Read a little world history every day: Indian civilization

Indian civilization and Greek and Roman civilization are completely different, and the differences between them are not caused by different environments. India has no caste system in Greece and Rome, and there are no concepts such as killing, reincarnation and retribution. But these are the foundation of Indian civilization, the decisive factor of Indian thought and life, and the uniqueness of Indian civilization. Aryans who entered India have the same physiological characteristics as Europeans, but have completely different civilizations. What is the reason? This is the topic to be discussed in this chapter.

Since the Aryans invaded the Indus Valley, they have been living in Punjab, because there are large grasslands to graze. Later, they slowly extended to the Ganges River basin with extremely simple tools. As they began to use iron in 800 BC, the speed of expansion was greatly accelerated. Their main mode of production has also developed from animal husbandry to agriculture. The climate of Ganges River basin is suitable for planting rice, so the yield of rice is much higher than that of wheat and barley. The center of population density has shifted from northwest to east.

The shift of production focus from animal husbandry to agriculture has promoted the development of other industries needed to build villages, such as wood, metallurgy and textile. As the main traffic trunk line, rivers promote the development of trade. When the mode of trade changed from barter to currency trading, villages and trade centers that used to specialize in certain industries began to become cities.

Economic development has promoted political unity. Aryans were gradually organized by tribal leaders, and the tribes in Ganges valley became kingdoms, while the tribes in Punjab and the foothills of Himalayas became kingdoms. Among these early countries, the Kingdom of Mojeto is far ahead of other countries because it is located at the intersection of two commercial routes and has iron ore and other resources. With its superior conditions, Mojeto became the foundation for the formation of Peacock Empire and Gupta Empire.

In the 4th century BC, the Southern Duo Dynasty was established. Nantuo dynasty was the first Indian dynasty to establish a country and systematically develop the resources of Mojeto. They built irrigation projects and formulated tax system, which laid the foundation for the empire, but they didn't really establish the first empire. The First Empire was founded by a young adventurer named Chandra Gupta peacock, who seized the throne of Nanda in 32 1 BC and named it after himself.

The invasion of Aryans brought about great changes in the social structure. At the beginning, Aryans in India, like other Aryans, were divided into three classes: warriors, priests and civilians, and did not formulate a series of systems related to social classes. But by 500 BC, the caste system began to have a great influence. Although we don't know the exact origin of the caste system, it is generally believed that a basic factor of the caste system is skin color.

Aryans discovered the color difference between themselves and the indigenous Indians, so they called the indigenous people Dasai, that is, slaves. Aryans have a strong sense of national superiority, so they established a caste system to avoid mixing with despised subjects. This system is divided into four levels, from high to low, namely Brahman (priest), Khrushchev (warrior), Veda (farmer) and Dasai (slave). Dasai can't attend religious ceremonies and enjoy other social rights.

With the passage of time, it is impossible to adapt to the social reality simply by dividing identity from skin color. Some Aryan tribes need to form an alliance with the Dasai tribe and wage war with other Aryan tribes. Gradually, the customs and languages of Aryan immigrants began to merge with Indian aborigines. The priests of Dasai began to become Brahmins, the leaders became Khshatriya, the merchants and landlords became Vedas, and the peasants and laborers became sudra. Skin color can no longer improve status.

Due to the interaction between social law and religious law, caste system is still a part of Indian social structure. Until today, classes in Indian society are still mainly divided according to caste.

Karma and samsara are important parts of Indian religion. The Aryans' initial belief in God is the embodiment of natural forces. When the production center shifted from animal husbandry to agriculture, three new gods began to appear-Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector and Shiva the destroyer. With these new gods, power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of Brahmins. Brahmins made unreasonable demands on other classes on their own, which led to the religious reform in India in the 6th century BC.

The religious reform in India was originally characterized by asceticism. The ascetic monks alienated from the society, reflected on themselves and entered a trance-like state of practice. This introspection and meditation led to many reform movements, the most important of which was Buddhism. This new religion excludes the caste system and the status of brahmins. Subsequently, Buddhism became a powerful force not only in India, but also in central Eurasia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.

When Aryans settled in the Ganges valley, the focus of political activities shifted to this area. At that time, the Indian Peninsula was separated from other regions by virtue of its close ties with Persian civilization. In 5 18 BC, Darius, the emperor of the Persian Empire, incorporated the western Punjab into the 20th province of the Persian Empire. In 327 BC, Alexander invaded India from the northwest. Although he only stayed in India for two years, the Greek colonial regime in Punjab disappeared completely shortly after he left, but the war of aggression he launched had a great influence on the development of India. One of them is to make the trade from northwest India to Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean develop rapidly.

But the most important influence was Alexander's role in abolishing several kingdoms and republics in northwest India, which created a local political vacuum. Chandragupta peacock quickly filled this vacuum and established the peacock empire. In the following years, he extended his rule to the northwest and his rule to the Indus Valley. He organized a powerful army to maintain his rule. When Alexander's successor tried to recapture the Indian region controlled by Alexander, Chandragupta easily repelled him.

The son of Chandragupta conquered Deccan, and his grandson Ashoka conquered East India. During the reign of King Ashoka, the territory of Peacock Empire included the whole Indian Peninsula except the south.

During the Peacock Empire, India was rich and powerful, with clear and efficient politics, prosperous trade and good education system, which attracted countless students at home and abroad.

During the period of Ashoka, the traditional imperial power has undergone fundamental changes, and Ashoka himself is also undergoing changes. The cruel war made Ashoka feel sad, and he began to spread the teachings of Buddhism. Ashoka cares more about the people than the government. He built hospitals, run public medical care, distributed materials to various sects for charity, and let Buddhist groups go out to preach.

Although Ashoka advocated and encouraged Buddhism, he did not persecute sects other than Buddhism, but donated to all sects. He advocated tolerance to promote the harmony of the empire and won numerous cheers from the people during his reign of 4 1 year. But half a century after his death, the peacock kingdom was destroyed. The destruction of the peacock empire plunged India into a period of darkness and chaos until the Gupta era began.

In the 4th century, the great Gupta era began. Both the Gupta Empire and the Peacock Empire were established in the Ganges River valley. After the collapse of Peacock Empire, Gupta Empire managed to maintain its independence, which laid the foundation for the expansion of its power.

The Gupta era began in 320 when Chandragupta I ascended the throne, and the Gupta empire flourished to the extreme under the rule of his grandson Chandragupta II. Chandragupta II tried to expand his territory until his empire extended from the Indus River to the Bay of Bengal and from the northern mountains to the Nabada River valley. The ruling area of Gupta Empire was in North India, which did not really unify the whole peninsula. In fact, at that time, South India was isolated from the world by the Indian Mountains. The language used in South India is Dravidian, which is different from Aryan used by northerners. But the south accepted Hinduism, Buddhism and other social customs, and used Sanskrit as a scripture and educational language. In this way, South India has formed a unique civilization, which has firmly integrated the different language backgrounds and customs of all ethnic groups.

The Gupta Empire enjoyed extraordinary prosperity, and it continued to develop after a series of currency reforms by Chandragupta II. At that time, India's internal trade and foreign trade reached an unprecedented height. In addition, the textile industry has also made great progress. Textiles include silk, muslin, calico, flax, wool and cotton. These things are in great demand at home and abroad, so they are produced in large quantities. Other industries, such as metallurgy, ceramics, sculpture and jewelry processing, have also made great progress.

Believers who spread Buddhism in China know that the rule of Gupta Empire was milder than that of Peacock Empire. Faxian, a monk in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, stayed in India for nine years, during which he visited many temples. He was deeply impressed by the etiquette and prosperity of India. He found that the Gupta dynasty did not believe in Buddhism, but it did not discriminate against Buddhists.

The Gupta era was an era when Sanskrit came back. In linguistics and literature, this ancient language used by Brahmin scholars has been re-used. Sanskrit is widely used in folk literature and government records. With the support of the royal family, poetry and prose flourished. Later, it was translated into English and put on a foreign stage. At that time, it was "Shagondaro", and its author was even known as Shakespeare in India. The final editions of Mahabharata and Ramayana, two great national epics, are the greatest cultural achievements in the Gupta era. These two epics may exist in BC, but today we can only see the version compiled by Gupta writers.

Because of the contact with the Greeks, the thoughts of both sides have undergone beneficial changes and developments. Therefore, in the Gupta era, scientific achievements were also outstanding. Born in Fahrenheit in 476 BC, Ayabata is one of the greatest figures in the history of astronomy. His conclusion is that the earth is a sphere, and autobiography revolves around its axis. The eclipse is caused by the shadow of the earth falling on the moon; The length of a year is 365 days.

In India, the greatest scientific contribution is to put forward the concepts of "0" and decimal system. At that time, the calculation methods of Greeks and Romans were very inconvenient. For example, the Greek 888, in which each 8 is different, and the Roman 888 should be expressed as DCCCLXXXVIII. The number invented by Indians is 0,/kloc-0, 2 ... which we use today. Numbers invented by Indians are very convenient to multiply and divide. These simple Indian numbers were spread to the west by Arab scholars and businessmen, and we have today's Arabic numbers. Although Arabic numerals are convenient to use, they were despised as pagans at that time, and they were easily forged, and 0 could be changed into 6 or 9 with one stroke. Even so, Arabic numerals are still popular in the west, opening the door to modern mathematics and science.

India's development is unique, but China is as unique as India. The development of China is very continuous, without a sudden pause, and most foreign invaders have been assimilated. Let's look at Chinese civilization.