Emma Tingey

Homework – 26th October 2007

A). Outline the social, political and religious background from which Buddhism emerged. (10)

Buddhism is one of the major religious traditions of the human race today. Buddhism was influenced by many different cultures over the thousands of years. This essay will outline the social, political and religious issues surrounding the background and the emergence of Buddhism in Indian Society.

“In the 1920’s archaeological excavations of the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa in North West India revealed the existence of an urban civilisation. This is called the Indus Valley Civilisation.” (Buddhism Dominique Side) The background from which the Buddha emerged from stretched as far back as C2700 in a place called the Indus Valley. This was the first sign of civilisation to live on the Indian subcontinent. People were attracted to the Indus Valley because of the of the River Indus. The River provided a good source of vegetation; there was also flat land, stones and trees.

               The Indus Valley was an Egalitarian society, which meant that everybody living inside the society were all equal and they worshipped both Gods and Goddesses. They believed and worshiped in Brahman, who they believed was the most looked up to and modest God. Archaeologists found statues with engraved scriptures of Gods and Goddesses on; the finding of these pots is where it is believed that the Religion began, although there were never any findings of temples to prove this. “Artefacts show it’s Religion to be related to the forces of nature… the worship of a mother Goddess, sacred trees and fertility symbols.” (Buddhism Dominique Side)

              The valley was believed to have been a strong central government and to have two main political centres, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The Indus Valley civilisation began to move out, many people today still believe this was because of a natural migration. After the civilisation of the Indus Valley had left, Aryans then began to set up home on their land.

Aryans were nomadic; they travelled around a lot, never staying in one place for very long. They brought animals with them and built up a strong military. They were thought to be good at building and carpentry. The official religion of the Aryan conquerors of India is referred to as the Vedic religion after their holy books or Vedas (knowledge). The priests of this religion were known as Brahmans or Brahmins and are often mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures.

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               The Aryans were unquestionably tough people, military strong, and they were fierce and war like. Their culture was oriented around warfare, and they were very good at it. The Aryans were a new start in the Indian culture; they adopted almost nothing of Harappan culture. They built no cities, no states, no granaries, and used no writing. “…They worshipped a pantheon of gods and were mostly connected with forces of the natural world, especially those powers on which humans were dependent.” (Buddhism Denise Cush) 

               The Indian ...

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