Planned Cities on the Indus
• Began around 2500 BC, and little is known about the Indus
RVC because its language has yet to be decoded
Geography
• India is isolated from the rest of Asia with the help of the
Hindu Kush, the Karakorum, and the
____________________.  “Indian Subcontinent”
• Mountains to the north and deserts to the east help
protect Indus RVC
• Along the ________ and __________ Rivers
• Monsoons affect Indus RVC’s climate by blowing dry air
across the country. Around six months later those winds
carry moisture back mainland and often cause flooding
Environmental Challenges
• Unpredictable annual ___________
• Rivers changed course
• Monsoon __________were unpredictable
Civilization Emerges on Indus
• Not exactly sure when first settlers arrive
• Began building cities around 2500 BC with more precise cut
mud bricks than in Mesopotamia
• Indus Valley civilization is often called
__________________________ because of the numerous
artifacts found in Harappa
• Most remarkable achievement was
___________________ remarkable grid system
• Created sophisticated ______________________________
_____________ Culture
• Harappan language (carved into stone) has yet to be
deciphered
• Few weapons have been found, but toys and entertainment
seem to be bountiful not warring ppl
• Animals were valued, as seen in Harappan art
• Most likely ruled by ___________
• Traded precious metals and stones with Persia and the
Deccan Plateau
Indus Valley Culture Ends
• The quality of building deteriorated and the old cities
decayed around 1750 BC
• Tectonic plate movement likely caused earthquakes and
floods which wiped out civilization
• Soil exhaustion likely caused people to migrate as well
• Invasions from the Aryans came around 1500 BC, and this
was the tipping point for Indus Valley culture
• ….meanwhile civilization is forming farther east.
Chinese River Dynasties
Geography
• Isolated from the other RVC’s by various mountain ranges
and deserts to the Northeast and Southwest
• Based along the __________ and ____________River
Environmental Challenges
• Flooding from the rivers often caused disaster creating the
nickname “______________________”
• Limited trading with outside worlds due to isolation
• Invasions from the Northwest were possible
• Only about 10% of China’s land is suitable for farmland
Civilization under Shang Dynasty
• Homo erectus skeleton proves that people settled in the
Chinese river valleys around 500,000 years ago
• First Chinese dynasty was the ________(2,000 BC-1,700
BC). Leader was Yu, and was famous for irrigation and
flood control systems
• Around the time the first three RVC’s collapse, the
_________family takes control in China (1,700BC-1,000BC).
The Shang were the first to leave written records
Early Cities
• Earliest Shang city was Anyang
• ___________________ projects hint on the level of
organization in the Chinese RVC
• Walls were necessary to combat invaders. Wars led the
Chinese to the invention of the chariot.
Development of Chinese Culture
• Group was more valuable than individual
• Chinese RVC’s were ego-centric
Family
• Family was the first source of loyalty
• Men ruled the household, women only improved their
status by bearing children
• Marriages were arranged as early as 13
Social Roles
• Warrior-nobles controlled the land and the outside villages;
there was a sharp division between ruler and ruled
Religious Beliefs
• Believed that spirits of ancestors brought good or bad luck
to living members of the family
• Through ancestors and oracle bones, the Chinese
worshiped their god Shang Di
Development of Writing
• No correlation between written and spoken Chinese
• Over 10,000 characters made up the language
Zhou Dynastic Cycle
• Around 1000 BC the ________ overthrew the Shang
• Claimed divinity and that the last Shang was a poor ruler
__________________
• Historians used floods and other natural disasters to justify
wars and rebellions
• Pattern of rise, decline, and replacement 
_________________
Control Through Feudalism
• To rule just a vast area of land, the Zhou gave out parcels of
land to nobility and the royal family to rule
_____________
Improvements in Technology and Trade
• _____________________were built
• __________________ was introduced
• _________________(iron producers) were created for tools
and weapons
Period of Warring States
• Zhou ruled from about 1,000 BC to about 250 BC
• Warring outsiders from the west murdered the Zhou king in
771. Surviving royal family members then battled for
control amongst themselves  Period of Warring States