ANTH 205 Lecture 25

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Begin Exam 3 content

India

• More than 1.2 Billion people
• Subcontinent
• Nuclear state
• Hindi is official language (22 Officially recognized languages)
• Capital is New Dheli
• Practice at least 6 religions; founded 4 of them
• Massive, diverse place

Early Prehistory

One of the first places to be civilized

• H. erectus from 500 Kya
• H. sapiens from about 70 Kya

Settlements in 7000 BC
Agriculture by 5000 BC

Indus Valley Civilization

• Settled in Indus River Basin
• First urban culture in South Asia
• High point between 2500–1900 BC
• Largest (geographic area) of ancient civilizations
  • >1500 sites
• Evidence of trade with Mesopotamia by around 3500 BC
• On par with Egypt and Mesopotamia

Everything we know comes from archaeology

• Written language has not been deciphered
• About 400 characters

Most Popular sites: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

• Multi-storied buildings, city planning, etc
• Buildings oriented to catch the breeze
• Sewage and drainage systems
• Some form of government to oversee things

Peaceful: No traces of weaponry

What happened to them?

Began to decline around 1750 BC

• Conquered?
• Environmental disaster?
• Massive earthquake?

Current inhabitants are not descendents from Indus Valley Civilization

Aryans

Group of people from the Caucasus around 1700–1300 BC

Established Indo-Aryan Culture

• Foundations of Hinduism
• Composed Vedas, earliest works of "Hindu Scripture" (Took >1000 years before they were written down)

Oral Tradition of at least 4000 years. Reasons:

• Partly due to climate since things don't preserve well
• Memorization - teacher (guru)/student relationship
• Very easy to modify things; source of innovation

Persians and ...

• Indo-Aryans persisted until 6^th century BC
• Then you-know-who conquers the Persians (Stopped in India)
• Changed governing structure of India: local rulers in a multi-state system

Maurya Empire and Ashoka

Maurya Empire: 322–185 BC

Ashoka was most important historical figure

Ruled according to quasi-Buddhist principles:

• non-violence
• tolerance
• respect
• humility
• equality

Pivotal in making Buddhism a world religion

Empire collapsed shortly after Ashoka's death, starting the Middle Kingdom period

Broke into lots of smaller states/kingdom

Classical India

Gupta Empire: 320–550 AD (India's Golden Age)

Major advancement in

• science
• technology
• engineering
• art
• literature
• philosophy
• mathematics
• religion
• invention of chess

Crystalied much of Hindu culture

Islam and India

Arab empire comes in 8^th century AD

• Grabbed lots of real estate
• Large parts of India remained under Islamic rule for about 1200 years (mainly in North)

Taj Mahal: very much in the style of a mosque

European Colonization

Vasco de Gama (1498) landed in south (against will of Indian citizens)

• Portuguese
• Dutch
• British
• French

Christianity introduced to India

British really set up shop

• 1617: East India company was given permission by Mughal Emperor (emperor, but not citizen) to trade in India
• Occupiers allowed more occupiers in
• 17^th century: British had pushed most other Europeans and occupiers out
• By 1833, East India Company controlled most of the subcontinent (scary), but they stripped all trading and told them they could only govern
• Impressed Indian soldiers (sepoys), thereby imposing Anglo culture and religion (most were Hindu or Muslim)

Rebellion of 1857

1853 Enfield rifle

• replaced smooth-bore muskets of the time.
• Still muzzle-loader
• Powder greased with Pork or Beef fat (taboo), so people were especially mad
• Sparked rebellion

British Raj

1858–1947

• British Government took over from East India Company (later abolished)
• Tried to enact changes
• Government of India Act of 1858:
  • No religious interference
  • Restored several local, native rulers (became fierce supporters of British)
  • Reinforced caste system

Britain got most of profits

"Modernized" certain aspects of Indian soceity

• Railroad
• Telegraphs
• Postal system
• Infrastructure
• Education (English Language, Ingrained Racism/inferiority)

Famines of 19^th century

• Poor resource management by British Government
• Periodic rebellions

Independence

British slowly yielded control to Indians between 1885 and 1920

• Retained control through social manipulation
• British became more and more unpopular
• British attempted to incite civil unrest among subpopulations

Ideas of Nationalism began in 19^th century

• Governmental/Ethnic versions
• → United in Hindu Nationalism

Mohandas Gandhi

• Born in India in 1869
• Educated in India and London (Lawyer)
• Worked (practiced law) in South Africa
• Adopted strictly Hindu lifestyle
• Fought for civil rights first in South Africa
• Returned to India in 1915
• Began to organize about civil rights and independence

Independence movement grew: 1920–1948

After WWI and WWII, Britain was broke

• significantly in debt to India
• Could no longer afford to rule India

Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948, but lived to see Indian independence on August 15, 1947

Since Then

Trying to organize and modernize massive country

Never conquered another territory

Economic challenges:

• limited number of resources for massive population
• Think Slumdog Millionaire
• Should be a superpower by 2025