What is Greater India? Explain.

Greater India was the idea of India in the ancient times. The close knit political, cultural and administrative ties with south and south-east Asia meant that India’s geographical limits were poorly defined and the coalition of Indian cultures beyond the Indus were together called GREATER India. There were several reasons for the spread and propagation of Greater India- geographical, political, economic and religious.

a) GEOGRAPHICAL: India’s own geographical boundaries extended from Afghanistan in the north-west to Myanmar in the east. In addition to that, small island nations of Sri Lanka, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Indo-China, Champa etc. were all part of India.

b) RELIGIOUS: These areas were ruled by Hindu rulers, and the people were pre-dominantly Hindu, Buddhists or Jains. This was a consequence of the spread of religions- carried out by the Chola rulers, the traders, Buddhist missionaries and messengers and Indian artists- and marked an important phase in India history- from the days of Harshvardhan Verma of Chola dynasty to 10^th Century A.D.

c) ECONOMIC: Fine quality goods were manufactured in India and exported to the Eastern nations. These included pearls, spices, tobacco, sandalwood etc. the economic ties and trade relations were exceptionally strong during the Chola years.

d) POLITICAL: South India rulers had huge navies, which helped Indian rulers to travel across waters and establish kingdoms and colonies across the island nations.