Transcript Indian Society

Empires of China and India
Section 4
Indian Society and Culture
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• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Life in Gupta India
• A Gupta Golden Age
• Visual Study Guide / Quick Facts
• Video: The Impact of Buddhism as a World Religion
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Indian Society and Culture
Main Idea
The strength, prosperity, and stability of the Gupta Empire
helped lead to a golden age in Indian society, trade, and culture.
Reading Focus
• What features defined Indian society and trade during the
Gupta period?
• What were major cultural and scientific achievements of the
Gupta golden age?
Section 4
Empires of China and India
Life in Gupta India
Growth of Trade
• Indian civilization flourished
during Gupta empire
• Trade increased, economy
strengthened, cities prospered
• Overland routes like the Silk
Roads linked India to other
markets
• Indian merchants traded ivory,
cashmere, cotton, spices for
Chinese silk, Roman ceramics
Sea Trade
• Gupta, Tamil kingdoms in
southern India traded actively
by sea
• Indian sailors used seasonal
winds to reach foreign markets
across Arabian Sea
• Sea trade also between India
and Southeast Asia
• Played key role in cultural
diffusion of Indian culture
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Daily Life
• Growth of trade strengthened economy; Gupta Empire’s cities
reflected prosperity
• Use of money became more common; new group of bankers,
moneylenders emerged
• Luxury, pleasure for urban rich; enjoyed music, poetry, art
Simple Lives
• Most Gupta people led simple lives in small villages
• Majority of village dwellers, farmers
• Most villages self-sufficient, but trade between villages occurred
• People from different villages got together for religious festivals, other
events
Section 4
Empires of China and India
Life in Gupta India
Social structure
Legal codes
• Most people in ancient India
belonged to specific caste
• Legal codes also defined
people’s roles
• Castes determined jobs,
interaction with others
• Laws of Manu, compiled
between 200 BC, AD 200
• Number grew, developed rules
• Defined proper behavior
Gender
• Also shaped Indian society
• Men had more rights than
women
• Patriarchal society, similar to
China
Laws of Manu
• Female child subject to father,
female youth to husband
• Men expected to treat women
with respect
• Abused women could leave
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Identify Cause and Effect
How did trade affect city life in Gupta India?
Answer(s): cities prospered, shops and markets
bustled, money became common, culture stressed
luxury and pleasure for urban wealth
Section 4
Empires of China and India
A Gupta Golden Age
Like the Han period in China, the Gupta period was a golden age of
cultural and scientific achievements.
Sanskrit Literature
• Many great works created
during Gupta period
• One of greatest writers,
Kalidasa
– Poet, playwright
Panchatantra
• Another popular work of period
• Five Books, collection of stories
meant to teach lessons
• “The good and bad of given
schemes
– Wrote plays for royal court
Wise thought must first reveal
– Sakuntala, most famous
The stupid heron saw his chicks
– Play combines myth, humor,
court life, lyric poetry
Provide a mongoose meal.”
• Warning to think before acting
Empires of China and India
Art and Architecture
Religious
• Much of art, architecture of Gupta period religious
• Magnificent Hindu, Buddhist temples built across India
• Hindu temples: huge towers, covered with carvings
Buddhist temples
• Included stupas, temples with domed roofs
• Built to house sacred items from life of Buddha
• Like Hindu temples, covered with detailed carvings
Most spectacular architecture
• Temples, monuments carved out of rock and cliff faces
• Most famous, cave temples at Ajanta and Ellora
• Intricately carved columns; include halls, rooms, windows
Section 4
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Art and Architecture
Great works of art
• Paintings of the time often portray beautiful, graceful Indians wearing fine
jewelry, stylish clothing
• Many of finest paintings found in Buddhist and Hindu temples
Temple paintings
• Hindu artists decorated walls, entrances with devas, aspects of Brahman
• Buddhists covered plaster walls, ceilings with scenes from life of Buddha
• Some of finest examples of Buddhist art found in Ajanta cave temples
Statues
• Made for temples
• Buddhist temples, statues of Buddha, kings
• Hindu temples, statues of Siva, Vishnu, other devas
Section 4
Empires of China and India
Science and Technology
Metallurgy
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Ancient Indians pioneers of science of working with metals
Indian iron valued for hardness, purity
Gupta metalworkers built famous Iron Pillar, near Delhi
Iron Pillar is resistant to rust
Still being studied by scholars today
Mathematics
• Gupta scholars most advanced
mathematicians of their day
• Developed modern math system
• First to use concept, symbol of zero
• Hindu-Arabic numerals; created
by Indians, brought to Europe by
Arabs
Medical Science
• Ancient Indians quite advanced
• Made medicines from plants
• Knew how to inject small amounts
of viruses to protect against
disease
• Doctors could perform surgery,
repair broken bones, treat wounds
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Science and Technology
Astronomy
• Indians identified seven planets in solar system
• Could predict eclipses of sun, moon
• Aryabhata, one of most famous Indian astronomers
– Correctly argued that Earth rotates on axis,
revolves around sun
– Knew Earth was sphere, calculated
circumference with remarkable accuracy
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Find the Main Idea
Why do historians consider the Gupta period
to have been a golden age in the history of
ancient India?
Answer(s): significant cultural contributions,
Sanskrit, magnificent carvings, statues of Buddha,
wall paintings; advancements in mathematics,
medicine, and astronomy
Empires of China and India
Section 4
Empires of China and India
Section 4
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The Impact of Buddhism as a World Religion
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