India

Ancient India

Geography of India

• India is part of a subcontinent (landmass

smaller than a continent) & shaped like an upside down triangle.

•Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean & Bay of Bengal on 3 sides•Cut off from Asia by mountains (Hindu Kush,

Himalayans) • E & W Ghats along coast in South

Geography of India

• Deccan Plateau, rocky, dry center btw Ghats (little moisture, blocked by mts)• Thar Desert to East(80-100 degrees)• Rainforest along West coast • Coastal plains

•Major rivers flow from HK & Him mtns:• Indus River flows thru Pakistan into

Arabian Sea(Indus Valley home to early civ)

INDUS VALLEY

•Ganges River-flows to Bay of Bengal, w/ many branches. (Holy river)•Brahmaputra goes E across India

to Ganges•Plains area btw rivers is fertile!

MONSOONS

•Monsoon: (seasonal winds from June-Sept. Temp rises, air heats, moist air blows in from ocean, brings heavy rain). Unpredictable!

*Cyclones too!

Indus Valley Civilizations

• Little is known (writing not deciphered)•Dev 2500 BC•Over 100 settlements(Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro biggest)

Harappa1.Highly organized, planned cities

2.Built on mud brick platforms (avoid floods)3.Oven dried mud brick walls

4.Citadel (fortified area) has major buildings(temple, granary,royals?)

5. 30 ft wide, straight streets (e-w & n-S), cross at right angles

6. Walls divide residential districts, homes vary in size (houses laid out in block units w/ lanes in btw)

•Modern plumbing & sewage (had bathrooms)• Toilets of brick w/ wood seat, pipes connect to each house w/ waste flowing into underground sewage system & into pits outside of city walls

Harappan Culture•Written language of 400 symbols (found on carved stone stamps & seals).Animals on everything• Religion-maybe theocracy?

• Statues of mother goddess, fertility images, maybe shiva, worship bull

• Had potters wheel, made beautiful jugs, statues etc•Made toys, jewelry

Don’t Write• Grew wheat barley, cotton, (could weave into cloth)• Trade all over region (Persia, Dec

Pla, Afghan) using Indus & Arabian Sea to trade w/ Meso, Egypt & maybe Crete)

• Traded bright cloth, copper lumber for gold, silver, semiprecious stones

• Don’t Write!• Disappear slowly ca 2000 BC. Why?• Tectonic plates shift, cause floods, earthquakes, change course

of Indus, changes in climate, farming dries up? • May have moved on into India

Indo-Aryans

•Btw 2000-1500 BC, Indo-Aryans,(from grasslands btw Caspian

& Black Seas?) conquer Harappa.

• Had iron weapons & horses• Est own govt (individual tribes elect chief & tribal council) Combined to form small kingdoms led by Rajah)• Brought metalworking, horses, bronze weapons• No writing system• Adopted other cultures

Vedic Age- 1500• Brought Vedas, 4 collections of religious beliefs, prayers, spells & ritual instructions (Rig Veda most

important)• Not written, passed along

*Polytheistic-many gods• Eventually grows into Hinduism

(no founder)•Brought along 3 CASTES (expand over time)

THE CASTE SYSTEM

•Caste: strict religious & social class/order•You are BORN into caste & cannot move out of caste in THIS life.• caste is a result of karma from previous life.

THE CASTES

UNTOUCHABLESOutside of caste, street cleaners, butchers, grave diggers,

unclean jobs

Caste System

• Strict rules: Can’t marry or associate w/ people outside of caste, determines

job, clothes, manners & even food

THE BELIEFS• People suffer from pain & sorrow b/c they chase false goals (material goods) • Goal is MOKSHA- free soul from body so soul can join the ATMAN (universal soul)• CANNOT reach MOKSHA in 1 life, need reincarnation.

CYCLE OF REBIRTH• Reincarnation is a cycle of REBIRTH of soul (reborn over & over until overcome your weaknesses) • KARMA- belief all good & bad actions, mental or physical, affect people’s fate in next life.

• DHARMA- duty: every Hindu has obligations to their CASTE • Can improve your position in next life by fulfilling duties in this life.• Present life is result past behavior

The Gods/Godesses• Shiva- the destroyer of ego & universe

•Brahma- god of creation

• Vishnu- preserver of universe

• All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of past, present & future, one who supports, sustains &

governs Universe & originates & develops all elements within.

• Krishna-god/child prankster in Mahabharata

• Ganesha is the Remover

• of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings (patron of arts and sciences, intellect & wisdom)

BUDDHISM• 563 BC: Prince Siddhartha Gautama born in Nepal.• Raised to be king, wealthy, sheltered.

THE PRINCE• Prince leaves palace & realizes

world is full of pain & misery.• Sees poor, sick & elderly & dead• Wants to find answer why & how

to stop it.• Travels world & meditates under tree for 49 days.

THE BUDDHA

• Prince found answers.

• Became known as the Buddha, the “Enlightened One” as he traveled the world to teach his beliefs.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

1. Everyone suffers2. Cause of suffering is desire (riches objects attachments)3. Only way to end suffering is crush desire4. Way to end desire is to follow the Noble 8 Fold Path

NIRVANA • Goal is to reach NIRVANA- a condition of wanting nothing, a calmness, great insight & happiness.

Theravada Buddhism Don’t writeTheravada Buddhism Don’t write The oldest school of Buddhism, found in s

Asia. The monastic life is the best way

to achieve nirvana. Focus on wisdom and meditation. Goal is to become a “Buddha,” or

“Enlightened One.” Over 100,000,000 followers today.

Mahayana Buddhism The “Great Vehicle.” Founded in northern Asia (China, Japan). Buddhism “for the masses.” Seek guidance from Boddhisatvas, wise

beings. Goal: Not just individual escape from the

wheel, but the salvation of all humanity through self-sacrifice of those enlightened few.

Don’t Write!!!!Jainism• Founded by Mahavira 599-527 BC• All living things have a soul &

should not be harmed• Tolerance of other religions• Occupations cannot harm others• encourages spiritual

development thru cultivation of one's own personal wisdom & reliance on self control thru 5 vows (Mahavareta)

India 1500-1000•Small kingdoms, no unity•Different religions & beliefs•Magadha: Indo-Aryan kingdom runs N India

• 326 BC: Alexander the Great extends empire over India (huge battle 12,000 Greeks die, but still wins)

Maurya Empire• 323 BC: Chandragupta Maurya conquers Maghda kingdom & Macedonian satrapies. • Unites India & sets Pataliputraas capital*Paranoid!

• Fights Selecus (Alex’s, successor), wins. Sel Gives up Afghan & Pakistan. Marries his daughter to unite kingdoms, gets Egyptian, Greek ambassadors on court.

•Chanakya (advisor) wrote Arthasastra, guide to running empire •Built bureaucratic govt w/ 4 provinces each headed by princes. Divided into local districts to assess & enforce taxes. Use Spies•Became Jainist, dumped throne on son.

Asoka

• Grandson of Chan M• Conqueror, but felt sorrow when 100,000 die attacking Kalinga. • Converts to Buddhism• Teachings written on pillars, urged rel toleration, preach non-violence, monks sent all over Asia

• Don't write!

• Built roads, improved conditions(every 9 miles houses, wells 4 rest)

• public health care for humans & animals, improvements in agriculture, est wildlife reserves, • Wanted moral, spiritual, & social renewal. Reformed administrative &

judicial systems of India

• Fell apart on his death as Greeks,Persians,Asians invade• ends 184 BC, w/ 500 yrs of turmoil (s.India has 3 kingdoms)

“There is no better work than promoting the welfare of the world. Whatever be my great deeds, I have done them in order to discharge my debt to all beings."

Golden Age of India

• 320 AD Chandra Gupta, local chief, marries princess & rule from Magadha (Pataliputra) (Empire covers anges & Indus)• Son Samudra focused on arts & expands empire• Chandra Gupta II- strengthened empire thru diplomatic &

marriage alliances

• Don’t Write!!!• relied heavily on infantry archers, The Hindu

version of the longbow was composed of metal, or more typically bamboo, & fired a long bamboo cane arrow with a metal head

• Iron shafts were used against armored elephants& fire arrows used by archers• Archers protected by infantry equipped with shields, javelins, & long swords.• Had knowledge of siege craft, & catapults

• Hinduism grows• Art, architecture, sculpture poetry, drama, fables flourish• Rule 320-500 AD. Ends when overrun by Huns

• Late 400s, Huns (from c Asia) raid• By 600 AD Gupta fall• Descendents of Huns became wealthy warrior princes called Rajputs

• 600 years of invasions

w/ civil wars as Indian

princes fight 1 another

Muslim invaders•Muslim leaders start to invade around 1000 AD. •Mahmud of Ghazni is SULTAN

(authority), 1st to have that title, invades India,

*Invasions directed at temple towns to steal wealth & jewels, destroy, take slaves & break will of Hindus•Some towns were conquered & left in control of Hidu, Buddhist or Jains as vassal states

• Others invade• Sultan Aibak Kutbuddin est sultanate or kingdom of Delhi. • Next 400 years, 33 sultans rule from Delhi Sultanate• 100s killed, cruel to Hindus

Mongols/Moguls/Mughals?

• Tamerlane ,Mongol warrior from Asiatic Russia loots, kill 1000s of Hindus & Muslims,

destroys Delhi Sultanate in 1398

• Babur-born in Uzbekistan -leader at 12, loses power. Conquers north, is a Muslim descendent of Tam & Genghis Khan . • Brilliant general.

(led 12,000 troops against 100,000 sultan & an army of

rajputs . • Est Mogul empire

Don’t write!!!• Babur is said to have been extremely strong &physically fit.

Would carry 2 men, 1 on each of his shoulders, & then climb slopes on the run, just for exercise.

• Legend holds that Babur swam across every major river he encountered, including twice across the Ganges River

• Lovedto kill people, cut heads of people and create pillars out of cut heads

Akbar the Great

• Grandson of Babur (1556-1605)

1. expanded military power

2.Used heavy artillery, cannons, appt rajputs as officers (mix cultures, turn enemies into allies)

“a monarch should ever be intent on conquest, otherwise his neighbor rise in arms against him”

3.Muslim, urged religious tolerance

4. Bureaucratic officials were both native & foreign

5.Officials trained for civil service

6. Taxed on graduated system

to be fair 7.Acted as judge, heard cases

*Persian main lang, but others develop. (Urdu grows out of soldier camps)

*Work carefully w/ Portuguese &

Ottoman empire*Patron of art, architecture, translated works

Shah Jahan

•Shah Jahan- grandson of Akbar. Killed rivals• Loved architecture & wife•Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 during childbirth of 14th kid

• Spent 22 years, w/ 20,000 laborers building Taj Mahal as a monument to Mumtaz• Country suffers from neglect, hi taxes for Taj & luxuries instead of roads, irrigation• 1657 4 sons fight

• http://www.history.com/videos/seven-wonders-the-taj-mahal#seven-wonders-the-taj-mahal

Shah Jahan’s throne was shaped like a bed, standing on tall table legs with 2 or 3 steps leading up to it. Western visitors

to Delhi in the 17th century measured the bed part to being 1.8 by 1.2 meters , From its bars rose 12 columns supporting a canopy. It was decorated with 108 rubies, 116 emeralds and

numerous pearls.

• DON’T WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!

• The Shah’s army during this time? • 440,000 infantry, musketeers &

artillery • 185,000 Sowars commanded by

princes and nobles • Marwari horse, colorful,strong• Mughal Cannons were mass

produced• Empire became a huge military

machine

Aurangzeb• Aurangzeb- during civil war, kills brother & arrests dad• 1658-1707 extends empire, but loses power. Drained resources, money*Didn’t keep alliances

• Intolerant of other religions• Enforce Muslim laws• Tax on non-muslims•No new Hindu temples. •Censors, heavy taxes• killed leader of Sikhs (who rebel)•Rajputs rebel

*Don’t’ Write!!!His son tried to rebel, driven to

Persia• Start to break apart into small

kingdoms after his death• .Port, Dutch, FR & BR start to come

in during empire, eventually take over (moguls done by 1857-1858)