Chapter 7-India

The Indian Subcontinent

    1. Today five modern nations make up

         the Indian subcontinent.

      a. India

      b. Pakistan

      c. Nepal

      d. Bhutan

      e. Bangladesh

    2. A subcontinent is a large landmass 

        that is smaller than a continent.

    3. The Indian subcontinent is part of the

      continent of Asia.

 B. Mountains, Plains, and Rivers

    1. The Himalayan Mountains in the 

        north of India is what separates it 

        from the rest of Asia.

    2.  The Himalayan Mountains are the 

          tallest mountain range in the

        world.

    3. Mount Everest stands 29,028 feet 

        above sea level, and is the tallest 

        mountain in the world.

    4. Three Primary Rivers

      a. The Indus River

      b. The Ganges River

      c. The Brahmaputra River

The Indian subcontinent's landscapes 

        are very diverse.

    6. The Deccan Plateau makes up the 

         southern two-thirds of India.

    7. Monsoons are seasonal winds that 

        have a large impact on the Indian 

        subcontinent's climate.

      a. Winter-monsoons blow cold, dry air 

          from the northeast to the Arabian 

          Sea.

      b. Summer-monsoons blow warm, wet 

          air from the southwest to the 

          Himalayan Mountains, which results 

          in heavy rains.

 THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

  A. Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa

    1. About 5,000 years ago, nomads 

        settled along the Indus River in what is

     today Pakistan.

    2. The earliest civilization of the Indus 

        River Valley flourished between 

        2600 B.C. and 1900 B.C.

    3. The Two Major Indus Valley Cities

      a. Mohenjo-Daro

      b. Harappa

Both cities at their peak had about 

        35,000 residents.

    5. Both cities were designed almost 

        identically.

      a. A well planned grid with dozens of 

          streets.

      b. Larger streets were paved with tan-

          colored bricks.

      c. The smaller streets were often left 

          unpaved.

      d. At the west end of each city stood a 

          fortress built on a brick platform 

          surrounded by strong, thick walls.

Indus Valley Houses

      a. Constructed with oven-baked mud 

          bricks.

      b. Flat wooden roofs.

      c. Enclosed courtyards

      d. Some were several stories tall.

      e. At least one indoor bathroom.

      f. Wastewater flowed from houses 

         through pipes that emptied to pits 

         outside the city walls.

      g. Garbage chutes from houses 

          connected to bins in the street.

B. Life in the Indus Valley Civilization

    1. Archaeologists have discovered in city 

        ruins both royal palaces and temples.

    2. This shows the importance of both 

        government and religion.

    3. Most Indus Valley people resided in 

        farming villages surrounding the cities.

    4. They grew many different crops.

      a. rice

      b. barley

      c. wheat

      d. peas

      e. cotton

 City residents were skilled workers.

      a. Merchants

      b. Shopkeepers

      c. Artisans

    6. Manufactured Products

      a. Copper and bronze tools

      b. Clay pottery

      c. Cotton cloth

      d. Jewelry from shells, ivory, and gold.

      e. Toys

    7. Indus River Valley merchants traded 

        with Mesopotamia and Egypt.

ARYAN MIGRATIONS & SETTLEMENTS

 A. Collapse of Harappan Civilization

   1. Around 1900 B.C. the people of the 

       early Indus Valley civilization began

    to abandon their cities and villages.

   2. Archaeologists have discovered 

       several possible reasons for the 

       collapse.

     a. A severe drought

     b. Earthquakes

     c. Floods

     d. Indus River changed course.

     e. Migration of the Aryans into the

      Indus River Valley.

The Indo-Europeans

1. The Aryans were not a race or

     ethnic group.

2. Many historians believe that the

     Aryan people's language was part of

     a language family known as Indo-

     European.

3. A language family is a group of

     similar languages.

4. English, a Germanic language,  is

     also an Indo-European language.

5. The Aryans were speakers of an 

         Indo-European language.

 Indo-European peoples lived

     throughout central Eurasia.

   a. North of the Black Sea

   b. North of the Caucus Mountains

   c. Central Asia

    7. Beginning around 2000 B.C. several

     groups of Indo-European peoples

     began migrating to several different

     places.

   a. Europe

   b. Anatolia

   c. Persia (Iran)

   d. India

    8. Because these groups migrated

     from India to Europe they are called

     Indo-European.

 9. The Aryans migrated to India.

   10.  The Aryans began migrating south out of central Asia towards India c. 2000 B.C.

    11. Like most Indo-European people the Aryans raised cattle.

        a. meat

        b. milk

        c. butter

    12. The Aryans were nomadic as they moved from place to place looking for new

          pastures and water for their cattle.

    13. The Aryans were expert:

        a. Equestrians (they domesticated and raised horses)

        b. Hunters

        c. Warriors (used chariots)

Aryan migrations:

        a. 2000 B.C. -1500 B.C. Migration to

            India and through the Khyber Pass

         to the Indus RiverValley.

        b. 1500 B.C. - 1000 B.C. Migration

            through the Ganges River Valley.

        c. 1000 B.C. - 500 B.C. Migration to the

            Deccan Plateau.

15. The Ayrans, after arriving and settling

        in India, became farmers, though

        they did continue to raise cattle.

16. The Aryans lived in tribes led by a

        raja, or prince.

. Language in Ancient India

1. The Aryans had no written language.

2. Their prayers, hymns, stories, and poems, collectively called the Vedas, were 

         passed down orally through the generations.

3. The Aryans spoke a language called Sanskrit, and they eventually developed a

     writing system for it.

4. The Vedas were composed between 1500 B.C. and 500 B.C., and this period in

     Indian history is known as the Vedic Period.

5. It is during this time period that the Aryans entered the Indian subcontinent

     speaking languages that historians call Indic.  Sanskrit is an Indic language.

6. Over the centuries, speakers of these Indic languages spread out across the

        northern subcontinent.

7. The Indic speakers came in contact

     with another ancient language group

     called Dravidian.

8. Contact between these two groups

     over time led to the exchange of

     beliefs and traditions.

9. Centuries of cultural exchange

     between these two groups resulted in

     a single Vedic culture in India by 

        500 B.C.

IV. ANCIENT INDIAN SOCIETY

  A. The Varnas

1. Social class in India was not just a

     religious matter, but was a social and

     cultural matter as well.

2. The four social classes of ancient India

     are called varnas.

3. A person was born into a varna and

     remained in that varna for life.

4. A person's varna also determined

     what their vocation (job) would be

5. India's Varnas

   a. Brahmins - priests

   b. Kshatriyas - warriors and rulers

   c. Vaisyas - commoners

     1) farm owners

     2) craftspeople

     3) merchants

   d. Sudras - farm workers, servants, and

          manual laborers

6. Most Indians were Sudras.

7. The thousands of distinct occupational and other groupings into which people

      were actually born were called jati, and they came to be associated or linked to

         one or another of the varnas over time.

8. Scholars refer to the jati system as a caste system.

9. In such a system, people remain in the same social group for life and it determines

     their job, as well as, their choice of marriage partner.

   10. Over time, higher classes came to be seen as purer than lower ones.

   11. By 500 B.C. there existed a community outside the caste system called the Dalits.

   12. The Dalits are often called the Untouchables.

   13. The Untouchables did the work that the jati Indians would not do, such as

      sanitation, disposal of dead animals, the cremation (burning) of the dead.

   14. Today in India and the United States, many Indians do not identify themselves as a

          member of a caste.

B. The Indian Family

    1. The family was the center of life in

         ancient India.  Grandparents, 

         parents, and children lived in the

         same household.

    2. Ancient India was a patriarchal

        society, in other words, it was run by

        men.

    3. Men inherited family property, unless

        there were no sons in the family.

    4. Marriages were arranged, most

        people married in their teens, and

        divorce was not allowed.

5. Sati (suttee)

        a. Since ancient times in India the

            bodies of the dead are not buried,

           but are cremated or burned in a

           funeral pyre.

        b. Sati was the practice in which

            wives from prominent Indian

            families would leap into their dead

            husband’s funeral flames, resulting

            in their death.

        c. Wives who resisted and did not kill

            themselves brought great shame

            on themselves and would be

            avoided by others in society.

. Europeans, beginning with the

            Portuguese in A.D. 1510, made

            attempts at banning the practice

            of sati in India, with little success.

       e. The British had more success at

           banning the practice of sati.

       f. In A.D. 1829 the British banned the

           practice of sati in British controlled

           areas of India, and by A.D. 1861

           they had been mostly successful in

           enforcing the ban.

      g. In A.D. 1987 the Indian Government

          banned the practice of sati; 

          however, there continue to be

          reported isolated cases of the ritual

          still being practiced in India.