Buddhist Civilization
The iron age civilization extand over much indo ganatic plain and which withnessed the rise of major polities known as the mahajanapadas . by the sixth century bc' knowledge of indian history become more focused because of the available buddhist and jain sources of a pried .the system callad Jainism and Buddhism had their roots in prehistoric philosophies but they were founded respectively by Vardhamana Mahavira and Gotama Buddha, both of whom were preaching in Magadha durin the reign of Bimbisara (c.520 BC).
Northern India was at that time populated by a number of small princely states that rose and fell in the sixth century BC. In one of these kingdoms, Magadha, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born in the sixth or fifth century BC and propagated their śramani philosophies. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha was born in 623 BO in the Kapilvastu (Lumbini) area located in the Terai plains of south- east of modern Nepal as testified by the inscription on the pillar erected by the Mauryan Emperor Asoka in 249 BC.
In sixth century BC, the people of the region were getting increasingly dissatisfied with the Hindu caste system. When Buddha, son of a Kshatriya king preached equality in men, his teachings were quickly accepted throughout the northern part of the subcontinent. In this milieu the rise of Buddhism became phenomenon that affected the history of the region for several centuries. Buddha's teachings proved enormously popular when
considered against the more obscure and highly complicated rituals and philosophy of Vedic Hinduism.
The original doctrines of the Buddha also constituted a protestagainst the existing inequities of the caste system, attracting large numbers of followers. Around the same time Gandhara, being the easternmost province of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, became a major power in the region. Its two cities - Pushkalavati, or present- day Charsadda near Peshawar, and the capital Taxila, were the centre of civilization and culture.12 For a time, Gandhara also was a jewel' of Buddhist civilization.
Scholars of Gandhara travelled east to India and China and were influential in the development of early Mahayana Buddhism. The art of Gandhara included the earliest frescos known in human history and the first- and some of the most beautiful --depictions of bodhisattvas and the Buddha in human form. During the next two hundred years Buddhism spread over northern India, perhaps receiving a new impulse from the Greek kingdoms in the Punjab.
About the middle of the third century BC Asoka, the king of Magadha or Behar who reigned from 264 BC to 227 BC, became a zealous convert to Buddhism. He is said to have supported 64,000 Buddhist priests; he founded many religious houses, and kingdom is called the Land of the Monasteries to this day. He
organized it on the basis of a state religion.
organized it on the basis of a state religion.
No comments:
Post a Comment