Questions

• The Great Empires of Ancient India.

• The Decline of Empire & the Coming of Islam
• Why is it important to study World civilizations?

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Quick facts about India

• Modern-day India is a multi-cultural country

• an estimated population of about 1 billion people.
• Geographic composition
• comprised of 30% mountains, 27% plateaus, and
43% plains.
• Muslims in India comprise a staggering 200 million
people
• India accounts for 10.9% of the World’s Muslim
population

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Quick facts about India

• The Indian culture comprises a lot

of sing and dance
• The Indian government has
recognized 13 languages that are
used in communication
• Largely spoken languages in India
include:
• Hindi (690 million speakers that
comprise 58% of the entire
population.)
• English (130 million speakers
comprising 11% of the entire
population)

Illustration of the famous Indian Sadh guru 3

Quick facts about India
• . Because of this very high population in India and limited resources,
Indian people are forced to be quite innovative in their trades and
migrate to look for opportunities in other parts of the world.
• Notable Indian CEOs in America’s Silicon tech valley include
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai

Famous Indian tech moguls 4

The Indian community in
Kenya
• Notable businessmen in Kenya with Indian roots
• Manu Chandaria the CEO of Steel and aluminum group Campcraft
• Vimal Sha is the CEO of Bidco East African Leading manufacturer
of Fast-moving consumable goods.
• Mr. Harsh V Soni, chairman of Shreeji Enterprises Limited, a
transport and logistics company with a fleet of over 600 trucks
• Mukhtar Omar, CEO of Roy trans-motors company
• In 2017, the Asian community of Indians was declared as the 44 th
tribe in Kenya. This was celebrated by the launch of Radio 44, an
Indian-based radio station in Kenya

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Video 1

Official gazettement of Indians as a 44 th community of Kenya in 2017. 6

Ancient Great empires of India
• Which came first (?)
• The Indus river valley civilization
• Mauryan Empire (322 to 185 BCE)
• Gupta Empire/Golden Age of India
• Harshvardhan/Pushyabhuti empire
• Decline of the Harshvardhan empire
• Coming and spread of Islam into India

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Indus river valley civilization,
Key findings
• Covered a larger geographical area compared
to Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Indus River valley civilization covers the areas
of modern-day areas of Pakistan’s Punjab
and Sindh provinces, two large cities of
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa developed.
• People interaction spearheaded the growth
of other religions such as Hinduism, Jainism,
Buddhism, Sikhism, and the Charvaka school
of thought.
• Estimated to have a population range of
30,000 people as of 2600 BCE.

Map illustration of the Indus river valley 8

Illustration of Indus river valley civilization

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Indus river valley civilization
Social organization
• Houses construction
• made of either wood bricks or mud bricks. Each contained a courtyard opening from
the front door, kitchen, workgroup, and smaller bedrooms.
• Indus river valley cities had a well-organized sanitation system that connected all the
houses and led the refuse out of the city
• Social cultural life
• The people practiced polytheism.
• Economic life
• The economic occupation of the people of the Indus River valley civilization was
agriculture.
• Fertile silt on the downstream part of the Inus river was used for agriculture

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The Great
Empires of
Ancient India
• Mauryan empire
• Time: 322 BCE to 185 BCE
• rose and flourished under
Chandragupta Maurya.
• Chandragupta Maurya was
the first emperor of the
Mauryan empire
• conquered almost all
Northern and central India.
Illustration depicting Chandragupta Maurya
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Mauryan
empire
• Ashoka the great also ruled over the
Mauryan empire.
• His philosophy saw a continuation of
Chandragupta’s all-expansionist
ideology.
• This second phase by Ashoka the great
saw this expansion of the Mauryan
Empire to the Eastern city-state of
Kalinga. By this time, Ashoka’s success
meant he oversaw three frontiers of
the Indian sub-continent the north of
India, the Central area of India plus
the eastern frontier of Kalinga.

Map illustrating Ashoka’s expansion of the Mauryan empire 12

Mauryan
empire of
Ancient
India

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The decline of the Mauryan empire
Fifty years into the death of Ashoka the Great, the empire crumbled. A
consequence of the crumbling saw the disintegration of all captured
states into independent cities and powerful monarchs.

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Golden age of Ancient India/Gupta Empire
• This empire is estimated to have existed between the 4th and 6th
century A.D. (320 C.E to 550 C.E)
• Rulers
• Chandra Gupta I – First king of the Gupta Empire
• Chandra Gupta II

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Why is the Gupta Empire considered the
golden age of India?
• Peaceful leadership was enjoyed
• Literature flourished
• Examples include poetry works of Mahabharata which is a discussion
of war struggles, life-based philosophical questions, and Indian-based
philosophy of life. Mahabharata is described as the longest poem in
the works of history comprising over 200,000 lines and 1,800,000
words still having modern-day relevance as the bible and works of
philosopher Homer.

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Why is the Gupta Empire considered the
golden age of India?
• Other celebrated artists under the Gupta empire include:
Indian playwrights such as Khalid Assad, Ramayana, and
Panchatantra.
Another example of ancient Indian literature that spread to Greek
civilizations is the story of Aladdin which traces its roots in India
because it was originally written in Sanskrit.

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18
 Further
achievements
and
advancements
in the Gupta
empire

Illustration of Gupta empire’s achievements 19

The Harshvardhan/Vardhan empire
• This proceeded after the collapse of the Gupta empire or the golden
era of ancient India.
• Rulers of the Harshvardhan empire
• Prabhakar Verdun
• Harshavadhana (1st elder son of Prabhakar Verdun)
• RajaVardhana (younger brother to Harshavadhana)

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21
Harsha’s
contribution to
the
Harshavadhan
a dynasty

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 How did the spread of Islam in India start?
• Two theories have been developed trying to explain the spread of Islam
in India.
• Theory 1: (Arab and Indian trade contributed to the spreading of Islam)
• That spread of Islam in India had started long and way before the
beginning of the great empires and Indus river valley civilizations.
• This theory believes that there was not any forceful conquest or fighting
involving bloodshed and loss of life
• it is that Islam spread in India had started long before the dynasties and
was progressing from the 7th century with continued Arab and Indian
trade.
The theory believes that Islam spread in India was the result of continuing Arab and Indian trading activities. 23
How did the Spread of Islam start
• Theory 1: (Arab and Indian trade contributed to the spreading of
Islam)
• Before the coming of Islam, Arab traders would sail to India for trade
activities
• When the Arabs converted to Islam, as they went to trade with
India, they carried their religion with them. Some Arabs preferred to
stay within India and intermarry with the Indians, thus slowly
spreading the religion across India
• This theory believes that, even during the times of the great empires
of Ancient India, Islam had significant popularity in India.
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Theory 2 explaining the spread of Islam
• Theory 2: Islam sultans were guided by an all-expansionist ideology
• This theory tries to continue the first theory
• This one supports the reasoning that the decline of the great empires
was the key factor that made it easier for the Islamic capture of India.
• After the decline of the Harshavadhana empire, all the captured
states began to disintegrate. This meant that the Empire was no
longer unified and under the command of a single emperor or leader.
• Because of this inherent weakness, Mohammed Bin Qassim, took
advantage of

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 Theory 2 explaining the spread of Islam
• Theory 2: Islam sultans were guided by an all-expansionist ideology
• After the decline of the Harshavadhana empire, all the captured states
began to disintegrate. This meant that the Empire was no longer unified
and under the command of a single emperor or leader.
• Because of this inherent weakness, Mohammed Bin Qassim, took
advantage of weakened leadership and successfully captured the state of
the Sindh region, meaning that he was able to expand his influence.
• Success of Mohammed Bin Qassim against smaller emperors such as Raja
of Sindh known as Dahir, meant that he was able to extend Islamic rule

According to this theory, because of the decline of the great empires, India no longer had a structured political system that
would protect the people from an external invader. The final aftermath was the conquest of the independent states. 26
Theory 2 explaining spread of Islam
• Summary
• Decline of the Great Indian empires meant that power is no longer
centralized.
• Because of the decline of the great empire such as the Harshavadhana
empire, the independent states no longer have a single unifying leader.
• This resulted in independent states breaking away and existing separately.
• Because of this break away from the declining original empire, they lack the
numbers and resources to counter or prevent an attack from an outsider.
• Mohammed Bin Qassim exploited this weakness of lack of unity among the
independent existing states.

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Video 2: Spread of Islam in India

Video explaining the Spread of Islam in India 28

Map illustrating Spread of Islam

Islam presence in India is estimated to be as early as the 7th century 29

712 , Battle of Sindh, Raja Dahir of Sindh V Muhammad Bin Qassim 30
Role played by Muhammad Bin Qassim
• Despite the support and approval of much of the population, the Raja of Sindh, Dahir,
opposed the Muslim expansion and mobilized his army against Muhammad bin Qassim.
• In 712, the two armies met, with a decisive victory for the Muslims. With the victory, all
of Sindh came under Muslim control.
• It is important to note, however, that the population of Sindh was not forced to convert to
Islam at all.
• In fact, for almost everyone, there was no change in day-to-day life. Muhammad bin Qassim
promised security and religious freedom to all Hindus and Buddhists under his control.
• For example, the Brahman caste continued their jobs as tax collectors and Buddhist monks
continued to maintain their monasteries.
• Due to his religious tolerance and justice, many cities regularly greeted him and his
armies with people dancing and music.

Muhammad Bin Qassim(Umayyad dynasty) was a key pioneer for the spread of Islam in India. 31
 Importance of studying World Civilizations
• 1. Ancient civilizations serve as the basis of learning and
understanding future histories
• 2. The study of world civilizations may assist in understanding
motives behind human behaviors.
• Example: The code of Hammurabi (Mesopotamia) and Draconian laws
(Greece) applies immediate punishment for wrong-doers to prevent
the people from engaging in crimes.
• Rules in the code of Hammurabi
• If one holds the slaves in his house and they are caught, he shall be put to death,
• If anyone breaks a hole into a house or breaks in to steal, he shall be put to death

The code of Hammurabi comprises very strict laws. . The immediate consequence of wrong was death
punishment 32
Code of Hammurabi

Importance of studying World

Civilizations 33
Importance of studying world civilizations
• 1. The study of world civilization will enable students to understand
the reasons for the many cultural variations in the world.
• Gives answers to questions like why some cultures are time observant
and others not, why some cultures are polychronic, and others
monochronic?
• 2. Historical lessons in ancient civilizations may assist in modern-day
decision-making.

Importance of studying World civilizations

34
What Kenya can learn from World
Civilizations
• 1. Kenya can develop a level of self-sufficiency and financial security
which can emanate from agriculture by leveraging the use of
available natural resources.
• Most ancient civilizations relied on their own natural resources for
economic success.
• Indus river valley developed along the Indus river

What Kenya can learn from World civilizations 35

What Kenya can learn from World
Civilizations
• 2. Positive work ethos
• Shifting from bad work practices such as lateness
• Good work ethos means doing a good job
• Examples of work ethos in ancient civilizations
• Ancient Egyptian pyramids have an accurate base measure of 440
cubits by 440 cubits.
• the great wall of China, which was constructed during the Ming
dynasty covers a staggering 21,196kms.

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 • 3. Architectural trademark
designs and inventions
What Kenya can learn • Key trademarks in the
from World Islamic Indian civilization
Civilizations were the Islam architecture
of houses and domes in the
mosques.
• Kenya could also develop a
unique achievement,
patent invention or
architectural design
• Examples of Inventions in
world civilizations
• Mesopotamia and the
wheel, Pie
• Indians and the zero index

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What Kenya can learn from African
civilizations
• 1. Lessons from the Asante Kingdom
• A west African kingdom (1712 to 1901)
• The kingdom’s power rose as a result of forming alliances with neighboring
people.
• Legend of the golden stool was used to legitimize the emperor’s rule.
• Sources of unity were the golden stool, the king, and the Odwira festival
used to honor the dead and settle disputes.
• FINAL LESSON: Kenya can form trade and political alliances with its
neighboring countries to encourage political stability, peaceful existence,
and economic growth of the East African Community’s countries.

Lessons from the Asante Kingdom 38

 What Kenya can learn from African civilizations
• 2. Lessons from the Buganda Kingdom
• Head of the Kingdom – Kabaka
• Head of the Army – Muyasi
• Lessons
• A centralized government contributed
to the success of the Buganda
kingdom
• Government collaboration
• From the Buganda kingdom, Kenya
can learn how to organize a
government. It can also ensure that all
government people are conversant
with their roles.

Lessons from the Buganda Kingdom 39

What Kenya can learn from African civilizations
• 3. Lessons from the Mandinka Empire
• Leader- Samouri Touré
• Properly understood handling of fire-arms
• He was able to mobilize an army against the
French invasion of West Africa. The army
was trained sufficiently in the handling of
firearms.
• Lessons
• Raise a Patriotic leadership that encourages
unity and resistance against a common
enemy. (If communities such as Maasai and
Wanga had patriotic leaders, they would
remain intact and not be exploited by the
colonialists after their leader’s
collaboration. )

Lessons from the Mandinka empire 40

 What Kenya can learn from African civilizations?
• 4. Lessons from Egyptian civilizations
• Hieroglyphics form of writing was
able to store Egyptian history for
many generations.
• Egyptian writing and literature have
been preserved thanks to their own
style of writing.
• Kenya is disadvantaged because
much of history was not recorded in
writing but by word of mouth.
• Lesson
• Kenya should always record its key
landmark events.
Lessons from African civilizations 41
END
Questions?

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