ch 3 Flashcards
vedic age
-(Aryans)
-texts: vedas: light/good/order
-polythestic
-in nature
-varnas: fluid, based on occupation
-castes (later vedic age!!): rigid, depended on how polluted your blood line
-scattered village
communities engaging in agriculture and pastoralism replaced the dense and more highly
populated network of cities, towns, and villages
-The Aryans first settled in the Punjab, but then they pushed east along
the Ganges, eventually impressing their way of life, language, and religious beliefs upon much
of northern India. The course of India’s history was completely changed during this period. By
the end of the Vedic Age, numerous states had emerged and Hinduism and the varna social
system were beginning to take shape.
-The Indo-Aryans were pastoralists who migrated to India in waves beginning
-They referred to themselves as Aryans, a term meaning “noble” or “respectable.” They
spoke Sanskrit, and used it to transmit their sacred hymns.
-At first, in search of land, they settledalong the hills and plains of the upper reaches of the Indus River and its tributaries, bringing withthem their pastoral and farming way of life.
-herding principle occupation, cows especially prized
-farmed
-know these things through the hymns/what they sang about
-some Aryans were semi-nomadic whilel others settled down in villages
-kinship valued in both of the above
-men dominate, women subordinate
-had family clans owning land, also made tribes
-rajas leaders for tribes:for the clans and tribes fought with each other and with the indigenous villagers
-lands along Ganges river were colonized by Aryans
-Aryans encountered indigenous
peoples and interacted with them, eventually imposing their way of life on them but also adopting
many elements of their languages and customs.
-agriculture became more important and occupations more diverse.
-iron tools and rice made farming more productive
-population growth
-landscape was dominated by kingdoms and oligarchies.
–mountain ranges had passes some armies and such used to get it
-Persain empire: largest of its time due to kings expanding their control, then attacked by alexander the great
-As more forests were cleared and marshes drained, the agricultural economy of
the Ganges basin produced ever more surplus food.
buddha
-4 noble truths
-eight fold path
-a person is judged by their own actions, there’s no true prood of people’s superiority
-karma is emphasized by Buddhe by caste is acknowledged
-karma = do good/bad, recieve good/bad
Indus River valley civilzation
-first major civilization
-massive
-harappan civilization
-excavations show the villages growing and developing, towns being linked by trade networks as show artifacts around - transition to a more urban-based civ.
-had sewage and all the other artifacts talked about in class Monday
-But unlike ancient Egypt and Sumer, this civilization
has not yet provided sources we can read, and this
poses major problems of interpretation. (they did have some sort of writen language which we can’t decipher though)
-some historians call this civilization
proto-historic, distinguishing it from both
prehistoric cultures that have no writing
and historic ones with written sources that
we can read.
-lots of questions about their beliefs and political organization unanswered
-there is little evidence for either a
central political authority ruling over an empire or for
independent city-states.
-Stated simply, the towns and cities and their lively trade networks faded away, and the
region reverted to rural conditions. Likely causes include geologic, climatic, and environmental
factors. Movement by tectonic plates may have led to earthquakes, flooding, and shifts in the course
of the Indus. Less rainfall and deforestation may have degraded the environment’s suitability for
farming. All of these factors would have impacted the food supply. Consequently, urban areas and
the civilization they supported were slowly starved out of existence.
Mauryan empire
-The kingdom of Magadha was the most powerful state in India when the Nanda Dynasty
came to power, made greater through kings improving tax, irrigation, army, overthrowed and became mauryan empire
-know more about king ashoka than bindusara because he left edicts inscirbed on rocks throughout realm
-ashoka saw all his violence, repented of his violence, redoubled his buddhist faith: ruled by dharma (virtue)
-encouraged lots of values in his peopel
-kings heart of government
-wanted to administer justice so they divided empire into a hierarchy of provinces and districts andappointed officials to manage matters at each level. But given such an immense empire spread overa geographically and ethnically diverse territory, the level of Mauryan (state) control varied.
-M empire fell by coups, different things taking over and falling away
–made coins, wanted to support nad profit from trade
Religious Transformations: Buddhism and Hinduism into the
Common Era
-buddhism inclusive, anyone can become a buddha
-Theravada: first type, based on four noble truths
-Mahayana: anyone cna worship him… lots more starting points for all stages of life
-hinduism
-men and women had to follow their different rules and stages of life(following their dharma)
-devotion to deities
the Gupta empire
-The dynasty begins in
obscurity with two kings of a minor state located along the Ganges River, but then explodes on
the scene with the next two kings: Chandragupta I (c. 320 – 335) and his son Samudragupta
(c. 335 – 375). Through conquest and marital alliances, Chandragupta I forged a larger empire in
the old Ganges heartland
-coins providing evidence of this stuff
-some kings they captured and liberated, so they ruled as subordinates, paying homage
-Gupta
rulers thus directly administered a core territory
along the Ganges River while adopting a model of
tributary overlordship for the rest.
-things went up and down, huns destablized rule
-lots of art, writing, medicine, mathematics, astronomy
Indian Feudalism
-designates a political
and economic scene characterized by fragmented authority, a set of obligations between lords
and vassals, and grants of land (including those who work it) by rulers in exchange for some kind of service
-kings had their duty/dharma
-with warring, victorius kings might allowthem to retain titles and their land, conditions of allegiance and support
The Chola Dynasty
-tamil regional language by indian people
-tamil states formed adopting aryan culture
-kings proved greatness through temples they built
The Rise of Islamic States in North India
-muhammid prohpet of islam
-State grew into empire
-dofferent ethnic groups due to size
-calpih was ruler, political muhammid successor
-One
method Abbasid rulers used to govern their large realm was to employ enslaved Turks as soldiers
and administrators.
-The Ghaznavid ruler who first made forays into India was Mahmud of Ghazna, portrayed as brutal pluderer, but actually didn’t want to spread islam or cause big distruction
Delhi Sultanate
-When Muhammad died in 1206, Aybak took control
of these Indian possessions and established a state of his own called the Delhi Sultanate
-When Muhammad died in 1206, Aybak took control
of these Indian possessions and established a state of his own called the Delhi Sultanate
-The Delhi sultans,
then, were the sovereign rulers of the first major Muslim state in India,
-adapting to the pattern of Indian feudalism.
-Hindu society and its traditional leaders were largely left in place, so long
as tax revenue was submitted. With a long history of conquest behind them, Islamic rulers had
learned the benefits of adopting
-They had little interest in forcibly converting people to the faith, and rather adopted
a principle from the Quran whereby non-Muslim peoples with a scriptural tradition of their own
can live amidst the Islamic community and state so long as they pay a higher tax.
-persain adopted as government lanuage
