Chapter 3 India

1
Chapter 3 - India

• AP World

2
The Framework for Indian History Geography and
a Formative Period

• Geography (including the mountainous northern
  region and agricultural regions along the Indus
  and Ganges Rivers) and climate were major
  influences on Indian civilization.
• The Aryan culture, which dominated India after
  the fall of the Indus River Valley civilization,
  also played a formative role. Among other
  things, the Aryans brought the rudiments of the
  caste system.
• The Vedas, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the
  Upanishads formed the basis of a great Aryan
  literary tradition.

3
Patterns in Classical India

• Two major empires formed at the crucial periods
  in classical Indian history, the Mauryan and,
  later, the Gupta.
• The Greek conquest of the Indus and the exchange
  of ideas with the Mediterranean basin and
  southwest Asia influenced the rise of the Mauryan
  dynasty.
• Chandragupta Maurya was the first Mauryan ruler,
  and Ashoka the greatest. Ashoka expanded the
  empire and promoted Buddhism.
• The Guptas arose after a period of nomadic
  invasions, and created a long period of political
  stability.

4
Political Institutions

• Regionalism and political diversity dominated
  classical Indian political life, so central
  authority was relatively weak
• The increasingly complex caste system promoted
  public order the way more conventional government
  structures did in many other cultures

5
Religion and Culture

• Hinduism and Buddhism were integral parts of
  classical Indian life. They had great influence
  on the arts and sciences, and both tended to
  promote religious tolerance.
• Hinduism is a polytheistic faith that gradually
  became more complex. It stresses reincarnation,
  the shallowness of worldly concerns, and dharma,
  the moral path.
• Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the
  6th century B.C.E., scorned caste and the
  material world in favor of self control and the
  Eightfold Path to nirvana.
• By the last centuries B.C.E., the Indian
  civilization developed a written language, built
  cities, and produced art and literature, and
  nurtured two of the great world religions.
  Artistic patterns linked to religion and a
  significant scientific tradition developed.

6
Economy and Society

• Dominated by the caste system, India developed
  extensive internal commercial and international
  maritime trade. However, Indias economy
  remained essentially agricultural.
• Family life combined patriarchy with an emphasis
  on mutual emotional support.

7
Indian Influence

• Classical India had an enormous effect on other
  parts of the world. India emerged as the center
  of an Eurasian trade system, a source of great
  wealth and a means of exporting Indian culture
  abroad

8
China and India

• China and India offer important contrasts in
  political emphases, social systems, and cultures
• They also resembled each other in seeking to
  build stable structures over large areas and in
  using culture to justify social inequality

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1

• Compare and contrast the classical civilizations
  of India and China

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• Both had cultural variety
• Radically different organizing forces India
  caste system, China Confucian-influenced
  political structures
• Hinduism produced a sensual, otherworldly, and
  monolithic religious atmosphere in India, while
  the more secular Confucianism and Daoism competed
  for the attention of China.
• Each had an agriculturally-based economy, while
  merchants were valued in India and looked down on
  in China.
• Even in science and mathematics, Indians were
  more theoretical while the Chinese emphasized
  practical findings
• Perhaps the greatest similarity between the two
  cultures was the dominance of men in both India
  and China

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2

• Trace the patterns of early Indian history

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• Indias great diversity within and among
  religions, peoples, and political forms had its
  roots in Aryan dominance. Tight levels of social
  control, introduced by the Aryans, contributed to
  the development of the caste system. In
  addition, Indias geographic position between the
  other great societies of the East and West
  encouraged trade and other forms of cultural
  mixing.

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3

• Assess the influence of Indian culture on the
  rest of the world

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• In many ways, the Indian region was the most
  active link among several cultures. Buddhism
  became a bigger influence outside of India than
  inside. Indian artistic and architectural styles
  affected southeast Asia as well. Indian stories
  like Sinbad the Sailor were passed on to Arabs
  and then to Europeans. Probably the most
  universal effect was the introduction of Arabic
  numerals, today the worlds standard form of
  expressing mathematics.

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4

• Trace the development of the caste system

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• As new social groups had been added to the tribal
  social order of early Aryan invaders, the
  patterns of social stratification entered into a
  religiously sanctioned hierarchy of social groups
  based partially on occupation and how polluting
  the occupation was.

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5

• Compare Buddhism and Hinduism

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• Buddhism rejected the brahmin-dominated caste
  system and the idea that the Vedas were divinely
  inspired teachings that should be accepted as the
  ultimate authority.
• Buddhism also believed in introspection and
  self-mastery as opposed to ritual, which was the
  very heart of Hindu dominance.
• Buddhism was inclusive to everyone, even women,
  in the teachings of how to reach nirvana.

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6

• What features of Indian and Chinese geography
  help explain each areas social patterns?

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• As settlements spread from the Indus region and
  Himalayan foothills to the plains of the Ganges
  River system, republics and religious skeptics
  gave way to kings and powerful brahmins who
  dominated the caste system.

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7

• Compare the caste system with the organization of
  Chinese and Greek society.

22

• Both Chinese and Greek society had social
  stratifications. However, they differed from the
  caste system in how the class decisions were made
  as well as how many and how strictly they were
  enforced. The caste system was a more rigid form
  of the organizations of Chinese and Greek society.

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8

• Compare the political implications of Hinduism
  and Confucianism

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• Confucius stressed that the welfare of the people
  should be the concern of the emperor. In return,
  the people should be respectful of the status.
  In Hinduism, the caste system rules with brahmins
  on the top.

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9

• Compare the family structures of India and China

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• In India, the higher class could afford to house
  extended families like those in China. Indian
  families that were poor could only afford to
  house the immediate, or nuclear, family.

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10

• Trace the development of Ashokas leadership
  approach

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• His original approach to ruling was to conquer
  and enlarge his empire. But after he witnessed
  the horrible sufferings in Orissa, he converted
  to Buddhism and began to serve his people and
  promote their welfare.