Chapter 3: Classical India

1. Chapter 3: Classical India AP World History I

2. The Impact of Geographic Determinism in India • India was much closer to the “orbit of other civilizations” than China • Open to influences from the Middle East and the Mediterranean world. • Persian ideas spill into Classical India at times • Alexander the Great invades India and spreads Hellenistic culture to India

3. India’s Location in the World

4. Geography • India is partially separated from East Asia via the Himalayan Mountains. • Passes through these mountains formed cultural ties with the Middle East, yet isolated China. • Divisions within the Indian Subcontinent made unity difficult • Greater diversity than China’s Middle Kingdom

6. Geography • Agricultural regions exist between the Indus river and Ganges River • Mountainous northern region is where herding takes root. • Southern coastal rim is where active trading and seafaring economy grows

7. Geography • The differences in geography and activities along the Indian subcontinent help to explain the economic, racial, and language diversity that exists in India even to this day!

8. Climate • Much of India is semi-tropical • In the River Valley plains summer brings monsoons. • Indian population has been forced to adjust to the monsoon cycle…for good, and bad

9. Indian Development • Indian’s civilization was shaped by what is known as the “formative” period between the fall of the Indus RVC and the establishment of a full Indian Civilization. • 1600 to 1000 BCE: Aryan Invasions • 1500 to 1000 BCE: Vedic Age • 1000 to 600 BCE: Epic Age

10. Formative Period • Aryans were Indo-European migrant hunting and herding peoples from Central Asia. • Aryan invasions were separate, unrelated, but common occurrences. Aryans often attacked and subjugated peoples. • During the Vedic Age (1500 to 1000 BCE) Indian agriculture extended from the Indus to the more fertile Ganges River Valley. • Aryans used iron tools to clear away the dense vegetation.

11. Literary Traditions • Much of what we know about the “pre-classical” India comes from literary epics developed by the Aryans • Passed on orally, at first • Then, written in Sanskrit • Sacred books were known as the VEDAS

12. The Vedas • Vedic Age (first part of the Formative period) comes from Sanskrit “Veda” or “knowledge.” • Rig-Veda: the first epic, with 1028 hymns dedicated to Aryan gods. • During the EPIC age, more stories were created…

13. Literature during the Epic Age • The Mahabharata: India’s greatest epic poem • The Ramayana: deals with real and mystical battles • These show a more organized, civil life than the Rig-Veda • Upanishads: Epic poems with a religious flavor

14. Impact of Aryan Society • Tight level of village organization • Village chiefs organize defenses and property control • Family structure emphasizes patriarchal controls with strong extended family relationships

15. Aryan Social Structure • Aryan Social Classes (varnas) • Warrior/Governing class (Kshatriyas) • Priestly class (Brahmans) • Traders and farmers (Vaisyas) • Common Laborers (Sudras) • UNTOUCHABLES • During the EPIC age, the Brahmans displace the Kshatriyas at the top of the social order

16. The Indian Caste System • The Five Social groups become hereditary, with marriage between castes forbidden, punishable by death. • Smaller sub-captions of castes (jati) began • Aryans brought a religion of many gods and goddesses who regulate natural forces and have human qualities

17. The Classical Age • By 600 BCE, India had passed through its formative phase. • Regional political units grew in size • Cities and trade expanded • Development of the Sanskrit language • A full classical civilization could now build on themes developed during the Vedic and Epic ages

18. Classical Civilization • India did not take on the convenience of the rising and falling of dynasties, like in China. • Irregular power flow • Consisted of invasions, and religious conflict • By 600 BCE, 16 major states existed in the plains of Northern India • The most powerful: Magadha, established dominance over a considerable empire.

19. Alexander the Great • In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great, conquered most of Greece and the Middle East…establishes a border state, called Bactria.

20. Mauryan Empire • 322 BCE, a young soldier named Chandragupta Maurya seized power along the Ganges River. • He becomes the first ruler of the Mauryan Dynasty

21. Chandragupta Maurya • Maintained large armies with thousands of chariots and elephant borne troops • Highly autocratic

22. Ashoka • Chandragupta’s grandson, ASHOKA (269-232 BCE) was at first, governor of two Indian provinces • Leads Mauryan conquests in the whole subcontinent of India, minus the southern tip • bloodthirsty

23. Ashoka • Converts to Buddhism • Dharma-law of moral consequences • Vigorously propagates Buddhism throughout India • Urges officials to be humane, and insists that they see over the moral welfare of the people

24. After Ashoka • The empire begins to fall apart. • No real long-term impact of governing style, etc. • Buddhism persists for some time, though • The Kushans invade India • Kanishka converts to Buddhism, but hurts the religion because he is foreign • Kushan state collapses by 220 CE, followed by a century of instability

25. The Gupta Empire • Beginning in 320 CE, the GUPTA Empire takes hold • No individual rulers as influential as the Mauryan rulers • Greatest period of stability for classical India • Overturned in 535 CE by the Huns

26. Politics in Classical India • Unlike China and Greece/Rome, India does not develop complex political ethics systems • REGIONALISM • DIVERSITY IN POLITICAL FORMS • Depend heavily on the power of their large armies • Claimed that they were appointed by the gods to rule • Support for Hinduism

27. Politics in Classical India • Gupta Empire creates a demanding taxation system • Did NOT create an extensive bureaucracy • Allowed local rulers to maintain regional control as long as they pledge support to the Gupta Empire • No single language was imposed • Sanskrit was the language of educated people. • Spread uniform law codes • Patrons of art/literature/university life • Engaged in road building • The Gupta Empire is considered to be a GOLDEN AGE of Indian History

28. Politics in Classical India • Political culture was not very elaborate • Thinking encouraged efficient authority but not a spread of political values like Confucianism in China or the interest in political ethics in Rome and Greece • Ashoka saw an ethic for good behavior in Buddhism, but Buddhist leaders were not involved in the affairs of the state. • Indian Religion stressed the importance of priests as sources of authority

29. The Caste System • Became more complex after the Epic Age • The 5 classes subdivided into over 300 jati • Determined who one could eat with/marry, etc. • Hereditary principals became stronger • Upward mobility could occur within ones caste, but rarely to a new caste • This was the most rigid overall framework for a social structure in any of the classical civilizations

30. The Caste System • In a sense, the caste system led to tolerance • Avoided outright slavery

31. Effects on Economy and Society • Caste system dominated economic and social life. • Lower Caste individuals had very few rights • Family life echoes that theme of hierarchy and organization • As agriculture became better organized and improved technology reduced women’s economic contributions, the stress on male authority expanded

32. Economy and Society • Arranged marriages come about during this time as a means of ensuring solid economic links • The family was a core unit • A man’s wife is his truest friend • Children were pampered • Patriarchal family was subtly different from that in China • Indian culture featured strong-willed female goddesses, which contributed to women’s status as wives and mothers. • Stories celebrate women’s beauty

33. Economy • A Vibrant economy, rivaling China’s • New uses for chemistry • Steel was the best in the world • Textiles: Cotton cloth, and cashmere • Artisans formed guilds and sold their goods from shops • Emphasis on trade and merchant activity was greater than in China

34. Economy • Indian merchants enjoyed high caste status • Traveled widely • Seafaring people along the southern border, usually out of the control of the large northern empires were active traders • Southern Indians, known as Tamils, traded cotton, silks, dyes, drugs, gold, and ivory.

36. Indian Influence • Indian dominance on the waters of Southern Asia carried goods and influence well beyond the Indian Subcontinent. • While India did not attempt political domination of Southeast Asia, it influenced its development greatly

37. Indian Influence • Buddhism spreads from India to many parts of southeast Asia. • India influence affects China by the end of the classical period • With the fall of the Gupta Empire, the classical age is over (later than China and Rome) BUT an identifiable image of India remained (unlike China and Rome)

38. Ch’India…contrasts • Restraint of Chinese art and poetry contrast with the more dynamic styles of India. • India rests upon a singular religion, while China has different philosophies and religions • Social rigidity in India • Political structure and values more structured in China than in India. • Science: Indians venture into math more than Chinese

39. Ch’India-Similarities • Agricultural societies • Large peasant class organized in close knit villages • Cities and merchant activity was vital yet secondary role • Political power lay with those who own the land • Patriarchy