“Creating an Empire”
...rn and western frontiers, where local military commanders ruled virtually without central government interference. It was an eerie repitition of the final decades of the Han.” (William, 266) This quote states that the government starting losing its power, and what was extremely similar to the end of the Han dynasty. The Tang dynasty eventually declined in 907. It collapsed and spread into different kingdoms that stood unified for more than fifty years. The Gupta period began in 320, it was probably considered the Classical Age of India. This period established Indian architecture, art, literature, and philosophy. It was also thought to have been an age of material prosperity, particularly among the urban elite, and of Hinduism. Much of Gupta literature and art derived from that of earlier periods, and renascent Hinduism is probably more correctly dated to the post-Gupta time. The Gupta dynasty has also has been called an imperial age. The centralization characteristics of their imperial system is less apparent than during the Mauryan Period. The Guptas came from either Magadha or eastern Uttar Pradesh. Candra Gupta II reign was more associated with intellectual and cultural achievements than military campaigns. Chinese pilgrims who traveled to India during the Gupta era found a Buddhism that had changed since the time of Siddhartha Guatama. (William, 239) Fa-hein, who was a Buddhist monk, traveled to India and left his impressions. “Fa hien’s record is of great value to Indian history because his descriptions of festivals and cities are unique.” (Schesinger 204) He also reported that mutual hostility between the Buddhists and the Brahmins was quite strong. (William 241) By the mid-6th century, when the dynasty apparently came to an end, the kingdom had dwindled to a small size. As for the Middle Ages, there are a couple of Kingdoms that I would like to focus on. The English, French, and the Germans. The kings began to expand their power such as William of England. His began his process of creating a new England by combining Anglo-Saxon and Norman institutions. (William, 323) He was able to establish a well centralized monarchy. Now turning to the French kingdom, they were formed on Frankish Lands because it was divided into three sections by the Corolingian Empire. Hugh Capet was crowned the new king after the latest death of a king. The Capetians had little power over other kingdoms. For example man dukes were more powerful than the Capetian kings. By the end of the thirteenth century, France was the largest, wealthiest, and best governed monarchical state in Europe thanks to the Capetian rulers that strengthened it. During the tenth century the Saxon kings ruled eastern part of the Frank kingd...