5.5  –  Indian  Achievements          Essential  Question:  How  do  India’s  rich  history  and          culture  affect  the  world  today?          Big  Idea:  The  people  of  ancient  India  made  great          contributions  to  the  arts  and  sciences.      

   

Key Term Definition Memory Clue  metallurgy

 

The  science  of  working  with  metals      

 alloys

Mixtures  of  two  or  more  metals      

 Hindu-­‐Arabic  numerals

The  numbers  we  use  today    They  were  created  by  Indian  scholars  and  brought  to  Europe  by  Arabs  

 inoculation

Injecting   a   person  with   a   small   dose   of   a   virus   to  help  him  or  her  build  up  defenses  to  a  disease      

 

astronomy The  study  of  the  stars  and  planets      

Ancient India

A. Religious  Art    

The Indians of the Maurya and Gupta periods created great works of ___art______, many of

them ___religious____. Many of their paintings and sculptures illustrated either Hindu or

___Buddhist_____ teachings.

Early Hindu temples were small ___stone______ structures with flat __roofs___ and one or

two rooms. In the Gupta period, though, temple __architecture_____ became more complex.    They  

were  topped  with  huge  ____towers_______  and  were  covered  with  carvings  of  the  ___god____  worshipped  

inside.    Buddhist temples of the Gupta period are also impressive. Some Buddhists carved entire

temples out of ___mountainsides_________.    Another type of Buddhist temple was the

_____stupa___.    Stupas had domed roofs and were built to house ___sacred___ items from the life

of the Buddha.

The Gupta period also saw the creation of great works of art, both paintings and

___statues_____. Most Indian paintings from the Gupta period are ___clear_____ and

__colorful_____, showing Indians wearing fine __jewelry______ and stylish ___clothes______.

Artists from both of India’s major religions ____Buddhism_______ and ____Hinduism____, drew on

their beliefs to create their works. As a result, many Indian paintings are found in ___temples___.

Indian __sculptors___ also created great works. Many of their statues were made for Buddhist cave

temples. In addition to the temples intricately carved columns, sculptors carved __statues___ of

kings and the Buddha.  

 B. Sanskrit  Literature  

 As you read earlier, ___Sanskrit____ was the main language of the ancient Aryans. During

the Mauryan and Gupta periods, many works of Sanskrit ____literature_________ were created.

The greatest of these Sanskrit writings are two religious epics, the ___Mahabharata_____ and the

_____Ramayana______. Still popular in India, the Mahabharata is one of the world’s longest

literary works and is a story about the struggle between two __families____ for control of a

___kingdom____. The most famous passage within it is called the Bhagavad __Gita___. The

Ramayana is a story of the god __Vishnu___ in human form, as a prince, who rids the world of

demons and rescues his wife. It is seen as a model for how Indians should behave.

Writers in the Gupta period also created ___plays____, ___poetry_____, and other types of

literature. One famous writer of this time was Kalidasa. Sometime before 500, Indian writers also

produced a famous book of stories called the Panchatantra. The stories in the collection were

intended to teach life ___lessons___, each ending with a message about winning friends, losing

property, waging war, or some other idea.

   C. Scientific  Advances  

 Indian achievements were not limited to art, ___architecture_______, and literature. Indian

scholars also made important advances in metalworking, __math______, and the sciences.

The ancient Indians were pioneers of ____metallurgy__________, the science of working

with metals. The Indians also knew ____processes___________ for mixing metals to create

______alloys_______________, mixtures of two or more metals. Alloys are sometimes stronger or

easier to work with than pure metals. Metalworkers made their ___strongest____ products out of

___iron___. These features made the iron a valuable ___trade____ item.

Gupta scholars also made advances in math and science. They developed many elements

of our modern math system. The very numbers we use today are called____Hindu-Arabic___

___numerals______ because they were created by Indian scholars and brought to Europe by

Arabs. They also created the ___zero____. The ancient Indians were also very skilled in the

___medical_____ sciences. Besides curing people with medicines made from plants and minerals,

Indian doctors knew how to ___protect_____ people against disease. The Indians practiced

____inoculation_______, or injecting a person with a small dose of a virus to help him or her build

up defenses to a disease. For people who were injured, Indian doctors could perform

___surgery____. If they could find no other cure, doctors would cast __magic____ ___spells____

to help people recover. Indian interest in ____astronomy____, the study of stars and planets, dates

back to early times as well.

   

 

                                 

       

 

Main  Idea  #1:  Indian  artists  created  great  works  of  religious  art.      

Q:      What  is  unusual  about  the  temple  at  Ajunta?      

A:  The  temple  at  Ajunta  was  carved  out  of  a  mountainside.        

Q:      How  did  the  Hindu  temples  change  over  time?      

A:  At  first,  Hindu  temples  were  small  stone  structures  with  flat  roofs,  but  later,  they  became  complex  temples  with  huge  towers.    

 

Main  Idea  #2:  Sanskrit  literature  flourished  during  the  Gupta  period.      

Q:      Who  was  Kalidasa?      

A:  Kalidasa  was  a  brilliant  writer  of  the  Gupta  period.        

Q:      How  is  the  theme  of  the  Mahabharata  different  from  the  theme  of  the  Ramayana?      

A:  The  Mahabharata  is  about  the  struggle  between  two  families,  whereas  the  Ramayana  is  about  ideal  love  and  devotion  of  a  married  couple.      

Q:      How  may  the  Panchatantra  be  similar  to  Aesop’s  fables?      

A:  Both  the  Panchatantra  and  Aesop’s  Fables  teach  life  lessons  through  stories.      

 

                     

 

Main  Idea  #3:  The  Indians  made  scientific  advances  in  metalworking,  medicine,  and  other  sciences.  

   

Q:      What  were  some  operations  that  Indian  surgeons  could  perform?      

A:  Operations  that  Indian  surgeons  could  perform  include  fixing  broken  bones,  treating  wounds,  removing  infected  tonsils,  reconstructing  broken  noses,  and  reattaching  torn  earlobes.    

Q:      How  were  metallurgy  and  alloys  connected?      

A:  Creating  alloys,  or  mixtures  of  two  or  more  metals,  was  a  skill  within  metallurgy  that  ancient  Indians  developed.    

Q:      Why  do  you  think  the  concept  of  zero  was  so  important?      

A:  Zero  acts  as  a  placeholder  when  using  numbers  of  a  specific  base,  such  as  base  10,  allowing  mathematicians  to  make  calculations  easily.    

Q:  What  were  some  Indian  achievements  in  astronomy?      

A:  Indians  knew  seven  planets,  that  the  sun  was  a  star  and  that  planets  revolved  around  it,  that  the  earth  was  a  rotating  sphere,  and  they  could  predict  eclipses.    

Q:  Since  the  Indians  did  not  have  telescopes,  how  did  they  become  expert  astronomers?      

A:  The  Indians  practiced  careful,  systematic  observation  and  record  keeping  in  order  to  become  expert  astronomers.  

 

Reading  Checks    

 

Q:  How  did  religion  influence  ancient  Indian  art?      

A:  Most  artists  illustrated  religious  beliefs  in  their  works,  many  of  which  can  be  seen  in  temples.      

Q:  What  types  of  literature  did  writers  of  ancient  India  create?      

A:  Indians  created  religious  epics,  plays,  poems,  and  fables.      

Q:  What  were  two  Indian  achievements  in  mathematics?      

A:  Two  Indian  achievements  in  mathematics  include  Hindu-­‐Arabic  numerals  and  the  zero.