Early Civilization and Religion in South Asia 3: Ancient India and China Indus and Aryans

The Forgotten Indus Civilization 2

Archaeologists have not fully uncovered many Indus Valley sites. Still, we do know that the Indus Valley civilization covered the largest area of any civilization until the rise of Persia more than 1,000 years later. We know, too, that its great cities were as impressive as those of Sumer.

Farming and Trade 1

As in other early civilizations, most Indus Valley people were farmers. They grew a wide variety of crops, including wheat, barley, melons, and dates. They also may have been the first people to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth. Some people were merchants and traders. Their ships carried cargoes of cotton cloth, grain, copper, pearls, and ivory combs to distant lands.

The Aryan Religion 3

As the lives of the Aryans changed, so, too, did their beliefs. Some religious thinkers were moving toward the notion of Brahman, a single spiritual power that existed beyond the many gods of the Vedas and that resided in all things. There was also a move toward mysticism. Mystics are people who seek direct communion with the divine. Aryan mystics practiced meditation and yoga, spiritual and bodily disciplines designed to enhance the attempt to achieve direct contact with the divine. The religions that emerged in India after the Vedic Period was influenced by both mysticism and the notion of Brahman.

A Mysterious Decline 1

By about 1750 B.C., the quality of life in the Indus Valley was declining. The once orderly cities no longer kept up the old standards. Crude pottery replaced the finer works of earlier days. Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned. The populations of the other Indus cities and towns also dwindled. While people continued to live in the Indus Valley, Indus civilization fell apart and eventually disappeared.

Farming and Trade 2

By hugging the coast of the Arabian Sea and sailing up the Persian Gulf, Indus vessels reached the cities of Sumer. Scholars think that contact with Sumer may have prompted the people of the Indus Valley to develop their own system of writing. Still, Indus script bears no resemblance to Sumerian cuneiform.

Aryan Civilization and the Vedas 1

During the centuries between 2000 B.C. and 1500 B.C., a new civilization developed after the decline of the Indus civilization. Although there is debate about how this civilization formed, it would shape the subcontinent for centuries to come.

Indus Religious Beliefs 1

From clues such as statues and images on small clay seals, archaeologists have speculated about the religious beliefs of the Indus people. Like other ancient peoples, they appear to be polytheistic. A mother goddess, the source of creation, seems to have been widely honored, along with a male god. Indus people also seem to have viewed certain animals as sacred, including the buffalo and the bull. Some scholars think these early practices influenced later Hindu beliefs, especially the veneration of, or special regard, for cattle.

Aryans Structure Society 1

From the Vedas, we learn that Aryan society was made up of four groups of people. Ancient Indian society was seen as needing four classes of people to function properly. Each of these classes, called varnas, were based on a person's ability and interest. The classifications were Brahmins, those who learn; Kshatriyas (kuh SHAT ree yuhz), those who accumulate power; Vaisyas (VYS yuz), those who produce goods; and Sudras, those who serve. Even though the Brahmins were the highest caste, the Kshatriyas were the rulers.

From Nomads to Farmers 1

Gradually, the Aryans gave up their nomadic ways and settled into villages to cultivate crops and breed cattle. From local farmers, the Aryans learned to raise crops. They also took up other skilled crafts. In time, the Aryans spread eastward to settle in the heavily forested Ganges basin. By about 800 B.C., they learned to make tools out of iron. Equipped with iron axes and weapons, restless pioneers carved farms and villages out of the rain forests of the northeast.

Well-Planned Cities Reveal Organized Government 1

In recent years, archaeologists have discovered more than 1,000 settlements along the Indus River and the dry bed of the Saraswati. At least eight of the settlements are larger cities that archaeologists believe may have been prominent during the course of the civilization's history.

Cultural Diversity 1

India's great size and diverse landscapes made it hard to unite. Many groups of people, with differing languages and traditions, settled in different parts of India. At times, ambitious rulers conquered much of the subcontinent, creating great empires. Despite their conquests, the diversity of customs and traditions rem

What does the name "Ganga Maiya" suggest about the importance of the river Hindus?

It suggest that the Hindi people revered it as a celestial being of shorts that is responsible for there upbringing

Aryans Structure Society 2

Later, the society was divided by occupational groups. During the medieval period, these ancient divisions would evolve into a more rigid, hierarchical system known as the caste system. People were rigidly fixed in the class or caste into which they were born. The Rig Veda describes how the universe was created by a divine Universal Being referred to as Purusha. From Purusha, everything, including the planets, air, animals, and plants came into being. The people of the four classes in society are also said to have been created by Purusha.

Ramayana Teaches Values 2

Like Hinduism, these epics evolved over thousands of years. Priest-poets added new morals to the tales to teach different lessons. For example, they pointed to Rama as a model of virtue or as an ideal king. Likewise, Sita came to be honored as an ideal woman who remained loyal and supportive to her husband through many hardships.

Well-Planned Cities Reveal Organized Government 4

Merchants in the marketplace used a uniform system of weights and measures—additional evidence of careful planning. From this evidence, archaeologists have concluded that Indus Valley cities were planned by a well-organized government. The rigid pattern of building and uniform brick sizes suggest government planners at work. These experts must have been skilled in mathematics and surveying to lay out the cities so precisely.

What evidence of writing exists, and what does it show?

Notations on small clay seals and show that Indus merchants used a standardized system of weight and measurement

A Mysterious Decline 4

Other evidence points to a devastating earthquake or intense drought. Scholars think that some of these events may have worked together to bring an end to Indus civilization. As the ruined cities disappeared, all memory of them faded.

The Aryan Religion 2

Other major gods included Varuna, the god of order and creation, and Agni, the god of fire and the messenger who communicated human wishes to the gods. The Aryans also honored animal deities, such as monkey and snake gods. Brahmins offered sacrifices of food and drink to the gods. Through the correct rituals and prayers, the Aryans believed, they could call on the gods for health, wealth, and victory in war.

Well-Planned Cities Reveal Organized Government 2

Since their discovery in the 1920s, the Indus cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (moh HEN joh DAH roh) have been considered possible twin capitals of the civilization, or cities that ruled the area one after the other. Both were large, some three miles in circumference. Each was dominated by a massive hilltop structure whose exact purpose is unknown. Both cities had huge warehouses to store grain. Clearly, farmers produced enough surplus food to support thousands of city dwellers.

From Nomads to Farmers 2

The Aryan people had a tribal political system that later formed the basis for the small independent kingdoms that formed in northwestern India. Aryan tribes were led by chiefs called rajahs. A rajah, who was often the most skilled war leader, had been elected to his position by an assembly of warriors. As he ruled, he considered the advice of a council of elders made up of the heads of families. Rajahs often fought with one another to control trade and territory across the northern plain. Some rajahs became powerful hereditary rulers, extending their influence over many villages.

The Aryan Religion 1

The Aryans worshiped gods and goddesses who embodied natural forces such as sky, sun, storm, and fire. They viewed these gods and goddesses as manifestations of a single, divine, absolute. The chief Aryan deity was fierce Indra, the god of war. Indra's weapon was the thunderbolt, which he used not only to destroy demons but also to announce the arrival of rain, so vital to Indian life.

Mountains, Plateaus, and Plains of India 3

The Deccan is a triangular plateau, or raised area of level land, that juts into the Indian Ocean. The Deccan generally lacks the melting snows that feed the rivers of the north and provide water for irrigation. As a result, much of the region is arid, agriculturally unproductive, and sparsely populated. India's third region, the coastal plains, are separated from the Deccan by low-lying mountain ranges, the Eastern and Western Ghats. Rivers and heavy seasonal rains provide water for farmers. From very early times, coastal people used the seas for fishing and as highways for trade.

Mountains, Plateaus, and Plains of India 1

The Indian subcontinent is divided into three major zones: the northern plain, the dry Deccan plateau, and the coastal plains on either side of the Deccan.

A Mysterious Decline 2

The Indus Civilization remains an historical enigma [puzzle]. A remarkably uniform [culture] distributed over a vast geographical area utterly disappears without an apparent successor. Cities, writing, the high achievement of their crafts, the use of standardized weights, long distance trade with the Gulf, and their exceptional system of urban sanitation simply disappear from the South Asian social landscape.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent 1

The Indus Valley is located in the region known as South Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. A subcontinent is a large landmass that juts out from a continent. The Indian subcontinent is a huge, wedge-shaped peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean. Today, it includes three of the world's ten most populous countries—India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—as well as the island nation of Sri Lanka (sree LAHNG kuh) and the mountain nations of Nepal and Bhutan.

Ramayana Teaches Values 1

The Ramayana is much shorter but equally memorable. I It recounts the fantastic deeds of the daring hero Rama and his beautiful bride Sita. Early on, Sita is kidnapped by the demon-king Ravana. The rest of the story tells how Rama finally rescues Sita with the aid of the monkey general Hanuman.

Aryan Civilization and the Vedas 2

The early Aryans in India built no cities and left no statues or stone seals. Most of what we know about them comes from the Vedas, a collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions, and other religious teachings. Aryan priests memorized and recited the Vedas for a thousand years before they ever wrote down these sacred teachings. As a result, the period from 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. is often called the Vedic Period.

The Forgotten Indus Civilization 1

The first civilization in South Asia is cloaked in mystery. It emerged in the valleys of the Indus River and the now dried up Saraswati River in present-day Pakistan and India. Although it originated earlier, Indus Valley civilization flourished from about 2500 B.C., to about 1800 B.C.. Its once-prosperous cities were only rediscovered in the 1920s, unearthed by archaeologists' picks and shovels.

Life-Giving Monsoons 2

The monsoon has shaped Indian life. Each year, people welcome the rains that are desperately needed to water the crops. If the rains are late, famine and starvation may occur. However, if the rains are too heavy, rushing rivers will unleash deadly floods.

Well-Planned Cities Reveal Organized Government 3

The most striking feature of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro is that they were carefully planned. Mohenjo-Daro was laid out in a grid pattern, with long, wide main streets and large rectangular blocks. Houses were mostly built with baked clay bricks of a standard size. Indus houses had surprisingly complex plumbing systems, with baths, drains, and water chutes that led into sewers beneath the streets.

Mountains, Plateaus, and Plains of India 2

The northern plain lies just south of the Himalayas. This fertile region is watered by mighty rivers: the Indus, which gives India its name, the Ganges (GAN jeez), and the Brahmaputra (brah muh POO truh). These rivers and their tributaries carry melting snow from the mountains to the plains, making agriculture possible. To the people of the Indian subcontinent, rivers are sacred, especially the Ganges. An Indian name for river is lokmata, or "mother of the people."

Life-Giving Monsoons 1

Today, as in the past, a defining feature of life in the Indian subcontinent is the monsoon, a seasonal wind that is part of the global wind pattern. In October, the winter monsoon blows from the northeast, bringing hot dry air that withers crops. During May and June of each year, the wet summer monsoon blows from the southwest. These winds pick up moisture over the Indian Ocean and drench the land with daily downpours.

A Mysterious Decline 3

Today, scholars think that environmental factors undermined Indus civilization. The lower Indus became subject to severe flooding, which destroyed towns and cities. Over time, rainfall in the area decreased, slowly turning it into the desert it is today. Without adequate rainfall, a civilization that relied on farming could not survive.

Geography of the Indian Subcontinent 2

Towering, snow-covered mountain ranges mark the northern border of the subcontinent, including the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas. These mountains limited contacts between India and other lands and helped its people develop a distinct culture. The mountains, however, were not a complete barrier. Steep passes through the Hindu Kush served as gateways to migrating and invading peoples for thousands of years.

What did Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa both have at their city centers? What did they have under the city streets?

both cities had a citadel that dominated them on the center. the cities had sewers underneath their streets

How are religion and culture connected?

religion and culture are connected in the fact that the culture of a society can have an affect on one 's religion; and in turn religion can have an affect on a person's society.

how did geography help shape civilization and how does it continues to affect life in India?

the natural barrier of there northern borders consisting of The Himalayas and The Hindu Kush helped provide strategic value in conquering lands, Due to its location, India was very limited in its ability to farm show the people had to rely on two rivers the Brahmaputra river and the Ganges River for farming.

In what economic activities did the Indus people engage?

they farmed, wove cloth, and traded