Indian History Unit
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64 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity | Brahma: God of Creation/Birth, Vishnu: The Preserver, Shiva: God of Death |
| The Brahman | Supreme Ground of Being, the soul of the universe, gods believed to have originated out of the brahman. |
| Reincarnation | your soul passes endlessly through time and is reinvented every life cycle. |
| The Two Paths | The path of pleasure and the path of renunciation. Both accepted in Indian society but the path of renunciation is believed to be the path of enlightenment. |
| Karma | The belief that if one did good things in the current life, the person would reincarnate into a good animal and if a person did evil things during his current life he would be punished by reincarnating into a lower animal. |
| Moksha | The state of infinite truth, knowledge, bliss and liberation. In essence nirvana. |
| Vedas | the sacred scriptures for the Hindus. |
| Caste System | The indian hierarchy system, developed gradually in India from the 7th-4th century B.C. |
| Brahmins | highest level in the caste system: priests, religious leaders |
| Kshatrityas | second highest level in the caste system: kings, rulers, military leaders and warriors |
| Viashyas | third level in the caste system: producers, merchants, farmers and artisans |
| Shudras | lowest level in the caste system: laborers |
| the Untouchables | lower than the lowest level in the caste system (shudras), considered profane. |
| Creation and Popularity of Hinduism | World's oldest known organized religion about 1800 B.C., 81% of people in India are Hindu. |
| Creation of Buddhism | Buddhism was founded around the 5th or 6th century B.C. |
| Four Noble Truths | 1. Life is suffering. 2. Suffering is caused by craving and desire, and by clinging to the notion of self. 3.If the scause of suffering is craving and desire one must eliminate the cause. the solution to this is: 4. The Noble Eightfold Path, a set of soltiotions characterized by a cooncern for moralities, concentration and wisdom |
| Siddhartha | Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism who would soon become the Buddha. Lived around the 5th or 6th century. |
| Nirvana | Nirvana is a state of bliss in which life's turmoil, desire and suffering are extinguished. |
| Creation and Popularity of Islam | 13% of people in India are Muslim. One of the biggest religions in the world. Created in the 6th century B.C. |
| Allah | The one and only God of Islam. |
| Muhammad | The Muslim's last prophet and founder of Islam. |
| Mecca | A city in Saudi Arabia, original birthplace of Muhammad, he eventually took it over and proclaimed it the holiest place for Islams. |
| Medina | A city close to Mecca, the city all the muslims emigrated to when they were exiled out of Mecca. |
| Koran | The holy text for the Muslims. |
| Five Pillars of Islam | shahadah: proffession of faith (Allah is the only God), Salat: prayers, Sawm: Fasting, Zakat: giving of alms especially on Ramadan, Hajj: pilmgrimage to Mecca at least once in a muslim's life. |
| Time and Popularity of Jainism | Less than 6% of the people in India are Jain. |
| Mahavira | The founder of Jainism. |
| The Five Vows of Jainism | Ahimsa (non-violence): Non-violence in thought, word and deed so as not to cause harm to any living beings. Everything has a soul. Satya (truthfulness): Truth which is beneficial, succinct and pleasing. In other words, to speak the harmless truth Astey (no theft) Not to take anything that has not been given to them willingly by the owner Brahmacharya (chastity) Absolute purity of mind and body without indulging in sensual pleasure Aparigraha (non-attachment): Exercise no attachment or aversion to all people, places and material objects around. |
| Anekatavada | the story of the blind men and the elephant. |
| Creation of Sikhism | founded in the 15th century. |
| The Khalsa and the five Ks | Khalsa: The word "Khalsa" means "pure", Khalsa's are Sikhs which have undergone the sacred Amrit Ceremony initiated by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Kesh: Long unshorn hair. A symbol of spirituality. The Kesh reminds a Khalsa to behave like the Guru's. It is a mark of dedication and group consciousness, showing a Khalsa's acceptance of God's will. Dastar: Turban. A symbol of royalty and dignity. Historically the turban has been held in high esteem in eastern and middle eastern cultures. Guru Gobind Singh transformed this cultural symbol into a religious requirement so that the Khalsa would always have high self-esteem. It differentiates Sikhs from other religious followers who keep long hair but wear caps or keep matted hair. The turban cannot be covered by any other head gear or replaced by a cap or hat. The turban is mandatory for Sikh men and optional for Sikh women. Kangha: Comb. A symbol of hygiene and discipline as opposed to the matted unkept hair of ascetics. A Khalsa is expected to regularly wash and comb their hair as a matter of self discipline. Kara: Steel bracelet. A symbol to remind the wearer of restraint in their actions and remembrance of God at all times. Kachha: Drawers. A symbol signifying self control and chastity. Kirpan: Ceremonial Sword. A symbol of dignity and the Sikh struggle against injustice. It is worn purely as a religious symbol and not as a weapon. |
| Guru Nanak | Founder of Sikhism. |
| The Adi Granth | Holy Sikh scriptures |
| The Golden Temple | The most holiest temple of the Sikhs. |
| Shah Jahan | Akbar's Grandson and king. ruled 1628-1658, built the Taj Majhal |
| Akbar | One of the first muslim rulers of India, ruled 27 January, 1556 - 27 October, 1605, took throne when he was 13 years old and was known as the "philosopher king", promoted schools and religious tolerance. Created his own religion which was a mixture of a bunch of religions. |
| Philosopher King | What Akbar was called, he was not only a king but a profound philosopher. |
| Taj Mahal | Famous landmark, built by Shah Jahan for his late 3rd wife, Mumtaz Mahal, his favorite. Very expensive and used up a large amount of the government funds. Hired best artisans around the country. |
| The British East India Company | full name: the British East India Trading Company, in 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter for a joint-stock trading company to monopolize British trade in India. |
| Sepoys | Sepoys were Indians hired by the British as guards. |
| The Battle of Plassey | 1757- Colonel Robert Clive and an Indian raj, Nawab Siraj-ud-daula fought for control of Bengal at the battle of Plassey, and Mir Jafar refused to fight for Siraj-ud-daula causing him to lose the fight. Mir Jafar was bribed by British and agreed to betray Siraj-ud-daula if he could be crowned prince afterwards. British expanded illegally its fortifications of Calcutta which neighbored Bengal. British wanted to expand into Bengal. Siraj-ud-daula marched into Calcutta and defeated the british there and threw the survivors there into prison. Colonel Robert Clive angered marched from Madras and took over Calcutta in 1757 not satisfied with that he marched on Bengal. The english were out numbered severely.However, most of Siraj-ud-daula's soldiers were bribed to throw away their weapons, surrender or turn against their own army and support the British. It is estimated that in the end the British lost just 22 people to 500 Indians. British East India company installed Mir Jafar as the puppet raj and used the revenues it received from Bengal to gradually take over the rest of India. marked the beginning of British supremacy in India. |
| Siraj-ud-daula | Indian raj that controlled Bengal. Fought against British and was betrayed by his most trusted uncle. |
| Mir Jafar | Siraj-ud-daula's trusted uncle, was supposed to support him during the battle of Plassey but was bribed out of doing it and simply refused to fight at his cousins most crucial moment. Became the British puppet prince of Bengal. |
| Colonel Robert Clive | British Colonel that marched his army of 800 europeans and 2200 Indians on the British side from Madras to Bengal facing Siraj-ud-daula who had 50,000 menn and heavy artillery. Fought with much brutality. |
| Reasons that led to the Sepoy Rebellion | There were many events that built up for the Sepoy Rebellion, the main event that set off the Sepoys however was the new cartridge design for the rifles they had to carry. In order to load the gun one had to bite through a layer of animal fat. This was not acceptable religiously so the Sepoys refused. Another reason why the Sepoys rebelled was because the British annexed off most of the Indians land. |
| Delhi | Sepoys fell back to Delhi where meager British forces attempted to seige. Sepoys could still get resources. British reinforcements arrived and stormed the city. Delhi was claimed. |
| Cawnpore | absolutely grotesque. massacre involving the brutal massacre of British women and children as well as men. British troops came in and made the rebels lick the blood off the walls and floor even though they claimed they had had nothing to do with the massacre. |
| Consequences of the Rebellion | British direct rule, imperialism begins after the rebellions. |
| Indirect rule | Company ran India through Indian rajas etc... |
| Direct rule | British government would send representatives to replace local leaders and created a cabinet post. The Secretary of State for India who reported back to Parliament. |
| Imperialism | The policy of extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations. |
| Colonialism: The lifeblood of Imperialism | Control by one power over a dependant area or people. subset of imperialism. |
| The British raj | Transfer of power from The British East India Company to the British government following the Sepoy rebellion of 1857. |
| Just Rule | The Western colonial empires justified their subjugation of the colonies through the concept of racial superiority and the doctrine of "The Just Rule." Imperialists claimed that because of the moral and technical superiority of the West it was preordained that Westerners would rule the less developed countries. |
| White Man's Burden | A poem written by the English poet Rudyard Kipling, also became the most famous moral defense of imperialism in the 20th century. |
| Amritsar Massacre | In the northern Indian city of Amritsar where, on April 13, 1919, fifty British Indian Army soldiers, under the command of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children. The firing lasted for ten to fifteen minutes, until ammunition was running short. Official British Raj sources placed the fatalities at 379, and with 1,100 wounded. Civil Surgeon Dr Smith indicated that there were 1,526 casualties. Many people threw themselves into a well to escape open fire. |
| Nationalism | Patriotism. |
| Indian National Congress | Sometimes abbreviated INC, is a major political party in India. It is the largest and oldest democratic political party in the world. Founded in 1885, became the leader of the Indian Independence Movement, with over 15 million members and over 70 million participants in its struggle against British rule in India. After independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant political party, led by the Nehru-Gandhi family for the most part. |
| Jinnah and his plan for independence | Wanted to create a strictly Muslim country called Pakistan separate from India. |
| Nehru and his plan for independence | Did not have a super strong opinion on it, just decided he would more go with the flow. |
| Inspiration for Gandhi's philosophy | Buddhism and Jainism influenced him for his philosophy but the mal-treatment in South Africa is really what made him more aware. |
| Core concepts to Gandhi's | No violence, only peace. If someone hits you, you turn the other cheek. |
| His plan for Independence | Wanted the nation to stay together! He wanted to fight the British using civil disobedience and absolutely no violence. |
| 3 main roots that are important for Gandhi too | Ahimsa, satyagraha and brahmacharya. |
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