1-Birch Ancient Indian Culture

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Vocab

Descriptions

subcontinent

a large land mass, that is part of a continent but is considered either georgraphically or politically as an independent entity.

Indo-Aryans

of, relating to, or being a member of an Indic-speaking people

Deccan Plateau

a vast plateau in India encompassing most of Central and Southern India (where cotton grows)

Khyber Pass

a narrow pass about 3000 km long through mountains on the border between eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. It has been a trade/invasion route

Mohenjo-Daro

a ruined prehistoric city of Pakistan in the Indus River Valley northeast of Karachi. Dates to 3000 BC

Harappa

a locality in the Indus River valley of the Punjab in Pakistan. Includes remains of a well laid out city that indicates a possible link between Indian and Sumerian cultures. 3rd millennium BC

Hinduism (Hindu)

the predominant religion of India; characterized by a caste system and belief in reincarnation

reincarnation

rebirth of the soul to another body

caste system

social sturcture in which classes are determined by heredity.

Brahman

a member of the highest of the four major castes of thraditional Indian society. Responsible fo studying/teaching the Vedas, officiating a religious rite

Kshatriyas

responsible for upholding justice and social harmony including people in governing and military positions

Vaisyas

comprising farmers, herders, merchants, and businessmen

Sudras

comprising artisans, laborers, and menials

Untouchables or Pariahs

a social outcast; untouchable. Considered unclean and defiling by the Hindu castes

Karma

the effect of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation.

Rajah

a prince, chief, or ruler in India or the Eastern Indies

Maharajah

King of Kings

Vedas

any of the oldest and most authoritative Hindu sacred texts, composed in sanskrit and gathered into four collections (songs and chants of the Hindu religion)

Vedic Age

the time period of which sanskrit was written

Upanishads

any of a group of philosophical treatises contributing to the teology of ancient hinduism, elaborating on the earlier Vedas

Buddha

Indian mystic and founder of Buddhism

Buddhism

the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire -- wisdom and meditation releasing

nirvana

the effable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion

Sanskrit

an ancient Indic language that is the language of Hinduism and the Vedas and is the classical literary language of India.

Silk Road

an ancient trade route between china and the Mediterranean Sea

Indus River

an Asian River flows into the Arabian Sea

Ganges River

an Asian river that rises in the Himalayas and flows east into the Bay of Bengal, a sacred river of the Hindus

Mauryas

Indian dynasty founded in 321 BC by Chandragupta Maurya which unified the subcontinent for the first time and contributed to the spread of Buddhism .

Guptas

a Hindu dynasty that ruled most of northern India from 320-520 under which the arts flourished and a unified code of laws were put into effect; This period is regarded as the golden age of Indian culture.

Huns

a member of a nomadic pastoral people who invaded Europe in the fourth and fifth centuries AD

Asoka

King of Magadha who united most of the Indian subcontinent under one rule and was converted to Buddhism, adopting it as the state religion

rajput

a member of any of several powerful Hindu landowning and military lineages inhabiting northern and central India

Himalayan Mountains

a mountain system of south-central Asia extending through Kashmir, northern India, Tibet,Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan

Hindu Kush

a mountain range of southwest Asia extending from northern Pakistan to northeastern Afghanistan

Western and Eastern Ghats

two mountain ranges of southern India separated by the Deccan Plateau