Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Chapter 8, Lesson 4, The Golden Age (pp. 244-250)
I. Beliefs of Hinduism
B. Hinduism teaches its followers to do the duties of their caste.
C. Certain Hindus go through different stages of life; the last stage is as a
wandering holy person.
II. The Gupta Empire
B. Under the Guptas, India traded with Rome and the rest of Mediterranean, Saudi Arabia and Central Asia, and China and Southeast Asia.
C. Guilds grew as trade increased under the Guptas.
III. Achievements of Ancient India
B. An Indian astronomer determined the world was a sphere that rotated around
the sun and accurately calculated the length of a solar year.
C. Indian mathematicians devised the number system we use today, featuring
nine numerals, the zero, and the decimal.
Lesson at a Glance Outline
A. Hinduism is both the major religion of India today, and a way of life,
with roots in the Vedic religion of the Aryan people.
A. Both India and Hinduism grew and flourished under the Gupta Empire.
A. Under the Guptas, two important epics of Hinduism were written down for the first time.
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