Classical India

1. Classical India 1500 BCE – 300 CE

3. South Asia: Indian Subcontinent • Large landmass-juts out from a continent • 1 ½ million square miles • Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka • Less than 1/3 is arable (fertile)

4. What are the three major zones of Indian Subcontinent? • Northern plain • Deccan Plateau • Coastal plains

5. So What? • This geographical diversity has made it very difficult for any political power to unify all of India for any great length of time

6. The Monsoon

8. So What? • Region was dependent on the Monsoon rains for adequate moisture and on the wind for trade and travel • Cultural diffusion and commercial activity map to monsoon patterns

9. The Vedic Age: Arya Migrations • Indo-European warriors • King- Patriarchal kinship groups • Herded cattle • Vedas • Brought iron tools/ weapons • Some moved to Ganges River Valley • Settled, increased crop production, population increased • Displaced darker-skinned Dravidian- Dasas- to south India

10. What was the Vedic Age?1500 - 500 BCE • Foundational religious text • Prayers, hymns, other religious teachings • Transmitted orally by priests • Reveals violent

11. Arya Society: Varna • First warriors, then priests had most prestige, power • Aryas dominated Dasas ( Dravidians) • Origins of Varna system-means “color” but equivalent to “class” • Rationalized by belief in reincarnation

12. Arya Society: Varna/Jati • Divided by occupation • Brahmins = priests • Kshatriyas = Warriors • Vaisyas = herders, farmers, artisans, merchants • Sudras = farm-workers, servants, laborers

13. Caste System: Varna/ Jati • Class divisions were social & economic; not ethnic • Developed into complex system; multiple sub castes • Born into caste • Could not change

14. Women & Vedic Age • Not much is known • could study lore & participate in rituals • could own land • married middle or late teens

15. Arya Religion: Brahmanism • Polytheistic? Monotheistic? • Pantheistic? • Gods embodied natural forces • Sacrifice, rituals/prayers • Evolved into single power of brahman • Mystics devoted their lives to spiritual truth-meditation, yoga, spiritual & bodily discipline Indra: God of war & thunder (atmospheric) Agni: God of Fire (terrestrial) Varuna: God of rain (celestrial)

16. Reincarnation (samsara) Dharma Karma How Does One Achieve Moksha?

17. Brahman sometimes seen as having 3 personalities: Brahma-creator Vishnu-protector Shiva-destroyer How did Hinduism Change & Develop?

18. Ideas of reincarnation & karma strengthened the caste system Only men at top could achieve moksha Dominated every aspect of life Provided stability/order Hinduism & Society

19. Challenges to the Old Order: Jainism & Buddhism • Jainism • Buddhism • Both were reactions to the rigidity and monopoly of the Brahmins

20. Challenges to Old Order: Buddhism • Siddhartha Gautama • Buddha means “Enlightened One” • Four Noble Truths • Eight Fold Path

21. Buddhism: What are the Four Noble Truths? • Four Noble Truths • All life is suffering • Suffering is caused by desire • Suffering can end • Solution is to follow the Eight Fold Path

22. Buddhism: What is the Eight Fold Path?

23. Buddhism • All are equal • Moderation alleviate suffering • Meditation nurtures wisdom • Being content is good • Denies existence of a soul • Ultimate goal is Nirvana-salvation • Everyone can reach enlightenment • Bodhisattvas-beings who have achieved enlightenment but choose to return to the world to help others

24. Wheel of Law • Buddha turned the “Wheel of Dharma” • metaphor for spiritual change • The eight spokes symbolize Noble Eightfold Path set out by Buddha • represents endless cycle of samsara-rebirth

25. Buddhism & Hinduism Similarity • Much of Buddhist teaching reflected Hindu tradition • Ordinary life is illusion • Karma, rebirth, overcoming the demands of ego, meditation, release from cycle of rebirth • Non-Violence • More simplified accessible than Hinduism • Reinforced patriarchal views of women

26. Buddhism & HinduismDifference • Rejected religious authority • Rejected rituals sacrifices as irrelevant • Individuals take responsibility for spiritual development • Egalitarian-rejected caste system • Buddhism more accessible • Buddhist nuns-more independence

27. Areas of Influence

28. Challenges to Old Order: Jainism • Founded by Mahavira (540-468 BCE) • non-violence (ahisma) • Many went naked, starved to death • Less extreme members pursued commerce/banking

29. Monasteries, nunneries Complex, hierarchical Worship of Buddha bodhisattvas Buddha art Mahayana- new beliefs Theravada-original teachings What happened after Buddha’s Death?

30. Pressure led to reform Sacrifice less important - personal devotion increased Vishnu & Shiva, Devi became prominent Preserved Brahmin status and privilege Evolution of Hinduism

31. How did Hinduism emerge as the dominant religion of India? • centered on temples/shrines • Pilgrimage • duties varied according to gender, social status, age • Transformation so successful-Hinduism became dominant • Hinduism appealed to common people’s need for personal deities • Hinduism displaced Buddhism • Theravada too austere • Mahayana easily absorbed

32. Indus Civs declined around 1900 BCE By 600 BCE, almost 1000 years after Aryan migrations, many small kingdoms scattered throughout India In 326, BCE, Alexander the Great conquered region -left Macedonian general-Seluecus I-in control Chandragupta Maurya overthrew Seluecus-conquered all of north India How did Mauryan Empire Rise to Power?

33. Relied on Katilya- his Brahmin advisor Arthashastra Tough policies Bureaucratic government 4 provinces ruled by prince-divided into districts Spying Assassination How did Chandragupta govern the Empire?

34. Walled, moated city Large army 25% tax on agricultural products State monopolies on mines, shipbuilding, armaments Very wealthy Gold covered pillars Fountains Thrones Parks Markets Mauryan Capital: Pataliputra

35. Chandragupta Maurya’s grandson Prince - then king Conquered Kalinga in brutal war Horrified! Rejected violence - converted to Buddhism Promoted Buddhist principles Who was Ashoka?

36. Create united empire Propaganda-spread common values Cave walls, rocks, tower pillars all Act morally-take responsibility for actions Fairness Humane treatment Nonviolence Religious toleration What were Ashoka’s Edicts?

38. Extensive roads Wells & rest houses Sent out missionaries to spread Buddhism What Else Did Ashoka Do?

39. Power vacuum after Ashoka’s death Many kingdoms with overlapping boundaries MIGRATION, CULTURAL DIFFUSION, TRADE New peoples, new languages, new ideas Syncretism-blending of cultures into new form Mauryan Empire Decline

40. Satavahana dynasty in Deccan Central India experienced economic improvements, more religious authority & urbanization Southern India-three Tamil kingdoms (Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras) period of great artistic achievement What New Kingdoms Emerged?

41. How did India survive the absence of a strong central government? • Artisans and Merchants played a dominant role • Trade flourished • Exports = Pearls, jewels, pepper, spices, silks, ivory, ebony • Imports=metals, coral • More Roman coins found in India than Indian coins in Rome; what can be inferred? • New cities, coastal ports, & banks

42. What cultural changes emerged? • Shift from reverence for Buddha to worship like a god • Hinduism God worship became more personal-Vishnu • Art & Architecture blossomed • Literature • Law of Manu helped keep order • Ramayana & Mahabharata • Bhagavad-Gita • Ayurvedic Medicine • Analysis of Sanskrit

43. Chandra Gupta reunited India after 500 years Expansion & consolidation of empire Controlled iron deposits, established state monopolies, 25% agricultural tax Golden Age “Theater State” Gupta Empire

44. Trade Arts Science Astronomy PEACE and PROSPERITY Mathematics Golden Age of Gupta Empire: Theater State

45. Women During Gupta • Women lost right to inherit, own property, participate in key rituals • Treated like lowest varna (Shudra) • Married young- • Sati-widows on funeral pyre • some joined religious community

46. Gupta Religion: • dominated by Hinduism-Brahmins regained power, influence, wealth • Religious toleration • Development of classic form of Hindu temples w/ exterior courtyard, inner shrine, wall decoration

47. Gupta Collapse • In 550 c.e., the Gupta empire collapsed under the financial burden of defense against the “White Huns” • Harsha (r. 606–647 c.e), whose kingdom is described by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, briefly reunited northern India. After Harsha, northern India again fell into political fragmentation. • As India decentralized, it developed a feudal economic and social structure.

48. Southeast Asia, 50–1025 c.e. • Geography/ Resources • Southeast Asia has three geographical zones: (1) the Indochina mainland, (2) the Malay Peninsula, and (3) the islands. The area stands between China and India, and has been influenced by both civilizations. • Natural resources include fertile agricultural lands, dependable monsoon rains, and several growing

49. Early Civilization • Early inhabitants practiced swidden (slash and burn) agriculture-domesticated rice, soybeans, sugar cane, chickens, pigs • Received waves of migrations of Malay peoples from southern China • Malay migrations continued into Pacific Islands & into Indian Ocean. • Early Malay groups in lived in small villages, manufactured bronze tools, and were organized in small political units. • The first large states in Southeast Asia emerged in the early centuries c.e. in response to the position of Southeast Asia as a crossroads for trade and travel between India and China. Trade brought business; it also brought Hindu/Buddhist culture. • Southeast Asian kingdoms incorporated what they found useful from Indian models of bureaucracy and cultural beliefs. • The first major state to appear in Southeast Asia was Funan (first through sixth centuries b.c.e.) in the Mekong delta area. Funan thrived due to its domination of the Isthmus of Kra. Funan’s decline in the sixth century may be related to the opening of new trade routes that bypassed Funan.

50. The Srivijayan Kingdom • Srivijaya was located on Sumatra and dominated the new southern trade route through the Strait of Malacca as well as other shipping routes through the area of modern Malaysia and Indonesia. • The Srivijayan political system knit together four different ecological zones and their local rulers under the authority of the Srivijayan king. • These four zones were: (1) the core area along the Musi River, (2) the upland Sumatran interior, (3) river ports, and (4) the fertile rice lands of central Java • The Srivijayan kings maintained their control over this complex system through a combination of military power, diplomacy, control of trade, and the techniques of the theater-state. • Kings used the splendor of their capital to attract resources and labor. The temporal power of the kings was enhanced by popular belief in their magical powers. Kings were associated with forces of fertility. They also patronized Buddhist monasteries and schools. • Indian culture exercised a powerful influence on Srivijayan concepts of kingship and government, while the Hindu and Buddhist religions became the dominant faiths of the region. • Changes in trade routes led to the decline of Srivijaya in the eleventh century. The capital was destroyed in 1025 by the Chola kingdom.