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Ancient India

Ancient India. Geography: What is a subcontinent?. Large landmass that juts out from a continent Contains 1 ½ million square miles Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Nepal, Sri Lanka Less than 1/3 is arable (fertile). What are the three major zones of the Indian Subcontinent?.

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Ancient India

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  1. Ancient India

  2. Geography: What is a subcontinent? • Large landmass that juts out from a continent • Contains 1 ½ million square miles • Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka • Less than 1/3 is arable (fertile)

  3. What are the three major zones of the Indian Subcontinent? • The well-watered northern plain • The dry triangular Deccan Plateau • The coastal plains on either side of the Deccan

  4. Northern Plain • Lies just south of the mountains • Very fertile • Watered by the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra Rivers

  5. The Deccan Plateau • Triangular raised area of level land that juts into the Indian Ocean • Arid, unproductive, and sparsely populated

  6. Coastal Plains • Separated from the Deccan by low lying mountains-Eastern and Western Ghats • Rivers and heavy seasonal rains provide water for farmers • Seas available for fishing & trade

  7. The Monsoon • Significant impact on daily life • Rain needed for crops • If late, famine and starvation • If too heavy, deadly floods occur • In October, the winter monsoons blow from the NE & bring hot, dry air that withers crops • May/June, the wet summer monsoons blow from the SW, pick up moisture from the Indian Ocean & drench the land with daily downpours

  8. Barriers: The Himalayas • World’s highest mountain range • North of the 1500-mile wide Hindustani plain • Restricts overland entry into subcontinent

  9. Barriers: Jungles

  10. Barriers: Hindu Kush

  11. Pathway: Khyber Pass • Passes provided the main link with Eurasia • Allowed numerous invaders to enter and settle • Contributed to the cultural, racial, linguistic diversity

  12. Indus River Valley • Western region of the Indus valley • India’s Neolithic revolution &1st civilization • 100,000 square miles • Drained by the snow-fed Indus River and four main tributaries • the Punjab • the Sind

  13. Ganges Plains • Much wetter • Snow-fed by the Ganges-Brahmaputra river valleys • 115,000 square miles of India’s best agricultural land • Most populous region • Rice

  14. Deccan • Semi-tropical peninsula • Large triangular plateau that extends into the India Ocean • Agriculturally inferior to North India • infertile soil and limited water • Crops totally dependent on unpredictable monsoon rains • Rain is reduced because of the Western and Eastern Ghats • Navigation on the Deccan rivers very difficult in dry season • Few good natural harbors • Proximity to SE Asia helped it to have influence • Distance from Northern India enabled it to preserve its own political & cultural identity

  15. What was the Indus Valley Civilization? • Emerged in Indus River Valley in present-day Pakistan about 2500 BCE • Flourished for about 1000 years-then vanished • Cities only recently excavated

  16. Life in Indus River Valley • Rich soil provided surplus wheat and other grains • Food surplus=population increased • Population increased=cities • 2500 BCE-1500BCE, well planned cities flourished • Mohenjo-Daro • Harappa

  17. Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro • Large, well-planned, dominated by hill-top structure • Fortress? Temple? • Huge warehouses to store grain • Well-organized government • Powerful Priests-kings? • Mathematics, surveying skills • Uniform weights & measure • Houses built with uniform oven-fired clay bricks • Modern Indoor plumbing systems • Baths, drains, and water chutes that led to sewers

  18. Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa • Contemporary to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom & Mesopotamia’s Ur Dynasty • Covered about ½ million square miles • Discovered in the 1920’s • Very wealthy • Bronze tools, copper, pottery, gold and silver

  19. Economy: How did people make a living? • Barley, melons, dates • Cultivated cotton for cloth • Merchants • Traders • Ships carried cotton cloth, grain, copper, pearls, and ivory combs • Contact with Sumer inspired them to develop writing system

  20. Religion • Polytheistic • Mother goddess • Sacred animals • Bull • Veneration of cattle begun here?

  21. Why did this civilization disappear? • Around 1750 BCE, quality of life declined • Cities fell into disorder • Crude pottery • Volcanic eruption? • mud found in the streets indicates the Indus may have flooded • Earthquake? • Environmental damage? • -trees cut down to fuel the ovens for bricks

  22. The Aryans • By 1500 BCE, nomadic people from southern Russia migrated into the area • Cattle, sheep, goats • Horse-drawn chariots and superior weapons overran the Indus region • Warrior culture • Destroyed and looted the weakened Indus Valley civilization

  23. The Aryans • Rose in the NE along the Ganges • One of many groups of Indo-Europeans who migrated across Europe and Asia seeking water and pasture for their horses and cattle • No cities • no statues • No stone seals • What we know comes from the Vedas

  24. The Vedic Age: 1500-500BCE • Collection of prayers, hymns, and other religious teachings • Priests memorized and recited the Vedas for a thousand years before they were written down • Aryans portrayed as warriors who loved drinking, music, chariot races, dice games • Valued cattle

  25. Aryan Society • At first, warriors enjoyed the most prestige • Later, priests gained respect and power because they claimed only they could conduct the ceremonies needed to win the favor of the gods • Aryans felt superior to the Dravidians-conquered people who may have been the original Indus valley descendants

  26. Aryan Society • Divided people by occupation • Brahmins = priests • Kshatriyas = Warriors • Vaisyas = herders, farmers, artisans, merchants • Sudras = farmworkers, servants, laborers

  27. Aryan Society: Jati (Caste System) • Class divisions were social and economic not ethnic • Eventually developed into the complex caste system • People were born into their caste and could not change

  28. Aryan Religious Beliefs • Polytheistic • Gods and goddesses embodied natural forces such as the sky, sun, storm, fire • Brahmins sacrificed food and drink • Rituals and prayers call on the gods for health, wealth and victory in war • Later evolved into a single power of the brahman, that resided in all things • Mystics devoted their lives to spiritual truth-meditation, yoga, spiritual and bodily discipline • Sought direct communion with divine forces

  29. Expansion and Change • Over many centuries, waves of Aryans went through the mountain passes into NW India • Tribes were led by rajahs • Most skilled war leader • Elected by an assembly of warriors • Ruled with the advice of a council of elders made up of heads of families

  30. Aryans: From Nomads to Farmers • Aryans mingled with people they conquered • Gave up nomadic ways and settle into villages • Spread east to the Ganges • By 800BCE, they learned to make tools of iron • Iron axes and weapons helped them create villages in the rainforests of the NE • Tribal leaders fought to control trade & territory • Some rajahs became powerful hereditary rulers • Walled cities arose in the jungles

  31. Expansion and Change • New civilization emerged in about 500 BCE • Many rival kingdoms • Aryan and Dravidian cultures blended together • Common written language-Sanskrit • Priests began writing down the sacred texts.

  32. Epic Literature:The Mahabharata & The Ramayana • Despite the development of written language, the Aryans continued their strong oral tradition • Continued to memorize and recite ancient hymns and long, epic poems • Mix of mythology, adventure, and religion

  33. The Mahabharata • Greatest epic with 100,000 verses • Battles of Aryan tribes and how they won control over the Ganges region • Five royal brothers, the Pandavs, lose their kingdom to their cousins • 18 day battle, they regain their kingdom and restore peace to India • Bhagavad-Gita reflects important Indian religious beliefs about the immortality of the soul and the importance of duty

  34. The Ramayana • Hero Rama and his beautiful bride Sita • Sita is kidnapped by the demon-king Ravan • Rama rescues Sita with the aid of the monkey general Hanuman

  35. What role do these epics play in Indian society? • Over the years, priests added new morals to the tales to teach different lessons • Rama = virtuous, brave = ideal king • Sita = virtuous, loyal, obedient = ideal woman

  36. What was the impact of the Aryans? • Religious beliefs evolved into major world religions • Hinduism • Buddhism • Caste System

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