India

1. India The Indus River Valley

2. Agriculture and Building • Indus river flooded annually • Very fertile soil- grew various crops • Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro • Largest cities (over 30,000 people) • Technologically advanced • Urban planners • First people known to make cotton cloth

3. Trade and Collapse • Trade vital to the economy • Archaeologists discovered clay seals for trade purposes • Kilns for making pottery • Used metals • Own form of writing- indecipherable today • Indus Civilization collapsed suddenly & mysteriously

4. The Aryan Invasion • Believed to come from Central Asia across the Himalayas and arrived about 1500 B.C. • Created their own form of writing, known as Sanskrit. • Brought a new religion, Hinduism • Mixing of the two peoples, Aryans and Dravidians, brought about a new social order or caste system.

5. Major Beliefs of Hinduism • Gods-Hindus believe that there are many gods and goddesses. Each of these gods is a manifestation (form) of one Supreme Being. • Karma-refers to a person’s behavior in life, which Hindus believe determines that person’s form in the next life. Good=higher caste/Bad=lower caste. • Reincarnation-belief that at death, a person’s soul is reborn as another living thing which creates an endless cycle of rebirth for each soul. • Sacred objects-belief that the Ganges River is sacred and has the power to wash away sin and evil; also the cow is sacred and Hindus do not eat beef.

6. Buddhism

7. Buddhism • Began in India around 500 B.C. • Founded by Siddhartha Gautama after looking beyond his palace walls and seeing the human suffering around him. • After six years, he had a flash of insight that all suffering was caused by selfish human desires. • To end suffering, a person must come to accept the world as it is and block his or her own selfish desires. • Gautama became known as the “Buddha” or “Enlightened One.”

8. Major Beliefs of Buddhism • Basic philosophy of self-denial and meditation • Reincarnation • No single supreme being or holy book • Basic beliefs found in Sutras • Four Noble Truths-explains life’s meaning • Eightfold Path-have the right goals, have the right perspectives, be aware, act in a worth manner, speak truthfully, live righteously, respect all living things, and meditate • Nirvana-by following the eightfold Path, a person can escape the soul’s endless reincarnations and achieve nirvana-a state of eternal peace and bliss

9. The Spread of Buddhism • Buddhism spread through missionaries throughout India. • Then it spread to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Indochina, and other southeast Asian countries • Then across the Himalayan to Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and central Asia • Then into China, Korea and Japan

10. China Huange He (Yellow River)

11. Agriculture • Yellow River flooded periodically • Fertile soil • Grew crops and raised animals

12. Government • Shang dynasty • Dynasty- a series of rulers from a single family • Built the first Chinese cities- • Capital city = Anyang • Shang kings • Military leaders • High priests

13. Cultural Contributions • Superior bronze vessels & weapons • First to make silk textiles (from silkworm cocoons) • System of writing with pictographs called characters • most still used in modern Chinese with only slight modification