Ancient India: A Complete Overview - The Ancient World (Part 2 of 5) | Ancient History, Mystery

Egypt and Mesopotamia thrived in the Near East because of their respective rivers. In the East was the Indian subcontinent. Much larger in area, the subcontinent had a more diverse geography and potential for larger populations. To the north are the mountain ranges of the Himalayas, including Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, and the Karakoram, with K2, the second highest peak. To the south of the Himalayas is the Ganges River, the most important in Indian culture. South of the Ganges Valley and its fertile plains, occupying the middle of India to its south, is the Deccan Plateau. It is flanked by the western and eastern Ghats, discontinuous mountain ranges. Off the southern coast lies Sri Lanka, another region culturally linked to India. But further to the north, and to the west of the Ganges, was the Punjab, and another river valley, the Indus, a cradle of civilization, situated mainly in present-day Pakistan and northwest India. This is where we begin India's ancient period. About 100 years ago, archaeologists discovered settlements here, dating back to over 6,000 years ago. Nowadays, the area is quite dry and arid, but in the 3000s BCE, rainfall was more abundant there, and the Indus River itself, was able to support an enormous Indus Valley civilization, which historians call the Harappan. This name comes from one of the first of two major cities discovered, Harappa, and Mohenjo-Daro, but many other sites have since been uncovered. It most likely began as other cradles of civilization, from Neolithic agricultural settlements, like at Mehrgarh. By around 3300 BCE, farmers from the mountains gradually began populating the river valleys, and the beginning of the early Harappan phase. By 2600 BCE, the civilization had built large urban centers, beginning the mature Harappan phase. Harappa was protected by a large brick wall, almost 4 miles long, over 6 kilometers. Cities were planned on a rectangular grid, with streets up to 30 feet wide. Houses and other buildings were made with mud brick, dried in the sun or in an oven. Population could have been as high as 35,000, although some sources claim double this number. Mohenjo-Daro could have had a population of up to 41,000. By the mature phase, the entire Indus Valley population could have been over 5 million total, compared to just 300,000 in Mesopotamia. These were major urban centers from the Bronze Age, with ingenious planning to support such a large number of people. One of the most impressive traits of the Indus Valley civilization was their advanced drainage system. Wastewater was carried out of bathrooms by drains under the streets and deposited in sewage pits outside the city. We still cannot decipher the Harappan script, so we have no names or stories of which to tell. Historians do suspect that unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Harappan weren't bounded into one state, but simply a loose collection of cities, each controlled by a small ruler. Despite this, life seemed to be fairly egalitarian. There is no evidence of kings, slaves, or even a state military. There is evidence of a priesthood though, and a religion that might have worshipped a fertility god or goddess. The economy, as most at this time, was based on agriculture. The Indus River inhabitants mainly grew wheat, but also barley, rice, and peas. There is also evidence that they traded with the ancient civilization of Sumer, importing copper and stones, and exporting food, textiles, and lapis lazuli to Mesopotamia, a stone in high demand by the Egyptians. While the Harappan were more utilitarian in their building patterns, they expressed their artistic side in smaller works. They created sculptures of humans and animals, figurines made of copper and terracotta, some of the best work from the Bronze Age. We still don't know much about the Harappan writing system, as the only evidence we've found are pictographs on clay seals. There are no links to any kind of Mesopotamian script, so this may always remain a mystery. The greatest mystery of all is why the Harappan disappeared. Around 1900 BCE, a gradual decline occurred, starting the late Harappan phase, and by 1700, the cities had been abandoned. It was once believed that it was the Aryans who invaded the old cities, like Mohenjo-daro, a name that means City of the Dead. But we now know the Aryans migrated to the subcontinent hundreds of years later. Some other theories are that a change in climate could have made food production impossible for such a large population, leading to social problems and violence. It's also possible widespread disease, like tuberculosis or leprosy, swept through the cramped and overcrowded cities, leading people to flee eastward. But what seems certain is that the Aryans arrived in the valley after the Harappan civilization collapsed. But who were these Aryans? They were a part of the Indo-European family that originated in the Eurasian steppe. We briefly mentioned them last episode, as being related to those who migrated into Europe, and the Hittites who settled in Anatolia. The Indo-Europeans were nomadic pastoralists, and were more suited for war than civilization and culture. They are credited with inventing the two-wheeled war chariot, a piece of war technology that became widely adopted in both Europe and Asia. These specific Indo-Europeans, the Aryans, split with the Indo-Iranians, and travelled across the Hindu Kush mountains, into the northern Indian plains. These migrations didn't happen all at once, but gradually by around 1500 BCE. By 1000 BCE, they had spread east into the Ganges Plain, and south onto the Deccan Plateau, mixing with the Dravidians who already inhabited the region. It is important to note that many Indian scholars reject the migration theory, and urge that these people did not migrate to India as Indo-Europeans, but were native to the region, and are directly descended from the Indus Valley civilization. The Aryans, also called the Vedic culture, thrived on the north Indian plains. They gradually lost their nomadic pastoralist tendencies, and settled into a sedentary agricultural lifestyle. Most likely adopted from the Hittites, they used iron plows, and irrigation techniques to farm on the fertile Ganges Plain. As with other Indo-European tribes, each was led by a warlord or chieftain. The Vedics would call these Rajas, and they would rule with a council of elders. The Rajas were usually part of the Kshatriya, or warrior class. Once their societies became larger, these chieftains became more like kings, and took the name Maharaja, meaning Great Raja. They still never ruled as conventional kings, and had to respect the Dharma, laws of behavior that everyone in society had to follow. By the 5 or 600s BCE, they had built their own urban centers, and coalesced into different kingdoms called the Mahajanapadas. Most were ruled by a king, although two were oligarchic republics. The westernmost kingdoms came under the influence of the Achaemenid Empire, and then later Alexander the Great's. Alexander left by 326 BCE, but his administrators stayed. Not long after Alexander's death, by 322 BCE, an empire was founded in India, under Chandragupta Moya. He drove out Alexander's satraps in the west, and then gained territory past the Indus River, after a war with the Seleucid Empire, one of Alexander's successor states. Ruling from his capital at Pataliputra, Chandragupta had a mentor named Chanakya, or more commonly, Kautilya. Kautilya helped Chandragupta forge his empire, and was a genius strategist, philosopher, economist, teacher, and author. He is credited with writing the Arthasastra, a Sanskrit text on political science, economic principles, and military strategy. It was later expanded upon and revised. The text states that the king is to follow Dharma, and that making happy people, will in turn, make a happy king. But if there are any situations between following Dharma, or a more rational path, the king should see rationality as the more favourable solution. The text also controversially stresses that the means to a positive end are justified. This was how Chandragupta governed. His government was highly centralised, and Greek ambassadors state he was quite fearful of assassination, and employed a secret police. The king never slept twice in the same room of his palace, and all food had to be tasted in front of him, to avoid poisoning. The Vedic culture that came to dominate India had already come with their own social systems. At the heart of this was a class system. These classes were called Vāna, meaning, colour, in the Rig Veda. The Vāna were meant to be one's human calling, and a rigid social classification that dictated your place in the world, including your profession. Though there were five classes, only four were considered Vāna. The topmost Vāna were the Brāhmins. The Brāhmin were the priestly class, and descended from the seers and priests in the Indo-Aryan tribal societies. The name Brahmin was derived from Brahmin, the supreme creator god in Vedic religion, the basis for Hinduism. Under the Brahmin, were the Kshatriyas, whom we recently mentioned. They were the warrior class, most likely descended from the Raja chieftains during the migrations. As is evident, their occupation was fighting. These two Vānas were considered the aristocratic classes. Under them, was the Vishya. The Vishya were commoners, but often had regular jobs like merchants. They could work for the kings, performing special agricultural projects, and were compensated well. These three classes were able to participate in a ritual at puberty, to become twice born, called the Upanayana. After the ceremony, males entered adulthood, and were allowed to wear the sacred thread. At the bottom, were the Shudras, the majority of the population. They were mostly non-Indo-Aryan, and made up of the indigenous population. They were often peasants, and did the manual labor. These were the four Vāna, but even beneath these four, there was the lowest of all classes. They were the Dalits, also called Untouchables. Dalits could have originated as a slave or criminal class, or just ethnic minorities. They were given jobs no other Indian would want to do, like cleaning, and removing trash, and handling dead bodies. They were to live separately from the rest of society, and were to not be seen, nor touched. Social mobility could happen, but these classes were generally very strict. Marriage was to remain within one's class, and no food was to be eaten if it were touched by a Dalit. The Jāti, or caste, is a clan or community, within a certain class. And each Jāti was made up of thousands of different families. The family was the nucleus of Indian life. Most families were patriarchal, and were composed of three or more generations living together. Families were bound by their reverence to their common ancestors. Fathers would conduct ceremonies and funeral rites, but when the father died, the responsibility went to his oldest son. Women weren't allowed to study the Vedas, the religious texts of the Vedic period, because they were not taught to read. For those privileged classes who became twice born, the male would be given a Vedic teacher, or guru. The highest classes went on to higher education, and became priests. After 12 years of schooling, they were able to marry. Divorce was prohibited, but could still occur. As in Egypt and Mesopotamia, ancient India also valued males above females, because sons were able to work in agriculture more efficiently. Having a daughter also meant a family would have to provide a dowry for their daughters when they got married. Once women became married though, they were valued as wives and From Varna, to Jati, to family, ancient India was based on performing certain roles and duties, and this was just another part of that. Though the Indo-Aryans were originally pastoralists, they spread agricultural advancements all over the subcontinent. This didn't mean life was easy for farmers. Most were landless workers, so ended up paying high rates to a landlord. Those who owned their own land, had to pay taxes directly to the king. They were also at the mercy of the climate. Monsoon season brought heavy rains from the Indian Ocean, but if these rains were late during the summer, crops would fail, and there would be widespread famine. Apart from the Moya Empire, there weren't any strong centralized entities to control irrigation systems or food storage. As India continued to develop, it emerged as a trading hub during the end of the ancient period, under Chandragupta. His centralized empire played an active part in mining, manufacturing, and commerce. Trade was conducted with the Near East and as far as the Mediterranean. It could be conducted over land by camel or across the Indian Ocean. Egypt enjoyed India's spices, perfumes, and exotic animals. India imported gold, tin, and wines. Within India, they used cowrie shells as a means of exchange, but near the end of the Moya Empire, in the 2nd century BCE, they adopted copper and gold coins, similar to those in the Near East. This led to a banking system and money economy. The origins of Hinduism are based in the Vedic religion, brought into India during the Vedic period. The period gets its name from the Vedas, which are the oldest texts in Hinduism. The word, Veda, means knowledge, and the four Vedas are meant to be the knowledge which grants one a universal truth, or order, and one's place in it all. The texts themselves, were regarded as being the words of the universe, spoken in vibrations, and only heard by wise men and sages while they meditated. These wise men retained the messages in an oral tradition, until the Vedic period, when they were written down. This led to the rise of Brahmanism, which emphasized that the world had order. And if there is order, the belief was there must be someone to maintain this order. That someone was Brahman, a being so powerful, it both created the universe, and was itself, the universe. Though human beings couldn't possibly fathom the power of Brahman, it was thought that each person held a bit of his spark, called Atman, and the goal of life was to unify your Atman with Brahman. To accomplish this, one must perform Dharma, or one's lifelong duties, with Karma, or day-to-day actions. This frees you from the circle of life and death, known as Samsara, and liberates you, known as Moksha. Either seek out and accept this union, or suffer in life, after life, until you finally do accept it. These more spiritual beliefs emerged during the late Vedic period, with a series of texts written to expand on the Vedas. They dealt more with philosophy and spirituality, and would eventually become the basis for Hinduism. The idea of reincarnation helped reinforce the varna system in Hindu society, as it justified everyone's place on the social ladder. The lowest classes were satisfied with their daily life, as they had a better life to look forward to if they acted properly. The Brahmins, the highest class, were thought to have achieved good karma in past lives, and were now close to their release from the reincarnation cycle. They would have to follow their Dharma more strictly though, than the lower classes. It was believed even animals were included in the reincarnation cycle, but if a human was reborn as an animal, that was seen negatively. The only exception was the bull. We don't exactly know why Hindu society began to view the bull as a sacred animal, but some scholars believe it was because it was a valuable animal from their pastoral days. Others believe it could have been a remnant of the Harappan civilization, as they had also revered the bull. We also see this with contemporary civilizations like the Sumerians and Minoans. By around 500 BCE, the early Indo-Aryan beliefs were being synthesized into more modern rituals and practices, and Hinduism would come out of this, although Hinduism is seen as a continuation of Brahmanism, not a different religion. While Hinduism is polytheistic on the surface, there is clearly reverence for one true omnipotent power, Brahman. To become more perceivable to humans, Brahman is often represented in three forms of the cosmic function. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver, and Shiva is the transformer, or destroyer. Together, they form the Hindu trinity, or Trimurti. Not long after, in either the mid or late 500s, a boy was born to a Kshatriya family, near the Himalaya mountains. His name, was Siddhartha Gautama. Being part of the aristocracy, he grew up in wealth and splendor, marrying and raising a family. By the time he was almost 30, he came to see all the pain, illness, and death in the world, so he set out to find the cause and solution to human suffering. He first emulated the ascetics, becoming a monk and depriving himself of any pleasures, but found himself no closer to the answers. He began meditating under a tree, and was tempted by Mara, the devil, who promised him women and power. Siddhartha overcame these temptations, and was said to have achieved enlightenment, or Nirvana, and spent the rest of his life teaching what he discovered. We aren't exactly certain what Siddhartha knew, as the written texts about his teachings were composed much later, but tradition holds that his enlightenment, showed him a world that transcended our own. He came to believe that our material world was simply an illusion, and the cause for human suffering, was our attachment to this world. The tree he meditated under, was then known as the Bodhi tree, or tree of wisdom, and Siddhartha Gautama took the name Gautama the wise, or Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The Buddha taught his followers through a sermon, which stressed the four noble truths. Life is suffering, suffering is caused by desire, to stop suffering, is to stop desire, and to stop desire, one must follow the noble eightfold path. It's fairly certain that Buddhism came about as a response to Hinduism, as a more reformed version that wasn't as concerned with priestly rituals, and more concerned with the individual. Buddhism rejected the strict hierarchical systems in place, and promoted an egalitarian society. Though the Buddha did believe in reincarnation and good and bad karma, he still believed that anyone could achieve nirvana, even animals. This made Buddhism very popular with the lower classes. It also didn't have the over 30,000 gods associated with Brahmanism, so was more grounded for the average person. Once the Buddha died in the early 400s BCE, monasteries, temples, and stupas were constructed all over. Followers could join the monasteries, including women, although they could not attain as high positions as men. One of Buddha's contemporaries was Mahavira. He also preached rejection of material vices, and a life of simplicity. The teachings became known as Jainism, and rested on the three pillars of non-violence, non-absolutism, and asceticism. Unable to hurt a living creature, devout Jains became vegan or vegetarian. Their extreme lifestyles made Jainism less popular than Hinduism and Buddhism, though Chandragupta Moya is said to have adopted Jainism's principles after leaving his throne, becoming a monk and performing salakana, or fasting to death. His grandson, Ashoka, led quite a different life. As third king of the empire, he began his reign around 270 BCE, conquering, killing, and expanding the Moya territories. But after the bloodshed from the Kalinga War, he turned towards Buddhism. He ordered stone pillars built, called Ashoka Pillars, and sent missionaries all over the subcontinent and Central Asia. His reign was the high point of the empire, as there was a steep decline after his death in 232 BCE. The empire finally dissolved in 185 BCE, after an assassination, and it would be centuries before it had any semblance of a unification. In the northwest, present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India, a group of Indo-Europeans took power in around year 30. They were the Kushans, likely part of a larger confederation of tribes, who fled the nomadic tribes of western China. The Kushans established the Kushan empire and became the most prominent entity on the subcontinent for centuries. They were at the crossroads of India, China, Persia, and even Rome, but never held more than a small area of India proper. One of the main reasons why India had such trouble remaining unified was because it's likely the Mauryans never held as much power as we thought, and it's possible India was always fairly decentralized. India was a major cultural hotbed, even from the beginnings of the Vedic period in 1500 BCE. We touched on their literature briefly with the Vedas and Upanishads. They were both written in Sanskrit, part of the Indo-European language family, but this would eventually decline as a spoken language and replaced with Prakrit by the 200s BCE, a less formal, everyday use of language. Ancient India might even be where the first scholar of linguistics emerged. Living somewhere between 500 and 300 BCE, Panini was a grammarian who codified Sanskrit so that future scholars would be able to read the Vedas. He composed over 4,000 grammatical rules for the language and became known to many as the father of linguistics, influencing European linguists almost 2,000 years later, as well as later Indian scholars. Two major epics were also being composed. The Mahabharata, sometimes called the Fifth Veda, describes the events of the Kurukshetra War and the aftermath. Within the story are various depictions of gods and allusions to dharma and One section is the Bhagavad Gita, a holy scripture in Hinduism. It was around 200,000 verses long and about 10 times the length of both the Iliad and Odyssey combined. The other major epic was the Ramayana. It is quite a bit shorter, but is an older story. It tells of a king Rama, who is banished from his kingdom and lives like a hermit. His wife is captured by a demon king, and he goes on an adventure to save her, encountering friends along the way. Both Rama and Sita are depicted in ideal roles of society. Rama is a kind ruler and brave husband, while Sita remains loyal to Rama. Both texts hold religious and moral significance, but are great narrative stories as well. Ancient India wasn't just a source of stunning literature. They also excelled at architecture. Though most buildings in India were wooden during the Vedic Age, a shift occurred during the Mauryan Empire. After the breakup of Alexander the Great's empire, many stone artisans came to the Mauryas and offered their services, leading to intricate stone architecture. Most buildings were religious in nature. The pillars of Ashoka were made of sandstone and placed at the sides of roads to honor the Buddha's journey. They could weigh up to 50 tons each and go up to 50 feet tall or around 15 meters and had a distinctive Mauryan polish. Animal sculptures were placed on top, perhaps inspired from the Greeks or Persians. Edicts would be inscribed, later called the Edicts of Ashoka, on many of these pillars. A stupa was a building to hold a Buddhist artifact, like the cremated remains of the Buddha or other sacred relic. After the Buddha died, there were said to be between just eight and ten Buddhist stupas built, but during Ashoka's reign, legend says the great king had constructed over 84,000. The most impressive form of ancient Indian construction was their rock-cut architecture. Ashoka began building these in mountainsides or other natural rock formations. The earliest of these were the Bhaja, Kali, Betsi, and Ajanta caves. They weren't just built as pieces of art, though. Buddhist monks were able to stay in different areas of the caves and conduct religious ceremonies. The artisans displayed an unimaginable degree of technical proficiency, and the caves are even today still a significant achievement in engineering. Ashoka's pillars, stupas, and this rock-cut architecture were all motivated by religious ideals, so they all depicted religious themes. We still don't know much about the ancient Indian sciences, but it appears they were much more advanced than Europe at the time. Indian mathematicians created the Indo-Arabic numeral system we still use today, almost 2,000 years ago. Astronomers were well aware the Earth was spherical, and also used instruments to chart the stars.