The Harappan Civilization
• 3300 BCE 2400 BCE
• Developed
along the
Indus River
Aryan Migration
 pastoral  depended on their cattle.
 warriors  horse-drawn chariots.
The Vedas
 1200 BCE-600 BCE.
 written in SANSKRIT.
 Hindu core of
beliefs:
Rig Veda  oldest work.

hymns and poems.

religious prayers.

magical spells.

lists of the gods
and goddesses.
Sanskrit
writing
Political Development
• After the Aryan invasion, circa 6th c BCE
• India in small regional kingdom
• Some periods of centralized rule
– Mauryans
– Guptas
• Most of the time decentralized
Mauryan Empire
• 320s BCE, Chandragupta
Maurya filled the power
gap left by Alexander
the Great
• Dominated the area
• Set up bureaucratic
administrative system
• Ashoka, grandson of C.
Maurya
• Continued his violent
approach
• Began ruling by moral example
• Set up a tightly organized
bureaucracy
– Collected taxes
– Made up of officials, accountants
and soldiers
• Built roads, hospitals, rest houses to
facilitate trade
• Codified laws
• After death, India declined into
land of decentralized regions once
again
• BUT order and stability maintained
because of trade
Ashoka
Gupta Empire
• 320 CE India unified
under the Guptas
• Conquered many of the
regional kingdoms
• Left local government
and administration in
power
• Declined after the
invasion of the Huns in
550 CE
• India reverts once again
to regional kingdoms
• Benefited from
expansion of agriculture
and trade
• Ashoka encouraged
irrigation, roads, wells,
inns -- caused rise of
towns
• Middle men on Silk
Roads
• Increased long-distance
trade with China, SW
Asia and Med. basin
Economic
Development
Social Structure and Gender Roles
• Women
–
–
–
–
–
–
Forbidden to read sacred prayers
Legally minors
Subject to supervision of male family members
Family must provide large dowry
Not allowed to inherit property
Widows not allowed to remarry
• Patriarchal society with strict social
structure
Social Structure and Gender Roles
• Caste System – caste =
something that cannot
be changed
– Developed during Vedic
Age
• Determined job, diet,
marriage
• Restrictions reinforced
by the ruling class
• Brahmins most
powerful
Culture, Arts, Science, Technology
• Buddhism strengthened by Ashoka Maurya
• Hinduism regains power with Guptas
• Indian art stressed symbolism rather than
accurate interpretation
• Geometry and algebra flourished
• Concept of zero, decimal system, “Arabic”
numbers
Indian Art
Ancient Indian Astronomy
Tool for keeping track of the conste
Celestial observatory
Sundial
Math
•
•
•
•
•
Decimal system 234.567
Zero -- 0
Algorithms
Arabic numerals – 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
Square root -- √
Shang Dynasty - 1700-1027 BCE
Huang He
River
Oracle Bones
Chinese Writing System
• Each character in the Chinese language stands for
one syllable or unit of language
• More than 10,000 characters
• Major advantage: people all over China used the
same writing system, even if they spoke different
languages
Geography- Zhou
Mandate of Heaven
The Zhou justified taking over from the Shang by saying
that they had lost divine approval to rule
Zhou Dynasty
1029-258 BCE
•
•
•
•
Leaders/Traits
- Walled cities
- Trade routes between
cities
- Mandate of Heaven
- Feudalism
Philosophy
• - Daoism/Taoism - Laozi
– 500’s BCE
• - Confucianism
– Analects
– Chaotic government as
Zhou was in decline
– 522 BCE
Confucianism
• Based on five relationships
–
–
–
–
Ruler/subject
Husband/wife
Father/son
Older brother/younger
brother
– Friend/friend
• Not a religion
• Women were subservient
to men
• Wanted to reform society
by showing rulers how to
govern wisely
• Laid groundwork for
creation of a bureaucracy [a
trained civil service who
runs the government]
• Examination system
Qin Shi
Huangdi1st Emperor
Ruthless—Totalitarian
Legalism adopted
Qin Dynasty
Territorial Expansion
begins 214
221-206 BCE
BCE
Book burning-213 BCE
Standardized weights and measures
Single money system
Uniform writing system
Postal system
Great Wall
Bankrupted China
Pottery Army-210 BCE
Forced labor
 First time China united as one empire
Great Wall
Chinese Inventions
•
•
•
•
Paper
Gunpowder
Compass
Two-bladed plow – allows for increased
food production
• Printing
• Crossbow