Transcript Ancient India PP

Chapter 3 & 4
 Extends south from
central Asia to the Indian
Ocean.
 Separated from the rest of
Asia the Himalaya
mountains.
 Made it difficult for
immigrants & invaders to
enter.
 Two rivers
 Indus
 Ganges
 Climate
 High temperatures
 Monsoons – heavy rain
 Harappan Civilization
 2 Ancient Cities
 Harappa
 Mohenjo Daro
 Both cities were carefully planned
 Had intersecting streets
 Had a water system
 Homes were made of brick, 2 stories high, and had
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indoor bathrooms.
Each city had a strong central fortress called a citadel.
Rich farmland – raised wheat, barley, and rice.
Developed a written language made of pictographs
Eventually disappeared – possibly due to floods, or other
natural disaster.
 Came across the Hindu Kush
mountains into northwest India
around 1750 B.C.
 Sheep & cattle herders
 Skilled warriors
 Most information about these people
comes from the Vedas.
 Contained religious beliefs and stories
that were passed down from generation
to generation.
 Early gods mentioned in the Vedas were
drawn from nature.
 Earth, fire, light, rain, sky, storms, sun,
and water.
 Sky = the father; Earth = the mother
 Believe in many gods, but have one that is
above all the rest.
 Ceremonies performed outdoors.
 Special priests called Brahmins knew the
rules of the ceremonies and were very
important in Indo-Aryan society.
 Originally a nomadic group
 As they settled in villages they planted crops & herded
animals so they did not need to move to find food.
 Settlements combined to form small, independent
states.
 States were ruled by a raja – or chief.
 Raja was the military leader, lawmaker, and judge.
 Assisted by a royal council.
 Complex social order – class system.
 Marriage important – usually arranged by parents.
Not allowed to marry outside the social order.
 Strongly believed in making sacrifices to the gods.
 Grew many crops
 Wheat, rice, barley, sugarcane, peas, beans, leafy
vegetables.
 Traded these crops with surrounding villages, but
could not trade with other civilizations because of
poor transportation and limitations of their location.
 Established by
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Chandragupta Maurya at
the end of the Magadha
empire.
Empire lasted almost 150
years
Chandragupta built a
palace on the Ganges
River
Raised an army of 600,000
soldiers.
Expanded his territory by
uniting out to the Hindu
Kush mountains and the
Ganges River.
 The greatest emperor of the
Mauryan Empire was Aśoka.
 Chandragupta’s grandson.
 Made the empire even bigger by
using the army to conquer other
people.
 Eventually included all of India
except the very southern tip of
the country.
 Later converted to Buddhism
and sent missionaries to convert
people to the Buddhist faith.
 After the Asoka died and the Maurya Empire
declined, a new family of rulers took over India.
 Chandra Gupta I was the founder of the Gupta
Empire.
 DO NOT confuse him with Chandragupta
Maurya – remember their names sound the
same, but represent different people!!!
 Caused a decline in Buddhism and a rise in
Hinduism.
 Early years of the Gupta dynasty is called the
“golden age” of Indian civilization
 great achievements in the arts
 extreme prosperity for the people.
 Economy
 Most people were extremely poor
 Very few people were in the highest social class
 Most people were farmers, except in southern India
where people traded with foreign countries.
 Society
 Men held social power and standing.
 Women did not have the same rights as men.
 The law required girls to obey their fathers.
 Also must obey their husbands once they were
married.
 If their husband died they obeyed their sons.
 Not allowed to own property.
 Were not allowed to study the Vedas.
 Men were allowed to practice polygymy – having more
than one wife.
 Widows practiced suttee – committing suicide by
throwing themselves on top of the husband’s funeral
pyre.
 Arts & Architecture
 Mural painting in caves to tell stories.
 Sculpture of the Buddha showed the importance of
religion.
 Built many stupas – dome-shaped shrines for Buddha.
 Education
 Children in the higher classes received a formal
education
 Studied the Vedas, astronomy, math, warfare, and
government.
 Children in the lower classes only received training for
certain crafts or trades.
 Nalanda – famous Buddhist university.
 Math
 Understood abstract & negative numbers
 Had a concept of zero & infinity
 Aryabhata – famous mathematician – first
known user of algebra & quadratic equations.
 Medicine
 Indian doctors were very advanced.
 Understood the importance of the spinal cord.
 Had surgical procedures to mend broken bones.
 Performed types of plastic surgery.
 Earliest forms of vaccinations.