India

=Classical India:=

001 Religious and Intellectual Aspects of Indian Culture:
Indian history was recorded in literary epics developed by the Aryans. These epics were later recorded in **Sanskrit**, first literary language of their culture. - The epics were knowns as **Vedas. First Reg-Veda** consisted of 1028 hymns dedicated to Aryan gods. -Between 1000 and 600 B.C.E., poems **Mahabharata**, epic poem, and **Ramayana**, depicts mythic battle emerged. **Upanishads**, epic poems with religious flavor also emerged, in the period called the Epic Age. -manual on law of love "**Kamasutra**" written in 4th century B.C.E. - Indian literature took many themes from epic poems. Classical stories were often secular. -produced work in science and mathematics; the university of Nalanda had many lecture halls, libraries, astronomical observatory, model diary, and a cirriculum of religion, philosophy, medicine, architecture, and agriculture. -Indian scientists, borrowing from Greeks, made strides in astronomy and medicine. -Aryabhatta calculated length of the solar year and improved mathematical measurements. Also calculated circumference of earth and believed in its round shape. -calculated daily rotation of earth on its axis, predicted and explained eclipses, and developed theory of gravity, and identified 7 planets through telescopic observation. -made advances in bone setting and plastic surgery, and stressed cleanliness/ sterilization -Indian numbering system - **Gupta** devised   concept of zero/ decimal system, negative numbers, calculated square roots and table of sines, computed value of pi  - **Kalidasa** was a great playwright India saw development of religion, while China was more philosophical. -heavy emphasis on learning and the sciences. China developed a religion more on philosophy, while India was more religious with Hinduism.
 * E || * propserous due to trade and various industries
 * main industries: textiles, steel
 * highly active traders, land and sea, served as entrepot for China and Mediterranean, trading dyes, jewelry, gold, and ivory, for pottery, wine, metals, and slaves.
 * textiles included cotton cloth, calico, cashmere
 * artisans had craft guilds
 * arranged marriages enabled economic gain --> dowries, child labor
 * agriculture based
 * Himalayas region developed herding economies
 * South, around Deccan plateau, developed active maritime economy ||
 * S || * **Caste system**- included different classes of people: untouchables, brahman, merchants, etc.
 * **Brahmins** and ** Kshatriyas ** (priests > warriors after the **Vedic Age**) > **Vaisyas**(merchants and farmers) > **Sudras**(common laborers, serfs) > **Untouchables**
 * If a brahman killed a servant, he would face no serious consequences/ low caste members had few legal rights and were often equated to animals.
 * Peasants have little contact with higher class people.
 * intercaste marriages forbidden; was capital crime
 * abused by landowners
 * Dominance of husbands and men in general still remain strong, like Dynasty of China(wife should worship husband as god)
 * **Patriarchal**
 * Parents organized for child's marriage --> woman could not object, family decision
 * women married young, usually to men they have never met
 * Strong will for women, believed in Goddesses
 * Low caste individuals had little rights and servants were often abused masters.
 * Similar to China, with farmer peasantry, villages w/ local authority and cultures, patriarchy, and close family ties. ||
 * P || * no separation of church and state
 * focus on regional powers, no real focus on central government
 * maintainted by strong army, personal representatives in each region( allowed conquered ruler to rule, with advisor)
 * autocratic rule/ assemblies
 * **Regionalism**- rulers were not loyal/ qualified, ruled region before
 * agricultural regions were developed along Indus and Ganges
 * By 600 B.C.E., 16 major states formed
 * War over power occurred frequently
 * caste system reflected values of political systems --> ie. marriage depended on similar class.
 * **Mauryan Empire** - 322 - 298 B.C.E.
 * Under **Chadragupta Maurya**
 * Buearaucratic, legalist monarch
 * united most of subcontinent
 * Under **Grandson Ashoka** (269- 232 B.C.E.)
 * expanded Mauryan empire to south tip
 * influenced by Vedic and Buddhist ideas
 * **Gupta Empire**- 320 C.E. - 535 C.E.
 * smaller than Mauryan, expanded authority through intermarriages
 * politically stable and longest lasting ||
 * I || -
 * tolerant of cultures and religion
 * one of first universtities were found under Gupta ||
 * R || *** **Polytheistic- Aryans** brought a religion of many gods and goddesses into India, **Indra**, being the god of thunder and strength. Gods presided over fire, sun, death, etc. Ideas were derived from Indo-European polytheistic faiths.
 * Aryans offered hyms and sacrifices/ rituals to the gods. Certain animals were considered sacred, with divine spirit.

Epic poems reflect idea of life after death. -Nature was viewed as a divine force, and animals in nature, such as monkies and cattle were viewed as religious. -**dharma/ Hinduism**- law of moral consequences. Hinduism pursued a number of religious approaches, from strictly ritualistic and ceremonial, to mysticism that sought to unite individual himans with a divine principle. It also encouraged political and economic goals(**artha**) and worldly pleasures( **karma**). -in Hinduism, gods of nature were altered to represent more abstract concepts. -Poems emphasized importance of devoted and generous behavior, esp. **Upanishads**, which advanced idea of a mystical contract and attacked conventional brahman view of what religion should be. -Gurus often gathered disciples around them and brahman priests agreed on certain doctrines. -**Brahma**, the basic holy essence formed part of everything in the world. Divine aspects of brahma take form in gods, such as **Vishnu**, the preserver, and **Shiva**, the destroyer. -Hindus stressed the idea of reincarnation, where souls do not die, but pass into other beings, either human or animal. -religion reinforced caste system, giving hope to lower-class that they can emerge rich in the next life. * **-Buddhism**  -Kanishka is renowned in Buddhism tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. -**Nirvana** - a world beyond existance - people could regulate their lives without elaborate ceremonies. -**Buddhism** stressed self control, and that holy life could be achieved through individual effort. Teachings took place in monasteries, and prayer and contemplation at Buddhist holy places and works of charity and piety fueled the idea of holy life on earth -Met with opposition from Hinduism -spherical shrines called **stupas** **were built to honor Buddha.** -Buddhisms greatest contributors are Ashoka **and** Harsha Vardhana **and the Indo-Greek king** Menander L. Kanishka.

||
 * I || * revolved around trading with Middle East and Roman Empire
 * 1600 - 1000 B.C.E. - Aryan invasions, brought polytheistic ideas
 * 327 B.C.E. - Greek Bacteria brought to Northwest India
 * Indo-China trade developed in classical era
 * Middle Eastern influence continued to have impact after classical era, altering Indian culture
 * sent religious missionaries and welcomed religious diversity
 * Fall of Mauryan **empire saw** Kushan **invasions [[image:http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/alex1.gif align="center" caption="Indian Trade Routes"]]
 * T || * *iron making, steel, and textiles
 * iron making was more advanced than any in the world
 * tools to benefit agriculture
 * developed written language of Sanskrit ||
 * developed written language of Sanskrit ||

Religion
The religion of China and India varied in many ways however there are similarities that they share. In both India and China high emphasize was put in scientific process, and development of learning, however at the same time China moved to develop the same goals. Both made astronomical advancements by both studying the stars and also achieved many new advancements in mathematics. Daoism **and** Hinduism **shared the same beliefs of nature. Hinduism believed in** karma **and** artha, **natural gods; Shiva and Vishnu. China developed negative numbers and the Pythagorean theorems and India developed the use of zeros. In China religion was viewed more as philosophy rather than religious beliefs.**

003 Classical India Terms

 * Aryans || Indo-European herders and hunters originally from central Asia, who migrated into India during the Vedic and Epic ages. Aryans were an agricultural group, who used iron tools to clear away dense vegetation and extend Indian agriculture from Indus River Valley to the Ganges Valley. Aryans passed down literary epics that described preclassical period of Indian history, which were eventually recorded in the Vedas in Sanskrit. Agriculture allowed the Aryans to become more settled, and thus, able to develop tight levels of village organization that became characteristics in Indian society and politics. Family structure emphasized patriarchal controls and extended family relationships among grandparents, parents and children were close. Aryans also devised a caste system, which would later influence that of India. Its caste system consists of varnas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras, and the untouchables. Aryans also brought with them, a polytheistic religion, bearing resemblance to that of Greek and Scandinavian mythology. ||
 * Ashoka || grandson of Chandragupta, Ashoka became the first to govern two provinces. He extended Mauryan conquests, gaining control of all but the southern tip of India, through warfare. He conquered regions, often with bloodthirty tactics. He is a Buddhist convert, believing in dharma and propagated it, while also honoring Hinduism. Ashoka sent Buddhist missionaries to Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle East and Sri Lanka. He urged humane behavior on the part of his officials and insisted that they oversee the moral warfare of his empire. He worked to improve communication and and trade, sponsoring a road network dotted with wells and rest stops for travellers. ||
 * Gupta || emerged in 320 C.E., after a hundred years of political instability following the fall of the Kushan empire in 220 C.E. Gupta rulers preferred to negotiate with local princes and intermarry with their families, expanding influence without constant fighting. The empire was smaller than that of Mauryan, but provided India with the greatest period of political stability. The empire was eventually succumbed by the Huns in 535 C.E. ||
 * Caste system || caste system began to take shape in the Vedic and Epic age, as a result of Aryan migration into the India territory. Aryans often viewed indigenous people inferior. Aryan social classes partly enforced divisions familiar in agricultural societies. At the top of the pyramid, stood the warrior/ governing class, Kshatriyas, priestly class, brahmins at the top, succeeded by the Vaisyas, traders and farmers, and Sudras, common laborers. A fifth group, the untouchables, consisted of the untouchables, who transported dead bodies, or hauled refuse. Marriage between classes was forbidden and was a capital punishment. The basic castes divided into smaller subgroups, called jati, wach with distinctive occupations and confined to its social class by birth. ||
 * Hinduism || religion of India's majority. Hinduism was conveyed in the Upanishads, as a divine force. Hindus believed in the idea that the basic holy essence, brahma, formed a part of everything in the world. Divine aspects of brahma took form in several gods, ie. Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. Another aspect of Hinduism, is the idea of reincarnation, in which, one's spirit does not die when bodies do, but pass into other beings, either human or animal. Hinduism reinforced the caste system, giving peasants hope in a better life in the future and communion with the divine spirit. ||
 * Sanskrit || first literary language of the Indians. Sanskrit language was prevalent in the epic,Vedas. During the Epic Age, between 1000 and 600 B.C.E.,, epics such as, Mahabharata, Ramayana, and Upanishads emerged, all of which were recorded in Sanskrit. ||
 * Upanishads || epic poems with a more mystical religious flavor. Upanishads emerged during the Epic age and were recorded in Sanskrit. They conveyed Hinduism as a divine force. Upanishads also conveyed nature as a divine force. ||
 * Dharma || the law of moral consequences, a kind of ethical guide that might unite and discipline the diverse people under his rule. Dharma stresses inner study and meditation, building from the divine essence within each creature, rather than adherence to a fixed set of moral rules. Hindus often referred to their religion as dharma, or the moral path. ||
 * Buddhism || founded by Siddartha Gautama in 563 B.C.E., who was later known as Buddha. He accepted spiritual truth behind mand Hindu ideas, such as reincarnation, but rejected others, such as caste. He held the material world to be a snare that warped human relations and caused pain via the frustrations inherent in it: all worldly things decay, but men and women suffer and harm others as they struggle to hold onto youth, heath, and life itself, though all are destined to pass away. Buddha did not reject possibility of rewards of the after life, but believed that one's destruction would constitute to nirvana, a world beyond existance, where suffering and decay are no more. Mauryan emperer Ashoka was a Buddhist convert. Hindus often rejected Buddhism. ||
 * Tamils || sea faring peoples along the southern coast, usually outside the large empires of northern India were particularly active traders. Thse southern Indians, the Tamils, traded cotton, sliks, dyes, drugs, gold, and ivory, with the Hindus, often earning great fortunes. ||
 * Chandragupta Maurya || seized power along the Ganges River in 322 B.C.E., becoming the first of the Mauryan dynasty of Indian rulers. Chandragupta and his successors maintained large armies with thousands of chariots and elephant borne troops. The Mauryan rulers also developed a sustantial bureaucracy, even sponsoring a postal service. His style of government was autocratic, relying on the ruler's personal and military power ||
 * Gurus || mystics who gathered disciples around them, and the brahman priests agreed on certain doctrines, as Hinduism became an increasingly formal religion by the centuries of the common era. ||
 * Bhagavad Gita || epic poem, a classic sacred hymn in which a warrior is sent to do battle against his own relatives. The Hindu ethic explains how devout Hindus could be aggressive merchants or eager warriors. The Hindus referred to Gita as the manifestation of god. It contained over 700 verses. ||

004 India Summary
Aryan invasions in India, post fall of Harrapa **helped shape much of India's culture. Being an agricultural society, the Aryans brought with them a method of clearing forests and creating more land for cultivation, increased land from the** Indus River Valley**, to the Ganges River. Aryans also brought with them a sense of polytheism, which influenced the many gods of the Hindu religion. The Aryans also brought with them a** caste system**, which formed the basis of future caste system in India, from the** Brahmins **and** Kshatriyas**(priests > warriors after the Vedic Age) >** Vaisyas**(merchants and farmers) >** Sudras**(common laborers, serfs) >** Untouchables**. The** Vedic and Epic Ages**, from 1500- 600 B.C.E., saw the establishment of** Sanskrit **as the official written language of India. Later, many poems, and other forms of literature, such as** Upanishads **arose in** Sanskrit. **Indian religion revolved around** Hinudism**, which believed in the divine force of nature, and** dharma**, which took form in gods, such as** Vishnu and Shiva**, and** Buddhism**, which, founded by** Siddartha Gautama**, believed in the idea of nirvana. Religion played an important role in influencing politics, as Buddhism was exhibited in the formation of the** Mauryan Empire**. Indian government, for the most part, was** autocratic/ regionalistic**. The empire, under its first leader,** Chandragupta Maurya**, established a bureacracy, and united most of the subcontinent. After** Chandragupta**, came his grandson,** Ashoka**, who expanded Mauryan empire to the southern tip. Next, came the** Kushan empire**, and then, the** Gupta **empire. Under the** Gupta **empire, India experienced the longest period of political stability. India economy revolved around land and sea trade.** Tamils** traded with the Indians, exchanging cotton, silks, dyes, drugs, gold, and ivory, with the Hindus. India also developed iron tools, steel, and tools to benefit agriculture.