India After the Indus Valley
From Aryans to Guptas
Who Were the Aryans???
• Aryans - Indo European group that migrated
from the middle of Eurasia
– Passed thru Khyber Pass about 1500 BC
– What is the Khyber Pass???
• Aryans come to India and find people who
are different from them
– Aryans were light skinned and spoke a different
language and had a different religion
– Non-Aryans they call dasas which meant dark
(due to their skin color)
• Dasa would later come to mean slave
• Differences will create classes quickly
The Caste System is Born
• Aryans had 3 classes
– Brahmin (priests) – upper class
– Kshatriyas (warriors) – middle class
– Vaisyas – (farmers, craftspeople, traders) – lower class
• Eventually non-Aryans were a class
– Called shudras – laborers, servants, and farm workers
– They did the jobs Aryans did not want to do
• Varna – related to skin color- becomes
the basis of this system; the classes were called
varnas
– Later they would be called ‘castes’
• This starts the caste system
The Four Castes of India
Aryan/ Indian god
known as Brahma
Rituals & Religion of the Caste
• Aryans were polytheistic
– Believed in heroic nature gods (ex.
Thunder)
• Castes or classes gave role in society
– People born into caste for LIFE
– Determines your friends, wife, job, etc.
– Only way to change caste was through
reincarnation – couldn’t change your
status during your life
Rituals & Religion of the Caste
• Ritual purity a major part of religion
– Eating / cleaning habits keep soul clean
• Untouchables - people in society who
were seen as less than any caste
– Jobs made them dirty and ‘untouchable’
– Grave diggers, butchers, etc.
– If someone from another caste touched
these people, they would automatically
be reincarnated as an Untouchable
themselves!!!
The Spread of the Aryans
• Aryans begin spreading
east & south
– Spread east to Ganges River
– Spread south into the rest of
India
• Mahabharata- epic poem
that told of stories of Aryan
spread
– Tells of mixing between the
Aryans & non-Aryans
• Dominated the area of India
from 1500BCE to 500BCE
The Mauryan Empire Emerges
• The Mauryan Empire
– Takes power around 320 BCE
• Chaundragupta Maurya is the leader
– Unifies all of Northern India for 1st time
– Creates a bureaucratic government
– What is a bureaucracy???
• Asoka takes over with the death of his
father
– Brings India to its greatest heights
– Turns away from war; spreads Buddhism
instead
• Practiced religious tolerance - people choose
– Built road systems, hospitals, etc.
The Mauryan Empire Emerges
• Asoka takes over with the death of his
father – he is the grandson of
Chandragupta Maurya
– Brings India to its greatest heights
– Turns away from war; spreads Buddhism
instead
• Practiced religious tolerance - people choose
• Which religion remains dominant???
– Built road systems, hospitals, etc.
The Gupta Empire Emerges
• Chaundra Gupta (no relation) comes
to power around 320 AD
– Brings Indian culture to its new peak
– Also brings Hindu religion to its peak
• Indian society is patriarchal
– Means eldest male rules the family
• Indian civilization prospers from both
trade and conquest
• Create incredible advancements
during this time period
Gupta Empire Advancements
• Math
– Creates the concept of zero
• Medicine
– Book of over 1000 diseases diagnosed
– Surgeries performed, set bones
• Astronomy
– Proved the earth was round
• New Products
– Spices, gems, woods, traded silks
****Used the Silk Roads for trading****
• Literature
– Khalidasa- famous playwright and writer