Download Chapter 3 Early Civilizations in India and China

Chapter 3
Early Civilizations in India and
China
Global History I
Mr. Schoff
Write any features of India that you see here…you
have 30 seconds…
Write any features of China that you see
here…you have 30 seconds…
OA
How has geography influenced India?
Chapter 3 Section 1
Introduction
2500 B.C. – 1st civilization in India
arose in Indus River Valley
– Carefully planned cities of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro
Mountains protected them, but
Aryans overran them anyway
– Formed new Indian civilization
Introduction continued
2000 B.C. – Chinese civilization emerged along
river valleys and the east coast of China
Desert and mountain barriers caused them to
grow independently
Made advances in astronomy and learned to
make books and silk
Both – religion was important, developed
metalworking and system of writing
Regions
Indian subcontinent divided into three
major zones
– Well-watered northern plain, dry triangular
Deccan, and coastal plains on either side of the
Deccan
Mighty rivers – Ganges, Indus,
Brahmaputra
– Carry melting snow from the mountains to the
plains, making agriculture possible
These rivers are sacred
– Indian name for river – “lok-mata” – “mother
of the people”
Monsoons
In October, winds blow from the NW,
bringing a flow of hot, dry air that withers
crops
May or June, wet summer monsoons blow
from the SW
– Pick up moisture over the Indian Ocean and
drench land with daily downpours
Shaped Indian life – welcome rains, but if
they are late, famine and starvation may
occur; if rains are too heavy, rushing
rivers release deadly floods
Indus Valley Civilization
Mystery – emerged in present-day
Pakistan about 2500 B.C.
Flourished for about 1,000 years, then
vanished without a trace
– No names of kings, queens, no tax records, no
literature, no accounts of famous victories
Covered the largest area of any civilization
until the rise of Persia more than 1,000
years later
Similar to Sumerian city-states
Two Main Cities
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Large, 3 miles in circumference
Hilltop structure, probably a fortress or
temple
Very well-planned
– Grid pattern with rectangular blocks larger
than modern city blocks, all houses were made
of oven-fired clay bricks, modern plumbing
systems with baths, drains, and water chutes
that led into sewers beneath the streets,
merchants used a uniform system of weights
and measures
More on Indus Valley
Well-organized gov’t
Powerful leaders, perhaps priestkings, made sure that the tens of
thousands of people in the city had a
steady supply of grain from the
villages
Skills in math and surveying to lay
out the cities so precisely
More…
Most people were farmers
– Wheat, barley, melons, dates
1st people to cultivate cotton and weave
fibers into cloth
Some people were merchants and traders
– Ships carried cargoes of cotton cloth, grain,
copper, pearls, and ivory combs
– Contact with Sumer…may have stimulated
Indus Valley people to develop own writing
system
Decline
1750 B.C. – quality of life was decreasing
Suggestions for decline
– Damage to local environment
– Too many trees cut down to fuel the ovens of brick
makers
– Tons of river mud found in the streets suggest that a
volcanic eruption blocked the Indus, which flooded the
city
– Devastating earthquake
Aryans slowly migrated and eventually overran
the Indus region
Cities were abandoned and eventually forgotten