Ancient Civ LAP 2

Impact of Geography on Indian Subcontinent

Impact of Geography on Indian Subcontinent

Indus River Valley Civilization

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

• Sir Mortimer Wheeler

• 2 ancient cities found in 1920 when railroad construction uncovered ruins

• Both were located along the Indus River about 400 miles apart (in what is now Pakistan)

• Civilization flourished for 700 years and then disappeared without a trace

• about 400 miles away from each other

• Similar civilizations - sister cities

5 physical descriptions of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

1. Large and carefully planned

2. Organized, big main streets, blocks

3. Complex plumbing, baths, drains, and sewers

4. Merchants used a uniform system of weights and measures → helps trade and easier to communicate

5. Massive hilltop structure → unknown reason

Vedas

4 books, written down in Sanskrit, chants or religious teachings, passed down

Sanskrit

written language of Aryans

Brahmin

symbolizes the head on a body, consists of priests and academics (intellectual leaders)

Kshatriyas

symbolizes the arms on a body, consists of warriors and kings

Vaishyas

symbolizes the legs of a body, consists of the business community (traders, merchants, etc.)

Kshudras

symbolizes the feet of a body, consists of servants (most people they conquered)

Sudras

Caste slide (body)

Untouchables/Dalit

people who don’t have a cast, do all the work that is considered “unclean”

Mahabharata

nearly 100,000 verses long, about 5 brothers - Pandavas, How they lose their kingdom and their fight to reclaim it, passed down, mixes history, mythology, and religion

Bhagavad-Gita

• an episode in the Mahabharata

• a lot about the Hindu faith

• Krishna - a god → does a sermon → get the main ideas of Hinduism

• Moksha - union with the universe when you do right

Ramayana

• another epic story but much shorter

• Very well known in India

• Meant to teach different lessons about morality and virtue

• reflects Indian ideas on the ideal man and ideal woman

• Rama - ideal man → a hero, perfect son and husband

• Sita - ideal woman → perfect, loyal woman

Brahman

• a single spiritual power that exists beyond the many gods of the Vedas and resides in all things

• ultimate reality of a god

• creator and preserver of the universe

• Hindu’s believe you can’t really understand him

• Ultimate goal to be one with him

Atman

essential self, cannot be destroyed, just keeps getting reborn, want to get to Brahman

Moksha

getting rid of selfish desires to be with Brahman

Reincarnation

rebirth, your soul gets reborn into another bodily form, continue to work towards Brahman

karma

what happens to you based on your actions

Dharma

duties, if you follow your Dharma, you get good Karma, depends on your caste

Ahimsa

nonviolence, Hindu’s believe all animals and things should be respected

Samsara

symbolized by the wheel, cycle of death and rebirth → every life brings you closer to Brahman

Caste/Varna/Jati

position in society, determines what your opportunities are, cannot marry outside of your caste

Jainism

• believes everyone can do religious rituals

• meditation

• self-denial

• extreme ahimsa

Siddhartha Guatama

• Hindu prince from the Kshatriya class in what is today Nepal

• His mother dreamt that he was going to have a big impact on the world, prophet also tells this

• Mom dies after childbirth → dad worried about keeping Kshatriya safe, doesn’t let him leave the house

• Gets married at 16, first 29 years of his life stays inside the walls, sneaks out → sees suffering

• Because of this denies himself of worldly goods, fasting, surround himself with holy people

Buddha

enlightened one

4 Noble Truths

1. There is suffering in the world

2. Suffering is caused by selfish desires

3. Suffering can be removed if we do away with out selfish desires

4. The way to overcome selfish desires is to follow the Eightfold Path/Middle Way between a life devoted to pleasure and one of self-denial

   • Stressed virtuous conduct and compassion for all living things

   • A philosophy or way of life more than a religion since if did not include the worshiping of gods or performing rituals

Eightfold Path/Middle Way

What you have to follow to get rid of your selfish desires to get to Nirvana

Nirvana

ultimate reality, end of the self and union with the universe, release from Samsara

Mahayana

one of the 2 religions after Buddhism split, religion, god become Buddha, starts worshiping as a god

Theravada

one of the 2 religions after Buddhism split, way of the elders, original (the way Buddha wanted), meditation, self reflection, way of life

Chandragupta

Emperor in the Morria empire

Ashoka

Grandson of Chandragupta, Only Indian Buddhist King, horrified by violence

Laws of Manu

legal code written in ancient India defining dharma and proper behavior for people based on caste and gender

Impact of Geography on Ancient China

surrounded by natural barriers → no cultural diffusion, North: Gobi Desert, South/West: Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, East: Water (Pacific Ocean)

Veneration of Ancestors

trying to stay connected through the spiritual world

Oracle bones

Believe in an afterlife because of the Oracle Bones, get a bone or shell from an animals and write on it and put it over fire and depending on how it cracked it was a message from the ancestors, only the priests could do the ceremony

Chinese Writing

not phonetic, symbols, 10,000 characters, originates in the Shang Dynasty, similar today

Mandate of heaven

Divine right to rule, have the authority to command from Heaven, if you become weak or corrupt you can revolt and overthrow,

Dynastic cycle

A dynasty that provided a good government enjoyed the Mandate, a dynasty that was corrupt would have the mandate removed by the Heavens and would no longer rule

Feudalism

system of government where local lords govern their own lands but owe military service and serve the ruler

Yin and Yan

reflects the Chinese belief that the universe was a delicate balance between 2 forces

Yin

Earth, darkness, female

Yang

Heaven, light, male

Confucianism

• based on the ideas of Confucius, a philosophy (a way of thought) NOT a religion

• Concerned with how to create stable social order and good government

• Analects

• Make sure that the males (yang) are in charge

• His ideas on the importance of family and loyalty to government will dominate Chinese life for 2,500 years.

• Emperor as “father” to all in China

Daoism

• Laozi (creator)

• Dao - the way

• Dao de Jing - way of the Dao, what Laozi wrote to explain the way

• Going with nature

• Go with the flow, let the universe control you

• Government bad

• Started as a philosophy but became a popular religion when Laozi began to be worshiped as a god

Legalism

• Founded by Hanfeizi

• Known as the “school of Law”

• Nature of man is evil and corrupt

• All about following the rules

• People are bad so you need extra harsh rules, government harsh

• About laws, about a good ruler/man

• about strict punishment, about compassionate/family

• Strong tough rule

Great Wall of China

• Shi Huangdi created

• Connected the walls of the people around China

• Soldiers can travel along the wall

• A pathway

• Work on the wall or die, even if you had another job

• Most were slaves or peasants or prisoners of war

Terra cotta soldiers

• created for the after life to show off how powerful he was

• Each soldier looks different

• 8,000 life size soldiers in the form of terra cotta statues guard his tomb

Civil Service exams

government jobs test, do they have the education and qualifications to be part of the government?

Role of family and women China and similarities with India

Take a role underneath men, Belived there should be harmony in husband-and-wife relationship, respected but not equal, going to serve the man in their life

Ban Zhao

Wrote Lessons for Women, a book about women’s role in society

Silk Road

• Helps with cultural diffusion

• Use a network of roads to carry luxury items to places from China to the Roman Empire

• Helps with cultural diffusion and trade