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Chapter Introduction
Section 1 Early Civilization in India
Section 2 New Empires in India
Section 3 Early Chinese Civilizations
Section 4 Rise and Fall of Chinese
Empires
Chapter Summary
Chapter Assessment
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Key Events
As you read, look for the key events in the
history of the early civilizations of India and
China. 
• Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism,
Daoism, and Legalism profoundly
affected the way of life of the early
Indians and Chinese. 
• The Silk Road provided a means for
prosperous trade. 
• The ruler of the Zhou overthrew the
Shang dynasty and established the
longest lasting dynasty in Chinese history.
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Key Events
As you read, look for the key events in the
history of the early civilizations of India and
China.
• The Great Wall of China was built to keep
out enemies.
The Impact Today
The events that occurred during this time
period still impact our lives today. 
• The well-organized government of the
Harappan culture provided a public water
supply, wastewater treatment, and trash
disposal similar to what many cities
provide today. 
• The difficulties the ancient Chinese
experienced in maintaining a strong
central government are similar to those
facing modern governments.
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The Impact Today
The events that occurred during this time
period still impact our lives today.
• The early Chinese created a written
language and made lasting technological
advances.
Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter, you should
be able to: 
• explain how geography influenced the
development of civilizations in India and
China. 
• identify characteristics of these
civilizations. 
• explain political and social structures in
these countries. 
• describe the role of religion. 
• list the contributions of each civilization.
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Early Civilization in India
Main Ideas
• India’s earliest cities provided the foundation
for the Aryans. 
• The caste system was a set of rigid social
categories in Indian society. 
Key Terms
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
monsoon 
Sanskrit 
raja 
caste system 
caste 
Hinduism 
reincarnation 
•
•
•
•
•
•
karma 
dharma 
yoga 
Buddhism 
ascetic 
nirvana
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Early Civilization in India
People to Identify
• Aryans 
• Sudras 
• Brahmans 
• Untouchables 
• Kshatriyas 
• Siddhartha
Gautama 
• Vaisyas 
Places to Locate
• Indian subcontinent 
• Deccan 
• Himalaya 
• Persian Gulf 
• Ganges River 
• Hindu Kush
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Early Civilization in India
Preview Questions
• How did geographic factors impact the
civilization that arose in India? 
• What is a patriarchal family?
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Early Civilization in India
Preview of Events
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During the twentieth century there arose
a notion of an “Aryan race”–a Germanic
people who supposedly were responsible
for all the progress that mankind had
made. Anthropologists have repudiated
this notion. Nonetheless, it became the
basis of the Nazi policy of exterminating
“non-Aryans” during the 1930s and 1940s.
The Land of India
• The Indian subcontinent is located along
the southern edge of Asia. 
• Its diverse geography has a number of
core regions. 
• In the north are the highest mountains in
the world, the Himalaya. 
• Just south of the Himalaya is the rich
valley of the Ganges River, one of the
most important regions of Indian culture. 
• The relatively dry Indus River valley lies to
the west. It runs through modern-day
Pakistan.
(pages 71–72)
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The Land of India (cont.)
• The Deccan lies south of these two river
valleys. 
• It is a hilly and dry plateau extending from
the southern Ganges valley to the
southern end of India. 
• Lush plains, historically the most densely
populated regions in India, lie on the east
and west coasts.
(pages 71–72)
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The Land of India (cont.)
• The monsoons are the most important
feature of the Indian climate. 
• Monsoons are seasonal wind patterns. 
• The southwest monsoons bring the heavy
rain on which Indian farmers have
depended to grow their crops. 
• If the rains are too light or heavy, early or
late, crops are destroyed and thousands
of Indians likely starve.
(pages 71–72)
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The Land of India (cont.)
An area of America in the twentieth century
suffered a devastating drought, as portions
of India do if the monsoon rains are
insufficient. What was this drought, when
did it happen, and what were its effects?
The drought created the Dust Bowl in the
early 1930s, during the Great Depression.
The drought was principally in the Great
Plains. It ruined thousands of family farms
and caused many Americans to go west in
search of work.
(pages 71–72)
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India’s First Civilization
• Early civilization in India developed in the
Indus River valley. 
• A civilization flourished there from 3000 to
1500 B.C. 
• Archaeologists have found remains of
over a thousand settlements in this area. 
• Two sites have ruins of the major cities
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. 
• The advanced civilization that flourished
for hundreds of years in these cities is
called the Harappan or Indus civilization.
(pages 72–73)
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India’s First Civilization (cont.)
• Each of these cities had around 35,000
people and each was planned carefully. 
• The cities had a grid of streets and were
divided into walled neighborhoods. 
• Some houses were as high as three
stories. Buildings were constructed of
mud bricks. 
• Public wells supplied water, and
bathrooms used an advanced drainage
system. 
• A chute system took household trash to
public garbage bins.
(pages 72–73)
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India’s First Civilization (cont.)
• The careful structure of these cities
showed that this civilization had a wellorganized government. 
• Harappan rulers based their power on a
belief in divine assistance. 
• As in all ancient civilizations, religion and
political power were linked closely. 
• Priests probably performed rituals to a
fertility goddess to guarantee a good
annual harvest.
(pages 72–73)
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India’s First Civilization (cont.)
• The Harappan economy depended on
agriculture. The chief crops were wheat,
barley, and peas. 
• The Indus valley civilization traded
extensively with Mesopotamia. 
• They traded copper, lumber, and various
luxury goods for Sumerian textiles and
food. 
• Much of the trade was by ship through the
Persian Gulf, which lies between
present-day Saudi Arabia and Iran.
(pages 72–73)
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India’s First Civilization (cont.)
What elements of an advanced civilization
appeared in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro?
Carefully planned streets, public wells,
advanced drainage and trash systems,
and extensive trade of imports and
exports were evidence of an advanced
civilization.
(pages 72–73)
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The Arrival of the Aryans
• Aryan invaders ended the civilization of
the Indus River valley by conquering the
Harappans. 
• The Aryans were a nomadic IndoEuropean people living in central Asia. 
• Around 1500 B.C. they moved south
across the Hindu Kush mountain range
into northern India.
(pages 74–75)
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The Arrival of the Aryans (cont.)
• The Aryans created a new Indian society. 
• Like other nomadic people, the Aryans
excelled at war. 
• By 1000 B.C. they had extended their
control throughout India. 
• In India these nomadic warriors gave up
the pastoral life for regular farming. 
• The introduction of iron helped make this
change, especially the introduction of the
iron plow, which could be used to clear
the dense jungle growth along the
Ganges.
(pages 74–75)
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The Arrival of the Aryans (cont.)
• Irrigation systems turned the area into
productive farmland. 
• Wheat, barley, and millet were grown in
the north. 
• Rice was grown in the fertile river valleys. 
• Vegetables, grains, cotton, and spices
such as cinnamon and pepper were grown
in the south.
(pages 74–75)
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The Arrival of the Aryans (cont.)
• As nomads, the Aryans had no written
language. 
• They developed their first written
language, Sanskrit, around 1000 B.C. 
• They wrote down the religious rituals,
legends, and chants that previously had
been passed down orally. 
• Early Aryan writings also reveal that
between 1500 B.C. and 400 B.C., Aryan
leaders known as rajas (princes)
dominated India. 
• Each carved out a small state and fought
other Aryan chieftains.
(pages 74–75)
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The Arrival of the Aryans (cont.)
The most ancient cultures passed on their culture
orally. After the invention of writing, people wrote
down their ideas, traditions, norms, and stories to
pass on to future generations. What are the
advantages and disadvantages of these two ways
of passing on cultural knowledge?
The advantages of one method tend to be the
disadvantages of the other. Possible advantages of
the oral are that people remember better what is
passed on, and this method tends to create more of
a sense of community. Possible advantages of the
written are that the knowledge is available to more
people, and it is not the possession of a class of
special interpreters.
(pages 74–75)
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Society in Ancient India
• The Aryan conquest had a lasting effect
on India. 
• The meeting of conquered and conqueror
created a set of social institutions and
class divisions that last to this day. 
• The caste system was one of the most
important Indian social creations. 
• It set up a rigid hierarchy of classes that
determines a person’s occupation,
economic potential, and social status. 
• In part it was based on skin color.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• There were five major classes, or castes. 
• The top two castes were the Aryan ruling
elites, the priests and warriors. 
• The highest were members of the priestly
class, or Brahmans. 
• The warriors were called Kshatriyas. 
• The third caste was made up of
commoners, who for the most part were
merchants. 
• Members of this caste were called the
Vaisyas.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• Below this were the Sudras, who made
up most of the Indian population. 
• They were the darker-skinned natives the
Aryans had conquered. 
• Most were peasants who did manual
labor, and their rights were limited.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• The Untouchables made up the lowest
rung of Indian society. 
• They performed jobs considered
degrading by Indian society, like collecting
trash and handling the dead. 
• They made up about 5 percent of ancient
India’s population.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• The life of an Untouchable was difficult. 
• They were not considered human, and
their presence was considered harmful.

• They lived in separate areas. 
• When they traveled, they had to tap sticks
together so others would know they were
coming and could avoid them.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• The family was the basic unit of ancient
Indian society. 
• The ideal was to have an extended family
of three generations under one roof. 
• The oldest male had legal authority over
the entire family, which made the family
unit patriarchal. 
• Generally, only males could inherit
property and were educated.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• Women could not be priests. 
• Divorce was forbidden, but men could
take a second wife if the first was not able
to bear children. 
• Children were important primarily
because they were to take care of their
aging and elderly parents. 
• Marriages were arranged. 
• Men married after 12 years of study. 
• Girls married young because they were
an economic drain on the family.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
• Perhaps the strongest instance of male
domination in India was the ritual of
suttee. 
• In India the dead were burned on funeral
pyres. 
• Suttee required a wife to throw herself on
her dead husband’s funeral pyre and die
herself. 
• Those who refused were disgraced.
(pages 75–76)
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Society in Ancient India (cont.)
Many modern Westerners believe that
suttee was a barbaric custom. Yet at one
time suttee was important in Indian
culture. Do people have a right to judge
the cultural practices of a different
culture? Why or why not?
(pages 75–76)
Hinduism
• The religion of Hinduism is based on
Aryan religious beliefs. 
• We know about Aryan religious beliefs
from the Vedas, a collection of hymns
and ceremonies. 
• The Vedas make up the oldest Hindu
sacred text.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• Hinduism is the religion of most of the
Indian people. 
• Early Hindus believed in an ultimate
reality (God) called Brahman. 
• The individual self, or atman, had the duty
to come to know this ultimate reality. 
• Then the self would merge with Brahman
after death.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• The idea of reincarnation came into
Hinduism by the sixth century B.C. 
• Reincarnation is the idea that after death
the individual soul is reborn in a different
form. 
• After many existences the soul may unite
with Brahman, the goal of all individuals.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• Karma is an important part of this
process. 
• Karma refers to the idea that people’s
actions determine their form of rebirth and
the class into which they are reborn, if
reborn as a person. 
• The divine law, or dharma, rules karma. 
• This law requires all people to do their
duty. 
• Duties vary with one’s caste. The higher
the class, the higher the social duties and
expectations.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• The system of reincarnation provided a
religious basis for the caste system. 
• For example, the fewer privileges of the
lower classes were justified by saying
they were less deserving due to their
karma. 
• Reincarnation also gave hope to the lower
classes, however. 
• They had a way to move up in the caste
system.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• Yoga (“union”) was developed as a
practice to achieve oneness with God. 
• This union was a kind of dreamless sleep. 
• Hinduism has hundreds of deities. 
• The three chief ones are Brahma the
Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Siva
the Destroyer. 
• The many gods and goddesses give
ordinary Hindus a way to express their
everyday religious feelings.
(page 77)
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Hinduism (cont.)
• Through devotion at a temple, they seek
not only salvation but also a way of getting
the ordinary things of life.
(page 77)
Hinduism (cont.)
All societies have had a social hierarchy.
The Indian caste system is only one of
the most rigid. Why do human beings
have this need to structure society in
terms of higher and lower classes?
Possible answers: Human beings have
the need to structure society to create
social order, to exploit others, and to feel
valuable, if one is a member of a higher
class.
(page 77)
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Buddhism
• In the sixth century B.C., a new doctrine
called Buddhism appeared in northern
India and rivaled Hinduism. 
• Its founder was Siddhartha Gautama,
known as the Buddha (“Enlightened
One”). 
• Siddhartha lived a privileged, sheltered
life among great wealth. 
• Then he became aware of life’s
sufferings–death, disease, and old age. 
• He gave up his rich life to find the
meaning of life and the cure for human
suffering.
(pages 78–79)
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Buddhism (cont.)
• At first he was an ascetic and practiced
self-denial. 
• Abusing his body did not bring Siddhartha
enlightenment, however. 
• He entered a period of intense meditation
and one evening reached enlightenment. 
• He spent the rest of his life teaching what
he learned.
(pages 78–79)
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Buddhism (cont.)
• These teachings are the basis of
Buddhism. 
• The physical realm is illusion. 
• Desire’s attachments to the physical
cause suffering. 
• Giving up these attachments leads to
wisdom, or bodhi. 
• Achieving wisdom is a key step in
achieving nirvana, or ultimate reality,
in a reunion with the Great World Soul.
(pages 78–79)
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Buddhism (cont.)
• The essential Buddhist teachings concern
the Four Noble Truths and the way to
achieve these truths by taking the Middle,
or Eightfold, Path. 
• Siddhartha accepted reincarnation but
rejected the Hindu caste system. 
• For this reason Buddhism appealed to
those in the lower castes. 
• After Siddhartha’s death in 480 B.C., his
followers spread the message throughout
India. 
• Monasteries were established to promote
(pages 78–79)
Buddhism.
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Buddhism (cont.)
Buddhism teaches that humans suffer
due to desire’s attachments. What do
you think this means?
Possible answers: According to
Buddhists, people create a false idea of
their reality by identifying themselves with
the objects of their desires. Living with a
false idea of human reality causes people
suffering.
(pages 78–79)
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Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
__
B 1. an Aryan leader or prince
A. karma
__
D 2. a method of training developed
by the Hindus that is supposed
to lead to oneness with God
B. raja
C. caste
D. yoga
__
E 3. a person who practices
E. ascetic
self-denial to achieve an
understanding of ultimate reality
__
A 4. in Hinduism, the force generated by a person’s
actions that determines how the person will be
reborn in the next life
__
C 5. one of the five major divisions of Indian classes
in ancient times: Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas,
Sudras, and Untouchables
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Checking for Understanding
Describe the relationship that exists in
Hinduism between the caste system
and the dharma, or divine law.
Dharma determined and justified caste
membership.
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Critical Thinking
Evaluate How did Arjuna’s decision
to fight illustrate the importance of
Hinduism’s concept of dharma in
Indian life?
Dharma requires one to do one’s duty
despite consequences.
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Analyzing Visuals
Examine the photographs on page 76
of your textbook. Explain how the
photos represent the caste system in
India. What photos would you take to
represent the class system in your
community?
Brahmans pray, while Untouchables
do degrading tasks.
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Close
Identify the central beliefs of Hinduism
and Buddhism. Explain the differences
between Hindu and Buddhist beliefs.
New Empires in India
Main Ideas
• The Mauryan dynasty flourished under
Asoka. 
• The Kushan kingdom prospered. 
• The Gupta Empire left a lasting legacy through
literature, architecture, and science. 
Key Terms
• Silk Road 
• pilgrim
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New Empires in India
People to Identify
• Asoka 
• Kalidasa 
• Faxian 
• Aryabhata 
• Huns 
Places to Locate
• Persia 
• Syria 
• Changan 
• Mediterranean Sea
• Antioch 
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New Empires in India
Preview Questions
• How did the Kushan kingdom become
prosperous? 
• In what way did early Indian literature influence
the Indian people?
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New Empires in India
Preview of Events
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listen to the audio again.
Committed to spreading impartiality,
cheerfulness, truthfulness, and goodness
throughout his kingdom, Asoka once said,
“All men are my children. As for my own
children, I desire that they may be
provided with all the welfare and
happiness of this world and of the next,
so do I desire for all men as well.”
The Mauryan Dynasty
• After 400 B.C., India faced new threats
from the west–first from Persia, then from
Greece and Macedonia, under Alexander
the Great. 
• Alexander invaded northern India in 327
B.C.

• He left quickly, but his invasion gave rise
to the first Indian dynasty.
(pages 81–82)
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The Mauryan Dynasty (cont.)
• Chandragupta Maurya, who ruled from
324 to 301 B.C., founded the new Indian
state. 
• This first Indian Empire was highly
centralized and governed by an ideal of
exercising power impartially. 
• The empire was divided into provinces,
ruled by governors. 
• The king had a large army and secret
police.
(pages 81–82)
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The Mauryan Dynasty (cont.)
• The Mauryan Empire flourished under the
reign of Asoka, Chandragupta Maurya’s
grandson. 
• Most consider Asoka the greatest Indian
ruler ever. 
• He converted to Buddhism and governed
in accordance with Buddhist ideals. 
• His kindness was legendary. 
• He set up hospitals for people and
animals, and he ordered a system of
shade trees and shelters for travelers.
(pages 81–82)
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The Mauryan Dynasty (cont.)
• India flourished economically under
Asoka. 
• It became an important crossroads in a
commercial network from the Pacific Rim
to Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean
Sea. 
• Asoka died in 232 B.C. 
• The empire then declined. 
• The last Mauryan ruler was killed in 183
B.C., and India fell into disunity.
(pages 81–82)
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The Mauryan Dynasty (cont.)
The Buddha taught that people should
have compassion for all sentient (feeling)
creatures and always try to not harm
them. What in Asoka’s way of governing
embodies this idea?
Compassion motivated him to set up the
hospitals for people and animals, and to
provide shelter and shade for travelers.
(pages 81–82)
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The Kushan Kingdom and the
Silk Road
• In the first century A.D., nomadic warriors
established the Kushan kingdom in what
is now Afghanistan. 
• It spread south as far as the central
Ganges Valley.
(pages 83–84)
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The Kushan Kingdom and the
Silk Road (cont.)
• The Kushans prospered by the trade that
went through their country. 
• Most of the trade was between the
Roman Empire and China, along a 4,000
mile route called the Silk Road. 
• It reached from Changan in China to
Antioch in Syria on the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea.
(pages 83–84)
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The Kushan Kingdom and the
Silk Road (cont.)
• Because camel caravans were dangerous
and expensive, merchants shipped only
luxury goods on the Silk Road. 
• Chinese merchants traded silk, spices,
tea, and porcelain. 
• Indian merchants shipped ivory, jewels,
and textiles. 
• The Romans traded glass, jewels, and
clothes. The Romans especially desired
silk. 
• The Roman name for China was Serica,
(pages 83–84)
or “Land of Silk.”
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The Kushan Kingdom and the
Silk Road (cont.)
What are the most important trade routes
for contemporary America? Why?
(pages 83–84)
The Kingdom of the Guptas
• Persian invaders ended the Kushan
kingdom in the third century A.D.
Chandragupta, a local prince, established
a new kingdom in 320. 
• His son, Samudragupta, expanded the
empire. 
• He was famous for his physique and
exploits in war.
(pages 84–85)
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The Kingdom of the Guptas (cont.)
• The kingdom of the Guptas became the
dominant political force in northern India. 
• It created a new age of Indian civilization,
especially under its greatest ruler,
Chandragupta II, who ruled from 375 to
415. 
• A Chinese Buddhist monk named Faxian
spent several years in northern India, and
he admired the Gupta rulers, their
tolerance of Buddhism, and the region’s
economic prosperity.
(pages 84–85)
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The Kingdom of the Guptas (cont.)
• The Gupta Empire prospered principally
from mining and trade. 
• The Gupta rulers owned gold mines, silver
mines, and vast lands. 
• They traded salt, cloth, and iron
domestically and as far away as China
and the Mediterranean.
(pages 84–85)
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The Kingdom of the Guptas (cont.)
• The Gupta Empire profited greatly from
religious trade with pilgrims. 
• Pilgrims travel to religious sites to
worship. 
• Cities famous for their temples and as
religious centers rose up along the main
Indian trade routes.
(pages 84–85)
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The Kingdom of the Guptas (cont.)
• Later Gupta rulers lived extravagantly,
which weakened the people’s loyalty. 
• In the fifth century A.D., invasion by
nomadic Huns from the northwest
weakened the empire. 
• It finally died out completely by the end of
the seventh century. 
• North India would not be reunited for
hundreds of years.
(pages 84–85)
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The Kingdom of the Guptas (cont.)
Empires and dynasties often declined in
part because the rulers increasingly lived
lives of great luxury. How might this lead
to a government’s decline?
This tendency of ancient rulers to concern
themselves with opulent living caused
them to increase taxes unjustly to support
their extravagance, caused the lower
classes to resent their rulers, caused the
rulers to lose touch with their subjects, and
caused powerful lords to covet the throne.
(pages 84–85)
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The World of Indian Culture
• India has one of the richest cultures in
world history. 
• Indian civilization has made contributions
in the arts and sciences. 
• Consider literature, architecture, and
science. 
• The Vedas are the earliest known Indian
literature. 
• These Aryan texts are religious. 
• Originally passed down orally, eventually
they were written down in Sanskrit.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• With writing came the early Indian epic
poems, the Mahabharata and the
Ramayana. Both recount the legendary
deeds of great warriors. 
• The Mahabharata was probably written
around 100 B.C. 
• It is the world’s longest written poem. 
• It describes a war between cousins for
control of the kingdom.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• The most famous part of the poem is the
Bhagavad Gita, in which the god Krishna
on the eve of a battle expresses an
important idea of Indian society: When
deciding how to act, do not consider
success or failure, but only the action’s
morality.
(pages 85–86)
The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• The Ramayana recounts how the fictional
ruler Rama is banished from his kingdom
and has to fight a demon that kidnapped
his wife. 
• This text also teaches moral lessons. 
• Rama stands as the ideal Aryan hero, and
Sita embodies perfect wifely loyalty to her
husband. 
• These books remain important in Indian
culture to this day.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• Kalidasa is one of ancient India’s most
famous authors. 
• His poem, The Cloud Messenger, remains
one of the most popular poems in
Sanskrit. 
• Early Indian architecture flourished during
the Mauryan Empire, especially under
Asoka. 
• He wanted to spread the ideas of
Buddhism, and so he built many religious
structures.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• The three principal religious structures
were the pillar, the stupa, and the rock
chamber. 
• The pillars marked sites pertinent to the
Buddha’s life. 
• A carving with a Buddhist message
topped these huge pillars. 
• Stupas were built like burial mounds and
held relics of the Buddha, such as a lock
of hair. 
• Stupas rose quite high, and each was
surrounded by a spire.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• Legend said that in order to spread
Buddhism, Asoka ordered the construction
of eighty-four thousand stupas. 
• Rock chambers carved out of
mountainsides served as houses for
monks and halls for religious ceremonies. 
• Ancient Indian scientists were most known
for astronomy. 
• They charted the movements of the
heavenly bodies, recognized that Earth
was a sphere, and believed rightly that
Earth rotated on its axis and revolved
around the sun.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
• Ancient Indian mathematicians were very
important. 
• Aryabhata was the Gupta Empire’s most
famous mathematician. 
• He was one of the first scientists known to
have used algebra. 
• Indian mathematicians also introduced
the concept of zero.
(pages 85–86)
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The World of Indian Culture (cont.)
Most ancient people believed mistakenly
that the sun revolved around the earth.
Why did they believe this, and what does
this show about knowledge?
Ancient people believed the sun revolved
around the earth because this is how it
appears to everyday perception. This fact
shows that knowledge often comes from
looking beyond or behind appearances.
(pages 85–86)
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Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
__
A 1. a route between the Roman
Empire and China, so called
because silk was China’s
most valuable product
__
B 2. a person who travels to a
shrine or other holy place
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A. Silk Road
B. pilgrim
Checking for Understanding
Explain what sorts of goods were
carried on the Silk Road, and why.
Luxury goods were carried on the Silk
Road because of expense.
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Checking for Understanding
List three examples of early Indian
architecture.
Pillars, stupas, and rock chambers
are three examples of early Indian
architecture.
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Critical Thinking
Analyze How do the historic epics
Mahabharata and Ramayana reflect
real life in early India?
Strong moral lessons reflect religion’s
importance in real life.
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Analyzing Visuals
Examine the painting of Krishna
shown on page 85 of your textbook.
How does this painting reflect Aryan
culture? What fundamental ideas are
represented in the picture?
The painting shows that Aryan culture
stressed social hierarchy. The idea that
some serve, while others are served is
represented in the picture.
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Close
Speculate on why Hindu religion,
social structure, and customs remain
deeply embedded in Indian life.