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Ancient India

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Title: Ancient India


1
Ancient India
2
The Indian Subcontinent
3
The Emergence of Civilization in India Harappan
Society
  • Geography
  • Mixture of people
  • Harappan Civilization A Fascinating Enigma
  • Harappa in the Punjab
  • Mohenjo-Daro (City of the Dead) near the mouth of
    the Indus
  • Political and Social Structure
  • Villages in the Indus valley 6500 - 7000 B.C.E.
  • Harappa a city more than 3 ½ mile in
    circumference with wall over 40 feet thick
  • City life in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
  • Government, religion, agriculture and trade
  • Harappan Culture
  • Pottery, sculpture, clay seals

4
Ancient Harappan Civilization
Note the growth of cities in river plains.
5
Mohenjo-Daro
6
  • A computer-generated reconstruction has brought a
    small area of Mohenjo-daro back to life. (Lost
    Civilizations by Austen Atkinson, p. 179 - 188)

7
The City of Mohenjo-Daro
8
Arrival of the Aryans
  • Harappan civilization destroyed about 1500 B.C.E.
  • Invasion by Aryans
  • Social decay
  • Epidemic or natural phenomena
  • The Early Aryans
  • Indo-European nomads from Siberia and the steppes
    of Central Asia
  • Into the Indus valley 1500-1000 B.C.E.
  • Use of iron
  • A writing system
  • Led by a chieftain called a raja (prince) that
    was later transformed into kings called maharajas
    (great princes)
  • Prince did not have absolute power
  • Required to follow dharma (laws that set behavior
    standards)
  • Arrival of the Persian Empire,
  • Arrival of Alexander the Great, 326 B.C.E.

9
The Mauryan Empire
  • Chandragupta Maurya (324-301 B.C.E.)
  • The Arthasastra, a treatise on politics
  • Highly centralized and despotic government
  • Provinces ruled by governors
  • Division of power at lower levels

10
Caste and Class Social Structures in Ancient
India
  • The Class System
  • An issue of color
  • Varna (color or caste) reflected informal
    division of labor and rigid social classification
    for occupation and status
  • Caste taboos
  • Jati kinship group, of a specific caste, living
    in a specific area, doing a specific task
  • Changes over time

11
Daily Life and The Economy in Ancient India
  • Family the basic unit of society
  • Commemorative rites to ancestors
  • Father-son relationship
  • Males inherit property
  • Position of women
  • Before the law
  • In marriage
  • Exceptions
  • Most Aryans were farmers
  • Iron plow
  • Differing status of farmers
  • Problems farmers faced
  • Developed trade and manufacturing

12
The Religious World of Ancient India Hinduism
  • Indo-European in origin from the Aryans
  • Vedas four collections of hymns and religious
    ceremonies
  • Dyaus
  • Indra, Varuna, Vishnu
  • Use of sacrifice
  • Asceticism
  • Upanishads commentaries on the Vedas

13
The Religious World of Ancient India Gods,
Goddesses and Reincarnation
  • Soul reborn a different form after death and
    progresses through several existences on the
    wheel of life until reaching the final
    destination with the Great World Soul, Brahman
  • Karma actions in this life determines ones
    rebirth in the next life
  • Cosmic scale Brahmins at the top in animal
    kingdom the cow is at the top
  • Dharma governs karma
  • Reincarnation provides compensation for those
    lower on the ladder of life
  • Multitude of gods (330 million?) in Hinduism but
    only a small number of primary gods
  • Trinity of gods Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the
    Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer

14
Buddhism The Middle Path
  • Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.E.)
  • Born in foothills of the Himalaya Mountains, son
    of a kshatriya family
  • Traveled widely
  • Follows some ideas of Hinduism
  • Denied the existence of the individual soul
  • Nirvana (release from the wheel of life)
  • Bodhi (wisdom)
  • Four Noble Truths
  • Middle Path (Eightfold Path)
  • Simpler than Hinduism
  • Monastic life
  • Rejection of division of humanity into castes
  • All human beings can aspire to Nirvana as a
    result of their behavior in this life
  • Jainism
  • Founded by Mahavira, contemporary of Siddhartha
  • Doctrine of extreme simplicity keep no
    possessions and rely on begging for a living

15
Stupa at Sarnath
16
The Reign of Asoka and the End of the Mauryan
Empire
  • Asoka, A Buddhist Monarch (269-232 B.C.E.)
  • After a career as a bloodthirsty conqueror,
    converted to Buddhism and ruled benevolently
  • Built shelters for travelers
  • Sent Buddhist missionaries throughout India
  • After 232 B.C.E., the Mauryan Empire declined
  • Disunity
  • New Kingdoms arose
  • Indo-Europeans entered and proclaimed the Kushan
    Kingdom
  • Reasons for disunity

17
The Empire of Asoka
18
The Exuberant World of Indian Culture Literature
  • Rig Veda hymns used in religious ceremonies,
    second millennium B.C.E.
  • Bramanas and Upinishads and commentaries on the
    Vedas
  • Sanskrit language
  • Mahabharata, 100 B.C.E.
  • Describes war of cousins for control of the
    kingdom
  • Interwoven are the legends of the Hindu gods
  • Moral confrontation and ethics
  • The Bhagavad Gita
  • Sermon by legendary figure Krishna
  • In taking action, one must be indifferent to
    success or failure and consider only the moral
    rightness of the act itself
  • Ramayana triumph of good over evil

19
Indian Culture Architecture and Sculpture
  • Pillar
  • Asoka used stone columns alongside roads to
    commemorate the life of the Buddha and mark
    pilgrim routes to holy places
  • Stupa
  • Place of devotion meant to house a relic of the
    Buddha
  • Constructed in the form of a burial mound
  • Rock chamber
  • Rooms to house monks and ascetics
  • Halls for religious ceremonies
  • Style
  • Embellished with decorations
  • Detailed reliefs and freestanding statues

20
Indian Culture Science
  • Astronomy
  • Elements of earth, air, fire, and water
  • Quality of textiles
  • Massive stone pillars

21
Discussion Questions
  • What factors influenced the development of
    Indias caste system? What role did skin color
    play in the creation of caste distinctions?
  • What challenges did Chandragupta Maurya face in
    creating an Indian empire? How successful was he?
  • What does the Mahabharata tell us about ancient
    Indian values and beliefs?
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