India powerpoint
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India
Role of Geography
The Earliest Indus River
Civilizations
Harappan India
Centered along the Indus River in
NW India
Similar to Mesopotamia and Nile
cultures
Agricultural economy
Aryan arrival
Came from Central Asia
Arrived ca 1500-1000 BCE
Vedic Age, 1200-600 BCE:\
Epic stories of Varuna, the mighty
god, and Indra, the warrior god
Connected with veneration of the
god Shiva
Invasion of Alexander, 326 BCE
Hinduism
Vedic Age gave rise to
Hinduism
Upanishads—philosophical
speculations
Maya
Transmigration of Souls
Karma
Caste System
Hindu Castes
Brahmins: Profs and priests
Kshatriyas: Military leaders and
politicians
Vaishyas: Farmers, landlords,
businessmen
Sudras: Peasants, servants, laborers
Untouchables (Dalit): Workers in
polluting jobs
(Officially outlawed in 1949)
Buddhism
Gautama Buddha (563 BCE-483 BCE)
“middle way”
Restored the ethical content to Karma
The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an
inherent part of existence; that the origin of
suffering is ignorance and the main symptoms
of that ignorance are attachment and craving;
that attachment and craving can be ceased;
and that following the Noble Eightfold Path will
lead to the cessation of attachment and craving
and therefore suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding,
right thought, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and
right concentration.
Spread under King Asoka (ca. 250 BCE);
virtually unknown in India by 1200.
Theravada (South East Asia) and Mahayana
Buddhism (China and Japan)
Mauryan Empire
First Indian dynasty to control India
Chandragupta Maurya drove out
Greeks
Grandson, Ashoka, consolidated
control (r. 269-232)
Buddhist convert
Edicts of Ashoka
India fell into disunity and
regionalism
Ashoka India (3C BC)
Gupta India
320-550 CE in northern India
Less militaristic than Mauryan state
Golden Age
Helped spread a uniform law code
Hinduism crystalized during this
time
Aryabhata—Archimedes of India
Indian Government
Did not develop the traditions of
China,or the inquiry of Greece and
Rome
Altered between regional and
national unity
Not particularly elaborate systems
Local villages the key to social
cohesion
Coming of Muslim
Rulers
Babur the Tiger (1526)—subordinated
Hindu chieftains to his rule.
Mughal Dynasty controlled India until
British Imperialists seize power.
Mughal Dynasty under Akbar (15561605) brings order and stability to Hindu
Country
Din Ilahi
Akbar’s successors squander wealth
and attempt to impose Sharia on Hindu
population.
Akbar the the Moghul
Conqueror of India (15561605)
The Spread of the
Mughal Empire
Contemporary India
The Taj Mahal built by
Shah Jahan in the 17C
Brahma: The Creator
Lord Krishna or Vishnu: The
Preserver
Lord Shiva: The Destroyer
“Twining of the Creeper”
from the Kamasutra
Image of Buddha from 13C