Discussion Questions

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Discussion Questions

• What were some of the major empires in India and
  what were their characteristics? How and why did
  these empires differ from those of China?
• What were the major castes in India? How did they
  develop and later impact Indian Society?
• What were the major Indian religions discussed in
  the chapter? Which were the most popularly
  followed?

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The Indian Subcontinent
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India Before the Mauryan Dynasty

• Darius - 520 BCE, NW India (Gandhara)
• Persian rule
• Alexander the Great 327 BCE to India
• Alexander departed
• Power vacuum

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Kingdom of Magadha
http//manojji.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/300px-m
agadha.gif
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Kingdom of Magadha

• Abt 6th c. BCE 6th c. CE
• Central Ganges plain
• Little centralized authority
• Agriculture
• Trade in Ganges valley, Bay of Bengal
• NE India

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The Mauryan and Gupta empires321 B.C.E.-550 C.E.

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Mauryan Dynasty, 323 185 BCE

• Power vacuum
• Chandragupta Maurya
• Conquered Magadha
• Kingdom Bactria to Ganges to Deccan
• 1st unified Indian empire

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Mauryan Empire
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Chandraguptas Government

• Advisor Kautalya
• Arthashastra
• Spies

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Ashoka Maurya, 268-232 BCE

• Grandson of Chandragupta
• High point
• Expanded empire
• Conquered Kalinga
• Pataliputra
• Centralized bureaucracy
• Roads, irrigation, Banyan trees

http//static.howstuffworks.com/gif/willow/history
-of-india0.gif
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Asoka and Buddhism
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Decline of the Mauryan Empire

• Economic crisis
• Bureaucracy, military - expensive
• Little tax revenue
• Empire fragmented
• Disappeared by 185 BCE

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Regional Kingdoms Bactria Kush
http//wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thu
mb/0/07/Greco-BactrianKingdomMap.jpg/250px-Greco-B
actrianKingdomMap.jpg
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Regional Kingdom Bactria

• NW India (today between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan,
  and Tajikistan)
• Greek rulers
• Culture trade

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Regional Kingdom Kush

• Nomads overthrow Greeks
• N. India/Central Asia
• C. 1-300 CE
• Trade, silk road

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The Mauryan and Gupta empires321 B.C.E.-550 C.E.

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The Gupta Dynasty

• Magadha
• Chandra Gupta (Could this be more confusing???),
  c. 320 CE
• Decentralized

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Gupta Decline

• White Huns, 5th c. CE
• Fragmentation regions
• Local kingdoms until Mughals - 16th c.

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Economy

• Iron-working from 1000BCE
• Small workshops
• Trade intense
• Export cotton, gems, pepper

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Economy Long-Distance Trade

• Persians
• Roads
• Alexander - west to Macedon
• Kush mountains, silk roads

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Economy Trade Routes

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Economy Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin

• Sea trade
• Monsoon
• Spices - Indonesia, SE Asia
• Asia to Persian Gulf and Red Sea, Mediterranean
  (Rome)

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Society Gender Relations

• Patriarchy
• Child marriage
• Women - private sphere
• Some exceptions

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Society Caste

• Brahmins (priests)
• Kshatriyas (warriors, aristocrats)
• Vaishyas (Peasants, merchants)
• Shudras (serfs)

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Society Jati

• Economic diversification
• Guilds or sub-castes
• Courts
• Community support

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Society Wealth

• Some upward mobility
• Status - wealth vs. varna

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Religion

• Resentment of caste
• 6th-5th c. BCE new religions
• Charvakas atheists
• Jainists
• Buddhists

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Jainism

• Vardhamana Mahavira, 540-468 BCE
• Wealthy, later ascetic
• Concern for all beings
• Detachment

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Ahimsa

• Soul
• Non-violence, selflessness
• Modern Ahimsa movements (Gandhi, Martin Luther
  King Jr.)

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Appeal of Jainism

• Rejected caste, jati
• Underprivileged
• Too extreme to become a mass movement

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Early Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama, c. 563-483 BCE. Wealthy,
  Kshatriya
• Suffering age, sickness, death
• Became a monk to understand suffering

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Gautamas Search for Enlightenment

• Meditation, asceticism
• Buddha the enlightened one

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The Buddha and his Followers

• Taught, c. 528 BCE
• Robes, food bowls
• Wandering, begging, meditation
• Monastic communities

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Buddha and his Disciples
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Buddhist Doctrine The Dharma

• Four Noble Truths
• Life is suffering
• End to suffering
• Removing desire removes suffering
• Eight-fold path

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Appeal of Buddhism

• Brahmins less necessary
• Caste, jati status unimportant
• Moderate consumption
• Public service
• Vernacular, not Sanskrit
• Stupas

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A Buddhist Monastery
Monks share faith with lay members
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Ashokas Support of Buddhism

• Converted?
• Disillusioned after war
• Banned animal sacrifices
• Vegetarianism
• Donations

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Variations of Buddhist thought Mahayana

• Buddhism widely accepted, 3rd c. BCE 1st c. CE
• Buddha divine
• Bodhisattvas
• Donations - pious

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Spread of Buddhism

• Mahayana
• India, China, Japan, Korea, central Asia
• Theravada
• Ceylon, Burma, Thailand

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Nalanda

• Buddhist Monastery
• Quasi-university
• During Gupta dynasty
• Spread Indian thought

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Emergence of Popular Hinduism

• Mahabharata
• Ramayana
• Vishnu and incarnations

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Mahabharata

• 100,000 verses Hindu life
• Sharma, kama, artha, karma, and moksha
• Still popular

CITATION Unknown creator. "Mahaaharatakana
Bharatavarshaca nakasa." Poona, India. Courtesy
of the Library of Congress, Geography and Map
Division, ID G7631.E31992.U5.
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The Bhagavad Gita

• Part of Mahabharata
• Song of the Lord
• Final form c. 400 CE
• Arjuna and Krishna

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Hindu Ethics

• Dharma
• Artha
• Kama
• Moksha
• Upanishads and Brahmin ritual less important

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Popularity of Hinduism

• Gradually replaced Buddhism in India (by 1000
  C.E.)
• Gupta leaders supported