History of Asia ASH 3100 01 Study Guide for Test 1 Spring 2012 I INDIA Indus Valley Civilization Indus Town planning very advanced for the age o Urban culture o Sun dried burnt bricks to build structures o Sophisticated o Grid System main streets intersect at right angles o Amazing drainage system unthinkable for the time o No stone buildings iron was also not used only bricks o Located in the center of the city public pool o Historians believe it was dedicated to some female energy Mother goddess most accepted theory Linked to religious bathing Great Bath Mohenjodaro Indus script o Un deciphered o Egyptian influenced o Sanskrit origin local script o Some believe it wasn t a language at all but almost like a stamp to mark ownership Collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization o Change in the course of river Indus o Floods o Earthquake o Climate change weakened monsoon most accepted theory Civilization depended on monsoons for crops and daily life The Aryans and the Vedic Age Main sources concerning the Aryans o The Vedas knowledge Rig Veda most important Veda Divine orally transmitted Vedic society o Caste system Brahmins priests Kshatriyas warriors and rulers Vaisyas skilled traders merchants and minor officials Sudra s unskilled workers No upward social ability you re born a Brahmin you stay a Brahmin except if you marry someone in a higher caste Study Guide Test 1 Spring 2012 2 o Skin color as a mark of distinction o Patriarchal Vedic religion o Polity they believe in 1 000 s of god s o Early form of Hinduism Changes in the later Vedic Age o Authority of the King increased o Nomadism disappeared o Caste System becomes rigid sub castes o Elaborate animal sacrifices o Brahminical dominance Vedic Literature epics o Ramayna the story of Ram o Mahabharata battle between Kurus and Pandavas Bhagwad Gita Buddhism and Jainism Background for the growth of Jainism and Buddhism o Changes in economy o Changes in society o Changes in religion New professional class of merchants traders Increasing gap between Brahmins and Sudras Intense Vedic rituals Animal sacrifices Brahminical tyranny o Conflict between Brahmins and traders o Growth of protest movements o Mahavira the first Jina founder of Jainism Features of Jainism o Atheistic Jina defined men prophet 13 Jina in all Mahavira being the 1st o Penance torture o Fasting o Non violent Ashima non injury to human beings o Sexual continence o Vegetarianism o Limited followers more followers from West India traders merchants not farmers because they work with animals defeats the vegetarianism aspect o Two Sects Svetambara white clad less orthodox more liberal Digambara sky clad more orthodox Study Guide Test 1 Spring 2012 3 Features of Buddhism o Gautama Buddha Prince Siddhartha o Witnessed four important sights when he left home Sick man Old man old body Corpse Saint o Four Noble Truths Suffering exists Suffering rises from desires Suffering ceases when desires cease Freedom from suffering is possible But how o Siddhartha becomes Buddha awakened after 49 days Attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya northern India under a tree o 8 fold path Middle Path most important Following all of these paths 8 leads to Nirvana salvation the highest path state of bliss beyond worlds realities Moksha after all cycles of life birth life encarnation Difference between Jainism Buddhism and Hinduism o Non violence Ashima vs animal sacrifices o Allowed women prostitutes to join his religion Buddha Any person can obtain salvation o Opposed Caste System o Buddhism was very popular because Buddha welcomed everyone appealed to masses non aryans sudras First followers were from the lower caste because he opposed it Used common language Pali not Sanskrit The Mauryan Emperor Ashoka o Battle of Kalinga o Ashoka s Dhamma famous for adoption of very central Buddhist philosophy not only his conquests Derived from Sanskrit word Dharma religion Social order based on righteousness Ashoka s Edicts early testaments of Buddhism Kushanas and Guptas Kushanas o Political Structure Divine origin of Kingship Sons of God Chinese influenced Cult of the Emperor Emperor worship o Silk Route Chinese silk trade Study Guide Test 1 Spring 2012 4 Linked china with roman empire Trade network Passed through Kushan Empire Luxury items and exchange of music religions languages literature o Schools of architecture Gandhara Sarnath and Mathura large statues Gandhara school of art Earliest known representational images of Buddha human statues o Assimilation between Indian Central Asian Greek and Romans o Buddhist subject matter Greek techniques Mathura school of art o Indigenous style o Red sandstone o Simple anatomical depictions o Standing Seated Buddha Sarnath school of art o Simplicity of form elegance o Buddha in deep meditative pose o Major center of Buddhism Guptas o Can it be called a Golden Age High Standard of living Foreign trade with Roams Gold coins Value of Pi 3 14 and decimal system Vatsyaya s Kamasutra o Not so Golden Women as items of property Child marriage polygamy Decaying towns and serfdom Rigid caste divisions Islam enters India Islam and the writing of Indian history o Bad History Ancient India Hindu Period Medieval India Muslim Period Battle of Tarain Turks vs Rajput s 1192A D o Causes of Rajput defeat Rajput used elephants vs Turkish Calvary horses Caste System Insularity of the Rajput s Earliest example of science of erotica Kama desire pleasure Study Guide Test 1 Spring 2012 5 Delhi Sultanate Slave Dynasty o Iltutmish problems facing him Mongol threat Chingez Khan Delhi Cultural hub political capital o Razia Sultana Nominated by Iltutmish Resented by Turkish nobility Collapse of the Delhi Sultanate o Internal conflict o Ambitions of the nobility o Invasion of the Mongols Timur o Muslims vs Muslims Structure of the Delhi Sultanate o The Sultan monarch Almost like a dictator Powerful support base Nobility Slaves Powerful checks No law of primogeniture succession disputes o Society Purdah Veil Women in seclusion Fear of being treated as war prizes Social origins Symbol of higher class status a Religion i Sufism 1 Reaction against vulgar display of wealth 2 Devotion music love prayer ii Theocracy 1 Was the Sultanate a theocracy a Not based on Sharia but no state laws made by kings b Freedom to Hindus b Indo Islamic architecture examples i Islamic influence 1 Geometric floral designs 2 Quranic verses ii Hindu influence 1 Lotus bell Study Guide Test 1 Spring 2012 6 II CHINA Shang and