Ancient India 2300BC to 500AD

Harappan Civilization

2300 BCE

The Harappa's lived in the Indus River Valley. They came up with India's first known writing system. No one knows how their civilization ended maybe invaders or natural causes.

Snaskrit

1500 BCE

Sanskrit was the most important language of ancient India. It was the only language they used at first. Sanskrit records tell us a lot of important information about the Aryans.

Brahmanism

1500 BCE

Religion was important to the Aryans. Their religion was based on four Vedas that had sacred texts inside. The Vedas had religious rituals, secret rituals that certain people could do, and told how to do sacrifices.

Hinduism Develops

1250 BCE

People from central Asia brought religious ideas to India that made Hinduism. It is the largest religion in India today. They believed the souls are born and reborn many times in a new body every time. If you are reborn from good karma you would be in a high level on the caste system, if your reborn with bad karma you are on a lower caste level.

Aryan Invation

1200 BCE

The Aryans where skilled warriors. They took control of the entire Indus valley to the Ganges river valley. We learned a lot about Aryan society from the Vedas.

Mahabharata and Ramayana

1000 BCE

Mahabharata is one of the worlds longest sacred text. Its about two familes that struggles to take control over a kingdom. Ramayana was written before Mahabharata. It is about a prince named Rama. He was the ideal prince cause he rescued his wife Sita. He was the deity Vishnu in human form.

Siddhartha and Buddism

520 BCE

Siddhartha was a prince who grew up in luxury. He was unhappy and felt like something was missing in his life. He started fasting and meditating. After seven weeks of deep meditation he figured out that humans suffer from, wanting to much. He was known as the Buddha

Jains React to Hinduism

500 BCE

Jainism was based on teachings by a man named Mahavirar. The Jains tried to live by four rules, injure no life, tell the truth, do not steal, own no property. They did not believe in violence.

Hindu-Arabic numerals

400 BCE

The Gupta scholars made up elements of our modern math system. The numbers we use now are called Hindu-Arabic numerals. They were created by Indian scholars and brought to Europe by Arabs.

Mauryan Empire

320 BCE

Chandragupta Maurya took control on the entire northern part of India. He ruled is empire with the help of a government. He had spies, an army, war elephants, and chariots. Chandragupta decided to become a Jainist monk. He passed his throne to his son Asoka. Asoka became the strongest ruler of all Mauryan emperors. He watched armies fight the bloodiest battles an took over most of India. He decided to convert to Buddhism and never started war agan.

Gupta Society (Rulers promote Hinduism)

300 BCE

The first Gupta emperor was Chandragupta l. He was Hindu so Hinduism became India's major religion. The Gupta king built Hindu temples. The Gupta kings believed the social ordr of te Hindu caste system would make them stronger. The of women was to marry and have children, all marrages were arragned by parents.

A Split Within Buddhism

251 BCE

When Buddhism spread to Asia it started to change. The Buddist could not agree on their belifs and practices. They had to split the religion in two major branches. Theravada tried to follow the Buddha's exact teachings of how they are suppose to be.

Buddhism Spreads

200 BCE

The Buddha spread Buddhism through all of India. After Siddharta died, one of the most powerful kings Asoka became Buddhist. He sent missonaires all over Asia to sread the religion.

Ajanta (Buddhist Temple)

100 BCE

The mst famous temple is at Ajanta. It was like a cave with paintings ndsculptures on the walls. They are covered with carvings of he gods that they worshipped.

Inoculation

100 BCE

Ancient Indians were skilled in medical science They made medicine from plants and minerals. They can pertect people against diseases. They injected a person with a small dose of a virus to help them build a defense to the disease which is called inoculation.