Early Civilizations of India and China

2500 B.C. – 256 B.C.

Cities of the Indus Valley

India’s first civilization in the Indus River Valley

Subcontinent

• Large landmass that juts out from a continent• India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh,

& Bhutan

Mountains

• Hindu Kush• Himalaya

Monsoons

• Seasonal wind• Defining feature of Indian life• October– Hot, dry air that withers crops

• May– Wet summer rains– Daily downpours

• Each year monsoons are needed– Too much rain resulting in floods– Too little rain leading to famine

Cultural Diversity

• Many different people and languages• Hard to unify the subcontinent

Indus Valley Civilization

• 2500 B.C.• Urban civilization characterized by large cities

such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro• Uniformity of city planning and cultural

elements suggests presence of a strong central government

• Traded goods with people of Central Asia, Arabia, and Mesopotamia

• Writing system never translated

Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro

• High defensive walls• Large temples• Grain warehouses• Citadels– Fortress

• Carefully planned– Lain out on a grid– Uniform house construction– Modern plumbing– Community wells

Most were farmers

• Wheat, barley, melons, dates• Firsts to weave cotton into clothing

Merchants and Traders

• Traded along Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea

Religious Beliefs

• Polytheistic• Mother goddess• Holy animals– Veneration of cattle• Special regard for something

Decline & Disappearance

• 1750 B.C.• Quality of life declined– Damage to the environment?– Volcanic eruption and flood?– Earthquake?

• 1500 B.C.– Aryan invasion– Horse drawn chariot and superior weapons

Kingdoms of the Ganges

Aryan warriors invaded India

Aryan Civilization

• Unsure where they came from• Warlike people• Communities lead by rajas• Divided society into four varnas and hundreds

of smaller castes• Religious beliefs outlined in the Vedas

Vedas

• Collection of prayers, hymns, and religious teachings

• Not written down for 1,000s of years

Vedic Age

• 1500 – 500 B.C.• Warriors who fought from chariots with

bows/arrows• Loved eating, drinking, music, chariot races,

etc

Nomadic herders

• Valued cattle• Later became farmers

Aryans Society

• Aryans felt they were superior to the Dravidians– The people they conquered

• Divided people by occupation– Varnas (classes)– Subgroups you are born into and cannot change

Brahmins

• Highest ranking varna• Smallest group– Priests – Teachers

Kshatriyas (ksha-TREE-uhs)

• Warriors • Rulers• Had highest status in the beginning– Then priests moved up

Vaisyas (vysh-yuhs)

• Common people– Traders– Farmers– Herders– Artisans

Sudras

• Non-Aryans • Dravidians

Aryan religious beliefs

• Polytheistic• Gods were of natural forces– Sky, sun, storms, fire

• Brahmins offered sacrifices of food and drink to gods– Rituals and prayers

Indra

• Fierce god of war

Varuna

• God of order and creation

Agni

• God of fire• Messenger for the gods

Animal gods

• Monkey• Snake

Brahman

• Single spiritual power in all things

Mystics

• People devoted to seeking spiritual truth– Meditation– Yoga

Rajahs

• Aryans tribal chiefs• Elected by the warriors• Some rajahs rose to power and controlled

many cities

From nomads to farmers

• Gradually gave up nomadic lifestyle for farming

• Breeding cattle

Expansion

• Colonized Ganges basin• 800 B.C. learned to make iron tools

New Indian Civilization

• 500 B.C.• Acculturation– Blending of cultures• Aryan• Dravidian

• Sanskrit– Written language

Epic Literature

• Mahabharata• Ramayana– Long oral tradition before the creation of Sanskrit

Mahabharata

• India’s greatest epic– 100,000 verses

• Pandava brothers loose kingdom to cousins– After an 18 day battle they regain their kingdom– This brings peace back to India

• Bhagavad-Gita– One episode• The immortality of the soul• The importance of duty

Ramayana

• Shorter but just as important• Ravana

– Demon who kidnaps Sita• Rama rescues her with help from Hanuman, a monkey• Rama

– The hero– Model of virtue– Ideal ruler

• Sita– Rama’s bride– Ideal woman– Obedient and loyal to her husband

Early Civilization in China

Early Chinese developed a complex civilization

Zhongguo

• Middle Kingdom– Ancient name for China– Center of the Earth– Source of civilization

Geographic barriers

• West & Southwest– Mountains• Tien Shan• Himalayas

• North– Gobi Desert

• Southeast– Jungles

• East– Pacific Ocean

Isolated Civilization

• There was some contact with the outside world– Mainly nomadic raiders

Main Regions

• Huang He River Valley• Yangzi River Valley• Xinjiang– Harsh climate– Rugged terrain– Nomads and subsistence farmers

• Manchuria

• Mongolia– Harsh climate– Rugged terrain– Nomads and

subsistence farmers• Xizang– Tibet

“River of Sorrows”

• Chinese history began in the Huang He River Valley

• Loess– Fine, windblown yellow soil

• Nickname because of constant flooding due to the amount of loess

Shang Dynasty

• Started in Huang He River Valley• Ruled by emperors• Religion centered on ancestor worship• Skilled at working with bronze• Developed China’s first writing system & a

lunar calendar

Government

• Capital of Anyang• Shang kings only controlled a small area• Clans– Loyal princes and nobles– Groups of families with common ancestry

Social classes

• Emperor• Nobles• Warriors• Artisans & merchants• Peasants

Peasant life

• Small farming villages– Pit houses

• All family members worked in the fields– Stone tools

• Repairing dikes and irrigation system• Fight for the nobles if war broke out

Religious Beliefs

• Complex religion• Many gods and natural spirits• Shang Di– Heavenly teacher– King was a link to Shang Di

Ancestor Worship

• Praying to ancestors• Only spirits of the greatest mortals could talk

to the gods– At first only the upper class ancestors were worthy

of this honor– Eventually all classes began to pray to their

ancestors

Yin & Yang

Oracle bones

• Earliest form of Chinese writing– Animal bones and turtle shells

• Asked the gods a question– Heated bones or shell until it cracked– Look at cracks for answers from the gods

Writing

• 4,000 years ago• 10,000 characters• Only the well to do could afford the years of

study it took to master reading and writing• Calligraphy– Fine handwriting

• A Force of Unity

Zhou Dynasty

• 1027 B.C.– Overthrew the Shang

• The Mandate of Heaven– Divine right to rule– Used to justify the overthrow of the Shang• The gods had chosen to overthrow the Shang• Mandate was then passed to the Zhou

Feudal State

• Zhou rewarded supporters by granting them control over certain areas

• Feudalism– Local lords governed their own lands and owed

military service to the ruler• In theory Zhou ruled China– For 250 years this was true– After 771 B.C. the noble had the real power

Economic Growth

• 500 B.C. ironworking– Iron tools and farm implements led to more food

• New crops like soybeans• Large scale irrigation projects made farming

even more productive

Commerce Grows

• Began to use money• Merchants benefited from new roads and

canals built by the nobles

Yangzi Valley

• Increase in population• People expanded from the Huang He valley

into the Yangzi valley

Achievements

• Astronomy– Studied movement of planets– Recorded eclipses of the sun– Accurate 365¼ day calendar

• Silk making– 1000 B.C.– Silk worms and mulberry

trees– Women did the work of

harvesting the silk• Wove silk into cloth

– Only royalty could afford the silk

– China’s most valuable export• Kept process of silk making a

state secret

The First Books

• Thin strips of wood or bamboo• Book of Songs– Poems• Lives of farming people• Praising kings• Court ceremonies• Tender or sad love songs