MMW Pages 70-81 Notes
Harappan Society o Named after Harrappa, one of two chief cities, developed in the Indus o Two problems we don’t know about Harappan, hard to excavate and no one to decipher
written records o Foundations of Harappan Society
The Indus Rivr
Like the Nile the indus draws its waters from rain and melting snow in towering mountains(from Hindu Kush and Himarlayas-world’s highest peaks
Indus deposits burden of rich soil in lowlands like Nile
Sowed wheat and barley, meat from herds of cattle, indus first domesticated chickens
Pakistan and Northern India- larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia Political Organization
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro big cities but not sure if they were political centers, no evidence of any political organization
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Has city walls, a fortified citadel, and granary o Suggest that they served as centers of political authority and
where collected taxes
Both had marketplaces, temples, public buildings, broad streets
Mohenjo-Daro had large pools maybe for religious or ritual purposes
These two cities influenced other cities Specilized Labor and Trade
Pottery, tools and decorative items were traded domestically and in foreign
o Harappan Society and Culture- rich society Social Distinctions
Rulers wielded great authority from citadels
Peasants in jaro lied in one-room tenements in barrackslike
Found a bronze figurine of a dancing girl Fertility Cults
Strong concern for fertility
Recognized a mother goddess and a horned fertility god Harappan Decline
Ecological degradation was a major cause of decline o Deforestation led to erosion of topsoil and also to reduced
amounts of rainfall-became a desert
Periodic flooding also weakened this
Harappan beliefs did not die with them
The Indo-European Migrations and Early Aryan India o Nomadic and pastoral peoples speaking Indo-european languages-Aryans o Aryans and India
The Early Aryans
Kept sheeps and goats, horses, and cattles, heavily a pastoral economy
Aryans weren’t really hindus, ate beef
The Vedas
Their sacred language, Sanskrit
Vedas- the earliest and most important of which is the Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns addressed to Aryan gods
These represent a priestly perspective on affairs The Vedic Age
Aryans clashed with Dravidians- Aryans wrecked irrigation systems, etc
The Vedas identify Indra, the Aryan war god and military hero, as the one who ravaged citadels and smashed dams
The Aryans didn’t have a central govt. so they formed hundreds of chiefdoms organized around herding communities and agriculture, most chiefdoms had a raja, a king
Aryan Migrations in India
Aryan groups settled in Punjab- began to cultivate rice
Migrated to the Ganges river valley as well Changing Political Organizations
Councils of elders won recognition as the rincipal sources of poltical authority
o Directed affair of small republics
Chiefdoms developed into regional kingdoms o Origins of the Caste System
The Aryan socil structure rested on sharp hereditary distinction sbetween individuals and groups according to their occupations and roles in society
Caste- social class of hereditary and unchangeable status Caste ad Varna
Varna use to refer to major social classes, Varna means color in Sanskrit
Diistintcions arose from complexion Aryans- wheat colored Dravidians- darker skinned
Social Distinctions in the Late Vedic Age
Four main varnas- Brahmins(priests), Kshatriyas(warriors and aristocrats), vaishyas(cultivators, articans, and merchants), and shudras(landless peasants and serfs). And untouchables-people who performed dirty tasks
Rig Veda says varnas came from gods Subcastes and Jati
Occupation determined a person’s jati. People working at the same time in agiven area belonged to the same subcaste, untouchables belonged to jati
Elaborate rules dictated forms of address and specific behavior appropriate for communication between members of different castes and subcastes
Caste and Social Mobility
Could move up and down social ladder o Happened as a group with jatis
o The Development of Patriarchal Society Men dominated Aryan societies, priests, warriors, and tribal chiefs were men Women did not get educated or learn vedas
o The Lawbook of Manu Manu, founder of the human race according to indian mythology This dealt with proper moral behavior and social relationships The author advised men to treat women with honor and respect
o Sati Women voluntarily threw herself on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband
Religion in the Vedic Age o Aryan Religion
Aryan Gods
Indra-war god. He also had a domestic dimension, the Aryans associated him with the weather and the coming of rain to water
They also recognized the sky, the moon, fire, health, disease, dawn, and the underworld
They believed that the god Varuna presided over the ksy from his heavenly palace, where he oversaw the behabior of mortals
Ritual Sacrifices
Involved dozens sometimes hundreds of animals o They sought to gets gods support through this
Spirituality
Believed souls could experience transmigration and reincarnation
Beginning 800 bc many thoughtful individuals went to forests of the ganges valley where they live as hermits and relected on the relationships between humans the world and the gods.
MMW Pages 81-85
The Blending of Aryan and Dravidian Values o The Upanishads
(a sitting in front of)- refers to th practice of disciples gathering before a sage for discussion of religious issues
Most disciples men o Brahman, The Universal Soul
Taught that appearances are deceiving Thought that each person participates in a larger cosmic order and forms a small
part of a universal soul known as brahman
Brahman is an neternal, unchanging, permanent foundation for all things that exist
Authors of Upanishads believed that soul was born many times, but main goal for soul was to escape cycle of birth and rebirth and enter into Brahman
o Teachings of the Upanishads Samsara- upon death individual souls go temporarily to the world of the fathers
and then return to earth in new incarnations Karma- accounted for specific incarnations that souls experienced
Brhadaranyaka Upanishad- a man of good acts will become good and vice versa
Moksha- characterized as a deep, dreamless sleep that came with permanent liberation from physical incarnation
Way to get here was asceticism and meditation o Religion and Vedic Society
Doctrines of Samsara and karma reinforced the vedic social order They advocated honesty, self-contro, charity, and mercy Respected animals so vegetarians
MMW Notes Pages 168-183
The fortunes of Empire in Classical India o The Mauryan Dynasty and the Temporary Unification of India
520 BCE Persian emperor Darius conquered northwestern Indian and made the kingdom of Ghandhara in N. Punjab
Establishment of Achaemenid authority introduced Persian techniques Kingdom of Magadha
Located in ganges plain,
Started to expand into neighboring states, gained control of commerce with this
Chandragupta Maurya
First state to bring a centralized and unified govt. to most of the india
Started by taking Magadha
Conquered greek state in Bactria
By 4th century BCE he had india from indus to ganges (Northwestern) Chandragupta’s Govt.
Kautalya was an advisor and his advice survive in Arthashastra, a manual offering detailed instructions on the uses of power and principles of gov
o Ministering the empire, collecting taxes, maintaining order Ashoka Maurya
grandSon of Chandragupta Added southern india to empire
Ashoka was grandson, he conquered Kalinga to control trade
Ruled through a Bureaucracy, built capital at Pataliputra where a central administration developed policies for the whole empire
Had a central treasury which checked if taxes were collected
Buddhist
Expanded agriculture by building irrigation systems, built roads, Decline of the Mauryan Empire
Suffered from acute financial and economic difficulties o The emergence of Regional Kingdoms and The Revival of Empire
Bactrian Rule in Northwestern India
Regional kingdoms developed after mauryan empire fell
Northwestern india fell under the rule of Greek-Speaking conquerors from Bactria- they went as far south as Gujarat
o They linked commericial centers from china and Mediterranean basin
The Kushan Empire
Put an end to bactrian empire,
Served as cultural intermediaries because they kept trade safe between countries
Ghandhara style was important for the early development of Buddhist art
Gupta Dynasty
Guptas based their state in Magadha
Empire rose by Chandra Gupta in 320 BCE
The guptas left local govt. and administration and even the making of basic policy in the hands of their allies in the various regions of the empire
Science and Mathematics
Indian physicians developed techniques of plastic surgery and astronomers determined earth was a sphere
Mathematics was most important, they made 0
They calculated value of pi
And length of solar year Gupta Decline
The nomadic White Huns invaded
Regional governors usurped the imperial rights and powers, gupta declined
Economic Developmment and Social Distinctions o Agricultural surpluses encouraged emergence of towns, the growth of trade, and further
development of the caste system o Cleared forests o Towns and Trade
Towns and Manufacturing
Some towns provided manufactured goods, pots textiles iron tools
Saddalaputta owned 500 workshops of pottery distributed to the ganges valley
Long Distance Trade
Political foundation in places enabling merchants to deal with their counterparts in lands
Indians went to Persia and Mediterranean basin also to china o Exported cotton, armoatics, black pepper, pearls, and gems o Imported horses and bullion and silk
Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin
Sailed to Indonesia where they exchanged pearls, cotton, and black peppers for spices and exotic local products
o Family Life and the Caste System Gender Relations
Patriarchal families
Women were largely subordinate to men
Mahabharata and Ramayana portray this
Child marriages
Women devoted themselves to family matters Social Order
Trade and industries encouraged development of caste system Castes and Guilds
Individuals working in the same craft or trade usually joined to form a guild, a coporate body that supervised prices and wages in a given industry and provided welfare of members and their families
Guilds functioned as subcastes known as jati, based on occupation
Guilds intermarried Wealth and Social Order
Members of vaishya and shudra had the obligation to work as directed by the higher castes, trade brought wealth to vaishyas and sometimes shudras to became wealthier and more influential than their Brahmin and Kshatriya contemporaries
Religioons of Salvation in Classical India o Charvakas had materialistic view, that human beings came from dust no gods o Jainism and the Challenge to the Established Cultural Order
Vardhamana Mahavira
Jainism- this teacher turned to this religion in late 6th century
Jainist doctrine came from Upanishads, they believe that everything in the universe posess a soul
o Only by purification of selfish behavior could the souls gain release from their imprisonment
Jainist Ethics o Purified by ahimsa, nonviolence
Vegetarian, swept floors to avoid invisible insects
Appeal of Jainism o No class distinctions o However very hard to observe
o Early Buddhism Siddhartha Gautama
Came from a Kshatriya family like mahavira
He decided to take up an ascetic, wandering life like the monk to understand suffering
Gautama’s Search for Enlightenment
Sat in meditation for 49 days until he found out what suffering was o he became Buddha after this, the enlightened one
The Buddha and His Followers
Gave sermon to his religion, named Turning of the Wheel of the Law Buddhist Doctrine: The Dharma
Four Noble Truths- teaches that all life involves suffering, that desire is the cause of suffering; that elimination of desire brings an end to suffering; and that a disciplined life conducted in accordance with the Noble Eightfold path brings the elimination of desire
o Leave luxury o Includes right belief, resolve, speech, behavior, occupation,
effort, contemplation, meditation
Nirvana- a state of perfect spiritual independence
Dharma- doctrine of Buddhists Appeal to Buddhism
Did not recognize social distinctions
Used regular language not Sanskrit
Stupas- shrines housing relics of Buddha Ashoka’s Support
Official patronage fromm mauryan dynasty
He may have followed bcuz he was saddened by death of kalingans
He sponsored it and followed it very well in his empire
o Mahayana Buddhism Attracted low class people A truly righteous existence involved considerable sacrifice: giving up personal
property, forsaking the search for social standing, and resolutely detaching oneself from the charms of family and the world
Development of Buddhism
Started to consider Buddha as god, made people closer to Buddhism
Bodhisattvas- were individuals who had reached spiritual perfection and merited the reward of nirvana, but who intentionally delayed their entry into nirvana to help others struggling
The Spread of Mahayana Buddhism
Mahayana lenient doctrine of Buddhism than Theravada Buddhism. o Means greater vehicle
Nalanda
Monasteries became education institutions
At Nalanda, it was possible to study not only Buddhism but also the Vedas, Hindu philosophy, logic, mathematics, astrology, and medicine
o The Emergence of Popular Hinduism This addressed the interests and met the needs of ordinary people The Epics
The two great books illustrate development of Hindu values
Mahabharata- bloody civil war for the control of northern india between two groups of cousins
o Had a poem for the god Vishnu, the preserver of the world who intervened frequently on behalf of virtuous individuals
Ramayana- a love and adventure story involving the trials faced by the legendary prince Rama and his wife Sita.
o Ideal Hindu couple o Rama an incarnation of Vishnu o Rama saves Sita from demon king of Ceylon, Ravan
MMW Notes Page 86-105
Political Organization in Early China o Yellow River and Yangzi River valleys
Regional states Xia, Zhou, Shang dynasties, put most of china under their control o Early Agricultural Society and Xia Dynasty
The Yellow River
Has nickname China’s sorrow; tried to limit flood damage
No need to build irrigation systems bcuz of rain Yangshao Society and Banpo Village
5000-3000BCE Yangshao, included Banpo, found pottery and tools The Xia Dynasty
First to try to organize public life in china
Sage-King Yu, with the organization of effective flood-control projects, helped to recognize authorities
Had palace type strucures and modest houses o Shang Dynasty
1766-1122 BCE Bronze Metallury and Horse Drawn Chariots
Southwest Asia brought these to china
Shang monopolized the production of bronze in the Yellow river valley by controlling access to copper and tin ores
Made them more powerful than Xia
Were a military machine Shang Political Organization
Authority rested on a vast network of walled towns whose local rulers recognized the authority of the Shang Kings
Advisors, ministers, craftsmen, and metalsmiths had agricultural surplus and helped shape policy or spread influence throughout state
The Shang Capital at Ao
Has a huge city wall- required 10000 workers The Shang Capital at Yin
Had royal palaces and homes, many tombs similar to Egyptian tombs
People joined Shang King in death- like 300- wives, servants The Tomb of Lady Fu Hao
Wife of Shang king Wu Ding, tomb contained many weapons, bronze objects,
Beyond the Yellow River Valley o Zhou Dynasty
Unlike Mesopotamia, shang rulers ruled by proclamation or decree, trusting their military forces and political allies to enforce their will
Rise of the Zhou
Many towns shifted loyalties to Zhou bcuz last ruler was a fool The Mandate of Heaven
The Zhou theory of politics rested on the assumption that earthly events were closely related to heavenly affairs
Son of heaven was allowed to govern, ruler served as link between heaven as earth
Political Organization
Zhou rulers relied on a decentralized administration: they entrusted power to subordinates who in return owed allegiance to the central gov
Weakening of the Zhou
Subordinates established their own bases of ppower o Made armies and bureaucracies
Iron Metallurgy
Zhou couldn’t get iron, subordinates did tho
771BCe nomads invaded
Last centuries of Zhou known as Period of Warring States 403-221 bce
Society and Family in Ancient China o The Social Order
Ruling Elites
Nobles families and royal family had highest position, lived in palatial compounds
Possession of bronze set them apart Specialized Labor
People who worked exclusively for the privileged classes enjoyed a reasonably comfortable existence; manufacturers of silk benefited socially bcuz of their importance to the ruling elites
Merchants and Trade
Trade networks linked china with lands to the west and south Peasants
Owned no land and provided agriculture military
Relied on wooden diging sticks, and spades with bone or stone tips Slaves
Enemy warriors captured during battles between many competing states of ancient china
Cleared new fields or building of city walls o Family and Patriarchy
Veneration of Ancestors
Spirits of their ancestor passed into another realm of existence from which they had power to support families
Buried things along with the dead
Patriarchal head organized rites bcuz no religion Patriarchal Society
Respected women
Elder men in charge of Chinese society Women’s Influence
Fu Hao supervised her estate and presided over sacrificial ceremonies that were usually the responsibility of men who were heads of their households
o Served as general in military
Matrilineal character was lost gradually
Early Chinese Writing and Cultural Development o Tian- (heaven) the agent responsible for bestowing and removing the mandate of
heaven on rulers
o Did not believe in a supreme deity o Writing came into extensive use in Shang dynasty o Oracle Bones and Early Chinese Writing
Shang royal court kept records on strips of bamboo or silk Wrote on Oracle Bones
Used by fortune tellers in china
Oracle bones had questions about the state itself Early Chinese Writing
Used pictograph like Egyptians first form o Thought and Literature in Ancient China
Zhou dynasty produced books of poetry, history, manuals of divination and ritual, and essays
o Zhou Literature Served as textbooks in Chinese schools Book of Changes, which was a manual instructing diviners in the art of
foretelling the future Book of History, a collection of docs that justified the Zhou state and called for
subjects to obey overlords Book of Rites/Etiquettes taught polite behavior
o Books of Songs 600 BCE some of the poems had political implications bcuz they recorded
illustrious deeds of heroic figures Many of them are about life love family
o Destruction og Early Chinese Literature Qin brought all of China under centralized rule, the emperor ordered the
destruction o all writings
Ancient China and The Larger World o Chinese cultivators and Nomadic Peoples Of Central Asia
Steppe Nomads
These domesticated horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and yaks Nomadic Society
Did little farming
Herded animals, they were intermediaries in trade networks
Zhou state almost crumbled bcyz of nomadic pressure o The Southern Expansion of Chinese Society
The Yangzi Valley
Supports more agriculture than yellow river
Had to make irrigation system no floods The State of Chu
Communicated with Zhou
Located in Yangzi
MMW Notes 148-155
In search of Political and Social Order o Confucius and His School
Confucius
Kong Fuzi- address political and social order (Master Philosopher Kong) Confucian Ideas
Compiled his sayings in a book called the Analects
Confucius belived that the best way to promote good govt. was to fill official positions with individuals who were both educated and conscientious.
Junzi- superior individuals, took a broad view of public affairs and did not allow personal interest to influence judgments
Examined Book of Songs, History and Rites Confucian Values
Ren- an attitude of kindness and benevolence or a sense of humanity o These people who possessed this were respectful, diligent, and
loyal
Li- a sense of propriety, which called for individuals to behave in conventionally appropriate fashion, they should treat all other human beings with courtesy, while showing special respect and deference to elder
Xiao- filial piety, which reflected the high significance of family in Chinese society
o Respect parents Mencius
Principal spokesman of Confucian schools
Advised political leaders to levy light taxes, avoid wars, support education, follow ren basically
Xunzi
Xunzi emphasized li.
Advocated the establishment of clear, well-publicized standards of conduct that would set limits on the pursuit of individual interest and punish those who neglected their obligations to the larger society
o Daoism Laozi and Daodejing
Founded Daoism Laozi
Daodejing(Classic of the Way and of Virtue) o Basic exposition of Daoist beliefs traditionally ascribed to Laozi
Zhuangzi also important book- provided well-reasoned collection of Daoist views
The Dao
The way of nature
Dao- figures as the force of the cosmos, an eternal and unchanging principle that governs all the workings of the world
The Doctrine of Wuwei
Trait- disengagement from the competitive exertions and active involvement in affairs of the world
The less govt. the better Political Implications of Daoism
Served as a counterbalance to the activism and extroversion of the Confucian tradition
o Legalism Devoted attention exclusively to the states Shang Yang
Chief minister to the duke of the Qin state
The book of Lord Shang has his policies Han Feizi
Most systematic
Advisor in Qin Legalist Doctrine
Foundations of a state’s strength were agriculture and armed forces
Faith in laws
Had strict laws on the littlest of crimes, amputation for littering
Brought about an end to the warring state period
MMW Notes Pages 156-159
Unification of China o The Qin Dynasty
The Kingdom of Qin
Granted land rights to individual cultivators weakening the economic position of hereditary aristocratic classs
o This allowed qin to establish a centralized bureaucratic rule throughout the state
Built an army with most effective iron weapons The First Emperor
221 BCE king of qin proclaimed himself emperor o Qin SHihuangdi
Dynasty ended 207 BCE
Governed from Xianyang
He divided remainder of china into administrative provinces and districts, disarmed regional armies, destroyed fortresses that might be points of rebellion, built roads and defensive walls –precursor to Great Wall of China
The Burning of the Books
Daoists, Confucians, and others launches campaign against empire which made Qin execute and burn the books of philosophy
o Some people hid books or rewrote them Qin Centralization
Standardized laws, currencies, weights, and measures Standardized Scripts
Qin mandated the use of a common script, people spoke many languages but wrote in one
o Enabled people to talk to others from other linguistic backgrounds
Tomb of the First Emperor
Rare and expensive grave goods accompanied him, along with slaves, concubines, and craftsmen
Had traps rigged to fire at intruders
Entire army of life-size pottery figures to guard the emperor in death o The Early Han Dynasty
Liu Bang
Commander that restord order to china and established himself at the head of a new dynasty in 206 bce
Han longest and most influential dynasty
They consolidated the tradition of centralized imperial rule that the qin dynasty had pioneered
Former Han ruled at Chang’an
Later Han moved capital to Luoyang Early Han Polices
He allotted large landholdings to members of imperial family so they would provide a reliable network of support
He divided the empire into administrative districts governed by officials
Did not trust family later on bcuz he didn’t receive support from them The Martial Emperor, Han Wudi
Imperial throne for 54 years 141-87 bce
Pursued administrative centralization and imperial expansion Han Centralization
Relied on Legalist principles-Han Wudi
He levied taxes on agriculture, trade, and craft industries to finance machinery of govt. c
MMW Notes 65-67, 106-111, 116-125
Bantu Migrations and Early Agricultural Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa o The Dynamics of Bantu Expansion
The Bantu
Bantu language spoken in western Africa- Niger Congo
Means persons or people
Lived in clan based villages led by chiefs who conducted religious rituals and represented their villages
Bantu Migrations
Spreaded south into west African forests
Agricultural surpluses allowed them to increase more rapidly Iron and Migration
Migrations quickened when iron tools and weapons were made o Early Agricultural Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa
Kushite herders pushed into east Africa o Spread of Agricultur
Cultivators went to east and south Africa o Religious Beliefs
Monotheistic religious beliefs by 5000 bce Sudanic peoples recognized a single, impersonal divine force
Nyamba who created the world and established principles that would govern it
Early Societies of Mesoamerica o The Olmecs
Early Agriculture in Mesoamerica
Cultivated food and domesticated dogs and turkeys Ceremonial Centers
Centers with monumental pyramids, temples, and palaces arose alongside the agricultural villages
Olmecs: The Rubber People
Gulf of Mexcio coast- nerve center for Olmec society
Constructed drainage systems
Influenced other civilizations in area Olmec Society
Authoritarian, had an Olmec elite and subjects Trade in Jade and Obsidian
Made decorative stuff from jade which they impoprted o The Heirs of the Olmecs: The Mayas
The Maya
Near southern mexico
Built teples
Teotihuacan in central mecixo Tikal
Maya political center
Organized themselves into small city kingdoms
Early Societies of South America
Early Andean Society and the Chavin Cult o Peru and Bolivia o Did not stay in contact with Mesoamerica o Early Agriculture in South America
Beans peanuts potatoes Cotton
o The Chavin Cult Cult arose when maize became an important crop
o Early Cities Ceremonial centers rather than cities
Early Andean States Mohica o Political and Economic Integration of the Andean Valleys
Conquerors unifed separate valleys o The Mohica State
Mochica painting survives on pottery
Had everyday life, gods, deities Early Societies of Ocenia
Early Societies in Australia and New guinea o Hunter gatherers
Small, mobile communities Planted foods
o Austronesian Peoples Seafaring people from southeast asia
o Early Agriculture in New Guinea Yams, taro, pigs, chickens,
The Peopling of the Pacific Islands o Didn’t have sailing technology to sail farther than solomons and Bismarck o Austronesian migrations to Polynesia
Exploratory voyages o Austronesian Migrations to Micronesia and Madagascar o The Lapita Peoples
First to sail out into pacific Raised pigs and chickens Pottery was valuable
o Chiefly Political Org Trade networks fell bcuz could provide for self Hierarchical chiefdoms where son received power next
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