Classical+India


 * 1) ESPIRIT Chart on Classical India [[file:ESPIRIT chart on India.doc]]
 * 2) Terms for Classical India [[file:Terms for Classical India.doc]]

Summary On Classical India: India's civilization was deeply influenced by geography and climate. Due to its placement, India was the center of a major trading industry. India was able to trade with the Arabs and with the Chinese. Thus helping them share and receive new ideas to start their own culture. **Hinduism** and **Buddhism** were India's two main relgions. Hinduism had no single founder or no central holy figure from which they would receive their beliefs. Hindus referred to their religion as //dharma//. They stressed the idea of **reincarnation**, which souls were to pass into other beings or animal when their bodies died. **Buddha**, who was originally a Hindu, wanted to focus on the simplicity of life and not to take things for granted. He believed in a world beyond existence, which was called **nirvana**. These religions led way to the development of India's culture. There were advances in astronomy, art, and literature. There was also a strict caste system, with peasants known as **untouchables** at the bottom, and the **Guptas** at the top, which limited people to marry within their own class and assigned them to occupations. Within families, women were to worship their husbands as gods and their rights became limited. India's economy was extremely successful due to their location. India was in the center of trade between the Arabs and the Chinese, helping spread and receive new and complex ideas. Indians had invented a new use for chemistry and they had the best steel in the world. They traded cotton, silks, dyes, drugs, gold, and ivory. In return they received, pottery, wine, metals, some slaves, and gold. Because of their extensive trade routes, India's artistic and cultural influence reached many different parts all over the world.