South Asia (India) PERSIAN Chart
(Classical)
by Lauren Blumenfeld
Political
- regionalism (regional states governed by kings and some republics governed by public assemblies) and fragmented towns and cities, public order enforced by caste system; rules of castes governed marriages, jobs, and social customs; power rested with the land-owning classes
- Mauryan Empire (326-184 BCE)- ruled all but the southern tip of the subcontinent; possessed great military force which included 600,000 infantry soldiers, 8,000 chariots, 9,000 elephants, and 30,000 cavalry; spies provided rulers with regional information; Arthashastra (The Science of Worldly Wealthy) gave a sensible political philosophy to the rulers
- Ashoka (r. 268-232 BCE)- carved edicts on rocks and pillars that left evidence of his actions and thoughts; converted to Buddhism hoping to unite the disparate people under his rule; acknowledged Hinduism by financing Hindu shrines; sent Buddhist missionaries to the Middle East, Sri Lanka, and the Hellenistic empires; enforced humane behavior; tried for better trade and communication by financing a network of roads with wells and rest places for travelers; after his reign, Mauryan Empire began to fall apart
- Gupta Empire (320-550 CE) - chose to accommodate with local princes and often intermarried with their families to lower the amount of fighting; gave India its two highest centuries of stableness; favored Hinduism because rulers claimed to be appointed by the gods to rule; organized a pressing taxation system; allowed regional rulers they had defeated to control their region as long as they acknowledged Gupta control; expanded systematic law codes like road building and universities
Economy
- caste system organized economic life by appointing people to jobs; the economy became extremely powerful and rivaled China in technological finesse; Indian textiles and manufactured calico, cotton cloth, and cashmere; trade financed by the taxes on trade; spinning, weaving, mining, shipbuilding, and armaments were important industries; emphasis on merchants and trade; merchants were usually a high caste and were very active; economy persisted with an agricultural base; focal point of the major trading network of the Indian Ocean; wealth of merchants helped the construction of temples, buildings, and religious festivals; trade grew with China; Indian commerce extended to the Roman world
Religion
- Hinduism- the majority of Classical India was Hindu; has no single founder; the Vedas were commonly accepted as sacred texts that consisted of poems, hymns, prayers, and rituals; Brahmins lead teachings of the Vedas and approached the religion with a ceremonial approach; diversity of Hinduism allowed to incorporate the diverse peoples of South Asia; supported political and economic goals and worldly pleasures; as it evolved, it became more elaborate; Upanishads believed that a divine force was advising the whole world, that the human soul was part of Brahman (the World Soul), that the goal of humankind was union with Brahman; samsara (rebirth/reincarnation) is central to beliefs of Hinduism; karma was also believed to give way to a birth to a higher class; dharma stressed meditation and the study of the inner self, and demands thought of moral consequences; not a missionary religion looking for converts; identified with a particular people and area; provided customs and guidelines for everyday life and reinforced the caste system; later spread to Southeast Asia
- Buddhism- founded by an Indian prince, Gautama, who questioned the legitimacy of earthly life and spent six years on a spiritual quest until finally achieving “enlightenment”; later known as Buddha, he spent his life travelling and teaching his ideas; Buddha agreed with many Hindu customs and beliefs except Brahmin ceremonies; focused on supreme divinity rather than many lesser gods; belief in rewards after life such as nirvana (the ultimate goal where the destruction of the self and divine essence occurs); reflected the Hinduism traditions from which it came from; spread with the conversion of Mauryan emperor Ashoka; strongly oppressed by Brahmins; women found freedom and independence in Buddhism
Society
- Caste system- appointed people to certain jobs and marriages; lower caste people had fewer rights; each caste was distinct; the majority of population was peasants living in villages and had little contact with higher castes; Hindus believed the division of castes into groups was based on Brahma’s “divine manifestation” of the four groups; Hindus also believed with good karma, one could be born into a higher caste; caste was given at birth; rigid and elaborate system; mobility between castes was very limited
- Gender Relations/Inequalities- hierarchy was accentuated along with organization; male dominance was more common; The Laws of Manu explained a detailed social order and gender system; women’s rights were very limited (not allowed to learn the Vedas of Hinduism or attend religious ceremonies); because of an agricultural society, women’s input decreased; marriages were arranged for a girl at a young age for economic opportunities for the family; sexual practices and loving relationships were emphasized by the Indian culture idea that couples were supposed to give emotional support; children were spoiled and then had to work hard; the Indian culture that displayed female goddesses aided the status of women; one's family or caste decided one's activities and occupation
Innovations
- Science and Math- Indian scientists learned from Greek research such as astronomy and medicine; astronomers observed planets through telescopes, studied eclipses, the earth’s rotation, and gravity; one astronomer, Aryabhatta, determined the length of the solar year; even with the religious prohibitions of dissection, surgeons advanced I the fields of plastic surgery and bone setting; vaccination against smallpox became in use; hospitals were kept clean and only had doctors of high standards; the Indian numbering system is still used today even though it is called Arabic; invented the idea of zero, negative numbers, the decimal system and calculated square roots and the value of pi
- The Guptas- were supportive of universities (such as the one in Nalanda that was very popular to students from other parts of Asia and Brahmins); Nalanda contained several large libraries, an astronomical observatory, a model dairy, and hundreds of lecture halls; the programs taught there included medicine, philosophy, religion, architecture, and agriculture
Arts and Architecture
- spherical shrines (called stupas) to Buddha were promoted by Ashoka; The Guptas changed sculpture and painting from realistic depictions of the human shape to more stylized depictions; people and animals were painted in festive colors on the walls of caves and buildings; Indian artists recognized nature and religious values; Indian literature emphasized festive themes; great epic poems and tales of military expeditions were common literature; epics were recorded in written form during the Gupta Empire; stories were commonly secular with the exceptions of some including gods; stories often were romantic expeditions where the lovers were separated and then brought together again after many events; the idea of love between men and women was detailed in the Kamasutra; During the Gupta Empire, Hinduism overshadowed Buddhism so more Hindu sculptures and architecture was constructed; famous Ajanta caves were worked out during the Gupta Empire and depict Buddha and his life story
Near Geographic
- Mauryan- Chandragupta took power along the Ganges River 322 BCE; Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka, gained the control of all of India except for the southern tip by fighting with intensity; trade and communication improved with the construction and expansion of road networks; the empire was stable and expanding in territory; governed a larger territory than the Gupta Empire from the Hindu Kush Range almost to the southern tip of India
- Kushan- the Kushans invaded central India from the northwest after the Mauryan Empire fell apart; collapsed in 220 CE
- Gupta Empire- began in 320 CE; did not rule as large of a territory as the Mauryan Empire; only from the Himalayas to the Godavari River
- Empires and regional kingdoms all centered around rivers such as the Ganges River and Indus River; surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west; central to the Indian Ocean trade (position helped); The Himalaya mountains act as a barrier between India and the rest of Asia; the monsoons heavily effected the climate with the warm winds it brought in the summer and the cold winds it brought in the winter; monsoons also brought rain which helped the crops which of some were important to trade
Sources
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/8b.asp
http://www.importantindia.com/9217/gupta-empire-art-and-architecture/
Stearns, Peter. World Civilizations. 3rd ed. New York, NY: 2003. 48-65. Print.
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
http://www.importantindia.com/9217/gupta-empire-art-and-architecture/
Stearns, Peter. World Civilizations. 3rd ed. New York, NY: 2003. 48-65. Print.
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.