Tansen Sen
Biographic Data
| ID | 520047 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tansen Sen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tansen |
| FAMILY NAME | Sen |
| SIGNATURE | SEN T |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York University Shanghai |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5457-9271 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 71 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Authority and Control in the Maritime Interactions between China and South Asia, 1200–1840
South Asia and the Mongol Empire
Although the Mongols constantly threatened South Asia, and despite the fact that Changhadaid raids led to a brief occupation of Delhi, much of the subcontinent remained free from Mongol subjugation. The region’s engagement with the Mongol world of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was multilayered and complicated. It involved military skirmishes and diplomatic exchanges with multiple Mongol khanates; the circulation of people, knowledge, an…
Inventing the 'Maritime Silk Road
Although inspired by the nineteenth-century term 'Silk Road(s)', the phrase 'Maritime Silk Road' has its own origins, connotations, and applications. This article examines the emergence of the latter term as a China-centric concept and its various entanglements since the early 1980s, involving the People's Republic of China's (PRC) political bodies, academia, the 'open door' policy, the pursuit of World Heritage listings, and the current 'Belt an…
India’s Recognition of the People’s Republic of China
China and India in the Age of Decolonization
Introduction
Amid growing interest in studying China and India together, this special issue, “Methods in China-India Studies,” seeks to open a conversation on the relevance, approaches, and stakes of China-India research. Why should we pair China and India together, how can we best do so, and to what ends? In this introduction to the issue, the editors first discuss the rationales commonly evoked as justification for studying China and India together. The fir…
Beyond Pan-Asianism
Within Asia, the period from 1840s to 1960s had witnessed the rise and decline of Pax Britannica, the growth of multiple and often competing anti-colonial movements, and the entrenchment of the nation-state system. Beyond Pan-Asianism seeks to demonstrate the complex interactions between China, India, and their neighbouring societies against this background of imperialism and nationalist resistance. The contributors to this volume, from India, th…
China-India Studies
This essay traces the development of China-India studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present in order to take stock of the field, which has witnessed a surge in publication over the past two decades. The assessment presented here weaves the main shifts in China-India political relations with the emergence of various strands of China-India scholarship, since the two aspects often intersect. The major lacuna in the field, this essay argu…
Buddhism and the Maritime Crossings
Zheng He’s Military Interventions in South Asia, 1405–1433
By examining the activities of Zheng He and members of his expeditions at the Malabar Coast, Sri Lanka, and Bengal, this article argues that the Yongle emperor wanted to exert military power in South Asia in order to legitimize his usurpation at the Ming court. The essay analyzes Zheng He’s intervention in the dispute between Calicut and Cochin, the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 1410-11, and the expedition’s involvement in a dispute between Beng…
Travelling Pasts
Travelling Pasts, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, offers an innovative exploration of the issue of heritage in the Indian Ocean world. This collection of essays demonstrates how the heritagization of the past has played a vital role in processes and strategies related to the making of socio-cultural identities, the establishing of political legitimacies, and the pursuit of economic and geopolitical gains. The contributions range from …
Serendipitous Connections
Early China and the Indian Ocean networks
This contribution examines Chinese engagement with the maritime world, specifically the greater Indian Ocean region, from the Neolithic Period to the ninth century AD. It highlights three key issues: the problems caused by the fact that the Chinese dynasties did not actively participate in maritime trade and exchanges until after the seventh century; how, despite this passive role of the imperial courts, several regions of China were already inti…
Bérénice Guyot-Réchard. Shadow States
Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962, by Bérénice Guyot-Réchard is an outstanding book that brings fresh insights to the study of the border disputes between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of India (ROI). Past studies have largely focused on the issues of who initiated the 1962 war, the border differences as colonial legacies, or the military and intelligence failures of the Indian government. This book …
Thirteen Months in China
The China Relief Expedition, an eight-nation military effort, was organized to rescue foreign nationals in the country during the Boxer Uprising (1899–1901). In Thirteen Months in China , Thakur Gadadhar Singh, a British Indian soldier of the 7th Rajput Regiment, recounts his experiences as he set sail along with his men for Beijing in the summer of 1900. Written shortly after his return to India in 1901, he details several aspects of China and i…
Early China and the Indian Ocean networks
India, China, and the World
This pathbreaking study provides the first comprehensive examination of India-China interactions in the broader contexts of Asian and world history. By focusing on material exchanges, transmissions of knowledge and technologies, networks of exchange during the colonial period, and little-known facets of interactions between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China, Tansen Sen argues convincingly that the analysis of India-China co…
The impact of Zheng He's expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions
This article examines the consequences of the Ming maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) in the early fifteenth century on Indian Ocean diplomacy, trade, and cross-cultural interactions. The presence of the powerful Ming navy not only introduced an unprecedented militaristic aspect to the Indian Ocean region, but also led to the emergence of state-directed commercial activity in the maritime world that extended from Ming China …
The spread of Buddhism
Maritime Southeast Asia Between South Asia and China to the Sixteenth Century
The maritime regions of Southeast Asia played an important but varying role in connecting South Asia and China prior to the sixteenth century. With regard to commercial exchanges, traders, ships, and polities in Southeast Asia facilitated and sometimes controlled the flow of goods. Additionally, merchant associations from South Asia and China established their bases in Southeast Asia to participate in trading activities in the Bay of Bengal and S…
China as a Sea Power 1127–1368
Introduction
The Spread of Buddhism to China
Recent studies have significantly altered the ways in which the early history of Buddhism in China and the Buddhist interactions between ancient India and China were perceived. The accepted views about the route of the initial transmission of Buddhist doctrines, the early method of rendering Buddhist ideas into Chinese and the notion of a decline of Buddhism in China after the eighth century have all come under scrutiny. Using these analyses and …
The Intricacies of Premodern Asian Connections
In his study of the reemergence of intra-Asian connections published in this issue of the Journal of Asian Studies, Prasenjit Duara has aptly underscored the importance of comprehending the patterns of interactions and connectivities among Asian societies during the precolonial period. The following comments will reaffirm most of his contentions, but also will problematize the issue, especially in regard to some of the neglected topics and the co…
Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade
Includes bibliographical references (p. [329]-371) and index.
The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200-1450
The period between the thirteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries marked a distinct and important phase in the history of India-China relations. This new phase was triggered by the formation of Chinese maritime networks to southern Asia. While the Song period witnessed the formation of private trade and shipping networks, the aggressive foreign policy of the Yuan court led to the establishment of a government maritime network. The maritime networking…
The impact of Zheng He's expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions
This article examines the consequences of the Ming maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) in the early fifteenth century on Indian Ocean diplomacy, trade, and cross-cultural interactions. The presence of the powerful Ming navy not only introduced an unprecedented militaristic aspect to the Indian Ocean region, but also led to the emergence of state-directed commercial activity in the maritime world that extended from Ming China …
Inventing the 'Maritime Silk Road
Although inspired by the nineteenth-century term 'Silk Road(s)', the phrase 'Maritime Silk Road' has its own origins, connotations, and applications. This article examines the emergence of the latter term as a China-centric concept and its various entanglements since the early 1980s, involving the People's Republic of China's (PRC) political bodies, academia, the 'open door' policy, the pursuit of World Heritage listings, and the current 'Belt an…
Travelling Pasts
Travelling Pasts, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, offers an innovative exploration of the issue of heritage in the Indian Ocean world. This collection of essays demonstrates how the heritagization of the past has played a vital role in processes and strategies related to the making of socio-cultural identities, the establishing of political legitimacies, and the pursuit of economic and geopolitical gains. The contributions range from …
Maritime Southeast Asia Between South Asia and China to the Sixteenth Century
The maritime regions of Southeast Asia played an important but varying role in connecting South Asia and China prior to the sixteenth century. With regard to commercial exchanges, traders, ships, and polities in Southeast Asia facilitated and sometimes controlled the flow of goods. Additionally, merchant associations from South Asia and China established their bases in Southeast Asia to participate in trading activities in the Bay of Bengal and S…
Introduction
The Spread of Buddhism to China
Recent studies have significantly altered the ways in which the early history of Buddhism in China and the Buddhist interactions between ancient India and China were perceived. The accepted views about the route of the initial transmission of Buddhist doctrines, the early method of rendering Buddhist ideas into Chinese and the notion of a decline of Buddhism in China after the eighth century have all come under scrutiny. Using these analyses and …
Gautama Zhuan
China-India Studies
This essay traces the development of China-India studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present in order to take stock of the field, which has witnessed a surge in publication over the past two decades. The assessment presented here weaves the main shifts in China-India political relations with the emergence of various strands of China-India scholarship, since the two aspects often intersect. The major lacuna in the field, this essay argu…
The Intricacies of Premodern Asian Connections
In his study of the reemergence of intra-Asian connections published in this issue of the Journal of Asian Studies, Prasenjit Duara has aptly underscored the importance of comprehending the patterns of interactions and connectivities among Asian societies during the precolonial period. The following comments will reaffirm most of his contentions, but also will problematize the issue, especially in regard to some of the neglected topics and the co…
Kolkata and China
The articles and book reviews included in this issue of China Report resulted from symposiums held in New York and Kolkata in 2006–07.1 The theme of these symposiums was the Chinese Indian community in Kolkata and featured Rafeeq Ellias's moving documentary on the Chinese Indians called The Legend of Fat Mama. Two issues were evident to the participants and audiences of these symposiums. First, very few people knew about the history and experienc…
Zheng He’s Military Interventions in South Asia, 1405–1433
By examining the activities of Zheng He and members of his expeditions at the Malabar Coast, Sri Lanka, and Bengal, this article argues that the Yongle emperor wanted to exert military power in South Asia in order to legitimize his usurpation at the Ming court. The essay analyzes Zheng He’s intervention in the dispute between Calicut and Cochin, the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 1410-11, and the expedition’s involvement in a dispute between Beng…
China as a Sea Power 1127–1368
Gautama Zhuan
Administration of Maritime Trade during Tang and Song Dynasties
In Search of Longevity and Good Karma
China's diplomatic relations with ancient Indian kingdoms has attracted limited attention. Notable anthologies on China's relations with her neighbors make little or no mention of premodern Sino-Indian political contacts. 1 Indian kingdoms are also missing from John King Fairbank's framework of the "Aims and Means in China's Foreign Relations," proposed in his classic work on the Chinese world order. 2 A close analysis, however, reveals that dipl…
The Revival and Failure of Buddhist Translations During the Song Dynasty
Some scholars have argued that Song Buddhism, faced with internal corruption and doctrinal stagnation, failed to inspire the religious, social, or intellectual life of the Chinese.l Indeed, the term has commonly been used to describe Chinese Buddhism after the ninth century.2 Nonetheless, much evidence challenges the received wisdom of Buddhism's decline in the Song W period (9601279). During the tenth and eleventh centuries, about eighty Indian …
The Formation of Chinese Maritime Networks to Southern Asia, 1200-1450
The period between the thirteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries marked a distinct and important phase in the history of India-China relations. This new phase was triggered by the formation of Chinese maritime networks to southern Asia. While the Song period witnessed the formation of private trade and shipping networks, the aggressive foreign policy of the Yuan court led to the establishment of a government maritime network. The maritime networking…
Kolkata and China
The articles and book reviews included in this issue of China Report resulted from symposiums held in New York and Kolkata in 2006–07.1 The theme of these symposiums was the Chinese Indian community in Kolkata and featured Rafeeq Ellias's moving documentary on the Chinese Indians called The Legend of Fat Mama. Two issues were evident to the participants and audiences of these symposiums. First, very few people knew about the history and experienc…
The Intricacies of Premodern Asian Connections
In his study of the reemergence of intra-Asian connections published in this issue of the Journal of Asian Studies, Prasenjit Duara has aptly underscored the importance of comprehending the patterns of interactions and connectivities among Asian societies during the precolonial period. The following comments will reaffirm most of his contentions, but also will problematize the issue, especially in regard to some of the neglected topics and the co…
Introduction
The Spread of Buddhism to China
Recent studies have significantly altered the ways in which the early history of Buddhism in China and the Buddhist interactions between ancient India and China were perceived. The accepted views about the route of the initial transmission of Buddhist doctrines, the early method of rendering Buddhist ideas into Chinese and the notion of a decline of Buddhism in China after the eighth century have all come under scrutiny. Using these analyses and …
Maritime Southeast Asia Between South Asia and China to the Sixteenth Century
The maritime regions of Southeast Asia played an important but varying role in connecting South Asia and China prior to the sixteenth century. With regard to commercial exchanges, traders, ships, and polities in Southeast Asia facilitated and sometimes controlled the flow of goods. Additionally, merchant associations from South Asia and China established their bases in Southeast Asia to participate in trading activities in the Bay of Bengal and S…
China as a Sea Power 1127–1368
The spread of Buddhism
The impact of Zheng He's expeditions on Indian Ocean interactions
This article examines the consequences of the Ming maritime expeditions led by Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) in the early fifteenth century on Indian Ocean diplomacy, trade, and cross-cultural interactions. The presence of the powerful Ming navy not only introduced an unprecedented militaristic aspect to the Indian Ocean region, but also led to the emergence of state-directed commercial activity in the maritime world that extended from Ming China …
Thirteen Months in China
The China Relief Expedition, an eight-nation military effort, was organized to rescue foreign nationals in the country during the Boxer Uprising (1899–1901). In Thirteen Months in China , Thakur Gadadhar Singh, a British Indian soldier of the 7th Rajput Regiment, recounts his experiences as he set sail along with his men for Beijing in the summer of 1900. Written shortly after his return to India in 1901, he details several aspects of China and i…
Early China and the Indian Ocean networks
India, China, and the World
This pathbreaking study provides the first comprehensive examination of India-China interactions in the broader contexts of Asian and world history. By focusing on material exchanges, transmissions of knowledge and technologies, networks of exchange during the colonial period, and little-known facets of interactions between the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China, Tansen Sen argues convincingly that the analysis of India-China co…
Serendipitous Connections
Early China and the Indian Ocean networks
This contribution examines Chinese engagement with the maritime world, specifically the greater Indian Ocean region, from the Neolithic Period to the ninth century AD. It highlights three key issues: the problems caused by the fact that the Chinese dynasties did not actively participate in maritime trade and exchanges until after the seventh century; how, despite this passive role of the imperial courts, several regions of China were already inti…
Bérénice Guyot-Réchard. Shadow States
Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962, by Bérénice Guyot-Réchard is an outstanding book that brings fresh insights to the study of the border disputes between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of India (ROI). Past studies have largely focused on the issues of who initiated the 1962 war, the border differences as colonial legacies, or the military and intelligence failures of the Indian government. This book …
Buddhism and the Maritime Crossings
Zheng He’s Military Interventions in South Asia, 1405–1433
By examining the activities of Zheng He and members of his expeditions at the Malabar Coast, Sri Lanka, and Bengal, this article argues that the Yongle emperor wanted to exert military power in South Asia in order to legitimize his usurpation at the Ming court. The essay analyzes Zheng He’s intervention in the dispute between Calicut and Cochin, the armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 1410-11, and the expedition’s involvement in a dispute between Beng…
Travelling Pasts
Travelling Pasts, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, offers an innovative exploration of the issue of heritage in the Indian Ocean world. This collection of essays demonstrates how the heritagization of the past has played a vital role in processes and strategies related to the making of socio-cultural identities, the establishing of political legitimacies, and the pursuit of economic and geopolitical gains. The contributions range from …
Beyond Pan-Asianism
Within Asia, the period from 1840s to 1960s had witnessed the rise and decline of Pax Britannica, the growth of multiple and often competing anti-colonial movements, and the entrenchment of the nation-state system. Beyond Pan-Asianism seeks to demonstrate the complex interactions between China, India, and their neighbouring societies against this background of imperialism and nationalist resistance. The contributors to this volume, from India, th…
China-India Studies
This essay traces the development of China-India studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present in order to take stock of the field, which has witnessed a surge in publication over the past two decades. The assessment presented here weaves the main shifts in China-India political relations with the emergence of various strands of China-India scholarship, since the two aspects often intersect. The major lacuna in the field, this essay argu…
India’s Recognition of the People’s Republic of China
History (26 works) · China (23 works) · Political science (21 works) · Law (19 works) · Ancient history (18 works) · Geography (17 works) · Archaeology (16 works) · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories (15 works) · Chinese history and philosophy (13 works) · History (12 works)