Transcript WHICh3Sec4-5Maurya-GuptaEmpires

Early 500sBC . . . .
•
India was not a unified
country
• 16 kingdoms existed in
northern India.
540BC-Kingdom of
Magadha
• In about 520BC, King Bimbisara
made Magadha the most powerful
kingdom of Northern India.
• Magadha extended influence across
much of Northern India
• King Bimbisara of Magadha lived at
about the same time as the
Buddha. He heard the Buddha
himself preach and converted to
Buddhism
Meanwhile, in the Indus
Valley
• Between 520BC-510BC, King Darius of
Persia conquered the Indus Valley, and for
a time the Indus Valley was part of the
Persian Empire.
• Soon the kingdom of Magadha took the
Indus Valley from the Persians, and ruled it
for a while.
• In 326BC, the Indus Valley was conquered
by Alexander the Great. It was a part of his
empire until it was re-conquered by
Chandragupta Maurya in 304BC.
Chandragupta Maurya& The
Mauryan Empire(320BC-184BC)
• 320BC-Chandragupta Maurya
overthrew the king of Magadha and
started the Mauryan Empire
• We know a lot about
Chandragupta’s rule, because a
Greek diplomat at his court kept a
detailed record of his experiences.
• Built a grand palace in
his capital, Pataliputra,
on the Ganges River
• Raised an army of
600,000 soldiers and
many chariots & war
elephants
• Conquered & unified all
of northern India and
much of Pakistan
Conquests of Chandragupta
Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya’s
war elephants
Kautilya
 Chandragupta was advised
by a man named Kautilya
 Kautilya wrote “The
Treatise on Material Gain”
 This guide for the king said
that a king should assert
strict authority; that the
greatest evil in society is
anarchy, and therefore a
single authority is needed to
keep order.
Chandragupta Maurya
• He was a very strict ruler!
•
He took over much of the land and
made the peasants work for him. He
set up state controlled industries,
including mining, spinning and
weaving.
• He unified by country by setting up
standardized weights and measures
throughout the country, and even
established standards for
physicians.
Chandragupta Maurya
• Chandragupta Maurya became very afraid
of being assassinated.
• He slept in a different room of his palace
every night, and was surrounded by
trained female warriors who served as
body guards (women were thought to be
less likely to seek power for themselves.)
Chandragupta Maurya
• Finally, in about 300BC, as
he neared death, he
converted to Jainism, gave
power to his son, Bindusara,
and starved himself to
death, which was regarded
as a holy death.
Asoka(ruled 270BC-232BC)
 After Chandragupta Maurya ruled, his son
Bindusara ruled.
 Then Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta,
became the most famous ruler of the Mauryan
Empire. He took the throne about 270BC.

Asoka fought bloody wars to increase the
size of his empire.
 He enlarged the Mauryam Empire until it
included all of India & Pakistan except the
southern tip. The Mauryans became the first
to hold nearly all of India.
Mauryan Empire at its
largest extent
ASOKA
 After the bloody battle of
Kalinga in 262 BC, in which over
100,000 people died, Asoka
became sickened by war. He
became a man of peace.
 He became a Buddhist. He
became a vegetarian and vowed
to spend the rest of his life
making life better for his
people.
ASOKA
• Asoka set up hospitals to provide
medical care for both humans and
animals.
• Asoka built roads, and along the main
roads he built shelters and wells, and
planted mango trees for fruit and
banyan trees for shade.
• Asoke forbade animal sacrifices and
hunting for sport.
• Asoka promoted Buddhism and sent out
Buddhist missionaries, but respected all
religions.
Women
Under an
Asoka
tree
Edicts of Asoka
• Asoka had large stone monuments
set up all over India, with his
policies and good advice carved on
them.
• His policies are called the Edicts of
Asoka, and the stone monuments
are called the Pillars of Asoka.
Edict of Asoka
• “Beloved-of-the-Gods conquered Kalinga eight
years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty
thousand were deported, one hundred thousand
were killed and many more died (from other
causes). After Kalinga had been conquered,
Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong
inclination towards the Dhamma (right conduct as
taught by the Buddha) Now Beloved-of-the-Gods
feels deep remorse for having conquered the
Kalinga.
• Indeed, Beloved-of-the-Gods is deeply pained by
the killing, dying and deportation that take place
when an unconquered country is conquered.”
Edict of Asoka
• “Beloved-of-the-Gods speaks thus: Father
and mother should be respected and so
should elders, kindness to living beings
should be made strong and the truth should
be spoken.
Edict of Asoka
• “All men are my children. What I
desire for my own children, and I
desire their welfare and happiness
both in this world and the next, that I
desire for all men. You do not
understand to what extent I desire
this, and if some of you do
understand, you do not understand
the full extent of my desire.”
Edict of Asoka
• “Beloved-of-the-Gods says: Along roads I have
had banyan trees planted so that they can give
shade to animals and men, and I have had
mango groves planted. At intervals along the
roads, I have had wells dug, rest-houses built,
and in various places, I have had watering-places
made for the use of animals and men. But these
are but minor achievements. Such things to make
the people happy have been done by former
kings. I have done these things for this purpose,
that the people might practice the Dhamma.”
After Asoka
• After Asoka died in 232BC, the
Mauryan Empire declined.
• Asoka’s sons battled one another for
control of the throne, and invaders
attacked from the north & east.
• In 184BC, the last Mauryan emperor
was killed by one of his generals.
Between the Mauryan
Empire and the Gupta
Empire
• Between the end of the Mauryan
Empire in 184BC, and the beginning
of the Gupta Empire in 320AD, India
was again divided into many small
kingdoms.
GUPTA EMPIRE 320AD550AD
• In 320AD, Chandra Gupta I came
to power in the region of Magadha.
• He began expanding his power
through conquest and marriage.
• His successors continued the
expansions, until it included all of
northern India & Pakistan (Indus
Valley) , but it never included as
much area as the old Mauryan
Empire.
• Chandra Gupta
I’s successors
continued the
expansions,
until it included
all of northern
India &
Pakistan (Indus
Valley) , but it
never included
as much area
as the Mauryan
Empire
 Chandra Gupta I
Founder of the Gupta Empire
Chandra Gupta I favored
Hinduism,and Hinduism again
became more popular than
Buddhism. This became known as
the Hindu revival.
Chandra Gupta II: During the reign
of Chandra Gupta II, prosperity
continued;
Gupta Empire
• During the period of the Gupta
Empire, India was prosperous,
but the Gupta Empire never
covered as much area as the
Mauryan Empire had,
• Gupta Empire and was never as
centralized as the Mauryan
Empire. It gave more power to
local leaders
• Came to an end in 550 AD
Life in Gupta India
 Fa Xian, a Chinese Buddhist monk traveled along
the Silk Road and visited India in about 500AD
 He was following the path of the Buddha.
 He described life in India during the Gupta
Empire. His journal said:
 Most people were happy and free of
government oppression
Laws were lenient, with no capital punishment
(death penalty).
However, the caste system was developing,
and untouchables had to had to use noisemakers to warn others of their approach.
From the journal of Fa Xian,
describing Gupta Empire
• “The people are numerous and happy;
they have not to register their
households, or attend to any
magistrates and their rules; only those
who cultivate the royal land have to
pay (a portion of) the gain from it. If
they want to go, they go; if they want to
stay on, they stay.”
From the journal of Fa Xian,
describing Gupta Empire
• The king governs with out decapitation
or (other) corporal punishments.
Criminals are simply fined, lightly or
heavily, according to the circumstances
(of each case). Even in the cases of
repeated attempts at wicked rebellion,
they only have their right hands cut off.
. . . Throughout the whole country the
people do not kill any living creature,
nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat
onions or garlic.”
From the journal of Fa Xian, describing
the Gupta Empire
• “The only exception is that of the
Chandalas (Pariahs/Untouchables)
That is the name for those who are
(held to be) wicked men, and live
apart from others. When they enter
the gate of a city or a marketplace, they strike a piece of wood
to make themselves known, so
that men know and avoid them,
and do not come into contact with
them.”
Chandra Gupta II
II 11
Life and culture in India during
from the Maurya through the
Gupta dynasties.
Economy & trade
• Most people lived by farming the land
• Trade expanded greatly during the Gupta
dynasty
• Along the coasts of Southern India, there
were ports, and merchants engaged in
trade by sea.
• In Northern India, in the Gupta Empire,
merchants traded along overland trade
routes, including the famous silk road.
• India exported spices, cotton, wheat & rice,
and gold & ivory and precious gems
• India imported silk and horses.
4c
spices
gold & ivory
International Trade
Routes during the
Gupta Empire
LAWS OF MANU
• The laws of Manu were written
between 200BC-200AD, and set
forth the rules for society, including
rules of the caste system and rules
about the role of women.
SECTION 5-Life in India
Laws of Manu-Varnas
• 87. But in order to protect this universe He, the most
resplendent one, assigned separate (duties and)
occupations to those who sprang from his mouth, arms,
thighs, and feet.
• 88. To Brahmins he assigned teaching and studying
(the Vedas), sacrificing for their own benefit and for
others, giving and accepting (of alms).
• 89. The Kshatriya he commanded to protect the
people, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study
(the Veda), and to abstain from attaching himself to
sensual pleasures;
• 90. The Vaisya to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to
offer sacrifices, to study (the Veda), to trade, to lend
money, and to cultivate land.
• 91. One occupation only the lord prescribed to the
Sudra, to serve meekly even these (other) three
castes.
Laws of Manu-Women
• 147. By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged
one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own
house.
• 148. In childhood a female must be subject to her
father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead
to her sons; a woman must never be independent.
• 149. She must not seek to separate herself from her
father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would
make both (her own and her husband's) families
contemptible.
• 150. She must always be cheerful, clever in (the
management of her) household affairs, careful in
cleaning her utensils, and economical in expenditure.
• 151. Him to whom her father may give her, or her
brother with the father's permission, she shall obey as
long as he lives, and when he is dead, she must not
insult (his memory).
Status of women
• A woman was never independent. She was under
the protection & control of a man. Women were
expected to obey: fathers, husbands, and (after the
death of the husband), their sons.
• Women could not own property, and were not
allowed to study sacred writings.
• Marriages were arranged.
• Polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife,
was practiced by the wealthy.
Status of Women-Suttee
• It was a great virtue for a woman to
be devoted to her husband.
• During the Gupta Empire, the
practice of suttee (sati) began.
• Suttee-when a man died, his wife
threw herself on his funeral pyre
(fire) and burned herself to death.
• Suttee was more common among
the higher castes. In theory it was
voluntary, but sometimes women
were forced.
Suttee
Suttee
Cultural Achievementsliterature
• In addition to the great religious
writings, stories such as the
Panchatantra became very popular.
The Panchatantra had stories with a
moral, teaching traits such as
adaptability, shrewdness,
determination.
• Plays became popular during the
Gupta period. They had tragic
scenes, but always ended happily.
They were usually performed in the
open air.
Kalidasa
 Kalidasa was the most famous poet and
writer of plays.
 His most famous play was Shakuntala.
ART-Buddhist cave paintings
• The most famous paintings of the
period are the Buddhist cave
painting in the caves at Ajanta.
• They show scenes from the life of
the Buddha and his followers
• Indian sculptors made images of
Buddha and the Hindu Gods.
Architecture• Buddhist shrines were called stupas.
They were typically dome-shaped.
Objects associated with the Buddha
were inside.
• Many Hindu temples were built during
the Hindu revival of the Gupta Empire.
They had a square base and heavy
walls. Inside was a statue of a God.
They usually had tall, ornate towers on
top, shaped like beehives or
pinecones, often covered with
Education-Nalanda
• The most famous university of the
period was Nalanda, a Buddhist
university, which became the center
of higher learning in India during the
time of the Gupta Empire.
• Thousands of students attended. It
was free.
• Students studied the Vedas and
other Hindu and Buddhist literature,
along with mathematics and
medicine.
Education
• Education was very advanced for
boys of the higher varnas. They
studied the Vedas and other great
literature, including the
Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita and
Ramayana, as well as the
Upanishads.
• They also learned astronomy, math
and government.
Gupta
Art
Greatly influenced
Southeast Asian art & architecture.
Mathematics
Indian mathematicians of this period
invented the number system we use
today. We call our numerals the “IndoArabic” numerals. This system uses
numerals 0-9, along with place value, to
express any number.
. . . Thousands, hundreds, tens, ones
They were the first to develop the concept
of 0, and to use a symbol for 0.
They developed the concept of negative
numbers and the concept of infinity.
• The famous mathematician-astronomer
Aryabhata was one of the first to use
algebra and to solve quadratic equations.
• He also described the earth as rotating on
its axis. Before that, most people believed
that the sky turned.
Astronomy
• Indian astronomers understood that
the earth was a sphere, and that
the earth rotated on its axis
(although they—like most others–
thought the earth was in the center
and the sun revolved around it.)
• Indian astronomers identified the 6
planets visible to the naked eye.
Medicine
• Indian medicine was very
advanced.
• Indians developed the practice of
inoculation for smallpox. This was
done by giving a person (usually a
child) a mild form of the disease,
so he would not get the disease
later,
500 healing
plants identified
1000 diseases
classified
Printed
medicinal guides
Plastic
Surgery
Gupta
Achievements
Kalidasa
Literature
Medicine
Inoculations
Gupta
India
C-sections
performed
Decimal
System
Mathematics
Concept
of Zero
PI = 3.1416
Solar
Calendar
Astronomy
The earth
is round
The Decline of the Gupta
Empire
 Invasion of the White Huns in the 400sAD
signaled the end of the Gupta Golden Age, even
though at first, the Guptas defeated them.
 After the decline of the Gupta empire, north
India broke into a number of separate Hindu
kingdoms.