Geography & Environment

1. ANCIENT ASIA- INDIA Geography &Environment Economics Pass through area for Silk Road Farming Aryans enter from N 1500 BCE; warlike Nomadic herding -> farming; cattle = wealth Vegetarians Buddhism spreads on Silk Road (Asoka-Mauyra influence) 550 BCE Magadha Kingdom 500 BCE Persia enters 327 BCE Alexander the Great *321 BCE Mauyra Empire: Chandragupta unites India 310 CE GOLDEN AGE OF INDIA- Gupta Empire: math, zero, decimals, number system, medicine/vaccines 400 CE Huns enter Indus River Ganges River (agriculture) Isolated because of Oceans, Mountains surrounding N Himalayan Mtns Hindu Kush Mtns Deserts E Bay of Bengal W Arabian Sea Climate change or flooding end Harappan civilization? Culture & Religion Government & Civics • 2500 BCE Harappan Civilization- Indus Valley • Isolation allowed people to thrive, raise families, and practice religious beliefs • City-states • Aryans-tribes/no central leader of India (chief = rajah) • Society ruled by men • CASTE SYSTEM • 321 BCE Mauyran Empire unites India & betters lives of people… roads, bridges, post offices… • 270 BCE ASOKA spreads Buddhism • 310 BCE GUPTA Empire = Golden Age of India • Aryans- oral tradition- war hero & victory stories passed down • Sanskrit- writing: Vedas • Caste system forms and is reinforced by Hindu religion of varnas • Dharma: duty to stay in varnas • 1. Brahman (priests) • 2. Kshatryas (wariors/rulers) • 3. Vaisyas(artisans/merchants) • 4. Sudras (lowest class) • Polytheistic • HINDUISM: Brahama(Creator), Vishnu (Preserver), Shiva (Destroyer) • Reincarnation & karma • Writing: Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads • 500 BCE BUDDHISM – Siddhartha Gautama • nirvana