Cultures of Persia, India, and
China
2011-2012 WHI SOL
Part III
Nebuchadnezzar is also the same
king who built this famous
structure in Babylon for his
homesick wife.
The Hanging Gardens
The Babylonians would eventually
be conquered by the Persians.
Where were the Persians from?
Iran
Who was the Persian King who
conquered the Babylonians?
Cyrus
How did Cyrus treat the people
that he had conquered?
With Tolerance
After conquering Babylon, Cyrus
allowed these people to return to
Israel and Judah.
The Jews
What was the religion that the
Persians practiced?
Zoroastrianism
Who was the founder of the
Zoroastrian religion?
Zoroaster
Zoroaster taught that their were
two opposing forces in the Universe.
What were these forces?
Good and Evil
The teachings of Zoroaster were
recorded in this holy book
The Avesta
The Persians, instead of forcing their
religion on the people they
conquered, allowed the Jews and all
the other people they conquered to
practice their religion freely. This is
known as?
Religious Toleration
Cyrus soon had built an empire. His
son Cambyses would extend the
empire by conquering the land of the
Pharaohs. What land did he conquer?
Egypt
Who was the third king of
Persia?
Darius
Darius developed an administration of
government through departments
staffed with non-elected officials.
This type of government would be
known as an
Imperial Bureaucracy
Darius divided the Persian Empire
into 20 provinces, and placed a
governor in charge of each
province. What were these
governors called?
Satraps
Darius also built this to make
travel across Persia’s conquered
territories easier
The Royal Road
The classical Indian Valley
Civilization began by this river
The Indus River
Over time, the civilization would
be extended east to this river
The Ganges
What mountains would border the
Indian subcontinent
The Hindu Kush and the
Himalayas
What ocean is south of India?
The Indian Ocean
The Indian
Ocean
What were the two major cities
of the Indus Valley Civilization?
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
A group of Indo-Europeans migrated
into the Indus Valley through the
Hindu Kush. Who were these people?
The Aryans
The Aryans soon dominated the
people of the Indus Valley region.
They would develop a structured
social hierarchy system known as
The Caste System
This religion developed in India.
The Caste System is an integral
part of it
Hinduism
The Hindus believed in many
forms of one
god
In Hinduism, one would move up or
down in the caste system as a result
of ones thoughts and actions. What
is this known as?
Karma
Karma influenced your position in the
caste system as Hindus believe in a
system of rebirth known as
reincarnation
What are the two most sacred
writings in Hinduism?
Vedas and Upanishads
A man named Siddhartha Guatama
developed another religion in India.
What would he come to be known as?
The Buddha
The term Buddha means this
The Enlightened one
Siddhartha explained his new faith
as a search for answers to life’s
mysteries that he had not found in
this religion.
Hinduism
Siddhartha (the Buddha) laid out four
main ideas that he had understood in his
Enlightenment. What were these ideas
known as?
1) Everything in life is suffering and sorrow
2) The cause for all the suffering in the world is people’s
selfish desire for the temporary pleasures of the world.
3) The way to end all suffering is to end all desires
4) The way to overcome such desires is to attain
enlightenment. This is done by following the eightfold
path, which is called the middle way between desires and
self-denial
The fourth Noble Truth explained
that by following this one could
attain enlightenment
What is the Symbol for
Buddhism?
India would soon be unified by
this empire
The Himalaya Mountains
Who was the greatest Emperor
during the Mauryan Empire?
Asoka
Asoka began his reign focused on
conquering India. However, after one
of his victories, Asoka realized the
pain he was inflicting on those he
conquered. He would have a change of
heart as he converted to this religion
Buddhism
After converting to Buddhism, Asoka
would create the following:
good roads, veterinary clinics, and free hospitals
The Gupta Empire
In Classical Indian Culture major
contributions were developed under
the rule of the Gupta Empire. This
time period in India has come to be
known as
The Golden Age
During the Gupta empire,
advancements were made in
mathematics. What numeral concept
did they come up with?
The number 0
What did the Gupta come up with
in the area of Medicine?
They set
bones
studied
diseases
performed
surgeries
What advances did the Gupta
make in the area of Astronomy?
Calculated
the solar
year at
365.35868
days and
established
the Earth
was round
by studying
eclipses
During the Golden Age of the Gupta
Empire, Kalidasa was a renowned writer,
widely regarded as the greatest poet and
dramatist. In what language did he write?
Sanskrit
Classical Chinese Civilization
What civilization is located in this area?
China
China had one of the four River
Valley Civilizations. Between what
rivers did this civilization emerge?
Huang He and Yangtze
What is another name for the
Huang He River?
The Yellow River
In China’s early years, many
warlords fought one another as
they were all trying to gain
control of China. What was this
time period known as?
The Time of Warring
States
During the Time of Warring
States period two of China’s
most influential thinkers emerged.
Who were they?
Lao Tzu and Confucius
The elder of the teachers was this
man. He believed that people should
be humble and have a simple life in
which they try to find inner peace.
Who was he?
Lao Tzu
What philosophy contribute to
Chinese culture and values by
using the following?
•
•
•
•
Humility
Simple life and inner peace
Harmony with nature
Yin and Yang
Taoism
Who taught this?
•
•
•
•
Humans are good, not bad
Respect for elders
Code of politeness
Emphasis on education
Confucius
Both Lao Tzu and Confucius believed that
these two powers represented the
harmony between opposite forces in the
universe.
Yin and Yang
Simple Life and
Inner Peace
Humility
Lao Tzu’s teachings
known as
___________
Harmony with
Nature
Taoism
Respect for
elders
Belief that
humans are
good, not bad
Code of
Politeness
These are
the
teachings of
______
Emphasis on
education
Ancestor
Worship
Confucius
This man would end the Time of
Warring States. He would unify China
for the first time under one
government, and also become its
First Emperor
Shi Huangdi
What was the name of his
Dynasty?
The Qin
What great structure did he
have built to defend his realm?
The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China was built
to defend the Chinese from
Northern Invaders
An entire army made of this type
of clay was discovered in China in
the 1970s.
Terracotta
What do historians and archeologists
believe this army was for?
To protect Shi Huangdi in the
afterlife
Name this technology develop during
the tang and song dynasties.
paper
Name this technology developed
during the tang and song dynasties.
porcelain
What is this textile technology
developed in China
Silk
the art or practice that seeks
to foresee or foretell future
events
Divination
In Chinese History, the divine
(godly) approval thought to be the
reason dynasties were allowed to
keep royal authority
Mandate of Heaven
These were caravan routes
from China that
crisscrossed central Asia.
Silk Road