1. Foundations and Empires
Classical India
Foundations and Empires

2. The Framework for Indian History
Indian civilization was greatly influenced by geography & climate
Monsoons
Himalayas – passages for trade & separated India from the rest of Asia
Indus & Ganges Rivers – agricultural economy
Northern Mountains – herding economy
Southern Coastal areas – trading and maritime economy

4. Aryans (“Nobel”)( Indo-Europeans)
Vedic Age (1500–1000 B.C.E.)
Sanskrit
First literary language of new society
Brought by Aryans
Vedas
Sanskrit for “knowledge”
Sacred holy books and basis for Hinduism
Rig-Veda – 1028 hymns dedicated to Aryan gods
Indra- war god
Position of Women
Women were almost on a equal footing at men
Educated
Go out of the house unattended
Could choose their husband
Inherit property

5. Epic Age (1000–600 B.C.E.) New stories
Mahabharata – India’s greatest epic poem
Ramayana – depicts real and mythical battles
Upanishads – mythical religious poems

7. Social and Family Forms
Village chiefs (Aryans) organized defenses and regulated property
Aryans were dominate over indigenous people
Patriarchal
Extended family were close

8. Caste System Varnas – Aryan social classes
Aryans viewed indigenous people as inferior
Castes were hereditary
Marriage between castes forbiddel
Punishable by death!!!
Sub-castes – (jati)
Range from 5 to 15 thousand people
Usually have a specific job or jobs
Could not move upward into a higher caste
Could move down to a lower caste
Could move up within the same caste

10. Conquerors and Emprise of Classical India
Alexander the Great (327 B.C.E.)
Gave Indians contact with Hellenistic culture
Established Bactria
Chandragupta Maurya
Formed the Mauryan Dynasty
Unified the subcontinent
Autocratic – relied on the rulers personal and military power

12. Believed in dharma (cosmic order)
Ashoka (269–232 B.C.E.)
converted to Buddhism
Believed in dharma (cosmic order)
Sent Buddhist missionaries into the Middle East to try and convert people
Kushans
Invaded India
King Kanishka converted to Buddhism
This hurt the religion bc it was associated with foreign rule

14. Greatest period of political stability in classical India
Guptas (from 320 CE)
Greatest period of political stability in classical India
Huns (535 CE)
Nomadic warriors
Invaded India
Gupta Empire
Claimed divine right
Taxes
Uniform law codes
Kautilya
chief minister to Chandragupta
political treatise – similar to legalists in China