1. Indus River Valley & Hinduism

2. Indian Sub-Continent Diverse Geography  Wall of mountains
guard top of India
 Two major rivers
(Indus, Ganges)
 Monsoon Season
Winter/Summer

3. Monsoons Seasonal Winds Oct-May (Winter) Blow dry air
June-Sep (Summer)
Blow moisture from oceans
Narrow band of lush tropical land lies along the coast of southern India

4. Environmental Challenges
Indus river floods unpredictable
 too much: wash away villages
 too little: drought
 Silt: Good for farming
Mountains provide natural barrier
Too much rain could wash away villages, too little rain and people will starve
Leave behind deposits of silt
Indus Valley Rivers gave an easy access to the sea

5. The Harappan Civilization
3300 BCE BCE

6. A Civilization Rises Could have come from Africa by sea
Could have come from mountain pass
Know little about civilization
Have not deciphered writing
Historians know very little about this civilization
Have not deciphered their writing
At it’s height the civilization it influenced a much larger area larger than Mesopotamia and Egypt

7. Planned Cities Sophisticated city planning Citadel Precise Grid System
Used oven bricks
Plumbing & sewage system
Citadel
Fortified area with major buildings
Around 2500BC while Egyptians were building pyramids the Indus valley people were laying first bricks for cities.
Archaeologists have found around 100 settlements in the valley.
Largest cities were Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa
Mesopotamians were a jumble of buildings connected by a maze of winding streets

8. Citadel Of
Mohenjo- Daro

9. Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro

10. Bathing Platform in Mohenjo-Daro

11. Culture Prosperous Society
Early images of Hinduism and worship of cattle
Long-Distance Trade
Digs found clay and wooden kids toys to show that they could afford to produce nonessential goods
Found fertility images and mother goddess figures. Found early images of Hindy god of Shiva
Seals found in Sumer and Sumerian objects found in Indus River Valley

12. Cows on Delhi Streets

13. Mysterious End? River changed course? Wore out the land?
Natural Disaster or Invasion?
Decline occurred around 1750BC
So floods no longer fertilized fields to the city
Overgrazing, overfarmed, over cut trees
Found 28 bodies in ruins of Mhenjo-Daro that were not buried.
Aryan nomads would come into the valley and would help Indian civilization grow again

14. Indus Seals Pictographs Not a form of writing Depicts how they lived
Archaeologists have found thousands of these square seals with pictographs

15. Aryan Invasion of India

16. The Aryans Homeland: Caspian and Aral Seas Light-skinned people
Crossed mountain passes into India
 referred to people in India as dasas,
meaning dark (or slave)
First written language called Sanskrit
Little archaeological record
Vedas: sacred literature
 4 collections of prayers & instructions for rituals
 most important collection: Rig Veda
{1,028 hymns to gods)

17. Sanskrit & Vedas

18. Could not move up the ladder!
The Aryan Caste System
Could not move up the ladder!

19. Aryan Caste System
Complete your caste system foldable by rotating through the Solution Stations located around the room and in the hall.
Remember to follow in numerical order to avoid traffic jams.

20. Mahabharata
Epic that reflects struggle of Aryans as they move South in India
 a conflict of cultures
Main character is Krishna
 dark skinned (non-Aryan warrior)
 instructs young warrior on how to live
** “…dishonor is worse than death”

21. Ramayana Great Epic 24,000 versus in 7 books
 Story of Rama (incarnation of Vishnu) rescuing his wife Sita from demon king of Lanka

22. Hinduism
Complete your provided questions as you watch Religions of the World: Hinduism.

23. Origins Collection of religious beliefs that developed over time
No founder
Hindus see religion as a away of liberating the soul from the illusions, disappointments and mistakes of everyday existence

24. Key Beliefs All life is connected Difference between
Atman: individual soul
Brahman: world soul

25. Key Beliefs Goal to achieve perfect understanding
Reincarnation- rebirth of soul
Karma: good or bad deeds
Your karma determines the life you are reborn into
When a person understands relationship between atman and Brahman they can achieve perfect understanding called moksha
This does not come in one lifetime and people rebirth until it is achieved
Karma follows from one reincarnation to another. Karma influences specific life circumstances, such as the caste one is born into, one’s state of health, wealth or poverty or so on.

26. Gods Brahma: The Creator Vishnu: The Protector Shiva: The Destroyer
Many Gods
The world soul, Brahman has been seen as having personalities of three gods
Over the years Brahma faded into the background while the many forms of great Mother Goddess grew in importance

27. Sacred Literature
Upanishads: how to achieve liberation from suffering and desire
Vedas: collection of prayers, spells and rituals

28. Caste System: Who’s Who

29. Effect on Society Belief of karma Hinduism dominates life
Strengthens caste system
Hinduism dominates life
If person has upper caste such as a male, warrior or merchant his good fortune earned in a former life; if a female, laborer or untouchable might be bad deeds in former life
It determines what they can eat, how to eat it, cleanliness, who to associate with, how to dress

30. Modern Day Traditions Jainism Everything has a soul
NOTHING should be harmed
Wear masks to avoid breathing insects
 Sweep ants off path
Founded by Mahavira and think nothing should be harm
Monks sweep ants off a path and wear gauze masks over their mouths to avoid breathing in an insect accidentally

31. Hindu Temple in New Delhi

32. Resources: Darrell Wells - Hickory Ridge HS, NC Chris Balga – Hickory Ridge HS, NC Susan Pojer – Horace Greely HS, NY Russell Olson – Robinson HS, NC