Ancient India

Ancient India

1. India's Geographical setting. They were in the Himalayan to the north. The ghats to the south Subcontinental plateau.

   • 3000 B.c was when India was first started. 1500 years later the Aryans conquered theIndians
     • They began in the Indus river civilizations.They were flooded like in Egypt. It is a subcontinent because it is seperated from Asia and also seperated by the Himalayas.
       • The two fertile river valleys is the Ganges River and the Indus River.
         • In the winter there are monsoons which overflow the city. They blow opposite directions in the winter and the summer.
           • They depended on the monsoons for water and the crops they needed. If it flooded so much it would kill all the plants.
             • If it did not rain, it could lead to famine.
               • In 3000B.C. farmers settled near the Indus River what is now Pakistan.
                 • In 2500B.C The two cities that dominated were Harrapa and Mohenjo Daro.
                   • Harappa traded with Iran and regions from India to the east.
                     • In Mohenjo Daro they traded with the Sumer in Mesopotamia. Through the persian gulf.
                       • They used to be hunter gatheres but they converted to most of them farmers
                         • Their first civilization developed in the Indus Valley. They created their fierst writing system.
                           • Their first civilizations were mostly farms.
                             • In the 1920s Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro was found.
                               • They were carefully laid out and the streets were very organized.
                                 • Each city had as many as 35000 people in each city.
                                   • The trading seals were their first form of writing.
                                     • They made peaceful items were made of terracotta. Toys.
                                       • Jewelry were made of gold, agate, jasper, and garnets.
                                         • Wheel technology 2300-2200B.C
                                           • Standard weights and measurements of the ratio of 1/16th
                                             • They were the first to cultivate cotton cotton clothing.
                                               • First matrilineal society
                                                 • They had great bath tanks that purified your body and soul.
                                                   • They had a form of plumming.
                                                     • Religious beliefs were centered on the idea of an afterlife, thus bodies were buried with personal items.
                                                       • The hump back bull symbolized leader, whose strengths protects the people.
                                                         • Priests mediated in yogi style to become connected with the gods.
                                                           • The Aryans conquer the Indians and created a new government system. They were grouped in clans that were ruled by warrior chief called rajas. The tribes were called gana. It was a hereditary job that had the final say in the decision. They introduced a new language the Sanskrit Hindu. The vedas was a book of knowledge. Collection of sacred poems and hymns. The Vedic period 1500-1000 B.C.E. Describes blief and daily life.
                                                             • Ramayana tells the story of the good king Rama and the pre Aryan king Ravana
                                                               • The period 1000-500 B.c.
                                                                 • A new education system. Children were taught by a guru. Every student including the chiefs son had to obey the guru. All education was rigorous and given orally.
                                                                   • The origins of Hinduism is uknown.
                                                                     • It is a combinations . of several religious beliefs, and gods of ancient India.
                                                                       • Early bronze and neolithic period.
                                                                         • The Brahma "Creator"
                                                                           • Vishnu the preserver
                                                                             • Siva the destroyer.
                                                                               • Krishna is the ancient god of the Aryans. Apparently he had obtained nirvana.
                                                                                 • There is no set dogma The unquestionable truth.
                                                                                   • Hinduism is a religion with variety of beliefs.
                                                                                     • Upanishads are literature between 800 and 500 B.C.E. It provides concepts fundamental to Hinduism.
                                                                                       • Hindu terms:Dharma is the ways to be like.
                                                                                         • Karma"The effects of the activitres of its atman.
                                                                                           • Atman is the soul of each indiviual.
                                                                                             • Samsara is the reincarnation.
                                                                                               • Nirvana is reaching heaven or released from your soul.
                                                                                                 • HIndu life cycle.
                                                                                                   • Youth taught by a guru.
                                                                                                     • Householder leading your family
                                                                                                       • Reflection: using the teachings in order to break the cycle of bad karma.
                                                                                                         • Mediation the atman seeking communion with the universal spirit.
                                                                                                           • Nirvana: breaking the cycle of life and being one with the universe.
                                                                                                           • By the 7th century C.E. had replaced sacrifice of animals. This led to the building of temples and shrines which housed statues and pictures of Gods.
                                                                                                             • Hinduism spread to . the places of Cambodia and Vietnam Indonesia and Thailand.
                                                                                                               • How hinduism spread
                                                                                                                 • Use of Military force and culture through force.
                                                                                                                   • Brahman priests invited by local southeast Asia.
                                                                                                                     • Untouchables were Non-Aryans
                                                                                                                       • In each Aryan tribe, people belonged to one of the first four group. People could move from group to group.
                                                                                                                         • It depended on their birth and it became difficult.
                                                                                                                           • It was an attempt by the upper class to freeze the economic system. For the caste system.
                                                                                                                             • It created an alternative to open slavery.
                                                                                                                               • It mantained control over local population