Download India and SE Asia

1500 BCE – 600 CE
India and Southeast Asia
Including the Vedic Age and the rise of Buddhism & Hinduism
Foundations of Indian civilization
l
As we have seen, the earliest Indian civilization – one with a high degree of
social organization and technological sophistication – emerged along the
Indus River Valley … but died out around 1900 BCE, probably due to an
environmental crisis.
l
Attempts to link the characteristics of that ancient Harappan civilization to
later Indian civilizations cannot be done conclusively because the Harappan
writing has not been deciphered – but what today is India may originally
have been a blend of the Harappan and Aryan cultures.
l
What is clear is that India – from ancient to modern times – has been highly
diverse, made up of many ethnic and linguistic groups and fragmented
political structures … yet with an overarching set of shared views and
values, especially with regard to its relationship with religion.
The Indian
Subcontinent
l
India is called a subcontinent
because it is so large (about
2,000 miles long and wide) and
is set apart from the larger
continent of Asia.
l
Capped in the northeast by the
Himalayas, the world’s largest
mountains, and in the northwest
by the Hindu Kush Mountains.
l
Surrounded to the south, east
and west by the Indian Ocean.
l
Sheltered by mountains from cold Arctic winds, India has a subtropical
climate.
l
A major source of moisture are the monsoons (seasonal winds): temperature
differences between the land (varying significantly from hot to cold) and the
slow-to-change Indian Ocean create a bellows effect ⇒ wet monsoon
winds from southwest to northeast June to September … dry monsoon
winds from northeast to southwest October to May.
l
Indian mariners learned to ride these winds in carrying out trade with other
regions.
Indo-Europeans – group of nomadic peoples from the dry grasslands north of the Caucasus Mountains who spoke different forms
of a language called Indo-European.
At around the time the Harappan civilization was crumbling, a group of
Indo-Europeans called the Aryans migrated down through the Khyber Pass
of the Hindu Kush Mountains and into the Indian subcontinent.
The Vedic Age
The Aryans left almost no archaeological
record but brought with them (only in
oral tradition initially) their sacred
literature, the Vedas ⇒ four
collections of prayers, magical spells
and instructions for performing
rituals. Historians thus call the period
from 1500 to 500 BCE the “Vedic
Age” because these religious texts
provide most of the information
about this period.
Kinship groups and a move east
l
After the Harappan civilization collapsed, no central authority to organize irrigation
projects ⇒ region home now to patriarchal kinship groups relying on herds of
cattle, small-scale gardening.
l
Warrior class relished combat, celebrated with lavish feasts and heavy drinking,
filled free time with chariot racing and gambling.
l
After 1000 BCE some groups – armed now with iron tools holding a harder edge
than bronze – pushed east into the Ganges Plain
l Effect:
oxen.
l
could fell the trees in this more fertile land, work it with plows pulled by
Similar thing happening in Greece
l Result:major
population growth.
A conflict of peoples
l The
Aryan migration into India was not an organized invasion.
l Taller
and lighter-skinned, the Aryans interacted and intermarried
with the darker-skinned Dravidian population already there,
laying the cultural and social foundations that would influence
India to this day.
l They
also fought amongst themselves, and with the Dasas
(another name for the speakers of Dravidian languages), pushing
many into central and southern India, where their descendants
still live [Dravidian speech prevails in the south today while IndoEuropean languages are spoken in northern India].
Caste and varna
✓Aryans brought with them a class system that determined each person’s role in society.
✓Over time, to regulate the closer contacts with non-Aryans, it became more strict and the
basis of India’s caste system.
✓Based initially on varna, a Sanskrit term meaning “color” and referring to skin color (later the
term meant something akin to “class”), the four classes were:
‣ Brahmins (priests);
‣ Kshatriya (warriors and officials);
‣ Vaishya (merchants, artisans and landowners);
‣ Shudra (peasants and serfs).
Shudra and the Untouchables
l
The bottom class, Shudra, may have been reserved for Dasas, who were
given menial jobs the Aryans didn’t want to do (dasa, in fact, came to mean
“slave”).
l
A fifth group was later added: the Untouchables
l people
excluded from the class system
l should
be avoided because their touch endangered the ritual purity of
others
l occupations:
butchers, gravediggers, trash collectors, etc.
Many birth groups emerge
l Within
broad class divisions the population was further subdivided
into numerous birth groups called jati (the English term caste came
from casta, Portuguese for “breed,” and was used after European
sailors first reached India in 1498 CE).
l Each
jati had proper occupation, duties and rituals
l lived
with, ate with, married ONLY members of that group.
l Since
purity became all important, elaborate rules governed
interactions of jati
l higher-status
individuals feared the polluting effects of contact
with lower-status individuals, so the taint had to be removed
ritually.
Life after life
l
The caste system connected to prevailing belief in reincarnation.
l
Brahmin priests said every living creature had the atman (“breath”) ⇒
immortal essence that separated from body at death and later reborn in
another body.
l
People generate good or bad karma based on their deeds in life (governed
by the dharma, or the law
l good
deeds are those conforming to expectations of one’s caste
l determine
whether reincarnation is as insect, animal or human
l reincarnation
as higher or lower caste (or even male or female, which was
considered evidence of bad karma in former life).
Vedic Age sacrifice
l
The essential ritual was sacrifice (the dedication to one of the many
(predominantly male) gods of a valued possession, often a living creature
l offering
meant to invigorate the gods and thus help their creative powers,
bring stability to the world
l
The priestly class, the Brahmins, played key role in ceremonies using their
“knowledge” (the translation of the very term veda)
l knowledge
next
l protection
handed down orally from one generation of priests to the
of this knowledge may explain why writing was not
widespread until the Gupta period (320-550 CE).
Divisions with a purpose
l
The sharp internal divisions of Indian society and the conveyance of
superiority from one group down to the next doesn’t comport with modern
notions of egalitarianism, but it did serve important social functions by
providing:
q each
q the
q a
l
person with a clear identity and role.
benefits of group solidarity and support.
mechanism to work out social friction.
This elaborate system of castes was not entirely static, either: some
evidence suggests groups were sometimes able to upgrade their status.
Challenging the Vedic order
l
After 700 BCE, some began to balk at Brahmin power and privilege – and the
constraints of the rigid class system – and retreated to the forests
surrounding a community.
l
Charismatic individuals offered alternative path
l individual
pursuit of insight into the self, nature and universe through
physical and mental discipline
l yoga.
l
By distancing oneself from the desires of this world one could achieve
moksha – a state of perfect understanding, a release from the cycle of
reincarnations (“the wheel of life”) and union with the divine force that
animates the universe
Challenging the Vedic order
l
By distancing oneself from the desires of this world one could achieve
moksha – a state of perfect understanding, a release from the cycle of
reincarnations (“the wheel of life”) and union with the divine force that
animates the universe
l perfect
insight to how atman relates to Brahman, the world soul that
contains and unites all atmans.
Challenging the Vedic order
Upanishads and Jainism
l
Upanishads – a collection of more than a hundred mystical dialogues
between teachers and disciples that reflect the questioning of Vedic
religion; written sometime between 750 and 550 BCE.
l
Jainism (JINE-iz-uhm) – a religion established by Mahavira (540-468 BCE),
who was known to his followers as Jina (“the Conqueror”) ⇒ emphasized
holiness of the life force animating all living creatures.
Challenging the Vedic order
Jainism (cont.)
The hand with a wheel on the
palm symbolizes the Jain vow
of nonviolence.
l
Mahavira and followers practiced strict nonviolence.
l
Wore masks to prevent even the accidental inhalation of bugs.
l
Zealous adherents practiced extreme asceticism (self-denial)
l
l
nudity
l
ate only what others gave them
l
eventually died of starvation.
Less zealous followers, restricted from agriculture by the
injunction against killing, lived in cities and engaged in
commerce, banking
l
no missionaries
Challenging the Vedic order
Jainism (cont.)
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The hand with a wheel on the
palm symbolizes the Jain vow
of nonviolence.
l
Mahavira and followers practiced strict nonviolence.
l
Wore masks to prevent even the accidental inhalation of bugs.
l
Zealous adherents practiced extreme asceticism (self-denial)
l
l
nudity
l
ate only what others gave them
l
eventually died of starvation.
Less zealous followers, restricted from agriculture by the
injunction against killing, lived in cities and engaged in
commerce, banking
l
no missionaries
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism
l
Another religion that arose as a threat to Vedic
religion – and of far greater significance to history
than Jainism – was Buddhism, founded by
Siddhartha Gautama (sihd-DAHR-tuh GOW-tuhmuh).
q Known as the Buddha, “the Enlightened One,” Siddhartha lived from 563 to 483 BCE … and historians
struggle with separating fact from legend in the stories told about him.
q Came from a Kshatriya family living in the foothills of the Himalayas ⇒ eventually gave up princely life
of his upbringing for the life of a wandering ascetic searching for enlightenment.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism
l
Another religion that arose as a threat to
Vedic religion was Buddhism, founded by
Siddhartha Gautama (sihd-DAHR-tuh GOWtuh-muh).
‣Known as the Buddha, “the Enlightened One,” Siddhartha lived
from 563 to 483 BCE … and historians struggle with
separating fact from legend in the stories told about him.
‣Came from a Kshatriya family living in the foothills of the
Himalayas
‣Eventually gave up princely life of his upbringing for the life
of a wandering ascetic searching for enlightenment.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
l
After six years of wandering, concluded ascetic life no
more likely than a life of luxury to produce spiritual
insight.
l
Decided to adhere to a “Middle Path” of moderation,
which he set forth as “Four Noble Truths”:
A guide to behavior to be
mastered one step at a time,
the Eightfold Path consists of
right views, aspirations,
speech, conduct, livelihood,
effort, mindfulness and
meditation.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
A guide to behavior to be mastered one step at a time, the
Eightfold Path consists of right views, aspirations, speech,
conduct, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and meditation.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
‣
By following the Eightfold Path, anyone could
reach – either in this lifetime or across multiple
lifetimes – the state of nirvana, the Buddha’s
word for the release from selfishness and pain
perpetual tranquility.
‣
In original form, Buddhism focused on the
individual
‣
‣
some early followers took vows of celibacy,
nonviolence and poverty.
Siddhartha
‣
accepted idea of reincarnation
‣
rejected the hierarchal Vedic social structure
‣
taught that all human beings could aspire to
nirvana in this life
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
‣
Siddhartha
‣
accepted idea of reincarnation
‣
rejected the hierarchal Vedic social structure
‣
rejected the panoply of Vedic gods
‣
taught that all human beings could aspire to
nirvana in this life
‣
forbade his followers to worship his person or
image after his death
‣
As a result, many Buddhists view Buddhism as a
philosophy rather than a religion
‣
This message likely helped Buddhism attract
support among people at lower end of the social
scale.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
l
The Buddha’s message spread
l by
missionaries
l by
traders along the Silk Road
throughout India and into Central,
Southeast and East Asia
l
Following his death, its own successes
began to subvert the individualistic and
essentially atheistic tenets of the founder
l
Buddhist monasteries were established
and a hierarchy of Buddhist monks and
nuns came into being.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
Great Stupa at Sanchi (3rd to 1st century BCE)
Springing up throughout the
countryside were temples
and stupas – initially earthen
mounds symbolizing the
universe but which became
over time stone towers
housing relics of the Buddha.
Challenging the Vedic order
Buddhism (cont.)
Buddhism soon split into two large movements:
Theravada and Mahayana.
q
Theravada Buddhism (“the Way of the Elders” or “the
Lesser Vehicle”) – Buddha himself is not considered a
god; emphasizes meditation, simplicity, interpretation
of nirvana as the renunciation of human
consciousness and of the self.
q
Mahayana Buddhism (“the Greater Vehicle”) – Buddha
is a godlike deity; other deities appear, including
bodhisattvas (those who’ve achieved enlightenment
and are nearing nirvana but choose to remain on Earth
to lead others); more complicated and ritualistic than
Buddha intended; detractors say it’s too much like the
Hinduism Buddha disapproved of.
The rise of Hinduism
l
Challenged by new, spiritually satisfying and more egalitarian movements,
Vedic religion morphed into Hinduism … which today is the world’s thirdlargest religion (about 1 billion followers) behind Christianity and Islam.
l
Its creation cannot be linked to a specific time or person – there was no
“Mr. Hindu” – but rather evolved over time by about the fourth century CE.
l
The term Hinduism was imposed by others: Islamic invaders in the 11th
century CE labeled the diverse range of practices they saw in India as
Hinduism (“what the Indians do”).
l
Foundation was the Aryan Vedic tradition, but Hinduism also incorporated
elements drawn from the Dravidian cultures of the south as well as
elements of Buddhism.
An evolving religion
l
Much of what we’ve already discussed
about Vedic religion are components of
Hinduism: dharma, karma,
reincarnation, moksha, etc.
l
Closely linked with Hinduism, and
reinforced by the ideas of karma and
reincarnation, is the caste system.
l
The world soul, Brahman, sometimes
seen as having the personalities of three
gods: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the
protector; and Shiva, the destroyer.
Brahma
A multiplicity of gods
Shiva is often represented performing
dance steps symbolizing the acts of
creation and destruction – both part of
a single, cyclical process.
l
Reflecting the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity
of India, Hinduism has a vast array of gods (330
million according to one tradition), sects and local
practices.
l
Example: Vishnu, the protector, also took on other
forms or personalities (as Krishna, the divine cow
herder; as Rama, the perfect king; and as Buddha ⇒
a clear attempt to co-opt its rival religion’s
founder!).
l
Brahma gradually faded into the background, while
the many forms of Devi, the great Mother Goddess,
grew in importance.
Hinduism reigns in India
l
Hindus today are free to choose the deity they worship
l Vishnu
l Shiva
and its Aryan pedigree is more popular in the north
is dominant in the Dravidian south
l or
choose none at all; most follow a family tradition that may go back
centuries.
l
They are also free to choose among three different paths for achieving moksha,
though with some exceptions only men of top varnas can expect to achieve it in
their present life.
l
Buddhism in its austere, most authentic form may have demanded too much
from most people … and the features that made Mahayana Buddhism more
accessible (gods, saints, myths) also made it easier to be absorbed by Hinduism.
l
Thus, Buddhism was driven from the land of its birth … though we’ll see that it
firmly took root elsewhere in Asia.
Imperial expansion and collapse
l India’s
habitual political fragmentation can be explained by
two things:
qgeographically
diverse zones (mountains, foothills, forests, steppes,
deserts) on the subcontinent led to divergent forms of organization
because of differences in economic activity … and those same zones
featured different languages and cultural practices.
qpeople
identified themselves primarily in terms of their caste … so
allegiance to a higher, central political authority wasn’t called for.
l Despite
this, two empires arose in the Ganges Plain to unite
much of the subcontinent between 324 BCE and 650 CE.
(324-184 BCE)
The Mauryan Empire
Not until the 17th century CE would a sing
government rule so much of India.
Winter
monsoon
q India’s first centralized empire was founded
by Chandragupta Maurya when he conquered
then expanded the kingdom of Magadha, which
had a wealth derived from agriculture, iron
mines and its strategic location astride trade
routes of the eastern Ganges Basin.
q Chandragupta may have been inspired by
Alexander the Great’s foray into the Punjab in
326 BCE.
Summer monsoon
(324-184 BCE)
The Mauryan Empire
q India’s first centralized empire
was founded by Chandragupta
Maurya when he conquered then
expanded the kingdom of Magadha,
which had a wealth derived from
agriculture, iron mines and its
strategic location astride trade
routes of the eastern Ganges Basin.
q Chandragupta may have been
inspired by Alexander the Great’s
foray into the Punjab in 326 BCE.
Not until the 17th century CE would a single
government rule so much of India.
Winter
monsoon
Summer monsoon
Mauryan Empire
Pragmatic means to an end
l
Chandragupta (r. 324-301 BCE) and his successors Bindusara (r. 301-269 BCE) and Ashoka (r.
269-232 BCE) extended Mauryan control over the entire subcontinent except for the Tamil
kingdoms of the extreme south.
l
Chandragupta was guided by a crafty, elderly Brahmin named Kautilya, who may be the
initial source of the Arthashastra, a coldly pragmatic treatise on government that:
q
advocates the so-called mandala theory of foreign policy (“My enemy’s enemy is my friend.”).
q
relates a long list of schemes for enforcing and increasing the collection of tax revenues.
q
prescribes the use of spies to keep watch on everyone in the kingdom.
Mauryan Empire
Trade and government
l
Mauryan India was characterized by a strong military – with infantry,
cavalry, chariot and elephant divisions – and royal control of mines,
shipbuilding and arms manufacturing.
l
An extensive trade network – anchored by cotton, a key Indian export –
stretched all the way to Mesopotamia and the eastern parts of the
Roman Empire.
l
Taxes equal to one-fourth of the value of an annual harvest funded
Mauryan kings and government, administrated by relatives and
associates in districts based on traditional ethnic boundaries.
l
Standard coinage fostered support for the government and military
throughout the empire and promoted trade.
Mauryan Empire
Ashoka promotes Buddhism
l Best
known of the Mauryan emperors was Ashoka, who led the
empire to its greatest heights.
l Ashoka
was a great warrior as a young man but later became
sickened by the brutality of war.
l After
hundreds of thousands of people were killed, wounded or
deported during his conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka converted to
Buddhism and preached nonviolence, morality, moderation and
religious tolerance.
l He
wasn’t naïve, however … to wit: “The king, remorseful as he is, has
the strength to punish the wrongdoers who do not repent.”
Mauryan Empire
Carve it in stone
Until the time of the Mauryans,
Aryan buildings were made of
wood … but stone artisans
arriving from the defeated Persian
Empire were put to work by
Ashoka in building three main
types of religious structures: the
pillar, the stupa and the rock
chamber (carved out of
mountainside cliffs and
resembling Roman basilicas in the
West).
Ten polished sandstone pillars remain standing today from the
many erected during Ashoka’s reign. Erected alongside roads to
commemorate the events in the Buddha’s life and mark pilgrim
routes to holy places, they weighed up to 50 tons and rose more
than 30 feet, topped with a carved capital, usually depicting
lions uttering the Buddha’s message.
Mauryan Empire
Mahabodhi Temple
Rock and pillar
The inscriptions on Ashoka’s so-called
Rock and Pillar Edicts constitute the
earliest decipherable Indian writing:
“Now with the practice of morality by King
(Ashoka), the sound of war drums has
become the call to morality. … King
(Ashoka) … desires that there should be the
growth of the essential spirit of morality or
holiness among all sects.”
– Bulliet, p. 161
Site of the first temple built by Ashoka in the third century
BCE, on the site of Buddha’s enlightenment: Bihar, India.
After Ashoka
l
In the half century following Ashoka’s death, the Mauryan Empire
weakened and collapsed, giving way to a succession of dominant foreign
powers ruling in the northwest (present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan), who extended some influence east and south:
qthe
Greco-Bactrian kingdom (180-50 BCE) descended from troops and
settlers left in Alexander’s wake.
qthe
Shakas (50 BCE to 50 CE), an Iranian people known as Scythians in
the Mediterranean world.
qthe
Kushans (50-240 CE), originally from Xianjiang in northwest China.
Fragmented but not floundering
l
Despite political fragmentation during the five centuries following the Mauryan
era (the eastern Ganges reverted back to a hodgepodge of small principalities),
economic, cultural and intellectual development remained dynamic, just as in
archaic Greece and Warring States China:
l
Economic:
q the
network of roads and towns that had sprung up under the Mauryans fostered
trade ⇒ Indians became middlemen in the international trade routes (over land
and, increasingly, by sea) linking China, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle
East, East Africa and the Mediterranean.
q with
no central government authority, merchant and artisan guilds became
politically powerful and patrons of culture.
Fragmented but not floundering
(cont.)
Cultural:
q
during the last two centuries BCE the two greatest Indian epics – the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata (containing the renowned Bhagavad-Gita, which is self-contained and
perhaps originally separate) – achieved final form ⇒ based on oral tradition, supposedly
describing events millions of years in the past, probably reflect conditions of the early
Vedic period when Aryan warrior societies were moving onto the Ganges Plain.
§
Mahabharata – eight times longer than Greek Iliad and Odyssey, tells the story of a
cataclysmic battle between two sets of cousins quarreling over succession to the
throne.
§
Bhagavad-Gita – god Krishna tutors hero Arjuna (who is reluctant to fight own
kinsmen) on the necessity of fulfilling his duty.
Fragmented but not floundering
l
(cont.)
Intellectual:
q era
saw significant advances in science and technology.
q doctors
had knowledge of herbal remedies.
q following
Panini, who had earlier analyzed Sanskrit word forms and
grammar, Indian scholars standardized the language ⇒ paved way for
Prakrits (popular dialects), the ancestors of modern Indo-European
languages of northern and central India.
l
In the turbulent Tamil kingdoms of the south, a “classical” period of
literary and artistic productivity ⇒ music, dance, drama … as well as
grammatical treatises, collections of ethical proverbs, poems about love,
war, wealth and beauty.
(320-550 CE)
The Gupta Empire
q
More than 500 years after the fall of the
Mauryan Empire, another power
ushered in a “golden age.”
q
The Gupta Empire was founded by a
man who called himself Chandra Gupta
(no relation to the Mauryans, but he was
clearly modeling himself after them) …
he and successors took title of “Great
King of Kings.”
q
More decentralized and smaller than
Mauryan Empire.
(320-550 CE)
The Gupta Empire
q More
than 500 years after the fall
of the Mauryan Empire, another
power ushered in a “golden age.”
q The
Gupta Empire was founded
by a man who called himself
Chandra Gupta (no relation to
the Mauryans, but he was clearly
modeling himself after them) …
he and successors took title of
“Great King of Kings.”
q More
decentralized and smaller
than Mauryan Empire.
The Gupta Empire
A good example of a “theater-state”
l Also
headquartered in the northeast, the Guptas were similar to their
Mauryan predecessors (25% tax on agriculture, monopolies on
mining of iron and salt) but not nearly as capable of imposing their
will on people outside the empire’s core.
q Gupta
administrative bureaucracy and intelligence network was smaller, less
pervasive.
q Governors
l The
of outlying areas free to exploit people.
Guptas maintained power by producing a so-called “theaterstate” – they persuaded others to follow its lead through the
splendor and ritualistic ceremony of its capital and royal court ⇒
advertisement for the benefits of association.
The Gupta Empire
Ruler and subjects
l In
the Gupta theater-state:
q distant
subordinate kingdoms (and areas made up predominantly of
kinship groups) were expected to make annual tribute donations.
q the
empire set up garrisons at key frontier points to keep open the
avenues of trade and help with the collection of customs duties (taxes on
goods).
q the
empire then redistributed some of the profit from trade as gifts to its
dependents.
q subordinate
princes gained prestige by emulating the Gupta center on
whatever scale they were capable of pulling off, and benefited by visits,
gifts and marriages to the royal family.
The Gupta Empire
Mathematical minds
l Gupta
rulers supported astronomers, scientists and
mathematicians … and Indian mathematicians around this
time came up with one of the world’s great intellectual
achievements – the concept of zero and the place-value
system.
l The Indian method of arithmetic notation using a base-10
system (with separate columns for ones, tens, hundreds,
etc.) was much more efficient than the numerical systems
of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans … and has come to
be more widely used than even the alphabet derived from
the Phoenicians.
The Gupta Empire
Mathematical minds (cont.)
l
The power of this new Indian math was immediately recognized in other
lands when it spread through cultural diffusion.
l
Muslim Arabs and Persians adopted the “Hindi” numerals in the eighth
century, and Europeans later learned of it from them … hence, the
misnomer “Arabic” numerals.
l
Some scholars – in trying to answer why it was the Indians who came up
with this system – argue that it may align with Indian religion and
cosmology ⇒ they conceived of innumerable universes being created and
destroyed across immense spans of time (trillions of years, which is far
longer than the estimated age of the universe – 14 billion years) … so the
Indian number system may have emerged from a desire to express
concepts of this magnitude.
The Gupta Empire
The role of women
l Evidence
suggests that the status of women deteriorated
during the Gupta era.
l Originally,
Indian women were in a subordinate situation
common among agricultural societies (men did most of the
work in the fields; females viewed as economic burden
because of need to supply a dowry to acquire a husband;
family unit wasn’t maintained after wife joined family of
husband following marriage).
l But
in some ways – before the Gupta era – women came to
play an influential role in Indian society.
The Gupta Empire
The role of women (cont.)
l Hindu
code stressed that women should be treated with
respect.
l Indians
appeared to be fascinated by female sexuality, and
tradition held that women often used their sexual powers to
achieve domination over men (the tradition of the “henpecked
husband” is as prevalent in India as in many Western societies).
l Paintings
and sculptures often showed women in a role equal
to that of men.
The Gupta Empire
The role of women (cont.)
l But
over time women in India lost ground.
l With
the rise of increasingly complex social structures and the
emergence of a nonagricultural (i.e., merchant or artisan) middle
class that placed high value on the acquisition and inheritance of
property ⇒ women lost rights (e.g., the right to own or inherit
property) as males gained greater control over their behavior.
Women were:
q barred
from reading sacred texts and participating in the sacrificial ritual.
q treated
equal to the lowest class, the Shudra.
q expected,
as in China, to obey first her father, then husband, then sons.
The Gupta Empire
The role of women (cont.)
q Men
came to marry
girls as young as 6 so
that his wife’s virginity
was ensured, and he
could raise her to suit
his purposes.
The most extreme form of subjugation: a widow was
expected to cremate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre to
keep her “pure” in a ritual called sati (suh-TEE). Women who
refused were shunned, forbidden to remarry and given little
opportunity to earn a living.
The Gupta Empire
The role of women (cont.)
l Not
all women found
themselves dominated by men.
l Women
could retain social
status if they:
q belonged
to a powerful family.
q joined
a Jainist or Buddhist religious
community as a nun.
q became
courtesans trained in poetry
and music.
Gupta dancing girl
The Gupta Empire
Odds and ends …
The classic architectural form of the Hindu
temple evolved during the Gupta era.
l
Whereas the Mauryans had been Buddhists,
the Gupta monarchs were Hindus – though
religiously tolerant, allowing Buddhist
pilgrims from Southeast and East Asia to visit
the birthplace of their faith.
l
Coined money served as medium of
exchange.
l
Artisan guilds played important role in
economic, political and religious life of
towns.
l
Because of the Indian conception of time
(the particulars of a given moment were
unimportant), historiographic texts weren’t
written.
The Gupta Empire
… and the final end
l Trade
with the merchants and societies to the west declined as the
Roman Empire weakened … but commerce increasingly turned to the
sea routes of the east
l sailors
reached the Malay Peninsula and islands of Indonesia to
exchange Indian cloth, ivory, metalwork, exotic animals … for
Chinese silk, Indonesian spices.
l By
the late fifth century, the Guptas were under increased pressure
on the northwestern frontier from invading White Huns.
l Although
a lack of tax revenue to pay its army and the rising power of
its regional governors may have contributed to the fall of the empire,
the White Hun invasion was the main reason for the final collapse of
the Gupta Empire in 550.
Southeast Asia, 50 – 600 CE
l
Southeast Asia comprises three geographic zones: 1) the Indochina
mainland; 2) the Malay Peninsula; and 3) thousands of islands extending
east to west into the Pacific Ocean.
l
Present day countries: Myanmar (myahn-MAH) a.k.a. Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei (broo-NIE) and
the Philippines.
l
This region – situated between India and China – was greatly influenced by
the ancient civilizations and cultures of those two big neighbors … and it
first rose to prominence and prosperity thanks to its intermediary role in
trade.
Southeast Asia, 50 – 600 CE
l
Southeast Asia comprises three geographic zones
1) the Indochina mainland
2) the Malay Peninsula;
3) thousands of islands extending east to west into the Pacific Ocean.
l
Present day countries: Myanmar (myahn-MAH) a.k.a. Burma, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei (brooNIE) and the Philippines.
l
This region – situated between India and China – was greatly influenced
by the ancient civilizations and cultures of those two big neighbors … and
it first rose to prominence and prosperity thanks to its intermediary role
in trade.
Southeast Asia
Geography
l The
region lies along the equator, which gives it consistent yearround temperatures around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees
Celsius).
l Rainforest
l Monsoon
covers much of the land.
winds provide predictable rainfall.
l Islands
are the tops of a chain of volcanoes ⇒ volcanic soil, and the
floodplains of silt-bearing rivers, provides fertile agricultural
potential.
l Add
several growing seasons annually and you get an area of the
world capable of supporting a large population.
Southeast Asia
The local foods
A wet-rice field in Bali, Indonesia.
The labor-intensive crop of rice was the
staple food of the region.
A number of plant and
animal species native to this
region spread elsewhere,
which significantly
transformed societies and
economies around the
world: wet rice (grown in
flooded fields), soybeans,
sugar cane, yams, coconuts,
bananas, chickens and pigs.
Southeast Asia
Malay migrations
l Scholars
believe that the Malay peoples came to dominate the
region following several waves of Chinese migration south
beginning around five thousand years ago.
l Indigenous
peoples sometimes merged with the Malay
newcomers, sometimes retreated to mountain and forest zones.
l Population
pressures coupled with disputes within and among
communities ⇒ the longest colonization movement in history, as
Malay peoples in large, double outrigger canoes spread across
half the circumference of the world to settle thousands of islands
across several millennia, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific
Ocean.
Southeast Asia
Politics, commerce and culture
l First
political units were organized water “boards,” which met to
allocate and schedule the use of common sources of water – a
critical resource.
l China
exerted political control over northern Indochina from
the late second century BCE to the tenth century CE.
l Farther
south, in the early centuries CE, larger states emerged
thanks to commerce and the influence of Hindu-Buddhist
culture
Southeast Asia
Silk by way of the sea
l
When nomadic migrations destabilized the politics of Central Asia and
compromised the overland trade route that merchants used to bring silk
from China to India, demand was still strong in India – both for domestic
use and transshipment to the Arabian Gulf and Red Sea to satisfy the
seemingly insatiable luxury market in the Roman Empire.
l
So much of the trade shipments – now including Southeast Asian goods
such as aromatic woods, resins, cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmeg and
other spices – shifted to the south: across the South China Sea, by land
over an isthmus on the Malay Peninsula, and across the Bay of Bengal.
l
The rising numbers of merchants in the area meant a rising awareness of Buddhism ⇒
Southeast Asia became a way station for Indian missionaries and East Asian pilgrims heading
east and west, respectively.
l
First major Southeast Asian center – called Funan (FOO-nahn) by the Chinese and centered in
the delta of the Mekong River in southern Vietnam – flourished from the first to sixth centuries
CE, extending control over most of southern Indochina and the Malay Peninsula.
l
Chinese visitors observed that Funan was prosperous and sophisticated, with walled cities and
palaces, and supported by systems of taxation and state-organized agriculture.
Southeast Asia
Catering to trade
Portage – carrying small
quantities of goods and
sometimes the boat
itself across an isthmus
– was common in early
seafaring trade. But
larger cargoes later on
made the overland
shortcut less practical.
q
For a price, Funan stockpiled food and provided security to merchants choosing the
portage across the Malay Peninsula (instead of the longer, more treacherous sea route
around it).
q
Probably when international trade routes finally changed and it no longer held a strategic
location, Funan declined in the 500s CE.
Sources
l
The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History (Bulliet et al.)
l
Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past (Bentley & Ziegler)
l
World History (Duiker & Spielvogel)
l
Patterns of Interaction (McDougal Littell, publisher)
l
AP World History review guides: The Princeton Review, Kaplan and Barron’s