On a mid-termGeographic features:• How shaped human settle

within the continent• btwn continent and

elsewhere?• bodies of water surrounding Name:• major state/empire in 3

areas• distinguishing featureKnow:• 3 major religions in

continent when Europeans hit in 1500

Faith and Society in the Arabian Peninsula, and beyondHad been:

• polytheistic• religious practice related to trade and commerce• reinforced a social/economic hierarchy

anthropomorphic view

• Islam an affront in each case

‘Seal of the prophets’ the Ka’aba

• Islam as culmination and correction of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity

• inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts• surrender, submission to the will of God

The Five Pillars of Islam

1. No god but Allah; Muhammad is His prophet2. Daily prayer3. Fasting during Ramadan4. Charity5. Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj)

Jihad“struggle”

• against vice• against ignorance of Islam Islamic Law:

sharia“holy war” based on: Quran

hadith logic ritual law related to all areas of human

activity

Masjid Al-Haram • can hold approximately 900,000 people inside• another 1,200,000 can be in the outside construction

area

• the greater area of the masjid can hold 4,000,000 people during Hajj season

• the current building project (pictured above) is expected to be completed in 2020

The expansion of Islam, 632-733 ceThe Caliph• no clear to successor identified• Abu Bakr chosen to lead as Caliph• war against those who abandon faith

Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE)ShiaThe Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE)SunniAbu al-AbbasjizyaDar al-Islam

Changing Status of Women• complex, but overall• Quran improved status of women• outlawed female infanticide• legally, women had rights and privileges (for

example to divorce her husband) – but those rights might be difficult to pursue

• yet, religion exists against a cultural backdrop • patrilineal descent• polygamy permitted (not inherently bad)• FGC permitted• veil adopted

• these are not ‘Islamic’ practices – some adopted from Christian communities…

Early societies in South Asia: Harappan society and its neighbors, ca. 2600 B.C.E.

National Museum of India, Delhi est. 1949

Only in India?

The South Asian sub-continent: rich, diverse, and ever-challenging (just don’t call it India)

Geography: cultures of region

history of regioncontact

• overland• Indian Ocean

• by 1300, well-established trade from Asia to Persian Gulf, through the Red Sea, Mediterranean

Religion and Culture – syncretic tradition

Hindu faith• shruti - links to Vedic teaching & oldest Dravidian

cultureupanishads (sitting in front of)

• smirti - popular based on composition of epics from older oral traditions

• Mahabharata• Ramayana• Vishnu and the Bhagavad Gita “Song of the Lord”

c. 400 CE

6C BCE reformations• Jainism – based on upanishads concern for all living

beings• Buddhism – teachings of Siddhartha Gautama 7C CE • Islam and then later, Sikhism

Varnas (class) Rig Veda 10.90

PurushaMouth brahmins

Arms kshatryas (warriors)

Thighs vaishya (commoners)

twice born__________________________________

once born

Feet shudras (servants)

Jati (birth) caste – relative purity

Becoming a caste society• evidence of varnas in Rigvega hymns

c.1000BCE

• dharmashatra describes birth groups or jatis

→also exist clans that trace to common ancestor

→sreni or guilds denote religious or commercial

group →janapadas denotes connections based on

place or community [literally where clans placed their feet]

results in 1000s of varna

Ashramas: stages of life only twice born ♂ need applyhmm, so sacred power not

inherent in all …

Student brahmacharya♀ married

Householder grihastha

Forest dweller vanaprastha

Renouncer sannyasa

** see the movie Fire (dir. Deepa Mehta)

Shiva, Chola period

Tat tvam asi

Overall of note: ** do this for the mid-term **The geography, topography of the society:

• how has that impacted its development and structure, its homogeneity or multi-ethnicity

• how has that shaped relations between it and other groups

The overall organization of the society: • model of leadership• social structure• what positions/roles are valued in society

गणे�श

The philosophic/spiritual principles of the society:unique

similarities