India and China

Establish Empires300 BCE – CE 550

Mauryan Empire321 – 185 BCE

• Chandragupta Maurya– Seizes land from Magadha (Ganges River) to

the Indus River– Politically united north India for the first time in

303 BCE

Mauryan Empire

• Money needed to pay for large army

• Government collected high taxes from trading, mining, and manufacturing

• Farmers were exempt from military service– Farmers were still heavily taxed

Mauryan Empire

• Kautilya– Member of priest caste that advised Chandragupta– Wrote a book on how to hold a vast empire together

• Arthasastra

– Chandragupta followed his advice • Chose his officials & closely supervised them• Divided empire into 4 provinces

– Headed by a royal prince

– Provinces divided into local districts

» Officials in districts assessed taxes and enforced the law

Asoka

• Chandragupta’s grandson

• Brought Mauryan Empire to its greatest heights

• Expanded the empire south at the cost of 100,000 soldiers’ lives

Asoka• He felt sorrow over the

slaughter at Kalinga– Turned to Buddhism

• Belief in nonviolence• Peace to all beings

– Religious toleration• Acceptance of people who

held different beliefs– Built stone pillars that

preached nonviolence– Built roads across India

• Planted trees along the side for shade

• Every 9 miles had wells dug, rest houses built, & water holes for animals

232 BCE = Asoka dies & the empire breaks up

North and Central regional kings of India challenged the

imperial government

North India

• Experienced many different people fleeing political instability

• Introductions of several new languages and customs

Andhra Dynasty

• Arose and dominated central India

• Profited with trade between North and South India

Tamil Kingdoms

• South India had their own languages

• Divided into 3 kingdoms– Often fought each other

• Never were under the control of the Mauryan Empire

• Matriarchal society– Households were headed by eldest female

Gupta Empire320-415

• Chandra Gupta– Arose to power in northern India– No relation with Chandragupta– Empire stretches across North India

Gupta Empire

• Patriarchal society– Households headed by eldest male

• Tax on water

• Farmers irrigated crops

• Every month, everyone donated a day’s worth of labor to maintain wells, irrigation ditches, reservoirs, and dams

• High taxes go to the king

Chandra Gupta II

• Expanded empire west

• Opens trade with Mediterranean world

Changes in Religious Thought

• Hinduism– Complex polytheistic

religion that blended Aryan and pre-Aryan beliefs

• Buddhism– Teaches that desires

causes suffering and that humans should overcome desire by following the Eightfold Path

Split in Buddhism after Buddha’s Death

• Mahayana– Began to believe

Buddha was a god– Believed anyone could

become Buddha, too• Working to save

humanity through good works and self-sacrifice

• Theraveda– Stuck with the stricter

& original teachings of Buddha

Hinduism Changes to Embrace the People

• Went from worshipping hundreds of gods to concentrating on the three most important gods– 1) Brahma

• Creator of the world

– 2) Vishnu• Preserver of the world

– 3) Shiva• Destroyer of the world

Literature

• Kalidasa– Great writer from

North India

• 2,000 poems still around in South India from Tamil period

Drama & Dance

• Women and men participated on stage together

• South India had many traveling performers

Astronomy• Sailors used stars to help

figure out their position at sea• Used calendar based on

cycles of sun• Adopted a 7 day week

– Each day was divided by hours

• Discovered world was round during a lunar eclipse– Shadow of earth on the moon

was curved– (1,000 years before

Columbus)

Mathematics

• Modern numerals

• Zero– Biggest contribution to

the world

• Decimal system

• Aryabhata– Calculated the value of

pi to four decimal places

– Calculated the length of a solar year as 365.3586805 days

Medicine

• Medical guides of 1,000 diseases & descriptions of more than 500 medicinal plants were compiled

• Performed surgery– Including plastic

surgery

Spread of Indian Trade• Natural Resources

– Spices, diamonds, sapphires, gold, pearls, and woods (ebony, teak, & sandalwood)

• After Mauryan rule, India became involved in new trade regions– Silk Road

• Caravan traders across Asia connecting the Mediterranean World and China– Sea Trade

• Arabian Sea through Persian Gulf to trade with Rome• India to Southeast Asia• India to Arabian Peninsula and East Africa

• Increase trade led to a rise of banking in India• Some Indian merchants went to live abroad

– Spread of Indian culture• Art, architecture, dance, and Hinduism spread to East and Southeast Asia