Download India: New Empires in the Ancient Land

India:
Early Empires
Ch. 5 L3
Beginnings of ancient Indian
Empires. . .
• Aryan culture
– Created Hinduism & Buddhism
– Failed to provide political unity
• 1500-400B.C.
– Warring kingdoms dominated
– No lasting peace
• ~400B.C. new threats emerged
– Persia
– Greeks
– Macedonians
• Alexander the Great invades 327B.C.
– Leaves shortly after as army refuses to fight
– Allows for rise of the first dynasty
Mauryan Empire
• Founded by Candragupta Maurya
• 324 BC to 301 BC
• Established capital at Pataliputra
(Patna in the Ganges valley)
– Northern India
• Divided empire into provinces
• Afraid of assassination
– Large army, secret police, tasters
Mauryan Empire
• Palace ruins at
Pataliputra
• Candragupta Maurya
Mauryan Empire
• Asoka 269-232 BC
– Considered to be greatest
ruler in the history of India
– Witnessed the Battle of
Kalinga
• 100,000 killed
• Converted to Buddhism
– Used Buddhist ideals to rule
• Created hospitals for
people and animals
• Planted trees for shade
• Helped expand trade to
bring prosperity to India
– Died in 232 B.C.
– Empire begins to decline and
eventually ends in 183 B.C.
– Crossroads of a trade network
Kushan Empire
• After collapse of
Mauryan Empire
India falls into
warring states
• 1st century A.D.
nomadic warriors
from Bactria
(Afghanistan) gain
power, creating the
Kushan Empire
– Over 200 yrs. they
spread over
northern India to
the central Ganges
valley
Kushan Kingdom
• Prospered due to trade
– Silk Road
– Serica: “Land of Silk” China
• Roman Empire to China
• About 4,000 miles long
Kushan Empire
• Indian culture
• Influenced by other cultures
– China, Persia, Rome
– Adapted Greek alphabet to their language
– Practiced both Hinduism, Buddhism &
Zoroastrianism
Kushan Kingdom
• Kingdom eventually ended by its own
division as well as cultural diffusion.
• They faced some difficulties from the
Persians.
• Part of kingdom was taken on by the
Guptas.
Gupta Empire
• 320 A.D. local prince,
Candra Gupta creates
new state
• Capital at Pataliputra
(Patna)
• Hinduism becomes
the religion of the
kingdom
• Tolerant of Buddhism
Gupta Empire
• Golden Age of Indian Culture
– Candra Gupta II 380 to 415 AD
– Hindu & Buddhist art
– Traded with China, SE Asia,
Mediterranean
• Salt, cloth, iron
– Had kings who lived extravagant
lifestyles (owned gold mines)
– Religious pilgrims provided trade
– Faxian (Buddhist monk from China)
writer about how good India was
Mauryan
Gupta
Indian Accomplishments:
Literature
• Vedas: religious chants & stories
• Mahabharata: (longest poem ever)
– 90,000 two line stanzas
– 1000 BC war between cousins & meaning
of life
– Contains the Bhagavad Gita (Krishna’s
sermon on the eve of major battle)
Indian Accomplishments:
Literature
• Ramayana:
– Fictional
– Characters Rama & Sita
– Rama the ruler is banished to the forest
and fights a demon-king who had
kidnapped his wife
– Rama = perfect hero, husband, father,
son, avatar of Vishnu
– Sita = perfect wife
– Religious & moral lessons
Indian Accomplishments:
Architecture
• Three types:
– Pillar, Stupa, Rock chamber
Indian Accomplishments:
Architecture—Pillar
• Asoka marked sites of the Buddha’s
travels with pillars
• Each pillar was marked with a carved lion
• Usually made of polished sandstone
Indian Accomplishments:
Architecture—Stupa
• Originally housed the relics of the
Buddha
• Looked like burial mounds
• Asoka ordered the construction of
84,000 of these in India during his
reign
Sarnath Deer Park Stupa
Indian Accomplishments:
Architecture—Rock Chamber
• Carved out of rock cliffs
• Highly decorated (carved & painted)
• Housed monks & used for religious
ceremonies
Ajanta Caves
Ajanta Caves
Ajanta Caves
Indian Accomplishments:
Science & Mathematics
• Astronomy
– Charted movements of the stars
– Recognized Earth as a sphere that rotated
on its axis & revolved around the sun
• Mathematics
– Aryabhata: one of the first to use algebra
– Concept of zero and its symbol (0)
– Indian Arabic numeral system