India and Southeast Asia 1500 BCE600 CE Chapter

India and Southeast Asia, 1500 BCE-600 CE Chapter 3

I. Foundations of Indian Civilization, 1500 BCE-300 CE • A. The Indian Subcontinent • India is a subcontinent because it’s big and isolated. • 3 topographical zones: mountainous north, Indus and Ganges river basins, tropical coast • Rice, wheat, barley, millet • Most invaders came through northwest; Indian Ocean used for trade.

• B. The Vedic Age, 1500 -500 BCE • Named for Vedas (religious texts, main source of information about time period) • Nomadic Indo-Europeans migrated into India around 1500 BCE. • No central authority after collapse of Indus Valley civ. , home to kinship groups who herded cattle • Iron tools and oxen-pulled plows allowed them to clear fields for farming. population boom • Rivalry and warfare between two groups: Aryas (light skinned) and Dasas (dark skinned) • Arayas pushed Dravidian-speaking Dasas south • Skin color remained a factor for discrimination.

• People born into one of 5 castes (classes) and could rarely move into another: • Brahmin: priests and scholars • Kshatriya: warriors and officials • Vaishya: merchants, artisans, landowners • Shudra: peasants and laborers • Untouchables: came later, did the most demeaning jobs, avoided by others • Reincarnation reinforced caste system (karma) • Highest caste did well in past life, lower castes/life forms punished for past life • Polytheistic beliefs, male gods most dominant, Brahmins conducted sacrifices • Writing not used until the common era • Women: could own property, not married until middle or late teens

• C. Challenges to the Old Order: Jainism and Buddhism • Reaction against Brahmin power and privilege • Forested areas outside civilization attracted outsiders • Jainism • Started by Mahavira (aka Jina the Conqueror) • Nonviolence, even for bugs and plants • Ate only what they were given, didn’t wear clothes

• Buddhism • Started by Siddhartha Gautama (aka Buddha, “Enlightened One”) • Came from an upper-class family at base of Himalayas; rejected privilege and wandered for 6 years • Meditation took him to “Middle Path” moderation • 4 Noble Truths: life is suffering, suffering comes from desire, solution is to end desire, follow Eightfold Path to end desire • Living your best self, mental and moral discipline, wisdom • Doesn’t really include gods, important to live life in moderation • Ultimate reward is nirvana: release of reincarnation, ultimate peace • Spread throughout Asia; monasteries, statues

• D. The Rise of Hinduism • Evolved from Vedic religion by 4 th cent. CE • Major deities: Vishnu, the Preserver & Shiva, the Destroyer • Worship centered on temples and shrines and included puja-service to the deity. • Hinduism became dominant religion of India; People felt connection with personal deities. • Hinduism had more followers in India than Buddhism.

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva

II. Imperial Expansion and Collapse, 324 BCE-650 CE • A. Political unity rare, but two empires arose in the Ganges Plain • B. The Mauryan Empire, 324 -184 BCE • India’s first centralized empire • Chandragupta unified northern India; Defeated the Persian general Seleucus. • Divided his empire into provinces, then districts for tax assessments and law enforcement. • Large imperial army, standard coinage • He feared assassination: food tasters, slept in different rooms, etc. • 301 BCE: gave up his throne and became a Jain. • Ashoka: Chandragupta’s grandson • Extended borders through was • Overwhelmed by brutality, converted to Buddhism

• C. Commerce and Culture in an Era of Political Fragmentation • Mauryan Empire weakened by internal disputes after Ashoka’s death (232 BCE) • Dynasty collapsed from pressure of outside attacks • political fragmentation in the north • Central and south India experienced different patterns of development. • The Andhra dynasty established an independent state in the Deccan (second century B. C. E. to second century C. E. ). • southern India, divided among three Tamil kingdoms: Cholas, Pandyas, and Cheras. • Network of roads encouraged trade. • Wealthy merchants became politically powerful. • Period of great achievement: science, technology, literature, art

• D. The Gupta Empire, 320 -550 BCE • New emperor took name Chandra Gupta • Followed by Samudra, Chandra II, and Kumara • The rulers of the Gupta Empire brought northern and central India under their control, but not the south. • Like the Mauryan rulers, the Guptas controlled iron deposits, established state monopolies, and collected a 25 percent agricultural tax. • They were never as strong as the Mauryan empire. • Because the Gupta did not have sufficient military force, they exercised power as a "theater-state, " redistributing profits and luxury goods from trade and dazzling its dependents with elaborate ceremonies in return for gifts and other favors.

• Women lost the right to inherit and own property and to participate in key rituals and were treated like the lowest vama (Shudra). • They were married very young, and in some places a widow was required to burn herself on her husband's funeral pyre. • Among the few ways to escape this low status was to join a religious community, to be a member of an extremely wealthy family, or to be a courtesan. • The Gupta period, while dominated by Hinduism, was characterized by religious toleration and saw the development of the classic form of Hindu temples with exterior courtyard, inner shrine, and wall decorations. • Collapsed after invasion of Huns from northern Asia

III. Southeast Asia, 50 -600 CE • A. 3 main geographical zones: Indochina mainland, Malay Peninsula, thousands of islands extending into Pacific Ocean • fertile agricultural lands, dependable monsoon rains, and several growing seasons a year • B. Region first attracted Malay migrants from southern China • Spread to Pacific Islands • Funan: first major state, thrived on control of trade and travel between India and China, lost influence as new trade routes opened

IV. Conclusion • Emergence of complex societies in India and SE Asia between second millennium BCE and first millennium CE • Migrations, trade, and spread of belief systems spread • Artifacts almost exclusively religious • Political and social division has been the norm throughout most of India’s history, in part from the topographical and environmental diversity of the subcontinent. • The ethnic and linguistic diversity of India was occasionally unified under strong central governments such as the Mauryan and Gupta kings, who came to dominance by gaining control of metal resources and trade routes. They used elaborate class and caste structures to organize their diverse populations. • Distinctive features of Indian civilization arose from the caste system and religious beliefs that originated in the northern river valleys from descendants of Indo. European immigrants. Hinduism drew elements of southern Dravidian cultures and Buddhism, and is less fixed than the practices of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.