Transcript The Indus River Valley

Ancient Indian Empires
Chapter 3
Sections 4 & 5
Indian Kingdoms
• By the early 500’s
B.C., 16 kingdoms
existed in northern
India alone
– Most powerful:
Magadha until 320 B.C.
Mauryan Empire
• Established by
Chandragupta Maurya
– Built a grand palace at
Pataliputra on the Ganges
River
– Raised an army of 600,000
soldiers
• Equipped with chariots and
elephants
– Conquered all of NW India
– Standardized weights for the
empire
– Established standards for
physicians
Chandragupta Maurya
• Had many enemies
– Slept in a different room
each night for fear of
being assassinated
• Finally gave up the
throne in 300 B.C.
Asoka
• Chandragupta’s grandson
– Came to power in 270 B.C.
• Even better than gramps
– Greatly enlarged the empire
• 1st imperial dynasty to hold
nearly all of India
• Became sickened from all the
bloody battles
– Ordered an end to killing and
became a Buddhist
– Greatly spread the Buddhist
faith in India and other
countries
Asoka
• Read quote on p. 67
– What does it mean?
• Worked to improve living
conditions:
– Planted trees on roads for
shade
– Dug wells and created rest
houses
– Build animal hospitals and
created laws to punish
those who were cruel to
animals
End of the Mauryans
• Asoka died in 232
B.C.
– Sons battled for control
of the throne
– Invaders attacked from
the north and the east
• Last Mauryan emperor
was killed by his own
general in 184 B.C.
The Gupta Rulers
• Chandra Gupta I founded the
Gupta Empire
– Expanded territory through
conquest and intermarriage
– See map on p. 68
• Favored Hinduism (dominant
religion)
– Accepted Buddhism
• Chandragupta II reigned
from A.D. 374-415
– Golden Age: much prosperity
and great progress in the arts
End of the Guptas
• Invaders from central
Asia crossed into India
in the late A.D. 400s
– Last great Gupta king,
Skanda Gupta, used all
resources to defend
the empire
• Gupta rule ended by
A.D. 550
Ancient Indian Life and Culture
• Economy
– The majority of people
barely got by
– Most people made a living
through farming
– Many traded with foreign
countries
• Silk, wool, ivory, and spices
• Society
– Hindu customs gave
women some protections
• Women did not have the
same rights as men
Society
• Hindu Laws of Manu
– Written between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D.
• Girls required to obey fathers/husbands
• Widows expected to obey their sons
• Prohibited women from owning property or studying sacred
writings, such as the Vedas
• Men allowed more than one wife (polygyny)
• Suttee: widows would commit suicide by throwing themselves on
top of their husbands’ flaming funeral pyres
– Usually required by upper castes
Suttee
Suttee
Cultural Achievements
• Stories
– Panchatantra, “Five Books”
• Fables with morals
• Plays
– Always ended happily
• Architecture
– Shrines, temples, and pillars
• Education
– Nalanda: Famous Buddhist
university
• Students attended for free
Cultural Achievements
• Math
– Aryabhata: one of the first to use
algebra and solve quadratic
equations
• Astronomy
– Predicted eclipses and identified 7
planets
• Medicine
– Very advanced
– Performed bone setting and plastic
surgery
– Practiced inoculation against
smallpox
– Free, clean hospitals in the A.D.
400’s!
Activity
• Imagine you live in ancient India:
– Choose one of the following:
• Option 1: Write a diary entry
describing your feelings about the
inequities for women in the ancient
Indian society.
– Do you agree with it?
– How has it affected your life?
• Option 2: Write a diary entry about
how one of the ancient Indian
achievements has affected your
life.
– How is life easier?
– Has it changed how you perform
your job?
– At least 7 sentences
– 10 pts
Video Clips