Social Studies India Study Guide
By
Duncan Winburn
Vocabulary
1. Subcontinent – a big piece of land that is
smaller than a continent but bigger than a
country
2. Monsoon – winds that cause wet and nonwet seasons
3. Sanskrit – the most important language in
India
4. The Vedas – India ritual / spiritual texts
Vocabulary
5. Caste – a system that divided the people in
the Indian society by their birth or
occupation
6. Reincarnation – the process of being reborn
7. Meditation – the act of focusing your mind
on spiritual things
8. Ascetic – a person who believes you need to
get rid of all desires
Vocabulary
9. Epic – deep stories and poems
10. Metallurgy – the scientific way of handling
metal
11. Alloys – mixtures of at least two kinds of metal
12. Hindu-Arabic numerals – the number system we
still use
13. Inoculation – injecting someone with a little bit
of a virus
14. Astronomy – studying planets and stars
Describe the geography of ancient
India
• Why are the major landforms and rivers
important?
• The water helped Mohenjo Daro have indoor
plumbing, and because it was in a valley it
must have been well protected
Describe the geography of ancient
India
• In which modern-day country would you find
the ancient Indus River Valley Civilization?
• Pakistan
Describe the geography of ancient
India
• The rivers include the Indus River.
• The cities include Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
• The mountain ranges include the Himalayas
Describe the major characteristics of
the Indus River Valley cities like
Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
•
•
•
•
Mohenjo Daro created indoor plumbing
Both cities were well planned
Both were near a huge fortress
Using these fortresses, people could defend
their city
Compare and contrast Aryan society to
Harappan society
• Both thrived for a while
• The Aryan wrote vedas while the Harappan
did not
• Both civilizations eventually developed writing
Describe each of the Varnas in the
Indian Caste system
• The Brahmins were priests. They were the
highest caste.
• The Kshatriyas were warriors and rulers.
• The Vaisyas were traders, farmers and
craftspeople.
• The Sudras were servants and workers
• The Untouchables were below everyone else.
The other people weren’t supposed to talk to
them. They didn’t really belong to any caste.
Another name for this group is Pariahs.
What is Hinduism, and how did it
develop?
• Hinduism is a blend of religious ideas, based
on the ancient religious texts like Upanishads
and Vedas.
• When these ideas combined, Hinduism was
formed.
What is Jainism
• Jainism is a religion that developed around
non-violence
• Because of their beliefs, some people try not
to hurt anything. Because of this some people
have gone vegetarian because they don’t want
to kill animals.
Detail the main events in Prince
Siddhartha Gautama’s life
• Siddhartha gave up being a prince and became a
monk when he saw human suffering when he
was 29
• He wanted answers about true life, but no one
could help him
• He meditated under a tree on a hill until he
became enlightened and became the Buddha
• He spread his findings and Buddhism was born
• He also created the four noble truths and the
eight-fold path
What is Buddhism
• Buddhism is another blend of religious beliefs
• Buddhism taught that you had to give up all
desires before you can reach enlightenment
• Buddhism also believes in non-violence
What is the Mauryan Empire? What
religion is it help to spread?
• The Mauryan Empire was led by Candergupta
Maurya
• It’s ruler was very military minded
• He took control over all of northern India
• When he did that, he founded the Mauryan
Empire
• First it spread Hinduism, then it spread
Buddhism, then it spread Hinduism again
What was the Gupta Dynasty? How
did it differ from the Mauryan Empire?
• 500 years later, Candra Gupta the First took
over, and thus began the Gupta Dynasty
• Differing from the Mauryan Empire, the Gupta
Dynasty mostly believed in Hinduism.
Why was the Gupta Dynasty called the
Golden Age
• Because the Gupta Dynasty prospered so
much, and everything about it strengthened
Name two significant epics of Indian
literature. Why are they important?
• They are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
• The Mahabharata is one of the worlds longest
writings. It is about two families fighting for
control of a kingdom.
• The Ramayana is a story that helps us learn
about an Indian god named Vishnu.
Describe Indian advancements in
medicine and mathematics. How does
this affect us today?
• The very number system we still use today is
called the Hindu-Arabic numerals.
• They developed inoculation, which is where a
doctor injects someone with a little bit of a
virus to help the person learn to fight it.