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HinduismIndias #1 religion
The Aryanswere a group of Indo-European people thatmoved from the dry grasslands of western Asia (thesteppes), into what is now India starting about 1700 BCEand captured the land and people of the Indus Valley.
Archaeologytells almost nothing about the Aryans. But
their sacred literature, the Vedas, tells a lot about them.
The Aryans were divided into classes of people. Overtime, they made many rules for how people in theseclasses, orcastes, could interact with one another.
People were born into their caste for life. These casteswere initially determined by varna literally, color. TheAryans were light skinned, and comprised the uppercastes, while the native peoples found in India were darkerskinned, and made up the lowest caste
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Caste System
The upper three
classes
consisted ofAryan people
while the bottom
two were the
local nativeIndian people.
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The Aryans were a group of Indo-European people
that moved from the steppesinto what is now India.
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Untouchables
Some impure people lived in a group
outside this class system. (ie. They were
out-castes.) They were butchers, gravediggers, and trash collectors. Because
they did work that was thought unclean,
they were called untouchables.
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The Caste System social class
system
1. The caste system is the traditional
hereditary social class system that affected
every aspect of their life their job, their
status, who they could marry, and even whothey could talk to.
2. Hindus are born into their caste and could
not get out until their death
3. There was no SOCIAL MOBILITY could
not move up in social class!
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1. The Gods
a. Brahman the Creator
b. Vishnu the Preserverc. Shiva the Destroyer
2. Reincarnat ion the soul never dies, it is re-
born and goes through many lives until it can
unite with Brahma
Basic Hindu Beliefs
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Hindu Beliefs continued
3. Karmaa persons behavior in life
determines their caste in the next life
4. Dharma Your DUTIES in life to
family and caste, do your job well!
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5. Cremation Burn body to release soul
for next life
6. MOKSHA ultimate goal - state of
perfect understanding of all things,become one with the universe.
Hindu Beliefs continued
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Cows Hindus refuseto eat beef ,they roam
freely
Ganges River Holy
river believed to wash
away evil
Today 85% of all
Indian people are
Hindu
Sacred Objects
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From Hinduism Comes Buddhism
Around 528 BCE another new religion, Buddhism,arose in India. It was started by Siddhartha
Gautama.
The founder, Siddhartha Gautama, has manylegends and stories that have surrounded his life.
While we can't be certain which of these stories and
legends are true, we do know that the basic
historical outlines of his life are accurate.
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Beginnings of Buddhism
He was the chief's son of a tribal group, so he was born a Kshatriya
(Warrior class) around 566 BC.
At the age of 29, he left his family in order to lead a simple life.
A few years later he returned with a number of followers; followers thatdevoted their lives to " The Midd le Way, a lifestyle that is midway
between a completely simple lifestyle and one that is full of materialisticgoods.
Siddhartha searched for a way that would allow him to escape thesuffering of human life. He spent many years searching for this answer.He was looking forenl ightenment, or wisdom.
Finally, he sat down and meditatedunder a tree. After 49 days, he had hisanswer. He was now called the Buddha, which means enlightened one.The Buddha began to teach others how to attain enlightenment.
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Following the path led to Nirvana
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Buddhist BeliefsThe Four Nob le Truths
Suffering is universal everyone suffers
Cause of suffering is DESIRE
If you end your desires suffering will end
(necessary to reach NIRVANA- a release from
sel f ishness and pain.)
Follow the EIGHTFOLD PATH
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How to become enlightenedBuddhists were to follow a plan of behavior
called the Eightfo ld Pathright views,
right resolve,
right speech,right conduct,
right livelihood,
right effort,
right mindfulness, and
right concentration.
This would lead to nirv ana, or a release from
self ishness and pain.
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Other Buddhist Beliefs
1. Believed in KARMA and DHARMA
and REINCARNATION
2. REJECTED THE CASTE SYSTEM
felt it was not fair, unjust!!
Not by birth does one become
an outcast, not by birth does
one become a Brahmin. ByDEEDS one becomes an
outcast, by DEEDS one
becomes a Brahmin Buddha
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Spread of Buddhism
Buddhism spread from
India to China and other
parts of the world along
the SILK ROAD
The sharing of religion is
an excellent example ofcultural diffusion.
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India first Empires
Maurya & Gupta
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In 321 BCE, the founder and eventual King of the MauryaEmpire, Chandragupta Mauryaused his army to defeatpowerful kings in eastern and northern India.
By 305 BCE, he began to challenge for Alexander the Greatswestern territories in India, and by 300 BCE, for the first time,northeastern and northwestern India were joined under therule of one person.
Chandragupta was a harsh ruler. He charged a heavy tax onfarmers one-half of the crop they grew each year. He usedthis wealth to build a huge army. He controlled hisgovernment by carefully choosing officials and watching themclosely
The Maurya Empire
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In 269 BCE, Chandraguptas grandson, Asoka, took
the throne. He brought the Mauryan Empire to itsgreatest height. At first he was a warlike king butthen he decided to accept the teachings of theBuddha.
Asoka promised to rule in a fair and just way.
He issued laws that urged his subjects to avoidviolence.
He urged religious toleration. This is acceptanceof peoples rights to differing religious beliefs.
He made great roads so that people could traveleasily.
Asoka is also known as the lawgiver because hecarved the laws into stone pillars which were placed
in the center of towns.
The Maurya Empire
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Some of the Pillars of Asoka
Sanskrit
Language
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The Gupta Empire
Soon after Asoka died, however, his empire
collapsed.
Around 320 AD, Chandra Gupta I came to
power in the north. He was not related to
the first emperor Chandragupta Maurya of
the Maurya Empire , but he too took the title
of king and began to conquer other areas in
the name of the Gup ta Empire.
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The Gupta Golden Age
Added western coast
to empire
religion
science
Flourishing of arts
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Medicine Literature
Mathematics Astronomy
Printedmedicinal guides
1000 diseasesclassified
PlasticSurgery
C-sectionsperformed
Inoculations
500 healingplants identified
DecimalSystem
Concept
of Zero
PI = 3.1416
Kalidasa
SolarCalendar
The earthis round
GuptaIndia
Gupta
Achievements
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