Chapter 5: India’s First Empires

Lesson 1: Origins of Hindu India

Aim

Students will be able to describe how the Four Varnas impacted India’s first empires.

The Four Varnas

Four Varnas= social groups that ranked people from high to low

Top: Brahmins- priestly, in charge of religious ceremonies

Kshatriyas- warriors

Vaisyas- commoners who were merchants and farmers

Sudras- peasants or servants

Sudras had limited rights

The Caste System

In the system, every Indian was believed to be born into a caste based on occupation and family lineage.

A caste determined what jobs people could have, whom they could marry, and what groups they could socialize with

Higher castes were believed to have greater religious purity and castes at the bottom were seen as impure.

Lower group-Untouchables- people who were viewed as impure.

Untouchables- given tasks like handling dead bodies

Hinduism

Origins with the Aryan people

Evidence of religion comes from Vedas- collections of hymns and religious ceremonies

Brahmin- single force in the universe

Atman- duty of the individual to seek the ultimate reality

One achieves Brahmin through the use and performance of yoga.

Aim

Students will be able to describe the teachings and principles of Hinduism.

Yoga

Yoga- a method of training developed by the Hindus that is supposed to lead to oneness with Brahman

Four types: Path of Knowledge Path of Love Path of Work Path of Meditation

Ultimate goal- leave behind the cycle of earthly life and achieve the spiritual union of the individual soul with the Great World Soul- Brahman

Polytheistic

Believed in many gods (three chief gods)- Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer

Hindus sought not only salvation but also a means of gaining ordinary things they need in life

Principles of Hinduism

Reincarnation- belief that the individual soul is reborn in a different form after death

Karma- the force of a person’s actions in this life in determining how the person will be reborn in the next life

Karma goes by social class- Brahmins are seen as the closest to being released from the law of reincarnation

Principles of Hinduism

The concept of karma is ruled by the dharma- divine law

Dharma requires all people to do their duty.

Dharma duties are closely linked to the social class structure

Sacred Texts

Hinduism has no holy book but texts that have the beliefs of Hinduism.

Three books: Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Verdas

Aim

Students will be able to explain the geography of India as well as the Buddhism religion.

Geography of India

Geography of India

Subcontinent

Shaped like a triangle

Includes the Himalayan Mountains (the largest mountains in the world)

Includes the Indus River Valley

South of Indus River- Deccan- hilly, dry, sparsely populated

Who are the Aryans?

Aryans were nomadic people

Excelled in the art of war

Set foundation for Hindu religion

The period of time when the Hindu religion was founded: Vedic Age

What did the Aryans do?

Used iron plows

Irrigation

Turned the jungle type land into farmable land

Crops grown: wheat, barley, rice, cotton, grain, vegetables, and spices

Section 2: Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama

Founder of Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama came from a small kingdom- son of a princely family.

Appeared to have everything: wealth, good appearance, model wife, child, a throne that would be his.

Became aware of the pain and suffering of the world.

Decided to leave his luxurious life to seek the cure for human suffering

Siddhartha Gautama

Abused his physical body

Came very close to dying from not eating

Practiced ascetics- self-denial to achieve ultimate reality

One day he was enlightened and spent the rest of his life preaching what he discovered.

The teachings became the basic principles of Buddhism

Principles of Buddhism

Believed that the physical surroundings were an illusion

Pain, poverty, and sorrow were cased by human attachment to things

Goal: achieve nirvana- ultimate reality- the end of the self and a reunion with the Great World Soul

Four Noble Truths

1. Ordinary life is full of suffering

2. This suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves

3. The way to end suffering is to end desire for selfish goals and to see others as extensions of ourselves.

4. The way to end desire is to follow the Middle Path

Middle Path (Eightfold Path)

1. Right view- we need to know the Four Noble Truths

2. Right intention- we need to decide what we really want

3. Right speech- we must seek to speak truth and to speak well of others.

4. Right action- do not kill, do not steal, do not life, do not consume alcohol or drugs.

5. Right livelihood- we must do work that uplifts us

Middle Path (Eightfold Path)

6. Right effort

7. Right mindfulness- we must keep our minds in control of our senses

8. Right concentration- we must meditate to see the world in a new way

Buddhism and Reincarnation

Accepted the idea of reincarnation

Did not believe in the defined castes and reincarnation

Humans should reach nirvana as a result of their behavior in this life

Buddhism

Siddhartha forbade his followers from worshiping him or his image

Eventually agreed to accept women into the Buddhist monastic order

Section 3: Three Major Empires in India

The Mauryan Empire

Candragupta Maurya

Pataliputra

Highly centralized

Provinces

Governors

Asoka (2 times)

Mauryan Empire

Buddhism

Buddhist

Buddhism

Hospitals

Roads

Sent teachers to promote education

Kushan Empire Northern

Silk Road

China

Roman Empire

Trade

China

Persia

Roman Empire

Hinduism

Buddhism

Gupta Kingdom

Gupta

Candra Gupta

Candragupta Maurya

Northern

375

415

Golden Age

China

Gupta Empire

Southeast Asia

Mediterranean

Pilgrims

Gold

Silver

Nomadic Huns

7th

Gupta Empire

Reasons why it fell:1. Weak rulers and foreign invasions

2. Invaders: White Huns from central Asia

3. Nomads destroyed villages

Government in the Gupta Empire

Maintained a strong central government

Gave power to local leaders

The local leaders were elected by merchants and artisans

Each village had a headman and council who made decisions for the village

In earlier times, women were allowed to serve on councils.

Overtime, Hindu law placed greater restrictions on women

Accomplishments of Gupta Empire

Established universities

Supported arts and literature

Developed the concept of zero and the decimal system

Used Sanskrit language to write literature

Used herbs and other remedies to treat illnesses

Surgeons set bones and repaired injuries

Vaccinated people against smallpox

**Overall Indian Family Life**

Patriarchal- father or oldest male was the head of the household

Children learned the family trade or worked the fields like their parents

Arrange marriage

Women’s roles were restricted over time. Upper class women were restricted to their homes

and had to be covered from head to toe Lower class women were to work in the fields or did

spinning