India Lesson 1 - GEA

Geography, Economics, Achievements

Geography • India is part of Asia, but is isolated by several natural barriers

• To the north is a massive wall of the world’s tallest mountains called the Himalayas

• East is the Bay of Bengal• To the West is the Thar

Desert and the Arabian Sea

What continent is India part of?

What are the natural barriers that protect India?

Geography • Indus River Valley is were civilization began in India

• The Ganges River Valley also provided fertile land

• Monsoons were strong winds that blew in opposite directions in the winter and summer

• Summer winds brought moist/warm air from the Indian ocean (South), important for farming

• Winter winds brought dry/cold air from the Himalayas (North)

What river valley developed India’s first civilization?

What was India’s first civilization?

What are monsoons?

How were the monsoons important?

Economics

• The Harappans were primarily farmers and traders. There is evidence of frequent trade with the Mesopotamians.

• Later, India continued to be an important trading party with the Mediterranean region as they passed along what they traded with China.

What was the main occupation of the Harappans?

What important role did India play in the trade between China and the Mediterranean?

Harappan Achievements• Cities were well planned and

built on a grid, had indoor plumbing

• The Great Bath was a large religious bath

• developed a system of weights and measures

• developed the first system of writing in India, cannot read this writing

What were harappan cities like?

What was the Great Bath?

What does the Great Bath and indoor plumbing imply about what was important to the Harappans?

Why do we know so little about the Harappan civilization?

Indian Achievements during Gupta dynasty

• Mahabharata was an important epic written in Sanskrit that taught the values of Hinduism

• Hindu-Arabic Numerals 1. first decimal system.2. base 10 system3. decimal fractions.4. place-value numbers.

The “place” you put a number showed its “value.”

• Everyone uses Hindu-Arabic Numerals today. Create any number with only 10 symbols.

What was the purpose of the Mahabharata?

Describe Hindu-Arabic Numerals.

What is the importance of Hindu-Arabic Numerals?

Indian Achievements during Gupta dynasty

• Invented the zero.

• The zero makes the place-value system possible.

• Discovered the Earth is round and moves around the sun.

What did the Indians invent that is so important to math?

Why is the zero important?

By studying the movement of the stars and sun, what were the Indians able to determine?

Other Indian Achievements• Medicine; they invented

inoculation, or the injecting into a person a substance that will heal or protect.

• Could perform surgery

What is inoculation?