1. The
Geography
of the
Indian subcontinent

2. South Asia

3. The Size of South Asia

4. Countries Afghanistan China Iran Bhutan Nepal Pakistan Myanmar India
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka

5. Topography of
South Asia

6. Bodies of Water Indus R. Brahmaputra R. Ganges R. Bay of Bengal
Arabian Sea
Indian Ocean

7. The Ganges River System
1,560 miles long

8. “Mata Ganga” (Mother Ganges)

9. The Brahmaputra River System
1,800 miles long

10. Floods on the Brahmaputra: 2003

11. Flooding on the Brahmaputra

12. The Indus River System
1,975 miles long

13. Mountains & Peaks Hindu Kush Khyber Pass I I Karakoran Mts. Himalayas
Mt. Everest ▲
Himalayas
Vindhya Hills
Eastern Ghats
Western Ghats

14. Hindu Kush

15. The Khyber Pass

16. The Himalayas “him” [snow] “aalaya” [home]
Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet. It is the highest mt. peak in the world.

17. The Himalayas

18. “Fire Rim of the Pacific”

19. 2004 Earthquake In Indonesia: Tsunami Devastates Indian Ocean Coastlines!

20. the Tsunami’s Devestation
100,000s dead!

21. Deserts / Plateaus
Tibetan Plateau
Thar Desert
Deccan Plateau

22. The Deccan Plateau 31,800 square miles in size.
Elevation range: 2,000 – 8,000 feet high.
From the Sanskrit word, “dakshina” [“the south”].

23. The Tibetan Plateau The “Roof of the World.”
average elevation is 16,400 feet.

24. The Thar Desert The Great Indian Desert 200 - 1500 feet in elevation.
up to 127ºF in July.

25. Climate of
South Asia

26. Climate Regions of South Asia

27. Winter Monsoons: Nov.-April

28. Summer Monsoons: May-Oct.

29. Maurya
&
Gupta
India

30. Chandragupta: 321 BCE-298 BCE
Unified northern India.
Defeated the Persian general Seleucus.
Divided his empire into provinces, then districts for tax assessments and law enforcement.
He feared assassination [like Saddam Hussein]  food tasters, slept in different rooms, etc.
301 BCE  gave up his throne & became a Jain.

31. The Maurya Empire
321 BCE – 185 BCE

32. Kautilya Chandragupta’s advisor. Brahmin caste.
Wrote The Treatise on Material Gain or the Arthashastra.
A guide for the king and his ministers:
Supports royal power.
The great evil in society is anarchy.
Therefore, a single authority is needed to employ force when necessary!

33. Asoka (304 – 232 BCE)
Religious conversion after the gruesome battle of Kalinga in BCE.
Dedicated his life to Buddhism.
Built extensive roads.
Conflict  how to balance Kautilya’s methods of keeping power and Buddha’s demands to become a selfless person?

34. Asoka’s Empire

35. Asoka’s law code
Edicts scattered in more than 30 places in India, Nepal, Pakistan, & Afghanistan.
Written mostly in Sanskrit, but one was in Greek and Aramaic.
10 rock edicts.
Each pillar [stupa] is 40’-50’ high.
Buddhist principles dominate his laws.

36. One of Asoka’s
Stupas

37. Women Under an Asoka tree

38. Turmoil & a power Vacuum: 220 BCE – 320 CE
Tamils
The Maurya Empire is divided into many kingdoms.

39. Gupta Empire: 320 CE – 647 CE

40. Gupta Rulers Chandra Gupta I Chandra Gupta II Hindu revival.
r. 320 – 335 CE
“Great King of Kings”
Chandra Gupta II
r CE
Profitable trade with the Mediterranean world!
Hindu revival.
Huns invade – 450 CE

41. Fa-Hsien: Life in Gupta India
Chinese Buddhist monk traveled along the Silk Road and visited India in the 5c.
He was following the path of the Buddha.
He reported the people to be happy, relatively free of government oppression, and inclined towards courtesy and charity. Other references in the journal, however, indicate that the caste system was rapidly assuming its basic features, including "untouchability," the social isolation of a lowest class that is doomed to menial labor.

42. Chandra Gupta II

43. International Trade Routes during the Guptas

44. Extensive Trade: 4c spices silks cotton goods rice & wheat spices
horses
gold & ivory
gold & ivory
cotton goods

45. Kalidasa The greatest of Indian poets.
His most famous play was Shakuntala.
During the reign of Chandra Gupta II.

46. Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.
Gupta Art
Greatly influenced Southeast Asian art & architecture.

47. 500 healing plants identified Printed medicinal guides
Gupta Achievements
1000 diseases classified
500 healing plants identified
Printed medicinal guides
Kalidasa
Literature
Plastic Surgery
Medicine
Inoculations
Gupta India
C-sections performed
Solar Calendar
Astronomy
Mathematics
Decimal System
The earth is round
PI =
Concept of Zero

48. The Decline of the Guptas
Invasion of the White Huns in the 4c signaled the end of the Gupta Golden Age, even though at first, the Guptas defeated them.
After the decline of the Gupta empire, north India broke into a number of separate Hindu kingdoms and was not really unified again until the coming of the Muslims in the 7c.