Ancient India

3000 BCE – 500 CE

Geography
The Indian subcontinent is composed of a
number of core regions including mountain
ranges, river valleys, dry interior plateaus
and fertile coastal plains.
Deccan
In the north are the Himalayan
mountains, the highest mountains in the Plateau
world.

South of the Himalya is the Ganges River

valley, one of the chief regions of Indian
Culture.

To the west is the Indus River

Valley, which is the cradle of Indian
civilization.
The Deccan plateau extends from the
Ganges to the southern tip of India. It is
hilly and dry.
The coastal regions of India are lush and
India is dependent on the monsoon, a
seasonal wind pattern that brings in moist air
during the summer and dry air during the
winter. It also brings heavy rains in the
southwest. Farmers depend on these rains to
grow crops. If the rain comes early or late, or
not enough rain comes, the crops are
destroyed and people may starve.
First Civilizations: Harappa & Mohenjo Daro

Early civilizations in India

flourished in the valleys of the
Indus River. Between 3000 BCE
and 1500 BCE, the Indus River
valley supported civilizations that
extended hundreds of miles
from the Himalaya to the
Arabian Sea.

Archaeologists have found the

remains of over 1,000 settlements
Arabian Sea
in this region.
Two sites, Harappa and Mohenjo-
Daro, were major cities with
advanced civilizations.
Harrappa
At its height, Harappa had about
35,000 inhabitants. The city was
carefully planned. The main
streets ran north-south and were
crossed by smaller roads going
east-west.

Houses varied in size, with

some as tall as three stories.
Most buildings were made of
Computer Rendering
mud that was baked in ovens.

Public wells were used to supply

water and bathrooms had an
advanced drainage system. The
Harappans had one of the
world’s first sewer systems.

Harappan Ruins
Mohenjo-Daro

Like Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro

was a carefully planned city
with wide streets and lanes.

Mohenjo-Daro also had a

sewer system that took
wastewater under the streets
and beyond the city walls.

They also used a system of

chutes to move trash from
houses to street-level
bins, just like we do today!
Politics
 Harappan rulers based
their power on a belief in
divine assistance. Religion
and political power were
closely linked.
 Harappan rulers lived in
palaces that were also holy
temples. These sites were
built like fortresses or
citadels, which were
capable of being easily
defended if attacked.
Harappan Temple  Around 1500 BCE, the
Harappans were conquered
by the Aryans, a group who
moved from the Hindu Kush
(Southeast Asia) into
northern India.
Aryans
1500 BCE – 400 BCE
Around 1500 BCE, a group of
Indo-European nomadic
(wandering) people moved from
their homeland in Asia to
Northern India. They conquered
the Harappans and created a
new Indian society based on their
own culture.

The Aryans excelled at the art of

war and over the next 500 years
Movement of
Aryans
they advanced eastward from the
Indus Valley, across the Ganges
plain. They eventually moved
south into the Deccan plateau
and extended their control to
most of India.
Aryan Culture
After settling in India, Aryans settled as
farmers. The introduction of iron
(probably from near Mesopotamia)
helped the Aryans settle in India. They
used iron plows to farm and
irrigate, and used iron tools to help
clear the dense jungle growth along the
Ganges River.
Sanskrit enabled them to write down
The Aryans had no written language legends, religious chants, and rituals.
until they settled in India and The history written between 1500
developed Sanskrit. and 400 BCE portrayed India as
separate warring kingdoms, with
leaders carving out small territories
and fighting other kings.

The conquest of India by the Aryans

had a lasting impact on Indian
society that lasted through modern
times.
Society

 India is famous for its caste system –rigid social categories

that determine not only a person’s occupation and
economic potential, but also his or her position in society.
Based partly on skin color, but mostly on birth, it was rarely
possible to move from one caste to another.
Caste System
 There were five major divisions of Indian classes (known as
castes in English):
 Brahmans: The priestly class, whose members were
called Brahmans, were the top of the social scale. They were in
charge of religious ceremonies.
 Kshatriyas: The warrior caste, the Kshatriyas defended states
and waged wars. Sometimes families from other castes were
accepted into the warrior ranks.
 Vaisyas: Commoners, most Vaisyas were merchants or
farmers.
 Sudras: The largest part of the Indian population, the Sudras
were not Aryans and the term Sudras probably referred to dark-
skinned natives of India. Most Sudras were peasants or
manual laborers. They had only limited rights in society.
 Untouchables: The lowest level of Indian society, the
untouchables were given menial, degrading tasks that others
would not accept, such as collecting trash or handling the dead.
They lived difficult lives, as their presence was considered
harmful to members of other classes. None of the other classes
would eat food handled by Untouchables and they lived in
separate areas away from the other classes.
Family Life
 Family was the most basic unit of Indian society. It was not
uncommon for three generations – grandparents, parents, and
children – to live under one roof.
 The family was patriarchal (led by the oldest male), who held
legal authority over every member of the family.
 Indians believed in the superiority of the male over the female;
only males could inherit property (there were sometimes
exceptions if there were no sons). Women could not be priests
and were rarely educated.
 Upper-class men were not supposed to marry until they
completed 12 years of study. Men could take a second wife if
the first did not bear children. Marriages were arranged by the
parents and girls often married very young.
 Children were important because they were expected to take
care of their parents as they grew older.
 The most vivid symbol of male dominance was the ritual of
suttee, where women were expected to throw themselves on
their husband’s funeral pyre (fire) and thus die with their
husbands.
Religion

 Hinduism had its origins in the religious beliefs of the Aryan people who
settled in India after 1500 BCE.
 The Aryan people left behind Vedas, collections of hymns and religious
ceremonies that were passed down through the centuries and eventually
written down.
 Early Hindus believed in the existence of a single force in the universe, a
form of ultimate reality or God, called Brahman. It was the duty of the
individual self – called the atman – to seek to know this ultimate reality.
Hinduism
Hindus believe the individual
soul is reborn in a different
form after death. This process
is called reincarnation.

After a number of existences in

the earthly world, the soul
reaches its final goal in a union
with Brahman.

Hindus believe all living beings

seek to achieve this goal.

An important part of reincarnation is the idea of karma, the force generated by a

person’s actions that will determine how the person will be reborn in the next
life. According to karma, how you live in this life affects your next lives. The
concept of karma is ruled by the dharma or divine law. The law requires all
people to do their duty, depending on your status in society. More is expected of
those at the top of the social scale than of the lower castes.
Hinduism
The system of reincarnation was used to provide a justification for the strict
social class system (the caste system) in Indian society.

Their belief in karma and dharma allowed them to justify the privilege of the
higher classes – they earned it through good karma and reincarnation. It
also justified their treatment of the lower classes – who brought on their
status through bad karma.

The system also gave the lower castes hope, because if they lived a life of
good karma, they would be reincarnated into a higher class.
Hindu Gods The Hindu religion had many
human-like gods and goddesses
that were worshipped by ordinary
people. The three main gods were
Brahman the Creator, Vishnu the
Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer.

These gods were

worshipped in religious
temples and with
religious ceremonies
and holidays.

Vishnu

Shiva
Buddhism
In the sixth century BCE, a new
religion, called Buddhism,
appeared in northern India and
soon rivaled Hinduism.

Buddhism was founded by

Siddhartha Gautama, known as
the Buddha, or “enlightened
one.”

Siddhartha Gautama was from a small village in the Himalaya (Nepal). Born
around 563 BCE, he was the son of a wealthy ruling family. He was raised in
wealth, married a princess at age 16, and started a family.
In his twenties, Siddhartha became aware of the pain of illness, sorrow of
death, and the effects of old age on ordinary people. He decided to spend his
life seeking the cure for human suffering. He gave up his wealth, abandoned
his family, and set off to find the meaning of life.
Buddha (Siddhartha)
Siddhartha followed the example of
ascetics, people who practiced self-denial
to achieve an understanding of reality.
However, he almost died from not eating,
so he abandoned the ascetic way of life.
Instead, he practiced meditation.
Siddhartha claimed he reached
enlightenment while sitting under a tree
meditating.

He spent the rest of his life teaching what

he had discovered, the basic principles
of Buddhism.
Siddhartha
Siddhartha believed that the material world – the physical surroundings of
huma
ns – were illusions (not real). He believed if people would let go of their worldy
cares, their pain and sorrow could be forgotten and they could achieve bodhi,
or wisdom. Once wisdom is achieved, one can achieve nirvana, the ultimate
reality where the end of the self is reunited with the Great World Soul.
Four Noble Truths of Buddhism
 The beliefs of Buddhism are based on the Four Noble
Truths:
 Life is full of suffering
 This suffering is caused by our desire to satisfy ourselves.
 The way to end suffering is to end desire for selfish goals and to
see others as extensions of ourselves.
 The way to end desire is to follow the Middle Path
Eightfold Path (Middle Path) of Buddhism
1. Right View: We need to know the Four Noble Truths.
2. Right Intention: We need to decide what we really want.
3. Right Speech: We must seek to speak truth and to speak well of
others.
4. Right Action The Buddha gave five precepts: do not kill; do not steal; do
not lie; do not be unchaste; do not take drugs or drink alcohol.
5. Right Livelihood: We must do work that uplifts our being.
6. Right Effort: Following the way must be done with steady and
forward- looking effort.
7. Right Mindfulness: We must keep our minds in control of our senses.
8. Right Concentration: We must meditate to see the world in a new
Buddhism
Siddhartha accepted the idea of
reincarnation, but he rejected the caste
system of the Hindus.

He believed all human beings could reach

nirvana as a result of their behavior during
their lives.

Siddhartha also rejected the multitude of

gods in Hinduism.

Siddhartha died in 480 BCE at the age of

80. His followers spread Buddhism
throughout India. Temples and
monasteries sprang up throughout India
and provided housing and training for
monks dedicated to the simple life and
pursuit of wisdom.
Indian Culture & Innovation

 The earliest known literature in India were Vedas, which were

primarily religious. When writing developed, Indian writers
produced epics like the Mahabharata, which contained a
section called the Bhagavad Gita, which is a sermon by the
god Krishna on the eve of a major battle. It is one of the most
famous pieces of Indian literature.
Indian Culture & Innovation

Buddhist Stupa – note the mound-like shape

Taj Mahal – note the pillars

 Indian architecture was famous for its

pillars, rock chambers, and stupas.
 A stupa was made to house relics of
Buddha and were built in the form of
burial mounds. They eventually became
a place for devotion and the most
familiar form of Buddhist architecture.
 Rock chambers were carved out of rock
cliffs to house monks or for religious
ceremonies Ajanta Caves (rock chambers)
Indian Culture & Innovations
 The Ancient Indians possessed an impressive amount of
scientific knowledge, particularly in astronomy. They charted
the movements of the heavenly bodies and recognized that
Earth is a sphere that rotates on an axis and revolves
around the sun.
 You can also thank the Ancient Indians for Algebra, as
Aryabhata, the most famous mathematician of the
Gupta Empire was one of the first scientists to use
Algebra.
 Indian mathematicians also introduced the concept of
zero
and used a symbol (0) to represent it.
 After Arabs conquered India in the eighth century CE, they
adopted the Indian system. Today it’s known as the
Indian- Arabic numerical system.