Transcript Early Civilizations of India

World History
Libertyville High School
Geographic Considerations
• Isolation!
–World’s tallest mountains to North
(Himalayas)
–Thar Desert to East
• Indus & Ganges Rivers
–Bounded large, 1,700 mile wide fertile
plain
–Rivers brought silt to river valleys and
water for irrigation
• Problems facing settlers?
–River flooding
–Monsoons
Monsoons
• Seasonal winds blowing across India
–June – Sept: from sea to interior
–Oct – May: from mntns to sea
• Helped with growing seasons BUT
were unpredictable, destructive
• Wetter climate 6000 years ago –
how do we know?
–Seals of tropical animals
–kiln fired bricks
The Harappan Civilization
• Man first arrived around 7000 BC
• Cities suggest a highly centralized,
organized government & society
• 1400 towns, cities discovered
(compare to Sumerians!)
3300 BCE - 2400 BCE
Harappan Cities
• Built strong walls built around cities
(Why? Consider challenges…)
• Cities laid out in grid pattern
–Neighborhoods w/ walls around them
–Excellent sewer system
• Cities built with kiln fired bricks that
were standardized by size, weight
Map of Mohenjo Daro
Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro
Wide View, Mohenjo-Daro
The Great Bath,
Mohenjo-Daro
A side Street, Mohenjo-Daro
Sewer Drain, Harappa
Art & Technology
• Historians believe that animals were
important to civilization b/c there were so
many depictions of them
• Written language was pictographic
–We can’t translate it b/c we have no dual
translation
• Metallurgy based on copper, bronze
• Used wheel & boats w/ 1 mast
Bull Figurine, Harappa
Harappan Writing
Undecipherable to date.
Harappan Seals
• Stone seals with animals carved on them
–Carved from small block of stone
–After carving, surface glazed and fired
Bison Seal
A Horned-God Seal
• Uses : Student brainstorm!!!
–Signatures?
–Heraldry?
–Show ownership?
• Carried on string; seals found in Mesopotamia
Harappan Seals
Unicorn Seal, Harappa
Reverse of a harappan seal
Other Harappan seals
Harappan Religion
A Priest-King, (front)
• Unknown, because we
can’t translate their
writing
• Assumed to be
theocracy, polytheistic
• Dead buried with
tools, jewelry
• Little overtly religious
A Priest-King, (back)
artwork
Male Skeleton, Harappa
Female Skeleton with
Child, Harappa
Burial Pottery, Harappa
Trade
• Gold and silver from Afghanistan
• Gems from Persia were made
into jewelry by Harappans
• Harappans grew cotton and
exported the cloth
• Traded extensively with
Mesopotamia, Egyptians
Necklace, Mohenjo-Daro
Female Figures, Harappa
Vedic culture & language
• Vedic = new, post Harappan
culture
• Vedes believed to be pastoral
farmers
– Cows held in high esteem
(productivity, in vegetarian
society)
• Sanskrit emerged
– Language of religion, intellectuals
– Example: the Vedas
Sanskrit writing
Indo European
“language
tree”
• Language originated in
Caucasus Mntns
The Vedas
Written between 1200 & 600
BCE.
 Religious texts representing
oldest of Hindu beliefs
Included:
 hymns and poems
 religious prayers
 magical spells
Rig Veda  oldest work still
used in active religion today
 lists of the gods and
goddesses
Varna (Social Hierarchy)
Priests
Brahmins
Rulers
Kshatriyas
Traders
Vaishyas
Laborers
Shudras
Outcasts
Harijan (Untouchables)
During The Vedic Age
The foundations for
Hinduism were established!