Indus River Valley
Civilizations
Chapter 3 - India
Indus River Valley Civilizations
I.) Indus River Valley Civilizations: also
known by their two major cities:
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro that
established around the fertile Indus
River Valley and it became the cradle
of Indian civilization.
Location and Geography
-The Indian subcontinent is shaped like a
triangle
-The Himalayas are in the north, they are
the highest mountains in the world
-Right below the mountains is the Ganges
River
-The dry Indus River valley is to the west,
it runs through modern day Pakistan
II.) Harappa Civilization:
The Harappa was discovered in 1920s by
archaeologists, unfortunately their written
language (form of pictographic with over 400
symbols) has not been able to be deciphered
to little is known about how the people or
their government was organized. Recent
discoveries believe that the civilization was
ruled by a coalition of landlords and rich
merchants and not a monarchy or a
theocracy.
City: The civilization contained small mudbrick
villages that covered over 600,000 square miles.
The city was surrounded by a brick wall over 40 feet
thick and 3 ½ miles in circumference. It was built on
a grid pattern and at its height had a population of
80,000 people. The city had neighborhoods of
houses that were three stories high and had a
courtyard. The houses also had indoor bathrooms.
The waste was carried out of the house through a
drainage system out to the sewage pits outside the
walls of the city.
Indus River Valley Civilization
Economy: The Harappa Civilization economy was
mainly based on agriculture. Their crops consisted
of wheat, barley, rice and peas. It is believed that
the Harappa civilization is responsible for the
introduction of cotton and rice to the area.
The Harappa Civilization also had an extensive
trading network. Many items from the city of Sumer
were found in the city of Harappa.
Harappa Culture and their achievements:
1.) The Harappa Civilization was very sophisticated
like the Sumerians
2.) Superb pottery created by a pottery wheel and
sculptures that showed expression
3.) Domestication of sheep and goats
4.) Widespread trade with other civilizations
Decline of the civilization is really unknown but the
archaeologists believe that the people were
destroyed by the invasion of the Aryan civilization.
III.) Aryans:
The Aryan people were very warlike people who had a great
advantage over others due to their use of iron in their weapons
and farming tools. The Aryans used a written language to
preserve their traditional stories in the book known as the
Rigveda.
Government: The Aryan tribes were led by a chieftain known as a
raja (prince). The Raja was believed to be a representative
from the gods and he was aided by a council of elders. The
Chieftain did not have absolute power because the Aryan
people believed that everyone including the Chieftain had to
follow the dharma which was a set of laws that discussed the
level of behavior for all the Aryan society.
Caste System: Organization of
the Aryan People
The Aryan people and their conquered people were
organized two ways into their Caste System. One of
the ways of dividing people was the color of skin.
The Aryan people were light skin and the people they
conquered were dark skin. The light skin people
were given a higher status than the dark skin
conquered people. The second classification for the
Caste System was based on their economic
function or occupation in the society.
Caste System:
There were five divisions of caste in the Caste System. At the top
would be the priests known as the Brahmins. The priests
were connected to Brahman, the top god of the Hindu religion.
The second caste was the warriors known as the Kshatriya.
They were under the priests but they were the ruling caste for
the government. The third class was the merchant caste
known as the Vaisya. This group was responsible for the hunt,
gathering, farming, and supplying the goods and food for the
civilization. The fourth group which contained the largest
number of the population was the servant group who
performed the manual labor for the other caste, known as the
Sudras. Many historians believe that this group was not true
Aryans.
Caste System:
The fifth group in the Caste System was known as the
Untouchables. Many believe that this group was not even part
of the Caste System. The Untouchables were made up of
criminals, ethnic minorities, prisoners of war, and other
groups outside the Indian society. The Untouchables did the
jobs that no one in the Aryan society would do. These jobs
were considered degrading tasks. The Untouchables were
considered half humans, they had to live in a different area of
the city and they had to announce their presence when they
went into the city. The other caste did not socialize with the
untouchables.
Rules of the Caste System
The rules of the Caste System were fairly
easy.
1.) Born into the Caste and remain
there until death
2.) Marriage was done within the caste
3.) The socialization between castes
was very limited
Family Life in Ancient India: Family
was the basic unit of society
Father’s Role:
1.) Oldest male in the family possessed the legal authority
over the whole family
2.) Oldest male was responsible for the rituals of the family
3.) Children were the property of the father
Treatment of women: Women were inferior
1.) Women could not be priest
2.) Women could not receive any education
3.) Women worked in the home and daughters were
considered to be an economic burden
4.) However, women were admired and honored for their
talents and this can be seen in the paintings
IV.) Religion: Hinduism:
The Aryan religion was known as Hinduism and it went
hand and hand with the Caste System. The sacred
text for the Hindu religion is known as the Vedas.
The Vedas is the collection of four books of hymns
and religious ceremonies. There are thousands of
gods in the Hindu religion. The main god in the
religion is known as Brahman. Brahman is made up
of three other gods, Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva.
These three gods form the Great Trinity or also
known as the Hindu triad. Brahma is known as the
creator, Vishnu is the preserver of life and Shiva is
the destroyer or the transformer.
General Description:
1.) 4 holy books,Rig-Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama-Veda
and Atharva-Veda written in the Sanskrit language
2.) Must follow the 3 path to reach Moksha-perfection
or heaven
a.) Path of spiritual insight: meditation
b.) Path of works: required to do the daily duties of
prayer and rituals
c.) Path of loving devotion to Brahman
3.) Cows are a god symbol and are sacred
4.) Worship in Hinduism is not congregational instead
it is an individual thing.
Rules continued:
5.) Hinduism has a string of 108 rosary beads
6.) Hindus believes that a part of Brahman is in every living thing
and therefore every living thing deserves the gentleness and
care. The Hindus do not kill living things.
7.) Weddings are arranged by parents and the groom and the
bride do not meet until the day of the wedding
8.) Funerals: The dead are not embalmed; instead they are
burned at the community burning grounds. The skull of the
dead will be crushed after the burning by the oldest male in the
family to release the soul for reincarnation. The Hindus believe
that if a person has good Karma, they will be reborn in a higher
caste of the Caste System and vice versa on their journey to
achieve Moksha.
9.) Key terms:
a.) Dharma: ultimate moral balance of all things.
Dharma is played out in all areas of life, religious,
social and family. Dharma is also the law.
b.) Karma: the belief that a person experiences the
affects of his or her own actions. Karma is the belief
that every act or thought has consequences.
c.) Samsara: is commonly known as the cycle of
reincarnation, life, death and rebirth.
10.) Three main Religious
symbols:
a.) The Swastika: represents the eternal wheel of
life, some believe it protects Hindus from evil spirits
and natural disasters.
b.) The Lotus: symbolizes the birth of the
universe, symbol of the sun
c.) The Cow: scared animal which provides milk
and butter which are used in rituals of atonement
V.) Buddhism: The Middle
Path:
1.) History: The founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha
Gautama, also known as Buddha, the enlightened
one or the awakened one. Siddhartha was a Indian
prince who married and began to raise a family. But
at the age of 29, he discovered the pain of illness
and sickness, death, and the pains of old age. He
began to meditate to seek the cure for all human
suffering and to teach his knowledge to the public.
2.) Beliefs:
a.) Nirvana: the perfect peace in Buddhism
b.) must follow the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path to reach
nirvana
4 noble truths:
1.) All human life consist of some suffering
2.) Suffering is caused by the desire of material needs
3.) Renounce these desires and one can overcome
suffering and reach nirvana
4.) Nirvana can be reached by following the 8 fold path
8 fold path or the Middle Path:
8 Fold Path also known as the Middle Path:
1.) Renouncing all pleasures and accept the 4 truths
2.) Right aims, renounce all ill feelings toward others
3.) Right speech: speak the truth and no gossip or slander
4.) Right behavior: Golden rule, do not steal, kill, lie or drink
alcohol
5.) Right way of earning a living: job must help others and not
harm anyone
6.) Right effort: practice self-discipline
7.) Right mindfulness: keep mind alert to avoid the entrance of
evil
8.) Right concentration: find one’s inner self-through meditation
* a person can reach badhi, which means wisdom
Five Precepts:
c.) Must follow the five precepts:
a.) do not harm any living things
b.) do not steal, take only what is given
c.) avoid over-stimulation-No caffeine
d.) do not say unkind things
e.) do not drink alcohol or take any drugs
d.) Practices:
a.) Buddhist monks can only eat cooked food and they
cannot store food. Therefore they must go out into
the streets everyday to get food from their followers.
Buddhist monks eat only twice a day and their last
meal is at 11:00 a.m.
b.) Religious written language is known as Pali
c.) Religious symbols are known as Mandalas when
meditating. These are elaborate designs rich in color
and very detailed. They are often circular, containing
either portraits of various gods or intricate patterns.
e.) Similarities to Hinduism:
1.) Siddhartha believed in the concept of
reincarnation and the idea of Karma
2.) Believed in the nonviolence idea to living things
f.) Difference from Hinduism:
1.) Rejected the Caste System
2.) Simpler than Hinduism
3.) Truly a philosophy rather than a religion
g.) Women’s role: Inferior but treated better than
elsewhere in ancient India
Achievements of the Indus
River Valley People
V.) Greatest achievements of people of
India were architecture and
sculptures, plus they made notable
discoveries in astronomy. They
charted the movements of the heavenly
bodies and recognized the spherical
nature of the earth.
VI.) Maurya Dynasty:
The Mauryas dynasty was developed in the 4th -3rd
centuries B.C. The Mauryas dynasty main
achievement was the unification of India for the first
time and it helped to spread Buddhism across India.
The first leader of the Mauryas dynasty was
Chandragupta Maurya. He was influenced by
Alexander the Great and his army. He seized the
throne in 321 B.C. He set off to unify India.
VI.) Maurya Dynasty:
After his death, his son Bindusara took over the throne.
It is believed that he added the land around the Bay
of the Bengal and the land near the Arabian Sea to
the dynasty’s empire. Bindusara’s son, Ashoka
Maurya took over the throne in 272 B.C. He is
known as the “great conquer”. He is given the
credit of uniting the India except for the extreme
south. Later he began to hate all the bloodshed and
he converted to Buddhism.
VI.) Maurya Dynasty:
He wanted to spread the beliefs of Buddhism and he left
the Rock Edicts in several places in his empire. In
the Rock, he talked about good vs. evil, ideas such
as kindness, generosity, truthfulness and purity.
Ashoka practiced and preached non-violence. He
never attempted to conquer the southern tip of India
and he outlawed the slaughtering of animals. After
his death the empire began to decline.
VII. The Kushan Kingdom and the Silk
Road
A. 1st century A.D. nomadic warriors established the
Kushan Kingdom on what is now Afghanistan
B. The Kushans prospered by the trade that went through
their country
C. Silk Road = approx. 4,000 miles of road that reached
from China to Syria
D. Given its name because of the luxury items shipped
http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-ofus/videos/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us-the-silk-road
III. The Kingdoms of the Guptas
A. Persian invaders ended the Kushan Kingdom in the 3rd
century A.D.
The Kingdom of the Guptas became the dominate political
force in northern India
1. It created a new age of Indian civilization, especially
under its greatest ruler (Chandragupta II)
2. The Gupta Empire prospered principally from mining
and trade
3. The Gupta rulers owned gold mines, silver mines, and
vast lands
4. They traded salt, cloth, and iron domestically and as far
away as China and the Mediterranean
5. The Gupta Empire profited greatly from religious trade
with pilgrims
C. In the 5th century A.D. invasion by the Huns from the
northwest weakened the empire and it finally died out
completely by the end of the 7th century
VIII. The World of Indian Culture
A. India has one of the richest cultures in world history
1. Indian civilization has made contributions in the
arts and sciences
2. the Vedas = earliest known Indian literature
a). Aryan texts are religious and were originally
passed down orally, eventually they were written down
in Sanskrit
3. Early Indian architecture flourished during the
Mauryan Empire, especially under Asoka
a). He wanted to spread the ideas of Buddhism,
and so he built many religious structures
b). 3 principal religious structures were the pillar,
the supta, and the rock chamber
1. Pillars = marked the sites pertinent to the
Buddha’s life
2. Suptas = built like burial mounds and held
relics of the Buddha
3. Rock Chambers = carved out of mountainsides served as houses for monks and halls for
religious ceremonies
C. Ancient Indian scientists were most known for
astronomy
1. They chartered the movements of the heavenly
bodies, recognized the earth was a sphere, and
believed rightly that the earth rotated on its axis and
revolved around the sun
D. Ancient Indian mathematicians were very
important
1. Aryabhata = famous Gupta Empire
mathematician
a). One of the first scientists known to have
used algebra
The End