Chapter 3
Early Civilizations in India and
China

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Cities of Indus Valley

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Located in the region of South Asia or also known as the subcontinent of India
 Large landmass that jets out from a continent
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Today the second most populous region
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Mountains to the North
 Including the Himalayas

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Regions
 Three major zones
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Northern Plains
► just south of the mountains
 Ganges and Indus Rivers
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Named India after the Indus River
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Deccan Plateaus
 Very arid and sparsely populated
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Coastal Plains
 Heavy monsoon rains
 Major fishing and trading region

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Monsoons
 October, dry hot winds hit India
 May-June
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West summer monsoons
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Delicate balance of rain desired
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Cultural diversity
 A Big number of languages, customs and traditions

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Original civilization appeared in about 2500 B.C. near Pakistan on the Indus River
 Mysteriously vanished
Well Planned Cities
 Two main cities
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Harappa and Mohenjor Daro
 3 mile circumference city with huge warehouses
Laid out in a grid pattern
 Semi-modern plumbing
 Merchants had a uniform system of measure and weights
Assumed well organized government and leaders

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People also known as Dravidians
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Farming and Trade
 Most people were farmers
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First to cultivate cotton and weave it into cloth
 Some people were merchants and traders
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Sailed all the way to Sumer
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Religious Beliefs
 Polytheistic
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Mother Goddess source of creation

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Cities began losing quality of life
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Possibly over ran by the Aryans with their horse drawn chariots
 Aryans are from Ganges River region

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Kingdom of the Ganges

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Warriors from the Ganges River region
 Most history comes from Vedes
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Collection of prayers
 Mostly nomadic herders who greatly valued cattle
Aryan Society
 Three Groups work
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Brahmins: Priest
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Kshatriyas: Warriors
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Vaisyas: Herders, merchants, farmers, artisans
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Sudras: Farm workers, Laborers
 Gave rise to a caste system
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Social groups people are born into and cannot change

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Aryan Religious Beliefs
 Polytheistic
 Fierce Indra
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Main Deity, God of War
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Weapon was a Thunderbolt
 Also honored monkey and snake Gods
 However began moving to a single spiritual power, Braham
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Spiritual power that resided in all things
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Led to Mystics
 People who devote lives to seeking spiritual truth

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Aryans were led by Rajahs
 Skilled war leaders, elected by assembly of warriors
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From nomads to farmers
 Learned farming from those they conquered
 By 800 B.C. learned to make tools out of iron
 By 500 B.C. Indian Civilization emerged
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Blended by Aryans and Dravidians
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New written language of sanskrit

2
The Aryans destroyed and looted the civilization of the Indus Valley and built a new Indian civilization, which reflected the following characteristics:
Nomadic warriors
Built no cities and left no statues
Felt superior to the people they conquered
Religious teachings from the
Vedas
Polytheistic
People born into castes , or social groups, which they could not change

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Mahabharata
 India’s greatest epic
 Contains Bhagavad-Gita
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Shows Indian religious belief and becomes foundation of Hindu religion
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Ramayana
 Epic hero Rama saves his beautiful bride Sita
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Rama and Sita become the model for men and women in Indian Culture

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Aryan’s help bring about the religions of
Hinduism and Buddhism

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Early Civilization in China

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Most isolated of all early civilizations
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Geographic barriers
 West and southwest of China lies Mountains
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Tien Shan and Himalayan Mountains
 North of China lies Desert
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Gobi Desert
 Southeast of China lies thick jungles
 East of China
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Pacific Ocean
 China Traded, even to the Middle East

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Main Regions
 Rivers
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Huang He (Yellow) River and Yangzi River
 Regions
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Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet (Xizang)
 Most nomadic people in these regions
 The River of Sorrows
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Civilization started near Huang He
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Needed to control river
 Yellow from loess
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Wind blown yellow soil
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Flooding Devastated the region

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1650 B.C. to 1027 B.C. Northern corner of China ruled by the Shang Dynasty
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Government
 Kings ruled small areas with Nobles governing most lands as clans
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Groups of families
 Social Classes
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Mirrored other early civilizations
 Peasant Life
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Most people were peasants living in farming villages
 Everyone farmed, built dikes, and fought alongside their Lords

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Polytheistic
 Chief Goddess Shang Di
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Brought Plants and Animals to earth
 Did not pray to the God, but instead to great ancestors
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Delicate balance between Yin and Yang
 Yin
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Earth, darkness and female forces
 Yang
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Heaven, light, and male forces

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Used both pictographs and ideographs
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Consulting the Ancestors for Wisdom
 Oracle Bones
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Wrote questions on a bone
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Heated it up till the bone cracked
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Interpreted the cracks

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A difficult study
 Chinese people must memorize up to 10,000characters
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Each means a letter, word or idea
 Used calligraphy
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Fine handwriting
 A force for unity
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Spoken language was different throughout the regions of China, but the written language stayed the same

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Zhou from Western China overthrew Shang
Dynasty
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Promoted Mandate of Heaven
 Divine right to rule
 Became a Dynastic Cycle
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Dynasty in power till weak or corrupt
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Then taken over by another Dynasty
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Floods and Catastrophes signaled end of Dynasty

Chinese civilization took shape under the
Shang and Zhou.
Shang Dynasty
(1650 B.C.
–1027 B.C.)
Zhou Dynasty
(1027 B.C.
–256 B.C.)
Gained control of corner of northern China along Huang
He.
Drove off nomads from northern steppes and deserts.
Held complex religious beliefs.
Developed written language used by all Chinese people.
Overthrew the Shang.
Promoted idea of Mandate of
Heaven.
Set up feudal state.
Economy and commerce grew.
Population increased.

3
The dynastic cycle refers to the rise and fall of dynasties.

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A Feudal State
 Federalism during the Zhou Dynasty
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System of government in which Lords governed their lands but owed support to their ruler
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Economic Growth
 Ironworking developed
 Better irrigation, roads, and canals
 Use of coins, or money economy
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Population explosion

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Made an accurate 365 ¼ days calendar
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Silk making
 Became biggest export
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Later developed trade route to Middle East called
Silk Road
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First Books
 Made first books of thin wood or bamboo