3. Indus valley and China Flashcards

1
Q

T or F: India is mostly composed of flat land.

A

False - has mountains, river valleys, dry interior plateau, coastal plains

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2
Q

How many languages are spoken in India? How many dialects?

A

110 languages, 1000+ dialects

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3
Q

What valley is directly south of the Himalaya?

A

Ganges river valley

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4
Q

What river valley is in the West of India? What is it like?

A

Indus river valley - relatively dry plateau that forms backbone of modern pakistan - moderate climate, “cradle of Indian civilization”

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5
Q

What is south of India’s 2 major river valleys? What is it like?

A

Deccan Plateau from Ganges valley to southern tip of India - interior is hilly and dry.

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6
Q

What is the geography like at the coasts of India?

A

Lush plains to the east and west - very densely populated.

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7
Q

What is the primary feature of India’s climate? (think weather)

A

Monsoon - seasonal wind pattern in southern Asia - between June and September, southern/southwestern winds blow across Arabian sea, carrying moisture laden air and causing heavy rainfall (especially near Mumbai)

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8
Q

How do Indian wind patterns change with seasons?

A

Cool (oct-feb) - From the north and northeast - brings rain
Warm (jun-sep) - from the south and southeast - brings even more rain and humidity

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9
Q

Where is the wettest place on earth? How does it affect life?

A

Mountains in northeast India - farmers depend on heavy rains from southwest monsoons - wrong time/amount leads to bye bye crops

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10
Q

When did the Indus valley civilization happen?

A

3000 bc - 1500 bc

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11
Q

Where was the indus valley civilization?

A

Indus valley (xD)
From the himilaya to the Arabian sea (NOT THE SOUTHERN TIP OF INDIA)

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12
Q

What is an alternative name for Indus Civilization? (area around India and near countries)

A

Harappan Civilization

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13
Q

How many inhabitants did Harappa and Mohenjo Daro have at their heights?

A

35,000 in Harappa, 35k-40k in Mohenjo Daro

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14
Q

T or F: Like many old civilizations, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro weren’t very well planned in terms of construction

A

False - roads ran north-south and east west, some houses varied in size but followed a pattern

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15
Q

T or F: Water and waste were well managed in Indus Valley Civilization

A

True - public wells, advance drainage for bathrooms, trash chutes

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16
Q

T or F: The government in indus valley civilizations was well organized.

A

True.

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17
Q

How did religion affect politics in Harrapa?

A

Rulers based their power in belief in divine assistance - royal palace and holy temple combined in citadel/fortress at Harappa

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18
Q

What was the Harappan economy based on?

A

FARMING - indus river floods, gives rich soil to grow wheat, barley, and peas

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18
Q

What did the Harappans trade with the Sumerians?

A

Get - textiles, food
Give - copper, wood, precious stones, cotton, luxury goods

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19
Q

What led to the decline of the Indus Valley civilization?

A

Kind of a mystery, started in 1800 BC - Floods, earthquake, changes in climate, environmental changes from humans, change in course of Indus river

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20
Q

What for sure ended/drastically changed India’s culture?

A

1500 BC - foreign migration, environmental changes

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21
Q

Who were the Aryan people in Indian history?

A

2000 BC - Indo-European speaking nomadic ppl move out of the steppes of central Asia and south into northern India - language called Indo-Aryan. Historians think Aryans traveled very far south to end up there.

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22
Q

How did different people groups affect the culture of the Indus Valley region? How were Aryan people affected?

A

Some believe Aryan culture replaced Indus Valley culture, others believe a mingling of tribes and cultures within the Indian subcontinent led to a new Indian civilization forming. Aryans gave up their nomadic lifestyle for farming.

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23
Q

Who introduced Iron to the Indus Valley, and how was it impactful?

A

Hittites (probably) introduced it from Southeast Asia, allowing an iron plow to be created. This along with irrigation helped farmers clear dense jungle growth by the Ganges River to make farmland.

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24
Q

What were the main crops in various regions of India?

A
  • North - wheat, barley, millet
  • Fertile River valley area - Rice
  • South - grain, veggies, cotton, spices (incl. pepper, ginger, and cinnamon)
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25
Q

T or F: The first written language in the Indus Valley was created around 1000 BC

A

False - there was a language no one has translated (yet)

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26
Q

What written language was used in the Indus Valley around 1000 BC?

A

Sanskrit - indo european language, good for keeping records of legends and religious rituals passed down orally from earlier generations. Early writings called Vedas.

27
Q

What did the Vedas reveal?

A

India was a world of many small kindoms led by Rajas (princes) in small states. Often at war as alliances shifted until 400 BC when a big Indian state was established.

28
Q

What was the ideal family structure in the Indus Valley?

A

3 generations (grandparents, parents, and children) live under the same roof, oldest male holds legal authority over family unit

29
Q

What were differences between rights of males and females in ancient India?

A

Males are more prominent
- only men inherit property unless no sons
- only men educated
- women couldn’t be priests
- young men educated by guru in upper class, then studied in major cities - married after 12 years of study
- No divorce, second wife allowed if first didn’t bear children

30
Q

How were children affected by marriage in Indus valley civilization?

A

Children take care of parents with age, marriage arranged by parents (at least for young girls), parents support daughter until marriage then pay dowry to man’s family

31
Q

What was suttee?

A

“voluntary” female suicide - wife jumps on dead husband’s funeral pyre - women who didn’t jump were held in disgrace and there were instances of forced suttees in later centuries - condemned until banned in 1829.

32
Q

Why did Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal become separate countries?

A

Religion
P and BA - islam
India - hinduism
N & BH - Buddhism

33
Q

T or F: Harappa is Mohenjo Darian

A

False - Mohenjo Daro is Harappan

34
Q

bruhhhhh this textbook still thinks china has the largest population. what is the truth. Also how many ethnic groups?

A

india
50

35
Q

Which rivers gave china the river valleys it needed to spawn civilians?

A

Huang He/Yellow river from mongolia to the pacific ocean - abt 2.9k miles
Chang Jiang/Yangtze River across central china - abt 3.4k miles

36
Q

T or F: Most of china is composed of fertile farming land that was super easy to invade

A

False. Only about 10% is suitable. The rest is mountain and desert (think of tibet). This made it tricky to invade (from the North and West) without getting absolutely destroyed.

37
Q

T or F: China had monsoons.

A

True - remember, in winter from north and they’re cold and dry. in summer from south and they’re hot and wet. this makes temperature change a lot.

38
Q

What was the first Chinese dynasty, and what is known about it?

A

Xia dynasty - about 4k years ago, not much known

39
Q

What was the second chinese dynasty? What were some characteristics of it?

A

Farming society who was ruled by a war minded aristocracy. Maybe 5 different capital cities before Anyang, north of Huang He. Territories divided and ruled by warlords who were ruled by a king. King had big armies, borders, palaces, walls, and tombs.

40
Q

What was the social class structure of the Shang dynasty?

A

Royal Family
Aristocrats (war+officials)
Peasants that farmed aristocrat land and merchants and artisans
Slaves

41
Q

How did the Chinese communicate with the gods?

A

Oracle bones - take a big bone, write a question on it, stick it with hot metal rods, and interpret the shape of the cracks as answers

42
Q

What did the Chinese do to honor their ancestors?

A

Belief in life after death led to veneration of ancestors which entailed burning replicas of objects to accompany the dead on their journey and also treating the spirits right to get good or bad fortune from them

43
Q

T or F: The Shang used iron as their main metal.

A

False - they were using bronze.

44
Q

T or F: When the Zhou dynasty took over, they completely changed the way the government worked.

A

False - they used the same systems as the Shang (territories governed by officials, king appointed, king controlled defense and commanded armies throughout the country)

45
Q

What gave the Zhou the belief that they could rule?

A

Mandate of Heaven - Heaven kept order in the universe through the Zhou king

46
Q

T or F: If the ruler wasn’t doing a good job, the gods could withdraw their heavenly mandate and appoint someone new

A

True

47
Q

T or F: The concept of the mandate of heaven was entirely negative.

A

False - it gave the king the responsibility of ruling according to the Dao/proper way. It was the king’s duty to protect the people and please the gods. Also if a ruler was corrupt it gave new rulers an excuse to overthrow the old ones - no way to disprove it except overthrowing the king

48
Q

Describe the dynastic cycle.

A

A new dynasty comes to power, it rules successfully for a while, it starts losing power, then gets its heaven mandate revoked and gets rebelled against or invaded

49
Q

What happened after the Zhou dynasty?

A

The period of warring states - Zhou ruler challenged, kind of a civil war.

50
Q

How did they pd of warring states affect warfare in China?

A

Iron weapons, horse soldiers, crossbow

51
Q

Who took over after the period of warring states?

A

Qin dynasty

52
Q

T or F - family was highly valued in China

A

True

53
Q

Describe family in ancient china

A

Work together - kids help, sons take over physical labor and provide for parents
Filial piety - Duty of members of a family to subordinate needs and desires to those of the male head of the family
All have their own place

54
Q

T or F: Male supremacy in Ancient China was absolute.

A

False - Mostly yes- males did jobs outside and females did stuff at home, but some influenced politics and stuff (especially royals)

55
Q

How did farming change during the Zhou dynasty?

A

Farming got better - irrigation, better methods, iron for more farming land - this made the population increase because more food (50 mil by end of zhou period)

56
Q

Ancient china trading main stuff

A

Silk got traded a lot - far and wide (incl central asia and greece)

57
Q

What’s loess?

A

Fine yellow fertile silt that came from desert sand blowing in the river and piles up in there and gets deposited on the banks during floods

58
Q

T or F: The yellow river was more similar to the Nile than the Euphrates and Tigris

A

False - it was unpredictable like the E and T

59
Q

What gave rulers the right to rule BEFORE the mandate of heaven in Ancient China?

A

A belief that the rulers were divine (as in actual gods)

60
Q

What was the feudal system?

A

Local lords and princes had authority, but loyalty was owed to emperor.

61
Q

What was the harappan seal used for?

A

Trading (probably)

62
Q

t or f: Neither china nor india traded with mesopotamia

A

false - both did

63
Q

What was the Sarasawati/sarasavati river?

A

An ancient river that had a lot of harrapan cities lining it. It’s super dry now.

64
Q

T or F: The huang he river was unreliable when it flooded

A

true