Section 2 –New Indian
EmpiresGupta
Mauryan
Kushan
Veda
s
• Aryans did little to unify India & many
cultures invaded
– Persia, Greeks, Macedonians; Mac. soldiers
refused to continue fighting once they reached India, turned & left
Alexander the Great
• Mauryan Dynasty (324 – 183 BC)
• Founded by Chandragupta Maurya, 321-301 BC
– Very centralized (king controlled); provinces ruled by governors; military &
secret police
– Feared assassination
• Asoka, his grandson, ruled w/Buddhist philosophy
– Hospitals for ppl & animals; trees & shelters along road for travelers
– kingdom became a trade center; declined after his death
Buddhist templeBuilt during Mauryandynasty • Many kingdoms emerged on border of
India/Afghanistan (ancient Bactria)
• Kushan Kingdom 1 AD – 300 AD
• Mostly in north; prospered w/trade along the Silk Road
• Silk Road
– Created @200BC – 1000AD
– From Changan, China to Antioch, Syria
– Transported only luxury goods b/c of danger,
silk very popular
– 4000 miles long
• Gupta Dynasty 320 AD
• Strong in the north, had some control in
central India
• Strong & efficient; prospered with trade
outside and within kingdom
• Famous for temples, wealthy rulers
• 5th century – Huns invade
Sun Temple inIndia, Gupta
Dynasty
• INDIAN CULTURE
• LITERATURE:
• Vedas – earliest literature, religious;
oral, then written in Sanskrit
• Mahabharata – 100 BC
– 90,000 stanzas about a war btwn cousins for control of the kingdom
– Bhagavad Gita – sermon by god Krishna; tells a key point of Indian society: don’t worry about success or failure when
taking action. be concerned w/moral rightness of act
• Ramayana
– Story of ruler Rama
– Full of religious morals & lessons
– Rama is ideal hero, rule, and son
– Sita, his wife, is loyal to her husband
• ARCHITECTURE:
• Buddhism inspired many buildings
• 3 main types:
– Pillar – mark sites related to Buddha’s life; 50 tons & 50 feet high
– Stupa – burial mounds that housed religious relics
– Rock chamber – carved out of cliffs; dwelling for monks and a place for ceremonies
• SCIENCE:
• Great astronomers; knew earth was a sphere and rotated on an axis
• First to use algebra
• Introduced concept and symbol for 0
(zero)
• Arabs conquered Indians, took number system, spread it to Europe through trade
Ancient Indiansundial
Works Cited• http://www.silkroadproject.org/tabid/177/default.aspx
• http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/tp/10-Wars-That-Changed-Asia.htm
• http://giorgi10.tripod.com/id24.htm
• http://indianhistory.info/Maurya.htm
• http://coincircuit.com/Closed_Coin_Auction/showitems.php?dirname=Closed_Coin_A
uction&class=Coin&sale_id=2232&start_print=250
• http://worldhistoryto1500.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
• http://www.astrovalley.com/vedas.php
• http://www.asaltulis.com/tag/mauryan-dynasty/
• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Silk_Road
• http://www.gujarat-tourism.net/Gujarat_Pilgrimage.htm
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/vikasgnayak/964894290/
• http://www.webring.org/hub/hinduring
• http://hariharji.blogspot.com/2010/06/23rd-24th-verses-of-shri-hanuman-bahuk.html
• http://buddhistsymbols.info/stupa/
• http://www.photoree.com/photos/permalink/475205-20697369@N00
• http://mathomathis.blogspot.com/2010/12/astronomy-in-ancient-india.html