hinduism buddhism india empires

7/27/2019 Hinduism Buddhism India Empires

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HinduismIndias #1 religion

The Aryanswere a group of Indo-European people thatmoved from the dry grasslands of western Asia (thesteppes), into what is now India starting about 1700 BCEand captured the land and people of the Indus Valley.

Archaeologytells almost nothing about the Aryans. But

their sacred literature, the Vedas, tells a lot about them.

The Aryans were divided into classes of people. Overtime, they made many rules for how people in theseclasses, orcastes, could interact with one another.

People were born into their caste for life. These casteswere initially determined by varna literally, color. TheAryans were light skinned, and comprised the uppercastes, while the native peoples found in India were darkerskinned, and made up the lowest caste


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Caste System

The upper three

classes

consisted ofAryan people

while the bottom

two were the

local nativeIndian people.


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The Aryans were a group of Indo-European people

that moved from the steppesinto what is now India.


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Untouchables

Some impure people lived in a group

outside this class system. (ie. They were

out-castes.) They were butchers, gravediggers, and trash collectors. Because

they did work that was thought unclean,

they were called untouchables.


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The Caste System social class

system

1. The caste system is the traditional

hereditary social class system that affected

every aspect of their life their job, their

status, who they could marry, and even whothey could talk to.

2. Hindus are born into their caste and could

not get out until their death

3. There was no SOCIAL MOBILITY could

not move up in social class!


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1. The Gods

a. Brahman the Creator

b. Vishnu the Preserverc. Shiva the Destroyer

2. Reincarnat ion the soul never dies, it is re-

born and goes through many lives until it can

unite with Brahma

Basic Hindu Beliefs


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Hindu Beliefs continued

3. Karmaa persons behavior in life

determines their caste in the next life

4. Dharma Your DUTIES in life to

family and caste, do your job well!


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5. Cremation Burn body to release soul

for next life

6. MOKSHA ultimate goal - state of

perfect understanding of all things,become one with the universe.

Hindu Beliefs continued


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Cows Hindus refuseto eat beef ,they roam

freely

Ganges River Holy

river believed to wash

away evil

Today 85% of all

Indian people are

Hindu

Sacred Objects


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From Hinduism Comes Buddhism

Around 528 BCE another new religion, Buddhism,arose in India. It was started by Siddhartha

Gautama.

The founder, Siddhartha Gautama, has manylegends and stories that have surrounded his life.

While we can't be certain which of these stories and

legends are true, we do know that the basic

historical outlines of his life are accurate.


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Beginnings of Buddhism

He was the chief's son of a tribal group, so he was born a Kshatriya

(Warrior class) around 566 BC.

At the age of 29, he left his family in order to lead a simple life.

A few years later he returned with a number of followers; followers thatdevoted their lives to " The Midd le Way, a lifestyle that is midway

between a completely simple lifestyle and one that is full of materialisticgoods.

Siddhartha searched for a way that would allow him to escape thesuffering of human life. He spent many years searching for this answer.He was looking forenl ightenment, or wisdom.

Finally, he sat down and meditatedunder a tree. After 49 days, he had hisanswer. He was now called the Buddha, which means enlightened one.The Buddha began to teach others how to attain enlightenment.


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Following the path led to Nirvana


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Buddhist BeliefsThe Four Nob le Truths

Suffering is universal everyone suffers

Cause of suffering is DESIRE

If you end your desires suffering will end

(necessary to reach NIRVANA- a release from

sel f ishness and pain.)

Follow the EIGHTFOLD PATH


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How to become enlightenedBuddhists were to follow a plan of behavior

called the Eightfo ld Pathright views,

right resolve,

right speech,right conduct,

right livelihood,

right effort,

right mindfulness, and

right concentration.

This would lead to nirv ana, or a release from

self ishness and pain.


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Other Buddhist Beliefs

1. Believed in KARMA and DHARMA

and REINCARNATION

2. REJECTED THE CASTE SYSTEM

felt it was not fair, unjust!!

Not by birth does one become

an outcast, not by birth does

one become a Brahmin. ByDEEDS one becomes an

outcast, by DEEDS one

becomes a Brahmin Buddha


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Spread of Buddhism

Buddhism spread from

India to China and other

parts of the world along

the SILK ROAD

The sharing of religion is

an excellent example ofcultural diffusion.


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India first Empires

Maurya & Gupta


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In 321 BCE, the founder and eventual King of the MauryaEmpire, Chandragupta Mauryaused his army to defeatpowerful kings in eastern and northern India.

By 305 BCE, he began to challenge for Alexander the Greatswestern territories in India, and by 300 BCE, for the first time,northeastern and northwestern India were joined under therule of one person.

Chandragupta was a harsh ruler. He charged a heavy tax onfarmers one-half of the crop they grew each year. He usedthis wealth to build a huge army. He controlled hisgovernment by carefully choosing officials and watching themclosely

The Maurya Empire


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In 269 BCE, Chandraguptas grandson, Asoka, took

the throne. He brought the Mauryan Empire to itsgreatest height. At first he was a warlike king butthen he decided to accept the teachings of theBuddha.

Asoka promised to rule in a fair and just way.

He issued laws that urged his subjects to avoidviolence.

He urged religious toleration. This is acceptanceof peoples rights to differing religious beliefs.

He made great roads so that people could traveleasily.

Asoka is also known as the lawgiver because hecarved the laws into stone pillars which were placed

in the center of towns.

The Maurya Empire


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Some of the Pillars of Asoka

Sanskrit

Language


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The Gupta Empire

Soon after Asoka died, however, his empire

collapsed.

Around 320 AD, Chandra Gupta I came to

power in the north. He was not related to

the first emperor Chandragupta Maurya of

the Maurya Empire , but he too took the title

of king and began to conquer other areas in

the name of the Gup ta Empire.


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The Gupta Golden Age

Added western coast

to empire

religion

science

Flourishing of arts


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Medicine Literature

Mathematics Astronomy

Printedmedicinal guides

1000 diseasesclassified

PlasticSurgery

C-sectionsperformed

Inoculations

500 healingplants identified

DecimalSystem

Concept

of Zero

PI = 3.1416

Kalidasa

SolarCalendar

The earthis round

GuptaIndia

Gupta

Achievements

hinduism buddhism india empires

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