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Indus River Valley: 2500 BC

Indus River Valley: 2500 BC. The culture Harappa (named after the city Harappa) existed along the Indus River in what is present day Pakistan. It flourished for 1,000 years then vanished without a trace until this century. River Valley Life: The Positives Many Natural Resources.

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Indus River Valley: 2500 BC

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  1. Indus River Valley: 2500 BC • The culture Harappa (named after the city Harappa) existed along the Indus River in what is present day Pakistan. • It flourished for 1,000 years then vanished without a trace until this century.

  2. River Valley Life: The Positives Many Natural Resources • Fresh water / Timber (Himalayans) • Cedar / Timber (in Valleys) • Gold, silver, semi-precious stones. • Marine resources: Coastal settlements were involved in fishing and trading, using the monsoon winds to travel to Oman and the Persian Gulf region.

  3. River Valley Life: The NegativesThe Great Monsoon Balance • Monsoons shaped Indian life. • If the monsoon was late, devastation occurred (famine, starvation) • If the monsoon was too heavy, rushing rivers would flood

  4. Twin Capital Cities: Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa • URBAN PLANNING: Well-known for impressive, organized layout. They were part of a unified government with extreme organization. • INDOOR PLUMBING: Well laid out plumbing / drainage system, including indoor toilets.

  5. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

  6. Economy-Trade • The civilization was mainly urban and mercantile. • Indus valley traded w/ Mesopotamia, S. India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise. • Mesopotamia model of irrigated agriculture used along Indus River.

  7. Other Civilization Uniqueness: • Egalitarian (classless) / equitable distribution of wealth => socialism? • First vaccination of smallpox • Cultivate cotton for production of cloth • Originated the concept of zero and decimal system of numbers

  8. Harappan Astronomers? • Language translation not complete, but indications they understood astronomy • Straight streets of the Indus cities are oriented towards cardinal directions. • The Vedic calendar created about the time the Indus civilization flourished.

  9. Language • Indus people used pictographic script • Script often contain realistic pictures of animals worshipped as sacred • This material is important to the investigation of the Harappan language and religion • Undeciphered writing system:

  10. Comparing First Writing:

  11. Four Theories of Collapse • Archaeologists offer 4 explanations: • Three are based on ecological factors: intense flooding, decrease in precipitation, and desertification of the Sarasvati River. • The fourth hypothesis is that of the Aryan Invasion

  12. Possible route of the Aryans

  13. The Aryan “Invasion” • Invaders from North • Restless, warlike people • Tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned • Difficulty of theory: no evidence of large-scale military conquest. They just co-existed.

  14. The Aryan “Invasion”, cont. • Settled over a long period of time • More primitive than the earlier culture • New society by 1,200 B.C. or so • Little evidence • Not literate • No record system

  15. The Early Aryans • Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses, cattle • Religious and Literary work: • Four Vedas – songs • 1,028 hymns / prayers to gods • Foundation for which religion?

  16. The Caste System • The Vedas: Our primary source of info about Aryans explained their caste system: • Brahmins: the priests • Kshatriyas: the warriors • Vaisyas: merchants and peasants • Untouchables

  17. Arthur A. McDonnell once wrote, “Early India wrote no history because it never made any. The ancient Indians never went through a struggle for life like the Greeks, the Persians and the Romans. Secondly, the Brahmans early embraced the doctrine that all action and existence are a positive evil and could therefore have felt but little inclination to chronicle historical events.”

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