Ancient India Notes
Geography and Early India: Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa
Indus Valley Civilizations
 Thrived between ______________-1700 BC
Geography of India
 The geography of India includes high ______________, great rivers, and heavy seasonal rain.
 India is so large that it is referred to as a ______________. A subcontinent is a large landmass that is smaller
than a continent. Subcontinents are usually separated from the rest of their continents by physical features.
India is largely separated from Asia by the Himalayan Mountains in the north and the Hindu Kush Mountains in
the west.
 West of the Himalayas is a vast ______________.
 The rest of India is covered by fertile plains and rugged ______________.
 The Indus Valley was the location of India’s first ______________.
 The Indus Valley is west of India in present-day ______________.
 When heavy ______________ in the Himalayas melted, the Indus River flooded. Like Mesopotamia and Egypt
the flooding left a layer of fertile ______________. The silt created ideal farmland for early settlers.
Climate
 In ______________some parts of India receive as much as 100-200 inches of rain.
 The climate of India is mostly hot and humid. India’s ______________ (seasonal wind patterns that cause wet
and dry seasons) influence India’s climate.
 In winter, the winds that blow down the mountains force moisture out of India to create warm, dry winters.
Harappan Civilization
 Historians called the civilization that grew up in the Indus Valley the ______________ civilization.
 Like other civilizations, towns and cities grew once food ______________ resulted from progress in irrigation
and agriculture.
India’s First Cities
 The ______________civilization is believed to have thrived between 2300 and 1700 BC.
 The Harappan civilization consists of two large, and similar cities, Harappa and ______________
______________. Both cities lay on the Indus River 300 miles apart.
The characteristics of the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro:
1. well planned 2. ______________by fortresses 3. ______________ streets that crossed at right angles
4. storehouses 5. workshops, market stalls, and houses 6. public ______________
Harappan Achievements
 What were the achievements of Harappan society?
1. houses with ______________ 2. pottery, jewelry, ivory objects, cotton clothing 3. high-quality ___________
4. system of weights and measures 5. India’s first _______system 6. believed to have a strong central government
 Harappan civilization ended around 1700 BC.
Aryan Invasion: Governments and Society
 A new group of people called the ______________took power in the Indus Valley.
 The Aryans were ______________ from Central Asia. It is possible they caused the end of the Harappan
civilization.
 How were the Aryans different from the Harappans?
1. The Aryans were ______________and more warlike (used advanced weapons and chariots) 2. Didn’t farm at
first, didn’t build cities 3. No single ruling authority-society was based on ______________ties. Each group had its
own leader 4. No ______________ language 5. village leaders were called ______________
Aryan Religion
 Aryan priests wrote the ______________. What were the Vedas? They were collections of ______________,
hymns, myths, and rituals written by Aryan priests.
Aryan Language
 Because the Aryans did not have a written language at first, they had to _____________ the poems and hymns.
 The first Aryan language was ______________, the most important language of ancient India.
 Sanskrit started as a ______________ language. Eventually people wrote it down so they could keep records.