Ancient India

Ancient South Asia and India Introduction

We will be covering empires in South Asia from the years 3000 BCE- 500 CE. There are quite a few empires that spread throughout India and South Asia we will cover.

We will mostly be looking at India, with some Pakistan, Nepal, and other surrounding areas.

Time and Place

India is separated from the rest of Asia due to mountain ranges like the Himalayas. 3 important rivers flow out of these mountains: Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra

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​Location

Multiple Choice

What mountains separated India from Asia?

• Asian

• Eastern

• Rocky

• Himalayas

The first community formed around the Indus river. They lived from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE, spreading throughout India and into Pakistan.

First civilization

All about the Indus

• Started as nomads

• Built elaborate cities with drainage systems, places to store food, and held over 35,000 people

• Houses even had garbage chutes!

• Most Indus people made things, or were traders, who travelled throughout the region, to Mesopotamia to trade goods.

The Indus Valley people built Mud walls around their cities to keep out intruders. They farmed wheat and beans and were skilled craftsmen. We still do not know what happened to them.

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Indus Valley

Multiple Choice

What was special about the Indus Valley Civilization?

• Their farming inventions

• Their cities

• Their religion

• Their pyramids

A group of people migrated from Europe called the Aryans. From 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE they settled along the Ganges river. They were mostly farmers

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​Aryan civilization

The Aryans created some languages still used today in the region like Hindi. The Aryans used Iron tools for farming, growing wheat, rice, and many vegetables.

​More about them

The Aryan Civilization Culture

• Lived in tribes led by Rajas, which means prince.

• Their prayers and stories, called the Vedas, were passed down through talking, until they could be written down.

• They wrote in Sanskrit, which they brought with them to India

• The Vedas are still taught in schools in the region to this day

Multiple Choice

How did the Aryans arrive in India?

• Migrated from Europe

• Sailed there

• Came from China

• They came from India originally

Culture Continued

• There was a social system with levels, similar to Egypt called the Varnas

• The top was Brahmins who were priests, beneath them were Kshatriyas who were warriors or government workers

• Vaisyas were below them, being farmers, and merchants, then Sudras were at the bottom, they were servants

Eventually, you began to be born into a Varna, whichever your parents belonged to. This is called Jati which means birth. Later on, Dalits were added, they are the lowest in the system now, doing the worst jobs.

This system was called Caste by Europeans later on, which just means there is a rigid social system. Unfortunately parts of this Caste system still exist in India today.

​Varnas

Multiple Choice

What are the Varnas?

• Religious text

• A god

• A group of people

• Social system

Similar to Egypt, Family life was very important in Ancient India. Grandparents often lived in the house with the family. Oldest male was in charge of the house. Men went to school or became priests, women learned to tend the house.

Men could only marry after completing 12 years of school. Their parents often arranged marriages. Many marriages were done young, and divorce was not allowed.

Family in India

There were three major Religions present in ancient India: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism

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Religion in India

Hinduism: The oldest

• One of the oldest religions

• No one founder, no one holy book

• Multiple Vedas are read and respected instead

• Worship can be done at home or in temples

• Can include yoga and meditation

• Believe in many different gods

Hindus believe in one spirit called Brahman. Writings called the Upanishads explain the search for Brahman. Every living thing is a part of Brahman. Hindus also believe your soul is reborn after death, or reincarnation until you can meet with Brahman. To meet with him you must follow dharma, or the spiritual rules of Hinduism.

​Hinduism

Multiple Choice

Does Hinduism have one founder?

• Yes

• No

Buddhism

• Around 500 BCE, some Hindus were unhappy with the religion

• They trained their minds through meditation to simplify their religion

• This led to a man called the Buddha(real name was Siddhartha Gautama) creating his own off-shoot of Hinduism called Buddhism

The Buddha said that all life suffers while on earth. He created 4 noble truths, which state that, and an eightfold (8 step) path to overcome this suffering. Eventually you would reach Nirvana, breaking the cycle of reincarnation, living in pure joy.
Eventually, Buddhism broke off into two branches, Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada see the Buddha as a man, while Mahayana see him as more of a god.

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Buddhism

Multiple Choice

The goal of Buddhism is to reach _________ or pure happiness

• Nirvana

• Joy

• Hadisatva

• Mahayaya

Jainism

• Also created around 500 BCE

• Developed by a man named Mahavira

• He eventually was referred to as Jina or the conqueror, and his followers called Jains

• They lived in complete poverty with little to no belongings

Jainism has similar beliefs to Buddhism, such as escaping the cycle of reincarnation, and karma, or doing good deeds.

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They also believed in Ahimsa though, which was that you cannot harm any living thing, so many followers of Jainism were vegetarians.
This would go on to influence famous figures like Ghandi and MLK

​Jainism

Multiple Choice

What was the difference between Buddhism and Jainism

• One was poor one was not

• Ahimsa or the belief that you should not harm any living creature

• One was led by a leader, the other had no leader

• One believed in gods one did not