Ancient India

1
Ancient India

• SS6
• Mrs. Curley
• Dates

2
KQ Where is India?

• Continent
• Capital (modern)
• Neighboring countries
• Bodies of water
• Mountains
• Ancient Indian civilization began in the Indus
  River valley and around the Ganges River valley.
• ??Does this remind you of something weve already
  learned??

3
KQ What vocabulary words do I need to know about
ancient India?

• Hinduism main religion of India
• Vedas the holy writings of Hinduism earliest
  written record about life in India contains
  legends and religious beliefs of ancient India
• reincarnation rebirth of the soul into a new
  body
• caste class of people (social class)
• Sanskrit one of the earliest written languages
  the beginning language for Latin, English,
  German, Spanish, Greek, and Persian
• Brahman the Hindu god with many faces
• Brahma creates life
• Vishnu preserves life
• Shiva destroys life
• Buddhism a religion that began in India
• Buddha a name meaning enlightened one the
  name given to Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of
  Buddhism (enlightened knows the truth,
  understanding)

4
KQ What is the caste system of ancient India?

• Social classes people were organized into
  different levels by
• Work
• Money
• Religion
• Skin color
• People could not change castes (groups)
• Religious leaders, priests (highest)
• Rulers, warriors
• Land owners, shop keepers, skilled workers,
  artisans
• Farmers, servants, unskilled workers, slaves
  (lowest)
• Outcaste (untouchable) lower than a slave, did
  jobs no one else wanted (garbage, burying the
  dead)
• Caste system lasted thousands of years

5
KQ What is Hinduism?

• Def the main religion of India that believes in
  the teachings of the Vedas
• Vedas means books of knowledge
• Its the earliest written records about life in
  India
• Contains the legends and religious beliefs of
  ancient Indians
• Holy writings in Sanskrit one of the earliest
  written languages
• Hindus people who practice Hinduism
• Believe everything is God - Brahman
• Reincarnation rebirth of the soul into a new
  body
• Cycle keeps happening until the soul is perfect

pages of the Vedas
Shiva
Brahma
6
KQ Who is Buddha?What is Buddhism?

• Siddhartha Gautama born 563BC
• Indian prince
• wanted to understand why people suffered
  (unhappiness, poverty, sickness)
• discovered the truth and became the
  enlightened one or the Buddha
• 4 Noble Truths
• Life is full of suffering
• Our suffering is caused by our selfish wishes
• We can stop suffering when we stop being jealous,
  greedy, selfish
• We have the ability to stop wishing for more, to
  stop being jealous, greedy, and selfish

7
KQ What is the Eightfold Path?

• To live a good life, Buddha taught people must
  follow 8 paths to stop their selfish ways
• Believe
• Act
• Think
• Speak
• Live
• Wish
• Enjoy
• Try

• in the Right Way
• follow Buddhist ideas
• never harm anyone else
• think of others first

If a person follows the eightfold path, they will
reach NIRVANA when a person finds perfect peace
8
KQ How are Hinduism and Buddhism similar and
different?

• Caste system
• Vedas-holy book
• BrahmanGod
• Brahma
• Vishnu
• Shiva

• People are equal
• 4 Noble Truths
• Eightfold Path
• Siddhartha Gautama

Similarities (overlap) believed in
reincarnation, believed that life was suffering