world history

CIVILIZATION IN INDIA
Darius b. batalla
objectives

DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION

At the end of this discussion students are expected to:
Explain the development of Indian Civilization
Discuss its contributions
Like Ancient Greece, early India was a land of
warriors, thinkers and scientists. India's early
civilization grew up near the Indus River. When the
summer monsoon began, the river rose higher and
higher. When the river flooded nearby land, it left
behind rich, fertile soil. Farmers used the rich soil to
grow crops to feed their families. Because people
had a plentiful supply of food, they could spend time
doing other things, such as making tools or building
houses. As people began to trade their extra food
and goods with other people, their wealth grew. This
allowed them to build larger and larger cities.
HARAPPAN OR INDUS CIVILIZATION

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were two of the largest cities

in the world at the time. Ancient city dwellers had
surprising conveniences. Wells supplied water, and
residents even had indoor bathrooms. Residents built
large granaries to store food for the entire city's
population.
HARAPPAN OR INDUS CIVILIZATION
The Harappans used a special script to write on seals and stamps. However, historians have not agreed
on how to decipher these markings. Because the Harappans did not leave other historical records, we do
not know much about their society or government. From the ruins, though, we can guess that the royal
palace and the temple may have been both enclosed in a fortress. This reveals that religion and politics
were closely connected.

Most Harappans were farmers. They grew rice, wheat, barley, peas, and cotton. City dwellers made
copper and bronze tools, clay pottery, and cotton cloth, as well as jewelry from gold, shells, and ivory.
Archaeologists have also found many toys among the ruins, such as small monkeys that could be made
to climb up a string.

It is likely that the Harappans began trading with the Mesopotamians about 2300 B.C. Some Harappan
sailors followed the coastline and crossed the Arabian Sea, and others traveled over land.
THE ARYANS BRING CHANGE
The Harappan civilization collapsed about 1500 B.C. Historians think that several earthquakes and floods
damaged the cities. Then the Indus River changed its course, killing many people and forcing others to flee
the area. In the years that followed, a group of people called the Aryans began settling in the region. Soon
a new civilization emerged.

When the Aryans arrived in India, they no longer lived as nomads. They became farmers but continued to
raise cattle. Eventually, the Aryans would declare that cattle were sacred and forbid them to be used as
food. Aryan technology improved farming in India. They invented an iron plow to help clear India’s many
jungles and built canals to irrigate. They slowly turned the Ganges River valley into good farmland.

The Aryans also brought a new language to India. As nomads, they had no written language, but in India
they developed a written language later called Sanskrit. Over time, the sacred songs, poems, and prayers
that Aryans had known for many centuries were written down.
THE ARYANS BRING CHANGE
One of the results of the Aryan arrival in India was the
development of caste system. A Caste is a social group
that someone is born into and cannot change. A caste
dictates what job you will have, whom you can marry, and
with whom you can eat or drink. In India, no one uses the
word caste, which is the word Portuguese merchants used
to describe India's social groups. Indians call these groups
jati. Thousands of jati exist in India.
THE ARYANS BRING CHANGE
Why was this system created? No one is sure, but ideas
about skin color were probably part of it. The Aryans were
a light-skinned people. They thought they were better
than the dark-skinned people they encountered in India.
The Aryans might have created the caste system because
the people they encountered in India greatly
outnumbered them. The caste system kept groups
separate and set the rules for everyone’s behavior. This
helped the Aryans stay in control.
THE ARYANS BRING CHANGE
Why was this system created? No one is sure, but ideas
about skin color were probably part of it. The Aryans were
a light-skinned people. They thought they were better
than the dark-skinned people they encountered in India.
The Aryans might have created the caste system because
the people they encountered in India greatly
outnumbered them. The caste system kept groups
separate and set the rules for everyone’s behavior. This
helped the Aryans stay in control.
THE ROLE OF MEN AND WOMEN
In Ancient India the family was the center of life.
Grandparents, parents, and children all lived together in
an extended family. The oldest man in the family was in
charge. Men had many more rights than women.
Typically, only sons could inherit property, and only men
could go to school or become priests. Women received
their education at home.

In families at the top of Indian society, a boy had a guru ,

or teacher, until he went to the city for more education.
Young men from these families could marry only after
finishing 12 years of schooling.
INDIAN LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
The Mauryan Empire, under leaders such as Chandragupta
Maurya and Asoka, united most of India for over a hundred
years.

The Gupta dynasty reunited northern India and grew wealthy

from trade.

During the Mauryan and Gupta empires, the art and sciences
flourished in India. Several great sacred texts, including the
Mahabharata and the Ramayana, came from this period.
INDIA'S SACRED TEXT
The Vedas of India are an ancient collection of sacred verses,
hymns, prayers and teachings. No one is certain how old they
are because for a long time they were only recited, not written
down. After Aryan people developed Sanskrit, then the Vedas
could be recorded. Later, other kinds of literature were also
written down. Two sacred texts are very famous in India, and
Indians today still love to read them. One is the Mahabharata,
and the other is the Ramayana. Both of these sacred texts tell
about brave warriors and their heroic deeds.
INDIA'S MUSIC, ART AND ARCHITECTURE
Music played an important part in the religious and social lives of
people in India. Many of the early sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gita
were probably sung in group settings. At annual festivals people
danced and sang. They also used music in plays. Musical
instruments included tambourines, flutes, drums, and lutes. Much of
early Indian art was made of materials that have not survived.
What exists today is mostly religious art made in stone. There are
many sculptures of the Buddha, for example. These statues teach
different Buddhist messages based on the figure’s pose. Buddhist
temples also included carvings of local scenes. Hindu architecture
typically had carvings of people in different poses that represented
different aspects of eternity. Images of deities with many hands
were created to show that the deities had many abilities.
INDIAN MATH AND SCIENCE
Aryabhata was the leading mathematician of the Gupta
empire. He was one of the first scientists known to have used
algebra. Indian mathematicians developed the idea of zero
and a symbol to represent it. They also explained the concept
of infinity. Gupta mathematicians created the symbols for
the numbers 1 to 9 that we use today. These number symbols,
or numerals, were adopted by Arab traders in the A.D. 700s.
European traders borrowed them from the Arabs. Use of these
numbers spread through Europe in the A.D. 1200s, replacing
Roman numerals. Today, this system of number symbols is
known as the Hindu-Arabic numerical system.
INDIAN MATH AND SCIENCE
Ancient Indians made important contributions in other scientific fields,
especially astronomy. They followed and mapped movements of
planets and stars. They understood that the Earth was round and
revolved around the sun. They also seem to have understood gravity.
Particularly under the Gupta, Indian scientists made advances metal
technology. In addition to iron tools and weapons, they made steel
tools. An iron pillar was so well made that it has hardly rusted. The
Gupta also made sophisticated gold coins and metal mirrors. In the
field of medicine, Gupta doctors were advanced for their time. They
could set broken bones and perform operations. They also invented
many medical tools. An Indian doctor named Shushruta
(shoosh•ROO•tah) carried out an early form of plastic surgery. He
worked to restore damaged noses. Indian doctors used herbs in
treating illnesses. They also believed it was important to remove the
causes of a disease and not just cure the disease itself.
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