India’s Empire & India’s Religions

c. 1000 B.C. - A.D. 500

How was early Indian culture influenced by religion and social structure? How did ideas and events during the Mauryan and Gupta Empires affect India’s

development?

The Four Varnas of Ancient India

• varna = the name given by Aryans in ancient India to a group of people in what was believed to be an ideal social structure of four groups

• The four varnas of ancient India were the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the vaisya, and the sudras. The Brahmins were priests. The Kshatriyas were warrior-administrators. The vaisya were the common folks, such as artisans and farmers. The sudras were in charge of serving the previously mentioned three classes. The fifth group was the untouchables. The untouchables did the things that nobody wanted to do, such as picking up and disposing of dead bodies.

VARNA name given to the four groups in Indian civilization

CASTEa set of rigid categories in ancient India that determined a person’s occupation and economic potential, as well as his

or her position in society, based partly on skin color

BRAHMAN one of the four varnas; priests

YOGA method of training developed by the Hindus that is supposed to lead oneself with Brahman

CHIEF HINDU GODS Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

KARMA determines how someone will be brought back in their “next life”

DHARMA In Hinduism, the divine law that rules karma; it requires all people to do their duty based on their status in society

REINCARNATION “rebirth” belief that the soul / self is reborn after death

Hinduism• the oldest of the world’s major living religions

• has no single founder or founding date

• Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are some of the most famous Hindu gods. They represent respectively, the creative, sustaining, and destructive forces in the universe.

• Major Hindu beliefs are reincarnation, karma, and dharma.

• believe that the universe contains several heavens and hells

• believe in reincarnation (souls are continually reborn) / the form in which one is reborn depends on the good and evil actions preformed in his or her past lives / a soul continues in the cycle of rebirth until release is achieved

• Brahmin - priest, top of varna system

• Brahman - “one divine force”

• Hindu gods - Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva

• varna system - class system, job, $$$, not skin color

• caste system - social structure, job, $$$, relationships, spouse, skin color somewhat considered

the symbol for the sound “om” which is a sound that Hindus commonly chant during prayer, mantras, and rituals

Buddhism• a religious doctrine introduced in northern

India in the sixth century B.C. by Siddhārtha Gautama, known as the Buddha, or “Enlightened One”

• Siddhārtha gave up his royal clothes to begin seeking the true meaning of life.

• These teachings aim to end suffering in the world. Buddhists call this goal Nirvana. They believe that Nirvana can only be achieved by understanding the Four Noble Truths and by following the fourth truth, which states that freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.

• Siddhārtha claimed to be neither god nor angel, simply a man who (unlike them) had awakened to the truth.

• accepted the notion of rebirth, but radicalized it

The dharmachakra is the sacred symbol of Buddhism.

BuddhismREJECTED

1. life of ease

2. self denial

3. caste system

4. gods

ACCEPTED AND/OR TAUGHT

1. suffering is a fact of life

2. physical world is an illusion

3. reincarnation

4. mediation

5. karma

6. 4 Noble Truths

7. Eightfold Path

The Mauryan Empire• founded by Candragupta Maurya

• established political influence in India through a well organized and highly centralized empire

• the king divided his empire into provinces, ruled by governors whom he appointed

• strong central government, large army, secret police

• Candragupta Maurya had a fear of being assassinated so he never slept two nights in a row in the same bed.

• A kind ruler named Aśoka, the grandson of Candragupta Maurya, is considered the greatest ruler in the history of India. (one of his accomplishments was setting up hospitals for both humans and animals)

• The Mauryan Empire began to decline after Aśoka’s death.

The Kushān Empire• prospered from the trade that passed through

their empire between the Mediterranean countries and the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean

• Silk Road - a route between the Roman Empire and China, so called because silk was China’s most valuable product

• culture was shaped by surrounding societies, but maintained a distinctly Indian culture

• was in contact with China, Persia, and the Roman Empire

• adapted the Greek alphabet for their language

• practiced Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism

• developed a calendar based on the sun and the moon

The Empire of the Guptas• created by a local prince named Candra Gupta

• made alliances with other powerful families in the Ganges area

• Candra Gupta’s son, Samudra Gupta, expanded the empire into surrounding areas.

• became the most influential political force in northern India

• actively engaged in trade with China, Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean and encouraged domestic trade in cloth, salt, and iron

• the Gupta rulers managed most of the trade in the empire / they lived in luxury

• pilgrims - a person who travels to a shrine or other holy place

• invasions by nomadic Huns gradually reduced the power of the empire

EMPIRE FACTS / INFO

Mauryanfounded by Chandragupta Maurya /well organized

government / large army and large network of secret police / Buddhist ideals / major trade crossroads

Kushan

used “Silk Road” for trade / Northern India / adapted the Greek alphabet for their language / practiced

Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism / developed a calendar based on the sun and the

moon / culture was shaped by surrounding societies, but maintained a distinctly Indian culture

Guptaeventually became the most influential political force

in northern India / created by Candra Gupta

Indian Literature Accomplishments

• vedas - India’s oldest surviving literature

• the Mahabharata is the longest poem in any written language, consisting of about 90,000 two line stanzas

• The Ramayana is an account of the fictional ruler Rama who is banished from the kingdom and forced to live in the forest. He fights the demon-king of Ceylon, who had kidnapped his wife, Sita.

• both the Mahabharata and the Ramayana contain moral lessons

Indian Architecture• carved stone pillars

• Buddhist stupas (reliquary mounds)

• rock-cut caves

• only a handful of these pillars survive more or less undamaged

• stupas - stylized burial mounds intended to house a relic, some remnant of the Buddha’s body like a lock of hair, a bone fragment, or a tooth

• many stupas that survive today are built around an early Aśokan stupa at their core

• most of the architecture was built of brick and wood

Science, Mathematics, and Technology

• Āryabhata concluded that earth revolves around the sun.

• Indians had charted the stars and worked out that earth was a sphere that rotated on its axis.

• Āryabhata was one of the first scientists known to have used algebra.

• Indian mathematicians introduced the concept of the number zero (0).

• metalworking was highly developed (wootz steel - highly resistant to rust)

Image Sources• http://www.rachelstevenssculptor.com/portfolio_page/nepal-projects/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Om

• http://www.edelo.net/inde/presentation/histoire/empires_maurya_gupta

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushan_Empire

• http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/03/gupta-empire.html

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uihw0hFUXho

• http://www.litkicks.com/WilliamBuck

• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-asia/beginners-guide-asian-culture/buddhist-art-culture/a/the-historical-buddha

• http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2014/02/science-literacy-1-in-4-americans-dont-know-the-earth-orbits-the-sun/