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ANCIEN
INDIA
SUBCONTINE
NT: the
Includes
modern-day
countries of
• India
• Pakistan
• Bangladesh
3 MAJOR
RIVERS: Brahmaputr
Indu a Ganges
s
Geography of India
India’s civilizations
experienced monsoons or
seasonal winds.
• Winter monsoons
bring dry air and
moderate
temperatures.
• Summer
monsoons
bring rain from
the ocean and
often cause
Effects of Monsoons on India
flooding. What is a monsoon?
circa 2500 BC – 1500
MAJO •
R •
CITIES
Harappa
:
and
Mohenjo-
Daro Indus River Civilization Explained
• Cities had a citadel
(fortress) overlooking
each city.
• Cities were laid out in a
grid pattern.
• Cities had
brick houses
with flat
wooden roofs.
• Houses had at least one

bathroom with drains and
chutes connecting to a sewer
• Most people worked the land.
rice field
wheat cotton barley
• They grew wheat, barley, rice

and cotton.
• They planted at the beginning
or end of the flood season,
relying on the drenched land to
provide the necessary water for
the crops.
• Food surpluses enabled people
to do other work like commerce
and arts.
• Artifacts suggest that the
Harappans worshipped gods
associated with natural forces.
• Inscribed
pictograms have
been found on
package seals, but
have not been
deciphered.
• Lack of written records makes
it difficult to know much about
the Harappans.
• Around 1500 BC, the
Harappans disappeared.
Possible Reasons:
• Climate change
• Disease (evidence of leprosy
and tuberculosis have been
discovered)
• Socio-economic upheaval
• invasion
As more artifacts are
discovered, archaeologists
will likely learn more about
these ancient Indus River
cities.
A
MIGRATION
• Between 2000 - 1500 BC nomadic
people called or Aryans traveled
from Central Asia and into India
• They came through mountain
passes and eventually settled in
along the Indus and Ganges Rivers
• There are a lot of theories about
where the Indo-Aryans originated,
but no one knows for sure
THE VEDAS
• What little we know about the
Indo-Aryans comes from the Vedas
• The Vedas are a collection of
sacred Hindu teachings that were
passed down orally by priests until
they were eventually written down
• The Vedas describe Indo-Aryans as
warriors and nomads who highly
valued cattle
INDO-
ARYANS
• Eventually the Indo-Aryans settled
down to grow crops and raise cattle
• Whether it was through war or
intermarriage, the Indo-Aryans
became the dominant group
• Powerful rajahs (leaders of the
Indo-Aryan clans or tribes) emerged
• Around 800 BC, the Aryans started
making tools out of iron
RELIGION
• They were polytheistic and
worshipped gods of the natural
world (sun, rain, etc.)
• Many of the Vedic gods will
later become part of Hinduism
• Priests offered drinks and food
to the gods and performed
rituals and prayers
RELIGION
IMPORTANT VEDIC GODS
• Indra - most important Vedic
god who ruled the heavens and
controlled storms
• Varuna - ruler of the sky &
oceans
• Agni - god of fire
• Surya - sun god
• Yama - god of justice & the
SOCIETY
• The Indo-Aryans divided their
society based on occupations
• This division will evolve into the
caste system (more on this a
little later!)
SOCIETY
• At the top, were the priests
called Brahmins
• Below the Brahmins were the
warriors called Kshatriya
• Then, came the Vaishya who
were made up of farmers,
artisans, and merchants
SOCIETY
• Below the Vaishya were the
Sudra, people who were not
Indo-Aryan
• At the bottom and existing
outside of society, were the
Dalits who performed unclean
jobs like making leather and
burying the dead
WRITING
• The written language of
Sanskrit was developed
Speaking Sanskrit
WRITING
• 2 epic poems are often attributed
to the Vedic Age:
• Mahabharata is the longest epic
poem ever written tells the story
of the Kurukshetra war between
cousins each wanting tountilrule
Mahabharata (watch 1:44)
• Ramayana is an epic poem about

the life of a prince named Rama
CHANDRAGUPTA
Chandragupt
•MAURYA
After the death of Macedonian
a Maurya
King, Alexander the Great in 323

BC, Chandragupta Maurya began
conquering the Macedonian
satrapies (provinces or areas
ruled by Macedonian governors)
and united Northern MIndia under
aced
his control. Sa t r oni
aps an
• In 321 BC, at the age of 20,
Chandragupta Maurya proclaimed
himself ruler of the Mauryan
Empire.
• Throughout his reign, he

continued to expand the empire
through conquests and alliances.
Chandragupta Maurya
CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA
• One alliance was
with Seleucus, a
Macedonia satrap. To
seal the alliance,
Chandragupta
married Seleucus’s
daughter and gifted
Seleucus with 500
war elephants.
CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA
• He kept control over the empire by
maintaining a strong army.
• According to Ancient Roman
historian Pliny, his army consisted of
600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry,
9,000 war elephants.
• He also used an extensive spy
network.
CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA
OTHER
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• He established a
bureaucracy.
• He established standardized
weights and measures.
• He established standards for
CHANDRAGUPTA
MAURYA
• At the age of 42, he gave the
throne to his son.
• He became a Jain ascetic
(someone who abstains from
any self-indulgence) and died
completing the religious ritual
of suicide by fasting to achieve
moksha (release from
ASHOKA 270 BC – 232 BC
• He was Chandragupta
Maurya’s grandson.
• He built an empire that
covered 2/3 of the Indian
Ashoka
subcontinent.
Empire under
Ashoka
ASHOKA’S ROCK
EDICTS
• The Rock Edicts were laws
written in local languages so
people could read them.
REIGN OF ASHOKA
• After viewing the
horrors of war,
Ashoka
announced he
would follow the
teachings of
Buddha and he
became a man of
REIGN OF
ASHOKA
• During his
rule, Buddhism
spread
throughout
India and other
parts of Asia.
Ashoka Chakra - a symbol
representing Buddhism that
was used by Ashoka
• Mauryan Empire declined after
the death of Ashoka.
• In 184 BC, the last Mauryan

emperor was murdered and
India split into warring
kingdoms.
CHANDRAGUPTA I 320 –
374 AD
• Chandragupta (no
known relation to
the previous rulers
of the same name)
created the Gupta
Empire.
• He used whatever
means necessary to
CHANDRAGUPT
A I• Arts and sciences
flourished.
• Hinduism became
the dominate
religion
CHANDRAGUPTA II
374 – 415 AD
• He eased tax
burdens.
• Art and sciences
continued to
flourish.
• The empire Iron pillar of Delhi, commissioned by
Chandragupta II after his victory
against Vihilakas, honors the Hindu
weakened after his

Gupta Empire god Vishnu. It has stood for more
than 1600 years without rusting or
Monsoon
winds took TRADE
ships from
India to
Egypt
Goods were
carried overland
by camels and
then again by
boat on the Nile
River to
From Alexandria, the goods
Alexandria
reached the Roman Empire
• People were
born into a
caste.
• They could not Brahmins
Priests,
Kshatriy
scholars
move into a a
different caste.
• Laws dictated
Warrior and
Vaishya
rulers
Merchants,
landowners
what each Sudra
caste could
Commoners, peasants,
laborers, servants
and Dalit, Untouchable

Performed unclean jobs like street sweepers,
could not do. waste handlers, dead body handlers
• Women had to obey their father,
husband, or son.
• They could not own property or study
sacred writings.
• Their husbands were allowed to
practice POLYGYNY, which means men
could have more than one wife.
• When their husband died, wives

committed SUTTEE or the practice of
committing suicide by throwing
themselves on their dead husband’s
• Only boys in the
upper castes were
educated.
• They studied great
epics, astronomy,
math, warfare, and
governments.
From
Pan the
chat
antr
a
• Panchatantra – collection of fables
• Math – abstract and negative numbers,
algebra
• Astronomy – identified 7 planets,
understood the rotation of the earth, and
predicted sun and moon eclipses
• Medicine – set bones, evidence of plastic
surgery, had free hospitals, knew about
the need for cleanliness and
disinfections, had a small pox vaccine
• Inoculation - the practice of infecting a
person with a mild form of the disease so
• A combination
of different
beliefs and
practices
• Polytheistic
SACRED BOOKS AND
TEXT
• Vedas – sacred
works of Hindu
religious
literature
• Upanishads
(800-300 BC) –
contains Hindu
• REINCARNATION – rebirth of the
soul continues until a person reached
spiritual perfection
• Cycle of rebirth is determined by
KARMA.
• Karma – how a person lives determines
what form the person will take in the
next life (good actions means a soul
will be reborn to a higher caste in next
life, bad actions means a soul will be
• DHARMA – correct actions for
one’s class, helps achieve karma
• AHIMSA – non-violence, requires the
believer to protect humans,
animals, insects, even plants
• MOKSHA – release from the pain
and suffering of rebirth and
becoming one with the universal
Hinduism 101
spirit, only Brahmins can achieve
HOW BUDDHISM WAS
FOUNDED
• In 563 BC, Siddhartha Gautama was born in
luxury and raised as a prince. He was
shielded from sickness and death.
• One day, as Gautama’s charioteer was
driving him around, he encountered
sickness, old age, and death for the first
time.
• He decided to find out why people suffered
and how it could end.
• At the age of 29, he left his wife and
newborn son and began his search. He
wandered throughout India for about 7
4 NOBLE TRUTHS
1.All people suffer and know
sorrow.
2.Desires cause suffering (in
other words, people suffer
because they try to get
things they cannot have).
3.End suffering by
eliminating desires.
4.Eliminate desire by
following the Eightfold
EIGHTFOLD PATH
1.Know truth
2.Resist evil
3.Say nothing to hurt
others
4.Respect life
5.Work for the good of
others
6.Free mind from evil
• By following the Eightfold
Path, a person could achieve
nirvana.
• NIRVANA is the freedom from
reincarnation and being at
one with the universe.
• Anyone regardless of class
could
Buddhism 101
achieve nirvana.

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ANCIEN

• Houses had at least one

wheat cotton barley

• They grew wheat, barley, rice

• Ramayana is an epic poem about

King, Alexander the Great in 323

• Throughout his reign, he

• In 184 BC, the last Mauryan

weakened after his

and Dalit, Untouchable

• When their husband died, wives

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