330 likes | 510 Views
India. Essential Questions: What does archaeology tell us about the earliest civilization in India? What type of social and political organization developed in India? What intellectual and religious values did this society generate?
E N D
India Essential Questions: What does archaeology tell us about the earliest civilization in India? What type of social and political organization developed in India? What intellectual and religious values did this society generate? How were developments in India linked to developments outside of it?
The Land of IndiaExamining the Geography of India • Define Terms: • Subcontinent: • a region of the Asian continent from the Hindu Kush forming a land mass which extends southward into the Indian Ocean • Monsoon • used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally-changing pattern • India - summer monsoons occur from June through September
Characteristics of GeographyDiversity of Regions Himalaya Mts. - India’s densest forest, sustained by heavy rainfall Deserts / flat terrain allowed invaders to sweep down from the northwest Indus/ Ganges River - Fertile valley, agricultural settlements Vindhya Mts. -jungles Deccan Plateau - Dry &Hilly -Surrounded by Narrow plains Where Ag. flourished Indian Ocean – kept out invaders from the south, & fostered trade with Near East, China, & Asia. * India is never isolated & contact with other cultures channeled in certain directions
Temperature and Climate • Temperature between • 79 degrees F in the north 85 in the south • 100 Degrees common • Water Sources • Monsoon season & melting snows of the Himalayas • Water => vast jungles & swamps • Impact on Religion • Fire and water play a central role in Indian religion • Beliefs include extreme ascetic practices • Agricultural Settlement established about 7000BC • (spread down from the middle east)
Harappa and the Indus Civilization Why did the Indus River Civilization develop? Why do we know so little about the Indus River Civilization? • Harappa • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALfUOfxfSos • Mohenjo –Daro • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRNgJJjTh8I&feature=related
Indus Valley People • Settled the Indus valley in 2500 B.C. Built two large well planned cities Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. • These cities show evidence of strong central government because they are well planned. Wide streets, divided into districts. • Conducted trade as far away as Mesopotamia. evidence = Merchant seals
Religion of IVC • Mother goddess • Three faced god • Ritual bathing • Meditation • Worship of sacred animals(the bull) and trees (peepod)
Harappa • Built around 2600 BC • City built of brick (red sand, clay, stones and baked at a very high temperature). • Evidence of trade with Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) • City destroyed by the British when they were building a railroad through the area.
Questions for Readings • What does the reading mean by referring to the Indus Valley People as being a “false start”? • What was the Indus river like? • How did the Indus people fare against the river? (how does this compare to Mesopotamia and Egypt?) • What was the environment like during IV times? What evidence do we have to suggest this? • What do we know about IV religion? • What was life like in these early cities? • What do we know about the Indus economy? • Why do we know so little about these people? • What happened to them?
Mohenjo –Daro“Mound of the Dead” Background Information • Built around 2600 BC • One of the largest settlements of the I.V.C. • Location: Built on a ridge in the middle of a plain of a flood plain. Central position between Indus River & the GhaggaR-Hakra River. • Was destroyed and rebuilt at least 7 times (most likely by the Indus river) • Went into sudden decline around 1900 BC • Not rediscovered till 1922
Art and Architecture - How do you use Art to decipher what a society values?
Indus Valley Art and Architecture City Architecture • Grid of rectilinear buildings • Built of fired & mortared brick. Wooden superstructures • May have housed around 35,000 • Divided into two parts – Citadel & Lower City • Citadel: public baths, two large assembly halls, large residential structures • Few fortifications present purpose of city = political or administrative center
Indus Valley Art and Architecture - Toys ca. 2500. Hand-modeled terra-cotta figurines
Indus Valley Art and Architecture 2. 1. 1. Priest – King 2. Goddess figure 3. Dancing Woman 3.
Aryans • Moved into India through the Bolan and Khyber passes around 1500B.C. • Nomadic herders who followed their cattle in search of new pastures. • Lived in tribes, lead by Rajas (chiefs). • Had no Written Language and did not take Indus writing. • Conquered the IVP but did not take their culture or cities. • While nomads, women were treated well.
Religion • Worshipped hero and nature gods such as sun, sky, fire, thunder, Indrawarrior god. • Hero gods acted as role models for how people should behave. • Had day to day concerns such as healthy children and cattle, long life, prosperity. • Had no belief in an afterlife. Language Early form of Sanskrit (Indo-European language closely related to Persian and distantly related to Latin, Greek, Celtic English)
Rigveda • Source of information in early Aryans • A collection of hymns, ritual tests, and philosophical treatises composed between 1500 – 500 BC in Sanskrit • Transmitted Orally and are in verse • Portrayals of Aryans: • Warrior tribes who glorified military skill and heroism • Loved to drink, hunt, race, and dance • Wealth counted in cattle • Looked down on indigenous groups Sought to subjugate them • Collection of tribes who fought with one another • Had superior military technology • Two-wheeled chariots, horses and bronze swords • Struggle presented in religious terms Aryan chiefs are godlike, opponents irreligious savages
Early Aryan Class Pyramid *Movement is allowed
The Vedic Age 1500 – 500 BC • Aperiod in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The oldest Vedas is the Rigveda.
Rudra, Varuna, Indra, Agni, http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/gallery/photos/2.html#sanskrit
Later Aryan Class Pyramid Movement is NOT Allowed Untouchables
Hindus say that if we meditate hard, and search inside ourselves to try and find out who we truly are; we find God. It is the same God who lives in all of us. Hindus call our innermost-Self, Atman : God as all of us. This is why when Hindus meet they greet each other by putting their hands together, bowing down and saying Namaste. This word means: ‘There is God in you’ Why respect everyone and everything? If we hurt anyone, we hurt ourselves, because it is the same God that lives in all of us. We should respect and love everyone and everything, because it is the same God who lives in everything and everyone.
Q:How have scholars learned about India's first two civilizations, the Indus and the Aryans?
Section 2: Hinduism and Buddhism DQ: In what ways were religion and society intertwined in ancient India? • The beliefs of diverse groups of people who settled in India begin to overlap. • Hinduism develops from different Indian religions (Combination of Indus and Aryan cultures) • Hinduism is connected to the caste system • SiddarthaGautima reaches enlightenment • Buddhism spreads to Asia • Buddhism splits into to major sects or groups. • Buddhism decline in India...but is huge in other parts of Asia
Hinduism and Buddhism Hinduism Buddhism
Agricultural Settlements in India • 2:50 – • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlV-Z2NU9zg • Harappa – archeological finds - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL7wDzBpOho&feature=related