Download HIS 105 Chapter 4

HIS 105
Chapter 4
Iran, India, and Inner Asia
600 B.C.E. - 200 C.E.
Iranian Achaemenids and
Mauryan India
 In both areas there were:
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Sophisticated bureaucracies
Professional armies
Strong communication systems
New cultural, political, and religious
developments
Iran
 Found in SW Asia in the middle of east-west
trade routes
 As a consequence, cities flourished
 Iranians were descendents of Aryan peoples
who settled there in 1100 B.C.E.
 2 major groups of Aryans there:
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The Medes
The Persians
Achaemenids
 Powerful Persian clan in 7th century B.C.E.
 Took over the Medes by 550 B.C.E.
 Cyrus the Great was the Persian or
Achaemenid ruler at the time
 Allowed for local rule and former practices in
the newly captured territory
 Little disruption for the people
Cyrus the Great
Religion
 Emphasis on “right” moral order
 Monotheistic ; god named Ahura Mazda
 Zarathustra (Zoroaster) was a trained priest
and religiuos reformer
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Wanted moral reform in an age of materialism,
power grabbing, and ethical indifference
Asked followers to worship Ahura Mazda, do
good, and overcome evil
Said there would be a final judgment
 His religion was called Zoroastrianism
 It perhaps influenced Judaism, Christianity,
and Islam -- also monotheistic
 Zoroastrianism was wiped out when Islam
entered
 It is still practiced in western India
Zarathustra
First Iranian Empire (550-330 B.C.E.)
The Achaemenids & Cyrus the Great
 During the rise of this Persian power, Cyrus I
ruled
 Iran moved toward greatness under Cyrus
the Great (r.559-530 B.C.E.), grandson of
CyrusI
 Cyrus the Great expanded Persian territory:
took Assyria, Cilesia, Lydia, and defeated the
last Babylonian king
 When he continued his battle for territory
eastward, he was killed
 Cambyses ( r. 529-522 B.C.E.), his successor
took Egypt
 Darius I succeeded Cambyses (r. 521-486
B.C.E.)
Under his rule the Achaemenid Empire
reached its furthest extent
 Territory extended from Egypt to southern
Russia to the Indus Valley
After Darius, the Achaemenids lost power and
control
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Cambyses & Darius
Achaemenid Government
 It was a stable government until the 3rd
century B.C.E.
 The king was called Shahanshah or “King of
Kings”
 Ahura Mazda would bless the king (divine
rule)
 Achaemenids showed tolerance of other
cultures and religions
 They established Pax Achaemenica
 Governors in the provinces were called
Satraps
 Taxes were collected
 Emphasis on rule of law
 Had a good highway system
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Helped trade
Helped army
Helped couriers
Economy
 Coin system
 Standard wages
 Basic occupation was agriculture
 Serfs and slaves made up most of the labor
force
India
 First true Indian Empire was established by
Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321-297 B.C.E.)
 After Alexander the Great’s victories in NW
India and the defeat of small kingdoms, there
was a need for new Indian leadership
 Chandragupta Maurya provided that
leadership
 He re-conquered NW India taking it from the
Greeks left by Alexander
Chandragupta
 Chandragupta began conquering territory
along the Ganges plain
 Chandraguta was succeeded by his son,
Bindusara (r. 297-272 B.C.E.) who extended
the boundaries further south
 Bindusara was succeeded by his son, Ashoka
(r. 272-232) who completed the conquests
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His reign was one of political unity, prosperity,
and rich culture
Bindusara & Ashoka
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He became a Buddhist
He stopped his conquests after seeing te
suffering he caused
Ashoka then worked to promote the welfare of
his people
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He built roads and hospitals
Promoted vegetarianism
Would not sanction war or animal slaughter
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Brahmans were no longer his political
advisors, and they did not like losing their
power
Local warrior elite were also losing their power
However, many people benefited:
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Merchants
Artisans
Buddhist monks and nuns
Women
 Ashoka’s reign was followed by weaker rulers
 The empire divided chaos followed
 Brahmans pushed to take back power
 Brahmans persecuted Buddhists and pushed
them to the fringes of society and brought
back Hinduism
Brahman Recovery
 Brahmans and kings with Brahman advisors
began to take power in northern India as
other weak leaders fell
 Practices of the Buddhists made them
vulnerable to the Brahman push
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Buddhists isolated themselves in monasteries
They were supported by the wealthy and lived
in luxury
They lost touch with ordinary people
 Brahmans tried to make Hinduism more
appealing to the Indian people by
incorporating some Buddhist gods and by
stressing a more personal relationship with
their gods
 Brahmans also opened temples to people of
all castes
 Women could act as singers and poets
 They created more ceremonies
 Hindus adopted Buddhists’ idea of salvation
 New rulers promoted Hinduism
 As a result, Buddhism slowly died out
 The Mauryas:
 Had centralized bureaucracy
 Had good communications, civil and military
organization, tax collection, and a secret
service
 Had trade and productive cities
 Encouraged cultural development
 Had some contact with the West