Ancient India

India’s Geography India is located on the subcontinent of Asia. A subcontinent is a large piece of land that sticks out From a continent. India is separated from the rest of Asia by the Hindu Kush and the Himalaya, which are the highest mountains in the world. India’s climate is controlled by monsoons, which are strong winds that blow one direction in the winter and another direction in the summer. The winter monsoon brings cold, dry air to India and the summer monsoon brings large amounts of rain.

The Harrapans The Harrapan civilization was the first to develop in India. 1. The Harrapan civilization developed in the Indus River Valley. The Harrapans were an advanced civilization that built large cities with water and sewer systems. The Harrapans had a form of writing but it has never been translated. 4. By 1500 B.C., the Harrapans were gone and no one really knows why.

Mohenjo-Daro

Harrapan Writing

The Aryans Around 1500 B.C. the Aryans move into India. The Aryans were tribes of nomadic herders who were lead by a chief called a rajah. The Aryans were very war-like, usually fighting over cattle, which was their main source of wealth – they eventually deemed cattle to be sacred. The Aryans had no written language so their history was kept orally and memorized as part of their education. They finally develop a system of writing, called Sanskrit, and Aryan priests wrote all of their stories in the Vedas, which means The Book of Knowledge.

The Caste System The Aryans develop a complex social structure called the caste system. The caste system divided up the population into four main varnas, or classes. Each group will have its own duties within society and their lives will revolve around fulfilling those duties – dharma. The different groups did not mix socially.

The Brahmans The Brahmans were priests who studied and taught the Vedas and performed religious ceremonies. 1. The Aryans had a polytheistic religion. 2. Their gods were gods of nature and they used elaborate rituals to keep them happy.

The Kshatriyas (kuh-sha-tree-yuhs) The Kshatriyas were the warriors and rulers of society. 1. They ran the government and the army. 2. They were allowed to study and learn the stories of the Vedas but were not allowed to teach it.

The Vaisyas (vish-yuhz) The Vaisyas were merchants, artisans and farmers. 1. Their jobs were to farm and tend to the cattle and basically keep the economy going. 2. They were considered the commoners of society.

The Sudras (shoo-druhz) The Sudras wer unskilled laborers and servants. 1. Their job was to serve the other varnas. 2. The Sudras had few rights. 3. Most Indians belonged to the Sudra caste.

The Pariahs 1. The Pariahs were also referred to as the Untouchables. 2. The Pariahs were responsible for doing work that other Indians thought was too dirty, such as hauling trash and handling dead bodies. 3. The Pariahs were shunned by the other castes and weren’t even allowed to live within villages.

Hinduism 1. Hinduism, which is the third largest religion in the world, was a polytheistic religion which combined the teachings of the Vedas with the works of other Indian writers and philosophers. 2. The Hindus believed in a universal spirit called the Brahman that lived in all things. 3. The Hindus also believed that a person’s soul would be reunited with the Brahman when they died.

Reincarnation Reincarnation is the belief that a person comes back as another person when they die. For the Hindus, reincarnation usually involved moving from one varna to another. 3. Karma, or how you lived your life, helped determine what you came back as. The idea of reincarnation and karma helped make the lower varna’s more accepting of the caste system.

Siddhartha Guatama (sih-dahr-tuh gow-tuh-muh) B.C.) was a prince who lived a very sheltered life. One day he decided to explore is kingdom and was amazed at the suffering that people had to endure. He decided he would find an answer to why people suffered.

Buddhism Guatama traveled around India fasting and meditating in an effort to figure out how to end people’s pain and suffering. 2. Fasting is going without food and meditating is the practice of focusing the mind inward in order to find spiritual awareness. Supposedly, he sat under a fig tree and meditated for 49 days until he received a revelation. 4. As he begins spreading his message and gaining followers, he becomes known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One.

The Four Noble Truths According to Buddha, a person must know and understand the Four Noble Truths. 1. People suffer and know sorrow. 2. They suffer and know sorrow because their human desires bind them to a cycle of rebirth. 3. People can end this cycle by eliminating their desires. 4. They can eliminate their desires by following the Eightfold Path, also known as the Middle Way.

The Eightfold Path 1. Right Understanding - To know the truth. 2. Right Intention - To intend to resist evil. 3. Right Speech - To not say anything to hurt others . 4. Right Action - To respect life, property, and morality. 5. Right Livelihood - To work at a job that does not injure others 6. Right Effort - To try to free one's mind from evil. 7. Right Mindfulness - To be in control of one's feelings and thoughts 8. Right Concentration - To practice appropriate forms of concentration

Spread of Buddhism According to Buddha, if a person did these things, they would beach nirvana, which was a state of wisdom and lasting peace. By reaching nirvana, people would be released from the cycle of reincarnation. 3. The lower varnas, especially the Pariahs, were quick to adopt Buddhism because a person’s life depended on the person, not their place within society. 4. Buddhism eventually spread outside of India but Hinduism remained the main religion in India.

The Maurya (mah-orr-yuh) Empire India was invaded by the Aryans, Persians and Macedonians but never had an Indian king until it was united under Chandragupta, who formed the Maurya Empire in 321 B.C. Chandragupta’s rule was very harsh but it brought great wealth to India through farming and trade. Many improvements were made throughout India, such as new irrigation systems and a network of roads.

The Gupta Empire The Mauryan Empire ended in 183 B.C. and India didn’t have a strong ruler until 320 A.D., when the Gupta Empire was established. The Gupta period was known as the Golden Age of India because of the advancements made in the arts and sciences during this time. These advancements included the development of algebra and the concept of zero.