1. Ancient Civilizations: The Indus Valley
Indus River Valley: Geographic and Climate Setting
Indus River Valley: Mountain Pathways and Barriers
Mohenjo-Daro: The First Planned City?
Indus River Valley: Harappa A Conquered People

3. Indus River Valley: Geographic Setting
The Indus River Valley civilization first appeared in 2,500 B.C.
It was located in the western part of India
India is actually a subcontinent; a large land mass that extends out from a continent (Asia)
Himalayan and the Hindu Kush Mountains to an extent isolate India from Asia

5. Indus River Valley: Climate
Climate is dominated by monsoons, are heavy rains accompanied by strong winds
Monsoons appear during winter from northeast region and summer monsoons are powered by the Indian Ocean
Summer monsoons provide life giving rains but if weak or late they can weaken the harvest
If the summer monsoon bring exceedingly heavy rains rivers will cause massive floods that can devastate villages on river fronts

7. Indus River Valley: Mountain Pathways and Barriers
Passes of Hindu Kush mountains allowed invading armies to reach India
The Indus River begins in the mountains and is a product of the mountain snow melting
Indus eventually flows onto the floodplains of India and makes large scale faring possible
Floodplains; area around a river that becomes flooded when the water levels of the river rise

8. Indus River Valley: Mountain Pathways and Barriers
Rich soil in valley provided farmers with a surplus of wheat and grain
Surplus food allowed civilization to flourish and grow (villages became cities)
Population grew as well because of food surpluses

10. Mohenjo-Daro: The First Planned City?
2,500-1,300 B.C. Indus River Valley had planned cities
Mohenjo-Daro was built on a plateau to deal with unpredictable river flooding
To allow easy movement city streets were divided into squares
Houses and shops were built within these squares

12. Mohenjo-Daro: The First Planned City?
To protect its citizens a citadel, a fortress, was built in the center of the city
Mohenjo-Daro had a heated religious pool, storage facilities for crops, two story buildings made of mud bricks, defensive towers and a sewer system
Had a written language which used pictographs; sign that expresses a thought or idea

13. Harappa: A Merchant City
Harappa, 3,000-1,300 B.C. was a city built on local and international trade
City trade went as far as Mesopotamia, Persia and southern India
Traded intensively in gold, ivory, spices, cloth and copper
Harappans domesticated animals and grew crops
First to grow cotton and produce cloth

14. Indus River Valley: A Conquered People
Aryans; warrior nomads, migrated into the Indus valley around 2,000 B.C.
Introduced a caste system that ranked people in society
Aryans were able to conquer the Indus Valley due to natural disasters in form the of famines, devastating floods and over usage of topsoil
These events allowed the Aryans to sweep across the valley region