Ancient Indian Civilization

1. Ancient Indian Civilization Chapter 6

2. Environment(Location, Geography and Climate) • India is a subcontinent. • The climate in India is hot and humid during summers and warm and dry in winters. • Around the Indus valley the soil was fertile due to flooding. • To the north lie the Himalayan mountain ranges and in the west are the Hindu Kush mountain ranges. • Monsoons bring annual rains due to the wind patterns.

3. Religion • The Vedas were the religious scriptures. • Hinduism and Jainism were important religions. • Jains believed that in non-violence (Ahimsa), so they do not eat meat and wear masks. • Hindus believed in reincarnation. • Brahmanism came from Aryans. • Hindus believed that everyone had atman or the soul. • The aryan priests performed religious ceremonies like yagya. • They believed in the concept of karma and this was tied to reincarnation. • Hindus believed that the ultimate purpose of the soul was to reunite with the Brahman. • Important Hindu Gods – • Brahma : Creator of the world • Vishnu : Preserver of the world • Shiva : Destroyer

4. Religion • Buddhism was started by Siddhartha Gautama (563 BC to 483 BC). • He wanted to find answers to “Why people suffered and how could they get rid of suffering?” • Buddha said that human suffering comes from 3 things - DESIRE (refer to textbook) • Buddhism is centered around 4 noble truths. (refer to textbook) • Follow the Eightfold Path to attain NIRVANA. (refer to textbook) • Two main branches of Buddhism – Mahayana (Moderates) and Theravada ( Followers of original thinking) • Buddhists believe in Reincarnation but rejected the rituals and ceremonies of Hinduism and caste system. • The missionaries helped to spread the religion to Asia and parts of Europe.

5. Religion • Chandragupta Maurya became a Jain monk. • Asoka adopted Buddhism after the war of Kalingaand built many temples & sent missionaries to other places, which lead to the spread of Buddhism. • Chandragupta ll of Gupta Empire allowed all religions to be practiced in the society. • Buddhist temples are called Viharas.

6. Social (Structure of Society) • The society was divides into 4 castes (varnas) – • Brahmins: People who performed religious ceremonies. • Kshatriyas: The rulers and the warriors. • Vaishyas - The traders, crafts men and farmers. • Shudras – Workers and servants. • People got their caste by birth. • People who did not follow the rules of the society were called untouchables. • Rules of the caste system were very strict.

7. Social • Gupta rulers supported the caste system. • Women’s rights were limited. • Marriages were arranged by parents, were supposed to serve their husbands and widows had even lower social status.

8. Culture(Art and Architecture) • They made seals, pottery items, jewelry, ivory objects and cotton clothing. • Harappans planned their cities - roads were built at 90 degree angles. They had indoor plumbing as well. • Harappan houses had flat roofs. • Harappans built tanks to store water and public wells. • Harappan cities were surrounded by huge walls. • Aryans did not build big cities.

9. Culture • Gupta rulers promoted and built Buddhist temples. • Gupta Art promoted Hinduism. • They carved temples out of mountain sides. • They created paintings and sculptures that illustrated either Hindu or Buddhist teachings. These paintings had images of the deities as well. • They built small temples with flat roofs.

10. Intellectual(Writing, Language, Technical Advances) • Their language was Sanskrit. • The Aryans developed chariots and advanced weapons. • Harappan writing has not yet been deciphered. • Aryan priests wrote hymns, rituals, myths etc. and they were learned and passed on from generation to generation until they developed the writing system. • They had their own system of weights and measures.

11. Intellectual • The military scribes in Asoka’s army wrote battle plans. • Under the Gupta Empire, a university was established at Nalanda, a center for Buddhist learning. • Mauryan army brought the concept of war elephants. • They were experts at metallurgy and created alloys. • They invented the Hindu – Arabic numerals that we use today and number 0.

12. Intellectual • They were experts at astronomy (Aryabhatt). • They practices inoculation , or injecting a person with a small dose of virus to help him/her build up defenses to a disease. • People told poems and stories that teach lessons. (Panchatantra and Jataka Tales) • Three sacred texts of Hindus, written in Sanskrit were Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata and Ramayana. • Kalidasa was a prominent poet. • They could advanced surgeries - like repairing broken bones, remove infected tonsils etc.

13. Political (Government and Laws) • There is no known information about the Harappan political structure or governance model. They had high level of social control. • The Aryans ruled after the Harappans and introduced the concept of kings, called rajas, who were often skilled warriors. They often fought with and against each other. • The Aryans lived in small communities, based on family ties.

14. Economy(Trade and Agriculture) • The Aryans traded with Mesopotamians, Kushites and Egyptians. • Farmers produced surpluses of food, which led to the appearance of towns. • Farming improved because of irrigation systems.

15. Political • Asoka was one of the greatest kings of Ancient India. He expanded his empire, with the help of his huge army to cover almost the whole modern India. • Except under Mauryan rulers and Gupta Rulers, India basically consisted of a lot of small kingdoms.

16. Important Rulers • Chandragupta Maurya (320 B.C to 301 B.C) was the 1st ruler of Ancient India’s 1st dynasty. • Asoka (270 B.C to 233 B.C) was the greatest of Mauryan rulers. • Chandragupta I started the Gupta Empire around 320 A.D. • Chandragupta ll took over as a king in 375 A.D.

17. Important Cities • Harappa • Mohenjodaro • Kalibangan • Dholavira • Lothal

18. Other Information • Asoka built rest houses and wells for public welfare and freed prisoners. • The Hun armies from north took over the Gupta Empire.