1. ANCIENT ASIA- INDIA
Indus River Pass through area for Silk Road
Ganges River (agriculture) Farming
Isolated because of Oceans, Mountains surrounding Aryans enter from N 1500 BCE; warlike
N Himalayan Mtns Nomadic herding -> farming; cattle = wealth
Hindu Kush Mtns Vegetarians
Deserts Buddhism spreads on Silk Road (Asoka-Mauyra influence)
E Bay of Bengal 550 BCE Magadha Kingdom
W Arabian Sea 500 BCE Persia enters
Climate change or flooding end Harappan civilization? 327 BCE Alexander the Great
*321 BCE Mauyra Empire: Chandragupta unites India
310 CE GOLDEN AGE OF INDIA- Gupta Empire: math, zero, decimals,
number system, medicine/vaccines
400 CE Huns enter
2500 BCE Harappan Civilization- Indus Valley Aryans- oral tradition- war hero & victory stories passed down
Isolation allowed people to thrive, raise families, and practice Sanskrit- writing: Vedas
religious beliefs Caste system forms and is reinforced by Hindu religion of varnas
City-states Dharma: duty to stay in varnas
Aryans-tribes/no central leader of India (chief = rajah) 1. Brahman (priests)
Society ruled by men 2. Kshatryas (wariors/rulers)
CASTE SYSTEM 3. Vaisyas (artisans/merchants)
• 321 BCE Mauyran Empire unites India & betters lives of 4. Sudras (lowest class)
people… roads, bridges, post offices… Polytheistic
• 270 BCE ASOKA spreads Buddhism • HINDUISM: Brahama (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver), Shiva
• 310 BCE GUPTA Empire = Golden Age of India (Destroyer)
Reincarnation & karma
Writing: Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads
• 500 BCE BUDDHISM – Siddhartha Gautama
nirvana