Ancient India
By Joey Jen & Patrick
Ancient India social structure and
daily life
Gods and
Goddesses
Priests and Scholars
The Rajas and Their Noblemen
Merchants, Farmers, Land owners, and Craftsmen
Servants, Workers, Wage earners
• Gods and Goddesses
 The gods didn't really have a part in community life.
• Priests and Scholars
 They and they were the ones who made the offerings to the
gods.
• The Rajas and Their Noblemen
 The Rajas were the people who ruled
the city and would give the Priests gifts
so that they would teach them the Vedas.
 The Noblemen were the people who
were sent by the Rajas to guard the city.
• Merchants, Farmers, Land owners,
and Craftsmen
 These were the people who supplied
the people with food clothing and other goods.
• Servants, Workers, Wage earners
 These were the people that served and did the jobs that nobody
else wanted to. These classes were called varnas.
Social level at home
• Men were the head of the house.
• The children would be treated very
unfairly.
• They had no say in what happened to them
or anyone in the family, and they could be
treated any way by their parents,
especially their father.
• The girls were unwanted, and the boys
were treated better, and with more respect.
• Others would pray at a temple that their
friends and relatives would have boys.
Daily life in The Gupta Empire
• It was the time of peace and prosperity which led to greatest
achievements in the every walk of life.
• They had religious freedom.
• Criminals were never put to death. Instead, they were fined
for their crimes.
• Rewards of money were given to writers, artists, and
scholars to encourage them to produce wonderful work, and
they did.
• People were paid by the state for welfare projects like
building of roads and other public works.
• Food was vegetarian and non- vegetarian but influence of
Jainism and Buddhism saw people eating more vegetables,
fruits, cereals, breads, and drink milk.
• People used to play chess, polo and cards.
Martial arts including fencing, wrestling
was very popular among people.
They went for hunting as well.
Buddhism
• is a dharmic, non-theistic religion, a philosophy, and a lifeenhancing system of psychology.
• Buddha was born in Lumbini (now in Nepal), and that he
died aged around 80 in Kushinagara (India).
• Eventually, Indian Buddhism became virtually extinct,
except in parts of Nepal
• Southern Buddhism, or Theravada , or Pali Buddhism practiced mainly in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia and parts of Malaysia, Vietnam, China and
Bangladesh (Southeast Asia)
• Eastern Buddhism, or East Asian Buddhism, or Chinese
Buddhism, or Sino-Japanese Buddhism - practiced
predominantly in China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Singapore
and parts of Russia
• Northern Buddhism, or Tibetan Buddhism, or TibetoMongolian Buddhism - practiced mainly in Tibet, Mongolia,
Bhutan and parts of Nepal, India, China and Russia.
The Four Noble Truths/ The Noble
Eightfold Path
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The Four Noble Truths
The Buddha taught that in life there exists in the following places sorrow /
suffering which is caused by desire and it can be cured (ceased) by
following the Noble Eightfold Path. This teaching is called the Catvāry
Āryasatyāni, the "Four Noble Truths".
Suffering: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is
suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what
is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the
five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.
The cause of suffering: The desire which leads to renewed existence
(rebirth) (the cycle of samsara)
The cessation of suffering: The cessation of desire.
The way leading to the cessation of suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path
The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth
part of the Four Noble Truths. This is divided into three sections : Sila
(which concerns the physical bodily actions), Samadhi (which concerns the
'Conscious' mind) and Panna (which concerns the 'Unconscious' mind).
Architecture:
•Mughal architecture used by
Persians as well as Islamic
•Mughal architecture began in 1526
during Mughal dynasty under the rule
of
emperor Babur
•during this time that the Taj Mahal
was constructed (1648) in Agra, India
and Shalimar Gardens
•characteristics of Mughal
architecture:
-perfect radial or
bilateral symmetry
-marble used for
surface
-garden surrounding
the building or temple
-indentures and
carvings on the outer surface of
marble stone
•Historical Significance:
•many mosques and Islamic and
Persian structures built using Mughal
architecture
•descriptive carvings leave behind
detailed history of what life was
like in ancient India during the 16th
century under Mughal reign