time is also called the Tokugawa period or pre-modern Baku is an abbreviation of bakufu, meaning "military government"—that is, the shogunate. The han were the domains headed by daimyō. The emperor, nominally a religious leader, held no real power; this was invested in the shōgun. The shogunate had the power to discard, annex, and transform domains. Tokugawa's descendants further ensured loyalty by maintaining a dogmatic insistence on loyalty to the shōgun.

Yuan Shikai

Yuan Shikai (Chinese: 袁世凱; pinyin: Yuán Shìkǎi; 16 September 1859 - 6 June 1916) was a Chinese emperor, general, statesman and warlord, famous for his influence during the late Qing dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor, his autocratic rule as the first formal President of the Republic of China, and his short-lived attempt to restore monarchy in China, with himself as the Hongxian Emperor Yuan's rise to fame began with his nominal participation in the First Sino-Japanese War as commander of the Chinese garrison forces in Korea. Unlike other officers, however, he avoided the humiliation of Chinese defeat by having been recalled to Beijing several days before the outbreak of conflict.

Zheng He

Zheng He (1371-1433 or 1435), formerly romanized as Cheng Ho, was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family, later adopted the conferred surname Zheng from Emperor Yongle.[3] Zheng commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433. His larger ships stretched 120 meters or more in length. These carried hundreds of sailors on four tiers of decks.[4] As a favorite of the Yongle Emperor, whose usurpation he assisted, Zheng rose to the top of the imperial hierarchy and served as commander of the southern capital Nanjing (the capital was later moved to Beijing by the Yongle Emperor). These voyages were long neglected in official Chinese histories but have become well known in China and abroad since the publication of Liang Qichao's Biography of Our Homeland's Great Navigator, Zheng He in 1904.[5][6] A trilingual stele left by the navigator was discovered on the island of Ceylon shortly thereafter.

Francis Xavier

a Navarrese Basque Roman Catholic missionary, born in Javier (Xavier in Navarro-Aragonese or Xabier in Basque), Kingdom of Navarre (present day Spain), and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. Companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. Led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India. The Goa Inquisition(The Goa Inquisition was a colonial era Portuguese institution established by the Roman Catholic Holy Office between the 16th- and 19th-century to stop and punish heresy against Christianity in South Asia. The Inquisition punished those who had converted to Catholicism, but suspected by Jesuit clergy of practising their previous religion in secret. Predominantly, the persecuted were accused of crypto-Hinduism. Numerous natives served years of imprisonment, public flogging, execution or were burnt alive at stake.The Catholic Christian missionaries also burnt any books written in Sanskrit, Marathi, or Konkani that they could find in Goa, as well as restricted Protestant Christian books from entering Goa on Dutch or English merchant ships.) was proposed by St. Francis Xavier. He also was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his missionary preaching to China when he died on Shangchuan Island.

Treaty of Shimonoseki

reaty of Shimonoseki, Chinese (Pinyin) Maguan Tiaoyue, (April 17, 1895), agreement that concluded the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), which ended in China's defeat. By the terms of the treaty, China was obliged to recognize the independence of Korea, over which it had traditionally held suzerainty; to cede Taiwan, the Pescadores Islands, and the Liaodong (south Manchurian) Peninsula to Japan; to pay an indemnity of 200,000,000 taels to Japan; and to open the ports of Shashi, Chongqing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou to Japanese trade. The Triple Intervention (1895), secured by Russia, France, and Germany, subsequently required Japan to retrocede the Liaodong Peninsula to China in return for an additional indemnity of 30,000,000 taels.