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Explains the social and political authority of Brahmans and introduces Sikhism as a challenge to caste and clergy. It also sets up the religious landscape before Buddhism.
what were the sources of brahman's power brahmans were educators of princes and advisors of kings they held influential duties in indian society as personal peerists physicians school teachers tax collectors judges and they were seen as the natural candidatesfor the royal administrative positions they were the only group who knew rituals to crown and to confine divine status to the king it was believed that they had the ability to mediate between deities and human beings through offeringsacrifices to the gods and cypriots who intervened into human affairs that's to say they had monopoly over conducting rituals which led them to have social and political dominance like in mesopotamian and egyptian civilizations sikhism people who believed insikhism in india were struggling against the caste system basically they were against the presence of a clergy class it considered this clause as the source of corruption according to disbelief god is everywhere it cannot be found in a
certain place therefore it does not give importance to visiting holy science as the main responsibility of people however they had temples where they had readers and singers and they served to help the needy and gave community services another
Covers Buddha's life, his search for enlightenment, and the core ideas of suffering, desire, and nirvana. It then shows how Buddhism spread and contrasted with Brahmanical Hinduism.
religion in india is buddhism by the 6th century various religious thinkers challenged the brahman dominance among them one became very influential in the society and pioneered a new religious movement buddha according to buddhist tradition buddha was born asson of a local king in one of the hillside republics refusing his father's throne he left royal court and became a wandering estatic static means a person who abandons pleasures of material life with the help of a trustedservant puta escape from the well-protected palace of his father and began to travel in the countryside during his long trip he experienced illness old age that and he met with religious teachers gurus gurus dedicated themselves to understand thehuman nature and the supernatural world when buddha could not find the answers he wanted to find out he became a wandering estatic and exhausted himself with self-punishment he contemplated and self-disciplined his mind and reached enlightenment eventually he developed
a philosophy about life and he dealt with the question of how human beings should live in this world let's briefly explain the logic of buddha in life there are illusionary and impermanent things which are the source of sufferingsuch as fame wealth and friendship to abundance suffering people should avoid from desire to world leadings right action mediation and contemplation will bring enlightenment to the human being according to buddha this enlightenment is equal to nirvana which canbe defined as states of tranquility according to buddha nirvana is an attainable hover the logic of him attracted many people and over time buddhism became an organized religion it especially became popular among women and untouchables in the castesystem after his that popular tales of buddha turned him into a deity his followers became monks and began to spread buddha's philosophy which was in deep contrast with hinduism and caste system supported by the brahmans the greek interlude
Describes Alexander the Great's campaign in India, the resistance he faced, and his withdrawal. It also explains the cultural and intellectual exchanges that followed the invasion.
in 326 bc alexander the great attempted to invade india after crossing the river indus he advanced towards taxilla he then challenged king porus the indians were defeated in the fierce battle even though they fought with elephants which thesoldiers of alexander had never before seen alexander captured porus and local rulers allowed him to continue to govern this territory one of the villages in which the army halted belonged to the malice tribe which was known as oneof the most warlike of the indian tribes alexander was wounded several times in this attack more seriously when an arrow pierced his breastplate his officers rescued him in a narrow escape from the village his soldiers who were tiredof long battles and fearful of stern resistance of indian rulers refused to move on eventually alexander agreed to lead his armies out of india alexander and his army reached the model of the indus in july 325 bc and
turned westward for home however some greek forces remain in the frontiers in india the unexpected that of alexander the great a year later made some greek rulers to control the indian territory which was invaded by alexander the greatsoldiers the invasion attempt of the alexander the great in india marked a cultural and specific impact and interaction that led to the division of indian religions into the mediterranean his conquest attempt of india had indirect impact on trade
Introduces Chandragupta Maurya and the rise of the Mauryan Empire as a major political unification. It then focuses on Ashoka, his conversion to Buddhism, and the empire's later decline.
and cultural interaction greek astronomical and mathematical knowledge came to be known in india and indian religions came to be known in the mediterranean when greeks drove out from india a native local lord chandra gupta maurya formed a northernempire mauryan empire chandragupta maria consolidated his political power in northwest india and drew out greek successor rulers of alexander out of india his armies conquered the kingdom in the janja's plane this territory constituted the heartland of the marionempire the period of the marian empire marked a new epo in the history of india it is said to be a period when chronology became definite it was a period when politics art trade and commerce elevated india toa glorious height it was a period of unification of the territories which lay as fragmented kingdoms moreover indian contact with the outside world was established effectively during this period chandragupta maria became an absolute ruler and ruled his empire
from an elaborate the decorated palace his life was protected by high security safeguards from the food he ate to the physical conditions of the palace he lived everything was under strict control he established a huge army composed of500 000 men according to the estimation of the greek writers mario's tastecraft was written in the book art shastra according to this work powerful kingdoms should continuously expand even assassination and bribery was necessary for the elimination of rivalrulers chandra gupta's son bindusara extended the territories of the marian empire and his son ashoka continued and completed the conquests of his father and grandfather under the rule of ashaka india culturally flourished and gained a strong political unityand prosperity ashoka's conversion to buddhism led to the spread of modism in the marian empire he came to the throne as a result of a bloody struggle against his brothers whom he eliminated to have the throne he has
been depicted by the buddhist sources as a brutal ruler in the years before he converted to buddhism ashoka in accordance with the buddhist philosophy regretted his earlier brutality in the statecraft and adapted the idea of righteous world rulerwho serves his people in peaceful policies in this period there was a strong buddhist influence which led to the decline of the power of the brahmans after the threat of ashoka internal fractions occurred and marion empire disintegrated by
Describes foreign invasions, the Kushana period, and the weakening of Buddhism as merchant support declined. It ends with Brahman revival, Gupta rule, and the final collapse brought by the Huns.
185 bc in the greek rulers who had kingdoms in central asia attempted to establish provinces in india and india was under the invasion of various nomad groups as well satanian nomads from central asia who were overrun by newnomads than ut from eastern steps as a result of the huge invasions in india a new dynasty rose to the power kushanas under the cushion empire buddhism was in its peak it deeply influenced imperial policies of the dynastyfollowing the years after the fall of the marion empire the buddhist influence in indian society was very high although buddha's influences continued in the years following the marian empire in due time it lost its influence there was acrucial immersion group in india who supported buddhism they were the main patterns of buddhism these wealthy merchants had their prosperity through the rome china trade in axis this axis was lost when the han empire in china fell thus
the large-scale merchants who were the patrons of buddhism in india lost their source of revenue and they became dependent on local rulers and households who were the allies of the brahmans the loss of the mercantile class the foulof the marion and cushion empires impaired buddhism in india buddhist monks became isolated in huge monasteries and they withdraw from urban life and they were less interested in ordinary people they focused on people who intellectually dealt with thebuddhist philosophy buddhist philosophers and gurus gave importance to the sophisticated philosophical ideas in the vedas they gave importance to wealthy people who supported huge monasteries these led to the buddhist monks to live luxurious life that look they losttheir discipline when the buddhist monks became disconnected from ordinary indian people brahman struggled to attract people to hinduism eventually after the buddhist decline in indian society brahman's power revived and they attempted to make a revision and reform in
the rules of hinduism they stressed the importance of small personal sacrifices to the gods and goddesses like food and prayers instead of big and expensive ones lastly the gupta dynasty which was made up of prosperius land holders onthe ganges established an empire in india by the end of the 4th century ce the gupta empire in the 4th century a.d became the power india managed to keep vassal kingdoms in unity for almost 250 years the guptaswere supporters of the brahmanas and hinduism in the 5th century see a new power led to the collapse of the guptas in india the huns who cross the himalayas and of
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