India Timeline Mauryan Empire MohenjoDara and Harappa Chandragupta

India Timeline Mauryan Empire Mohenjo-Dara and Harappa Chandragupta Vedic Period – Aryan Invaders 2600 BC 1500 – 1000 BC Asoka Gupta Empire King Chandragupta I Golden Age of India Buddhism 600 BC Gupta Empire 500 years of 321 BC 269 BC – turmoil 232 BC 321 AD Collapses 5 th Century AD

• India’s 1 st civilizations. • Started in 2, 600 BC. Map of ancient Mohenjo-Daro. • Called the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan Civilization.

• Ganges river – forms a fertile farming valley. • Indus river- farming region that produces wheat. • Climate is impacted by monsoons.

• 1 st to make cotton. • City was developed on a grid system. • Advanced drainage and sewage systems. Images of ancient Mohenjo. Daro. • Supported a population of 35, 00040, 000. Ended suddenly – no one knows why.

Images of ancient Mohenjo. Daro. These images reflect the careful planning that went into the design of this ancient city.

• Floods, earthquakes or changes in climate weakened civilizations, and by 1500 BC, waves of Aryan invaders migrated throughout the region.

Hindu Kush Khyber Pass Himalayas • Migration was made possible via the Khyber Pass through the Hindu Kush Mtns. • Himalayashighest mountains in the world. Label the Hindu Kush Mtns, the Himalayas and the downward path through the Khyber Pass.

• The Vedic Period - 15001000 BC- Invaders breached the Khyber Pass in the Hindu Kush Mtns. • Conquered the Indus valley region of India. • War-like and pastoral people.

• Aryan Kings or Leaders were called “Rajas” – (“princes”) • India was made of warring kingdoms and shifting alliances. An Indian Raja and Princess.

• Iron tools – plow, etc, made them good farmers. • They produced: rice, wheat, barley, millet. • Spices included: cinnamon, pepper, and ginger.

• Writing – Sanskrit • Sanskrit was a status symbol of education and wealth. Selections from the Rig Veda above, courtesy Wikipedia Commons. • Only the higher castes were taught to read and write Sanskrit.

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• The dominant religion in the region is Hinduism which was brought in by the original Aryan invaders. • With the birth of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) in 600 BC, the religion of Buddhism was also introduced in India.

• Aryans brought with them a strong oral tradition, and religion. • These became the foundation for the religion of Hinduism. • They established a social institution and class system – caste system.

Impact of the Caste System • Position in society based on skin color. • Occupation, and economic status are determined by your caste. • This will also determine who you marry.

1. Brahmins – priests 2. Kshatriyas – rulers and warriors 3. Vaishyas – artisans and traders 4. Shudras – laborers and servants • You are born into a caste for life. • It determines: who you will marry, the job you will have, and the people you are allowed to associate with. • Higher castes are concerned with ritual purity.

The lowest social class were known as untouchables because they did the dirtiest work that was considered unclean and impure. They were butchers, gravediggers, and trash collectors.

• Patriarchal – men are educated and allowed to inherit. A Hindu widow commits sati above. A Rajput girl – right. • Women - no status, and daughters were an financial drain. (Dowry). • Suttee – wife throws herself onto the pyre of her dead husband.

• After 400 B. C. , India faced new threats from the west– first from Persia, Greece, and Macedonia, under Alexander the Great in 327 B. C. • Alexander left quickly, but his invasion gave rise to the 1 st Indian dynasty. Alexander’s battle with Porus on the Jhelum.

• 321 BC - King Chandragupta established one of the greatest Hindu empires – the Mauryan Empire. King Chandragupta • He created a large army – 60, 000 soldiers, 30, 000 cavalry, and 9, 000 elephants.

• The Mauryan Empire stretched from modern day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the Ganges river in the east. • His grandson, Asoka would be the next great ruler of India. Extent of Mauryan Empire under Asoka

• The “founding Father” for India, was Mauryan ruler, Asoka who ruled from 268 BC 232 BC. • Asoka added to his empire through a bloody battle at Kalinga. Asoka Maurya above. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. • Saddened over the loss of life, Asoka turned to Buddhism for comfort.

• “Along the roads, wells have been dug and trees planted for the use of men and beasts. ” • “I must promote the welfare of the whole world, and hard work…whatever may be my great deeds, I have done them in order to discharge my debt to all beings. ” Map of Asoka’s rock edicts • Asoka’s edicts – pillar edicts and rock edicts.

• Asoka sent missionaries to other lands, spreading Buddhism. • Carved royal messages on stone monuments that stood as “billboards” throughout his empire. Asoka’s Chakra – chosen 2, 000 years later for India’s flag. • His empire collapsed 50 years after his death, but to this day, his impact and legacy on India is powerful.

• 500 years later. Chandragupta, (no relation to the 1 st Chandragupta), established a new kingdom in 320 A. D. He was called the Great King of Kings. Map of the Gupta Empire-413 AD • The Gupta period was India’s Golden Age. • Arts, sciences and trade flourished.

Aryabhata • Aryabhata was the Gupta Empire’s most famous mathematician. • He was one of the first scientists known to have used algebra. • Indian mathematicians also introduced the concept of zero.

• The Guptas postulated that the Earth was not flat, but rotated on its axis. • Astronomers calculated the solar year and the movement of bodies in space. • In medicine, the Guptas knew how to set bones, and perform minor skin grafts.

• They traded salt, cloth, and iron domestically and as far away as China and the Mediterranean. Trade in the ancient world brought many cultures and kingdoms together. Silk road was 4, 000 miles. • In the 5 th century A. D. , invasion by nomadic Huns from the northwest weakened the empire.

• Writing – Sanskrit • Many of the World’s Languages • 3 -Religions/Eastern Philosophies of: Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. • Spice merchants and tradesmen.