Southwest+Asia

Thesis Jae Lee, Brian Cho, Andrew Yoon August 29, 2008   What makes a country stronger than others? Why is it that some countries that are small in size, still have some influence in the world? Countries are stronger than others, depending on the amount of resources, their population, and other supplies that they may have. Looking at America during the current time, the size of the nation, the population, the number of people in the military, and other supplies that America may have classify it into one of the strongest nations. Most of the time, military power and alliances are the most important to making a country strong. Back in the 1800 ’ s though, nothing has changed in what made a country stronger.  Southwest Asia is believed to be one of the strongest nations back in the 1800 ’ s, (1700-1799). An example of this would be the Mughal Empire. The Mughal Empire ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent during this time. This empire forced Islamic beliefs in Southwest Asia and spread Muslim. The Mughals ruled a country with a large Hindu majority. A warrior mainly responsible for this was Timour the Tartar, (or better known as Tamerlane). Tamerlane conquered more nations and wider territory than any man who ever lived. His expansionism was more successful than even Caesar or Napoleon. The great population of people under Tamerlane ’ s command allowed him to expand more, and gain more power with his army that continuously increased in size. The large size of his army didn ’ t require any treaties of alliance from other countries, as he had conquered most of Southwest Asia. This shows how numbers can determine how strong a region is.  Overall, throughout history, a country ’ <span style="font-family: 바탕">s strength was mostly determined by military strength, resources, trade, and alliances. This example of how one man could have conquered the rest of the world after conquering most of Southwest Asia shows how much power there is in having a large army. Even during the current time, America <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ascii-font-family: 바탕">’ <span style="font-family: 바탕">s mass number of people in the military make it a strong nation, as it had made the Mughals a strong empire. This is how countries/regions are determined as stronger than another.
 * Thesis**

Brian Cho, Jae Lee & Andrew W. Yoon
 * SOUTHWEST ASIA**

The countries in Southwest Asia are most of the countries with the names which end with ‘stan’. Such as Pakistan for instance. Although Pakistan wasn’t a country back in the 18th century. One major country that still exists today ever since the 18th century is India. And especially the Mogul Empire which ruled over most parts of Southwest Asia in the 18th century. <span style="COLOR: rgb(180,177,177)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(229,220,220)"> //Southwest Asia// The ancient Mogul Empire ruled over almost all of India and expanded westward into Europe as far as Moscow. It was erected by a young warrior Timour the Tartar (a.k.a. Tamerlane). Tamerlane conquered more nations, ruled over a wider territory and a larger number of people submitted to his authority than to any other man who ever lived. His expansionism was more of a success than that of Julius Caesar or Napoleon. <span style="COLOR: rgb(193,179,179)">//The Mughal Empire// The Mughal Empire ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent in the 16th and 17th centuries. It enforced Islamic beliefes in Southwest Asia, and spread Muslim, Persian arts and culture such as architecture. The Mughals ruled a country with a large Hindu majority.But for much of their empire they allowed Hindus to participate in politics or military positions. But they them them pay Jizya taxes, signifying their subordinance.

The Mughal influence in the subcontinent:
 * Centralised government which brought together many smaller kingdoms
 * Delegated government with respect for human rights
 * Persian art and culture
 * Persian language mixed with Arabic and Hindi to create Urdu
 * Periods of great religious tolerance
 * A style of architecture (e.g. the Taj Mahal)
 * A system of education that took account of pupils' needs and culture

Muslims in India

There had been Muslims in India even before the Mughals, ever since the 8th century. Gujurat mosque, a one-storey stone building with arches along its facade

In the first half of the 10th century a Shah (monarch) of Afghanistan invaded the Punjab eleven times. But didn’t have much political success. Yet retrieved away a great deal of items.

A more successful invasion came at the end of the 18th century. This eventually led to the formation of the Delhi Sultanate. A later Muslim invasion in 1728 devastated the city of Delhi. The Mughal Empire grew out of descendants of the Mongol Empire who were living in Turkestan in the 15th century. They had become Muslims and assimilated the culture of the Middle East, while keeping elements of their Far Eastern roots.

The Mughals had great military skill from their Mongol ancestors, and were among the first Western military leaders to guns.

Bibliography
 * http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/mughals.html
 * http://www.i3pep.org/archives/2005/04/12/mughal-empire/
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire
 * http://www.mughalindia.co.uk/room.html