Indian Trade
Common Trade Items
- Black Pepper
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Spices
- They were valued as highly as gold and silver were today
Trade
- India is one of the world’s largest diamond cutting and polishing country
- Trading was between the Chinese, Central Asia, India, ad Eastern Europe
- India was famous for its fabrics, spices and semi-precious stones, dyes, and ivory
Silk Roads
- An interlinking trade route across Afro-Eurasian that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean
- Extending 4,000 miles
- The silk road gets its name from the Chinese silk trade
Caravans
- A group of people carrying goods to trade with people far away
- Included about 4,000 camels
- Traveled through the spice markets in Babylon, Carthage, Alexandria, and Rome
- Also used ships that sailed along the Indian Coast
Trade Facts
- Foreign trade with in the hands of both local and foreign merchants
- India was divided into small regional political units
- For two periods during the classical era, India was unified by imperial powers
- During the classical period India became a crossroads in a vast trade network that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean Sea
- During a time period called lineage to state they shifted their livelihood from nomad pastoralism to agriculture and trade.
Military
Military Dynasties
- Nanda Dynasty
- 80,000 cavalry
- 6,000 war elephants
- 200,000 infantry
- 8,000 armed chariots
- Maurya Dynasty
- 30,000 cavalry
- 600,000 infantry
- 9,000 war elephants
- Shishunaga Dynasty
- Invented a catapult on an armed chariot and a chariot with a swinging mace
- Satavahana Dynasty
- Was around for 400 years used elephants, chariots, and infantry to help the elephants
Empires
- Gupta Empire
- Relied heavily on war elephants, infantry, archers, and they rarely used horses
- Kushan Empire
- Fought a lot on horseback and used a lot of war elephants and infantry
- Many elephants were received from the Greeks
Weapons
- The bamboo longbow
- Made of a long piece of bamboo, didn’t warp as much composite bows of other cultures
- Used by Sheva
- Fired metal tipped bamboo arrows
- They were protected by light infantrymen
- The War Elephant
- Were used to charge
- Break enemy lines
- Cause terror in the opponent
- Catapult
- Capable of hurling large stones at the enemy
Tactics
- The Indians had various tactics that they would use in battle, each for a specific reason
- Krauncha Vyuha
- The crane-shaped formation of an army; forces were distributed to form spanning wing-sides with a formidable, penetrating Centre depicting the cranes head and beak
- Krauncha Vyuha
- Vyuha
- A winding, ever-rotating circular formation; considered impenetrable during the Mahabharata age
Buddhism
What is it?
- Religion in the Indian subcontinent
- Has a variety of beliefs, traditions, and practices
- Two major branches
- Theravada
- Mahayana
Theravada
- Oldest surviving Buddhist branch; meaning “The Ancient Teaching”
- Most popular relation in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia
- It promotes Vihajjavada, which means “Teaching of Analysis”
- Theravadins believe every individual
Stupas
- A dome shaped structure erected as a Buddhist Shrine there are 5 types of stupas
- Relic- remains of Buddha and disciples
- Object- objects that belonged to Buddha and disciples
- Commemorative- events in the lives of Buddha and disciples
- Symbolic- symbolizes aspects of Buddhist theology
- Votive- for visits and spiritual events
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