History final exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History final exam - Essay Example It was some time before the terms and concepts fundamental to Hinduism was defined under the Law of Manu during the Mauryan Empire. The Law of Manu made the concepts of karma, dharma, Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudras, the Untouchables, jati, as well as Brahma central elements of the Hindu civilisation within Ancient India. When added altogether these concepts and the Law of Manu effectively formed Hindu culture, morality, and religious practices, as well as been the basis of the caste system. At that foundation stage Hinduism, was not linked with any attempt to tightly control the social and economic relationships between everybody within Indian society.1 The Indus civilisation lasted for around a thousand years before it was overrun by the successful incursions of the Aryans. With the Aryans came the caste system that was adopted as part of Hinduism. It was widely believed that this system delayed the development of large cities and meant that the pace of technological developments was slowed down.2 The caste system affected Indian both the social and economic development due to it being used to determine the economic, social, employment, and legal status of all Hindus within the country. The operation of the Hindu caste system did not prevent India from enjoying extensive and lucrative trading links during the Mauriyan Empire. Those trading links stretched as far west as Rome and as far east as China.3 Another reason the caste system has had such a strong influence upon Indian social and economic development was because the ownership of land, as well as the means of production, and the work that people could perform was chiefly determined by the position they were born into. This rigidly adhered to caste system allowed for the concentration of wealth as well as leading to a highly regulated social and economic order. It also arguably meant that people