Transcript India hinduism, buddhism, and empires

India
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1500 BC—The Aryans moved into the Indus River
Valley
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Nomadic herders
Mainly herded cattle
The Aryans quickly took the Indus River Valley and
Ganges areas
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Aryan tribal chief—rajah
Main economic resource—cattle
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the more cows you owned, the wealthier you were
Cattle “rustling” became an issue that led to war between the
different tribes
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The Aryans began to settle in the Indus River
valley and started to farm
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Some grew crops
Others continued to herd cattle on the rich plains—
provided meat, milk, and hides
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The Aryans eventually considered their herds
so important that they placed a ban on eating
meat
The people became strict vegetarians
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They ate cucumbers, bananas, barley, etc.
This “no meat” policy is a major principle in
Hinduism today
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Aryan Society and Culture
Men dominated Aryan society
Women had no authority
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The Aryans spoke Sanskrit, but had no written
language
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Women could remarry if their husband had died
The warriors and herders used hymns to tell their
history
After settling, the Aryans developed a written
language based on Sanskrit
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Once they had writing, the Aryan Priests collected the
old poems, legends, and hymns into a volume of 4
holy books—the Vedas
The Vedas became the basis for Aryan religion
The oldest of the 4 books is the Rig Veda—
considered the oldest religious text still in use
Part of the Vedas
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Aryan society was divided into 4 main social
classes called the varnas:
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1.) Warriors (Kshatriyas)
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2.) Priests (Brahman)
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Most honored class
Studied the Vedas
3.) Merchants, artisans, farmers (Vaisyas)
4.) Unskilled workers and servants (Sudras)
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The Aryans made the class system even more
rigid in 500 BC
The varnas were further divided into groups
called jati
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Jati were based on people’s occupations
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Shoemakers
Potters
Farmers
Metal workers
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Jati had their own rules for diet, marriage, and
social customs
Different jati groups could not socialize with
each other
Once born into a jati, one would remain in that
group for life
The system of varnas and jati evolved into the
caste system
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in the caste system, you had to stay in the group in
which you were born—your ranking in society
could not change
The lowest group in the cast system were the
pariahs (untouchables)—they lived outside the
city walls
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The Aryans wrote 2
important epics
1.) Mahabharata
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Epic poem—100,000
verses
Collection of writings
from different authors
Discusses Aryan religion
and philosophy
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2.) Ramayana
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24,000 verses
Tells of an ideal king—
Rama—and his faithful
wife—Sita
It is a story about good
and evil
Good prevails over evil
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Aryan Religion
Aryans were polytheists—believed in lots of gods
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Agni—god of fire
Indra—god of thunder and war
Usha—goddess of dawn
The Aryans’ religion evolved into Hinduism
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Hinduism is based on the many beliefs found in the Vedas
and the Indian Epics
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Many Aryans became tired of the ritual in the
Vedas and began developing new religious
ideas
These new ideas were written in the
Upanishads
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Upanishads tell of a universal spirit in all living
things
Hindus believed all animals had souls—they
banned the killing of any animal
Hindus believe all souls are part of one eternal
spirit—Brahman Nerguna
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The Upanishads
encouraged the Hindus
to fast and participate in
yoga (prayer)
Hindus believe in
reincarnation—the
soul is reborn after
death
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The soul may have
many lifetimes before its
final joining with
Brahman Nerguna
The cycle of
reincarnation is
determined by one’s
karma—how one lived
his/her life determines
what the soul will be
reborn into
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If one lived a just life,
the soul may be reborn
into a higher caste
If one did not live a just
life, the soul may be
reborn into a snake or
insect
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Hindus also practice
ahimsa—non-violence
toward all living
creatures
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All living creatures are to be
protected
Ultimate aim of all
Hindus—moksha—the
release from all pain and
suffering
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One reaching moksha has
ended the cycle of
reincarnation and has become
one with Brahman Nerguna
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To achieve moksha, one
must participate in:”
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Prayer
Religious ritual
Strict self denial
Reject all worldly
possessions
Development of Buddhism
► 500
BC—religious life in India saw a change
► Hindus were becoming unhappy with the
rigid rituals of Hinduism
► The people wanted a more spiritual faith
► Many left their villages to search for
answers in the countryside
India
► The
founded of the Buddhist faith was a
Kshatriyas Prince—Siddharta Gautama
► 566
BC—Gautama had a life changing
experience—his driver took him through the
poor part of the city
 he saw, for the first time, pain, suffering, and
death
► He
vowed to find why people suffered and a
way to end people’s suffering
► He left his princely lifestyle, his wife, and
newborn child to wander the countryside
looking for answers
► Gautama’s
journey to search for answers
is called the Great Renunciation
► He spent 7 years on the Great
Renunciation
► During the 7 years, he lived as a hermit
and beggar
► Legend says that the answers came to
Gautama while he was meditating under a
tree
► He began preaching his ideas and gained
lots of followers—his followers called him
Buddha—the “enlightened one
Gautama Meditating
►Buddha’s
ideas were set
down in the Four Noble
Truths and the Eight
Fold Path
► Four
Noble Truths
► 1.) All people suffer
and know sorry
► 2.) People suffer
because their desires
bind them to the cycle
of reincarnation
► 3.) To end suffering,
one must end desire
► 4.) To end desire,
follow the Eight Fold
Path
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Eight Fold Path
1.) Know the Truth
2.) Resist Evil
3.) Say nothing to hurt
others
4.) Respect Life
5.) Work for the good of
others
6.) Free minds from evil
7.) Control your thoughts
8.) Practice meditation
► If
one followed the Eight Fold Path and
avoided extremes, one would reach
Nirvana—freedom from the cycle of
reincarnation
► Once reaching Nirvana, a person has
become one with the universe
► Buddhism does not believe in the Hindu
caste system—anyone can reach
enlightenment regardless of class
Path to Nirvana
► Buddha
preached his ideas for 45 years,
until his death
► He gained lots of followers who continued
to preach after Buddha’s death
► Buddhist monks took the religion out of
India into different parts of Asia
China
Korea
Japan
Malaysia
Siam
Indonesia
► Buddhism’s
spread into Asia has made
the religion one of the most dominant
in Asia today
► As the religion spread, the followers began
to differ over Buddha’s role, causing 2 forms
of Buddhism to develop
2 Forms of Buddhism
► 1.)
Theravada
► Found in South Asia
► Follow the original
teachings
► See Buddha as a
teacher
► 2.)
Mahayana
► Worships Buddha as a
savior and god
Indian Empires
 After
500 BC, strong kingdoms will
dominate South Asia and establish
some very powerful empires
– Mauryan Empire
– Gupta Empire
1.) Mauryan Empire
 321 BC—Chandragupta Maurya overthrew
a powerful kingdom in India (the Magadha
Kingdom) and created the Mauryan
Empire—located in Northern and Central
India
 His empire lasted until 184 BC
 Maurya used his powerful military to
maintain control
 He also used spies to watch over his
enemies
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Mauryan Empire
 Chandragupta
Maurya’s grandson—
Asoka—helped the Mauryan empire
to grow and helped spread Buddhism
throughout Asia
 268 BC—he became emperor
 He quickly expanded the empire by
conquering neighboring kingdoms
 He controlled 2/3 of India
Asoka
 Asoka
experienced a transformation
similar to Buddha’s
 Legend says Asoka had never been
to the battlefield after his army had
taken an area
– One day, he decided to visit after a
battle and was horrified by what he say
– He vowed never to rule by force again
– He converted to Buddhism and became
a man of peace
 Asoka
created laws based on
Buddha’s teachings
 His laws were known as the Rock
Edicts
 He built free hospitals for the people
 He built veterinary clinics for animals
 He constructed roads in the empire
 He sent out many missionaries to
spread the ideas of Buddhism
 232
BC—Asoka died and the empire
slid into decline
 The new leaders heavily taxed the
people
 184 BC—Mauryan Emperor was
murdered
 Northern India split into separate
kingdoms
2.) Gupta Empire
500 years after the end of the
Mauryan Empire fell, another
powerful empire emerged in India—
Gupta Empire
 AD 310—Chandragupta I started
the Gupta Empire
 His empire ruled Northern Indian for
200 years
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Gupta Empire
 Gupta
Empire was Hindu
 Gupta leaders encouraged the people
to learn from the Upanishads
 The Gupta Dynasty has been called
India’s Golden Age
– The arts and sciences flourished
 Chandragupta
II (375-415)
 Gupta Empire reached its height
under Chandragupta II
 He reduced taxes
 Gave the people more freedom
 Education and learning became
important
 Developed a new number—the Zero
(0)
 Created new number symbols—1-9
(Arabic Numerals)
 Gupta
scientists understood the
Earth was round
 They had a vague knowledge of
gravity
 Doctors could set broken bones
 Doctors performed simple operations
with newly developed medical tools
 AD
415—Chandragupta II died and
empire began falling apart
 The government became weak and
corrupt
 Outsiders began invading the empire
 Ad 600s—the empire had
disappeared
 Northern India was divided into small
kingdoms