© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

A Comprehensive History of IndiaA Comprehensive History of IndiaLecture – 8Lecture – 8

February 12, 2012February 12, 2012

Buddhist EmpiresBuddhist EmpiresEnd of the Ancient AgeEnd of the Ancient Age Maharaj MukherjeeMaharaj Mukherjee

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

RecapitulationRecapitulation

• Where we left off: Golden Ages (0 – 400/500AD)– Golden Ages of the Great Indian Thinkers

• Arya bhatta, Baraha mihir, Bharkara Acharya• Kalidasa, Sudraka, Bisakha Dutta• Advancements of the Saka Tribes

– The Kushan Dynasty• Kanishka (the king with the headless statue)• Started the Maha Yana Buddhism (god worshippers)

– The Gupta Dynasty• Chandra Gupta – 1st, Samudra Gupta, Chandra Gupta –

2nd , Kumara Gupta

• End of the Golden Ages– The Advancement of the Hun Tribes

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Map of IndiaMap of India

Himalayas

Bay of BengalArabian Sea

Indian Ocean

Bindhya

Western

Gh

at

Eastern

G

hat

Indu

s R

iver

Ganges River

NORTH

SOUTH

WEST EAST

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

End of the Gupta EmpireEnd of the Gupta Empire(500 – 600 AD)(500 – 600 AD)

• Hun-s established several small kingdoms in the North-Western part of India

• Rest of the India were divided into small kingdoms

• The kingdoms used to fight with each other all the time– Stopped trade and progress of art and culture– Travelling became difficult– People’s life was at danger– General chaos everywhere.

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

The Buddhist EmpiresThe Buddhist Empires600 – 800 AD600 – 800 AD

• Even after 1500 years after Buddha’s death– India was still the center of Buddhism– Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world came to

prominent places in India– Buddhist scholars from all over the world came to

Indian universities to study

• Buddhist Empires– Harsha’s Empire at Kanauj– Pala Empire at Bengal

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Harsha’s EmpireHarsha’s Empire• Harsha became king at

a very early age.– After death of his brother

Rajya Vardhan

• He converted to Buddhism

• He is known for his great charity– Used to donate his own

expensive clothes that he was wearing and put on a simple cloth from his sister Rajyashree.

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Shashanka:Shashanka:The first historical Emperor of BengalThe first historical Emperor of Bengal

(590 – 626 AD)(590 – 626 AD)

• Ruled over almost whole of Bengal – Anga, Banga, Kalinga

• Arch enemy of Harsha– Killed Harsha’s brother Rajya in a war– Also fought many wars with both Harsha on the West and – Bhaskara the king of Kamrup on the East

• Established the common Bengali Era or Bangabda (???) at 593 AD– Currently 1418 Bangabda

• After the death of Shashanka, both Bhaskara and Harsha conqured Bengal and divided the whole kingdom between themselves– This created another 100 years of chaos in Bengal (650 – 750

AD)• This time is known as Matsanya – The rule of the fishes

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

The Pala EmpireThe Pala EmpireThe last Buddhist Empire in IndiaThe last Buddhist Empire in India

750 – 900 AD750 – 900 AD• The Pala empire

started in Bengal– With kingdom in Gaur

• The word Gaur is derived from the sugar syrup or Gur.

– Main emperors of this era:

• Gopala• Dharma Pala• Deva Pala

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Places of Buddhist LearningsPlaces of Buddhist Learnings

• Nalanda Maha Bihar (University)– Become most prominent at the time of Harsha

• Vikram Shila Maha Bihar (University)– Became most prominent at the time of

Dharma Pala

NalandaVikram Shila

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Exchange of Learning between Exchange of Learning between India and Far EastIndia and Far East

• Hiuen Tsang from China visited Nalanda at the time of Harsha – Kept a long record of the customs and rules about the life of

Harsha

• Sreegan Atish Deepankar went to Tibet to spread Buddhism in Tibet– He was the head of the Vikram Shila Maha Vihar (University)– Crossed the Himalayas to go to Tibet when he was 80.

Hieuen Tsang Atish Dipankar

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee

Different Eras of HistoryDifferent Eras of History

• Pre historic Ages – Time before the recorded history (15000 BC – 700 BC)– Hunter Gatherer, Indus Valley, Aryans, Time of the

Epics

• Ancient Ages – Time of initial recorded history (700 BC – 900 AD)– We just finished studying the ancient ages

• Middle Ages – We will start from the next class• Modern Ages – Time we are living in now

© 2012 Maharaj Mukherjee