Ancient India
Geography of India
• India is part of
a subcontinent
(landmass
smaller than a
continent) &
shaped like
an upside down
triangle.
• Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean
& Bay of Bengal on 3 sides
• Cut off from Asia by
mountains (Hindu Kush,
Himalayans)
• E & W Ghats
along coast
in South
Geography of India
• Deccan Plateau, rocky, dry
center btw Ghats (little
moisture, blocked by mts)
• Thar Desert to East(80-100
degrees)
• Rainforest
along West
coast
• Coastal plains
• Major rivers flow from HK
& Him mtns:
• Indus River flows thru
Pakistan into
Arabian Sea
(Indus Valley
home to
early civ)
• Ganges River-flows to Bay
of Bengal, w/ many
branches. (Holy river)
• Brahmaputra goes E across
India
to Ganges
• Plains area
btw rivers
is fertile!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK-RaXNH9V0
MONSOONS
• Monsoon: (seasonal winds
from June-Sept. Temp
rises, air heats, moist air
blows in from ocean,
brings heavy rain).
Unpredictable!
*Cyclones too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9peDRkO-TLc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bETUbu7pXgs
Indus Valley Civilizations
• Little is known (writing not
deciphered)
• Dev 2500 BC
• Over 100
settlements
(Harappa &
Mohenjo-Daro biggest)
Harappa
1.Highly organized, planned
cities
2.Built on mud
brick platforms
(avoid floods)
3.Oven dried mud brick walls
4.Citadel (fortified area)
has major buildings(temple,
granary,royals?)
5. 30 ft wide,
straight streets
(e-w & n-S),
cross at right
angles
6. Walls divide residential
districts, homes vary in
size (houses laid out in
block units w/ lanes in btw)
• Modern plumbing & sewage
(had bathrooms)
• Toilets of brick w/ wood
seat, pipes connect to
each house w/ waste
flowing into underground
sewage system & into pits
outside of city walls
Harappan Culture
• Written language of 400
symbols (found on carved
stone stamps & seals) Can not
read it. Animals on everything
• Religion-maybe theocracy?
•
Statues of mother goddess, fertility images, maybe shiva, worship bull
• Examine the Seals. What can you infer about
harappan culture
Examine the Seals. What can you infer
abt Harappan culture? Describe 3 things
• Had potters wheel, made
beautiful jugs, statues etc
• Made toys, jewelry
The Great Bath of
Mohenjo Daro
•
•
•
•
•
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCYx-_WqcKc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnsatmxY7Kc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhej8XShSvI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ndRwqJYDM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI78xoEkm0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCYx-_WqcKc
MOVIE
• What influence does the Indus
Valley Civilization have on
modern cities?
• What technological
advancement do YOU think is
the most impressive? Why?
• How did geography influence
the construction of their cities?
• What do the highly planed cities on the
Indus tell us about their culture?
• Explain how you can see at least 3 of
the characteristics of civilization in
Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro
• What does the attention to plumbing
tell you about them?
• What does the discovery of toys tell
you about their culture?
• How did the Mesopotamians, Egyptians
and Indus use their environment t?
Who did better a better job? Why?
Don’t Write
• Grew wheat barley, cotton,
(could weave into cloth)
• Trade all over region (Persia, Dec Pla,
Afghan) using Indus & Arabian Sea to
trade w/ Meso, Egypt & maybe Crete)
• Traded bright cloth,
copper lumber for gold,
silver, semiprecious
stones
• Don’t Write!
• Disappear slowly
ca 2000 BC. Why?
• Tectonic plates
shift, cause floods,
earthquakes, change course of
Indus, changes in climate, farming
dries up?
• May have moved
on into India
1. What does the discovery of toys tell us
about the Indus people?
2. What does the attention to sewer &
plumbing systems suggest abt IV culture?
3. Fill in the chart below. List 4 elements IV
people included in their city plans & what
modern cities have. Then compare!
Indus Valley
Modern City
4. Explain why the Indus people abandoned
their cities due to environmental changes?
5. Describe 4 ways IV is similar or different
to other cultures we have talked about?
Indo-Aryans
• Btw 2000-1500 BC, IndoAryans,(from grasslands
btw Caspian
& Black
Seas?)
conquer
Harappa.
• Had iron weapons & horses
• Est own govt (individual
tribes elect chief & tribal
council) Combined to form
small kingdoms led by Rajah)
• Brought metalworking,
horses, bronze weapons
• No writing system
• Adopted other cultures
Vedic Age- 1500
• Brought Vedas, 4 collections
of religious beliefs, prayers,
spells & ritual instructions
(Rig Veda most
important)
• Not written,
passed along
Polytheistic-many gods
• Eventually grows into
Hinduism
(no founder)
• Brought along
3 CASTES
(expand over
time)
*
THE CASTE SYSTEM
• Caste: strict religious &
social class/order
• You are BORN into caste
& cannot move out of
caste in THIS life.
• caste is a result of
karma from previous life.
THE CASTES
UNTOUCHABLES
Outside of caste, street cleaners, butchers, grave diggers, unclean
jobs
Caste System
• Strict rules:
Can’t marry
or associate
w/ people
outside of
caste,
determines
job, clothes,
manners &
even food
Don’t writeTHE BELIEFS
• People suffer from pain &
sorrow b/c they chase false
goals (material goods)
• Goal is MOKSHA- free soul
from body so soul can join
the ATMAN (universal soul)
• CANNOT reach MOKSHA in
1 life, need reincarnation.
CYCLE OF REBIRTH
• Reincarnation is a cycle
of REBIRTH of soul
(reborn over & over until
overcome your
weaknesses)
• KARMA- belief all good &
bad actions, mental or
physical, affect people’s
fate in next life.
• DHARMA- duty: every Hindu
has obligations to their
CASTE
• Can improve
your position in
next life by
fulfilling duties
in this life.
• Present life is
result past behavior
The Gods/Godesses • Shiva- the
destroyer of
ego &
universe
• Brahmagod of
creation
• Vishnu- preserver of universe
• All-Pervading essence of all beings, the
master of past, present & future, one who
supports, sustains &
governs Universe &
originates & develops
all elements within.
• Krishna-god/child prankster in
Mahabharata
•
Ganesha is the Remover
•
of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings
(patron of arts and sciences,
intellect & wisdom)
BUDDHISM
• 563 BC: Prince
Siddhartha
Gautama born
in Nepal.
• Raised to be
king, wealthy,
sheltered.
THE PRINCE
• Prince leaves palace & realizes
world is full of pain & misery.
• Sees poor, sick & elderly & dead
• Wants to find answer why & how
to stop it.
• Travels
world &
meditates
under tree for
49 days.
THE BUDDHA
• Prince found
answers.
• Became known as
the Buddha, the
“Enlightened One”
as he traveled the
world to teach his
beliefs.
THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
1. Everyone suffers
2. Cause of suffering is desire
(riches objects
attachments)
3. Only way to end suffering
is crush desire
4. Way to end desire is to
follow the Noble 8 Fold
Path
NIRVANA
• Goal is to reach
NIRVANA- a
condition of
wanting
nothing, a
calmness, great
insight &
happiness.
Theravada Buddhism Don’t write
 The oldest school of Buddhism, found in s Asia.
 The monastic life is the best way
to achieve nirvana.
 Focus on wisdom and meditation.
 Goal is to become a “Buddha,” or “Enlightened One.”
 Over 100,000,000 followers today.
Mahayana Buddhism
 The “Great Vehicle.”
 Founded in northern Asia (China, Japan).
 Buddhism “for the masses.”
 Seek guidance from Boddhisatvas, wise beings.
 Goal: Not just individual escape from the wheel,
but the salvation of all humanity through selfsacrifice of those enlightened few.
Don’t Write!!!!Jainism
• Founded by Mahavira 599-527 BC
• All living things have a soul &
should not be harmed
• Tolerance of other religions
• Occupations cannot harm others
• encourages spiritual development
thru cultivation of one's own
personal wisdom & reliance on self
control thru 5 vows (Mahavareta)
India 1500-1000
• Small kingdoms, no unity
• Different religions &
beliefs
• Magadha:
Indo-Aryan
kingdom runs
N India
• 326 BC: Alexander the
Great extends empire over
India (huge battle 12,000
Greeks die, but still wins)
Maurya Empire
• 323 BC: Chandragupta
Maurya conquers Maghda
kingdom & Macedonian
satrapies.
• Unites India &
sets Pataliputra
as capital
*Paranoid!
• Fights Selecus (Alex’s,
successor), wins. Sel Gives up
Afghan & Pakistan. Marries
his daughter to unite
kingdoms, gets Egyptian,
Greek ambassadors on court.
• Chanakya (advisor) wrote
Arthasastra, guide to
running empire
• Built bureaucratic govt w/
4 provinces each headed
by princes. Divided into
local districts to assess &
enforce taxes. Use Spies
• Became Jainist, dumped
throne on son.
Asoka
• Grandson of Chan M
• Conqueror, but felt sorrow
when 100,000 die attacking
Kalinga.
• Converts to Buddhism
• Teachings written on pillars,
urged rel toleration, preach
non-violence, monks sent all
over Asia
•
Don't write!
• Built roads, improved
conditions(every 9 miles houses, wells 4 rest)
• public health care for humans
& animals, improvements in
agriculture, est wildlife
reserves,
• Wanted moral, spiritual, &
social renewal. Reformed
administrative &
judicial systems of India
• Fell apart on his death as
Greeks,Persians,Asians invade
• ends 184 BC, w/ 500 yrs of
turmoil (s.India has 3
kingdoms)
“There is no better work
than promoting the
welfare of the world.
Whatever be my great
deeds, I have done them
in order to discharge my
debt to all beings."
Golden Age of India
• 320 AD Chandra Gupta, local
chief, marries princess & rule
from Magadha (Pataliputra)
(Empire covers Ganges & Indus)
• Son Samudra focused on arts &
expands empire
• Chandra Gupta II- strengthened
empire thru diplomacy &
marriage alliances
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ISmwH6
ShrE
• Hinduism grows
• Art, architecture, sculpture
poetry, drama, fables
flourish
• Rule 320-500 AD. Ends when
overrun by Huns
• Late 400s, Huns (from c
Asia) raid
• By 600 AD Gupta
fall
• Descendents of
Huns became
wealthy warrior
princes called
Rajputs
• Don’t Write!!!
• relied heavily on infantry archers, The Hindu
version of the longbow was composed of metal,
or more typically bamboo, & fired a long bamboo
cane arrow with a metal head
• Iron shafts were used against
armored elephants& fire arrows
used by archers
• Archers protected by infantry
equipped with shields, javelins, & long swords.
• Had knowledge of siege craft, & catapults
• 600 years
of
invasions
w/ civil
wars as
Indian
princes
fight 1
another
Muslim invaders
• Muslim leaders start to
invade around 1000 AD.
• Mahmud of Ghazni is SULTAN
(authority), 1st
to have that
title, invades
India,
*Invasions
directed at
temple towns to steal
wealth & jewels, destroy,
take slaves & break will
of Hindus
• Some towns were
conquered & left in
control of Hidu, Buddhist
or Jains as vassal states
• Others invade
• Sultan Aibak Kutbuddin
est sultanate or
kingdom of Delhi.
• Next 400 years, 33 sultans
rule from Delhi Sultanate
• 100s killed, cruel
to Hindus
Mongols/Moguls/Mughals?
• Tamerlane ,Mongol warrior
from Asiatic Russia loots,
kill 1000s of Hindus &
Muslims,
destroys Delhi
Sultanate in
1398
• Babur-born in Uzbekistan leader at 12, loses power.
Conquers north, is a Muslim
descendent of Tam & Genghis
Khan .
• Brilliant general.
(led 12,000 troops against
100,000 sultan & an army of
.
• Est Mogul empire
rajputs
Don’t write!!!
• Babur is said to have been extremely strong &physically fit.
Would carry 2 men, 1 on each of his shoulders, & then climb
slopes on the run, just for exercise.
• Legend holds that Babur swam across every major river he
encountered, including twice across the Ganges River
• Lovedto kill people, cut heads of people and create pillars out of
cut heads
Akbar the Great
• Grandson of Babur
(1556-1605)
1. expanded military
power
2.Used heavy
artillery, cannons,
appt rajputs as
officers (mix
cultures, turn
enemies into allies)
“a monarch should
ever be intent on
conquest,
otherwise his
neighbor rise in
arms against him”
3.Muslim, urged religious
tolerance
4. Bureaucratic officials
were both native & foreign
5.Officials trained for civil
service
6. Taxed on graduated system
to be fair
7.Acted as judge, heard cases
*Persian
main lang, but others
develop. (Urdu grows out of
soldier camps)
*Work carefully w/
Portuguese &
Ottoman empire
*Patron of art,
architecture,
translated works
Shah Jahan
• Shah Jahan- grandson of
Akbar. Killed rivals
• Loved architecture
& wife
• Mumtaz Mahal
died in 1631 during
th
childbirth of 14 kid
• Spent 22 years, w/ 20,000
laborers building Taj Mahal
as a monument to Mumtaz
• Country suffers from
neglect, hi taxes for Taj &
luxuries instead of roads,
irrigation
• 1657 4 sons fight
• http://www.history.com/videos/sevenwonders-the-taj-mahal#seven-wonders-thetaj-mahal
• http://www.history.com/topics/tajmahal/videos/seven-wonders-the-taj-mahal
Shah Jahan’s throne was shaped like a bed, standing on
tall table legs with 2 or 3 steps leading up to it.
Western visitors
to Delhi in the
17th century
measured the bed
part to being
1.8 by 1.2 meters
, From its bars rose
12 columns
supporting a canopy
. It was decorated
with 108 rubies,
116 emeralds and
numerous pearls.
• DON’T WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The Shah’s army during this time?
• 440,000 infantry, musketeers &
artillery
• 185,000 Sowars commanded by
princes and nobles
• Marwari horse, colorful,strong
• Mughal Cannons were mass
produced
• Empire became a huge military
machine
Aurangzeb
• Aurangzeb- during civil war,
kills brother & arrests dad
• 1658-1707 extends
empire, but loses
power. Drained
resources, money
*Didn’t keep alliances
• Intolerant of other
religions
• Enforce Muslim laws
• Tax on non-muslims
• No new Hindu temples.
• Censors, heavy taxes
• killed leader of
Sikhs (who rebel)
• Rajputs rebel
*Don’t’ Write!!!
His son tried to rebel, driven to Persia
• Start to break apart into small kingdoms
after his death
• .Port, Dutch, FR & BR start to come in
during empire, eventually take over
(moguls done by 1857-1858)
• Read through each emperor.
• In a chart, List the major
accomplishments for each.
• Now rank them against one
another.
• Determine as a group who
was the best & explain why!
Leader
Accomplishment
Akbar
Equal taxes
Ranking
1.Read the Arthasastra
2.Create a list of 10 tips your group
would offer to Chandragupta or
Asoka to help them run the
Mauryan Empire. Write them out
on the paper!
3.Create an illustration for your
political guide that fits the advice
4.Last, look at your tips. Can any of
them be applied to modern leaders?
1. Get a CASTE slip
2. Pull 5 Task Cards from the bucket
3. Read your Task Cards & decide what ones to give away
Brahmins may give away 4 cards
Ksjhatriyas may give away 3 cards
Vaishyas may give away 2 cards
Sudras may give away 1 card
Chandalas may NOT give away any cards
4. Give the cards you’re getting rid of to anyone in a lower
caste. No person may end up with more than 10 task
cards (but you may have to do some tasks more than
once)
5. Once you have traded cards, have a seat
1. Look at your Task Cards
2. Begin your tasks when Fischer says to.
Station Directions are posted at each
task
3. If you finish all the tasks on your Task
Cards, you can learn Sanskrit by
completing the Learning Sanskrit activity
4. Once you finish learning Sanskrit, show
Fischer the decoded message to get a
Voting Ballot
5. Once you have voted, you can collect a
certificate and create
• Do you think there are castes or social levels in
todays scoiety? If so, what do you think
spereated these levels?
• What made it hard to hcange the caseet in
Ancient India? What makes it hard to changes
cases or social levels today