From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dark blue: the
Indian subcontinent, Light Blue: Other countries culturally linked to India, notably
Burma,
Thailand,
Cambodia,
Laos,
Indonesia and
Malaysia, Purple: Regions not included in Indosphere, but with significant current or historical Indian cultural influence, notably
Afghanistan,
Tibet,
Yunan and
Baluchistan region.
Indosphere is a term, defined as "a socio-political sphere subsuming those countries, cultures, and languages that have historically come under influence from the politics, culture, religion, and languages of India." Beyond the Indian subcontinent, mainland Southeast Asia was the other recipient center of Indian-influenced cultures, literature, philosophy, political systems, architecture, music, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism). The latter region includes notably: Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia, although Indonesia and Malaysia too absorbed much Indian influence before the coming of Islam to Southeast Asia. The cultures of India are also imprinted through the Indian diaspora to other countries in the world, and may be particuarly influential in states like Fiji, Mauritius and Guyana where they are a substantially large minority.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Language variation: Papers on variation and change in the Sinosphere and in the Indosphere in honor of James A. Matisoff, David Bradley, Randy J. LaPolla and Boyd Michailovsky eds., pp. 113–144. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
- Ankerl, Guy: Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. Geneva: INUPRESS, (2000), ISBN 2881550045
[edit] External links
