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http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/buddha/home_set.html |
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http://www.facts-about-india.com/aryans-arrival-in-india.php |
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The Rig-Veda: http://www.holybooks.com/rig-veda/ |
Along the Gangetic Plain in northern India in the late seventh century BCE sixteen major city based kingdoms emerged called the mahajanapada. The history of these kingdoms are so complex that it makes European history seem homogenous and easy to follow so instead we shall look at the two major developments that arose during this time period: Buddhism and Jainism
Jainism
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http://www.galeriegolconda.com/en/products/jain-india-medieval-tirthankara-shantinatha-jainsandstone-galerie-golconda/ |
We know very little about the origin of Jainism, much less so than we do other religions like Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Helmut von Glasenapp has suggested that it arose around 1000 BCE. Jainism follows the teachings of twenty-four Tirthankara where Rishabhanatha was the first one. However, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara, Mahavira, is the most influential one and most of the teachings of Jainism derives from him stretching all the way back to the sixth century BCE. Jainism was a reaction against the brahmanical aspect of Hinduism where Moksha can be achieved without a oneness with god. To do this you would have to have the Right View, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct. A series of ethics would go on to shape how Jains lived: Ahimsa, this forbids the harming of any life-form bar the lowest form of life (vegetables, wheat etc.), Satya, to only speak the truth, Asteya, non-theiving, Brachmacharya, chastity and finally Aparigraha, non-possessiveness. Jainism would quickly take off after Mahavira but it would be overshadowed by another new religion: Buddhism.
Buddhism
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http://allcars.pw/brandsadwn-ancient-buddhist-paintings.htm |
Like with most religions we actually know little about the actual founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, (there are many debates about when he was actually born). As a result we rely heavily on Buddhist texts and from there Siddhartha Gautama had a somewhat vaguely similar situation to Mahavira. Both came from the kshatriya caste although ‘Buddha’ would live around the fifth-century BCE. He was the son of Suddhodana who was the raja of the Sakja, a state which had many rajas, and a prophecy said that if Suddhodana’s son ever left the palace the family’s power would fall. As a result Siddhartha Gautama would be given a wife and as much food and entertainment that he wanted but he realized that there was more to life so would sneak out. While outside the palace he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse and started to question why these misfortunes happen. He permanently left the palace, renounced his crown and traveled to find the holiest people to help him answer his question. He studied under various distinguished teachers but always felt disappointed and even ignored King Bimbisara of Magadhara who offered him the opportunity to return to his ksatriya station. After meditating for a month he is said to have reached nirvana (moksa) becoming the Buddha. He would teach his pupils the Four Noble Truths: all life is suffering, the source of suffering is desire, to end this suffering you have to end desire and to stop desire you have to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. This path comprised of the right view, the right intention, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood, the right effort, the right mindfulness and the right concentration. Buddhism managed to quickly become successful as it did not challenge the brahmanical religion but rather sidestepped it, throughout history clashing religions often leads to violence which Buddhism averted. It also managed to gain widespread support as it offered women and members of lower castes the opportunity to become monks or key roles. Caste and sex were irrelevant in the eyes of the Buddha so it gave greater roles to these oppressed peoples.
Buddhism did continue after the death of Siddhartha Gautama, largely thanks to the role of monks. Inevitably Hinduism would win over the people of India and even today Buddhism is nowhere near the main religion in India. Buddhism, however, did spread into Bhutan, Nepal, Japan, China, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia extremely successfully. Today Buddhism is the dominant religion, or one of the main religions, in those countries. However, there was on Indian ruler who did convert to Buddhism.
Ashoka
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https://historyfacebook.wikispaces.com/Maurya+Dynasty |
Ashoka was born around 304 BCE into the Maurya dynasty and is often regarded as one of India’s greatest emperors. The Maurya Empire was one of the largest empires at the time. The picture below shows just how great the empire was.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurya_Empire |
Ashoka in 265 BCE would go on to conquer the Kingdom of Kalinga in eastern India. He attacked the small kingdom with an army of 400,000 and destroyed Kalinga. Over 100,000 civilians were supposed to have been massacred and the Daya River quite literally ran red with blood. This horrified Ashoka so much that he converted to Buddhism, renounced violence and started building monuments including stupas and pillars devoted to Buddhism. On many of these monuments Ashoka had edicts describing Dharma written on them. However, Buddhism’s nature directly contradicts the rule of emperors so Ashoka’s state can only be considered quasi-Buddhist. The Maurya Empire would collapse fifty years after Ashoka’s death and with it Buddhism was almost wiped out in India.
The reason why Buddhism survived though is how flexible it is. Buddhism’s teachings and the fact that it says that all religions can achieve nirvana allowed it to blend with local teachings. Buddhist teachings are very similar to that of Taoism and Confucianism which allowed it to get such a stronghold in China. We have to remember that the spiritual leader of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, (a position established in the fourteenth-century CE) home is traditionally in Tibet and not India. Likewise the Buddha is considered to be one of the incarnations of Vishnu in Hinduism. Buddhism’s flexibility helped make it last through the ages.
Thanks for reading. The sources I have used are as follows:
–The Penguin History of the World by John Roberts
–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nn5uqE3C9w
–India: A History by John Keay
–A History of India by Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund
Next time on World History we’ll be looking at the Achaemenid Empire and seeing how accurate 300 is in representing the mighty Persian empire.
For a list of other World History posts please see here