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Indus River Valley:
2500 BC
 The
culture Harappa (named after
the city Harappa) existed along the
Indus River in what is present day
Pakistan.
 It flourished for 1,000 years then
vanished without a trace until this
century.
River Valley Life: The Positives
Many Natural Resources
Fresh water / Timber (Himalayans)
 Cedar / Timber (in Valleys)
 Gold, silver, semi-precious stones.
 Marine resources: Coastal settlements
were involved in fishing and trading,
using the monsoon winds to travel to
Oman and the Persian Gulf region.

River Valley Life: The Negatives
The Great Monsoon Balance
 Monsoons
shaped Indian life.
 If the monsoon was late,
devastation occurred (famine,
starvation)
 If the monsoon was too heavy,
rushing rivers would flood
Twin Capital Cities:
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
 URBAN
PLANNING: Well-known for
impressive, organized layout. They
were part of a unified government with
extreme organization.
 INDOOR
PLUMBING: Well laid out
plumbing / drainage system, including
indoor toilets.
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa
Economy-Trade
 The
civilization was mainly urban and
mercantile.
 Indus
valley traded w/ Mesopotamia,
S. India, Afghanistan, and Persia for
gold, silver, copper, and turquoise.
 Mesopotamia
model of irrigated
agriculture used along Indus River.
Other Civilization Uniqueness:
 Egalitarian
(classless) / equitable
distribution of wealth => socialism?
 First
vaccination of smallpox
 Cultivate
cotton for production of cloth
 Originated
the concept of zero and
decimal system of numbers
Harappan Astronomers?
 Language
translation not complete, but
indications they understood astronomy
 Straight
streets of the Indus cities are
oriented towards cardinal directions.
 The
Vedic calendar created about the
time the Indus civilization flourished.
Language
 Indus
people used pictographic script
 Script often contain realistic pictures
of animals worshipped as sacred
 This material is important to the
investigation of the Harappan
language and religion
 Undeciphered writing system:
Comparing First Writing:
Four Theories of Collapse
 Archaeologists
offer 4 explanations:
 Three are based on ecological
factors: intense flooding, decrease
in precipitation, and desertification
of the Sarasvati River.
 The fourth hypothesis is that of the
Aryan Invasion
Possible route of the Aryans
The Aryan “Invasion”
 Invaders
from North
 Restless, warlike people
 Tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned
 Difficulty of theory: no evidence of
large-scale military conquest. They
just co-existed.
The Aryan “Invasion”, cont.
 Settled
over a long period of time
 More primitive than the earlier culture
 New society by 1,200 B.C. or so
 Little evidence
 Not literate
 No record system
The Early Aryans
 Pastoral
economy: sheep, goats,
horses, cattle
 Religious and Literary work:
Four Vedas – songs
 1,028 hymns / prayers to gods

 Foundation
for which religion?
The Caste System
 The
Vedas: Our primary source of
info about Aryans explained their
caste system:
 Brahmins: the priests
 Kshatriyas: the warriors
 Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
 Untouchables
History of South Asia
Stone Age
before 10000 BC
Mature Harappan
2600–1700 BC
Late Harappan + Aryans
1700–1300 BC
Iron Age
1200–300 BC
Maurya Empire
• 321–184 BC
Middle Kingdoms
230 BC–1279 AD
Satavahana
• 230 BC–220 BC
Gupta Empire
• 280–550 AD
Islamic Sultanates
1206–1596
Mughal Empire
1526–1707
Sikh Confederacy
1716-1849
British India
1858–1947
Modern States
since 1947
Arthur A. McDonnell once wrote,
“Early India wrote no history because it
never made any. The ancient Indians
never went through a struggle for life like
the Greeks, the Persians and the
Romans. Secondly, the Brahmans early
embraced the doctrine that all action and
existence are a positive evil and could
therefore have felt but little inclination to
chronicle historical events.”