Tiffany Alexander
Chapter 3
THE INDUS VALLEY
KINGDOMS OF THE GANGES
EARLY CIVILIZATION IN CHINA
Getting Started
Before getting started, there are a list of vocabulary words that may help you
along to better understand this chapter.
 Subcontinent – this is a large landmass that juts out from a continent.
 Plateau – raised area of level land
 Monsoon – is a seasonal wind
 Castes – social groups into which people are born and which they can not
change
 Mystics – these are people who devote their lives to seeking spiritual truth.
 Clans – groups of families who claim a common ancestor.
 Calligraphy – fine hand writing
 Feudalism – was a system of government in which local lords governed
their own lands but owed military service and other forms of support to the
ruler
 Veneration – special regard for
 Dynastic cycle – the rise and fall of dynasties
THE INDUS VALLEY
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The Indus valley is a subcontinent that is located in the region
which is known as South Asia.
The Indus valley is where India gets its name from.
The northern border of the Indus Valley is marked by snow
covered mountain ranges known as the Hindu Kush and the
Himalayas.
These mountains hindered the Indian people from having
contact with other lands yet helped them to have a distinct
culture.
Two main cities in the Indus Valley were Harappa and MohenjoDaro. Each of these were dominated by hill top structures that
were so carefully planned out which showed how these cities
were well organized goverments.
Geography of India
 The Indian subcontinent is a huge,
wedge-shaped peninsula extending into
the Indian Ocean .
 This land is divided into three major
zones.
1. Northern Plane
2. Triangular Deccan
3. Coastal Plains
THE NORTHERN PLANE
• The northern plain is a fertile, wellwatered region that lies just south of the
mountains in India.
• This plain is watered by three major
rivers.
 The Indus River
The Ganges
The Brahmaputra
• These rivers are very important to the
Indian people because they help in
contributing to their agriculture. They are
also very sacred to the people who live in
India for religious reasons.
The Deccan
The Deccan is a triangular plateau
that juts into the Indian Ocean.
The Deccan is not as populated as
the northern plain because the land is
less fertile there which inhibits people
from wanting to live in this particular
area.
It is very dry and unproductive and
lacks the impacts of the rivers in the
northern plain.
Weather in India
• Indian life is greatly effected by its weather.
• India is most known for its monsoons which
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occur at different times of the year and have
different effects on the people which live there.
In October, the winter monsoons bring hot, dry
air which comes from the northeast. This withers
crops and affects India's farmlands.
During May however, wet summer monsoons
blow from the southwest and bring drenching
rain that downpours daily on the Indian
subcontinent.
The Coastal Plains
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India’s third region, the costal plains are
located between two mountain ranges.
These two mountain ranges are the
Eastern and Western Ghats.
It is very moist in the coastal plains
because they get heavy seasonal rains
which are good for agriculture.
The seas in the coastal plains are great for
trading as well as fishing.
The Start of Indian Civilization
India although great in size, had many diverse
languages and traditions which made it hard to unite and
come together as a people.
The earliest Indian civilization emerged about 2500 B.C
but there is little to know about how it came about.
Most people who lived in the Indus Valley were farmers
which grew a wide variety of crops such as barley,
melons, dates and wheat.
People who weren’t farmers were merchants and
traders.
The people of this time were religious people who were
polytheistic. They believed in a mother god and
sacrificed many animals including the bull. With a
veneration for cattle.
The Disappearance of the Indus
Valley
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The Indus valley had many ordered cities which
slowly began to decline in keeping up their standards.
Some believe that damages to local environments
may have contributed to the decline or too many trees
were cut down in order to fuel the ovens of brick
makers.
Others believe that deathblow fell when nomadic
people arrived in larger numbers from the north.
Whatever the case, many scholars are unclear about
what exactly may have happened to the people of this
time.
The Beginning of a New Civilization
 Over many centuries the Aryans were a
warlike people who destroyed cities in the
Indus valley, however they later became
builders of the same habitat in which they
terminated.
 Their civilization began northeast along the
Ganges River rather than northeast along
the Indus.
 Aryans migrated across Europe and Asia
seeking water and food from their horses
as well as their cattle.
Aryan Society
• The early Aryans built no cities and left behind not
much about themselves, however they did leave
behind the Vedas which is their collection of
prayers, hymns and religious teachings.
• Many of the priest of this time recited the Vedas for
thousands of years before they were ever written
down. As a result , the period starting from 1500
B.C to 500 B.C is known as the Vedic Age.
• As mentioned before, the Aryans were warriors
who fought in chariots with bows and arrows. They
valued cattle which provided them with food and
clothing and loved eating, drinking, music and diced
games.
• Later these people became settled farmers. But
their new change didn’t interfere with their value in
animals.
Religious beliefs of the Aryan
People
Just as the first inhibitors of the Indus Valley, the Aryan
people were also polytheistic. They worshipped many
gods and goddesses which embodied natural forces such
as the sun and the sky.
 Many of their gods were Indra, the chief god of war,
Varuna the god of order and creation and Agni the god
of fire.
 The Aryans called on their gods for wealth, health and
victory in the time of war.
 Many of the people were Mystics who used meditation
and yoga for spiritual and bodily discipline.
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Change in Aryan Society
• As the Aryan people began to conquer lands they also
adopted the ways of the people they overtook.
• Gradually, the Aryans yielded to their nomadic ways and
began to settle into villages where they grew crops.
• The Aryan society started to spread eastward where they
continued to colonize. Due to their expansion, they learned
to make tools out of iron. Some such as iron axes and
weapons.
• As the Aryans society grew a new Indian civilization
emerged. There started a new culture which was rooted in
both Aryan and Dravidian traditions.
• In thanks to the blending of these cultures, the Indian
people had developed a written language known as Sanskrit.
Contributions of the Aryans
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The Aryans were the first of many to
travel into India via the Hindu Kush and
leave a lasting affect.
Scholars today are not left with much
about the Aryan migration however, they
know that their traditions and beliefs were
the foundation for later Indian civilization.
For example, the religious beliefs of the
Aryans would evolve into major world
religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Start of Civilization in China
The ancient Chinese land was called Zhongguo or the
Middle Kingdom. China’s early civilization began in the
valleys of the Hung He or Yellow River.
At the beginning of this time, China is the most isolated from
its near by lands because of its physical barriers.
In the west and southwest of China there are high mountain
ranges known as the Tien Shan and the Himalayas.
Toward the southeastern part of China thick jungles
prevented communication with Southeast Asia.
Despite the Chinese isolation, they traded with neighboring
people which helped Chinese goods to be spread throughout
the Middle East.
China under the Shang
Dynasty
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From about 1650 B.C to 1027 B.C a group of
people called the Shang gained control of
northern China.
During the Shang period noblemen as well as
noblewomen fought in battles and drove off
nomadic invaders.
Shang kings and princes were the head of
important clans in a centralized government.
Social Classes in Shang Society
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The social classes of the Shang dynasty was that of
other early civilizations.
In this society the royal family was first followed by
the noble warriors. Then were artisans and
merchants which produced goods for nobles and
exchanged food and traded with people. And last
were the peasants. Most of the people in Shang
China were that of a poor lifestyle. They lived in
cluttered farming villages or pit houses where they
lived grueling lives.
A System of Writing
Emerges
• The ancient Chinese developed a system of writing in which
they used pictographs and ideographs which were signs that
expressed thoughts or ideas.
• The Chinese have over 10,000 characters or symbols that
represent their way of communication whereas we only have
over two dozen letters in our Alphabet.
• In their way of writing the Chinese mastered the art of
calligraphy into an elegant art form.
• By using the same system of writing, people in China who
could not understand each other in language could however
understand each other in writing.
Religious Beliefs
The Chinese people prayed to many gods and nature
spirits. One god that they prayed to was a mother
goddess who brought plant and animals to earth.
But they didn’t believe that mere mortals were the ones
who could pray directly to the gods but instead that only
the spirits of the greatest mortals could pray on their
behalf.
These great spirits were that of kings who have departed
and so the family of which is still alive must pray to their
great ancestor on behalf of the whole community which
ensured a plentiful harvest and victory in time of war.
Rise of the Zhou Dynasty
 In 1027 B.C the Zhou peopled marched out of their land
in order to overthrow the Shang Dynasty.
 The Zhou believed that in right to the Mandate of
Heaven, or divine right to rule, they had every right to
take over. They also believed that because of the cruelty
of the last king of the Shang Dynasty, that the gods had
sent them to punish him.
 The Zhou Dynasty believed that due to the dynastic
cycle as well as the Mandate of heaven, if a dynasty
provided good government than the gods would be on
their side.
 However, of they did not then the Heaven or gods would
be against them.
The Start of Feudalism and
Economic Growth
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Under the Zhou, China became a a feudal state in which it rewarded
supporters by granting them control over particular region.
During the Zhou Dynasty China’s economy began to grow. New
developments such as iron axes and iron plows helped in building
and farming. Also there was the production of growing new crops
such as soybeans.
Feudal lords of this time organized large scale irrigation works which
helped in making farming more productive.
The Chinese also began to use money for the first time. This made
trade easier and more efficient.
Due to economic expansions a rise in population also occurred.
Because of the Zhou Dynasty, China in this time flourished in
prosperity.
QUIZ TIME!!!
1. The history of which classical
civilization was
shaped by the monsoon cycle,
the Himalaya
Mountains, and the Indus River?
(1)Maurya Empire
(2) ancient Greece
(3) Babylonian Empire
(4) ancient Egypt
2. In which region did
China’s earliest
civilizations
develop?
(1) Gobi Desert
(2) Yellow River Valley
(3) Himalaya Mountains
(4) Tibetan Plateau
Base your answers to questions 6 and 7 on the
statements below and on your knowledge of social
studies.
Speaker A: We must return to the ideas of the Bible.
We should encourage people to read and
interpret religious scripture for themselves.
Speaker B: Our people worship many gods, who
control the peoples’ activities, such as
birth, death, and commerce.
Speaker C: Our people received the Ten Commandments
at Mount Sinai. We are few in
number, but we will bring these commandments
to all people.
Speaker D: We trace our religion’s birth to the flight
of our greatest prophet from Mecca to
Medina.
3.Which speaker is expressing an idea from a polytheistic
religion?
(1) A (3) C
(2) B (4) D
4. Archaeological
studies of the Indus
Valley cities
of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro show
evidence of
(1) dynastic rule
(2) social equality
(3) Monotheism
(4) urban planning
5.One way in which the Huang
He, the Indus, and
the Nile civilizations were similar
is that they
each
(1) flourished by trading salt and
gold
(2) developed monotheistic
religions
(3) suffered repeated invasions
(4) originated in river valleys
Answers
THE ANSWER TO #1 IS 1
THE ANSWER TO #2 IS 2
THE ANSWER TO #3 IS 2
THE ANSWER TO #4 IS 4
THE ANSWER TO #5 IS 4
STUDY HARD FOR THE
REGENTS !!!
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!