CLASSICAL INDIA
SACHEM NORTH HIGH SCHOOL
AP WORLD HISTORY 9
DR. AFXENDIOU
India - Geography
• India is a peninsula, located on the south Asian
subcontinent.
• Features:
• Mountains
– Himalayas
– Hindu Kush
» Khyber Pass
• Deccan Plateau
• Indo-Gangatic Plains
• Rivers
– The Indus and Ganges Rivers make up a large area that
stretches 1,500 miles across Northern India called the IndusGanges Plain or Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• Monsoons – seasonal winds
– Winter (October to May)
– Summer (June to September)
– Problems – hard to predict, heavy rains cause flooding
Physical Map 1
Physical Map 2
Effect of Geography
 India open to influences from the early civilizations of the
Middle East and the Mediterranean
 Allowed for interaction with Persian Empire, which affected
art and political ideas
 invasion by Alexander the Great brought Hellenistic culture
 Despite connections with other civilizations, India had
relative isolation because of surrounding mountains that
set it apart from the rest of Asia - subcontinent
 geological divisions within the subcontinent made full
unity difficult
 led to greater diversity than found in China
 Regions: Agricultural regions of Indus and Ganges
Herding economy of mountainous northern regions
Trading and seafaring economy in the southern
coastal rim separated from the rest of the country
by mountains and the Deccan plateau
 racial, cultural and language differences
Aryan Influences
Origin:
The Aryans were lightArrival:
skinned, Indo-European
nomadic hunters and herders • Around 1500 BC, these tribes migrated
from central and northern Asia
south through Khyber Pass
who adopted agriculture in the Contributions:
plains of the Indus and
• Literary epics developed by Aryans –
Ganges Rives
Vedas the sacred books of Hinduism
• entrenched Aryan ideas about society
and family and began to give shape to
the Caste system
• Caste system (Varna) – has been
suggested that the caste system was a
way of allowing the newcomers
(Aryans) to coexist with the native
populations (seen as inferior)
• Sanskrit – written language
Aryan Routes To India
Social Classes: Varnas
• In order to separate Aryans
from non-Aryans, a Rigid
Class System emerged.
– Varna or skin color was a
distinguishing feature of this
system
• As time when on, people
were born into their caste for
life. Caste determines:
–
–
–
–
The job you hold
The person you marry
The people with whom you eat
The clothes you wear
HINDUISM
Brahma
Shiva
• Origin
– Classical Theory or Emerging Theorgy
Hindu
• Texts
– the Vedas and the Upanishads, the
Trinity
sacred scriptures of Hinduism
• Beliefs &Goals
– release from repeated reincarnation
(rebirth of the soul)
– Karma – good or bad deeds – follows
you through reincarnation
– Dharma – the duties and obligation of
your caste
• Deities
– worshipped at shrines
– the divine trinity, representing the
cyclical nature of the universe, are
Vishnu
• Brahma the creator
• Vishnu the preserver
• Shiva the destroyer
2 of 4
Brahma
Vishnu
The Preserver
Shiva
millions of local deities
world of humans:
dharma
fulfillment of life roles
karma
reincarnation
death
The
Destroyer
BUDDHISM
• Founded:
– in southern Nepal in the 5th and 6th centuries
B.C.
– Siddharta Gautama, known as the Buddha
(Enlightened One).
• Key Beliefs
– meditation and the practice of good religious and
moral behavior
– leads to Nirvana, the state of enlightenment,
– Reincarnation – the soul is reborn over and over
based on Karma
• Four Noble Truths
– Life is full of pain and suffering.
– Human desire causes this suffering.
– By putting an end to desire, humans can end
suffering.
– Humans can end desire by following the
Eightfold Path.
• Eightfold Path
– Wheel of Life represents the endless cycle of life
through reincarnation.
– Each of its eight spokes represents one of the
teachings of the Eightfold Path.
Political Institutions
• Most persistent political feature of India is
regionalism
– However, some centralization did occur
• Example: Gupta promotion of Sanskrit and law code
• Caste system provided local control and
regulation often fulfilled by government
Why regionalism?
PEOPLE IDENTIFY WITH THEIR REGIONAL LEADERS RATHER THAN
EMPIRE.
ALLEGIANCE IS CLOSE TO HOME NOT TO A FAR OFF CAPITAL
Political Structure
• India was divided into regional city states
• Invasion ( by Alexander the Great) helped
lead to some unity
• Two major empires emerged in Classical
India
Maurya
and
Gupta
Two major empires of Classical India – The Mauryan and Gupta Empires
The Mauryan Empire
321 B.C. – 232 B.C.
•
•
•
•
•
Founder: Chandragupta Maurya
– Defeats Alexander the Great (Greece)
– United India under one ruler
– Maintained HUGE army: over 600,000
– Set up bureaucracy that included a postal service
– Autocratic form of government
Asoka – 301B.C. – Chandragupta’s grandson
Greatest ruler of Mauryan
Extended Mauryan conquest – bloody campaigns
– Following a bitter battle with heavy casualties, he
converts to Buddhism.
• Religious Toleration – still honors Hinduism
• Sends missionaries out to spread Buddhism
– Built extensive road network
• Planted trees along routes for shade
• Every 9 miles dug a well and built rest
houses
– Changed his rule to be more humanistic
Decline
– Imperial kingdoms regain independence following
Asoka’s death
The Gupta Empire
320 – 500 CE
•
•
Founder:
– Chandragupta Maurya I (no relation)
Under the next 3 Emperors
– society was ordered in accordance
with Hindu beliefs.
– peace and prosperity enabled the
pursuit of scientific and artistic
endeavors.
• Chandragupta II (375 - 415 CE)
– The Golden Age of India (next slide)
• Expands Empire
• Achievements
•
Decline
– Death of CG II
– series of invasions
– Weak leaders
– many of their cultural and intellectual
achievements were saved and
transmitted to other cultures and live
on today.
The Gupta Empire: India’s Golden Age
•
•
•
•
http://www.cs.dartmout
h.edu/whites/nepal/stup
a.jpg
Math
– concept of zero
– decimal system based on the
number 10
– Calculated the value of pi (3.14)
– Arabic Numerals (0-9)
Medicine –
– plastic surgery
– vaccine against smallpox
Architecture
– Stone temples to gods
– Stupas (shrines)
Arts & Literature Gupta literature
consists of fables and folktales written in
Sanskrit.
– stories spread west to Persia, Egypt,
and Greece
– became the basis for many Islamic
literary works such as, Ali Baba and
the Forty Thieves and Aladdin and
his Magic Lamp.