civilization in india

7/30/2019 Civilization in India

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Indian

Civilization

DevelopsThe huge triangular peninsula of South Asia is sogeographically and culturally distinct from the rest of

Asia that it can be thought of as the Indian subcontinent.


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Great cities are built in theIndus Valley

The most recently discovered of all theearly center of civilization.

Two great cities:

These cities and the society they ruled,developed about the same time ascivilization arose in Somer.


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Invaders end the Indus Valley

The Indus Valley civilization began todecline.

Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned,perhaps because its people fearedroving tribes who were attacking

border territories. Many Harappans fled south to the

region called the Deccan or to

southern India.


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The Aryans bring a newlanguage to India

Aryans migrated west toEurope as well as southeastto Persia and India,

They took their languagenow known as Indo-European


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Early Indian history is unwritten

A constant cycle of death andrebirth

Until the third century BC nowritten records or inscription

were kept in India.


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Religious literature gives apicture of Vedic Age

Four religious books known as Vedas

The Vedas are a huge collection of battle

hymns, religious rituals, wise sayings,chants, and tales.

Oldest and Most important of the Vedas is

the Rig-Veda. It contains more than athousand hymns, prayers, and songs.


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Aryan society changes

The early Aryans had a simple three-levelclass systems: warrior-nobles, priests,and commoners.

One of the warriors was chosen to be thechief or rajah.

The class system was fairly flexible, andpeople could move between classes.


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Class divisions become stricter

By late in the Vedic Age, therefore, priestsknown as Brahmins.

Next came the warrior-nobles, theKshatriya.

The Vaisya, the common people, weremerchants, traders, and artisans as well as

landowning farmers and herders.

There was a great social gap betweenthese three classes and laboring class, the

Sudra.


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The Vedic Age sets the patternsfor Indian thought and society

The members

of each classhad their own

dharmacertain rights

and duties.


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Religious Thought

Shapes IndianSociety

Religious beliefs and customs were the major

force in everyday Indian life and society.


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HINDUISM

AND HINDU

SOCIETY


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The Upanishads set forth thebasic ideas of Hinduism

One famous collection of these writings isUpanishads, which date from about 800 BC.

They discuss basic ideas about right and

wrong, the universal order, and humansociety.

The Upanishads describe a world spirits

or supreme principle called Brahman. Karma can be Understood most simple as

the accumulated good and bad acts of all

ones previous lives.


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Hindus recognize many deities

Hindus believe in many differentgods and goddesses but all are

considered to be symbols andexpressions of Brahman.

The most important gods are Brahma

the creator, Shiva the destroyer, andVishnu the preserver.


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Hindu epics tell stories ofheroes

These tales of war, love and adventure.

Ramayana Prince Rama and Princess

Sita, represent the ideal Hindu couple theperfect fero and his devoted wife.

The Mahadbharata brings togetherhundreds of ancient myths and legends inthe story of a great war in which mortaksand gods fight side by side to control akingdom.


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Many castes develop withinHindu society

The Caste System asystem of rigid socialgroupings grew upalongside this classstructure.

The most important caste

rules concerned sharingmeals, marrying withinones caste and choosing

appropriate occupations.


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Outcastes are cut off fromHindu society

One large group of people wasexcluded from being a real part of

society. These people were theout castes, also know asUntouchables.


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Hindu women have a fewfreedoms

Hindu law and tradition set upcertain expectations for bothmen and women. The ideal

couple were Rama and Sita,the hero and heroine of theRamayana. Sita wasunquestioningly loyal,obedient, ad devoted toRama. These were thequalities expected of married

Hindu women.


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A few women take part inpublic life

In a few small kingdoms, adaughter could inherit the

throne and rule as Rani orqueen.

Some women ruled until theirinfant sons grew up.

Wid l d d f


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Widows are excluded fromsociety

In families that followed strictHindu custom, a woman faced a

bleak future after her husbanddied. A widowed woman,particularly in an upper-class

family, could not remarry orreturn to her own family.

B ddhi l h


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Buddhism appeals to thoseunhappy with the caste system

Many Sudras and Outcastes werediscontented with the misery of

their lives. In Hinduism their only hope of

change lay in the next life, notthis one.

G t b th


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Gautama becomes the

Enlightened One

Siddhartha Gautama, bornabout 56 BC was the son of a

Kshatriya noble

Gautama was given four

signs. He became the Buddha, the

Enlightened One

Th B ddh t ht th t


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The Buddha taught the way toenlightenment

Four Noble Truths.

1. Sorrow or Suffering is part of alllife

2. People suffer because they areconstantly wanting and trying toget things they cannot have

3. The way to escape suffering is to

overcome these frustrating desiresand reach a stage of not wanting

4. The Buddha pointed out the stepson the path to enlightenment orNirvana.

B ddhi t t i


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Buddhist monasteries areestablished

The Buddha established acommunity of minks and at the

request of his aunt, a communityif nuns.

They wore yellow robes, livedsimply, owned little, an d usuallybegged their foods from

followers.

B ddhi t b li f h


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Buddhist beliefs changes asBuddhism

As Buddhism spread,disagreements grew up about

some of its teachings and beliefs. They developed a ritualized

religion with temples, saints, andstatues of the Buddha.


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JAINISM

Th J i d t th l t


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The Jains devote themselves toself-denial

The founder of the Jains was givenhe name Mahavira (Great Hero) by

his followers. He lived at the sametime as the Buddha. Mahaviradescribed karma as an actual

substance that clung to the soul anddiminished its original purity andbrightness.


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The Jains practice nonviolence

They took vows not to steal,lie or desire anything, andthey would not kill anyliving being.

Ahimsa, or nonviolence wastheir central belief.


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Indian

Empires Are

Established

M dh t k t l f


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Magadha takes control ofnortheast India

The kingdom of Magadha on theGanges River, though not the largest

in the region, was the most stableand prosperous.

Magadhas rulerBimbisara was a

good administrator who built roads,coordinated village governments, andmade the kingdom stronger that its

neighbors.

The Persian Empire claims


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The Persian Empire claimsnorthwest India

An invading army led by Cyrusthe Great of Persia crossed

the mountains into northwestIndia.

Darius I, Cyruss successor,had conquered the Indus

Valley and Punjah Alexander conquers Persia but


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Alexander conquers Persia butloses India.

Persian power in India ended asAlexander the Great moved

steadily across the Near East,extending his vast empire.

He defeated the Persian inseveral great battles, then movedinto India in 327 BC

Chandragupta Maurya


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Chandragupta Mauryaestablished a new empire

Soon after the death of Alexander, a youngadventurer named Chandragupta Mauryatook over the kingdom of Magadha.

The Mauryan Empire, with its capital atPataliputra, had a strong centralgovernment in which the emperor was the

supreme authority.

The Mauryan Empire passed toChandraguptas grandson Asoka

Asokas reign brings a golden


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Asokas reign brings a golden

age to India

Asoka began his career with thefierce conquest of the coastal

province of Kalinga in 261 BC Some 1000,000 people were killed

in battle, thousands of othersdied from hunger and diseaseand 150,000 were taken prisoner.

An age of invasion follows the


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An age of invasion follows theMauryan Empire

After Asokas death in 232 BC his

successors were unable to hold

the huge empire together. For about 500 years, northern and

central India were broken intomany small kingdoms, andstates.


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Trade routes cross India

The Kushanas of CentralAsia made northwest India

a part of their Empire. By the time of Kanishka,

the most famous Kushana

king, their territoryextended through CentralAsia to the borders of the

Chinese Empire

Tamil culture is dominant in the


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Tamil culture is dominant in thesouth

The culture of south India developedquite separately from those in the

north. This southern region was settled by

people from the Indus Valley who had

fled southward from the Aryaninvaders. Called Dravidians, theyestablished a distinctive culture in

south India.

Trade by sea flourishes in south


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Trade by sea flourishes in southIndia

The Tamils were seafarerswho traded with Southeast

Asia and conquered andoccupied much of the Island of

Ceylon. Tamil kings builtharbor facilities andencouraged trade.

The Gupta Empire brings


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The Gupta Empire bringsprosperity to southern India

The first emperor united

several kingdoms through

marriage, took the name

Chandra Gupta an

established a new line ofrulers.

Hinduism influences Gupta


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Hinduism influences Guptawriters

Gupta literature showed theimportance of Hinduism in everydayIndian life.

Indians greatest poet and playwright,

often compared with Shakespeare was

Kalidasa His play Shakuntala, based on an idea

from one the Hindu epics, is still

performed in India today


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Invasions end the Gupta

About the middle of the fifth century,invaders from Central Asia began toraid the borders of the Gupta Empire.

A young prince named Harsha united

two kingdoms in 606 and began arule if more than forty years.


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India Comes

Under Muslin

Rule

Muslim and Hindu beliefs


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Muslim and Hindu beliefsconflict

The beliefs of Islam and Hinduism,however, differed in their most basicprinciples.

The Muslims believed strongly in one god.

The Hindus were equally firm in acceptingmany deities.

Two faiths could exist side by side, butthey could not blend

The Rajputs hold back an Arab


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The Rajputs hold back an Arabinvasion

The first Muslim invaders crossed themountains from Persia and moved

into the Indus Valley. Their advance was stopped by the

barren Thar Desert and by the

Rajputs, the warrior clan of thenorthwest.

Mahmud of Ghazni terrorizes


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Mahmud of Ghazni terrorizesIndia

Its ruler Mahmud, was rapidlyexpanding his empire. He did

not want Indian land but didwant the gold and treasure of

the cities, temples, andmonasteries,

The Rajputs fail to stop another


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The Rajputs fail to stop anotherMuslin invasion

About 1175 theempire of Ghazni

was taken over bya group of Turks

led by a chieftainnamed MahammadGhori.

The Delhi sultanate establishes


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The Delhi sultanate establishesMuslim control of India

The rulers of Delhi wereproclaimed sultans of Indiaby the caliph of Baghdad.

The sultanate was neverstable.

Mongol invasions set the stage


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Mongol invasions set the stagefor conquest

In early 1200s, Genghis Khan ledhis fierce Mongol warriors across

Asia, conquering and destroyingas he established a huge empire.

Delhi was destroyed and

thousands of people killed.


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In the early 1500s Baber, adescendant of Benghis Khan

and Tamerlane, led his armyinto India.

1526 the Delhi sultanate fell.

Akbar introduces an era of


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Akbar introduces an era oftoleration

Babers grandson Akbar wasonly thirteen years old whenhe inherited the throne

Gained absolute power and

became a wise and skillfulruler.

The Mogul Empire expands


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The Mogul Empire expandsunder Akbars successors

Jahangir and Shah Jahan, the two rulerswho succeeded Akbar, never achieve hisgreatness or wisdom.

Jahangir married a clever and beautifulPersian woman, Nur Jahan.

Jahangirs son, Shah Jahan, led a rebellionagainst his father and had his brothersmurdered to secure the Mogul throne.

The Taj Mahal

Aurangzeb attempts to conquer


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Aurangzeb attempts to conquerall India

Sah Jahans son Aurangzeb, whoimprisoned his father and seized thethrone.

Aurangzebnicknamed the WorldShaker

New forces rebel against the


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New forces rebel against theMoguls

Hindu Rajputs were among the importantallies offended by Aurangzebs intolerant

policies.

Another people who held firm againstsMogul power were the Sikhs.

The Marathas, a Hindu people living alongthe western coast, established a smallindependent empire within the MogulEmpire.

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