Transcript India`s First Empire

INDIA’S FIRST EMPIRES
Chandragupta Maurya
 Born in Magadha
 Gathered an army and killed the Nanda king.
 Started the Mauryan Empire in 321 BC
Rise of the Mauryan Empire
 Maurya battled one of Alexander the Great’s generals,
Seleucus I, between 305 BC and 303 BC.
 After defeating Seleucus I, the Mauryan Empire
stretched more than 2,000 miles.
 The Mauryan army had 600,000 foot soldiers, 30,000
on horseback, and 9,000 elephants.
 Citizens had to pay heavy taxes in order to feed and
clothe the army.
Mauryan Government
 Chandragupta’s advisor, Kautilya (priest), wrote a
ruler’s handbook, Arthasatra.
 This book promoted policies to keep an empire
together, such as spying on people and employing
political assassination.
 Chandragupta created a bureaucratic government.
 Divided the empire into four provinces, each ruled by a
prince.
 Each province was divided into districts.
Asoka Maurya
 In 269 BC Asoka, Chandragupta’s grandson, assumed
the throne of the Mauryan Empire.
 After a bloody war against a neighboring state, Asoka
began to study Buddhism.
 He had roads built throughout the empire with rest
houses and wells every 9 miles.
Asoka’s Beliefs
 Ruled by Buddha’s teaching of “peace to all beings.”
 Preached nonviolence
 Urged religious toleration- acceptance of people
who held different religious beliefs
Asoka’s Death
 Soon after Asoka died, in 232 BC, the kingdoms of
central India regained their independence.
 The Andhra Dynasty emerged to rule central India for
hundreds of years, and flourished through their
extensive trade.
 Floods of Greeks and Persians flooded into Northern
India for 500 years, beginning in 185 BC.
 Southern India was home to three kingdoms that were
never captured by the Mauryans, the Tamil.
 They were always at war with one another.
Chandra Gupta
 Around 315 BC, Chandra Gupta started the Gupta
Empire.
 Dominated by Hindu culture.
 He came to power by marrying the daughter of an
influential royal family.
 Took the title “Great King of Kings”
Daily Life in India
 Most Indians lived in small villages; many farmers.
 Craftspeople and merchants had shops in districts.
 Farmers had to give a day’s worth of labor to maintain
their irrigation systems; tax on water.
 Unlike the rest of India, Southern India was
matriarchal.
The Gupta Empire
 Chandra Gupta’s grandson, Chandra Gupta II,
defeated the Shakas and expanded the empire far west
 Opened up trade in the Mediterranean Sea
 He reigned from AD 375 to 415
Chapter 7 Section 2
 TRADE SPREADS INDIAN RELIGIONS & CULTURE
 Centuries of turmoil and invaders in the Indian
subcontinent brought new ideas, while the Golden Age
of the early Gupta Empire encouraged cultural
advancements.
Changes in Buddhism
 Buddhism originally had no gods and taught that people could
achieve nirvana through lifetimes of following the Eightfold Path
 Focused on self-denial and individual discipline to get rid of desire
and thus escape the suffering of life
 This original Buddhism became known as the Theravada sect
 By the first century AD, the Mahayana sect had emerged
 Taught that the Buddha was a god and people could become
Buddhas by giving up nirvana and living as bodhisattvas, working
to save humanity through good works and self-sacrifice
 Offered salvation to all and allowed popular worship of the Buddha
New Trends in Indian Art
 Huge statues of the Buddha for people to worship
 Stupas - mounded stone structures surrounding holy
relics – became holy sites and were walked around for
Buddhist meditation
 Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cave temples were carved out
of solid rock and decorated with sculptures and
paintings
 Big structures often paid for by Buddhist merchants as
“good works”
Hinduism Becomes More Personal
 Hinduism had hundreds of gods, but they all came to be
seen as parts of a single divine force (Brahman)
 Most important gods: Brahma, creator of the world;
Vishnu, preserver of the world; Shiva, destroyer of the
world
 Only Brahmin priests could perform sacrifices, but
people became more personally devoted to their favorite
gods, Vishnu and Shiva
 Personal devotion made Hinduism more popular
Growing Dramatic Literature and Poetry
 Writing academies in the Tamil kingdoms of southern
India produced thousands of poems
 Traveling troops of male and female actors combined
drama and dance in performances across southern India
 Much classical Indian dance today based on their
ancient techniques
 India today continues ancient drama traditions
 Bollywood produces more than twice as many movies
as US - many popular ones are love stories that blend
music, dance, and drama
Advances in Science
 Astronomy knowledge increased to help sailing merchants
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navigate
Adapted Western methods of keeping time from Greek
invaders, based on sun cycles and using a seven-day week
Proved Earth was round 1,000 years before Columbus by
observing eclipse
Invented the modern numeral and decimal systems, including
the zero
Aryabhata calculated value of pi and length of a solar year
Compiled two important medical guides describing over 1,000
diseases and 500 medical plants
Hindu doctors performed surgeries, including plastic
Indian Trade Spreads
 Valuable items in India included: spices, sapphires, gold,
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diamonds, teak and ebony and sandalwood
Already traded with Africa and Mesopotamia over 4.000
years ago
Spread to China, Central Asia, and Rome over 2,000
years ago when they began using the Silk Roads and
increasing use of sea routes
Indian merchants also got rich as middlemen, selling
between the Chinese and the Romans
Banking increased as bankers were needed and made
money from interest on loans to merchants
Spread of Culture
 Buddhist monks traveled along trade routes to convert
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people along the way, and Buddhist missionaries set up
monasteries in China and other countries in Southeast
Asia
Some Indian merchants moved to other countries and
spread culture
Indian styles heavily influenced art, architecture, and
dance throughout Southeast Asia, especially nearby
Buddhism is now a major religion in many Southeast
Asian countries
Hinduism spread to Nepal and Sri Lanka and Borneo