1. Global History I: India
Indus River Valley
Global History I: India

2. Geography & Its Impact
Location: Northernmost part of the Indian subcontinent & modern day Pakistan

3. Geography & Its Impact The Monsoons
Seasonal winds in the winter and summer.
If easterly winter winds prevailed, then there was drought
If westerly summer winds prevailed, then there was severe flooding

4. Monsoons

5. Monsoons

6. Geography & Its Impact Geographic Isolation
The Indus River runs between the Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountains
The mountain ranges often limited contact with other cultures
Protected Harappan civilization from invasion (until Aryans in 1500 B.C.E.)

7. Planned Cities on the Indus
Planned urban centers of Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa
Cities laid out on a grid (Like Manhattan above 14th Street)
Both cities’ blocks, structures, and buildings were almost identical
What does this suggest?

8. Citadel
Mohenjo-Daro

9. Mohenjo-Daro

10. Harappa

12. Planned Cities on the Indus
Layout of Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro
Homes
At least two stories
All had a courtyard with a balcony
Most had a small well and bathtub
Water
In Mohenjo-Daro a basin known as the Great Bath was built
Running water
Shows emphasis on cleanliness & purification

13. Achievements & Contributions
Sewers & baths
Almost every home had a small bathroom
Drainage in the streets to clear waste

14. Achievements & Contributions
First to weave cotton
Used bricks to build structures
Mud bricks
Wood bricks
Standard size weights and measurements

15. Bull seal
Government
Rulers within the cities of the Indus Valley governed through the control of trade and religion rather than military strength.
The rulers carried seals with animal symbols
No monuments built to rulers; no palaces
Believed to be an egalitarian society
City-states were controlled by a small number of merchants, landowners and religious leaders
Priest-King Statue

16. Interesting Tidbit
Archaeologists have uncovered more TOYS than WEAPONS in their excavations of Harappan cultures.

17. Aryan Migration
Aryans  nomads who most likely originated in modern Iran
Eventually many Aryan tribes settled in the Indus Valley forgoing their nomadic ways

18. Aryan Invasion Religion Not much is known about Indus religion
Seals that cannot be deciphered suggest a polytheistic & nature worshipping religion
Fertility was of paramount concern
Under Aryans, the religion is mixed with the Aryan and Indus beliefs and Hinduism forms over a period of time

19. Aryan Invasion The Vedic Period (1900 – 500 BCE)
The Vedas  books in which Aryans record their beliefs
Development of a caste system
Emerged to subjugate the native people of India to Aryan rule
Term Aryan comes from the Sanskrit word “Arya,” which means “noble”