Tuesday, October 23

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-Hindu creator god
- Senior member of the triad of great gods
- Felt alone and separated from the world
- Split himself and created the god Shatapura
- Vishnu-the Hindu preserver god
  - Often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesha
  - Never sleeps
  - When the forces of good and evil are not balanced, Vishnu will reincarnate himself to set the forces equal
  - Shiva- the Hindu destroyer god
    - Also called the Lord of the Dance
    - Shiva has a 3^rd eye, cobra necklace, vibhuit, and a trident, sometimes represented as half man half woman
    - Is known to have a wild passion, which causes extreme behavior and his relationship with his wife

Military Conquest

The Maurya Empire was founded after the death of Alexander the Great
- The first three emperors were Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara Maurya, and Ashoka Maurya
  - All of the emperors were able to gain land
Elephants had swords on their trunks
Gupta Empire
- Chandra Gupta was dying 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 Ujjayini
- Infantry, cavalry, charioteers, elephants, Navy w/ more than 1200 ships, had more than ¾ million soldiers

Buddhism

Stupa
- Mound-like structure, typically the ashes of the deceased
- Used by Buddhists as a place of meditation
- Five types of stupas
  - Relic-remains of Buddhist leaders
  - Object- objects that belonged to Buddhist leaders
  - Commemorative- Commemorative eveents in life of Buddha and his disciples
  - Symbolic-symbolizes aspects of Buddhist theology
  - Votive –costructed to commemorate visits or gain spiritual beliefs
  - Historians estimate that the founder of Buddhism is Seiddhartha Gautama commonly known as Buddha
  - It’s a religion home to the Indian subcontinent that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings where the people worshipped Buddha
  - Buddha is recognized as being an awakening and enlightening teacher
  - “Way of life” not religion
  - Practice meditation
  - The Four Noble Truths: The truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, and the path that leads to the end of the suffering
  - Believe in karma, which in turn determines reincarnation
  - There are six planes in which they can be reborn, into the Three Fortunate realms and the Three Unfortunate realms
    - Fortunate-
      - Demigods, gods, and men
Unfortunate
- Animals, ghosts, and hell-suffer untold suffering, the suffering of the man is far less

Buddhism and Hinduism Art

Indian Trade 100 BC-200 AD

Silk, wines, weapons, metal works, jewelry, horses, teas, spices, lap dogs, cloth, jade, gold, nuts, amber
Silk Roads
- Not actual roads, name given to any route that led across China to Rome
- 4000 mile trip
- Rome had gold, silver, and precious gems
- China had silk, spices, and ivory
- Ideas also traveled along the Silk Road that affected everyone
- Very difficult and dangerous to travel along
  - Northern Route-Westward to Black Sea
  - Central Route-Westward to Persia, Mediterranean Sea and Rome
  - Southern Route-Westward to Iran and India
Silk
- Romans were not surprised to hear of another great civilization hidden over the mountains
- The had been looking for the “Silk People” for a long time
- Discovered pieces of silk form some of the people they conquered and it became popular in Rome but it was scarce
- Wanted more silk but didn’t know who was making the wonderful material
- Tried to find the traders that had silk as they came into the towns and villages
- They got it by traveling a short way along the silk road and trading with the people they met

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