Name____________________________________________________________
Per.______
Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
Chapter Four, First Empires, 500 B.C.E.-500 C.E. (pp. 165-168)
Intermittent Empire: The Case of India
 Another empire played a rather less prominent role in India
 In Indus River Valley flourished the largest of the First Civilizations
 Planned cities such as Harappa show little evidence of any central political authority

Did the Aryans invade suddenly or did they migrate slowly into the Indus River valley, or were
they already there as part of the Indus Valley Population?
o Scholars have yet to reach agreement
o 2 ways to look at India’s History (History and History of History: some of it unclear)

600 BCE: Classical civilization of South Asia had begun to take shape
o Politically, that civilization emerged as a fragmented collection of towns & cities
o Range of ethnic, cultural, & linguistic diversity also characterized this civilization
o Political fragmentation & vast cultural diversity have informed much of South Asian
history

What gave Indian civilization a recognizable identity and character?
o A distinctive religious tradition known later to outsiders as Hinduism
o Unique social organization-The Caste System

Empires were not entirely unknown in India’s long history
o Northwestern India had been briefly ruled by the Persian Empire
o Persian & Greek influences helped stimulate the first and largest of India’s short
experiments (The Mauryan Empire)
o This empire encompassed all but the southern tip of the Subcontinent

Mauryan Empire was an impressive political structure, equivalent to the Persian, Chinese, and
Roman Empires
o Population of 50 million
o Empire boasted large military force (600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots,
9,000 Elephants)
o Civilian bureaucracy with various ministries to provide rulers with local information
o Famous treatise (Arthashastra) articulated political philosophy for rulers
 Book showed how the political world does work and disclosed to a king what
brutal measures he carry out to preserve the state
o State operated many industries (spinning, weaving, mining, shipbuilding, & armaments)
o Complex financed by taxes on trade, animals, & land

Best known Mauryan emperor was Ashoka (268-232 BCE)
o Conversion to Buddhism and moralistic approach to governance gave his reign different
tone
o Legacy to modern India has been that of an enlightened ruler who sought to govern in
accord with the religious values & moral teachings of Hinduism & Buddhism

Ashoka’s policies did not preserve the empire
o Broke apart soon after Ashoka’s death
o Gupta Empire (320-550 CE) marked India’s history, but didn’t last long
o India’s political history resembled that of Western Europe after the collapse of the
Roman Empire
o India’s unparalleled cultural diversity & invasions led to smashed states that provided a
nucleus for an all Indian Empire

Frequently vibrant economy fostered a lively internal commerce
o Cotton textile industry long supplied cloth throughout the Afro-Eurasian
o Strong guilds provided political leadership in major towns & cities & their wealth
patronized lavish temples

Absence of consistent imperial unity did not prevent the evolution of an enduring civilization