[Early civilizations of

India and Pakistan]

3.1
October 6, 2008
 To do:

• Create-a-test day.
• Read Section 1
• Create a list of 12 Questions.
• True/false (4), multiple choice (4),
short answer (4)
• This should be an overview of the
ENTIRE section.
• List/define 12 terms on pg. 68
• Individual Work please.
• Due Tomorrow.

Question #1
---The natural landscape and
geography of South Asia had
little impact on the civilizations
way of life…(T/F)
Mountains (Himilayas) limited contact with others
There were passes (i.e. Khyber)
Geography divided area into regions
Gangetic Plain
Deccan
Coastal plains
 Question #2
--- Monsoons were an important
part of Indus Culture
because they brought:
a. Cold winters, rainy summers
b. Moist winters, dry summers
c. Natural disasters that brought people
together
d. Dry winters, wet summers
Monsoons – seasonal winds that shaped Indian life
Depending on direction, crops would face both dry
season and moist season
If they don’t come on time = starvation
If they come too often = mass flooding

Question #3
---the cities of Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa were well-
planned and had organized
governments (T/F)

Cities had unknown hilltop structures

Laid out in patterns, with main streets/rectangle blocks

Had complex plumbing systems (drains, baths, etc.)

 Question #4
--- Statues and clay seals found
indicate that the Indus
religious beliefs were
A. Pantheistic
B. Polytheistic
C. Animistic
D. Monotheistic

Like other early civilizations, they were polytheistic

Possibly: a Mother Goddess (creation) and leading
male God.
Viewed animals as sacred. Foreshadowing
veneration?

Question #5
---By about 1900 BC, the Indus
civilization was no longer.
Explain what happened.

2600 BC – 1900 BC
Quality of life dwindled, cities abandoned
Possible reasons:
1. Attack from outside
2. Environmental factors
3. Major Flood/Quake
 The Aryans
2000bc – 1500bc
Migration from C. Asia to India
Built NO CITIES, left behind little,
except…

The VEDAS
(sacred texts, hymns, chants)

Way of Life
• Lead by rajahs (most skilled
warrior)
• Divided society
– Brahmins | priests
– Kshatriyas | warriors
– Vaisyas | artisans, merchants
– Sudras | servants
– Dalits | work others wouldn’t do
 Religious Beliefs
• Polytheistic
• Indra, chief God.

• [Evolved overtime]
– Braham, single God
– Mysticism, contact with divine
– Both shaped future Indian religion

HINDUISM
“God is one, but wise
people know it by many
names”
 The basics.
• No Founder, No Sacred Text
• Complex, many gods, forms of worship
• Universal Beliefs:
1) Everything is part of force of Braham
2) Gods give concrete form to
• Teaching recorded in VEDAS

BRAHMA | the creator

VISHNU | the preserver

SHIVA | the destroyer

 | Goal of a Hindu Life |
• All have a ATMAN, true self
• Goal is MOKSHA, or union with Braham
• HOW? = free yourself from selfish desires
• REINCARNATION (several attempts)

| Key Teachings |
• KARMA, good and bad
• DHARMA, moral duties
• AHIMSA, nonviolence
• Caste systems, high and low dictated Hindu
life
 BUDDHISM
Siddhartha Guatama
“the Enlightened One”

| The Basics |
• NO GOD.
• Pain, sorrow and the cure
• After becoming “enlightened” Buddha taught others
what he had learned:

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

 1 | All Life is full of suffering,
pain, and sorrow.

2 | The cause of suffering is non-virtue

3 | the key is to
overcome non-virtue

4 | overcoming non-virtue
requires following the

ULTIMATE GOAL = enlightenment, NIRVANA (release

from this earth (cycle of re-birth)
 Maurya Empire

• {321- 185 BC}

• Chandragupta Maurya =
founder
– Well organized bureaucracy
– Ruled effectively, but harsh
– Dissent was not allowed

Asoka Takes Reigns

• Expands empire, then

denounces violence
(convert?)
• Encouraged spread of
Buddhism
• Unifies empires
 Deccan
Kingdoms
• Diverse population
• Dravidians/Tamil
Kingdoms
• Hinduism/Buddhism
become popular
• Trade was important

Guptas
• 320-540 AD
• REMEMBER THIS:

GOLDEN AGE
[Def: a period of great
cultural achievement]
 GOLDEN AGE
[Def: a period of great
cultural achievement]
• Schools! Religion and many other
topics taught
• Developed decimal system of
numbers (~10)
• Vaccinations!
• >>>> White Huns ruin the party-
Unity no longer.

Chinese
Civilization
10/20/2008
Mr. Rathjen
 [Beginnings]

*History begins @ Huang River Valley

-Yellow River Civilization
*Loess – fine, windblown yellow soil
*“River Of Sorrows”???
-Discover silk, calligraphy,
1st books

[Shang Dynasty]

*1766-1122 BC
*Clans, headed by princes and nobles held
most control
*Social classes developed
-top = royal family, warriors
-bottom = peasants (*most people)
 [Zhou (joh) Dynasty]

*1122 – 256 BC
*Mandate from Heaven (divine right to rule)
*Zhou rewarded supporters with land
-feudalism?
*Downfall is _____________________??
 Confucianism Daoism
1. Founded by 1. Founded by Laozi
Confucius 2. Focus on harmony
2. Focus on worldly with nature
goals of social 3. Stresses virtue of
order/good gov’t yielding
3. Stresses accepting 4. Gov’t is unnatural &
one’s place in should govern as
society little as possible.
4. Gov’t should set a
good example

Chinese Unification
3.5
“Cracking his long whip, he drove the universe before him,
swallowing up the eastern and western Zhou and
overthrowing the feudal lords”
Shi Huangdi, “First Emperor”, rules Qin
Dynasty in 221 BC (*last only until 206 BC)
Start of classical age, or framework for later
cultures
 Legalism

Huangdi rules with Legalism

– Harsh rules/punishments
– Authoritarian rule
– Disbands feudalism
Builds GREAT WALL to protect state
Qin falls to revolts over policies (remember
dynastic cycle?)
 HAN Dynasty

(202 BC – 220 AD)

WUDI, most famous emperor:
1. Confucian ideas
2. Strengthened economy (MONOPOLY)
3. Expansionism
4. Opens trade routes/Silk Road (4,000 miles)
5. Civil service system (merit driven appt)

HAN Dynasty

Warlords overthrow HAN

Achievements:
1. Academics/Astronomy
2. Acupuncture
3. Paper making
Also, Buddhism eventually reached China (more
personalized/emphasized suffering)