AP World History Traditions & Encounters Notes

Chapter 9 – State, Society and the Quest for Salvation in India

The Mauryan Dynasty

• Indian unification came mostly because of invasions
• 520BCE – Persian Emperor, Darius conquered part of India
• Made it a province of Achaemenid Empire
• Used Persian techniques of administration/governing
• 327BCE – Alexander the Great conquered the northern part, but departed after two years
• His departure created a vacuum when he destroyed the states and then withdrew, leaving room for others to come in and take over
• By 500BCE, the kingdom of Magadha had taken over the area
• Within 2 centuries took surrounding regions
• Took control of all trade passing through the Ganges Valley
• By 321BCE, Chandragupta Maurya began taking over small regions of Magadha and worked his way to the center
• Brought  most of India under his control – centralized government
• The Arthashastra (manual on instructions for administering an empire) helped Chandragupta set up his government
• Told how to oversee trade and agriculture, collect taxes, keep order work with other empires and wage war
• Traditions says he gave up his throne to his son – became a monk – possibly starved himself to death
• The highpoint of the Mauryan empire came under Ashoka
• Conquered most of the rest of the subcontinent
• Much better governor than conqueror
• Ruled through tightly organized bureaucracy
• Built capital of Pataliputra
• Committee looked after foreigners in the city (spied on them)
• Efficiently collected taxes
• Inscribed his edicts on natural stone formations or stone pillars
• Had imperial decrees, urged people to observe Buddhist values & expressed his intention to rule fairly
• As a result, regions of India became fairly integrated
• He encouraged the development of agriculture
• Built extensive irrigation systems
• Built extensive roads – 1,000 miles
•  Inns, wells and shade trees for travelers
• Died in 232BCE – decline started quickly
• Leaders spent too much money on salaries for large army and huge bureaucracy
• Eventually, they spent more than they took in
• Because of financial problems, the empire couldn’t hold on
• By 185BCE, it was gone

 

Gupta Dynasty

• Also based in Magadha (like the Mauryan)
• Dominated the Ganges valley
• Founder was Chandra Gupta
• Established c. 320CE
• Pataliputra would remain the center of administration and commerce
• Later leaders conquered surrounding areas
• Established tributary alliances with regions that did not put up a fight
• Guptas left local governments and policy making in the hands of allies in the region
• Became a prosperous, stable land with little crime
• However, they couldn’t stand up under the attacks from the White Huns (nomads from the steppes of Asia)
• By end of 5th century, the Huns had established several kingdoms in north and west India
• Gupta dynasty continued in name only
• Regional governors began to take over their regions
• India would remain fragmented until the 16th century when the Mughals took over

 

Economic Development and Social Distinctions

• spread thru subcontinent – Aryans turned to agriculture
• after 1000BCE – learned iron metallurgy – used the tools to move into new areas – specifically the jungles
• sent shudras to clear the land – grow crops – agricultural surpluses
• supported the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties
• encouraged growth of towns, trade and caste system

Towns and Trade

• after 600BCE – towns in India – esp. NW corner
• towns provided manufactured products  - utensils and tools
• also luxury goods for the elite
• demand was high and some entrepreneurs had large businesses
• towns had marketplaces
• trade very active along Ganges River – also over to Burma and down thru S. India
• other places with growing stable political foundations began to trade with India
• direct political and military bonds with foreign countries
• Persia loved to trade with India b/c of its wealth
• Alex’s conquests help est. more networks b/w India and Med basin by way of Persia, Bactria, and Anatolia
• two ways of trade – over the Hindu Kush and the Taxila to Persia and along the silk roads to China
• cotton, aromatics, black pepper, pearls, and gems traded for horses, bullion and silk
• during Mauryan times – also used sea for transport
• used the rhythms of the monsoon winds
• spring and summer – wind blows from SW
• during fall and winter – from the NE
• by 5th cent. BCE – traveled to Indonesia – SE Asia mainland
• brought back spices and exotic local goods – usually traded on to Med basin
• Indian pepper so popular the Romans ext. trading settlements in S. India – tons of Roman coins found in India

 

Family Life and the Caste System

• tried to promote stability by encouraging strong patriarch family and social order with defined roles
• most were nuclear families – some of the aristocrats lived with several generations in large compounds
• the Mahabharata and Ramayana showed women are weak and emotional and devoted to their husbands.
• early CE centuries – male dominance even more pronounced
• by Gupta era – child marriage common
• girls of 8-9 to men in 20’s – marriage took place after puberty
• this put them under control of older men and devote themselves to family matters
• four main classes:  Brahmins – priests; kshatriyas, warriors and aristocrats; vaishyas - merchants; shudras – peasants and serfs
• growth of trade encouraged deeper development of castes
• new groups – artisans, craftsmen, and merchants – did not fit easily into established structure
• those in the same craft banded together to form a guild (corporate body that supervises prices and wages in a given industry and provides for the welfare of members and their families)
• guilds lived in same part of town, socialized, intermarried and took care of the needy.
• they were sub castes (jati) – usually organized their own courts – discipline, resolve differences, regulate affairs
• could be expelled from the community
• guilds and jati performed services that central gov’ts provided in other lands.
• economic development brought huge wealth
• also challenged the social order
• tradition said that special honor was for Brahmins and kshatriyas b/c of the worthy lives they had led during previous incarnations and their responsibilities of their current lives
• the other two castes did not get any special respect and were obligated to work as the higher classes told them to.
• however trade and industry brought wealth and influence to vaishyas and even shudras
• beliefs, values and rituals were beginning to change and that brought new religions

Religions of Salvation in Classical India

• during ancient times the Brahmins did ritual sacrifices
• crucial for survival of society
• were exempt from taxes
• received other gifts
• as society became wealthier, their services were less meaningful
• 6th and 5th centuries – new religions that rejected the Brahmins’ cults and appealed to the new social classes

 

Jainism and the Challenge to the Established Cultural Order

• one of the most influential new religions
• became popular when great teacher Vardhamana Mahavira turned to Jainism – he was “the great hero” born into prominent kshatriya family
• legend says he left home at 30 to seek salvation by escaping the cycle of incarnation
• wandered 12 yrs. living an ascetic life in the Ganges valley where he gained enlightenment
• gave up all his worldly goods and clothes – taught detachment from  the world.
• next thirty years – taught a group of disciples who formed a monastic order to spread his message
• they called him Jina (the conqueror) and refered to themselves as Jains.
• much of the doctrine comes from the Upanishads
• they believed that everything in the universe – people, animals, plants, air, water, rocks, etc. possess a soul
• as long as they are in their earthly bodies – they experience suffering
• only by purification of selfish behavior would souls get release and gain eternal bliss
• to do this they had to observe ahimsa – nonviolence to other living things or their souls
• monks would sweep the walkways to keep from hurting insects – strain water, etc.
• believed that all occupations were violent in some way
• farmers killed pests – harvested live plants
• leather tanners killed animals
• this was not a practical religion for most people
• it did appeal to many people and they adapted it to suit their needs
• they liked the idea that all things had souls
• also Jains did not like social classes
• this was popular with the lower classes who did not get respect in the traditional order
• these classes did not do much violence to other creatures or souls
• there are 2 million Jainists today
• many Buddhists and Hindus believe in ahimsa – reformers like Gandhi and MLK, JR.
• however, Jainism is too difficult for most people to take part in
• a more practical alternative to Jainism was Buddhism

 

Early Buddhism

• Siddhartha Gautama b. about 563BCE – in small state gov’n by father –foothills of Himalayas
• lived sheltered life – only saw good things – father never wanted him to know suffering.
• one day he saw an old man, later a sick man, then a corpse
• learned that all of what he had seen was inevitable and it greatly disturbed him
• saw a monk and learned that some people give up active life to live ascetic lives– he admired him.
• 534BCE – left wife and family to be holy man – wandered looking for explanation of suffering
• looked for enlightenment by meditation, then extreme asceticism – still didn’t work
• finally sat under large bo tree and said he would stay there until he understood suffering.
• 49 days – meditated – demons tempted him with pleasures and terrors – finally, he understood
• he became Buddha – “the enlightened one.”
• delivered doctrine about 528BCE to friends who had been ascetic also – called the “Turning of the Wheel of the Law” – represented the beginning of his quest to righteousness
• gathered many followers – organized some monks who traveled on foot, begged for food & preached
• led his disciples throughout N. India for 40 years – died in 483BCE
• Four Noble Truths
• all life involves suffering
• desire is the cause of suffering
• elimination of desire brings an end to suffering
• a disciplined life conducted in accordance with the Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire
• right belief, right resolve, right speech, right behavior, right occupation, right effort, right contemplation, right meditation
• a moderate life with quiet contemplation, thoughtful desire, and self-control would help people reduce desire for material things
• would lead to personal salvation – escape from cycle of incarnation and attain nirvana
• state of perfect spiritual independence
• the 4 Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path make up dharma –doctrine shared by all Buddhists
• reasons it appealed to regular Indians
• did not depend on Brahmins – not believe in the caste system – message appealed to members of lower castes
• used vernacular languages that reached more people
• had holy sites that served as focal point for devotion
• Stupas – shrines that had artifacts of Buddha and first disciples
• organization – joined monastic communities where they dedicated life to search for enlightenment
• great at spreading the faith – taught, explained and preached
• Ashoka converted to Buddhism after defeating the Kalingans and seeing them suffer
• said he would pursue his goals humanely rather than fighting
• probably thought it would unify the diverse nation
• he banned animal sacrifices in Pataliputra, stopped hunting and stopped eating most meat
• gave land grants to Buddhists, encouraged them to spread Buddhism
• sent missionaries into central Asia to spread Buddhist beliefs

Mahayana Buddhism

• Buddhism attracted merchants, artisans, other low rungs on the social class
• liked the idea b/c it did not have complicated ceremonies that seemed to not matter
• true existence involved giving up everything including social standing, family and material goods.
• early Buddhist thought it might take many incarnations over 1000’s of years to reach nirvana
• b/w 3rd BCE and 1st centuries CE – three new developments changed Buddhism
• one, Buddha didn’t consider himself divine, but followers began to worship him as a god
• two, began to believe in boddhisatva – people who had reached nirvana but were staying on earth to help others attain nirvana
• third, monasteries began to accept gifts from wealthy and see the gifts as act of generosity that warranted salvation – so wealthy could still have comfort, avoid sacrifices and still have salvation
• followers of these three ideas called their faith Mahayana “the greater vehicle”
• could “carry” more people to salvation
• as opposed to Hinayana “the lesser vehicle” aka Theravada Buddhism
• Mahayana attracted followers in central Asia, China, Japan and Korea – will flourish more than the other will
• monasteries began to offer basic education

 

Emergence of Popular Hinduism

• Hinduism underwent transformation to gather more followers
• departed from older traditions of Brahmins
• changes in doctrine and observances to attract ordinary people
• two poems show values of Hinduism
• Mahabharata – huge war for control of N. India b/w two groups of cousins – secular work that Brahmins stressed the god Vishnu – preserver of the world who intervened on behalf of the virtuous
• Ramayana – Prince Rama rescued wife Sita after demon king of Ceylon kidnapped her
• Brahmin editors later made Rama an incarnation of Vishnu
• they portrayed Rama and Sita as perfect Hindu husband and wife
• the Bhagavad Gita underwent several edits until it ended up with Krishna (charioteer of Arjuna – a warrior) stressing the importance of caste system and responsibilities to fulfill it and failure was a great sin.
• in the Gita – it showed that life was easier for regular people because they could get salvation by participating actively in world and meet their caste responsibilities
• only perform duties faithfully, think only of their actions, and no thought to the consequences
• four aims of human life:
• dharma – obedience to religious and moral laws
• artha – pursuit of economic well-being and honest prosperity
• kama – enjoyment of social, physical, and sexual pleasure
• a proper balance of these three would help a person achieve moksha – salvation of the soul
• gradually took over as dominant religion in India
• Hinduism attracted the Gupta emperors – gave many land grants and supported educational system that promoted Hindu values
• by 1000CE – Buddhism had noticeably declined
• w/I few centuries Hinduism and new faith of Islam had diminished Buddhism’s appeal in India