India

India

Civilization/Nation/Group: India

Time Period:

Women had to worship their husbands like gods. Women had little to no rights and had pre arranged marriages. The woman's role was understood in the sense that they were responsible for the happiness of the household. Brahmin, Merchants, Untouchables The merchant's high status would affect the economy. ||
 * E ||  **__India emphasized trading with foreign nations a lot more than the Chinese and also traded not only through land but by sea.__** The industries of the Indian nation were beginning to rival the Chinese industries as India would have one of the best steel industries of the world. They were also the first to start manufacturing things like : __cotton cloth, calico, and cashmere.__ There was trade to east Asia and the Middle East through the sea. Trade would grow between the Roman Empire and the Middle East with India. The economy was still firmly based on agriculture. This trade would affect the social class by making merchants rich and would also foster cultural exchange.  ||
 * S || **__India's social structure emphasized the dominance of men and the caste system emphasized the division of powers.__**
 * P || **__Politics in India were based upon local or regional governemnts which in turn, placed less emphasis on government in India due to the lack of centralized power.__**
 * India's government was not elaborate, there was no formal political theories or values that carried over like in China.
 * The government established a caste system that was interpretted by priest which promoted public order.
 * Indian rulers were heavily militaristic.
 * There were autocratic kings and emperors that served as leaders but in some cases, aristocratic assemblies decided on major issues. ||
 * I || **__India was the intrepot of civilizations at this time.... classical era, while China was more isolated trading with only the Middle East.__**
 * India traded with all civilizations and it traded textiles.
 * India had control of the seas and trade routes not only giving them control of trade but power.
 * India and China developed a caravan trade where they traded by land.
 * By trading with the Middle East and the Mediterranean, they brought back goods like pottery, wine and slaves.
 * Spread their culture through trade rather than political dominance. ||
 * R || **__The two central religions of the Indian region were Hinduism and Buddhism.__**
 * Hinduism was not founded by one person or from one central holy figure like most other religions.
 * Both religions believed in reincarnation but hinduism believed that the way one lived one's life would determine what level of the caste system one would reincarnate into. Buddhism was strongly against the caste system.
 * Gods in the Hindu religion would transform. ex: Varuna changed from a god of the sky to the guardian of ideas of right and wrong.
 * Siddartha Gautama was an Indian prince that questioned the fairness of life, he tortured his body for 6 years and after claimed to have found the answers he was looking for. He would become the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
 * Due to the caste system, Buddhism would not be highly popular until later years. ||
 * I || **__The culture of India was heavily influenced by religion and by the political system.__**
 * Due to the caste system, people could only marry between their own caste level or lower, but never higher. These weddings were always prearranged and would ultimately favor the husband more than the wife.
 * Art was centered around the gods of the Hindu religion with some sculptures having to do with Buddha.
 * Hinduism, unlike many other religions actually supported the growth of "rational scientific inquiry".
 * Books like //Kamasutra// would explore the relationship between a man and a woman.
 * Panchatantra would give us famous storys like "Sinbad" ||
 * T || * Economically, the Indians would use the ocean so this meant that it would harbor advances in sea harboring technology.
 * At the time, the best navigation was the stars, and the Indians used that basic fact to extend their knowledge of the universe. They would calculate the solar year and predict eclipses.
 * The steel industry of India would be the best in the world due to the advances they made in chemistry. ||

The industries of classical China and classical India were alike in several aspects, but the primary difference between the economies was emphasis of trade. Being in near geographical areas, the industries of India and China fluctuated very slightly. India and China both had a prosperous textile industry, jewelry industry, and metal industry. India had a lot more coast than China and was a lot closer to the Middle Eastern World, so India would actually take part in large amounts of maritime trade with the Middle East and east Asia. India would also trade through land like China primarily did with the **Silk Road.** India was actually a part of that trade. The major difference in the economy of China and India was due to culture. They still had economies heavily based on agriculture but India encouraged trade as the **caste system** would provide an incentive to become a merchant as they were very high on the social ladder compared to its Chinese counterpart. In China, merchants were at the same level as farmers. With this incentive India would rival the large producer of goods, China.
 * Comparison of the Chinese and Indian economy:**