Ancient India 3000B.C. to A.D.500

Chapter 6.1

The Geography of India

• India is a subcontinent– Large landmass– Smaller than a

continent– Part of the continent

of Asia

Mountains, Plains, and Rivers

Mountains

• Himalayas– Tallest mountain range in the world– Contains Mt. Everest

• Tallest mountain peak in the world• 29,000 feet tall (5.5 miles)

Mountains

• Hindu Kush– Border India to the northwest

Plains

• Fertile plains at the foot of the mountains– Owe rich soil to 3

great rivers• Indus River• Ganges River• Brahmaputra River

– Rivers provide farming, transportation, trade

Rivers

• Indus River-major river in Asia

• Flows through Pakistan

• Fed from glaciers in Himalayas

Ganges

• Located in plains of northern India

• Holy River of Hinduism

• For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world. Despite its importance, its length of 1,560 miles (2,510 km) is relatively short compared

with the other great rivers of Asia or of the world.

Brahmaputra• major river of Central and South Asia.

• It flows some 1,800 miles (2,900 km) from its source in the HIMALAYAS to its confluence with the GANGES (GANGA) RIVER,

• For most of its length, the river serves as an important inland waterway; it is not, however, navigable between the mountains of Tibet and the plains of INDIA.

• In its lower course the river is both a creator and a destroyer—depositing huge quantities of fertile

alluvial soil but also causing disastrous and frequent floods.

Landforms

• Along west coast, fertile lands

• Inland are two chains of mountains

• Between mountains Deccan Plateau

Monsoons

• Monsoons-seasonal winds – Winter-monsoons blow cold, dry air from

Himalaya east to west– Summer-warmer land temperatures cause the

winds to change direction. Winds blow west to east-bring warm, wet air and pouring rains

The Indus Valley Civilizations

• About 5,000 years ago, nomads settled in Indus River

• Modern day Pakistan

• Spread over western India and Pakistan

Mohenjo-Daro

• 2600 BC and 1900 BC• 35,000 residents• Streets paved with tan colored bricks• Houses made with oven-baked bricks

Harappa

• Wells supplied water

• Every house had one indoor bathroom

• Wastewater flowed outside city walls

• Houses had garbage chutes

What was life like?

• Palaces and temples were enclosed in a fortress– Shows importance of

religion and government

– Farming villages– Grew rice, barley,

wheat, peas and cotton

– Merchants traveled to Mesopotamia to trade

Aryan Migrations and Settlements

• Around 1900 B.C. people abandoned Indus River Valley Civilizations

• Archaeologists found several causes– Severe drought– Earthquakes– Floods– Aryans migrated to India

The Indo-Europeans

• Aryans were not a race or ethnic group

• Part of a language family-group of similar languages

• Lived in central Asia

• Aryans moved to India

Aryans

• Mixed with people from India

• Lived in tribes– Tribe led by raja or prince– Had no written language

• Developed a written language called Sanskrit– Gave people a way to record sales, trade, land

ownership, poems, hymns, stories, prayers– Sacred texts known as Vedas

What were the Varnas?

• India is divided into four social classes

• People were members of the varna into which they were born

• Bramins-priests

• Kshatriyas-warriors

• Vaisyas-commoners

• Sudra-manual workers

Ancient Indian Society

Caste System

• Varna system is known as a caste system– People remain in caste for life– Untouchables

• Lowest level of society• They did work that Indians would not do

– Collecting trash– Skinning animals– Carrying dead bodies

Untouchables

• Indian men had more rights than women

• Males inherited property

• Boys had a guru-teacher

• Parents arranged marriages

• Boys often married in their teens

• People could NOT get divorced