The centuries-old interactions between the different regions of Asia took various forms including the migration of people, trade in raw materials and goods, and the exchange of religious, literary, and aesthetic ideas and forms. Covering diverse aspects of these interactions, this volume studies the connections between India and other parts of Asia including China and Southeast Asia.

It, therefore, approaches the subject of Asian cultural interactions during the pre-modern and early modern periods through the prism of politics, art, religion, and trade. By bringing together these inter-related aspects of cultural encounters, it explores the complex connected histories of the Asian people in a comprehensive manner.

The diversities of cultural interactions addressed in this book range from issues of war and diplomacy to trade, trade routes and ship-wrecks; from the making of grand monumental edifices to the circulation of tiny terracottas and coveted carpets, and from the religious to the secular domains in the exchange of cultural ideas and forms. Crucial for a comprehensive understanding of contemporary networks between the Indian subcontinent and various other parts of Asia, this work shows that interactions across cultures in pre-modern Asia were motivated not only by commercial but also cultural ties and explores the historical context in which they took place.

Table of Contents:
Contents Acknowledgements vii Foreword by Kapila Vatsyayan ix Introduction by Upinder Singh and Parul Pandya Dhar xiii Changing Perspectives 001 1. The Concept of Cultural Convergence Revisited: Reflections on India's Early Influence in Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke 2. Ming China's Violence Against Neighbouring Polities and Its Representation in Chinese Historiography by Geoff Wade Political Connectivities and Conflicts 043 3. Gifts from Other Lands: Southeast Asian Religious Endowments in India by Upinder Singh 4. Changing Regimes: Two Episodes of Chinese Military Interventions in Medieval South Asia by Tansen Sen 5. An Inconvenient Heritage: The Central Asian Background of the Delhi Sultans by Sunil Kumar Religion, Rituals, and Monuments 109 6. Buddhism, Art, and Ritual Practice: Ðô`ng Duong at the Intersection of Asian Cultures by Parul Pandya Dhar 7. Durga and Siva at Banteay Srei: Blurring Boundaries between Monument, Image and Practice by Soumya James Trade, Icons, and Artefacts 159 8. Sri Lanka and Maritime Trade: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara as the Protector of Mariners by Osmund Bopearachchi 9. Viewing our Shared Past through Buddhist Votive Tablets across Eastern India, Bangladesh and Peninsular Thailand by Suchandra Ghosh 10. Early Modern Indian Carpets as Media for Cross-cultural Interaction by Yumiko Kamada About the Editors and Contributors 225 Index 228