Party Like it’s 2000 BCE

India’s Early HistoryTuesday, February 1, 2010

CCSC 8th Grade Humanities

Party like it’s 2000 BCEBetween 2000-BCE and 500 CE, peoples of ancient India developed:

World’s first planned streets!WritingSewage systemsSpinning and weaving cottonSanskrit languageSystems of taxes and justiceAstronomyMath - the zero!

Vedism

Based upon sacrifices to godsGods represented natural forcesChief god: Indra, god of war and rainstormsWrote verses about kings in India and the caste systemLater developed into Hinduism

Enter Islam

700s CE: Muhammad ibn QasimJizya: tax on non-MuslimsHindus and Buddhists allowed freedom of worship

1000 CE: Mahmud of Ghazni raided 16 times, little territoryMotivated by promise of great wealth and religious belief

Mughal Empire: Akbar

Ruled 1556-1605 CEMuslim ruler100 million people (compared to England’s 5 million)Abolished jizyaMarried Hindu princessesUniversal religious toleranceHindu population liked him, while Muslims thought he was a heretic

Mughal Empire: Aurangzeb

1658-1707Devout Muslim

No gambling, drinkingNo dancers, artists, or musicians in courtRestored jizyaFought with Hindu rulers in southern India

Islam

MonotheisticBegun by prophet MohammedHoly Text: Quran Forbidden to draw an image of God or MohammedEquality of believers before GodNo drinking of alcohol

Hinduism

PolytheisticEvolved from VedismNo single founder or beginningHindu text: Bhagavad Gita

Discusses caste distinctions

Nature and animals are worshippedCows are sacredMany Hindus are vegetarians

Hinduism: moksha

Priests are called Brahmans (highest caste)By following the rules of your caste, you can be reborn into a higher caste and eventually reach mokshaMoksha - soul’s final release

Hinduism: gods

Brahma the Creator

Vishnu the Preserver

Shiva the

Destroyer

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Hindu/Muslim Reactions

Muslims disliked…Caste systemPolytheismIdolatryEating pigs

Muslims liked…ReservoirsScience & Art

Hindus disliked… Eating cows

Hindus liked… Other religions Muslim leaders let them live in peace, since they were the majority

British East India Company

Formed in 1600 by a group of English merchantsCreated to capitalize on wealth of Indian natural resourcesGranted a fort in India in 1696 by the Mughals, later CalcuttaCompany nearly went bankrupt

1773 British gov’t appointed a governor-general to supervise

British East India Company

Lord Wellesley, 5th governor-general, decided in 1790s to campaign in India and conquer landWellesley was recalled to England, but further governor-generals continued to control British IndiaEventually, Great Britain controlled 1/3 of Indian territory and 1/4 of the population

“Mutiny” of 1857

Laws passed that angered both Muslims and Hindus

Christian converts from Hinduism were given right to inherit ancestral propertySati was made illegalEnglish was made official language over Persian, Arabic, and SanskritBritish gov’t could take control when a ruler died without an heir or was deemed unfit to rule

“Mutiny” 1857

Enfield Rifle

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How did the British react?

British troops murdered townspeopleBefore being hanged, sepoys were made to swallow beef or porkSome were strapped to a canon and blown apartKing Bahadur Shah II, to whom the sepoys claimed allegiance, was put on trial and exiled

Two Peoples - Two Standards

British believed themselves superiorDescended from Greek and Roman civilizationPracticed Christianity

British were outnumbered by Indian population and believed they couldn’t show weakness or permit defeatBritish community always remained British, never IndianDiscrimination