Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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America’s wealthiest, most powerful families, many of whom live in New York and New England, are sometimes called “Brahmans,” the name of the highest caste in India. It is
interesting that such a nickname came about, because most of America’s Brahmans (like most Americans in general) would say that all people are created equal. The Indian caste system, on the other hand, was based on the idea that people are created unequal. A Brahman could not change his luck, which was good; but neither could an Untouchable, a fact that condemned millions and millions of people to lives of misery.
In contrast to a class system, the caste system was more like the official policy of racial segregation that existed in the southern United States up until the
1960s, and in South Africa until the early
1990s. The end of segregation in the American South came about in large part through the efforts of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), a great admirer of the Indian leader Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948). Thanks to Gandhi’s efforts, the caste system in India was officially outlawed in 1947.
Hindus believe that a person is reincarnated (ree-in-KAHR-nay- ted) thousands of times.
In the present life, a person may be rich and beautiful, but in the next life, they may find themselves in a lower caste. They may come back as an Untouchable or even as an animal. On the other hand, a member of a lower caste may be reincar- nated as a member of a higher one. Because they believe that people can come back to life as animals, Hindus have a deep respect for animal life. For this reason, most of them are vege-
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tarians (people who do not eat meat). Animals are given posi- tions of honor in Hindu life. Thus in modern Indian cities, one may see cows wandering around freely. Cars stop regularly to let them cross busy streets. In some places, one may even see shrines, or holy places, dedicated to animals.
Karma and reincarnation
The question of whether one reincarnates to a higher or lower level revolves around karma (KAHR-mah). Karma is a bit like the Western idea of destiny, but it is much harder to change one’s karma. Nonetheless, good actions generate good karma, increasing the possibility of a higher reincarnation, whereas bad actions generate bad karma. For this reason, Hin- dus, like people of many other religions, believe that it is good to give up a life of pleasure and worldly possessions in order to seek greater personal wisdom, or enlightenment.
Hindus who are most dedicated to enlightenment become gurus or holy ones who practice fasting (not eating) and meditation (contemplative thinking) in an attempt to empty the mind of all thoughts and desires. As part of their meditation, they may use mantras (MAHN-truhz), chants that are thought to aid the worshiper in releasing thoughts of self and concentrating on the Brahman. A simple and well-known mantra is the single word Om (AUM). Through meditation and right living, it is believed, the believer can become one with the Brahman, also called the “Godhead.”
These are some of the basic ideas of Hinduism, but it should be emphasized that the religion of India is as vast and varied as the land itself. In fact, Hinduism and India are very closely tied: hence the words Indus, India, Hindu, and Hindi, the name for one of the most important of the many languages spoken on the subcontinent, share common roots.
Just as it is impossible to study the history of the Israelites without studying their scriptures, so the Vedas and other great writings of ancient Indian civilization can be under- stood only by referring to the Vedic and Hindu religions. Hin- duism in turn greatly influenced the visual arts; for example, India is famous for statues of gods with many arms. Through the caste system, Hinduism has had far-reaching social impli- cations and has greatly affected the entire fabric of life in India.
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Buddhism
Around the end of the Epic Age, a new religion sprang up in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Bud- dhism shared many of Hinduism’s beliefs, but it focused on ending the cycle of reincarnation and achieving Nirvana (nuhr-VAH-nah), a term that suggests the idea of blowing out a fire. The “fire” in this case was personal desire; by subduing all thoughts of self, Buddhists believe that an individual can become one with the Godhead.
Also unlike Hinduism, Buddhism had a definite founder, a young prince born c. 563 B.C. in northern India between the Ganges and the Himalayas. His name was Sid- dartha Gautama (sid-AHR-tah GOW-tuh-muh), but he is known to history simply as “the Buddha,” a term that means “The Enlightened One.” Raised in incredible luxury, the prince was never allowed to learn that suffering existed; but at the age of 29, his curiosity led him to sneak out from the palace of his father. Beyond its walls, he discovered a world of horrible dis- ease and misery—the reality of life in ancient India and most other parts of the world.
The young Siddartha was so moved by what he had seen that he decided to embark on a journey to discover the reason for suffering and the path to the enlightenment that would end such suffering. For many years, he studied with various holy men and ascetics (uh-SET-ikz). An ascetic is someone who renounces all earthly pleasures, even such basic ones as food and shelter, as part of the search for spiritual truth. Eventually, how- ever, Siddartha decided that punishing the body was not the best way to enrich the spirit, and he broke with the ascetics. He spent many more years seeking truth and eventually became enlight- ened—that is, he understood the reasons for suffering, and the way to escape it. From then on, he was known as the Buddha.
For the remainder of his life (he died in about 483 B.C.), the Buddha taught his belief system, which he called the “Mid- dle Way.” It involved accepting “Four Noble Truths”: that pain is a part of human life; that desire leads only to suffering and ultimately destruction; that only by giving up one’s desires can one achieve Nirvana and end the cycle of reincarnation; and that one must follow a set of principles he called “the Eight- fold Path” [see sidebar, “The Eightfold Path of Buddhism”] in order to achieve Nirvana.
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The eightfold path of Buddhism
The Buddha (c. 563–c. 483 B.C.) taught that only by following the “Eightfold Path” could one reach the state of Nirvana and thus be freed from the endless cycles of reincarnation. The eight aspects of this path are:
1. Facing the realities of life, including the facts of suffering and death.
2. Holding right and good intentions.
3. Having right speech, which means avoiding gossip and lies.
4. Being honest and not breaking earthly laws.
5. Living a righteous life.
6. Opposing evil.
7. Maintaining a sober mind, free of false beliefs.
8. Engaging in "right concentration" through regular meditation.
Though Buddhism clearly shared many ideas with Hinduism— and in fact many Hindus believe that Buddha was the god Vishnu in human form—the differences between the two faiths are at least as important. Most notable, of course, is the Buddhist belief that one can escape the Hindus’ endless cycle of reincarnation. Another important difference is the Buddhists’ rejection of the Hindu gods and the rit- uals associated with them. (In fact, the concept of a “god” as such is not an important aspect of Buddhism.)
From a social standpoint, how- ever, by far the most significant change presented by the Buddhists was their refusal to accept the caste system. Among the Buddha’s earliest followers were a barber, who of course was a member of a lower caste, and a king, who like Siddartha himself was a Ksha- triya. Buddhists did not care about the social distinctions that were an impor- tant part of Hinduism. For that reason, their religion spread quickly among the lower castes.
Other religions of the Indian subcontinent
It appears that Zoroastrianism had some influence in
India. For instance, soma was a part of early Zoroastrian rituals, as it was in the Vedic religions. Zoroastrianism spread to India along with the Persian Empire and declined after that empire fell.
After ancient times, other religions would come to India, most notably Islam. The latter would become the domi- nant faith in the extreme western and eastern ends of the sub- continent. These areas are now known as Pakistan (PAH-kee- stahn, site of the Indus Valley civilization) and Bangladesh (BAHNG-lah-desh). Another important faith was Sikhism (SEEK-
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izuhm), which like Buddhism developed out of Hinduism. Sikhism took hold in northwestern India during the A.D. 1400s.
But during ancient times, when the arrival of those faiths still lay far in the future, the only significant religion other than the Vedic/Hindu faith and Buddhism was Jainism (JYN-izm). The founder of the Jain faith was Vardhamana Mahavira (vard-hah-MAH-nah mah-hah-VEER-ah; 599–527
B.C.). Like Buddhism, Jainism originated in the eastern part of India. In fact, there are numerous similarities between the two religions and their founders, who lived at about the same time. Like Siddartha, Mahavira was born a Kshatriya, but he left his home around the age of thirty to embark on a life of meditation and study. After twelve years, he reached a state of enlighten- ment, becoming known as Jina (JEE-nah), or “Conqueror.”
Though completely separate from Buddhism, the principles of Jainism are remarkably similar, involving a quest to be freed from the cycles of reincarnation. On the other hand, Jains, as believers in this faith are called, place a great emphasis on ascetic practices, which the Buddha opposed in favor of his “Middle Way.” Jainism gained far fewer converts than Hinduism or Buddhism. In modern India the religion claims only about 3.5 million believers. Nonetheless, the Jains’ belief in ahimsa (ah-HEEM-sah), or nonviolence, would have a great impact on the Mahatma Gandhi, India’s greatest modern leader.
A period of upheaval (c. 500–324 B.C.)
By the end of the Epic Age, in the 500s B.C., there was no longer such a thing as one Indo-European civilization in India. Instead, the Indo-Europeans had split into more than a dozen different kingdoms, the most important of which was Magadha (MAH-guh-duh), in eastern India. While Siddartha was on his quest for enlightenment, he spent most of his time in Magadha, a highly organized state formed in the 600s B.C.
Magadha would later come to prominence as the cen- ter of the Mauryan Empire. In between the end of the Epic Age (which, it should be stressed, was not a clearly defined period of time) and the rise of the Mauryan Empire, there were roughly two centuries of upheaval, or unrest. During this time,
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various princes, or rajas (RAH-zhahz), within India fought for control. The beginning and end of the era were marked by invasions from the west.
The first invading force came from Persia, when Darius I marched against India in 521 B.C. Three years later, the Per- sians had conquered the entire Punjab region. They managed to hold on to it for many years, but as their empire declined, local rajas reclaimed power in the region.
The second invasion occurred in 326 B.C., when
250,000 soldiers under Alexander the Great crossed the Indus. They moved eastward, deep into the Punjab, and Alexander might have kept going, but his troops were ready to go home. They reached the Beas (BEE-ahs) River in July of 326 B.C., then turned back toward Greece. After the Greeks left, it appeared that they had made almost no lasting cultural impact on India, but the Greek influence would resurface more than a century later. In the meantime, India saw the rise of a new conqueror inspired by the conquests of Alexander the Great.
The Mauryan Empire (324–184 B.C.)
In 324 B.C., a new king named Chandragupta Maurya (kahn-drah-GOOP-tah MOHR-yah; r. 324–301 B.C.) took the throne of Magadha and established a new dynasty. In his cap- ital of Pataliputra (pah-tuh-lee-POO-trah), northwest of mod- ern-day Calcutta (KAL-kuh-tuh) on the Ganges River, he raised an army of 700,000 soldiers and 10,000 chariots, along with a force unique to the India: 9,000 elephants. Taking advantage of the power vacuum left by Alexander’s departure, Chan- dragupta created an empire that would grow to include virtu- ally all of the Indian subcontinent, except for the Dravidian stronghold in the south.
Legend has it that Chandragupta had a brilliant advi- sor, a Brahman named Kautilya (kow-TEEL-yah), who authored a book called the Arthashastra (ahr-thah-SHAHS- trah). The latter provided advice to rulers on how to govern. Although the book certainly existed, historians do not believe that Kautilya wrote the entire work. Nonetheless, the Arthashastra has aided scholars of India in understanding the organization of the Mauryan Empire. So have the writings of
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Megasthenes (meh-GAS-theh-neez), a Greek who spent time in the court of Chandragupta.
The Mauryan Empire was a splendid one, and Patalipu- tra was said to be the greatest city of that time. Its size—8 miles (12.9 kilometers) long and 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide— shows the extent to which cities had grown since the time of the Indus Valley civilization. Around the city stood some 570 guard towers, and beyond them a moat 900 feet (274.3 meters) wide and 30 feet (9.1 meters) deep. Equally impressive was the level of organization in Chandragupta’s government. There was an extensive network of civil servants, including spies who reported to the emperor on any opposition to his rule.
Late in his reign, Chandragupta went up against Seleu- cus, who had taken control of Persia after Alexander’s death. By defeating the Seleucids, he secured his control over the western part of the subcontinent. But Chandragupta feared that one of his subjects would assassinate him. When a famine spread throughout the land, he decided to step down from the throne in 301 B.C. He became a Jain, adopting a lifestyle of fast- ing and later dying of starvation.
Just as Cyrus I of Persia was followed by the much less remarkable Cambyses, the next ruler, Chandragupta’s son Bindusara (bin-doo-SAHR-ah), was a minor figure. Bindusara died in about 270 B.C., and as with the Persians, a power strug- gle ensued. Some time in the 260s B.C., a unifying leader com- parable to Persia’s Darius I took the throne; but whereas Dar- ius came from outside the royal family, Asoka (ah-SHOH-kah; c. 302-c. 202 B.C.) was the son of Bindusara and the grandson of Chandragupta.
In the beginning of his reign, Asoka behaved like a typical conqueror of ancient times. He fought many wars and spread his empire throughout the subcontinent in a series of victories that left many of his enemies dead. In the eighth year of his reign, however, after a particularly bloody battle, Asoka became disgusted when he realized how many lives he had destroyed. This led him to renounce warfare and convert to Buddhism.
With Asoka’s religious conversion, the entire character of the Mauryan Empire changed. He devoted himself to mak- ing life better for his subjects, and he commanded that his
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Line of eight stupas on top of rocky hillside in the Indus Valley. Corbis/Nevada Weir. Reproduced by permission.
principles of government be carved onto large rocks that can still be viewed today. One such inscription reads: “There is no better work than promoting the welfare of the whole world. Whatever may be my great deeds, I have done them to dis- charge my debt to all beings.” These were remarkable words, particularly from an ancient monarch. Asoka reinforced them with deeds. He appointed officials he called “inspectors of morality” to ensure that people were being treated well. He instituted a number of public works projects such as the plant- ing of trees to provide travelers with shady places to rest.
Asoka set out once again to conquer the world, only this time with faith and not the sword. He sent missionaries to bring the Buddhist message to far-flung places, including Egypt and Greece. Though Buddhism never took hold in those coun- tries, it did spread to Ceylon, where it replaced Hinduism as the dominant religion. Both in Ceylon and in India, Buddhists built huge domed temples of stone called stupas (STOO-pahz).
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After Asoka’s death in about 232 B.C., however, Bud- dhism in India began to decline. So did the Mauryan Empire. During his lifetime, a number of would-be emperors had vied for the throne, and their rivalries helped send the empire into a state of disarray. To rule such a vast state required a strong ruler such as Chandragupta or Asoka, but none appeared. By
186 B.C., the Mauryan Empire had ceased to exist.
More upheaval (184 B.C.–A.D. 320)
For the next five centuries, a number of forces com- peted for control of India. A dynasty called the Sungas (SOONG-ahz) took over the Mauryan Empire. They were weak rulers, and they faced a series of threats from the west.
In about 200 B.C., a new force had arisen in Bactria (BAK-tree-uh), which is now part of Iran and Afghanistan. This group revolted against the weakened Seleucids. Because they were heavily influenced by the Greek legacy of Alexander, the
The ten avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. Illustration. Archive Photos. Reproduced by permission.
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Westerners’ Lingering Fascination with India
For as long as India has existed, Westerners have remained fascinated with it—both with the real India, and with the India they have imagined. When Alexander the Great arrived in 326 B.C., he and his troops expected to find all sorts of strange things: giant ants that could dig for gold, wool that grew on trees, and men with feet so big they could lie on their backs and use them to shade themselves from the sun.
The great Italian traveler Marco Polo (1254–1324) became one of a few Westerners to glimpse the splendors of India during the Middle Ages. As the Western desire for learning grew in the period after A.D. 1500, more travelers came. The British were particularly fascinated with India. In the 1800s British authors would write numerous stories set on the subcontinent.
Perhaps the most famous of these British writers was Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), who celebrated India in works such as The Jungle Book (1894) and
Kim (1901). In spite of his fascination with India and Indians, Kipling clearly believed that the British were superior to the Indians, an idea reflected in works such as the 1892 poem “Gunga-Din,” the story of a brave Hindu water-carrier who dies while ser ving his British masters. Many of Kipling’s writings were for children, as were those of Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), who included Indian scenes in works such as The Little Princess (1905).
During the nineteenth centur y, Westerners tended to view India as the land of mystics and snake charmers, of swamis (holy men) who could lie on beds of nails or walk over hot coals. Thus they viewed Indian religion as something like a carnival sideshow. Beginning as early as the 1890s, however, Westerners began to take a more serious interest in the belief systems of the East. This movement culminated during the 1960s, thanks in large part to the Beatles’ George Harrison
adjective “Greco” (GREH-koh) is often attached to their king- dom. During the 100s B.C., the Greco-Bactrians advanced deep into the subcontinent, at one point even reaching Pataliputra. The Sungas fought them back, but much of what is now Pak- istan and Afghanistan came under Greco-Bactrian control.
Eventually the Greco-Bactrians were overtaken by the Sakas (SAH-kahz), who descended from the Scythians. The Sakas occupied much of the Punjab in the 100s B.C. Meanwhile, the Sunga dynasty gave way to the Kanvas (KAHN-vahz), who were
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(1943–). Led by Harrison, the Beatles tried transcendental meditation (TM), a Hindu cult. Although Harrison and the other members of the group soon lost interest in TM, Harrison later converted to Hinduism.
Harrison’s interest in Indian religion sprang from his fascination with Indian music, which is played on instruments such as the sitar (SIH-tar). The sitar is a stringed instrument like the guitar, though much more difficult to play. This did not stop Western rock stars from experimenting with it on songs such as the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” (1965). Harrison also introduced Western audiences to the exotic, dreamy sounds of traditional Indian music as played by Ravi Shankar (RAH-vee SHAHNG-kahr, 1920–). Indian music had a great influence on Western rock during the
late 1960s. For a brief time the Nehru jacket worn by Indian Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru became a popular
fashion item among Western youth.
More important was the spread of Indian religious ideas in the West. Interest in Hinduism and Buddhism grew during the 1970s, but so did Eastern cults such as TM or Hare Krishna (HAHR-ee KREEZH- nah). Often Hare Krishnas, a group distinguished by their long robes and shaved heads, could be seen at airports in America and Europe, selling copies of the Bhagavad-Gita. But the influence of Eastern ideas has extended far beyond the reach of such cults. By the latter part of the twentieth century, words such as karma and yoga (the Indian practice of meditation) were a part of the English language.
Western movies about India include the Academy Award-winning film Gandhi (1982), which portrays the life of modern India’s most prominent leader; Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935); Gunga Din (1939); Kim (1950); Disney’s Jungle Book (1967); and City of Joy (1992).
even weaker. After the short rule of the Kanvas ended, much of India came under the control of various small-scale rajas. As for the Sakas, who modeled themselves on the Greeks—for instance, their coins contained Greek inscriptions—they man- aged to hold on to the Punjab until the late A.D. 300s.
Kanishka takes the throne
Outside the Indian subcontinent, a new and far more threatening force was gathering its power. Driven out by the
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unification of China in 221 B.C., a number of nomadic tribes from Central Asia had moved westward. One of these was the Yüeh-Chih (you-WAY CHEE), who arrived in Bactria in 165 B.C. The strongest of the five Yüeh-Chih tribes came to be called the Kushans. Eventually they invaded the Punjab. Between about 100 B.C. and the time their greatest ruler, Kanishka (kah- NEESH-kah), took the throne in about A.D. 78, the Kushans subdued an enormous area that stretched from the Ganges deep into Central Asia.
Kanishka was a Buddhist, and by uniting such a large area of territory, he was able to spread the religion northward into China, where it came to have much greater importance than in India. This would prove to be the greatest legacy of the Kushans, who in spite of their sizeable empire declined rapidly after the time of Kanishka.
In the aftermath, the western part of the Indian sub- continent came under the domination of the Sassanians from Persia, as well as the Sakas, whose power still lingered. By then, however, a new force was arising from the west: Rome. The Romans engaged in extensive trade with India, whose wealth—in the form of jewels, ivory, spices, and other goods— was well-known in Europe.
Up to this point, the principal kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent had been based either in the Punjab and Indus Valley to the west or on the Gangetic (gan-JET-ik) Plain sur- rounding the Ganges to the east. But some time after 100 B.C., new kingdoms appeared on the Deccan Plateau to the south. Most important of these was the Satavahana (sah-tah-vah- HAH-nah) kingdom, which ruled the western Deccan until the A.D. 200s. There were also several important Tamil dynasties who controlled areas to the east and south.
The Gupta Empire (A.D. c. 320– c. 540)
For many centuries, the Kushans and various other small principalities controlled the Gangetic Plain, but in about A.D. 320, a great ruler like Chandragupta arose to build a new empire based in Magadha. His name was also Chandra Gupta (r. A.D. 320–335), but the two parts of his name were separated, just like a modern person’s: Chandra—sometimes shown as
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Candra—was his personal name, and Gupta the name of his family, a title which attached to the dynasty he founded.
As for whether or not Chandra Gupta was actually descended from Chandragupta, historians are unclear on this point. What is clear is that Chandra Gupta built a great new empire that would usher in what is known as the “Golden Age” of ancient India. He extended his rule throughout the Gangetic Plain, and his son Samudra Gupta (sah-MOOD-rah; r. c. A.D. 335–376) broadened the reaches of the empire to include much of the subcontinent. In the south, Samudra defeated the Pallavas (pah-LAH-vuhz), a minor dynasty, and conquered the Punjab to the west with much bloodshed. By the time he died, the only other major force in northern India was the Sakas.
Chandra Gupta II (r. A.D. c. 380–c. 415) proved to be the greatest of the Gupta rulers. He dealt with the Sakas and spread his control over the areas of central India that had been ruled by a dynasty called the Vakatakas (vah-kuh-TAH-kuhz). His empire never reached the dimensions of Asoka’s because his authority over the Punjab and the Deccan was much less firm than that of the earlier conqueror; nevertheless, the Gupta Empire proved to be the greatest since that of the Mauryans.
The Golden Age
The Guptas established peace and prosperity through- out the lands under their rule. This political stability resulted in a golden age comparable to that of Greece. The centuries of Gupta rule saw great advancements in the arts and sciences, and they established a distinctly Hindu culture. As for Bud- dhism, its heyday in India was over, and from then on, its influence would be strongest outside the country of its birth.
Nonetheless, one of the outstanding examples of painting from the Golden Age of Gupta India can be found in the Buddhist temples of Ajanta (ah-ZHAN-tah) in central India. The temples themselves, carved from solid rock, are a work of art. Their walls contain numerous scenes from the life of the Buddha. Like much art from the Gupta era, these paint- ings are highly realistic in their portrayal of human figures. Even the chemical makeup of the paints themselves shows great technological advancement.
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Prince Gautama and female figure, cave painting at Ajanta, India. Corbis/Charles
& Josette Lenars. Reproduced by permission.
Making something stick to a surface is not always easy, as anyone who has ever tried to tape a piece of paper on a con- crete block wall knows. The Buddhists of Ajanta, in order to make their paints adhere to the rock walls of the caves, used a mixture of clay, straw, hair, and even cow dung. They covered this with white plaster, and then while the surface was still wet, painted scenes on them. Italian artists of the Renaissance, such as Michelangelo (1475–1564), would use similar methods some twelve centuries later.
The Gupta age was also rich in sculpture, most of it with religious themes. These included statues of Hindu gods such as Shiva as well as figures of the Buddha. Even the coins issued by the Gupta Empire showed impressive-looking deities such as the Hindu god of war, Kartikeya (kar-tee-KIE-yah), shown with six heads and ten arms. As for the architecture of the Guptas, many of its notable examples could be found in the many Hindu temples built during this time.
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The Guptas also built schools, where children were edu- cated in the rich literary history of their people. Students began school at the age of nine, but where they went from there depended on their caste. By then, the original four castes had developed into thousands of groups. Children of the lower castes learned practical trades such as woodworking and textile- making. The children of the higher castes, by contrast, studied the Upanishads, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata [see side- bar, “Classes, Castes, and Segregation”]. When they finished their secondary education, they might go on to one of the uni- versities established under the Guptas’ reign, where they could study subjects ranging from agriculture to philosophy.
As advanced as Gupta arts and education were, how- ever, the most outstanding features of the civilization were its achievements in the sciences, including medicine and astron- omy, and in mathematics. In medicine, Indian surgeons set broken bones and even performed plastic surgery, a type of operation to change a person’s physical appearance. Still more remarkable were the Indian doctors’ discoveries regarding what modern people would call germs and viruses. It appears that they understood the importance of maintaining a clean, sterile environment for performing surgery—something West- ern doctors would not figure out until the 1800s.
Research by Indian scientists and physicians in the area of immunization also proved to be about 1,500 years ahead of its time. To protect someone against a disease by injecting them with the thing that causes that disease might seem com- pletely backward, but as modern scientists know, that is pre- cisely the way to protect people against smallpox and similar viral infections. Smallpox was a major problem at the time of the Guptas, and doctors figured out that by injecting patients with a diluted form of the cowpox virus, they could protect them from the horrible illness.
In the realm of astronomy, the Indians figured out that planets and moons are not sources of light (as many Western- ers continued to believe for centuries) but rather reflect the light of the Sun. They were also aware that Earth is round and that it revolves. Indian mathematicians developed the system of ten numerals used today. These were later adopted by the Arabs, and thus came to be known (incorrectly) as “Arabic numerals.” They also used a decimal system, understood diffi-
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Indian Mathematical Discoveries
Among the discoveries of Indian mathematicians of the Gupta Empire was the system of ten numerals. Other mathematical ideas that the Gupta mathematicians appeared to understand, though they did not necessarily discover them, included the decimal system, negative numbers, imaginary numbers, and algebra.
Ten numerals: It is possible to develop a mathematical system based on just four numerals, or seven, or any other amount; but by far the most practical method is a system based on ten numerals, from 0 to 9. Virtually all types of mathematics in use today involve a “base-
10” system of numerals.
Decimal system: In a decimal number, each place after the decimal point can be thought of as a separate fraction, with the denominator (the number on the bottom) a multiple of 10. In the decimal number 0.534, for instance, the first number to the right of the decimal point is equal to 5/10; the second equals 3/100; and the third is the same as 4/1000. As one moves farther away from the decimal point, the denominator grows larger by a factor of 10—and thus the value of the fraction grows smaller. If a number is in the fifth position to the right, for instance, one
can know that the denominator is 10 to the fifth power.
Negative numbers: A negative number is simply a number below 0. These numbers are “real,” as anyone who has ever had an overdrawn checkbook knows. If a person has $100 in his account, and he writes a check for $120, that means he has
-$20 in his account. To get back to $0, he will have to deposit $20.
Imaginary numbers: An imaginary number is the square root of a negative number. Any number can be squared, or multiplied by itself: thus 2 squared is 4. But what about the square root of -4? Obviously it cannot be 2; nor can it be -2, because multiplying a negative number by itself creates a positive number. Thus it is an imaginary number. As strange as such a concept sounds, it can be useful for solving complex equations.
Algebra: Algebra is a type of mathematics that makes it possible to find the value for a previously unknown number, which is called a variable. A simple algebraic equation would be “8 =
2x.” The term 2x means 2 multiplied by the variable x . Obviously, if x can be multiplied by 2 to equal 8, then 8 can be divided by 2 to find x. Once this is done,
the value of x (4) can be found easily.
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cult concepts such as negative numbers and imaginary num- bers, and used basic concepts of algebra.
Decline of the Guptas
Kumara Gupta (koo-MAHR-ah; r. A.D. c. 414–454), who succeeded Chandra Gupta II, presided over an empire that was still strong, but he faced a powerful threat from the north. The Indians called these invaders Hunas (HOO-nuhz), but Western writers refer to them as “White Huns.” Like their cousins the Huns, who were helping to bring down the Roman Empire at about the same time, the Hunas had been displaced from northern China by the Chinese. Now they were looking for new lands to conquer.
The Hunas attacked the Gupta Empire in about A.D.
450. Kumara died in the middle of this war, and though his son Skanda Gupta (SKAHN-dah; r. c. A.D. 454–467) drove them out, the Huns had weakened Gupta rule. After a period of power struggles, Budha Gupta took the throne in A.D. 475 and reigned for twenty years, during which time many princes and rajas competed for power. The Hunas, who turned their atten- tion to Sassanian Persia for a time, returned in about A.D. 500. Within less than half a century, they had effectively destroyed Gupta rule.
India from the Middle Ages to modern times
For nearly 500 years, India remained in a state of dis- array that made it ripe for conquest from outside. This came in about A.D. 1000, when the Muslim Turks swept in. For almost
400 years, they would control a wide swath of Indian territory from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal, an area that included the river valleys of the Indus and the Ganges. This kingdom was called the Delhi Sultanate (DEL-ee SUL-tun-et), a name that referred to the city of Delhi, where the sultan ruled.
In 1398, a Central Asian conqueror named Timur (TEE- moor) attacked the Delhi Sultanate. In 1526, a descendant of his named Babur (bah-BOOR) established the Mogul (MOH- guhl) Empire. The Moguls would rule for many years. Among their kings was Shah Jahan (SHAH jah-HAHN), who built the
India 211
Taj Mahal, photograph. Archive photos. Reproduced by permission.
famous Taj Mahal (TAHZH muh-HAHL) as a tomb for his beloved bride. By the late 1600s, the Hindu Marathas (muh- RAH-thuhz) were challenging the Muslim Moguls. Fighting between the two groups opened the way for Great Britain to conquer India.
The British began to acquire Indian territory beginning in 1765, and over the next 122 years, they fought numerous wars to extend their control. By 1887, the entire subcontinent belonged either to Britain or to local rulers subject to the British Crown. Though the British were not always kind to their Indian subjects, they also instituted a number of reforms, most notably in 1829, when they outlawed the Hindu custom of suttee (SUH-tee). After death, a Hindu was cremated on a funeral pyre. By the rules of suttee, a man’s widow was expected to burn herself to death on the pyre.
British power weakened with the heavy losses it suf- fered in World War I (1914–1918). The period leading up to
212 Ancient Civilizations: Almanac
World War II (1939–1945) saw the rise of an independence movement led by Mohandas Gandhi (moh-HAHN-dus GAHN-dee; 1869–1948). Gandhi was sometimes called the Mahatma (mah- HAHT-muh), which means “great soul.” He was both a powerful political and religious leader, and his movement gathered enormous strength. In 1947, Britain granted independence to India.
Fighting quickly broke out between Hindus and Muslims, and Gandhi himself was assassinated. The conflict led to the establishment of Pakistan as a separate state with a Mus- lim majority. The country was divided into two parts separated by more than
1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) of Indian territory. India fought wars with China and later Pakistan, and a bloody 1971 clash with Pakistan resulted in the establishment of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) as an independent nation.
For the better part of fifty years, India was led by a sin- gle family. First came Jawarharlal Nehru (yah-wahr-hahr-LAHL NAY-roo; 1889–1964), a follower of Gandhi, who served as prime minister from 1947 to 1964. His daughter Indira Gandhi (in-DEER-uh; 1917–1984; no relation to Mohandas Gandhi) was an outspoken figure who led the nation from 1966 to 1977, and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv (rah-ZHEEV; 1944–1991) took her place as prime minister until he was voted out in 1989. Two years later, during an election campaign, he too was assassinated.
Political unrest has been far from the only problem that has plagued modern India. There are fifteen major lan- guages in the country, and hundreds of ethnic groups live in uneasy relations with one another. Although the caste system was abolished in 1947, poverty is still widespread. In 1999 the average Indian earned $1,600 a year, compared with $28,600 for the average American. Nonetheless, the country has made massive efforts at reform and has done so while maintaining
Indira Gandhi, photograph. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.
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Hindu traditions that date back thousands of years. Western peoples, while possessing far greater material wealth than most Indians, have remained fascinated with the varied and exotic culture of India.
For More Information
Books
Breuilly, Elizabeth; Joanne O’Brien; Martin Palmer. Religions of the World: The Illustrated Guide to Origins, Beliefs, Traditions & Festivals. New York: Facts on File, 1997, pp. 85-125, 138-49.
Dijkstra, Henk. History of the Ancient & Medieval World, Volume 3: Ancient
Cultures. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1996, pp. 379-90.
Dué, Andrea, ed. The Atlas of Human History: Civilizations of Asia: India, China and the Peoples of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. Text by Renzo Rossi and Martina Veutro. New York: Macmillan Library Ref- erence USA, 1996, pp. 16-23.
Ganeri, Anita. Exploration into India. New York: New Discovery Books,
1994.
Ganeri, Anita. Religions Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to World Faiths. Mar- cus Braybrooke, consultant. New York: Henry Holt and Company,
1997, pp. 34-49.
Kalman, Bobbie. India: The Culture. New York: Crabtree Publishing Com- pany, 1990.
Kalman, Bobbie. India: The Land. New York: Crabtree Publishing Com- pany, 1990.
Kalman, Bobbie. India: The People. New York: Crabtree Publishing Com- pany, 1990.
Martell, Hazel Mary. The Kingfisher Book of the Ancient World. New York: Kingfisher, 1995, pp. 52-61.
Odijk, Pamela. The Indians. South Melbourne, Australia: Macmillan, 1989. Sarin, Amita Vohra. India: An Ancient Land, a New Nation. Minneapolis,
MN: Dillon Press, 1984.
Stewart, Melissa. Science in Ancient India. New York: F. Watts, 1999. Suthren-Hirst, Jacqueline. The Story of the Hindus. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1989.
Web Sites
Essence of India—Arts & Culture—Indian History. http://www.cyberindian. com/india/history.htm (April 22, 1999).
214 Ancient Civilizations: Almanac
Exploring Ancient World Cultures: India. http://eawc.evansville.edu/
inpage.htm (April 22, 1999).
Harappa Doorways. http://www.harappa.com/welcome04.html (April 22,
1999).
The History of Punjab. http://bucrf15.bu.edu/~rajwi/punjab/history.html
(April 22, 1999).
Jainism. http://www.angelfire.com/jainism/ (April 22, 1999).
NM’s Creative Impulse: India. http://history.evansville.net/india.html
(April 22, 1999).
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