World History / Unit 3: Classical India and China and the Spread of World Religions
3.3 The Mauryan and Gupta Empires
Notes
Two great empires united much of India.
- Mauryan Empire (about 321 to 185 BCE): founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with a strong army and bureaucracy.
- Ashoka, his grandson, conquered Kalinga in a bloody war (about 261 BCE). Horrified by the deaths, he turned to Buddhism and nonviolence.
- Ashoka carved edicts on pillars and rocks urging tolerance, kindness and fair treatment. He built roads and rest houses and sent Buddhist missionaries abroad.
- Gupta Empire (about 320 to 550 CE) is called India's Golden Age. Hinduism flourished.
- Gupta achievements: the decimal system and the concept of zero were developed in India (later spread by Arab scholars as "Arabic numerals"); Aryabhata argued that Earth rotates on its axis; doctors wrote medical texts and performed surgery;Kalidasa wrote famous plays.
- India traded cotton, spices and gems across the Indian Ocean.
Practice
After the war in Kalinga, Ashoka:
Ashoka's remorse led him to rule by Buddhist principles.
Which Gupta-era achievement is used by people around the world today?
Indian numerals and zero spread west through the Islamic world.
Why is the Gupta period often called a "golden age"?
A golden age is a time of peace, prosperity and cultural achievement.
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