CLASSICAL INDIA

1
CLASSICAL INDIA

• FROM THE MAURYANS
• TO THE GUPTAS

2
THE LATE VEDIC AGE

• The Vedic Age 1500 500 BCE
• Name from Vedas, which records history
• Began with Aryan migration into India
• Aryans pushed into Ganges, up to Deccan
• Eventually nomadic Aryans settled down
• Ruled local inhabitants (dasas, Dravidians)
• Ganges Republics (mahajanapadas) 900 500 BCE
• Generally 16 larger states dominated Indus-Ganges
  Region
• Republics dominated by kshatriyans
  (warrior-rulers)
• States vied for power constantly with each other
• Within states, kshatriyans vied for power with
  rulers
• Rulers performed social, religious rituals
• Magahda was one of the most dominant of the
  states
• Religious society dominated by brahmins
• Controlled ritual, rites, religious duties
• Religion often called Brahmamism

3
JAINISM

• Vardhamana Mahavira
• Born in north India, 540 B.C.E.
• Left family, searching for salvation from cycle
  of incarnation
• Gained enlightenment, taught an ascetic doctrine
• His disciples began to lead a monastic life
• Mahavira became Jina, the "conqueror," and
  followers, Jains
• Jainist doctrine and ethics
• Inspired by the Upanishads
• Everything in the universe possessed a soul
• Striving to purify one's selfish behavior to
  attain a state of bliss
• The principle of ahimsa, nonviolence toward all
  living things
• Believed that almost all occupations entailed
  violence of some kind
• Too demanding, not a practical alternative to the
  cult of the brahmins
• Appeal of Jainism
• Social implication Individual souls equally
  participated in ultimate reality
• The Jains did not recognize social hierarchies of
  caste and jati
• Became attractive to members of lower castes
• The ascetic tradition continues to today

4
EARLY BUDDHISM

• Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.)
• Born in 563 B.C.E. to the Kshatriya caste
• Witnessed miseries of the human condition
• Gave up his comfortable life
• Began searching for enlightenment
• Intense meditation and extreme asceticism
• Received enlightenment under the bo tree
• The Buddha and his followers
• "Turning of the Wheel of the Law," 528 B.C.E.
• Organized followers into a community of monks
• Traveled, preached throughout north India
• Buddhist doctrine The dharma
• The Four Noble Truths
• All life involves suffering
• Desire is the cause of suffering
• Elimination of desire brings an end to suffering
• The Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination
  of desire
• The Noble Eightfold Path (Setting the wheel in
  motion)
• Right belief, right resolve, right speech, right
  behavior

5
APPEAL OF BUDDHISM

• Appealed strongly to members of lower castes
• Salvation without services of the brahmins
• Did not recognize social hierarchies of castes
  and jati
• Appealed to women as all souls considered equal
• Less demanding than Jainism, more popular
• Used vernacular tongues, not Sanskrit
• Holy sites and pilgrims
• The monastic organizations
• Spread the Buddhist message, won converts
• Could be endowed by others to support the
  religion
• Centers of learning, good works, contemplation
• Ashoka's support
• Emperor Ashoka became a devout Buddhist, 206
  B.C.E.
• Banned animal sacrifices in honor of ahimsa
• Granted lands to monasteries
• Sent missionaries to Bactria and Ceylon

6
SPREAD OF BUDDHISM
7
VARIANTS OF BUDDHISM

• Early Buddhism
• Made heavy demands on individuals
• Giving up personal property
• Forsaking the search for social standing
• Detaching oneself from worldly pleasures
• Development of Buddhism
• Buddha gradually seen as god by ex-Hindus, in
  China
• The bodhisatva - "an enlightened being"
• Monasteries accepted gifts from wealthy
  individuals
• Buddhism became more attractive
• The Schism of Buddhism Was he a god or man?
• Mahayana - "the greater vehicle"
• Spread to Central, East Asia
• Blended in India with Hinduism, which coopted
  Buddha as a god
• Coopted Chinese traditions and Taoist gods in
  China
• Hinayana or Theravada
• Continued to view Buddha as human
• Practiced in Sri Lanka, parts of India, SE Asia
• Buddhism died out in India as it merged with
  Hinduism

8
RISE OF MAURYAN EMPIRE

• Western Intrusions
• Intrusions of Persians (520 B.C.E.)
• Persians established Indus satrapy
• Introduced imperial government, ruling style,
  coins
• The Greek Interlude (c. 327 B.C.E.)
• Alexander the Great conquered Persia, Invaded
  India
• Alexanders withdrawal left a political vacuum
• Seleucid Empire succeeded to Alexanders lands in
  India
• Magadha kingdom filled the vacuum in Ganges
• Chandragupta Maurya
• As young prince, held hostage by Greeks, escaped
  back to India
• Overthrew the Magadha kingdom in 321 B.C.E.
• The founder of the Mauryan empire
• Conquered the Greek state in Bactria, Selecuid
  control of Indus
• Chandragupta's empire embraced all of northern
  India
• Chandragupta's government
• Government procedures devised by Kautalya, the
  advisor of the empire
• The political handbook, Arthashastra, outlined
  administrative methods

9
ASHOKA

• Ashoka Maurya (reigned 268-232 B.C.E.)
• Chandragupta's grandson
• The high point of the Mauryan empire
• Conquered the kingdom of Kalinga, 260 B.C.E.
• Developed remorse and renounced future war
• Ruled through tightly organized bureaucracy
• Established capital at Pataliputra
• Policies of encouraging agriculture and trade
• Converted to Buddhism
• Established a tolerant rule of righteousness
• Sent out missionaries to Sri Lanka, SE Asia,
  Central Asia
• Decline of the Mauryan Empire
• Ashoka died in 232 B.C.E.
• Heirs were not strong and cost of ruling was
  expensive
• Suffered from acute financial and economic
  difficulties
• High cost for maintaining army and bureaucrats
• Debasing the currency, not a effective resolution
  
• The empire collapsed by 185 B.C.E.

10
THE NOMADIC INTERLUDE

• Northwestern Kingdoms 200 BCE to 300 CE
• Indo-European nomads enter India from Central
  Asia
• Indo-Greeks came from Bactria c. 180 BCE
• Indo-Scythians (Sakas) come from C. Asia c. 80
  BCE
• Indo-Parthians came from Persia c. 20 CE
• Influenced Indian art, commerce, religion
• Syncretic blending of Greek culture, Buddhism
• Indians saw them as foreigners, impure barbarians
• Linked India to the Silk Road, China, Western
  Asia
• Became Indianized over time
• The Kushans
• Indo-Europeans pushed out of China
• Took over Scythians, Central Asia, Northwestern
  India
• Dominated Silk Road trade between Mediterranean,
  China
• Adopted Buddhism, blended with Greek, Persian
  traditions
• Gandaran art style was a major artistic period
• Helped facilitate spread of Buddhism back to China

11
THE GUPTAS

• The Gupta Dynasty 320 CE to 550 CE
• India was controlled by regional kingdoms
• The Gupta state rose to power in Magadha
• Chandra Gupta founded the new dynasty
• Gupta dynasty was relatively decentralized
• Local rulers had great power
• Guptan rulers reigned but did not rule
• Guptan rulers acquired divine right status
• An Indian Golden Age
• Guptas supported revival of Hinduism
• During this age Hinduism took its major form
• Guptas supported arts, sciences, mathematics
• Gupta decline
• Invasion of White Huns weakened the empire
• After 5th century C.E., Gupta dynasty ruled in
  name only
• Large regional kingdoms dominated political life
  in India

12
POPULAR HINDUISM

• The epics
• Mahabharata
• A secular poem revised by brahmin scholars
• Honored Vishnu, the preserver of the world
• The Bhagavad Gita
• A short poetic work within the Mahabharata
• A dialogue between the god Vishnu and Prince
  Arjuna
• Illustrated expectations of Hinduism and promise
  of salvation
• Ramayana
• Secular story of Rama and Sita was changed into a
  Hindu story
• Shows extent of spread of Hinduism in region
• Hindu ethics
• Lower demands for achieving salvation
• Individuals should meet their responsibilities in
  detached fashion
• Balance of dharma, artha, karma to attain moksha,
  end samsara
• Popularity of Hinduism
• Became more popular than Buddhism Buddhism too
  aesthetic
• The Guptas helped Hinduism become the dominant
  religion
• Guptas placed Brahmins as lead caste above
  Kshatriyas

13
ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL

• Towns and manufacturing
• Towns dotted countryside after 600 B.C.E.
• Towns provided manufactured, luxury goods
• Long-distance trade
• Invasions by Persians helped build trade networks
  
• Trade with China through silk roads of central
  Asia
• Trade in Indian Ocean basin, Africa to Southeast
  Asia
• Spread Buddhism, Hinduism to Central, Southeast
  Asia
• Social and gender relations
• Strong patriarchal families subordination of
  women to men
• Child marriage placed women under control of old
  men
• Development of caste system
• New social groups of artisans, craftsmen, and
  merchants appeared
• Individuals of same trade or craft formed a
  guild guilds were subcastes, jatis
• Functions of guilds social security and welfare
  systems
• Wealth and social order
• Trade and industry brought prosperity to many
  vaishyas and shudras
• Old beliefs and values of early Aryan society
  became increasingly irrelevant