The knowledge of Asia possessed by the Greeks and Romans was at its widest extent very limited. The countries with which they were best acquainted were naturally in the west. China they knew as the country of the Seres or Since, and the northern portions of the con tinent, inhabited by predatory Mongol tribes, were vaguely designated as Scythia. Of India the northwestern and western parts were known, and Ceylon likewise, under the name of Tapro bane. The country traversed by the Hindu Kush and the sources of the Oxus, was known as Bactria; that between the Oxus and the Tax artes as Sodgians ; a large and vaguely defined central district, including Persia, was known as Ariana. Ptolemy had some acquaintance with the Indian Peninsula, with the table-land of central Asia, with the Himalayas (Imaus) and China. The better known countries of the southwest comprised Asia Minor, Armenia, Arabia, Persia, Media, Parthia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Assyria, Syria.
Soon after the most civilized portions of the three continents had been reduced under one empire the great event took place which forms the dividing line of history. Christianity spread rapidly in the Roman empire; but Armenia was the first country which received it as a national religion. In A.D. 226 the Parthian monarchy which had arisen in eastern Persia about B.C. 250, and had disputed the empire of Asia with the Romans, was overthrown by the revived Persian dynasty of the Sassanidw. The empire of Asia was now disputed with the Romans by the Persians. In the revived Persian empire the Magian religion was restored, and after the establishment of Christianity in the Roman em pire religious jealousy embittered the feud between the two powers. The possession of Armenia was the subject of a protracted strug gle between them; but its religion inclined it to the Roman alliance. The Tigris formed the most permanent boundary between the two empires, neither being able long to maintain any conquests beyond it. Christianity was perse cuted in the Persian empire, and could not extend itself freely beyond the Roman limits. After the division of the Roman empire (A.D. 364) the struggle continued between the east ern and the Persian empires until the rise of a new power destined to absorb them both. While the eastern empire was struggling more and more feebly with the Persians, the Mon gols and the barbarians of Europe, a new re ligion arose in Arabia (A. D. 622), which gathered around it a band of enthusiasts, small at first, but inspired with the most ardent zeal of proselytism. The central tenet of the unity of God gave them the sympathy of the Mono physite sect, which, persecuted in the empire, was powerful in Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Armenia. Arabia, the country of the Prophet, soon gave its adherence to the new faith. The sword was consecrated as the instrument of its propagation. Persia, was the first great con quest of the Arabians. Syria and Egypt soon fell before their arms, powerfully aided by the defection of the heretics of the empire, and within 40 years of the celebrated flight of Mo hammed from Mecca, which constitutes the era of his followers, the sixth of the Caliphs, or successors of the Prophet, was the most power ful sovereign of Asia. Heraclius, one of the most warlike, and in the early part of his reign one of the most successful of the eastern emperors, had succumbed to this torrent of con quest, and his successors trembled at the names of their rivals. The successors of Mohammed were at first austere and simple in their man ners, and narrow and zealous in their religious faith; but from the accession of Moawiyah (A.n. 661), the time when the seat of empire was transferred first to Damascus and subse quently to Bagdad, the throne of the Caliphs was as splendid as it was powerful. The gener ous blood of Arabia, nourished by more genial climes, showed an aptitude for all that is great, not only in military achievement, but in learn ing, science, literature and art. The empire was soon divided, but wherever the Arab sway pre wailed a liberal patronage of learning and tol eration even of speculative inquiry distinguished it. The career of conquest was not soon ended. It spread with astonishing rapidity over Africa and Europe, and was finally checked only by the fatal divisions which originated in the dis putes between the descendants of the Prophet and the dynasty of the Ommiades, descended from his mortal foe and tardy convert, Abu Sophian.
Among the alternate protectors and op pressors of the eastern Roman empire were the various Mongol tribes, whose predatory course led them to the west. In these also the Arab rulers found dangerous converts, who first sup plied the place of their own troops, grown effeminate with luxury, and then planted them selves on the throne of which they had super seded the natural defenders. While the Caliphs of Bagdad still held a nominal sway, subject to the dictation of their Turkish guards, Mahmud, the Mongolian Mohammedan ruler of Ghazni, asserted his independence (999), conquered In dia, and established the Mohammedan power in the Punjab. Another revolt from the empire of Mahmud founded the Seljuk dynasty, which established itself in Aleppo, Damascus, Iconium and Kharism, and which was distinguished for its struggles with the Crusaders. Othman, an emir of the Seljuk Sultan of Iconium, estab lished the Ottoman empire in 1300. About 1220 Genghis Khan, an independent Mongol chief, made himself master of central Asia, conquered northern China, overran Turkestan, Afghanis tan and Persia; his successors took Bagdad and extinguished the remains of the caliphate. In Asia Minor they overthrew the Seljuk dynasty. His grandson, Kublai Khan, conquered China in 1260. The successors of Genghis Khan also invaded Russia, and the Christian empire estab lished by Vladimir was overthrown by the Golden Horde, led by his grandson Batu (1240). Timur or Tamerlane, who professed to be a descendant of Genghis, carried fire and sword over northern India and western Asia, defeated and took prisoner Bajazet, the descendant of Othman (1402), and received tribute from the Greek Emperor. The Ottoman empire soon recovered from this blow, and Constantinople was taken and the eastern empire overthrown by the Sultan Mohammed II in 1453. A de scendant of Timur, Baber, again invaded India early in the 16th century, and his grandson, Akbar the Great (1556-1605), founded the Mogul empire at Delhi, for two centuries one of the most brilliant Asia has known. China recovered its independence about 1368 and was again subjected by the Manchu Tartars (1618 45), soon after which it began to extend its empire over central Asia. Siberia was conquered by the Cossacks on behalf of Russia (158544) The same country effected a settlement in the Caucasus about 1786, and has since continued to make steady advances into central Asia. The discovery by the Portuguese of the passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope led to their establishment on the coast of the peninsula (1498) and opened a new era in the history of the East, which had been practically isolated from the West since the time of the Crusades. They were speedily followed by the Spanish, Dutch, French and British. The struggle be tween the last two powers for the supremacy of India was completed by the destruction of the French settlements (1760-65), and from that time the conquest of India by the British progressed with uninterrupted success. In 1858 India came directly under the British Crown. The extension of the influence and possessions of European powers, especially Russia, Great Britain and France; Germany's seizure of Kiau Chau in the Chinese province of Shantung in 1897; the rapid development of Japan into a power capable of competing on equal terms with those of Europe, as demonstrated by the vic tories over China (1895) and Russia (1904-05), the annexation of Korea (22 Aug. 1910), and capture of Kiau-Chau from Germany (7 Nov. 1914); the conquest of the Philippine Islands from Spain by the United States (1899); the Boxer rebellion (1900-01) ; overthrow of the Manchu dynasty in China and proclamation of the Chinese Republic (12 Feb. 1912); the Jap anese demands considered menacing to the in dependence of China and the agreement of 8 May 1915 between the two nations; the partici pation of Turkey in the European War on the side of the Central Powers are the most im portant events in modern Asiatic history. For particular phases of this history see CHINA;