ancient china & india Flashcards
-came from the steppes (between asia and europe)
-were nomadic
-one of the first to have horse -drawn chariots and stirrups
-brought Brahmanism
-lead by a warrior class called - kshatriya
-indo europeans crossed over hindu kush and the indus valley
- came between 1500-1000 BCE
aryans
developed indian writing system from the aramaic script, wrote vedas, called indians dasas (salves), put themselves on top of the caste system
how aryans transformed india
what is another word for the caste system (hint: color)
varna
what is the caste system in order
brahmins, kshatriya, vaisya, sudras, untouchables
order to society based on status and occupation
hierarchical system
rigid system that followed from parent to child
heredity
your station in this life came from the actions of your past life
religious belief of karma & reincarnation
ancient scriptures that talked about hymns, religious practices, and how to live life
vedas
knowledge, wisdom, awareness/ awakened intellect
enlightment
cycle of life and rebirth; life in the material world is bound
samsara
religion that emerged during post-Vedic India 900 BC by the influence of Brahmans, it says that all living things are part of a bigger whole
brahmanism
1 of the 2 sanskrit epic poems of ancient india
mahabharata
pre-hindu secret teachings written in sanskrit 800-200 BC
upanishads
an individual’s duty fulfilled by observance of custom or law (hinduism)
dharma
when reborn as something different than the life you had once before
reincarnation
decision of fate (buddhism)
karma
released from the cycle of rebirth by the law of dharma (hinduism)
moksha
heaven or paradise released from the effects of karma (buddhism)
nirvana
truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering
4 noble truths
the Buddhist teaching of the means of attaining Nirvana through rightness of belief, resolve, speech, action, livelihood, effort, thought, and meditation
eightfold path
a wife expected to cremate herself on her husbands funeral pyre
sati
400-300 BCE India fought off foreign invasions from the west
lead by cyrus and darius the great
persians
lead by alexander the great; indus valley is where his conquest of the world was stopped
greeks
founded by chandragupta maurya around 324 BCE
drove out the greek administrators
capital of the empire is the city of Pataliputra
set up a centralized bureaucracy
chandragupta used secret police on government officials
most gov positions became heredity over time
mauryan empire
true brains behind chandragupta; the advisor to the king; wrote the governing manual on India politics called Arthasastra
kautilya
happiness of the king lies in the happiness of his subjects
when there is disagreement between history dharma comes out on top
when there is disagreement between rational law sacred law comes out on top
the ends justify the means no matter what
beliefs of mauryan empire
