Mauryan and Gupta Empires First Empires of India Mauryan and Gupta Empires

Warmup Which two major world religions/belief systems began in India? Hinduism and Buddhism

Mauryan Empire Chandragupta Maurya conquered the remains of Alexander the Great’s kingdom and controlled most of present-day India Reigned from 321 – 298 BCE Forced people to pay high taxes, sometimes up to 50% of their income

Mauryan Empire Chandragupta’s grandson, Asoka, expanded empire throughout India by war Battle of Kalinga – Asoka saw the damage of war and converted to Buddhism Under Asoka unified Northern India and promoted the spread of Buddhism Taught religious toleration: - acceptance of people who have different beliefs

Mauryan Empire Accomplishments During Asoka’s Reign: Religious Tolerance Built roads so he could travel to all parts of his empire Improved communication in the vast empire Promoted policies of toleration and non-violence

Buddhism 2 Sects of Buddhism Theravada: Mahayana: “Way of the Elders” Most closely follows original beliefs Mahayana: “Greater Vehicle” Available to people from all walks of life

Theraveda monk sharing a meal with a tiger Mahayana Buddhist monks

Spread of Buddhism under Asoka Mauryan Empire Spread of Buddhism under Asoka

Tamil Family Groups Broke away from the Mauryan Empire after Asoka’s death in 297 BCE Primarily in southern India Matriarchal culture: based on the mother Divided into three kingdoms Always at war with each other and other groups

Vocabulary MATRIARCHAL PATRIARCHAL The mother is the head of the family Mostly southern India (Tamil) PATRIARCHAL Eldest male is the head of the family Mostly northern India

Gupta Empire No relation to Chandragupta (Mauryan Empire) Returned India to Hinduism Expanded India through northern regions

Gupta Empire First Indian Empire that historians have information about daily life Traded with cities throughout Mediterranean and along the Silk Road Used marriage to keep alliances and spread the empire Gupta Empire experienced great advances in art, literature, science and mathematics

Classical or “Golden Age” of India Literature: Kalidasa – poet/playwright Astronomy: The Earth is round (over a 1000 yrs before Columbus/Europeans!) Math: developed own numeric system Concept of Zero Decimal system

Classical or “Golden Age” of India Science & Medicine: Classified over 1000 diseases Surgery (plastic surgery included) Time: used calendars based on cycles of sun rather than moon Adopted seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day After 200 years of civil war, India was finally united under one government

Spread of Indian Trade Silk Road = Caravan route that crossed central Asia, introducing silk from China to Western Asia and onto the Roman Empire (later included more trade goods)

Silk Road Video Silk Road

Spread of Indian Trade Indians made huge profits by acting as middlemen on the Silk Road Indians would buy goods like silk from the Chinese then sell the good to traders that were traveling to Rome

Spread of Indian Trade Increased trade along the Silk Road also increased and improved the banking system. Bankers would lend money to merchants & charge high interest rates Trade items included spices, cotton cloth, ivory, gems, timber, and eventually silk Indian styles of art, architecture, dance and religion were impacted by Indian traders on Southeast Asia.

Create a Culture “Culture” is a very simple word to represent a large and complex idea Culture is the social behavior and norms of a society (such as diet, clothing, religion, language, arts, housing, etc.) You are going to create your own culture!