HST 108    India: from the Harappan Civilization                                                to the Delhi Sultanate

Key Terms from Lecture and Textbook
Harappan Civilization
 Upanishads Brahmanism
 Chandragupta Maurya
Hindu Kush
 		samsara Indra
 		Ashoka
Aryans
 		karma Agni
 		Mauryan Empire
Sanskrit
 		moksha Brahmanas
 		Pataliputra
Indo-European Languages 
Buddhism transmigration     
jati
Rig Veda
 		Siddhartha Gautama atman
 		Kushan Empire
raja
 		Four Noble Truths Magadha
 		Gupta Empire
varnas
 		Eight-Fold Path Nirvana
 		Chandragupta I
Brahmin
 		sutras
 Arthashastra
 		Samudragupta
Kshatriya
 		Mahayana Buddhism Kanishka
 		Kalidasa
Vaishya
 		Theraveda Buddhism Satavahana Kingdom 
Aryabhata
Shudra
 		Bodhisattva Dharma Scriptures
 		Tamil
Caste System
 		Hinduism Brahma
 		Chola Kingdom
Untouchables
 		dharma Vishnu
 		Delhi Sultanate
Laws of Manu Bhagavad Gita Shiva
Chronology
Harappan Civilization
 2800-2000 BCE
Aryans and the Vedic Age
 1500-500 BCE
Persian and Greek Invasions    
6th-4th c. BCE
Mauryan Empire
 321-185 BCE
Shaka and Kushan Kingdoms    
1st c. BCE - 4th c. CE
Gupta Empire
 320-480 CE
Early Medieval India
 5th-10th c. CE
Arrival of Turks
 9th-10 c. CE
Delhi Sultanate
 12th-14th c. CE
Invasion of Timur
 14th c. CE
I. Geography [MAP] 
        A. often referred to as a subcontinent
	B. ancient India included India, Pakistan, Nepal,
		Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives
        C. features
		1. monsoon rains
		2. Himalaya Mountains
		3. Indus and Ganges Rivers
		4. deserts in the northwest
		5. Vindhya Mountains and Deccan Plateau

II. Harappan Civilization (2800-2000 BCE) [MAP]
	A. named after the city of Harappa where the first ruins were discovered
	B. also called the Indus River Valley Civilization
	C. covered about 500,000 sq. miles
		- twice as large as Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations
	D. literate people, but their writing remains undeciphered
	E. earliest producers of cotton cloth; traded with Sargon's Akkadian empire
	F. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
		1. both planned cities
			a. about 3 miles in circumference
			b. populations around 35-40,000
		2. organized streets
		3. large houses with indoor plumbing
		4. massive public buildings
			1. storehouses for grain
			2. public baths [great bath at Mohenjo-Daro]
			3. marketplaces
	G. little known about Harappan political, religious and intellectual life
	H. we don't know why Harappan civilization declined
		- various possibilities: earthquake, drought, disease

III. The Aryans and the Vedic Age (1500-500 BCE)
	A. The Aryans [MAP]
		1. Aryan means noble
		2. Aryans spoke a form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language	
		3. they probably came from around Persia or the Caspian Sea region [MAP]
		4. some historians think they are simply descendants of the Harappan civilization
	B. The Rig Veda
		1. the earliest of the Vedas (collections of hymns, rituals, etc.)
		2. our main source of information for this period
		3. tells us that the Aryans were tribes of warriors that conquered northern India
			over several centuries
		4. superior technology allowed this: two-wheeled chariots and bronze weapons
		5. Aryan society
			a. chief, or raja - chosen by warriors for his military prowess
			b. priest - knowledge of rituals; evolves into Brahmin class
			c. warriors - met at assemblies; advised the raja
			d. commoners - farmers and herdsmen
			e. the conquered ones - hard labor, worst jobs
	C. Aryan Expansion [MAP]
		1. the Aryans slowly expanded across northern India
			from the Indus Valley to the Ganges Valley
		2. their conquest of land and people was facilitated by the introduction of iron
		3. shift to permanent settlements meant a shift from chieftains to kings
		4. kings no longer elected; simply approved by Brahmins (priests)
	D. The Caste System
		1. Aryan social divisions gradually evolved into a caste system
		2. the caste system had four varnas, or hereditary hierarchical groups
			a. Brahmin - the priests
			b. Kshatriya - the warriors and officials
			c. Vaishya - the merchants
			d. Shudra - the peasants and laborers
		3. Excerpt from the Laws of Manu:
			 - On account of his preeminence, on account of the superiority of his origin, 
				on account of his observance of particular restrictive rules, and on account 
				of his particular sanctification, the Brahmin is the lord of all castes.
			- Teaching, studying, sacrificing [are] acts prescribed for a Brahmin.
			- A Kshatriya ... must duly protect this whole world.
			- Not to turn back in battle, to protect the people, to honor the Brahmins, is the best 
				means for a king to secure happiness.
			- A Vaisya ... shall be always attentive to the business whereby he may subsist...
			- To serve Brahmins ... is the highest duty of a Sudra.	
		4. outcasts - the people without a caste
			a. at first, this was mainly the people the Aryans conquered
			b. gradually, some of these outcasts came to be called "untouchables"
		5. untouchables
			a. the impure ones who had the nastiest jobs in society
			b. despised by the rest of society
			c. it was believed that touching/seeing them could pollute you
		6. slaves
			a. prevalent just like everywhere else in the ancient world
			b. at first, connected to warfare
			c. then a socio-economic system
	E. Brahmanism
		1. polytheistic society
		2. Brahmins performed animal sacrifices to appease and connect with the gods
		3. the Upanishads (750-500 BCE)
			a. philosophical texts concerning rituals and our relationship to the universe
			b. they focus on endlessly repeating cycles in which souls are reincarnated
			c. samsara - the continuous cycle of death and rebirth
			d. karma - the amount of good/bad deeds that determines your status upon rebirth
			e. moksha - release from the wheel of life, the constant cycle of death and rebirth
			f. Brahman - the ultimate, unchanging reality

IV. Buddhism
	A. Siddhartha Gautama - founder of Buddhism
		1. gave up his belongings and became a wandering ascetic in Magadha around 500 BCE [MAP]
		2. spent the next 45 years traveling around the Ganges Valley, spreading his ideas
		3. popular with the lower castes because he ignored castes and the authority of the Vedas
	B. the Four Noble Truths
		1. pain and suffering are part of life
		2. pain and suffering are caused by desire and attachments
		3. people can triumph over these weaknesses
		4. this triumph is achieved by following the Eight-Fold Path
	C. the Eight-Fold Path
		1. right view/understanding
		2. right attitude/intention
		3. right speech
		4. right action
		5. right livelihood
		6. right effort
		7. right mindfulness
		8. right concentration
	D. the spread of Buddhism
		1. it ignored the caste system; anyone could join
		2. not dogmatic; very tolerant of other beliefs
		3. Buddhist monks
			a. traveled and preached
			b. eventually set up monasteries
			c. spent their time reciting the sutras (Buddhist scriptures)
		4. lay people followed the Eight-Fold Path and supported the monks
	E. Mahayana Buddhism
		1. founded by a Buddhist monk called Nagarjuna in the 2nd-3rd c. CE
		2. Mahayana means "the Great Vehicle"
			a. called this because it was more inclusive than Theraveda Buddhism
			b. anyone can become a Buddha
		3. Bodhisattvas were common in Mahayana Buddhism
			- they were "Buddhas-to-be" who remained in this world to help others
			on the path to enlightenment

V. Hinduism
	A. the old Brahmanic religion develops in a devotional direction
		1. individuals could show devotion to the gods by themselves, without priests
		2. by the 3rd c. BCE, thousands of gods are being worshiped by individuals
		3. people recite hymns/scriptures, make offerings of food/flowers
	B. dharma
		1. duty; proper conduct
		2. following your dharma can allow you to achieve moksha
		2. Bhagavad Gita
			a. main ethical text of Hinduism
			b. emphasizes that you must follow your dharma
			c. example of Arjuna
			d. Excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita:
				- One has to realize what is action... and ...what is inaction. 
				- He whose undertakings are all devoid of motivating desires and purposes 
					and whose actions are consumed by the fire of knowledge - him the wise 
					call a man of learning.
				- Action alone is your concern, never at all its fruits. Let not the fruits of action 
					be your motive, nor let yourself be attached to inaction.	
	C. women becoming more and more subservient to men
		1. dharma dictates that women must fulfill their duties
		2. they must obey their fathers
		3. they must serve their husbands

VI. The Mauryan Empire
	A. context - chaos created by Persian and Greek invasions
		1. Darius I (c. 550-486 BCE) - invaded in 515 BCE
		2. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) - invaded in 326 BCE
	B. Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321-298 BCE)  [MAP]
		1. provincial governors
		2. taxation system
		3. massive army
		4. capital at Pataliputra - a massive, cosmopolitan city
	C. Ashoka (r. 268-232 BCE)  [MAP]
		1. not much is known about his father Bindusara
		2. rebelled against his older brother Susima
		3. expanded the empire to the south
			a. vicious campaign the Kalinga on the east coast
			b. he slaughtered them into submission
		4. embraced Buddhism
			a. his governance
				1. emphasized compassion and non-violence
				2. forced officials to govern humanely
				3. but he didn't abandon the duties of government
			b. his spread of Buddhism
				1. pilgrimage to visit Buddhist holy sites
				2. used his officials to spread the religion
				3. sent Buddhist missionaries to other countries  [MAP]

VII. The Kushan Empire (1st-4th c. CE)
	- subject of the film next time

VIII. The Gupta Empire (c. 320-480 CE) [MAP]
	A. founded by Sri Gupta; greatly admired Chandragupta and the Mauryans
	B. Chandragupta I (c. 320-335 CE)
	C. Samudragupta (c. 335-375 CE)
	D. great period of culture and learning
		1. Indian poetry and romances
		2. place values in math and the idea of zero
	E. the attack of the Huns in the 5th century brought the demise of the Gupta Empire
		1. MAP - probable place of origin of the Huns
		2. MAP - route of the Huns

IX. Medieval India and the Arrival of Islam
	A. Early Middle Ages
		1. separate kingdoms and short-lived dynasties
		2. "feudalism"
	B. the arrival of Islam
		1. Muslims from Iraq conquered the Indus River Valley in the 8th centuries
		2. Muslim Turks arrived in the 9th and 10th centuries
		3. they conquered northwest India in the late 10th and early 11th centuries
		4. Islam doesn't spread far beyond northern India during this period
			a. the prevalence of Hinduism and the Caste System prevents this
				- especially the thousands of sub-castes called jati
			b. the Turks made Hindus "protected peoples"
		5. the Turks were hostile to Buddhism
			a. they saw it as a proselytizing religion = competition
			b. they attacked Buddhist centers
			c. thus, there is a decline in Buddhism in India from this period on
		6. the Delhi Sultanate
			a. dominated northern India during the 12th - 14th centuries
			b. able to hold off the Mongols