Ancient India
Jan 11, 2016
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