India & China Establish Empires

India & China Establish Empires

India

• Geography– The physical & location were important to

the development of Indian Civilization• Physical Barriers: Himalayas, Hindu Kush,&

Indian Ocean made it difficult to invaded • Mountain Passes in the Hindus Kush provided

invasion routes into the Indian subcontinent• Indus and Ganges were the most important

rivers in the Indian subcontinent.

Hindu Kush Mts

Himalayas Mtns

Indo-Aryan

• Aryans ( Indo-Aryans)– Migrated from Asia Minor– Assertion of dominance in India– Created a rigid caste system (hereditary)

• Influenced all social interactions and choices of occupations

• Blending of native beliefs

Mauryan Empire300 B.C.E. to 185 B.C.E.

• United most of India

• Continued political unification of much of India

• Emperor Asoka – Spread Buddhism throughout Asia

• Contributions– Spread of Buddhism - Free Hospital– Veterinary clinics - Good roads

Gupta Empire320 B.C.E to 550 (C.E.) AD

• The Golden Age of Classical India– Peace and Prosperity– Contributions:

– Mathematics: most advance in the world» Modern numbers: zero, decimal system

– Astronomy: Helped with trading ships positions» Concept of earth as round

– Founded a calendar based on the sun: adopted 7 day week and divided up the day into hours

– Medicine: surgery, setting bones plastic surgery, – New Textiles– literature

Contributions of IndiaThe Spread of Trade

• India was rich in precious resources:– Spices, gold, and diamonds

• Trade routes:– Silk Road cross Asia into Mediterranean basin– Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean to Arabian

• Effects of Indian Trade– Lead to Banking– Spread religions to new regions

• Asoka spread Buddhism

Hinduism• Characteristics:

– Caste system in religious law based on occupation

– Belief in many forms of one major deity

– Reincarnation: cycles of rebirth

– Vedas & Upanishands Sacred writings

– Spread along major international trade routes

hinduism

Hinduism

• Karma: Knowledge that all thoughts

• and actions result in future consequences

Buddhism

• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)

• Buddha “the Enlightened One”• Four Noble Truths• Eightfold Path to

Enlightenment• Reincarnation• Rejected the caste system• ***Asoka’s missionaries and

their writing spread Buddhism form India to China and other parts of Asia

China

• Why was the Great Wall of China Built?– Migratory invader raided the Chinese settlements

form the North. – Built as a line of Defense against Invaders. – Built by Qin Shi Huangdi

• Government:– Succession of ruling families (Dynasties)– Chinese rulers were considered divine– Severed under the “MANDATE FROM HEAVEN” as

long as their rule was just>**********

Great Wall of China

Great Wall

Contributions

• Civil Service System

• Paper

• Porcelain

• Silk: Silk Road facilitate trade and contract with China and other cultures as far away as Rome

• Confucianism and Taoism

Confucianism

• Contributed to the social order in China• Belief that humans are good, not bad• Respect for elders• Code of politeness, still used in China today• Emphasis on education• Ancestor worship

Taoism

• Formed Chinese Culture and Values– Humility– Simple life and inner peace– Harmony and inner peace with

nature

Others

• Yin/Yang: represented opposites for Confucianism and Taoism

• Chinese forms of Buddhism spread throughout Asia