Ancient+India

**Eliza Strouse, Lindsay Nerby**  **3000 B.C.-500 A.D.** === India's first civilization started between 3000 B.C. and 1500 B.C. They had a lot of valleys and rivers that supported a lot of cities to develop. The were settleed right by the Indus river. Two main cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The Indus river really helped them. Their land was spread put over 100 miles long. At Harappa at its higghest point had 35,00 inhabitants, Mohenjo-Daro had between 35,00 and 40,000. They bother were carefully planned and divided into large walled neighborhoods. Between the houses there was just a narrow path seperating them. The Harappan rulers based their power on a belief in divine assistance. They prayed to a god or godess of fertility to guarantee the annual harvest. Most of the trade that Harappa got was from the Persian Gulf. === === Around 1500 B.C., a new group of people known as the Aryans, moved into the plains of Northern India. They conquered the Harappans and created a new society and axcelled at the art of war. Then they gradually extened their control throughtout most of India. The Aryan people were pastorals with a strong warrior tradition. Later tehy gave up their pastoral life and became farmers. They had a lot of inventions such as the iron plow and they had the use of irrgation. The Aryans came up with their own writting called sanskrit. This helped them right down legends from the past. === === Hinduism had its origins in the religious beleifs of the Aryan people. They followed a lot of collections of hymns wriiten by the Aryan priests. They believed in Brahman which was their god. In the sixteenth century, reincarnation came along in the Hidu beleifs. So they thought that when a person dies, they come back in a different form. The person's reincarnation was determined by the beleif in karma. That is how the person was decided what they would be after they died. ===
 * “An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” **



**__Terms:__** ** Guru: Indian teacher for the wealthy. They were for young men only because women were not allowed to learn at this time.** ** Untouchables: Outcasts of society. They were given jobs that other Indians would not accept, such as picking up trash and handling d ead bodies.** ** Caste System: The orginzation of society based on wealth. It was also beased on peoples skin color. The darker skined people were lower than the lighter kined people.** ** Brahmans: Highest on caste system; priests. They were in charge of the religious cerimonies that were important to the Indian society.** ** Ganges: Holy river of india. It was also one of the chief regions of the Indian culture. A plateau extented from the Ganges known as the Deccan.** __**Historical People:**__ **Siddhartha Gautama:** **Created the philosophy of Buddhism. He was known to have the perfect life. But then he was effected by an illness. He gave up everything to search for a cure, and looked for the meaning of life.** **Chandragupta Maurya:** **Drove out foreign forces and established the Mauryan Empire. He was very afraid of assination. His food was always tried bfore he ate it. He also never sleeped in the same bed two nights in a row in his large palace.** **Asoka:** **Gran****dson of** **Chandragupta Maurya and was considered the best ruler in the history of India. He used Buddist ideals to guid his rule. He also set up hopitals for humans and animals.** **Faxian****:** **Buddist chinese monk that traveled to the Gupta empire and was amazed at the wise rulers and the prosperity of the coutry.** **Kalidasa:** **One of Ancient India's most famous authors. He worte The Cloud Messenger. He lived during the Gupta dynasty.**

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__**Lin ks:**__ **[|Religion]: Religion of Ancient India.** **British Museum: All about Ancient India.** **Schools: Schools in Ancient India.** **Facts: Fast facts about India.** **[|Culture]: Art in India.**

__**Timeline:**__ ** 3000 B.C.: The Indus river was able to support a civilization that extened hundred of miles long.** ** 1500 B.C.: A group of Indo-European moved out of their homeland. They were known as the Aryans** ** 1000 B.C.: The Aryans came up with their own writting system. Which then they started to write down legends.** ** 1500-400 B.C.: This was revealed to be that India was a warring kingdoma and shifting alliances.** ** 563 B.C.: This was when Siddhartha Gautama was born and was the sone of a ruling family. Had a successful life.** ** 480 B.C.: The death of Siddhartha Gautama. He died at age 80. After his death, his follower traveled and spreded his word.** ** 327 B.C.: Macedonian king Alexander the Great went into India. After conquering Persia he wanted to continue,but his soldiers refused to fight. They all left him as soon as they could.** ** 200 B.C.: This was when the Silk road was set up. It reached from the city of Changan in china across central Asia to Mesopotamia.** ** 232 B.C.: Asoka's death. The Mauryan Empire began to decline.** ** 183 B.C.: This was when the last Mauryan ruler was killed by one of his military commanders. media type="youtube" key="zVFDhhMGpSE" width="425" height="350" align="right"India then fell back into disunity.**