CLASSICAL INDIA

1. CLASSICAL INDIA FROM THE MAURYANS TO THE GUPTAS

2. RISE OF MAURYAN EMPIRE • Ganges Republics • Prior to Alexander, kshatriyan republics dominated, vied for power • Maghda was one of the most dominant • Western Intrusions • Intrusions of Persians (520 B.C.E.) and Alexander (327 B.C.E.) • Persians established Indus satrapy • Alexander’s withdrawal left a political vacuum • Magadha kingdom filled the vacuum • Chandragupta Maurya • The founder of the Mauryan empire • Overthrew the Magadha kingdom in 321 B.C.E. • Conquered the Greek state in Bactria, Selecuid control of Indus • Chandragupta's empire embraced all of northern India • Chandragupta's government • Government procedures devised by Kautalya, the advisor of the empire • The political handbook, Arthashastra, outlined administrative methods

3. ASHOKA • Ashoka Maurya (reigned 268-232 B.C.E.) • Chandragupta's grandson, • The high point of the Mauryan empire • Conquered the kingdom of Kalinga, 260 B.C.E. • Ruled through tightly organized bureaucracy • Established capital at Pataliputra • Policies of encouraging agriculture and trade • Converted to Buddhism • Established a tolerant rule of righteousness • Sent out missionaries to Sri Lanka, SE Asia, Central Asia • Decline of the Mauryan Empire • Ashoka died in 232 B.C.E. • Suffered from acute financial and economic difficulties • High cost for maintaining army and bureaucrats • Debasing the currency, not a effective resolution • The empire collapsed by 185 B.C.E.

4. THE GUPTAS • The Gupta Dynasty • After Mauryans, India was controlled by regional kingdoms • The Gupta state rose to power in Magadha • Chandra Gupta founded the new dynasty • Gupta dynasty was relatively decentralized • Officially supported revival of Hinduism as state faith • Era seen as the Golden Age of Hinduism • Gupta decline • Invasion of White Huns weakened the empire • After 5th century C.E., Gupta dynasty ruled in name only • Large regional kingdoms dominated political life in India

5. ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL • Towns and manufacturing • Towns dotted the India countryside after 600 B.C.E. • Towns provided manufactured products and luxury goods • Long-distance trade • Invasions by Persian empires helped to build extensive trade networks • Trade with China through the silk roads of central Asia • Trade in the Indian Ocean basin, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Mediterranean basin • Spread Buddhism and Hinduism throughout Indian Ocean basin • Social and gender relations • Strong patriarchal families; subordination of women to men • Child marriage placed women under control of old men • Development of caste system • New social groups of artisans, craftsmen, and merchants appeared • Individuals of same trade or craft formed a guild; guilds were subcastes, jatis • Functions of guilds: social security and welfare systems • Wealth and social order • Trade and industry brought prosperity to many vaishyas and shudras • Old beliefs and values of early Aryan society became increasingly irrelevant

6. JAINISM • Vardhamana Mahavira • Born in north India, 540 B.C.E. • Left family, searching for salvation from cycle of incarnation • Gained enlightenment, taught an ascetic doctrine • His disciples began to lead a monastic life • Mahavira became Jina, the "conqueror," and followers, Jains • Jainist doctrine and ethics • Inspired by the Upanishads • Everything in the universe possessed a soul • Striving to purify one's selfish behavior to attain a state of bliss • The principle of ahimsa, nonviolence toward all living things • Believed that almost all occupations entailed violence of some kind • Too demanding, not a practical alternative to the cult of the brahmins • Appeal of Jainism • Social implication: Individual souls equally participated in ultimate reality • The Jains did not recognize social hierarchies of caste and jati • Became attractive to members of lower castes • The ascetic tradition continues to today

7. EARLY BUDDHISM • Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.) • Born in 563 B.C.E. to the Kshatriya caste • Witnessed miseries of the human condition • Gave up his comfortable life and began searching for enlightenment • Intense meditation and extreme asceticism • Received enlightenment under the bo tree and became Buddha • The Buddha and his followers • "Turning of the Wheel of the Law," 528 B.C.E. • Organized followers into a community of monks (“the sangha”) • Traveled throughout north India, bringing enlightenment to others • Buddhist doctrine: The dharma • The Four Noble Truths • All life involves suffering • Desire is the cause of suffering • Elimination of desire brings an end to suffering • The Noble Eightfold Path brings the elimination of desire • The Noble Eightfold Path (“Setting the wheel in motion”) • Right belief, right resolve, right speech, right behavior • Right occupation, right effort, right contemplation, and right meditation • Religious goal: Nirvana, a state of perfect spiritual independence

8. APPEAL OF BUDDHISM • Appealed strongly to members of lower castes • Salvation without services of the brahmins • Did not recognize social hierarchies of castes and jati • Appealed to women as all souls considered equal • Less demanding than Jainism, more popular • Used vernacular tongues, not Sanskrit • Holy sites and pilgrims • The monastic organizations • Spread the Buddhist message, won converts • Could be endowed by others to support the religion • Centers of learning, good works, contemplation • Ashoka's support • Emperor Ashoka became a devout Buddhist, 206 B.C.E. • Banned animal sacrifices in honor of ahimsa • Granted lands to monasteries • Sent missionaries to Bactria and Ceylon

9. VARIANTS OF BUDDHISM • Early Buddhism made heavy demands on individuals • Giving up personal property • Forsaking the search for social standing • Detaching oneself from worldly pleasures • Development of Buddhism • Buddha gradually seen as a god by ex-Hindu’s, in China • The notion of bodhisatva - "an enlightened being" • Monasteries began to accept gifts from wealthy individuals • Buddhism became more attractive • The Schism of Buddhism: Was he a god or man? • Mahayana - "the greater vehicle" • Spread to Central, East Asia • Blended in India with Hinduism, which coopted Buddha as a god • Coopted Chinese traditions and Taoist gods in China • Hinayana or Theravada • Continued to view Buddha as human • Practiced in Sri Lanka, parts of India, SE Asia • Buddhism died out in India as it merged with Hinduism

10. POPULAR HINDUISM • The epics • Mahabharata • A secular poem revised by brahmin scholars • Honored the god Vishnu, the preserver of the world • Ramayana • Secular story of Rama and Sita was changed into a Hindu story • The Bhagavad Gita • A short poetic work within the Mahabharata • A dialogue between the god Vishnu and Prince Arjuna • Illustrated expectations of Hinduism and promise of salvation • Hindu ethics • Lower demands for achieving salvation • Individuals should meet their responsibilities in detached fashion • Balance of dharma, artha, karma to attain moksha, end samsara • Popularity of Hinduism • Became more popular than Buddhism; Buddhism too aesthetic • The Guptas helped Hinduism become the dominant religion