Location of ancient india. Mauryan Empire: from formation to death (Ancient India) Which empire was most famous in ancient India
1. What was the most famous empire in Ancient India?
A. The Mauryan Empire. B. Empire of Justinian. C. The Empire of Alexander the Great.
D. Empire of Hammurabi.
punishment with imprisonment. D. Such person shall be put to death
6. The usurer Tarba entered into an agreement with 12-year-old Sagga to sell him
an expensive bracelet given to her by her parents. Saggi's parents demanded
return of the bracelet, but the pawnbroker refused. How is this dispute resolved?
according to the laws of Manu?
A. Parents do not have the right to claim back the item sold. Q. Parents have the right to redeem the bracelet.
C. Parents can demand the return of the bracelet only if Sagta entered into a contract without their consent. D. The contract is void, the bracelet must be returned.
7. On what was the content of the Laws of Manu based.
A. On the laws of kings. B. On custom. C. On moral standards. D. On records of judgments.
8. A thief who steals at night, according to the Laws of Manu, must be:
A. Make amends and be subjected to corporal punishment. V. Executed. C. The degree of punishment is determined by its origin. D. Pay a fine and repair the damage caused.
9. According to what principle was the society divided in Ancient India?
A. According to the administrative-territorial principle. B. According to the principle of dividing society into slaves and slave owners C. According to the caste principle.
10. The responsibility that the brahmins bore for killing:
A. They carried repentance. B. They paid fines. S. They were sentenced to death.
11. The rite of "sati" meant:
A. The act of self-immolation of a widow. B. Divorce procedure. C. The coming of age of a Brahmin.
12. "Once-born" according to the Laws of Manu were recognized:
A. Vaishii. V. Sudras. S. Kshatriyas.
13. Not included in the varnas of Ancient India:
A. Brahmins. V. Chandala. V. Kshatriyas.
14. Which varnas were "twice-born":
A. Brahmins. V. Sudras. S. Kshatriyas. D. Vaishya.
15. Varnas and castes were they one and the same?
A. Yes. B. No.
16. Who participated in the government of the state:
A. Raja. V. Areopagus. S. Parishad. D. Galea.
17. What extenuating circumstances are highlighted in the Laws of Manu:
A. Break in the wall of the house. B. Night theft. C. The child committed theft. D. Extra large size.
C. A state of mental confusion.
18. Did the wife have the right to divorce:
A. Yes. B. No.
19. What punishment were the Brahmins subjected to:
A. The death penalty, but it can pay off. B. Fine. C. Hound dogs in a crowded square.
D. Shameful punishments.
20. What were the ancient Indian legal collections called:
A. Code of Laws. B. Ancient Indian Truths. S. Dharmashastra.
21. Make a comparative table on the Laws of Hammurabi and the Laws of Manu, comparing one of the proposed bases:
A) the institution of property: (methods of acquiring property rights, forms of ownership, restriction of the use of property, ways of losing property rights, ways of protecting property rights);
B) the institution of obligation: (the concept of obligation and contract, the conditions for the validity of the contract, the role of the state in contractual relations, types of contracts, termination of contracts);
C) marriage and family: (marriage features, conditions of marriage, rights and obligations of spouses, conditions for dissolution of marriage, legal status of children, inheritance of property);
D) crime and punishment: (concept of crime, classification of crimes, goals and types of punishments);
E) court and litigation: (judicial institutions, grounds for initiating a process, type of process, rights of the parties, evidence, appeals against decisions).
SAMPLE TABLE FOR GROUND "A": INSTITUTION OF PROPERTY.
| Laws of Hammurabi | Laws of Manu |
|
| Ways to Acquire Ownership | ||
| Forms of ownership | ||
| Property Use Restriction | ||
| Methods of loss of ownership | ||
| Ways to protect property rights | ||
The period of the second half of the 1st millennium BC. in the history of India is important in many respects.
The most notable event in the political field was the formation of states of an all-India character, and in the field of ideology, the formation of Buddhism. These events were based on shifts in the sphere of material production and social relations that were not so noticeable at first glance.
Finding them out is the most difficult task for the historian, since none of the ancient civilizations of equal importance has left behind such meager sources for study.
For the period under consideration, however, epigraphic and numismatic data appear (both, however, are not numerous), evidence of ancient writers. But the huge religious and semi-religious literature contains very little historical data and is still often dated very roughly; there are no historical chronicles, political and economic documents of the palace and private archives, exactly dated monuments of the current legislation, etc. These unfavorable conditions for ancient Indian historiography must always be kept in mind.
By the middle of the 1st millennium BC. the mobility of the population - a consequence of the development of the Ganges valley - stops and is replaced by a state of relative stability. At that time, there were several dozen small and up to 16 larger states in Northern India. In the struggle for dominance, Koshala (in the modern state of Uttar Pradesh) with its capital first in Ayodhya and then in Shravasti, and Magadha (in the southern part of the modern state of Bihar) with its capital first in Rajagriha (modern Rajgir), then in Pataliputra (now Patna). Between them, in the main, a struggle for political hegemony unfolded. At the beginning of the 5th century BC. under the Magadhian king Ajatashatru, it ended with the victory of Magadha, which gradually intensified more and more and in the 4th century. BC. which became the core of the Nanda empire, uniting all the states of the Ganges valley and, possibly, part of South India into one political entity.
Information about the Nanda empire is not only scarce, but also inconsistent. And yet it is probably the most interesting phenomenon in ancient Indian history. All later sources with rare unanimity speak of the dynasty that reigned in it with hatred and contempt, rank it among the Shudras (i.e., representatives of the “lowest” social stratum), and its founder, Ugrasena Nanda, is called the son of a barber. Around 345 BC he overthrew the king of Magadha and reigned himself. Such an extraordinary event, given the socio-psychological atmosphere that existed at that time, could not remain a simple episode of the court chronicle, and Ugrasena met with strong opposition in the circles of the ruling nobility; this is evident from the fact that he is remembered as an ardent enemy and destroyer of the kshatriyas (well-born nobility). At the same time, it is clear that Ugrasena had to not only possess the outstanding qualities of a statesman, but also rely on some social strata opposed to the ruling nobility, otherwise he would not have been able to hold out for a long time. And he not only held out, but also subdued by military means a huge territory in the Ganges valley, created a state that they did not dare to attack in 327 BC. even the troops of Alexander the Great, who had previously marched victoriously throughout the Near and Middle East. But we do not have any data that would allow us to present a picture of the events that took place and judge their social character.
North-Western India during the VI - IV centuries. BC. consisted of a large number of small states. Territories west of the Indus at the end of the 6th century. BC. became part of the Achaemenid Empire. It is possible that the power of the Persian kings also extended to some territories east of the Indus, but how far inland it is impossible to even approximately indicate.
Alexander the Great after the destruction of the Achaemenid Empire and the falling away of the former Indian satrapies of this empire in 327 BC. invaded the interior of the country. Some of the states located here submitted voluntarily, while others put up fierce resistance. It is well known how difficult it was for Alexander, for example, his victory over one of the Punjabi kings - Poroy. Discouraged by this resistance and the difficulties of the campaign, Alexander's soldiers refused to follow him when he set out to attack the Nanda empire, about the power of which the Greco-Macedonians had heard a lot; they knew that on the left bank of the Ganges an army of 200,000 infantry, 80,000 horsemen, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 elephants was waiting for them, that is, more than ten times the army of Por.
In 325 BC Alexander left India, leaving subordinate rulers and Greek-Macedonian garrisons in the conquered part of the country.
Muary Empire.
The stay of the invaders on Indian soil turned out to be short-lived: already in 317 BC. their last detachment left the country. The reason for this was both the wars between the commanders of Alexander after his death, and the struggle of the Indians against foreign conquerors.
This struggle was led by Chandragupta Maurya. According to some sources, he was from the Shudras, but most sources indicate that he came from a well-born Kshatriya. In his youth, Chandragupta served the Nandas, but quarreled with the king and was forced to flee to the north-west of the country. Here he joined Alexander, persuaded him to invade the Ganges valley and promised easy success, since the king was of low birth and his subjects would not support him. But the attempt to deal with the enemy by proxy failed, since Alexander did not dare to continue the campaign further east.
After the death of Alexander and the ensuing confusion in his empire, Chandragupta succeeded in expelling the Greek Macedonians from the country and fortified himself in the northwest so that he could resume the fight against the Pandas. This time it was successful: Ugrasena's then-reigning son Dhana Nanda was around 317 BC. overthrown, and Chandragupta became king of Pataliputra. At all stages of Chandragupta's turbulent career, his faithful companion and adviser was the brahmin Chanakya, an ardent enemy of the Nandas. Chanakya was remembered in the legends as a cunning politician, therefore he (under the name Kautilya) was credited with compiling the famous work “Arthashastra” - “The Science of Politics”.
Despite the fact that many legends have been preserved about Chandragupta, only one fact of his 24-year reign is known for certain. Around 305 BC there was a military clash between him and Seleucus I Nicator, who invaded India. Apparently, the advantage remained on the side of Chandragupta, since Seleucus, in exchange for 500 elephants, was forced to cede to the enemy significant territories of modern Afghanistan and Iran; Chandragupta also received a daughter, Seleucus, as his wife. After that, the ambassador of Megasthea arrived at the court of Chaidragupta from Seleucus, leaving a description of India, which has not come down to us, but is well known from extensive quotations in the writings of other ancient writers.
After the 25-year reign of Chandragupta's son Bindusara (293-268 BC), about which almost nothing is known, his son Ashoka (268 BC) reigned, during which the Mauryan Empire reached its greatest prosperity. .
The Mauryan Empire in the reign of Ashoka covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent, with the exception of the extreme south of the Deccan, as well as significant territories to the west of India. This empire was apparently created mainly by the military labors of his father and grandfather, since from the reign of Ashoka himself, only the conquest of Kalinga (modern Orissa) in the eighth year of the reign is known. The main task facing him was not the further expansion of the already huge empire, but its internal strengthening, rallying into a single whole a large number of peoples, differing in language, culture and level of social and economic development.
The most pressing was the need to organize management. The whole empire was divided into five main areas - pastoralities, usually ruled by members of the royal house: Magadha with the Ganges valley, which was under direct control from Pataliputra, the northwest with the center in the city of Taxila, the west (the city of Ujiyani), Kalinga (the city of Karelia). Tosali) and south (Suvariagiri). The governorships were divided into smaller administrative units. The king himself and the highest dignitaries systematically traveled around the provinces for inspection purposes.
It was essential to create the ideological foundation of the empire. Many tribal religions existed on its territory, which created numerous social and cultural barriers between the government and subjects and between the subjects themselves.
What was needed was a religion more in line with the new social and political conditions, capable of becoming one for the diverse population of a vast country. Buddhism was the best for this. Ashoka, whose religious policy is well known to us thanks to the numerous inscriptions he left on the columns and rocks, managed to cordon him off. He himself adopted Buddhism and with state support, generous gifts to the Buddhist community and the construction of places of worship contributed to its spread. The state for the first time under Ashoka began to establish control over the spiritual life of its subjects.
The state and religious policy of Ashoka met with constant resistance from local separatists and the Brahmin priesthood. The situation has become especially acute in last years the life of Ashoka; it is even possible that he was removed from actual power. After his death (231 BC), the weakening and disintegration of the empire began, accelerated by attacks from the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Around 180 BC the last representative of the Mauryan dynasty was overthrown and killed by his commander Pushyamitra, who founded the new dynasty of Shupgas. At that time, the power of the kings of Magadha apparently extended only to the Ganges valley and to the lands immediately adjacent to it from the south.
The Shupgi state had to repeatedly and not always successfully fight the Greco-Bactrians and the Indian states in the west, headed by the Greek dynashes.
In 68 BC in Magadha, another change of dynasty took place: the Kanvas came to power, about whose 45-year reign almost nothing is known.
The formation and one and a half century existence of the first all-Indian state of the Mauryans was of great importance. It was achieved (albeit by force) the political unification of the most diverse in ethnicity, language, level of development, nature of production and forms of culture of nationalities and tribes. This contributed to the general economic development, the rapprochement of the constituent parts of the empire, the exchange of cultural achievements.
India all this time was not subjected to enemy invasions. Foreign trade and political relations were established with the countries of the Mediterranean.
South India.
Until the beginning of our era, South India (the peninsular part of the country) lagged noticeably behind the North. This was a consequence of less favorable conditions for farming and for internal communications, greater remoteness from other centers of ancient civilizations. In the last centuries BC, the situation began to change.
The spread of iron tools allowed the local population to overcome difficulties in developing new lands, mining, developing marine industries and establishing maritime links with other countries (Africa, Ceylon, Southeast Asia). The stay of most of South India as part of the Mauryan Empire also contributed to the assimilation of the advanced North Indian experience by the local population.
Already in the Mauryan period, it is known about the existence in the extreme south of several states (Kerala, Chola, Pandya), which defended their independence, which testified to their sufficient maturity.
After the collapse of the empire, in the territories that previously belonged to it in South India, independent states also formed, some so strong that they themselves made conquest campaigns in Northern India (Kalinga, the state of the Satavahans).
Economy and social relations.
The period under review was marked by progress in all areas of the economy. In agriculture, the development of new lands, the development of artificial irrigation, and the expansion of the range of cultivated crops took place. It is known about the existence of large farms - the king, the nobility and the rich - many hundreds of hectares, with thousands of cattle, with a large number of forced laborers. The main task of animal husbandry is the rearing of draft animals.
Forest and sea industries remain the lot of the backward outlying tribes. From this period we already have some data to judge the forms of landed property. According to the levels of development of individual societies, these forms were not the same - from primitive collective to fully developed private ownership. But even in the most advanced societies, where there was not only the possession and use of land, but also all the main forms of alienation of land (donation, sale, inheritance), the state retained the right of ownership of uncultivated land, minerals and treasures, and the community - pastures and wastelands. In addition, both the state and the community retained the right to control all land transactions.
The most important evidence technical progress is the development of the craft. There is a lot of information about the high level of development of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, blacksmithing, weapons and jewelry, cotton weaving, wood, stone and bone carving, pottery, perfumery, etc. In each village there were several artisans who satisfied the modest needs of fellow villagers in industrial products , but the main centers of concentration of craft, especially in the production of complex and high-quality products and luxury goods, were cities. Here, artisans settled according to their specialties and had their own unions - shreni, who represented before the authorities and protected artisans from arbitrariness. Many large workshops, in which both forced laborers and hired workers were employed, belonged to the tsar (shipyards, spinning, weapons, jewelry).
The development of material production and its specialization led to an increase in trade. There was also a natural regional specialization: Magadha was famous for its rice and metals, the north-west of the country - barley and horses, the south - precious stones, pearls and spices, the west - cotton and cotton fabrics; Some cities outside this area - Varanasi, Mathura, etc. - also distinguished themselves by cotton weaving. Merchants were rich and respected people; like artisans, they united in shreni.
The state received considerable income from trade and therefore contributed to it by maintaining order in the market, controlling measures and trade transactions, and laying roads. The sovereigns themselves were big merchants, and the trade in some goods was their monopoly. Trade continued to expand with the countries of Southeast Asia, Arabia, and Iran.
The development of trade led to the expansion of monetary circulation. This is indicated by the finds of treasures, sometimes containing thousands of coins.
The most common currency was the pan, which varied greatly in weight and composition in different states and at different times.
In the north-west of the country, foreign coins were also in circulation - Persian, Greek, Greco-Bactrian.
There is a lot of data on usury. The minimum debt growth was 15% per year, while the lower the debtor's Varna was, the higher the interest could be taken, up to 60% from the sudra. But even this figure could increase significantly if a loan was given in kind, and not in money, if it was not secured by collateral, and so on. Debt enslavement could entail partial or complete deprivation of the debtor's freedom.
From the time of the decline of the Indian civilization to the middle of the 1st millennium BC. we do not know of a single city that even remotely resembles Mohenjo-Daro or Harappa. But since that time, a new flowering of cities begins. Ancient collectors were surprised at the huge number of cities in India, sometimes citing implausible numbers. Many cities grew out of villages, especially conveniently located in terms of communications, security, and the availability of natural resources (water, ores, pottery clay, wood, etc.). Others were founded by the state and were originally strongholds, fortresses, administrative centers.
Many of these cities still exist, sometimes under other or heavily changed names - Indraprastha (modern Delhi), Pataliputra (Patna), Shakala (Sialkot), Purushapura (Peshawar), and sometimes under the same or only slightly changed - Varanasi, Kaushambi, Nasik, Mathura and others. Among them were very large ones. So, judging by what the Greeks tell about the capital of Magadha, Patalinutra, its area should have been 25-30 square meters. km and, therefore, the population could reach up to 1 million people. The organizational structure of cities and the possible degree of their autonomy have not been clarified.
As in any other country, slavery in ancient India had its own characteristics, but its fundamental provisions were also characteristic of India. The Indian dasa was a slave in the most precise sense of the word: he was someone else's property, had no right to the results of his labor, the owner could execute him at his own discretion; slaves, like any other movable property, were sold, bought, inherited, given, lost, mortgaged. From cattle, as "four-legged", slaves differed only as "two-legged". The owner had an unconditional right to the offspring of the slave, regardless of who was the actual father. A variety of life circumstances made adjustments to these basic provisions: sometimes slaves were involved as witnesses in court, they were often allowed to accumulate material resources necessary to pay a ransom, the position of slaves varied significantly depending on the circumstances of enslavement, etc. But all this took place in other countries. Most important feature ancient Indian slavery there were differences in the position of slaves and in the conditions of their liberation, which depended on their class-caste position before they lost their freedom.
The most abundant and constant source of slaves was, apparently, natural reproduction, i.e. the birth of slaves by female slaves. Such slaves were also the most convenient, since from childhood they got used to the slave share.
The enslavement of prisoners of war and camp servants captured by the victor, the capture of enemy slaves, and sometimes civilians, took place throughout the entire period of antiquity. Enslavement for debts, the sale and gift of oneself or the sale and gift of children and other free relatives became commonplace. They were also enslaved for certain crimes.
There were facts of abduction of people with the aim of enslavement, losing oneself to the free.
Slave labor was used in various fields economy to an unequal degree. This depended on the specifics of production, on the number of slaves, on the strength of the state apparatus and its punitive organs, and much more. As a rule, the owners tried to use the labor of slaves in such jobs that provided permanent employment, ease of control, as well as those for which it was difficult to find free workers (especially difficult and dangerous work, ritually unclean, etc.). These conditions were most satisfied with work at home - threshing, cleaning grain and cotton, making flour, delivering water, caring for livestock, spinning, weaving, weaving, etc. For the same reason, the labor of slaves in the field was used in small farms less often than in large ones; in the latter, when listing the employed workers, slaves are invariably named first.
The performance of the duties of a domestic servant was also considered specific slave labor. Almost every even not very wealthy family had slave servants, and the houses of the rich were teeming with them - harem servants, palanquin carriers, messengers, gatekeepers, watchmen, cleaners, etc. The possession of such servants was considered necessary from the point of view of social prestige.
The existence of slave-owning relations did not exclude the existence of other forms of exploitation (lease relations, usurious bondage, hired labor in its form specific to antiquity), as well as public relations not based on exploitation at all. All of them experienced the influence of slavery, which ensured the maximum dependence of the exploited on the exploiter, necessary at that level of development of the productive forces. All relations in society were determined by the presence of slavery, by the fact that the exploitation of man by man in its most primitive and predatory form was established.
A person's personality became a commodity, even the younger members of the family were the object of commercial transactions. Accordingly, statehood changed due to the strengthening of punitive functions, ideology - due to the consecration of the power of the exploiters.
Slaves and slave owners were the two poles that determined social structure ancient Indian society. Between them were located, gravitating towards one or the other, the rest of the social strata. Thus, workers who lost their economic independence or civil rights and were forced to work for others inevitably formed intermediate social strata, in one way or another adjoining the class of slaves.
Every slave-owning economy strove to have as many slaves as it could use constantly. But the need for labor often changed (especially in agriculture from season to season), so the slave owners were interested in the presence in society of some kind of permanent reserves of cheap labor that could be used when it was needed and released. when it's not needed. Accordingly, it was possible to support such workers only during the period of work, and when they are not busy, they would have to take care of themselves.
In ancient India, such workers were called karmakars. They included everyone who was hired for a certain period - farm laborers, day laborers, itinerant artisans, even artists and doctors. Some household servants (not slaves) were also considered karmakars. Along with slaves, karmakars were widely used both in royal households (agricultural and handicraft), and in private - both large and small.
The Karmakars were not slaves, since they worked by agreement for a certain period of time and were paid according to the preliminary agreement. However, their work for others was not only a consequence of their good will, and even not only the result of poverty, but also non-economic coercion, primarily class-economic regulation, which predetermined that they were obliged to work for others in accordance with their social status and could not claim more. Therefore, despite some outward resemblance to the proletarians of capitalist society, they cannot be considered free sellers of their labor power.
The actual relations between employers and karmakars were ultimately determined by the leading form of exploitation - slaveholding. Because slavery was ancient era the most complete and effective form of exploitation of dependence, the masters sought to at least partially equate employees with slaves.
Both of them seemed to employers as a total mass of dependent people, only they bought some for a term, and others forever. At work and in everyday life, they were often not separated from each other, and karmakars were considered almost the same property of the owner as slaves. Just like slaves, karmakars during the period of the agreement could be subjected to physical punishment up to mutilation.
Separate groups of Karmakars were very different from each other. Some (for example, working off a debt, permanent laborers) were closer in their actual position to slaves, others (apprentices, wandering artisans, short-term mercenaries) - further, but it can be said about all that if they have not yet become slaves, then they are completely free. also cannot be counted. The social structure was greatly complicated by the presence of traditional forms of dependence (patronage, older and younger in the clan, indigenous and alien population), which are still little studied.
Characteristic of the social system of India was the existence throughout the entire period of antiquity of a numerous stratum of the communal peasantry. This was a layer of free workers who were not exploited, since they possessed all the basic means of production.
In the most developed parts of India, arable land was private property, although the community controlled its use and disposal. Management was carried out, as a rule, by the forces of one family, however, with the then level of technical equipment and in specific natural conditions In India, these families needed to constantly maintain production ties.
Fighting floods and droughts, clearing arable land, protecting people and crops, building roads - all this required a collective effort.
The peculiarity of the community as a production team was that it also included some non-farmers who served the general and private needs of the community members - potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, scavengers, watchmen, etc. This made the community an independent economic organism, little affected by .
At the same time, it was an autonomous civil organization with its own village gathering, headman, scribe, priest-astrologer, who led the communal cult. Most of the court cases that arose in the community were resolved by arbitration - a meeting of community members or a headman; only the most serious crimes were tried in the royal court. The state used the communal administration as the lowest link in the tax apparatus, entrusting it with the collection of taxes. Villages were often fortified: they were surrounded by a strong fence, and the community members were always ready to repel the attacks of robbers and marauders.
The communities had little to do with political life of his state. The isolation of the community and the political difference between town and country are also noted by the Greek Megasthenes (reported by Strabo): “The farmers are exempted from military service, their work is not disturbed by anything; they do not go to the city, they do not do any other business, they do not carry out any public duties.
A closed and stable community had a retarding effect on the development of society; remnants of communal ownership of land delayed the formation of private land ownership, property and social differentiation. Being an autonomous social organism, the community prevented the growth of the inter-district division of labor, commodity production and trade. A dense network of customs and traditions entangled the worker, causing inertia and technical stagnation.
The community, for all its strength, was not immutable. It was influenced by slavery, class-caste division, private property aspirations, slave-owning ideology. In different parts of the country, this impact was not the same. In the most developed states, the community itself began to act as a collective exploiter in relation to its slaves and servants and turned into a collective of small slave owners.
Although the ruling classes and the state strove to maintain the system of varnas in an unchanged state, varnas changed and adapted to new conditions. The basic principles have been preserved: the presence of four varnas, the inequality of their rights and duties, belonging to varnas by birth, the existence of important restrictions in communication between them. However, over time, the actual position and especially wealth becomes more and more important for assessing the social significance of a person.
This is especially noticeable in the frequent departure from traditional activities. The performance of priestly duties remains decisive for a Brahmin, but now Brahmins are farmers, shepherds, artisans, healers, healers and even servants. Only the Brahmin priests remained exempt from taxes, the rest paid them. Other ancient privileges (exemption from the death penalty and corporal punishment, bondage for debts) also extended to non-priest Brahmins to a lesser extent, and they eventually lost their Brahmin status.
In India, there were no temples and temple farms, there was no organization of brahmins even on a local scale. Consequently, there were no economic and political prerequisites for their supremacy in ancient Indian society, although the varna of the Brahmins was considered the highest. But the Brahmins, as ideologists of the ruling class, keepers and interpreters of ancient traditions, performers of cult actions, continued to occupy an important place.
The Kshatriyas were considered the second Varna due to their spiritual purity, but the military, political and economic power was in their hands. Yet here, too, changes can be found. Many Kshatriya families weakened, and their members became harem guards, bodyguards of nobles, and some traders and artisans. The well-born nobility is often pushed aside by the servants. This is especially evident in the example of the emergence of royal dynasties from other varnas, such as the Shudryan Nandas and the Brahmin Kanvas.
The stratification process also affected the cooking of vaishyas. Wealthy Vaishyas (especially from merchants) occupy places in the state apparatus as trade agents of the king, tax collectors, employees in the royal economy and treasury, etc. Such vaishyas made their way to the top of the slave society; the majority of them, as engaged in manual labor and constituting the main tax-paying estate, were getting closer and closer to the Shudras, whose social status was gradually rising.
The Sudras did not achieve equality. For them, there were restrictions in the choice of profession and place of residence, more severe punishments by the court, they were subjected to restrictions in religious rituals. And yet, although the authors of legal treatises did their best to emphasize the humiliation of the Shudras, their actual position changed, primarily because they constituted the main productive population of the growing cities. There are many examples of wealthy sudras hiring servants from twice-born and even brahmins. If even royal dynasties from the Shudras appear, then the more often there should have been facts of occupation by Shudras and a less noticeable, although previously unthinkable social position.
It is not for nothing that in many versions of the myth “About the Four Ages” it is bitterly stated (however, with the clear intention of exaggerating) that in the last sinful age of Kali, the Shudras become the main ones.
Culture.
Significant changes have taken place in the field of ideology. Since the death of the Buddha at the beginning of the 5th c. BC. Buddhism has undergone significant changes. According to legend, the first Buddhist council took place during the life of the Buddha's disciples, and the charter of the monastic community (sangha) and the canon were formulated, taught in the form of Buddha's conversations, but it is not clear whether the charter and canon were already written down or only memorized. In any case, oral interpretations retained their significance for a very long time. The most ancient and most complete of the several existing Buddhist canons, revered by the most orthodox southern current, Theravada, was written down only in the 1st century BC. BC e., and no longer in the native ancient Indian dialect of Siddhartha Gautama himself, but in a later Pali language. Excerpts from another canon or canons have been preserved - in the Sanskrit original, and more often in translation into Tibetan, Chinese and other languages.
At the beginning of the IV century. BC. there has been a discrepancy between more orthodox, conservative philosophical Buddhism and openly religious movements, where the Buddha appeared already in the form of a deity, and not only the historical Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, but the mythical, supposed Buddhas of previous eras, each of which could be addressed with prayers for help . Both currents convened separate councils, and there were many "unorganized" oral interpreters of the doctrine.
Along with the Buddhist, there were other creeds that promised a path to salvation. Some, such as the teachings of Devadatta, broke away from primary Buddhism, others existed independently and perhaps earlier than Buddhism, such as Jainism. The Jains rejected the teaching of the Buddhists about the eternal variability of being and considered matter to be immutable, but, dividing it into “living” (where, in addition to organic life, they included fire, air, etc.) and “non-living”, like the Buddhists, they preached ahinsu - the prohibition to kill alive. One group of Jains, in their extreme asceticism, even rejected clothing; it is possible that even earlier than the time of Alexander the Greeks heard about her, who told about the “wise men” (gymposophists) of India, who were different from the Brahmins. There were also other teachings along with the traditional cults of the Vedic religion.
It was Buddhism, which actively denied ethnic, class and tribal differences, that turned out to be the most acceptable ideological basis for the empire, which destroyed traditional partitions with its existence. Along with the poor and outcasts to Buddhism since the 5th century. BC. the rich and the higher nobility began to adjoin.
The monastic communities received from them significant land and money donations (and at Buddhist councils, the acceptance of alms in gold was vainly proclaimed a sin). By the time the Mauryan empire was established, Buddhism already had many adherents. Ashoka himself adopted Buddhism (apparently in a more orthodox, "southern" form) and contributed to its spread in every possible way. Under him, the wanderings of Buddhist preachers outside the realm of the Mauryas begin. An important cultural achievement of the period under review was the widespread dissemination of literacy, especially among the townspeople.
Accurately dated written monuments date back to the 3rd century BC. BC, but it is so perfect that it assumes several centuries of preliminary development. Attempts to connect this letter with the writing of Harappa failed: apparently, it arose quite independently. At the same time, written literature appeared in different languages. Some religious texts are recorded (for example, the “Buddhist Canon”), collections of rules of everyday life and customary law (dharmasutra), which became the beginnings of legal literature, collections of instructions in politics, in particular, the main parts from the “Arthashastra” that has come down to us. As a result of the great importance that this literature (especially religious) acquired, linguistics developed. The works of the ancient Indian grammarians Panini (V-IV centuries BC) and Patanjali (II century BC) in their scientific level represent such a high achievement that scientists in no other country of the ancient world could approach .
The emergence of theater and dramaturgy can also be attributed to this time. It is known about the existence of professional singers, musicians, dancers, actors, organized into permanent troupes.
From the descriptions of the Greeks, we know about the existence of majestic buildings during the Mauryan period.
But the main building material there was a tree in the Ganges valley, and therefore few architectural monuments of this period have survived (only stone buildings have survived). Such are the buildings of the early period of the city of Taxila, the oldest cave temples (1st century BC) in different parts of the country, etc. Varanasi with the image of four lions, is the emblem of the Indian Republic), the carved fence around the Great Stupa in the city of Sanchi, etc. testify to the technical and sculptural skill of ancient Indian sculptors. In connection with the development of Buddhism, the construction of stupas began - memorial structures of a barrow nature, intended for storing Buddhist shrines.
1. What was the most famous empire in Ancient India?
A. The Mauryan Empire. B. Empire of Justinian. C. The Empire of Alexander the Great.
D. Empire of Hammurabi.
2. “Which of the laws ancient world given the right to divorce if the wife
does not give birth to children in the eighth year; if she gives birth to children dead - on the tenth,
if she gives birth only to girls - on the eleventh, if she is obstinate - immediately "
A. Laws of the XII tables. B. The Constitution of Gaia C. Laws of Manu. D. Laws of Hammurabi.
3. Vaishyas, having scolded a Brahmin, are subject to the laws of Manu.
A. Corporal punishment. B. Death penalty. C. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares).
D. Penalty of one hundred (shares)
4. Kshatriyas, having scolded a brahmana, are subject to. Laws of Manu.
A. A fine of two and a half hundred (shares). B. Death penalty. C. Corporal punishment.
D. A fine of one hundred (shares).
5. Protecting a woman from attack, the guard of the sacrificial gifts killed
attacker. What punishment should he be subjected to according to the laws
Manu?
A. Such a person shall pay a fine to the king. C. Such a person commits no sin and is not subject to punishment.
C. Such a person commits a grave sin and should be subjected to severe
punishment with imprisonment. D. Such person shall be put to death
6. The usurer Tarba entered into an agreement with 12-year-old Sagga to sell him
an expensive bracelet given to her by her parents. Saggi's parents demanded
return of the bracelet, but the pawnbroker refused. How is this dispute resolved?
according to the laws of Manu?
A. Parents do not have the right to claim back the item sold. Q. Parents have the right to redeem the bracelet.
C. Parents can demand the return of the bracelet only if Sagta entered into a contract without their consent. D. The contract is void, the bracelet must be returned.
7. On what was the content of the Laws of Manu based.
A. On the laws of kings. B. On custom. C. On moral standards. D. On records of judgments.
8. A thief who steals at night, according to the Laws of Manu, must be:
A. Make amends and be subjected to corporal punishment. V. Executed. C. The degree of punishment is determined by its origin. D. Pay a fine and repair the damage caused.
9. According to what principle was the society divided in Ancient India?
A. According to the administrative-territorial principle. B. According to the principle of dividing society into slaves and slave owners C. According to the caste principle.
10. The responsibility that the brahmins bore for killing:
A. They carried repentance. B. They paid fines. S. They were sentenced to death.
11. The rite of "sati" meant:
A. The act of self-immolation of a widow. B. Divorce procedure. C. The coming of age of a Brahmin.
12. "Once-born" according to the Laws of Manu were recognized:
A. Vaishii. V. Sudras. S. Kshatriyas.
13. Not included in the varnas of Ancient India:
A. Brahmins. V. Chandala. V. Kshatriyas.
14. Which varnas were "twice-born":
A. Brahmins. V. Sudras. S. Kshatriyas. D. Vaishya.
15. Varnas and castes were they one and the same?
A. Yes. B. No.
16. Who participated in the government of the state:
A. Raja. V. Areopagus. S. Parishad. D. Galea.
17. What extenuating circumstances are highlighted in the Laws of Manu:
A. Break in the wall of the house. B. Night theft. C. The child committed theft. D. Extra large size.
C. A state of mental confusion.
18. Did the wife have the right to divorce:
A. Yes. B. No.
19. What punishment were the Brahmins subjected to:
A. The death penalty, but it can pay off. B. Fine. C. Hound dogs in a crowded square.
D. Shameful punishments.
20. What were the ancient Indian legal collections called:
A. Code of Laws. B. Ancient Indian Truths. S. Dharmashastra.
21. Make a comparative table on the Laws of Hammurabi and the Laws of Manu, comparing one of the proposed bases:
A) the institution of property: (methods of acquiring property rights, forms of ownership, restriction of the use of property, ways of losing property rights, ways of protecting property rights);
B) the institution of obligation: (the concept of obligation and contract, the conditions for the validity of the contract, the role of the state in contractual relations, types of contracts, termination of contracts);
C) marriage and family: (marriage features, conditions of marriage, rights and obligations of spouses, conditions for dissolution of marriage, legal status of children, inheritance of property);
D) crime and punishment: (concept of crime, classification of crimes, goals and types of punishments);
E) court and litigation: (judicial institutions, grounds for initiating a process, type of process, rights of the parties, evidence, appeals against decisions).
SAMPLE TABLE FOR GROUND "A": INSTITUTION OF PROPERTY.
He who loves God can no longer love man, he has lost the understanding of the human; but also vice versa: if someone loves a person, truly loves with all his heart, he can no longer love God.
India is an ancient country about 8 thousand years old. The amazing Indian people lived on its territory. Which were divided into several social classes. Where priests played an important role. Although historians do not know who ruled such an amazing state. The Indians had their own language and script. Their letters cannot be deciphered by scientists to this day. The ancient Indians gave humanity such agricultural crops as cotton and sugar cane. They made a thin fabric of chintz. They have tamed the world's largest animal, the elephant. They worshiped and believed in various gods. Location of ancient India. Animals were deified. Along with the gods, the Vedas, the Sanskrit language and the Brahmins were revered as the guardians of culture and sacred knowledge. Brahmins were considered living gods. This is a very interesting state and people.
ancient state of india
Location and nature. In the south of Asia, behind the Himalayan range, there is an amazing country - India. Its history goes back almost 8 thousand years. However, modern India differs in size from the ancient country of the same name. In terms of area, Ancient India was approximately equal to Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Iran, Syria, Phenicia and Palestine combined. This vast territory had a variety of natural conditions. In the west, the Indus River flowed, it rained relatively infrequently, but in summer there were large floods. Vast steppes spread out here. In the east they carried their waters to Indian Ocean the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. It always rained heavily here, and the whole land was covered with marshy swamps and impenetrable jungle. These are dense thickets of trees and shrubs, where twilight reigns even during the day. The jungle was inhabited by tigers, panthers, elephants, poisonous snakes and a huge variety of insects. The central and southern parts of India in ancient times were mountainous spaces, where it was always hot and there was a lot of rain. But the abundance of moisture was not always a blessing. Dense vegetation and swamps were a big obstacle for ancient farmers armed with stone and copper axes. Therefore, the first settlements appear in India in the less wooded north-west of the country. The Indus Valley had another advantage. It was closer to the ancient states of Western Asia, which facilitated communication and trade with them.
State formation in ancient India
So far, scientists have little information about the social system and culture of Indian cities. The fact is that the writing of the ancient Indians has not yet been deciphered. But today it is known that in the III and the first half of the II millennium BC. e. in the Indus Valley there was a single state with two capitals. These are Harappa in the north and Mohenjo-Daro in the south. The inhabitants were divided into several social classes. It is not known exactly who ruled the state. But priests played a big role. With the decline of the Indian state, the public organization also collapsed. Writing has been forgotten. Appearing in the middle of the II millennium BC. e., the Aryans brought with them their social organization. It was based on the division of society into "ours" (Aryans) and "strangers" (dases). Using the right of the conquerors, the Aryans gave the Dasas a dependent position in society. There was also a division among the Aryans themselves. They were divided into three estates-varnas. The first and highest varna was the brahmins - priests, teachers, guardians of culture. The second varna is the kshatriyas. It was made up of the military nobility. The third varna - vaishyas - included farmers, artisans and merchants. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the fourth varna, the sudras, also appeared. It means "servant". This varna included all non-Aryans. They were obliged to serve the first three varnas. The lowest position was occupied by the "untouchables". They did not belong to any of the varnas and were obliged to do the dirtiest work. With the development of crafts, the growth of population and the complication of social life, in addition to varnas, an additional division into professions appeared. This fragmentation is called division into castes. And in a certain varna, like a caste, a person fell by birthright. If you are born in a brahmin family, you are a brahmin; if in a sudra family, you are a sudra. Belonging to one or another varna and caste determined the rules of behavior for every Indian. The further development of Indian society led in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. to the emergence of kingdoms headed by rajas. (In ancient Indian "raja" means "king".) At the end of the 4th century. BC e. a mighty empire is formed in India. Its founder was Chandragupta, who stopped the advance of the army of Alexander the Great. This power reached its highest power under the grandson of Chandragupta Ashok (263-233 BC). Thus, already in the III-beginning of the II millennium BC. e. India had a state. It not only was not inferior in its development, but at times surpassed Egypt and Mesopotamia. After the decline of Indian culture and the arrival of the Aryans, the social structure of ancient Indian society became more complicated. Its culture was created by the Aryans with the participation of the local population. At this time, a caste system is formed. A mighty empire arose. Modifying, the ancient Indian culture has existed to this day.
economic life
Already in the III millennium BC. e. The main occupation of the inhabitants of the Indus Valley was agriculture. They grew wheat, barley, peas, millet, jute and, for the first time in the world, cotton and sugar cane. Animal husbandry was well developed. The Indians raised cows, sheep, goats, pigs, donkeys, elephants. The horse came later. The Indians were well acquainted with metallurgy. The main tools of labor were made of copper. Location of ancient India. Knives, spear and arrowheads, hoes, axes and much more were smelted from it. Artistic casting, masterful stone processing, alloys, among which bronze occupied a special place, were no secret to them. The Indians knew gold and lead. But iron at that time they did not know. The craft was also developed. Spinning and weaving played an important role. The craftsmanship of the jewelers is impressive. They worked precious metals and stones, ivory and shells. Maritime and land trade reached a high level. In 1950, archaeologists found the first port in history for anchoring ships at low tide. The most active trade was with the Southern Mesopotamia. Cotton was brought here from India, jewelry. Barley, vegetables, fruits were brought to India. There were trade links with Egypt and the island of Crete. Probably, the Indians also exchanged with neighboring nomadic peoples and even built a city on the Amu Darya River. With the decline of Indian culture, economic life came to a standstill. Appeared in the middle of the II millennium BC. e. The Aryans were nomads and lagged far behind the Indians in economic development. The only thing in which the Aryans were ahead of the Indians was in the use of the horse. Only at the turn of II - I millennia BC. e. the new population of India - the Indians - again switched to agriculture. Crops of wheat, barley, millet, cotton and jute appeared. The farmers of the Ganges River valley gathered especially large crops. Along with the horse and cattle, the elephant occupied an important place in the economy. With its help, people successfully fought the impenetrable jungle. Metallurgy is developing. Having quickly mastered bronze, already at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Indians learned how to mine iron. This greatly facilitated the development of new lands previously occupied by swamps and jungles. The craft is also being revived. Again, a prominent place in the economy is occupied by pottery and weaving. Indian cotton fabrics were especially famous, products from which could be threaded through a small ring. These fabrics were very expensive. In honor of the goddess of arable land, Sita, they were called chintz. There were also simpler cheap fabrics. Only trade remained at a low level. It was limited to the exchange of goods between neighboring communities. Thus, the ancient Indians gave humanity such agricultural crops as cotton and sugar cane. They have tamed the world's largest animal, the elephant.
CULTURE OF ANCIENT INDIA
Languages and writing of ancient India. At the end of the III millennium BC. e. India was a major power with a highly developed culture. But it is not yet known what language the inhabitants of the Indus Valley spoke. Their writing is still a mystery to scientists. The first inscriptions of the Indians belong to the XXV - XIV centuries. BC e. The Indian script, which has no similarity, has 396 hieroglyphic characters. They wrote on copper tablets or clay shards, scratching the written characters. The number of characters in one inscription rarely exceeds 10, and the largest number is 17. Unlike the language of the Indians, the language of the ancient Indians is well known to scientists. It's called Sanskrit. This word means "perfect". Many originated from Sanskrit modern languages India. It contains words similar to Russian and Belarusian. For example: Vedas; shveta - holy (holiday), brahman-rahmany (meek). The gods and brahmins were considered to be the creators of Sanskrit and its keepers. Every person who considered himself an Aryan was obliged to know this language. "Aliens", both Shudras and untouchables, had no right to learn this language under pain of severe punishment.
Literature
Nothing is known about the literature of the Indians. But the literature of the ancient Indians is a huge heritage for all mankind. The oldest works of Indian literature are the Vedas, written between 1500 and 1000 BC. BC e. The Vedas (literally - wisdom) are sacred books in which all the most important knowledge for the ancient Indians was recorded. Their veracity and usefulness have never been disputed. The whole spiritual life of the ancient Indians was created on the basis of the Vedas. Therefore, the Indian culture of the 1st millennium BC. e. called the Vedic culture. In addition to the Vedas, Indian culture has created a wide variety of works. All of them were written in Sanskrit. Many of them are included in the treasury of world literature. Location of ancient India. The first place in this series belongs to the great poems "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana". The Mahabharata tells of the struggle of the sons of King Pandu for the right to rule the kingdom. The Ramayana tells about the life and deeds of Prince Rama. The poems describe the life of the ancient Indians, their wars, beliefs, customs and adventures. In addition to the great poems, the Indians created wonderful fairy tales, fables, myths and legends. Many of these works, translated into modern languages, are not forgotten to this day.
Religion of ancient India
We know little about the religions of the ancient Indians. However, it is known that they believed in the mother goddess, the three-faced cattle breeder god, and some species of flora and fauna. Among the holy animals, the bull stood out. There was probably also a cult of water, as evidenced by the numerous pools in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The Indians also believed in the other world. We know much more about the religions of the ancient Indians. Vedic culture created two great religions of the East at once - Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism originates from the Vedas. It is the Vedas - the first and main sacred books of Hinduism. Ancient Hinduism is different from modern. But these are different stages of one religion. Hindus did not believe in one god, but revered many. Chief among them were the god of fire Agni, the formidable god of water Varuna, the god-helper and guardian of all Mitra, as well as the god of gods, the great destroyer - the six-armed Shiva. His image is similar to the ancient Indian god - the patron of cattle. The idea of Shiva is proof of the influence of the culture of the local population on the beliefs of the newcomers of the Aryans. Along with the gods, the Vedas, the Sanskrit language and the Brahmins were revered as the guardians of culture and sacred knowledge. Brahmins were considered living gods. Approximately in the VI century. BC e. in India, a new religion appears, which was destined to become a world religion. It is named after its first supporter Buddha, which means "enlightened". Buddhism has no belief in gods, does not recognize anything that exists. The only saint is the Buddha himself. For a long time there were no temples, priests and monks in Buddhism. The equality of people was proclaimed. The future of each person depends on correct behavior in society. Buddhism spread very quickly in India. In the II century. BC e. Buddhism was adopted by Emperor Ashoka. But at the beginning of our era, Buddhism was forced out of India by Hinduism and began to spread in more eastern countries. It was at this time that the main sacred book of modern Hinduism appeared - the Bhagavad Gita - the Divine Song. A hunter and two doves (an excerpt from the "Mahabharata" in the retelling of Y. Kupala) There lived a hunter in India. Without pity he wove birds in the forest to sell them in the market. He separated bird families, forgetting the law of the gods.
INTERESTING ABOUT INDIA
Excavations at Mahenjo-Daro
In 1921-1922. made a great archaeological discovery. Three kilometers from the Indus River, archaeologists have excavated a city. Its length and width were 5 km. It was protected from the floods of the river by artificial embankments. The city itself was divided into 12 roughly equal quarters. They had flat, straight streets. The central quarter was raised to a height of 6-12 m. The elevation, made of clay and mud brick, was defended by square brick towers. This was the main part of the city.
The social structure of the Indian according to ancient laws
For the sake of the prosperity of the worlds, Brahma created from his mouth, hands, thighs and feet, respectively, a brahmana, a kshatriya, a vaishya and a sudra. For each of them, certain classes were established. Education, study of sacred books, sacrifice for oneself and sacrifice for others, giving and receiving alms Brahma established for the brahmins. Brahman is always first. The protection of subjects, the distribution of alms, sacrifice, the study of sacred books and non-adherence to human pleasures Brahma pointed out to the kshatriyas. But under no circumstances is a kshatriya entitled to take more than a fourth of the harvest of his subjects. Cattle breeding, almsgiving, sacrifice, study of sacred books, trade, money matters and agriculture Brahma gave to the Vaishyas. But only one occupation Brahma gave the Shudras - serving the first three with humility.
Conclusion
Summing up, we can say that we know a lot about India. Although in the history of this ancient state there are still a lot of white spots that will nevertheless someday be revealed to us. And everyone will learn about the greatness of Ancient India. World literature will receive the priceless works of Indian authors. Archaeologists will excavate new cities. Historians will write interesting books. And we learn a lot. We will pass on our knowledge to the next generation without loss.
India is one of ancient civilizations planets. The culture of this country influenced both neighboring countries and regions thousands of kilometers away from Hindustan. Indian civilization originated at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. In archeology, it is commonly called Proto-Indian or Harappan. Already at that time there was a written language, cities (Mohenjedaro, Harappa) with a well-thought-out layout, developed production, centralized water supply and sewerage. Indian civilization gave the world chess and the decimal number system. The achievements of ancient and medieval India in the field of science, literature and art, various religious and philosophical systems that originated in India, influenced the development of many civilizations of the East, and became an integral part of modern world culture. India is a huge country in southern Asia, stretching from the icy peaks of the Karakoram and the Himalayas to the equatorial waters of Cape Kumari, from the hot deserts of Rajasthan to the swampy jungles of Bengal. India is also magnificent beaches on the ocean coast in Goa and ski resorts in the Himalayas. The cultural diversity of India strikes the imagination of anyone who first arrived here. Traveling around the country, you understand that diversity is the soul of India. It is worth driving a few hundred kilometers, and you notice how the terrain, climate, food, clothing, and even music, fine arts, and crafts have changed. India can dazzle with beauty, captivate with hospitality, puzzle with contradictions. Therefore, everyone has to discover their own India. After all, India is not just another world, but many different worlds merged into one. The country's constitution alone lists 15 main languages, and total number languages and dialects, according to scientists, reaches 1652. India is the birthplace of many religions - Hinduism, comparable to the layer of Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, Christianity), Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. And at the same time, India is the largest Muslim country - the third largest in the world in terms of the number of followers (after Indonesia and Bangladesh). India is a federal state (according to the constitution - a union of states). India has 25 states and 7 union territories. States: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. The seven union territories include the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagarhaveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puttucci (Pondicherry). The head of state is the president. Practically, executive power is exercised by the prime minister. The capital of India is Delhi. The area of the republic is 3.28 million sq. km. The country borders in the west with Pakistan, in the north with China, Nepal and Bhutan, in the east with Bangladesh and Myanmar. From the southwest it is washed by the waters of the Arabian Sea, from the southeast by the Bay of Bengal.
India is a country with unique traditions (Ancient India). The history of India is the history of a whole civilization. And the culture of India is a unique achievement of mankind The geography of India is vast. The country strikes with a variety of natural zones. India can be conditionally divided into four parts. Northern India is, first of all, the unique city of Delhi (the capital of the state). The most incredible architectural monuments are collected here, the leading place among which is occupied by numerous religious buildings. Moreover, in Delhi you can find temples of literally all world religions. By the number of museums, the city will easily bypass any capital of the world. Be sure to visit the National Museum, the Archaeological Museum of the Red Fort, National Gallery contemporary art, the National Museum of Natural History, etc. At your service there will be thousands of outlets, unique oriental bazaars with their indescribable flavor, familiar to us from children's fairy tales, which you should definitely plunge into. If you prefer a holiday by the sea, then Western India and Goa are for you. It is in this state that there are numerous beaches, magnificent hotels, a lot of entertainment complexes, casinos and restaurants. South India - is the most densely populated part of the country, the area where hundreds of ancient Tamil temples, colonial forts are located. There are also sandy beaches. East India is associated primarily with the city of Calcutta, the administrative center of the state of West Bengal and the largest city in the country, one of the ten largest cities in the world. To travel to this country, you need a visa, for which you will have to visit the Indian Embassy. And one more piece of advice. India is a country next to which is the mysterious Nepal, do not forget about the tour. You are already dreaming of India.
Do not judge a person by what views he holds, but judge by what he has achieved with their help.
The empire of Alexander the Great began to fall apart immediately after his death. The Indian possessions of yesterday's conqueror of the world, which appeared after a successful one, also "budded off" almost immediately.
The anti-Macedonian uprising was led by a man named Chandragupta, according to legend, does not belong to the tribal nobility, but (i.e., the poor) and literally "made himself" only at the expense of his own labor and innate abilities. In his youth, Chandragupta served under the king Magadhi Dhana Nanda, but eventually fled to the Punjab, where he met with Alexander the Great, and somehow got his support. Subsequently, (most likely around 324 BC) he organized a campaign in Magadha, overthrew the king Dhana Nanda and took the throne himself, laying the foundation for a dynasty, the rule of which is associated with the formation of the most powerful state in the history of ancient India.
According to the family name of Chandragupta, the dynasty he founded was called Maurya. Information has been preserved that a brahmin played a large role in the overthrow of the Nanda dynasty and the accession of Chandragupta Kautilya(Chanakya), who later held the position of chief adviser to Chandragupta, an outstanding statesman, a supporter of strong royal power.
Chandragupta Maurya, Founder of the Indian Maurya Empire
It is likely that Chandragupta succeeded in subjugating the whole of northern India, but the concrete data on his conquest activities have hardly reached us. Another clash with the Greek-Macedonians belongs to the time of his reign. Around 305 BC e., the king of the so-called. Seleucid empires (Middle Eastern possessions of the former empire of Alexander) Seleucus I tried to repeat the campaign of Alexander the Great, but when he invaded India, he met with a completely different political situation, since Northern India was already united. The campaign of Seleucus was unsuccessful, instead of the expected conquests, he had to cede significant territories to Chandragupta (the territories of present-day Afghanistan and Balochistan), and gave his daughter to the Indian king as a wife.
It should be noted that Seleucus did not particularly grieve having become related to his eastern neighbor - Chandragupta gave him 500 war elephants, which later greatly helped Seleucus in the numerous wars that he started.
Chandragupta died, probably around 298 BC. e. About his successor and son Bindusara Apart from the name, almost nothing is known. It can be assumed that he not only retained all his possessions, but even significantly expanded them at the expense of the states of South India.
Probably, a reflection of the active conquest of Bindusara is his nickname Amitraghata, What means " enemy destroyer". his son Ashoka(about 273 - 236) before accession was the governor in the northwestern, and then the western part of the state.
Ashoka inherited a huge state from his father. During his reign, he annexed another state of South India - Kalinga(modern Indian state of Orissa).
“One hundred and fifty thousand people were driven away from there, one hundred thousand were killed and many times more died”, - Ashoka himself tells about this in one of the inscriptions that have survived from his time. With the subjugation of Kalinga, Ashoka began to reign over all of India, except for the extreme, southern part of the peninsula.
The peoples of ancient India
The south and north of India, at that time, were not completely different lands inhabited by different tribes, but much more - in fact, these areas were not connected at all with each other and their development proceeded completely independently of each other.
In general, South India lagged behind North India in development; in fact, the primitive communal system was ended here only after the subordination of the region to the kings of Magadha. At the same time, of course, it cannot be argued that before the formation of the Mauryan Empire, a continuous Stone Age reigned in the south of Hindustan. Not at all, there were states here, sometimes quite strong, among which the states of such peoples as Kalingi, andhry, cholas, pandyas And Kerala.
Power Kalings(corresponding approximately to the territory of the present state of Orissa) was quite strong, its conquest was given to Ashoka with great difficulty.
Andhras inhabited an area roughly corresponding to the territory of the modern state of Andhra and the eastern part of the state of Hyderabad (Telingana). The territory of the Andhras under Ashoka was part of the Mauryan Empire, but it is difficult to establish when the Andhras were subordinated to the Mauryas.
Further south of the country of the Andhras was a land which in ancient times was called tamiliad; it was inhabited by various Tamil tribes; the process of development of slavery took place here independently of North India. People chola inhabited the eastern part of the present state of Madras. To the west of it lived pandyas. Kerala, related to the Tamils, inhabited mainly the territory of the present state of Travankur-Cochin. We know almost nothing about the social and political structure of these peoples.
It is known that only these three Indian peoples were able to defend their independence and did not submit to the powerful kings of Magadha from the Mauryan dynasty. By that time, they already had fairly strong state formations.
The Andhras, who gained independence immediately after the death of Ashoka, quickly extended their power over most of the peninsula; the capital of their state was the city Nasik. Their further strengthening was temporarily stopped Kalangami.
The Kalingas, who also became independent shortly after the death of Ashoka, under the leadership of King Kharavela (end of the 3rd century BC) inflicted a number of defeats on the Andhras. However, by the middle of the 1st c. BC e. The Andhras outnumbered the Kalingas in military power, and the Andhra state began to predominate in South India at that time.
The Mauryan Empire in different years - the entire northern part of the state - the merit of Chandragupta, the southern "piece" (Parinda) - his son Bindusara, and to the east (the territory of Kalinga) - the grandson of Ashoka. The dotted line in the east of the country is the border of the former Macedonian possessions of Alexander
Internal organization of the Mauryan Empire
Even before the unification of the states of India under the rule of the Mauryas, state power was in the nature of the so-called. "Eastern Despotism". In the Mauryan Empire, this form of state was further developed. Among the population, the cult of the king was supported in every possible way and the doctrine of the divine origin of royal power was spread. However, the deification of the personality of the king did not prevent the fact that palace intrigues, coups, civil strife were the most common phenomena in ancient India. According to ancient writers, the king of Magadha was forced to change his bedroom every night in order to confuse possible conspirators.
The king, although he ruled alone, had advice with him - parishad, consisting of representatives of the noblest families of the aristocracy. Parishad - naturally was not something like a modern parliament, and had only "advisory" functions.
To manage a large state, there was a numerous and complex apparatus that served the royal office, the tax department, the military department, the mint, and the royal economy. The top officials were: chief mantrin head of the royal administration senapati- commander of troops purohita- head priest dharmadyaksha- the main authority on legal proceedings and the interpretation of laws, an astrologer, etc.
An important role in the government of the country was played by secret informants, whose leadership was directly in the hands of the king. Tsarist officials were paid either in money or, more often, in kind.
The basis of the state administrative division there was a village gram. The next largest territorial unit was ten villages, two dozen united into twenty, five twenty - into a hundred, ten hundred - into a thousand. At the head of all these administrative districts, with the exception of the grama, were salaried officials. The highest of them, which were in charge of a thousand villages, were directly subordinate to the king.
The entire territory of the Mauryan state was divided into governorships, with the exception of Magadha, which was under the jurisdiction of the king himself. The governors were relatives or close confidants of the king, but they were not rulers, but rather observers, since the Mauryan state was a complex complex of states and tribes, the rulers of which were in various relationships of dependence; the internal administration of these dependent and subject states and tribes remained autonomous.
In addition, free farmers had to work a certain number of days a year on the construction of public buildings ( vishti labor tax). Artisans were obliged to hand over part of their production to the king in the form of a tax, and also, in some cases, to work for the king; the sources mention the obligation of artisans to work for the king one day a month. Craftsmen of certain specialties (for example, gunsmiths) were required to hand over all their products to the state.
An important source of income for the royal treasury was indirect taxes. Trade transactions were subject to numerous duties ( shulka), levied by a carefully organized tax apparatus; evasion of payment of trade duties was punished very severely, up to the death penalty. The judicial system was very primitive, criminal cases were dealt with by the head of the executive branch in the given district. Some of the most important cases were handled personally by the king. The sentence was carried out immediately.
Arbitration was used to resolve civil cases. The most common punishment was self-mutilation, especially for violating the right to private property and for causing bodily harm; but there is already a tendency to replace the punishment of this kind with monetary fines.
This period includes the first attempts to codify customary law. "Collections of Laws" - dharma sutras And dharmashastra were not codes of laws in the modern sense; they were only instructions based on sacred texts and compiled by the Brahmin school.
Military organization of the Mauryan Empire
The army of the Indian king during the Mauryan Empire during the war consisted of his own troops, the troops of the allies and the militias of the tribes subordinate to the king. Sources claim that Chandragupta, in case of war, could raise an army of up to 600 thousand infantry, 30 thousand cavalry and 9 thousand elephants. But the standing army of Magadha was much smaller in number and consisted in peacetime of mercenaries who received a salary in kind or money.
The land army was staffed from four main branches of the military - infantry, cavalry, chariots And elephants, and war elephants were the main striking force in the battle. Each of these military branches had its own control system and its own command. In addition, there were still management of the fleet, as well as military facilities and supplies. The armament of the Indian army was varied, but the main weapon for all branches of the military was.
The development of agriculture, crafts and trade in the Mauryan Empire
The centralization of the state, as well as the general progressive course of technological progress, since the formation of the Mauryan empire in India, has led to serious shifts in the development of productive forces. The use of iron for the manufacture of tools was becoming quite common in India, and iron finally supplanted other materials. Agriculture reached a high level, with agriculture clearly predominating, and cattle breeding was of secondary importance.
Along with the cultivation of field crops - rice, wheat, barley, as well as millet, legumes, sugar cane, cotton, sesame - horticulture and horticulture are of great importance.
Farmers also used irrigation methods, since agriculture also spread to territories not irrigated by river floods, as well as to territories poor in precipitation. Increasingly, artificial irrigation was used by means of canals, wells, ponds, although very large structures were still, apparently, rarely erected. Harvesting two crops a year from one field became more and more common.
The craft continued to develop and improve. Since that time and in subsequent periods of antiquity and the Middle Ages, India has been a supplier of handicraft products to other countries, and first of all, high-quality cotton fabrics. Indian artisans achieved great success in metallurgy, cold working of metals, in the processing of stone, wood, bone, etc. The Indians were able to build dams, water-lifting wheels, buildings of complex architecture. There were royal shipyards that built river and sea ships, as well as workshops for the manufacture of sails, ropes, gear, etc., weapons workshops, mints, etc.
Craftsmen inhabited mainly cities and were engaged in servicing the needs of the state and the needs of the slave-owning nobility in luxury items and in items that were not produced by slaves and servants in the household of this nobility. The city and the countryside were weakly connected by trade. The majority of rural residents in their free time from field work usually engaged in some kind of craft, most often spinning and weaving. In addition, there were rural artisans: blacksmiths, potters, carpenters and other specialists who fully satisfied the simple needs of the village. True, there are references to villages, all of whose inhabitants were famous as skilled craftsmen, but this is probably due to the proximity to the location of the source raw materials and the special conveniences of obtaining it: deposits of the corresponding clays or ores, the presence of forests with good construction and ornamental wood, etc. But the main occupation of the inhabitants in these villages was agriculture.
Despite the predominance of natural relations, trade was relatively developed. Trade deals, merchants and merchant caravans are mentioned very often in literary sources. Basically, trade was carried out in luxury goods: expensive fabrics, precious stones, jewelry, incense, spices; Salt was the most common trade item among consumer goods. Packed cattle and wheeled vehicles were used to transport goods. Great importance had waterways communications, especially the Ganges River.
Gradually develops trade with other countries. The main port for trade with Egypt was Bhrigukachcha (modern Broch, at the mouth of the Narbada); trade with Ceylon and Southeast Asia was conducted mainly through the port of Tamralipti (modern Tamluk, in West Bengal). Through the whole of northern India, from Magadha to the mountain passes in the northwest, there was a well-maintained road built under Chandragupta. It had not only military-strategic, but also great commercial importance, since it was the main highway connecting the Ganges valley and the Punjab with Iran and Central Asia.
The growth of trade led to the emergence of metallic money. Back in the first centuries of the 1st millennium BC. e. pieces or bundles of pieces of copper, silver or gold of a certain weight (nishka) were used as money. In the V - IV centuries. BC e. silver coins appeared, called karshapana, or dharana. It is possible that a copper coin appeared even earlier. However, the simple exchange of goods seems to have continued to be an important form of trade.
In the Mauryan Empire, trade was subject to strict regulation by the state. Special officials monitored the correctness of weights and measures, the order in the market. For fraud, for the sale of substandard products, etc., the perpetrators were punished, most often - fines. The king himself was also engaged in trade; his goods and on his behalf were traded by special royal servants, who were in charge of a whole staff of merchants. An interesting introduction at that time was the tsarist monopoly on the trade in certain goods: mining products, salt, and alcoholic beverages.
Cities of Ancient India during the Mauryan Empire
At that time in ancient India there were a large number of populous, wealthy and relatively comfortable cities. Of the most important cities, the capital of Magadha should be noted. Pataliputru(modern Patna), Rajagrihu(modern Rajgir), Varanasi(modern Benares), Takshashilu(Taxila among the ancient Greeks; now only ruins remain of the city), port cities Bhrigukachha And Tamralipti.
Illustrious in the Mahabharata Hastinapur- the capital of the Kauravas, and Indaprastha capital of the Pandavas modern city Delhi), as well as sung in the Ramayana Ayodhya already lost their meaning.
The cities in the Ganges valley were not distinguished by their majestic appearance. The palaces of the rich were built of wood and only occasionally of brick, and the dwellings of the poor were completely huts, so very few remains of cities have survived. Even the capital of Magadha, Pataliputra, which, according to the ambassador of Seleucus in India, Megasthenes, was about 15 km long and about 3 km wide, was surrounded by walls with 570 towers, but the walls and towers were wooden.
City government, the collection of duties from merchants and taxes from artisans, etc., was subordinated to the state of city employees. Craftsmen and merchants in cities were organized by profession into corporations ( shreni). At the head of each shreni was an elected foreman - Shreshthin responsible for the timely execution of duties by members of the Shreni.
Buddhism in the Mauryan Empire
The peak of power, as well as the most advanced system of managing state affairs, was achieved by the Mauryan Empire of India during the reign of King Ashoka, who ruled around 268-232. BC e .. The ideological basis of the multi-tribal state was Buddhism, which by this time proved its suitability as a nationwide religion.
Ashoka himself accepted Buddhism and contributed to its spread in every possible way. In 253 BC. e. he convened a Buddhist council in Pataliputra, probably the first, because the legend of two Buddhist councils in the 5th and 4th centuries. BC e. are unreliable. The task of this council was to form Buddhism into a single whole, both in terms of doctrine and in organizational terms, to make the Buddhist church a powerful weapon in the hands of the state. At the council, the canonical foundations of Buddhism (religious literature, ritual, unified organizational principles of the Buddhist community, etc.) were approved in the form in which it had developed in India by that time, and the heresies that had arisen by that time were also discussed.
Numerous legends have preserved memories of Ashok as the builder of Buddhist monasteries and stupas- buildings that store any relic associated with the Buddha. These traditions claim that Ashoka built 84,000 stupas. Due to the abundance of Buddhist monasteries ( vihara, or bihara) behind Magadha in the middle of the century the name was established Bihar.
Important historical event of this period are the inscriptions of Ashoka, carved on rocks and columns. There are more than thirty of them preserved in various parts of India. The inscriptions in the form of the king's prescriptions contain instructions, mostly in the spirit of morality. In addition, the inscriptions emphasize the need to obey the authorities, the servants of the king, parents and elders. The implementation of these instructions was to be monitored by a special staff of officials headed by dharmamanthrin- adviser to the king on affairs dharma(“Law”, in the sense of the “Law of piety” - this is how Buddhists usually called their religion).
The time of Ashoka is characterized by activation foreign policy Mauryan. Closer ties are being established with the Hellenistic states (the inscriptions of Ashoka mention ties with Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Epirus), as well as with some states of Southeast Asia. At that time, the practice of introducing Buddhism abroad was widely used. This strengthened political influence Mauryan powers. Buddhist missionaries were used for this. They were sent on the initiative and with the support of the government far beyond the borders of India, which led from the 3rd century. BC e. to the spread of Buddhism in Ceylon, and then in Burma, Siam and Indonesia.
In connection with the spread of Buddhism, a monastic community arose - sangha- quite well organized, with firm discipline, with a monastic hierarchy. Only slaves were not accepted into the sangha; all the free were accepted without distinction of their social status, but the leading position in the sangha was occupied by people from noble and wealthy families.
In general, for a country like the Mauryan Empire, Buddhism fit perfectly. Among the poor, Buddhism enjoyed success due to the preaching of the spiritual equality of all the free, and also due to the democratic nature of the Buddhist sangha. Wealthy townspeople were attracted to Buddhism by the fact that it did not require any sacrifices, or mandatory entry into the sangha, or significant changes in lifestyle. The Buddhist cult was simpler, clearer, the sermon was delivered in ordinary spoken languages.
Bihar - a Buddhist monastery from ancient India
The fall of the Mauryan Empire
The Indian Maurya Empire was not a monolithic political entity - its various parts were completely different from each other, not in culture, not in language. In addition to this, a strong difference in the natural conditions of the interior regions led to uneven development of the economy. That is why, despite all efforts, King Ashoka was never able to create a single centralized state.
Soon after the death of Ashoka - in 236 - the disintegration of the Mauryan empire began; probably the sons of Ashoka are already beginning to divide it among themselves.
The last representative of the Mauryan dynasty, still held in Magadha, - Brihadratha was about 187 BC. e. overthrown and killed by his warlord Pushyamitra who founded Shung dynasty.
Along with internal reasons, causing the fragility of states of this kind, a significant role in the collapse of the Mauryan empire was played by the conquests of Greco-Bactrians and Parthians in India. At the beginning of the II century. BC e. during the reign Demetrius The Greco-Bactrians subjugated the valley of the Kabul River and part of the Punjab.
Demetrius and his successors were titled on coins as "Kings of the Indians". They made predatory raids into the neighboring regions of India. There are references in the sources that the king Menander in his campaigns in the Ganges valley he reached Pataliputra itself, but he still failed to subdue Magadha.
After the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the territory of North-Western India, a very peculiar state was formed with its capital in the city Jackal(modern Sialkot, in Punjab), in which the Greeks were kings, the nobility consisted of Greeks and, to a large extent, of the natives Central Asia, and the bulk of the population was Indian. However, the conquerors soon disappeared into the local population, leaving no trace of their stay in the country. According to Indian sources, Menander had already become a Buddhist. His successors bore purely Indian names; the coins they issued had both Greek and Indian inscriptions.
About 140 - 130 years. BC e. the Hellenistic states in Bactria were defeated by the tribes that were part of the powerful Massagetae confederation in Central Asia, which are usually called in the historical literature by the Chinese name - yuezhi. At the end of II - beginning of I century. BC e. these tribes, who invaded India and were called here Shakas or Sakas, subjugated a large part of North-Western India, and possibly even a part of Central India.
At the beginning of the 1st century n. e. part of northwestern India was subject to the Parthians. Here a large state arose with its capital in Taxila, independent of Parthia or dependent only nominally. It is known that the Parthian title of satrap as early as the 1st - 2nd centuries. n. e. worn by some rulers of small states in Western and Central India. Whether they were in any way dependent on the Parthian kings is impossible to say with certainty. Some small states, mainly in Central India, were ruled by kings who considered themselves descendants of the Shakas. This situation continued until the 4th century. n. e.
