Transcript India’s Golden Age

India’s Golden Age
First Round of Brahman
Dominance
• 1500 – 268 B.C.E.
• The first states arose along the foothills of the
Himalaya Mountains.
• Aryan decentralized states were republics ruled
through a council of free warriors; councils
elected kings.
• Republics often warred against each other
• Warriors within the hillside kingdoms kept the
authority of the Brahman in check.
• Buddhism and Jainism was able to arise.
Aryan Characteristics
• Social Structure upon arrival had the
warrior class on top, then the Brahman or
priests.
• Once the Aryans settled down, the social
structure changed so that the Brahman
were on top and the warrior class was
next.
Kingdoms of the Ganges Plains
• Over time Aryan settlement extended to
the Ganges plains .
• These kingdoms were more powerful and
were supported by Brahman priests.
• Authority of kings were not checked by
councils.
• Kings claimed divine authority and worked
closely with Vedic Brahmans.
Sources of Brahmin Power
• They were literate therefore often took
administrative positions.
• The position of the Brahmans was linked to their
ability to mediate between deities and humans
using sacrifices.
• Each Brahman was exempt from taxation and
protected from assault, whether or not they
worked for the king.
• It was the Brahman that wrote down the Vedas
in Sanskrit between 1200 -900 B.C.E.
Social Change
• Towns developed around capitals
• Commercial centers arose along the Ganges
• Merchants and artisans recognized as separate
social groups.
– Merchants, due to wealth, enjoyed higher status
– Peasants assumed importance as farming overtook
herding in productivity.
• Irrigation networks developed
• Technology improved
• Therefore population grew supporting more urban development
Caste System
• Merchant and peasants were added into the
caste system in broad categories called Varnas.
• Each varna was subdivided based on
occupation.
• The order of castes were based on how polluting
the occupation was.
• Over time the placement in the caste determined
– Diet
– Marriage patterns
– Access to the Vedas
Enforcing Social Positions
• People born into their caste and could not
move up in any way.
• Caste position and career was determined
by one’s dharma.
• Merit earned during a previous life
determined one’s karma which defines the
body the soul will be assigned to at rebirth.
Family and Women
• We know what we do about the role of women
from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
• Extended families were preferred in moneyed
households.
• The closer it came to the common era, the more
restricted society was toward women.
• Sources suggest that some women were
permitted to read the Vedas and were known as
teachers, poets, musicians and artists.
Religious Change
• Within the same time frame (in broad
terms) religious experimentation was
global.
– Confucianism
– Daoism
– Zoroastrianism
– Greek rationalism
– Buddhism
Challenge to Hinduism
• Indian caste system
under fire
– Buddhism
• Story of Siddhartha
Gautama
• Story of the
Mauryan Empire
Siddhartha Gautama
• Born into royal class, gave it up to learn the truth
about life.
• Met many holy men along the way until he came
up with his own belief system.
• Four Noble Truths
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Life is an everlasting cycle of pain
Pain is derived from wanting
The physical world is an illusion
One can learn to place himself outside the illusion
and reach a state of “not wanting” and reach peace or
Nirvana.
Eight Fold Path
• This was a system of realizing nirvana that
was actually adopted from another Hindu
ascetic.
Comparing Religions
• Hinduism
– People want to attain a
peaceful state known
as Moksha.
– Brahman is necessary
in process.
– Caste system is
pivotal in reincarnation
– There are gods who
can be prayed to
– Performed rituals and
sacrifices
• Buddhism
– People do not believe
in a supreme being,
more of an energy.
– Anyone can attain
nirvana on their own
– The caste system is
not followed
– There are no ritual
sacrifices or even
gods, in its pure form,
not even Buddha.
Buddha as a god
• Students of Siddhartha
contemplated his teachings and
came up with rival schools of
thought.
• These variations are what led to
different types of Buddhism.
• Monks who wanted to make their
religion more accessible to all men,
transformed Siddhartha into a deity
and explained nirvana as a heaven.
Good deeds were exchanged for
meditation.
Buddhism is Attractive
• To lower castes
• To women who were allowed to be
followers and even enter monasteries.
The Greek Interlude
• Alexander the Great invaded the region in 327
B.C.E.
• He had success in the northern Indus River
valley.
• He didn’t stay long, but Greek astronomical and
mathematical ideas entered India.
• Indian religious ideas filtered back to the
Mediterranean.
• Combined motifs led to new styles of sculpture.
Mauryas
• Once the Greeks retreated Chandragupta
Maurya conquered the northern region and
further consolidated power all the way to the
Ganges River valley.
• He created a magnificent court and proclaimed
himself an absolute ruler.
• He ruled Persian style
– Large standing army
– Imperial administrators replaced regional rulers
Ashoka (Asoka)
• This was Chandraguptas grandson who
completed his grandfather’s mission.
• He had a violent early life and sought to
lead his empire as a Buddhist.
• He made internal improvements and social
reforms based on his new religion. He set
up hospitals for people and animals.
• A system of shade trees and shelters for
travelers.
India flourished
economically under Asoka.
It became an
important crossroads in a
commercial network from
the Pacific Rim to
Southwest Asia and the
Mediterranean Sea.
•His attempts to centrally unify India and
especially at the social expense of the
Brahman, led to resistance.
•He built many religious structures
The pillar, the stupa and the rock chamber
The pillar marked important sites pertinent to
the Buddha’s life.
•None-the-less, merchants, artisans and women
supported the Mauryan program.
•Monasteries spread as did the religion.
•Missionaries carried the new religion from India
to Southeast Asia and into the central Asian
steppes.
Decline
• Asoka’s death began the decline.
• Central leadership was too weak to
withstand the internal court factions and
rebellion of local rulers.
• The Brahmans then reasserted their
authority
The Kushana Kingdom
• Invaders from the area of present day
Afghanistan established a dynasty in
northwest India.
• The kingdom prospered off of trade that
went through their country.
• The trade was between the Roman
Empire and China.
• The 4,000 mile trade route was called the
Silk Road
The Silk Road
• Chinese merchants traded silk, spices, tea and
porcelain.
• Indian merchants traded ivory, jewels, and textiles
• Romans traded glass, jewels, and clothes.
Buddhism
• Buddhism made a short come back followed by
a smothering fall.
• The leader of the Kushana kingdom converted
to Buddhism and tried to use it as a unifying
strength.
• The kingdom did not stretch to the Ganges
where the Brahmans were able to reestablish
their control among the regional kingdoms.
• The fall of the Kushana Kingdom would lead to
the eventual demise of Buddhism in India
The Guptas
• The Gupta family rose to power 3rd century
C.E.
• Never extended as far as that of Mauryas
• Not able to establish much administrative
centralization
• Regional rulers sent tribute
• Internal disputes continued
• Foreign invasion was minimized until the
fifth century C.E.
Gupta – Hindu Connection
• Guptas were devout Hindus
• Ushered a period of Hindu temple building
in the cities
– Temples covered with sculpture and
decoration
– Symbolic not realistic artwork
– Temples served as cosmic diagrams
India’s Golden Age
• Creative period for Sanskrit and Tamil
literature
• Kalidasa was a Sanskrit writer
• Advances were also made in science and
mathematics
• Gupta mathematicians calculated the
value of π, utilized the zero, invented the
Arabic number system and used decimals.
• Also advanced in medical techniques.
The Not so Golden Age
• Lower caste people suffered
• Reduction in status of women
– Deprived the ability to read the Vedas
– Unable to inherit property
– Seen as a social liability for families.
– Widows were unable to remarry
– A women’s value was based on the number of
sons she birthed
Woman Commits Suicide on Funeral Pyre
Illustration based on a Maha Sati Sculpture (Hero-stone)
Decline of the Guptas
• Wavering leadership
• Distracted by the appearance of the White
Huns. By the middle of the 400’s C.E.
northern nomadic invaders defeated the
Gupta military.
• The empire fragmented into numerous
regional kingdoms, even more vulnerable
to outside assault.
Conclusion
• End of Aryan Period = 500 B.C.E
• Development of large kingdoms along the Ganges river
valley
• Vedic priests or Brahmans utilized an increasingly rigid
caste structure to cement their social dominance
• Siddhartha challenged their rituals
• The Mauryan Empire was founded and prospered under
Buddhism.
• The Mauryan Empire fell.
• The Kushan Kingdom killed Buddhism, but facilitated
trade.
• The Gupta Empire arose and restored Hindu Brahman
dominance