Bellwork In a few sentences, write anything down that you know
about India. It could be: Religion Geography (location) People
Language
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World History Section 3, Unit 3 (pt. 1) Indus Valley
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Objectives Identify the geography of India and the surrounding
area Explain the emergence (and disappearance) of early
civilizations
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Review Prior to this lesson, we discussed Egypt and
Mesopotamia, both of which have risen and fallen. Farther to the
east, another civilization was growing around 2500 B.C. There is
very little information about the true early Indian Civilizations,
but as we move forward, we will learn more about the advanced
societies that would follow.
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Geography of Southern Asia Southern Asia- including India,
Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh- are all separated from the rest of
Asia thanks to the Himalayan, Hindu Kush, and Karakoram Mountain
ranges, which are some of the highest ranges in the world.
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Geography of Southern Asia (cont.) The large mountain ranges
are believed to have occurred when India collided with the rest of
Asia millions of years ago. These ranges have helped form what is
known as the Indian Subcontinent- a self contained landmass that is
a division of another continent.
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Geography of Southern Asia (cont.) These high mountain rages
guard an enormous flat and fertile plain formed by two rivers-
Indus and Ganges Rivers. Question: What effect have rivers had on
other civilizations (Mesopotamia and Egypt?)
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Indus and Ganges Rivers The two rivers, and the land they are
near, stretch across 1,500 miles across northern India and are
referred to as the Indus- Ganges Range. Along the Indus River
specifically, existed the Indus Valley. South of the rivers, the
rest of the continent is a peninsula that stretches into the Indian
Ocean.
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Weather Seasonal winds often occur in India. These are called
monsoons and dominate Indias climate when they occur. From October
to May, winter monsoons blow dry air across the continent from the
northeast. During June, however, the winds shift and instead blow
from southwest, carrying moisture from the ocean. Question: What
effect would this have had on the development of
civilizations?
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Environmental Challenges The early Indian civilizations faced
similar problems that the Egyptians and Mesopotamians faced,
including flooding- which in India was unpredictable. As well,
increased winds mixed with too much rain and flooding could
devastate a village, while too little rain could cause crops to
wither away.
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Environmental Challenges However, the benefit of the Indus
River outweighed the cost: the river flowed into the sea, allowing
the Indus people to trade with others, including the Mesopotamians.
This is very similar to the Ancient Egyptians, who used the Nile to
trade with those along it or transport goods.
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Civilization Emerges Historians know very little about the
civilization that formed in the Indus Valley of western India. The
writing system has yet to be decoded, but some information is
coming from archeological evidence. However, keeping in mind the
flooding, much evidence is believed to have been washed away.
However, despite lack of evidence, most historians agree that the
civilizations that formed here controlled an area larger than
either Egypt or Mesopotamia.
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Arrival to India No one is exactly sure how the early people
settled in India, but we do know that overtime, nomadic people that
lived there began to domesticate animals and crops by around 7000
B.C.. By around 3200 B.C., people began to truly farm near the
Indus River, benefiting from the flooding that was occurring.
Skulls of the Indus River Valley People
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Formation of Cities By 2500 B.C., as the Egyptians were
building pyramids, people of the Indus Valley were laying mud
bricks for homes and small settlements- over a 100 settlements
would have existed within this time period. The largest of these
settlements are Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa.
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City Planning A remarkable achievement of the Indus Valley
people was sophisticated city planning, which included: precise
grid layouts of cities fortified areas that contained major
buildings separate residential areas plumbing sewage systems. The
uniformity of these systems rivaled any system that would exist by
the 19 th century.
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Central Government Because of the sophisticated city planning,
most historians agree that the early Indus Valley civilizations had
a strong central government.
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Culture and Trade Archeological evidence shows that Indus
civilizations were very stable and quite uniform (there was few
social divisions). Artifacts, such as toys, provide evidence that
the society was prosperous enough to afford goods that were not
essential to survival. As well, few weapons have been found in the
cities. Clay Figurine
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Religion Archeologists have discovered religious artifacts that
reveal links to modern Hindu culture (we will discuss Hindu in a
feature lesson). Figures show what may be representations of modern
Hindu gods, such as Shiva.
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Trade Stamps and seals have also been found and were probably
used to identify goods (merchants would stamp their goods). This
would probably reveal that the Indus people engaged in long-
distance trade. Trade is believed to have occurred around 2350 B.C.
and ended around 2000 B.C. Stamps
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Disappearance Around 1750 B.C., the quality of the building in
the Indus Valley declined. Gradually, the cities fell into decay.
Archeological evidence shows that the decay caused the great cities
to be abandoned.
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What happened? Why? There is no explanation as to why this
occurred. The little archeological evidence that does exist shows
that the mud bricks were exposed to extreme intense heat[1], which
is similar to other cultures that have disappeared mysteriously.
Activity: With your group, write four things you think could have
happened to these people to cause their cities to deteriorate? You
have one minute: be prepared to discuss at the beginning of class.
[1]www.ancient.eu.com/India
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Disappearance (cont.) There are theories as to what happened:
Overuse of the land (could no longer grow crops) Flood Natural
Disaster Attack from another group The intense heat exposed to the
bricks has yet to be fully explained.
Slide 23
Disappearance (cont.) The Indus Valley people finally
disappeared around 1500 B.C., in which a large scale catastrophe
occurred.
Slide 24
Forming of a New Empire After the fall of Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa, another Indian culture would take their place by around
1700 B.C.
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Questions? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask
now.
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Next Lesson In the next lesson, we will be looking at the
growth of Indian cultures due to the arrival of Indo-European
nomads.
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Review 1.What effect could the large mountain ranges have had
on the people in the Indus Valley? 2.What were the two rivers that
the early Indus people settled near? 3.Name at least two causes for
the decline of the Indus Valley people. Pick a cause and identify
how this may have also caused the decline of either Egypt or
Mesopotamia. 4.What characteristics of the Indus Valley
civilizations showed that they may have been highly sophisticated?
5.What was the effect of the Indus River on trade? How was this
similar to Ancient Egypt?