Homework # 18 Due Thursday

• # 18 Read Pages 59-65. Answer questions 1-5

• # 19 Due Friday 89-92 Q 1-5

• # 20 Due Monday Read 93-97 Q 1,3,4,5,6

• LIBRARY CONTRACT STILL DUE # 17

Aim: Was the authoritative rule of the Mauryan Empire justified?

Chandragupta: 321 BCE-298 BCE

• Unified northern India.

• Divided his empire into provinces, then districts for tax assessments and law enforcement.

• He feared assassination

• food tasters, slept in differentrooms, etc.

The Maurya Empire

321 BCE – 185 BCE

Kautilya• Chandragupta’s advisor.• Brahmin caste.• Wrote The Treatise on

Material Gain or theArthashastra.

• A guide for the king and his ministers:o Supports royal power.o The great evil in society is

anarchy.o Therefore, a single authority is

needed to employ force when necessary!

• Kings have the right to confiscate land that you are not properly using

• King can punish you if promote ideas of rebellion against the King

• Deceiving a slave of his money or depriving him of the privileges he can exercise shall be punished with half the fine (levied for enslaving the life of an Aryan).

• Strong Laws against the abuse of slaves. Especially sexual abuse

• The king shall provide the orphans, the aged, the infirm, the afflicted, and the helpless with maintenance. He shall also provide subsistence to helpless women when they are carrying and also to the children they give birth to.

Aim: Whose rule would be better to rule an empire: Chandragupta or Asoka?

Asoka’s Empire

Asoka (304 – 232 BCE)• Religious conversion

after the gruesomebattle of Kalinga in 262 BCE.

• Dedicated his life to Buddhism.

• Built extensive roads.• Conflict • how to balance

Kautilya’smethods of keeping powerand Buddha’s demands tobecome a selfless person?

Asoka’s law code

• Edicts scattered inmore than 30 placesin India, Nepal,Pakistan, & Afghanistan.

• Written mostly inSanskrit, but one was in Greek and Aramaic.

• 10 rock edicts.• Each pillar [stupa] is 40’-50’ high.• Buddhist principles dominate his

laws.

• The individual morality that Asoka hoped to foster included respect (//susrusa//) towards parents, elders, teachers, friends, servants, and Brahmins

• He encouraged generosity (//dana//) to the poor (//kapana valaka//),

• Asoka desired that people should be well-learned (//bahu sruta//) in the good doctrines (//kalanagama//) of other people's religions.

• (//daya//), self-examination (//palikhaya//), truthfulness (//sace//), gratitude (//katamnata//), purity of heart (//bhava sudhi//), enthusiasm (//usahena//), strong loyalty (//dadha bhatita//), self-control (//sayame//) and love of the Dhamma (//Dhamma kamata//).

One of Asoka’sStupas

Asoka expandedRoadsPlanting trees next to roadsHospitals

Turmoil & a power Vacuum:

220 BCE – 320 CE

Tamils

The Maurya Empire is divided into many kingdoms.

Gupta Empire: 320 CE – 647 CE

Gupta Rulers• Chandra Gupta I

o r. 320 – 335 CEo “Great King of Kings”

• Chandra Gupta II o r. 375 - 415 CEo Profitable trade with

the Mediterraneanworld!

• Hindu revival.• Huns invade – 450

CE

Fa-Hsien: Life in Gupta India

• Chinese Buddhist monk traveled along the Silk Road and visited India in the 500 bce.

• He was following the pathof the Buddha.

• He reported the people to be happy, relatively free of government oppression, and inclined towards courtesy and charity. Other references in the journal, however, indicate that the caste system was rapidly assuming its basic features, including"untouchability," the social isolation of a lowestclass that is doomed to menial labor.

Chandra Gupta 11

International Trade Routes during the Guptas

Extensive Trade:4c

spices

spices

gold & ivorygold & ivory

rice & wheathorses

cotton goods

cotton goods

silks

Kalidasa

• The greatest of Indian poets.• His most famous play was Shakuntala.• During the reign of Chandra Gupta II.

GuptaArt

Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art &

architecture.

Medicine Literature

Mathematics

Astronomy

Printedmedicinal guides

1000 diseasesclassified

PlasticSurgery

C-sectionsperformed

Inoculations

500 healingplants

identified

DecimalSystem

Conceptof Zero

PI = 3.1416

Kalidasa

SolarCalendar

The earthis round

GuptaIndia

Gupta Achievement

s

The Decline of the Guptas

• Invasion of the White Huns in the 4c signaledthe end of the Gupta Golden Age, even thoughat first, the Guptas defeated them.

• After the decline of the Gupta empire, northIndia broke into a number of separate Hindukingdoms and was not really unified again untilthe coming of the Muslims in the 7c.

• QUESTION:Is the best literature and art written asthe civilization is on the rise, at itsheight, or in its decline?

Bhartrhari• 5c India court poet and philosopher.

Knowledge is man's crowning mark,A treasure secretly buried,The source of luxury, fame, and bliss,A guru most venerable,A friend on foreign journeys,The pinnacle of divinity.Knowledge is valued by kings beyond wealth---When he lacks it, a man is a brute.