I.    Background to the Emergence of Civilization in India

      A.   Harappan Civilization: A Fascinating Enigma

             1.   Harappa in the Punjab

             2.   Mohenjo-Daro (City of the Dead) near the mouth of the Indus

      B.   Political and Social Structure

             1.   Villages in the Indus valley 7000 B.C.E.

             2.   Harappa a city more than 3 ½ mile in circumference with wall over 40 feet thick

             3.   Agriculture and trade

      C.   Harappan Culture

             1.   Pottery

             2.   Sculpture

             3.   Clay seals

      D.   A Lost Civilization

             1.   New civilization discovered north of the Indus dating to third millennium B.C.E.

                   a.    Settlement with irrigation

II.   Arrival of the Aryans, c. 1500 B.C.E.

             1.   Harappan civilization destroyed about 1500 B.C.E.

                   a.    Invasion by Aryans

                   b.   Social decay

                   c.    Epidemic or natural phenomena

      A.   The Early Aryans

             1.   Indo-European nomads from Siberia and the steppes of Central Asia

             2.   Into the Indus valley 1500-1000 B.C.E.

             3.   Use of iron

             4.   A writing system

             5.   Led by a chieftain called a raja (prince) that was later transformed into kings called maharajas                          

                   (great princes)

                   a.    Prince did not have absolute power and was required to follow dharma (laws that set                                        

                         behavior standards)

             6.   Arrival of Alexander the Great, 326 B.C.E.

      B.   The Mauryan Empire

             1.   Chandragupta Maurya (324-301 B.C.E.)

             2.   The Arthasastra, a treatise on politics

                   a.    When law of dharma and politics collide, the latter takes precedence

             3.   Highly centralized and despotic government

                   a.    Provinces ruled by governors

      C.   Caste and Class: Social  Structures in Ancient India

             1.   The Caste System

                   a.    An issues of color

                   b.   Varna (color or caste)– reflected informal division of labor and rigid social classification for                                

                         occupation and status

                         (1)       Brahmins – priestly caste

                         (2)       Kshatriyas – warriors

                         (3)       Vaisya (commoner) – merchant class

                         (4)       Sudras – peasants or artisans who were the bulk of the Indian population

                         (5)       Pariahs (untouchable) – not considered part of the cast system; groups outside of                                                Indian society

                   c.    Caste taboos

                   d.   Jati – kinship group, of a specific caste, living in a specific area, doing a specific task

             2.   Daily Life in Ancient India

                   a.    Family the basic unit of society

                   b.   Commemorative rites to ancestors

                   c.    Father-son relationship

                   d.   Males inherit property

                   e.    Woman is subordinate to men

                         (1)       Sati – wife throws herself on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband

3.   The Economy

                   a.    Most Aryans were farmers

                         (1)       Iron plow

                         (2)       Many were sharecroppers and landless

                   b.   Developed trade and manufacturing

III.  Escaping the Wheel of Life: The Religious World of Ancient India

      A.   Hinduism

             1.   Indo-European in origin from the Aryans

                   a.    Dyaus

                   b.   Indra, Varuna, Vishnu

                   c.    Use of sacrifice

                   d.   Asceticism

             2.   Vedas – four collections of hymns and religious ceremonies

             3.   Upanishads – commentaries on the Vedas

      B.   Reincarnation

             1.   Soul reborn a different form after death and progresses through several existences on the wheel                        

                  of life until reaching the final destination with the Great World Soul, Brahman

             2.   Karma – actions in this life; determines one’s rebirth in the next life

                   a.    Cosmic scale – Brahmins at the top; in animal kingdom the cow is at the top

             3.   Dharma governs karma

             4.   Reincarnation provides compensation for those lower on the ladder of life

             5.   Multitude of gods (33,000) in Hinduism but only a small number of primary gods

                   a.    Trinity of gods: Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva the Destroyer

      C.   Buddhism: The Middle Path

             1.   Siddhartha Gautama (c. 560-480 B.C.E.)

                   a.    Born in foothills of the Himalaya Mountains, son of a kshatriya family

                   b.   Traveled widely

                   c.    Follows some ideas of Hinduism

                   d.   Denied the existence of the individual soul

             2.   Nirvana (release from the wheel of life)

             3.   Bodhi (wisdom)

                   a.    Four Noble Truths – life is suffering; suffering caused by desire; end suffering by ending                                     

                          desire; end desire by avoiding extremes of a life of materialism

                   b.   Middle Path (Eightfold Path) – right knowledge; right purpose; right speech; right conduct;                                

                         right occupation; right effort; right awareness; right meditation

             4.   Rejection of division of humanity into castes

             5.   All human beings can aspire to Nirvana as a result of their behavior in this life

             6.   Jainism

                   a.    Founded by Mahavira, contemporary of Siddhartha

                   b.   Doctrine of extreme simplicity; keep no possessions and rely on begging for a living

      D.   Asoka, A Buddhist Monarch (269-232 B.C.E.)

             1.   After a career as a bloodthirsty conqueror, converted to Buddhism and ruled benevolently

IV. The Rule of the Fishes: India after the Mauryas

      A.   Mauryan Empire went into decline after the death of Asoka

      B.   Last Mauryan ruler overthrown, 183 B.C.E.

      C.   A number of new kingdoms sprung up

      D.   Weakness of the Mauryas was glorifying warfare for the king and aristocracy

V.   Indian Culture

      A.   Literature

             1.   Rigveda – hymns used in religious ceremonies, second millennium B.C.E.

                   a.    Bramanas and Upinishads and commentaries on the Vedas

             2.   Sanskrit language

             3.   Mahabharata, 100 B.C.E.

                   a.    War of cousins for control of the kingdom; interwoven are the legends of the Hindu gods

                         (1)       Moral confrontation and ethics

                   b.   90,000 stanzas

                   c.    Bhagavadgita

                         (1)       In taking action, one must be indifferent to success or failure and consider only the                                       

                                      moral rightness of the act itself

             4.   Ramayana – triumph of good over evil

      B.   Architecture and Sculpture

             1.   Pillar

                   a.    Asoka used stone columns alongside roads to commemorate the life of the Buddha and

                          mark pilgrim routes to holy places

             2.   Stupa

                   b.   Place of devotion meant to house a relic of the Buddha

                   c.    Constructed in the form of a burial mound

             3.   Rock chamber

                   a.    Rooms to house monks and ascetics

                   b.   Halls for religious ceremonies

      C.   Science

             1.   Astronomy

             2.   Elements of earth, air, fire, water, and ether

             3.   Quality of textiles

             4.   Massive stone pillars