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Unpredictable river flooding Strong winds and monsoons Protected to the north by the massive Himalayan Mountains

Artifacts and buildings discovered in 1922 Writing discovered but still not translated

Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro Both had a well-planned grid pattern Built with extensive plumbing systems

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa The lower city was laid out in a gridiron with the main streets about 45 feet wide. Private houses, Own well, bath, and toilet. Brick-lined drains flushed by water carried liquid and solid waste to dumps, where it was carted away, probably to fertilize nearby fields.

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa To the north is a citadel or raised area. In Mohenjo-Daro, the citadel is built on an architectural platform about 45 feet above the plain. On the summit was a huge communal bath. Next to the large bath was a huge open space—a granary where food was stored from possible floods. Fortified walls mark the southeast corner.

Farmed wheat, barley, melons Used irrigation systems and canals Traded cotton cloth, grain, copper, bronze pearls, & ivory

Included a mother goddess of creation Polytheistic Included a mother goddess of creation Used images of sacred animals such as the bull and tiger lukerosa@gmail.com

Indus Valley Burial Sites Heads pointing to the north Some grave goods, such as pots of food and water, small amounts of jewelry, simple mirrors, and some cosmetics. Not extravagant like royal burials of Egypt or even of Mesopotamia.

Society ends around 1500 BC Theories include natural disasters (tsunami, earthquake) Possible invasion by Aryans

Indo-European people Migrate into India through Khyber Pass around 1750 BC Begins the Vedic Age based on the Vedas

Written in Sanskrit beginning about 1500 BC The oldest scriptures of Hinduism Include poems, prayers, and the Hindu Gods & Goddesses

The Caste System Originally based on color: Aryans were “wheat-colored” and Dravidians were darker skinned. Four Main Varnas or Castes: Priests (brahmins) Warriors and Aristocrats (Kshatriyas) Cultivators, artisans, and merchants (vsaishyas) Landless peasants and serfs ( shudras) Untouchables (people who performed dirty tasks) added much later Caste comes the Portuguese word casta which refers to a social class of herditary and unchangeable status. When Portuguese merchants visited India during 16th century, they noticed the sharp, inherited distinctiosn between different social groups, which they referred to as castes. Scholars have employed the term caste ever since in reference to the Indian social order. When Aryans first entered India, they probably had a fairly simple society consisting of herders and cultivators led by warrior chiefs and preists. As they settled in India, however, growing social complexity and interaction with Dravidian peoples promted them to refine their social distincitions. The Aryans used the term varna, a Sanskrit word meaning color to refer to the major social classes. This terminology suggests that social distinctions arose partly from differences in complexion between the Aryans who referred to themselves as wheat colored and the darker skinned Dravidians. Over time Aryans and Dravidian mixed, mingled, interacted, and intermarried to the point that distinguishing between them was impossible. Nevertheless in early Vedic times differences between the two peoples probably prompted Aryans to ase social distinctions on Aryan or Dravidian ancestry. After about 1000 BCE the Aryan increasingly recognized four main varns.

This hierarchy develops into Hindu caste system Establishes the basis for Hindu society lukerosa@gmail.com