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Exploring India's First Civilizations and Geography: The Indus Valley and Aryan Influence

This chapter delves into the geography and early civilizations of India, focusing on the significance of the Himalayas, the Indus and Ganges River valleys, and the Deccan Plateau. It highlights the impact of monsoon rains on agriculture and the rise of the Harappan civilization around 3000-1500 B.C. The narrative also explores the arrival of the Aryans, their societal structure, and the development of the caste system, showcasing the complexity of early Indian society and its historical evolution.

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Exploring India's First Civilizations and Geography: The Indus Valley and Aryan Influence

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  1. India’s First Civilizations Chapter 4-1 Page 239

  2. Geography of India • Subcontinent – part of a continent that is separated from the rest of a continent • India • Himalaya – highest mountain range in the world, separates the Indian subcontinent from the rest of Asia

  3. Himalaya, Tibetan Plateau

  4. Mount Everest

  5. Best place for civilizations ***Ganges River Valley ***Indus River Valley • Two river valleys fed from the melted snow of the Himalaya

  6. Indus River

  7. Deccan Plateau – Dry hilly plains south of the river valleys

  8. Monsoons – strong wind • Winter monsoons: cold, dry air from the mountains • Summer monsoons: warm, wet air from the Arabian Sea and provides drenching rains ***Monsoon rains help the farmers

  9. India’s first civilization • Began near the Indus River • 3000-1500 B.C. • Harappan civilization • The cities Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro helped scientists learn about India

  10. The city of: Harappan • Large, about 35,000 people • Walls, fortresses • Wide streets, narrow lanes • Mud brick houses, courtyard in the middle • Wells • Drains, indoor bathrooms! • Garbage chutes • Granaries to store grain

  11. Harappan society • Writing not decoded • Royal palace, temple • Farmers • Traded with Mesopotamians • Harappan city ruined by earthquake and floods ***Aryans settled on the land • They came from central Asia and raised and herded animals • Good warriors, horse riders and hunters

  12. Cattle: prized possessions to the Aryans • What did they use cattle for? • Used as money • Meat • Milk • Butter • Wealth measured by how many cows a person owned

  13. A cow free to roam the street.

  14. Aryans make changes ***Improved farming • Invented the plow ***Brought the language of Sanskrit to India • Organized into tribes • Tribes led by a Raja (prince) ***Created the caste system (a social group that someone is born into and cannot leave)

  15. Caste System Rules/Guidelines • Your social level in society • Dictates a person’s job • Dictates marriage • Dictates friends • Possibly started based on skin color • Thousands grouped together into four levels

  16. Why was the caste system developed? • Aryans thought they were better • Color of skin • People in India outnumbered them • Kept groups separate • Set rules for behavior • Helped Aryans maintain control

  17. Varnas - Classes • Brahmans – priests • Kshatriyas – warriors, rulers • Vaisyas – common people • Merchants, farmers • Sudras – unskilled workers, servants • Not Aryans, Indians • Had few rights

  18. Rulers

  19. Not even a varna… • Pariah – Untouchables ***Performed work other Indians would not do Examples: - Collecting trash - Handling dead bodies - No one wanted to come near a Pariah

  20. Photograph by William Albert Allard • "Her fate scripted by Hindu law, an Untouchable girl can imagine little else than working along the Yamuna River in Delhi as a Dhobi. Members of this clothes-washing caste handle items 'polluted' by blood or human waste." • —From "India's Untouchables," June 2003, National Geographic magazine

  21. Families • Family the center of life • Oldest male head of house • Guru – teacher for boys in top Varnas • Girls educated at home • Arranged marriages • Suttee – practice where wife leaped into the cremation flames of her dead husband

  22. Mumbai

  23. Taj Mahal

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