Early Indian History

1
Early Indian History

• Indus River Valley Civilization and the Aryan
  Invasion

2
Indus Civilization Rises and Falls2600 B.C.E
1900B.C.E

• Emerges in the Indus River Valley
• Present day Pakistan
• Very little is known about this civilization
• Covered the largest area of any civilization up
  until the Persian Empire circa 1600 B.C.E
• Cities rivaled Sumer

3
Well Planned/Organized Government

• 5 large cities played a prominent role
• Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
• Large 3 miles in circumference
• Long wide streets rectangular blocks
• Clay bricks with a complex plumbing system
• Baths, showers, drains, chutes, sewers
• Indus merchants used a uniform system of weights
  and measures

4
Farming

• Wheat
• Barley
• Melons
• Dates
• Cotton (weaved fiber into cloth)

5
Trading

• Cotton cloth
• Grain
• Copper
• Pearls
• Ivory
• Traded with Sumer
• Develop a system of writing undeveloped to
  Cuneiform

6
Religious Beliefs

• Polytheistic
• Mother Goddess
• Male God
• Veneration of buffalo and bull

7
Decline

• 1900 B.C.E
• Not sure why probably environmental degradation
• Cut down too many trees to feed brick ovens
• Flood?
• Earthquake?

8
5 Major Cities of Indus Civilization
9
Indus River
10
Map of South Asia
11
Aryan Invasion2000 B.C.E-1500 B.C.E

• Central Asian nomadic herdsman migrate through
  the Khyber Pass into India
• Indo-European languages
• Acculturation blending of two or more cultures
• Vedas collection of hymns, chants, poems and
  religious teachings
• Oldest Veda Rig Veda
• 1500 B.C.E 500 B.C.E Vedic Age

12
Nomads to Farmers

• 800 B.C.E make iron tools
• Tribes led by chiefs called rajahs
• Establish Caste System ranked groups based on
  occupation
• Priest class (Brahmins), Warriors (Kshatriyas),
  Farmers (Vaisyas), Non-Aryans Servant class
  (Sudras), Untouchables worked outside Aryan
  society (Dalits)

13
Aryan Movement Map
14
Khyber Pass
15
India