Paper #2 Readings

Readings:
1) Rig Veda, Book 1, Hymns 1-5 at http://oaks.nvg.org/rv1.html
2) Life of Buddha at http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/ --Click on the “Story and
Teachings” tab and read from “Birth & Youth” to “Death & Legacy”.
3) Baghavad Gita, Chapters 1 and 2
http://www.gita4free.com/bhagavad-gita/chapter-1/
4) Read brief outline of life of Muhammad at
http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/deserts/hittmai2.htm
5) Koran, Suras 55 and 56 at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/koran/browse.html

INDIA
In the minds and narratives of most Westerners, India’s past generally plays a poor step-
child to other ancient civilizations. It lacks the monumental remains of many civilizations
around the Mediterranean, and lacks as well any body of evidence to match China’s bronzes
and oracle bones. And yet, its early history is clearly deep and complex, and the cultural
traditions that develop in the Indian subcontinent carry on with vigor and vitality to this
day. Within 20 years, India promises to be the most populous nation on earth, as population
experts project that it will pass China at some point before 2030 CE. Just as important, in
terms of population, India is, and has always been, one of the most densely populated
lands—among current countries with populations of 25 million or more, India ranks third in
population density, behind only Bangladesh and South Korea. Scholars reckon that ancient
India had a population of more than 50 million by 200 BCE, at a time when the world
population has been estimated to hover at approximately 200 million. Clearly there was a
tremendous amount of human enterprise and activity in the region.

HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION
There is evidence for habitation in India reaching far back into the Paleolithic Era, and small
Neolithic communities dot the Indus River basin and central regions of India between 7000
and 4000 BCE. But in the fourth millennium BCE a far more complex civilization emerges in
the Indus Rive basin and this culture sustains itself for almost two millennia, between 3500
and 1700 BCE.

The civilization is generally referred to as “Harappan Civilization,” named for one of its key
cities (Harappa—the first of the cities of this culture excavated in the early 20th century);
sometimes it is labeled “Indus Valley civilization.” This culture flourished along the entire
2000 miles of the Indus River, and over 1000 Harappan settlements have been identified—
no doubt, many more remain buried under silt deposited by the Indus.
The sheer number of sites that date to the Harappan period is impressive enough—as is the
scale of some of these settlements: Harappa itself and Mohenjo-Daro each seem to have
housed populations of over 10,000 people at their peak. More astonishing is the uniformity
of the culture—the excavated sites all bear impressive similarity to each other:

 They are all well protected by sturdy walls.

 Each neighborhood is defined by its own set of walls.
 They all are set on gridded plans that often are orthogonal.
 The primary building material is fired or sun-dried brick.
 The bricks throughout the civilization are generally made of consistent and uniform
size.
 Houses included indoor and outdoor cooking areas.
 Houses shared wells and reservoirs that collected water.
 Many of the houses retain traces of staircases leading to an upper floor.
 Each house had drainage pipes leading out from the house to a pipe running along
each street. Waste water drained from each house and was channeled out of the
settlement.
 Each settlement also includes some larger structures that clearly serve some public
functions. Mohenjo-Daro has a large building that contained a large pool (a public
bath? a sacred pool?).

Clearly flooding was a problem at most of these sites, as it remains in the Indus region to this
day. Some of the sites, Mohenjo-Daro most consistently, set most of their architecture on
raised platforms, to protect the structures from intruding floodwaters.

In addition to the urban and architectural aspects of Harappan civilization, key material
remains are the ceramics produced throughout the Indus region, and the large numbers of
seal stones that have been recovered at Harappan sites. While found in small quantities,
small sculptures also provide evidence of sophisticated technologies for working with
stones. Lecture slides this week will review several of these objects.

Complicating the analysis of all the material from these sites is the fact that the language of
these people remains unknown. Many of the seal stones bear markings that might be
pictograms or letters or other linguistic symbols—indeed over 400 of these symbols have
now been identified, appearing on seal stones in many different combinations, as in a
lettering or glyphic system. The signs remain undeciphered, however.

Given the amount of similarity in the material remains at the hundreds of separate and often
widely separated sites, scholars debate the ways in which the sites were interconnected:
was there a single system of government, controlled from one of the larger cities, like
Mohenjo-Daro or Harappa? Were there parallel and similarly structured administrative
systems that recognized the degree to which similar materials facilitated trade and
exchange?

Some of the sophisticated objects found at these sites—a small statue of a “dancer”; the
head of a man; a seal stone with a man seated in a lotus position—encourage us to make
connections between Harappan civilization and later eras of Indic history. Is the bust of the
bearded man a representation of a “Brahmin” priest? Is the man seated in the lotus position
and flanked by wild animals an early form of the god Shiva, so important in Hindu religion?

Connections with later eras of Indic history also can be drawn in the planning of the cities—
the large basin at Mohenjo-Daro is identified by many scholars as a bath, and connected to
the purification rituals and sacred rivers of later Hindu traditions. It is worth noting that this
bath structure is the only structure at a Harappan site that is identified with any religious
function. No other forms of sacred architecture have been suggested.

There is a similar lack of architectural or archaeological evidence for the governmental

systems of these Harappan communities. Most of the settlements include an elevated area
(sometimes only slightly elevated) labeled as an acropolis. Frequently there is a larger
structure in the area of the Acropolis containing large rooms. But are these
palaces? Council houses? Parliamentary chambers? There are simply not enough clues in
the material remains found at the sites to identify the functions of most of the spaces.

Harappan Civilization reaches high levels of stability and prosperity in the period between
2600 and 1900 BCE. There is vigorous trade, with Harappan materials appearing in Egypt
and Mesopotamia. The largest number of cities and towns seem to reach their highest levels
of population and economic development.

Beginning in 1900 BCE, however, Harappan communities of the Indus Valley begin to lose
their stability, and by about 1700 BCE much of the civilization’s dynamism and prosperity has
been lost, with most cities depopulated and abandoned, and communities moving toward a
more insular and subsistence level existence. The pattern here is similar to what is seen in
the Mediterranean at the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 1200 BCE), and the variety of theories
about the cause of decline is similarly broad—climate change; crop failure; invasion of new
populations; disease; overextension of trade; etc. No doubt, a concatenation of several
factors contributed to the decline.
For many decades, it has been argued that during the period of Harappan decline, new
populations of Indo-European speakers—specifically the Indo-Aryans—take advantage of
this economic and social instability the decline in Harappan culture, moving into India from
their homelands in southern Russia and the Caucasus Mountains, and gradually occupying
the Indus and Ganges River basins over the next several centuries. This view of shifting
populations and identity in the people of India is based partly on the presence in later eras of
Indo-European speakers (for Sanskrit, the language of ancient India IS an Indo-European
language), and partly on evidence gleaned from ancient Indian texts.

A key problem for this theory is that there is virtually no material evidence for any sustained
migration or intrusion of new people into India. Nor is there any means of evaluating
linguistic factors, since the Harappan script remains undeciphered. It is possible that the
people who emerge in India during the “Vedic” era are direct descendants of the Harappan
people.

Between 1700 and 600 BCE populations begin to coalesce (or re-coalesce) in the Indus
Valley and to move into the Ganges Valley. During this extensive period, many cities
develop in these river regions. The local economies depend heavily on agriculture, and
trade with other cultures is minimal. Architecture is quite basic, with little use of stone or fired
brick. The characteristic pottery of the era (especially between 1200 and 600 BCE) is called
Painted Gray Ware. The people call themselves “Arya,” a Sanskrit word meaning “noble,”
and they clearly speak an Indo-European language. We know a great deal about these
people not only from their material remains, but also from their sacred texts, the Vedas,
which are written down in the 7th and 6thcenturies BCE, but which were clearly developed
and transmitted orally from 1200 BCE at the latest.

The Vedas, along with several other texts that are created in the first millennium BCE, reveal
a culture that exhibits all of the hallmarks we associate with ancient India, in terms of
language, religious beliefs, political structures, and social structures.

Vedic India saw the rise of independent states centered around sizable cities in the Indus
and Ganges regions. The states were controlled by hereditary rulers called Rajas, who were
supported by a council and military forces. The states had primarily agricultural economies,
though the cities of course supported a wide variety of occupations. The major rivers and
their many tributaries seem to have been good sources of gold in early times, with bronze
and iron resources and technologies developing as well through this period.

One of the most informed and noteworthy aspects of Indian culture, from ancient times down
to contemporary times, is the caste, or varna, system that informed and informs all aspects
of social interaction. Many discussions of caste, or varna, to use the Sanskrit word for “class”
oversimplify the concept to a dangerous degree by simply identifying the four major levels of
standing in Indic society:

brahmans: priests
kshatriyas: warriors and rulers
vaishyas: skilled laborers, merchants, minor officials
shudras: unskilled laborers

Additionally there was another caste below these four strata—the panchamas who, because
of the unclean aspects of their work, were considered beneath any class.

This stratification of Indic varnas was far more complex, as family and birth (encapsulated in
the Sanskrit term jati, or “birth”) and birthplace all factored into people's vision of their
status. Given India’s tremendous population even in early times, it is understandable that
there would be careful attention to standing and place within the society.

One of the most important things to appreciate about this complex social order is that it had
significant religious implications—it both fueled and was fueled by the religious vision of the
culture. From early stages, Vedic and Hindu religious and spiritual visions of existence
present the idea that souls exist, and that they are reincarnated in prolonged cycles of
existence. Moreover, one’s actions and behaviors in one life will have a direct bearing on a
soul’s form of reinacarnation. This is very clear in many Indic texts, most notably the Laws
of Manu, in which precise definitions are laid down for the reincarnation of souls. Consider
the following strictures describing the punishment of certain evil-doers:

The slayer of a Brahmana enters the womb of a dog, a pig, an ass, a camel, a cow, a goat, a
sheep, a deer, a bird, a Kandala, and a Pukkasa. A Brahmana who drinks (the spirituous
liquor called) Sura shall enter (the bodies) of small and large insects, of moths, of birds,
feeding on ordure, and of destructive beasts. A Brahmana who steals (the gold of a
Brahmana shall pass) a thousand times (through the bodies) of spiders, snakes and lizards,
of aquatic animals and of destructive Pisakas. The violator of a Guru's bed (enters) a
hundred times (the forms) of grasses, shrubs, and creepers, likewise of carnivorous
(animals) and of (beasts) with fangs and of those doing cruel deeds. Men who delight in
doing hurt (become) carnivorous (animals); those who eat forbidden food, worms; thieves,
creatures consuming their own kind; those who have intercourse with women of the lowest
castes, Pretas. Laws of Manu, Book 12.

Not only is there a clear hierarchy and stratification of animals, plants, and humans in
the Laws of Manu, and in the Indic outlook on existence, but there is always a steady
insistence on repeated cycles of existence and the transmigration of souls. Actions have
consequences that can last dozens and hundreds of cycles.

Indian religious philosophies incorporate these concepts of cycle and reincarnation, evolving
in the period between 500 BCE and 200 CE into the forms of Hinduism, Buddhism, and
Jainism that carry on deep into the Common Era. Hinduism is the most popular and
dominant of these faiths, and it is the largest religion in the world today. Buddhism also has
large followings around the world, but few adherents in India due to some historical
circumstances we will discuss shortly.

The term Hinduism is used loosely to describe a wide array of practices and beliefs that
come together over long periods of time in India. It covers spiritual beliefs and sacred rituals,
religious officials and priests, a wide range of divinities, and many levels of personal prayer,
devotion, and practices. The pantheon of gods, while including early Vedic gods, such as
Indra (sky), Agni (fire), and Surya (sun, light), features a primary trinity of gods: Brahma,
Shiva, and Vishnu. These three divinities are joined by a host of other divinities who
represent various ideas and places—Ganesh, Kali, Lakshmi, etc.

The three gods of the Hindu trinity (trimurti, in Sanskrit) are often seen as three aspects of a
universal cosmic divinity, and they have overlapping functions. Brahma is primarily seen as
the creator god, Vishnu as the preserver and maintainer, and Shiva as the destroyer
god. Like all Hindu gods they are represented in iconic forms combining familiar and
unusual forms and attributes. Brahma, for example, is frequently represented with four
faces, looking into the four cardinal directions, while Shiva is frequently seen dancing a
destructive dance. Vishnu is often represented with pale blue skin, representing his airy
attributes (see photos).

In addition to ceremony and public ritual, Indian spiritual doctrines emphasize practices and
personal behaviors that emphasize contemplation and personal regimens to achieve proper
understanding, and to improve one’s future incarnations. A person’s trajectory of actions and
life, or karma, is shaped by his or her right behaviors, or dharma, and determines one’s
movement into future cycles of rebirth, or samsara. With rigorous application, physical and
mental discipline, and meditation (some of the root meanings of the term yoga), one can
attain transcendent release, or moksha, from the endless cycles of samsara (so get to
work!).

One man named Siddhartha Gautama, who lived In India between 600 and 400 BCE (the
traditional dates are 563-483 BCE), takes these principles in an important new direction that
quickly develop into the doctrines of Buddhism. It is certainly worth contemplating the fact
that Gautama, who comes to be known as Buddha, is a near-contemporary with the pre-
Socratic philosophers in Greece and Laozi and Kongzi in China. The middle centuries of the
first millennium BCE seem to offer rich opportunity for the development of philosophical
systems, as populations and cities grow, and people scrutinize themselves, political systems,
and eschatological issues more intensely.

According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama grew up as a prince in a kingdom of northeastern

India (in modern day Nepal), but at the age of 29, he renounced his privileged life and left his
family—he had a wife and son—to begin a life of asceticism and contemplation. After six
years of inquiry, he attained enlightenment, and began to deliver lessons to a modest
number of followers. His lessons focus on four basic tenets, the “Four Noble
Truths”: dukkha, samudaya, nirvana, and the Eight-fold Path.

Each of these Sanskrit terms has a specific meaning, and there is a logical order to them:
Dukkha means “suffering,” the essential state of people in this world. Samudaya means
“origin,” or “source,” and Buddha teaches that all suffering springs out of ignorance and
desire (which often overlap). Nirvana means “cessation,” or “liberation,” and it refers to the
cessation of suffering, and the liberation from the cycle of samsara (closely akin to the
concept of moksha mentioned above). The Eight-fold Path defines the way to attain release
in nirvana—eight modes of behavior to guide the adherent.

The eight practices are both straightforward and elusive:

1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

Of course, as laid out here, these truths and concepts are skeletal, and there is a rich
tradition of discussion, elucidation, and commentary that grew from Buddha’s own lifetime
down to the present day. Buddha’s doctrine will spread quickly, reaching across Southeast
Asia and through China to Japan.

As Buddhism crosses into different cultures it takes on many different forms, but its essential
identity is defined by two major schools of interpretation and practice: Mahayana Buddhism
and Theravada Buddhism.

Mahayana Buddhism is the more accessible form of Buddhism, counting a far greater
number of adherents in all periods of history. The name itself means “greater vehicle,”
referring to its less ascetic and more inclusive practices. Mahayana Buddhism appeals to
people across a broader spectrum of populations. It promotes the concept that one might
become a bodhisattva, an enlightened person who can work toward the enlightenment of all
beings.

Theravada Buddhism is an earlier and more rigorous strain of Buddhism, based on the Pali
Canon, a collection of texts that are claimed to be the original teachings of Buddha himself,
written down after his death by his closest followers. The name Theravada translates as
“teaching of the elders.” Theravada Buddhism places a greater emphasis on liberating one’s
self into enlightenment, and there is a much greater emphasis on monasticism in Theravada
Buddhism.

In the spread of Buddhism into other countries, Theravada Buddhism gains a strong foothold
in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Burma. Mahayana Buddhism gains greater popularity in
China, Japan, and Indonesia.

By the time of Buddha, there are several prosperous states in central and northern India, and
trade moves briskly between the Indus and Ganges regions. The Ganges kingdom of
Maghada is, arguably, the most prosperous kingdom in the middle of the first millennium
BCE, and its powerful king Bimbisara gains great credit for his patronage of Buddha and his
followers. The Indian historian Stanley Wolpert tells a vivid and brief story from the early
Buddhist texts about how Buddha gained Bimbisara’s support:

Buddha won Bimbisara’s favor by asking a pompous court brahman, who had just insisted
the king should sacrifice fifty of his finest goats without concern since “whatever he sacrificed
went directly to heaven,” whether his father was alive. The brahman replied that he was,
whereupon the Buddha inquired, “Then why not sacrifice him?”, saving the king’s favorite
goats and driving the brahman from court.

In the late 4th century and through the 3rd centuries BCE, a new dynasty takes hold of the
kingdom of Magadha and consolidates its power across northern and central India. The
catalyst for this grand, political unification might well be the dramatic incursion of Alexander
the Great into the Indus region in 326 BCE—Alexander’s march across northwestern India
certainly destabilized this region, leaving it exposed to external control. When Alexander
halted his march across India because of his own army’s demands to return home, an
ambitious young man named Chandragupta was poised to seize control of Magadha, and to
expand its control to the north and west.
Greco-Roman accounts of Alexander’s expedition suggest that young Chandragupta
Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty even met Alexander, and Indic texts chart his
quick rise to power after Alexander’s departure. After taking control of the state of Magadha
with a series of victorious battles against the Magadhan ruler, Chandragupta moves
westward into the territories of one of Alexander’s successors, Seleucus I Nicator, seizing
control of his eastern provinces in the Indus region. Seleucus and Chandragupta eventually
conclude a peace treaty in 305 BCE, and Chandragupta marries one of Seleucus’ daughters
as a mark of their new alliance.

Chandragupta builds a strong system to control his expanded state—he exercises central
control of the administration from his lavish capital city of Pataliputra, dividing his state into
districts under the control of trusted relatives and colleagues. The state controls the major
industries—mining, textile production, shipbuilding, and the like—and it is aggressive in its
generation of tax revenues to support the large bureaucracy and military.

Chandragupta makes great efforts to expand many worlds of human science and
knowledge. It is during his reign that several of the great compendiums of knowledge are
gathered together, such as the Arthashastra (Science of Material Gain), a political
encyclopedia covering all modes of court life for rulers and their families, for bureaucrats, for
spies.

Another of the great encyclopedic texts of this era is the Kama Sutra (Formula of Desire), a
handbook offering guidance to all aspects of personal and sexual desire. Here is a brief
excerpt regarding how some quarrels arise between lovers:

We shall now speak of love quarrels. A woman who is very much in love with a man cannot
bear to hear the name of her rival mentioned, or to have any conversation regarding her, or
to be addressed by her name through mistake. If such takes place, a great quarrel arises,
and the woman cries, becomes angry, tosses her hair about, strikes her lover, falls from her
bed or seat, and, casting aside her garlands and ornaments, throws herself down on
the ground.

According to Indian accounts, Chandragupta Maurya stepped down from the throne in 298
BCE and spent the rest of his life as a Jainist ascetic, handing the reins of power over to his
son Bindusara. Bindusara ruled for 26 years, and was succeeded by his own son Ashoka
between 272 and 268 BCE. Bindusara’s reign is not well defined by local chronicles—he
stands between two powerful and charismatic rulers in his father and son (in much the same
way we see Antoninus Pius in the Roman world rule for 23 steady and unremarkable years
between Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, perhaps). He continued the imperialistic expansion
undertaken by his father, conquering an additional 16 independent kingdoms in central and
southern India. Posterity remembers him more for a witty request he made of the Seleucid
king, Antiochus I, than for any of his other acts or achievements. He allegedly sent
Antiochus a letter asking for some Greek wine, some figs, and a Sophist.

Bindusara is succeeded by his son Ashoka, who must stabilize his position on the throne
before being crowned as Raja in 269 BCE. Within the first nine years of his reign, he
furthers the militarized expansion of his kingdom, defeating nearly very independent state in
southern India, finishing with his conquest of a people called the Kalinga in 260 BCE. At this
point, the Mauryan Dynasty has reached its greatest extent, and the bureaucracy, as defined
by the Arthashastra, is functioning smoothly.

With political and military, and civic and economic affairs in such good shape, Ashoka
changes the playbook: In a series of edicts posted on great pillars around his empire, he
announces that he has experienced deep remorse at the levels of death and destruction
suffered in recent military operations, and that his regime will henceforth pursue policies
based on Buddhist ideals:

Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, conquered the Kalingas eight years after his
coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were
killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered,
Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dhamma, a love for the
Dhamma and for instruction in Dhamma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for
having conquered the Kalingas.

Indeed, Beloved-of-the-Gods is deeply pained by the killing, dying and deportation that take
place when an unconquered country is conquered. But Beloved-of-the-Gods is pained even
more by this—that Brahmans, ascetics, and householders of different religions who live in
those countries, and who are respectful to superiors, to mother and father, to elders, and
who behave properly and have strong loyalty towards friends, acquaintances, companions,
relatives, servants and employees—that they are injured, killed or separated from their loved
ones. Even those who are not affected (by all this) suffer when they see friends,
acquaintances, companions and relatives affected. These misfortunes befall all (as a result
of war), and this pains Beloved-of-the-Gods.

There is no country, except among the Greeks, where these two groups, Brahmans and
ascetics, are not found, and there is no country where people are not devoted to one or
another religion. Therefore the killing, death or deportation of a hundredth, or even a
thousandth part of those who died during the conquest of Kalinga now pains Beloved-of-the-
Gods. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods thinks that even those who do wrong should be forgiven
where forgiveness is possible.
 Even the forest people, who live in Beloved-of-the-Gods' domain, are entreated and
reasoned with to act properly. They are told that despite his remorse Beloved-of-the-Gods
has the power to punish them if necessary, so that they should be ashamed of their wrong
and not be killed. Truly, Beloved-of-the-Gods desires non-injury, restraint and impartiality to
all beings, even where wrong has been done. (translation V.S. Dhammika, 1993)

Ashoka posts many edicts and declarations over the next several years, directing them at
different groups of subjects and addressing different issues. Some of the edicts are carved
into rock; some are carved into pillars (see photos for pillar and capital). A couple of points
are worth noting here:

1. Ashoka’s adoption of Buddhist principles (in the text cited, dhamma is a term that
refers to the truth of Buddha’s teachings) certainly occurs at a convenient moment:
there is essentially no one left to fight. As is always the case with the religious
conversion of major political figures (e.g. Constantine in the Roman world; Ismail in
Persia) we can recognize the political gain the ruler aims for without distrusting his
personal faith.
2. In many edicts, Ashoka refers to himself in the third person, with two alternative
names, Devānāmpriya (Beloved of the Gods) and Piyadasi (he who looks at all with
affection). Ashoka is playing the same game, at an earlier moment in history, that we
saw the Roman ruler Octavian play in 31 BCE, when he changed himself into an
adjective, Augustus (the one worthy of reverence).
3. While Ashoka insists on his pacific intentions and wishes, he makes it clear that he is
capable of laying acid his newfound tranquility and even-handedness when provoked.
It is worth noting that his pillar edicts are capped with a lion’s head gazing into each
direction, underscoring the power that still occupies the throne.

Ashoka's commitment to Buddhism also entailed extraordinary support for monastic

communities, for Buddhist missionaries to be sent across Asia to convert others to
Buddhism, and for the construction of Buddhist centers—both sanghas (monasteries) and
stupas (shrines containing some sacred ash from Buddha’s cremated body). According to
ancient sources (which often tend to exaggeration), Ashoka funded the construction of over
80,000 stupas during the last several decades of his life.

There can be no question that Ashoka’s support of Buddhism changed the religious
landscape of much of Asia, fostering the spread and growth of Buddhism into most Asian
countries. It is also quite reasonable to argue that Ashoka provided a new model for royal
self-definition, encouraging rulers to lay claim to Buddhist principles as justification for their
tenure as ruler, rather than invoke divine descent and bloodlines as had been the norm.
Ironically, of course, the one Asian country where Buddhism failed to grow steadily in the
next many centuries is India itself. After Ashoka’s death in 232 BCE, a series of ineffective
rulers carry on the Mauryan line for almost 50 years, seven different rulers, none of them
ruled for more than 13 years. The last, Brihadratha, is assassinated in 185 BCE, ending the
dynasty.

By the time when the next great dynasty emerges in central India, in the 4th century CE (the
Gupta Empire, from 320 to 550 CE), the deep roots of Vedic and Hindu thought will have
reasserted themselves with vigor and great effect. Buddhism fails to keep the support of
ruling families in several smaller kingdoms that emerge after the Mauryan era, and it is
relegated to secondary status in Indian culture, politics, and society.

ISLAM
It would be difficult to imagine a question that needs less explanation at this moment of
global history than “Why do we need to learn about Islamic history and culture?” The
misunderstandings and misconceptions and misguided antagonisms that wash across the
globe in the never-ending exchanges between Muslims and non-Muslims constantly intrude
on people’s lives here in the 21st century to a degree that far surpasses the intrusions and
considerations of other cultural and spiritual identities. This is not altogether surprising, since
Islam is, by almost every barometer, the fastest growing faith on the planet, and has been for
at least the past several decades. Close to 25% of the world’s population is reckoned to be
Muslim, with the large majority of them following the Sunni branch of the faith.

Because Islam shares so much with the Judaic and Christian faiths, its followers and its
Judaic and Christian counterparts all make frequent efforts to emphasize the differences
among the three faiths. These concerns about differentiation, and the ongoing process of
expanding the faith, have driven much of the tension the world has seen, not only in the past
few decades, but in the history of the world since Islam’s dramatic introduction.

THE LIFE OF MUHAMMAD

Islam originates in the city of Mecca, on the Arabic peninsula during the lifetime of a man
named Muhammad, who was born in circa 570 CE and died in 632 CE. At this time, Mecca
was a prosperous city, a commercial center locked into overland trade routes, providing
support for land-based caravans of traders and goods. Muhammad himself was an orphan
from a young age, and grew up under the guardianship of various relatives, working in the
world of trade. One tradition says that he went on a trade expedition with an uncle to Syria
while in his early teens and several stories testify both to his honest acumen and his
potential emergence as a prophet. He married a well-to-do businesswoman named Khadija
when he was in his mid-twenties, and together they had four daughters and two sons.

One of the key stories about Muhammad’s early life is connected with a shrine in Mecca
called the Ka’aba, which housed images of a few hundred different gods recognized by the
Arabic tribes of the day. The story says that an important object that was built into the
exterior of the Ka’aba, a black stone, had been removed from the Ka’aba during some
renovation. Some Meccans were arguing vigorously about who should have the honor of
reinserting the stone in the corner of the building, and finally settled their argument by
agreeing that the next person to pass by would enjoy the honor. It was Muhammad who
happened by, and he smoothly suggested that each of the combatants in the argument hold
a corner of the cloth they used to move the stone, allowing them all to share in the honor of
the moment.

The story not only reflects the kind of modestly heroic tales that grow up around iconic
figures (compare stories about the young George Washington, perhaps), but it also points to
the social and spiritual realities of the day. The Arabs of Mecca and the region had strong
tribal loyalties, and their spiritual beliefs were diverse, with a great diversity of gods
recognized in their polytheistic world. Christian Byzantium and Sassanid Persia, a kingdom
of primarily Zoroastrian faith, were the chief powers of the region. No doubt these faiths too
percolated into the Arabic world, along with Judaism which was the dominant faith just to the
north of the Arab peninsula.

It is in this context—a busy Arabic city with a significant level of external contact, a diverse
religious canvas, a tribally organized political system—that Muhammad experiences the
remarkable revelations that begin in the year 610 CE and continue for the rest of his
life. According to Islamic faith, these revelations are, in the most literal sense, the word of
God (Allah) and they are delivered to Muhammad by an angel named Gabriel. The divinity
who sends these words to Muhammad is identical with the divinity of the Judaic and
Christian traditions—the name Allah is simply Arabic for “the God.” His words identify Noah
and Abraham and Isaac and Jesus as earlier prophets of his faith. Muhammad is to be the
last of his prophets. These revelations are written down and collected in the text called the
Qur’an (or Koran), a word which means “recitation,” the sacred book of Islam. The order of
the chapters, or Suras, seems to have been altered after Muhammad’s death, but the text of
the chapters is entirely unchanged.

When Gabriel first appears to Muhammad, he instructs Muhammad to “recite.” Muhammad

tries to evade the obligation being imposed on him, replying “I can’t.” The angel insists,
saying “Recite! In the name of your God who has created everything, has created man from
a clot of blood. Recite! Your God is most generous, who has taught man what he does not
know by the writing of the pen.” (Qur’an 96.1-5) Gabriel’s emphasis on man’s creation by
God, on the role of writing/recitation, and on man’s corporeal existence (created from the clot
of blood) are all powerful elements in this pivotal exchange. But also important is
Muhammad’s reluctance—an unwillingness similar to that which confronted Moses in the first
exchanges between him and his God in the Book of Exodus. The responsibilities and perils
of serving as a prophet are many, and are immediately obvious, and Muhammad’s
reluctance points to this fact—even if his statement springs out of a simple recognition of his
own inadequacies (Muhammad, like Moses, is frequently seen as someone afflicted with a
stammer, or if the Arabic word for “recite” is translated as “read,” someone unable to read).

Thus begins Muhammad’s career as a prophet of a new faith and as a leader of the
faithful. The number of his followers grows quickly, and by 621 CE he is in a perilous
position in Mecca—supporters in his family and tribe have passed away, and city fathers are
not exactly pleased with an eloquent prophet who preaches the wickedness of their
polytheism in general and their pilgrimage site the Ka’aba in particular. In September of 621,
Muhammad and many of his followers flee to the city of Medina, about 200 miles further
north. This year stands as the beginning of the Islamic calendar, for the exile to Medina,
called the hijra in Arabic, marks the beginning of Islam as a recognized identity, as a political
and social force.

Mecca remains Muhammad’s tribal home, and clearly his aim is to return, and to accomplish
the conversion of its people and its sites, especially the Ka’aba, to Islam. It is during
the hijra that Muhammad and his followers establish the practice of facing Mecca (instead of
Jerusalem) when they pray, on the basis of a revelation (Qur’an 2.144). By 630, after years
of struggle and growth and negotiation, Muhammad and his followers are powerful enough to
conquer Mecca and to exercise control of the city, and, thereafter, the entire region. The
Islamic faith becomes the identity of the political state, as indicated by the conversion of the
Ka’aba to an Islamic pilgrimage site. In 632, Muhammad undertakes the first annual
pilgrimage (Arabic hajj), visiting Mecca and laying down the essential practices that
comprise the pilgrimage to this day.

Islamic tradition identifies five essential practices that form the core of behavior and actions
for Muslims. These behaviors are known as the “Five Pillars of Islam,” though the label is
applied to the practices after their development. They do not dictate all of daily behavior, nor
do they stand as a collection of commandments against specific behaviors; instead, they
mark five practices that must be pursued by all faithful Muslims. They are:

Shahada (creed/testimony)
Salah (prayer)
Zakat (almsgiving)
 Sawm (fasting)
Hajj (pilgrimage)
1. Shahada is a simple declaration of faith in the singular divinity of Allah and in
Muhammad’s standing as his prophet. The statement must be made vocally and
publicly by anyone who enters the faith and it is woven into the litany of prayers
spoken by the faithful. Simply by making the statement openly and with purpose, one
is welcomed into the community of Muslims. No further ritual or testing is demanded
or imposed.
2. Salah is the active offering of prayer, five times a day—daybreak, height of the sun in
the sky, sun hitting the horizon in the afternoon, dusk, and nightfall. Prayer includes a
number of different ideas—recognitions of Allah’s different aspects; request of
forgiveness and refuge; praise of Allah’s mercy and greatness; etc.—offered in a
sequence of positions, from standing to prostrate. A person must be clean to offer
prayers (hands, feet, facial orifices) and must face Mecca during prayers. One
needn’t visit a mosque to pray; prayer can be conducted anywhere. Mosques are
usually attended at least once a week for communal prayer, generally Friday for the
noontime prayer.
3. Zakat is the giving of alms or donations, underscoring the communal orientation of
Islam and its concern for the needy. The rules for tabulating the amount of alms to be
given varies some through time, but it is clear that the collected alms should be
directed toward the needy, including freed slaves and even directly toward the
manumission of slaves. One can see here an obvious source of early popularity for
Islam in its accommodation of the lower classes and its interest in the manumission of
slaves.
4. Sawm is the fast, the abstention from food and sex during daylight hours through the
holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year and the month in which
Muhammad regularly received his revelations. The chief purpose of the fast is to bring
the individual closer to Allah, but it clearly also is connected with the issue of
almsgiving, as it reminds the faithful of what it is like to want for sustenance. Indeed,
one of the high points of the end of the month of fasting in the Muslim world is a great
festival to break the fast, when tremendous effort is made to provide food and
refreshment for the needy in every community.
The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, not a solar calendar, shorter than the solar
calendar by approximately 11 days in the solar year. Thus the month of Ramadan
gradually “moves backward” through the solar year, with its months gradually
aligning with a regressive sequence of solar months: If, for example, the Muslim
month of Ramadan begins at the beginning of September, within three years
Ramadan will begin at roughly the beginning of August.
This movement backward across the solar year and across the seasons has some
impact on the behavior of the faithful. It is much easier, for example to keep a sun-
 up to sundown fast during the shorter days of winter than in the extended days and
brutal heat (especially in desert climates) of June and July.
5. Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca during the last month of the Islamic calendar, and it
must be completed by every able-bodied Muslim, male and female once in a
lifetime. There are provisions made for faithful who are unable to make the
pilgrimage, but the explicit goal is for every single believer to make the hajj. The
pilgrimage reaches back to pre-Islamic times, when Mecca was a pilgrimage
destination for all Arabic tribes who used the journeys to Mecca as a show of tribal
identity and collective strength, and focused their visits on the Ka’aba, a shrine to all
gods. By keeping the tradition of pilgrimage to the Ka’aba Islam was able to tap into
the familiar behaviors and expectations of people and maintain the rhythms and
patterns of the community and the region.
While Muhammad is the last of the prophets, the hajj also points to the pivotal role of the
prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) in the faith. The story of Ibrahim sits at the heart of Islam. Islam,
after all, literally means “submission,” and there can be no purer example of submission or
absolute obedience—in almost any culture on earth—than Ibrahim. Ibrahim and his wife
went childless for many, many, many years before finally conceiving and having a son. A
few years later, Allah tells Ibrahim in a dream to sacrifice his son, and Ibrahim is
unquestioning in his immediate willingness to obey (a similar story is told in more detail in the
Old Testament, in Genesis).

Muslims believe that Ibrahim is the first prophet to firmly establish a monotheistic
tradition. They believe, moreover that he rebuilt the Ka’aba after its destruction in the Flood
of Noah’s era. Events from his life are reenacted and invoked during the hajj, and the
Ka’aba itself, of course, stands a massive reminder of Ibrahim’s importance in the faith. One
further link between Muhammad and Ibrahim: Before Muslims began to face Mecca during
prayer, they turned to Jerusalem, site of the Temple Mount and the Foundation Stone. The
Temple Mount was the site of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, the holiest site in Judaic
faith until its destruction by the Romans in the year 70 CE. The Temple was built over the
rock where Abraham/Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son when instructed to do so by
God. In the 7th century, a Muslim shrine was built on this site to mark this place, not only as
the locus of Ibrahim’s sacrifice of his son, but also the site in Jerusalem where Muhammad
landed during his nighttime journey in 620 CE and from which he lifted when he was taken
by Gabriel on a tour of Heaven and Hell.

AFTER MUHAMMAD
When Muhammad dies in 632 CE, the faith and the new political force of Islam demand
guidance. Muhammad had united the tribes of Arabia in the Islamic faith, and the polity was
termed the umma, the “community” of the faithful. The Arabic identity of the faith is clear—
the tribes of the Arabic peninsula have all been brought into the community. The language
of the faith, and the powerful language of the holy book, is Arabic.

The leaders who follow Muhammad are designated as Caliphs, from the Arabic word for
“successor” or “representative.” Even in the initial months and years after Muhammad’s
death there are tensions, debates, and struggles regarding the designation of the Caliph, and
within a few decades, there will be a tremendous split among the followers of Islam (see
below).

In the decades that follow Muhammad’s death, the Islamic community and state sees
astonishing growth, as its supporters spread and impose the faith across the Near East and
across the lands along the south coast of the Mediterranean, moving, even, into
Spain. Within 100 years, the Caliphs are in control of Syria, Persia, Iraq, Turkestan, all of
North Africa (above the Sahara) across to the Atlantic Ocean, and most of Spain. There are
many reasons for this expansion, a few of which are:

1. The chief powers of the era in the region, the Sassanid Persians and Byzantium,
stood in unstable condition in the 7thcentury. In fact, during the 620’s they had
battered each other in a tremendously destructive and expensive campaigns which left
both regimes militarily and economically enfeebled as Islam emerges as a force.
2. Muhammad and his successor Caliphs avidly campaigned to spread the control of
their faith and to expand the territory under their control. In early centuries they did
not necessarily demand the mass conversion of populations, yet the political and
economic advantage of their control of land and revenues was clear.
3. The spread of Islam benefitted in some areas by the familiarity of the doctrines, based
on texts and historical figures familiar to Judaic and Christian traditions.
4. Islam also benefitted from its accommodation of poorer classes, and, in early period,
its accommodation of women’s interests and identities.
5. Part of Islam’s political power must have rested as well in the fact that the Islamic
state fuses political and spiritual issues to a degree not seen in Christian Byzantium or
Zoroastrian Persia. Aside from the very early split between Shiite and Sunni Muslims,
there is less need to worry about spiritual loyalties vs. political loyalties.

The Caliphs who lead the state immediately after Muhammad’s death are known as the
Rightly Guided Caliphs—Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali rule from 632-661 CE, and under
their control the Islamic community begins its tremendous expansion. Even in these early
days, however, there are political fissures and competing loyalties. Uthman is assassinated
in 656, as is Ali five years later in 661 CE. Indeed, Ali’s status as Caliph is contested
heatedly by the Muslim governor of Syria, Mu’awiya, and after Ali’s death, Mu’awiya
assumes leadership of the state. Mu’awiya and his son, Yazid, and Ali and his son, Husayn,
created an irreparable split in the Islamic state because of their political maneuvers. The
followers of Ali and Husayn split away from the general community of Islam, the Umma, and
they come to be known as shi’atu Ali, or “the supporters of Ali.” Shi’I Muslims do not
recognize the authority of the Caliph, identifying a divinely appointed Imam as their
leader. The separation of Sunni (the followers of the Caliph) and Shi’I Muslims will remain
part of the fabric of Islam down to today, reinforced by a couple of political states that will
endorse and support Shi’ism over Sunni Islam (especially the Safavids in 16th century
Persia).

When Mu’awiya takes control of the Caliphate in 661, he moves the administrative center of
his community north to Damascus in Syria, where he had previously. He and his
successors are known as the Umayyad Caliphs, and they control the state until 750 CE. The
Umayyad era sees the fullest expansion of Islamic political power, as Umayyad armies reach
across northern Africa to the Straits of Gibraltar and extend their control northward across
much of Spain and Portugal. As Umayyad power expands, the Caliphs adopt many of the
administrative practices of the regions and people over whom they now rule. They divide
their territory into provinces with an administrative structure that shares much with Byzantine
and Roman predecessors. They conduct a system of taxation that privileges their Muslim
faithful but accommodates nonbelievers as well. They develop a system of coinage that
mirrors the numismatic practices and policies of Byzantium.

The rapid Umayyad expansion, however, puts quick and severe pressure on the structure
and system of the administration at a time when theological and social issues also demand
careful attention. The Umayyad rulers are not able to maintain an effective grip on their ever
growing populations, quickly becoming the target for complaint and resistance from groups
who object to issues of dogma, to the imposition of new taxes, to the legitimacy of the Caliph,
and other divisive points of control and administration.

In the years after 745, a rebel movement following Abu al-Abbas, a member of the family of
Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653), emerges, and in a series of
battles waged in Syria and Persia they successfully defeat Umayyad armies and depose the
last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II ibn Muhammad, in 750 CE. Abu al-Abbas is recognized as
the new Caliph. He shifts the capital of the Caliphate to Baghdad, locking his administration
even more tightly into the geographic realities of the people and systems he controls, and he
institutes a political dynasty that remains in place for 500 years, the Abbasid Caliphate.

The Abbasid era does not present a single, uniform history of a monumental coherent
“empire”—there are several regional powers that emerge with varying levels of
independence during this period. The Umayyads, for example, retain power in the
Mediterranean regions of NW Africa and Spain and Portugal for several decades. The
Fatimid Dynasty emerges as well as a North African power, dominating the area near Egypt
in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Seljuk Turks enter the region of Mesopotamia and central
Turkey in the 10th and 11th centuries and maintain a powerful presence there until the
13th century.

Nevertheless, the Abbasid Caliphate stands as a powerful Islamic state under whose aegis a
great era of prosperity and cultural development flourishes in the Islamic world. It is the in
Abbasid world that Islamic science and philosophy are brought to great heights, with
Baghdad becoming a center of learning and philosophy. While the term “Arabic numerals”
might be an oversimplified label for a complex history and origin that includes Hindu and
Arabic and Italian traditions, there can be no question that the Abbasid world fostered great
developments in the worlds of technology and mathematics, and that our concepts of algebra
and algorithm, for example, spring right out of their Arabic roots.

Arts and crafts flourish in the Abbasid era. In the world of ceramics, Abbasid potters
successfully develop local styles of ceramic that recreate the look and feel of highly prized
Chinese porcelain, and this ceramic ware circulates around the world late in the first
millennium CE. Abbasid era glass, too, is a valuable commodity.

Very little architecture from the Abbasid era survives in Baghdad, as the modern city has
covered most earlier materials and structures there. However, early descriptions of the
Abbasid capital tell of a magnificent city built on a circular plan, with almost cosmic
symbolism in its form. The Caliphs palace and the greatest of the city’s mosque sat at the
center of the cosmic circle, with the rest of the city radiating outward from them. Some
surviving Abbasid architecture, like the great fortified palace at Ukhaidir, Iraq, testify to the
ability of the Abassids to fortify and monumentalize their urban centers.

As Islam grows, during Muhammad’s own lifetime and across the next several centuries, it
spreads into a world that has become increasingly urbanized, a world in which architectural
forms carry a message and define people’s perceptions of different institutions. The design
of mosques, the most important buildings of Muslim communities, see great development
and transformation during this period, as the community of faithful grows and as the leaders
of the faith gain broader political power and identity.

The architectural and spatial needs of the faith are limited, as Islam does not insist on
frequent communal rituals at the heart of the behaviors it requires. There is no regular ritual
like a communal Christian Mass, no initiation processes like a baptism or a
confirmation. Muslim communities certainly mark the pivotal events in the personal lives of
the faithful—births, weddings, funerals, etc.—but they do not insist that these events be
framed by group activities at their sacred places. The most important elements needed in a
mosque are the following:
  An elevated feature from which someone, a muezzin, can proclaim the time for
prayers. No doubt in the early history of Islam, this call to prayer could be
accomplished at ground level to reach a small community. But the architectural
feature evolves into an elevated architectural element called a minaret. See, for
example, this picture of the minaret from the Great Mosque of Samarra, a 9th century
mosque in Samarra, Iraq, and the four minarets that frame the Selimiye Mosque in
Edirne, Turkey:
 Also on the exterior of a mosque, there needs to be a good supply of water, as Muslim
prayer rituals ask for the worshiper to clean hands, feet, and face, before engaging in
prayer. See the ablution fountain below, from the Beyazit Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
 Because prayer is a highly individualized act, there is no great need for great interior
spaces, such as one might find in a Roman basilica. Nor do Mosques contain any
large images of divinities that need to be displayed and worshipped, or other sacred
objects that need to be venerated during prayers. There is certainly a level at which
large groups of the faithful need to be accommodated within an interior space—during
Friday afternoon prayers, for example. But there are no tightly orchestrated group
activities or behaviors that need to be coordinated across a large group of people. And
so, we find some large mosques that have interior spaces that are more atomized and
divided, like the interior of the Great Mosque in Cordoba, Spain, first built at the end of
the 8th century CE (pictured below).
 Inside the mosque there are two additional elements that are regularly emphasized:
First, a mimber, a raised platform from which a respected member of the
community—an Imam or a Hoja, for example—might offer a sermon or instruction;
second the mihrab, a small marker that shows the direction of Mecca.

We need to point out that the spiritual components of a mosque, the elements that are
designed to meet the needs of prayer, are complemented by the many social needs of the
communities in which these structures are built. Mosques regularly include functional space
to accommodate the education of the faithful, the feeding of the faithful, and the caring for
the faithful, and political leaders of Islamic communities gain great respect by the complexes
they might fund to serve these multiple needs.

Moreover, as Islam moves into the more urbanized and developed world of the Near East, it
enters towns and cities where earlier political and spiritual powers have built structures to
house their own activities. Sometimes the Muslim leaders take over earlier spaces and refit
them for their own needs. Sometimes they try to match the styles, and frequently the
monumentality, of structures that have been built in earlier eras.

Islam does not include sacred images or objects of veneration in its mosques in the way that
Christianity features relics and images of its divinity in churches. However we should
recognize the common ground these faiths share in their emphasis on relics and
pilgrimage. Just as pilgrimage is a key and frequent feature in the Christian world, with
pilgrim churches and holy cities and sites attracting visitors on a steady basis (Rome,
Lourdes, Jerusalem, the 7 Churches of the Book of Revelation, etc.), so thehajj to Mecca is
a fundamental element in the lives of Muslim faithful, and there are many other cities and
sites that draw visitors as well (Konya in Turkey; Medina; again, Jerusalem; etc.). And just
as venerable objects attract the faithful in Christianity (pieces off the true cross; the
miraculous blood of San Gennaro in Naples; etc), so the Islamic world preserves holy
materials and objects that exercise powerful attraction on the faithful (hairs from the Prophet
Muhammad’s head and beard; items of his clothing; teeth; several footprints; etc.).

These sites and items are not exclusive to Islam and Christianity—Buddhism, for example,
has a number of temples with teeth that are claimed to be from Buddha himself. Rather,
they help to reflect the fact that people who are willing to commit to a system of belief need
to be offered touchstones for their faith, objects and destinations that will help reassure them
that there are many others who share their faith now, and that their faith has deep roots.