Complete History of the Continent of Asia, Read This
The continent of Asia is the largest continent in the world. Its area reaches 43 million square kilometers. The continent of Asia constitutes 30 percent of the total land area on earth and constitutes 8.66 percent of the total surface area of the earth. The largest continent on earth is bordered by the Ural Mountains to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south. This continent has several iconic locations, such as Mount Everest which is the highest peak in the world, the Yang Tze River which is the longest in Asia and the third longest in the world, and the Gobi Desert which is the largest desert in Asia.
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The continent of Asia is divided into 6 regions, namely West Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and North Asia. The climate is divided into 8 climate categories and the seasons are divided into 4 season categories. There are quite a number of countries on the continent of Asia. There are 53 countries on this continent, including Turkey whose territory is divided into the continents of Europe and Asia and Taiwan whose sovereignty has not been recognized. The total population of the continent of Asia is 60% of the total world population. The growth of the human population on the Asian continent is 2% per year. Many people living on the continent of Asia have abundant wealth. However, this continent also contains the poorest 60% of people in the world. This fact is caused by the gap between the poor and the rich which continues to increase.
The Asian continent has been occupied since prehistoric times when early humans migrated from Africa to this continent. Historical records of civilization on this continent itself began when modern humans were present on this continent. The historical material in this article will contain information about civilizations on the Asian continent from the beginning of historical records to the modern world (21st century).
Early Civilization With Historical Records
The history of the continent of Asia begins when the Bronze Age is growing rapidly. There was a famous civilization from the Asian Continent when this era took place, called Harappa, and also Mesopotamia.
Bronze Metal Age
Harappa is a civilization consisting of several separate cities, but still in one area. Several cities of this civilization entered the Indus River Valley region. The cities of this civilization existed from 3300 BC to 1300 BC. The heyday of civilization in the Indus River Valley was from 2900 BC to 1600 BC.
Currently, the cities of civilization in question are included in the territory of South Asia. The exact location is from northeastern Afghanistan to Pakistan and ends in the northwestern region of India. The Indus River Civilization or Harappa civilization was first discovered in 1920 in the area of British India. The exact location is the province of Punjab which is now better known as the country of Pakistan.
After the discovery of Harappa, the next city to be discovered was Mohenjo-Daro. The discovery of the city of Harappa was the culmination of archaeological survey activities carried out by the Indian Archaeological Team since 1861. Since 1920, surveys continued until the most important discovery occurred in 1999. In 1999, civilizations in the Indus River Valley had found 1056 cities. However, of the total cities discovered, only 96 cities were recently excavated. Major cities of the Harappa Civilization include Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Rakhigarhi, Dholavira and Ganeriwala.
The Harappa civilization is divided into the early period of civilization, the heyday and also the end of civilization. This division is an old nomenclature based on the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. These three divisions of the old nomenclature were made into four parts by Shaffer. The division is into the early era of food manufacturing, the era of regionalization, the era of integration and finally the era of localization.
The Harappa civilization went hand in hand with the Mesopotamian civilization. The name Mesopotamia itself comes from the ancient Armenian language which means the land between the rivers. The location of the Mesopotamian Civilization has in common with Harappa in the form of areas centered along rivers. If Harappa is in the Indus River Valley area, then Mesopotamia is around the Eupherat-Tigris river. Today, this civilizational area forms the majority of Iraq, Kuwait, eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and the Turkey-Syria and Iran-Iraq borders.
The Mesopotamian civilization still exists today, namely the civilization of the people of Iraq and its surroundings. However, Ancient Mesopotamia has been lost. The civilization in question is a mixture of Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian cultures. The mixing of the four cultures was the result of the transfer of city power among the four nations.
The ancient Mesopotamian culture was famous for 5 fields, namely literature, mathematics, astronomy, medicine and technology. The most famous Mesopotamian literature from the time of the Babylonians, is called the Epic of Gilgamesh. Mesopotamian mathematics is mathematics based on the sexagesimal numeral system. Sexagesimal mathematics is a source of current mathematics, such as 1 hour = 60 minutes, 24 hours in a day and also a circle that has 360 degrees. Mesopotamian astronomy was most used when the Sumerians were in power as well as the Assyrians. Astronomy studies current events based on the positions of the planets as well as the stars. Mesopotamian medicine has contributed much to modern medicine today. Medicine developed by the Babylonians introduced a system of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination and prescribing. Thanks to the four nations that ruled Mesopotamia, the technology in this region was quite advanced. One of the proofs is the Baghdad battery which is the first battery in the world.
Iron Age
The Iron Age was an era when ferrous metal was used as a material for everyday goods in civilization besides copper and bronze. On the Asian Continent, there are 3 areas that are in the spotlight for this iron age. The regions in question are the Middle East, India and also China.
In the Middle East region, the civilization that was in the spotlight at this time was the Persian Empire. At that time, the Persian Empire led by the Archaemenid Dynasty was one of the civilizations that entered the iron age. This dynasty is a dynasty that was built from the reign of Cyrus The Great. This dynasty ruled over Greece, Turkey, Central Asia and also the Indus River Valley from the 6th to 4th centuries BC.
This dynasty implements cultural tolerance, infrastructure development and centralized government. Government politics changed when Darius the Great came to power. During his reign, the unified territories under the Persian flag, the formation of a bureaucracy, the granting of military power to the nobility, the organization of tax collection, the formation of spies who were stationed in various Persian regions to maintain the integrity of the kingdom. The religion that developed and eventually became the state religion in this dynasty was Zoroastrianism. This religion is the teachings of the philosopher Zoroastrian. This teaching from Zoroaster was the beginning of the development of the concept of monotheism in the Persian Empire.
In India, the iron age was part of the success of the Maurya and Gupta Empires. The success of the two kingdoms is also called the success of Indian culture or the Golden Age of India. It is called so, because at that time there was a massive discovery and development in various areas of life in India which we eventually know as Indian culture today. At that time, the development of Hinduism and Buddhism that originated in India spread to various parts of Asia. The religion spread to the south, east and southeast of Asia.
The Mauryan Empire was created after the failure of Alexander the Great's invasion of India in 600 BC. The invasion failed because Alexander the Great's troops were afraid of the Indians' stomping feet. Indian troops led by Chandragupta Maurya. His troops managed to repel Alexander the Great's army in the Ganges river area. After beating back and taking control of river area, Maurya created empire around river area. This kingdom ended after the invasion of the Kushans. In the lands of the former Mauryan kingdom, the Kushan kingdom was founded.
Kushan also received the same fate as the Maurya Kingdom. This kingdom eventually fell in 220 BC. The second heyday of the Indian nation occurred when the Gupta Kingdom was formed in 320. Its founder was named Maharaja Sri-Gupta. This kingdom had better stability than the Maurya Kingdom even though it had less territory than the Maurya Kingdom. This stability occurred because the formation of this kingdom was the result of negotiations with regional leaders and local families as well as political marriages. Unfortunately this empire also had to end in 535 when the Huns ruled India.
The Iron Age occurred in classical China. There were 3 dynasties that entered the Iron Age in Asia, namely the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties. The Iron Age in China started from 1029 BC to 220 AD. The Zhou dynasty began in China from 1029 BC and ended in 258 BC. His government implemented a feudal system. This system gave power to local nobles to govern their territory under the auspices of the kingdom. This is applied to create loyalty to the kingdom.
The system established by the dynasty was very weak which resulted in internal conflicts within the kingdom. This conflict was exacerbated by external attacks. For these two reasons, this dynasty began to shake its stability in 500 BC until the time of its collapse. The Taoism that Laozi made popular in the Zhou Dynasty. In addition, the teachings of Confucius began to develop in this dynasty. Its use is quite good when used to quell war.
The end of the Zhou Dynasty was continued by the Qin Dynasty. At the time this dynasty was established, the period of war was still going on. This dynasty itself only briefly ruled China. Only from 221 BC to 207 BC. The Qin Dynasty itself came to power as a result of a coup d'état of the last leader of the Zhou Dynasty. At the time of the Qin Dynasty in power in China, the feudal system was eliminated into a bureaucratic system and the teachings of Confucianism were suppressed and slowly replaced by the teachings of Legalism. This teaching of legalism was one of the causes of the fall of the Qin Dynasty. Legalism teaches that an evil, strong and coercive government is necessary to make a developed country. This is what the people oppose.
The Qin dynasty weakened and finally ended in 207 BC. Before its destruction, various clans and noble families in China fought each other for influence and war for power. In the end, the people who won the leadership were the Han people who made the Han Dynasty. In this dynasty there is a king's name that should be known, namely Emperor Wu who was instrumental in making peace throughout the plains of China.
Medieval
The history of the medieval continent of Asia shows that the old countries discussed earlier continued to show their teeth in world history. The countries in question are the Middle East with its Islam, India, and China.
Middle Eastern Islam
The beginning of the Islamic empire dates from 613 to 630. The Prophet Muhammad spread Islamic teachings throughout the Arabian Desert after his victory in Mecca. He united the tribes in Arabia and made them
as an Islamic empire. This kingdom was led by him with the title of caliph who ruled over religion and politics.
The Islamic empire formed by the Prophet Muhammad spread its wings to the Sassanids, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Palestine. This kingdom formed its maritime military power. Byzantium succumbed to it and made its territory under the influence of Islamic empires for centuries. The Prophet Muhammad abdicated because he died. There is no successor. A power struggle ensued, but finally there was an agreement to be continued by Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali.
Ali only lasted a short time because many did not approve of him being a leader. The Islamic empire was divided into two parts, namely Sunni and Shia. Sunnis themselves were better known at a later date through their Umayyad dynasty.
The Umayyad dynasty began to fall in the early 8th century AD. The downfall of this dynasty was due to a close relationship with its people. This event was exploited by the Abbasids. These people joined forces with the angry Umayyad people in an attempt to overthrow the dynasty. After the fall of the dynasty, the Abassids formed the Abassid dynasty.
The Abassiyah dynasty went well when its government expanded its trade wings to India and Southeast Asia. However, government soon went wrong in 934. Many lands broke away and formed their own dynasties. The Islamic empire was divided and only started to reunite when fighting the Christian Army and after that the Mongols. However, the government is still divided. The new Islamic empires were reunited in the 1500s when the Ottoman Turks won a number of wars and territories and finally formed the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks marked the end of their reign in caliphate style.
India
The history of the continent of Asia in medieval India occurred between the years 600 to 1200. India in the Middle Ages was still divided into kingdoms. Some of the famous kingdoms in this century include Kannauj, Chalukya, Bengal, Palava, Pandya, and also the Rajputs. Famous kings among them were Harsha of Kannauja and King Pala of Bengal. Muslim empires also expanded into Indian territory in the Middle Ages, to be precise in the 12th century, in order to expand their territory.
China
The history of the Asian Continent in medieval China was filled by four famous dynasties, namely Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan. At this time the bureaucracy in the government of the Kingdom of China experienced an increase, the spread of Buddhism was widespread, and also the teachings of Neo-Confucianism. The art that was most developed in this century in China was ceramics and also painting. One of the famous heritage of this century in China is the Tien-ning Temple in Peking.
The Sui dynasty was founded by Emperor Wen in 580. It embraced the military might of China's Nomads and aristocrats. However, he neglected Confucian scholars and bureaucrats. Emperor Wen's fate was tragic, because he was killed by his own son. After Emperor Wen's death, his son ascended the throne and named himself Emperor Yang. He re-established relations with scholars and bureaucrats. His goal was to anger the aristocrats and military leaders of the Nomad Tribe. Emperor who exercises his power with pleasure. It drains state resources. This act led to his being killed and overthrown from the throne by his followers and enemies. His death in 618 marked the end of the Sui dynasty.
The Tang dynasty was founded by Emperor Gaozu in 623 AD. Expansion was carried out during this dynasty. The empire expanded into Tibet, Vietnam and Manchuria. Emperor Gaozu took great care of his scholars and bureaucrats. Through his leadership, the education of scholars has increased and the performance of bureaucrats has increased. The spread of Buddhism is reminiscent of this dynasty. But his teachings are divided into two, namely pure land and zen. This dynasty descended when Emperor Xuanzong led China. The Tang dynasty officially ended in 907.
The Song dynasty is famous for its success in uniting almost all power in China. This success came in 960. The enemies of this dynasty were the Khitans, as well as the Jurchens. The Jurchens managed to stop this dynasty from rising and took over almost all of its territory. The government of the Song Dynasty itself fled south and formed the Southern Song Dynasty in 1126. When the Song Dynasty ruled, Confucian scholars held more power than aristocrats and Buddhist monks. This dynasty introduced Neo-Confucianism as well as the practice of foot binding.
The Yuan dynasty was formed by the King of the Mongols, Kublai Khan in 1271. In 1290, all of China was ruled by the Mongols. The center of the kingdom was in Khanbaliq which is now better known as Beijing. This dynasty has a terrible history of death which claimed the lives of many Chinese people. This large number of deaths caused by disease outbreaks and the name of his death is known as The Black Death. This incident occurred in 1331.
History of the Modern Continent of Asia
The discussion of the history of the continent of Asia which entered modern times in this article discusses only two countries. The discussion only mentions briefly. The first country to be discussed is China which is one of the world's economic powers. The second country is Indonesia because this country is the basis of the target audience for this article.
China
The history of the modern continent of Asia in China that deserves to be remembered includes the civil war between the camps that carried Mao Zedong and Ciang Kai Sek. This war left many Chinese people killed. They were divided at that time. This event occurred before World War II took place, namely in the 1930s. However, the divided Chinese people finally came together when Japan invaded this land in 1937.
People of the National Party of Chiang Kai Sek suffered a loss of territory and assets when facing the Japanese. This defeat by Japan made many Chinese people lose respect for Ciang Kai Sek and his followers. Their prestige is down. Different events experienced by Mao Zedong with his Communist Party. Mao and his friends who used guerrilla tactics managed to beat the Japanese army, which used more conventional military strategies. Mao's peak victory occurred in 1945.
The victory of Mao and his Communist Party over Japan made them dominate mainland China. Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist Party were forced out of mainland China within four years. They were directed to an island that is now known as Taiwan. Mao's victory over Japan led him to establish the Chinese state called the People's Republic of China, which was based on communism. Mao was appointed president.
The communist Chinese government led by Mao had an intimate relationship with the Russian state which also adhered to the communist system. However, this relationship eventually ran aground in the 1960s due to tensions in the border areas of the two countries and also China's growing sense of superiority over Russia. Currently, or the 21st century, China as a country holds the power of the world economy.
Indonesia
The early 20th century in the country of Indonesia was a period of preparation for the unification of Indonesia's territory as a unitary state of Indonesia and also for Indonesian independence after being colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese and also British. The highlight was the Youth Pledge on October 28, 1928 and also the proclamation of independence on August 17, 1945.
Indonesia never participated in World War I and World War II. However, the Indonesian people received its impact, especially in World War II. Indonesia gained its independence after Japan lost in World War II. After the proclamation, the Indonesian government was formed and running. However, some time later, the Dutch declared that Indonesia was still their colony. The result was the Dutch Military Aggression. This aggression was carried out because the Dutch felt they had the right to prepare for the independence of their colony.
This conflict was exacerbated by the Indonesian military's sabotage of the land of Papua, which was also a Dutch colony. Why is there mention of Indonesian military sabotage? Actually, the territory of Indonesia is from Aceh to Maluku based on the Youth Pledge made on October 28, 1928. Papua itself was planned to be made a sovereign country by the Dutch. This reason has made the Papua region continue to be in conflict until now.
Papua finally fell into Indonesian hands in 1969. Four years earlier, according to the government's version of history, Indonesia underwent a coup by the Indonesian Communist Party which led to the resignation of Ir Soekarno from the post of president and the rise of Suharto as president. Suharto became president of Indonesia for 31 years. The Golkar Party, which supervised him, always won elections until he was forced to resign in 1998. Suharto was forced to resign because it was judged by many, especially reform figures and students, that he had established Indonesia under a corrupt government full of debt, unable to handle the economic crisis and also has mortgaged the country to foreign hands.
The fall of Suharto brought BJ Habibie to the presidency. He was appointed interim president until elections were held again. In his tenure, there were two big things he did. First, to make the economy better and secondly to release Timor Leste from the Indonesian state. As a result of his decision to let go of Timor Leste, he did not have the support of the DPR to rule again in Indonesia.
Habibie's time was over, he was replaced by Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). Even though the winner of the election was the PDI Perjuangan which carried Megawati as president. Megawati herself eventually became vice president under Gus Dur. When Gus Dur reigned, the Chinese felt a significant effect from his reign. He eliminated Suharto's regulations that restrained the Chinese. However, he stumbled over the Bulog Gate case. Because of this case, he was removed from the post of president by members of the council. Then, Megawati led Indonesia.
Megawati's leadership brought Indonesia to many losses. For example, Pertamina has to lose assets, and Indosat has to be sold to foreigners. Megawati's bad decisions brought her prestige down in the general elections after her reign. The crisis of confidence in politicians has also increased. In the midst of an increasing crisis of confidence in politicians, came Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). He is considered to bring fresh air because of his charisma and political approach. Therefore he was elected president after Megawati.
SBY still won the trust to be president after 5 years in office. He entered his second term of leadership, although nothing good came out of his reign. After that, he was unable to lead Indonesia according to the regulations made after Suharto's fall. SBY stepped down in 2014 which was later replaced by Jokowi (Joko Widodo).
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