INL - Indian Literature Foundations Lesson
Indian Literature Foundations
Indian Geography
India is located in South Asia and borders China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, and Pakistan. India is the seventh-largest country in the world and one of the most populated countries in the world, second only to China. The capital of India is New Delhi.
Overview of Indian History
India has gone through many different political and religious changes throughout the years. As various kingdoms were established in India, new changes occurred frequently, and one of these changes was religion. Throughout the years, India has focused on Shramana, Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam depending on the ruling
Kingdom.
The Gupta Empire (4th-6th century) is known as the "Golden Age" of India and Hinduism due to the achievements in science, art, engineering, math, literature, and philosophy among other subject areas. This was also a period of peace and prosperity. The Gupta Empire was anti-Buddha and predominately Hindu because the leader was a different religion and persecuted those who practiced Buddhism.
By the 1600s, the Mughal dynasty ruled most of India and did not promote Hinduism and the majority of leaders during this time period promoted Islam. When Vasco de Gama discovered a route to India in 1498, this opened up the doors for trading, and unfortunately, for the British to establish political dominance and take Indian lands. During this time, there was a strong desire for independence coupled with religious tension between Hindus and Muslims, and the Muslims had always been the minority. Eventually, World War II weakened the British, and the Indian territories gained independence in 1947.
Finally, two very important, renowned people emerged from India that cannot be forgotten: Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. These important figures will be explored in-depth in this module.
Indian Literature
Many different time periods throughout the history of India produces various types of writing. Sanskrit literature, the standard language of the Hindu and other religious texts, was very popular during the early years of India due to the heavy importance of Hinduism during this time period.
The Vedas are another important literary work in India because they are the oldest scriptures of Hinduism and were to have been directly revealed instead of other texts that were considered directly remembered.
Buddhist songs were also a popular form of Indian literature; they are known as The Charyapades and were composed in the 8th to 12th centuries. Charyapada was written in the oldest known written form of Bengali.
Along with historical, religious literature, India also produced epic poetry (Kavya), dramas (Nataka), Bhakti and Vaishnava poetry, love ballads (Kissa and Var poetry), philosophical texts, and various pieces of fiction—including Dalit, which focused on the socially underprivileged. In the 20th century, several Indian writers wrote in English—the language they inherited from the British. The dialect, Indian English, follows British spelling and punctuation as opposed to American.
Reading Assignment: Novel Reading
Remember to continue reading your chosen novel that you selected from the list provided by your teacher.