World History

Chapter Three:Section Three

Powerful Empires of India

• Northern India was a battleground for rival rajahs fighting to control the Ganges Valley

• Chandragupta Maurya – created first Indian empire

• Gained control of the Ganges Valley, then northern India

• Son and grandson went south and captured land in the Deccan

Empire

• Maurya Dynasty – ruled most of India• Order was maintained in bureaucracy • Built roads, harbors, collected taxes, royal

courts• Used secret police force to control crime and

corruption• Used specially trained women warriors to

guard his palace

Asoka

• Asoka – Chandragupta’s grandson and the most honored Maurya emperor

• Fought bloody battle to conquer the rest of the Deccan – over 100,000 people died

• Turned his back on war, accepted Buddhism and ruled by moral example

• Stopped eating most meats and limited Hindu sacrifices

Asoka

• Sent missionaries across India to spread Buddhism

• Preached tolerance for other religions• Set up stone pillars that offered advice and

moral guidance to those reading them• Peace and prosperity – built hospitals and

shrines

Division

• Asoka died – Maurya power declined• Unity of empire broken as princes fought for

power• India often remained divided due to the

numerous ethnic groups in the area trying to take control

Guptas

• Gupta Empire – India enjoyed a golden age or a period of great cultural achievement

• Gupta vs. Maurya Empire• Gupta was more relaxed and let villages rule

themselves• Trade and farming flourished• Farmers harvested: wheat, rice, sugar cane• Artisans produced: cotton cloth, pottery, metal

ware

Advances in learning

• Students educated in religious schools• Taught religion, mathematics, medicine,

physics, languages, literature and other subjects

• Gupta mathematics – created system of writing numbers that we use today

• Created concept of zero• Developed decimal system based on ten

Literature

• Folklores collected and written in Sanskrit – language of the area

• Indian stories went to Egypt, Persia, and Greece

Gupta Decline

• Gutpa declined due to weak rulers, civil war, and foreign invaders

• Invaders from Central Asia – the Huns – nomadic people who overran the Gupta empire

• Now India was again split up into many smaller kingdoms

Family Life

• Most Indians were peasants• Life revolved around the caste system, rules,

duties and family• Joint family – parents, children, and offspring

shared a home – this was considered ideal• Oldest male was in charge• Usually only made decisions after consulting his

wife• Property belonged to the entire family

Family

• Family trained children to perform the duties of their caste

• Family interest came before individual interests• Daughter learned that she would serve husband and

family• Son learned rituals to honor ancestors• Arranged marriages based on caste and family

interests• Brides family often provided a dowry – payment to the

bridegroom and financed the wedding• Daughter would go live with husband after marriage

Women• Early Aryan society – women enjoyed higher

status than in later times• Women restricted to the home, when they went

outside they had to cover from head to toe• Lower class women were outside in the fields or

weaved cloth• Women believed to have shakti – creative energy

– completed her husband• Few rights in family or society – they were simply

supposed to marry and raise children

Village Structure• Homes made of dirt and stone• Surrounded by fields of wheat, sugar, cotton,

rice• Village council made decisions for village• Women used to be allowed in it but Hindu

teachings eventually led to women having less rights and freedom

Agriculture

• Farming relied on rains from the summer monsoons – winds

• Too much or too little meant famine• Landlords often owned the land that was

farmed• They were paid part of the harvest by farmers• What was left was barely enough to feed

farmer and his family