Evidence of physical change and history

1. Evidence of physical change and history Longue durée Evidence: radiocarbon dating tree rings pollen counts Fatepur Sikri ‘Victory Arch’ Environmental hypotheses: less dramatic climate change, river shifts, deforestation carry on environmental effects spiritual meaning tension btwn utility and sensuality For exam: know one area and human/environmental interaction there

2. Documenting the antiquity of states Alexander the Great 325 BCE Ashoka 270 BCE

3. Religion and Culture – documenting and syncretism Hindu faith • links to Vedic teaching and oldest Dravidian culture upanishads (sitting in front of) 6C BCE reformations • Jainism – based on upanishads concern for all living beings • Buddhism – teachings of Siddhartha Gautama • then: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam – everything • myth of colonization ***

4. Sampradana • sampradana – giving/teaching; sampradaya – oral tradition • knowledge revealed through: shruti – manifestation of the divine in the world including texts revealed to early and later assembled as scriptures includes Vedas and Upanishads smirti – remembered or handed down; revealed but written down by human hand popular based on composition of epics from older oral traditions – shankara-acharyas or gurus includes the epics Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita ‘Song of the Lord; also the Puranas and the Sutras c. 400 CE

5. Ramayamadharma Dasharatha King of Ayodhya 3 wives Kaikeyi (evil stepmother) Rama obedient, brave, strong Sita his loving and faithful wife he won her in a show of strength – ugh remains chaste; mother of two sons; set on fire and finally banished Ravanna demon; brother rules Lanka kidnaps lovely Sita Hanuman monkey god – bridge of monkeys to Lanka

6. Purusha Mouth brahmins Arms kshatryas (warriors) Thighs vaishya (commoners) twice born __________________________________ once born Feet shudras (servants) Jati (birth) caste – relative purity Varnas (class) Rig Veda 10.90

7. Becoming a caste society • evidence of varnas in Rigvega hymns c.1000BCE • dharmashatra describes birth groups or jatis →also exist clans that trace to common ancestor →sreni or guilds denote religious or commercial group →janapadas denotes connections based on place or community [literally where clans placed their feet]

8. Ashramas: stages of life only twice born ♂ need apply hmm, so sacred power not inherent in all … Student brahmacharya ♀ married Householder grihastha Forest dweller vanaprastha Renouncer sannyasa

9. Shiva, Chola period Tat tvam asi

10. Faith and Society in the Arabian Peninsula, and beyond Had been: • polytheistic • religious practice related to trade and commerce • reinforced a social/economic hierarchy anthropomorphic view • Islam an affront in each case ‘Seal of the prophets’ the Ka’aba • Islam as culmination and correction of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity • inheritor of both Jewish and Christian texts • Surrender, submission to the will of God

11. The Five Pillars of Islam • No god but Allah; Muhammad is His prophet • Daily prayer • Fasting during Ramadan • Charity • Pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) Jihad “struggle” • against vice • against ignorance of Islam Islamic Law: sharia “holy war” based on: Quran hadith logic ritual law related to all areas of human activity

12. The expansion of Islam, 632-733 ce • The Caliph • no clear to successor identified • Abu Bakr chosen to lead as Caliph • war against those who abandon faith Umayyad Dynasty (661-750 CE) The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE) jizya Dar al-Islam

13. Islam in south Asia • one of the largest Muslim populations of any modern state - 10 converts rather than immigrants → trade from southern coasts – evidence to antiquity culture and belief by 13C CE dominated by Muslim traders from western Asia → for 7C, the religion of the ruling political elite This significant minority cannot be understood easily in relation to the modern state of India – communalism and statehood

14. Gupta State • commerce • Rajadharma • Chakravartin • army of 600 000