india and china establish empires 300 bce – ce 550
TRANSCRIPT
India and China
Establish Empires300 BCE – CE 550
Mauryan Empire321 – 185 BCE
• Chandragupta Maurya– Seizes land from Magadha (Ganges River) to
the Indus River– Politically united north India for the first time in
303 BCE
Mauryan Empire
• Money needed to pay for large army
• Government collected high taxes from trading, mining, and manufacturing
• Farmers were exempt from military service– Farmers were still heavily taxed
Mauryan Empire
• Kautilya– Member of priest caste that advised Chandragupta– Wrote a book on how to hold a vast empire together
• Arthasastra
– Chandragupta followed his advice • Chose his officials & closely supervised them• Divided empire into 4 provinces
– Headed by a royal prince
– Provinces divided into local districts
» Officials in districts assessed taxes and enforced the law
Asoka
• Chandragupta’s grandson
• Brought Mauryan Empire to its greatest heights
• Expanded the empire south at the cost of 100,000 soldiers’ lives
Asoka• He felt sorrow over the
slaughter at Kalinga– Turned to Buddhism
• Belief in nonviolence• Peace to all beings
– Religious toleration• Acceptance of people who
held different beliefs– Built stone pillars that
preached nonviolence– Built roads across India
• Planted trees along the side for shade
• Every 9 miles had wells dug, rest houses built, & water holes for animals
232 BCE = Asoka dies & the empire breaks up
North and Central regional kings of India challenged the
imperial government
North India
• Experienced many different people fleeing political instability
• Introductions of several new languages and customs
Andhra Dynasty
• Arose and dominated central India
• Profited with trade between North and South India
Tamil Kingdoms
• South India had their own languages
• Divided into 3 kingdoms– Often fought each other
• Never were under the control of the Mauryan Empire
• Matriarchal society– Households were headed by eldest female
Gupta Empire320-415
• Chandra Gupta– Arose to power in northern India– No relation with Chandragupta– Empire stretches across North India
Gupta Empire
• Patriarchal society– Households headed by eldest male
• Tax on water
• Farmers irrigated crops
• Every month, everyone donated a day’s worth of labor to maintain wells, irrigation ditches, reservoirs, and dams
• High taxes go to the king
Chandra Gupta II
• Expanded empire west
• Opens trade with Mediterranean world
Changes in Religious Thought
• Hinduism– Complex polytheistic
religion that blended Aryan and pre-Aryan beliefs
• Buddhism– Teaches that desires
causes suffering and that humans should overcome desire by following the Eightfold Path
Split in Buddhism after Buddha’s Death
• Mahayana– Began to believe
Buddha was a god– Believed anyone could
become Buddha, too• Working to save
humanity through good works and self-sacrifice
• Theraveda– Stuck with the stricter
& original teachings of Buddha
Hinduism Changes to Embrace the People
• Went from worshipping hundreds of gods to concentrating on the three most important gods– 1) Brahma
• Creator of the world
– 2) Vishnu• Preserver of the world
– 3) Shiva• Destroyer of the world
Literature
• Kalidasa– Great writer from
North India
• 2,000 poems still around in South India from Tamil period
Drama & Dance
• Women and men participated on stage together
• South India had many traveling performers
Astronomy• Sailors used stars to help
figure out their position at sea• Used calendar based on
cycles of sun• Adopted a 7 day week
– Each day was divided by hours
• Discovered world was round during a lunar eclipse– Shadow of earth on the moon
was curved– (1,000 years before
Columbus)
Mathematics
• Modern numerals
• Zero– Biggest contribution to
the world
• Decimal system
• Aryabhata– Calculated the value of
pi to four decimal places
– Calculated the length of a solar year as 365.3586805 days
Medicine
• Medical guides of 1,000 diseases & descriptions of more than 500 medicinal plants were compiled
• Performed surgery– Including plastic
surgery
Spread of Indian Trade• Natural Resources
– Spices, diamonds, sapphires, gold, pearls, and woods (ebony, teak, & sandalwood)
• After Mauryan rule, India became involved in new trade regions– Silk Road
• Caravan traders across Asia connecting the Mediterranean World and China– Sea Trade
• Arabian Sea through Persian Gulf to trade with Rome• India to Southeast Asia• India to Arabian Peninsula and East Africa
• Increase trade led to a rise of banking in India• Some Indian merchants went to live abroad
– Spread of Indian culture• Art, architecture, dance, and Hinduism spread to East and Southeast Asia