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Iran and India Before Islam

Iran and India Before Islam. The Parthian Dynasty (247 BC - 223 AD). Rises in the East of Iran Long, Endless Wars with Rome Zorastrians War with Rome eventually allowed their vassals to overthrow them. The Sasanid Empire (224-651 AD). The Sassanid Empire (224-651 AD). Persian in Ancestry

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Iran and India Before Islam

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  1. Iran and India Before Islam

  2. The Parthian Dynasty (247 BC - 223 AD) • Rises in the East of Iran • Long, Endless Wars with Rome • Zorastrians • War with Rome eventually allowed their vassals to overthrow them.

  3. The Sasanid Empire (224-651 AD)

  4. The Sassanid Empire (224-651 AD) • Persian in Ancestry • Intolerant Nationalists • Endless Wars with Byzantium • Extended Family is Base Unit • Elite Classes: Priests, Warriors, Scribes • Common Folk • Agriculture Based Economy

  5. Sassanid Religion • Zorastrian Revival • Chief Priest (Mobar) Tosar, 225-239 AD • The Avesta canon compiled • Mobar Kartir (239-293 AD) -- Convertor of Other Faiths

  6. Manicheanism

  7. Manicheanism • Mani (216-77 AD) • Dualistic Religion • Ahura-Mazda vs. Ahriman • Claimed to be root of Christianity, Zorastrianism, and Buddhism • Called his system “Justice” • Executed by Mobar Kartir • Saint Augustine originally a Manichean!

  8. Later Zorastrianism • Orthodoxy Survives • The Teachings of Mazdak (5th-6th century) • Denounced Material Wealth • Asceticism and Social Justice • Wealth Redistribution • Slaughtered by Choroses Anosharvan

  9. The Gupta Dynasty

  10. The Gupta Empire (320-550 AD) • Classical Age of India = Han China, Augustan Rome, or Periclean Greece • Chandragupta (320-30 AD) • Samudragupta (330-375 AD) • Chandragupta II (375-415 AD) • Controls North and Western India • Vassal Kings • Huns: 500 AD, Weakens Empire

  11. Gupta Culture • Cultural Contacts with Eastern / Southeast Asia • Architecture, Painting, Literature Flourish • Age of Kalidasa, the ‘Shakespeare of Sanskrit’ (Unclear time, must be before 634 AD)

  12. Gupta Inventions • Chess • The concept of 0 • ‘Arabic Numerals’ (Our modern numbers) • Medical Science--drugs, bone setting, caesarian sections, skin grafting. • The Kama Sutra

  13. The Development of “Classical” Traditions in Indian Civilization (300-1000 AD) • Solidification of the Caste System: The Dharmashastra of Manu (200 AD) • Varna (class) system • Dharma determines duties by class • Brahmin (Priest) • Kshatriya (Warrior) • Vaishya (Tradesperson) • Shudra (Servant) • Outcastes

  14. The Caste System (II) • Jatis--Divisions within a Varna • Hereditary • commensality (one may only eat with people of the same or a higher group) • endogamy (one may only marry members of the same group) • trade/craft limitations (one may only practice one's group's trade). • Foreigners assimilated by designating Jati for them.

  15. Hindu Religious Life • Rise of Single Diety Cults • Bhakti--Loving Devotion • Meditation --> Devotion to a God • Bhakti inside is achieved by practice of Bhakti outside • Rise of devotional purity and the Puranas • Gods manifest at many levels of reality

  16. Buddhism • Mahayana (Greater Vehicle)--1st century BC • Compassion is stressed • Goal to become a Boddhisatva • Salvation through dedication to Boddhisatvas • Amida Buddha, Master of the Pure Land

  17. Buddhism II • Therevada (“Way of the Elders”) • Focused on Monasticism • Laity earn merit by supporting monks • Monks contemplate and study Buddhist scripture and meditate • Ceylon, Burma, Southeast Asia

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