Ancient IndiaAncient India’s religion, culture,

science evolved and spread to other religions through trade, while its first empires, established by the Mauryas and the Guptas, did not unify India permanently. The influence of Indian culture and religions is very evident throughout Southeast Asia. The diversity, cultures, beliefs, and languages, in India continues to pose challenges to Indian unification today.

Jamie Cooper, Becky Mitnik and Romy Smith

Religions of Ancient India India is the birthplace of religions that

date back to the before Christ era. The religions of ancient India affected the culture in ancient India due to the beliefs each religion had, whether it was the lifestyle choices made by Jainists and Buddhists or the social beliefs of Hindus.

Romy Smith

Hinduism

• Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. Hindus believe in three major gods: Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva. Hindus believe in karma which is the accumulation of a person’s good and bad deeds in their life. samsara is the belief in reincarnation and your Karma affects how you will live in your next life.

Romy Smith

Hinduism: The Caste System

• Hinduism has a caste system, which determines much of a person’s life.

• Brahmins: Priests and academics. Brahmins have the most power in the society.

• Kshatriyas- Nobles and warriors

• Vaishyas- Farmers, landowners and merchants

• Sudras- peasants and laborers

A Brahmin

Untouchables are outcasts and weren’t part of the caste system. They were given the worst jobs and not allowed near others. Many laws have been made to abolish the caste system.

Romy Smith

Buddhism

• Buddhists follow the teachings of Siddhartha guatama, the Buddha. The main goal of Buddhism is to reach nirvana, or enlightenment. To do so, one must give up all worldly possessions and pleasures.

• There are three forms of Buddhism; Theravada, mahayana and Vajrayāna.

• Buddhism rejects the idea of a caste system and also is considered a philosophy as opposed to a religion.

Romy Smith

The Buddha• The Buddha was born as a prince named

Siddhartha Gautama.• Siddhartha was born in northern India.• Before his birth, it was prophesized that he

would become a great world influence.• He was married at 16 and at 29 Siddhartha left

his wife and son to seek truth.• He meditated and came to realize that life is

suffering and that one must give up all their worldly possessions in order to reach nirvana.

• Became known as the Buddha, which means “enlightened one”

• The Buddha died when he politely ate spoiled food.

A picture of the Buddha.

Romy Smith

The Three Forms

• Theravada: the traditional form of Buddhism that follows the teachings of the Buddha.

• Mahayana: was created to “bring Buddhism” to the people who found it difficult to come to terms with the teachings that monks adhered to so strictly. It was more of a religion, where people worshipped the Buddha.

• Vajrayāna: Is considered an add-on to mahayana

Buddhist monks.

Statue of the Buddha

Romy Smith

Jainism

• Jainism is a religion that is similar to Hinduism and Buddhism.

• Jainists believe in not harming anything or anyone, mentally or physically

Romy Smith

Beliefs• Jainists believe in karma and achieving moksha, just like Hindus.• Jainists follow a strict vegetarian diet.• Jains believe that the universe consists of seven layers:

• The supreme abode: Located at the top of the universe, the liberated souls (Siddah) live.

• The upper world: consists of 30 heavens where celestial beings live.

• Middle world: Where earth exists.• Nether world: consists of seven hells, which have various forms of

punishment and suffering.

• The Nigoda: Where the lowest beings reside.

• Universe space: surrounds the upper world with layers of clouds.• Space beyond: an infinite place with nothing in it.

Romy Smith

More Beliefs

• Jainist believe in being honest and staying loyal to one’s spouse.

• There are two types of monks:Digambaras- means “Sky-clad” or naked. These monks

reject clothing.• Shvetambaras- means “white clad”. They do not wear

clothing of any color.

Romy Smith

Bibliography• Robinson, B.A. "Jainism." Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on

Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/jainism.htm.• Robinson, B.A. "Hinduism." Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on

Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm.• Robinson, B.A. "Buddhism." Religious Tolerance. Ontario Consultants on

Religious Tolerance. http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm.• Regnier, Ms. Lecture. LaGuardia HS, New York, NY. 16 Oct. 2008.• Pictures:• Jainism symbol: http://gbgm-umc.org/missionstudies/interfaith/images/sym-

jainism-210.gif• Buddhist symbol:

http://www.uscwm.org/mobilization_division/images/buddhism.jpg• Hindu symbol:

http://www.philadelphiaproject.co.za/downloads/html/religions/19.jpg• Buddhist monks:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1400/1419772642_2463f3cfcb.jpg• Digambaras:

http://www.theholidayspot.com/mahavirjayanti/images/begging.jpg• Shvetambaras: http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/46/66746-003-

D1AD5A53.gif• Statue of the Buddha: http://www.daviddunkle.com/buddha_big.jpg

Romy Smith

Trade Spreads Indian Culture

The 500 years between the Mauryan and Gupta Empires was an time of invasion and turmoil for Indian society. During the reign of the first three Guptas, India experienced a period of great achievement in the art, literature, religious thought, science, and mathematics. After Asoka’s death in 232 B.C., the Mauryan Empire began to break up. During the next 500 years, The Andhra Dynasty ruled the region and profited from the extensive trade between north and South India, Rome, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. During this time, northern India was becoming flooded with new people fleeing from different regions of Asia because of political troubles at home. The Greeks, Persians, and Central Asians disrupted Indian society and also introduces new languages and customs that enriched Indian culture even more so. During the reign of the first three Guptas, India experienced a period of great achievement in the arts, literature, religious thought, science, and mathematics.

Becky Mitnik

Literature and the Performing Arts

• One of India’s greatest writers, Kalidasa, may have been the court poet for Chandra Gupta II, who reigned from A.D. 375 to 415.

• Kalidasa’s most famous play is Shakuntala. Shakuntala tells the story of a beautiful girl who falls in love with and marries a middle-aged king. After they are separated, they suffer tragically because of a curse that prevents the king from recognizing his wife when they meet again.

• Generations of Indians have continued to enjoy and admire Kalidasa’s plays for the skillful writing and poignant qualities.

• Southern India also has rich literary tradition. In the second century A.D., the city of Madurai began holding writing academies; more than 2,000 Tamil poems from this period still exist.

• Drama was also very popular; in southern India, traveling acting troupes put on performances in cities across the region. Men and women combined dance and drama. Many of the classical dance forms used in India are based on techniques explained in a book written between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D.

• FUN FACT: Chess was invented in India.

Becky Mitnik

Astronomy, Mathematics and Medicine• The expansion of trade initiated the advance of science; sailors on trading ships

used stars for navigation at sea, and therefore, knowledge of astronomy increased. Greek invaders brought Western methods of keeping time; Indians adapted a calendar based on cycles of the sun instead of the moon, adopted a seven-day week, and divided each day into hours.

• During the Gupta Empire (A.D 320 to about 500), knowledge of astronomy increased further; almost 1,000 years before Columbus, Indian astronomers proved that the earth was round by observing a lunar eclipse. During this eclipse, the earth’s shadow fell across the face of the moon, and Indian astronomers noted the earth’s shadow to be curved, indicating the earth itself was round.

• Indian mathematics was among the most advanced in the world; modern numerals, the zero, and the decimal system were all invented in India. Circa A.D. 500, an Indian scientist named Aryabhata calculated the value of pi (∏) to four decimal places and also calculated the length of the solar year to be 365.3586805 days. This calculation is very close to modern calculations made with an atomic clock!

• Two important medical guides were compiled in Indian medicine; more than 1,000 diseases were classified and more than 500 medical plants were described in these works. Hindu physicians had the knowledge of how to perform surgery (including plastic surgery), and possibly gave inoculations (the introduction of a serum, a vaccine, or an antigenic substance into the body of a person or an animal, especially as a means to produce or boost immunity to a specific disease. Source: dictionary.com).

• FUN FACT: Sushruta is regarded as the Father of Surgery. Over 2600 years ago Sushrata & his team conducted complicated surgeries like cataract, artificial limbs, cesareans, fractures, urinary stones, plastic surgery, and brain surgeries.

• FUN FACT: Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient Indian medicine. Detailed knowledge of anatomy, embryology, digestion, metabolism, physiology, etiology, genetics and immunity is also found in many ancient Indian texts.

Becky Mitnik

The Spread of Indian Trade

• India has always been rich in precious resources; spices, diamonds, sapphires, gold, pearls, and beautiful woods (ebony, teak, and fragrant sandalwood). These have always been valuable items of exchange.

• Regions as distant as Africa and Sumeria began to trade with India more than 4,000 years ago.

• Trade continued to expand even after the end of the Mauryan Empire around 185 B.C.

• FUN FACT: Until 1896, India was the only source of diamonds in the world (Source: Gemological Institute of America).

Becky Mitnik

Overland Trade, East and West

• Groups who invaded India after the end of Mauryan rule helped to expand India’s trade to new regions. For example, Central Asian nomads brought Indians information about the caravan routes that crisscrossed central Asia.

• The caravan routes were known as Silk Roads because traders used them to bring silk from China to Western China and onto Rome.

• Once they learned of the Silk Roads, Indians realized that they could make great profits by acting as middlemen (go-betweens in business transactions). For example, Indian traders would buy goods form traders coming out of China and sell those goods to traders who were traveling to Rome.

• Indians built trading stations at oases (watering places in a desert) all along Silk Roads.

Becky Mitnik

Sea Trade, East and West • Sea trade also increased; traders used coastal routes around the rim of

the Arabian Sea and up the Persian Gulf to bring goods from India to Rome.

• Traders from southeast India would sail to Southeast Asia to collect spices. The bought the spices back to India and sold them to merchants from Rome.

• Archaeologists uncovered hoards of Roman gold coins in Southern India; records show that some Romans were upset by the amounts of gold their countrymen spent on Indian luxuries (they believed that a state with a healthy economy must collect gold rather than spend it).

• India imported African ivory and gold and exported cotton cloth. • India traded rice and wheat with Arabia in exchange for dates and

horses.• After trade with Rome declined around the third century A.D., India’s

sea trade with China increased; the Chinese imported India cotton cloth, monkeys, parrots, and elephants and sent India silk.

• FUN FACT: The Art of Navigation & Navigating was born in the river Sindh over 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word 'NAVGATIH'. The word navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'.

Becky Mitnik

Effects of Indian Trade • Increased trade led to the rise of banking in India; commerce was quite

profitable, bankers were willing to lend money to merchants and charge them interest on the loans.

• Interest rates varied, depending on how risky business was. During Mauryan times, the annual interest rate on loans used for overseas trade had been 240 percent!

• During the Gupta Empire, bankers no longer considered sea trade so dangerous, so they charged only 15 to 20 percent interest a year.

• Indian merchants went to live abroad and brought Indian culture with them, resulting in the spread of Indian culture. People throughout Asia picked up and adapted a variety of Indian traditions. For example, Indian culture affected styles in art, architecture, and dance throughout Southeast Asia.

• Indian influence was especially strong in Thailand, Cambodia, and on the Indonesian island of Java.

• Traders also brought Indian religions to new regions; Hinduism spread to Nepal (a region northeast of India), to Sri Lanka (an island off southeastern India), and to Borneo (an island in Indonesia). Buddhism spread because of traveling Buddhist merchants and monks and in time, Buddhism even influenced China.

• FUN FACT: India exports software to 90 countries.

Becky Mitnik

Bibliography• Beck, Roger B., and Linda Black. World

History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell Inc., 1999.

• Shaver, Harry; Abbey Daniel; Kiran Shenoy. “Indian Culture.” ThinkQuest.org. 1997. Oracle Education Foundation. 13 Nov 2008 <http://library.thinkquest.org/11372/data/culture.htm>.

• "Interesting facts about India." National Portal of India. 2006. National Informatics Centre (NIC), DIT, MoCIT, Government of India. 21 Nov 2008 <http://india.gov.in/myindia/facts.php>.

• Dictionary.com • Karper, Erin. "Creating a Thesis

Statement." The OWL at Purdue. 10 Sep 2008. Purdue University. 19 Nov 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/>.

• "Citing Internet Addresses." Classroom Connect, Inc.. 1997-1998. D. Bolin. 23 Nov 2008 <http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/huffman/NETREF.HTM>.

Pictures Dushyanta and Shakuntala.

[Online image] Available http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/OP81/, November 23, 2008.

Diamond clip art. [Online Image] Available www.ncfoplodge79.org/dimdsponsors.htm, November 23, 2008.

Gold coin hoard unveiled. 10 Jan 2001[Online image] Available news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/1109308.stm, November 23, 2008.

Becky Mitnik

Empires of Ancient India

• An empire succeeds only when a strong leader emerges to take control of the people, a superior military force defends the empire, and a well-established government maintains order within.

Jamie Cooper

Mauryan Empire

Chandragupta Maurya• was part of the

warrior caste • student of

Kautilya, a Brahman teacher

• Greeks called him Sandracottus

Jamie Cooper

Mauryan Empire

• Method of Obtaining Power

• took control through warfare

• with the Nanda king took over Magadha

• battled Selectus and won • Chandragupta gained

land

• Method of Ruling• ruled by force• boards controlled army• cities governed by

municipal commissioners• capital city was Patna

• Military Force• 30,000 cavalry• 9,000 elephants• 600,000 infantry

• Method of Advancing the Empire

• expanded empire through war

• unified geographically and politically

Jamie Cooper

Mauryan Empire

• Asoka• a Bollywood movie was

made of Asoka’s life

• Method of Obtaining Power

• inherited throne from his father

• Method of Ruling• originally waged war

against enemies• later felt bad about killing

so many people and became Buddhist

• brought peace to the empire

• was religiously tolerant

Jamie Cooper

Mauryan Empire

• Military Force• initially he used his

army to invade Kautilya

• after Kautilya he stopped waging war

• Method of Advancing the Empire• built roads for trade• improved conditions

along the roads

Jamie Cooper

Gupta Empire

• Chandra Gupta I• Method of Obtaining Power

• married daughter from an old, important noble family

• Method of Ruling• used Asoka’s principles of peace and Buddhism• capital city- Putna• religious freedom• medical care• did not consolidate power, allowed vassal kings

Jamie Cooper

Gupta Empire

• Military Force• each village had 1 elephant, 1 chariot, 3

armored cavalrymen, and 5 foot soldiers for protection

• the village protection forces came to together to form theEmpire army

• conquered Magadha

• Method of Advancing the Empire• many universities• progress made in art, literature, religious

thought, science, and math

Jamie Cooper

Gupta Empire

• Chandra Gupta II-• called “Prince of Princes” or

Vikramaditya “The Sun of Power”

• Method of Obtaining Power• inherited throne from his father

Jamie Cooper

Gupta Empire

• Method of Ruling• greatest of all Guptas• strengthened empire through diplomatic marriage

alliances• did not consolidate power • allowed Vassal Kings

• Military force• Defeated Shakas• expanded empire

• Method of Advancing the Empire• Progress made in art, literature, religious thought,

science, and math

Jamie Cooper