AP World History: Classical Civilization--India, Pt. 1 Flashcards

4949431693	Social Hierarchy	Created ritual divisions and restrictions on intermarriage between social groups.	0
4949431694	Mauryan	First empire in India beginning in the late 4th century B.C.E. located in east India that was short lived. following the invasion of Alexander the Great.	1
4949431695	Gupta	Empire from northern India that reasserted brahmans' dominance. succeeded the Kushans in the 3rd century C.E., which included all but southern Indian regions; less centralized than Mauryan Empire.	2
4949431696	Alexander the Great	Invaded India in 327--not conquering, but bringing India in contact with Hellenistic culture.	3
4949431697	Isolated	India was forced to experience and adapt to other cultures, and China did not because of geographical and social phenomenon.	4
4949431698	Himalayas	Northern mountain ranges that separated India	5
4949431699	Monsoons	Rains crucial for farming, but sometimes unpredictable brining too much or too little rain.	6
4949431700	Aryans	Indo-European migrants who penetrated the Indian subcontinent becoming farmers and developed a series of oral epics called the Vedas.	7
4949431701	Sanskrit	The literary language of the new culture.	8
4949431702	Vedas	Composed by various priests that told stories about gods and proper standards of human behavior.	9
4949431703	Indus and Ganges	Two major rivers in India that hosted great agricultural regions.	10
4949431704	Varna	An Aryan social class based on the Aryans' belief that indigenous people were inferior. clusters of caste groups in Aryan society; four social castes—brahmans (priests), warriors, merchants, and peasants; beneath four Aryan castes was group of socially untouchable Dasas.	11
4949431705	Kshatriyas	Warrior, governing class.	12
4949431706	Brahmans	Priestly class.	13
4949431707	Vaisyas	Traders and farmers	14
4949431708	Sudras	Common laborers	15
4949431709	Untrouchables	Lowest class relegated to the worst, menial jobs.	16
4949431710	Jati	A smaller subgroup within a caste with distinctive occupations tied to a social station by birth.	17
4949431711	Rig-Veda	The first Aryan epic, and attributed the rise of the caste system to the gods.	18
4949431712	Polythestic	Indian religion recognized multiple gods and goddesses who presided over fire, sun, death and other natural phenomenon.	19
4949431713	Indra	The god of thunder and strength: chief deity of the Aryans; depicted as a colossal, hard-drinking warrior.	20
4949431714	Upanishads	Collection of works that became the basis for Hindu beliefs that expressed how nature was shaped by gods and a divine force.	21
4949431715	Chandragupta Maurya	Soldier, who in 322 B.C.E. became the first leader of the Mauryan Dynasty.	22
4949431716	Autocratic	A style of governing that relies heavily on a ruler's personal and military power.	23
4949431717	Ashoka	grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; extended conquests of the dynasty; converted to Buddhism and sponsored its spread throughout his empire.	24
4949431718	Dharma	the caste position and career determined by a person's birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one's social position and perform their occupation to the best of one's ability in order to have a better situation in the next life.	25
4949431719	Kanishka	Great Kushnan king who invaded India from the NW after the fall of the Mauryan Dynasty.	26
4949431720	Kautilya	Political advisor to Chnadragupta whose work the Arthashastra told leaders how to keep power similar to Legalism in China.	27
4949642088	Buddha	creator of a major Indian and Asian religion; born in the 6th century B.C.E.; taught that enlightenment could be achieved only by abandoning desires for earthly things.	28
4949814381	Gurus	originally referred to as brahmans, who served as teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the Guptas.	29
4949826514	Vishnu	the brahman, later Hindu, god of sacrifice; widely worshipped.	30
4949838999	Shiva	Hindu god of destruction and reproduction; worshipped as the personification of cosmic forces of change.	31
4949842219	reincarnation	the successive rebirth of the soul according to merits earned in previous lives.	32
4949855718	nirvana	the Buddhist state of enlightenment; a state of tranquility.	33
4949860086	Kamasutra	written by Vatsayana during Gupta era; offered instructions on all aspects of life for higher-caste males, including grooming, hygiene, etiquette, selection of wives, and lovemaking.	34
4949871568	stupas	stone shrines built to house relics of the Buddha; preserved Buddhist architectural forms.	35
4949874800	scholar-gentry	Chinese class created by the marital linkage of the local land-holding aristocracy with the office-holding shi; superseded shi as governors of China.	36