Indian and Chinese Civilisations

📋 Course Outline

1. Indian Imperial Expansion
2. Mauryan Military Power
3. Ashoka’s Religious Transformation
4. Gupta Golden Age
5. Chinese Educational Strategy
6. Chinese Innovations and Examinations

📖 1. Indian Imperial Expansion

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Indian imperial expansion : relied on extending political power through military conquest or religious influence

📝 Essential Points

📌 The Nanda and Maurya dynasties used military conquest, whereas Ashoka and the Gupta Dynasty used religious influence to extend power.

💡 Memory Hook

India’s expansion contrasted military force with religious influence.

📖 2. Mauryan Military Power

📝 Essential Points

• Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Dynasty and used military strength to conquer almost the whole of India.

• Chandragupta Maurya’s army included:

  • 9,000 war elephants
  • 30,000 cavalry soldiers
  • 600,000 infantry soldiers

💡 Memory Hook

E-K-I: elephants, cavalry, infantry.

📖 3. Ashoka’s Religious Transformation

📝 Essential Points

• After the Kalinga War, Ashoka witnessed severe destruction, adopted Buddhism and spread peace to unite his empire.

💡 Memory Hook