Section 2 –New Indian

EmpiresGupta

Mauryan

Kushan

Veda

s

• Aryans did little to unify India & many

cultures invaded

– Persia, Greeks, Macedonians; Mac. soldiers

refused to continue fighting once they reached India, turned & left

Alexander the Great

• Mauryan Dynasty (324 – 183 BC)

• Founded by Chandragupta Maurya, 321-301 BC

– Very centralized (king controlled); provinces ruled by governors; military &

secret police

– Feared assassination

• Asoka, his grandson, ruled w/Buddhist philosophy

– Hospitals for ppl & animals; trees & shelters along road for travelers

– kingdom became a trade center; declined after his death

Buddhist templeBuilt during Mauryandynasty • Many kingdoms emerged on border of

India/Afghanistan (ancient Bactria)

• Kushan Kingdom 1 AD – 300 AD

• Mostly in north; prospered w/trade along the Silk Road

• Silk Road

– Created @200BC – 1000AD

– From Changan, China to Antioch, Syria

– Transported only luxury goods b/c of danger,

silk very popular

– 4000 miles long

• Gupta Dynasty 320 AD

• Strong in the north, had some control in

central India

• Strong & efficient; prospered with trade

outside and within kingdom

• Famous for temples, wealthy rulers

• 5th century – Huns invade

Sun Temple inIndia, Gupta

Dynasty

• INDIAN CULTURE

• LITERATURE:

• Vedas – earliest literature, religious;

oral, then written in Sanskrit

• Mahabharata – 100 BC

– 90,000 stanzas about a war btwn cousins for control of the kingdom

– Bhagavad Gita – sermon by god Krishna; tells a key point of Indian society: don’t worry about success or failure when

taking action. be concerned w/moral rightness of act

• Ramayana

– Story of ruler Rama

– Full of religious morals & lessons

– Rama is ideal hero, rule, and son

– Sita, his wife, is loyal to her husband

• ARCHITECTURE:

• Buddhism inspired many buildings

• 3 main types:

– Pillar – mark sites related to Buddha’s life; 50 tons & 50 feet high

– Stupa – burial mounds that housed religious relics

– Rock chamber – carved out of cliffs; dwelling for monks and a place for ceremonies

• SCIENCE:

• Great astronomers; knew earth was a sphere and rotated on an axis

• First to use algebra

• Introduced concept and symbol for 0

(zero)

• Arabs conquered Indians, took number system, spread it to Europe through trade

Ancient Indiansundial

Works Cited• http://www.silkroadproject.org/tabid/177/default.aspx

• http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/tp/10-Wars-That-Changed-Asia.htm

• http://giorgi10.tripod.com/id24.htm

• http://indianhistory.info/Maurya.htm

• http://coincircuit.com/Closed_Coin_Auction/showitems.php?dirname=Closed_Coin_A

uction&class=Coin&sale_id=2232&start_print=250

• http://worldhistoryto1500.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html

• http://www.astrovalley.com/vedas.php

• http://www.asaltulis.com/tag/mauryan-dynasty/

• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Silk_Road

• http://www.gujarat-tourism.net/Gujarat_Pilgrimage.htm

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikasgnayak/964894290/

• http://www.webring.org/hub/hinduring

• http://hariharji.blogspot.com/2010/06/23rd-24th-verses-of-shri-hanuman-bahuk.html

• http://buddhistsymbols.info/stupa/

• http://www.photoree.com/photos/permalink/475205-20697369@N00

• http://mathomathis.blogspot.com/2010/12/astronomy-in-ancient-india.html