1. QUICKWRITE
If you were to join one of the Indian religions, which would you join and why? Be sure to include examples from your notes/worksheet.

2. Maurya and
Gupta Empires

3. Rise of the Mauryan Empire
Magadha kingdom united India in 540 B.C.
Overrun by the Persians
Able to regain the kingdom later

4. Chandragupta Maurya Magadha was declining
A powerful young adventurer took over
Set up Mauryan Empire ( B.C.)
Lasted for 150 years
Raised an army of 600,000 with chariots and elephants
Conquered all of India (up to Hindu Kush)

5. Changdragupta Maurya
Built a great palace at Pataliputra on the Ganges River
Slept in a different room every night
Meant to avoid assassination
Established a rigid bureaucracy (government organizations)
Extensive spy network
Standardized weights and measures
Created efficient postal system

7. Asoka C. Asoka’s Enlightened Rule (274 B.C.)
1. Chandragupta’s grandson
2. Started with a violent expansion

8. Late Kingdoms of India
Please READ pp (9.Mauryans) ANSWER the questions handed out in class

9. Asoka 3. Rode out to view the battlefield, sickened by bloody
and maimed bodies; Became Buddhist
a. Aided the spread of Buddhism (sent
missionaries)
b. Improved living conditions
i. Shaded roads with trees, added rest houses
ii. Issued laws stressing concern for other humans
iii. Built hospitals, dug wells
c. Prompted cultural and political advancements

10. Decline 4. After death, Mauryan Empire declined
a. Sons fought over throne
b. Invaders attacked northern provinces

11. Asoka Reading Schoology “Unit 4 – India, Africa” Asoka Reading
What evidence in the edicts suggests that Asoka was a vegetarian?
According to Asoka, what is the result of religious intolerance?
In your opinion, what are the major themes of Asoka's edicts?

12. II. The Gupta Empire (320-550 A.D.)
A. Gupta family to power in Magadha
B. Expanded their territory through intermarriage
C. Religion
1. Dominant: Hinduism
2. Still supported Buddhism
D. Called the “Golden Age”
1. Great Leader: Chandra Gupta II
2. Hinduism inspired art and
architecture
3. Court welcomed poets, philosophers, scientists, and playwrights
E. Invaders from central Asia/wars drained the treasury

13. III. Ancient Indian Life and Culture
Economy and Society
During the Mauryans, rajas had most of the wealth
Ancient India made its living through trade
Silks
Ivory
Cotton
Wool
Laws of Manu: Manusmrti (ancient text of Hindu laws)
Women
Obeyed father, husband, or son
No land ownership
Could not study sacred texts
suttee: must commit suicide when husband died
Men could have more than one wife: polygyny
Origin of the caste system

14. B. Cultural Achievements
1. Art and Architecture
a. stupa: a dome-shaped shrine
b. hold Buddhist objects and artifacts
2. Education
a. Very advanced
b. Studied the Vedas
c. Learned astronomy, mathematics, warfare, and gov’t
i. First to use algebra
ii. Invented the concept of zero and infinity
d. Alana: famous Buddhist university
3. Medicine
a. inoculation: the practice of infecting a person with a mild
form of a disease, in order to establish immunity
b. Built free hospitals
c. Physicians practiced cleanliness before operations