Re: [Assam] India and China reopen Silk Road
Silk Road route Assamnet can dicuss if the above name is real -or has been cooked up by Zealots trying to prove that nothing bad happened between India and China ever. That India did not have any part in the blowing up of its own plane near Hongkong to kill Chou-en-Lai. That giving the safe haven to Dalai Lama and co in retun of Trombay atom bomb facility never happened, that China still claiming all of Arunachal is only a historical blip. Silk Route was the route direct from Xian to Tashkent.Nowhere near Tibet and Sikkim. mm From: Pradip Kumar Datta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], assam@assamnet.orgSubject: [Assam] India and China reopen Silk RoadDate: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 11:00:24 -0700 (PDT) India and China reopen Silk Road NET News Network Guwahati, July 6: Asian giants India and China opened a Himalayan border pass to trade on Thursday, 44 years after a brutal war shut the ancient Silk Road route. As local music from either side of the border played through the chilly mist, Indians and Tibetans -- in traditional costumes -- joined the festive atmosphere, crossing over to talk and share bread, sweets and tea. Scores of businessmen queued to complete formalities before crossing the border post at Nathu La pass -- "the pass of the listening ear" -- to visit newly built markets on either side after the formal opening ceremony. "Today is a historic day," said Pawan Chamling, chief minister of India's Sikkim state, connected by the pass to Tibet. Although smuggling in the area has been rife, local businessmen are keen to take advantage of the new opportunities opening the pass will create in the remote area. Ties between India and China, the two most populous nations, were dogged by mutual suspicion for almost three decades after a border war in 1962, until surging trade and economic ties pushed political disputes into the backseat. The reopening of the pass, part of the historic Silk Road -- a network of trails that connected ancient China with India, Western Asia and Europe -- occurred on the birthday of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan and Buddhist leader in exile in India. It came days after Beijing linked the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with a railway and is seen as another move by China to help modernize the long-isolated region. Some analysts feel closer economic bonding would also eventually help the two leave the border row behind. "Initiatives like these will slowly change the perception of our two peoples about the border dispute, which has remained the most vexed problem," Sudheendra Kulkarni, a senior official in previous Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's office, wrote in the Sunday Express this week. "In hostility-free relations between two neighbors, borders unite -- not divide -- markets and peoples," he said. Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. >___>assam mailing list>assam@assamnet.org>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org ___ assam mailing list assam@assamnet.org http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
Re: [Assam] India and China reopen Silk Road
Mikeda, Can you illustrate on all the points - specifically about India's part in killing Chou En Lai and the connection between Dalai Lama and Trombay. Off couse modern India and China were in each other's throats - when both had the possibility when they were young countries to be big powers. And it will get accentuated even further if India has even a modicum of success in the immediate future economically. I can rationalize some zealots continuing to believe in the make believe of Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai in this manner: Some, especially followers of the Nehru family do not want the whiff of the mention of the unmitigated disaster that was 1962. How would his legacy be protected then? And then some (actually quite a few) commies (communist sympathisers) are such rabid supporters of China they would rather support a Chinese bomb than an Indian bomb and would probably clap in glee if the Chinese red army were to march down the Himalayas and take over the country. This idealogy is widespread amongst the communists, socialists and others of the ilk. If something bad has happened - they want to hide it because exposing it means exposing the fact that we have kowtowed to the Chinese time and again against national interests. I expect - if India gains more economic and political strength (and China already has) - to have more un - "Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai" events. All I hope is that our political powers do not try to meddle somewhere (as in the Dalai Lama thing) where we do not have the strength to leverage - as they are so prone to doing. Rajib --- mc mahant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: - Silk Road route Assamnet can dicuss if the above name is real -or has been cooked up by Zealots trying to prove that nothing bad happened between India and China ever. That India did not have any part in the blowing up of its own plane near Hongkong to kill Chou-en-Lai. That giving the safe haven to Dalai Lama and co in retun of Trombay atom bomb facility never happened, that China still claiming all of Arunachal is only a historical blip. Silk Route was the route direct from Xian to Tashkent.Nowhere near Tibet and Sikkim. mm - From: Pradip Kumar Datta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], assam@assamnet.org Subject: [Assam] India and China reopen Silk Road Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 11:00:24 -0700 (PDT) India and China reopen Silk Road NET News Network Guwahati, July 6: Asian giants India and China opened a Himalayan border pass to trade on Thursday, 44 years after a brutal war shut the ancient Silk Road route. As local music from either side of the border played through the chilly mist, Indians and Tibetans -- in traditional costumes -- joined the festive atmosphere, crossing over to talk and share bread, sweets and tea. Scores of businessmen queued to complete formalities before crossing the border post at Nathu La pass -- "the pass of the listening ear" -- to visit newly built markets on either side after the formal opening ceremony. "Today is a historic day," said Pawan Chamling, chief minister of India's Sikkim state, connected by the pass to Tibet. Although smuggling in the area has been rife, local businessmen are keen to take advantage of the new opportunities opening the pass will create in the remote area. Ties between India and China, the two most populous nations, were dogged by mutual suspicion for almost three decades after a border war in 1962, until surging trade and economic ties pushed political disputes into the backseat. The reopening of the pass, part of the historic Silk Road -- a network of trails that connected ancient China with India, Western Asia and Europe -- occurred on the birthday of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan and Buddhist leader in exile in India. It came days after Beijing linked the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with a railway and is seen as another move by China to help modernize the long-isolated region. Some analysts feel closer economic bonding would also eventually help the two leave the border row behind. "Initiatives like these will slowly change the perception of our two peoples about the border dispute, which has remained the most vexed problem," Sudheendra Kulkarni, a senior official in previous Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's office, wrote in the Sunday Express this week. "In hostility-free relations between two neighbors, borders unite -- not divide -- markets and peoples," he said. - Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. >___ >assam mailing list >assam@assamnet.org >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > ___ > assam mailing list > assam@assamnet.org > http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org > ___
Re: [Assam] India and China reopen Silk Road
The traditional Silk Route was the road (or the raods) from mainland China to the West thriugh the north and south of the Gobi desert. The trade route through Tibet to India was not well developed. When Xuan Xang (Hsuan Tsang) came to India in the 7th century, he came by by the traditional road to the west . In fact while returning from India, he explored different roads, discussed this issue with Kumar Bhaskar Varma of Assam, and finally opted to return by the same road that he came. This also shows that the road through Assam was not developed or abandoned at that time. However there were records that Silk was traded from and to Assam to China by the Bodos in prehistoric times. The Bodos immigrated to Assam from mainland China. The Bodos were very much into Silk culture abd Silk trade. The name 'Seri' (as in Sericulture) was derived from a Bodo word. From the same word we find the popular Indian word "Sari' the ladies dress. Assam owes big time to the Bodos for the Silk culture in Assam. Thus, we may name the road through Assam as Silk Road although this was not the traditional Silk Road known to us. The following from Internet. RB -- The Development of the Route The development of these Central Asian trade routes caused some problems for the Han rulers in China. Bandits soon learnt of the precious goods travelling up the Gansu Corridor and skirting the Taklimakan, and took advantage of the terrain to plunder these caravans. Caravans of goods needed their own defence forces, and this was an added cost for the merchants making the trip. The route took the caravans to the farthest extent of the Han Empire, and policing this route became a big problem. This was partially overcome by building forts and defensive walls along part of the route. Sections of `Great Wall' were built along the northern side of the Gansu Corridor, to try to prevent the Xiongnu from harming the trade; Tibetan bandits from the Qilian mountains to the south were also a problem. Sections of Han dynasty wall can still be seen as far as Yumen Guan, well beyond the recognised beginning of the Great Wall at Jiayuguan. However, these fortifications were not all as effective as intended, as the Chinese lost control of sections of the route at regular intervals. The Han dynasty set up the local government at Wulei, not far from Kuqa on the northern border of the Taklimakan, in order to `protect' the states in this area, which numbered about 50 at the time. At about the same period the city of Gaochang was constructed in the Turfan basin. This developed into the centre of the Huihe kingdom; these peoples later became the Uygur minority who now make up a large proportion of the local population. Many settlements were set up along the way, mostly in the oasis areas, and profited from the passing trade. They also absorbed a lot of the local culture, and the cultures that passed them by along the route. Very few merchants traversed the full length of the road; most simply covered part of the journey, selling their wares a little further from home, and then returning with the proceeds. Goods therefore tended to moved slowly across Asia, changing hands many times. Local people no doubt acted as guides for the caravans over the most dangerous sections of the journey. After the Western Han dynasty, successive dynasties brought more states under Chinese control. Settlements came and went, as they changed hands or lost importance due to a change in the routes. The chinese garrison town of Loulan, for example, on the edge of the Lop Nor lake, was important in the third century A.D., but was abandoned when the Chinese lost control of the route for a period. Many settlements were buried during times of abandonment by the sands of the Taklimakan, and could not be repopulated. The settlements reflected the nature of the trade passing through the region. Silk, on its way to the west, often got no further than this region of Central Asia. The Astana tombs, where the nobles of Gaochang were buried, have turned up examples of silk cloth from China, as well as objects from as far afield as Persia and India. Much can be learned about the customs of the time from the objects found in these graves, and from the art work of the time, which has been excellently preserved on the tomb walls, due to the extremely dry conditions. The bodies themselves have also been well preserved, and may allow scientific studies to ascertain their origins. The most significant commodity carried along this route was not silk, but religion. Buddhism came to China from India this way, along the northern branch of the route. The first influences came as the passes over the Karakorum were first explored. The Eastern Han emperor Mingdi is thought to have sent a representative to India to discover more about this strange
