Classical IndiaUnit 1: 8000 BCE to 600 CE

Mauryas

326 BCE- Chandragupta Maurya

Bureaucratic administrative system

MauryasAshoka

Rock Edicts

Organized bureaucracy

Built roads, hospitals, & rest houses

Mauryas

Declined after Ashoka’s death

India returned to regional kingdoms

Order & stability

Increase in trade

Gupta Empire

Not united again until 320 CE

Chandra Gupta

Conquered many regional kingdoms

Gupta Empire

Left local govt. in power

Hinduism became primary religion

Power continued ca. 400’s CE

EconomyExpansion of agriculture

Irrigation

Surplus

Increase in trade

Silk Roads

Monsoon winds

Caste & Class

Patriarchal society

Strict structure

Caste: CANNOT be changed!

Determined job, diet, & marriage

Religion & Culture

Art stressed symbolism

Success in geometry & algebra

Calculated circumference of the earth & the value of pi

Developed concept of zero, decimal system, & Arabic number system

Religion & Culture

Buddhism Hinduism