A History of World Societies, McKay Chapter 3: The Foundation of Indian Society, to 300 C.E.

I. The Land and its First Settlers (ca 30001500 B.C.E.) A. The Role of Geography 1. India is a geographically enclosed landmass as large as Western Europe. 2. Ancient India was comprised of three main areas: a. the Himalaya Mountains in the north b. the great river valleys of the Indus and the Ganges c. the southern coastal plains and the dry and hilly Deccan Peninsula 3. Geography has guarded India from its neighbors and divided the country into subregions. 4. The Himalayas have protected India from invasion. 5. The Himalayas and the southern monsoons give India most of its water. 6. Indias climate was a critical factor in the development of its religions, with fire and water playing a central role in the ceremonies of many of its religions. 7. Agriculture was well established in India by about 7000 B.C.E. B. The Indus Valley Civilization (ca 25001500 B.C.E.) 1. The first Indian civilization is known today as the Indus or Harappan civilization. 2. The Indus Valley civilization extended over almost twice as much land as the Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. 3. There was a high degree of standardization throughout the Indus Valley civilization. 4. Indus cities were centers of crafts and trade. 5. Mohenjo-daro and Harappa are the best-known cities of the Indus Valley civilization. 6. The prosperity of Indus Valley civilization depended on intensive agriculture. 7. The decline of the Indus Valley civilization which began around 2000 B.C.E. was the result of internal dynamics. The Aryans and the Vedic Age (ca 1500500 B.C.E.) A. The Rise of the Aryans

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The Aryans, a Sanskrit speaking people, rose to power after the decline of the Indus Valley civilization. 2. The Hindu hymnbook, the Rigveda, provides some information about the Aryans and the people they encountered. 3. According to the Rigveda, the Aryans were a warlike people who were governed by a tribal chief, or raja. 4. The Aryans pushed into the jungles of the Ganges Valley. 5. The Aryans failed to conquer all of India. The land south of the Vindhya Range remained outside their control. Early Indian Society, 1000500 B.C.E. 1. The Aryans created powerful kingdoms under absolute rulers. 2. The priests, or Brahmans, were powerful allies of the kings. 3. Aryan society was divided into a caste system comprising four hierarchical strata or varna: Brahman (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and officials), Vaishya (merchants, artisans, and landowners), and Shudra (peasants and laborers). 4. Outside of the caste system were the untouchables and slaves. 5. Women were treated somewhat better in Aryan society than in later Indian society. Brahmanism 1. Like the gods of the Persians and the Greeks, the gods of the Aryans were anthropomorphic. 2. Aryan religion centered around ritual sacrifice. 3. Composed between 750 and 500 B.C.E., the Upanishads document the philosophical development of Brahmanism. a. Ancient Indian cosmology posited endlessly repeating cycles of creation. b. The idea that souls transmigrate between bodies in a continual series of rebirths is referred to as samsara. The combined total of good and bad deeds that determine a persons status in his or her next life is referred to as karma. The unchanging, ultimate reality beyond the cycles of rebirth is referred to as brahman. 4. These concepts were appealing to many people, especially those of low status, because they offered the possibility of advancement in a future life. 5. Brahmanic mystics claimed that the world was an illusion and the only way to escape it was to accept the unchanging nature of ultimate reality. 6. Indian elites encouraged acceptance of the teachings of the Upanishads.

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India's Great Religions A. Jainism 1. Vardhamana Mahavira (fl. ca 520 B.C.E.), the founder of Jainism, taught that the doctrine of karma extended to all animate and inanimate objects. 2. A key teaching was that eternal happiness occurs when the soul rids itself of all matter. 3. Nonviolence and asceticism became key principles of Jainism. 4. While Jainism never became as widely accepted as Hinduism and Buddhism, it is an important influence on Indian thought and religion. B. Siddhartha Gautama and Buddhism 1. Siddhartha Gautama (fl. ca 500 B.C.E.)the Buddhafound universal enlightenment through meditation. 2. He abandoned Hinduism and prescribed the Four Noble Truths: a. pain and suffering, frustration and anxiety, are inescapable parts of human life b. suffering and anxiety are caused by human desires and attachments c. people can come to understand these weaknesses and triumph over them d. this triumph is made possible by adoption of the Eightfold Path 3. The success of Buddhism is explained, in part, by the fact that anyone could follow the Eightfold Path. 4. Buddhas teachings were written down in the second or first century B.C.E. as sutras. 5. The absence of ecclesiastical authority within Buddhism contributed to the development of several distinct Buddhist traditions, one of the most important of which is Mahayana Buddhism. C. Hinduism 1. Between 400 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., in response to the challenge of Jainism and Buddhism, Brahmanism evolved into Hinduism. 2. Hinduism is linked to the caste system. 3. Hinduism is a guide for life; the goal is to reach Brahman through four steps. 4. Dharma is the moral law all Hindus observe. 5. Certain gods came to be thought of as manifestations of Brahman. 6. The Bhagavad Gita is a guide to how to live and to honor dharma. India and the West (ca 513298 B.C.E.) A. Persian Conquest 1. The Indus Valley was conquered by Persia in the sixth century B.C.E.

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The conquest of Darius I extended a short distance beyond the Indus River. 3. Persian conquest introduced India to the ways of other cultures. 4. Coined money was adopted. 5. The Aramaic language was adapted to fit Indian needs. 6. Persias control of India ended when Alexander the Great invaded the Indus Valley in 326 B.C.E. 7. When Alexander left India, he put generals in charge of the regions he had conquered. The Mauryan Empire (ca 322185 B.C.E.) A. Chandragupta 1. Chandragupta took advantage of the vacuum left by Alexander. 2. By 322 B.C.E. he controlled north India, and in 304 B.C.E. he defeated Seleucus and took over the easternmost provinces of Seleucus empire. 3. He organized India into provinces as the Persians had done and created an elaborate bureaucracy. B. The Reign of Ashoka (ca 269232 B.C.E.) 1. Prince Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, became king of India and extended the borders of the Mauryan Empire. 2. He was an efficient and content king in the early years of his reign. 3. After a savage campaign in Kalinga, he turned to Buddhism. 4. He adopted a highly paternalistic policy toward his people, building shrines, roads, and resting places. 5. After Ashokas reign, India was invaded repeatedly and became highly fragmented. Contacts with Other Cultures (200 B.C.E. 300 C.E.) A. Division and Foreign Domination 1. Following the collapse of the Mauryan dynasty in 185 B.C.E., a series of foreign powers dominated the Indus Valley, beginning with the IndoGreek states. 2. Greek culture had a substantial impact on Indian art. 3. This was a period of advance in science, mathematics, and philosophy. 4. Regional cultures flourished in the absence of a dominant, unifying state.

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