Ancient India

Geography and Indian Life

Physical Geography of ancient India

1. India is a subcontinent: a large landmass that is smaller than a continent.

2. This area is called: South Asia and it is kite shaped

3. India moved north colliding with southern Asia and this collision created mountains.

Mountains and waterways

to the north are the Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges.

The Ganges and the Indus Rivers make the land fertile

The area where ancient Indians settled was called Indus River Valley

Geography and Indian Life

Climate:

The mountain ranges block most of the cold winds keeping it warm.

India has a dry season in the winter and rainy season in the summer due to the monsoons: seasonal winds

India’s rainy season can cause severe flooding.

Review: When the summer monsoon hits it rains a lot…the rivers flood, leave silt for fertile soil. Rain helps the crops grow. This allows a civilization to develop.

Cities in the Indus Valley

Why was the earliest Indian Civilization located near the Indus River Valley? They developed here because the river provided all the necessary items that a civilization needs to survive (like Mesopotamia and Egypt)

Civilization here began with: agriculture and trading

They farmed: cotton (first people to make it into fabric), wheat and barley,

They domesticated: cattle, sheep, goats, and chickens

They became a more complex culture because? They gained wealth by trading (first close by than with countries further away)

Great Cities: Harappan Civilization and Harappan Culture

By 2500 BC: some villages grew into large cities: for example the Indus and Saraswati valley, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

• The ancient culture is called the Harappan civilization.

These cities were so large they needed to be planned: this meant they were built by design: heavy brick walls to protect them, city streets in a grid with shops, factories and religious buildings.

Problems: removing human waste: they had toilets and sewers.

They must have had a strong government to plan these large cities. We do not know for sure because nobody has figured out how to read the ancient Harappan writing. What we do know comes from artifacts.

Great Cities: Harappan Civilization and Harappan Culture cont… Religion: don’t know who their gods were

o Mohenjo-Daro had a public bath---might have been used for rituals. (water is often used in religious ceremonies)

Size: the culture spread about 2 times the size of Texas.

Indians had more than just what they needed. They traded for tin, copper, silver, and woolen cloth

Challenges: Earthquakes shook the region. Rivers may have dried up and others might have flooded. People were forced to leave their homes. The Harappan civilization declined around 2000 to 1500 BC

Lesson 2: The Origins of Hinduism

Vocabulary

Caste System: a social class whose members are identified by their job. 4 groups cover most jobs. You were born into your caste. The lowest class was called the untouchables.

Aryans: a group of Indo-Europeans who traveled east to India in 1500 BC. They spoke Sanskrit, their religion was Brahmanism. Their society was divided into groups.

Brahmanism: a religion of the ancient Aryans. They worshipped many gods. They did this by sacrificing animals in ceremonies that could last for months. The priests are called Brahmins.

Hinduism: The Bhagavad Gita is their sacred text. Came from Brahmanism. Worshipped many gods. Modern name for the religion. Still practiced today. They thought their many gods were part of one supreme god so they believe in both a main god and many gods. They believe in reincarnation. Brahma: the creator, Shiva: the destroyer, Vishnu: the protector.

Reincarnation: Rebirth of a soul in another body, each person can have many lives. Deeds done during that life will cause a person to be re-born in a higher or lower class. It is constant cycle of birth, death, rebirth until they are 1 with god.

Karma: what a person does in each life determines what he/she will be in the next life. What goes around comes around.

The Caste System

Lesson 3: Buddhism and India’s Golden Age

Vocabulary:

Ahimsa: non violent way of life

Buddhism: a religion began in India started by Siddhartha Gautama

Siddhartha Gautama: a prince who gave up his title to try to understand the meaning of life

Nirvana: the end of suffering

Dharma: the true nature of things

Asoka: a Bhuddhist King, a Maurya King

The Rise of Buddhism

Jainism started in India. Jains practice non-violence or Ahimsa. They think nothing should be hurt because every living thing has a soul.

Buddhism was started by Siddhartha Gautama. He was actually a spoiled prince who decided to search for the meaning of LIFE. Buddha wandered for 6 years until he finally leaned the 4 Truths sitting under a fig tree.

One of these Truths tells of following the Eightfold Path. This path can lead to Nirvana.

Buddha believed in non-violence, did not worship the Hindu Gods, nor did he believe in the caste system.

Buddha is still worshipped today as a divine being.

The Maurya Empire

After a long time of India being made up of many Aryan kingdoms a King named Chandragupta Maurya I took over in 321 BC. The Maurya Empire took up most of India.

Chandragupta Maurya I ruled by using spies and taxing the crops.

Maurya’ s grandson was a Buddhist King named Asoka. He decided to rule with Buddhist teachings after constant bloody warfare. He also converted others to Buddhism while allowing people to practice their own religion as well. Some of the positive things he did during his rule are: he built hospitals, built rest houses to make traveling more comfortable, he planted trees and built wells.

Many people stopped practicing Hinduism during this time for several reasons such as… people turned to Buddhism because… the Hindu sacrifices could only be done by Priests, most people did not know Sanskrit, the people did not feel close to their gods.

The result is Hinduism changed so that everyone could understand it not just those who spoke Sanskrit.

Buddhism declined in India but had already begun to spread in more Asian countries

The Golden Age of the Guptas

After Asoka dies there was about 500 years of conflicts. In 320 AD the Gupta family took over.

The first thing Chandra Gupta I did as ruler was married a King’s daughter so he could gain more land. His son enlarged the kingdom even more by fighting wars.

The greatest ruler of the Gupta Empire was Chandra Gupta II and during his rule India had its time of great accomplishment which is called The Golden Age.

There were many accomplishments during the golden age. Some are: they developed the decimal system, made the number 0, traded more, estimated the value of Pi (3.14…the circumference of a circle), length of the year, made our numeral system with place value, they designed temples, they improved metallurgy (metal working)

Why it matters: The spread of Buddhism and Hinduism shaped much of Asian culture for generations to come.

The Legacy of India

Hinduism and Buddhism are major Religions still today.

Literature, and art from ancient India are seen in many southeastern Asian cultures.

Without 0 how would you all do math???