Ancient Civilizations & Early Empires

  India  Largest country on Indian Subcontinent  On of the world’s oldest civilizations South Asia

  Harappan Civilization  Indus River Valley  Pakistan  One of world’s largest ancient civilizations  Flourished between 3000 BC and 1700 BC  Often called Harappan civilization  After its first discovered city  Harappa was one of eight major Harappan cities  All were trade centers located along waterways Ancient Civilizations

 Harappan Civilization

  Aryan Civilization  Populated much of northern India around 1500BC  Moved from place to place herded livestock  Left two important legacies behind  Social order  Sanskrit  Aryans believed in orderly society divided into  varnas-or social classes  Brought the Sanskrit to this region  Parent language of Hindi Ancient Civilizations

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  Mauryan Empire  320BC ruler Chandragupta united nearly all of northern India, Afghanistan and parts of Asia  Under him trade flourished & farming improved & weights and measures were made standard  Great Emperor Asoka  Helped expand empire and improve trade  Spread Buddhism  After his death power struggles and invasion destroyed empire Early Empires

 Mauryan Empire

  Gupta Empire  300 ADs  United much of northern India  Trade and culture thrived  Scholars made important advances in math, medicine and astronomy  Concept of zero first introduced  Empire weakened by invaders  By 550 India was divided once again Early Empires

 Gupta Empire

  Mughal Empire  In 1500s a new group of Muslim invaders led by great warrior Babur  Conquered much of Northern India  1526 Establish Mughal Empire  Babur grandson Akbar was one of India’s greatest rulers  Trade flourished  Demand for Indian goods like spices and tea grew  Empire grew rich from trade  Religious tolerance encouraged peace in empire  Although Mughals were Muslim most Indians still practiced Hinduism  Architecture thrived  Taj Mahal  India’s most spectacular building  Built during Mughal Empire Early Empires

 Mughal Empire

 Taj Mahal

  British Empire  As early as the 1500’s Europeans had tired to control parts of India  1600’s English presence began in India  Demand of Indian goods such cotton and sugar was high  Mughal rulers granted East India Trading Company  East India Company  British trading company  At fist was small trading post  British presence gradually grew  Expanded territory and power  By mid 1800’s controlled more than half of India Early Empires

  British Empire(continued)  India had become a British Colony  British rule angered and frightened many Indians  1857 Indian troops revolted, triggering violence across India  British government crushed the rebellion and took control of India, away from East India Company  British government ruled India directly Early Empires

  1800s Indians began to question British rule  Created Indian National Congress  Hoped to gain more rights and opportunities  Mohandas Gandhi  Important leader  Non-violent protests  1947 two countries were formed  Pakistan-Muslim  India-Hinduism  As result 10 million people rushed to cross border in fear of religious persecution  Soon after India and Pakistan gained Independence  Other countries in region did too gradually Independence