Prior to Alexander, Republics along the Ganges River dominated, vied for power

Magadha Republic was one of the most dominant until…

Intrusions of Persians (520 B.C.E.) and Alexander (327 B.C.E.)

Persians established Indus satrapy

Alexander’s withdrawal left a political vacuum

Maurya Empire filled that vacuum

Chandragupta Maurya ◦The founder of the

Mauryan empire ◦Overthrew the

Magadha kingdom in 321 B.C.E.

◦Conquered the Greek state in Bactria, Selecuid control of Indus

◦Chandragupta's empire embraced all of northern India

The caste system in India dictates your roll in life – you were born to it, couldn’t do anything to move up or down.

Brahmans belong to the highest caste. These are the priests and scholars.

The Kshatriyas are soldiers and warriors.

The Vaishyas are merchants and professionals such as carpenters and artisans.

The Sudra are the second lowest caste – they are the laborers and the servants.

The lowest caste is the Untouchables. These are extremely poor people who work the filthy jobs – cleaning up the streets, carting away the dead. This would be outlawed later.

Ashoka Maurya (reigned 268-232 B.C.E.) ◦Chandragupta's

grandson, ◦The high point of

the Mauryan empire

◦Conquered the kingdom of Kalinga, 260 B.C.E.

◦Ruled through tightly organized bureaucracy

Ashoka Maurya◦Also established

capital at Pataliputra ◦Policies of

encouraging agriculture and trade

◦Converted to Buddhism• Established a

tolerant rule of righteousness

• Sent out missionaries to Sri Lanka, SE Asia, Central Asia

Decline of the Mauryan Empire ◦ Ashoka died in 232

B.C.E. ◦ Suffered from acute

financial and economic difficulties • High cost for

maintaining army and

bureaucrats • Debasing the

currency, not an effective resolution

The empire collapsed by 185 B.C.E.

The Gupta Dynasty ◦After Mauryans,

India was controlled by regional kingdoms

◦The Gupta state rose to power in place of the Mauryans in 320 CE (AD) to 550

◦Chandra Gupta founded the new dynasty

◦Gupta dynasty was relatively decentralized

◦Officially supported revival of Hinduism as state faith

◦Era seen as the Golden Age of Hinduism

Gupta decline ◦ Invasion of White

Huns weakened the empire

◦After 5th century C.E., Gupta dynasty ruled in name only

◦Large regional kingdoms dominated political life in India

Buddhism and Hinduism were the two major religions during this time

Reminders of Buddhism: ◦ The word comes from

'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35.

Buddhism continued: Buddhism goes beyond

religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:◦ (1) to lead a moral

life◦ (2) to be mindful and

aware of thoughts and actions

◦ (3) to develop wisdom understanding.

Hinduism:◦ The caste system

comes from Hinduism

◦ Multiple gods, the top three called the Hindu Trinity Shiva Krishna Vishnu

Guptan Dynasty Decline◦Lacked strong

central government• Provinces only

owed tribute, tax, respect to central ruler• Provincial rulers

viewed emperor as related to gods

Gupta Empire Decline continued◦Relied on

provincial rule, type of feudalism

◦But local areas largely self-governing

◦Regional leaders often stronger than emperor

Indian Empires Collapse

◦ Civil war between regional leaders

◦ Invasions by Central Asian nomads including White Huns• Beaten off by Guptas

but seriously weakened empire

• Continued raids by Huns, Central Asians kept empire in turmoil

• Large scale migrations from Northern India to Southern parts

Dynasty ceased to exist; attempted revival failed

Regional states broke off, constant warfare follows

Major Developments ◦ Spread of bureaucracy -

to successfully implement the actions of an organization of any size

◦ Roads were created to connect major cities

◦ Spread of Buddhism under the Mauryan

Major Developments: Gupta empire had

India’s Golden Age Spread of literature,

astronomy, medicine, and mathematics

Also had gold coins for money

Major Developments: Believed the Earth was

round in astronomy Math – modern

numbers, zero, decimals, value of pi

Medical improvements included surgery and the first plastic surgery