How is India diverse?

Political Mapcheck your work

Physical Featurescheck your work

Empires of South Asia

Mauryan Empire321-185 BCE

Gupta Empire320-550 CE

Check your mapHow did these physical features help the empires grow?

Hindu Kush Mountains

Khyber Pass

Indus River

Indus River in present-

day Pakistan

Thar Desert

Eastern and

Western Ghats

Western Ghats

Deccan Plateau

Ganges (Ganga) River

Bathing in the Ganges River, Benares

View of the Ganges in

Rishikesh

Himalaya Mountains

Bramaputra River

Brahmaputra River on the Tibetan Plateau in China

Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta

So…

Mauryan Empire Gupta Empire

How did these physical features help the empires grow?

Pluralism• Many different kinds of people• Not just diverse, but open to diversity

India is & has been a pluralist society because…

India Today

• 9th largest economy

• World’s largest democracy

India’s Population• 1.15 billion people• 2nd largest population• About 15% of the world’s population• Mean age is 25 (US = 37)

Evidence of Pluralism?

Linguistic Diversity

• Hindi 41%• Bengali 8%• Telugu 7%• Marathi 7%• Tamil 6%• Urdu 5%• Gujarati 4%

ReligionsBirthplace of four of the world’s major religions

– Hinduism– Buddhism– Sikhism– Jainism

Religious Diversity• Hindu 80%• Muslim 13%• Christian 2%• Sikh 2%• Other <2%

Most of the world’s Hindus live in IndiaIndia has the 3rd largest Muslim population in the world

Homework

Read and take notesp. 62-63

Focus: What are the beliefs of Hinduism?

Leading South Asia

Make 3 columns in your notebook.

Physical Feature

Advantages of conquering & controlling

Difficulty of conquering & controlling