Chapter 7: India and China Establish Empires

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Chapter 7 India and China Establish Empires
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Essential Questions

• How did the Mauryan Empire, the Golden Age, and
  Asoka affect the development of India?
• How did the development of Hinduism and Buddhism
  affect India?
• How did the Han dynasty affect China?

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• I. Chandragupta Maurya Builds an Empire
• A. Chandragupta Unifies North India
• Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus, Alexander
  the Greats general
• 321 BC- Chandragupta wins, claiming land in Indus
  River valley Mauryan Empire
• Empire stretched 2,000 miles uniting North India
  under one ruler- Chandragupta

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• B. Running the Empire
• divided empire into 4 provinces, each headed by a
  royal prince
• Each province divided into local districts,
  officials imposed taxes, enforced laws
• Adviser named Kautilya writes a rulers handbook
  that recommended spying on the people and
  employing political assassination.

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• C. Life in the Mauryan Empire
• Not much known b/c of a lack of records
• capital city very beautiful
• large army assembled
• farmers exempt from military service
• heavy taxes to pay for army and building projects

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• II. Asoka Runs the Empire
• Asoka, Chandraguptas grandson, took control of
  Mauryan Empire
• At first ruled much like his grandfather, waging
  bloody wars to expand his empire
• Began to study Buddhism, which taught nonviolence

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• built large pillars with his new policies of
  equality, nonviolence, religious toleration
  written on them
• He also had roads built that connected the 4
  corners of India
• After Asokas death a power struggle began
• For the next 500 years Greeks, Persians, and
  Asians invaded northern India

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• III. The Gupta Empire
• After the 500 years of turmoil, another strong
  leader arose to form Indias 2nd great empire,
  the Gupta Empire
• Founded by Chandra Gupta (no relation)

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• A. Chandra Gupta Builds an Empire
• Chandra Gupta came to power by marrying into an
  influential royal family
• Took the title Great King of Kings in 320 AD
• Included the city of Magadha and the area north
  of it, central region of the Ganges River being
  the power basin.
• 335 AD Guptas son took over- a lover of poetry
  and music, but had a warlike side too

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• B. Daily Life in India
• Gupta Empire is 1st period from which historians
  have information on daily life
• Lived in small villages
• Merchants, craftsppl clustered in districts,
  shops street level, homes in rooms above
• Families were patriarchal- house hold run by the
  eldest male
• Whole family worked in raising crops
• Drought common, had to irrigate crops

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Section Two Religions In India

• I. A More Popular Form of Buddhism
• By 250 BC Buddhism and Hinduism were Indias two
  main faiths
• Buddha stressed that each person could reach a
  state of peace called nirvana.
• Bodhisattvas-People who wished to achieve
  enlightenment and become a Buddha themselves
• Two types of Buddhists
• Mahayana-Offered salvation to all and allowed
  popular worship
• Theravada- Emphasized individual discipline

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• A. Hindu Rebirth
• Hinduism began to change, during this time most
  practices could only be performed by the priest.
• Three most important gods
• Brahma- creator of the world
• Vishnu- preserver of the world
• Shiva- destroyer of the world
• People began to devote themselves to Vishnu or
  Shiva

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• II. Flowering of Indian Culture
• A. Literature and Performing Arts
• Kalidasa- great Indian poet, wrote Shakuntala
• In Southern India they began to hold writing
  academies, more than 2,000 poems still exist
• acting groups began to travel through Southern
  India, women and men participated in these shows

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• B. Astronomy, Mathematics, and Medicine
• Indians began to use a calendar based on sun
  rather than on cycles of the moon
• 7 day week- broke each day into hours
• Discovered earth was round, based on shadow on
  the moon from a lunar eclipse
• had medical guides that classified 1,000 diseases
  and 500 medicinal plants
• Knew how to perform surgery-even performed
  plastic surgery

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Mathematics

• Zero, decimal system invented in India
• Aryabhata- Skilled mathematician
• calculated the value of pi to four decimal
  places.
• Estimated the length of a solar year 365.358
  days.

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• III. The Spread of Indian Trade
• A. Overland Trade, East and West
• Silk roads- caravan routes that were used by
  Asian traders
• Indians learned of these routes and became
  middlemen- made huge profits
• Rome, Africa, and China were all big traders with
  India

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Silk Road- Trade Routes
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p. 196

• P. 196- Map Skills- answer the questions in your
  Journal

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Section Three Chinas Dynasties
CC- Silk Road
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• I. The Founding of the Han Dynasty
• Govt fell apart under Qin(chin) Dynasty led to a
  Civil War
• During civil war 2 powerful leaders emerged -
  Xiang Yu and Liu Bang
• two fought for control of China

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• Bang was victorious, declared himself emperor of
  the Han Dynasty, which ruled China for 400 years
• Established a centralized govt- adopted
  Confucian philosophy
• Lowered taxes and softened harsh punishments

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After Liu Bang

• The Empress Lu
• Bang died in 195 BC
• His son became emperor in name only- real ruler
  was Bangs wife, Empress Lu
• After her death, loyalist to Liu Bang executed
  Lus existing family

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A Highly Structured Government

• A. Structures of Han Govt
• Relied on a complex bureaucracy
• 18 different civil service jobs
• This important and efficient element remains in
  place until 1912

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• III. Han Technology, Commerce, and Culture
• A. Technology Revolutionized Chinese Life
• Invented paper helped spread education as paper
  cheaper than silk
• Tsai Lun credited with creation of paper in 104
  A.D.
• Collar harness made it possible for horse to pull
  heavier loads
• Wheel barrel and windmills

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Agriculture Versus Commerce

• Due to a huge population- farming viewed as most
  honored occupation
• Invention of plow, iron tools, collar harness,
  wheelbarrow and water mill assist farmers.

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Commerce

• Commerce not seen as important (even thought it
  really was very important)
• Government had a monopoly (complete control) on
  mining of salt, forging of iron, minting of
  coins, and brewing of alcohol
• Government also had a large part of the silk
  industry

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p. 208

• Complete the Main Ideas questions on a separate
  sheet of paper. Write the questions.