History- chapters 4 and 9
Kshatriyas
Second highest social class consisting of warriors and aristicrats
Vaishyas
Second lowest social class consisting of cultivators, artisans, and merchants
Fertility cults
Harappan religion had strong concern for fertility. Venerated gods who represents creation or procreation. Hinduism has similar concerns regarding fertility.
BrahmanMoksha
A deep, dreamless sleep that came with permanent liberation from physical incarnation.
What were the advantages and disadvantages of the caste system? How did the caste system reflect Indian society?
Advantages:good economy, well organized way of political society Disadvantages: unfair, belittling,
Discuss the nature of Harappan society. What makes this society so unique? Compare it to other contemporary ancient societies.
Big agricultural society, political structure is unknown. Wealthy and good economy
Sanskrit
The Aryans' sacred language
Siddhartha Gautama
The Buddah
Jainism
Strict religion w/ extreme nonviolence laws. Not very popular
Megasthenes
A Greek ambassador and diplomatic representative of the selucid emperor. Wrote a great deal of information about India.
Lawbook of Manu
A book of proper moral behavior and social relationships. This book stated that men were to respect women, but that women had to be subordinate to and dependent on the men in their lives.
How are the Upanishads different from the Vedas? What might these differences tell us about the evolution of Indian religious thought?
Upanishads talk about reincarnation more and the ability to escape it. Vendas are the Aryans religion's documents
Mahabharata
Work that described women as weak willed and emotional. It praised women who were extremely devoted to their husbands
Ramayana
Work that described women as weak willed and emotional. It praised women who were extremely devoted to their husbands
Kautalya
A careful and systematic advisor for Chandragupta, who's procedures are found in the political handbook entitled the Arthashastra. Kautalya advised Chandragupta to spy on the citizens, as he didn't trust them.
Karma
A doctrine which accounted for the specific incarnations a soul experienced.
Samsara
A doctrine which held that upon death individual souls go temporarily to the World of the Fathers and then return to earth in a new incarnation.
Aryans
A herding people that spoke an indo-European language. Chief deity was Indra. Migrated to South Asia in large numbers in 1500 B.C.E.
Gandhara
A kingdom created by the Darius the First from Persia after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains.
Harappa
A large city fed by the agricultural surplus of the Indus River Valley.
Mohenjo-daro
A large city fed by the agricultural surplus of the Indus River Valley.
Krishna
A story charector of a charioteer who was the incarnation of a god. the story was to spread devotion to your caste and that the reward was everlasting salvation. This was a Hindu story.
Jati
A subcaste largely determined by occupation. Members of a jati ate together, intermarried, and cared for each other's sick
Upanishads
each of a series of Hindu sacred treatises written in Sanskrit circa 800-200 BC, expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms.
Shudras
lowest social class consisting of landless peasants and serfs
Chandragupta Maurya
Laid the foundation for the Mauryan Empire
Patriarchal
The Aryans established a patriarchal society on the basis of gender distinctions. This system stood alongside the caste system and Varna hierarchy as a prominent feature of their society. Only makes could inherit property, perform rituals, learn the vendas, and receive an education
Bodhisattvas
An individual; who had merited nirvana but who purposefully delayed it so as to help[ others achieve it too
Noble Eightfold Path
Another set of teachings meant to bring an end to dsesire
Examine the political world of ancient India. Why was India politically fragmented? How did this lack of political unity influence the course of Indian history?
Did not have one United government but several Easily penetrate able because their were many kingdoms
Indus River
Draws water from rain and melting snow from the Hindu Kush and Himalayas. Contains an enormous quantity of silt which it deposits along the way, creating very rich soil. Made agricultural society possible in northern India. Harappan settlements occurred along the Indus River.
Compare and contrast the political, religious, and social characteristics of Harappan society to those of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Indian political more kingdoms less defined government than the others. Indian religion focused on reincarnation. Social the caste system wasa very different form of socia structure
1. In the Rig Veda, the following lines relate to the sacrifice of the primeval being Purusha: "The brahmin was his mouth, of both his arms was the kshatriya made. His thighs became the vaishya, from his feet the shudra was produced." What do these words mean? What is the significance of the association with the various body parts? What does the preeminence of a god such as Indra say about the Aryans at the time of their arrival in India? What happened to the view of Indra as India evolved?
It shows the importance of all the castes, but that the higher levels are more glorious than others. It is probably used to encourage the lower castes to stay loyal. It shows them their worth in the society and how they contribute.
Guptas
Left decisions and local government in the hands of allies. During invasions, administration broke easily
Untouchables
Lowest of the low, not even considered a social class. People who did dirty or unpleasant tasks like butchering cattle or handling dead bodies. People thought the dirtiness of their work polluted them and so they stayed away as to not get polluted themselves.
Pataliputra
Magadha city
Bhagavad Gita
Poetic work that illustrates both the promise of salvation from Hinduism and the expectations it has from its people
Examine the journeys and nature of the Indo-Europeans. How did they influence India? How did they influence the rest of the ancient world?
Set up the caste system , encourage male dominance,
Kushan Empire
Supported art and Buddhism. Silk Road networks
Four Noble Truths
Teaches that all life involves suffering
Varna
Term meaning color, used to refer to the major social classes. This terminology suggests that social distinctions arose partly because of the complexions of the Aryans and the Dravidians
Caste system
The caste system slowly developed as the Aryans established settlements throughout India. At first the social distinctions were the differences in complexions between the lighter skinned Aryans and the darker skinned Dravidians. Over time they mixed, and intermarried o the point where distinguishing between the two was impossible. Around 1000 B.C.E. the aryans created four major social classes based on jobs. The Brahmin (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas (cultivatators, artisans, and merchants), and the shudras (landless peasants and serfs). The untouchables were added later. They were not even considered a caste as they were people who performed dirty or unpleasant tasks. They were considered the lowest of the low.
Vedas
The earliest of the Aryans orally transmitted works which were collections of hymns, songs, prayers, and rituals honoring the various aryan gods.
Ahimsa
The extreme jainist nonviolence law
Brahmins
The highest social class consisting of priests
Sati
The practice of which widows would voluntarily throw themselves on the funeral pyre of their deceased husband to join him in death. This practice was to show women's dependence on men.
Mahayana Buddhism
The reformed Buddhism faith. Appealed to a lot more people and became wildly popular
Why did Buddhism eventually lose popularity in India?
The reformed version of Hinduism made Buddhism much less popular
Examine the changing role of women in ancient India. How does the Lawbook of Manu reflect this transformation?
Treated as inferior to men. Law book of Manu says women need to completely devoted to their husbands
