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AP World History
Chapter 6b
Classical India
• By 600 BCE, India had passed through
its formative phase.
• A classical civilization could now build on
the social and cultural themes introduced
during the Vedic and Epic ages.
• Indian development in the classical era
didn’t take on the Chinese structure of
rising and falling dynasties. Indian
history was irregular.
Geography
• India’s distinctive culture was a product of its
geography. It was far less isolated from other
civilizations than was China.
• The Indian subcontinent is separated from the
rest of Asia by the Himalayas, but there are
several passes in the mountains, linking India
to Mid East.
• Open to both Mid Eastern & Mediterranean
influences.
• For ex: while Alex the Great didn’t establish a
durable empire, he connected India with
Hellenistic culture.
• Geography made political unity difficult, so
India was more diverse than China.
THE MAURYAN DYNASTY
Grew wealthy from taxes on agriculture,
iron mining and control of trade routes
Chandragupta
• In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great, after
conquering Greece and much of the Mid East,
pushed into northwestern India, establishing the
border state of Bactria.
• Political reactions to this invasion produced a
young soldier named Chandragupta Maurya who
seized power along the Ganges River.
• 322 BCE: He began the Mauryan dynasty of
rule. These were the 1st rulers to unify most of
the subcontinent.
• Chandragupta’s style of government was
autocratic, relying on his military power.
Chandragupta: 321-298 BCE
 Unified northern India.
 Defeated the Persian
general Seleucus.
 Divided his empire into
provinces, then districts
for tax assessments and law
enforcement.
Promoted trade and communications
Large bureaucracy and a large army
 He feared assassination food tasters, slept
in different rooms, etc.
 301 BCE  gave up his throne & became
a Jain.
Ashoka
• Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka, was an even
greater Mauryan ruler. r. 269-232 BCE
• Ashoka extended Mauryan conquests, gaining
control of territory through fierce fighting.
• He gave up his thirst for blood after the
gruesome battle of Kalinga, when he converted
to Buddhism, and adopted belief in the dharma,
or the law of moral consequences.
• Ashoka promoted Buddhism throughout India,
but still honored Hinduism.
• Improved trade routes that connect to Silk Road;
encouraged trade; constructed extensive roads;
spreads Buddhism
•
Mauryan Empire
321 BCE – 185 BCE
Asoka’s
Empire
Ashoka’s law code
 Edicts scattered in
more than 30 places
in India, Nepal,
Pakistan & Afghanistan.
 Written mostly in
Sanskrit, but one was in
Greek and Aramaic.
 10 rock edicts.
 Each pillar [stupa] is 40’-50’ high.
 Buddhist principles dominate his laws.
Kushan Empire 60-375
• After Ashoka, the Mauryan empire collapsed.
• The Kushans pushed across the Hindu Kush
range through the Khyber pass into India and
established a short-lived kingdom.
• The greatest Kushan king, Kanishka, converted
to Buddhism but actually damaged its popularity
in India, because it became associated with
foreign rule.
• The collapse of the Kushan state in 220 CE
ushered in 100 years of political instability before
the rise of the Gupta dynasty
After Mauryan collapse
• Some economic, cultural and
intellectual vitality
• Network of roads and towns built
under Mauryans, created good
commerce with subcontinent as well
as internationally
• Sea trade routes connected China,
Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Middle
East, and East Africa to the
Mediterranean Sea
Great Indian Epics
• Ramayana & Mahabharata
• Based on oral
• Events occurred several million
years in the past but political form,
social organizations and other
cultural elements seemed like the
Vedic Era
– Proud kings, beautiful queens, heroic
conduct, chivalric values