B.A. Social Notes

                          Buddhism Gautama Buddha : Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha was a contemporary of Mahavira. He was born in 563 BC in a Shakya (Kshatriya) family in Lumbini near Kapilvastu , which is situated on the foothills of Nepal. Gautama's father (Shudhodana) seems to have been the elected ruler of Kapilavastu, and headed the republican clan of the Shakyas. His mother (Mahamaya) was a princess from the Kosalan dynasty. From his early childhood, Gautama showed a meditative bent of mind. Alara Kama was his teacher of meditation. His charioteer was Channa , while his horse's name was Kanthaks . He was married early, but married life did not interest him. At the age of 29, he left home. He kept on, wandering for about seven years and then attained knowledge at the age of 35 at Both Gaya under a pipal tree. From this time onwards, he began to be called the Buddha or The Enlightened. Gautama Buddha delivered his ...

                         Rise of Heterodox Sects Numerous religious sects arose in the middle Gangetic basin in the sixth century B.C. We here of as many as 62 religious sects in this period. Jainism and Buddhism were very important. Causes of Rise of Religious Movement In post -Vedic times, society was clearly divided into four varnas- Brahmanas, vaishyas, and shudras . Each varna was assigned well-defined functions, although it was emphasized that varna was based on birth and two higher varnas were given some priviledges.  Naturally the varna-divided society seems to have generated tensions. The Kshatriyas, who acted as rulers, reacted against the domination of the priestly class called brahamanas , who claimed various priveges. It was one of the causes of the origin of new religions. Vardhamana Mahavira who founded Jainism, and Gautama Buddha, who founded Buddhism, belonged to the kshatriya clan, and both disputed ...

                Mahajanpadas   In the later Vedic period, the tribal organisations changed its identity and gradually shifted to the territorial identity, and the area of settlement were now regarded as janapadas or states. In transition  from tribe to monarchy, they lost the essential democratic pattern of the tribe but retained the idea of government through an essential democratic pattern of the tribe but retained the idea of government through an assembly representing the tribes. These states consisted of either a single tribe such as the Shakyas, Kolias, Mallas etc. or a confederacy of tribes such as the Vrijjis, Yadavas, Panchala etc. The people in the lower Ganges Valley and Delta, which were outside the Aryan pale, were regarded as Mlecchas. There was, therefore, a strong consciousness of the pure land of the Aryans called Aryavarta.  According to Anguttara Nikaya, there were about sixteen Mahajanpadas in the sixth century ...

                              Vedic Age The Vedic age began in India in about 1500 BC with the coming of Aryans, who scattered on the plains of of northern India. Max Muller believes it an anomaly to regard the race as Aryan because scientifically Aryans connotes nothing but language.The relationship between the race and language of these people with the classical languages of Europe was established by a Bavarian Franz Bopp 1816. Aryans developed Vedic culture based on Vedas. The meaning of the word Veda is "knowledge" , the best of all knowledge in the eyes of Hindus. It is a collection of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies, and sacrificial formulae. There are four Vedas, namely, Rig Veda, Sam Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda . Aryans' Arrival in India The Aryans came to India in several waves. The earliest wave is represented by the Rig Vedic people who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 BC. They...

                               Harappan Civilization In 1924, scholars in history were roused by the announcement of Sir John Marshall that his Indian  aides,particularly R.D. Banerjee, discovered (1922-23) at Mohenjo-daro in the Larkana district of Sind, now in Pakistan, the remains of a civilization, one of the oldest of the world. A few hundred miles towards the north of Mohenjo-daro, four or five superimposed cities were excavated at Harappa in the Montgomery district of the Punjab, now in Pakistan. Recently, excavations carried out on the site of Kalibangan have revealed a third city as large as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. That the civilization was not confined to the limits of Indus Valley can be understood from the finds of relics of the same civilization at Sutkagendor on the sea board of south Baluchistan, in the west of Alamgirpur in the Uttar Pradesh in the east; and from Ropar in the Hima...

                        Modern Individualism Decline of the 19th century Individualism and emergence of Modern Individualism in the 20th century. After the 18th century, there was a decline in the influence of individualism and in its place the idealism and collectivism gained importance. Joad says, "The theory of individualism or its doctrine of freedom, which is very valuable in politics,when applied in economic sphere,proved disastrous". According to Joad,individualism is based on three misconceptions: 1-That each individual is equally sagacious and he has an equal capacity for knowing what he wants. 2-That each individual possesses an equal power of obtaining what he wants and an equal freedom of choice. 3-That the satisfaction of the wants of all individuals is identical with the well-being of the community as a whole. Thus on the basis of the reasons mentioned above, individualism suffered a setback and idea...

                                      Nationalism Meaning of Nationalism Nationalism teaches us to love our motherland. The nationalists love their motherland, rivers, mountains, flowers, animals and birds very much and they say that motherland is better than paradise. Hans Kohn writes, "Nationalism is an idea, an idea-force which fills man's brain and heart with new thoughts and sentiments and drives him to translate his consciousness into deeds of organised action" . According to Dr. Garner , "It is one of the characteristics features of modern nationalism that most peoples who constitute a nationality aspire either to be independent and to be under a state organisation of their own choice and creation or at least to be according a large political autonomy where they are united with another nationality or nationalities in the same state" . Right of Self-Determination Meaning of the ...