State, Society and the Quest for Salvation in India summary

State, Society and the Quest for Salvation in India summary

 

 

State, Society and the Quest for Salvation in India summary

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 Mahayanathe greater vehicle
    • could “carry” more people to salvation
  • as opposed to Hinayanathe 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
    • RamayanaPrince 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

 

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