India

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Nepal

Bhutan

Sri Lanka

http://www.spiritsd.ca/teachers/Darryl.Merilees/Social%20Studies/Ancient%20India/India2.jpg

• The climate of the Indian subcontinent is characterized by high temperatures and monsoons, which are seasonal winds. • Nov-March is the dry

season, when the winds blow from the northeast and bring very little rain

- Jun-Oct. is the rainy season, when the winds blow from the southwest, is the rainy season.

• The first known civilization in the Indian subcontinent arose in the Indus Valley and flourished from about 2500BC-1500BC

• Although the Indus Valley civilization had a writing system it has not been deciphered, so all we know about it comes from artifacts found by archeologists.

• There were many cities in the region.

• The largest were Harappa and Mohenjo Daro

• The Indus Valley civilization had 2 very large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, as well as hundreds of smaller cities and towns. It is called the Harappan Civilization.

• Both cities were large and carefully planned • Wide streets crossed at right angles.•

• Each city had a strong fortress, or citadel, built on a brick platform.

• What does this suggest about the civilization? What problems might they have had?

• On the citadel were large public buildings, including graineries for storing large amounts of grain to feed about 35,000 people, and large baths.

Great Bath on the citadel of Mohenjo Daro

• Great Bath on the citadel of Mohenjo Daro.

• What could its function have been? ?

MD

• Both cities had a water system with wells and brick sewers. Sewers took waste water from homes into drains under the street, and out of town.

• This was probably the most advanced water system and public drains in the world at this time.

• As well as the citadel on a mound on the west, there was an area lower down to the east, where people lived.

• The lower city was divided into rectangular blocks by straight streets.

• The larger houses had wells and indoor bathrooms with seated latrines connected to sewers under the street.

• In addition to residential areas,there were many shops and workshops, producing wares for local consumption and for export:

• For example: potteries, dyers’ vats, metalworkers’, shell-ornament makers’ and beadmakers’ shops

• Most buildings were built of mud bricks of approximately the same proportions 1:2:4.

• Standard weights and measures were used throughout the Indus Valley region.

Mohenjo Daro

Other artifacts

• Small objects which are probably children’s toys have been found.

• For example this toy cart. From this toy cart archeologists have concluded that they probably had life size carts and wagong.

Agriculture

• Harappa and Mohenjo Daro were surrounded by rich farmland

• They irrigated their fields by building canals and ditches. • Irrigation allowed Indus Valley farmers to have a surplus

of food• They grew wheat, barley, rice and cotton. • They raised cattle sheep, goats and pigs

Products and trade

• City dwellers produced goods for trade. • These included pottery, bronze items, beads skillfully

made of various materials, and gold and silver jewelry. • They traded these goods with the people of

Mesopotamia.

Writing

• The Indus Valley people developed a writing system.

• We have pictographs dating from about 2300BC

• Scholars have not been able to translate this writing.

Writing

• Most of the Indus Valley writing is on personal seals that may bear the names of individuals or companies who made items for trade.

• Most of the Indus Valley writing is on personal seals that may bear the names of individuals or companies who made items for trade.

Inscription on a pot

• http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1919795,00.html

Religion

• No Harappan temples, shrines, or religious writings have been found.

• There is evidence that they worshiped a mother goddess.

• There is evidence that they used images of the bull, buffalo, and tiger.

Religion

• The Indus Valley Civilization flourished about 2500BC-1500BC.

• It began declining about 1700BC• By about 1500BC, it “disappeared”. The cities were

abandoned.

• Historians do not know why the Indus Valley Civilization disappeared.

• The waters of the Indus River have changed course in the past . . . .

• The Indus River often flooded .. …• There is evidence of an earthquake about 1700BC ….• About 1500BC, a new group of people came in and

began to dominate the area.

Arrival of the Indo-Aryans

• The Indo-Aryans were one of the sub-groups of the larger group called the Indo-Europeans.

• Originally lived north of the Black and Caspian Seas, in what is now southern Russia.

• They were nomadic herders of cattle

• About 1750BC they began to cross the Hindu-Kush mountains into India

• By 1500BC, they had settled in Northern India

• Some people have disputed this arrival of the Indo-Europeans, and if you search the web you will find some sites saying that it never happened.

• But there are written records of the language that these Indo-European people brought with them to India, Sanskrit.

• pitar (Sanskrit)• pater (Latin)• pater (Greek)• padre (Spanish)• pere (French)• father (English)• fadar (Gothic)• fa∂ir (Old Norse)• vader (German

• We can read Sanskrit, and we can easily see that many words in Sanskrit are basically the same as in other Indo-European languages. In addition, recent genetic evidence supports the arrival of the Indo-Europeans.

Indo-Aryans

• Lived by herding cattle. • Cattle were so important

to them that their word for war was “desire for more cattle”.

• As they came into India, sometimes they were able to move into an area without conflict, but sometimes they fought the people already there.

• .

• The Indo-Aryans were good fighters and had skilled archers and war chariots, so they were able to conquer the people already living in Northern India.

VEDAS

• The Indo Aryans had hymns and prayers called the Vedas, that were passed down orally from generation to generation.

• Eventually the Vedas were written down in the Indo-Aryan language, which was Sanskrit

• The Vedas made up 4 collections of hymns. The oldest is called the Rig Veda

• Most of what we know about the period 1500-1000BC comes from the Vedas, so we called this the Vedic Age

Indo-Aryan Religion• Indo-Aryan Religion evolved into Hinduism• They were polytheistic, with many individual

gods drawn from nature. • Including Indra, the god of storms, Agni, the

god of fire, and Varuna, the god of the cosmic order.

• However, the Vedas also refer to one supreme god of divine spirit, which is called “The One”.

• Later, these gods, Indra, Agni and Varuna, became less important.

• The Hindu gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva became more important, and are the most important gods today.

Early Religious Practices

• No temples. Worship was out of doors.• Fires were lit on altars, and offerings of butter, milk and barley

cakes were made. • The juice of the Soma plant was poured into the fire as a

special offering• Soma juice was regarded as the drink of the Gods.

Brahmins

• Priests called Brahmins carried out the rituals, which became more complex over time.

• Only the Brahmins knew the proper rituals.• Gradually a form of social organization called the Caste

System emerged.

Caste System, or Varnas

• Four distinct varnas, or social classes, appeared in Indian society.

• Brahmins-priests• Kshatryas-warriors• Vaisyas (Vaishyas)-merchants and

artisans; farmers who owned their own land

• Sudras (Shudras)-farm laborers and servants.

• According to a myth, the four varnas were made from the body parts of Purusa, a god.• Brahmins-from head• Kshatryas-from the arms• Vaishyas-from the legs• Sudras-from the feet. • Later, a lower group, called the

Untouchables, or Pariahs, emerged.

• Later, a lower group, called the Pariahs, or Untouchables, emerged.

• People married, and had close social relationships, within their caste, or varna.

• The language of the Indo-Aryans, Sanskrit, was gradually no longer used in everyday speech.

• Sanskrit became the special language used by Brahmins in their religious rituals

Political organization

• Gradually the Indo-Aryans settled in villages & planted crops as well as herded cattle.

• Small independent states grew up, each with a leader called a raja.

• Rajas were military leaders, lawmakers and judges.• Rajas governed with the help of a council.

SOCIETY

• People generally, married, and had close social relationships, with people of their own caste, or varna.

• Gradually, complicated rules for marriage emerged.

• Parents usually arranged marriages.

ECONOMY-AGRICULTURE

• The Indo Aryans, who were originally nomadic herders, settled and grew wheat, barley, and rice, as well as vegetables.

Economy-Trade

• Villages traded with nearby villages, but transportation was difficult. Usually, only cities on the coasts traded with distant areas.

• Trade was carried out mainly by barter. Coins began to be used about 500BC.

NORTHERN INDIA-SOUTHERN INDIA

• The Indo-Aryans had a big impact on Northern India. Most of what we have just described applied to Northern India.

• Early cultures in Southern India followed their own patterns.

• The hilly landscape of Southern India made unification difficult, and people remained divided into separate communities and social groups.

SOUTHERN INDIA

• People who lived in the interior parts of Southern India, were farmers, or hunter-gatherers.

• Some people who lived on the coasts of Southern India became traders, and some became wealthy trading cotton, spices and ivory with people of other civilizations.

• The people of Southern India came to be called Dravidians.