Early Settlement of India

1. Early Settlement of India Mr. Korinek 7th Grade Social Studies

2. Introduction • The first walled towns appeared on the Indian subcontinent in about 2500 B.C.E. Over the next 2000 years, a unique civilization developed in India.

3. How India’s rivers and other physical features spurred human settlement • According to an ancient Indian story a river god and goddess once lived in the snow-covered Himalayas, a mountain range north of the valleys. One day, they decided to race down the mountains to the plains below. The goddess sped straight down and won the race. But her joy soon turned to worry, where was the river god? The river god had slowed down to admire the snow capped mountains and the rich brown earth in the valleys. In time, he flowed down to meet his beloved goddess. The two rivers became one, joined forever on India’s plains.

4. Indus River • The Indus River begins in the Himalaya Mountains. It gets water from melting snow from the Hindu Kush mountains and other mountain ranges. The melting snow and ice from the mountains keep the river’s water level high. • The Indus River valley contains some of the best farmland in the world. The Indus carries sediment from the mountains to the plains. The sediment leaves the surrounding soil rich and fertile.

5. Early Settlements • Like many ancient peoples, the first people in India settled by rivers. The rivers provided plenty of water. The fertile soil was ideal for farming. The rivers could also be used for travel and trade. • India’s first settlers lived along the Indus River. • Farming settlements sprang up in the Indus river region as early as 6500 B.C.E. By 5000 B.C.E. By 2500 B.C.E., there were walled settlements.

7. The Secrets of Mohenjodaro • Mohenjodaro was located in the Indus River valley, in northern India. It is also called the Harappan civilization, after another city, Harappa. • The civilization lasted for 800 years, from 2700 B.C.E to 1900 B.C.E. • Harappa and Mohenjodaro were the two great centers of this civilization. Mohenjodaro means “place of the dead”. Archeologists found its ruins in 1922. Carefully the excavated the ruins. They learned that the city had two main parts.

8. The Mystery of Mohenjodaro • The city was carefully planned. To the west, the citadel (fortress) rose up on a platform of mud and brick. Below the citadel, nine streets divided the lower city into blocks, like those of a modern city. The streets were lined with houses and workshops made of mud bricks. • Mohenjodaro was a large city. At one time, as many as 50,000 people lived there. • What happened to this civilization? No one knows for sure, but by 1900 B.C.E., the great cities of the Indus River Dissapeared. • Some believe it was invaders, and some believe that an earthquake changed the path of the river that allowed the civilization to thrive.

9. Weights and Scales • Stone weights and scales have been found near a large building filled with grain. This leads archeologist to theorize that ancient Indians may have used grain like money.

10. The Great Bath • The most dramatic feature of Mohenjodaro’s citadel was the Great Bath. The Great Bath was a pool built of water proofed brick. Small dressing rooms circled the pool. One of the rooms contained a well that supplied the bath with water. Dirty water was removed through a drain that ran alongside the bath. • The bath was used to: • Bathe • Religious rituals

12. Statue and Beads: What do these items tell us about mohenjodaro?

13. Seals • Small stone seals are among the most mysterious of Mohenjodaro’s artifacts. • They have been found in large numbers throughout the ruins. The seals are carved with pictographs (pictures that stand for objects, sounds or ideas). • No one knows how the seals were used, but because they have loops on the back, scientists believe they were used to as charms to keep evil away. They may have also been pressed into wax to make a wax tag to show ownership of goods.

15. Sewer system • A great achievement of Mohenjodaro was its sewer system. It carries waste away from there houses. • It was a complex system of drains, pipes, wells, and bathrooms. • Two thousand years would pass before the technology was replicated by ancient rome. • Sewage emptied into the Indus River. The system made it possible for both the rich and the poor to have bathrooms in their homes.

17. Games • They crafted many objects as toys and games. • Archeologists uncovered dice, stone balls, groved clay tracks and stone game boards. • Chess was invented in ancient india.