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| 9560588 | Alexander the Great | invaded India; made Indian contacts w/ Hellenistic culture | 0 | |
| 9560589 | Aryans | indo-european migrants; hunting & herding peoples from central Asia; started agriculture; info about preclassical period comes from their literary epics; encouraged tight village organization; emphasized patriarchal control; religion of many gods/goddesses; | 1 | |
| 9560590 | Maurya Dynasty | 1st people to unify much of the entire subcontinent; developed bureaucracy w/ postal service; didn't have a long lasting effect on society; depended heavily on large armies; | 2 | |
| 9560956 | Ashoka | (269-323 BCE); Chandragupta's grandson; gained control of all but India's southern tip; supporter of Buddhism; spread it throughout India but respected other religions; built extensive networks of roads; | 3 | |
| 9560957 | Guptas | began rule in 320 CE; produced a greater impact than Mauryan Dynasty; intermarried & negotiated w/ local princes to expand influence; Huns overturned them in 535 CE; claimed appointment by gods & supported Hinduism b/c Hindu's believed in such gods; demanding taxation system; promoted Sanskrit; uniform law codes; sponsored general services (i.e. road building...); "Golden Age" in Indian history; Indian drama flourished; important work in science & math; vast university center; important discoveries in astronomy & medicine; art moved from realistic portrayals of the human form to stylized representation; | 4 | |
| 9560958 | Caste System | took shape during Vedic & Epic ages; regulated social relationships & work roles; promoted public order; more complex after Epic Ages; 5 initial classes 300 jati (subcategories); born into caste; could fall to lower caste by marriage or unsuitable job; could go up through gain in wealth; gave India the most rigid overall framework for a social structure of any of the classical civilizations; provided way for people of different statuses to live together w/o conflict; promoted tolerance; outright slavery avoided; low-caste: few legal rights, suffered abuse; | 5 | |
| 9560959 | Untouchables | lowest class; performed unskilled, "dirty" jobs such as transporting dead bodies; | 6 | |
| 9560960 | Hinduism | gave rise to important religious dissent; religion of India's majority; started in Vedic & Epic ages; no single founder; strictly ritualistic to high-soaring mysticism: varied; able to adapt to different needs of various groups and to change w/ the circumstance; | 7 | |
| 9560961 | Sanskrit | 1st literary language | 8 | |
| 9560962 | Upanishads | epic poems w/ mystical religious flavor; advanced idea of mystical contact w/ divine essence; attacked conventional Brahman view of religion; | 9 | |
| 9560963 | Dharma | : law of moral consequences (Buddhism); moral consequences of actions & the need to act; stresses inner study & meditation; | 10 | |
| 9560964 | Vishnu & Shiva | Hindu gods; V: the preserver; S: the destroyer; | 11 | |
| 9560965 | Buddhism | spread & retained coherence through example & teachings of monks; attracted followers in India; Brahman opposition was strong; | 12 | |
| 9560966 | Panchatantra | a story collection in the Gupta period; | 13 | |
| 9560967 | Tamils | southern Indians who traded cotton, silk, dyes, drugs, gold, and ivory w/ seafaring people; | 14 | |
| 9560968 | Buddha | challenged Vedic/Brahman beliefs; "enlightened one"; Siddhartha Gautama; lived as Hindu mystic for 6 years; accepted reincarnation, rejected caste; all worldly things decay; saw salvation arising form the destruction of the self; nirvana; considered divine; | 15 | |
| 9560969 | Himalayas | northern mountain ranges; provided important passes through mts. linked India to M. Eastern cultures; | 16 | |
| 9560970 | Vedas | sacred books; contained info about preclassical period; "Veda" = Knowledge | 17 | |
| 9560971 | Mahabharata & Ramayana | M= India's greatest epic poem; both deal w/ real & mythical battles; | 18 | |
| 9560972 | Varnas | Aryan social classes; Kshatriyas (warrior/governing), Brahmins (priests) at top; then Vaisyas (traders/farmers), Sudras (common laborers) and last Untouchables | 19 | |
| 9560973 | Jati | smaller subgroups under the caste system | 20 | |
| 9560974 | Indra | Aryan god of thunder & strength | 21 | |
| 9560975 | Chandragupta Mauyra | in 322 BCE-seized power along Ganges river; 1st of Maurya Dynasty; style of ruling was highly autocratic; in old age became religious ascetic & died peacefully after passing empire onto son; | 22 | |
| 9560976 | Kushans | came into central India from northwest; greatest king: Kanishka, converted to Buddhism but hurt religions population; | 23 | |
| 9560977 | Kautilya | Chandragupta's chief minister; wrote a book that told rulers what methods would work to keep power; encouraged efficient authority, but didn't spread political values or sense of important of political service; | 24 | |
| 9560978 | Gurus | mystics in Hinduism; | 25 | |
| 9560979 | Brahma | basic holy essence; formed part of everything in the world; after many "good" lives, soul achieves full union & no more suffering; | 26 | |
| 9560980 | Reincarnation | souls don't die when bodies do; come back as an animal or person | 27 | |
| 9560981 | Yoga | "union"; allowing the mind to be free to concentrate on the divine spirit | 28 | |
| 9560982 | Bhagavad Gita | an Indian classic sacred hymn | 29 | |
| 9560983 | Nirvana | a world beyond existence; (Buddhism) | 30 | |
| 9560984 | Kamasutra | "laws of love"; written in 4th century CE; discusses relationships between men & women; | 31 | |
| 9560985 | Stupas | spherical shrines honoring Buddha; | 32 |
