Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
D AILY L ESSON
AND
D ISCUSSION Notes 4-3
India’s First Empires (pages 259–267)
tals for animals.
I. The Mauryan Dynasty (pages 260–262)
A. Chandragupta Maurya, an Indian prince, founded India’s first empire after
Alexander the Great left India. This empire was called the Mauryan dynasty.
B. A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family.
C. From the capital city of Pataliputra, Chandragupta controlled his dynasty by
retaining a strong army and using spies.
D. Many historians consider Asoka the Mauryan dynasty’s greatest king.
E. After being a strong military leader, Asoka turned away from violence. He
made a vow to live a peaceful life and follow Buddhism.
F. Asoka did many great things for his people. For example, he built hospitals
and new roads and sent teachers throughout India to teach Buddhism.
Laborers built thousands of stupas, or Buddhist shrines.
G. The empire grew weak after Asoka’s death. The kings made poor decisions,
and the Mauryan Empire fell.
What happened as a result of Alexander the Great’s invasion of northern
India? (Alexander the Great’s army weakened the people of India.
After Alexander the Great and his men left, the people could not resist
Chandragupta.)
turn
1
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
II. The Gupta Empire (page 264)
A. After 500 years of fighting, another Chandragupta took power and founded
the Gupta dynasty.
B. After Chandragupta died, his son, Samudragupta, took over and expanded
the empire.
C. The Guptas ruled for about 200 years. They grew wealthy from trade with
China and kingdoms in southeast Asia and the Mediterranean.
D. Pilgrims were people who often used the trade routes to travel to a
religious shrine or site. Visiting pilgrims helped make cities wealthy just as
tourists make cities wealthy today.
E. The Guptas were Hindus, and they made Hinduism the official religion.
F. The golden age of art and learning in India was during the Gupta empire.
What advantage did the Gupta rulers have that the Mauryan rulers did not?
(The kingdom had gotten smaller before the Gupta rulers took power. The
smaller kingdom was easier to rule.)
III. Indian Literature and Science (pages 265–267)
A. The Vedas of India are sacred hymns and prayers used in religious
ceremonies. The Vedas were recorded in Sanskrit after the Aryan people
came to India.
B. The epics Mahabharata and Ramayana are two sacred texts that are still
famous in India today. Both tell about warriors and their brave deeds.
C. Kalidasa was a writer who lived during the Gupta dynasty. His poem The
Cloud Messenger is a popular Sanskrit poem.
D. Music was an important part of the religious and social lives of people of
India.
2
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
4-3 (continued)
E. Remains of Indian art include mainly religious works made in stone.
F. Aryabhata was a mathematician who lived during the Gupta dynasty. He was
one of the first scientists to use algebra.
G. Mathematicians in the Gupta empire developed the symbols for the numbers 1
to 9 that we use today. They also invented algorithms and the idea of zero.
H. Indians also developed ideas in astronomy and medicine.
What kinds of medical advances were made by Gupta doctors? (Gupta
doctors could set broken bones and perform surgeries. They also developed
medical tools. One doctor even carried out an early form of plastic
surgery.)
3