Greater India was the historical extent of the culture of India beyond the Indian subcontinent. This particularly concerns the spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia, introduced by the Indianized kingdoms of the 5th to 15th centuries, but may also refer to the spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia and China by the Silk Road during the early centuries of the Common Era. To the west, Greater India overlaps with Greater Persia in the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountains. The term is tied to the geographic uncertainties surrounding the "Indies" during the Age of Exploration.
Although most cultures in Southeast Asia were primarily influenced by India, this is different for Vietnam. Vietnamese culture was primarily influenced by the culture of China.
Read more about Greater India: Terminology, Indianized Kingdoms, Indian Cultural Sphere, Linguistic Influence
Famous quotes containing the words greater and/or india:
“Civilization does not engross all the virtues of humanity: she has not even her full share of them. They flourish in greater abundance and attain greater strength among many barbarous people. The hospitality of the wild Arab, the courage of the North American Indian, and the faithful friendships of some of the Polynesian nations, far surpass any thing of a similar kind among the polished communities of Europe.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“India is an abstraction.... India is no more a political personality than Europe. India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator.”
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965)