Indus Valley Civilizations PDF

CONTRIBUTION S OF EARLY CIVILIZATIONS (INDIA & CHINA) Module 3 Lesson 3.2  Learning Objectives: At the end of this module, you will be able to: G e o g r a p h y o f I n d u s Va l l e y Early civilizations in the I n d u s Va l l e y 2 3 Geograp...

CONTRIBUTION S OF EARLY CIVILIZATIONS (INDIA & CHINA) Module 3 Lesson 3.2  Learning Objectives: At the end of this module, you will be able to: G e o g r a p h y o f I n d u s Va l l e y Early civilizations in the I n d u s Va l l e y 2 3 Geography of Indian Subcontinent ▧ Geographers often ▧ A wall of the highest refer to the landmass mountains in the that includes India, world—the Hindu Pakistan, and Kush, Karakorum, Bangladesh as the and Himalayan Indian ranges—separates subcontinent. this region from the rest of the Asian continent. 4 Geography of Indian Subcontinent ▧ The world’s tallest ▧ The mountains guard mountains to the an enormous flat and north and a large fertile plain formed desert to the east by two rivers—the helped protect the Indus and the Indus Valley from Ganges invasion. 5  ▧ The Indus River flows ▧ The Ganges southwest from the drops down from Himalayas to the the Himalayas Arabian Sea. and flows eastward across northern India. It joins the Brahmaputra River as it flows to the Bay of Bengal. ▧ Much of the lower Indus Valley is occupied by the Thar Desert. 6 ▧ The Indus and Ganges and the lands they water make up a large area that stretches 1,700 miles across northern India and is called the Indo- Gangetic Plain. 7 ▧ Below the Indo- Gangetic Plain, the southern part of the subcontinent is a peninsula that thrusts south into the Indian Ocean. The center of the peninsula is a high plateau cut by twisting rivers. ▧ This region is called the Deccan Plateau. The plateau is framed by low mountain ranges called the Eastern and Western Ghats. 8 ▧ Seasonal winds called monsoons dominate India’s climate. ▧ From October to February, winter monsoons from the northeast blow dry air westward across the country. Then, from the middle of June through October, the winds shift. 9  Environmental Challenges ▧ Yearly floods spread ▧ The cycle of wet and deposits of rich soil dry seasons brought over a wide area. by the monsoon However, the floods winds was along the Indus were unpredictable. If unpredictable. there was too little ▧ The rivers sometimes rain, plants withered changed course. in the fields and people went hungry. If there was too much rain, floods swept away whole villages. 10 Civilization Emerges on the Indus 11  Earliest Arrivals ▧ No one is sure how ▧ By about 3200 B.C., human settlement people were farming began in the Indian in villages along the sub continent. Indus River. ▧ Archaeologists have found evidence in the highlands of agriculture and domesticated sheep and goats dating to about 7000 B.C. 12  Planned Cities ▧ Around 2500 B.C., ▧ The largest cities while Egyptians were were Kalibangan, building pyramids, Mohenjo-Daro, and people in the Indus Harappa. Valley were laying the ▧ Indus Valley bricks for India’s first civilization is some cities. times called ▧ They built strong Harappan levees, or earthen civilization, because walls, to keep water of the many out of their cities. archaeological discoveries made at 13 that site. ▧ One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their sophisticated city planning. ▧ Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major ▧ In contrast, the buildings of the city. people of the Indus laid out their cities on ▧ Early engineers also created a precise grid sophisticated plumbing system. and sewage systems. 14  ▧ Inside was a Harappan Planning citadel, which provided protection for ▧ The city was partially the royal family built on mud brick and also served platforms to protect as a temple. it from flooding. ▧ The streets in its grid ▧ Houses featured bathrooms system were as wide where as 30 feet. Walls wastewater divided residential flowed out to the districts from each street and then to other. Houses varied sewage pits in size. outside the city 15 walls.  Harappan Culture ▧ Language ○ the Harappan culture developed a written language but it was impossible to decipher because linguists have not found any inscriptions that are bilingual 16  Harappan Culture ▧ Uniformity in Religion and Culture ○ The housing suggests that social divisions in the society were not great. 17  Harappan Culture ▧ Artifacts such as clay and wooden children’s toys suggest a relatively prosperous society that could afford to produce nonessential goods. ▧ Few weapons of warfare have been found, suggesting that conflict was limited. ▧ The presence of animal images on many types of artifacts suggests that animals were an important part of the culture. 18  Role of Religion ▧ As with other cultures, the rulers of the Harappan civilization are believed to have close ties to religion. ▧ Archaeologists think that the culture was a theocracy. ▧ Figures show what may be early representations of Shiva, a major Hindu god. Other figures relate to a mother goddess, fertility images, and the worship of the bull. 19  Trade ▧ The Harappans conducted a thriving trade with people in the region. ▧ Gold and silver came from the north in Afghanistan. Semiprecious stones from Persia and the Deccan Plateau were crafted into jewelry. ▧ Brightly colored cotton cloth was a desirable trade item since few people at the time knew how to grow cotton. 20  Trade ▧ The Indus River provided a link to the sea. ▧ This access allowed Indus Valley inhabitants to develop trade with distant peoples, including the Mesopotamians. ▧ Brightly colored cotton cloth was a desirable trade item since few people at the time knew how to grow cotton. 21  Indus Valley Culture Ends ▧ Around 1750 B.C., the ▧ The shifts may have quality of building in caused another river, the Indus Valley cities the Sarswati, to dry declined. up. Trade on this river became impossible, and cities began to ▧ Harappan agriculture die. may have suffered as a result of soil that was exhausted by overuse. 22