The history of ancient india

1. The history of ancient india By: Amanda Stuart and Tanvi Patel

2. The Indian Subcontinent • Monsoon: seasonal wind that carries large amounts of moisture • Western Coast and Ganges Basin receive large amounts of the rainfall • Indus Valley is a more arid region that depends on extensive irrigation • Agricultural Staples: • Rice is grown in the Ganges Delta • Wheat, Barley, and Millett are grown elsewhere • Ocean Mariners adapted to the usage of the monsoon winds to propel their ships • Persian Gulf, Southern Coast of Arabia, East Africa, Indochina and Indonesia

3. The Vedic Age 1500-500 B.C.E • Characteristics of the Indian civilization are believed to be originated form the Indus Valley but this has not been proven yet due to the fact that the language of the Indus Valley has not been deciphered yet • Vedas: The religious texts that are the main source of information about the period • Indo-European nomadic warriors migrated to the subcontinent in 1500 BCE • In the arid northwest irrigation was heavily relied on as well as herds of cattle and gardening

4. Family Structure and Technologies • Patriarchal • Father dominated the family and the king ruled the tribe • Around 1000 BCE nomadic groups began to push east into the Ganges Plain • Ganges Plain was fertile due to the annual monsoon • Iron tools, plows pulled by oxen

5. Development of Classes • Bitter rivalry between the light-skinned Indo-European Aryas and the dark-skinned Dravidian Dasas • Indo-European languages spoken dominantly in northern India today and Dravidian language prevails in the south • Varna: “Color” was the first indicator of class • 4 Classes: • Bhramin- priests and scholars • Kshatriya- warriors and officials • Vaishya- merchants, artisans, and landowners • Shudras- Peasants and laborers

6. Development of Classes • Shudra’s were originally reserved for Dasas; the term “Dasa” came to mean slave • 5th group was created: “Untouchables” • Untouchables- excluded from the class system and avoided due to their demeaning or polluting work (Ex: leather tanning) • Jati: birth groups or castes • Each Jati had proper occupations, duties, and rituals • Married within the group, lived with members of the group, and ate with members of the group

7. Religion • Atman: Immortal essence or “breath” (soul) • Karma: Deeds of the atman in its previous incarnations • Reincarnation: based on the deeds in your current life, your atman will either be promoted or demoted to a higher or lower class/life form in your next life • Dominant deities were male and were associated with the heavens • Sacrifice was an essential ritual controlled by the Brahmin priests • Rig Veda: collection of more than a thousand poetic hymns • Brahmanas: detailed descriptions of rituals and sacrifices

8. Religion & Women • Hypothesized that the Brahmin priests opposed the introduction of writing • Writing didn’t become widespread in India until the Gupta period • Women studied sacred lore, composed religious hymns, and participated in sacrificial rituals • Opportunity to own property • Married in the middle or late teens • People were able to upgrade their status by continuing to the next highest class

9. Challenges to the Old order: Jainism and buddhism • Moksha: distancing oneself from desire for the things of this world • Originated from people who fled to the jungles to escape the constraints of the class systems • Jainism: emphasizes the holiness of the life-force that animates from all living creatures; followers practiced strict non-violence • Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BCE) also known as Buddha/Enlightened One • 4 Nobel Truths: • Life is suffering • Suffering rises from desire • The solution to suffering lies in curbing desire • Desire can be curbed if a person follows the “Eightfold Path”

10. Buddhism • Centered on the individual • Living one’s life in moderation in order to minimize suffering • Nirvana: Release from the cycle of reincarnation and achievement of a state of perpetual tranquility • Mahayana: focuses on reverence for Buddha; people who have “postponed nirvana” to help other attain enlightment • Theravada: “Way of the Elders”; downplays the importance of the gods and emphasizes the individuals search of enlightment

11. Rise of Hinduism • The foundation of Hinduism is the Vedic religion of the Arya tribes of northern India • Emphasis on intense devotion to the deity • Prominence of fertility rituals and symbolism • Elements of Buddhism • Vishnu: the preserver; helps devotees in times of need • Appeared in various incarnations of himself: Ram, Krishna, and Buddha • Shiva: represents creation and destruction • Devi: mother goddess who promotes fertility and procreation; lets loose torrent of violence and destruction (in the form of Kali or Durga)

12. Hinduism • A worshippers devotion to one god or goddess doesn't entail denial of other deities • Ultimately all are seen as manifestations of a single divine force (underlying unity) • Temples are a place of worship that range from village shrines to magnificent stone edifices • Puja: service to a diety • Pilgrimage to famous shrines and attendance to festivals offered opportunities to show devotion (EX: Ganges River)

13. Hinduism • Buddhism was driven from its place of origin but it maintains deep roots in Central, East, and Southeast Asia • Hinduism responded to the needs of the people and featured deities that people could establish a direct connection with • Buddhism denied the importance of gods and expected individuals to find their own path to enlightenment which demanded too much of the ordinary individuals

14. The Mauryan Empire 324-184 B.C.E • Mauryan Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya and was India’s first centralized empire • Only under 2 other circumstances was India under the control of a single government • Taxes, Coinage, and Large Imperial Army (infantry, cavalry, chariot, and elephant divisions) • Government was responsible for features of urban life (i.e. manufacturing, trade, sales, taxes, welfare of foreigners, and the registration of births and deaths) • Ashoka: engaged in military campaigns that extended the boundaries of the empire; converted to Buddhism and preached non-violence, moderation, and religious tolerance

15. Commerce and culture in an era of political fragmentation • Mauryan Empire collapsed from attacks from the northwest in 184 BCE after the death of Ashoka • A series of foreign powers dominated the Indus Valley and extended their influence east and south • Greco-Bactrian • Kushans • Shakas • Economic, Cultural, and intellectual development • Heart of international land and sea trade routes that linked China, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and the Mediterranean

16. Commerce and Culture • Mahabharata: tells a story of two cousins (Pandavas and Kauravas) who quarreled over the throne • 8 times the length of the Iliad and The Odyssey combined! • Bhagavad-Gita: “an attractive resolution to the tension in Indian civilization between duty to society and duty to one’s own soul” • Indian doctors had wide knowledge of remedies and were in demand in courts of western and southern Asia • Standardization of Sanskrit as a formal literary language • Tamil kingdoms of Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras were in frequent conflict with each other and experienced periods of decline

17. The Gupta empire 320-550 C.e. • Gupta Empire grew out of the kingdom of Magadha and had been influenced by the Mauryan empire (Ruler of Gupta Empire took the name of the Mauryan king Chandra Gupta) • Title of monarchs was “Great King of Kings” • Methods of raising revenue: • 25% tax on agriculture • Pay to use irrigation network • Monopolies on mining of salt and metals • Specified days of labor annually for subjects of construction • Government was less centralized and less pervasive than the Mauryan Empire

18. Gupta empire • Powerful army (maintained control in taxation) • Governors position was hereditary • Theater-state: the use and development of attractive cultural forms and elaborate public ceremonies to attract and bind subjects to the center and to gain prestige and power • Indian mathematicians developed the concept of zero, Arabic numerals, and system of place value notation

19. Women in the gupta empire • Lost the right to own and inherit property • Not allowed to study or practice sacred rituals/texts • Equivalent to the lowest class • Had to obey first their father, husband, and then finally their sons • Were married at an early age as young as 6 or 7 • Extreme form: cremate herself on her husbands funeral pyre (sati) • Could escape by entering a Buddhist or Jainist religious community

20. Gupta empire • Gupta monarchs were Hindu • Reasserted the importance of the caste system and the influence of Brahmin priests • Era of religious tolerance • Classic form of the Hindu temples evolved • Extensive networks of trade was established • Coined money was the medium of exchange • Exported: Indian cotton cloth, ivory, metalwork, and exotic animals • Imported: Chinese Silk and Indonesian spices • Gupta Empire came under pressure from the Huns and eventually exhausted the imperial treasury which led to the eventual downfall of the empire

21. Gupta Empire • After the Gupta Empire, a brief revival of imperial unity under the rule of HarshaVardhana • After the death of HarshaVardhana, India reverted to its original state of political fragmentation and remained divided until the Islamic invasions