Ch 13 Geography and the Early Settlement of India

1. Ch 13 Geography and the Early Settlement of India

2. Introduction • Subcontinent of Asia • Attached to the content of Asia • Surrounded on three sides by water • Walled Towns • Appeared about 2500 BCE • Over next 2,000 years a unique civilization developed • Legend • River god and goddess • 8 Key Physical Features

3. Brahmaputra River • Starts high in the Himalayas • Moves through narrow canyons into valleys • Becomes slower and deeper in the alleys • Monsoon rains add water causing it to overflow • Monsoon - a large wind that often brings lots of rain • Rich minerals left behind • Joins the Ganges • Land is very fertile • Climate • Rainfall • 75 - 150 inches of rain • Heaviest between June and October • Temperature • 45 - 85 degrees F

4. Deccan Plateau • Triangle shaped area between two mountain ranges in southern India • Flatter area • covered with granite rocks formed by volcanoes • Hillier area • thin forests and low, scrubby bushes • Fairly dry • few rivers • monsoon rains source of most of the water • Soil • Black • rich in iron and good for growing cotton • yellow and red • missing minerals • difficult to grow plants in them • Climate • Rainfall • 30 inches of rain • June through October • Temperature • 65 - 100 degrees F Plateau is an elevated or raised area of land that is flatter than a mountain

5. Deccan Plateau

6. Deccan Plateau

7. Eastern and Western Ghats • Long mountain chains near coast • Form a large V • Deccan Plateau stretches between these mountain ranges • Climate • Rainfall • 100 or more inches • Temperature • 60 - 90 degrees F • Western Ghats • higher than Eastern • Steep slopes, narrow valleys, think hardwood forests, and heavy rains • Tropical plants • Eastern Ghats • Not as wet • several rivers flow through the mountains • Sprinkled with hardwood trees • Rivers • Rarely flood • Not suitable for transportation

8. Ganges River • Flows across most of northern India • Carries sediment from the Himalayas to the northern plains • Sediment - bits of earth and sand • Some of the most fertile farmland in the world • Good water supply • From melting ice in Himalayas • Can flood and destroy crops • Climate • Rainfall • 25 - 60 inches of rain • Temperature • 55 - 90 degrees F

9. Himalaya Mountains • Northern border • Highest mountain range in the world • Earthquakes and landslides are common • Mount Everest • rises slightly every year • Earth is always moving • 5 1/2 miles high • Natural border • Water from glaciers feed northern India's major rivers • Climate • Rainfall • 20 inches of snow • June through October • Temperature • at highest peaks never rise above freezing and may go as low as -76 degrees F Himalaya means "home of snows"

10. Hindu Kush Mountains • Barrier between India and Afghanistan • One of the highest in the worlds • Peaks almost 5 miles high • Many parts unlivable • Permanent snow and ice • Khyber Pass • 28 miles long gap • connects central Asia to the Indian subcontinent • Traders used pass to enter Indus River valley • Invaders also used pass • Climate • Rainfall • 15 inches of rain and snow • Temperature • 25 to 75 degrees F

11. Indus River • Begins in the Himalaya Mountains • Flows through the current country of Pakistan and empties into the Arabian Sea • Best farmland in the world • Compared to Egypt's Nile River • Climate • Rainfall • 5 - 20 inches of rain • June through October • Temperature • 65 - 90 degrees F

12. Thar Desert • Northern India • Sand and stone • Very little plant life • grass and low, hardy shrubs • Unbearable heat • 45 to 120 degrees F • Water • rain is rare • Evidence of dried-up riverbeds near the desert's borders • 4 - 20 inches of rain • dust storms common • Animal life • 45 kings of lizards and snakes • Gazaelles • Birds • quail • ducks • geese

13. Early Settlements in India • First people settled by rivers • Indus River • Ancient Sarasvati River • Use to run through the Thar Desert • Believed to have dried up 1900 BCE • When Sarasvati dried up, ancient Indians moved on to Ganges River • By 2500 BCE walled settlements existed near the Indus and Sarasvati Rivers

14. Summary • Varied landscape • high mountains • large plateau • desert • many rivers • Early settlers farmed fertile river valleys • Walled settlements were built • Start of civilization

15. Subcontinent

16. Isthmus of Panama

17. Isthmus: Rama Setu (Adam’s Bridge)