#为什么说自古热带无强国 #
Friends who like world history may find that in the history of the world, the tropics never seem to have a great power such as Alexander's empire. The reason for this is actually related to the climate of the tropics. Ancient India, on the other hand, was a favorable example of a tropical powerless country.
1. The Chosen Nation
Before modern times, India was recognized as the chosen country in the world. Both the East and the West consider India to be the most beautiful country in the world. For example, China, Japan and South Korea see India as the embodiment of the world of Elysium. Historically, senior monks from China, Japan, and South Korea have also traveled to India to seek The Dharma. Even the ancient Chinese, who had always prided themselves on being the center of world civilization, had a strong liking for India. For example, in "Journey to the West", Wu Cheng'en praised Tianzhu's civilization and richness, not inferior to China.
For Westerners, India is the richest country in the world. In the eyes of the Westerners in the Middle Ages, barren Japan was still a country with gold paved land, not to mention India, which was a hundred times richer than Japan at that time. In fact, the Westerners were willing to find new routes at any cost, and even the king of Spain sponsored Columbus to cross the earth in search of the East, the main purpose of which was to find rich India.
As for the nomadic tribes of the countries of West Asia and Central Asia, they also regarded India as a piece of fat: for example, the ancient Persian and Arab empires invaded India. As for the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, it is even more common for them to cross Afghanistan to plunder India.
The reason why India is almost optimistic about the world is that the economic conditions of ancient India are too good.
Because ancient India had an early history of agricultural development and was in the tropics, there was plenty of precipitation. All this led to the fact that the ancient Indians hardly had to worry about eating and dressing: because even the lazy Indians could go to the jungle and make a living by picking wild fruits. And Indians don't have to worry about spending the winter.
People in other parts of ancient times were not so happy: for example, the peasants of the ancient Chinese Empire needed to consider the reserves for the winter, the grain that needed to accumulate for the winter, and the clothes for the winter. The european peasants of the Middle Ages also had to worry about the taxes of the feudal lords. Under the pressure of hard work and burden, these ordinary people will naturally feel that the life of the ancient Indian people is like heaven - after all, it is the paradise in the eyes of the ancient people without worrying about eating or wearing.
2. The tragedy of India
Good natural conditions have also made Indians for thousands of years lose their desire for material pursuits. And desire, sometimes, is often the driving force that stimulates the development of society. In fact, the main reason why Europeans led the great voyages, rather than Chinese, Indians and Arabs led the great voyages, is that Europe is much more barren than the ancient China, India, and Arabia. Therefore, europeans will have the idea and motivation to go to sea out of the pursuit of a better life.
Similar examples have arisen in East Asia. For example, in Chinese history, except for the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty who had the idea of conquering Japan, the other dynasties and dynasties did not have ideas about Japan. On the contrary, Japan, at least since the Tang Dynasty in China, has had restless ideas about the East Asian continent. The reason is simple: because the ancient Chinese land was rich in products. Even during the sui dynasty, the sui emperor repeatedly showed off the wealth of the Sui Empire to merchants from various countries in the western region. Japan, on the other hand, is much more barren. Therefore, the Chinese Empire had no incentive to conquer Japan, and Japan had the idea of plundering the East Asian continent.
As mentioned earlier, India was the country with the best innate economic conditions in the ancient countries of the world. Therefore, indians have no incentive to expand abroad, and based on this, the rulers of India naturally cannot arm the Indians who are satisfied with the status quo into an army that can fight a good war. For the ancient Indians, their way of life was this: after eating and drinking enough every day, they went to retreats— such as worshipping the gods of their tribe's faith. And some people with ideas will also sit under the Bodhi tree after eating and drinking enough, thinking about the universe, heaven and earth, and looking up at the stars. Therefore, the religion and philosophy of ancient India were very developed, but the progress of military and scientific and technological was very slow.
The situation in ancient India is actually a microcosm of other tropical countries in the world.
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