Ancient India

Geography: What is a subcontinent? • Large landmass that juts out from a continent

• Contains 1 ½ million square miles

• Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka

• Less than 1/3 is arable (fertile)

What are the three major zones of the Indian Subcontinent?

• The well-watered northern plain

• The dry triangular Deccan Plateau

• The coastal plains on either side of the Deccan

Northern Plain

• Lies just south of the mountains

• Very fertile• Watered by

the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra Rivers

The Deccan Plateau

• Triangular raised area of level land that juts into the Indian Ocean

• Arid, unproductive, and sparsely populated

Coastal Plains • Separated from the Deccan by low lying mountains-Eastern and Western Ghats

• Rivers and heavy seasonal rains provide water for farmers

• Seas available for fishing & trade

The Monsoon

• Significant impact on daily life• Rain needed for crops• If late, famine and starvation• If too heavy, deadly floods

occur• In October, the winter

monsoons blow from the NE & bring hot, dry air that withers crops

• May/June, the wet summer monsoons blow from the SW, pick up moisture from the Indian Ocean & drench the land with daily downpours

Barriers: The Himalayas

• World’s highest mountain range

• North of the 1500-mile wide Hindustani plain

• Restricts overland entry into subcontinent

Barriers: Jungles

Barriers: Hindu Kush

Pathway: Khyber Pass

• Passes provided the main link with Eurasia

• Allowed numerous invaders to enter and settle

• Contributed to the cultural, racial, linguistic diversity

Indus River Valley

• Western region of the Indus valley

• India’s Neolithic revolution &1st civilization

• 100,000 square miles

• Drained by the snow-fed Indus River and four main tributaries– the Punjab – the Sind

Ganges Plains

• Much wetter• Snow-fed by the

Ganges-Brahmaputra river valleys

• 115,000 square miles of India’s best agricultural land

• Most populous region• Rice

Deccan• Semi-tropical peninsula• Large triangular plateau that

extends into the India Ocean• Agriculturally inferior to North India• infertile soil and limited water• Crops totally dependent on

unpredictable monsoon rains• Rain is reduced because of the

Western and Eastern Ghats• Navigation on the Deccan rivers

very difficult in dry season• Few good natural harbors• Proximity to SE Asia helped it to

have influence• Distance from Northern India

enabled it to preserve its own political & cultural identity

What was the Indus Valley Civilization?

• Emerged in Indus River Valley in present-day Pakistan about 2500 BCE

• Flourished for about 1000 years-then vanished

• Cities only recently excavated

Life in Indus River Valley

• Rich soil provided surplus wheat and other grains

• Food surplus=population increased

• Population increased=cities

• 2500 BCE-1500BCE, well planned cities flourished – Mohenjo-Daro– Harappa

Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro• Large, well-planned,

dominated by hill-top structure– Fortress? Temple?– Huge warehouses to store

grain– Well-organized

government– Powerful Priests-kings?– Mathematics, surveying

skills– Uniform weights &

measure– Houses built with uniform

oven-fired clay bricks• Modern Indoor plumbing

systems• Baths, drains, and water

chutes that led to sewers

Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa

• Contemporary to Egypt’s Middle Kingdom & Mesopotamia’s Ur Dynasty

• Covered about ½ million square miles

• Discovered in the 1920’s

• Very wealthy– Bronze tools, copper,

pottery, gold and silver

Economy: How did people make a living?

• Barley, melons, dates• Cultivated cotton for cloth• Merchants• Traders• Ships carried cotton cloth,

grain, copper, pearls, and ivory combs

• Contact with Sumer inspired them to develop writing system

Religion

• Polytheistic• Mother goddess• Sacred animals

– Bull– Veneration of cattle

begun here?

Why did this civilization disappear?

• Around 1750 BCE, quality of life declined

• Cities fell into disorder• Crude pottery• Volcanic eruption?

– mud found in the streets indicates the Indus may have flooded

• Earthquake?• Environmental damage?

– -trees cut down to fuel the ovens for bricks

The Aryans • By 1500 BCE, nomadic people from southern Russia migrated into the area

• Cattle, sheep, goats

• Horse-drawn chariots and superior weapons overran the Indus region

• Warrior culture• Destroyed and

looted the weakened Indus Valley civilization

The Aryans• Rose in the NE

along the Ganges• One of many

groups of Indo-Europeans who migrated across Europe and Asia seeking water and pasture for their horses and cattle

• No cities • no statues • No stone seals• What we know

comes from the Vedas

The Vedic Age: 1500-500BCE

• Collection of prayers, hymns, and other religious teachings

• Priests memorized and recited the Vedas for a thousand years before they were written down

• Aryans portrayed as warriors who loved drinking, music, chariot races, dice games

• Valued cattle

Aryan Society

• At first, warriors enjoyed the most prestige

• Later, priests gained respect and power because they claimed only they could conduct the ceremonies needed to win the favor of the gods

• Aryans felt superior to the Dravidians-conquered people who may have been the original Indus valley descendants

Aryan Society

• Divided people by occupation

• Brahmins = priests• Kshatriyas = Warriors• Vaisyas = herders,

farmers, artisans, merchants

• Sudras = farmworkers, servants, laborers

Aryan Society: Jati (Caste System)

• Class divisions were social and economic not ethnic

• Eventually developed into the complex caste system

• People were born into their caste and could not change

Aryan Religious Beliefs• Polytheistic• Gods and goddesses

embodied natural forces such as the sky, sun, storm, fire

• Brahmins sacrificed food and drink

• Rituals and prayers call on the gods for health, wealth and victory in war

• Later evolved into a single power of the brahman, that resided in all things

• Mystics devoted their lives to spiritual truth-meditation, yoga, spiritual and bodily discipline

• Sought direct communion with divine forces

Expansion and Change

• Over many centuries, waves of Aryans went through the mountain passes into NW India

• Tribes were led by rajahs– Most skilled war leader– Elected by an assembly of

warriors– Ruled with the advice of a

council of elders made up of heads of families

Aryans: From Nomads to Farmers• Aryans mingled with people

they conquered• Gave up nomadic ways and

settle into villages• Spread east to the Ganges• By 800BCE, they learned to

make tools of iron• Iron axes and weapons helped

them create villages in the rainforests of the NE

• Tribal leaders fought to control trade & territory

• Some rajahs became powerful hereditary rulers

• Walled cities arose in the jungles

Expansion and Change

• New civilization emerged in about 500 BCE• Many rival kingdoms• Aryan and Dravidian cultures blended together• Common written language-Sanskrit• Priests began writing down the sacred texts.

Epic Literature:The Mahabharata & The Ramayana

• Despite the development of written language, the Aryans continued their strong oral tradition

• Continued to memorize and recite ancient hymns and long, epic poems

• Mix of mythology, adventure, and religion

The Mahabharata• Greatest epic with 100,000

verses• Battles of Aryan tribes and

how they won control over the Ganges region

• Five royal brothers, the Pandavs, lose their kingdom to their cousins

• 18 day battle, they regain their kingdom and restore peace to India

• Bhagavad-Gita reflects important Indian religious beliefs about the immortality of the soul and the importance of duty

The Ramayana

• Hero Rama and his beautiful bride Sita

• Sita is kidnapped by the demon-king Ravan

• Rama rescues Sita with the aid of the monkey general Hanuman

What role do these epics play in Indian society?

• Over the years, priests added new morals to the tales to teach different lessons

• Rama = virtuous, brave = ideal king

• Sita = virtuous, loyal, obedient = ideal woman

What was the impact of the Aryans?

• Religious beliefs evolved into major world religions

• Hinduism• Buddhism• Caste System