• Instructions: Record everything in GREEN!

The Harappan Civilization

3300 BCE - 2400 BCE

Geography• Subcontinent: Very large landmass attached to a continent, such as

India

• Khyber Pass: A pass through the Hindu Kush; the only easy land route to India

• Harappa: An ancient city discovered in the 1920s in the Indus River Valley

• Mohenjo-Daro: An ancient city discovered in the Indus River Valley. Known as The Place of the Dead.

• 2 Mountain Ranges: Himalayas & Hindu Kush

• 2 Major Rivers: Indus River & Ganges River

• Deccan Plateau: High ground between 2 mountain ranges called the Eastern and Western Ghats.

CitadelOf

Mohenjo-Daro

Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro

Wide View, Mohenjo-Daro

The Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro

Well, Mohenjo-Daro

A Main Street, Mohenjo-Daro

pottery, Mohenjo-Daro

A Priest-King, Mohenjo-Daro

Necklace, Mohenjo-Daro

Public Well, Harappa

Female Figures, Harappa

Bull Figurine, Harappa

Elephant Figurine, Harappa

Male Skeleton, Harappa

Female Skeleton with Child, Harappa

Geography• The river valleys of India were

particularly suited for the growth of the civilization because they are wide, level and fertile.

• The mountain ranges protected the civilization from invaders, but they also slowed the growth of the civilization as they make travel and trade difficult. Trade introduces new products, ideas and technologies to a region.

• The Indus River Valley was the home of India’s 1st great civilization, that is as old as Mesopotamia.

Seals• The writing of the Indus people is

preserved on square/rectangular seals cut out of a soft stone called steatite (soap stone). These seals would be stamped on clay.

• Indus script has yet to be deciphered.• Bison Seal Unicorn Seal Bull Seal

Harappan Writing

Undecipherable to date.

The Vedic Age1500-500 B.C.E.

Indo-Aryans• Herders, who came to India as conquerors

and immigrants.

• Destroyed the city of Harappa and the Harappans became slaves

• Tribes formed small kingdoms, which were led by a rajah (king)

• Family wealth depended on the # of cows owned

• The cow became a sacred animal because it was both a beast of burden and food.

Aryan Migration

pastoral depended on their cattle. warriors horse-drawn chariots.

Caste System• A system of social order divided into 4 groups according to

occupation:

1. Brahmans (Priests & Scholars)

2. Kshatriyas (Nobles & Fighters)

3. Vaisayas (Merchants, farmers)

4. Sudras (Servants: Manual Workers & Peasants)

Pariahs (Dalits) = Untouchables or outcasts that did jobs that were believed to be unclean

Varna (Social Hierarchy)

ShudrasShudras

VaishyasVaishyas

Kshatriyas Kshatriyas

Pariahs [Harijan] Untouchables

BrahminsBrahmins

The Caste System

The mouth? The arms? The legs? The feet?

Brahmins

Kshatriyas

Vaishyas

Shudras

The Caste System

• The caste system began because priests wanted to protect their high position in society

• Castes became stricter as there were differences in jobs, cultural groups and skin colour

• One could not marry, eat with of work with someone from another caste

• One could not move of the caste that they were born in.

• Indo-Aryans believed that a person’s caste was the reward or punishment for Karma (the good or bad deeds committed in a previous life that will determine their future life).

• The caste system prevents individuals from developing & using their abilities and talents. This hurts society by limiting the talent available to develop trades, sciences, arts and government.

Indo-Aryans• The Indu-Aryan language is called Sanskrit.

• In Sanskrit, the term arya means relatives, nobles or honorable persons.

• Among the Aryans were Brahmins, members of the higher class in Hindu society.

• The Indu-Aryan language is called Sanskrit.

• In Sanskrit, the term arya means relatives, nobles or honorable persons.

• Among the Aryans were Brahmins, members of the higher class in Hindu society.

Hinduism

Hinduism• Main religion in India

• Holy songs and prayers are called Vedas and the period in which they were composed is called the Vedic Age.

• Vedas tell the history and tradition of the Hindu Faith

• Rig-Veda = the oldest Indian Book of the Hindu Religion

• Upanishads = the most famous of the Hindu religious books.

• They believed that you could achieve a oneness with the world spirit, or Brahma

• Reincarnation = human soul moves closer to Brahma

• Prayed to Nature Gods:– Leading god was Indra = Thunder and storms– Surya = The Sun– Varuna = The Sky– Signi = The Fire

The Vedas 1200 BCE-600 BCE.

written in SANSKRIT. Hindu core of beliefs:

hymns and poems. religious prayers. magical spells. lists of the gods and goddesses.

Rig Veda oldest work.

Jains

• Created by Mahavira

• Believed that all living things had a soul and you could not kill anything

• They swept the street before they walked as to prevent killing anything

• They wore veils so they would not inhale insects.

Jain Temple

Buddhism

Buddhism• Founded by Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who was known as Buddha

(Enlightened One)

• His father tried to protect him from illness and suffering, but he did experience them in the form of three men: An old man, a sick man & a corpse

• He left his home to live in the forest, where he found the answer to why people suffered pain and sorrow

• Buddha saw himself as a teacher, not a god

• To be happy, one must be unselfish

• To desire material things caused pain and evil

• They accepted people from any caste

Buddhism• Eightfold Path = A set of

practical guidelines for living to reach Nirvana. It included right thinking, right speech and right action.

• Nirvana = perfect state of being and a release from the Hindu cycle of reincarnation and suffering

Decline of Indus Society

• Recurring floods• Foreign Invaders• Changes in climate• Geological changes at the mouth of the

Indus River• Population Growth

India & Alexander the Great• In 326 BCE, the Greek leader Alexander the Great invaded

India

• The Indians used 200 war elephants and in a fierce battle, 12,000 Greeks were killed.

• Alexander won a great victory in Northern India, which extended his empire to the Indus River.

• 3 years later he died and most of his men left India

• The significance of his conquest was:– Earliest contacts between Greek & Indian cultures– Influenced Buddhist painting and sculpture– Showed Indian leaders the need for unity

The Mauryan Dynasty• The 1st dynasty of Indian Emperors

• Chandragupta Maurya (323 BCE)- Indian noble who unified Northern India and won fame as a soldier

- Made the capital Pataliputra

- Government was a monarchy

- Known as the 1st Indian emperor to rule India

• Asoka (273 BCE)- Grandson of Chandragupta

- His kingdom united almost all of the Indian subcontinent

- He was 1st known as a conqueror, but when he saw 100s of 1000s people killed or wounded during one his conquests he converted to Buddhism and turned to peace.

- He had the teaching of Buddha written on stone columns to help guide his people

- He sent missionaries to other countries to teach them about Buddhism

- He ended India’s harsh system of punishment and religious sacrifice of animals.

The Mauryan Dynasty

The Age of Kushans• 1st to 3rd CE

• Kushans were a dynasty that untied the tribes of central Asia

• Greatest king was Kanishka, who adopted Buddhism as a state religion.

• They introduced Divine Kingship, where the ruler is both the political and spiritual head of state

• They controlled trade from the North and western coast of India and to Rome & the Mediterranean

• Kings were wealthy and powerful and introduced gold coins to India.

• Trade along the Silk Road to China was very important to the Kushans

The Gupta Empire• The Guptas is a dynasty that led India’s Golden Age

• Started by Chandra Gupta (320 CE)

• Hinduism gradually absorbed Buddhism

• Science, Mathematics & Astronomy flourished

• It was a creative time for art, architecture, painting, sculpture, poetry, drama and fables

• The Gupta Empire fell because of the invasion• of Huns from Central Asia

• Some descendants of the Huns became wealthy warrior-princes. They became a close-knit warrior class called rajputs

King Harsha• Great ruler of the Golden Age

• People lived in harmony

• Criminals were not tortured

• Land tax was no more than 1/6th of the owner’s produce

• Constructed educational institutions, highways, built hospitals and supported religious institutions

• Accepted different religions

• Arranged for debates and performance of plays

• Spent 1/4th of his state income on charity