Early Civilizations: Persia, India and China Flashcards
Why did Cyrus the great rule with tolerance
People would willingly serve in the military and they wanted to preserve their freedoms
Who was Cyrus the great of Persia
He defeated the neo-Babylonian's. Ended jews's captivity Gave the Jews and military help to rebuild -allowed people religious freedom - let people follow their own laws - ruled with tolerance - people had to pay taxes
Who is Cambyses
Cyrus’s son
- no religious tolerance
- caused rerevolts in Egypt
- ended the dynasty of Cyrus the great
Who was Darius I?
The administrative ruler
What did Darius the first do?
- added western India to the Persian empire
- added Thrace in Europe this brought them into conflict with the Greeks causing the Persian war which the Greeks won
How was Darius the first’s bureaucracy organized?
Each province had:
A governor called a satrap
A tax collector
A military leader
How did Darius the first of Persia keep control of a large territory
- Imperial Bureaucracy
- Coins (from the Lydians)
- A road system ( the royal road)
- A strong military
- Standard weights and measures
What brought about the fall of the Persian empire
- Persian kings became greedy like Darius the second and Xerxes
- The Persians decided to go after Athens in 330 BC Greeks conquer them and Alexander the great burns Persepolis to the ground
What is Zoroastrianism?
Tenets: you are judged on your deeds, light versus dark, you have your free will to choose good or bad
Holy text: Zend Avesta
It was monotheistic and the universal all-powerful God’s name was Ahura Mazda.
The symbol is that weird guy was really big wings
What was the Cyrus cylinder
The Cyrus cylinder was the first human rights law it said into new form, that all had religious freedom regardless of skin color or things like that
What was the capital of Persia
Persepolis
What was the Quanat system?
A water system of underground rivers that are still used today. There are mountains to access the aquifers in the Persian empire
What makes India a subcontinent?
Indian subcontinent subcontinent is a landmass that is separated by the Himalayas Hindu Kush and Khyber Pass. It is isolated from the rest of Asia. This causes it to have a distinct culture.
What are the two rivers in India
The Ganges River and the Indus River
What did the Aryans bring with them through the Khyber Pass?
The Vedas, written in Sanskrit ( holy text of Hinduism)
- the caste system
- the Sanskrit alphabet
What was the holy text of Hinduism
The Vedas
What was the purpose of the caste system
Away of socially controlling people to do their duties and each level of the caste system was useful
What was the influence of iron in India
Iron tools allowed for improvements in agriculture such as inventing the plow
It was family life like an ancient India? who is head of the family?
The structure of the family was patriarchal, the oldest male dominated and only men could inherit property and only boys could be educated.
What was the most basic unit of Indian society?
The family
What was sati
Whenever a man died his wife would have to kill herself too to honor her husband
Who founded the Mauryan Dynasty?
Chandragupta Maurya
What was the first classical civilization?
The Mauryan dynasty
How did Asoka become converted?
First, Asoka was called the cruel king but the empire flourished under his rule.
- he fought at the battle of kalinga and he was so disturbed by the suffering there he converted to Buddhism
What does Asoka do for the people?
- sets up free hospitals
- vet clinics
- parks and trees for meditation
- total nonviolence
- closed his old torture chambers
- freed his prisoners and gave them back their land
Who were Asoka’s missionaries and what did they do?
Asoka send missionaries out through Asia to spread Buddhism they were greatly responsible for spreading Buddhism outside India
Is Buddhism a religion?
No. Boudin Buddhism is a philosophy because Buddha is not a God and he did not want to be worshiped. Buddhism is a way of life not a religion.
What were Asoka’s columns?
I shook as columns were inscribed pillars with teachings of Buddhism and laws combined to spread religion. They were topped with triple Lions as a symbol of Buddhism and also wheels of rebirth also, a symbol of Buddhism.
What was the Kushan Kingdom?
It was located in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and down into the Ganges valley in northern India.
The Kushan establish their empire after the fall of the Mauryan empire
What was the silk Road ?
A pathway of trade routes stretching all the way from China to route passing by India
What religion was the Mauryan dynasty known for?
Buddhism
When was India’s Golden age
During the Gupta Empire
What was the second classical dynasty?
The Gupta dynasty
What makes a civilization a golden age?
- trade, and the resulting wealth(The group to sit right between China and Rome on the silk Road)
- inventions and science and math (These advance the culture)
Who founded the Gupta Empire?
Chandragupta (No relation to maurya)
What was the capital of the Gupta Empire
Pataliputra (It was the same as the Mauryans’ samadragupta)
What were the purpose of tributary states in the Gupta Empire? What did they do?
-they had to pay resources to the Emperor in return for peace and no interference
How did the Guptas become the most powerful force in the area?
They traded with China southeast Asia and the Mediterranean
The Guptas excelled in iron technology where did they get this technology from?
The Zhou
Who was Chandragupta II?
- the empire reached its greatest point under him
- ruled peacefully for 40 years
- ruled by marrying children off to other tribal leaders
What were the Pilgrim routes?
- religious trade
- people set up trade stations with necessities for these religious pilgrims
How did the Gupta Empire fall?
- the white Huns came from Turkey they had attacked Gupta before but were defeated
- they brought an end to the Golden age of Gupta
- persecuted Buddhists and reduced Pataliputra to a village and then they burnEd it down
What were the holy texts of Hinduism
The Vedas
What were the Upanishads
Part of the Veda and from the Hindu scriptures -they discuss philosophy
What is a Ramayana?
An ancient Sanskrit epic,
What is Mahabharata?
- explains many moral principles of Hinduism - explains karma
- took 800 years to write
- a tragedy of heroes and gods and goddesses
What were Stupas
Shrines that house Buddhist relics (Mauryan )
What were pagodas?
Associated with Buddhism, evolved from stew pies, they’re usually Buddhist temples/shrines seen in China
What were the scientific contcontributions of India?
- decimal system
- concept of 0
- pi
- circumference of the earth
- solar calendar with 365 days
- proposed earth was spherical
- plastic surgery and vaccines
Order these:
Qin Dynasty
Han dynasty
Qin dyn then Han dyn
Who was leader of the Qin dynasty?
Shi Huangdi
What did Shi Huangdi do?
- connected Great Wall of china
- established standards of:
- laws
- writing
- currency
- built roads
What was the golden age of China?
The Han dynasty
What did Shi Huangdi do for China?
- Made China the first empire
- Uses legalism to squash opposition, burned books and killed confuscists
- Killed Han fei zei
- Unified/ standardized:
- laws
- written language
- currency
- multiplication tables
- transportation (roads)
- a strong central bureaucracy
Who made the terra cotta army?
Shi Hunagdi
Why did the Qin dynasty decline?
The peasants rebelled because of the cruelty from construction products and the strict legalisms.
What was the golden age of China?
The Han dynasty
Who was the founder of the Han dynasty?
Liu Bang, but …
Emperor Wudi, the Martial Emperor
- ends legalism
- stops harsh taxes
- brings back Confucianism
- expands to North Korea, North Vietnam, Eastern Tibet, and Central Asia
What are the Han inventions?
Magnetic compass & seismograph Silk Porcelain Steel Gunpowder Hot air balloons Rudders to steer ships Suspension bridges Chain pumps Wood pulp paper Printing process Wheelbarrow Acupuncture Herbal medicine Blood circulation
Which Chinese dynasty was the first to connect to the outside world?
The Han dynasty
What are contributions of the Han Dynasty?
- civil service exams in the govt (meritocracy)
What was the order of social classes in Han China?
- Emperor
- Palace court and nobles and officials
- Artisans
- Merchants
- 5 soldiers
- slaves
Why were merchants and soldiers below peasants in Han china?
In Confucianism, The philosophy of China, merchants are low because they are after money and that they want to change their place in society. Confucianism wanted you to be content with your birth. Peasants were considered the backbone of the society because they provide food. Warriors and soldiers could be for higher could change status and were not peaceful. That is why Confucianism did not favor them.
What brought about the fall of the Han Dynasty?
- overtaxed peasants
- peasant rebellions
- cities fighting among themselves
What does the caste system determine?
- occupation
- who you marry
- your education
What was Jainism?
Extreme nonviolence
What religion had the 8 fold path?
Buddhism
How was Hinduism spread?
Aryans brought Hinduism with them across the khyber pass. But Hinduism wasn’t meant to spread, because the caste system was only meant to provide rigid social structure.
Which dyn in India had Hinduism?
Gupta
Describe the type of god in Hinduism.
Many forms of one God.
Describe the levels of the caste system.
1 Brahmins: priests, closest to Brahman
2 Kshatriyas: warriors and princes
3. Vaisya: merchants, artisans, landowners
4. Shundra: (majority) the workers
Untouchables
What was Brahma?
What was Brahmin?
What religion is this from?
Brahman: God
Brahmin: priest
What are some tenets of Hinduism?
Tenets
Reincarnation
Karma:all actions in this life affect your next life
Dharma: your duty, rules you have to follow to have good karma
Samsara: being stuck in the cycle, never reaching moksha
Moksha: the ultimate goal/ heaven
The caste system
This was in the Gupta empire
What was the holy text of Hinduism?
The Vedas and the Upanishads
Ahimsa - nonviolence
How did buddhism spread?
Asoka’s missionaries
Spread to:
China: Tibet, Nepal, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Japan
Message was popular because it has monasteries and women could go there to escape marriage. EGALITARIAN
Who’s the founder of Buddhism?
Siddartha Guatama
What are some tenets of Buddhism?
Buddha- not a god
Nirvana- enlightenment
Four Noble Truths- 1st sermon from Buddha
(How to escape suffering)
The 8 Fold Path- good things you should have
- NO holy text (teachings of Buddha called Tripitaka)
- NO CASTE SYSTEM
- women could get an edu in convents
What was the goal of Confucianism?
Social order of family and government
Who was the founder of Confucianism?
Confucius
What are the beliefs of Confucianism?
- 5 basic relationships
- filial piety (respect for elders)
- yin/ yang
- text: the analects - teachings of Confucius
- ancestor veneration
- people are naturally born good (opposite of legalism)
- benevolence- be selfless and kind to everyone
- NO REINCARNATION
- GOVT SERVICE HIGH HONOR
- EDUCATION
Founder of Daoism/ Taoism
Laozi
Tenets of Daoism
- nature love
- yin yang ( like Confucianism)
- harmony w nature
- dao: the way
- filial piety (like Confucianism)
Opposite of Confucianism:
- should not work for govt
- Shi Huangdi let them be bc they didn’t want anything to do with govt
Who was founder of Legalism?
Han Feizi
Tenets of legalism
- humans are born evil and need to be controlled by law
- state is more important than the individual
- strict laws
What are the things that Zhou dynasty in China contributed
Silk, on the roads, blast furnace to make iron, going to money, irrigation, develop the crossbow, complex bureaucracy
