Ap World History Chapter 3

Front 1

Reincarnation

Back 1

The successive attachment of the soul to some animate form according to merits earned in previous lives

Front 2

Dharma

[dŠr muh, dur-]

Back 2

The caste position and career determined by a person's birth; Hindu culture required that one accept one's social position and perform occupation to the best of one's ability in order to have a better situation in the next life

Front 3

Caste system

Back 3

Rigid system of social classification first introduced into Indian subcontinent by Aryans

Front 4

Nirvana

Back 4

The Buddhist state of enlightenment, a state of tranquility

Front 5

Buddha

Back 5

Creator of a major Indian and Asian religion; born in 6th century B.C.E. as son of local ruler among Aryan tribes located near Himalayas; became an ascetic; found enlightenment under bo tree; taught that enlightenment could be achieved only by abandoning desires for all earthly things

Front 6

Sanskrit

Back 6

The sacred and classical Indian language

Front 7

Chandragupta Maurya

[chun druh gUp tuh mour EE uh]

Back 7

Founder of Maurya dynasty; established first empire in Indian subcontinent; first centralized government since Harappan civilization

Front 8

Ashoka

[uh sO kuh]

Back 8

Grandson of Chandragupta Maurya; completed conquests of Indian subcontinent; converted to Buddhism and sponsored spread of new religion throughout his empire

Front 9

Shiva

Back 9

Hindu, god of destruction and reproduction; worshipped as the personification of cosmic forces of change

Front 10

Miscegenation

[mi se juh nAY shuhn, misi juh-]

Back 10

Practice of interracial marriage or sexual contact; found in virtually all colonial ventures

Front 11

Harappa

Back 11

Along with Mohenjo-daro, major urban complex of the Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern

Front 12

Karma

Back 12

The sum of merits accumulated by a soul at any given point in time; determined the caste to which the soul would be assigned in the next life

Front 13

Vishnu

Back 13

The Brahman, later Hindu, god of sacrifice; widely worshipped

Front 14

Upanishads

[U pan i shad, U pŠ ni shŠd]

Back 14

Later books of the Vedas; contained sophisticated and sublime philosophical ideas; utilized by Brahmans to restore religious authority

Front 15

Untouchables

Back 15

Outcaste in Hindu society; performed tasks that were considered polluting, street sweeping, removal of human waste, and tanning

Front 16

Mahabharata

[muh hŠ bŠr uh tuh]

Back 16

Indian epic of war, princely honor, love, and social duty; written down in the last centuries B.C.E.; previously handed down in oral form

Front 17

Mauryas

Back 17

Dynasty established in Indian subcontinent in 4th century B.C.E. following invasion by Alexander the Great

Front 18

Indus River valley

Back 18

River sources in Himalayas to mouth in Arabian Sea; location of Harappan civilization

Front 19

Aryans

Back 19

Indo-European nomadic pastoralists who replaced Harappan civilization; militarized society

Front 20

Mohenjo Daro

Back 20

Along with Harappa, major urban complex of the Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern

Front 21

Stupas

Back 21

Stone shrines built to house pieces of bone or hair and personal possessions said to be relics of the Buddha; preserved Buddhist architectural forms

Front 22

Guptas

Back 22

Dynasty that succeeded the Kushans in the 3rd century C.E.; built empire that extended to all but the southern regions of Indian subcontinent; less centralized than Mauryan Empire

Front 23

Dasas

Back 23

Aryan name for indigenous people of Indus valley region; regarded as socially inferior to Aryans

Front 24

Ramayana

Back 24

One of the great epic tales from classical India; traces adventures of King Rama and his wife, Sita

Front 25

Kamasutra

Back 25

Written by Vatsayana during Gupta era; offered instructions on all aspects of life for higher caste males, including grooming, hygiene, etiquette, selection of wives, and instruction on lovemaking

Front 26

Rama

Back 26

Major figure in the popular Indian epic Ramayana

Front 27

Monsoons

Back 27

Seasonal winds crossing Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia; during summer bring rains

Front 28

Signet Ring of Rakshasa

Back 28

One of great Sanskrit dramas produced during the Gupta Empire; dramatized authority of Brahmans

Front 29

Harappan civilization

Back 29

First civilization of Indian subcontinent; emerged in Indus River valley c. 2500 B.C.E.

Front 30

Kautilya

Back 30

Political advisor to Chandragupta Maurya; one of the authors of Arthashastra; believed in scientific application of warfare

Front 31

Gurus

Back 31

Originally referred to as Brahmans who served as teachers for the princes of the imperial court of the Guptas

Front 32

Indra

Back 32

Chief deity of the Aryans; depicted as a colossal, hard-drinking warrior

Front 33

Vedas

Back 33

Aryan hymns originally transmitted orally but written down in sacred books from the 6th century B.C.E.

Front 34

Arthashastra

[Šr thŠ shŠs trŠ]

Back 34

Political treatise written during reign of Chandragupta Maurya; advocated use of spies and assassins, bribery, and scientific forms of warfare

Front 35

Varnas

Back 35

Clusters of caste groups in Aryan society; four social castes' Brahmans (priests), warriors, merchants, and peasants; beneath four Aryan castes was group of socially untouchable Dasas

Front 36

Himalayas

Back 36

Mountain region marking the northern border of the Indian subcontinent; site of the Aryan settlements that formed small kingdoms or warrior republics

Front 37

Skanda Gupta

Back 37

Last of the able rulers of the Gupta dynasty; following his reign the empire dissolved under the pressure of nomadic invasions