INDUS VALLEY

• 2500-1500 B.C.E.

GEOGRAPHY
• The mountains guard an enormous flat and
fertile plain formed by two rivers –
– The Indus and Ganges Rivers
• Modern day India, Pakistan, Nepal, and
Bangladesh
• Seasonal winds called monsoons dominate
India’s climate.
 GOVERNMENT
• Rulers based their power on a belief of divine
assistance.
 CITY PLANNING
• No one is really sure how human settlement
began in India – perhaps they arrived by
sea from Africa and settled the south.
• Archaeologists have found the ruins of
more than 100 settlements along the Indus.
• The largest cities were Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro.
• The people of the Indus laid out their cities
on a precise grid system.
• Buildings were constructed of oven-baked
mud bricks.
• Public wells provided a regular supply of water
for all inhabitants.
• Bathrooms featured an advanced drainage
system.
• Wastewater flowed out to drains located under
the streets and then was carried to sewage pits
beyond the city wall.
• Only a well-organized government could have
maintained such carefully structured cities.
 CONTRIBUTIONS

• 1ST plumbing system

• Vedas (collection of hymns)
• Math and writing system
– concept of zero, decimal system
 What happened to the Indus Valley people?

• Floods, and earthquake, changes in climate, and

even a change in the course of the Indus River
weakened the civilization.

-- Invaders – the Aryans – brought its final end.

 ARYANS
Who were the Aryans?
• Around 1500 b.c.e., they crossed over the
northwest mountain passes and conquered the
Harappans.
• The Aryans excelled in the art of war.

GOVERNMENT
• Various Aryan leaders were known as rajas
(most skilled leader)
 SOCIETY & RELIGION
• Out of the clash between conqueror and
conquered came a set of social institutions and
class divisions that has lasted in India, with only
minor changes, to the present day.
• The caste system was a set of rigid social
categories that determined not only a person’s
occupation and economic potential, but also his
or her position in society.
• It was based in part on skin color.
 The Caste System
1. Brahmans -- priestly class
2. Kshatriyas -- warriors
3. Vaisyas -- commoners
4. Sudras -- dark-skinned peasants; did the work that
the above three would not do; made up a large
percentage of the Indian population
5. Untouchables -- Those who were considered impure
because of their work (butchers, gravediggers,
collectors of trash); were not considered human;
made up 5% of the population
 Family
• Life in ancient India centered on the family, the
most basic unit in society.
• The ideal was an extended family, with three
generations – grandparents, parents, and
children – living under the same roof.
• The family was patriarchal.
 HINDUISM
• Hinduism is the world’s oldest religion.
• Hindus worship many gods, which represent
different forms of Brahman (most divine spirit in
the Hindu religion)
 Basic Belief
• Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are the three main
gods of Hinduism:
– Brahma – creator of the universe
– Vishnu -- preserver of the universe
– Shiva -- destroyer of the universe
• The Vedas contains prayers and hymns (the
oldest Hindu scriptures)
• They believe in reincarnation.
• The soul’s karma – good or bad deeds – follows
from one reincarnation to another.
 BUDDHISM
• Buddhism appeared in 6 b.c.e. and became a
rival to Hinduism.
• Founder – Siddhartha Gautama, known as
Buddha “Enlightened One”
• According to Buddhism, achieving wisdom is a
key step to achieving nirvana, or ultimate reality
-- the key to happiness was detachment from all
worldly goods and desires.
 Rituals
• They have a special regard or veneration to
cattle.
• Each year, thousands of Hindus make a
pilgrimage to India’s Ganges River.
• The Ganges is considered a sacred site in the
Hindu religion.
 CONTRIBUTIONS
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Epic Mahabharata
– Mix of history, mythology, religion