Chapter 3 Flashcards
What was another name for the Indus Valley Civilization?
Harappan
How large were each of the five major cities in the top tier of Mature Harappan civilization?
250 acres each
How large were each of the several dozen towns middle tier of Mature Harappan
civilization?
15 to 150 acres each
How large were each of the fifteen thousand smaller agricultural and craft villages in the
bottom tier of Mature Harappan civilization?
2.5 acres each
In Mohenjo-Daro, residences with private wells and baths, along with toilets that drained by
earthenware pipes to sewage drains under the city streets, shows that particular attention was
paid to what feature?
Public sanitation
The Harappan Civilization has been described as proto-historic. What does proto-historic
mean?
There were records of symbols and signs that have not been deciphered and read.
The Harappan Civilization just “faded away”? All of the following are likely causes
EXCEPT which one?
Annihilation from invading armies.
The Vedic Age was named after a set of religious texts. What is the name of the first of these
four religious texts that consists of 1028 hymns and was not written down until after 500
BCE?
Rig-Veda
The Aryans spoke what language?
Sanskrit
The Aryans valued what type of relationship?
Family
The Vedic peoples referred to themselves as Aryans. What does Aryan mean?
“Noble” or “Respectable”
The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The most beloved of the Vedic gods was the god of war
and the storm. He was also the king of the gods. What was his name?
Indra
The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The god of fire and the household hearth summoned the
other gods to the sacrifice and acted as an intermediary between the gods and humans. What
was his name?
Agni
Where was the Indo-Aryan homeland from which the Aryans migrated to India?
The steppe lands of southern Russia.
Just north of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.
During the Later Vedic Age, what two new resources made farming more productive?
Iron tools and rice
As agriculture became more important and occupations became more diverse, what occurred
during the Late Vedic Age?
Village communities began to form.
Populations began to grow.
People began to engage in jobs other than farming.
During the Late Vedic Age, the political structure was both an oligarchy and a republic. How
was this possible?
The heads of the most powerful families governed with the assistance of an assembly.
During the later Vedic Age, the social structure became more hierarchical and rigid. A
system for classifying people based on broad occupational categories developed. What is the
name given to this classification system?
Varna system
What social group was at the top of the Varna system?
Brahmins (priests)
What social group immediately followed the Brahmins in the Varna system?
Kshatriya (chiefs and warriors)
What social group immediately followed the Kshatriya in the Varna system?
Vaishya (commoners)
What social group was at the bottom of the Varna system?
Shudras (servants)
What is the earlies layer of Hinduism called?
Brahmanism
As Brahmanism evolved and became more elaborate, three new Vedas and two new sets of
texts were added to the literature. Which text was primarily handbooks of rituals for the
Brahmins to follow?
Brahmanas
As Brahmanism evolved and became more elaborate, three new Vedas and two new sets of
texts were added to the literature. Which text was an entirely new set of ideas to follow?
Upanishads
In the Upanishads, what is the wandering between endless successions of death and rebirth
called?
Transmigration
In the Upanishads, transmigration is not random but determined by one’s actions in this life
that lead to either a better or worse life at rebirth. This is known as the Law of __________?
Karma
In the Upanishads, what is the ultimate divine reality called?
Brahman
In the Upanishads, what is the eternal soul deep within the heart of each person called?
Atman
According to the Upanishads, how is a person liberated from the illusion of endless
wandering?
Discovering that the soul is the divine reality.
Discovering atman and its identity with brahman.
Who was the original Buddha?
Siddhartha Gautama
A young prince from the foothills of the Himalaya.
A renunciant dissatisfied with life and sought an answer to the question of suffering
What is the principle teaching of the Buddha?
Four Noble Truths
What is the First Noble Truth?
Dukka: Truth of Suffering; Life is full of suffering.
What is the Second Noble Truth?
Samudaya: Truth of the Cause of Suffering; Suffering comes from desire/wanting.
What is the Third Noble Truth?
Nirodha: Truth of the End of Suffering; Suffering stops when desire/wanting stops.
What is the Fourth Noble Truth?
Magga: Truth of the Eight-Fold Path; In order to stop those desires/wants, one must
follow the Eight-fold Path
With the expansion of trade, what was the merchants’ principal method of organization?
Guilds
During India’s period of economic growth and flourishing trade networks, what was the
major overland trade network called?
Silk Roads
How was Buddhism different from Vedic Brahmanism?
It was more inclusive; concerned less with birth and social class
What is the earliest form of Buddhism and follows Buddha’s teaching of the Four Noble
Truths?
Theravada Buddhism
What is the later form of Buddhism that offers multiple paths to enlightenment for people
from all walks of life?
Mahayana Buddhism
Vedic Brahmanism evolved into modern-day Hinduism with the addition of new forms of
devotion and an effort to define a good life and society according to what idea?
Dharma
Which of the following is NOT a famous Indian epic that illustrated the theme of dharma
(duty)?
Gilgamesh
In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the creator”?
Brahma
In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the preserver”?
Vishnu
In the Hindu trinity, which god is “the destroyer?
Shiva
Who was one of India’s greatest Sanskrit poets and playwrights?
Kalidasa
Who was India’s astronomer that first proposed that the earth rotated on an axis, calculate pi
to 3.1416, and the solar year to 364.3586805 days?
Aryabhata
What is the name given to India’s ancient medical science?
Ayurveda
What political and economic scene is characterized by fragmented authority, a set of
obligations between lords and vassals, and grants of land by rulers in exchange for some kind
of service?
Feudalism
Who is the Prophet of Islam, whose revelations are recorded in the Quran?
Muhammad
What was the designated political successor to Muhammad, the leader of the Islamic
community, and the ruler of the Muslim Arab Empire called?
Caliph
What is the name given to an Islamic ruler who governs a country largely independently of
the caliphs, but without claiming their title?
Sultan
