Nishi Mandapati

Chapter 9: State, Society, and the Quest for Salvation in India

 Megasthenes (Greek ambassador) was first foreigner to describe India - Indika

 Wrote tales & portrayed India as fertile land that supported 2 harvests of grain per year
 Pataliputra: capital described as rectangle city along Ganges River
 Mentioned large armies that used elephants & hierarchy (mistake: 7 castes instead of 4)
 Noted main schools of philosophers (Hindus/Buddhists) had special prominence & exemp from taxes
 Talked about ascetic lifestyles & vege diets
 Overall, showed India to be wealthy land that supported distinctive society w/ well-est cultural traditions
 Weren’t v successful in maintaining imperial gov; regional kingdoms NOT centralized empires
 Imperial support helped promote ideals thru land (Buddhism)
 Social/cultural Indian traditions shaped lives & experiences of inhabitants & ppl in distan lands

I. The Fortunes of Empire in Classical India

o Aryans est series of small kingdoms & rulers fought constantly among themselves to expand their states
o 600 B.C.E.  wars of expansion = consolidation of several large regional kingdoms
i. These kingdoms couldn’t dominate each other (tried to)
o Classical era: Mauryan/Gupta dynasties founded centralized imperial states but neither lasted to est
centralized rule as a lasting feature of poli
A. The Mauryan Dynast and the Temporary Unification of India
 Unification of India was result of Darius’ intrusions – conquered parts of northwestern India & made
kingdom Gandhara in northern Punjab (province of Achaemenid empire)
 Est of Achaemenid empire = local rulers using Persian techniques of admin
 Alex crossed Indus River- crushed states there but didn’t rlly affect Punjabis; left when men mutinied
 Important effect: created poli vacuum in northwestern India by destroying existing states & then
withdrawing his own forces
 Located in central portion of Ganges plain
 Kingdoms in Ganges valley became rich as workers turned forests into fields & trade ^^
 500 B.C.E. – Magadha was most important state in NE India
 Kings conquered neighboring states & controlled Indian commerce thru Ganges valley & overseas
trade b/w India & Burma passing across Bay of Bengal
 Withdrawal of Alex from Punjab = opportunity to expand
 Chandragupta Maurya adventurer who laid foundation for Mauryan empire first state to bring
centralized/unified gov to most of India
 He began by taking control of small, remote regions of Magadha & worked his way to center
 Overthrew ruling dynasty & consolidated his hold; moved into Punjab & controlled NW India
 Went past Indus River & conquered Greek state Bactria (where Alex’s successors had kingdom during
Seleucid era)
 Chandra’s empire embraced all of North India (Indus – Ganges)
 Kautalya- advisor devisd provedures for gov of Chandra’s realm
 His advice is in ancient Indian poli handbook Arthashastra: manual of instructions on uses of power
& principles of gov
 Outlined methods of admin, overseeing trade/agric, collecting taxes, maintaining order, conducting
foreign relations & waging war
 Kautalya advised Chandra to use spies & prostitutes
 Like Persia, built bureaucratic admin system that enabled them to implement policies thru state
 Chandra abdicated throne to become monk & led such an ascetic life that he starved himself to death
 His son succeeded him & added most of South India to growing empire
 Peak of Mauryan empire was during reign of Chandra’s grandson Ashoka
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 Ashoka began his reign as conqueror: only major region that remained ind of Mauryan empire was
Kalinga (east-central part of India)
 Hostile towards Mauryan rule difficult for Ashoka bc Kalinga controlled main land/sea trade
routes b/w Ganges plain & southern India but conquered it in bloody campaign
 Ashoka ruled almost entire subcontinent (only south most part escaped) w/ tightly organized
bureaucracy; est capital at Pataliputra; Thriving & cosmopolitan city
 Central treasury oversaw collection of taxes (Kautalya’s influence)  supported legions of officials,
accountants, clerks, soldiers & other imperial workers
 Ashoka communicated his policies thru realm by inscribing edicts in nat stone formations or on pillars
 Issued imperial decrees, encouraged Buddhism & intended to serve as fair, just & humane ruler
 Result of his policies: regions became well-integrated, had stable gov & growing econ
 Encouraged agric (base of nation’s $) & trade – built roads & highway linking Pataliputra w/ Taxila
 Chief poli/commercial center of N India  access to Bactria, Persia & other western lands
 Planted banyan trees to offer shade, dug wells & est inns along roads (comfort for admin/merchants)
 Policies/empire didn’t last after he died; empire had econ/$$ difficulties
 Depended on strong army & lots of officials to admin imperial policy = expensive salaries
 Times of peace: mili weren’t doing anything but still getting paid
 Later emperors debased currency (reducing amount of precious metal in coin while value was same)
B. The Emergnce of Regional Kingdoms and the Revival of Empire
 India didn’t crumble into anarchy- local rulers formed kingdoms that brought order to large regions
 For 200 years, nw India was ruled by Bactria
 Alex’s heirs mingled w/ local pops & Indo-Greek forces invaded northern India
 Bactria was thriving commercial center & linked China to Medi basin; promoted cross-cultural
interaction & exchange in northern India
 Trade = revenue; Taxila prospered bc location near trade routes; Gandhara had lots of culture/trade
 Nomadic CA attacked Bactria ended Indo-Greek kingdom
 Most successful conquerors were Kushans; took modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan & northern
India – Gujurat & central part of Indus valley
 Like Bactrians, Kushans facil trade b/w India & north lands; large role in silk roads network by
pacifying region b/w Persia & China (makes it safe for merchants to travel)
 Kushans wanted to copy Mauryas & build large empire, but only Guptas were successful
 Like Mauryas, Guptas based state in Magadha (rich, dominated Ganges valley, intermediary b/w
regions); new empire arose on foundations laid by Chandra Gupta [no relation to Chandragupta]
 Formed alliances w/ powerful fams in Ganges region
 Successors: Samudra Gupta & Chandra Gupta II made capital Pataliputra again
 Conquered many regional kingdoms & est tributary alliances w/ other that didn’t want to fight
 Only Deccan Plateau & southern most part wasn’t controlled by Guptas
 Gupta empire smaller than Mauryan & Guptas left local gov/admin/basic policy up to allies
 When nomads invaded, empire split according to admin regions, but Guptas brought stability back
 Faxian: Chinese Buddhist monk traveled to India in search of Buddhist scriptures during Gupta II
 Reported that India was prosperous land w/ little crime; could travel w/o fear of molestation &
official travel docs
 White Huns: nomads from CA who occupied Bactria moved across Hindu Kush mts & est kingdoms
 Guptas fended them off at first, but defense cost them resources & weakened their state
 Gupta dynasty continued in name but regional govs usurped imperial rights/powers
 Only est of Mughal dynasty in 16th C.E. ruled land as vast as Mauryans/Guptas
 Most part, large regional kingdoms dom poli life in India during time b/w Gupta & Mughal dynasties
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II. Economic Development and Social Distinctions
o Focused on agric; used techniques of iron metallurgy to make iron axes & tools to advance into jungle-
covered valley of Ganges River
o Dispatched shudras (semifree serfs) to work in cleared fields & reaped large harvests
o Agric surplus supported large-scale states, which organized Indian public life; also encouraged towns,
growth of trade & further development of caste system
A. Towns and Trade
 After 600 B.C.E., towns formed; served needs of prod agric society by providing manuf products 
pots, textiles, iron tools & other metal utensils / luxury goods like jewelry for elite class
 Demand for manuf goods was v high & some organized busi on large scale
 Saddalaputta owned about 500 workshops; distrib thru Ganges valley using his own boats
 Trade was most active along Ganges River & Ashoka’s roads also facil land trade within India
 Volume of long-dist trade grew as China, sw Asia & Medi basin provided poli foundation that enabled
merchants to trade
 Direct poli/military links w/ foreign ppl drew Indians into long-dist trade relations
 Presence of Persian admins in Gandhara who built roads facil trade b/w two lands
 Alex’s conquests helped est extensive trade networks by forging links b/w India & Medi Basin thru
Bactria, Persia & Anatolia
 From India, main trade passed thru Hindu Kush mts & Gandharan capital of Taxila to Persia/ Medi
basin & across silk roads of CA to Chinese markets
 Indian exports: cotton, aromatics, black pepper, pearls & gems
 Imports: horses/bullion from westerns lands & silk from China
 Mauryan Era- merchants continued to use land routes but turned to sea more often for transport
 Sea trade benefitted from rhythms of monsoon winds in Indian Ocean basin
 Spring/summer: winds blow from sw & fall/winter: winds blow from ne
 After mariners recognized this, they could sail easily to any part of Indian Ocean basin
 Many imported goods didn’t stay in India but traveled west thru Arabian Sea to lands bordering Persian
Gulf & Red Sea or Medi basin
 Indian pepper was so pop that Romans est direct trade relations & built trading settlements in s India
 Archeologists unearthed hoards of roman coins to show large vol of trade b/w Medi & India
B. Family Life and the Caste System
 Indian moralists tried to promote stability by encouraging respect for strong pat fams & maintenance of
social order (all members played well-defined roels)
 Mainly in higher classes, several gens of fams lived in large compounds ruled by powerful patriarchs
 Lit works show women were largely sub to men; Mahabharata & Ramayana portray women as weak
& emotional creatures
 Ramayana: Sita loyally follows Rama into undeserved exile & stays faithful even when they’re sep
 By Gupta era, child marriage was common: 8/9 year old girls were engaged to 20 yr old men
 Formal marriage was right after girls hit puberty
 Wives dom domestic affairs, but child marriage placed them under control of older men & encouraged
them to devote themselves to fam matters NOT public affairs
 Aryans had 4 castes: brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas & shudras
 Brahmins endorsed social order bc it gave them honor & sometimes wealth
 Trade growth & industries had deep implications for larger structure bc they encouraged more dev of
caste system
 New groups of artisans, craftsmen & merchants appeared
 Ppl who had same job formed guilds: corp body that supervised prices/wages & provided welfare for
members & fams; lived in same places/intermarried jati
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 Jati was responsible for maintaining social order; organized their own courts [disciplined members,
resolved diffs & regulated community affairs]
 Ppl who broke caste rules were shunned & were outcastes who worked as butchers & lowly jobs
 Econ dev also generated $$, which threatened social order
 Brahmins & kshatriyas were honored to be richest bc they had lived worthy lives during previous
incarnations & vaishyas/shudras had to work directed by higher castes
 When lower castes were able to get richer, the caste system beliefs seemed irrelevant
III. Religions of Salvation in Classical India
o Ancient Indian religion focused on ritual sacrifices offered by brahmin priests- hoped that gods would
reward loyal human servants w/ large harvests & abundant herds
o Since brahmins performed rituals, they didn’t pay taxes, got gifts & $$ (from wealthy) for their services
i. Gifts became meaningless as merchants/artisans got $ bc they were from low classes & hated brahmins
o New religions veered towards atheistic materialism: Charvaka sect members believed that gods were
imaginary, brahmins were frauds who helped themselves while tricking others & that humans came from
dust/returned to dust like any other animal
i. Charvakas’ beliefs reflected increasingly materialistic character of Indian society/econ
o Jains, Buddhists & Hindus turned to intense spirituality as alt to mechanical rituals of brahmins
A. Jainism and the Challenge to the Established Cultural Order
 One of the most influential new religions
 Became popular w/ teacher Vardhamana Mahavira (“the great hero”) [kshatriya]
 Semilegendary: left fam at 13 to seek salvation by escaping incarnation cycle  led ascetic life for 12
years in Ganges valley & was enlightened  abandoned worldly goods (clothes too) & taught ascetic
doctrine of detachment from world  expounded his thought to disciples who formed monastic order
to spread his message
 Disciples called Mahavira Jina (“the conqueror”) & called themselves Jains
 Doctrines came form Upanishads
 Jainists believed that everything in universe (humans, animals, plants, air, bodies of water & inanimate
objects like rocks) had a soul [lol forgot about me]
 When souls are trapped in terrestrial bodies, souls experience physical & psychological suffering
 Only purification from selfish behavior could release souls from their imprisonment & attain bliss
 Underwent purification by observing principle of ahisma: nonviolence to other living things/souls
 Jain monks went to extreme lengths to avoid harming millions of souls they encountered everyday
 Swept ground before they walked to avoid harming invisible insects (for real tho?!) & vegetarians
 Wore masks & avoided making sudden movements so they wouldn’t bruise or disturb tiny souls in air
 Jainist ethics were so demanding that few ppl could observe them closely
 Jains believed that most jobs were violent: farming=killing pests & harvesting live plants; leather
tanning=killing animals
 For most ppl, Jainism wasn’t practical alt to religion of brahmins
 Jainism had social impacts: if all things had souls, it didn’t make sense to make class distinctions
 Jains didn’t recognize social hierarchies based on caste or jati, which attracted lower caste
members: merchants, scholars & literary figures
 Reg members tried not to be violent & maintained ahisma
 Buddhists & Hindus recognize ahisma as main element of their beliefs (Gandhi & MLK)
 Jainism is still minor religion bc of its difficult observations
B. Early Buddhism
 Siddhartha Gautama (kshatriya) gave up his position & inheritance for salvation
 Pampered by dad, married cousin & excelled in studies that prepared him to succeed his dad for gov
 Legend: he saw miserable man & learned from his chariot driver that all humans grow old & weak &
saw sick man & corpse  disease/death was inevitable
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 Then noticed monk traveling on foot learned some ppl withdraw from active life to lead holy lives
& he was inspired to lead ascetic life to understand suffering (his dad made sure he was always happy)
 He left his fam & comforts to become holy man; wandered thru Ganges valley
 1st he sought enlightenment w/ intense meditation & later extreme asceticism
 One day he sat beneath large bo tree in Bodh Gaya & decided he’d sit there until he understood
suffering; sat for 49 days as demons tried to tempt him w/ pleasure or scare him but it didn’t work
 He was enlightened: understood suffering & how humans could eliminate it
 He became the Buddha “the enlightened one”
 Buddha announced doctrine at Deer Park of Sarnath near Buddhist holy city Banaras at sermon
“Turning of the Wheel of Law”  rep start of Buddha’s quest to promote law of righteousness
 He organized disciples into commun of monks who only owned yellow robes & begging bowls;
traveled on foot, preached & begged for food for 40 years
 Died saying “Decay is inherent in all component things! Work out your salvation with diligence!”
 Core of Buddha’s doctrine- Four Noble Truths: all life involves suffering; desire causes suffering;
elimination of desire ends suffering; disciplined life that follows Noble Eightfold Path ends desire
 Noble Eightfold Path calls for ind to lead balanced/moderate lives; rejects luxury/extreme asceticism
 Demands right belief, resolve, speech, behavior, occupation, effort, contemplation & meditation
 This would lead to personal salvation & reaching nirvana: state of perfect spiritual independence
 Four Noble Truths + Noble Eightfold Path =dharma (shared by all sects)
 Like Jains, wanted to avoid incarnation & didn’t recognize castes  attracted lower castes- merch
 Bc it didn’t require rigorous asceticism, it was more popular than Jainism
 Popular bc: avoided Sanskrit & favored vernacular langs; recognized holy sites for devotion;
organization of movement
 Gifts/grants from supporters provided for land, buildings, finances & material needs of monasteries
 Stupas: shrines w/ relics of the Buddha & his first disciples that pilgrims venerated
 Monks spent lots of time preaching & explaining dharma; efficient at converting/spreading faith
 Benefited from support of Mauryan dynasty; Ashoka adopted Buddhis after Kalinga war
 More likely that Ashoka thought it would unify vast realm
 Ashoka banned animal sacrifices in Pataliputra, stopped hunting, eliminated meat dishes from his court
 Rewarded Buddhists w/ land & encouraged them to spread faith thru India
 Built monasteries, stupas & made pilgrimages to holy sites
 Sent missionaries to Bactria & Ceylon, which attracted following in CA, E Asia & SE Asia
C. Mahayana Buddhism
 Early Buddhism attracted lower classes but still demanded giving up personal property, forsaking
search for social standing & detaching oneself from fam/world
 Early thought phys incarnations over 1000s of years were needed to have pure soul for nirvana
 More attractive than brahmin religion but still hard
 Changes: Buddha didn’t think we was a god, but later followers did, which helped converts channel
spiritual energies & identify more closely w/ their faith
 Theologians articulated boddhisatva “an enlightened being”: individuals who reached spiritual
perfection but delayed entry into nirvana to help others
 Like Christian saints, boddhis were examples of spiritual excellence
 Monasteries began to accept gifts from wealthy & considered it good merit for salv, so wealthy could
enjoy comforts of world, avoid sacrifices required by early teachings & still ensure salv
 Proponents called themselves Mahayana “the greater vehicle” instead of Hinayana “the lesser vehicle”
(Theravada Buddhism)
 Theravada didn’t disappearstayed prominent in Ceylon; spread to Burma, Thailand etc.
 Mahayana flourished bc of edu institutions that promoted faith
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 Early Indian edu was b/w sage & students but when Jains/Buddhists org monasteries, they offered reg
instruction & est edu institutions
 Provided basic edu & larger communs offered advanced instruction
 Best known was Nalanda (Buddhist monastery): founded during Gupta dynasty; could study
Buddhism, Vedas, Hindu philosophy, logic, math, astronomy & medicine
D. The Emergence of Popular Hinduism
 Hinduism inspired by Vedas & Upanishads
 Mahabharata & Ramayana show dev of Hindu values- originated as secular tales of Vedic age
 Brahmins edited it but- Mahabharata dealt w/ massive war for control of northern India; Brahmins
made poem for Vishnu: preserver of world who intervened on behalf of virtuous individuals
 Ramayana: originally love/adventure story involving trials faced by Prince Rama & Sita; Ceylon
demon king captures her & Rama saves her w/ Hanuman’s alliance
 Brahmins made Rama incarnation of Vishnu; Rama & Sita were ideal husband & wife
 Bhagavad Gita “song of the lord”: short poetic work that shows expectations that Hinduism has of ppl
& promise of salvation
 Evokes cultural climate of India b/w Mauryan & Gupta dynasties
 Presents dialogue b/w Arjuna (kshatriya warrior) & his charioteer Krishna (human incarnation of
Vishnu) & Arjuna doesn’t want to fight
 To convince Arjuna, Krishna says he shouldn’t worry about hurting his friends/fam bc soul doesn’t die
w/ human body; Arjuna’s weapons don’t have power to touch soul & says Arjuna’s caste imposes
certain moral duties [shudras- to serve; vaishyas- to work; brahmins- to learn; kshatriyas- to
govern/fight]
 Krishna also says that Arjuna would get peace forever if he devoted himself to love & service of
Krishna; abandon selfish/superficial concerns & surrender himself to deeper wisdom of God = eternal
salvation
 Hindu ethics= 4 main aims of human life: obedience to religious/moral laws (dharma); pursuit of econ
well-being & honest prosperity (artha); enjoyment of social, physical & sexual pleasure (kama);
salvation of soul (moksha)  proper balance of dharma, artha & kama = moksha
 Hinduism offered salvation to lots of ppl who lead active lives who couldn’t detach from world
 Displaced Buddhism as most popular religion in India
 Hinduism attracted poli support from Gupta emperors who gave land to Hindu brahmins & supported
edu system that promoted Hindu values
 1000 C.E.: Buddhism declines while Hinduism grows in India