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Ancient India
Unit 3
The Subcontinent Environment
Rivers
•Indus River
•Ganges River
Mountains
•Himalayan
Mountains
(North East)
Climate
•Monsoon
Seasonal wind pattern
producing heavy rainfall
Other
•River valleys
have rich soil
•Mountains
provide an
excellent barrier
•Monsoon
seasons are
irregular causing
drought or over
flooding
NEEDS
What should the
people do?
INTRODUCTION
• Over 4,000 years ago people built huge, planned cities, with
straight streets and brick homes with private baths! Kids played
with toys and women wore lipstick!
Where did this happen?
The Indus Valley
How do we know this?
• In 1922, archaeologists found the remains of an ancient city
called Harappa.
• They found another city, located 400 miles southwest of
Harappa, called Mohenjo-Daro. Other ancient cities have been
found since.
• This civilization existed from about 3000-2,500 B.C.E. (Before
Common Era) to about 1500 B.C.E., which means it existed at
about the same time as the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations.
• What was life like, over 4,000 years ago, in Harappa and in
Mohenjo-Daro, two busy cities of about 35,000 people each?
• What would life be like for you back then?
Welcome to Chapter 3, Ancient India!
•Monarchy aided by an
elite
•Elite
THE HARAPPANS
India’s First Civilization
Small group of powerful people
who supported the King’s will
•Belief in divine
authority
Mohenjo -daro
Buying Real Estate in Harappa?
Homes
 Houses were one or
two stories high, made
of baked brick, with
flat roofs, and were
just about identical.
 Each home had its own
private drinking well
and its own private
bathroom. Clay pipes
led from the
bathrooms to sewers
located under the
streets.
 These sewers drained
into nearby rivers and
streams.
Well in Harappa
Early Life in the Indus Valley
Art & Religion
Entertainment
•The discovery of bronze statues
resembling dancers tell us they enjoyed
dancing as well as working with metals.
•The discovery of a large central pool in
Mohenjo-daro, with steps leading down
at both ends, could have been a public
swimming pool or used for religious
ceremonies.
Food
•Each town had a large central storage
building for grain.
•Crops were grown for all town
members.
•Fishing and animal herding also
contributed as a food source.
Toys
•Small carts, whistles shaped like birds,
toy monkeys which could slide down a
string
•Weaving, Metal working, and Pottery.
•The Pottery was very high quality, with
unusually beautiful designs.
•The Vedas were memorized hymns,
prayers, and religious teachings.
Transportation
•Camels, oxen and elephants were used
to travel over land.
•Sailboats were used for travel over
water
•Carts with wooden wheels. Ships with
one mast, probably used to sail around
the Arabian Sea.
Trade
•Seals with a pictographic script, which
has not as yet been deciphered, were
found at the Indus Valley sites. Similar
seals were found in Mesopotamia, which
seems to indicate possible trade
between these two civilizations.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
BERLIN
(2007) Life centered around the family.
Bavaria's
most
Patriarchal- The oldest male was in charge
glamorous
Only men were given the opportunity of education.
politician -- a
Education with the Guru 
flame-haired
“Special” Treatment for females
motorcyclist
Women were considered “minors”
has shocked
the Catholic
Divorce was not allowed (few minor exceptions)
The ritual of Sati- To show the subjugation to state
men in by
suggesting
by requiring a wife to throw herself on her dead
marriage
husband’s flaming pyre.
should last
Family Life
• The Indian tradition is now forbidden by law,
just 7
though a very small number of incidents still occur
each year in remote isolated villages.
years.
•
Women were viewed
as an economic burden
The Aryans
• Aryan- improperly used term by the Nazi Germans- It
actually is Indo-European speaking nomadic people.
• Created the writing system of Sanskrit c. 1000 B.C.
• Warring kingdoms and shifting tribal alliances created
a great deal of instability until strong leaders
emerged.
• Raja- The tribal chieftain prince
• The raja was chosen by Brahman, chief god of the
Aryans
• Leaders became the representation of the gods
• Leaders still subjected to laws
• Eventually the title, raja, became the maharaja (great
prince)
• The most lasting effect: class divisions among the
people ranging from skin color to economics. This
social division was known as the Caste System
The Caste System
Upper Classes
1. Brahmin
Priests
2. Kshatriyas
Warriors
Lower Classes
3. Vaisyas
Merchants, farmers, traders, and
artisans
4. Sudras
Laborers and servants to the
upper class
5. Untouchables
Cleaning bathes, collected trash.
Contact with an untouchable
was considered harmful.
The Caste System Continued…
Brahmin
Priests

Vaisyas
Merchants
farmers 
Kshatriyas
Warriors

Sudras
Laborers and
servants

Homework 
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
Type at least a two page paper about
the following. (40 Points)
Analyze Barrington High School.
Is there a caste system?
What is the high school good life?
Is school life equally good for everyone?
Conquests in India
1. Persians
2. Greeks and Macedonians
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
3. Then… the Mauryan Dynasty
Mauryan Dynasty
• LeaderChandragupta
Maurya
• Large army with
secret police to
protect the
paranoid leader.
• Built a road system
to make it easier to
transport goods.
• Next major leader,
grandson, Asoka
Mauryan and Asoka Empires
Asoka’s Reign
•Asoka =one without sorrow
•Ruthless military leader who
converts to Buddhism
•Decides to win the support of
India’s people through kindness.
•Sets up hospitals for both
people and animals
•Wanted to lead by good
example rather than by force.
•Began placing edicts on pillars.
Edicts are orders that were put on pillars
throughout the empire
• Edicts stressed Buddhist
qualities of goodness
•Trade and Industry flourished
under Asoka.
•The Mauryan Dynasty will fade
with the death of Asoka.
One of Asoka’s famous pillars
Expansion of Trade – The Kushan Kingdom
• Became one of the most
advanced trading
civilizations in the
ancient world
• Trade via sea and camel
caravan
• Traded a variety of
spices, jewels, and
textiles for gold, tin,
lead and wine.
• One of the major routes
was called the “Silk
Road” China supplied
the Silk… Romans
wanted it, but passed
through India to get
there...
The Silk Road
Gupta Empire
• Developed precise
surgical
instruments.
• Developed the
concept of “0”
• Adopted the Hindu
faith as the main
religion in India.
• A group called the
Huns greatly
weaken the Gupta
Empire
Hinduism
•Vedas - collection of hymns
•Bhagavad Gita is revered as a sacred
text of Hindu philosophy
•The name 'Bhagavad Gita', when
translated into English, literally means
'Song of God.'
•Belief in one God called Brahman
*(Vishnu, and Shiva)
•Salvation comes only after a person has
abandoned all pursuits and desires and
accepts that the individual soul is the
same as Brahman. (Moksha)
•Ironically, to achieve moksha, one must
make a deliberate effort to not want it.
•Reincarnation- belief that individual soul
is reborn in a different form after death.
•Karma- What people do in their life
determines what they will be in the next
life.
•“What goes around, comes around!”
•Dharma- divine law ruling karma.
•Dharma determines the expectation
level.
•The
Mahabharata:
•Probably
theone get in touch with
How does
longest poem
one’s spiritual nature?
in the
world– a method of training
• Yoga
designed to lead to union
•220,000
with God.
lines, divided
1.eighteen
Path of Knowledge
into
2. Path of Love
chapters
3. Path of Work
•The third
4. Path of Meditation
and most
important Common ?’s
Hindu Epic- Next page!
Bhagavad
• Today, most of India’s
gita. citizens are Hindu
Common Questions
What is the significance of red dots on the forehead?
1.
It symbolizes the "third eye" -- the one focused inwards toward God (or the
atma (soul) within you). The red dot between the eyebrows is said to retain
energy in the body and control various levels of concentration.
2.
In the past, a red dot was usually worn by married women as an auspicious
sign of marriage. And, unmarried women wore black dots which indicated that
they were unmarried.
If Hindu’s acknowledge more than 33,000 deities, then shouldn’t the religion be
polytheistic?
1.
No. Brahman is the ultimate reality of God. Hindus believe in more than one
FORM of one God.
Why are cows so important to people from India?
1.
2.
3.
The most important indicator of wealth among the Aryans was the number of
cattle that an individual owned. The more cattle a family, or tribe possessed
the more wealthy they were. Eventually cattle became so important in Aryan
society that they made it illegal to kill or eat them.
Food, Work, Religion
Cows bring about life and provide life, work, (Animals and reincarnation).
Hinduism
Siddhartha Gautama
• A prince with every
“everything”, discovers a great
deal of human suffering outside
“his world.”
• Gives up “everything” to seek
the cure for human suffering.
• Goal: To seek Nirvana
Means end of the self and a
reunion in life with the Great
Soul
Four Noble Truths
1. Ordinary life is suffering
2. This suffering is caused by our
desire to satisfy ourselves
3. The way to end suffering is to
end desire for selfish goals and
to see others as extensions of
ourselves
4. The way to end desire is to
follow the middle path
Buddhism
“The Middle Path”
Next Page
1. Stupas and temples
were built to honor the
death of Gautama.
Stupas are stone
towers that house
relics of the Buddha
The Middle Path
•
Right View:
•
Right Intention:
•
•
•
•
•
•
We need to know the Four Noble Truths
We need to decide what we really want
Right Speech:
We must seek to speak truth and to speak well of others
Right Action:
The Buddha gave five precepts: “Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not
lie. Do not be unchaste. Do not take drugs or alcohol.”
Right livelihood:
We must do work that uplifts our being.
Right effort:
The Buddha said, “Those who follow the Way might well follow
the example of an ox that arches through the deep mud carrying
a heavy load. He is tired, but his steady, forward-looking gaze
will not relax until he is out of the mud.”
Right mindfulness:
We must keep our minds in control of our senses: “All we are is
the result of what we have thought.”
Right concentration:
We must meditate to see the world in a new way.
Two Religions
Buddhism
Why Fat Buddha Statues?
• The "Fat Buddha" is not THE Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama
• The statue is not an idol.
• Rubbing the belly of a fat Buddha Statue is not a prayer of any
sort… it's just a more or less superstitious habit
• Buddha means "one who has achieved a state of perfect
enlightenment" and there are several people who have been
given the title.
• Siddhartha lived from around B.C. 560 to B.C. 480, it
was not until around 127 BC that statues actually depicting
him became prevalent.
• Nobody knew what he really looked like, he was from a
noble family and had been described as tall, slender, and of
"manly build", but that may have been just because that is
what people expected "Nobles" to look like.
• The image of a fat overfed Buddha didn't fit with his
teachings, and an "enlightened one" might be so enlightened
as to disregard material needs like eating…
• Buddhism reached China around 100AD, and was wide
spread there by 600AD.
• We get three theories on Fat Buddha.
• First the physical image of a Noble was not athletic or a
warrior, but a well fed person of leisure. People tried to rub a
fat man's belly in hopes of luck and ample meals.
• Then there is the story of a Chinese Buddhist monk in the
6th century, who just happened to have a belly that shook
like jelly, he was a kind fellow who dedicated himself to
helping others, and was regarded as the incarnation of the
Boddhisatva Metteya, who had reached nirvana but stayed
around just to help people.
• And finally the theory held by most Buddhist scholars. A
sagely Zen monk appeared in China around 850 A.D. and
died in 916A.D. He said his name was "Knowing This"
(ChiChe). No one knew where he came from, he carried a big
fat bag and was famous for his fat belly. When asked how to
obtain nirvana he would lay down the bag and not said a
word. When asked about what happened after reaching
nirvana he would pick up the bag and walk away, still not a
word. It is pretty much accepted that such a monk existed.
He is probably the inspiration for Fat Buddha, as the statues
began appearing in the late 800's, 1200 years after the
Gautama's death. If you'll look at an authentic Fat buddha,
you'll see he has a sack on his back.
Lasting Effects of Indian Culture
Literature
On your own!
Lasting Effects of Indian Culture
Art and Sculpture
On your own!