Ancient India

Geography

• 2500 –1500 Indus River BCE• What is now India, Pakistan and

Bangladesh• Surrounded by Mountains, Himalayas and Hindu Kush

Climate

• Seasonal Monsoon bring wind and rain – November to March, winter monsoon– June to September Summer monsoon

• Monsoons bring rain and cause rivers to flood, enrich soil but also can destroy villages and drown animals and people.

Early Indus Valley Civilizations

• Archeologist call it “Harappan Civilization”

• Harappa is in present day Pakistan

• Mohenjo Daro was an important Harappan city near the Arabian sea

Cities

• Cities were carefully laid out• A citadel or fortress, built of oven dried brick• Possibly a government or religious building• Rest of the cities were laid out in a grid pattern• Oven baked brick houses, sometimes two or

three stories high– Had courtyards– At least one bathroom with a sewer system

Life in Harappa

• People worked the land– Wheat, barley and cotton were major crops– Had a food surplus

• People in the cities dealt in commerce, trade and manufacturing.– Made bronze and copper tools, silver and gold

jewelry, mass produced clay pots, • cotton clothing• Used soapstone seals to label their products,

these seals were found in Mesopotamia showing trade with those peoples.

Language and Religion

• Pictograms used, most likely got the idea from Mesopotamia, theses pictograms have yet to be deciphered.

• Since the Harappans had no written records it is hard to determine religion.

• Animal and human-like figured suggest they worshiped gods associated with nature.

Collapse

• Theories include great floods that may have wiped out Harappan civilization.

• Signs at Mohenjo Daro suggest invasion and a violent end.

Empires developThe Mauryan Empire 322 BC

• India was united under Chandragupta Maurya– Empire stretched 2000 miles.– Battles Armies of Alexander the Great. – creates a bureaucratic government

• Divided into 4 provinces each with a royal princes (rajah)

– His advisor created a handbook on ruling including spying, assassination

– Created a large army 600,000 troops, 30,000 horseback troops, and 9000 elephants.

Asoka• - Chandragupta’s son Asoka becomes king 269 B.C.• - creates Rock Edicts:large stone pillars inscribed with

policies; located throughout empire,• - builds extensive network of roads with “rest stops”

• – after fierce wars of conquest, became “enlightened”

– Renounced war– Followed Buddhist teachings– Buddhism official religion, but Hinduism

tolerated– Spread Buddhism throughout India and other

parts of Asia• - Asoka’s death beings a period of turmoil as empire breaks

apart, invaders disrupt society

Asoka’s Rock Edicts

• Laws carved on rocks and pillars throughout empire

• Laws stressed concern for other human beings

Gupta Empire• 320AD-535AD• India’s “Golden Age” –

arts & sciences flourished

• Began to write down rules for everything: grammar, drama, politics

• Sanskrit of Gupta court became major language of north

Economy• Agricultural

(agrarian)

• Coastal Rim – trade in cotton, gems, spice, gold, silk, cashmere

Society

• Caste System

• Women respected but had little power or independence

• Polygamy

Brahmans

Kshatriyas

Vaisyas

Sudras

Caste System priests

Nobles, warriors, royalty

Merchants & skilled workers

Servants, peasants, slaves, laborers

Untouchables: Outcastes, pariah = outside caste system

Castes divided into 3000

subcastes, jati, based on occupation

Language/Writing• Vedas

• Sanskrit (written language)

• Upanishads• Epics• Panchatantra –

collection of tales that presented moral lessons thru animals who acted like humans

Art/Architecture

• Golden Age during Gupta Empire –Drama, poetry, math and sciences

flourished• Stupas – mound shaped shrines to Buddha• Temples with brightly painted sculptures• Murals on cave walls in Ajanta

Science/MathMath

• Principles of algebra

• Infinity & Zero

• Pi (3.14)

• Arabic numerals

Science

• Earth is round

• Some knowledge of gravity

• Identified 7 planets

• Medicine

• Set bones, operations, invented medical instruments

HinduismOne religion and many…

• Hinduism is the world's oldest extant(stand-out) religion.

• with a billion followers, which makes it the world's third largest religion.

• Hinduism is a conglomeration of religious, philosophical, and cultural ideas and practices that originated in India

• Characterized by – belief in reincarnation – one absolute being of multiple manifestations– the law of cause and effect– following the path of righteousness– desire for liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. Hinduism was not founded on the teachings of one person and does

not have one holy book. As a result, it became a complex religion of many deities

Hinduism

Hinduism Cycle of Rebirth• Reincarnation rebirth of the soul

• A soul passes through many lifetimes before it achieves union with the universal spirit

• Karma determines the cycle of rebirth• How a person lives their life will determine

what form they take on in the next life; failure to fulfill your dharma means you might be reborn into a lower varna (social class)

• To move towards universal spirit you must have good karma and fulfill your dharma

Hinduism Cycle of Rebirth (cont’d)

• Cycle of rebirth continues until a person reaches spiritual perfection

• Ultimate aim of life is moksha (synonymous with Nirvana) , or release from the pain and suffering of rebirth after rebirth

Religious Writings

•Vedas: “Books of Knowledge”

• -oral tradition: songs, prayers of the Aryans

• - eventually written in Sanskrit

Religious Writings

• Upanishads: philosophical discussions

• -reality and illusion

• -unity and diversity

With such questions begin the Upanishads, the wellspring of India's loftiest philosophies and faith. Some thousand years old, they do not explain or develop a line of argument in the modern sense. They are darshana, "something seen", and the

reader is expected not only to listen to the words but to realize them: that is, to make their truths an

integral part of character, conduct, and consciousness.

"What is that by knowing which all things are known?"

"What makes my mind think, my eyes see, my tongue speak, my

body live?"What happens when this body

dies?"

Religious Writings – The Epics• Epic: long heroic tale

• Mahabarata: great war

• -Bhagavad-Gita “song of God”

• -Krishna’s instruction on love and morality

Religious Writings - Epics• Ramayana –

Story of Rama and wife Sita

• In an allegorical sense, the Ramayana represents the Aryan people establishing their hold and culture over north India and moving their influence into the south. From a mythical point of view, Rama represents the noble man, following dharma and living rightly.

BrahmanOne Divine

EssenceUnity

Gods (diversity)Many manifestations of Brahman

BrahmaThe

Creator

ShivaThe

Destroyer

VishnuThe Preserver

Had many earthly incarnations:

Rama, Krishna

Hindu

Gods

+ millions of other gods

+ divine essence, “atman” in all things

“Trinity”

Hindu Beliefs

• Worshiping many gods

• Reincarnation – cycle of rebirth

• Atman – spirit that goes from birth to rebirth (“soul”)

• Karma – every action is rewarded or punished in this life or a next life

• Dharma: one’s moral duty in life• Maya: the deception or illusion of the seen

world (diversity)

reality is the divine essence (Brahman=unity)• Moksha: release from pain & suffering• Ahimsa: reverence for all life forms• Yoga: mental and physical discipline to free

mind/spirit from bodily control• Asceticism – extreme self-denial• Nirvana – ultimate goal; to escape cycle of

rebirth

BUDDHISM

Buddhism• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama

– A Kshatriya prince– Lived a sheltered life and one day was

exposed to scenes of misery– Wandered for 7 yrs as a hermit to seek

the truth through fasting and self-denial– Soon he began to share his insights with

others and the meaning of his “enlightenment”

– Began to be called Buddha or “Enlightened One”

Four Noble Truths• 1: life is filled with suffering and sorrow• 2: people suffer because their selfish

desires bind them to the cycle of rebirth• 3: people could end their suffering by

eliminating their desires• 4: one could eliminate desire by

following the Eightfold Path (middle path = between desires and self-denial) to find enlightenment

The Eightfold Path• Urges his followers to do 8 things:

– Know the truth– Resist evil– Say nothing to hurt others– Respect life– Work for the good of others– Free their minds of evil– Control their thoughts– Practice meditation

The Eightfold Path (cont’d)• By following the path one could reach

nirvana or a state of freedom from the cycle of rebirth

• Buddha rejected the varna system• Said your place in life depended on the

person, not their birth so did not believe in caste system

• Also didn’t believe in Hindu deities• Is not considered monotheistic or polytheistic,

has no god, and no main holy book ……

Spread of Buddhism

• Buddha spent 40 years teaching • After his death monks spread

this belief to India, Asia (China, Japan, Korea)

• Architecture honored Buddha through stupas or large stone mounds over the bones of Buddhist holy people