INDIA AND CHINA

RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

OBJECTIVES WHI.3

• Objective:• The student will be able to

demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by:• Locating the civilization in time

and place• Describing the development of

social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery

• Explaining the development of religious traditions

• Explaining the development of language and writing

• Essential Questions:• Why did Ancient Civilizations

develop in river valleys?• Where were the earliest

civilizations located?• When did these civilizations

exist?• What were the social,

political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations

• What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

• What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH ASIA

• Indian Subcontinent• Modern day countries of

India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh

• Mountains• Hindu Kush, Karakoram,

Himalaya

• Rivers• Indus and Ganges• Cover 1, 500 mile area

called Indus-Ganges plain• Indus river provided

access to trade

• Monsoons• Seasonal winds• Oct- May: dry winds• June- Sept: winds shift,

brings rain

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• Mountains

• River Valleys

• Dry Interior Plateau

• Fertile Coastal Plains

INDUS RIVER

GANGES RIVER

HIMALAYAS

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

• Floods• Indus river floods yearly• Deposits silt• Unpredictable, river can

change course

• Monsoons• Wet/Dry seasons

• Mountains/ Desert• Creates natural boundaries

INDUS RIVER PEOPLES

• Had contact with Mesopotamia

• Developed own distinctive alphabet and artistic forms

CIVILIZATION EMERGES ON INDUS

• Lack of evidence• Haven’t deciphered

language yet• Many sites have

washed away

• Earliest Arrivals• Evidence of

agriculture and domestication of animals 7000 B.C.E.• 3200 B.C.E. evidence

of farming villages

MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA

• Planned Cities• 2500 B.C.E.• Sophisticated grid system • Featured fortified citadel,

Separate residential districts

• Plumbing/sewage systems, Strong central government

• Advanced irrigation and large granaries

• Culture/Trade• Little social hierarchy• Prosperous society• Religion similar to Hinduism• Long-distance trade• Traded with Akkad (2300

B.C.E.)

RULERS AND ECONOMY

• Divine rule

• Royal palace and temple were in 1 building

• Part of citadel, or fortress

• Farming economy• Relied on Indus River flood

for silt• Grew wheat, barley, peas

• Trade with Mesopotamia• Copper, lumber, precious

stones, cotton, luxury goods

MOHENJO- DARO

END TO THE INDUS CIVILIZATION

• 1750 B.C.E. cities declined

• Theories?• River changed course• Flooding• Over farming• Natural disaster• Attack

• Aryans• Arrived around same time• Nomadic people from

Central Asia

ARYANS

• 1500 B.C.E.

• Nomadic Indo-Europeans

• From Central Asia- crossed Hindu Kush

• Conquered Harappans• Merged two cultures

• Excelled at war• Used chariot• Eventually controlled all

of India

OBJECTIVES WHI.3

• Objective:• The student will be able to

demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by:• Locating the civilization in time

and place• Describing the development of

social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery

• Explaining the development of religious traditions

• Explaining the development of language and writing

• Essential Questions:• Why did Ancient Civilizations

develop in river valleys?• Where were the earliest

civilizations located?• When did these civilizations

exist?• What were the social,

political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations

• What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

• What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

RIVER DYNASTIES IN CHINA

OBJECTIVES WHI.3

• Objective:• The student will be able to

demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by:• Locating the civilization in time

and place• Describing the development of

social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery

• Explaining the development of religious traditions

• Explaining the development of language and writing

• Essential Questions:• Why did Ancient Civilizations

develop in river valleys?• Where were the earliest

civilizations located?• When did these civilizations

exist?• What were the social,

political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations

• What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

• What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

MAP OF INDIA AND CHINA

Label the following: Oceans

Pacific Indian

Features Himalayan Mountains Gobi Desert Taklimakan Desert

Civilizations: Shang Zhou

Rivers Indus Ganges Huang He (Yellow) Yangtze

Questions: What geographic features

might have prevented trade between China and the Indus Valley?

What area of China was weak to invasions? What physical features were located there?

GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA

• Long distances and physical barriers separated it from Egypt, the Middle East, and India

• This isolation led to the belief that China was the center of the earth and sole source of civilization

SOUTHEAST JUNGLES

GOBI DESERT

REGIONS

• China’s Heartland• Huang He (yellow)

River and the Yangzi river supported the largest populations

XINJIANG, MONGOLIA, AND MANCHURIA

• Xinjiang and Mongolia are harsh and rugged

• Mainly nomads and subsistence farmers

• At times invaders from these regions conquered China• Genghis Khan and the

Mongols

RIVER OF SORROWS

• Chinese history starts in Huang He valley

• Called “yellow” river because of the loess that turns the river yellow

• Called “China’s Sorrow” because of the constant flooding

FIRST DYNASTIES

• Peking Man- Homo erectus skeleton discovered near Beijing on the Yellow River, settled 500,000 years ago

• Myth: 2000 B.C.E. first civilization arose• Mythic ancestor of Chinese:

P’an Ku• A leader named Yu tamed

Huang He river• No written records

• Fact• organized state rose

around 2000 B.C.E. with irrigation of Hwang He river

• By 1000 B.C.E. • Used pottery, Rode

horses• Used Bronze, Introduced

Iron• Writing developed• Scientific advances• Interest in music

SHANG DYNASTY

• 1532 B.C. E. Shang controlled Huang He valley• Invaders?

• Dominated until 1027 B.C.E. • Decline due to Invasion

• Characteristics:• First to leave written

records• constructed impressive

tombs and palaces

WRITING

• Oracle bones: animal bones or turtle shells on which priests wrote questions to ancestors or gods’• by interpreting the cracks in the bone, they

answers were provided

WRITTEN CHINESE

• Created 4,000 years ago• Each character

represented a word or and idea

• Over 10,000 characters

• Calligraphy was an art form

• Writing was a unifying force since not everyone spoke the same language.

ZHOU DYNASTY

• 1027 B.C. E. the Zhou overthrew the Shang

• Lasted until 256 B.C.

• To justify overthrowing the Shang, the Zhou promoted the idea of Mandate of Heaven, or divine right to rule• Explains the dynastic cycle

• Floods and famine were a sign that the dynasty was out of favor with the gods.

FEUDAL STATES

• Zhou rewarded supporters with land

• Feudalism: system of government in which local lords governed their own land but owed military service to ruler

• Eventually feudalism became more powerful than the dynasty

ACHIEVEMENTS

• Iron-making leads to more food production

• New crops and irrigation systems

• Commerce expanded, use of money

• New roads and canals

• Led to increase in population

WARRING STATES PERIOD

771 B.C.E. – nomads sacked the Zhou capital of Hao and murdered the monarch A few family members

escaped and ruled from new capital for 500 years Powerless, couldn’t control

noble families Warlords claimed to be

“kings” of territory Led to “warring states”

period

Warring States Warfare changed, no

longer honorable Peasants main force on

battlefield New weapons such as a

crossbow Central values changed

No longer order, harmony, and respect for authority…. Now chaos, arrogance and defiance

OBJECTIVES WHI.3

• Objective:• The student will be able to

demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by:• Locating the civilization in time

and place• Describing the development of

social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery

• Explaining the development of religious traditions

• Explaining the development of language and writing

• Essential Questions:• Why did Ancient Civilizations

develop in river valleys?• Where were the earliest

civilizations located?• When did these civilizations

exist?• What were the social,

political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations

• What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations?

• What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?