WORLD HISTORY 8 UNIT 3, CH 5.4: INDIAN EMPIRES
1. WHO CONQUERED THE MAJORITY OF NORTHERN INDIA BY 320 B.C.?
BY 320 B.C. A MILITARY LEADER NAMED CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA HAD SEIZED CONTROL OF THE ENTIRE NORTHERN PART OF INDIA. BY DOING SO, HE STARTED THE MAURYAN DYNASTY.
2. HOW LARGE WAS HIS ARMY?
GUPTA RULED HIS EMPIRE WITH THE HELP OF A COMPLEX GOVERNMENT THAT INCLUDED A NETWORK OF SPIES AND A HUGE
ARMY CONSISTING OF600,000 SOLIDERS. THE ARMY ALSO INCLUDED THOUSANDS OF WAR ELEPHANTS, AND THOUSANDS OF CHARIOTS.
3. WHY DID HE ABDICATE THE THRONE?
IN 301 B.C., CHANDRAGUPTA DECIDED TO BECOME A JAINIST MONK. TO DO SO, HE GAVE UP HIS THRONE, PASSING IT TO HIS SON WHO CONTINUED TO EXPAND THE EMPIRE.
4. WHAT RELATION WAS ASOKA TO #1?
COMING TO POWER AROUND 270 B.C., ASOKA WAS THE GRANDSON OF CHANDRAGUPTA, AND WAS THE STRONGEST OF ALL MAURYAN RULERS.
5. PRIOR TO HIS CONVERSION TO BUDDHISM, HOW DID ASOKA STRENGTHEN AND GROW HIS EMPIRE?
FOR YEARS, ASOKA WATCHED HIS ARMIES FIGHT BLOODY BATTLES AGAINST OTHER PEOPLES.
EVERY TIME HIS ARMY CONQUERED ANOTHER KINGDOM, THE MAURYAN EMPIRE WOULD GROW RICHER AND STRONGER.
6. WHAT DID ASOKA TO BETTER THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE EMPIRE?
AFTER CONVERTING TO BUDDHISM, ASOKA GAVE THE TIME AND RESOURCES TO BETTER THE LIVES OF HIS PEOPLE.
HE HAD WELLS DUG AND ROADS BUILT THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE. HE ALSO PLANTED SHADE TREES ALONG THESE ROADS AND BUILT REST HOUSES FOR TRAVELERS COMING INTO THE EMPIRE.
7. WHEN DID ASOKA DIE? WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EMPIRE?
ASOKA DIED IN 233 B.C. SOON AFTER, THE EMPIRE BEGAN TO FALL APART. LARGELY DUE TO HIS SONS FIGHTING FOR POWER
8. WHEN WOULD THE LAST MAURYAN KING DIE?
THE LAST MAURY AN RULER DIED IN 184 B.C., KILLED BY ONE OF HIS OWN GENERALS. THE WORK THAT THE MURYANS HAD DONE TO UNITE INDIA, WAS INSTANTANEOUSLY UNDONE.
9. WHEN WILL THE GUPTA EMPIRE BEGIN (APPROXIMATELY)?
EVENTUALLY, A NEW EMPIRE AROSE IN INDIA, AROUND A.D. 320. ONCE AGAIN, INDIA WILL BE UNITED AND BECOME QUITE PROSPEROUS.
10. WHO WAS THE FIRST GUPTA EMPEROR?
THE FIRST EMPEROR WAS CHANDRA GUPTA I. ALTHOUGH THEIR NAMES ARE SIMILAR, HE WAS NOT RELATED TO CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA.
11. WHO TOOK OVER FOR #10, AND HOW DID HE EXPAND THE EMPIRE?
CHANDRA GUPTA WAS FOLLOWED BY HIS SON SAMUDRA GUPTA.
A BRILLIANT MILITARY LEADER, HE CONINUED HIS FATHER S WARS OF CONQUEST, FIGHTING BATTLES AGAINST MANY NEIGHBORING PEOPLES.
BY THE TIME OF HIS DEATH, HE HAD TAKEN CONTROL OF NEARLY ALL OF THE GANGES RIVER VALLEY.
12. WHAT RELIGION DID THE GUPTAS FOLLOW?
THE GUPTA RULERS WERE DEVOUT HINDUS. UNDER THEIR RULE INDIAN CIVILIZATION FLOURISHED.
HINDUSIM WOULD BECOME THE MAJOR RELIGION OF INDIA UNDER GUPTA RULE. GUPTA KINGS BUILT MANY HINDU TEMPLES AND THEY PROMOTED A REVIVAL OF HINDU WRITINGS AND WORSHIP PRACTICES.
13. WHEN WOULD GUPTA REACH THE HEIGHT OF ITS POWER? WHO S THEIR RULER?
THE GUPTA EMPIRE WILL REACH THE HEIGHT OF ITS POWER UNDER CHANDRA GUPTA II, IN A.D. 375.
THE EMPIRE REACHED CLEAR ACROSS NORTHERN INDIA, AND PEOPLE GAINED WEALTH. THEY CREATED FINE WORKS OF ART AND LITERATURE DUING THIS TIME.
14. WHAT ELEMENT OF HINDUISM DID THE GUPTA RELY ON TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN THEIR KINGDOM?
TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF A KINGDOM THAT WAS CONTINUOUSLY GROWING, THE GUPTAS TURNED TO THE CASTE SYSTEM TO HELP MAINTAIN SOCIETY IN THEIR KINGDOM.
THEY BELIEVED THE CASTE SYSTEM WOULD WOULD HELP STABILIZE THE EMPIRE, AND STRENGTHEN THEIR RULE.
EVENTUALLY, A GROUP FROM CENTRAL ASIA CALLED THE HUNS WILL INVADE INDIA, DRAINING THE GUPTA EMPIRE OF ITS POWER AND WEALTH. BY THE MIDDLE OF THE A.D. 5OO S, GUPTA RULE HAD COME TO AN END, AND INDIA DIVIDED INTO SMALL KINGDOMS AGAIN
INDIAN ART AND ACHIEVEMENT CH 5 SECTION 5
HINDU TEMPLES WERE SMALL STRUCTURES WITH FLAT ROOFS AND ONLY ONE OR TWO ROOMS
BUDDHIST TEMPLES WERE LARGER AND MORE ELABORATE.
MOST INDIAN PAINTINGS WERE VERY COLORFUL AND TYPICALLY SHOW INDIANS WEARING FINE JEWELRY AND COLORFUL CLOTHES.
TWO KEY INDIAN EPICS (LITERATURE) WERE CALLED MAHABHARATA AND RAMAYANA.
MAHABHARATA IS ABOUT THE STORY ABOUT TWO FAMILIES AND THEIR FIGHT FOR CONTROL OF A KINGDOM
RAMAYANA - TELLS ABOUT THE GOD VISNHU TAKING HUMAN FORM TO RID THE WORLD OF DEMONS. HE ALSO HAD TO RESCUE HIS WIFE IN THE EPIC AS WELL. THE RAMAYANA SERVED TO TELL INDIANS HOW THEY SHOULD LIVE, AS THE PRINCE WAS THE IDEAL RULER AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS WIFE WAS THE IDEAL MARRIAGE.