1. Topic 3 Ancient India and China (2600 B.C.-A.D. 550)
Lesson 1 Early Civilization in South Asia

2. Learning Objectives Describe the Indian subcontinent’s geography.
Understand the clues archaeology has provided about the rise and fall of the Indus civilization.
Analyze the main characteristics of the Aryan civilization and the Vedic Age.
Explain what ancient Indian epics reveal about Aryan life.

3. Key Terms subcontinent plateau monsoons Harappa Mohenjo-Daro
veneration
acculturation
Vedas
rajahs
Indra
Brahman
Mystics
large landmass juts out from a continent
raised area of level land
seasonal winds
twin capitals of the civilization
special regard
Blending of two or more cultures
Aryan hymns, chants, ritual instructions
Aryan chiefs
Aryan god of war
A single spiritual power
People who seek direct communion with the divine

4. Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
In the early 1900s, archaeologists digging in the Indus River valley of Pakistan made some startling discoveries. They unearthed bricks, small clay seals, figurines, and other artifacts dissimilar in style to any they had seen before. The archaeologists soon realized they had uncovered a civilization that had flourished 4,500 years earlier.

5. Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
Analyze Maps The Indian subcontinent has a diverse range of geographic features. Where did most people in ancient India settle? Why?

6. Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
The Western Ghats rise up behind fertile farm fields in Pune, India.

7. Geography of the Indian Subcontinent
Monsoons bring life-giving rains to the Indian subcontinent. Analyze Information How does the wind influence monsoons?

8. The Forgotten Indus Civilization
About 2600 b.c., the earliest South Asian civilization emerged in the valleys of the Indus River and the now dried up Saraswati River in present-day Pakistan and India. The Indus civilization flourished for about 700 years. However, only since the 1920s have its once-prosperous cities emerged beneath the archaeologists’ picks and shovels.
Archaeologists have investigated numerous Indus sites. Unfortunately, they have not yet turned up any names of kings or queens, tax records, literature, or accounts of famous victories.

9. The Forgotten Indus Civilization
Well-Planned Cities Reveal Organized Government—Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Farmers (most people), Traders (went to Sumer cities), and Weavers (first to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth)
Indus Religious Beliefs-Polytheistic, veneration for cattle
A Mysterious Decline-scholars not sure invaders, cut down too many trees, major flood, earthquake, or drought

10. The Forgotten Indus Civilization
Archaeologists discovered cities of the ancient Indus civilization in the 1920s. This excavated drainage system is in the city of Lothal, discovered in 1945.

11. Aryan Civilization and the Vedas
During the centuries between 2000 b.c. and 1500 b.c., a new civilization developed after the decline of the Indus civilization. Although there is debate about how this civilization formed, it would shape the subcontinent for centuries to come.

12. Aryan Civilization and the Vedas
Aryan Migration into India---Indo-European moved into area married locals
From Nomads to Farmers---Rajahs-Aryan chiefs
Aryans Structure Society---4 groups, Brahmins, Kshastriyas, Vaisya, Sudras
The Aryan Religion---Polytheistic, Indra (chief diety), later toward a notion of Brahman, single spiritual power

13. Aryan Civilization and the Vedas
The Vedas were recited for many years before they were written down. This page is from the Rig Veda, or “Knowledge of the Hymns of Praise,” the largest Veda, containing over 1,000 hymns.

14. Aryan Civilization and the Vedas
The Aryans divided their people into castes, or groups, based on occupation. Infer How does the way Purusha’s body is divided show the status of a particular group in Aryan Society?

15. The Great Vedic Epics
By 500 b.c., Indian civilization consisted of many rival kingdoms. Archaeologists have learned that cities were growing rapidly at this time as people left the countryside to practice skilled crafts. By this time, too, the written language, Sanskrit, that priests had used to write sacred texts began to flourish in literary usage.

16. The Great Vedic Epics Mahabharata Describes Warfare and Religion
Ramayana Teaches Values

17. The Great Vedic Epics
Artworks depicting scenes from the Mahabharata have been created since ancient times. This folk-art painting on cloth shows the god Krishna in a chariot pulled by horses.