1. ANCIENT INDIA

2. GEOGRAPHY
Great size and diverse landscapes = cultural diversity and hard to unite
Indian subcontinent
Subcontinent = a large landmass that is part of a continent
Three major geographic zones
Himalaya and Hindu Kush mountain systems
Deccan Plateau
Northern Plains
Monsoons = seasonal winds in India that bring rain in the summer

3. .

4. Indus River Valley Civilization
Two large cities have been discovered by archaeologists – Harappa and Mohenjo Daro
Cities were well-planned and laid out
Streets ran in a grid pattern
Community wells and public drainage systems
A large walled citadel (fortress) enclosed buildings such as granaries and meeting halls
Economy based many on farming and trade
Was believed to be a single society rather than a collection of independent city-states
The civilization declined and cities were abandoned
Floods? Disappearance of a river? Invasions?

6. Developed Sanskrit, their writing system around 1000 BC
The social structure was based on the caste system
Caste system = a set rigid categories in ancient India that determined a persons occupation and position in society
Caste = social class

7. Society was divided into four social classes called varnas
Brahmans = priestly class in charge of religious ceremonies, is the highest ranking
Kshatriyas = warriors and rulers
Vaisyas = commoners, mostly farmers and merchants
Sudras = people who were not Aryans, mostly peasants with limited rights in society, servants
The four varnas are also subdivided into hundreds of smaller castes
Untouchables = people who are not part of the caste system, lowest part of society
Are given menial, degrading tasks that other Indians would not accept (trash collecting, handling dead bodies)

9. Valued Cattle – Cows were sacred
Women had less rights and were not equal
Job was to have children and obey and respect their husbands at all times
Sati
Virtuous woman who joined her husband on his funeral pyre
In ancient India the dead were burned in a funeral pyre
Suttee required a wife to throw herself on her dead husbands flaming body to join him in death
Women who refused were considered disrespectful

10. The Aryans were polytheistic
One of their main gods was Indra, the god of war
Brahman = single spiritual power beyond the gods
The Aryans practiced the religion of Hinduism