1. AIM: Why was the Gupta Empire known as the “golden age” of India?
Do Now: Define Golden Age. If you don’t know, look at the phrase and take an educated guess.
HW: Write a paragraph explaining the at least one cultural and one scientific accomplishment of the Untied States.

2. C3.5: Ancient Indian Life and Culture The Story Continues “It is a day of festival the streets are broad rivers of people, folk of every race, buying and selling in the marketplace or singing to the music of wandering minstrels.” This account recalls a day of celebration during the Gupta Empire, an era in which Indian culture and achievements flourished.

3. I. Economy and Society
While the highest classes in northern India enjoyed luxury, most people barely survived

4. I. Economy and Society
The rajas drew wealth from the farmers who worked the land and claimed one-fourth of each harvest

5. I. Economy and Society
In southern India many lived by trading, sending luxury goods to the Far East, SW Asia, Africa, and Europe

6. I. Economy and Society
Hindu women had few rights, were required to obey male relatives, and could not own property or study sacred writings

7. Men could have more than one wife and polygyny became widespread
I. Economy and Society
Men could have more than one wife and polygyny became widespread
Polygamy and polyandry were prevalent In ancient India, but it is doubtful whether they were ever popular in the public opinion. It was practiced mostly by the warrior castes and rich merchants. Many Hindu gods are also depicted as polygamous, with two or more wives. Present day Hindus consider both polygamy and polyandry primitive and archaic, remnants of an old society that still haunt the lives of a few unfortunate victims. In India Hindus acknowledge polygamy as both illegal and immoral.

8. I. Economy and Society
In a practice called suttee, widows threw themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres
Sati (or Suttee) is a rare Indian practice in which a widow sacrifices her life by throwing herself onto her deceased husband’s funeral pyre. It is not directly derived from or connected to Hinduism, although spiritual beliefs play a large part in its traditional observation

9. II. Cultural Achievements
The stories of the Panchatantra, or “Five Books,” were animal fables intended to instruct the sons of the royalty
One of India's most influential contributions to world literature, the Panchatantra consists of five books of animal fables and magic tales (some 87 stories in all) that were compiled between the third and fifth centuries AD. It is believed that even then the stories were already ancient. The tales' self-proclaimed purpose is to educate the sons of royalty.

10. II. Cultural Achievements
The Panchatantra has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible

11. II. Cultural Achievements
Plays were often performed outside and contained tragic scenes, but ended happily

12. A. Art and Architecture
The only paintings that survive are murals in caves depicting the Buddha and his followers
The Ajanta Caves. Ancient Paintings of Buddhist India

13. A. Art and Architecture
Architects designed and built great Hindu temples and Asoka built thousands of Buddhist stupas

14. B. Education
Education was only for higher caste children and they studied the Vedas, astronomy, mathematics, warfare, and government
The ancient Gurukul system of education where the guru imparts knowledge to the disciples

15. B. Education
Nalanda was a Buddhist university where thousands of students attended for free

16. C. Mathematics and Astronomy
Mathematicians understood the concepts of abstract and negative numbers, zero, and infinity

17. C. Mathematics and Astronomy
Aryabhata (late AD 400’s) was one of the first to use algebra and to solve quadratic equations

18. C. Mathematics and Astronomy
Indian astronomers identified seven planets, understood the earth’s rotation, and predicted eclipses

19. Indian rulers built free hospitals for the people
D. Medicine
Indian rulers built free hospitals for the people

20. D. Medicine
Indian physicians understood the importance of the spinal cord, could set bones and performed plastic surgery

21. D. Medicine
Physicians practiced cleanliness before operations and disinfected wounds, a procedure not practiced in Western medicine until recent times

22. D. Medicine
Physicians developed inoculation - infecting a person with a mild form of a disease to prevent a more serious form

23. D. Medicine
They successfully inoculated people against smallpox, something not accomplished in the West until the 1700s