 Young
Hindu prince who lived around
500BC
• Lived life of luxury, never saw sickness/death
• Wandered outside palace at age 30
 Saw death and sickness
 Wondered why there was pain in the world
 Wandered
for 7 years to find cause of
suffering
• Unhappy with answers of Hinduism
• Didn’t like idea that only Hindu priests could
pass on knowledge
 Gautama
decided to start searching
internally
• Meditation
 Under a fig tree
 Came to understand suffering’s roots after 49 days
 Spent
45 years travelling and teaching
 Called the Buddha
• “Enlightened One”
• His teachings became known as Buddhism
 Also known as the Eightfold Path
• Avoids life of extreme pleasure or unhappiness
• People can be free from suffering by avoiding
selfishness
 People do this by being wise, acting properly, and
developing their minds
 Tell truth, avoid violence, all are equal
 People in caste system like this
 Monastic life
 Nirvana
• Lasting peace at end of a truly good life
• Ends cycle of reincarnation
 Buddhist
monks spread their faith
• Hinduism won out in India in long run
• Buddhism eventually mostly died out in India
 Buddhism won out in much of the rest of Asia
 Buddhism
and Hinduism survived side by
side
• Both said wrong to harm living creatures
• Believed in dharma and reincarnation
• Some Hindus believed Budha was a
reincarnation of Vishnu
 Buddhists did not follow Hindu’s sacred texts
 Founded
the Maurya Empire
• 321 BC in N.E. India
 Born
to poor family, sold into slavery at a
young age
 Became king
• Conquered most of northern and central India
 Arthasastra
• Book of advice given to him by an advisor
• Taught king needed to have absolute power
 Dominate people, spy on them
 Huge army
• Thousands of soldiers, 9000 war elephants
 Economic success
• Wealth primarily came from farming
• Trade with Greece, Rome and China
 Improvements:
• Irrigation systems
• Cleared forests, set up farms, built crafts, dug mines
• Roads allowed trade to be easier
 Afraid
for his life
• Food taster
• Slept in different room each night
 Left
throne to his son
• Became monk
• Starved himself to death while fasting and
praying
 Son
died in 273 BC
 Chandragupta’s
grandson
 Name means “without sorrow”
 Expanded empire
• Ruled 273-232 BC
• Led many battles
 261 BC
 Thousands and thousands died
 Asoka was filled with sorrow
• Gave up war
• Freed prisoners, gave back their lands
 Converted to Buddhism
• Forbid animal sacrifice, gave up hunting
• Built hospitals
• Wells dug every mile alongside roads
• Sent missionaries all over Asia
 Moral writings
• Obey parents, speak truth, be tolerant
• Had laws along these lines carved on stone pillars
 India
more united at his death than ever
before
• Maurya Empire
 Empire
declined without his leadership
• Territories fought one another
• Took 600 years for India to become united again