OBJECTIVE: Examine the importance of India as a hub of world trade and as a cultural and religious center during its Golden Age.

Indian Sub-continent – diverse geography; two monsoons  Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro  Indus River valley civilization; 3000 B.C.  Planned cities with plumbing and sewage

 Rajah – leader or chief of each tribe  Wealth measured in cattle which became sacred  Sanskrit – Aryans’ first written language; Vedas – religious writings  Mahabharata & Ramayana – great historical epics

 Caste – Aryan social system; spiritual purity ◦ Brahmins – priests ◦ Kshatriyas – warriors, rulers ◦ Vaisyas – commoners: merchants, artisans, farmers ◦ Sudras – unskilled laborers and servants ◦ Untouchables – “pariahs” or “outcastes” Untouchables

 Reincarnation – rebirth of the soul until union with universal spirit  Dharma – divine law; carrying out one’s personal duty  Karma – force that determines a person’s form in the next life

 Gained flash of insight, “enlightenment,” mediating under a tree  Friends called him the Buddha – “Enlightened One”

◦ 1 st – all people suffer & know sorrow ◦ 2 nd – people suffer because of desires for the things of the world ◦ 3 rd – end their suffering by eliminating desires ◦ 4 th – eliminate desire by following Eightfold (Middle) Path

 Eightfold Path – practices to help people escape cycle of rebirth  Nirvana – end of the self & reunion with Great World Soul  Rejected caste system

 Chandragupta Maurya – skilled administrator, spy network  Asoka – greatest Indian ruler ◦ Adopted Buddhism after brutal battle ◦ Achievements: hospitals, trade, roads, laws  Architecture – pillar, stupa, and rock chamber

 Chandragupta II – Gupta Empire reached its height  Arts & Learning – based on Hindu principles  “Arabic numerals” – developed by Gupta mathematicians  Aryabhata – used algebra; devised decimal system of counting in tens