Transcript By Eleanor Joyce

The Geography of India
by: Eleanor Joyce
City of Salem Schools
For thousands of years
geography has made South
Asia a crossroads.
Trade routes brought
merchants and
missionaries
Two major world religions
began in South Asia:
•Hinduism
•Buddhism
2500-1500 B.C.E Indus Valley
Civilization started from
immigrants from Iran
They built cities such as MajenjoDaro which was highly advanced.
Roots of Hinduism
•1500 B.C.E Aryans invaded
from central Asia
•The Aryans drove out the
Dravidians
•The Aryans brought with
them the idea of a caste
system.
Caste system is a rigid class
system. A person cannot move
between castes or classes.
Hindus believe in reincarnation
Cows are sacred.
Sacred writing of the Hindus are
the Vedas
The Caste System
The Brahma Cow
Vishnu
Shiva
dharma- every person’s moral
duty
karma- good is rewarded: bad is
punished
reincarnation- every person is
reborn until they are released
from the cycle of rebirth.
The Ganges River is sacred to
the Hindus.
•Highly polluted
•Bath in the river to purify
themselves
Buddhism founded about the same
time as Hinduism.
Founder Siddhartha Gautama
Leader today is the Dali Lama
Buddhist believe in reincarnation.
People reach the state of Nirvana
Since the mid 1700’s
Britain controlled India
Britain took away a
thriving textile industry
and exported the raw
cotton to mills in
England
Britain expected the
Indians to purchase their
ready made textile
products.
Many Indian textile
workers lost their jobs.
During the late 1800’s
Indians developed a
strong sense of
nationalism.
Many Indians were
educated in Europe.
One of those people was
Mohandas (Mahatma)
Gandhi.
He led non violent
resistance to England.
Indians boycotted British
Cloth.
1946 England agreed to
give India its
independence if they
could agree on a
government.
The conflict in India was
between the Muslims
and the Hindus
The only solution was to
partition or divide India
into Pakistan and India.
The Hindus occupied
India and the Muslims
occupied Pakistan
Later conflicts
developed between East
and West Pakistan and
the country of
Bangladesh (formerly
East Pakistan) was
created in 1971
Within the past year,
Pakistan and India have
tested nuclear weapons.
They are in conflict of a
portion India known as
Kashmir.
http://www/pbs.org/wnet/nature/india/index.htm