Section 4Empires of China and India

Preview

• Main Idea / Reading Focus

• Life in Gupta India

• A Gupta Golden Age

• Visual Study Guide / Quick Facts

• Video: The Impact of Buddhism as a World Religion

Indian Society and Culture

Section 4Empires of China and India

Reading Focus

• What features defined Indian society and trade during the Gupta period?

• What were major cultural and scientific achievements of the Gupta golden age?

Main Idea

1. The strength, prosperity, and stability of the Gupta Empire helped lead to a golden age in Indian society, trade, and culture.

Indian Society and Culture

Section 4Empires of China and India

• Gupta, Tamil kingdoms in southern India traded actively by sea

• Indian sailors used seasonal winds to reach foreign markets across Arabian Sea

• Sea trade also between India and Southeast Asia

• Played key role in cultural diffusion of Indian culture

Sea Trade

• Indian civilization flourished during Gupta empire

• Trade increased, economy strengthened, cities prospered

• Overland routes like the Silk Roads linked India to other markets

• Indian merchants traded ivory, cashmere, cotton, spices for Chinese silk, Roman ceramics

Growth of Trade

Life in Gupta India

Section 4Empires of China and India

Simple Lives• Most Gupta people led simple lives in small villages

• Majority of village dwellers, farmers

• Most villages self-sufficient, but trade between villages occurred

• People from different villages got together for religious festivals, other events

Daily Life• Growth of trade strengthened economy; Gupta Empire’s cities

reflected prosperity

• Use of money became more common; new group of bankers, moneylenders emerged

• Luxury, pleasure for urban rich; enjoyed music, poetry, art

Section 4Empires of China and India

Social structure • Most people in ancient India

belonged to specific caste

• Castes determined jobs, interaction with others

• Number grew, developed rules

Gender• Also shaped Indian society

• Men had more rights than women

• Patriarchal society, similar to China

Legal codes• Legal codes also defined

people’s roles

• Laws of Manu, compiled between 200 BC, AD 200

• Defined proper behavior

Laws of Manu• Female child subject to father,

female youth to husband

• Men expected to treat women with respect

• Abused women could leave

Life in Gupta India

Section 4Empires of China and India

Identify Cause and Effect

How did trade affect city life in Gupta India?

Answer(s): cities prospered, shops and markets bustled, money became common, culture stressed luxury and pleasure for urban wealth

Section 4Empires of China and India

2. Like the Han period in China, the Gupta period was a golden age of cultural and scientific achievements.

• Many great works created during Gupta period

• One of greatest writers, Kalidasa

– Poet, playwright

– Wrote plays for royal court

– Sakuntala, most famous

– Play combines myth, humor, court life, lyric poetry

Sanskrit Literature• Another popular work of

period

• Five Books, collection of stories meant to teach lessons

• “The good and bad of given schemes

Wise thought must first reveal

The stupid heron saw his chicks

Provide a mongoose meal.”

• Warning to think before acting

Panchatantra

A Gupta Golden Age

Section 4Empires of China and India

Religious• Much of art, architecture of Gupta period religious

• Magnificent Hindu, Buddhist temples built across India

• Hindu temples: huge towers, covered with carvings

Most spectacular architecture• Temples, monuments carved out of rock and cliff faces

• Most famous, cave temples at Ajanta and Ellora

• Intricately carved columns; include halls, rooms, windows

Buddhist temples• Included stupas, temples with domed roofs

• Built to house sacred items from life of Buddha

• Like Hindu temples, covered with detailed carvings

Art and Architecture

Section 4Empires of China and India

Great works of art• Paintings of the time often portray beautiful, graceful Indians wearing fine

jewelry, stylish clothing

• Many of finest paintings found in Buddhist and Hindu temples

Statues• Made for temples

• Buddhist temples, statues of Buddha, kings

• Hindu temples, statues of Siva, Vishnu, other devas

Temple paintings• Hindu artists decorated walls, entrances with devas, aspects of Brahman

• Buddhists covered plaster walls, ceilings with scenes from life of Buddha

• Some of finest examples of Buddhist art found in Ajanta cave temples

Art and Architecture

Section 4Empires of China and India

Metallurgy• Ancient Indians pioneers of science of working with metals• Indian iron valued for hardness, purity• Gupta metalworkers built famous Iron Pillar, near Delhi• Iron Pillar is resistant to rust• Still being studied by scholars today

• Gupta scholars most advanced mathematicians of their day

• Developed modern math system• First to use concept, symbol of zero• Hindu-Arabic numerals; created

by Indians, brought to Europe by Arabs

3. Mathematics• Ancient Indians quite advanced• Made medicines from plants• Knew how to inject small amounts

of viruses to protect against disease

• Doctors could perform surgery, repair broken bones, treat wounds

Medical Science

Science and Technology

Section 4Empires of China and India

Science and Technology

Astronomy

• Indians identified seven planets in solar system

• Could predict eclipses of sun, moon

• Aryabhata, one of most famous Indian astronomers

– Correctly argued that Earth rotates on axis, revolves around sun

– Knew Earth was sphere, calculated circumference with remarkable accuracy

Section 4Empires of China and India

Find the Main Idea

Why do historians consider the Gupta period to have been a golden age in the history of

ancient India?

Answer(s): significant cultural contributions, Sanskrit, magnificent carvings, statues of Buddha, wall paintings; advancements in mathematics, medicine, and astronomy

Section 4Empires of China and India

Section 4Empires of China and India

Video

The Impact of Buddhism as a World Religion

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