Ancient India

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

Why was the Indus Valley a good place for a civilization to thrive? • Mountains and Deserts-these provide natural barriers and protection

from outside peoples

• Rivers- these provided fertile soil for the people living in the area.

What challenges did these people face?

Monsoons- heavy seasonal winds that produce heavy rain.

Flooding- Flooding was helpful but unpredictable

Rivers-very unpredictable (sometimes they changed course)

Wet and dry weather cycles- because Monsoons were unpredictable they could face times with no rain and lose their crops, or they faced times when they received too much rain which could and did destroy entire villages.

City Planners

• The first recognized civilization in India is the Harappan civilization.• They were elaborate city planners• Cities were laid out on a grid system• They were built to withstand floods and outside invaders. • Most homes had plumbing and sewage systems.

Harappan Society• Language-The Harappan people did develop a written

language. We cannot yet decipher it. The language consists of about 400 symbols. Scientists believe the symbols are used to depict objects and a phonetic sound. •Culture- The Harappan revered animals as they have

been found on many items uncovered in archaeological digs. They also believed in several mythical beasts that were a mix of animals and animals and animals and men.

Harappan Society• Religion-The Harappan society had close ties to religion. Many

scientists believe that ancient Harappa was a theocracy. A theocracy is a government ruled by religion. It appears that early Harappan worshiped both Hindu gods and other local deities.

• Trade- Extensive trade networks developed in this region. Gold and silver came from the west while stones found throughout the region were made into jewelry. Cotton Cloth was in high demand as few outside this region knew how to make it into clothes. Most Trading took place along the Indus River. We know that people in this region traded with the ancient Sumerians as items marked with Harappan seals have been found in the city of Sumer. This was all possible because the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea.

What caused the Indus Valley region to decline?

• Scientists believed that shifts in tectonic plates caused earthquakes and floods that altered the course of the Indus River. • Some cities were able to recover but some could not.• These shifts are believed to have caused the Sarswati river to dry up

which made trade impossible and left many within the cities without any source of income. • In addition these environmental changes caused Harappan agriculture

to suffer and some to go without food. • Lastly Nomadic people(Aryans) came in from the North causing

population displacement.

Indian Empires 250 B.C. to 400 A.D.

Mauryan Empire- 321 B.C. until 185 B.C.

• Established by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 B.C.• By the end oh his reign he had expanded the empire some 2,000 miles.• He built a vast Army to do this. (700,000 men Strong)• Maurya established a tough government that spied on its people, used

political assassination to maintain control, and raised very high taxes. (It is believed to have been as high as 50%) • The Empire was split in four provinces, each ruled by a prince. Within

each province districts were established to maintain order, raise taxes, etc. • The greatest Mauryan Emperor was Asoka (Chandragupta’s grandson)

Mauryan Empire- 321 B.C. until 185 B.C.

• Asoka came to power in 269 B.C.• He was a ardent Buddhist and decided to spread Buddhism throughout

the Empire. • He built a vast road network that allowed him to travel to every part of

the Empire quickly. • Every few miles along these roads were wells and rest houses.• After his death in 232 B.C. the empire split apart because of lack of

strong central leadership.• For the next several hundred years Northern India would be disrupted

by invaders from Greece, Persia, and Central Asia.

Gupta Empire 320 A.D. until 535 A.D.

Gupta Empire 320 A.D. until 535 A.D.

•Chandra Gupta emerged around 320 A.D. •He gained his initial powerbase through marriage

which combined two kingdoms in Northern India.•His Son Samudra Gupta expanded the empire greatly

over a 40 year period.

Gupta Empire 320 A.D. until 535 A.D.

Culture • During this time Northern India experienced great periods of achievement in

the Arts, Science, and religion.• Families during this time period were extremely Patriarchal in Northern India.

The eldest male was in charge of everything. In Southern India is was the opposite. Families were Matriarchal in nature. Women ruled the day. • To combat drought everyone in villages was required to pay a water tax. • This water tax involved a days work on local wells to maintain fresh drinking

water for everyone. • In addition taxes were extremely high. Most farmers had to give half their crop

to the king.

Hinduism and Buddhism

What is Hinduism ?

Hinduism is the term used to refer to the vast diversity of religious practice on the Indian sub-continent. It is important for students to realize that Hinduism is not a religion like Catholicism that has a single founding figure who existed in a clearly definable historical moment, a clearly defined doctrinal system and a formal leadership structure. Instead, Hinduism is an organic development that reaches back to the earliest experience of human settlement on the Indian subcontinent. 'Hindu' practices and beliefs differ from region to region and often from village to village.

What is Hinduism ?

• Samsara: cycle/wheel of life, death, rebirth that is the basic state of existence Time is cyclical, not linear- cycles of creation and destruction in the universe- reincarnation for the universe over vast periods of time

• Reincarnation- series of lifetimes needed to achieve the goal of liberation/release from this world (samsara- ‘wheel of rebirth’) divine spark (atman) is reborn, usually cannot remember past lives            Reborn as: people, animals, gods and goddesses in many heavens, demons in many hells other steps in between- even gods are reincarnated

• Moksha= liberation or release, characterized by union with the divine, awareness, bliss- a mystical state of being that cannot be explained- returned to the sacred source- ends the cycle of reincarnation

• Monism= all things are god, god is all things- all reality is united, is one- it is just perceived as different and distinct

• Brahman= The shared divine essence of all things, beyond the reach of human perceptions- we see distinctions and separations, not the unity of Brahman- we need knowledge and discipline to see the truth

What is Hinduism ?

Karma= actions, deeds- moral law of cause and effect as you sow so shall you reap- deeds provide positive or negative merit

Determines your next reincarnation as good or bad, close or far to realizing samsara. Only humans can change their karma by doing deeds that produce merit. Bad things happen to good people because those good people were bad in a past life.

What is Buddhism?

• Buddhism is a religion that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha, meaning "the awakened one". According to Buddhist tradition, the Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end their suffering through the elimination of ignorance and craving by way of understanding and the seeing of dependent origination and the four noble truths, with the ultimate goal of attainment of the sublime state of Nirvana(obtained by constant rebirth).

The Four Noble Truths

• The teachings on the Four Noble Truths are regarded as central to the teachings of Buddhism, and are said to provide a conceptual framework for Buddhist thought. These four truths explain the nature of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, un-satisfactoriness), its causes, and how it can be overcome.

The four truths are:• The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, un-satisfactoriness)• The truth of the origin of dukkha• The truth of the cessation of dukkha• The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha

Eightfold Path

• The Noble eightfold path—the fourth of the Buddha's Noble truths—consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, lead to the cessation of dukkha.

These eight factors are: Right View (or Right Understanding)Right Intention (or Right Thought)Right SpeechRight Action Right Livelihood Right Effort Right MindfulnessRight Concentration.