Chapter 6 - India and Ancient Asia

     The Indian subcontinent is made up of basins, mountains and a peninsula, and is influenced by monsoons (seasonal rains/winds that help with agriculture).
     From 1500 - 500 BCE, India was in the Vedic age. The Vedas, our main source of information about the time, were a group of religious texts that told us about life in India. There were two types of social divisions: jatis, the castes and birth groups, and varnas, the class system of priests, warriors, merchants/farmers and laborers, eventually joined by the "untouchables" at the bottom of the system. Many jatis were contained in a single varna. The higher groups feared "contamination" from the lower groups, especially the untouchables.
     The Vedic religion was male-based and centered around sacrifice. Jainism provided another option and challenged the Vedic religion. It taught that distancing yourself from the world gave "moksha" (liberation) and that you should practice strict nonviolence and eat only what you were given. As a result, many early Jainists starved to death.
     Buddhism gave yet another option. It taught the 4 Noble Truths:

1. All  life is pain and suffering.
2. The cause of suffering is want.
3. Suffering can be cured in Nirvana (paradise).
4. Following the 8-Fold Path will lead you to Nirvana.

The 8-Fold Path stresses having correct:

Theravada monk

1. Views
2. Intentions
3. Speech
4. Actions
5. Livelihood
6. Effort
7. Mindfulness
8. Concentration (by meditating)

Buddhism is divided into two different types: Theravada, the more traditional (the orange-robed monks), and Mahayana, the more progressive (with shrines, saints and monasteries). Buddhists built stupas, pyramid-like structures to worship at.
     Hinduism also appeared in India during the Vedic age. Hinduism focuses on the gods Shiva, Vishnu and Devi, all talked about in the main religious text, the Bhagavad-Gita. Hinduism allowed many forms of worship.
     Chandragupta Maurya first unified most of the subcontinent in 324 BCE in the start of the Mauryan Empire. The Empire grew wealthy from trade, iron and taxes on agriculture. Ashoka, its third ruler, converted the empire to Buddhism before its collapse in 184 BCE.
     The next few years were spent under Greco-Bactrian, Shaka, and Kushan occupation. During this time, the Iliad of India, the Mahabharata, was written and the Tamil Kingdoms came to power, stressing epics, poetry and the performing arts. The Gupta Empire was the next to take over with military and cultural control. It is a classic example of a theater-state, one which acquires prestige based upon its culture and ceremonies (this sounded pretty important!). There was a loss of women's rights during the Gupta Empire, with some girls being married off at six or seven and the principle of sati, a widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre. The Gupta Empire collapsed in 550 CE.

     Southeast Asia is mainly made up of Indochina, the Malay Peninsula and thousands of islands. Its climate and natural resources allowed for populations to grow very large. It had a strong Hindu/Buddhist culture because of being on trade routes, and its rulers used Indian knowledge and culture as a basis for their own, allowing them to enhance their power by using what worked for others.
     In the modern-day rice-growing regions of Vietnam, the Funan society grew to control trade across the Malay Peninsula. It was at its height in the fifth and sixth centuries, but gradually declined when trade routes began to shift.

     Wonder what it's like being a Buddhist monk? Try meditating. Find a quiet spot and try to think about one thought for five minutes without getting distracted or sidetracked. Can you do it? Those of you who had AP Human Geo last year probably will do better, since we did this in the religion chapter. :)