Maurya
Gupta
Mogul
Maurya:
First Emperor: Chandragupta
Unites India
Indirect rule: Since one emperor could not rule over all the territories at once, the emperor divided the nation into multiple provinces ruled by princes. Chandragupta used this to unify all of India
Chandragupta feared assassination
Ashoka: He became emperor through murdering his brothers and sisters, making him the only heir
He ruled with an iron fist, making torture chambers and assembling an infantry 600,000 strong
Ashoka also engaged in many battles
He converted to Buddhism in 262 BCE after a particularly gruesome battle; this meant that Ashoka stopped fighting wars and experienced a change of heart
Promoted Buddhism in India, leading to the end of the caste system and vegetarianism → spread to China during that period
Stupa: 40 to 50 foot high monuments featuring all of the empire’s laws, mostly based on Buddhism. The pillars also included the history of the Mauryan empire
Ashoka’s death undone his progress as the nation’s kingdoms crumbled and the people reverted to their old ways
Gupta:
Golden Age of India: Hinduism and the caste system were huge in the country
Creative talent flourished in India, leading to works such as the Karma Sutra
A Chinese Buddhist monk visited India and remarked of the peaceful, humanitarian, and prosperous era
Trade: India got silk from China, spices came from the Spice Islands (Indonesia, Malaysia, etc), and India themselves provided cotton for the rest of the world
Cotton was a pivotal component of India’s economy → became a source of nationalism for India (esp. in Mahatma Gandhi’s time)
Gupta art featured rounded shapes and figures came out of stone tablets (called “freezes” in Britain)
The Gupta empire had vaccines, in comparison Europe had vaccines only in the 19th century
Came up with pi, the decimal system, and 0
Had beautiful literature