Lesson 4: Classical India 500 B.C.E. – 700 C.E.

1. Lesson 4: Classical India 500 B.C.E. – 700 C.E. Lesson Question: What were the most important political and religious developments in Classical India? Lesson Objectives: The students will understand the general political developments in the Indian subcontinent between the end of the Mauryan Empire and the Islamic invasions. The students will also understand the origins and essential elements of Mahayana Buddhism and Hinduism during this period.

2. Key Term: Syncretism

3. Syncretism: Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.

4. Classical Indian Civilization 500 B.C.E. – 700 C.E. Bactrian Kingdom c. 250 B.C.E. Indo-Greek Kingdom 190 B.C.E. – 50 C.E. Menander (Melindha) Questions of Melindha Greek Statues Gandharan Art Kushan Empire c. 100 – 240 C.E. Bodhisattvas Mahayana Buddhism Theravada Buddhism Gupta Empire 320 – 550 C.E. Magadha East and West Trade Sanskrit Secular Literature Kalidassi Hinduism Brahman Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva Bhakti (devotion)

5. Alexander the Great’s Conquests

6. Hellenistic Kingdoms

9. Archaic Greek Statue

10. Classical Greek Statue

11. Classical Greek Statue

12. Gandharan Buddha

13. Gandharan Buddha

14. Gandharan Bust of the Buddha

16. Bodhisattva

17. Bodhisattva

18. Bodhissatva

21. Hindu Temple

22. Vishnu

23. Shiva

24. Brahma

25. Hindu Temple at Khajurahao

26. Hindu Temple in Orissa

28. Formative Assessment: • The Bactrian Kingdom/Indo-Greek Kingdom (c. 332 B.C.E. – 50 C.E.) • The Kushan Empire (c. 100 – 300 C.E.) • The Gupta Empire (c. 320 – 550 C.E.) Explain how political and religious developments in these different eras of Indian history reflect the process of syncretism. Syncretism: Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.