Transcript INDIA - Nova Scotia Department of Education

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 VIDEO
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 Ancient India includes the areas that we today call
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
 The earliest civilizations were located on the Indus and
Ganges rivers.
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 India’s history is over 5000 years old.
 Throughout its history HINDUISM played a major role
in holding the culture together.
 BUDDHISM started in India but became a more
dominant force in the Far East: China, Korea, Japan,
Thailand etc.
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Indus Valley Civilizations
 The oldest town in the Indus Valley was called
Mohenjo-daro on the Indus River
 Mohenjo-daro dates to about 2500 BCE.
 Most of our information comes from seals or carvings
on square and rectangular pieces of stearite or
soapstone.
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 These seals give us information about the animals and
religion of the time.
 Indus valley civilizations remained virtually
unchanged for 700 years and began to decline about
1700 BCE.
 This was due to environmental destruction, disease
and foreign invasions.
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 Current research seems to suggest that sometime around
1900 B.C.E., a series of major tectonic shifts occurred possibly accompanied by volcanic eruptions - and
drastically altered the flow of life-supporting rivers such as
the Sarasvati and the Indus.
 While there is no clear-cut evidence that the IndusSarasvati sites were destroyed by earthquakes, there is
evidence that the number of sites were destroyed or
damaged by floods. Many other sites appear to have been
abandoned by people because of changing river courses.
 VIDEO
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THE ARYANS
 After the decline of the Indus cultures, came the
arrival of the Aryans.
 The Indo-Aryan languages dates back to about 1500
BCE.
 It is believed that Aryan is a form of the word Iranian
who were the ones who conquered the Indus Valley .
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 The first Aryans were nomads who travelled in horse
drawn chariots with their herds of cattle
 By 1000 BCE, the Aryans settled down near the Ganges
River.
 Hinduism oldest writings the VEDAS are written in
Sanskrit an Aryan language.
 They date from about 1400 BCE.
 They begin farming and wheat, barley and rice become
the main food crops.
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Hinduism
 The word Hindu was first used by the ancient
Mesopotamians to describe the practices and beliefs of
people who lived east of the river Sindhu, or the Indus
River.
 sHindus call their religion "Sanatana Dharma" (the
eternal religion) or "Vedic Dharma" (the religion of
knowledge).
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 Hinduism is an ancient religion whose origins
predate recorded history.
 It has no single human founder, and it has
developed over thousands of years.
 Its most sacred scriptures are the Vedas, which
means "knowledge" in Sanskrit.
 VIDEO
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 By the time of Gotama Buddha,(400s BCE) two
powerful kingdoms emerge:
 Magadha
 Kosala
 India’s first empire the Maurya dynasty grows out of
Magadha from 321-184 BCE
 VIDEO
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 At this time, a nobleman named Chandragupta
Maurya conquered all of northern India and set up
a strong central government.
 Chandragupta was deathly afraid of enemies and
used his army and spies to protect himself. After
Chandragupta died in 297 B.C.E., his son
Bindusara and grandson Ashoka succeeded him.
 VIDEO
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ASHOKA
 One of the greatest emperors was Ashoka who
adopted Buddhist teachings.
 Ashoka had his rules carved into rocks that still
exist today
 Ashoka saw himself as a father to his people and
cared for them like his children
 He asked that his people treat each other with
justice and mercy, tolerate all beliefs and not hurt
any person or animal unless it was unavoidable.
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 The Mauryan Empire reached its height during
Ashoka's reign from around 269 to 232 B.C.E.
 After a brutal battle in which he conquered the
kingdom of Kalinga, Ashoka rejected violence and
converted to Buddhism.
 Ashoka practiced Buddhist values by giving up
wars of conquest, becoming a vegetarian, and
urging his subjects to respect each other.
 However, Ashoka still allowed slavery and kept all
the land that the Mauryans had conquered.
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 Ashoka created a strong empire by spreading his
Buddhist values through messages, or edicts.
 In these carved edicts, Ashoka urged his citizens to act
morally and responsibly.
 The edicts also described Ashoka's own efforts to live
morally and to maintain peace for his people.
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 Ashoka's edicts were carved on cave walls, rocks, and
towering pillars.
 Skilled craftspeople built and decorated the highly
polished stone pillars with Buddhist symbols and
animals.
 The pillars, rocks, and caves were located along
important roads and at important religious locations
where the greatest number of people would see them.
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 Ashoka commanded that everyone should respect
their parents, relatives, philosophers and teachers.
 He provided free medical care, planted trees for shade
and dug public wells for all.
 VIDEO
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Values promoted by Ashoka:
 Buddhist Values - Edicts in this category are concerned
with the Buddha's teachings about how to live a correct life.
 General Welfare - Edicts in this category are concerned
with making sure people have good health, shelter, clean
water, and enough food.
 Justice - Edicts in this category are concerned with fair
laws and treatment in court and jail.
 Security - Edicts in this category are concerned with the
protection of people from foreign enemies.
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Northern India
 This area was controlled by the Kushans, a tribe from
central Asia
 Their greatest king was Kanishka who lived around 78
CE.
 Kanishka also adopted Buddhism as the state religion.
 The Kushan kings became very wealthy by controlling
the trade between India and Greece and Rome.
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THE GUPTA EMPIRE
 The last of the great ancient Indian empires was the
GUPTA.
 The first king was Chandragupta I who began his reign
in 320 CE.
 The Gupta family, who ruled from the northern
city of Magadha, united their kingdoms by war .
 The Gupta Empire to maintained power over a
large part of India for over 200 years until 550BCE
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 The period under Gupta rule is called India's
Golden Age because of great achievements made
in the arts, literature, religion, science, technology,
and education.
 Because the Gupta maintained peace and a stable
government and economy, the empire could
provide support for international trade.
 Many merchants and visitors from empires in Asia
and around the Mediterranean traveled to India to
learn from Indian scholars.
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Muslim India
 In 1000 a Muslim leader named Mahmud of Ghazni
became the ruler of a small state near present day
Afghanistan and from there conquered most of
northern India.
 This is why today ancient India is divided into the
modern countries of India (mostly Hindu) and
 Pakistan which is mostly Muslim.
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Indian Culture
 The family was the most important part of Indian life.
 Large numbers of extended family members lived
together in big houses.
 Everyone was expected to work and children were
expected to care for their parents when they were too
old to work.
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 All property belonged to the male head of the
family and each son and unmarried daughter was
entitled to a share when he died.
 After 500 BCE Indian women had little freedom
 Most marriages were arranged by the parents
and women were bought with gold or other
valuable property.
 Polygamy (more than one wife) was also fairly
common.
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 Men could sell their wives and children to
raise money if necessary.
 Women were not allowed to be educated
and child marriages became very common.
 Brides had to leave their own homes and live
with her husband’s family, under his and
his mother’s control.
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 Women whose husbands died were expected to
commit suttee, or kill herself by throwing herself on
the cremation fire.
 If a woman did not do this she became the lowest
person in the household.
 She was expected to shave her head, give up all pleasure
and pray constantly.
 She helped prepare the food but was only allowed to eat
the leftover scraps.
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 Women were also kept in purdah.
 They had to wear heavy veils in public
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Purdah
 Many women were also kept in purdah.
 Purdah is the practice that includes the seclusion of
women from public observation by wearing concealing
clothing from head to toe
 and by the use of high walls, curtains, and screens
erected within the home.
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 It was permissible, however, for a woman in purdah to
come out of her house in extreme necessity, but that
was subject to certain conditions, as follows:
 She should be accompanied by a close male relative
 She should be covered so that men cannot see her.A
purdah garment worn is to conceal the face. The eyes
may or may not be exposed.
 She should not mix with men who are not related to
her unless she needs to.
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 It was permissible, however, for a woman in purdah to
come out of her house in extreme necessity, but that
was subject to certain conditions, as follows:
 She should be accompanied by a close male relative
 She should be covered so that men cannot see her.A
purdah garment worn is to conceal the face. The eyes
may or may not be exposed.
 She should not mix with men who are not related to
her unless she needs to.
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Purdah today
 Others, mostly believers in Islam, see purdah as a very
positive and respectful practice that actually liberates
women.
 Women are looked at as individuals who are judged
not by their physical beauty but by their inner beauty
and mind.
 By covering themselves, women are not looked at as
sex objects that can be dominated.
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CASTE SYSTEM
 The caste system is over 2000 years old.
 A caste is a social class .
 A person is considered a member of the caste into
which he or she is born and remains within that caste
until death
 Differences in status are traditionally justified by
karma, a belief that one’s place in life is determined by
one’s deeds in previous lifetimes.
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 In order of importance these are:
 the Brahmins (priests and teachers),
 the Ksyatriyas (rulers and soldiers),
 the Vaisyas (merchants and traders), and
 the Shudras (workers).
 A fifth category falls outside the varna system and
consists of those known as “untouchables” or Dalits;
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DALITS
 SLIDESHOW
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Dalits Today
 India's ancient caste system was abolished legally in
the 1960s, but it still exists socially today.
 Dalit men, women, and children numbering in the
tens of millions work as agricultural laborers for a few
kilograms of rice or 38 to 88 cents a day.
 At the end of day they return to a hut in their Dalit
colony with no electricity, kilometers away from the
nearest water source, and segregated from all nonDalits, known as caste Hindus.
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 They are forbidden by caste Hindus to enter places of
worship, to draw water from public wells, or to wear
shoes in caste Hindu presence.
 They are made to dig the village graves, dispose of
dead animals, clean human waste with their bare
hands, and to wash and use separate tea tumblers at
neighborhood tea stalls,
 all because—due to their caste status—they are
deemed polluted and therefore “untouchable.”
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The story of India
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APn07PS-
5qc&feature=related
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