Download Indus Valley Civilization

Indus Valley Civilization
2500 B.C.E.
Roots of Indus Valley
Civilization
Earliest civilizations in
Indus Valley was
discovered in 1856
by a railroad crew.
• Harappa
• Mohenjo-Daro or “Hill of
the Dead”
• Both cities shared urban
design and architectural
features.
• 3 miles in circumference
with populations of
40,000
Page: 92
Roots of Indus Valley
Civilization
Roots of Indus Valley began
as early as 7000 B.C.E.
• Possibly began as herders who
moved into the river valley
during colder months.
• Over time, they may have
decided to farm – river-watered
lands of the valley.
• They began trading by boat
along the Indus down into the
Arabian Sea, into the Persian
Gulf, and up the Tigris and
Euphrates into Mesopotamia.
Carefully Planned Cities
• Originating around 2500
B.C.E. the thriving
civilizations survived for
around 500 years.
• Both Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro, two of the
largest among 500 sites,
were three miles in
circumference with
around 40,000 people.
Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa
• To the north is a citadel or
raised area.
• In Mohenjo-Daro, the citadel is
built on an architectural platform
about 45 feet above the plain.
• On the summit was a huge
communal bath.
• Next to the large bath was a
huge open space—a granary
where food was stored from
possible floods.
• Fortified walls mark the
southeast corner.
Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa
•The lower city was laid out in a
gridiron with the main streets about
45 feet wide.
•Private houses, almost every one
with its own well, bathing space,
and toilet consisting of a brick seat
over a drainage area.
•Brick-lined drains flushed by water
carried liquid and solid waste to
sumps, where it was carted away,
probably to fertilize nearby fields.
Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa
•The town plan was regular.
•Even fire-baked bricks were uniform in
size and shape.
•The regularity of plan and construction
suggests a government with
organization and bureaucratic capacity.
•No monumental architecture clearly
marks the presence of a palace or
temple.
•There is little sign of social stratification
in the plan or buildings.
India’s Vedic Age
Early Civilization
Disappears
•Sometime before 1700 B.C.E. the Indus Valley
people began to abandon their cities
•No one is sure of the causes
•Disease
•Loss of resources
•Climate change
•Foreign invasion
Enter: The Aryans
• By 1500 B.C.E Aryans had
migrated into the Indus Valley
through the Hindu Kush
• Nomadic warriors
• Mixed with local people
• Overtime people across India
called themselves Aryans
The Vedas
•After settling in India the Aryans composed the
Vedas
•Collection of hundred of sacred hymns
•Passed down by word of mouth in Sanskrit
•Rig Veda
•Best known Veda
•More than 1000 hymns
•Writing
•Began around 500 B.C.E.
Aryan Life
•Much of what we know about Aryan life comes from
the Vedas
•Valued cattle
•Provided both food and clothing
•Measured wealth by the size of their herd
•Skilled warriors
•Two-wheeled chariots
Growth of Vedic
Civilization
•Over time Aryan culture slowly spread into the
Ganges Plain
•Initially organized by clans
•People who believe they share a common ancestor
•Later republics
•Made decisions in an assembly
•Eventually Kings
•
The Caste System
•Over time India developed a social structure based
on caste
•A fixed social class into which a person is born
•Based on family occupation
•Brahmins- priests
•Kshatriyas- rulers and warriors
•Viashyas- landowners, bankers, merchants
•Sudras- Farmers, laborers, servants
The Development of a Patriarch Society
•Aryan Society had a strong patriarchal social order at the
time of their migration into India.
•All priests, warriors and tribal chiefs were men.
•Women influenced affairs within their families but had no
public authority.
•Women rarely learned the Vedas and were denied formal
education.
•Sati, the practice of a wife sacrificing herself on her
husband’s funeral pyre, was considered noble.
The Vedic Age
1500 B.C.E. – 500 B.C.E.
The foundations for
Hinduism were
established!
Religion in Vedic Age
• Brahmins in the Vedic age
memorized the Vedas and passed
them down through word of mouth
• During this time Brahmins were the
only ones who were allowed to
preform religious rituals (this gave
Brahmins a lot of power)
The Evolution of
Hinduism
• Around 500 B.C.E. Indians began to adapt to
town and city life
• People no longer believed it was as important to
carry out precise rituals
• People began to seek answers to difficult life
questions and Hinduism evolved from the answers
Upanishads
• Answers to the new
questions survive in the
Upanishads
• Upanishads become
Hindu holy scriptures
alongside the Vedas
Upanishads
• Explain two basic
beliefs of Hinduism
• 1. One supreme spiritual force,
Brahman
• 2. Everyone is born with a soul
Epic Poems
• Epic= long story of a hero told in verse
• Ramayana and Mahabharata