1. India’s first empires
Today we are learning how the Mauryan dynasty built India’s first great empire

2. *I. The First Empire *2 invasions – taught the Indians a lesson
500 B.C. – Persians invaded the Indus River valley (India became part of Persian empire)
*327 B.C. – Alexander the Great invaded – troops grew homesick, left, led to 1st great empire.

3. I. The First Empire *Chandragupta – Indian prince
Conquered large area in Ganges River valley thanks to Alexander
United most of northern India
*Founded the Mauryan dynasty in 321 B.C.
Dynasty – a series of rules from the same family

4. I. The First Empire Achievements *Pataliputra–Capital
*set up a centralized gov. –
*ran everything from captial city
Strong army
MI-6 – (007) – good spy system
Postal system
*Pataliputra–Capital

5. *II. Emperor Asoka’s reign
*Asoka – greatest king ( B.C.)
*Unusual rule – hated bloodshed so he followed the teachings of Buddha
*Achievements –history’s 1st great Buddhist king
Built :
hospitals for people and animals
Roads for easy trade routes
Shelters and put shade trees along the roads for travelers to rest
Sent teachers to spread religion

6. *III. The Fall of the Mauryan Empire
*Reasons for decline:
*Leaders who followed Asoka were not good leaders
*Kings made bad decisions that turned people against them
Forced merchants to pay heavy taxes
Seized peasant's crops
*Last Mauryan ruler was killed by own general

7. *IV. Gupta empire
*A.D. 320 – prince Chandragupta grew more powerful than others. Ruled near Pataliputra
*Reasons for success
*Smaller empire was easier to manage
Wealthy from trade
Prosperous cities (happy citizens)
*Pilgrims –used trade routes to travel to a religious shrine/site
*Golden Age – art/science began to flourish
Brightly painted sculptures of images from the Upanishads

8. *V. Indian Literature
*Vedas – ancient hymns and prayers for religious ceremonies
Development of sanskrit led to Vedas being recorded

9. *Ramayana *Mahabharata
*–longest poem (88,000 verses) written down – circa 100 B.C.
Bhagavad Gita –best known section
“ Song of the Lord”
The god Krishna preached a sermon before a battle
Duty –tells how nobles it is to do one’s duty even when it is difficult and painful
Rama banished from kingdom by his enemies. Forced to live like a hermit in the forest. Sita kidnapped by the demon Ravana. Rama fights and defeats Ravana and they live happily ever after.
King Rama – the perfect hero
Queen Sita – the faithful wife
*Contains many religious and moral lessons
2 famous epics – both tell about a brave warriors and their heroic deeds

10. *V. Indian Literature *Kalidasa – one of India’s best known authors
Wrote plays, poems, love stories, and comedies
Indian fables- talking animals characters present lessons about life.
*Most lit. stresses importance of dharma
Each person must do his/her duty

11. *VI. Math *Arybhata – leading mathematician of Gupta empire
Used algebra
*Developed idea of zero and created a symbol to represent it!
Infinity – something without an end – explained by Indian mathematicians
*Numbers – created numerals 1-9
Gupta  Arab traders  European traders
*Algorithm – a series of steps that solve a problem

12. *VII. Science
*Astronomy – followed/mapped movements of planets and stars
Understood the Earth was round and revolved around the sun
*Understood gravity
Atoms- came up w/ the idea that the atoms long before the Greeks.
*Shushruta – Dr (1st plastic surgeon)
Restored damaged noses
*Doctors –
Set broken bones, performed surgery, treated with herbs