Hinduism:
- A diverse body of religion, philosophy, and cultural practice.
- Native to India
- Belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of many forms and natures.
Brahma-The Hindu creater god, he felt alone and separated from the world so he split himself and created the god Shatapura.
Vishnu- The preserver god, represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesa, never sleeps, when the forces of good and evil are not balanced he will incarnate himself as a human to set the forces equal.
Shiva- Destroyer god, he did it so it could be re-created or lord of the dance. He has a 3rd eye, cobra necklace, vibhuti, and trident. Sometimes half woman and half man. Is known to have a wild passion which causes extreme behavior and his relationship with his wife. Paryati brings him balance.
Military Conquest:
- Maurya Empire: founded after the death of Alexander the Great. Three emperors were Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara Maurya, and Ashoka Maurya. (all were able to gain land)
- Maurya Empire military: 9000 elephants, 8000 Chariots, 30000 cavalry, 750,000 soldiers. Elephants had swords on their tusks.
- Gupta Empire: Chandra Gupta was dieing and he told his son to rule the world. His son went on an extreme military campaign. He conquered Bengal, Nepal, Assam, Malava, and eventually Ujjami.
- 500,000 infantry, 50,000 cavalry, 20,000 charioteers, 10,000 elephants, navy with more than 1,200 ships.
Buddhism and Hinduism Art:
- Originated from the Indian subcontinent. Spread from contact with other cultures throughout Asia. Influenced the development of Hindu art.
- Buddhism art- would use: brick, wood, thatch, and bamboo. Made- stone railings, gateways, and sculptures, stupas. Painted scrolls and made images of nature.
- Hinduism art- there are four goals of life on earth, everyone should want dharma, okama, or human righteous living; artha, or wealth acquired through the pursuit of a profession; equal love; and finally, moksha, or spiritual living. Made: decorations, jewelry, magic and illusions, ointments for charm and virility, beverage and dessert preparation.
Advancements:
- Medicine: Ayurveda is the ancient science of medicine that originated in India. Used the practice of herbal medicine. Believed the body has 3 types of energy that controlled the body and affected health.
- Surgery- was introduced as a common practice. Sushruta came up with 120 surgical instruments, 300 procedures, and 8 surgery classifications.
- Literature- Greatest time for poetry and drama. Well known writer was Kalidasa. He was an Indian dramatist and poet and a classical Sanskrit writer (Sanskrit- classical language in India) 2 categories: Sruti and Smriti.
- Math: the decimal number system still used today was the first developed in India. Made early contributions to the study of the concept of zero as a number, negative numbers, arithmetic, and alg. Sutras- set of rules or problems in verse to help the student memorize them. Prose Commentary- composed by several scholars that described the problem in detail.
- Astronomy- ancient India used stars and planets to create astrological charts. Calculation of occurrences of eclipses. Determination of Earth’s circumference. Theorizing about the theory of gravitation. Aryabhata- the sun spins on an axis and considered the motion of the planets in respect of the sun.
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