introduction iran sasanids – 224-651 c.e. revival of zoroastrian traditions competition with...

Introduction

IranSasanids – 224-651 C.E.

• Revival of Zoroastrian traditions• Competition with Byzantines

IndiaGuptas – ca. 320-450 C.E.

• Extraordinary cultural flowering

Both eventually weakened or defeated by Arabic expansion

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Parthians 247 B.C.E. – 223 C.E.Dominated Iranian heartlands of Achaemenids

Extinguished eastern Seleucid power

Continued Achaemenid imperial and cultural traditions

Tolerance of religious diversity

Upheld Zoroastrian traditionsIncreased emphasis on Iranian traditions

Warfare with Romans and KushansChristian and Buddhist threats


Sasanids – 224-651 C.E.

Claimed to be rightful Achaemenid heirs

Shapur I – r. 239-272Strong internal administration

Territorial expansion• Defeated Romans 3 times• Captured Roman emperor Valerian

Could claim to be shahanshah “king of kings”

Centralized and rationalized• Taxation, civil ministries, military


Sasanids vs. ByzantinesConflict of 350 years

Two mightiest thrones in EurasiaEach championed a different religionNeither could vanquish the other

Chosroes Anosharvan – r. 531-579Greatest Sasanid rulerContemporary of Byzantine JustinianModel of greatness for Persians and Arabs

Both sides eventually lose out to Arabs


Sasanid Society and EconomySimilar to earlier Persian models

Extended family was basic social unit

Recognition of four classesPriests, warriors, scribes, peasantsGrowing divide between top three and peasantsLand concentrated in wealthy minority

• Small farmers driven into serfdom

Oversaw and taxed the caravan tradeBills of exchange – origin of word “check”Indian, Roman, Hellenistic Bactrian influences


Zoroastrian RevivalZoroastrianism as state orthodoxyTosar (Tansar)

First chief priest (mobad) of empireInstituted a state churchWritten canon of the Avesta

Kartir (Kirdir) – chief priest to Shapur IFirmly grounded Zoroastrian orthodoxyConversion of pagans, Christians, Buddhists

Powerful priesthood


ManichaeismMani – 216-277 C.E.Dualistic and moralistic view of reality

Constant warfare between good and evil• Spirit and matter

Saw his view as culmination and restoration of original unity of

Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Buddhism

Called his new system “Justice”Kirdir had Mani executed in 277

Faith still challenged Christianity and Islam


Later Sasanid DevelopmentsRadical inequality brought tensionsMazdakite movement – 5th century

Mazdak• Preached asceticism• Vegetarianism• Virtues of tolerance and brotherly love• More equal distribution of society’s goods

Mazdak slaughtered in 528Inspiration for later revolts

Sasanid kings supported Nestorian Christians


Golden Age of the GuptasGupta age as high point of Indian civilization

Source of “classical” norms of Hindu religion and Indian culture

Symbolic equivalent ofPericlean AthensAugustan RomeHan China

Recognizable patterns of a single civilizationRelative peace and stability


Gupta RuleChandragupta – r. 320-330 C.E.

First Gupta ruler – from Magadha

Chandragupta II – r. 375-415Turned kingdom into an empirePresided over “golden age”Most civilized and peaceful country in the world at that timeHun invasion – eventual collapse in 550

Harsha – r. 616-657Brief reunification


Gupta Culture

Golden AgeArchitecture and sculpture

Wall paintings of Ajanta caves

Kalidasa – drama and verse• “Shakespeare” of Sanskrit verse

Strong emphasis on education in Jain and Buddhist monasteries, Brahmanical schools

Rhetoric, prose, poetry, grammar, logic, medicine, metaphysics, mathematics


Indian Traditions

Development of hierarchical character of Hindu/Indian society

ManuDharmashastra – oldest manual of legal and ethical theory – around 200 C.E.

• Dharma appropriate for one’s class• Rules for rites and study of the Veda• Pollution and purification measures• Dietary restrictions• Royal duties and prerogatives


Manu and Caste System

Classic statement of four class theoryEach person born into a particular station

• Karma from earlier lives• Station has its particular dharma

Brahman – priestKshatriya – noble/warriorVaishya – tradespersonShudra – servant

• Suppression of shudras and “outcasts”


JatisSmaller and more numerous subgroups

Caste from word casta

Divisions usually represent occupational groupsJati groups are hereditaryDistinguished on principles of purity/pollution

Three kinds of regulationCommensalityEndogamyTrade or craft limitation


BhaktiTradition of ardent theism

Bhakti or “loving devotion”

Seen in Krishna in Bhagavad GitaTamil-speaking southern schools of

Bhakhi poetry and worship

Remnant of pre-Aryan religious sensibilitiesPuranas – epic, mythological, devotional textsRamanuja – d. 1137 – same tradition

• Theologian of devotional Hinduism


Hindu Religious LifeGrowth of devotional cults

Vishnu – especially in form of KrishnaShiva – originally a fertility godGoddess in one of her many forms

• Parvati, Shakti, Durga, Kali

Vishnu, Shiva, Parvati have many forms and names

Identified with other deities and worshipped as one form of the Supreme Lord or Goddess

Ahimsa


Hindu Polytheism?Appropriate to pay homage on proper occasions to other deitiesHindus view one deity as Supreme Lord

But see others as manifestations of the Ultimate at lower levelsHindu polytheism – affirmation of the infinite forms that transcendence takes

Vedanta – “the end of the Veda”Shankara – d. 820

Brahman as only reality behind illusion (maya)


Buddhist Religious Life

Two major developments in relation to Buddhism in India during these centuries

Solidification of the two main strands of Buddhism

• Mahayana “Great Vehicle”

• Theravada “Little Vehicle”

Spread of Buddhism beyond India


Mahayana BuddhismDifferent than older, more conservative Hinayana

Buddhas seen as manifestations of a single principle of “Ultimate” RealitySiddharta Gautama one Buddha among many

Highest goal not nirvanaHighest goal was status of Bodhisattva

Self-sacrifice leading to infinite merit

Buddha Amitabha – Pure LandPersonified infinite compassion


Theravada BuddhismTheravada – “Way of the Elders”

Individual path to enlightenmentFocused on monastic community

Gaining merit for a better rebirth throughHigh standards of conductLay devotion to BuddhaPilgrimage to relics at various stupas

Traditional texts of the BuddhaRejected Mahayana tie to later texts


Spread of BuddhismTheravada Buddhism spread to

CeylonBurmaSoutheast Asia

Mahayana Buddhism spread toChinaKoreaJapanCentral Asia

Tantric Buddhism - Tibet


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