...Table of Contents Section A – Ancient India Timeline of History The Importance of the Gupta Dynasty The Importance of the Mughal Dynasty The Taj Mahal and its Importance The Importance of the Ganges River The Caste System Section B – Contributions from India to Trinidad and Tobago Why did the Indians come to Trinidad How did they come to Trinidad The Legacies they left behind Timeline of History 400 BC Gautama 'Buddha' founds Buddhism 333 BC Persian rule in the northwest ends after Darius III is defeated by Alexander the Great. Alexander had established the Macedonian Empire after inheriting the Persian Achaemenid Empire. 326 BC Ambhi, king of Taxila surrenders to Alexander. Porus who ruled parts of the Punjab, fought Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. 321 BC Mauryan Empire is founded by Chandragupta Maurya in Magadha after he defeats the Nanda dynasty and Macedonian Seleucid Empire. Mauryan capital city is Patliputra (Modern Patna in Bihar) 305 BC Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleucus Nicator of the Seleucid Empire. 304 BC Seleucus gives up his territories in the subcontinent (Afghanistan/Baluchistan) to Chandragupta in exchange for 500 elephants. Seleucus offers to marry his daughter to Chandragupta to seal their friendship. 273 BC Ashoka the Great, grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, ascends as emperor of the Mauryan Empire. 266 BC Ashoka conquers and unifies most of South Asia, along with Afghanistan and eastern Iran...
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...target - the Nanda Empire - could muster 6,000 war elephants, the soldiers revolted. Alexander the Great would not conquer the far side of the Ganges. Although the world’s greatest tactician could not convince his troops to take on the Nanda Empire, five years after Alexander turned away, a 20-year-old Chandragupta Maurya would accomplish that feat, and go on to unite almost all of what is nowIndia. The young Indian emperor would also take on Alexander’s successors - and win. Chandragupta Maurya’s Birth and Ancestry: Chandragupta Maurya was born sometime around 340 BCE, reportedly in Patna, now in the Bihar state of India. Given the vast span of time since his birth, it is unsurprising that scholars are uncertain of many details. For example, some texts claim that both of Chandragupta’s parents were of the Kshatriya (warrior/prince) caste, while others state that his father was a king but his mother was a maid from the lowly Shudra (servant) caste. It seems likely that his father was Prince Sarvarthasiddhi of the Nanda Kingdom. Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka the Great, later claimed a blood relationship to Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, but this claim is unsubstantiated. We know almost nothing...
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...various other rooms, span to the size of 443ft long and 262ft wide. The Great Mosque in Kairouan is known as the oldest Muslim place of prayer in North Africa, and is regarded as the fourth holiest site in Islam (after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.) The decorations of the Great Mosque were attractive and practical. 9 doors were carved in detailed inlaid marquetry, and the 414 columns had ancient capitals and beautiful shafts. Not one of the 414 columns in the mosque is similar to any other elsewhere in the mosque. It also featured a system are gathering rainwater. The Great Stupa at Sanchi was started under the rule of Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE, and additions were being made to it until the fifth century CE. It was paid for my mercantile funds, and inscriptions within the stupa give credit to those who gave money. The stupa, however, features just the one large hemisphere dome, and has a circumference of 120ft, rising to 53ft. The Stupa at Sanchi was built after Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism. It was continued because of the religious fervor surrounding Buddhism, much of which Ashoka contributed to with his zeal for Buddhism. This stupa was built because the citizens needed a place to worship. In the Great Stupa there are four carved gateways that are the cardinal points of the compass that depict scenes in the life of Buddha. The stupa also featured four stone carvings of Buddha, complete with...
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...Ashoka The Well Appreciated Buddhist and King Ashoka was one of the greatest rulers of ancient India. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha who established the first Indian empire. Chandragupta wore the crown for twenty-four years before surrendering his throne in favor of his son, Bundusara (Ashoka’s father), who left no noticeable mark upon the empire. Ashoka was born in 304 B.C. and was known in his younger teen years as Canda Ashoka (the fierce Ashoka) because of his very aggressive nature. Ashoka came to the throne in 270 B.C. after a power struggle that ended in the death of one of his brothers. He was at first disposed to follow the example of his father and grandfather and complete the conquest of the Indian peninsula. In about 256 B.C. Ashoka attacked Kalinga, a country on the east coast of Madras, in order to expand his empire, which he ruled as a tyrant at the time. The plan he pursued about Kalinga was forceful and all standing in his way of the throne were killed. Ashoka succeeded in conquering Kalinga in the fatal war in which 100,000 men were killed, 150,000 injured, and thousands were captured and retained as slaves. The sight of the massacre involved in his conquest deeply distressed Ashoka and deeply affected his mind. Overwhelmed by the carnage, he changed his way of life. Brahmanism was the practiced religion of Ashoka, as he abstained from war forever and sought peace in Buddha’s preaching of love and ahimsa...
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...As said previously, ancient politics had their flaws and enduring issues. An example was the idea that people have the power to rule from their god(s). This was an enduring issue because it gave the rule supreme power which meant the citizens had no say in decisions that would ultimately affect them. The Ancient Chinese’s term to describe this ideology was the Mandate of Heaven. Qin Shi Huangdi, the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, gained his position because of the Mandate of Heaven. Although he did bring unity and harmony to China, his way of gaining power did cause problems. Many know that during Qin Shi Huangdi's rule, he helped develop the Great Wall of China and his mausoleum which protected by a life-sized terracotta army statue. These great...
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...longer he was in power. One of the most relevant examples is of the Mughal dynasty in the medieval period. They ruled from 1526 to 1857 which is more than three centuries. Their administration system was and still is considered one of the best one. Even when the British East India Company came to India they also analyzed and studied the accounts and documents on the way of administration in India under the Mughals. They had to read and inculcate things from that because the people were very happy with the way the Mughals were running the state and to overthrow them and adjust in the Indian society would have been very difficult by their own way. In ancient India too, Ashoka was considered a very good ruler because of his administration system. The praja (people of the state) was very happy by his functioning. They started to call Ashoka by the name of Priyadasi which literally means ‘the loved one’. All the great rulers we know of today are famous and considered great because of their great administration system which was also acceptable by the people. Thus, we know how important the administration system was. Judicial administration in early India Administration of justice is no doubt one of the most important functions of the state according to the modern notion. An average citizen does not understand the concept of government of the state and its other departments, but when is aware that the court is functioning properly and their decisions are fare and being enforced in...
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...2048nitaTime to push back the Buddha's birth date a century or so? Archaeologists may have uncovered evidence of the oldest Buddhist shrine yet discovered, dating to around 550 B.C. Located at Nepal's Lumbini pilgrimage center, the legendary site of the Buddha's birth, the discovery points to the renowned religious figure living more than a century earlier than dates accepted by many scholars. (See also: "Buddha Rising.") "What we have got is the earliest Buddhist shrine in the world," says archaeologist Robin Coningham of the United Kingdom's Durham University, lead author of the discovery study, released on Monday by the journal Antiquity. In the study, the international archaeology team reports digging beneath existing brick structures at the shrine, which is visited yearly by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. PHOTOGRAPH BY IRA BLOCK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Archaeologists Robin Coningham (at left) and Kosh Prasad Acharya direct excavations within the Maya Devi Temple. The excavations showed that older wooden structures lay beneath the walls of the later brick Buddhist shrine. The layout of that more recent shrine duplicates the layout of the earlier wooden structures, pointing to a continuity of Buddhist worship at the site, Coningham says. "The big debate has been about when the Buddha lived and now we have a shrine structure pointing to the sixth century B.C.," Coningham says. The team used two kinds of scientific dating to find the age of the early shrine. Outside...
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...forms, there is no specific form for it, therefore it is aniconistic. According to Alfred Foucher, “When we find the ancient stone-carvers of India in full activity, we observe that they are very industriously engaged in carrying out the strange undertaking of representing the life of Buddha without Buddha” (Huntington). The Buddha is often represented in many different forms, but they all connect back to this idea of spiritual enlightenment and internal peace. In Buddhist art, many of the times the audience can experience a connection with the Buddha, whether it is spiritually or not. When you look at Buddhist art, the Buddha, often in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha, express peace and he sits and meditate. It brings the audience in a ethereal state because one can feel connected to the Buddha, and his “ultimate reality.” Ultimate reality in Buddhism is not a physical place, rather it is a psychological and spiritual state that an individual would achieve. Although the Buddha is not “The Holy” himself, he is seen as a model form, so close to an actual divine being. This goes back to the idea that the Buddha is not the divine being, but he expresses and symbolizes what it means to be in the ultimate reality. For example, Buddha Shakyamuni during the early times was represented by a tree, lotus flower, or a footprint. During the Mauryan Imperial Emperor of Ashoka, the Buddha was represented in pillars as animals, such as a clouded elephant descending from heaven, lions, stallions...
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...Assignment 2: Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India and Greece Assignment 2: Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India and Greece Andelle Gregoire World Cultures I Abstract Overall, Greek and Indian art had many similarities and differences. Even though they lived far away and had different beliefs, their depicted the same topics: Gods and goddesses, animals, royalty, myths, everyday life, and sports. Jewelry wise, they both used a lot of gold, although Indians used more beads and gems. In sculpture, Greeks mostly used stone, and Indians used a variety of materials. Their paintings were also very similar. Architecture was quite different. Greek architecture used the golden ratio, and their buildings were usually made of marble. They used Doric and ionic columns to hold the roof of the building up. Indian buildings had elaborate designs carved in them, like people dancing, or gods and goddess. Comparing Sculptures of Ancient India and Greece Indians and Greeks alike loved showing myths and gods on their sculptures and pottery, but they styles were different, as the Greek used the red-figure pottery style, with black backgrounds and red figures that only were shown after they were fired in the kiln. Indians used simple but beautiful painted, unglazed pottery. Indians, too, did not put as much emphasis on sports in sculpture than the Greeks. Ancient Greeks has sculptures depicting gods and goddesses, royalty, animals, and sports, like Olympic events. Greek pottery depicted...
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...The history of the world is the history of humanity, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. Distinct from the history of Planet Earth (which includes early geologic history and prehuman biological eras), world history comprises the study of archeological and written records, from ancient times on. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing.[1][2] However, the roots of civilization reach back to the period before the invention of writing. Prehistory begins in the Paleolithic Era, or "Early Stone Age," which is followed by the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, and the Agricultural Revolution (between 8000 and 5000 BCE) in the Fertile Crescent. The Neolithic Revolution marked a change in human history, as humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals.[3][4][5] Agriculture advanced, and most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. Nomadism continued in some locations, especially in isolated regions with few domesticable plant species;[6] but the relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed human communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation. World population[7] from 10,000 BCE to 2,000 CE. The vertical (population) scale is logarithmic. As farming developed, grain agriculture became more sophisticated and prompted a division of labor to store food between growing seasons. Labor divisions then led to the rise of a leisured...
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...mathematics, astronomy, trade, architecture, arts and sculpture and many other areas. Indian Kings should the world their wealth by building great many structures, acquiring rare diamonds, breeding white horses and gifting them to all the foreign dignitaries. Although it doesn’t feel like one, India was one of the richest nations in the world up to the 17th Century. In fact most of our country was attacked because of huge amounts of wealth and money that people had here. If history proves anything, it proves that in ancient times, India was the richest country in the world. The fact that she has always been the cynosure of all eyes, Asiatic or European, that people of less favored climes have always cast longing looks on her glittering treasures, and that the ambition of all conquerors has been to possess India, prove that she has been reputed to be the richest country in the world. Her sunny climate, unrivalled fertility, matchless mineral resources and world-wide exports in ancient times helped to accumulate in her bosom the wealth which made her the happy hunting grounds of adventurers and conquerors. Strabo (c. 63 BC-3 BC) Greek historian in his book Geography II, 5, 12. Describing the location of India and calls it “the greatest of all nations and the happiest in lot.” Arnold Hermann Ludwig...
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...Art Essay ART has not always been what we think it is today. An object regarded as Art today may not have been perceived as such when it was first made, nor was the person who made it necessarily regarded as an artist. Both the notion of "art" and the idea of the "artist" are relatively modern terms. Many of the objects we identify as art today -- Greek painted pottery, medieval manuscript illuminations, and so on -- were made in times and places when people had no concept of "art" as we understand the term. These objects may have been appreciated in various ways and often admired, but not as "art" in the current sense. ART lacks a satisfactory definition. It is easier to describe it as the way something is done -- "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others" (Britannica Online) -- rather than what it is. The idea of an object being a "work of art" emerges, together with the concept of the Artist, in the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy. During the Renaissance, the word Art emerges as a collective term encompassing Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, a grouping given currency by the Italian artist and biographer Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century. Subsequently, this grouping was expanded to include Music and Poetry which became known in the 18th century as the 'Fine Arts'. These five Arts have formed an irreducible nucleus from which have been...
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...Tourism management fundamentals 1. 1. TOURISM – PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE Unit I: Introduction to Travel and Tourism 2. 2. The word Travel derived from the French word ‘Travail’ All Tourism involves Travel; but not all Travel involves Tourism 3. 3. • Tourism is part of LEISURE. • In modern times Tourism is only a recreational activity is a MISCONCEPTION because participating in meetings, seminars conferences, trade fairs, etc are also a tourism activity. 4. 4. Tourists • The tourist market is divided into: 1. The leisure tourist 2. The business tourist 5. 5. Visitors • A visitor is any person visiting a country other than that in which he/she has his/her usual place of residence, for any other reason than following an occupation from within the country visited – Visitors may be further categorised as excursionist and tourists 6. 6. Excursionist • A day visitor who stays for less than 24 hours at a place. There is no overnight stay 7. 7. Tourist • A tourist is a temporary visitor to a place. They stay at least for 24 hours 8. 8. TOURISM • One of the first attempts at defining tourism was that of Professors Hunziker and Krapf of Berne University in 1942. They held that tourism should be defined s – ‘the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected to any earning activity’. 9. 9. UNWTO definition • Tourism comprises the...
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...Indus Valley Civilization – The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BC; mature period 2600–1900 BC) extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia it was one of three early civilizations of the Old World, and of the three the most widespread. It flourished in the basins of the Indus River, one of the major rivers of Asia, and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, which once coursed through northwest India and eastern Pakistan. The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India, and is now in Pakistan. A uniform culture had developed at settlements spread across nearly 500,000 square miles, including parts of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Baluchistan, Sindh and the Makran coast. It was a highly developed civilization and derived its name from the main river of that region— Indus. |Year |Site |Discovered by | |1920 |Harappa |Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni | |1922 |Mohenjodaro |R. D. Banerjee | |1927 |Sutkagen dor |R. L. Staine ...
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...PR No.: PR13033 Madrid 15 May 13 Receipts from international tourism in destinations around the world grew by 4% in 2012 reaching US$ 1075 billion. This growth is equal to the 4% increase in international tourist arrivals which reached 1035 million in 2012. An additional US$ 219 billion was recorded in receipts from international passenger transport, bringing total exports generated by international tourism in 2012 to US$ 1.3 trillion. Among the emerging economy destinations highest receipts growth was reported by Thailand (+25%), India (+22%), Poland (+13%), South Africa (+18%), Egypt (+14%), Vietnam (+18%) and Ukraine (+13%). An extra 12 million international tourists in the first four months of 2013 PR No.: PR13046 Madrid 17 Jul 13 A total of 298 million international tourists travelled worldwide between January and April 2013, 12 million more than in the same period last year according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Prospects for the current tourism peak season remain positive with some 435 million tourists expected to travel abroad in the May-August period. International tourist arrivals grew by 4.3% in the first four months of 2013 to reach a total of 298 million, up from 286 million, despite a challenging global economic environment. Results were positive in all regions, with the strongest growth in Asia and the Pacific (+6%), Europe (+5%) and the Middle East (+5%) and weaker growth in the Americas (+1%) and Africa (+2%). By subregion...
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