AP World History Chapter 9 - India
How did foreign invasion enable the unification of India?
About 520 B.C.E. the Persian emperor Darius conquered parts of northwestern India, and made the kingdom of Gandhara a province of the Achaemenid empire. People there started learning Persian methods of management. About 200 years later, after overrunning the rest of the Persian empire, Alexander of Macedon came to Northern India and crushed the states he found there. He left soon after, leaving a power vacuum.
What were the 4 main Indian castes?
After their arrival in India, the Aryans recognized four main castes or classes of people: - brahmins (priests), - kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats), - vaishyas (peasants and merchants), - shudras (serfs).
When did jainism become popular?
Although Jainist doctrines first appeared during the seventh century B.C.E., they became popular only when the great teacher Vardhamana Mahavira turned to Jainism in the late sixth century B.C.E. His disciples referred to Mahavira as Jina ("the conqueror"), and borrowing from this title his followers referred to themselves as Jains.
After the end of the Mauryan Empire, how was India ruled?
Although the Mauryan empire came to an end, India did not crumble into anarchy. Instead, local rulers formed a series of kingdoms that brought order to large regions.
In ancient Indian religion, what did the Brahmin do?
Ancient Indian religion revolved around ritual sacrifices offered by brahmin priests in hopes that the gods would reward their loyal human servants with large harvests and abundant herds. Because
What are some ways India thrived under Ashoka's rule?
As a result of Ashoka's policies, the various regions of India became well integrated, and benefited from both an expanding economy and a stable government. Ashoka encouraged the expansion of agriculture—the foundation of the empire's wealth—by building irrigation systems. He encouraged trade by building roads, most notably a highway of more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) linking Pataliputra with Taxila, the chief political and commercial center of northern India, which offered access to Bactria, Persia, and other points west. Ashoka also provided comforts for administrators, merchants, and other travelers by planting banyan trees to provide shade, digging wells, and establishing inns along the roads.
How did Ashoka manage his government?
As heir to the administrative structure that Chandragupta and Kautalya had instituted, Ashoka ruled through a tightly organized bureaucracy.
As Indian wealth grew, how did peoples' attitude religion change?
As the Indian economy developed, however, these services [that the brahmin performed] seemed less meaningful, especially to the newly wealthy classes of merchants and artisans. Many of these individuals came from the lower castes, and they resented the brahmins' pretensions to superiority.
Where did guilds come from?
As trade and industrial activity expanded, new groups of artisans, craftsmen, and merchants appeared, many of whom did not fit easily in the established structure. Individuals working in the same craft or trade usually joined together to form a guild, a corporate body that supervised prices and wages in a given industry and provided for the welfare of members and their families.
How did Ashoka communicate his policies to the public?
Ashoka communicated his policies throughout his realm by inscribing edicts in natural stone formations or on pillars that he ordered erected. In these promulgations, known as the rock and pillar edicts, Ashoka issued imperial decrees, encouraged his subjects to observe Buddhist values, and expressed his intention to serve as a fair, just, and humane ruler.
Why didn't Ashoka's policies or empire survive long after he died?
Ashoka died in 232 B.C.E., and decline set in almost immediately. The empire depended on a strong army and a lot of government workers. Salaries for both soldiers and bureaucrats were expensive. Eventually, those administrative costs outstripped the revenues that flowed into the central treasury. Because of their financial difficulties, they were unable to hold the realm together.
How did the management style of the Gupta Dynasty differ from that of the Mauryan dynasty?
Ashoka had insisted on knowing the details of re- gional affairs, which he closely monitored from his court at Pataliputra. The Guptas left local government and administration, and even the making of basic policy, in the hands of their allies in the various regions of their empire.
After he conquered Kalinga, what did Ashoka turn his attention to?
Ashoka is much better known as a governor than as a conqueror. With Kalinga subdued, Ashoka ruled almost the entire subcontinent—only the southernmost region escaped his control—and he turned his attention to the responsible government of his realm.
What was Ashoka's first major undertaking when he began his reign?
Ashoka's first major undertaking as emperor was to conquer Kalinga and bring it under Mauryan control, which he did in a bloody campaign in 260 B.C.E. By Ashoka's estimate, 100,000 Kalingans died in the fighting, 150,000 were driven from their homes, and untold numbers of others perished in the ruined land.
Why did Buddhism become more popular than Jainism?
Because it did not demand the rigorous asceti- cism of Jainism, Buddhism became far more popular. Merchants were especially prominent in the ranks of the early Buddhists.
Who brought an end to the Indo-Greek kingdom of Bactria?
Beginning in the late second century B.C.E., several groups of nomadic conquerors from central Asia attacked Bactria and eventually put an end to the Indo-Greek kingdom there. The most successful of these conquerors were the Kushans, who ruled a sizable empire embracing much of northern India and central Asia from about 1 to 300 C.E.
What was child marriage?
By the Gupta era child marriage was common: when girls were age eight or nine, their parents betrothed them to men in their twenties. Formal marriage took place just after the girls reached puberty. The practice of child marriage placed women under the control of older men and encouraged them to devote themselves to family matters rather than to public affairs in the larger society.
After the Aryans migrated to India & established a series of small kingdoms, which of those kingdoms longstanding established dominance over the others?
By the sixth century B.C.E., wars of expansion had resulted in the consolidation of several large regional kingdoms that dominated much of the sub-continent. Despite strenuous efforts, none of these kingdoms was able to establish hegemony over the others.
Where was the capital of the Gupta Dynasty?
Chandra Gupta's successors, Samudra Gupta (reigned 335-375 C.E.) and Chandra Gupta II (reigned 375-415 C.E.), made the Magadhan capital of Pataliputra once again the center of a large empire.
Who started the Mauryan dynasty?
Chandragupta Maurya laid the foundation for the Mauryan empire, the first state to bring a centralized and unified government to most of the Indian subcontinent.
What strategy did Chandragupta follow to take over India?
Chandragupta seized control of small, remote regions of Magadha, then worked his way gradually toward the center. By 321 B.C.E. he had overthrown the ruling dynasty and consolidated his hold on the kingdom. He then brought northwestern India under his control. Next he ventured beyond the Indus River and conquered the Greek state in Bactria, where Alexander of Macedon's Greek successors maintained a kingdom during the Seleucid era. By the end of the fourth century B.C.E., Chandragupta's empire embraced all of northern India from the Indus to the Ganges.
When Chandragupta's grandson started his reign, what was the only region that remained independent of the Mauryan empire?
Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka, began his reign (268-232 B.C.E.) as a conqueror. When he came to power, the only major region that remained independent of the Mauryan empire was the kingdom of Kalinga (modern Orissa) in the east-central part of the subcontinent. Kalinga was not only independent of Mauryan rule but also actively hostile to its spread.
Who added most of southern India to the the Mauryan empire?
Chandragupta's son succeeded him in 297 B.C.E. and added most of southern India to the growing empire.
What was India like during the late Gupta Dynasty?
During the late fourth and early fifth centuries C.E., however, the Gupta dynasty brought stability and prosperity to the subcontinent. A Chinese Buddhist monk named Faxian traveled widely in India searching for texts of the Buddhist scriptures during the reign of Chandra Gupta II. In an account of his travels, Faxian reported that India was a prosperous land with little crime. It was possible to travel throughout the country, he said, without fear of molestation and even without official travel documents.
What are four things - beside the social implications or the doctrine - that helped Buddhism become popular in India?
Following the example of the Buddha himself, early Buddhist monks and preachers avoided the use of Sanskrit, the literary language of the Vedas that the brahmins employed in their rituals, in favor of vernacular tongues that reached a much larger popular audience. Furthermore, early Buddhists recognized holy sites that served as focal points for devotion. The most enthusiastic and highly motivated converts joined monastic communities, which later became important institutions in Indian society. The early Buddhist movement also benefited from the official patronage and support of the Mauryan dynasty. The precise reason for Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism is unclear.
What people group migrated to India after 1500 BCE?
Following their migrations to India after 1500 B.C.E., the Aryans established a series of small kingdoms throughout the subcontinent. For centuries the rulers of those kingdoms fought constantly among themselves and sought to expand their states by absorbing others.
Describe the long-distance overland trade routes out of India
From India, long-distance trade passed overland in two directions: through the Hindu Kush mountains and the Gandharan capital of Taxila to Persia and the Mediterranean basin, and across the silk roads of central Asia to markets in China.
How did guilds disrupt the social order & caste system?
Guild members lived in the same quarter of town, socialized with one another, intermarried, and cared for the group's widows, orphans, and needy. In effect, the guilds functioned as subcastes, known as jati, based on occupation.In fact, jati assumed much of the responsibility for maintaining social order in India.
What are some true things Megasthenes wrote about India?
He described India as a wealthy land that supported a distinctive society with well-established cultural traditions. A fertile land that supported two harvests per year; the capital Pataliputra as a rectangular shaped city along the Ganges river, surrounded by a moat and massive wall with 570 towers and 64 gates. Large armies that used elephants. Hierarchical society.
Where did Ashoka establish his capital?
He established his capital at the fortified city of Pataliputra (near modern Patna), where a central administration developed policies for the whole empire. Pataliputra was a thriving and cosmopolitan city:
What was Megasthenes' job when he lived in India?
He was the Diplomatic representative of the Seleucid emperor.
What were some crazy things that Megasthenes wrote about India?
He wrote about ants the size of foxes who mined gold from the earth; of monstrous humans with no mouths, or with the heads of dogs.
How did Hindu ethics differ from earlier Indian moralists?
Hindu ethics thus differed considerably from those of earlier Indian moralists. The Upanishads had taught that only through renunciation and detachment from the world could individuals escape the cycle of incarnation. As represented in the Bhagavad Gita, however, Hindu ethical teachings made life much easier for the lay classes by holding out the promise of salvation precisely to those who participated actively in the world and met their caste responsibilities.
As Hinduism grew in popularity, what happened to Buddhism?
Hinduism gradually displaced Buddhism as the most popular religion in India. Buddhism remained strong through much of the first millennium C.E., and until about the eleventh century pilgrims traveled to India from as far away as China to visit the holy sites of Buddhism and learn about the faith in its original homeland. Within India, however, Buddhism grew remote from the popular masses. By about 1000 C.E., Buddhism had entered a noticeable decline in India while Hinduism grew in popularity.
Who started Buddhism, and when?
His name was Siddhartha Gautama, born about 563 B.C.E. in a small tribal state governed by his father in the foothills of the Himalayas. The Buddha publicly announced his doctrine for the first time about 528 B.C.E. at the Deer Park of Sarnath, near the Buddhist holy city of Banaras (modern Varanasi), in a sermon delivered to friends who had formerly been his companions in asceticism. Buddhists refer to this sermon as the "Turning of the Wheel of the Law".
Who succeeded Chandragupta?
His son succeeded him in 297 B.C.E.
When did India classical society develop? What are some of the most prominent features of that society?
In the centuries after 500 BCE. A well-defined social structure Several religious traditions Buddhism & Hinduism
What were some accomplishments of Indian scholars during the Gupta dynasty?
Indian physicians developed techniques of plastic surgery, and astronomers determined that the earth is a sphere that rotates on its axis. Advanced mathematics was possible because Indian numerals included a symbol for zero. tations. It is much simpler to multiply 19 84, for example, than XIX LXXXIV. With their flexible numerals and their system of place-value notation, Indian mathematicians were able to carry out advanced algebraic calculations and anticipate the invention of calculus. Indian mathematicians calculated the value of pi to 3.1416 and the length of the solar year to 365.3586805 days. In the eighth century, Arab and Persian scholars encountered Indian mathematics and readily adopted what they called "Hindi numerals," which Europeans later termed "Arabic numerals," since they learned of them through Arab Muslims.
What was the name of Megasthenes' book about India?
Indika
After the end of the Mauryan Empire, who invaded northwestern India?
Indo-Greek forces invaded northern India as early as 182 B.C.E. and seized a large territory extending as far south as Gujarat. For almost two centuries after the collapse of the Mauryan empire, northwestern India fell under the rule of Greek-speaking conquerors from Bactria. Bactrian rule had the effect of promot- ing cross-cultural interaction and exchange in northern India. Large volumes of trade provided sources of revenue for the Bactrian rulers.
Why, despite it's popularity, did jainism remainedthe faith of a small minority?
It has simply been too difficult—or even impossible—for most people to observe.
What implications did jainist beliefs have for the Indian social order?
Jainist values and ethics had significant social implications. If all creatures possessed souls and participated in the ultimate reality of the world, it made little sense to draw sharp distinctions between different classes of human beings. As a result, the Jains did not recognize social hierarchies based on varna or jati.
What did jains believe?
Jains believed that everything in the universe—humans, animals, plants, the air, bodies of water, and even inanimate physical objects such as rocks—possessed a soul. As long as they remained trapped in terrestrial bodies, these souls experienced both physical and psychological suffering. Only by purification from selfish behavior could souls gain release from their imprisonment, shed the burdens of karma that they had accumulated during their various incarnations, and attain a state of bliss.
What would happen to a person in a jati who did not abode by the rules of the jati?
Jati regularly organized courts, through which they disciplined guild members, resolved differences, and regulated community affairs. Individuals who did not abide by group rules were liable to expulsion from the community. These outcastes then had to make their way through life—often by working as butchers, leather tanners, or undertakers or in other occupations deemed low and unclean.
How were the Kushans similar to the Bactrians?
Like the Indo-Greek Bactrians, the Kushans facilitated commerce between India and lands to the north. Indeed, the Kushan empire played a crucial role in the silk roads network by pacifying much of the large region between Persia and China, thus making it possible for merchants to travel safely across long distances.
How was Buddhism like Jainism?
Like the Jains, the Buddhists sought to escape the cycle of incarnation without depending on the services of the brahmins. Like the Jains, too, they did not recognize social distinctions based on caste or jati.
Where was the Gupta Dynasty based?
Like the Mauryas, the Guptas based their state in Magadha, a crucial region because of its wealth, its dominance of the Ganges valley, and its role as intermediary between the various regions of the subcontinent.
What did early Indian literature suggest about women in Indian society?
Literary works suggest that women were largely subordinate to men. The two great Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, commonly portrayed women as weak-willed and emotional creatures and exalted wives who devoted them- selves to their husbands. In the Ramayana, for example, the beautiful Sita loyally followed her husband Rama into undeserved exile in a wildforest and remained faithful to him even during a long separation.
How did Mahayana Buddhism differ from Theravada Buddhism?
Mahayana Buddhism adopted 3 new developments in Buddhist thought and practice that reduced obligations of believers, opened new avenues to salvation, and brought explosive popularity to the faith: 1. In the first place, whereas the Buddha had not considered himself divine, some of his later followers began to worship him as a god. Thus Buddhism acquired a devotional focus that helped converts channel their spiritual energies and identify more closely with their faith. 2. In the second place, theologians articulated the notion of the boddhisatva ("an enlightened being"). Boddhisatvas were individuals who had reached spiritual perfection and merited the reward of nirvana, but who intentionally delayed their entry into nirvana to help others who were still struggling. Some theologians taught that boddhisatvas could even perform good deeds on behalf of their less spiritually inclined brethren. Boddhisatvas served as examples of spiritual excellence, and they provided a source of inspiration. 3. Finally, Buddhist monasteries began to accept gifts from wealthy individuals and to regard the bequests as acts of generosity that merited salvation. Thus wealthy individuals could enjoy the comforts of the world, avoid the sacrifices demanded by early Buddhist teachings, and still ensure their salvation.
How did Buddhism affect education in India?
Mahayana Buddhism flourished partly because of educational institutions that efficiently promoted the faith. During the Vedic era, Indian education was mostly an informal affair involving a sage and his students. When Jains and Buddhists organized monasteries, however, they began to offer regular instruction and established educational institutions. Most monasteries provided basic education, and larger communities offered advanced instruction as well.
Who wrote the earliest description of India by a foreigner?
Megasthenes
What did members of the Charvaka sect believe?
Members of the Charvaka sect believed that the gods were figments of the imagination, that brahmins were charlatans who enriched themselves by hoodwinking others, and that human beings came from dust and returned to dust like any other animal in the natural world.
As India's classical society developed, did it have a strong imperial government?
No, efforts to maintain a strong imperial society in India did not succeed as well as in China or Persia. Classical India was dominated by regional kingdoms rather than a central empire. However, central empires promoted the spread of Indian cultural traditions - such as Buddhism - because they promoting them throughout the empire and beyond.
What kingdom was poised to fill the power vacuum left when Alexander of Macedon left after conquering part of Northern India?
Poised to fill the vacuum was the dynamic kingdom of Magadha, located in the central portion of the Ganges plain. Several regional kingdoms in the valley of the Ganges had become wealthy as workers turned forests into fields and trade became an increasingly prominent feature of the local economy. By about 500 B.C.E. Magadha had emerged as the most important state in northeastern India. During the next two centuries, the kings of Magadha conquered the neighboring states and gained control of Indian commerce passing through the Ganges valley as well as overseas trade be- tween India and Burma passing across the Bay of Bengal. The withdrawal of Alexander from the Punjab presented Magadha with a rare opportunity to expand.
What is "popular Hinduism"?
Popular Hinduism increasingly departed from the older traditions of the brahmins. Hinduism experienced changes in doctrine and observances that resulted in a faith that addressed the interests and met the needs of ordinary people.
How did the leaders of the Gupta Dynasty expand their kingdom?
Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II conquered many of the regional kingdoms of India, and they established tributary alliances with others that elected not to fight. Only the Deccan Plateau and the southern-most part of the subcontinent remained outside the orbit of Gupta influence.
How did the rhythm of monsoon winds help sea trade?
Seaborne trade benefited especially from the rhythms of the monsoon winds that govern weather and the seasons in the Indian Ocean basin. During the spring and summer the winds blow from the southwest, and during the fall and winter they come from the northeast. Once mariners recognized these rhythms, they could sail easily and safely before the wind to any part of the Indian Ocean basin.
Who was Kautalya?
Some of Kautalya's advice survives in the ancient Indian political handbook known as the Arthashastra, a manual offering detailed instructions on the uses of power and the principles of government.
Summarize Kautalya's advice to Chandragupta in the his manual, called the "Arthashastra"
The Arthashastra outlined methods of administering the empire, overseeing trade and agriculture, collecting taxes, maintaining order, conducting foreign relations, and waging war. Kautalya also advised Chandragupta to make abundant use of spies, and he even included prostitutes in his stable of informants. Like the emperors of Persia and China, Chandra- gupta and Kautalya built a bureaucratic administrative system that enabled them to implement policies throughout the state.
What dynasty succeeded the Kushan empire?
The Gupta Dynasty. On several occasions the Kushans and other rulers of northern India faced ambitious kings who sought to expand their realms and imitate the Mauryas by building an empire based in the Indian subcontinent. Only with the Guptas, however, did any of them approach the realization of their imperial ambitions.
What invaders brought about the end of the Gupta Dynasty?
The White Huns, a nomadic people from central Asia who occupied Bactria during the fourth century C.E.. For the first half of the fifth century, the Guptas repelled the Huns, but the defense cost them dearly in resources and eventually weakened their state. Regional governors progressively usurped imperial rights and powers, and contemporary documents do not even record the names of all the later Gupta emperors. Once again, imperial government survived only for a short term in India. Not until the establishment of the Mughal dynasty in the sixteenth century C.E. did any state rule as much of India as the Mauryan and Gupta empires ruled. for the most part, large regional kingdoms dominated political life in India during the millennium between the Gupta and the Mughal dynasties.
What do Buddhists believe?
The core of the Buddha's doctrine, known as the Four Noble Truths, teaches that all life involves suffering; that desire is the cause of suffering; that elimination of desire brings an end to suffering; and that a disciplined life conducted in accordance with the Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire. The Noble Eightfold Path calls for individuals to lead balanced and moderate lives, rejecting both the devotion to luxury often found in human society and the regimes of extreme asceticism favored by hermits and Jains. Taken together, the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path constitute the Buddhist "dharma"—the basic doctrine shared by Buddhists of all sects.
Why was Kalinga's resistance problematic for the Chandragupta enmpire?
The kingdom's resistance created difficulties for Ashoka because Kalinga controlled the principal trade routes, both by land and by sea, between the Ganges plain and southern India.
How did emperors after Ashoka try to keep funding their expensive bureaucracy?
The later Mauryan emperors often resorted to the tactic of debasing their currency—reducing the amount of precious metal in a coin without reducing its nominal value.
Who laid the foundations for the Gupta Dynasty?
The new empire arose on foundations laid by Chandra Gupta (not related to Chandragupta Maurya), who forged alliances with pow- erful families in the Ganges region and established a dynamic kingdom (the beginning of the Gupta Dynasty) about the year 320 C.E.
Describe several factors that helped long-distance trade with India grow.
The volume of long-distance trade also grew as large imperial states in China, southwest Asia, and the Mediterranean basin provided a political foundation enabling merchants to deal with their counterparts in distant lands. Direct political and military links with foreign peoples drew Indians into long-distance commercial relations. The presence of Persian administrators in India and the building of roads between Persia and India facilitated commerce between the two lands. Alexander of Macedon's conquests helped to establish even more extensive trade networks by forging links between India and the Mediterranean basin by way of Bactria, Persia, and Anatolia.
What was the Bhagavad Gita?
The work is a self-contained episode of the Mahabharata that illustrates both the expectations that Hin duism made of individuals and the promise of salvation that it held out to them.
What did towns provide in Indian life?
These towns served the needs of a productive agricultural society by providing manufactured products for local consumption—pots, textiles, iron tools, and other metal utensils—as well as luxury goods such as jewelry destined for the wealthy and elite classes. Flourishing towns maintained marketplaces and encouraged the development of trade.
How long did the Mauryan Empire last after Ashoka died?
They maintained control of the Ganges valley for some fifty years after Ashoka's death, but eventually they lost their grip even on this heartland of the Mauryan empire. By about 185 B.C.E. the Mauryan empire had disappeared.
How did brahmins change popular literature to develop hindu values?
Though originally a purely secular work, the brahmins made a prominent place in the poems Mahabharata and Ramayana for the god Vishnu.
How does tradition hold that Chandragupta ended his reign?
Tradition holds that Chandragupta abdicated his throne to become a monk and led such an ascetic life that he starved himself to death.
Which castes were afforded the most honor?
Traditional social theory accorded special honor to the brahmins and the kshatriyas be- cause of the worthy lives they had led during previous incarnations and the heavy responsibilities they assumed as priests, warriors, and rulers during their current incar- nations. Members of the vaishya and shudra castes, on the other hand, merited no special respect but, rather, had the obligation to work as directed by the higher castes.
What is a buddhists ultimate goal?
Ultimately, they believed that this lifestyle would lead them to personal salvation, which for Buddhists meant escape from the cycle of incarnation and attainment of nirvana, a state of perfect spiritual independence.
Who was the most prominent Kushan ruler?
Under Kanishka, the most prominent of the Kushan emperors (reigned 78-103 C.E.), the Kushan empire included modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, and northern India to Gujarat and the central part of the Ganges valley.
What allowed Indian scholars to flourish during the Gupta dynasty?
Under conditions of political stability, Gupta prosperity sustained the work of scholars and enabled them to lay the foundations for sophisticated studies in the natural sciences and mathematics.
What are some trading partners India had via sea trade?
the islands of Indonesia and the southeast Asian mainland,the lands bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Indian products also found markets in the Mediterranean basin.
What is the principle of ahimsa?
the principle of non-violence to other living things or their souls.
