occupied. For there were Hindu kingdoms in Java and Camboja and
settlements in Sumatra[2] and even in Borneo, an island about as far
from India as is Persia from Rome. But such military or commercial
invasions are insignificant compared with the spread of Indian thought.
The south-eastern region of Asia—both mainland and archipelago—owed its
civilization almost entirely to India. In Ceylon, Burma, Siam, Camboja,
Champa and Java, religion, art, the alphabet, literature, as well as
whatever science and political organization existed, were the direct
gift of Hindus, whether Brahmans or Buddhists, and much the same may be
said of Tibet, whence the wilder Mongols took as much Indian
civilization as they could stomach. In Java and other Malay countries
this Indian culture has been superseded by Islam, yet even in Java the
alphabet and to a large extent the customs of the people are still
Indian.

In the countries mentioned Indian influence has been dominant until the
present day, or at least until the advent of Islam. In another large
area comprising China, Japan, Korea, and Annam it appears as a layer
superimposed on Chinese culture, yet not a mere veneer. In these regions
Chinese ethics, literature and art form the major part of intellectual
life and have an outward and visible sign in the Chinese written
characters which have not been ousted by an Indian alphabet[3]. But in
all, especially in Japan, the influence of Buddhism has been profound
and penetrating. None of these lands can be justly described as Buddhist
in the same sense as Burma or Siam but Buddhism gave them a creed
acceptable in different forms to superstitious, emotional and
metaphysical minds: it provided subjects and models for art, especially
for painting, and entered into popular life, thought and language.

But what are Hinduism and Buddhism? What do they teach about gods and