Classical+India

1. ESPIRIT Chart on India 2. Social Comparison between India and China 3. Key Terms on India

4. Summary of India

India was a nation that stressed religion above all else. **Hinduism** and **Buddhism** were the prevalent religions of India, though they differed from one another. Hinduism stressed the idea of reincarnation, the idea that if one strives to work to the best of his or her abilities, then he or she will be able to be reincarnated in the next life as a new person who has moved up in the caste system. Buddhism, however, opposed Hinduism by believing that one should abandon worldly desires for more simpler ones to order to achieve **nirvana**, a world beyond existence itself. **Ashoka**, one of the rulers of the **Mauryan** dynasty, had actually supported both Hinduism and Buddhism as religions in India, even though he had converted to being a Buddhist. He used the teachings of both religions to govern his subjects; he wanted his officials to be humane when regulating areas of India.

The caste system was one of the unique features of India at the time. It was organized into five social levels, where the **Brahmans** were placed at the top, followed by the warriors, the aristocrats, the common laborers, and finally, the **untouchables** at the bottom. The Brahmans were priests of the Hinduism religion, and their position at the top of the caste system reveals how India was dominated primarily by religion unlike other nations like China. The untouchables were people who hauled refuse, and were believed to have the ability to corrupt people if they touched them. Through the teachings of Hinduism, the only possible method for someone to move up in social class was through reincarnation. Reincarnation was only possible, according to the teachings, if a person worked hard at his or her job, and would then be rewarded in the next life by moving up a class. Intermarriage was banned in India, so reincarnation, the people believed, was the only way to advance in Indian society.

India was also a nation where trade dominated the economy rather than agriculture. Indian merchants, or **Tamils**, were at the top of the caste system or social pyramid and obtained large sums of money from trading goods such as textiles, dyes, gold, and ivory. They traded and interacted with nations from the Middle East, the Roman Empire, and China as well, bringing back products such as pottery, gold, and slaves. Because of these trading patterns, India was able to both spread their ideas and teachings, while at the same time obtaining new information from the other nations. Besides trade, India had also developed in their fields of science. They improved on making textiles, as well as metalworking.