Ancient History Resources for Homeschool and Personal Study. This weeks topics: Indian Warfare, King Porus, Tibet and Gautama Buddha.

Ancient History is studied through the collection of archeological evidence, written records and oral stories or myths. Just because evidence shows a particular belief or custom was common at a particular time does not mean that everyone in that civilization shared that belief. When you study the topics for this week, you can either go deep on one topic for the week and skip the others or you can do a new topic each day. This outline is just a suggested pace, you can go slower or faster as needed. This outline is intended to provide you with a place to start. You will still need to do your own research.

Dhyana Buddha Statue

Homeschool Topics for Week 16

Indian Warfare

King Porus

Tibet

Gautama Buddha

Discussion Questions

Indian Warfare

After the Bronze Age Collapse, India experienced turbulence as competing rulers vied for power. The cumbersome four-wheeled chariot with archers shooting into the opposing forces was the primary attack method. Mounted war elephants were used to reinforce the infantry. Swords, spears and axes were used for close combat. No king was able to achieve dominance over the rest for very long. Two ancient epic stories, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, describe this kind of warfare.

King Porus

King Porus was the legendary leader who fought Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes River. He was a giant of a man with a big ego. Although Alexander probably had just as big of an ego. He lost the battle, but became friends with Alexander the Great, and his kingdom became a vassal state. He lost the war because his kingdom was divided by conflict from within. Read more about King Porus here and here. His was the end of an era. The next ruling class ordered things differently. In fact, Chandragupta, who came to power soon after, united all of Southern Asia and parts of eastern Persia.

Tibet

The Tibetan plateau has been inhabited for thousands of years. The earliest record of inhabitants refers to the Zhang-Zhung people as the earliest civilization however, people were probably loosely inhabiting the area before that civilization. Very little is known of this early civilization. Later, the influence of Buddha brought a dynamic change to the civilization. Tibet was unified in about 600 CE.

Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini, modern-day Nepal. He taught people to train their minds through meditation and other practices. Buddha is often described as having superhuman qualities. Buddha taught a Noble Eight-fold Path or "middle way." Buddha is often credited with the idea of Karma, but it may originate with the older Jain religion. Followers of Buddha worship at a sacred Bodhi tree. The Bodhi tree is a sacred fig under which the Buddha gained enlightenment. Buddhist monks live a monastic life.

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