 Announcement: The official end of the 9 week grading period is NEXT FRIDAY October 16 th !  Warm-up: On a SEPARATE piece of paper, write your name, class period, number 1-10 (LEAVING ENOUGH ROOM TO WRITE 2-3 SENTENCES BETWEEN EACH #), and title “Classical India Gallery Walk” ◦ Write 2-3 bullet points about ANYTHING you may already know about INDIA.

 Announcement: The official end of the 9 week grading period is NEXT FRIDAY October 16 th !  Warm-up: On a SEPARATE piece of paper, write your name, class period, number 1-10 (LEAVING ENOUGH ROOM TO WRITE 2-3 SENTENCES BETWEEN EACH #), and title “Classical India Gallery Walk” ◦ Write 2-3 bullet points about ANYTHING you may already know about INDIA.

 Announcement: The official end of the 9 week grading period is THIS FRIDAY October 16 th !  Warm-up: On a SEPARATE piece of paper, write your name, class period, number 1-10 (LEAVING ENOUGH ROOM TO WRITE 2-3 SENTENCES BETWEEN EACH #), and title “Classical India Gallery Walk” ◦ Write 2-3 bullet points about ANYTHING you may already know about INDIA.

 Student(s) will … ◦ Participate in a “Classical India Civilizations Gallery Walk” ◦ Pertaining to key information about the Mauryan and Gupta Empires, students will learn about the geography, government, rights of citizens, role(s) of women, art & literature, influences on the modern world of these classical Indian civilizations ◦ Be able to apply information from this lesson & their notes to a conclusive “I-Phone” related activity

EQ: How does Indian civilization progress during its first 2000 years? Do beliefs influence cultural practices and human behaviors?

 Major theme: Isolation ◦ India is a “subcontinent” ◦ Mountains and other physical landforms ring the subcontinent providing little access via land  Interaction ◦ From the west, either you came through the Khyber Pass in the north or traversed the rough deserts to the south ◦ The north and east are ringed by the Himalayas and rugged hills in Myanmar ◦ Later interaction came to India via the sea

 Indus River Valley  began around BC  highly urban culture - Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro  Well developed cities with high, “skyscraper-like” structures, indoor plumbing  Origin of cow veneration  Disappearance under debate ◦ Aryans invasions or natural disaster

 ARYANS  Between c BC Aryans arrive and destroy remnants of Indus Valley culture  As they settled, their social complexity grew, especially as they interacted with the native, darker skinned Dravidians.  This developing culture developed the language and literary form called Sanskrit.  Early caste system with priests on top found in Vedas (Large body of Sanskrit texts. Poems and Hymns. Basis of oldest forms of Hinduism) [Literature]

 The term caste—a social class of hereditary and unchangeable status—was first used in India by Portuguese merchants and mariners during the 16 th century CE when they observed sharp social distinctions among the Indian people.  The Aryans used the term varna, a Sanskrit word meaning “color,” to refer to their social classes.

As time progressed, the caste system became much more complex with each caste further subdivided into jati (sub- castes) Marriage between castes (often even between jati) was forbidden, under penalty of death  A fifth group called the Dalits (or untouchables), eventually developed, considered so low, they didn’t even merit a caste designation. Nearly 20% of all Indians were a part of this group.

 A good example of how women were regarded in classical India comes from the Lawbook of Manu (1st century BCE): ◦ “ It is the nature of women to seduce men in this world; for that reason the wise are never unguarded in the company of females… ◦ In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent… ◦ She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both her own and her husband’s families contemptible (Disgraceful)…”

 Unlike China, India did not organize dynasties*, instead, several small kingdoms fought for dominance of the subcontinent  Most areas were subject to constant invasion from the NW (Including Alexander BC) ◦ Was there an Empire that invaded PARTS of India before ATG?  Only 2 major empires* emerged in India between 300 BC and 500 AD – Mauryan and Gupta ◦ Partially due to their efforts to protect the subcontinent from various invasions  By 600 BC, India was beyond its formative stage, with several organized cultures developing

 The short-lived Mauryan Empire was an impressive political structure, rivaling the power of Persia, Rome, and China. The Mauryan Empire might have had as many as 50 million people, with a military force reputed to have 600,000 soldiers of infantry, 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 9,000 elephants.

 Founded in 322 BC by Chandragupta Maurya, a warrior who fought off Alexander’s armies and conquered the kingdoms left by him ◦ These Persian and Greek influences helped stimulate the first and largest of India’s experiments with a large-scale political system, the Mauryan Empire ( BCE).  The Mauryan Empire was the first to unify most of the Indian subcontinent. ◦ Divided empire into provinces & appointed governors (Who else did this?)

 The Mauryan Empire began in eastern India in the state of Magadha.  The kingdom was wealthy and strategically located along the trade routes of the Ganges River Valley.  The Mauryan Empire created a civilian bureaucracy and several ministries to help manage the large empire.  (Unlike which ruler we have already learned about…?)

 By this point, the caste system was in place across the sub-continent, and even though religious beliefs were shared, the hundreds of jati separated people into groups of identification…so political authority wasn’t as important as caste status.

 The most famous of the Mauryan emperors was Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka (r BCE).  Ashoka was initially a ruthless and brutal king who consolidated power and expanding the frontiers of his empire by force.  Legend has it that eight years into his reign there was a particularly bloody battle against the state of Kalinga which caused Ashoka to have a revelation…

 Repulsed by the wanton slaughter and bloodshed of battle (his army reportedly killed in excess of 150,000 people and another 150,000 were deported), he converted to Buddhism and turned to more peaceful ways of governing his huge empire.  Which other ruler have we learned about that converted to another religion?

 He had edicts carved into rocks and pillars throughout the empire promoting his philosophy of nonviolence and toleration for Hinduism (Constantine?) and the many sects and varied religious culture of India.  Only 19 pillars have survived.

 Living up to this philosophy, he abandoned his much loved royal hunts, ended animal sacrifices in the capital, eliminated most meat from the royal menu, and he generously supported Buddhist monasteries.  He ordered the digging of wells, the planting of shade trees, clearly marked milestones, and the building of rest stops along the empire’s major roads trying to integrate and improve the empire’s economy by aiding travelers and animals until his death in 231 BCE  The Mauryan Empire begins to disintegrate after his death.

◦ Ruled 500 years after Maurya (Known as India’s “Dark Age”), 320 CE until around 550 CE  No well known leaders  India’s Golden Age, noted for peace and prosperity (smaller than Mauryan Empire)  Developed decimal system and concept of zero  Trade with China & SE Asia  Had herbal remedies and vaccination  Buddhism expanded…many temples were built and a major university was established  However, Gupta rulers promoted Hindu beliefs

GUPTA EMPIRE 320 CE- 550 CE Mauryan Empire 322 BCE-185BCE

 The Gupta Empire was experiencing the most prosperous era in Indian history (to that point).  The empire thrived in trade, crafts, the arts, agriculture, and religious (both Hindu and Buddhist) expression.

 The Gupta was a short lived dynasty (about 215 years), being overthrown by the central- Asian Huns in 535 CE.  India then went back to the familiar pattern of fragmentation and regional politics.

 Even though religion (Hinduism & Buddhism) played a major part in classical Indian culture (both during the Mauryan and Guptan periods) it was not the only enduring part.  India developed a tradition of literature, mathematical, and scientific learning (especially in astronomy and medicine) that rivaled any of their contemporaries.

 The Vedas are India’s oldest surviving literature ( Present throughout Hindu and Buddhist religions)  The Mahabharata (longest poem written in any language) & the Ramayana are India’s two great epics ◦ Referring to what we have studied, who else can we associate with the creation of great epics?  The Bhagavad Gita is the most famous section of the Mahabharata  The Cloud Messenger was written by a Gupta era Author and is considered one of the most popular SANSKRIT poems

 Indian astronomers accurately calculated a solar year (365 days) and calculated the circumference of the earth (just under 25,000 miles). They knew the Earth was round.

 In mathematics, we owe classical India our numbering system (it’s not really Arabic even though we call it that), the concept of zero…  the concept of decimals, and negative numbers.  Indian mathematicians developed square roots, a table of sines/cosines, and calculated pi more accurately than the Greeks.  …

 Suggestions for Person(s) ◦ Aryans ◦ Bhramin, Kshatryia, Vaishya, Sudra, Untouchable (castes) ◦ Women (in general) ◦ Alexander the Great (specifically in relation to India) ◦ Chandragupta (Mauryan Empire) ◦ Ashoka (Mauryan Empire) ◦ Author of listed important literature ◦ Creator/discoverer of important Astronomical/mathematic discovery ◦ Etc  On the Back/Another paper: 1. Write a brief (1-2 sentence) explanation of who you chose and why their background would appeal to them 2. Your person just received two s. Who did they receive them from and what was the content of their message? (1-2 sentences for each) 3. Include a few (at least 2-3) important dates in their calendar and explain your reasoning You may use your phone/notes/text book to research your work!