Chapter 12.1
South Asia: Cultures and History
Terms [313]
• Caste
– A social group in the Hindu religion into which people
are born. It cannot be changed.
• Boycott
– To refuse to buy or use goods or services. Used as a
punishment.
• Partition
– To divide into different parts
• Merge
– To bring together or to combine something
• Golden Age
– When a civilization is at its height of science, art,
technology
[310-311]
READ: 312
Notes [313]
• Where was the Indus valley civilization
located?
– In what is today Pakistan and India along the Indus river.
• Who were the Aryans?
– People from Central Asia
– They brought their language and beliefs
• How were the Aryans different than the Indus
people?
• Spoke Sanskrit
• They were nomads and herders
• What are the five main castes in Hinduism?
– Priests-scholars, rulers-warriors, farmers, servantslaborers, untouchables
Sanskrit tablet
Notes [314]
READ: Hinduism
• What is the main religion of India?
– Hinduism
Brahma
Vishnu
Shiva
Notes [314]
Video: Hinduism in India
• What country did Buddhism begin?
– India
READ: Buddhism
• What are the Four Noble Truths taught by
Buddha?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Everyone suffers
The cause of suffering is your desires
You have to get rid of suffering
There is a way to get rid of your suffering
Notes [314]
• Religion in South Asia
– What is Reincarnation?
• when you die you will be
reborn into a new life
Notes [314]
•
Religion in South Asia
–
–
What is Karma?
Why are people in this world different?
• What is the cause of the inequality that exists among
mankind?
• Why should one person be brought up in the lap of luxury,
endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and
another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery?
• Why should one person be a mental prodigy, and another
not smart at all?
• Why should one person be born with saintly characteristics
and another with criminal tendencies?
• Why should some be linguistic, artistic, mathematically
inclined, or musical from the very cradle?
• Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf, or deformed?
• Why should some be blessed, and others cursed from their
births?
Notes [314]
• Religion in South Asia
– Karma and Reincarnation
• Karma
– A person’s actions will
determine what you will
be in your next life
Your Behavior
GOOD
BAD
Good Karma
Bad Karma
higher status in
next life
lower status in
next life
Sacred Evils: hatred, ignorance, greed
The Spread of Buddhism [314]
Notes [315]
• What are the three main empires in South Asia?
– The Maurya, the Gupta, the Mughal
READ: The Maurya Empire
READ: The Gupta Empire
READ: The Mughal Empire [315]
• What is an achievements of the Gupta during its
Golden Age?
– They developed the numbers we use today (Arabic
Numerals)
Notes [315]
READ: The Mughal Empire [316]
• What was the main religion of the Mughal
Empire?
– Islam
• Why was Akbar a good leader of the Mughals?
– He let people practice any religion
– He supported arts and literature
Notes [316]
• What empire took over after the Mughals?
– The British
• Why did Great Britain take control of India?
– For its natural resources (spices, tea, salt, wood)
What was the British East India Company?
• How did Gandhi work to help India gain its
independence from British rule?
–
–
–
–
Asked citizens to protest - nonviolently
Asked citizens to boycott British goods
Led peaceful marches
Spoke to leaders of other countries to let the
outside world see what was going on in India
Notes [317]
• Why did India partition into India and
Pakistan in 1947?
– The Muslims thought that would have too much control
– The Muslims began fighting and demanding for a Muslim
country
READ: Conflict in South Asia
India
Notes [318]
• What is the religion of Pakistan and
Bangladesh?
– Islam
• Why is English spoken in India?
– When the British took over they made English the main
language
– After the British left people continued to speak it
– It is still the language used in government, business and
medicine
How many official languages does India have?