India Test

4 noble truths

1. All life is full of suffering, pain, and sorrow

2. The cause of suffering is desire for things such as riches, power and long life

   1. caused by greed and selfishness

   2. stuck in reincarnation cycle = suffering

3. The only cure for suffering is to overcome desire and break cycle

4. the way to overcome ones desire is to follow the 8 fold path = nirvana

8 fold path

1. Right beliefs or view

2. right alms or intentions

3. right speech

4. right conduct or action

5. right work or livelihood

6. right effort

7. right thinking or mindfulness

8. right concentration

• The only cure for suffering is to follow the eightfold path

• Middle path: a middle road between a life devoted to pleasure and a life of harsh self denial

• the ultimate goal is nirvana, union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth (moksha)

Ahimsa

nonviolence

Arthashastra

• this was a book of laws used to govern the Mauryan Empire

• it was written by Kautilya, a priestly caste advisor to Chandragupta Maurya

• Created a system of taxation where farmers would have to give up half their crops to the government

• outlined laws to govern society

  • inheritance, marriage, slavers, murder, etc.

• outlined the role of the King in society and allowed for spying on citizens

• created a Bureaucracy

  • the people in a government system who help get everything done

  • “do the stuff”

    • ex: the person who writes the speech for the president

  • can be in ANY FORM OF GOVERNMENT

Atman

• all living things have a spirit or soul

  • in animals and humans

Caste System

• The growth of the social system was the concept of superiority of Aryan people over their indigenous subjects

• An issue of color (race), was only the physical sign of a division based on economic functions

Class or varna determined one’s occupation and status in society

• Dalits (untouchables

• Sudra

• Vaisyas

• Kshatriyas

• Brahmins

Dalits (untouchables)

street sweeper, clean up human/ animal waste, deal with dead bodies (out castes), NOT PART OF THE CASTE SYSTEM 

Sudra

Farm workers, unskilled workers, servants #4

Vaisyas

Merchants, craftsman, landowners, skilled workers #3

Kshatriyas

Kings/ruler, warriors #2

Brahmins

priests #1

Dharma

• the religious and moral duties of an individual

• criteria for making your daily choices

  • contentment, forgiveness, self-restraint, understanding right from wrong

• depends on your family, livelihood, and other factors

Importance of Geography

• Subcontinent: a large landmass that forms a distinct part of a continent

• Fertile land

  • Good for farming

  • Mountainous

    • Hindi Kush, Himalayan Mountain ranges

    • For protection

  • desert to the east

  • Indo-Gangetic plain

  • Indus and Ganges rivers

Environmental Changes

• Monsoons: a wind that shifts in direction at certain times of each year

  • could cause famine or floods

  • unpredictable

• Fertile soil

• rivers change course

• Flooding

Jati

• Living divisions

• people did not belong to a class as individuals, but as a part of a larger kin group called

  • System of extended families living in a specific area and carrying out a specific function in society

    • composed of thousands of individual nuclear family (mom, dad, children) families, governed by its own council of elders

      • about 3000 jati

      • membership in council was usually hereditary

      • sometimes jati would have to move locations or adopt a new occupation

Karma

• actions in this life that affect the next life

• refers to the law of cause and effect i.e. actions and their consequences

• decides where you come back and what you come back as

Middle way

a middle road between a life devoted to pleasure and a life of harsh self denial

Moksha (hinduism)

• Liberation - from samsara: the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

• Salvation - of the soul which is rescued from the material world and delivered into the spiritual

• The Goal - of Hindus who eventually hope to achieve moksha. Though many accept this might not happen for their next rebirth they aim to produce positive karma in the hope of a good rebirth that might be a little closer to moksha

• Nirvana - Becoming one with Brahman. This is a state of enlightenment

Moksha (Buddhism)

• Free from the cycle of rebirth

• the ultimate goal is nirvana, union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth

Monsoon

• a wind that shifts in direction at certain times of each year

• could cause famine or floods

• unpredictable

Nirvana (Hinduism)

Becoming one with Brahman. This is a state of enlightenment 

Nirvana (Buddhism)

• achieved when human beings abandon all worldly cares and possessions; with this knowledge come bodhi (wisdom)

  • the ultimate goal, union with the universe and release from the cycle of rebirth (moksha)

Samsara

the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth

Reincarnation (Hinduism)

• ‘Re’ means ‘again’

• ‘in’ means ‘in’ (!)

• ‘carn’ means ‘flesh’

• So the whole word means ‘again in flesh’.

• Rebirth might sound like a good thing but actually, Hindus believe that going around and around in the cycle of Samsara is keeping our souls (atman) trapped in the material world

• Brahmins are closest to ultimate release from wheel of life, followed in descending order y the other classes in human society and animal kingdom

Reincarnation (Buddhism)

• Prefer the term rebirth

• Nirvana achieved when human beings abandon all worldly cares and possessions

  • with this knowledge come bodhi (wisdom)

• Ultimate goal was release from cycle

• Birth, life, death, rebirth (cycle continued until Moksha was reached and then nirvana)

Sanskrit

language used in hinduism; rejected by buddhism

Stupas

where Buddha's relics 

Subcontinent

a large landmass that forms a distinct part of a continent

Varnas

skin color; affected your rank in caste system

Vedas

• Hindu Sacred texts

• oldest texts

• Aryans

Asoka

• grandson of Chandragupta Maurya

• Assumed throne of Mauyaran 269 BC

  • brought the empire to its greatest heights

• followed his grandfathers footsteps: wanted to expand his empire through military conquest

• War with Kalinga

  • he won the war but at great cost

  • 100,000 soldiers killed

  • over 100,000 civilians killed

Bodhisattvas

• Part of the Mahayana of Buddhism

• postponed nirvana to help

  • Dalai Lama

Brahmin

• priest

• closest to ultimate release from wheel of life, followed in descending order of the other classes in human society and animal kingdom

Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama

• born around 563 BC, in northern India

• Was born a prince and lived in a kingdom all of his life, because his gather believed the world was so corrupt

• Lived his life in luxury, but became unhappy with never being outside

• He married his cousin and has a child, but one day, he left the confines of the palace to wander outside when he was about 29

Chandra Gupta II

• height of the Gupta Empire

• defeated the Shakas

  • Gave them access to the coast

  • helped with trade on Mediterranean

• negotiated peaceful expansion through marriage alliances

• achievements in art, religion, and science

• After his death India was divided into separate kingdoms

  • invaded by Hunas (related to the Huns)

Dalai Lama

a title for the leader of the head of the  Mahayana of Buddhists

Harappa

• Northern India (present day pakistan)

• 3200 BC; one of the first civilizations in india 

• people called “Dravidians”

• Population around 3200 BC

  • People from north of Kush Mtns.

  • Cities: Kalibangan, Mohjeno-Daro, Harappa

• Government

  • Theocracy: system of government run by religious leaders

• Religion was important but no formal group

  • Early images of Shiva

• The Ten Indus Scripts, a collection of written texts on clay and stone tablets, remain indecipherable to archeologists

  • Some seals show mythological creatures

• End of Civilization

  • Shift in tectonic plates

    • Earthquakes

    • Flooding

  • Overuse of Agriculture

  • People forced to leave the city to survive

Harappan Civilization Advancements

• City planning

• Grid system

• Walls and levees

• Citadel

• Bricks

• Plumbing/sewers

• Written language

  • Can’t be deciphered

• Human made Islands

• Clay/wooden toys

• Trading system

  • Gold/silver,

  • Stones

  • Colored cloth

Brahman

• Supreme Spirit that is everywhere

• Debates of Polytheism vs Monotheism

Brahma

creator

Shiva

destroyer

Vishnu

preserver or renewer

Hittites

• Located: Anatolia/ Asia minor

  • controlled Babylon

  • fought with Egypt over Syria

• Language: Akkadian

  • blended culture with Mesopotamians

• Advancements

  • chariots

    • one to advance chariots

    • Wheels and an animal pulling 

  • iron weapons

    • brought iron into chariots

    • learned to smelt iron

• Ended due to outside invasions

Indo Europeans

• Nomadic animal herders

  • tamed horses

  • chariots

• steppes: dry grasslands

• Original language

Migration: movement of people from one region to another

Indo-Aryans

• crossed into India 2000 BC

• Vedas: prayers, hymns, spells, and rituals

  • used as a foundation of Hinduism

• Caste System

  • Varnas: skin color

• Kingdoms

  • Magadha

Jainism

•  Founder: Mahariva

• Everything in the universe has a soul

• Nonviolence

  • sweep bugs

  • wear masks to avoid swallowing bugs

• Religious tolerance

• Few efforts to convert followers

  • only 5 million in all of India

• Work in trade and commerce

  • Wealthiest community

Origins of Hinduism and Buddhism

• No origins of Hinduism

• Buddhism: Siddhartha

  • wandered through the forest searching for enlightenment

  • fasted, fought with other religious seekers, but methods did not work

  • meditated for 49 days under a fig tree

  • achieved an understanding of the cause of suffering therefore given the name Buddha (enlightened one)

Asoka’s military conquests

• War with Kalinga

  • he won the war but at great cost

  • 100,000 soldiers killed

  • over 100,000 civilians killed

Asoka’s Turn to Buddhism

• Asoka is deeply disturbed by all the violence

  • he feels responsible for all the lives that were lost during the battle

  • He feels remorseful and turns to Buddhism

    • Nonviolence= Ahimsa

  • practiced religious tolerance

• Asoka’s edicts

  • the king renounces victory by wars of conquest

  • no royal hunts

  • officials will attend to the welfare of the aged the poor and prisoners

  • wrongdoers should be forgiven as much as possible

• Advancements

  • public works

  • hospitals

  • rest houses

  • roads

Compare and contrast Buddhism and Hinduism in multiple areas

• Similarities

  • Reincarnation/ rebirth

  • Afterlife

  • karma, dharma

  • Nirvana

  • Meditation

  • India

• Differences

  • Buddhism had an origin story and Hinduism didn’t

  • religious structure

  • reliance on ritual sacrifice (hinduism)

  • emphasis on philosophical speculation

  • Use of Vedas / Holy book (Hinduism)

  • Hinduism: Sanskrit, Buddhism: Pali

  • Use of caste system (Hinduism)

Achievements of the Hittites, Aryans, Maurya, and Gupta

• Writing

  • Kalidasa

    • court poet for Chandra Gupta II

  • Madurai

    • Site of writing academies

    • Tamil poetry

  • Traveling acting troupes

    • Bollywood

• Science

  • Calendar based on the sun

    • 7 day week broken into hours

  • Earth was round

  • medical guides

  • plastic surgery

• Math

  • Decimal system

  • zero and modern numerals

  • Pi

    • Aryabhata

• Trade

  • spices, diamonds, sapphires, gold, pearls, and woods

  • silk roods

  • sea trade

    • between India and Rome

  • Banking system

    • lend money to merchants

    • interest on loans

Spread of the Buddhism

• mainly craftspeople and laborers because of rejection of caste system

• monks, nuns and Missionaries set up permanent monasteries