Indian Civilization

1. ANCIENT INDIA
BY:
Ryan Gerald O. Zaragoza
Katherine Visitacion
BM - 4

2. GEOGRAPHY
• India’s name came from the Indus River
• One of the oldest civilization
• Is a huge triangular peninsula of South Asia,
surrounded by China, the Himalayan Kingdoms,
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• The huge area (3, 185, 019 sq. km) makes it larger
than Europe without USSR.
• It has 3 distinct landscapes:
o Hindustan in the North
o Deccan Plateau in the Center
o Tamil South includes coastal plain on both sides

3. • India has great variations in elevation, land
forms, and climate.
• 23% is covered with forests and only 57% of the
land is arable, and agricultural productivity is
poor due to social problems and uneven rain-
fall.
• It is the world’s 7th largest industrial nation, 2nd
largest textile producer in the world, and the
largest exporter of jewelry.
• New Delhi is the capital of India.
• The most famous river in India is the Ganges
River.

4. People
• With a population of 800 million
• The Indians represent a wide variety of races,
religions and languages.
• The majority are of Aryan (Caucasian) origin; the
rest are Mongoloid or Negroid.
• The dominant religion is Hinduism the rest are
Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Christian and Parsee.
• There are 14 languages and 831 dialects.
• Hindi is the official language of India.

6. INDIAN
CIVILIZATION

7. • Indian civilization began in the Indus Valley up
north about 3,000 B.C.
• The ruins of the acient cities are found in
Mohendro-Daro and Harrapa (Pakistan)
• The early dark-skinned people called the
Dravidians built cities, temples, and art works.
• About 2,000 BC, the fair-skinned Aryans
invaded the Indus Valley. They spoke sanskrit
and founded small kingdoms in the fertile
plains of North India.
• They gave India the Vedic Literature, Sanskrit
Epics, Hinduism and the Caste System.

8. VEDIC LITERATURE
• The Vedic Literature reflects the life and culture of the
ancient Aryans of India.
• It consists of four literary works:
1. Vedas – are composed of hymns, prayers, rituals,
magic and poetry. They were the earliest sacred books of
Hindus.
2. Brahmanas – are prose texts containing observations
on religious rites. Also include legends of the exploits of
ancient kings and heroes
3. Arankayas – are books of instructions for the hermits
in the forests. Contains elaborate rules for the
performance of religious ceremonies.
4. Upanishads – also books of instructions given by a
father to his son or the teacher to pupil.

9. SANSKRIT EPICS
• The two great sanskrit epics of ancient India
were:
• Mahabharata
 It is the longest epic poem in the world.
 Contains the lofty philosophical poem
• Ramayana
 Is shorter than Mahabharata

10. HINDUISM
• Aryans also laid the foundation of Hinduism.
• Hinduism is the world’s oldest organized religion.
• It began as nature worship (animism) as the Aryans
prayed to forces of nature for favors. Thus, it has 300
million gods and goddesses representing natural forces
and personified gods to suit human needs.
• The chief Hindu god is Brahma, the creator and world
soul. Lesser gods are Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva
(destroyer). Hindu believe that these gods intercede for
men; thus their favors must be won by means of
offerings, prayers, and rituals.
• They also believe in karma (destiny) and reincarnation (
a good soul is reborn after each into a higher status; a
bad soul into a lower status or animal).

11. CASTE SYSTEM
• The Caste System has become part of Indian life due to the
religious approval given to it by Hinduism.
• It divides people into rigid caste or classes:
• Brahmans – priests and scholars
• Kshatriyans – rulers and warriors
• Vaishyas – farmers, artists and merchants
• Sudras – workers and slaves
• Untouchables – persons who do not belong to any class and
the dirtiest work like cleaning toilets and collecting garbage.
• Began as a race prejudice of the Aryans against the
Dravidians. To dominate them further, the Aryan masters
made class divisions a holy law. Thus, the untouchables may
not enter temples or use public baths and wells for they would
desecrate or pollute other castes and offend the gods.

12. BUDDHISM
• Started in the 6th century
• The religion was named it’s founder, Gautama Buddha, Son of
Rich rajah in Nepal.
• Although he lived in the palace amid luxurious delights, he
was unhappy because of the poverty and ignorance of the
masses. At 29, he left his family and palace and wandered as a
poor beggar in search of the truth.
• For 45 years, he explained his teachings to the prince and
masses.
• He was died and was buried in Nepal around 486 BC.
• Like Confucius, Buddha did not claim to found a new religion.
He Intended his teachings to be a system of human
philosophy, to guide men in their search for true happiness.
• His aim was to reform Hinduism, with its cruel division into
castes.

13. Buddha taught all men the “Four Noble Truths:
1. Man’s life is filled with suffering.
2. Man’s sufferings is caused by his selfish desires.
3. Man can end his suffering by conquering his
selfish desires
4. After riding himself of suffering, man attains
the state of NIRVANA.

14. EIGTH-FOLD PATH
1. Right belief
2. Right aspiration
3. Right speech
4. Right conduct
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right remembrance
8. Right meditation

15. PERSIAN AND GREEK INVASION OF INDIA
• At the end of 6th century BC, the Persian hordes of
Darius I conquered the Aryan kingdoms of the Indus
Valley.
• The Persians introduced Aramic writing, purdah (the
practice of secluding women at home and women
wearing a veil in the public), and Zoroastrianism, the
religion of the Parsees in Bombay today.
• In 326 BC, another invader appeared in northern India.
He was Alexander The Great of Mecadonia. When he
sadly left in 324 BC, Alexander had made a deep
impression on Indian history.
• India was open to European trade and Alexander praved
the way for Indian unity.

16. MAURYA EMPIRE
• The first Hindu Empire
• It was founded by Chandragupta Maurya who rallied the
Indians and drove away the Greeks after Alexander died.
• The Maurya Empire covered the whole India Peninsula,
except South India.
• Chandragupta stepped down from the throne and become a
monk.
• Bindusara continued the policies by his father.
• Asoka, his gransdon became the greatest Mauya emperor.
• He made buddhism the state religion and sent missionaries to
other Asian countries.
• He built inns, orphanages, and hospitals, and led an
exemplary life.
• Asoka is regarded as the greatest ruler in the history of India.
• The prosperous and peaceful reign of Asoka is reflected in the
art of period.

17. SUNGA EMPIRE
• The Maurya Empire continued about fifty years after Asoka’s
death. The government was weak.
• The last Mauryan king was assassinated by his own army
commander.
• General Pusyamitra Sunga became king.
• Sunga restored Vedic traditions such as animal sacrifice.
• The government of the Sunga Empire was not centralized as
that of the earlier empire.
• It allowed provinces to govern themselves although as vassals
of the empire.
• Sunga Empire lasted 71 BC.
• It was marked by frequent invasions of foreigners to into
India.
• A new wave of migrants arrived from north and east Asia.
Among these migrants were the nomadic Sacae.

18. • The Sacae gained in strength until they
gained control of almost the whole of
northern india.
• Other tribes continued to stream into India.
• One of these was the Yueh-chih who were
forced out of Mongolia.

19. KUSHAN EMPIRE
• The Yueh-chih came under a strong leader Kadphises I,
who led them in ovethrowing the Sacae in Kabul.
• He founded the Kushan Empire
• The most famous Kushan king was Kanishka.
• He gained control over the whole of northern India.
• He embraced Buddhisim and contributed greatly to its
expansion up to China.
• The empire continued until the first half of the second
century when the Sassanid Dynasty of Persia reached
India.
• In a great war, the Persian defeated the Kushan king and
and from that time on, a great part of the northwest
India came under Persian influence.

20. GUPTA EMPIRE
• In 321 AD, a strong king rose up from Patna, the former
capital of Maurya Empire.
• This king Chandragupta, also owed his rapid ascent to power
to an advantageous marriage to a princess from a powerful
family.
• By this means, Chandragupta’s kingdom easily expanded
upon which he founded the Gupta Empire.
• The king who followed Chandragupta added to the kingdom’s
territory until it came to cover the whole northern India and
influenced a great part of the south.
• It became a time of peace and prosperity.
• The arts of painting and sculpture flowered.
• The royal court supported poets, and playwrights the most
famous of which Kalidasa, the foremost writer in sanskrit who
is still admired today.

21. • In the field of science, the astronomer,
Aryabhata, proposed his theory that the earth
circled the sun.
• Like Copernicus, he was not believed by his his
contemporaries. He also calculated the length of
time it took for the earth to revolve around the
axis.

22. THE FALL OF GUPTA EMPIRE
• On the 6th century, the Gupta Empire was already weak.
• The central government was almost powerless while the
governors of the provinces became stronger until they
became as powerful as king within their territory.
• New invaders called “the white huns”.
• The huns massacred the population of many
communities in the northwest and burned down the
cities.
• The Huns did not stay very long in India after massive
slaughter and destruction.
• The Huns could not bear the warmer climate in India.

23. ISLAMIZATION AND THE MOGUL EMPIRE
• Islam was brought to India by the Muslims from the Persian
Gulf in 711AD.
• By the 14th century, Islamic kings ruled over a kingdom as
large as Asoka’s Maurya Empire.
• Muslim conquerers introduced Islam in the urban areas. They
destroyed Hindu temples and persecuted the Brahmans.
• In the long run, two new religions were introduced in the
Indian subcontinent – Islam and Sikhism.
• The interaction between Islam and Hinduism also brought a
new language (Hindustani) and literature.
• Akbar the Great is the founder of Mogul Empire.
• He showed political genius by adopting a policy of
reconcilliation toward the Hindus
• He promoted arts and literature, encouraged industries and
trade and tolerated all religions.

24. • His grandson, Shah Jahan, gained fame not as a
dashing warrior but as a generous patron of art.
He built the Taj Mahal at Agra in memory of his
beloved wife, Mumatz Mahal.
• By the 19th century, the glory of the Mogul faded.

25. INDIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ASIAN
CIVILIZATION
1. India gave the world four great religions – Hinduism,
Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism.
2. India developed philosophy ahead of the west. Long before
the Greeks and the Romans. Indian thinkers had already
founded several philosophical systems, including yoga, the
discipline of the mind and body by spiritual training.
3. India has enriched world literature by giving mankind the
first fable (Panchatantra); the first dramatic masterpieces
(The Clay Cart by Sudakra and Sakuntala by Kalidasa0; the
great epics Mahabharata and Ramayana; and the world’s
greatest philosophical poem, Bhagavad Gita. Its poet and
dramatist, Rabindranath tagore, was for many years the
only Asian Nobel Prize wardee in literature.

26. 4. The music, art and architecture of India are
perhaps better known than any other forms of
Oriental culture. The classical giutar playing of Ravi
Shankar, a modern Indian musician, has greatly
influenced the modern rock of popular music
starting with the beatles in the 1960’s. Indian art is
both symbolic and sacred. Since they also portray
the epic loves of their gods, Indian religious art may
also be the earliest examples of pornography. In the
realm of architecture, India gave the world such
architectural wonders as the Taj Mahal in Agra, the
Mogul palaces in New Delhi, and the temple of
Kailasha in Hyderabad. Indian handicrafts in cloth,
wood, metals, leather, and jewelry are very much in
demand all over the world.

32. 5. Finally, India invented the zero and numerals in
mathematics. The numerals were later adopted
by the arabs and propagated in the west; hence
they became known as “Arabic Numerals”. The
first books on arithmetic and algebra were
written by Indian Mathematicians.

33. END 