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Ancient India: The Setting

Ancient India: The Setting. The Monsoons. Ind us Civilization. First major civilization in South Asia was along the Indus River (~2600 BCE ) Cities rivaled Sumer in Mesopotamia Largest empire until rise of Persians 1,000 yrs. later By 1900 BCE – Indus Civilization in decline

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Ancient India: The Setting

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  1. Ancient India: The Setting

  2. The Monsoons

  3. Indus Civilization • First major civilization in South Asia was along the Indus River (~2600 BCE) • Cities rivaled Sumer in Mesopotamia • Largest empire until rise of Persians 1,000 yrs. later • By 1900 BCE – Indus Civilization in decline • Dravidiansmostly • dispersedby time of Aryan • migrationinto the • sub-continent

  4. Aryan Migration • People from Central Asia (Aryans) enter subcontinent by 1500 BCE • Nomadic cattle and horse herders • Eventually mingled with native populations, settled to farm

  5. Aryan-Indian Religion & Society • what is known of Aryan religion comes from books called the Vedas • Vedasrecorded sacred chants passed down from ~1500 to 500 B.C.E. • Polytheistic – gods embodied natural forces • Ranked social groups based on occupation • The caste system

  6. The Caste System • Extremely rigid social hierarchy • Determined all aspects of a person’s life: • job • spouse • neighborhood • diet • who you could interact with in public • expected behavior • Cannot move up in a lifetime (only down if marrying down) UNTOUCHABLES butchers, waste collectors, leather tanners, cremation rites

  7. Hinduism • Henotheistic: • the worship of a particular god without disbelieving in the existence of others • Supreme Divinity (Brahma) represented by hundreds of gods and goddesses • Ultimate goal in life is to be released from reincarnation (samsara); the release is called moksha • Karma is the actions a person does that affect your fate • affects your path to moksha and how you will be reincarnated in the next life • All Hindus have religious and moral duties (dharma)

  8. The Trimurti Brahma – the Creator, Vishnu – the Preserver, Shiva – the Destroyer

  9. Hinduism: Conclusion • Hinduism inspired other, related, religions (Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism) • Hinduism is inherently religiously tolerant; other religions are simply viewed as alternative personal paths to God • “To claim salvation as the monopoly of any one religion is like claiming that God can be found in this room but not in the next, in this attire but not another.” • “How artistic, that there should be room for such variety—how rich the texture is, and how much more interesting that if the Almighty had decreed one antiseptically safe, exclusive, orthodox way. Although he is Unity, God finds, it seems his recreation in variety.” • With 950 million adherents, Hinduism is the 3rd largest religion in the world; most all Hindus live in India

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