Transcript Indian Imperial Expansion and Collapse

Classical Imperial India:
Expansion & Collapse
A. The Mauryan Empire (324 B.C.E.–184 B.C.E.)
1. Agricultural & iron production
2. Mauryan Empire founded by
Chandragupta
-Kautilya: a Machiavellian Brahmin &
advisor
-wrote book of political statecraft
-network of spies
3. Imperial government:
-large army
-25% percent tax on all goods
5. most famous Mauryan emperor:
Ashoka (r. 269–232 B.C.E.)
- shaken by carnage in brutal war
& converted to Buddhism
- inscribed Buddhist policies
throughout empire on rocks &
pillars ( “rock edicts”)
- built extensive roads
B. Commerce & Culture
1. The Mauryan empire collapsed
in 184 B.C.E. due to: political
fragmentation
2. Economic development:
creation of guilds & merchants
3. Cultural developments: creation
of epic Indian literature:
– Ramayana
– Bhagavad Gita
C. The Gupta Empire (320 C.E.–550 C.E.)
1. Gupta Empire conquered north & central India,
lead by Chandra Gupta II
-iron deposits, state monopolies, 25%
agricultural tax
2. army controlled core of empire, but provincial
administration left to governors (hereditary)
3. lack of military force created “theater-state”
- redistributing wealth from trade & elaborate
ceremonies
4. Achievements:
- math & astronomy
- invented our “Arabic” numerals
- concept of “zero”
- Chinese monk Faxian’s travel journal
through Gupta India
5. Women’s rights: NO inheritance or
property… treated like lowest varna
- married very young
- widow may be required to burn herself
on her husband’s funeral pyre (sati)
6. dominated by Hinduism & classic form of Hindu temples
7. Gupta India linked by extensive trade networks
8. 550 C.E Gupta empire collapsed under rule of local princes
& financial burden of defense against HUNS
Extensive Trade: 4th c.
Out of India:
cotton,
rice,
wheat, &
SPICES
Into India:
horses,
gold,
ivory,
silk, &
SPICES
spices
gold & ivory
500 healing
plants identified
1000 diseases
classified
Printed
medicinal guides
Plastic
Surgery
Gupta
Achievements
Kalidasa
Literature
Medicine
Inoculations
C-sections
performed
Decimal
System
Gupta
India
Mathematics
Concept
of Zero
PI = 3.1416
Solar
Calendar
Astronomy
The earth
is round
ROMANS, HAN & GUPTA
Economic
Social
Political
South East Asia 50-1025 C.E.
A. Geography and Resources
1. Southeast Asia has three
geographical zones:
(1) the Indochina mainland,
(2) the Malay Peninsula, and (3)
the islands.
Area influenced by China and India
2. Natural resources : fertile
agricultural lands, dependable
monsoon rains, and
several growing seasons a year.
Supports large dense population
B. Early Civilization
1. Early inhabitants practiced swidden
(slash and burn) agriculture and
domesticated important crops
and animals, including rice,
soybeans, sugar cane,
chickens, and pigs.
2. Southeast Asia received waves of
migrations of Malay peoples from
southern China.
C. Migration
1. Malay migrations
continued into the Pacific
Islands and into the Indian
Ocean.
2. Early Malay groups in
Southeast Asia lived in small
villages, manufactured
bronze tools, and were
organized in small political
units.
3. The first large states S.E.
Asia emerged due to strategic
location for trade between
Asia and India.
Trade brought business and
Hindu/Buddhist culture.
4. Funan: First major state to
appear.
C. Srivijayan Kingdom
1. Located on Sumatra
dominated new southern trade
route through modern Malaysia
and Indonesia.
2. Political system: Unites four
different ecological zones and
their local rulers under the
authority of the Srivijayan king.
Four zones were:
(1) Core of Musi River,
(2) the upland Sumatran interior
(3) river ports
(4) Fertile rice lands of central Java.
3. Kings kept control through a
combination of military power,
diplomacy, control of trade, and
the techniques of the
theater-state.
Kings though to have magical
powers
Patronized monasteries and
schools.
4. Indian culture influenced
Srivijayan concepts of kingship and
government.
Hinduism/ Buddhist
became the dominant
faiths of the region.
Srivijayans borrowed from
Indian civilization and adapted
ideas to their own culture and
needs.
D. Decline
5. Changes in trade routes
led to the decline of
Srivijaya in the eleventh
century. The capital was
destroyed in 1025 by the
Chola kingdom.