Lesson 14: The Evolution of Religion in South Asia

• Parts of South Asia became important trading posts in the the silk trade because of its...


  location
• As religious beliefs spread, they began to change and affect how people in India and throughout the rest of Asia lived.
• During the medieval period, new types of


  devotional worship (bhakti) began to emerge
• Religious sects that occurred during the medieval period:


  • Vaishnavism (Vishnu)
  • Shaivism (Shiva)
  • Shaktism (Shakti: Mother Goddess)
• How devotional worship flourished under the Gupta Empire:


  • rise of temple worship
  • devotional writing (many were in Sanskrit meaning devotional worship was imperative in creating unity throughout India)
• The collapse of the Gupta Empire caused...


  India to split apart into smaller regional kingdoms
• Chola Empire


  a regional kingdom that ruled much of southern India from about 800-1300 C.E.

  • established sea trading routes throughout Indian Ocean
  • significant contributions to literature and art (sculptures and bronzes)
  • Shaivism (built temples)
• Regional temples


  became centers of both religious and political power throughout India
• Languages native to India began to appear alongside Sanskrit texts.
• Poet-saints


  • wrote hymns and songs dedicated to specific Hindu gods
  • work embodies a change in Hinduism toward personal devotion
• Three aspects of God in Hinduism:


  • Brahma (the creator)
  • Vishnu (the protector)
  • Shiva (the transformer)
• Emphasis on social and religious equality throughout Indian society


  challenged the class system that existed in Indian society for generations
• Female poet-saints:


  • wrote about the restrictions they felt in married life or their social status
  • rejected that traditional roles of women and left their homes behind
• Why was Sanskrit important in India during this period?


  because it unified Indian culture through devotional literature
• How the Bhakti movement shaped Hinduism in India:


  • encouraged people to be personally devoted to one deity
  • anyone regardless of their social class could worship song, dance, and through temple visits
  • made religious teachings accessible to those who were not familiar with Sanskrit
• Mahayana Buddhism


  a branch of Buddhism that became popular in China and focused on salvation through personal faith
• Buddhist missionaries and travelers from India spread their religion using the

  Silk Road
• When traveling to foreign countries, Buddhists would occasionally build


  shrines and temples along the Silk Road
• Influence on China:


  • sacred Buddhist texts were translated into Chinese
  • the Chinese made pilgrimages to learn more about Buddhism
  • Mahayana Buddhism
  • monasteries in China
  • Tang persecuted Buddhism
• Xaun Zang


  • made a pilgrimage in the late 620's to learn more about Buddhism
  • he brought back over 600 Buddhist texts
• In the 11th century, Islamic Turks conquered Indian territory and one of their conquests led to the


  formation of Muslim kingdoms within India
• Delhi Sultanate


  the most prominent of the Muslim Kingdoms
• The spread of Islam caused


  tension with Hindus and Buddhists
• Muslim missionaries adapted Hindu and Buddhist stories to reflect different Islamic beliefs.
• India + Islam = cultural developments
• Indo-Islamic architecture:


  • minarets
  • Taj Mahal
• al-Khwarizmi


  the Persian mathematician who adapted the Indian's system of numbers to develop algebra
• How did the spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam throughout Asia affect each religion?


  • Hinduism - altered worship
  • Buddhism - new varieties of the original religion
  • Islam - blended with other religions
• Calicut


  a major trading port on the Malabar coast
• Items at Calicut:


  • China - silk, porcelain
  • Egypt & Persia - metals, armor, weapons, perfume
  • Mediterranean - horses, glassware
  • Mongol lands & East Africa - slaves
• Zamorin Dynasty


  • ruled over Calicut during the 1300's and 1500's
  • laws that benefited merchants
• Calicut's location allowed people to utilize the monsoon seasons from all around India to trade goods with one another.
• Junks were designed to travel against...


  monsoons in the Indian Ocean
• Utilizing spices, doctors would treat a patient's illness with its...


  elemental opposite
• With so many different ideas flowing into the city,

  Calicut merged many types of cultural and religious ideas together
• Southeast Asian kings adopted India culture, religion, and art through


  the construction of temples