Chapter 4 - Central Asia and India Flashcards
Until recently, it was believed the Indian civilization started how long ago?
Around 2,000 years ago.
What did archeologists discover in India (or Pakistan) in the early twentieth century?
An advanced and urbanized civilization had formed in the Indus Valley.
Which 2 rivers did the earliest Indian civilization start in?
Indus and Saraswati rivers
The Himalayan Mountains separate India and Pakistan from which two other countries
Tajikistan and China
Are archeologists sure about the precise origins of India?
No.
What is the Indus Valley civilization?
The earliest human civilization in India, existing from around 3,000 to 1,500 B.C.E..
Which civilization could have possibly influenced the emergence of India and how?
Mesopotamia; through linked trade that predates the development of agriculture in India.
When did farming emerge in the Indus Valley?
Around 6,000 B.C.E..
The region of Indus Valley had what by 4,000 B.C.E.
More fortified farming villages.
What plagued settled life along the river banks?
The erosion of soil and constant flooding.
Is there evidence of flood control?
Yes.
The 3rd millennium B.C.E. saw an explosion of what?
Growth.
Indus Valley rested on an agrarian base of cereal cultivation including…
Wheat, barley, and cotton.
The two main urban centers of the Indus Valley civilization?
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
What were the city-states like?
- Carefully planned
- Two-story houses
- Built of bricks
- Streets laid in exact grid patterns
- Small and large avenues
- Sewage system
- Monuments (for religion)
Government type?
Theocracy.
- Priests ruled as representatives of the gods.
- Government’s power was strong to keep uniformity.
What term is given to these two cities?
“Dravidian”
Were there irrigated farms?
Yes, throughout the surrounding plain (for food).
Why did these two cities eventually fall?
No exact answer. Theories include…
- Landslides changed the river course
- Dry conditions (less farming)
- Malaria (due to swamps nearby)
- Land became alkaline/unproductive (like Mesopotamia)
How about their writings? What do we know very little of concerning the Indus Valley?
Scholars have not decoded the writings. We know little about their religion, government, or social divisions.
