1. Bellwork
In a few sentences, write anything down that you know about India. It could be:
Religion
Geography (location)
People
Language

2. Section 3, Unit 3 (pt. 1) Indus Valley
World History
Section 3, Unit 3 (pt. 1)
Indus Valley

3. Objectives Identify the geography of India and the surrounding area
Explain the emergence (and disappearance) of early civilizations

4. Review
Prior to this lesson, we discussed Egypt and Mesopotamia, both of which have risen and fallen.
Farther to the east, another civilization was growing around 2500 B.C.
There is very little information about the true early Indian Civilizations, but as we move forward, we will learn more about the advanced societies that would follow.

5. Geography of Southern Asia
Southern Asia- including India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh- are all separated from the rest of Asia thanks to the Himalayan, Hindu Kush, and Karakoram Mountain ranges, which are some of the highest ranges in the world.

6. Geography of Southern Asia (cont.)
The large mountain ranges are believed to have occurred when India collided with the rest of Asia millions of years ago.
These ranges have helped form what is known as the Indian Subcontinent- a self contained landmass that is a division of another continent.

7. Geography of Southern Asia (cont.)
These high mountain rages guard an enormous flat and fertile plain formed by two rivers- Indus and Ganges Rivers.
Question: What effect have
rivers had on other
civilizations (Mesopotamia and Egypt?)

8. Indus and Ganges Rivers
The two rivers, and the land they are near, stretch across 1,500 miles across northern India and are referred to as the Indus-Ganges Range.
Along the Indus River specifically, existed the Indus Valley.
South of the rivers, the rest of the continent is a peninsula that stretches into the Indian Ocean.

9. Weather
Seasonal winds often occur in India. These are called monsoons and dominate India’s climate when they occur.
From October to May, winter monsoons blow dry air across the continent from the northeast. During June, however, the winds shift and instead blow from southwest, carrying moisture from the ocean.
Question: What effect would this have had on the development of civilizations?

10. Environmental Challenges
The early Indian civilizations faced similar problems that the Egyptians and Mesopotamians faced, including flooding- which in India was unpredictable.
As well, increased winds mixed with too much rain and flooding could devastate a village, while too little rain could cause crops to wither away.

11. Environmental Challenges
However, the benefit of the Indus River outweighed the cost: the river flowed into the sea, allowing the Indus people to trade with others, including the Mesopotamians.
This is very similar to the Ancient Egyptians, who used the Nile to trade with those along it or transport goods.

12. Civilization Emerges
Historians know very little about the civilization that formed in the Indus Valley of western India.
The writing system has yet to be decoded, but some information is coming from archeological evidence. However, keeping in mind the flooding, much evidence is believed to have been washed away.
However, despite lack of evidence, most historians agree that the civilizations that formed here controlled an area larger than either Egypt or Mesopotamia.

13. Arrival to India
No one is exactly sure how the early people settled in India, but we do know that overtime, nomadic people that lived there began to domesticate animals and crops by around 7000 B.C..
By around 3200 B.C., people began to truly farm near the Indus River, benefiting from the flooding that was occurring.
Skulls of the Indus River Valley People

14. Formation of Cities
By 2500 B.C., as the Egyptians were building pyramids, people of the Indus Valley were laying mud bricks for homes and small settlements- over a 100 settlements would have existed within this time period.
The largest of these settlements are Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, and Harappa.

15. City Planning
A remarkable achievement of the Indus Valley people was sophisticated city planning, which included:
precise grid layouts of cities
fortified areas that contained major buildings
separate residential areas
plumbing
sewage systems.
The uniformity of these systems rivaled any system that would exist by the 19th century.

16. Central Government
Because of the sophisticated city planning, most historians agree that the early Indus Valley civilizations had a strong central government.

17. Culture and Trade
Archeological evidence shows that Indus civilizations were very stable and quite uniform (there was few social divisions).
Artifacts, such as toys, provide evidence that the society was prosperous enough to afford goods that were not essential to survival.
As well, few weapons have been found in the cities.
Clay Figurine

18. Religion
Archeologists have discovered religious artifacts that reveal links to modern Hindu culture (we will discuss Hindu in a feature lesson).
Figures show what may be representations of modern Hindu gods, such as Shiva.

19. Trade
Stamps and seals have also been found and were probably used to identify goods (merchants would stamp their goods).
This would probably reveal that the Indus people engaged in long-distance trade.
Trade is believed to have occurred around 2350 B.C. and ended around 2000 B.C.
Stamps

20. Disappearance
Around 1750 B.C., the quality of the building in the Indus Valley declined.
Gradually, the cities fell into decay.
Archeological evidence shows that the decay caused the great cities to be abandoned.

21. What happened? Why? There is no explanation as to why this occurred.
The little archeological evidence that does exist shows that the mud bricks were exposed to extreme intense heat[1], which is similar to other cultures that have disappeared mysteriously.
Activity: With your group, write four things you think could have happened to these people to cause their cities to deteriorate? You have one minute: be prepared to discuss at the beginning of class.
[1]

22. Disappearance (cont.) There are theories as to what happened:
Overuse of the land (could no longer grow crops)
Flood
Natural Disaster
Attack from another group
The intense heat exposed to the bricks has yet to be fully explained.

23. Disappearance (cont.)
The Indus Valley people finally disappeared around 1500 B.C., in which a large scale catastrophe occurred.

24. Forming of a New Empire
After the fall of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, another Indian culture would take their place by around 1700 B.C.

25. Questions?
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask now.

26. Next Lesson
In the next lesson, we will be looking at the growth of Indian cultures due to the arrival of Indo-European nomads.

27. Review
What effect could the large mountain ranges have had on the people in the Indus Valley?
What were the two rivers that the early Indus people settled near?
Name at least two causes for the decline of the Indus Valley people. Pick a cause and identify how this may have also caused the decline of either Egypt or Mesopotamia.
What characteristics of the Indus Valley civilizations showed that they may have been highly sophisticated?
What was the effect of the Indus River on trade? How was this similar to Ancient Egypt?