SPRING 2021

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY
HIS102: INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CIVILIZATIONS

Lecture 5:
Beginning of Civilization in South Asia:
Indus Civilization
Dr. Kazi Maruful Islam
kazi.islam07@northsouth.edu
4 March 2021
 TALKING POINTS

• Geography and Climate of ancient

Indus settlement
• Harappan civilization
• Mahenjo Daro
• Social condition
• Religious and Cast System
• Buddhism
• Aryan Invasion
• Ancient Dynasties
• Arts, Science and Technology
 ANCIENT CIVILIZATION IN SOUTH ASIA

• South Asia is one of the four early places where

human civilization began—similar to Egypt (Nile), China
(Yellow), and Iraq (Tigris and Euphrates).
• Civilization in South Asia began along the Indus

• Indus Civilization 2500 B.C.E. – 500 A.D.

 INDUS CIVILIZATION 2500 B.C.E. – 500 A.D.

vAncient India is still visible and accessible to us in a very direct

sense, through its literature, its religions and its customs.
vA caste-system whose main lines were set by about 1000 BC still
regulates the lives of millions.
vGods and goddesses whose cults can be traced to the Neo- lithic
are still worshipped at village shrines.
 GEOGRAPHY

• Surrounded by ocean on three sides

• The Himalayan and Hindukush Mountains provide protection
from the north
• Indus and Ganges Rivers lie south of the northern mountains
• The Deccan Plateau makes up most of the country
• Early inhabitants were sea traders
 PHYSICAL FEATURES

• India is separated from the rest of Asia by the

Himalayas (kept out invaders)
• Two great rivers:
• Ganges River (through fertile valley)
• Indus River (through drier plain)
 CLIMATE

• Monsoons and high temperatures

• Monsoons are winds that signal a change in
seasons
• November – March = little rain
• Mid June – October = wet season
 INDUS RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

• Early Civilizations
• 1st great civilization was from 2500 BC – 1500 BC
• Two main cities were Mohenjo Daro & Harappa
• Large
• Water system
• Public Bath
• Sewer
• Strong central fortress – Citadel
• Store houses for grain
 HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

• Arose in Indus River valley around 2500 BC and lasted through

1500 BC (same time as Egypt’s Old and Middle Kingdoms)
vHarappa and Mohenjo Daro were the two major cities of the
region
vMohenjo Daro translates as “Mound of the Dead”
vCitadel was strong central fortress in both cities
 CITY CIVILIZATION

• Both cities were large and carefully planned

• Had public baths, brick sewers, and some two-story
homes had bathrooms
• Had irrigation canals and ditches
MOHENJO-DARO

Mohenjo-Daro This map shows the layout of

Mohenjo-Daro, one of the principal cities of the
Indus Valley civilization. The larger eastern area
contained the residential and commercial sections
of the city, which were laid out in a grid of large
rectangular blocks. Rising more than twenty feet to
the west stood the citadel, built on a mound of mud
brick and rubble. Fortified by a brick wall and
towers, the citadel contained the city’s shrine,
assembly hall, baths, and granary.
 TECHNOLOGY

vStorehouses for grains could hold food for 35,000 people

vAbility to store and distribute surplus food shows strong
central government
• Evidence of writing from 2300 BC
• Can’t decipher it
• Most are personal seals with names on them
 RELIGION

¨No temples, shrines, or religious writings have been found

¨May have held rituals in homes or outdoors
¨Buried their dead in wooden coffins along with many pottery
vessels that were probably filled with food for the afterlife
¨Most people were buried with some simple jewelry, such as
shell or copper bracelets and agate beads
¨Elaborate ornaments of gold, silver and precious stones were
never included in burials and must have been kept by the living
relatives
 ECONOMY

vRich farmland around cities – grew cotton, wheat,

barley, rice and raised cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats
vTraded with Mesopotamia by 2300 BC
vMade cloth, pottery, bronze items, gold and silver
jewelry
 DISAPPEARANCE

vUnsure as to why they disappeared around 1700 BC

vFloods, violence, or an earthquake are all ideas
vSeveral complete skeletons were found
vPeople appear to have abandoned their homes and
possessions
 INDO-ARYANS

§ Nomads from the North who established Indian civilization around

1750 BC
§ We know about them through their religious writings called Vedas
§ Aryans today are called Indo-Europeans and Indo-Iranians, depending on
location
§ Indo-Aryans brought new religion (Hinduism) and a new language
(Sanskrit) to northern India
§ The word Aryan has to do with ancestry and language group
§ Hitler misused this word to his own benefit, to try to show “pure” roots of
his people
 INDO-ARYANS

• They also brought the idea of the caste system

• Distinct social classes appeared in Indian society
• People were not able to move classes after birth
• The fifth class was the Untouchables – garbage collectors, movers of
dead bodies, etc.
• Farming provided a living for people in the North
• Trade provided a living for people in the South
• Silk, cotton, wool, ivory, spices, gems
• To Far East, SW Asia, Africa, and Europe
 INDO – ARYAN MIGRANTS

• Nomadic Indo – Aryans

• Sheep and cattle herders
• Skilled warriors
• Most of what we know came from the Vedas
• Vedas are ancient religious records and stories
• Told from generation to generation
• Written in Sanskrit by scholars
 INDO – ARYAN MIGRANTS

• Indo – Aryan Religion

• Early gods were based on elements of nature, such as:
• Earth Shiva
• Fire
• Water
 INDO – ARYAN MIGRANTS

• Early Indo-Aryan Society

• Built civilizations at the end of the Neolithic Age
• Governed by a raja
• These people had lighter skin
• Developed a social structure with priests and warriors at the
top
• Arranged marriages were common
 INDO – ARYAN MIGRANTS

• Indo – Aryan Economy

• Grew
• Wheat
• Barley
• Rice
• Sugar cane
• Vegetables
• Language was an early form of Sanskrit
 HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

• Upanishads and the Epics

• Some began to question the authority of the Brahmans
• Collection of writings was called the Upanishads
• Eventually combined into two epics (poems)
• Mahabharata and Ramayana
 HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

• Caste System Developed Rulers and

Warriors
• Complex form of social
hierarchy Brahman priests

• Five varnas (classes) Merchants, traders,

farmers

Peasants

Pariahs/Untouchables
HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

• Spread of Buddhism
• Buddha himself only had a few followers
• Split into two sects
• Theravada (Southeast Asia)
• Buddha was great teacher and leader
• Mahayana (East Asia)
• Buddha was God and Savior
 ANCIENT INDIAN DYNASTIES AND EMPIRES

• Mauryan Dynasty
• King Bimbisara of Magadha began to unify India
• Helped to fight off invaders from Persia
• Chandragupta Maurya
• Started Mauryan Dynasty
• Controlled most of India
• Developed mining and weaving towns
• Standardized weights throughout kingdom
• Established physician qualifications
• He slept in a different room each night, fearful of assassination
attempts
 ANCIENT INDIAN DYNASTIES AND EMPIRES

• Mauryan Dynasty
• Asoka
• Grandson of Chandragupta Maurya
• Extended control of empire to all of India except southern tip
• Spread Buddhism with missionaries
• Revised laws
• Advanced India culturally and politically
• After his death the empire would slowly decline
 ANCIENT INDIAN DYNASTIES AND EMPIRES

• The Gupta Rulers

• New dynasty lead to rise of Hinduism and decline of Buddhism
• Gupta family came to power
• Expanded territory
• Conquest
• Intermarriage
• Society prospered under their rule
• Gave more power to local leaders
 ANCIENT INDIAN LIFE AND CULTURE

• Economy and Society

• Most economy came through trade
• Sold:
• Wool, Cotton, Spices, Silk, Precious gems, Ivory
• Women did not have the same rights as men
• Obey fathers
• Obey husbands
• If husband died, obey sons
• Sometimes they would throw themselves on the burning funeral pyre
of their husbands
• Called Suttee
• Polygamy was practiced
 ANCIENT INDIAN LIFE AND CULTURE

• Cultural Achievements
• Art and Architecture
• Early Buddhist art show Greek and Roman influence
• Growth of Hinduism brought about growth of temples
• Education
• Very advanced
• University of Nalanda – center of higher learning during Gupta era
• First people to use algebra and solve quadratic equations
• Also came up with concept of innoculation
• Infecting a person with disease to build up immune system
 LETS WATCH THESE TWO VDOS

• https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-
beginnings/ancient-india/v/indus-valley-civilization

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD49hdyBaHU
THANKS