WH Unit 1 3-2

1. New Empires In India
Ch 3-2

2. Mauryan Dynasty
• Started by Chandragupta Maurya
• Had a centralized government
• Divided empire up into provinces

3. ASOKA
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Grandson of Chandragupta
Greatest ruler in history of ancient India
Used Buddhism to guide his rule
Had many hospitals for his people built
Made India a major trade crossroad
Expanded trade
Empire fell apart after his death

4. SILK ROAD
• Route that went from Roman
Empire to China
• Called Silk Road because of the
silk was a valuable product
• Covered 4,000 miles

5. Indian Culture
• Literature
–Vedas
• Indian religion texts
• Written in Sanskrit
• Historical epics were also written
• Mahabharata and Ramayana were
two examples

6. Architecture
• Pillar
– Large stone pillars that told Buddhism ideas
• Stupa
– Large areas for Buddhist devotion
– Looked like burial mounds
• Rock chamber
– Places carved out of cliffs, usually for Buddhist
monks to live and work in

7. Science
• Astronomy
– Earth was a sphere
– It rotated on an axis and revolved around the Sun
• Mathematics
– Algebra
– Concept of 0
– Numeral system we use today