prior to alexander, republics along the ganges river dominated, vied for power magadha republic was...
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Prior to Alexander, Republics along the Ganges River dominated, vied for power
Magadha Republic was one of the most dominant until…
Intrusions of Persians (520 B.C.E.) and Alexander (327 B.C.E.)
Persians established Indus satrapy
Alexander’s withdrawal left a political vacuum
Maurya Empire filled that vacuum
Chandragupta Maurya ◦The founder of the
Mauryan empire ◦Overthrew the
Magadha kingdom in 321 B.C.E.
◦Conquered the Greek state in Bactria, Selecuid control of Indus
◦Chandragupta's empire embraced all of northern India
The caste system in India dictates your roll in life – you were born to it, couldn’t do anything to move up or down.
Brahmans belong to the highest caste. These are the priests and scholars.
The Kshatriyas are soldiers and warriors.
The Vaishyas are merchants and professionals such as carpenters and artisans.
The Sudra are the second lowest caste – they are the laborers and the servants.
The lowest caste is the Untouchables. These are extremely poor people who work the filthy jobs – cleaning up the streets, carting away the dead. This would be outlawed later.
Ashoka Maurya (reigned 268-232 B.C.E.) ◦Chandragupta's
grandson, ◦The high point of
the Mauryan empire
◦Conquered the kingdom of Kalinga, 260 B.C.E.
◦Ruled through tightly organized bureaucracy
Ashoka Maurya◦Also established
capital at Pataliputra ◦Policies of
encouraging agriculture and trade
◦Converted to Buddhism• Established a
tolerant rule of righteousness
• Sent out missionaries to Sri Lanka, SE Asia, Central Asia
Decline of the Mauryan Empire ◦ Ashoka died in 232
B.C.E. ◦ Suffered from acute
financial and economic difficulties • High cost for
maintaining army and
bureaucrats • Debasing the
currency, not an effective resolution
The empire collapsed by 185 B.C.E.
The Gupta Dynasty ◦After Mauryans,
India was controlled by regional kingdoms
◦The Gupta state rose to power in place of the Mauryans in 320 CE (AD) to 550
◦Chandra Gupta founded the new dynasty
◦Gupta dynasty was relatively decentralized
◦Officially supported revival of Hinduism as state faith
◦Era seen as the Golden Age of Hinduism
Gupta decline ◦ Invasion of White
Huns weakened the empire
◦After 5th century C.E., Gupta dynasty ruled in name only
◦Large regional kingdoms dominated political life in India
Buddhism and Hinduism were the two major religions during this time
Reminders of Buddhism: ◦ The word comes from
'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35.
Buddhism continued: Buddhism goes beyond
religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:◦ (1) to lead a moral
life◦ (2) to be mindful and
aware of thoughts and actions
◦ (3) to develop wisdom understanding.
Hinduism:◦ The caste system
comes from Hinduism
◦ Multiple gods, the top three called the Hindu Trinity Shiva Krishna Vishnu
Guptan Dynasty Decline◦Lacked strong
central government• Provinces only
owed tribute, tax, respect to central ruler• Provincial rulers
viewed emperor as related to gods
Gupta Empire Decline continued◦Relied on
provincial rule, type of feudalism
◦But local areas largely self-governing
◦Regional leaders often stronger than emperor
Indian Empires Collapse
◦ Civil war between regional leaders
◦ Invasions by Central Asian nomads including White Huns• Beaten off by Guptas
but seriously weakened empire
• Continued raids by Huns, Central Asians kept empire in turmoil
• Large scale migrations from Northern India to Southern parts
Dynasty ceased to exist; attempted revival failed
Regional states broke off, constant warfare follows
Major Developments ◦ Spread of bureaucracy -
to successfully implement the actions of an organization of any size
◦ Roads were created to connect major cities
◦ Spread of Buddhism under the Mauryan
Major Developments: Gupta empire had
India’s Golden Age Spread of literature,
astronomy, medicine, and mathematics
Also had gold coins for money
Major Developments: Believed the Earth was
round in astronomy Math – modern
numbers, zero, decimals, value of pi
Medical improvements included surgery and the first plastic surgery