Indian Empires

Aryan Immigrants Indus Valley Civilization faded into the Aryans Named for their languages and Sanskrit The Vedas: Religious reflections, not historical accounts of the Aryan immigrants that came to India Rigveda-1000 hymns of conquests and migration patterns Samaveda Yajurveda Atharva Veda

India’s Epics Mahabharata- Longest poem in the world, ten times longer than the Bible Civil War between the same family Themes of life, death, family, warfare, duty, and power Most famous part is the “Song of God” Divine advice on life, death and rebirth

India’s Epics Ramayana- Core story tells of the mythical god-king Rama’s victory over Ravana, the demon king of Sri Lanka

Establishment of States Aryan Immigrants began to form states of their various settlements Numerous political groups called janapadas emerged in the area of India Each group came from a family lineage As they grew larger each janapadas grew into larger cities with capitals and political administration Some were republics from monarcies By 500 BCE 16 janapadas were in northern India

Empire Arises By 300BCE 4 of the 16 northern janapadas dominated the rest One, Magadha, was the most powerful of the 4 Alexander the Great came to conquer the area and was forced to withdraw when his men mutinied Magadha’s ruler, Chandragupta Maurya, took his forces into the area and gained dominance over the other states

Mauraya Empire Chandragupta Maurya- first emperor on the throne His son, Bindusara, ruled next Then his son, Asoka brought the empire to its greatest extent During Asoka’s rule as many as 100 million people are thought to have lived in India

Government One ruling government standing over family lineage Survival of the fittest Big fish gets the small fish Society set up to allow people to seek the four goals of life: Artha, Kama, Dharma, Moksha

Goals of Indian Life Artha- Kama- Dharma- Moksha- Pursuit of wealth Pursuit of sensual pleasure Dharma- The fulfillment of social and religious duties Moksha- The release from earthly existence and union with the infinite power of the universe, achieved, if at all, at the time of death

Social Life Male dominated Women existed for keeping the home and to be available for the pleasure of men Caste system: Each person has a social, economic, and ritual position inherited from their parents

Asoka When Asoka Mauyra came into power he greatly enlarged the empire through military force After conquering Kalinga, which required a lot of killing and chaos, he converted to Buddhism, determined to become a better person Asoka died and with him centralized, united India as well India broke up into several regional groups and regional rulers

Gupta Empire Emerges His family was of no consequence, but he married a princess from the powerful Licchavi lineage He renamed himself after the Mauryan emperor Chandra Gupta The Gupta family conquer and unite much of India

Gupta Empire The Golden Age of Learning- Resurgence of Sanskrit literature Many other pieces of literature emerge Sanskrit is used as the primary correspondence Hinduism becomes a very popular religion in the India region

The Hunas The Huna invaded India during Skanda Gupta’s rule The invaded in 500 CE and gained control of much of Northern and Central India