1. Pre-classical and Classical INDIA

2. The
Vedic
Age
(1500 BCE BCE)

3. The foundations for Hinduism were established!
The Vedic Age
The foundations for Hinduism were established!

4. Aryan Migration pastoral  depended on their cattle.
warriors  horse-drawn chariots.

5. Sanskrit writing

6. The Vedas written in SANSKRIT.
Series of books
written in SANSKRIT.
Religious text is the Hindu core of beliefs
Upanishads = establishes relationship of soul to Brahman
Rig Veda  oldest work.

7. Varna (Social Hierarchy) Those with no caste: Untouchables
What is a JATI?
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Jati = divisions of jobs within varnas
Vaishyas
Shudras
Those with no caste: Untouchables

8. The Caste System SOCIAL CLASSES= Purusha’s mouth arms legs feet
Brahmins
SOCIAL CLASSES=
Purusha’s mouth
arms
legs
feet
Kshatriyas
Vaishyas
Shudras

9. Maurya
&
Gupta
India

10. The Maurya Empire 321 BCE – 185 BCE
The Mauryan Empire encompassed almost all of the Indian subcontinent.
321 BCE – 185 BCE

11. CHANDRAGUPTA
Chandragupta Maurya unified northern India. Extremely centralized!
Divided empire into provinces & districts for tax assessments and law enforcement.
Feared assassination  food tasters, slept in different rooms, etc.
301 BCE  gave up his throne & became a Jain.
A Jain is a person who follows Jainism, a religion which focuses on complete non-violence.

12. Kautilya Chandragupta’s advisor. Wrote the Arthashastra:
A guide for the king and his ministers
Supports royal power.
The great evil in society is anarchy.
Therefore, a single authority is needed to employ force when necessary!
Kautilya can be compared with Machiavelli, a European Renaissance writer who advocates strong royal power.

13. Ashoka 304-232 BCE Ashoka = most important ruler of Maurya
Religious conversion to Buddhism after gruesome battle of Kalinga
religiously tolerant
Patronized Buddhism
Conflict  how to balance Kautilya’s methods of keeping power and Buddha’s demands to become a selfless person?
Ashoka is a ruler name which students must remember. He often appears on the AP exam multiple choice section.

14. Mauryan Empire under Ashoka –
HUGE!
Note that Ashoka placed his law code pillars across all of India – his authority was widespread.

15. Set up hospitals for the welfare of both people and animals
Sponsored Buddhist missionaries
Much trade and prosper

16. Ashoka’s law code Note the pillar on the left!
Written mostly in Sanskrit, but one was in Greek and Aramaic –
Cosmopolitan (diverse)
empire!
Buddhist principles dominate his laws.
Focus on: nonviolence, morality, & religious toleration
Note the pillar on the left!

17. Turmoil & a power Vacuum: 220 BCE – 320 CE after Asoka
Tamils
The Mauryan Empire gets divided into many kingdoms

18. Kushan Empire Nomadic warriors from Central Asia – Afghanistan
Trade from Mediterranean countries and Pacific Coast countries
Silk Road – silk was China’s most valuable product
Trade began in Indian Ocean
Indian culture

19. Developed calendar based on the sun
Basis of Indian calendar today

20. Gupta Empire: 320 CE – 647 CE
Gupta India was a much smaller empire. The Guptas controlled with CULTRAL INFLUENCE, not necessarily political power. Everyone admired their culture and tried to emulate it.

21. Gupta Rulers Chandra Gupta I Chandra Gupta II
r. 320 – 335 CE
Chandra Gupta II
r CE
Profitable trade of cotton & pepper
Guptas were Hindu, not Buddhists
Less centralized & smaller than Mauryan
Theater State
Note the names of the rulers - - they are trying to emulate the earlier Mauryan Empire, b/c the thought it was so great!

22. Made agreements with other powerful families of the Ganges area
Located capital at Pataliputra, site of decaying palace of the Mauryas

23. Xuanzang: Life in Gupta India
Chinese Buddhist monk traveled along the Silk Roads and visited India in the 5c.
He was following the path of the Buddha.
He reported the people to be happy, relatively free of government oppression, and inclined towards courtesy and charity. Other references in the journal, however, indicate that the caste system was rapidly assuming its basic features, including "untouchability," the social isolation of a lowest class that is doomed to menial labor.
Don’t copy all of this info - - just read it and think about what we can learn from Fa-Hsien’s primary source. 1) Buddhism had spread all the way to China 2) the Gupta’s government was tolerant and good 3) the caste system was beginning to fully develop, including creating a permanent underclass

24. Empire under Chandra Gupta II

25. International Trade Routes during the Guptas
Note: Gupta India was very economically influential…LOTS of cotton fabric exports

26. Extensive Trade spices silks cotton goods spices horses cotton
Please do a ROUGH sketch of the outline map and note the main imports and exports
cotton goods
spices
horses
cotton

27. Classical civilization
Golden age of Indian culture
Flowering of Hindu and Buddhist art
Owned silver and gold mines
Lived in luxury
“drank wine out of ruby cups”
Religious trade with pilgrims
Many temples build during this time

28. Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.
Gupta Art
Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.

29. 500 healing plants identified Printed medicinal guides
1000 diseases classified
500 healing plants identified
Gupta Achievements
Printed medicinal guides
Medicine
Plastic Surgery
Inoculations
Gupta India
Noted Achievements: medicine (c-sections, inoculations); math (decimals, concept of zero and pi; astronomy (round earth – not flat, 365 day solar calendar;
C-sections performed
Solar Calendar
Astronomy
Mathematics
Decimal System
The earth is round
PI =
Concept of Zero

30. The Decline of the Guptas
Invasion by White Huns in the 500s = end of the Gupta Golden Age
decline of Gupta empire - north India broke into many separate Hindu kingdoms ruled by rajputs
Indian History: Unity v. Disunity
Note the similarity in cause of the Gupta’s fall, in comparison with Rome and Han.

31. Indian Accomplishments
Vedas –India’s oldest surviving literature
Muhabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita
---be aware of the moral rightness of your actions

32. Architecture Carved stone pillars Stupas – burial mounds
Rock cut caves