Ancient India and China (2600 B.C.-A.D.

550)

Ancient India and China (2600 B.C.-A.D. 550)

Learning Objectives
Describe the Indian subcontinents geography.
Understand the clues archaeology has provided
about the rise and fall of the Indus civilization.
Analyze the main characteristics of the Aryan
civilization and the Vedic Age.
Explain what ancient Indian epics reveal about
Aryan life.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Terms and People

subcontinent a large landmass that juts out

from a continent

plateau a raised area of level land

monsoon seasonal wind that regularly blows

from a certain direction for part of the year

Harappa ancient city of the Indus civilization

discovered by archaeologists in the 1920s

Mohenjo-Daro ancient city of the Indus

civilization discovered by archaeologists in the
1920s

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Terms and People

(continued)

veneration special regard

acculturation the blending of two or more

cultures

Vedas a collection of hymns, chants, ritual

instructions, and other religious teachings of the
early Aryans in India

rajah Aryan tribal chief, a skilled war leader

elected to the position by an assembly of warriors

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Terms and People

(continued)

Indra the chief Aryan deity, the god of war

brahman in the Aryan belief system, the single

spiritual power that resides in all things

mystic a person who seeks direct communion

with divine forces

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

In the early 1900s, archaeologists digging in the
Indus River valley of Pakistan made some startling
discoveries. They unearthed bricks, small clay seals,
figurines, and other artifacts dissimilar in style to
any they had seen before. The archaeologists soon
realized they had uncovered a civilization that had
flourished 4,500 years earlier. It had been unknown
to the world ever since.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent has a diverse range of geographic features.

Where did most people in ancient India settle? Why?

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Geography affects
where people live on the
Indian subcontinent.
Agriculture is possible
in the Gangetic Plain
because it is watered
by three rivers.
The Deccan plateau, on
the other hand, is arid and
sparsely populated.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

The Western Ghats rise up behind fertile farm fields in Pune, India.

Himalayan Mountains
This peninsula is surrounded
on the north and northwest
by huge mountains, the
Himalayan Mountains.
This has often limited India's
contact with other cultures.
This is known as cultural
isolation.
You decide! How would
isolation impact the people
on Ancient Indus?

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Monsoons blow from the northeast in winter

and from the southwest in summer,
drenching the land.

Indian people have relied on these rains for

centuries to water their crops.

If monsoon rains are late, drought and famine can occur. If

the rains are too heavy, dangerous flooding may result.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

Monsoons bring life-giving rains to the Indian subcontinent. Analyze Information How does the wind
influence monsoons?

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

The earliest South Asian civilization emerged in

the Indus River valley around 2600 B.C.E. and
existed for 700 years.
Archaeologists know little
about the Indus people
because few written records
have been found.
In the 1940s, archaeologist
Mortimer Wheeler excavated
two Indus cities, Harappa
and Mohenjo-Daro, that
may have been twin capitals.

The Forgotten Indus Civilization

Archaeologists discovered cities of the ancient Indus civilization in the 1920s.

This excavated drainage system is in the city of Lothal, discovered in 1945.

Complexities of the Cities

The most historically striking
feature of these two cities were
the way in which they were
both well planned.
Each city was laid out in a grid
pattern, the blocks similar to
those seen in modern cities.
The homes seem to have been
built with bricks and in a pattern
repeated throughout the city.

Plumbing In the Cities

In addition, these cities
seem to contain houses
with plumbing
systems, including
baths, drains and water
pipes.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Life in the Indus civilization

was orderly and prosperous.
Evidence of standardized
weights and measures suggests
that Indus cities had wellorganized governments.
Most of the people of the Indus
valley were farmers. They were
the first people to grow cotton
and weave it into cloth.
Others were merchants and
traders who carried cargo up
the Persian Gulf to the cities of
Sumer.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Archaeologists believe the Indus people were

polytheistic and viewed some animals as sacred,
including the buffalo and the bull.

This may have influenced

later Indian veneration
of cattle.

Aryans Take over Indus Valley

Just like not much is known about the
development of this region, not much is
known about its decline.
For unknown reasons, around 1750 B.C. the
Indus Valley began to decline.

The city of Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned

Scholars believe there may have been a major
flood or earthquake at this time.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Nomads from Central Asia traveled

to the Indian subcontinent after
2000 B.C.
They mingled with local people. This acculturation
created the Aryan people.
The early Aryans built no cities and left behind little
archaeological evidence.
Most of what we know about them comes from the
Vedas, which Aryan priests memorized and passed
on for centuries before they were written down.

Aryan Civilization and the Vedas

The Vedas were recited for many years before they were written
down. This page is from the Rig Veda, or Knowledge of the Hymns
of Praise, the largest Veda, containing over 1,000 hymns.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

The Vedas provide

evidence that the
Aryans began as
nomadic herders.

Later, they settled

into villages and
began farming.
Their tribes were
led by elected warrior
chiefs called rajahs.

Over time, some

rajahs became
hereditary rulers who
extended their power
over many villages.

The Aryans divided their people into castes, or groups, based on occupation.
How does the way Purushas body is divided show the status of a particular group in
Aryan Society?

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Aryans organized their society into

ranked groups.
Brahmins

priests

Kshatriyas

warriors

Vaisyas

herders, farmers, artisans,

merchants

Sudras

farm workers, servants, other

laborers

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

Aryans were polytheistic and worshiped gods

who represented natural forces.
The chief deity was Indra.
God of war
Announced the arrival of rain.

Some came to embrace brahman, the idea of

a single spiritual power living in all things.
Mystics sought direct communication with the
divine.

TEKS 8C: Calculate percent composition and empirical and molecular formulas.

The Aryans had

a strong oral
tradition.
They memorized
two long epic
poems about
Aryan life.

The Mahabharata told

of war and religion in
its 100,000 verses.
One section, the
Bhagavad-Gita, taught
that duty was more
important than
personal ambition.
Characters in the
Ramayana became
models of an ideal king
and an ideal woman.

The Great Vedic Epics

Artworks depicting scenes from the Mahabharata have been created since ancient times.
This folk-art painting on cloth shows the god Krishna in a chariot pulled by horses.

Quiz: Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

What physical feature limited the Indian subcontinents contact
with other peoples?
A.
B.
C.
D.

The Eastern and Western Ghats

The Deccan plateau
The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains
The Gangetic Plain

Quiz: Geography of the Indian Subcontinent

What physical feature limited the Indian subcontinents contact
with other peoples?
A. The Eastern and Western Ghats
B. The Deccan plateau

C. The Hindu Kush and Himalayan mountains

D. The Gangetic Plain

Quiz: The Forgotten Indus Civilization

We know that the Indus civilization had a well-organized
government because

A.
B.
C.
D.

the people grew a wide variety of crops.

the cities were carefully planned.
the religion included worship of a mother goddess.
the houses were built of mud brick.

Quiz: The Forgotten Indus Civilization

We know that the Indus civilization had a well-organized
government because

A. the people grew a wide variety of crops.

B. the cities were carefully planned.

C. the religion included worship of a mother goddess.
D. the houses were built of mud brick.

Quiz: Aryan Civilization and the Vedas

Indra was the chief god of the
Aryans because
A. He represented fire, the
most powerful element.
B. He was the god of order
and creation.
C. He was a messenger who
communicated human wishes
to the gods.
D. He was the god of war and
also announced the arrival of
rain.

Quiz: Aryan Civilization and the Vedas

Indra was the chief god of the
Aryans because
A. He represented fire, the
most powerful element.
B. He was the god of order
and creation.
C. He was a messenger who
communicated human wishes
to the gods.

D. He was the god of war

and also announced the
arrival of rain.