government

government

1. india

   • chandragupta maurya
     • magadha was invaded by a young greek emperor alexander the great
       • caused chaos and disorder in northern part of india
         • allowed a young prince, chandragupta maurya, to overthrow the king
           • mauryan dynasty
             • when alexander went home, chandragupta expanded his power to the indue region
               • laid the foundations of the Mauryan empire and dynasty
     • government was highly organised
       • divided into provinces, each under the rule of a trusted official
         • cities were in turn ruled by committees
           • each committee was in charge of one main area such as public works or trade
           • directly responsible to chandragupta, who had absolutely no authority overy government matters
     • believed highly in an efficient system of justice
       • those who were disobedient or disloyal were severely punished
     • improved the welfare of people
       • built roads for easy travel
       • ordered irrigation systems to be maintained to ensure stead supply of water to fields, which would grow crops more easily
     • it was during the Mauryan dynasty that the whole northern india was united for the first time
       • after the fall of the Mauryan dynasty, northern india was broken up into several competing kingdoms
         • until almost 500 years later that they were unified again in the Gupta dynasty
   • south india was under one rule during the chola dynasty
     • under centralised rule, the empire was ruled by the emperor in the capital and the rest of the empire followed the emperor's laws

2. china

   • feudalism
     • during the Shang dynasty, the king only controlled a small area around his capital
       • he divided the rest of his kingdom
         • en were given lands to rule and in return, they had to give him tribute which is a gift made as a form of respect
           • tributes came in the form of grain and precious gifts
             • the men were known as feudal lords and the land they own was called feudal states
               • they controlled the people in their lands
                 • people were mainly farmers
                   • they gave feudal lords food, built roads and provided other services
                     • in return the feudal lords give farmers permission to farm their lands
     • the men are given lands in return of their support is called feudalism
     • in western zhou dynasty after shang dynasty
       • feudal lords respected the king and there was peace in the kingdom
         • but later in eastern zhou dynasty, the feudal lords became greedy and started fighting for more land
           • the king could not control them
             • fighting continued for 232 years and this was known as the period of warring states
               • during this period, china broke up into several competing kingdoms
                 • Qin Shihuang unified China
                   • decentralised government replaced by unitary system of government
                     • this change in government is known as China's imperial unification
   • Qin Shihuang
     • wanted to bring China under a single central rule
       • removed power from feudal lords by taking away their land
         • divided empire into 36 provinced, each under his direct control
           • each province had: - a military governor in charge of an army - a civilian governer in charge of everyday matters - an inspector to watch over the 2 governors
             • all officials reported directly to Qin Shihuang
               • system of government continued for 2200 years
     • he tightened his control by
       • introducing laws that he applied uniformly throughout China
       • introducing standard measure and coins throughout China
       • introduciong a single script and abolishing different forms of writing
       • these methods helped to create a sense of unity among the people
     • infamous for his cruelty
       • he enforced strict laws and showed no mercy
         • when someone broke the law, he along with his whole family will be executed
         • many scholars who opposed his new laws were killed
   • mandate of heaven
     • people believed that heaven wanted people to be ruled wisely and justly
     • heaven would give the Mandate of Heaven to a good ruler, called the Son of Heaven
     • if the ruler is selfish or corrupt, the people would suffer
       • look for signs that the ruler lost his Mandate of Heaven
         • signs usually came in the form of natural disasters like earthquake
           • people had the right to overthrow the ruler and change the government
   • civil service
     • consists of the government departments and the people who work in them
     • before han dynasty, civil service had always consisted of members belonging to wealthy and powerful families
     • during han dynasty
       • new laws for the recruitment were introduced
         • Han Wudi decided that good government depended on attracting the best "brains" and not just the best "blood"
           • men who wanted to be a civil servant had to sit for the imperial civil service exam
             • tested the understanding of law and history
           • Han wudi set up the first imperial university to teach law and history
             • those who did well in the exams were appointed to the civil service and were known as scholar officials

3. SEA

   • there was never a single emperor who ruled the whole of SEA
     • there were several who ruled over different sizes of kingdoms
   • government similar to India
     • in the khmer kingdom, government officials were in charge of matters like taxation, justice, the army and organising labour in the kingdom
     • kings saw themselves as divine rulers
       • the kings' palaces in capital cities represented the home of the gods
         • palaces became temples after the king died
       • kings acted as middlemen between the gods and the people
   • when rulers converted to Islam, they no longer saw themselves as gods
     • but continued to use Indian emblems of kingship, such as the sacred royal umbrella
       • adopted features of foreign government that were useful and rejected those thatwere not suited for their local environment
         • called cultural adaptation
   • Meleka sultanate
     • one of the wealthiest and most powerful kingdom in SEA
       • three circles
         • capital
           • directly ruled by Sultan
           • 4 ministers - chief minister (bendahara), finance minister (bendahari), chief of police (temenggong) and commander of navy and army (laksamana)
             • had many officials helping them
               • most important was the customs magistrates
                 • duty was to greet foreigners and take care of thier needs
         • provinces
           • ruled by governors appointed by sultan
           • very important
             • vital source of fish, rice and vegetables
             • provided tin
         • vasal states
           • mostly independent
             • but still under protecton of the sultan
           • ruled by sultan's relatives
             • rulers paid tribute to the sultan
     • safe harbour
       • ideal centre for distribution and collection of goods from other parts of SEA
     • located along trade route between china and india
     • Parameswara
       • formed a friendship with chinese emperor to ensure protection as china was strong
       • appointed customs magistrates (syahbandars) to look after need of foreign traders
       • married a muslim princess and converted to Islam
         • won the support of rich indian-muslim and arab traders
           • traders shifted headquarters to meleka to use meleka as their port