India Ancient and Modern

1
India Ancient and Modern

• India has been a victim of its ancient past Only
  today is it trying to break the mold of the past.

2
India

• India has been shaped by three ideas
• The Aryan religion
• Rejection of Buddhism
• Hinduism and the caste system

3
India

• Early India and the role of geography
• Geography gives India a measure of isolation that
  lead to regionalism

4
India

• Ancient Civilization
• Indus Valley civilization
• The Harappan Civilization 3000-1500BCE
• With the Harappan Civilization we see rise of
  cities along the Indus valley

5
India

• Harappan City sites show a remarkable sameness as
  if build from a central plan.
• Central Authority?

6
India

• The Aryan Invasion 1500BCE
• Invasion or Infiltration?
• Aryan religion
• A caste system
• A cycle of death and rebirth

7
India

• The caste System created a rigid social structure
  with almost no social mobility.
• Buddhism was an attempt to break the cycle.
• Jainism another attempt to break the cycle using
  severe ascetics.

8
India

• In the end India rejected Buddhism and Jainism
  and religion evolved into Hinduism and maintained
  the caste system

9
India

• By the 10th century CE Islam spread in the north
  of India (Modern Pakistan) and the religious
  cycle of Hinduism was broken in that region.

10
India

• India has struggled to find unity
• Gupta Empire 300-400CE
• Mongols 1200-1400CE
• Mughal Empire 1526-1857 CE

11
India

• British India 1800-1947
• East India Company, a commercial empire 1800-1857
• Sepoy Revolt 1857
• British Empire 1857

12
India

• Road to Independence
• Indian Congress party 1920
• Struggle for independence 1920-1947
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Independence 1947 Division
• Modern India
• Modern Pakistan

13
India

• Modern India is trying to shake off its past
• Fastest growing economy in Asia
• Moved from third world neutral to U.S. Ally to
  counter balance China?

14
India

• Modern Indias problems
• Largest gap in wealth in world
• Work week is 60 hours
• Wages are actually falling
• Single VAT Tax is burden to 90 of population

15
India

• Can the economic miracle hold?
• Rural India is very poor
• At the same time the lowest castes are the
  beneficiaries of the economic growth fitting
  into new jobs and with new skills