1. The Indus Valley Civilization

2. Geography  Part of the Indian sub-continent, shaped like a triangle  Subcontinent- a large landmass that juts out from a continent  Features:  Himalayas- mountains  Hindu Kush- mountain ranges  Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass- passages that allowed migration  Ganges region  Deccan- hilly dry and sparsley populated plateau  Plateau- raised area of level land  Ghats- low mountains

4. Monsoons  Defining feature of Indian life  Seasonal winds that regularly blow from a certain direction  October: winter monsoon  Mid-June: summer monsoon  Picked up moisture over the Indian Ocean and drenched the land with downpours

6. First Civilization  Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa (3000-1300 BCE)  Major cities that flourished in Indus Valley  35-40,000 people  Well planned cities with main streets, walled neighborhoods, public wells, drainage systems  Organized government  Able to flourish for hundreds of years due to well-organized government, careful ubran planning, location in a river valley

8. Rulers and Economy  Rulers based their power on divine assistance  Holy temple and Royal Palace were combined in one fortress  Economy: based on farming- wheat, barley, and peas  Trade was carried on with Mesopotamia  We know very little about Indus Valley because we cannot decipher their writing

9. Decline of the Indus Valley  Not sure why it decline  Perhaps changes in climate and course of Indus River  Evidence of major floods and earthquakes  Probably not one single cause  Invasion of Aryans

10. Aryan Migrate into India  1500 BCE- nomadic and warlike people- Aryans- arrived in India  Traveled through the northwest mountain passes  Spoke the Indo-European languages  Most of what we know comes from the Vedas- collection of hymns and chants  Priests memorized the Vedas  1500-500 BCE known as the Vedic Age  **Foundation of Hindu religion**

11. Aryan Ways of Life  Aryan people were mixed  Settled into villages and learned farming (from Harappans)  Iron plow and irrigation  Crops: wheat, barley, rice, cotton, spices  Developed a writing system called Sanskrit by 1000 BCE  Recorded their history and legends  Aryan tribes were led by chiefs called rajas

12. Caste System  From the Vedas- learned that the Aryans divided their society into ranked groups based on occupation.  Caste System:  Rigid categories  Based in part on skin color- determined a person’s economic, social, and religious status  No social mobility

14. Family in Ancient India  Family- basic unit of Indian life  Ideal was an extended family with three generations living under the same roof  Patriarchal society- only males could own property, could be educated  Women married early  Women threw themselves on their husband’s funeral pyre in a ritual  **Culture placed little value on women as individuals**

15. Religious Beliefs  Polytheistic  Worshipped gods who embodied natural forces such as sky, sun, storm, and fire  Chief Aryan diety- Indra- the god of war  Animal deities  After Vedic Age- religion moves to brahman- single spiritual power