India

India

Himalaya Mountain Range

Arabian Sea

Bay of Bengal

Rivers: Indus, Ganges

• Early cities in the river valleys (Indus and Ganges)

• Floods are unpredictable and can be dangerous

Harappan Civilization (2500-1500 BC)Indus River Valley

Mohenjodaro: Harappan city

MohenjodaroWhat can you say about the city by looking

at this plan?

Challenges to our understanding!

• We have seen development of elites, social differentiation in Egypt and Mesopotamia

• Hierarchy is shown in architecture: Temples, Tombs, Palaces

• None here!

Harappan Writing

450 Symbols

Inscriptions usually 5 symbols long

Harappan Seals

Sacred cow inIndia today

What happened to this early Indus Civilization? Economic collapse? Environment? Invasion?

Aryans establish new cities along the Ganges river

Caste System

• Priests (Brahmins)• Warriors (Kshatriyas)• Traders, merchants, artisans, free

farmers (Vaisya)• Slaves, servants (Sudra)

• Untouchables

Caste-based discrimination is now illegal in India

but people still often marry within their caste

Brahmin Wedding

Hinduism• mixture of Aryan and earlier Indian gods

and practices• no single founder or doctrine—long

process of development (1500 BC – 500 BC)

• Third largest world religion after Christianity and Islam

Teachings of Hinduism

• Traditionally Hindus must abide by caste laws (dharma) by accumulating good deeds (karma) so that when one is reborn / reincarnated (samsara) you find yourself in a better position in the caste system. Eventually – with enough Karma you may experience moksha - a release of cycle of rebirth and reincarnation

Ahimsa - non-violence

• Important for good karma

• Principle used by Ghandi in peacefully resisting the British rule of India

Hindu Gods

• major gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

Hindu Devotional Practices

• acquiring religious learning ( guru)

• asceticism

• meditation

• yoga

Bhagavad Gita - world’s longest epic story

Diwali (= festival commemorating the return of Rama and Sita after defeating the demon king Ravana, from

Ramayana)

There are two major types of Hindu templesThe Northern Style looks like a mountain

The Southern Indian temple looks like a multi-level pyramid

Where is this temple? Northern or Southern India ?

North or South ?

Mauryan Dynasty (321-185 B.C.)

• first dynasty to rule all of India

• Ashoka (= first Buddhist emperor)

Buddhism

• Siddharta Gautama (563-483 BCE) = Buddha

• lived in great luxury and isolation; however, one day he encountered a sick person, an old person, and a dying person, and he started to think about human misery and how to escape this misery.

Buddhism

• Spent years wandering, fasting, meditating

• Siddharta became Buddha - “the enlightened one”

• preached for rest of life, founded Buddhist order of monks

Teachings of Buddhism

• cause of all human suffering is desire for worldly things

• worldly things are illusory• ultimate spiritual reality of things = nirvana• possible to reach nirvana

-by turning away from evil -by denying the human body -by deep meditation

Buddhist Shrines

Spread of Buddhism

• India: attractive to low castes

• spread by monks and pilgrims

Buddhism in Different Parts of the World