Indian Civilization

INDIAN CIVILIZATION in like cosmosner called Indus Valley polish the earliest in South Asia Contemporary with bronzy Age elegances in pre-dynastic Egypt, Mesopotamia Comp bed to the other Bronze Age civilizations, Indus Valley Civilization was unspectacular primal civilizations of the Indian sub-continent were centred on ii major river valleys The Indus River and its tri unlessaries, oddly the Saraswati River Valley (2600-1 five hundredBCE) associated with Dravidians.Called Harappan Culture The gang River Valley (1500-500BCE) associated with the Aryans. Called the Vedic Age. Along the Indus & Saraswati, there were two major centres of this civilization Mohenjodaro and Harappa hence Harappan Culture Other cities of this civilization include Kalibagan, Chanhudaro & Doraji in Gujerat Origins and DevelopmentThis civilization appears as fully demonstrable & distinctive culture little is known about the cultures that came onward it or the computes that led to its development Recent research indicates that antecedents of this civilization can be represent at Mehrgarh on the western edge of the Indus plains Evidence that jejuneness of plants & animals, pottery production and village life began here Around 3200 2600 BCE, some(prenominal) pre-urban cultures existed in Indus Plains and the western hill valleys that show aspects of the Harappan culture HARAPPAN CULTURE CHARACTERISTICSreinforced on irrigation-based agriculture. Irrigation based on dikes and drains. Barley and wheat the nearly big crops grains stored in granaries in Harappa and Mohenjodaro (as a form of tax? ) Domesticated animals cattle, piddle buffalo, goats, pigs, donkeys Trade was very important extensive backing connections with atomic number 18as around the Arabian Sea & up the Persian Gulf to Mesoptamia Fortified cities head-planned with straight streets see at right angles a schema of underground drains and sewers Buildings made of baked bricks.At Mohenjodaro, multi-roomed houses arouse been recorded Thickness of walls and remains of staircases point to the creation of upper floors Skilled artisans including bead makers, metal workers, cotton weavers and potters Potters made varicolored pots decorated with nimal figures, water jars, cooking & drinking vessels & storage vessels Metal workers produced copper and bronze vessels, silver and gold ornaments Other artisans produced the square and rectangular pestles from soapstone & other soft rocks Seals had an animal carved in negative repose and a line of script that could be read when the seal was stamped on wet tablet Seals were used to authenticate messages. The script on the seals revealed the name, lineage, sociable identity or the public office held by seal-owner Seals could also throw away been worn as talismans or amuletsThey are the only examples of writing from this point 400 pictographs/characters have been identified so far, but the script is non fully deciphered RELIGION Little is kn own about the archaean religions of the Indus River Valley in these early(a) magazines However, many elements of Indias phantasmal heritage today are evident from some seals from Harappa and Mohenjodaro. A seal from Mohenjodaro has a gracious-like figure with three heads wearing a headdress and seated in the Yoga position. He is surrounded by animals elephants, rhinos, water buffalo, deer etc.Thought to be a Prototype of the popular Hindu god, shivah (the Lord of Beasts) Seal impressions and clay figurines from Harappa depict a female graven image with conspicous sexual organs = thought to represent the goddess of fertility FALL & worsen Harappan Culture declined and fell around 1500 BCE Harappa, Mohenjodaro and other cities were abandoned and their populations dispersed into little settlements There was a reversal of achievements writing was forgotten and much of blue India returned to village lifeREASONS FOR DECLINE/FALL 1. Possible flooding on the Indus, affecting th e densely populated areas and cities 2. Shifts in patterns of long distance trade with Mesopotamia and other regions 3. Changes in subsistence farming rice cultivation was introduced along the Ganges Basin and had taken root by 1500BCE millet was introduced in Gujerat. So bare-assed environments were opened for farming where conditions were unsuitable for wheat and barley 4.Major geologic disturbances near the source of Saraswati river, causing it to dry up, catastrophically disrupting agriculture downstream. 5. incursion by the Aryans (Arya = noble) who came from the northern steppes of Europe REASONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE ARYANS A highly developed spoken language that tended to displace other tongues that it encountered Better military placement horse-drawn war chariots and weapons made from iron which was superior to bronze group RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONSAryans became sedentary landowners along the Ganges others became traders on the river Crafts became more narrow & incre ased in complexity produced iron ploughs, luxury items for trade urban centres re-emerged with substantial populations of artisans, traders, re attitudent landowners, priests, warriors Major metropolises along the Ganges include Patna, Benares (which is whitewash a holy city for Hindus as yet today) SOCIAL ORGANIZATION Early Indian societies were matriarchal (i. e. headed by women) and matrilineal (inheritance was through the female side of the family).This changed with the coming of the Aryans who were patriarchal Before the Aryans, maintains lived with the married womans family the wifes family paid dowry. After Aryans, wifes were required to move to the husbands family, bring substantial dowries and accept husbands liberty The grade system was introduced at this time. Basis for caste contribution was fond and economic rather than racial Originally there were four castes 1. Sudras = cultivators of land, manual of fortify labourers, domestic servants 2. Vaisyas = landowner s, artisans, herdsmen, merchants . Kshatriyas = the warrior nobility 4. brahmans = priests, scholars The caste system became a dominant factor in shaping Indian conjunction Economic specialization & division of labour played a role in the evolution of the caste e. g. Brahmans invade freely in other occupation, repressing those considered to be polluting The hierarchy body forth in the caste system also applies to the cosmic order the rank order of the caste (from pure to impure) corresponded to the ascending order of the divinities as wellPOLITICAL ORGANIZATION Not much is known about the semipolitical organization in India before the coming of the Aryans However, we know that Harappans had adopted the city as a means of organizing & controlling their civilization Up to fiver major Harappan cities are known Harappa after which the civilization is named Mohenjodaro, Kalibagan, Chanhudaro & Doraji Aryans were loosely unionised into families, clans and tribes.Tribes were headed by chiefs/kings called Rajas, most of whom were elected or chosen by rotation from the leading families Rajas shared political exponent with councils of elders & assemblies of adult males There were two forms of states in India Republics and Kingdoms In the Republics, rajas continued to rule in conjunction with right on councils and the assemblies while in the Kingdoms, the power of the rajas grew at the expense of the councils & the assemblies.Most often, power became hereditary Monarchies developed administrative systems headed by chief priests and military leading Close alliance amidst kings & priests Brahmans were involved in the consecration of new kings the kings support the emerging Hindu priesthoods RELIGION Again, little is known about early religion in Harappan India. However, we know that religion in early India was a form of polytheism People of Harappan culture worshipped a goddess whose clay figurines have been rec bothwhereed in Harappa & Mohenjodaro Aryans intr oduced new gods includingIndra = the god of war Agni = The spirit of the sacrificial fire Varuna = the lord of the big sky Aryans sacrificed to these divinities by slaughtering dozens, even hundreds of animals & sometimes pieces too Sacrifices were accompanied by hymns, prayers & rituals. The hymns were passed on through generations to do core of the Hindu scriptures, the vedas HINDUISMHinduism emerged from the merging of the gods of the Aryans and those of the conquered Dravidians Early Hindus saw some of their gods in the shape of animals (anthropomorphic divinities) such as snakes, the sacred cow etc However, Hinduism did evolve to engage in philosophical search for the deepest spiritual regulation of the universe The most important gods of the Hindu faith are Brahma = the creator god also called the Absolute Being or the World/Universal brain Vishnu = the preserver of the universeShiva = the dancing divinity with four arms and the destroyer of all things also the Lord of Bea sts The concept of Brahma subsequently subsumed all the three gods (Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva). Brahma personified the concept of a deity that could be worshipped Brahman (as the title for the priestly class) is a derivative of the analogous word Brahman can also be set forth as the universal principle that underlies all that exists, the spiritual essence permeating the sinless cosmos & the one hidden in all things hence metempsychosis THE VEDASToday, Hinduism is based on the vedas, the sacred books of the Hindu religion. Vedas are believed to have been divinely inspired. There are four vedas 1. Yajurveda a manual of sacrifice for the umpirage priest 2. Atharvaveda a catalogue of charms & spells supposed to be effective in curing illnesses, arousing passion in the object of ones craving or in destroying ones enemies 3. Rig Veda (means verses of wisdom or knowledge) a compilation of more than 1000 verses composed amid 1500-900 BCE, addressed to various Aryan gods.For example one of the poems is dedicated to Indra who is described as the god of thunder who pierced the bellies of the mountains to release waters (possibly referring to one-year floods caused by the melting of snow in the Himalayas). Another poem appeals for tax shelter of goddess Night whose radiance was believed to drive away darkness Another poem is by a gambler lamenting an unlucky throw of the cube which has caused his wife to repel him and his mother-in-law to hate him. 4.Upanishads (meaning sitting down near) These are philosophical treatises in prose and verse. They are cast in the form of dialogues between teacher and student They examine the nature of reality and the problem of mans place in the universe. They reveal a genius for conceptual reasoning still admired today. Upanishads teach that evil is the fruit of ignorance that the credit line of wisdom is pursuit of the highest possible good and that attainment of wisdom bestows both(prenominal) power and virtue Main TeachingsTh e Absolute Being/World someone is the only supreme reality Material world is an illusion (or maya) it is not permanent That individual souls go through a cycle of spiritual renascence the soul seeks to reach nivarna (spiritual liberation) That the soul can escape the cycle of rebirth by union with the Absolute Being. The individual soul (atman) is actually a fragment of Brahman, the Universal Soul. OTHER ASPECTS OF HINDUISMThe concept of brotherhood of all upkeep things embodied in the concepts of reincarnation and transmigration of souls, karma and ahimsa The Hindu faith holds that each humankind soul is reborn/reincarnated in the body of some other beast human, animal, plant or even supernatural being all over & over again The precise form one takes on reincarnation depends on karma or the actions one takes in the present life Good and sanctimonious life you may be reborn as a Brahman or other high caste a life of self-indulgence & sin you may live your next life as a w orm, dog or something else Members of lowly castes were encouraged to diligently do their duties to be born to higher status Dharma (faithful performance of ones charge role) and Karma (merits and demerits earned as a result of action) cemented loyalty to the prescriptions of caste.Thus precept of transmigration of souls reinforced the caste system Ahimsa refers to the school of thought of nonviolence prototypical emerged among the Jains before adoption by others in Indian society Meditation Hindus depression that one might escape endless rounds of lives filled in with human suffering through meditation (i. e. the mystical concentration of all mental forces) The goal of Yogi meditation is the submergence of ones ego in the supreme unity of Brahman. This is achieved through spiritual profundity that all differences are illusions (or maya) & that all that really exists is the totality of Brahman, the Absolute Being BUDDHISM Has origins in ghostlike reforms in Indian society i n the 6th century BCE.These reforms produced the spiritual teachers or gurus The gurus were later described as the naked philosophers (or the gymnosophists) because they walked naked in the rain and the sun to discipline the flesh Also fasted for long periods of time & engaged in exhausting exersices that developed into the sacred discipline of yoga 2 leading gurus were Mahavira (540-476 BCE) & Prince Siddartha or Gautama (563-483 BCE) Mahavira founded Jainism & Gautama founded Buddhism Gautama was given the title of Buddha (the Enlightened One) by his pursuit was born in the Himalayas, present day Nepal GAUTAMAS TEACHINGS He denied the cosmos of a soul taught that only study existed (in opposition to teaching of Upanishads) Because matter was always in a state of flux, he recognized no Absolute Being or any fixed universal principle other than constant change Even gods were subject to laws of growth & fall apart the universe is forever becoming He retained the concept of karma he believed that the root of suffering is desire (i. e. he pursuit of unattainable goals because the objects want are fleeting & unreal) In this sense, he agreed with orthodox Hinduism that material things are an illusion or maya To reach Nivarna, one should recognize & freeze off worldly desires as blind follies cultivate unselfishness, compassion & honesty rid of injury to others such as murder, theft & adultery choose a life that does not bring harm to other living things 500 years after Buddhism was founded, it split into two major divisions Hinayana School ( the lesser Vehicle) and Mahayana School (the Greater Vehicle) HINAYANA SCHOOL So called because it emphasized individual buyback claimed that a diligent person could attain nivarna in three lifetimes Bodhisattva consequent incarnations of the Buddha Denied existence of a soul does not recognize the founder of Buddhism as a god. However, prayers, gifts of flowers & incense may be offered to his image Found in Sri Lan ka, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia & Laos MAHAYANA SCHOOLMahayana sets as its goal the redemption of the entire human zip worships Buddha as a god The concept of Bodhisattva represents the Buddha-elect, an individual who has won enlightenment but chooses to remain in the world for the liberation of others agreeing to suffer as ransom for all human beings Everyone is potentially a Bodhisattva & may set about a Buddha. It embodied as cardinal virtues love, piety, joy & serenity Mahayana Buddhism found in China, Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal & Japan, but it disappeared in India in later centuries JAINISM Founded by Mahavira it is coetaneous with & in many respects parallel to Buddhism. Mahavira broke radically with conventional religions, rejected both their deities and their scriptures Doctrines of JainismTo Mahavira, the material universe is real, but it is filled with an dateless number of souls lodged in living creatures & inanimate things Rejected the concept of an prepondera ting World Soul & taught that individual souls are held in bondage by matter this bondage is perpetuated through successive births by operation of karma Because every action produces karma and karma adds weight to the chains of bondage, the only route to escape is to avoid action altogether thus nivarna represents a place of absolute passivity Mahavira prescribed a regime of extreme asceticism, ideally culminating in finale through self-starvation. Despite its atheistic tendencies, Jainism did resemble a true religion with prayers, holy scriptures and gods. Today, there are about 2 million Jains in southern and western India Prominent in Jain faith is the doctrine of ahimsa or non-injury to living things it imposes taboos against slaughter of not only of animals but even insects. Ahimsa contributed ethical support to the ideal of pacifism Since Jainism ruled out the expend of agriculture, Jains turned to trade & money-lending, becoming some of the wealthiest in Indian society ACHI EVEMENTS OF THE VEDIC AGEMedicine dissection, delicate surgeries thorough knowledge of human anatomy study of embryology Knowledge of astronomy the first to suggest that the solid ground revolves on its axis & that the earth rotates around the sun Mathematics were the first to extract square & cube roots used the decimal system invented the principle of zero, eventually adopted by the rest of the world Arabic numbers in use today originated in India advances in algebra writings Two epic poems Mahabharata & Ramayana Mahabharata the longest poem in the world with over 10,000 verses. About the struggle between two powerful Indian clans, but gods were involved also Ramayana a romantic story of Prince Rama who rescues his lovely wife Sita fromRavana, the demon king of Ceylon Arthasastra a political commentary