YonaThe word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit and Yavanar in Tamil, were words used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Ἴωνες < Ἰάoνες < *Ἰάϝoνες), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in India. Both terms appear in ancient Sanskrit literature. Yavana appears, for instance, in the Mahabharata, while Yona appears in texts such as the Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa.
MahaviraMahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर), also known as Vardhamana, was the 24th tirthankara (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd tirthankara Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6th century BCE into a royal Kshatriya Jain family in ancient India. His mother's name was Trishala and his father's name was Siddhartha. They were lay devotees of Parshvanatha. Mahavira abandoned all worldly possessions at the age of about 30 and left home in pursuit of spiritual awakening, becoming an ascetic.
RigvedaThe Rigveda or Rig Veda (ऋग्वेद , from "praise" and "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (sūktas). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (śruti) known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The Rigveda is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language.
MahabharataThe Mahābhārata (məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə,_ˌmɑːhə- ; महाभारतम्, , mɐɦaːˈbɦaːrɐt̪ɐm) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. It also contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161).
DharmaśāstraDharmaśāstra (धर्मशास्त्र) is a genre of Sanskrit texts on law and conduct, and refers to the treatises (śāstras) on Dharma. Unlike Dharmasūtra which are based upon Vedas, these texts are mainly based on Puranas. There are many Dharmashastras, variously estimated to be 18 to about 100, with different and conflicting points of view. Each of these texts exist in many different versions, and each is rooted in Dharmasutra texts dated to 1st millennium BCE that emerged from Kalpa (Vedanga) studies in the Vedic era.
MahajanapadasThe Mahājanapadas (great realm, from maha, "great", and janapada, "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period. The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history. During this period, India's first large cities since the demise of the Indus Valley civilization arose.
ShudraShudra or Shoodra (Sanskrit: ) is one of the four varnas of the Hindu caste system and social order in ancient India. Various sources translate it into English as a caste, or alternatively as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class serving other three classes. The word Shudra appears in the Rig Veda and it is found in other Hindu texts such as the Manusmriti, Arthashastra, Dharmashastras and Jyotishshastra. In some cases, Shudras participated in the coronation of kings, or were ministers and kings according to early Indian texts.
DvijaDvija (Sanskrit: द्विज) means "twice-born". The concept is premised on the belief that a person is first born physically and at a later date is born for a second time spiritually, usually when he undergoes the ritual of passage that initiates him into a school for Vedic studies. The term also refers to members of the three varnas in the traditional Hindu social system, or social classes — the Brahmins (priests and teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors), and Vaishyas (farmers, herders and merchants) — whose Sanskara of Upanayana initiation was regarded as a second or spiritual birth.
Caste system in IndiaThe caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India as enforced through its constitution. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.
Nanda EmpireThe Nanda dynasty was the fifth ruling dynasty of Magadha in the northern Indian subcontinent during the fourth century BCE and possibly also during the fifth century BCE. The Nandas overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty, the previous ruling dynasty of Magadha in eastern India, and expanded the empire to include a larger part of northern India. Ancient sources differ considerably regarding the names of the Nanda kings and the duration of their rule, but based on the Buddhist tradition recorded in the Mahāvaṃsa, they appear to have ruled during 345–322 BCE, although some theories date the start of their rule to fifth century BCE.
