INDIAN CIVILIZATION EARLIEST, SEE MAP Harappan Civilization The Indus Valley Civilization spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India

MAURYAN EMPIRE, INDIA Most of the subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire, 400-300 BCE

MAURYAN EMPIRE, INDIA 321 to 185 BC.

MAURYAN EMPIRE, INDIA Chandragupta Maurya , FOUNDER First unifier of India RISE OF OTHER RELIGIONS HINDUISM JAINISM BUDDHISM LIST RELIGIONS DISCUSSED.

JAINISM Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul toward divine consciousness and liberation.

JAINISM

GOLDEN AGE OF INDIA 400-600 EC, AD Indians made in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy during the Gupta Empire. The decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was invented in India during this period. GUPTA EMPIRE, 320 CE–600s CE

GUPTA EMPIRE

GUPTA EMPIRE Founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, dynasty was the model of a classical civilization HINDUISM THRIVED, EXPANDED

ASHOKA Ashoka the Great Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC One of India's greatest emperors

ASHOKA CONVERTED TO BUDDHISM PROPAGATION OF BUDDHISM ACROSS ASIA

KALINGA WAR As the legend goes, one day after the war was over, Ashoka ventured out to roam the city and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses. This sight made him sick and he cried the famous monologue: What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Do I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor? One has lost her husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infant.... What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil? The brutality of the conquest led him to adopt Buddhism, and he used his position to propagate