A history of Asia / Rhoads Murphey, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Michigan, with Kristin Stapleton, The University at Buffalo, SUNY.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: Geography -- Population Densities -- Common Cultural Patterns -- The Study of Monsoon Asia -- 1.Prehistoric Asia -- Early and Paleolithic Cultures -- The Neolithic Revolution -- Origins of Civilization in India -- The Indus Civilization -- The Aryans -- Agricultural Origins in Southeast Asia -- Peoples and Early Kingdoms of Southeast Asia -- Prehistoric China -- Korea and Japan -- Early Asian Commercial and Cultural Networking -- 2.Asian Religions and Their Cultures -- Hinduism -- Buddhism in India and Its Spread Eastward -- A Closer Look: Gautama Buddha -- Reading Across Cultures: The Divine Couple and the Human Family -- Confucianism -- Daoism -- Judaism and Christianity in Monsoon Asia -- Islam in Asia -- Shinto -- Asian Religions: Some Reflections -- 3.The Societies of Asia -- Social Hierarchies -- The Family -- Sexual Behavior -- The Status of Women -- Education, Literacy, and the Printed Word -- Material Welfare -- 4.The Civilization of Ancient India -- The Rise of Empire: Mauryan India -- The Maurya Dynasty -- Pataliputra and the Glory of Mauryan India -- A Closer Look: The Emperor Ashoka, "Beloved of the Gods" -- Kushans and Greeks -- Southern India and the City of Madurai -- Ceylon -- The Guptas and the Empire of Harsha -- Women in Ancient India -- The Indian Heritage -- The Gupta Legacy in the Bay of Bengal Region -- 5.The Civilization of Ancient China -- The Origins of China -- The Shang Dynasty -- The Zhou Dynasty -- A Closer Look: Confucius, the Sage -- The Qin Conquest -- Qin Authoritarianism -- The Han Dynasty -- A Closer Look: Cities in Ancient China -- Reading Across Cultures: Han Civilization in Vietnam -- Han Achievements -- 6.Medieval India -- Early Islamic Influence in Northern India -- The Islamic Advance into Northern India -- The Delhi Sultanate (also called the Slave Dynasty) -- A Closer Look: Notable Sultans: Ala-ud-din Khalji -- Southern India -- The Cholas -- 7.Early and Medieval Southeast Asia -- The Setting -- Origin of Peoples -- The Eastward Spread of Islam -- Reading Across Cultures: Conversions to Islam -- Indianized Southeast Asia -- Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam -- A Closer Look: Angkor: City of Monumental Splendor -- Medieval Pagan and Thai Ayudhya -- A Closer Look: "Zomia": A New Concept in Political Geography -- Malaya, Indonesia, and the Philippines -- Reading Across Cultures: Borobudur -- Melaka and the Entry of the West -- 8.China: A Golden Age -- Reunification in China -- The Splendor of the Tang -- A Closer Look: Chang'an in an Age of Imperial Splendor -- Cultural Brilliance and Political Decay -- The Song Achievement -- The Southern Song Period -- The Mongol Conquest and the Yuan Dynasty -- Chinese Culture and the Empire -- 9.Early, Classical, and Medieval Japan and Korea -- Japan -- Ties with Korea and the Tomb Builders -- The Link with China -- Heian Culture -- A Closer Look: Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki) -- Pressures on the Environment -- The Kamakura Period -- Ashikaga Japan -- Maritime Contacts Between Medieval Japan and the Continent -- Korea -- 10.Mughal India -- The Mughals in India -- Babur and the New Dynasty -- A Closer Look: Akbar, the Man -- The Reign of Aurangzeb: Repression and Revolt -- A Closer Look: Commerce at the Mughal Port of Surat -- The Central Asia Connection -- Reading Across Cultures: Women in Asia -- Iran: A Brief History -- 11.New Imperial Splendor in China: The Ming and Early Qing Dynasties -- The Founding of the Ming -- A Closer Look: Hongwu: The Rebel Emperor -- The Ming Tributary System -- Ming Maritime Expeditions -- Reading Across Cultures: Piracy in Southeast Asia -- Prosperity and Conservatism -- Commerce and Culture -- A Closer Look: Imperial Beijing: Axis of the Ming World -- Factionalism and Decline -- The Manchu Conquest -- China Under the Manchus -- Prosperity and Population Increases -- 12.Tokugawa Japan -- The Tokugawa Unification -- Reading Across Cultures: Japanese Overseas Trade in the Tokugawa Era -- A Closer Look: Edo and the "Floating World" -- A Closer Look: Hokusai, Master Artist -- Foreign Pressures for Change -- 13.The European Advance into Asia -- Independent Development -- The Portuguese in Asia -- Motives for Expansion -- The Spanish in the Philippines -- Trading Bases in Asia -- Reading Across Cultures: The Manila Galleon Trade -- "Christians and Spices" -- A Closer Look: Matteo Ricci: Missionary to the Ming Court -- The Russian Advance in Asia -- Japan's Christian Century -- The Dutch in Asia -- The English in Asia -- The English in Seventeenth-Century India -- 14.British India -- The Mughal Collapse -- Westerners in India -- The Early English Presence -- The Mughal and Post-Mughal Contexts -- Anglo-French Rivalry and the Conquest of Bengal -- A Closer Look: Robert Clive and the Beginnings of British India -- The Orientalists and the Bengal Renaissance -- A Closer Look: Calcutta, Colonial Capital -- From Tolerance to Arrogance -- The Revolt of 1857 -- The Consolidation of the British Empire in India -- British Imperial India -- A Closer Look: New Delhi: Indian Summer of the Raj -- 15.The Triumph of Imperialism in Asia -- The New Imperialism -- The Decline of The Qing -- The Opium War -- China Besieged -- Choson Korea in Decline -- Japan Among the Powers -- A Closer Look: Ito Hirobumi: Meiji Statesman -- Colonial Regimes in Southeast Asia -- Imperialism and Americans in Asia -- Imperialism and Cultural Change -- Reading Across Cultures: Imperialism and Asia -- The Legacy of Western Control -- 16.Nationalism and Revolution in China and India -- The Fall of the Qing, 1860 -- 1911 -- Chaos and Warlordism -- A Closer Look: Prominent Figures in the May Fourth Movement -- China in the 1920s and 1930s -- A Closer Look: Shanghai: The Model Treaty Port -- India Under Colonial Rule -- The Beginnings of Indian Nationalism -- Reading Across Cultures: The Rise of Asian Nationalism -- Enter Gandhi -- India Moves Toward Independence -- 17.Japan and the Struggle for Asia, 1920 -- 1945 -- Japan in the 1920s: Taisho Democracy and Its Fate -- Japan's Economy and Military -- Reading Across Cultures: The Interwar Years -- The War in China -- A Closer Look: Chongqing: Beleaguered Wartime Capital -- The Rise of Southeast Asian Nationalism -- The Outbreak of the Pacific War -- Burma and India -- 18.Revival and Revolution in Japan and China -- The Revival of Japan -- A Closer Look: Tokyo and the Modern World -- China in Revolution -- A Closer Look: Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four -- Taiwan -- Hong Kong -- China, Taiwan, and Overseas Chinese -- 19.Korea and Southeast Asia: Decolonization, Cold War, and After -- Korea Under Japanese Rule -- Division and War -- Korea Since 1960 -- Southeast Asia Since World War II -- Vietnam -- Bloody Cambodia -- Laos: The Forgotten Country -- Reading Across Cultures: The Rediscovery and Restoration of Angkor -- Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Singapore -- Indonesia -- The Philippines -- Regional Cooperation in ASEAN -- 20.South Asia: Independence, Political Division, and Development -- Partition and Independence -- Bangladesh and Pakistan -- Afghanistan -- Sri Lanka -- Nepal -- India After Independence -- A Closer Look: Female Leaders of South Asia -- Indian and South Asian Achievements and Shortcomings -- Reading Across Cultures: India and the Global Market -- 21.Asia in the Twenty-First Century -- Population Growth -- Pollution -- Urbanization -- Economic Growth Rates -- Cultural Tradition in Modern Asia -- A Country-by-Country Survey.