Transcript chapter 2 lecture

Ancient India
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Indian Subcontinent
The Emergence of Civilization in
India: Harappan Society
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Geography
Mixture of people
Harappan Civilization: A Fascinating Enigma
 Harappa in the Punjab
 Mohenjo-Daro (City of the Dead) near the mouth of the Indus
Political and Social Structure
 Villages in the Indus valley: 6500 - 7000 B.C.E.
 Harappa a city more than 3 ½ mile in circumference with wall over
40 feet thick
 City life in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
 Government, religion, agriculture and trade
Harappan Culture
 Pottery, sculpture, clay seals
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Ancient Harappan Civilization
Note the growth of cities in river plains.
Mohenjo-Daro
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A computergenerated
reconstruction
has brought a
small area of
Mohenjo-daro
back to life. (Lost
Civilizations by
Austen Atkinson,
p. 179 - 188)
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under
license.
The City of Mohenjo-Daro
Arrival of the Aryans
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Harappan civilization destroyed about 1500 B.C.E.
 Invasion by Aryans
 Social decay
 Epidemic or natural phenomena
The Early Aryans
 Indo-European nomads from Siberia and the steppes of Central
Asia
 Into the Indus valley 1500-1000 B.C.E.
 Use of iron
 A writing system
 Led by a chieftain called a raja (prince) that was later transformed
into kings called maharajas (great princes)
• Prince did not have absolute power
• Required to follow dharma (laws that set behavior standards)
 Arrival of the Persian Empire,
 Arrival of Alexander the Great, 326 B.C.E.
The Mauryan Empire
Chandragupta
Maurya (324-301 B.C.E.)
The Arthasastra, a treatise on politics
Highly centralized and despotic government
•Provinces ruled by governors
•Division of power at lower levels
Caste and Class: Social
Structures in Ancient India
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The Class System
 An issue of color
 Varna (color or caste)– reflected informal division of
labor and rigid social classification for occupation and
status
 Caste taboos
 Jati – kinship group, of a specific caste, living in a
specific area, doing a specific task
 Changes over time
Daily Life and The Economy in
Ancient India
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Family the basic unit of society
Commemorative rites to ancestors
Father-son relationship
Males inherit property
Position of women
 Before the law
 In marriage
 Exceptions
Most Aryans were farmers
 Iron plow
 Differing status of farmers
 Problems farmers faced
Developed trade and manufacturing
The Religious World of Ancient
India: Hinduism
 Indo-European
in origin from the Aryans
 Vedas – four collections of hymns and religious
ceremonies
 Dyaus
 Indra, Varuna, Vishnu
 Use of sacrifice
 Asceticism
 Upanishads – commentaries on the Vedas
The Religious World of Ancient India:
Gods, Goddesses and Reincarnation
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Soul reborn a different form after death and progresses through
several existences on the wheel of life until reaching the final
destination with the Great World Soul, Brahman
Karma – actions in this life; determines one’s rebirth in the next life
 Cosmic scale – Brahmins at the top; in animal kingdom the cow
is at the top
Dharma governs karma
Reincarnation provides compensation for those lower on the ladder of
life
Multitude of gods (330 million?) in Hinduism but only a small
number of primary gods
 Trinity of gods: Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and
Siva the Destroyer
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Buddhism: The Middle Path
Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.E.)
 Born in foothills of the Himalaya Mountains, son of a kshatriya family
 Traveled widely
 Follows some ideas of Hinduism
 Denied the existence of the individual soul
Nirvana (release from the wheel of life)
Bodhi (wisdom)
 Four Noble Truths
 Middle Path (Eightfold Path)
Simpler than Hinduism
Monastic life
 Rejection of division of humanity into castes
 All human beings can aspire to Nirvana as a result of their behavior in this life
Jainism
 Founded by Mahavira, contemporary of Siddhartha
 Doctrine of extreme simplicity; keep no possessions and rely on begging for a
living
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Stupa at Sarnath
The Reign of Asoka and the End
of the Mauryan Empire
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Asoka, A Buddhist Monarch (269-232 B.C.E.)
 After a career as a bloodthirsty conqueror, converted to
Buddhism and ruled benevolently
• Built shelters for travelers
• Sent Buddhist missionaries throughout India
 After 232 B.C.E., the Mauryan Empire declined
• Disunity
• New Kingdoms arose
• Indo-Europeans entered and proclaimed the Kushan
Kingdom
• Reasons for disunity
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The Empire of Asoka
The Exuberant World of Indian
Culture: Literature
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Rig Veda – hymns used in religious ceremonies, second millennium
B.C.E.
 Bramanas and Upinishads and commentaries on the Vedas
Sanskrit language
Mahabharata, 100 B.C.E.
 Describes war of cousins for control of the kingdom
 Interwoven are the legends of the Hindu gods
 Moral confrontation and ethics
 The Bhagavad Gita
• Sermon by legendary figure Krishna
• In taking action, one must be indifferent to success or failure
and consider only the moral rightness of the act itself
Ramayana – triumph of good over evil
Indian Culture: Architecture and
Sculpture
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Pillar
 Asoka used stone columns alongside roads to commemorate the
life of the Buddha and mark pilgrim routes to holy places
Stupa
 Place of devotion meant to house a relic of the Buddha
 Constructed in the form of a burial mound
Rock chamber
 Rooms to house monks and ascetics
 Halls for religious ceremonies
Style
 Embellished with decorations
 Detailed reliefs and freestanding statues
Indian Culture: Science
 Astronomy
 Elements
of earth, air, fire, and water
 Quality of textiles
 Massive stone pillars
Discussion Questions
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What factors influenced the development of India’s caste
system? What role did skin color play in the creation of
caste distinctions?
What challenges did Chandragupta Maurya face in creating
an Indian empire? How successful was he?
What does the Mahabharata tell us about ancient Indian
values and beliefs?