Essential terms to know and be able to find:

*Himalayas *E. and W. Ghats *New Delhi

*Indus River *Deccan Plateau *Calcutta

*Hindu Kush *Ganges River *Great Indian Desert

•Natural barriers:

•Sea and mountains- allowed for unique cultural development

•Fertile river valleys:

•Indus River Valley- allowed for development of early civilizations

•Vastness of continent:

•Allowed for some disunity- hard to communicate over mountains and deserts

•2500BC1500BC

•Location: Indus River Valley

•relatively advanced civilization

•planned cities, plumbing, metalworking, pottery, written language

•Religion:

•Mother Goddess, 3-headed god [possible early Hindu God]

•Buried/burned dead

•Central European origin

•lived pretty simple lives

•women had rights to inherit property

•Brought the Vedas and Upanishads

•collection of poems, hymns to the gods

•Other later epics

•Ramayana and Mahabharata

•simpler Sanskrit, newer gods, less female rights

•Top of the system

•Priests mostly

•Warriors •Traders

•Agriculture

•Laborers

Origin of Caste System:

*used by Aryans to distinguish between themselves and aborigines

*simple division of labor

Eventually evolved by Brahmins to preserve their power

•Not considered people; sewage workers, garbage collectors; shunned by society

•Henotheistic- belief in one god, several manifestations- Brahman

•3 main manifestations: Brahma- creator, Shiva-destroyer, Vishnu- preserver

•Main Beliefs and Practices

•Reincarnation

•Samsara

•Moksha

•Karma

•Dharma

•Puja

•Meditation [to some extent]

Founder: Siddhartha Gautama

Karma and Nirvana

4 Noble Truths

Eight Fold Path

Rejected caste system

Founder: Mahavira

Strict ahimsa

No supreme deity

•Darius-Persian Empire

•Invaded Indus River Valley after 516BC

•Decayed over the years

•Alexander the Great

•Invaded India ~327BC

•Two years later, Alexander left and died soon after

•Influence: broke up Punjab kingdoms, suppressed several rebellious tribes

•Exposed India to Greek ideas and civilization

•Chandragupta

•Took over Nanda Kingdom, North India

•Acquired Indus River Valley from Selecus

•Government- very centralized and efficient

•Six boards- administration of Patalputra

•Registration of births and deaths

•Taxes on goods, official stamp

•Absolute ruler=King

•democracy at village level

•Death penalty for minor offenses

•Bindusara: expanded kingdom- acquired some of the Deccan Plateau

•Asoka (273ish BC)

•Buddhist

•sent missionaries, ensured survival

•Set up pillars explaining principles

•dharma, ahimsa

•Basically ruled modern day India

•Civil service

•Animal protection- seasonal

•Public works

•wells

•roads and trees

•Written histories emerged [Buddhist teachings, not just Vedic literature]

•2 sects of Buddhism evolved: Theravata and Mahayana

•Cause of Collapse: power vacuum after Asoka– regional kings challenged authority

•Influx of immigrants helped instability, Tamil kingdoms created trouble down south

•Chandra Gupta I: 320 AD- 335 AD

•Established beginnings of an empire in North India

•Samudra Gupta- extended kingdom

•Chandra Gupta II: 376 AD- 415 AD [map]

•Golden Age and prosperity

•architecture, sculpture, poetry

•Kalidasa- Shakuntala

•cave paintings at Ajanta

•Math- calculated pi to 4 places, solar year

•Government

•vassal kings, not consolidated to one unit

•no poll tax, no land tax

•no capital punishment

•strong caste system

•single law code

•sent ambassadors to other lands [Rome]

Cause of Collapse:

•Power vacuum

•Invading Huns and Central Asian nomads

•Invading Arabs and Muslims

Series of attacks from the end of the Gupta Empire to the Mughal Empire

•Desecrated temples, looted, plundered

8th Century: Hindu vs. Muslim

•300 years Muslims kept at bay [Indus River Valley]

•Turks invaded, overwhelmed Hindus

Many sultans and rulers over the centuries 13-16

India never united as a country until the Mughal Empire

Babur: (1494) gets land, starts expanding

•Strong military leader, well liked by populace

Humayun: (son) succeeds him– very inept leader, loses much of the land of the empire

Akbar: 1556-1605

•religious and political freedom- eliminated jizya [tax against non Muslims]

•bureaucracy of officials as government

•good tax policy; percentage of income

•land policy prevented feudal aristocracies, decreased loyalty

•good army with good generals; several successful campaigns

•culture blends

•Urdu, Hindi became new languages

Jahangir- weak ruler, wife had power Nur Jahan (r. 1611-1622)

Shah Jahan: 1628-1658

•Built Taj Mahal in honor/memory of his dead wife

•Terrible ruler; didn’t pay attention to country while constructing monuments

•high taxes, poverty, war

Aurangzeb:1500AD 1719AD

•Rigid Islamic laws; no drinking, gambling etc.

•Hindu status reduced; tax on non Muslims return, no Hindus in offices

•Rajputs and Sikhs rebelled- set up breakaway states

•Empire was completely drained after Aurangzeb’s death

•Europeans gaining footholds in India– Bombay

Cause of Collapse:

•Anger at persecution

•Bankruptcy because of high taxation

•Terrible central rulers

European Imperialism1500-1900

Portuguese Discovery

• 1499- Vasco da Gama arrives back in Portugal from a voyage to Calicut, on the Malabar Coast of India.

• His cargo of spices-pepper, nutmeg, and

cloves-fascinate the people

• The trade in spices was the most important reason for

European interest in the East.

Trade• Europe and Asia were separated by deserts, mountains, and by the

powerful Ottoman Empire, which was Muslim in religion and not on friendly terms with Christian Europe.

• The journey was long and dangerous. Ships had to sail down the coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean.

• The trip lasted several years, if the ship made it at all.

Other products

• Brought back beautiful fabrics and gems

• Spices and pepper were still the most intriguing

• The Europeans now saw how good food could taste

Portuguese Control• 1505- Portuguese ships sailed into the Indian Ocean

and quickly overpowered Arab resistance

• Alphonso de Albuquerque established the first European settlement at Goa on India’s west coast

• Portugal controlled the spice trade, and Portuguese trading posts were established in India, in Malaya, and in the Spice Islands

Dutch Control

• The Dutch, expert seamen, and perceptive merchants wasted no time challenging Portugal’s control

• By 1600 there were several Dutch trading posts in India.

• The Dutch eventually pushed the Portuguese out of the spice trade

British Control

• In 1587, English merchants captured a Portuguese ship filled with spices

• Merchants formed the British East India Company to trade in spices

• First British settlement was called St. George and was established in 1639

• 1661- the British gained control of Bombay, which is now India’s second largest city and a great seaport.

• 1690- a trading post was created at Calcutta, then only a small village, now a city of 12,000,000 people.

Competition

• British were too busy fighting the Portuguese to establish many trading posts

• 1612 and 1614, Portuguese navy was defeated and the Dutch became too involved in the islands of Indonesia to compete with the British in India.

• England and Holland fought over America and the East. Portugal was stuck with much less influential position in the East.

British Resistance

• 1746-1761, the British army defeated several Indian armies and the French who were gaining power

• 1814-1818 fought against the Gurkhas in northern India

• 1840- suppressed the Sikhs, who were fierce Indian warriors

• After the Sikhs were defeated, all of India came under the power of the East India Company

British Change

• Social reforms were made and cruel customs of Indian society were abolished. ~Suttee, the drowning of unwanted girl babies, slavery

• Built new roads, harbors, and railways trade extended • Established a telegraph system, built schools and colleges, and

established uniform law. • Thought of eventually giving India her independence • India was the “jewel in the Empire’s crown”. • Brought peace to parts of India which had suffered turmoil.

“The Indian Mutiny”• India welcomed the British as traders not rulers led

to revolt in 1857 • Resulted in a mutiny among Indian soldiers who had

joined the British army • N.India was in revolt for over a year and cruel and

bloody battles were fought • Led by princes and rulers who had lost their

kingdoms to the British and wanted to win them back • Attempts failed and the British were more strongly

established in India than ever before

20th Century India

Independence• “Self-government is my birthright and I will have

it”- Tilak• Indians had no hatred for the British, they

appreciated progress but were upset by the restrictions of foreign rule

• Their united call was for total independence.• Amritsar Massacre= turning point for

independence• British reforms towards independence were too

slow

Mohandas Gandhi

• Fought for India’s better working conditions, more rights, and an end to discrimination

• Ahimsa= Non-violent protests• Became known as Mahatma= Great Soul• 1921- led non-co-operation movement

• Began to turn against the British and joined Jawaharlal Nehru

• 1930- Salt March a new civil disobedience campaign

• For many years, Muslim leaders co-operated with Hindus

• 100 million Muslims, but they were not organized

• Muslim leaders afraid that self-government would favor the more numerous, better organized Hindus

• Muslim League- led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Differences

War

• 1939- Britain declared war on Germany, which dragged India into war

• 1941- Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, invaded eastern India, and bombed Calcutta

• Gandhi did not support war, Nehru did only if India were granted immediate independence

• Sir Stafford Cripps settled independence dispute offering India membership to the British Commonwealth of Nations every major Indian political party turned it down

After the War

• Great Britain has a new government• The Labour Party- leaders had always urged Indian

independence• British people suffered from war and felt the sooner

India was free the better• Britain offered India complete independence• India could be a dominion within the Commonwealth,

or cut all ties completely• A Constituent Assembly was elected and would draft

up a Constitution

Muslim vs. Hindu• No constitution or government could be established to satisfy both groups• 1946- Hartal= Muslim day of prayer

wanted to bring attention to their views on freedom

• Riots broke out between Muslims and Hindus

• Over 5,000 killed• Partition= idea to separate Muslim and

Hindu into two countries, Pakistan and India

After Independence

• July 4, 1947- complete independence and India and Pakistan became free and independent nations

• This did not solve the Muslim/Hindu problem, it only became worse

• Riots broke out- Muslims and Hindus attacked each other, Sikhs were also in the conflict

• Villages burned, tens of thousands killed• Gandhi intervened- asked for a nationwide day of

prayer and fasting, and for a time there was peace

Kashmir

• Muslims and Hindus fought over the state of Kashmir• Muslims feared that the Hindu maharajah would join

India• Muslims from areas in Pakistan invaded to remove

the ruler by force• Maharajah asked India for help and troops were

flown into Kashmir• Fear of Pakistan and India going to war- Gandhi

stepped in• 1948- Fast- starving would show self-sacrifice and

would persuade others to overcome hatred• Two weeks later Gandhi was murdered

India and Pakistan• India forms a republic• Pakistan adopts a constitution- Iskander Mirza becomes president • Two years later Nehru dies • India and Pakistan go to war over Kashmir for

22 days. • 1970- First general elections are held in

Pakistan     • E. Pakistan attempts to secede from Pakistan

and a civil war begins. • 1976- India and Pakistan re-establish

diplomatic relations; diplomatic ties are also established between Pakistan and Bangladesh.

India and Pakistan Cont.• India becomes the world's sixth nuclear power• 1980- Indira Gandhi returns to power in India. • China reportedly provides Pakistan with a nuclear

bomb design. • 1984- Indira Gandhi assassinated; her son becomes

Prime Minister • 1988- India tests the Prithvi missile• 1990- U.S. freezes military and economic aid to

Pakistan• 1996- India and Pakistan refuse to sign the nuclear test-

ban treaty• India moves missiles near Pakistani border. • Pakistan and India step up their arms race; the conflict

in Kashmir continues.