Classical India and China

Classical India was a period of time where new ideas came about for the people of India. After the Aryans conquered them and the caste system was eventually put into place, India started a centralized form of government. Classical China on the other hand was a decentralized form of government led by the Zhou and Shang dynasties. Although they differed in forms of government, classical India and China both had strict patriarchal societies and at points weak government economics. When looking at the political and cultural development of India and China during the classical period it is seen that China and India differed in their forms of government but they also were similar in their strictness of patriarchal views and their weak governments that lead to the economic downfall of their respected states.

Classical India was centralized very early in history by Chandragupta Maurya who was the first leader of the Mauryan Dynasty. India created a centralized government because they had realized they needed a way to control their growing population and create a form of bureaucracy to ensure a prosperous economy and lifestyle for their up and coming country. India was also able to trade in valuable markets with spices that could only be acquired from there during that time in history. China differed in this case because they were a decentralized government for most of early history, which caused a weak political standpoint during the

Shang and Zhou dynasties, which ultimately led to their downfall. China was not able to control their people and once Mandate of Heaven was lost within the population, warlords rose from throughout the empire and took over the country.

India and China both had very strict patriarchal societies that resulted in a very uneven social class. Women were treated terribly in China and resulted in many families being upset that they were the parents of a daughter and not a son. Many in China believed