WE ARE
GROUP 1
INDIA THE
MYSTIC
LAND
GROUP 1
CARANZO, ALMIRA
BADIOLA, AIRA
TESADO, REMIL
WHY IS INDIA CALLED THE MYSTIC
LAND?
It is the invasion of matter against
consciousness; it is the invasion of
materialism against spiritual heights.
HISTORY OF INDIA
India is a land of ancient civilizations. India's social,
economic, and cultural configurations are the products
of a long process of regional expansion. Indian history
begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization
and the coming of the Aryans. These two phases are
usually described as the pre-Vedic and Vedic age.
Hinduism arose in the Vedic period.
The fifth-century saw the unification of India under Ashoka, who had converted to Buddhism, and it is
in his reign that Buddhism spread in many parts of Asia. In the eighth century, Islam came to India for
the first time and by the eleventh century had firmly established itself in India as a political force. It
resulted in the formation of the Delhi Sultanate, which was finally succeeded by the Mughal Empire,
under which India once again achieved a large measure of political unity.
HISTORY OF INDIA
It was in the 17th century that the Europeans came to
India. This coincided with the disintegration of the
Mughal Empire, paving the way for regional states. In
the contest for supremacy, the English emerged
'victors'. The Rebellion of 1857-58, which sought to
restore Indian supremacy, was crushed; and with the
subsequent crowning of Victoria as Empress of India,
the incorporation of India into the empire was complete.
It was followed by India's struggle for independence,
which we got in the year 1947
Ancient India History (2800 BC and 1800 BC)
• The History of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization and the coming of the Aryans.
These two phases are generally described as the pre-Vedic and Vedic periods. The earliest
literary source that sheds light on India's past is the Rig Veda.
The Indus Valley Civilization (2600 BCE to 1900 BCE) • The Indus
cities are noted for their urban planning, a technical and political process concerned with the use of land
and design of the urban environment. They are also noted for their baked brick houses, elaborate
drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large, nonresidential buildings
Vedic Civilization ( 1500 BC and 600 BC)
• This is the next major civilization that occurred in ancient India after the decline of the Indus
Valley Civilization by 1400 BC. The Vedas were composed in this period and this gives this
age the name. The Vedas are also the chief source of information about this era.
Buddhist Era (7th and the 6th centuries BC.) •
Buddhism arose in Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, and is based
on
the teachings of the ascetic Siddhārtha Gautama.
6
the invasion of alexander (326 BC,)
• When Alexander invaded India in 326 BC, he crossed the Indus river and defeated the Indian rulers
in battle. Noteworthy of the Indians’ attempts at war, was the use of elephants, something that the
Macedonians had never seen before. Alexander then took over the lands of the defeated kings.
The Gupta Dynasty
• the Gupta Dynasty ruled the mid-to-late 3rd century (approximately) to 543 AD. Founded by Sri
Gupta, the dynasty rose to fame with rulers like Chandragupta-I, Samudragupta, etc.
Harshavardhana
• was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 CE. A member of the Vardhana dynasty,
he was the son of Prabhakaravardhana who had defeated the Alchon Huna invaders, and the younger
brother of Rajyavardhana, a king of Thanesar, present-day Haryana.
Medieval Indian History
• The medieval history of India is renowned for deriving a lot of its character from Islamic
kingdoms.
7
Akbar
• also known as Akbar the Great or Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar, was the third emperor of the
Mughal Empire, after Babur and Humayun. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun and
succeeded him as the emperor in the year 1556 when he was only 13 years old
Shah Jahan
• also known as Shahbuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan, was a Mughal Emperor who ruled in the
Indian Subcontinent from 1628 to 1658. He was the fifth Mughal ruler, after Babur, Humayun,
Akbar, and Jahangir. Shah Jahan succeeded the throne after revolting against his father,
Jahangir.
Chhatrapati Shivaji
• was the founder of the Maratha Empire in western India. He is considered to be one of the greatest
warriors of his time and even today, stories of his exploits are narrated as a part of the folklore. King
Shivaji used the guerrilla tactics to capture a part of, the then, dominant Mughal empire
Modern Indian History
• During the late 16th and the 17th Centuries, the European trading companies in India competed
with each other ferociously. By the last quarter of the 18th Century, the English had outdone
all others and
established themselves as the dominant power in India.
8
PHILOSOPHY
OF INDIA
Indian philosophies share many
concepts such as a dharma,
karma, samsara, reincarnation, dukkha, renunciation, meditation,
with almost all of them focusing on the ultimate goal o`f liberation
of the individual from dukkha and samsara through diverse range
of spiritual practices
DHARMA
• the eternal and inherent nature of
reality, regarded in Hinduism as a cosmic law underlying right
behavior and social order.
• an aspect of truth or reality.
KARMA
• is a word meaning the result
of a person's actions as
well as the actions
themselves. It is a term
about the cycle of cause and
effect.
SAMSARA
the indefinitely repeated cycles of birth,
misery, and death caused by karma
REINCARNATION
Reincarnation is the
religious or philosophical
belief that the soul or
spirit, after biological
death, begins a new life in
a new body that
SUBTITLE COMES HERE
may be human, animal or
spiritual depending on the
moral quality of the
previous life's actions.
DUKKHA
• It means anything that is “uneasy,
uncomfortable, unpleasant difficult, causing pain or
sadness
RENUNCIATION
• is the act of renouncing or
rejecting something.
• is the giving up of worldly
attachments in order to
achieve spiritual enlightenment or liberation from the recurring
cycle of life, death and rebirth.
The word meditation stems from
meditatum, a Latin term that
means 'to ponder. ' Through the
meditation practice of meditation, we can
seek to find a
word meditation stems from meditatum, a
better connection with our body in Latin term that means 'to ponder. ' Through
the everyday moments that we the practice of meditation, we can seek to
find a better connection with our body in the
often let pass us by, and create everyday moments that we often let pass us
stronger awareness for how our by, and create stronger awareness for how
our emotions influence our behavior
emotions influence our behavior
The
RELIGIONS IN INDIA
Hinduism is the most common
religion in India, accounting for
about 80% of the population.
Islam is the second-largest religion
at 13% of the population. Other
major religious groups in India are
Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%),
Buddhists (0.8%) and Jains (0.4%).
HINDUISM
• Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara (the continuous
cycle of life, death, and reincarnation) and karma (the
universal law of cause and effect). One of the key thoughts of
Hinduism is “atman,” or the belief in soul. This philosophy
holds that living creatures have a soul, and they're all part of
the supreme soul.
ISLAM
• Islam isa
monotheistic religion
centered on the
belief in one God and
following the
example of
Muhammad; it is the
largest minority religion in
India.
19
CHRISTIANS
• Most of Christians say they
believe in God, and Christians in
India are more likely than most
other religious communities to
say they pray daily. Most Indian
Christians also attend church
weekly and an overwhelming
share give money toa church
20
SIKHS
• Sikhs believe in the
oneness
of all beings and the
equality of everyone. The
Sikh faith isa monotheistic
religion, meaning Sikhs
worship one God. Guru
Nanak taught that one must
honor God by honoring
others and the Earth, God's
creation.
21
BUDDHISTS
•
Buddhism is one of the world's
largest religions and originated
2,500 years ago in India.
Buddhists believe that the
human life is one of suffering,
and that meditation, spiritual
and physical labor, and good
behavior are the ways to
achieve enlightenment, or
nirvana.
22
JAINS
• Jainism teaches that the path
to enlightenment is through
nonviolence and reducing
harm to living things (including
plants and animals) as much as possible.
Like Hindus and Buddhists, Jains believe
in reincarnation. This cycle of birth,
death, and rebirth is determined by one's
karma.
23
CULTURE
OF INDIA
Indian culture is the
heritage of social norms, ethical
values, traditional customs, belief
systems, political systems,
artifacts and technologies that
originated in or are associated with
the ethno
linguistically diverse India.
2
4
TRADITION OF VEDIC CHANTING
• Chanting or recitation of prayers in Sanskrit (Hindu Vedic chanting) is in
the form of a simple praise or eulogy called stuti, sukta or stava. These
chants are considered to be the oldest unbroken oral traditions since
the existence of Vedic literature, which dates back to the Iron Age
RAMLILA
• “Rama's play”, is a performance of then Ramayana epic in a series of
scenes that include song, narration, recital and dialogue. It is
performed across northern India during the festival of Dussehra, held
each year according to the ritual calendar in autumn.
25
YOGA
• Which is mentioned in ancient, sacred scriptures of
Hinduism, originated thousands of years ago in what is now India. The
Indian government, under prime minister narendra modi, strongly
encourages yoga as a cultural practice that promotes physical and
spiritual health.
KUMBH MELA
• The main ritual of Kumbh Mela is bathing in the rivers.
Washing in holy waters is believed to deliver worshippers from
their past sins and lead them to moksha, or liberation from the
cycle of birth and death.
26
27
THE MAJOR WRITERS
28
CHETAN
BHAGAT
• Cited by The New York
Times
in 2008 as the biggest
selling
English language novelist
in
India’s history, Chetan Bhagat is
author, screenwriter, columnist
and TV personality. He is
known for Comedy-drama
novels about young urban
middle-class Indians. Some of
his famous work includes Five
Point Someone,2 States, Half
Girlfriend and One Indian Girl.
29
Amrita Pritam
Pritam indulged in poetry and literature
at a very young age which influenced
her to become a poet and novelist later
in her life. She was a courageous
woman who did not fear writing
controversial texts during the
pre-partition era. She suffered through
tough times during the partition of India
which influenced her to write the
Punjabi novel ‘Pinjar’ (skeleton) which
describes the helplessness of the
women during that era and the
discrimination they had to go through.
The novel later was made into a
Bollywood movie which was a hit
throughout the nation.
JHUMPA LAHIRI
• is well
known for her novels, essays and short stories.
She was born in London but relocated to the
United States to get her education from the
Barnard College. She went ahead for her masters
and attained her degree from the Boston
University. She was a struggling writer and her
work was initially rejected by the publishers until
her biggest success, ‘The interpreter of Maladies’.
This was a compilation of all her short stories
about the life of immigrants in post-partition India.
After the runaway success she wrote many other
novels which are famous throughout the Indian
continent and the world. Some of the most famous
ones being; The namesake, Unaccustomed Earth
and The lowland.
KHUSHWANT SINGH
He was a journalist, editor and novelist born in
Hadli during the time of British India. He
received his degree at St. Stephen’s College
in New Delhi and King’s College in London.
He initially started his career as a lawyer after
which he got the opportunity to become the
editor of important journals and magazines.
As an author he wrote some outstanding
novels like Train to Pakistan (1956), Delhi: A
Novel (1990), The Company of Women
(1999), Truth, Love and a Little Malice (2002),
The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous (2013).
3
2
R. K. Narayan
He was born in Chennai and due to his
father’s transfers had to move around
therefore changed many schools. His
interest in reading was evident since a
very young age and his hobby soon
became a habit. He later graduated and
decided to become a stay at home writer.
His initial books were not that popular
until his third novel, ‘The dark room’.
Narayan wrote many novels after this
which were published and soon became
a well renowned author during his time in
India.
3
3
Rabindranath TagoreEven
though Tagore received
his education in law he took great
interest in Shakespeare and his
literature. Therefore following his
works he became a poet and author.
His first poem ‘Mansai’ was published
in 1890 after which he gained
immense popularity amongst Bengali
readers. His most significant works
include ‘Gitanjali’ which was a
collection of poems and
‘Galpaguchchha’ which are eighty
short stories.
3
4
RUSKIN
BOND
Bond was born in Punjab,
British Indian and attained his
education in Shimla and after
completion of high school he
moved to the U.K to enhance
his writing career. He started
his career as a freelance writer
and eventually got jobs as
editor in various magazines. It
wasn’t until 1980 his novel was
published which became widely
admired amongst readers. His best
known work is ‘The blue umbrella’,
a heartwarming story read
worldwide.
VIKRAM SETH
Seth born in Calcutta, graduated
from high school, and studied
Philosophy, Politics and
Economics at Corpus Christi
College, Oxford and graduated
with a B. A. Degree in 1975.
From 1975 to 1986, he pursued
his Ph.D. at Stanford University,
California, U.S.A. He is best
known for his epic novel ‘The
Suitable boy’.
3
6
Arundhati Roy
Writer, essayist and political
activist, Arundhati Roy, is best
known for her novel The God of
Small Things which won her the
Man Booker Prize for Fiction in
1997. Some of her other works
include, The Algebra of Infinite
Justice, Kashmir: The Case for
Freedom and Capitalism: A
Ghost Story.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay
He belonged to a
poverty-stricken family as his father had
irregular jobs. However his father was a
dreamer and a writer and it was his
exuberance that inspired Sarat to
become a novelist himself. He wrote his
first famous essays only when he was in
his teens. Later, he made contributions
to magazines from time to time. Since
he was a feminist Chattopadhyay seemed it
was urgent to write about the bigotry and
patriarchal society. His most popular works
are;
‘Devdas’ (1901, published 1917),
‘Parineeta’ (1914), Biraj Bau (1914),
and Palli Samaj (1916).
BACKGROUND
The Literary Periods
39
• SANSKRIT AND
CLASSICAL LITERATURE
• MEDIEVAL LITERATURE IN
INDIA
•COLONIAL INDIA
•MODERN INDIAN
LITERATURE 40
SANSKRIT AND
CLASSICAL LITERATURE
4
1
Sanskrit
literature
• Aryans, nomadic cattle herders, produced the
Literature written in a language called Sanskrit.
• Literally means refined, adorned, and/or highly
decorated. • divided into: Religious text and Heroic
Texts
Religious
Text VEDAS-
Book of Knowledge• Made by
Aryan poets in Old Sanskrit
• Fundamental religious text of
Hinduism
• Compilation of hymns of praise
and ritual chants • Four vedas: Rig-Veda
(Book of Creation), Sama-Veda ( Book of
Chants), Yajur-Veda (Book of Prayers), and
Atharva-Veda (Book of Spells).
• Discussion and interpretation
of dangerous rituals
• Composed by people who
meditated in the wilderness
`
UPANISHADSU
• Consists of 108 dialogues
between students and their
teachers
• About the individual soul's
unity
• Composed by a group of sages who
questioned the use of rituals in
religion • India's oldest
philosophical treaties and
form the foundations of
major schools of Hindu
philosophies
45
Heroic Text (Epic)
Ramayana
• an epic by Valmiki about a
perfect prince, and a perfect
wife Mahabharata
• an extremely long epic of
Vyasal
• about the war and feuds two
branch
families of the dynastic clan
Kuru for the
throne.
46
Classical Literature
• started in the Gupta Dynasty
(Indian Golden Age)
• reflected values of Hinduism
• influenced by the caste
system
• languages used were
Sanskrit and Prakrit • motifs were
largely based on religion, mythology and
heroism.
47
MEDIEVAL
LITERATUR
E IN INDIA
4
8
MEDIEVAL
INDIA
• Islam was spread to India by
the Middle Easterns and the
Central Asians
• the Indian-Hindu culture
was highly influenced by
Muslim culture
• northern India was ruled by
the Muslim/Mughal Empire
BHAKTI LITERATURE
• love poetry
• depiction of love between: Gods,
husband, and wife; parent and
child;
servant and master
• most significant development in
Indian
Literature
• gave way to regional languages
(Bhasa, Kannada, Marathi)
50
Topography
• landscapes and the
environment writers see is
one of
the major themes
• rivers (Ganges, Indus),
mountains (Himalayas, Kashmir)
and deserts (Rajasthan) were
common subjects or settings
5
1
LOVE AND
WAR
• a common theme in
medieval literature
• wars about great heroes
like the much older
Mahabharata
• failure in love that gave
rise to triumph in love was
also a widely used theme
COLONIAL INDIA
53
Europeans In
India• Portuguese and
French were the first
Europeans in India, with
their motives include trade
and spices • Then the British
came seeking not only gold
and spices but also lands for
their imperial expansion
• The British and Dutch
established their own companies
within the Indian area
54
British In India
• the British made many changes in Indian culture,
especially in their literature
• first and foremost, the British introduce the English
language to the Indiansm
• also many political icons emerged due to their longing of
Indian Independence: one of those is Mohandas Gandhi.
55
In addition to politicians, many writers
expressed their want for Indian
Independence; one of those is Rabindranath
Tagore, the first Asian to receive a Nobel
Prize in Literature
• Due to India not being free from the grasps
of these Westerners, nationalism become
a usual theme in Indian publishing and
writings.
56
MODER
N
INDIAN
LITERATURE
5
7
Independence Period
• 26 January 1950
• Before the independence,
Marxism grew because people
wanted to be independent
• Along with Marx's ideology,
Gandhi's popularity also grew
• Nationalism was a theme most
common during this time
Post- Independence
• in London, expatriates formed the
Progressive Writers Association (PWA)
• Dalit literature rose; it is about the outcasts, or
the people being oppressed by society
• modern mythology became widespread in both urban and
rural areas
MODERN
DAY
LITERATURE
• Indi is still not united
in language- three
languages; Hindu,
Urdu, and Hindustani,
are favored to be
India's national
language.
A. HINDU- ONE OF THE TWO
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF
INDIA (THE OTHER BEING
ENGLISH)
B. URDU- THE LINGUA FRANCA
OF PAKISTAN, ALSO WIDELY
USED IN INDIA
• THE LINGUA FRANCA OF
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
INDIA AND PAKISTAN
