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Classical India

Aryan Migration, Mauryan Dynasty,

and Gupta Empire

Chapter 3

Topography

• Himalayas separate

India from the rest of

Asia

– Mountain passes in the

Northwest allowed

contact with Persian and

Hellenistic cultures

• Monsoons were the

difference between

good and bad harvests

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Harappan Decline

• Evidence of natural disasters

– Flooding and earthquakes

• Indus cities abandoned by 1500 BCE

Aryan Migration

• Indo-Europeans herders from central Asia

– Introduced iron weapons, caste system and Sanskrit

• Vedic Age (1500-1000 BCE)

– Rig Veda: Hymns to the Aryan pantheon; passed down orally

• Epic Age (1000-600 BCE)

– Mahabharata and Ramayana: Epic poems about war, honor, love

– Evidence of a more settled society

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Caste System

• Varnas

– Brahmans: Priests

– Kshatriyas: warriors

– Vaisyas: traders and farmers

– Sudras: common laborers

– Dalits: Untouchables

• Hereditary

• Interaction between castes was

restricted

Hinduism• Upanishad established idea of a universal

force, Brahman

– Hindu gods represent different aspects of

Brahman

• Reincarnation allows soul to prepare for union

• Dharma- moral law guides decision making

• Caste is based on karma from previous lives

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Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama (6th century BCE):

Buddha “Enlightened One”

• Four Noble Truths: Life is full of suffering

caused by desire

• Following the Eightfold Path (Middle-Path)end

suffering and leads to Nirvana (Enlightenment)

– Achieved individually

• Believed in reincarnation but rejected the

caste system

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Political Institutions

• Regional states dominated until 4th century

BCE

– Alexander the Great’s invasion in 327 BCE led to

changes

• Mauryan Dynasty (323-185 BCE)

– Chandragupta Maurya used a large army to unify

states

– Grandson Ashoka completed conquest and

encouraged spread of Buddhism

• Guptas (320-535 CE)

– Political stability through intermarriage with

regional rulers

• Social and economic rules imposed by caste

system made centralized government

unnecessary

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Economy

• Regional Divisions

– Agriculture along Indus and Ganges Rivers

– Herding in the North

– Southern coast for trading and seafaring

• Indian Ocean Trade with Middle east and

Southeast Asia

– Luxury goods sent to Rome and China

• Manufactured cloth and steel

Golden Age of Indian Culture

• Guptas established a university in Nalanda

• Aryabhatta: calculated the circumference of the

earth and a solar year

• Medicine: bone setting, plastic surgery, and

smallpox inoculation

• Mathamatics: numbering system, concept of zero

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Stupas: Buddhist shrines