Aryan Civilization
Aryan Migration
 pastoral  depended on their cattle.
 warriors  horse-drawn chariots.
Indus River Valley: A Conquered
People
• Aryans; warrior nomads,
migrated into the Indus valley
around 2,000 B.C.
• Introduced a caste system that
ranked people in society
• Aryans were able to conquer
the Indus Valley due to
natural disasters in form the of
famines, devastating floods
and over usage of topsoil
• These events allowed the
Aryans to sweep across the
valley region
• Around 1500 BCE, a group of nomadic
warrior-herders crossed the narrow Khyber Pass
in the Hindu Kush Mountains and invaded the
Indus Valley culture.
• These people, the Aryans, came from Eastern
Europe between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea,
probably looking for pastures for their animals.
• Flooding and earthquakes had weakened the
Indus Valley culture and they were unable to
withstand the newcomers.
The route of the
Aryans into
India.
Aryan Migration to India and Europe
Why did the Aryans Migrate?
• Why do people migrate?
• Basic Needs
• Food
• Shelter
• Population Pressure
• Pursuit of Happiness
Hints of Reasons of Migration
• Indian Mythological Stories
– Gods leaving the heaven because of the Asuras
– Aryans in Iran (Aryan) worshipped Ahuras
HS
• The River Indus was originally known as Sindhu
– Sindhu means – a large body of water
• Sindhu > Hindu > Hindi > Indus > India
• The word Hindu was used by Iranians/Aryans to just distinguish
themselves and refer to the tribe that were lost.
• The Indian Aryans – did not call themselves as Hindu-s.
• The Iranian – Aryans called them Hindu-s and the name got stuck
Ancient India
What were the Aryans Like?
•
•
•
•
They were nomads
They did not have farms
They did not know how to write
They did not know how to build brick
houses or cities
• They were great thinkers/inventors
• They knew how to make iron
– That means they mined for coal and iron
• They learned how to use horse in
war and hunting
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
Holt McDougal Social Studies EASTERN HEMISPHERE, New York Edition
Main Idea 3:
The Ayran invasion changed India’s
civilization.
Arrival and
Spread
Government
and Society
• First arrived in
India in the 2000s
BC
• Nomads who
eventually settled
in villages and
began to farm
• Originally from
the area around
the Caspian Sea
in Central Asia
• Spread east and
south into central
India
• Most of what we
know about Aryan
society comes
from the Vedas
• Lived in small
communities
based on family
ties
• Villages were
governed by
rajas.
• Groups often
fought each other
Language
• Did not read or
write
• Memorized
poems and
hymns that were
important to
their culture
• Sanskrit was
the most
important
language in
ancient India.
• Sanskrit is no
longer spoken
today.
Aryan
• Aryan invaders ended the civilization of
the Indus River valley by conquering the
Harappans.
• The Aryans were a nomadic IndoEuropean people living in central Asia.
• Around 1500 B.C. they moved south
across the Hindu Kush mountain range
into northern India.
Aryan
• The Aryans created a new Indian
society.
• Like other nomadic people, the Aryans
excelled at war.
• By 1000 B.C. they had extended their
control throughout India.
• In India these nomadic warriors gave up
the pastoral life for regular farming.
o The Aryans brought with them their own
language, called Sanskrit and religious and
cultural beliefs.
o The Indus Valley people eventually became
intermixed with the Aryan people and the two
cultures together make up what is now much of
the culture of modern India.
o
Hinduism, the major religion of India, was a
mixture of Aryan and Indus Valley beliefs.
o The caste system, which keeps people in strict
social classes, was brought to India by the
Aryans.
Aryan invaders
• Below: an illustration of a
scene from the Rig-Veda
The Aryan “Invasion”
 Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from the north
 not to be confused with Hitler’s “Aryans”
 Dravidians, darker-skinned sedentary inhabitants of Harappa and
lower India
 Color Bias
 tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned
 describe the indigenous population as short, “black”, noseless,
and slaves
 Difficulty of theory: no evidence of large-scale military conquest
 Continuous flow of Aryans over a long period of time
 gradual infiltration
 more primitive than the earlier culture
 Used chariots, raised forward w/bows and arrows, rearmed and
returned
 Seems to be key to ‘invasion’
Aryans Transform India
• The Aryan People
– Indo-European people, enter
Indus River Valley before
2000 B.C.E.
– Sacred writings, the Vedas,
reveal much of their culture
The Spread of Aryans in India
• The Aryans
moved along the
river Ganges
Aryavarta – Land of Aryans
• Their spread
came to Bengal
last
• Their spread
was limited by
Himalyas on the
North, Vindhya
on the South
and
Ganges+Bramha
putra on the
East
Dakshinapath – The way of
the South
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
The Spread of the Aryans
Gandhara, Madra,
Bahika:
Afghanistan/
Punjub
Kuru: Delhi and
surrounding
places
Panchala:
Uttarpradesh
Kosala: Bihar
Uttar Pradesh
Videha, Anga:
Bihar
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
Possible route of the Aryan invasions
Aryans
Transform India
• Aryan Kingdoms Arise
– Aryans extend settlements
to other river valleys
– Small Kingdoms arise
– Magadha kingdom unites
all and spreads across
India by 100 B.C.
The Spread of Aryans
• The spread was along the Ganges Plains
• As they spread they also fought and interacted
with people who were already in India:
– Danavas – Big People (Indus Valley People ??)
– Rakshashas – Demons (Native Hunter Gatherers)
• They learned farming
• They learned to build cities
• They learned to build states and empires
– Will be covered in the next lecture
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
Aryan
• The introduction of iron helped make
this change, especially the introduction
of the iron plow, which could be used to
clear the dense jungle growth along the
Ganges.
• Irrigation systems turned the area into
productive farmland.
Aryan
• Rice was grown in
the fertile river
valleys.
• Vegetables, grains,
cotton, and spices
such as cinnamon
and pepper were
grown in the south.
Aryan
• Wheat, barley, and
millet were grown in
the north.
The Aryans
 Emphasis on warfare
 restless, warlike people
 leaders chosen for military prowess
 Courage highest ideal
 Villages and kingdoms constantly fighting
 Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses, cattle
 Vegetarianism not widespread until many
centuries later
 Wealth from cattle and victories won
 Hunting, gambling, and rustling cattle
 Fighting, drinking, chariot racing
 Take soma – psychotropic mushroom?
The Aryans, con’t
 These Aryans speak an Indo-European dialect
 related to other languages like Greek and Latin
 English father, Latin pater, Celtic athir, Sanskrit pitar
 they called themselves “Aryans”
 their land: “Aryavarta”
 land of the Aryans
 By 1200 B.C. still no cites (300 yrs)
 Not literate (no written language)
 No record system, little evidence
 No central authority, tribes
 small villages, mobile, wooden
 Class system
 Chiefs and kings
 Religious leaders
 Memorize ‘formulas’ for worship and sacrifice
 Aristocrats and freemen
Aryan Religion
• They worshipped natural forces
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Indra – God of rain and thunder on a horse
Varuna – God of water
Agni – God of fire
Pavana – God of the wind
Ashwinis – God of the herbs
Surya – The Sun God
Soma – The Moon God
Bramhana – The God that created everything
• As they migrated they also adapted the gods of
the natives
– Durga, Shiva, Vishnu
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
Alien gods and values
• Below: Brahma, Vishnu, and
Shiva
• Right: the monkey god
Aryan
• As nomads, the
Aryans had no
written language.
• They developed
their first written
language, Sanskrit,
around 1000 B.C.
Sanskrit
writing
Aryan
• They wrote down the religious rituals,
legends, and chants that previously had been
passed down orally.
• Early Aryan writings also reveal that between
1500 B.C. and 400 B.C., Aryan leaders
known as rajas (princes) dominated India.
• Each carved out a small state and fought
other Aryan chieftains.
Aryans Transform India
• Aryan Kingdoms Arise
– Epic Mahabharata reflects
struggles in India as Aryan
kings worked to control
Indian lands
Aryans and Hindus
 Aryans give rise to Hindu society
 but different characteristics
 cows: they ate them
 classes, but no castes
 priests subordinate to the nobility
Holt McDougal Social Studies EASTERN HEMISPHERE, New York Edition
Main Idea 3:
Hinduism developed out of Brahmanism and
influences from other cultures.
• The Vedas, the Upanishads, and other Vedic texts
remained the basis of Indian religion for centuries.
• Eventually, the ideas began to blend with ideas from other
cultures.
• This blending created a religion called Hinduism, the
largest religion in India today.
Hindu Religion
The Aryans and the Indus
Valley culture eventually
produced what is known
today as Hinduism. This
religion is polytheistic,
which means believing in
many gods. We know
about this ancient religion
because of Aryan books
called “Vedas” that
record the beliefs of the
Aryans. Pictured here is
one of the many gods of
Hinduism, Krishna.
Hinduism differs from other religions like Christianity,
Judaism and Islam in that there is no one single founder or
one set of beliefs that must be followed. There are thousands
of Hindu gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Most of the
beliefs of Hinduism came from the oral traditions of the
Aryans which became the Vedas—or holy writings—of the
Hindus.
Hinduism
• Originated with the Aryans
• Vedas were the scriptures
– Oldest scriptures still in active use
• Beliefs
Carving showing Brahma,
– Brahman was the ultimate reality or god
Vishnu, and Shiva
• Reveals itself in millions of earthly shapes
• Ties everything in nature together
(e.g. humans and insects)
– Focused on achieving oneness with Brahman
• Yoga was supposed to help lead to the union by leaving behind earthly life and
having a mind at rest
– Reincarnation
• Soul is reborn after death
– Karma
• Person’s actions determine how he will be reborn in the next life
– Dharma
• Divine law that rules karma
• Requires all people to do their duty (e.g. a woman’s dharma says she has to obey
her father, her husband, and her sons when widowed)
Reincarnation
• Central to Hinduism is the
belief in reincarnation.
Hindus believe that after a
person dies, they will be reborn as some other creature
or thing. What you are reborn as depends on your
“Karma” or the deeds you
did in your previous life. If
you did good deeds, you
will reborn into a higher,
better life. If you had bad
Karma, you may be re-born
as an insect or even a tree.
India’s Classical Period
 Primary gods





Indra – god of war
Agni – gave fire
Varuna – directed cosmic order
Vishnu – incarnated to help humans
Brahman – highest deity, omnipotent
 All other deities are reflections of him
 Most ceremonies performed outdoors
Vishnu
 Matsya, the fish, appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents
beginning of life.
 Kurma, the tortoise, appeared in the Satya Yuga.
Represents a human embryo just growing tiny legs, with a
huge belly.
 Varaha, the boar, appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents
a human embryo which is almost ready. Its features are
visible.
 Narasimha, the Man-Lion (Nara = man, simha = lion),
appeared in the Satya Yuga. Represents a newborn baby,
hairy and cranky, bawling and full of blood.
 Vamana, the Dwarf, appeared in the Treta Yuga.
Represents an young child.
 Parashurama, Rama with the axe, appeared in the Treta
Yuga. Represents both an angry young man and a grumpy
old man simultaneously.
Vishnu
 Rama, Sri Ramachandra, the prince and king of Ayodhya,
appeared in the Treta Yuga. Represents a married man
with children in a very ideological society
 Krishna (meaning dark or black; see also other meanings
in the article about him.), appeared in the Dwapara Yuga.
Represents a person in more practical society, where there
is one good or bad. Good or bad depends on society you
live in.
 Gautama Buddha is considered an avatar that returned
pure dharma to the world.
 Kalki ("Eternity", or "time", or "The Destroyer of
foulness"), who is expected to appear at the end of Kali
Yuga, the time period in which we currently exist, which
will end in the year 428899 CE.
Hindu god statues
Ganesh – remover
of obstacles
Shiva – the destroyer
Parvati – aspect
of Devi
Hindu god statues
Lakshmi –
goddess of wealth
Durga the
unconquerable
Dancing Lord Shiva –
as Nataraia
Hindu god statues
Shakti – feminine
creation
Vishnu the Preserver
Sarawati – goddess
of wisedom
Quest for Learning
• First wide spread public
school system
– They did not know how to
write
– Spread knowledge from
the teacher to the student
by learning
• First Literature – not
written
– Vedas
– Upanishads
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
• Sanskrit- written language
that priests used to write
down sacred texts
• Mahabharata- India’s
greatest epic, 100,000
verses. Aryan tribes
fighting for Ganges. 5
royal brothers, Pandavas,
lose area to cousins but
take back after huge
battle. Discusses Indian
religious beliefs,
immortality of the soul,
and importance of duty
Literature
• Ramayana- Rama’s bride
Sita is kidnapped by
demon-king Ravana and
story it all about Rama
getting his bride back
• Stories evolved over time
and different morals come
from them like role models
and loyalty
Aryan - Literature
• Vedas: A collection of verses describing
everything in life
– Scientific process – how to lit a fire, proper
way of farming
– How to lead a disciplined life
• Upanishadas: A more filtered version of
Vedas dealing with more esoteric and
spiritual quests
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
The Vedas
 1200 BCE-600 BCE.
 written in SANSKRIT.
 Hindu core of
beliefs:
Rig Veda  oldest work.

hymns and poems.

religious prayers.

magical spells.

lists of the gods
and goddesses.
A quote from the Vedas
In the beginning there was neither existence nor non- existence; there was no
atmosphere, no sky, and no realm beyond the sky. What power was there?
Where was that power? Who was that power? Was it finite or infinite?
There was neither death nor immortality. There was nothing to distinguish night
from day. There was no wind or breath. God alone breathed by his own
energy. Other than God there was... nothing.
In the beginning darkness was swathed in darkness. All was liquid and
formless. God was clothed in emptiness.
Then fire arose within God; and in the fire arose love. This was the seed of the
soul. Sages have found this seed within their hearts; they have discovered that
it is the bond between existence and non-existence.
Who really knows what happened? Who can describe it? How were things
produced? Where was creation born? When the universe was created, the one
became many. Who knows how this occurred?
Did creation happen at God's command, or did it happen without his
command? He looks down upon creation from the highest heaven. Only he
knows the answer -or perhaps he does not know.
Rig Veda 10:129.1-7
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
The Early Aryans
 Religious and Literary works: The Vedas
 Sanskrit: sacred tongue
 Prakrit: everyday language, evolved into Hindi, Urdu,
Bengali
 Four Vedas, most important, oldest Rig Veda
 “Veda” means “knowledge”
 1,028 hymns (oral poetry) to gods
 passed down orally from priests and singers
 comes to have a sacred character
 written down in the 500’s
 our primary source
 early Aryan tradition, later Hindu religion
 provides some historical information
India’s Classical Period
 Mahabharata and Ramayana
 Epic poems, supplements the Vedas
 Major literary works
 Added to by later authors over the ages
 Mahabharata = longest poem in world
 The Bhagavad-Gita section = main tenants of
Hinduism
 Arjuna, a warrior prepares himself for battle, doubts
(family), charioteer – Lord Krishna/Vishnu – body is
only one part of a person
 Ramayana = story of Rama, displaced prince’s fight for
his wife and throne
Krishna reveals
himself to Arjuna
in his manifold
aspects
Krishna with
Arjuna on the
battlefield of
Kuruksketra
India’s Classical Age
 Aryans began to expand territories
 Took over smaller, weaker areas
 Chief’s villages became cities
 Cotton farming and cloth making provided
funding
 Almost constant war/conflict
 By 600 BC 16 nations in N. India
 Dravidians in Deccan were still isolated
India’s Classical Age
 Aryan rulers became raja
 Extensive wooden palaces
 Advisers for war and peace
 Scribes wrote down sacred literature (rather
than recording conquests)
 Brahman Religion grows
 Commonly called Hinduism
 Reinforced class system
• Daily life
– Life centered around the family
• Three generations often lived under
one roof
– Males were superior
• Patriarchal
• Usually, only males were educated
• Suttee – Required a wife to throw herself on her dead
husband’s funeral pyre
– Marriage
• Upper-class young men were not supposed to marry until
they had completed education
• Arranged marriages were common for young girls
• Divorce usually wasn’t allowed
– Children
• Expected to take care of parents when they got old
Family in Ancient India
Primary Unit of Society
- extended family
1. three generations
-Patriarchal
- Superiority of men
1. no women priests
2. men only ones educated
Education
1. Guru
Family
• The family was the basic unit of ancient
Indian society.
• The ideal was to have an extended family of
three generations under one roof.
• The oldest male had legal authority over the
entire family, which made the family unit
patriarchal.
• Generally, only males could inherit property
and were educated.
Family
• Women could not be priests.
• Divorce was forbidden, but men could
take a second wife if the first was not
able to bear children.
• Children were important primarily
because they were to take care of their
aging and elderly parents.
Family in Ancient India
Marriage
- marriages arranged
- women considered a minor
- divorce
1. women almost never
2. take second wife (if first wife
could not have children)
- children important
Sati (STOPPED IN 1800s)
Family
• Marriages were arranged.
• Men married after 12 years of study.
• Girls married young because they were
an economic drain on the family.
• Perhaps the strongest instance of male
domination in India is suttee.
Family
• In India the dead were burned on
funeral pyres.
• Suttee required a wife to throw herself
on her dead husband’s funeral pyre and
die herself.
• Those who refused were disgraced.
Funeral Pyre
India’s Classical Period
 Aryan class system
 All men/women born unequal
 Highest – priestly class or Brahmans
 Monopoly on religious practices
 Memorized religious texts
 Indra – god of war – most popular
 After 600BC, some vedas written
 To train young Brahmans?
 Earliest copy from about 100 AD
 Used to address the gods
The Iron Age: new sources
 the Upanishads: interpretations and
symbolic studies
 Form 700-500BC, philosopher’s
interpretation of Vedas
 From Sanskrit – ‘sit near’ the guru
 forerunners of later dissenting literature
Strain of change
 Iron Age change causes strain on the
class system
 blurring of lines between Aryans and
Daas
 answered with the caste system
Holt McDougal Social Studies EASTERN HEMISPHERE, New York Edition
Main Idea 1:
Indian society divided into distinct groups.
• These groups were largely organized by people’s
occupations.
• Strict rules developed about how people of
different groups could interact.
• Over time, these rules became stricter and
became central to Indian society.
Caste System
• One social custom brought to
India by the Aryans was the
caste system. This system put
every person in society into a
certain class from which they
could never advance. The
caste system was very
effective in keeping social
order but it was rigid and
strict. Those in the lowest
caste were looked down on by
upper caste members and
could never change castes.
Holt McDougal Social Studies EASTERN HEMISPHERE, New York Edition
Social Divisions in Aryan society
The Varnas
•
Brahmins –
priests
•
Kshatriyas –
rulers and
warriors
•
Vaisyas –
farmers,
craftspeople,
and traders
•
Sudras –
laborers and
non-Aryans
The Caste System
• Divided Indian
society into
groups based on
a person’s birth,
wealth, or
occupation
• Determined his or
her place in
society
• On rare
occasions, people
could change
caste.
• Untouchables
were considered
unclean and were
the outcasts of
society.
Caste Rules
• Aryans wanted to
keep the classes
distinct.
• Sutras, or guides,
which listed the
rules of the caste
system
• People spent
almost all of their
time with others
in their same
class.
Caste System
• The caste system was one of the most
important Indian social creations.
• It set up a rigid hierarchy of classes that
determines a person’s occupation,
economic potential, and social status.
• In part it was based on skin color.
Top Caste Brahmins
* ruling elites in Aryan society
* priests and warriors
Second Caste Kshatriyas
* were warriors
Third Caste Vaisyas
* commoners
* usually engaged in commerce
Forth Caste Sudras
* not Aryan
* great part of the Indian
population
* peasants artisans / manual labor
The Untouchables
Caste System, 1000 BC
 Puts Aryans above indigenous Dravidians
 Racial purity and control
 ritual purity
 Different wells
 Violations = punishment, even death
 “Us--Them” feelings
 divine order of four castes or “Varnas”





Brahmins: the priests
Kshatriyas: the warriors
Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
Sudras: non-Aryans
Harijans: Untouchables
Castes





define a person’s social universe
define a person’s standard of conduct
define a person’s expectations
define a person’s future
define how a person deals with others
Caste system in practice




warrior class did not always accept it
nor the other classes
the process of evolution is still going on
the most powerful organizer of Indian society
 thousand of castes today
 Define





person’s social universe
person’s standard of conduct
person’s expectations
person’s future
how a person deals with others
Caste System
• There were five major classes, or
castes.
• The top two castes were the Aryan
ruling elites, the priests and warriors.
• The highest were members of the
priestly class, or Brahmans.
Main Idea 2:
Aryans formed a religion known as Brahmanism.
• Aryan priests were called Brahmins, and their religion is
often called Brahmanism.
• Aryan religion was based on the Vedas.
• Aryans wrote down their thoughts about the Vedas in
collections called Vedic texts.
– One collection of Vedic texts describes Aryan religious rituals.
– A second collection describes secret rituals that only certain people
could perform.
– The final group of Vedic texts are the Upanishads. These writings are
reflections on the Vedas by religious students and teachers.
Caste System
• India’s caste system is
divided into many
different classes, each
with its own job. The
highest class is the
Brahmans, or priests.
They have great
authority and respect.
Caste System
• The warriors were called Kshatriyas.
• The third caste was made up of
commoners, who for the most part were
merchants.
• Members of this caste were called the
Vaisyas.
Caste System
• The next level are the
warriors, or landowners. They are
often in the wealthy,
ruling class. In early
times, they were the
armies for the many
princes of India. They
are called Kshatriya
Caste System
• The Vaishya are the
merchants and
artisans. They are the
people who sell
products. They, like
all members of each
caste, cannot ever
change their caste.
Caste System
• Below this were the Sudras, who made
up most of the Indian population.
• They were the darker-skinned natives
the Aryans had conquered.
• Most were peasants who did manual
labor, and their rights were limited.
Caste System
• The lowest level are
the artisans and
farmers. They are
called Shudra. They
are very important
because they provide
food and goods for
society. Like members
of every caste, they
must marry within
their own caste.
Caste System
The lowest group
in India are the
Harijan. They are
also called the
“untouchables” or
“outcasts” because
they are not even
considered part of
the caste system.
Their job is to do
all the worst jobs in
the community
such as cleaning
latrines and sewers
and sweeping the streets. Members of the caste system were not even supposed to
have the shadow of an untouchable touch them. These people believed that the only
way to get out of their lot in life was to perform their jobs without complaint so
they could be born into a higher caste in the next life.
Caste System
• The Untouchables made up the lowest
rung of Indian society.
• They performed jobs considered
degrading by Indian society, like
collecting trash and handling the dead.
• They made up about 5 percent of
ancient India’s population.
Caste System
• The life of an Untouchable was difficult.
• They were not considered human and
their presence was considered harmful.
• They lived in ghettos.
• When they traveled they had to tap
sticks together so others would know
they were coming and could avoid
them.
Caste system, con’t
 enforced by Brahmins
 literature emphasized the divine order
 Position determined by dharma from pervious life
 Can earn good karma to move up in the next life
(bad karma moves down)
 Try to achieve Moshka, beyond personal existence
 hierarchical relationship
 Influenced inheritance and marriage
 Family more important than the individual
 Arranged marriages, mother-in-law
 Multiple generations within one household
Division of Labor (Barna)
• Four Categories or Barnas:
– Brahmins – Educators, Thinkers, Experts,
Priests
– Kshatriyas – Soldiers, Rulers, Kings, Knights,
– Baishyas – Traders, Business People,
Bankers,
– Shudras – Farmers, Workers, Laborers
• People outside the Barnas – Untouchables
– Mainly non-Aryans
© 2011 Maharaj Mukherjee
The
Caste
System
WHO IS…
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
 The mouth?
 The arms?
Vaishyas
 The legs?
 The feet?
What is a JATI?
Shudras
Challenges to the Aryans
Main Idea 4:
The Jains reacted to Hinduism by breaking away.
• Mahariva did not like the control of religion by the Brahmins
and founded a new religion called Jainism.
– Jains try to live by four principals: injure no life, tell the
truth, do not steal, and own no property.
– Jains practice nonviolence, or the avoidance of violent
action.
– Jains believe that everything is alive and part of the cycle
of rebirth.
– Jains are vegetarians. They do not eat any food that
comes from animals.
Challenges to Brahmans
 Mahariva (“Great Hero”) 6th Cen BC
 Nobel birth, life of luxury, troubled
 12 years as a beggar, wanderer
 Understood desire are root of problem, causes
clutter
 2nd insight – must preserve all life at all costs
 Rejects rules, rituals of brahmans
 Followers become Jains
 Vegitarians
 Tried to imitate Mahariva’s life, reject worldly
possesions
Siddharta Gautama
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Around 566 BC, Siddharta Guatama was born into the warrior
or Kshatriya caste.
He was a prince who was kept isolated inside a beautiful palace
and not allowed to see the real world.
One day he left the walls of his palace and saw the pain and
misery of life.
He decided from then on that he needed to find a way of living
that would allow people to find peace in life.
He spent many years trying different ways of life, following
different philosophies.
Finally he came up with his own way, which is now called
Buddhism.
Gautama became known as Buddha, which means “enlightened
one”
He developed the Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path.
These are rules to live by that help people live morally and find
the “middle path,” without too much pain, or too much pleasure.
Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama, 7th Cen BC
 Grew up a rich prince
 Prophecy said he’d never be king  father tried to
protect him, isolate him from pain/suffering
 Siddhartha saw an old man, then saw sick, hungry,
dead person  overwhelmed
 Abandoned family, became an ascetic (extreme
rejection of luxury)
 Sat beneath a bodhi tree, waiting/meditated for 49
days
 Enlightenment  Buddha
Holt McDougal Social Studies EASTERN HEMISPHERE, New York Edition
The Buddha Finds Enlightenment
•
Siddhartha spent six years wandering throughout India.
– He started fasting, or went without food.
– He spent time in meditation, the focusing of the mind on
spiritual ideas.
•
After seven weeks of deep meditation under a tree in the town of
Gaya, Siddhartha suddenly had the answers that he had been
looking for.
•
He
–
–
–
•
Siddhartha is said to have found “enlightenment” under the tree.
From that point on, he would be called the Buddha, or “Enlightened
One.”
discovered that human suffering comes from three things:
wanting what we like but do not have,
wanting to keep what we like and already have, and
not wanting what we dislike but have.
Buddha
 Believed in 4 noble truths
 Acknowledge suffering
 People suffer because of ambition and desire
 To remove suffering, remove ambition and
desire
 Do this by following the 8-fold path
 Correct: understanding, wishes, speech, conduct,
employment, effort, kindness, meditation
 When accomplished  Enlightenment or Nirvana
The Four Noble Truths
 Suffering and unhappiness are a part of human life.
No one can escape sorrow.
• Suffering comes from our desires for pleasure and
material goods. People cause their own misery
because they want things they cannot have.
 People can overcome their desires and ignorance and
reach nirvana, a state of perfect peace. Reaching
nirvana would free a person’s soul from suffering and
from the need for further reincarnation.
• People can overcome ignorance and desire by
following an eightfold path that leads to wisdom,
enlightenment, and salvation.
The Eightfold Path
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Right Thought
Right Intent
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
Buddha
 Nirvana – similar to Moshka
 Achieved with out Brahmans, personal achievement
 Rejected idea only male Brahmans could read Vedas
 Disciples shaved heads, wore yellow garments, traveled
w/begging bowl
 Buddhism divides; some follow personal example
of Buddha, some believe he has divine qualities
 Develop ideas about heaven and hell later
Buddhist Teachings Challenged
Hindu Ideas
• The Buddha rejected many of the ideas contained in the Vedas and told
people that they did not have to follow these texts.
• The Buddha challenged the authority of the Hindu priests, the Brahmins.
He taught that each person was responsible for their own salvation.
• The Buddha was opposed to the caste system.
Main Idea 3:
Buddhism spread far from where it began in India.
In India
•
•
•
After his death,
500 of the
Buddha’s followers
spread his
teachings
throughout India
after the Buddha
died.
Buddhist teachings
were popular and
easy to
understand.
Within 200 years
of the Buddha’s
death, Buddhism
had spread
throughout most
of India.
Beyond India
Buddhism Splits
• The Indian king
Asoka helped to
spread Buddhism
both within India
and outside of
India.
• As Buddhism
spread, not all
Buddhists could
agree on their
beliefs and
practices.
• He built Buddhist
temples and
schools throughout
India.
• Buddhism split into
two major
branches:
Theravada and
Mahayana.
• Asoka sent
missionaries to
other kingdoms in
Asia.
• Buddhism spread
via the Silk Road
into China, then
Korea and Japan.
• Both branches have
millions of followers
today, but
Mahayana is by far
the larger branch.