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 ____________, many of

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

__________________ teachings.

Early Hindu temples were small ____________ structures with flat _________ and one or

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

were  topped  with  huge  ________________  and  were  covered  with  carvings  of  the  __________  worshipped  

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

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

__________________.    Stupas had domed roofs and were built to house ____________ items from

the life of the Buddha.

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

_________________. Most Indian paintings from the Gupta period are ____________ and

_____________, showing Indians wearing fine ___________ and stylish _____________. Artists

from both of India’s major religions _________________ and ________________, drew on their

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

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

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

kings and the Buddha.  

 B. Sanskrit  Literature  

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

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

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

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

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

_____________. The most famous passage within it is called the Bhagavad _______. The

Ramayana is a story of the god _________ 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 ___________, ____________, 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 _____________, 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, ________________, and literature. Indian

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

The ancient Indians were pioneers of _____________________, the science of working with

metals. The Indians also knew _______________ for mixing metals to create

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

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

_________. These features made the iron a valuable __________ 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__________________

_______________ because they were created by Indian scholars and brought to Europe by Arabs.

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

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

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

____________________, 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

_______________. If they could find no other cure, doctors would cast __________ ___________

to help people recover. Indian interest in ___________________________, 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:          

Q:      How  did  the  Hindu  temples  change  over  time?      

A:        

 

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

Q:      Who  was  Kalidasa?      

A:          

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

A:          

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

A:        

 

                   

 

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:        

Q:      How  were  metallurgy  and  alloys  connected?      

A:        

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

A:        

Q:  What  were  some  Indian  achievements  in  astronomy?      

A:        

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

A:      

 

Reading  Checks    

 

Q:  How  did  religion  influence  ancient  Indian  art?      

A:        

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

A:        

Q:  What  were  two  Indian  achievements  in  mathematics?      

A: