Gurjara-Pratihara The Gurjar Pratihara (गुर्जर-प्रतिहार), often simply called Pratihara Empire, was an imperial Indian dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 8th to the 11th centuries. At its peak of prosperity and power (c. 836–910), the Gurajara-Pratihara Empire rivaled or even exceeded the Gupta Empire in the extent of its territory. The Pratihara Empire started to decline in the early 10th century after it had to face several invasions by the south Indian Rashtrakuta dynasty.[1] Kannauj was the capital of imperial Gurjara Pratiharas.[2][3][4] The Gurjara Pratihara rulers in the tenth century was entitled as Maharajadhiraja of Āryāvarta ("Great King over Kings of the abode of the Aryans". i.e. Etymology[edit] The word "Pratihara" means protector or "who takes over the enemy/opponent" and was used by the Gurjara-Pratihara rulers as self-designation. Origin[edit] Several scholars including D. Rulers[edit] Early rulers[edit] Expansion[edit] Conquest of Kannauj and further expansion[edit]
Rishi Etymology[edit] According to Indian tradition, the word may be derived from two different meanings of the root 'rsh' (ṛṣ). Sanskrit grammarians[2] derive this word from the second meaning: "to go, to move".[3] V. S. Apte[4] gives this particular meaning and derivation, and Monier-Williams[5] also gives the same, with some qualification. Another form of this root means "to flow, to move near by flowing". More than a century ago, Monier-Williams tentatively suggested a derivation from drś "to see".[6] Monier-Williams also quotes the Hibernian (Irish) form arsan (a sage, a man old in wisdom) and arrach (old, ancient, aged) as related to rishi. However, the root has a close Avestan cognate ərəšiš[7] "an ecstatic" (see also Yurodivy, Vates). "Seer" of the Vedas[edit] A temple relief showing a Rishi. In the Vedas, the word denotes an inspired poet of Vedic hymns.[1] In particular, Ṛṣi refers to the authors of the hymns of the Rigveda. Rishi in Indonesia and Khmer temples[edit] Other uses[edit]
Buddhism Indian religion or philosophy based on the Buddha's teachings Buddhism ( BUU-dih-zəm, BOOD-), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (transl. "doctrines and disciplines"), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha.[3] It originated in present-day North India as a śramaṇa–movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia via the Silk Road. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravāda (lit. Etymology Buddhism is an Indian religion[22] or philosophy. Followers of Buddhism, called Buddhists in English, referred to themselves as Sakyan-s or Sakyabhiksu in ancient India.[25][26] Buddhist scholar Donald S. The Buddha Ancient kingdoms and cities of India during the time of the Buddha (circa 500 BCE) – modern-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan Enlightenment of Buddha, Kushan dynasty, late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, Gandhara Worldview The cycle of rebirth Saṃsāra
History of Ancient India Early Historic Period Vedic Period: The Aryans were the first to invade the country. They came out of the North in about 1500 BC and brought with them strong cultural traditions. Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages spoken by them, was used in the first documentation of the Vedas, which date back to the 12th century BC and are believed to be oldest scriptures still in use. The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts, next to those in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Mahajanapadas: This period saw the second major rise in urbanisation in India after the Indus valley Civilisation. Persian and Greek Conquests: Much of the Northwest subcontinent (currently Afghanistan and Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in C. 520 BCE under the rule of Darius the Great and remained so for two centuries.
Sanskrit Sanskrit (/ˈsænskrɪt/; संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam [səmskr̩t̪əm], originally संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, "refined speech") is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, a philosophical language in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and a scholarly literary language that was in use as a lingua franca in the Indian cultural zone. It is a standardized dialect of Old Indo-Aryan, originating as Vedic Sanskrit and tracing its linguistic ancestry back to Proto-Indo-Iranian and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European. Today it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India[3] and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand.[4] Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies. The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and dharma texts. Name The Sanskrit verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- may be translated as "put together, constructed, well or completely formed; refined, adorned, highly elaborated".
High culture "High culture" is a term, now used in a number of different ways in academic discourse, whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture. In more popular terms, it is the culture of an upper class such as an aristocracy or an intelligentsia, but it can also be defined as a repository of a broad cultural knowledge, a way of transcending the class system. It is contrasted with the low culture or popular culture of, variously, the less well-educated, barbarians, Philistines, or the masses.[1] Still similarities can be noted between high culture and traditional-folk culture as they can be all conceived as the repository of shared and accumulated traditions functioning as a living continuum between the past and present. Concept[edit] T. S. In both the Western and some East Asian traditions, art that demonstrates the imagination of the artist has been accorded the highest status. High Culture in Western Civilization
Gupta Empire The high points of this cultural creativity are magnificent architecture, sculptures and paintings.[7] The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields.[8][9] Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era.[10] Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia.[11] The earliest available Indian epics are also thought to have been written around this period. The empire gradually declined because of many factors such as substantial loss of territory and imperial authority caused by their own erstwhile feudatories and the invasion by the Huna peoples from Central Asia.[12] After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, India was again ruled by numerous regional kingdoms. Origin of the Guptas[edit]
History of India Historical aspects of the Indian subcontinent According to consensus in modern genetics anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago.[1] However, the earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Settled life, which involves the transition from foraging to farming and pastoralism, began in South Asia around 7,000 BCE. Most of the Indian subcontinent was conquered by the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. The most significant event between the 7th and 11th century was the Tripartite struggle centred on Kannauj that lasted for more than two centuries between the Pala Empire, Rashtrakuta Empire, and Gurjara-Pratihara Empire. Islamic conquests made limited inroads into modern Afghanistan and Sindh as early as the 8th century,[17] followed by the invasions of Mahmud Ghazni. Prehistoric era (until c. 3300 BCE) Paleolithic "Modern human beings—Homo sapiens—originated in Africa. H.G.
Hindu philosophy Hindu philosophy is traditionally divided into six āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक "orthodox") schools of thought,[1] or darśanam (दर्शनम्, "view"), which accept the Vedas as authoritative texts.[2] Four other nāstika (नास्तिक "heterodox") schools don't draw upon the Vedas as authoritative texts, and develop their own traditions of thought. The āstika schools are: The nāstika schools are (in chronological order): Cārvāka, a materialism school that accepted free will existsĀjīvika, a materialism school that denied free will exists Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive epistemological literature called Pramana-sastras.[3][4] In Hindu history, the distinction of the six orthodox schools was current in the Gupta period "golden age" of Hinduism. Overview[edit] Epistemology[edit] Epistemology in Hindu philosophy is called Pramāṇa (Sanskrit: प्रमाण).[5] It is a key, much debated field of study in Hinduism since ancient times. Classifications and characteristics[edit] Samkhya[edit] Yoga[edit]
History of India The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens, as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago.[1] The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwest India, was the first major civilization in South Asia.[2] A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture developed in the Mature Harappan period, from 2600 to 1900 BCE.[3] This civilization collapsed at the start of the second millennium BCE and was later followed by the Iron Age Vedic Civilization, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plain and which witness the rise of major polities known as the Mahajanapadas. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the 6th or 5th century BCE and propagated their Shramanic philosophies. Prehistoric era[edit] Stone Age[edit] Bronze Age[edit]
Religious text Texts central to a religion's tradition "Scripture" (or "scriptures") is a subset of religious texts considered to be "especially authoritative",[5][6] revered and "holy writ",[7] "sacred, canonical", or of "supreme authority, special status" to a religious community.[8][9] The terms sacred text and religious text are not necessarily interchangeable in that some religious texts are believed to be sacred because of the belief in some theistic religions such as the Abrahamic religions that the text is divinely or supernaturally revealed or divinely inspired, or in non-theistic religions such as some Indian religions they are considered to be the central tenets of their eternal Dharma. Many religious texts, in contrast, are simply narratives or discussions pertaining to the general themes, interpretations, practices, or important figures of the specific religion. Etymology and nomenclature[edit] History of religious texts[edit] See also[edit] List of religious texts References[edit]
Vedas Ancient scriptures of Hinduism The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the Atharvaveda. The Vedas (,[4] IAST: veda, Sanskrit: वेदः, lit. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.[8][9] Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).[8][10][11] Some scholars add a fifth category – the Upasanas (worship). The Vedas have been orally transmitted since the 2nd millennium BCE with the help of elaborate mnemonic techniques. The various Indian philosophies and Hindu denominations have taken differing positions on the Vedas; schools of Indian philosophy which acknowledge the primal authority of the Vedas are classified as "orthodox" (āstika). Etymology and usage Rigveda