1. Early India

2. India’s Geography 1) Subcontinent
2) Cut off from most of Asia because of the massive Himalayan Mountains

3. Geography Continue Rivers feed much of India’s landscape Monsoon
A.   Dry and cool when air is rushing from the mountains over India
B. Hot and Humid and a massive amount of rain when wind is coming from the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean
Seasonally flooding, from both mountain runoff and monsoon

4. Picture of the Monsoon

5. India’s First Civilizations
1)   Similar Mesopotamia and Egypt- towns started in river valleys with rich soil because of annual floods
A.   Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (3000 B.C B.C.): large cities for their time along the Indus River
B.   Fortress towns
C. Conveniences

6. Conveniences

7. Aryans (1500 B.C. - 400 B.C.)- Nomads from central Asia- moved into India
A.   Knew how to work iron
1.    Developed the iron plow: Effect- more settled has farmers
2.    New Language- Sanskrit. Origins related to European Languages
Rajas- Aryans organized themselves in small kingdoms that often warred against each other

8. Pictures from Aryan Period

9. Aryan’s also brought the caste system, which you need to memorize
Priests and educated people
Rulers and Aristocrats
Landlords and business men
Peasants and working class
Degrading jobs like sewage, many unemployed and living
in ghettos and garbage dumps
Considered sub-human and outside of the caste pyramid
Dalit/Untouchable

10. Caste System Continued
Way to separate Aryans from locals (skin color
Fused into Hinduism
Faced criticism throughout history (Buddha)
Formally banned by government in the 70s but legacy lives on today especially in rural areas

11. The Mauryan Dynasty (327 B.C. – 183 B.C.)
Alexander the Great’s Invasion
1.    Empowers Chandragupta Maurya
a.   Seizes Power across India and into Persia
b. Spies and the Postal Service

12. Asoka- Greatest Mauryan ruler (273 B.C. – 232 B.C.)
A.   Followed the teachings of Buddha
B.   Built hospitals (people and animals)
C.   Roads and Trees
D.  Spread Buddhism and built shrines
E. Tolerant of other religions

13. After Asoka Empire began to fall apart due to poor leadership. In 183 B.C. the last Mauryan ruler was assassinated by one of his own generals.

14. India’s Dark Ages lasted for about 500 years after the fall of the Mauryan dynasty

15. The Gupta Dynasty A. Broke Northern India’s Darks Ages
B. Grew prosperous by trade