Studied by 41 PeopleHarappan Civilization
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Harappan Civilization
Also known as the Indus River Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that thrived from roughly 2600 B.C.E – 1900 B.C.E which was centered in northwestern India and Pakistan along the Indus River. Their major cities included Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.
Aryans
Groups of people who spoke the Indo-European Sanskrit language. They probably invaded India from the northwest during the 2nd millennium B.C.E., spreading east and south over the succeeding centuries. By about 500 B.C.E the Aryan language was probably common over most of the Indian subcontinent. Some credit the Aryans with laying the foundations of Hinduism.
Hinduism
The common religion of India, having an extremely diversified character with many schools of philosophy and theology, many popular cults, and a large pantheon of deities (avatars) symbolizing the many attributes of a single god.
Caste System
The rigid Hindu system of hereditary social distinctions based on castes (classes).
Untouchables
A member of a large formerly segregated hereditary group in India having in traditional Hindu belief the quality of defiling by contact a member of a higher caste. They are often considered even being outside the caste system all together.
Chandragupta Maurya
Founder of the Maurya dynasty and the first emperor (321 B.C.E – 297 B.C.E. ) to unify most of India under one administration. He expanded his empire east to the borders of Persia, south to India's tip, and north to the Himalayas and the Kabul River valley.
Maurya Empire
An empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya after the death of Alexander the Great, that encompassed most of the Indian subcontinent.
Ashoka
Also known as Ashoka the Great, he was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 B.C.E to 232 B.C.E. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. He was one of the first Indian emperors to embrace Buddhism.
Gupta Dynasty
Rulers of an empire in northern and parts of central and western India from 320 C.E. - 550 C.E. The Gupta period is noted for the flourishing of Sanskrit literature, its sophisticated metal coins, its advanced mathematics, and its astronomical advances
Brahma
the Creator; one of the three major deities in the later Hindu pantheon
Shiva
the Destroyer; one of the three major deities in the later Hindu pantheon
Vishnu
the Preserver; a Hindu divinity worshipped as the preserver of worlds
Krishna
8th and most important avatar of Vishnu; incarnated as a handsome young man playing a flute
Brahman
Brahman connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.
dharma
Law of Moral consequences "Life Path"
Harappan Civilization
Civilization the flourished between 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE
Aryans
People who likely invaded India in 2nd Millenium BCE, laid the foundations of hinduism
Chandragupta Maurya
Founder of the Maurya Dynasty, 321 BCE - 297 BCE
Ashoka
Emperor of India from 269 BCE - 232 BCE
Gupta Dynasty
Rulers of Northern and portions of western and central India from 320 CE - 550 CE
Sanskrit
Language that the Vedas were written in
jati
Smaller Subgroups within the caste system
Kushans
Group that invaded South Asia, following the Mauryan period
Political
Gupta's support for Hinduism was largely motivated by ______ considerations
Krishna
In the Hindu scriptures the Bhagavad Gita, the famous incarnation of Brahma known as Lord ____ advises a warrior who has been sent to do battle battle against his own relatives that he MUST carry out his duties
Religious
In the second half of his reign, Ashoka blended _______ and political leadership
Indra
chief Hindu god of the Rig-Veda; god of rain and thunder
Warriors (Kshatriyas), Priests (Brahmans)
Top Two Classes within the Caste System
Traders and Farmers (Vaisyas)
Middle class within the Caste System
Common Laborers (Sudras)
Lower class within the Caste System
Untouchables
5th, and absolute last class introduced into the Caste System
600 BCE
When did India pass through its formative phase
327 BCE
When did Alexander the Great attempt to push into India?
Kanishka
What was the name of the leader of the Kushans?
stupas
Spherical Shrines used to Worship Buddha were called?