1. Indian Empires

2. Aryan Immigrants Indus Valley Civilization faded into the Aryans
Named for their languages and Sanskrit
The Vedas:
Religious reflections, not historical accounts of the Aryan immigrants that came to India
Rigveda-1000 hymns of conquests and migration patterns
Samaveda
Yajurveda
Atharva Veda

3. India’s Epics Mahabharata-
Longest poem in the world, ten times longer than the Bible
Civil War between the same family
Themes of life, death, family, warfare, duty, and power
Most famous part is the “Song of God”
Divine advice on life, death and rebirth

4. India’s Epics Ramayana-
Core story tells of the mythical god-king Rama’s victory over Ravana, the demon king of Sri Lanka

5. Establishment of States
Aryan Immigrants began to form states of their various settlements
Numerous political groups called janapadas emerged in the area of India
Each group came from a family lineage
As they grew larger each janapadas grew into larger cities with capitals and political administration
Some were republics from monarcies
By 500 BCE 16 janapadas were in northern India

6. Empire Arises
By 300BCE 4 of the 16 northern janapadas dominated the rest
One, Magadha, was the most powerful of the 4
Alexander the Great came to conquer the area and was forced to withdraw when his men mutinied
Magadha’s ruler, Chandragupta Maurya, took his forces into the area and gained dominance over the other states

7. Mauraya Empire Chandragupta Maurya- first emperor on the throne
His son, Bindusara, ruled next
Then his son, Asoka brought the empire to its greatest extent
During Asoka’s rule as many as 100 million people are thought to have lived in India

8. Government One ruling government standing over family lineage
Survival of the fittest
Big fish gets the small fish
Society set up to allow people to seek the four goals of life: Artha, Kama, Dharma, Moksha

9. Goals of Indian Life Artha- Kama- Dharma- Moksha- Pursuit of wealth
Pursuit of sensual pleasure
Dharma-
The fulfillment of social and religious duties
Moksha-
The release from earthly existence and union with the infinite power of the universe, achieved, if at all, at the time of death

10. Social Life Male dominated
Women existed for keeping the home and to be available for the pleasure of men
Caste system:
Each person has a social, economic, and ritual position inherited from their parents

11. Asoka
When Asoka Mauyra came into power he greatly enlarged the empire through military force
After conquering Kalinga, which required a lot of killing and chaos, he converted to Buddhism, determined to become a better person
Asoka died and with him centralized, united India as well
India broke up into several regional groups and regional rulers

12. Gupta Empire Emerges
His family was of no consequence, but he married a princess from the powerful Licchavi lineage
He renamed himself after the Mauryan emperor Chandra Gupta
The Gupta family conquer and unite much of India

13. Gupta Empire The Golden Age of Learning-
Resurgence of Sanskrit literature
Many other pieces of literature emerge
Sanskrit is used as the primary correspondence
Hinduism becomes a very popular religion in the India region

14. The Hunas The Huna invaded India during Skanda Gupta’s rule
The invaded in 500 CE and gained control of much of Northern and Central India