River Valley Civilizations

1. River Valley Civilizations India and China

2. Objectives WHI.3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

3. Geography of South Asia • Indian Subcontinent • Modern day countries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh • Mountains • Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya • Rivers • Indus and Ganges • Cover 1, 500 mile area called Indus-Ganges plain • Indus river provided access to trade • Monsoons • Seasonal winds • Oct- May: dry winds • June- Sept: winds shift, brings rain

4. Physical Geography • Mountains • River Valleys • Dry Interior Plateau • Fertile Coastal Plains

5. Indus River

6. Ganges River

7. Himalayas

8. Environmental Challenges • Floods • Indus river floods yearly • Deposits silt • Unpredictable, river can change course • Monsoons • Wet/Dry seasons • Mountains/ Desert • Creates natural boundaries

9. Indus River Peoples • Had contact with Mesopotamia • Developed own distinctive alphabet and artistic forms

10. Civilization Emerges on Indus • Lack of evidence • Haven’t deciphered language yet • Many sites have washed away • Earliest Arrivals • Evidence of agriculture and domestication of animals 7000 B.C.E. • 3200 B.C.E. evidence of farming villages

11. Mohenjo-Daro and HaraPPA • Planned Cities • 2500 B.C.E. • Sophisticated grid system • Featured fortified citadel, Separate residential districts • Plumbing/sewage systems, Strong central government • Advanced irrigation and large granaries • Culture/Trade • Little social hierarchy • Prosperous society • Religion similar to Hinduism • Long-distance trade • Traded with Akkad (2300 B.C.E.)

12. Rulers and Economy • Divine rule • Royal palace and temple were in 1 building • Part of citadel, or fortress • Farming economy • Relied on Indus River flood for silt • Grew wheat, barley, peas • Trade with Mesopotamia • Copper, lumber, precious stones, cotton, luxury goods

13. Mohenjo- Daro

14. End to the Indus Civilization • 1750 B.C.E. cities declined • Theories? • River changed course • Flooding • Over farming • Natural disaster • Attack • Aryans • Arrived around same time • Nomadic people from Central Asia

15. Aryans • 1500 B.C.E. • Nomadic Indo-Europeans • From Central Asia - crossed Hindu Kush • Conquered Harappans • Merged two cultures • Excelled at war • Used chariot • Eventually controlled all of India

16. Objectives WHI.3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

17. River Dynasties in CHINA

18. Objectives WHI.3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

19. Map Of India and China • Label the following: • Oceans • Pacific • Indian • Features • Himalayan Mountains • Gobi Desert • Taklimakan Desert • Civilizations: • Shang • Zhou • Rivers • Indus • Ganges • Huang He (Yellow) • Yangtze • Questions: • What geographic features might have prevented trade between China and the Indus Valley? • What area of China was weak to invasions? What physical features were located there?

20. Geography of China • Long distances and physical barriers separated it from Egypt, the Middle East, and India • This isolation led to the belief that China was the center of the earth and sole source of civilization

21. Southeast Jungles

22. Gobi Desert

23. Regions • China’s Heartland • Huang He (yellow) River and the Yangzi river supported the largest populations

24. Xinjiang, Mongolia, and Manchuria • Xinjiang and Mongolia are harsh and rugged • Mainly nomads and subsistence farmers • At times invaders from these regions conquered China • Genghis Khan and the Mongols

25. River of Sorrows • Chinese history starts in Huang He valley • Called “yellow” river because of the loess that turns the river yellow • Called “China’s Sorrow” because of the constant flooding

26. First Dynasties • Peking Man- Homo erectus skeleton discovered near Beijing on the Yellow River, settled 500,000 years ago • Myth: 2000 B.C.E. first civilization arose • Mythic ancestor of Chinese: P’an Ku • A leader named Yu tamed Huang He river • No written records • Fact • organized state rose around 2000 B.C.E. with irrigation of Hwang He river • By 1000 B.C.E. • Used pottery, Rode horses • Used Bronze, Introduced Iron • Writing developed • Scientific advances • Interest in music

27. Shang Dynasty • 1532 B.C. E. Shang controlled Huang He valley • Invaders? • Dominated until 1027 B.C.E. • Decline due to Invasion • Characteristics: • First to leave written records • constructed impressive tombs and palaces

28. Writing • Oracle bones: animal bones or turtle shells on which priests wrote questions to ancestors or gods’ • by interpreting the cracks in the bone, they answers were provided

29. Written Chinese • Created 4,000 years ago • Each character represented a word or and idea • Over 10,000 characters • Calligraphy was an art form • Writing was a unifying force since not everyone spoke the same language.

30. Zhou Dynasty • 1027 B.C. E. the Zhou overthrew the Shang • Lasted until 256 B.C. • To justify overthrowing the Shang, the Zhou promoted the idea of Mandate of Heaven, or divine right to rule • Explains the dynastic cycle • Floods and famine were a sign that the dynasty was out of favor with the gods.

32. Feudal States • Zhou rewarded supporters with land • Feudalism: system of government in which local lords governed their own land but owed military service to ruler • Eventually feudalism became more powerful than the dynasty

33. Achievements • Iron-making leads to more food production • New crops and irrigation systems • Commerce expanded, use of money • New roads and canals • Led to increase in population

34. Warring States Period • 771 B.C.E. – nomads sacked the Zhou capital of Hao and murdered the monarch • A few family members escaped and ruled from new capital for 500 years • Powerless, couldn’t control noble families • Warlords claimed to be “kings” of territory • Led to “warring states” period • Warring States • Warfare changed, no longer honorable • Peasants main force on battlefield • New weapons such as a crossbow • Central values changed • No longer order, harmony, and respect for authority…. Now chaos, arrogance and defiance

35. Objectives WHI.3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?