India and the historic core of China seem very similar in geography. A large, fertile plain in the north, with a more rugged south, and a singular direction yielding major threats (the northern steppes for China and the lands west of the Indus for India). Yet throughout history, there have been numerous empires to conquer and hold all of China for centuries, yet the only empire to finally hold all of India from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka were the British, in the 1800s. What prevented any Indian state from holding the entire thing? If the question is too counterfactual, then what made Chinese empires able to hold all of China repeatedly?
Hey there,
Just to let you know, your question is fine, and we're letting it stand. However, you should be aware that questions framed as 'Why didn't X do Y' relatively often don't get an answer that meets our standards (in our experience as moderators). There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it often can be difficult to prove the counterfactual: historians know much more about what happened than what might have happened. Secondly, 'why didn't X do Y' questions are sometimes phrased in an ahistorical way. It's worth remembering that people in the past couldn't see into the future, and they generally didn't have all the information we now have about their situations; things that look obvious now didn't necessarily look that way at the time.
If you end up not getting a response after a day or two, consider asking a new question focusing instead on why what happened did happen (rather than why what didn't happen didn't happen) - this kind of question is more likely to get a response in our experience. Hope this helps!