IndiaMauryan, Kūshan, &Gupta Empire

BackgroundIndus Valley Civilization (Harappan)

2 Major Cities: Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro

2 Major Rivers: Indus & Ganges River

Seasonal monsoons brought water to crops & caused floods

Writing System

Early India: has not been translated yet successfully.

By 1000BC, Sanskrit, an Indo-European Language (influenced by Aryans who invaded India)

The Vedas: writings about their rituals, legends, and religious chants. Gives us more information about their culture

Bhagavad Gita: a sermon by the god Krishna discusses to not worry about success or failure but be aware of moral rightness.

Trade: traded with Mesopotamia

Government: based on religious beliefs

Economy: based on farming (wheat, barley, peas, rice, cotton, spices like pepper, ginger & cinnamon)

Technology:

garbage chutes

indoor plumbing

Decline of Indus River Valley

Around 1500 BC, nomadic warriors known as the Aryans conquered the Indus River Valley

The cultures mixed and formed a new culture of people

Social ClassThe Aryans believed society was

divided into 4 varnas, or social groups

Overtime, these ideas created the caste system.

Caste System: The social system of Ancient India where the people were divided into four varnas that ranked people from high to low. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras and the Untouchables (who were not

even part of the system)

You were born into your class. Your class would determine your job You had to marry within your class You could only socialize with your

class.The Untouchables (dalits)

Women in India

Women were almost equals among men in India for centuries and highly respected

Women could select their husbands and married at mature ages

Women could own land

Women received an education and held jobs

Women’s equal rights changed during the Gupta Empire and when Muslim invasions in the 1300s and Islamic culture influenced India

They could no longer own land, had arranged marriages at a young age and put men first

Women had to follow the practice of sati. She would commit suicide by throwing herself onto her deceased husband’s burning funeral site.

Mauryan Empire

Government1st emperor: Chandragupta Maurya (324BC-301BC)

Afraid of assassination.

Made people taste food before him

Never slept 2 nights in a row in the same bed

Capital: Pataliputra (Patna) in Ganges Valley

Emperor divided land into provinces (ruled by governors)

GovernmentChandragupta Maurya’s grandson, Aśoka ruled 268-232 BC

Considered greatest ruler in India’s history

Converted to Buddhism and used it to guide his rule

Set up hospitals for welfare for people and animals

Ordered trees and shelters to be planted along the roads so weary travelers could get rest and shade

Sponsored Buddhist missionaries to spread religion ( & eventually to China)

Eventually empire fell apart after Aśoka’s death

Buddhist influenced architecture

3 Main types of structure

pillar: made of stone. Built along road to mark sites of events in Buddha’s life. Each topped with a carved lion, uttering Buddha’s message

stupa: built to house a relic of Buddha, they eventually became a place for devotion.

Over 84,000 stupas were constructed in India under the leadership of Aśoka

rock chamber: a series of rooms to house monks for religious ceremonies. Carved out of rock cliffs

Kushān Empire

After the fall of the Mauryan Empire, new

kingdoms arose in what is now Afghanistan and

spread into Northern India

Kūshan EmpireProspered from trade along the Silk Road between Rome and China

A mix of culture!

Contact with Persia, China & Rome

Used Greek alphabet

Practiced Buddhism, Hinduism, & Zoroastrianism

Made calendar based on the sun and moon (still used today)

Kūshan Empire collapsed due to invaders. A new state, in 320 AD, created by Candra Gupta, no relation to Candragupta Maurya (Confusing, right!?)

This created the Gupta Empire

Gupta EmpireThe Golden Age of Indian Culture

Hindu & Buddhist arts flourished

Expanded the empire

Traded with China, Southwest Asia and Mediterranean

Encouraged trade within India of cloth, salt & iron

Famous temples built- influenced by Buddhist & Hindu pilgrims (people who traveled to religious places) from distant places

Rulers controlled much of trade.

Owned silver & gold mines (extremely wealthy!)

The Gupta Empire collapsed due to invasions by the Huns. India was divided into 70 different states.

-Faxian, a famous Chinese Buddhist monk

“Southward from this is the so-called middle country… The people are very well off, without

poll-tax or official restrictions. Only those who farm the royal lands return a portion of profit of the land [to the king]. If they desire to go, they go; if they like

to stop, they stop. The kings govern without corporal punishment, criminals are fined,

according to their circumstances, lightly or heavily. Even in cases of repeated rebellion they only cut off the right hand…. In this country they do not

keep swine nor fowls, and do not deal in cattle; they have no shambles or wine-stops in their market-

places”

InvasionsFor many years, India fell victim to a series of Muslim invaders

India was divided by the Conquerers (Muslims) and Conquered (Indians) in society

Islamic beliefs were pushed onto the people until Muslims realized there were just too many Hindus

Yet the Islamic faith majorly influenced north-western parts of the Indian empires.

Today: Most of India is Hindu and Pakistan & Bangladesh is Islamic