Indus River Valley

1. Indus River Valley

2. Review • Rivers • Names, Geographic Features • Writing Systems • Nomads • Architecture-Buildings • What was their purpose?

3. What We Will Learn Today: How did geography affect the Indus River Valley civilization?

4. India’s Geographic Features • The Indian subcontinent is a large, wedge-shaped peninsula that extends southward into the Indian Ocean. • Subcontinent: A large region that is part of a continent, but is separated from the rest of the continent in some way.

9. Identification of Geographic Features in India Indus River Ganges River Peninsula and/or Subcontinent

10. Himalayan Mountains • North of the Indian subcontinent is surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains. • This has often limited India's contact with other cultures. This is known as cultural isolation. • You decide! How would isolation impact the people on Ancient Indus?

11. Seasonal winds known as monsoons bring rain every summer. India is dependent upon monsoons to grow their crops. Not enough rain brings drought. When there is too much rain, rivers rise and cause deadly floods and destruction of crops.

14. Civilization in the Indus River Valley Begins • About 2500 BC, the first Indian civilizations were forming in the Indus River Valley. • Two Civilizations in Ancient India: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

15. Purpose of Early Cities • Each city was large in area and contained a large structure located on a hilltop. • Many believe these structures could have served as a fortress or even a temple.

19. Complexities of the Cities • The most historically striking feature of these two cities were the way in which they were both well planned. • Each city was laid out in a grid pattern, the blocks similar to those seen in modern cities. • The homes seem to have been built with bricks and in a pattern repeated throughout the city.

20. Plumbing In the Cities • In addition, these cities seem to contain houses with plumbing systems, including baths, drains and water pipes.

21. Advances • Each city was laid out in a grid pattern. • Houses appear to have had plumbing systems, including baths, drains and water pipes.

23. Trade with Sumer • Most of the people of the Indus valley were farmers. They were the first people to grow cotton and weave it into cloth. • There is early evidence of trade with other civilizations including Sumer.

24. Aryans Take over Indus Valley • Just like not much is known about the development of the Indus Valley region, not much is known about its decline. • For unknown reasons, around 1750 B.C. the Indus Valley began to decline. Then about 1500 B.C., nomadic warriors known as the Aryans conquered the Indus Valley.

25. India’s First Empires • India’s first empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, an Indian prince who conquered a large area of the Ganges River Valley in 321 BCE. • Chandragupta Maurya founded the MauryanDynasty. • A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same family

26. Mauryan Dynasty • The most famous ruler of the Mauryan dynasty was Asoka, who ruled from 273 BCE to 232 BCE. • He was a strong military leader who later hated the bloodshed of war and decided to live a life of peace. He became a Buddhist and India’s first great Buddhist king. • He built hospitals for people and animals. He also built shelters and planted trees along the roads for travelers to rest.

27. Fall of the Mauryan Empire • Asoka died in 232 BCE. After his death, there were a lot of bad leaders and the empire grew weak.

28. Gupta Dynasty • Chandra Gupta I began the Gupta Dynasty in 320 AD. • The Guptas were Hindus. • The Gupta Dynasty ruled for 200 years. • This empire was smaller than the Mauryan Empire and was easier to manage. • The Gupta Dynasty became wealthy from the trade of goods like salt, cloth, iron, silver and gold.

29. Huang He River Valley(Yellow River Valley)

30. China’s Geographic Features Huang He or Yellow River ~ Chinese civilization began in the Huang He River Valley and the Yangzi River. Yangzi River

31. Huang He River or Yellow River

32. The mountains, deserts, jungles and other geographic features have isolated Chinese culture. Having little contact with others , the Chinese believed their culture was the center of the earth.

33. ~ Although China covers a huge area, until recent times, most people lived only along the east coast or in the river valley.

36. Early Views • The Chinese called themselves “The Middle Kingdom” because they believed they were at the center. • This is an example of ethnocentrism, or the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group.

37. Shang Dynasty • About 1650 BC, the Shang family gained control of northern China. Ruling families began to gain control, similar to small kingdoms. • The Shang set up China’s second dynasty after the Xia. • Dynasty:A series of rulers from a family.

38. The ancient civilization was much like others with nobility owning the land, merchants and craftspeople trading and living in the cities and a large population of peasants living in surrounding villages.

40. Zhou Dynasty1045 BCE -256 BCE • The Shang kings and nobles lived in luxury and treated the poor cruely. • The kings lost support of the people. • A wealthy noble (aristocrat) named Wu Wang led a rebellion against the Shang and started a new dynasty called the Zhou.

41. Zhou Dynasty • The Chinese considered their king the link between heaven and earth. • The kings carried out religious rituals that were thought to strengthen the link between them and the gods. • This idea led to the Mandate of Heaven.

42. Mandate of Heaven • Mandate of Heaven: a heavenly law giving the Zhou king power to rule. • Based on the mandate, the king was chosen by heavenly order because of his talent and virtue, so that he would rule the people with goodness and wisdom.

43. Zhou Empire Falls • Zhou territory rulers became powerful and stopped obeying the Zhou kings and set up their own states. • In 403 BCE, fighting broke out that lasted nearly 200 years. This is called the Warring States Period. • In 221 BCE, the ruler of Qin, one of the warring states, defeated the other states and set up a new dynasty.

44. Polytheistic Peoples • Early Chinese people were polytheistic, and prayed to many Gods and nature spirits. • Ancestor worship: They also looked to dead relatives to help them in daily life and to help them please the Gods.

47. Ying and Yang • Many Chinese also believed that the universe held a delicate balance between opposing forces. • The Ying and Yang must be in balance for prosperity and happiness to occur in one’s life.

48. Early Writing System • Early writing systems include both pictographs and ideographs.