History Midterm (India)

Question 1

explain where and when was civilization invented independently in India?

Answer 1

• Along the banks of the Indus river.
• A culture with cities, writing, and an elaborate bureaucracy existed from 2400 BCE - 1900 BCE.

Question 2

why did the “Indus Valley civilization” come to an end?

Answer 2

Northern India became too dry!

Question 3

what type of society did they have

Answer 3

egalitarian

Question 4

Later on, Indian history is marked by the arrival in Northern India of who?

Answer 4

the Aryan people - Originally nomadic pastoralists from central Asia.

Question 5

when and what did the Aryan people bring to India?

Answer 5

• They bring with them their very hierarchical conception of society, their religion, and their Indo-European languages.
• They came to India by 1500 BCE.

Question 6

They see the world as divided into 4 ritual classes of people: explain each.

Answer 6

1. Gods
2. Brahims (Priests/Scholars)
3. Kshatriyas (Warriors/Kings)
4. Vaishyas (Landworkers/Merchants)
5. Sudras (Servants/peasants)

Question 7

explain what the Varna system is

Answer 7

people are classified according to ritual purity

Question 8

who is the large class at the bottom of the varna system?

Answer 8

the Untouchables (social rejects)

Question 9

how do we know these social practices?

Answer 9

through the Vedic Hymns (religious songs).

Question 10

what social/religious system emerged from the mix of Aryan and native Indian traditions?

Answer 10

Hinduism

Question 11

explain Hinduism

Answer 11

• The sense of polytheism
• Rebirth/ reincarnation
• Worship through animal sacrifice
• Very religious orientation
• Ideal of asceticism (good to deprive yourself - because it can help you connect to the gods and things that are not on Earth)

Question 12

Hinduism is a term designating the many religions of India that share basic features:
explain them.

Answer 12

• Polytheistic (shiva, vishnu, goddess)
• Re-incarnation (“souls” live many lives)
• The goal of religious life is to find a “liberation” from the cycle of rebirth: Nirvana.
• The universe is underpinned by a kind of universal spirit
• There is also the picture of society as a very stratified pyramid of purity.

Question 13

when was Hinduism established as the dominant religious ideology of India?

Answer 13

1 st millenium BC

Question 14

what bigger political units are able to take over parts of India?

Answer 14

Maurya Empire, Gupta Empire

Question 15

what do large empires require to exist?

Answer 15

• Military expansion
• Slavery (typically accompanies the military expansion in the ancient world)
• Commercial activities of growing complexity with markets and coinage (metal money)

Question 16

In such a period, people become confused and overwhelmed, a new kind of religious/philosophical teachings appears. what is it?

Answer 16

Buddhism.

Question 17

explain the Buddhism and buddha backstory

Answer 17

The Buddha was a religious figure who lived in Northern India, probably around the 6th century BCE. He was from a wealthy family but decided to renounce his inheritance to become a wandering ascetic seeking spiritual liberation.

Question 18

what does Ascetic mean?

Answer 18

someone who resists doing something considered normal in life for the sake of ritual purity or spiritual discipline. Ex: eating very little, refrain from sex, sitting motionless for long periods.

Question 19

what was buddha’s central question in life?

Answer 19

the central question in human life is what to do about suffering.

Question 20

He eventually came up with insight that he felt could make life meaningful; he called it what?

Answer 20

The four noble truths

Question 21

explain the four noble truths

Answer 21

1. There is suffering.
2. The cause of suffering is clinging to things that you want or clinging to the hope that you can avoid things you don’t want.
3. But there is a way out!
4. The way out is to follow the Buddhist path.

Question 22

why was the four noble truth revolutionary in its day?

Answer 22

because it disregarded the social hierarchy of Hindu/Vedic society.

Question 23

what was Buddha’s idea?

Answer 23

His idea was that all people could become “enlightened” and attain liberation.

Question 24

what was the period of expanding ancient empires?

Answer 24

from the 800s BCE to about 200 CE

Question 25

The period of expanding ancient empires corresponds to new religious/philosophical teaching: give examples

Answer 25

• Hebrew prophets
• Confucius
• Zoroaster
• Jesus/Paul of Tarsus
• Lao Tzu
• Greek philosopher
• Buddha

Question 26

What is the term coined by Karl Jaspers?

Answer 26

The Axial Age