ANST-701 Lessons

The students take their seats in the classroom, albeit a bit nervously, for they know that the time of their midterm is almost at hand. They watch as their professor descends from her office, a large stack of parchment in her arms. She carefully places the pages on her desk, then whips out her wand and moves a box of quills from a nearby bookcase to rest gently beside the parchment.

It is quite a simple feat of magic, wouldn’t you say, to bring that small box of quills over to the desk? Simple, but quite effective. Imagine employing this technique on large-scale building projects. Hundreds of wizards zooming blocks around, building some of the greatest…. Well, I do seem to be getting ahead of myself a bit! I tend to get excited when speaking about the history of what is now known as India. I find all advanced ancient magics absolutely fascinating! 

But before we delve too far into spells, and eventually into your midterm, let’s go back in time to the beginning of civilization.

Yes, I do mean the beginning of civilization in general! You see, human life emerged in areas called “cradles of civilization.” These are quite literally where the original human civilizations emerged. One such cradle can be found in the northwest corner of India, where the Indus Valley Civilization developed around 3300 BCE. 

For those of you who recall our conversations from Year Four about the ancient Egyptians and ancient Mesopotamians, you may have already realized that the Indus Valley Civilization is a contemporary of the two Middle Eastern cradles of civilization. A very common attribute of these areas is access to a major river, as freshwater is critical to human life not only for basic drinking water, but also for transportation, irrigation, raising livestock, and more. The Egyptians had the Nile, and the Indus Valley Civilization had, well, the Indus river.

During the timeline of this early civilization (3300 to 1700 BCE), a large number of developments took place. Towns and cities emerged replete with sewer and drainage systems, writing systems advanced and changed, and early mathematics were used. Even an early form of dentistry was recorded during this time!

The Vedic civilization emerged around 1700 BCE. This change in the name of the civilization is one that scholars have given and is not due to any hostile takeovers of the region. The name change indicates a shift in the governance of the region. This new system of government laid the foundation for the great kingdoms and empires of the future.

During the newly named Vedic period (which picked up at 1700 BCE and lasted until 500 BCE), small kingdoms appeared, and the people became more reliant on their kings to be their protectors. Another development during this time was the caste system, wherein some families were considered better than others. This system determined everything from the jobs people could have to whom they could marry. There was no escaping the “level” of your family. Remnants of this system still exist today.

Now that is not to say that this was an entirely dark period in history. At the time, magic was considered commonplace, and those able to use it were generally found in the higher castes. It was during this time (circa 1200 BCE) that the Atharvaveda was recorded. Roughly translated from the original Sanskrit, it means “knowledge for everyday living,” although it is referred to in magical circles as the “Veda of Magical Formulas,” which is a more accurate description, although one that Muggle scholars generally scoff at.

Indeed, this work, which is actually a set of 20 books, is filled with poems, songs, and medical treatments. These medical treatments show us just how developed healing magic was for the time, as it covers topics such as treating wounds, burns, other physical injuries, and illnesses of the mind and body. Similarly to the ancient Mesopotamians, the people of the Vedic period often associated illnesses - physical or mental - with some sort of demon or dark magic. Some of the information in this text also covers protection spells and charms, variations of which are still in use by witches and wizards to this day.

I’m sure you are wondering how a text like this would be studied by Muggles on an ongoing basis. The simplified explanation is that no Muggle believes, or wants to believe, that magic is possible. You see, from the most ancient of times, wizards of this region have been exceptional spell casters. They have also been exceptional charlatans. And I say exceptional because they have intentionally been “caught” doing fake magic over the centuries to discredit the possibility of magic. Some wizarding organizations obliviate Muggles; others just show them that what they think they saw was absolutely impossible and therefore must not have happened. As to which way is best, I’m not sure that I’m qualified to decide! That said, this practice in modern day India has unfortunately led to, arguably, one of the largest breaches of the International Statute of Secrecy in recent history - which we will discuss in our next lesson on famous witches and wizards of the region. But I have digressed a bit from our historical chronology…

The end of the Vedic period was marked by the emergence and influence of various religions in the area, circa 500 BCE, and was referred to as “ancient India.” During this time, Buddhism and Jainism became the prominent religions, and their emergence was tied to the expansion and amalgamation of kingdoms into larger entities, and finally great empires. Of greatest interest to us during this period is the founding of Nalanda sometime during the fifth century CE. Now, Nalanda was an enormous Buddhist monastery, which actually was composed of many buildings and is sometimes referred to as a university. Its library rivalled that of Alexandria, as it was actually three buildings that ranged in height with the largest at nine stories tall. Oh, to get my hands on all those books!

Nalanda was much, much more than just a monastery. Scholars from around ancient India, ancient China, and ancient Egypt were known to have visited and studied at this monastery. Yes, some of them were certainly studying Buddhism and religion in general, but many of them were there to study logic, grammar, philology, medicine, and magic. 

While not a magical school in the truest sense, witches and wizards were welcome to study at Nalanda. Great witches and wizards could be found experimenting with spells in the countryside around the complex, and both astronomers and astrologers could be seen examining the night’s sky from dusk to dawn.

Alas, as has often happened in history, Nalanda did not last. Sometime during the Early Medieval Period (650 CE to 1200 CE), the complex was ransacked and abandoned. The library was destroyed, and the location of the ruins were all but forgotten. The ruins were discovered and excavated in the early 1900s, however the great volumes of knowledge were lost.

I do not want you all to think that the medieval period in India was full of war and destruction. There was certainly a fair amount of conflict happening since this was when the empire grew to its largest before colonial times. That said, there were great advancements to architecture, mathematics, medicine, and magic during that time that were mostly supported by whichever ruling family happened to be holding power at the time.

One of these great rulers was Shah Jahan, who led the Mughal Empire during the early part of the Early Modern period (from 1628 to 1658 CE). You may have heard of him indirectly, as he is probably most famous for the construction of the Taj Mahal - the final resting place for his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. We will learn a great deal more about Mumtaz during our next lesson, but today we will focus mainly on Shah Jahan. 

Shah Jahan was not a wizard, but he was absolutely happy to work with them. In fact, some of his greatest advisors, including his wife Mumtaz, were witches and wizards working in the open. In addition to using their divinatory assistance in making decisions, Shah Jahan also employed wizards in battles that greatly expanded the empire. He also supported the development of charms, especially those that could aid him in constructing great buildings - all of which are architectural marvels.

You will recall that I mentioned the famous Taj Mahal as one of these buildings. Others credited to Shah Jahan include the Red Palace and Jamin Masjid of Thatta (the main mosque of Thatta). These buildings are no less spectacular than the Taj Mahal, each of them boasting their own superlatives like being current World Heritage Sites, requiring upwards of 5,000 workers to build, or taking 30 years to complete. If you look at this picture of the Jamin Masjid, you can easily see why they are regarded so highly.

Impressive, wouldn’t you say? What is more impressive is that all three of these buildings were completed in 1658 CE. Yes, they were all under construction at the same time, and yes, Shah Jahan employed wizards to assist in this work. From the intricacies of the tiling in the Jamin Masjid of Thatta to the charming of the blocks to move them into place - much like that box of quills I moved earlier - magic was a part of these incredible works of art. 

Now looking at that final image I have on display, do you see how vibrant the colours of the tiles are? This building is hundreds of years old and one would normally expect to see some fading in the colours over time. Similarly, the Taj Mahal and Red Fort seem to have been built almost yesterday due to how well preserved they seem. Certainly, some maintenance has been done on these structures, but in truth, very little has been done. I believe it is safe to assume that some sort of longevity charm was placed on the materials as the buildings were constructed. Honestly, I do wonder how Muggle buildings survive sometimes without magic!

For those of you who have been paying attention in History of Magic, you will have already realised that these buildings were created only a few decades before the International Statute of Secrecy was enacted. It was, at least in part, Shah Jahan’s liberal use of magic that led to his downfall. His son, Aurangzeb, was not a fan of magic, since it was not something he could do himself. When Shah Jahan fell ill in 1657, Aurangzeb seized the opportunity to lock him away in Agra Fort until his passing in 1666. During Aurangzeb’s reign, magic came under more and more suspicion, and it became dangerous for witches and wizards to practice in public. The arrival of the International Statute of Secrecy was actually welcomed by magical practitioners, and they retreated into their own communities, away from the prying eyes of fearful Muggles.

Conclusion

And that, my dears, brings us to the end of anything that could be considered ancient about India! Our next class will cover a few famous witches and wizards from ancient India, as well as a discussion on that breach in the ISoS I mentioned earlier. Until that time, you have your quiz on today’s material to complete, as well as your midterm examinations.

Your midterms will cover material from Lessons One through Four of this year. There is a quiz component as well as a written one. Please do take your time on these examinations as there will be no retakes. Best of luck to you!

Image credits here, here, here, here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan