Indian Trade
General Info
- Domestic trade buy foreign travelers
- Delhi was the center of major trade
- Their exports far exceeded their imports number of items and volume
- This gave the great wealth
- Used red and Mediterranean Sea
- Arab traders shipped Indian goods to European countries
- Their arts and crafts were unmatched for their beauty and skill
Silk Road
- A trade route that allowed many different regions to gain access to goods
- Exceeded 4,000 miles long
- Name came from lucrative Chinese silk trade
- Most popular item traded for was silk from the Chinese
- Most important aspect was the exchange
Danger of the Silk Road
- Passed through mountain peaks, through deserts, oceans, and forests
- The mountains were the highest in the world
- Only high good would be worth the time of trade travel
- The precious goods encourages robbers
- Robbers stole important goods
Mode of Transport
- They used flat-bottomed boats and raft on the river
- Two wheel bullock cartd carried heavy transport across the plains
- Sometime pack animals transported goods, (oxen, sheep, goats)
Items traded
- Textiles
- Hardwood furniture
- Cut stones
- Ivory
- Pearl
- Tortoise shells
- Curtains
- Silk
- Spices
- Gold
- Domestic animals
Lots of trade!!
Hinduism
Four Main Denominations
- Divine hierarchy of Mahadevas
- Saiviam
- Shaktism
- Vaishnavism
- Smartism
- They have been formed over eons of time
- Not physically there
- Spirits that help guide, protect, and open new doors for mankind
Beliefs
- Most believed in a Supreme God who posses qualities that are seen in multiple deities that come from him
- They believe in a cycle of rebirth ,or reincarnation, which is governed by Karma
- There is no single founder of Hinduism
- Brahma, the least worshipped god, is depicted with four heads; from there four heads supposedly came the Vedas, the most ancient religions text for the Hindus.
- Vishnu is the second Hindu deity, put in charge of the preservation and restoration of the universe, they believe that Vishnu has been reincarnated 9 times already, and that he will only be reincarnated one more, near the end of the world
- Shiva, the 3rd Hindu deity, or god, is the god put in charge of the destruction of the universe so that it may be re-built.
Gods
- Brahma the creator
- Vishnu the preserver
- -associated with the sun
- -worshiped in Northern India
- Shiva the destroyer
- -worshiped in Southern India
Priests
- The Hindu priests controlled the religion and its beliefs
- Invented reincarnation
- -after death, a person would be brought back to life as a higher or lower status, depending on his or her karma
- As a priest, they may read ,recite, the holy texts to those present, however, any reincarnated
Holy Days
- Had multiple holy days
Places of Worship
- In a Hindu home you will find a decorated shrine that serves as an altar for worship
- Temples were made of stone or bricks
- Normally you visit the temples
- During festivals and special functions
- The temple is led by a priest and his helpers
Buddhism
Development
- Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism
- He looked for enlightenment, wisdom, in the forests for six years
- Tried to fast, ended up meditating for 49 days
- He was then called Buddha- the enlightened one
- Four Noble Truth
- The way to overcome such desires and attain enlightenment is to follow the Eighfold Path, called the Middle Way between desire and self-denial
Beliefs
- Reincarnation
- World is crated and destroyed repeatedly
- Nirvana- release from selfishness and pain
- Monks
- Buddhism was spread across Asia-into India
- Hinduism was more popular to Buddhism
- Budd, affected trade
- Budd, had different forms
- Some Budd, worshiped Buddha as god
Thervada
- Teaching pf the elders, or the ancient teachings
- Thervada in the oldest surviving branch of Buddhism we know of it is also closest to the original Buddhism than any other form
- It is the main religion of Sri lanka, about 70%
- There is about 150 million Thervada Buddhists in the world
Stupas
- Temples
- Stua means heap
- Symbolized elements
- Stupas are buildings that look like a dome
- They contained artifacts and stuff about people
- People meditated in Stupas
- Different types that contained different things like scripture of stuff that belonged to the Buddha
The Art of Buddhism and Hinduism
Hinduism Art
- Focused on spiritual concepts
- Simplicity
- Lots of drawings of their gods especially Shiva
Hinduism Architecture
- Gupta [people built an iron pillar near New Delhi that was 23 feet 8 inches tall and weighted 6 tons
- Built statues and sculptures of their god
Stupas/ Architecture
- Are one of the oldest Buddhist examples of art and architecture
- They are holy monuments
- “stupas are filled with sacred images, mantras and the relics of holy beings”
- It is believed that by walking by or by looking as a stupa
- Relic- a part of a decreased holy person’s body or belongings kept as an object or reverence
Buddhism Art
- Originated on the Indian subcontinent
- In India it was the age of Buddha
- They Indian artists used wood, bamboo, brick
- At first Buddhism was not represented by a human form
- This made Buddhism art have paintings such as a footprint, an empty seat, or a stupa
- When the Buddha was born art now has a human figure to sculpt
- They started paintings and making sculptures of him
- It went from something simple to something more complicated
Military
India Military
- Used elephants, chariots, infantry, and archers in their military campaigns
- In 327 BC Alexander the great invaded and conquered parts of India
- After his death in 323 BC Seleucus gains power if India
- He Magadha King Chandragupta Maurya buys the land from Seleucus for 500 elephants
Gupta military
- Relied on lot or archers and infantry
- They were very disciplined and had good commanders
- They have a prominent reputation for steel weapons
Mauryan Military
- Had military infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots
- Had shields made of leather from ox-hide or tiger skin
- Used spears, maces, swords
- Covered by gold and jewels
- Had scale coats for armor in their military
Shishunaga Military
- Third ruling dynasty of Magahda
- Expanded to include most of Bengal
- Battled all its neighbors and used weapons that they had not access to like chariots with fixed iron blades
Nanda Military
- Consisting of 200,000 infantry, 80,000 calvary, 8,000 chariots, 6,000 war elephants
- Extended from Bengal in the east to Punjab in the west and as far south as Vindhya range
Weapons
- War elephants- heavily armored and would carry extra weapons and supplies and some archer would stand on them and shoot down at the enemies
- Bamboo bow- the most dominate weapon in the Indian army because of its long range and effectiveness
- Indian Khanda- equal to the samurai sword and was used by cavalry
Kalidasa-is an Indian poet and author belonged to the Gupta Empire
Aryabhata- he was a mathematician started to come up with numerical value for pie
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