Indian Empires, Chinese Dynasties, Philosophies and Religions

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Indian Empires, Chinese Dynasties, Philosophies
and Religions

• The Mauryan Dynasty
• The Kingdom of Guptas
• Indian Culture
• Qin Han Dynasties
• Chinese Accomplishments

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Mauryan Gupta EmpiresIndian Culture
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Background

• A nomadic group of Aryans migrated into India
  around 1500 B.C.
• Strong warrior tradition
• Caste system and varnas (social classes)
• Priests
• Warriors
• Herders, farmers, artisans, merchants
• Farmworkers, servants, laborers
• Dalits or untouchables (not part of varna system)

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• After 400 B.C., new threats from west
• Persia
• Greeks-Alexander the Greats conquest in western
  India

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The Mauryan Dynasty

• Founded by Chandragupta Maurya
• Ruled from 324-301 B.C.
• Drove out foreign forces
• Centralized government
• Divided kingdom in provinces ruled by appointed
  governors
• Army secret police to follow his orders

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The Reign of Asoka

• Mauryan Empire flourished under Asoka
• Grandson of Chandragupta Maurya
• Considered greatest ruler of India
• His rule guided by Buddhist ideals
• Provided hospitals for people animals
• Placed trees shelters alongside roads for
  travelers to rest

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Asoka
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• India became crossroads for trade prospered
• Sent out Buddhist missionaries
• After his death in 232 B.C., Mauryan Empire began
  to decline

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Asoka and Buddhism
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The Kushan Kingdom

• 1st century A.D., nomadic warriors seized power
  established Kushan kingdom
• Next 2 centuries, gained control over northern
  India to Ganges River
• Prospered from trade
• Most trade between China Roman Empire

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Silk Road

• Part of the route went through India
• Arose around 200 BC
• Covered 4,000 miles, from China to Mediterranean
  Sea
• Traded silk, spices, teas porcelain from China
  for woolen linen clothes, glass precious
  stones from the west
• Romans considered silk worth its weight in gold

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Silk Road Connects India to China and Europe
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Kingdom of the Guptas

• Chandragupta established a new kingdom in Ganges
  Valley in 320 AD
• His son expanded the kingdom
• Dominant force in northern India
• Loose control over central India

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Chandragupta II

• Created a new age of Indian civilization-Golden
  Age
• Traded with China, Southwest Asia the
  Mediterranean
• Faxian, a Chinese traveler spent several years
  here, describing Indian culture

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• Trade managed by Gupta rulers who had gold
  silver mines
• Lived in luxury
• Late 5th c., Huns invaded from NW
• Gradually reduced power of empire
• After 7th c. empire fell completely apart
• Indian would not be reunited for hundreds of years

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Indian Culture

• Literature
• Oldest the Vedas, primarily religious texts
• Written in Sanskrit after Aryan invasion
• Great historical epics
• Mahabharata Ramayana
• Both epics about great warriors
• Mahabharata
• 90,000 stanzas (longest poem in any written
  language)
• Written 100 B.C.
• Bhagavad Gita sermon by the god Krishna (most
  famous passage)
• Ramayana
• Story of fictional leader Rama, an ideal Aryan
  leader
• Written 100 B.C.

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Indian Culture

• Architecture
• Buddhism inspired Mauryan Dynasty architecture
• Asoka erected stone pillars alongside roads to
  mark places of events in Buddhas life
• Weighed as much as 50 tons up to 50 ft. high
• Topped with a carving of some sort, usually a lion

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• Stupa-built in form of burial mounds
• Became a place of devotion
• Topped with spires

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Indian Culture

• Science
• Astronomy
• Charted movements of heavenly bodies
• Knew the earth was a sphere, that it rotated on
  an axis revolved around the sun (heliocentric
  theory)

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• Mathematics
• Aryabhata (during Gupta Empire)
• One of first scientist known to use algebra
• Introduced the concept of 0
• Arab scholars adopted the Indian system ?
  European traders adopted Arab system
• Today, it is called the Indian-Arabic numeral
  system

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Religion

• Hinduism
• Came with Aryan invaders in 1500 B.C.
• Reincarnation, karma, dharma, yoga
• Brought the caste system

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• Buddhism
• 6th C. B.C.
• Siddhartha Guatama the Buddha or enlightened
  one
• Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path nirvana

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Qin Han DynastiesChinese Accomplishments
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Qin Dynasty

• Shi Huangdi united warring states into one in 221
  BC
• Highly centralized government
• Adopted Legalism as official ideology
• Single monetary system
• System of roads
• Began Great Wall
• Terra-cotta army

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Han Dynasty

• Established by Liu Bang in 202 BC
• Han Wudi Marital Emperor of Han greatly
  expanded borders
• Lasted more than 400 years
• Confucianism became new state philosophy
• Introduced civil service exam system to select
  new government officials

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Chinese Philosophies

• Confucianism
• Emphasized filial piety, Five Constant
  Relationships
• Daoism
• Emphasized harmony with nature
• Legalism
• Introduced by Hanfeizi
• Strict laws harsh punishments

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Han Accomplishments

• Textile manufacturing
• Iron casting leads to invention of steel
• Paper making
• Invention of rudder and fore-and-aft rigging for
  ships (could sail into wind for first time
• Increased trade