1. India’s Classical Age (Volume B)
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2. Background
During the ancient period (1200 B.C.E.—400 C.E.), society on the Indian subcontinent evolved. Beginning from agrarian villages, it developed a caste system and a religion centered on Vedic scripture and ritual; as the rural economy supported the growth of towns and cities, the first empires arose and the caste system grew more intricate. Mongamy, polygamy, and polyandry complicated the rules of social classification.
The image is a goblet from Navdatoli, Malwa (ca B.C.E.).

3. Vedic Canon Brahman ātman moksa karma dharma
The Vedic canon articulated the concepts of Brahman (undifferentiated godhead) and atman (individual self or soul); moksa (the soul’s liberation from mundane existence to be reunited with godhead), karma (action and its consequences), and dharma (law and duty as defined by the gods). Vedic ritual was complicated by debates about the nature of good and evil, morality and power and ethics and justice.
The image is a portrayal of Vyasa, who classified the Vedas into four parts and is considered to be the author of the Mahabharata / Bhagavad Gita.

4. Maurya Dynasty (321–180 B.C.E.) central administration
diplomatic and trade links with Europe and Central Asia
Emperor Aśoka (269–232 B.C.E.)
“wheel of dharma”
Brahmi script, rock inscriptions
multilingual pluralism
Buddhism and ahimsa
Under the Mauryan Dynasty (321–180 B.C.E.), most of India, then inhabited by 50 million people, was unified under a centralized administration and single system of laws. Diplomatic and trade links with Greece, Rome, Egypt, Syria, and Central Asia were established. Emperor Asoka institutionalized the idea that a king turns the “wheel of dharma” on earth and hence is fully responsible for his people’s well-being under cosmic or universal law. His royal chancery standardized the Brahmi script system, used in famous rock inscriptions, which paved the way for literacy in the southeast and emphasized pluralism since it was transcribed into Greek and Kharosthi scripts used along the Silk Road. Asoka also converted to Buddhism and used the Buddhist concept of ahimsa (nonviolence) as a state policy.
The image shows bilingual (Greek and Kharosthi) inscriptions by King Asoka at Kandahar (3rd century B.C.E.). Kabul Museum.

5. Kusana Empire (100–300 C.E.) Kaniska Buddhism kāvya
A successor of the Mauryan state, the Kusana empire, particularly under Kaniska, sponsored the Indo-Greek sculpture and architecture of Gandhara and Mathura. He also converted to Buddhism and launched Mahayana Buddhism and its spread to China and Japan. He patronized painters, musicians, and poets, including Asvaghosa, whose The Life of Buddha invented the style of Sanskrit kavya, or poetry, that was to dominate the classical period.
The image is a coin of Kaniska with the Greek divinity Helios. The caption states that Kaniska is standing, clad in heavy Kusana cloathing with flames emanating from his shoulders, holding a standard, and making a sacrifice over an altar.

6. Gupta Empire (320–550 C.E.) Candragupta Vikramaditya (375–415 C.E.)
improved agriculture
improved economics
shift in trade with China and Southeast Asia
changes in Hinduism
rājakavi
Classical literature came to maturity during the Gupta empire, specifically under Candragupta Vikramaditya, and lasted until the end of the eleventh century, after which Islam irreversibly transformed the politics, society, and economy in the area. An efficient bureaucracy, regulated coinage, and banking led to an increase in travel and pilgrimage and the growth of shipping, ports, inland cities, and maritime commerce. Trade with the Roman Empire declined while that with China and Southeast Asia flourished. Hinduism shifted from an elite focus on Vedic ritual and sacrifice to a more populist form of engagement, centered on pilgrimages to holy river sites and public worship in temples. It devalued many of the Vedic gods, who resembled the gods in the Greek and Roman pantheons and produced a new canon of theological and mythological works called Puranas, which displaced the Vedas. They appointed a rajakavi or poet laureate and maintained royal libraries.
The image is a photograph of the Borobudur temple in Central Java, Indonesia. Photograph attribution: Gunkarta Gunawan Kartapranata (12 June 2008). The building design reflects Gupta architecture and India’s influence on the region.

7. Gupta (continued) shift in literacy among castes
Jainism and their monasteries
Tamil lyric
The Guptas’s paradigm of royal patronage spread literacy and literature beyond the networks of the Brahmana (priestly) caste, which had largely monopolized writing and scholarship in earlier Hindu society. The caste groups were able to develop their own literate cultures, and the Buddhists and Jains were able to extend and refine theirs. The Jains became the informal librarians, collecting and preserving manuscripts in every language and period. Classical Tamil lyric poetry was preserved for the next sixteen hundred years only in Jain monastic libraries.
The image is a sculpture showing the two Jain Tirthankaras (founders), Rishabdev (left) and Mahavira (right). British Museum.

8. Classical Genres katha, tale
akhyayika, nonfiction histories and biographies
Bana, Kadambari and Harsacarita
Ramayana and Mahabharata as kavyas
additional function of poetic works
Sanskrit prose appeared early in the ancient period beyond theological and practical purposes to compose fictional narratives in the genre of katha (tale) or nonfictional narratives known as akhyayika (history, biography). Bana’s Kadambari is the first novelistic fiction in Indian literature and his Harsacarita the first biography. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata describe themselves as kavyas—that is, as epics in verse. During the classical period, the term came to encompass verse, prose, drama, epics, lyrics, and didactic/ nonfiction composition. Classical works of poetics also functioned as philosophical expositions and as practical guides and manuals.

9. Poets kavi pratibha, conception aucitya, urbane decorum
sahitya, literature
“mutual benefit”
audience as “true companion at heart” (sahrdaya)
Whereas the kavi (poet) of the ancient period dealt with oral transmission, the classical Indian author inhabited a complex literary world that included orality, performance and writing. His social life was also busy—he was a connoisseur and a learner; he had to master his mother tongue and Sanskrit, to learn secular and religious materials of his own and of previous periods. An author had to display imagination and brilliance of conception (pratibha) as well as urbane decorum (aucitya). Literature (sahitya) by definition produced “mutual benefit” for the author and audience; a poet therefore had to employ his learning and skill to create something of moral or spiritual value. Above all, he had to use all his resources to reach and speak directly to his reader, who ideally was his “true companion at heart” (sahrdaya).

10. Aesthetics
Bharata, Discipline of the Performing Arts (2nd century C.E.)
rasa, essence of human emotion
Dandin, The Ideal of Poetry
alamkara, embellishment of language
Anandavardhana, The Radiance of Suggestion (9th century C.E.)
three levels of language: denotation, connotation, and suggestion
According to Bharata, who wrote the Discipline of the Performing Arts during the second century C.E., the overall goal of the literary work is to lead its audience to experience a rasa—taste of human emotion. Instead of using words alone, he selects and combines all the elements of his craft and allows the audience to experience emotion in its pure, raw form without distraction of mundane issues. According to Dandin, who wrote The Ideal of Poetry, the poetic quality of poetry lies in a distinctive handling of language—the deviation from everyday speech by the use of alamkara (embellishment). Authors would largely rely on literary devices to achieve this effect. According to Anandavardhana, who wrote The Radiance of Suggestion in the ninth century, meaning is grounded in language, and each word signifies at three levels: denotation, connotation, and suggestion. Many late classical poets and readers believed that the beauty of poetry lies primarily in its power to create new meanings through the subtle use of suggestion.

11. India100–1000
The Indian subcontinent (shown in relation to South East Asia and China on the map inset) experienced a full flowering of art and culture during its Classical period (ca. 400–1100). This classical period did not appear overnight, but rather it came to maturity during the Gupta dynasty (ca. 325–550), whose expansion is depicted on this map. The Gupta empire included territory in what is now Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh; the Guptas were active supporters of the arts and they had a profound effect on culture, art, and religion. At its height the Gupta empire stretched from Dvārakā, on the coast of the Arabian Sea eastward across the Bay of Bengal.

12. Test Your Knowledge
Classical Indian culture was marked by which of the following?
a. religious persecution b. social equality c. religious tolerance d. a growing middle class
Answer: C
Section: The Transition to the Classical Period
Feedback: By the start of the Common Era, India was a well-defined cultural entity within Asia, characterized by its religious tolerance. Even when the ruling elite openly adopted one form of religious worship (as when the Gupta empire, 320–550 C.E., adopted Hinduism), diverse religious practice remained possible.

13. Test Your Knowledge
During which imperial reign did India’s classical period come to maturity?
a. Gupta b. Aśoka c. Delhi Sultanate d. Ottoman
Answer: A
Section: Social and Political Contexts of Classical Literature
Feedback: India’s classical age came to maturity during the Gupta empire (320–550 C.E.). During this time, the Indian economy grew increasingly strong, patronage of the arts increased, and both shipping and travel continued to grow.

14. Test Your Knowledge
Which of the following characterized the ideal writer during India’s classical period? He was a:
a. connoisseur b. religious ascetic c. moralist d. mystic
Answer: A
Section: Classical Genres and the Classical Poet
Feedback: While other literary eras often idealized the writer, and the poet especially, as a solitary, mystical figure, the ideal writer as imagined during India’s classical period was—in addition to his being a scholar, a linguist, an orator, and a historian—ideally a “man about town.” He was a connoisseur of life’s pleasure, engaged in producing and consuming the social entertainments of the day and enjoying the sensual pleasures that life had to offer.

15. Test Your Knowledge
According to classical India aesthetics, which of the following levels of meaning is the most important for producing poetic effect?
a. suggestion b. connotation c. allusion d. denotation
Answer: A
Section: The Role of Poetics in the Classical Period
Feedback: According to later classical aesthetics, poetry achieved its greatest power through use of suggestion (or dhvani).

16. This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for The Norton Anthology
of World Literature