Political Mapcheck your work
Physical Featurescheck your work
Empires of South Asia
Mauryan Empire321-185 BCE
Gupta Empire320-550 CE
Check your mapHow did these physical features help the empires grow?
Ganges (Ganga) River
Bathing in the Ganges River, Benares
View of the Ganges in
Rishikesh
Bramaputra River
Brahmaputra River on the Tibetan Plateau in China
Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta
So…
Mauryan Empire Gupta Empire
How did these physical features help the empires grow?
Pluralism• Many different kinds of people• Not just diverse, but open to diversity
India is & has been a pluralist society because…
India Today
• 9th largest economy
• World’s largest democracy
India’s Population• 1.15 billion people• 2nd largest population• About 15% of the world’s population• Mean age is 25 (US = 37)
Linguistic Diversity
• Hindi 41%• Bengali 8%• Telugu 7%• Marathi 7%• Tamil 6%• Urdu 5%• Gujarati 4%
ReligionsBirthplace of four of the world’s major religions
– Hinduism– Buddhism– Sikhism– Jainism
Religious Diversity• Hindu 80%• Muslim 13%• Christian 2%• Sikh 2%• Other <2%
Most of the world’s Hindus live in IndiaIndia has the 3rd largest Muslim population in the world
Homework
Read and take notesp. 62-63
Focus: What are the beliefs of Hinduism?
Leading South Asia
Make 3 columns in your notebook.
Physical Feature
Advantages of conquering & controlling
Difficulty of conquering & controlling