Government in Ancient India, China and SEA

What is government? Comes from the latin word, ‘gubernare’ – which means to ‘steer a ship’. Has two different meanings: 1) refers to the group of people responsible for ruling the country. 2) refers to the system of ruling.

Brainstorm Time! (You have 10 mins, starting from now…) Question 1: Name 2 other types of government. Question 2: What do you think makes a good government?

Government in Ancient India People treated their kings as divine or god-like. During the ancient period, many different kings were ruling different parts of ancient India. The different kingdoms did not have outer clear boundaries that present day countries do. So how did the kings rule? The king only ruled the capital city and the rest of his kingdom was divided into smaller areas of land called provinces.

Examples of governance of Ancient India Chandragupta Maurya’s leadership He defeated the king of Magadha and established the Mauryan empire ( BCE). He practised centralised rule – Pataliputra as the capital, with the rest of his empire divided into provinces, each under an official. The cities of the provinces were ruled by committees, which directly reported to him. Find out the meaning of centralised rule!

Examples of governance of Ancient India Chandragupta Maurya’s leadership believed in an efficient system of justice. eg. thieves would have their ears or noses cut off. believed in improving the welfare of his people. eg. built the Great Royal Highway and ordered the maintaining of irrigation systems.

Government in Ancient China During Shang dynasty, the kings practised a way of governance called feudalism. However, one dynasty after, in Qin dynasty, the king – Qin Shihuang practised unitary system of government. Ever since then, all dynasties after adopted unitary government. WHY!

Class Activity 2… In your pairs, refer to page 55 & 56 of your TB… 1)Find out the different ways a country is ruled when it adopts (I) feudalism and (II) unitary system of government. 2)Why is the unitary system of government more popular with rulers? Discuss your answers with your teacher!

Government in Ancient China Chinese believed that their just and wise rulers possess a blessing from the god known as the Mandate of Heaven. Emperor is thus known as the Son of Heaven. Chinese believed that when they suffer great hardships in the form of natural disasters, it means that the emperor has lost his Mandate of Heaven. This is a sign the people should overthrow the govt.

Government in Ancient China The Chinese emperors also believed in meritocracy. During the Han dynasty, the government selected their civil servants based on the ‘best brains’ not the ‘best blood’. Imperial Civil Service Examinations were implemented.

Government in Southeast Asia SEA was never ruled by an emperor, only by kings. Government in ancient SEA was very similar to the ones in ancient India. Recap momentThe kings also saw themselves as divine rulers. [Recap moment: What is divine kingship?] However, the SEAsian kings practised cultural adaptation – they only adopted features of a foreign government that were useful and rejected those that were unsuitable. Identify some practices the Southeast Asian kings adopted and rejected.

Examples of governance in Southeast Asia Melaka Sultanate in ancient SEA Melaka Sultanate was one of the wealthiest and most powerful kingdoms in SEA. One of the most powerful kings was Parameswara. He saw Melaka’s potential as a great trading port since it was a safe harbour and was located along the Straits of Melaka. He also sought protection from enemy attacks by forming friendship with an even more powerful country then, China.

It’s the end… THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!