Transcript Panchantantra MAIN IDEA: INDIAN LITERATURE

CHAPTER 6: EARLY INDIA
Section 1: Geography and Early India
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India is a subcontinent- a large landmass
that is smaller than a continent
Separated from the rest of Asia by the
mountains
Fill in the chart provided as we discuss India’s
geography instead of taking T-chart notes.
Deccan Plateau
Located b/w 2 mountain ranges
 Elevated and flat area of land
 Dry with few rivers
 Soil is good for cotton, but not for other
crops.
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Eastern and Western Ghats
Mountain chains near the coasts of India
 Deccan Plateau sits in b/w the two chains
 Wet climate
 Rivers rarely flood here and are
dangerous for travel
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Ganges River
Flows across northern India
 Carries sediment to plains, making it very
fertile
 Dangerous flooding can occur and
destroy crops
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Himalaya Mountains
Located on India’s northern border
 Mount Everest is part of this chain
 Water from glaciers on the mountains
feed many rivers
 Earthquakes and landslides are common
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Hindu Kush Mountains
Form the border b/w India and
Afghanistan
 Not as tall as Himalayas
 Many parts are unliveable
 Has the Khyber Pass, which connects Asia
to India. Was used as trade route as well
as for invasion.
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Indus River
Begins in the Himalayas
 Gets water from melting snow from
Hindu Kush mountains
 Flows through Pakistan and empties into
Arabian Sea
 Carries sediment and makes soil fertile.
 Has some of the best farmland in the
world
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Thar Desert
Located in northern India
 Mostly sand and stone
 Has little plant and animal life
 Very hot
 Dust storms are common here
 No rivers
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Climate
Mostly hot and humid
 Heavily affected by monsoons- wind
patterns that cause wet and dry seasons
 Summer- monsoons bring heavy rains
from off the ocean
 Winter- warm and very dry as monsoon
winds blow from off the mountains
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Harappan Civilization
Began in Indus river valley in 3000 BC and
lasted until 1500 BC
 Grew as farming and irrigation improved
 Two major early cities: Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
 Houses had indoor plumbing
 Made pottery, jewelry, ivory objects, and
cotton clothing
 Developed India’s first writing system, but
can’t be translated
 No one knows why this civilization ended!
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Aryan Migration and Government
Lived in central Asia where they raised
and herded animals
 Farmed and raised cattle Lived in small
communities with family ties
 Each village was governed by a raja
 Rajas often went to war with each other
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Aryan Language
Developed Sanskrit- the language of
ancient India
 Was only a spoken language at first, but
was eventually written down.
 Is no longer spoken today, but is the root
of South Asian languages
 Their poems and hymns were put in the
Vedas, which were first memorized then
written down
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Section 2: Origins of Hinduism
Aryan society became complex
 Society divided into groups mostly
organized by people’s jobs
 There were different rules for each group
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SOCIAL CLASSES (Varnas) OF
INDIAN SOCIETY
Brahmins (priests)
Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors)
Vaisyas (farmers, craftspeople,
traders)
Sudras (laborers and nonAryans)
Pariahs (Untouchables)
SOCIETY IN ANCIENT INDIA
Aryans helped develop the caste system:
social groups that people are born into
and mostly likely cannot change
 Castes had sutras, or rules for how you
could live (marriage, types of jobs, etc.)
 Could not socialize with people from
other castes
 Sets the rules for everyone’s behavior and
helped Aryans stay in control
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Brahmanism
Aryan religion was based on the Vedas,
which includes hymns to the gods
 Aryan Brahmins wrote down their
thoughts about the Vedas in collections
called the Vedic texts
 The 1st two describe religious and secret
rituals
 The 3rd collection is called the Upanishads
 Hinduism developed from this religion
and a combination of other cultural ideas
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Hinduism
Polytheistc
 Each god is part of the universal spirit
called Brahman
 Everyone has a soul, or atman, inside
them
 Your soul will eventually join with
Brahman, which could take several
lifetimes
 This process of rebirth is called
reincarnation
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Hinduism and the Caste System
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When you are reborn, you take on a new physical
form
Your form depends upon your karma, the effects
that good or bad actions have on a person’s soul
People with good karma are born into higher
castes and will eventually bring salvation, or
moksha, freedom from rebirth
Each person had a dharma, a set of spiritual duties
that you must perform in your caste
Hinduism helped keep the caste system alive
because you had to be happy with your station!
Groups React to Hinduism
Some Indians did not agree with
Hinduism
 So they looked for other religious ideas
 Two groups formed: the Jains and the
Sikhs
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Jainism
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Based on the teachings of Mahavira who lived around
599 BC
He thought Hinduism focused too much on rituals
His teachings are based on 4 principles: injure no
person, tell the truth, do not steal, and own no
property
Practice nonviolence, avoidance of violent actions
Believe that everything is alive and part of the rebirth
cycle
Won’t harm humans, animals, or plants
Are vegetarians
Sikhism
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Based on the teachings of Guru Nanak who lived in
AD 1400
Blended Hindu ideas with Islam and other religions
Monotheistic- believe in one God who has no
physical form
Goal is to be reunited with God after death
You have to meditate to find spiritual enlightenment
Believe in reincarnation
Teaches that people should live truthfully and treat
everyone equally
Pray several times a day and must wear 5 certain
items every day and a turban
Buddhism
600 BC: some Indians began to question
Hindu beliefs and wanted a more spiritual
religion
 Founded by Siddhartha Gautama
 Why did people suffer and how could
their suffering be cured?
 Left family and lived as a hermit and
would meditate to find the answer
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Buddhism (cont)
Became known as the “Enlightened One”
or Buddha
 Spent the rest of his life wandering and
telling people what he learned
 Believed the everyday world was just an
illusion
 The only way to find truth was to give up
all desires, then you would reach nirvana
(a state of wisdom)
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4 NOBLE TRUTHS
Life is full of suffering
 People suffer b/c of desire
 The way to end suffering is to stop desire
 The only way to stop desire is to follow
the Eightfold Path
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THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
Know the Noble Truths
 Give up worldly things and don’t harm
others
 Tell the truth, don’t gossip
 Don’t commit evil acts
 Do rewarding work
 Work for good and oppose evil
 Keep your senses under control
 Practice meditation
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Buddhism (cont)
Did not believe in caste system
 Believed in reincarnation, but to stop
being born into a new life, you had to
follow the Eightfold Path
 Untouchables and lower class Indians
liked Buddha’s ideas
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Buddhism in SE Asia
Buddhism split into 2 groups:
 Theravada: believed Buddha was a great
teacher, not a god
 Adopted in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and
popular in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Laos
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Mahayana Buddhism
Believed Buddha is a god who came to
save people
 Believed Eight Fold Path was too difficult
to follow in real life
 Believed people go to a heaven and then
can follow the Eightfold Path to reach
nirvana
 Spread into China, Korea, and Japan
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Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet
Mixed with the traditional religion with
Hinduism
 Lamas (Buddhist leaders) lead the
government called theocracy
 Dalai Lama: leads the gov’t
 Panchen Lama: leads the religion
 There are many Buddhists throughout
Asia, but few live in India (Hinduism is still
the dominant religion there)
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PRE-AP WIO
We will be going to the computer lab later on
to make Mixbooks! Mixbooks are digital
scrapbooks where we can display information
to compare and contrast Hinduism and
Buddhism.
www.mixbook.com
Before we can do that though, we have to
organize our information. Use your notes to
fill out the worksheet that you will use to
make your Mixbook.
REG WIO
We will be making a Brochure of India!
Unit 2- Ch 6- India Travel Brochure
RUBRIC.doc
Bell Work
HW: NONE!
TODAY’S TITLE: #46 INDIAN
CONTRIBUTIONS
RAP: Read the Primary Source box on page
214 and answer the DBQ question: “What
does Krishna believe about life after death?”
SEE IF YOU CAN GUESS THE
MAIN IDEA!!
The Vedas of India- ancient hymns and
prayers for religious ceremonies
 Epics- Mahabharata and Ramayana
 Kalidasa wrote poems, plays, love stories,
and comedies like The Cloud Messenger
and Panchantantra
 MAIN IDEA: INDIAN LITERATURE
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WHAT IS THE MAIN IDEA?
Aryabhata was one of the first to use
algebra
 Other mathematicians developed the idea
of zero (0) and the concept of infinity
 Created the symbols of 1-9
 Invented mathematical algorithms (steps
to solve a problem, which computer
programmers use to tell computers what
to do)
 MAIN IDEA: INDIAN MATH!
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KEEP GUESSING: WHAT IS THE
MAIN IDEA?!
Mapped movements of the planets and stars
 Knew the Earth was round and revolved
around the sun
 Understood gravity
 Believed the universe was made up of
particles
 Set broken bones, performed operations and
plastic surgery, and treated illness by trying
to remove the cause of the disease
 MAIN IDEA: INDIAN SCIENCE!
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WIO
Create an advertisement for a product
from India. What kinds of products could
we use based on what we learned today?
You need to have the following:
 Sale Title
 Description of product/sales pitch
 Picture of product
 Price of product
 Contact information