Empires of India - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 16
About This Presentation
Title:

Empires of India

Description:

Empires of India Early Empires By 512 BC, The Persians had pushed their empire east to the Indus River Valley The Aryans still contolled the majority of northeast ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:152
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 17
Provided by: MarkMc47
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Empires of India


1
Empires of India
2
Early Empires
  • By 512 BC, The Persians had pushed their empire
    east to the Indus River Valley
  • The Aryans still contolled the majority of
    northeast India, but it was split into many
    states
  • The strongest of these states was Magadha

3
Persian Empire (500 BC)
4
The Magadha State
  • The Magadha state allied itself with many
    surrounding states to fend off Persian expansion
  • Magadha would eventually push its mini-empire
    into the Ganges region
  • The Magadha state would not last, declining in
    power by 334 BC

5
The Maurya Dynasty
  • With the Magadha state in decline, Chandragupta
    Maurya seized power from the last ruler of
    Magadha
  • Chandragupta would
    expand the remnants
    of Magadha to the Bay
    of Bengal and the Hindu
    Kush Mountains
  • The Maurya Empire was
    the largest yet seen in India

Chandragupta Maurya
6
The Maurya Dynasty
  • Chandragupta established his court at
    Pataliputra, on the Ganges River
  • Fearful to leave the palace at Pataliputra,
    Chandragupta and his successors split
    the empire into many provinces, each to be
    overseen by local governors
  • The governers would regulate tax
    collection, justice, transportation, and defence
    in their respective province

7
Asoka
  • Asoka was the best known Mauryan emperor, ruling
    from 269 to 232 BC
  • Under his rule, the empire
    would reach its greatest size
  • During the conquest of
    Southern India, a massacre
    of more than 100,000
    people occured
  • Feeling great remorse for
    the deaths, Asoka renounced
    violence and converted to
    Buddhism

8
Asoka
  • As a Buddhist, Asoka began preaching the virtues
    of good work, nonviolence, and religious
    tolerance
  • Stoopahs were built for monks throughout the
    empire and roads repaired, so that pilgramages
    could be made to religious shrines
  • Asoka spread Buddhism to Southeast Asia and
    modern day Sri Lanka by dispatching missionaries
    throughout the region

9
A Stoopah in the Mauryan Capital of Pataliputra
10
The Age of Invasions
  • After Asokas death, civil war erupted in the
    Mauryan Empire
  • Many groups pushed into the former Mauryan Empire
    from the north, but most were assimilated into
    Indian culture
  • The Bactrian Greeks and the Kushans were the only
    invaders to influence Indian culture and society

11
The Bactrian Greeks
  • Composed of descendants of Alexander the Greats
    invading army, the Bactrian Greeks pushed deep
    into the former Mauryan Empire
  • Their leader, King Demetrius,
    encouraged a blending of eastern
    and western cultures
  • The Bactrians brought Greek
    influence into sculpture,
    medicine, astronomy,
    astrology, and
    currency in India

Bactrian Currency Blended Greek and
Indian Influences
12
The Kushans
  • The Bactrians were eventually
    assimilated into Indian culture,
    but another group soon took
    their place
  • The Kushans first conquered
    northern India before moving
    north to modern day Pakistan
  • The Kushans ruled India for
    200 years, encouraging art,
    medical studies, and construction

13
Kanishka
  • Kanishka led the Kushans during their conquest of
    India and Pakistan
  • Like Asoka, Kanishka converted to Buddhism,
    employing 500 monks to regulate Buddhist
    teachings in his empire
  • Kanishkas monks meetings resulted in the
    creation of Mahayana Buddhism
  • His opening of trade to China led to the
    expansion of Mahayana Buddhism into East Asia

14
The Gupta Empire
  • While the Western Roman Empire was collapsing in
    Europe, India experienced a
    golden age of peace
    and prosperity under
    the Gupta Empire
  • Between 320 and 535 AD,
    the Gupta Empire would
    reunite the warring factions
    in Central India, south of
    the former Kushan
    Empire

15
The Gupta Empire
  • The founder of the Gupta Empire, Chandra Gupta I,
    promoted the study of arts and sciences, and
    brought about a period of peace where violent
    crime was extremely rare
  • The Gupta Empire maintained its Buddhist
    influences, but the Buddhist religion in India
    became assimilated into Hinduism during empires
    reign
  • The empire soon became weak with the Hun invasion
    of Central Asia, and India was driven into a
    thousand years of rule by small, independent
    kingdoms

16
The Tamils
  • While the empires of India rose and fell in the
    North, the South of India could never
    be conquered
  • The Tamils, the rulers in the south
    maintained their distinct culture,
    absorbing the diverse traditions
    of Hinduism
  • The Tamils maintained a strong
    trade relationship with the
    Roman Empire before its
    downfall
  • After its collapse, the Tamils
    began trading heavily with China

Modern Day Tamiland
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com