Battles in Chapters 4, 5, 8, and 9: Ancient Asia

BATTLES BEHIND THE SCENES IN CHAPTERS 4, 5, 8 AND 9
                                Ancient India / Ancient China

INDIA

***MAURYAN CONQUESTS***
Sides: Mauryan Allies vs. Magadhan Kingdom
Time: 305 BC
Place: Northwest India including Pakistan and Afghanistan
Action: Having allegedly met Alexander the Great and drafted some of Alexander's soldiers as mercenaries in exchange for a high place in India, Chandragupta Maurya gathered a coalition and attacked the regional kingdoms of northern India using elephants as battering rams and as shock troops. The Magadhans were defeated, and from there, he did battle to the northwest, where the Seleucids relinquished Afghanistan.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Mauryan dynasty of India was born.


***INVASION OF KALINGA***
Sides: Mauryan India vs. Kalinga Kingdom
Time: 262 BC
Place: Eastern India
Action: Chandragupta's grandson Asoka went to extend the Mauryan realm. The Kalinga Kingdom did not submit to Mauryan demands for tribute, so Asoka attacked. His force was defeated unexpectedly by the Kalingans. With wounded pride, Asoka gathered a huge force and laid waste to the Kalingan countryside.
Casualties: Up to 100,000 Kalingas were slaughtered.
Consequence: At the moment of its greatest expansion, Asoka converted to Buddhism, gave up war, and the Mauryan dynasty began a welfare state system of state-funded infrastructure and health programs that bankrupted it. Political fragmentation resulted lasting 500 years.


***GUPTA CONQUESTS***
Sides: Gupta Allies vs. North Indian kingdoms
Time: 330
Place: Northern and Central India
Action: The Guptas under Chandragupta (named after the Mauryan) and his son Samudragupta built the next big Indian empire by subduing their neighbor-provinces and getting them to pay tribute.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Guptas are considered 'classical India,' and under them, the usually divided country was largely unified. The numerals we use 1, 2, 3 and on were written in the form they are at this time.


***WHITE HUN RAIDS***
Sides: White Huns vs. Gupta Dynasty
Time: 457
Place:  Northwest India
Action: Mongolian nomads (probably with some Cossack blood- hence the 'white') from the northern steppes established a base in Central Asia, from which they raided Sassanian Persia and captured the king. They were quick horsemen and terrorized settled peoples. When they raided the Gupta domains, they encountered resistance from Skandagupta, but this they defeated and took the Punjab. When the emperor died, they burned Buddhist shrines all along the Ganges and destroyed the Gupta capital, Pataliputra.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence:  The White Huns collapsed the Gupta Dynasty. They set up a kingdom of their own that was destroyed 20 years later by the Persians under Chosroes I, and disappeared from history. They mingled with the locals and probably were the ancestors of the later Rajputs.


CHINA

***BATTLE OF CHENGPU***
Sides: Chu vs. Jin
Time: 632 BC
Place: Yangtze River
Action: During the spring and autumn period in Chinese history, the states of Chu, Wu and Jin did battle over territory. In a big chariot battle, the Jin faked a retreat while the Chu followed them. The Jin stirred up dust by dragging tree branches and when the Chu were obscured, they made a turnaround and attacked the superior enemy, destroying 100 chariots.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The Chu withdrew but state-state conflict continued, developing into the Warring States Period.

***BATTLE OF GUAI LING***
Sides: Wei vs. Qi
Time: 341 BC
Place: Northern China
Action: The Warring States Period saw much fighting. When the Wei besieged the Zhao city of Handan, the Qi intervened by attacking the state of Wei while the army was busy. The Wei general recalled the army to protect the homeland, and on the march back were surprised by a thousand Qi crossbowmen. "All war is deception," Sun Tzu wrote in the Art of War, about this time.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: As the warring states era dragged on, philosophers tried to come up with new ways of explaining the world.

***BATTLE OF CHANGPING***
Sides: Qin vs. Zhao
Time: 260 BC
Place: Shansi Province
Action: The seven feudal feuding kingdoms, Qi, Chu, Yan, Han, Zhao, Wei and Qin, were in conflict. The Qin were gaining ground with tactics they learned from the Mongols, with the Zhao being second strongest. The showdown, a massive infantry-foot soldier battle, took place at Changping. Crossbows, iron spears, pikes and a mess of bodies, with generals riding around on chariots. The Qin were taking no prisoners and won the victory.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: 40 years after the battle, Qin Shihuangdi became emperor of a unified China, to which he gave his name.

***Xiongnu Attacks***
Sides: Xiongnu vs. China
Time: 200 BC
Place: Inner Mongolia
Action: The Qin dynasty was brief. It collapsed and the Han took its place, saving China from political chaos. But the Han faced a new threat from the steppes: Xiongnu nomads. With up to 300,000 horsemen, they invaded and surrounded the Chinese forces. The Han emperor gave his daughter to their chief in marriage.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: When the disruption ended, the Han era began in earnest, and is thought of a the classical age in Chinese history.

***Battle of Red Cliffs***
Sides: Chinese feudal warlords vs. the Han state
Time: 208
Place: Yangtze River, Central China
Action: During the decline of the Han after 400 years, warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan from the south made a power grab. Cao Cao, the Han leader, was tricked into having his numerically superior nullified by facing the warlords in an amphibious battle on the Yangtze River. When Cho Cho ordered his ships chained together for stability, they were attacked by fire arrows and his forces fell into disarray.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: The weakening of the Han opened the door for the collapse of classical China into smaller states for a few centuries.

***Battle of Fei River***
Sides: Jin vs. Tibetan Warlord
Time: 383
Place: Fei River, Central China
Action: Warlord Fu Jian assembled a multinational army of Chinese from different provinces, Tibetans and nomads from the north. He outnumbered the Jin 10-1, but fell for a trick. Offered a pitched battle by the Jin (which he would surely win), if only he would let their forces cross the Fei river in peace, he moved his soldiers away for the crossing. But the Jin warriors began attacking his disorganized forces, who were now spreading rumors that they were going to lose. Many fled.
Casualties: unknown
Consequence: China was politically disintegrating in the 4th century.

Sources: 
Grant, R.G. 2005. Battle. London: DK Publishing.
Grant, R.G. 2010. Commanders. London: DK Publishing.
Keegan, John. 1993. A History of Warfare. New York: Knopf. 
Shaw, Robert. 1937. One Hundred Seventy Five Battles. Harrisburg: Military Publishing Co.