Topic 1- Ancient India and China (2600 B.C.- A.D. 550)

Question 1

Who were Mystics?

Answer 1

People who seek direct communion with the divine.

Question 2

What is the notion of Brahman?

Answer 2

A single spiritual power that existed beyond the many gods of the Vedas and that resided in all things.

Question 3

What did Brahmins offer as sacrifices to the gods?

Answer 3

Food and drink.

Question 4

The Aryans honors animal deities, such as monkey and snake gods. True or False?

Answer 4

True.

Question 5

Was was Indra’s, the god of war, weapon?

Answer 5

The thunderbolt, which he used not only to destroy demons but also to announce the arrival of rain, so vital to Indian life.

Question 6

Who was the chief Aryan deity?

Answer 6

Fierce Indra, the god of war.

Question 7

Who did Aryans worship?

Answer 7

Gods and goddesses who embodied natural forces such as sky, sun, storm and fire. They viewed these gods and goddesses as manifestations of a single, divine, absolute.

Question 8

What is the Rig Veda?

Answer 8

Describes how the universe was created by a divine Universal Being referred to as Purusha.

Question 9

Ancient Indian society was seen as needing four classes of people to function properly. What were each of these classes called?

Answer 9

Varnas, which were based on a person’s ability and interest. The classifications were:

• Brahmins, those who learn;
• Kshatriyas, those who accumulate power;
• Vaisyas, those who produce goods; and
• Sudras, those who serve.

Question 10

What did Rajahs do?

Answer 10

Considered advice of a council of elders made up of the heads of families. Rajahs also fought one another to control trade and territory across the northern plain.

Question 11

What was a rajah?

Answer 11

Aryan tribe chiefs. They were often the most skilled war leader, elected to their position by an assembly of warriors.

Question 12

Aryan people had a tribal political system that later formed the basis for the small independent kingdoms that formed in northwestern India. What were the chiefs that led Aryan tribes called?

Answer 12

Rajahs.

Question 13

Aryans measured their wealth in cows and bulls. True or False?

Answer 13

True.

Question 14

Since the Aryans in India didn’t build any cities or leave behind any statues or stone seals, where do most of what we know about them from?

Answer 14

The Vedas, a collection of hymns, chants, ritual instructions and other religious teachings.

Question 15

The groups that formed in the new civilization after the Indus civilization were known as the __________civilization in South Asia.

Answer 15

Vedic civilization

Question 16

What does acculturation mean?

Answer 16

The blending of two or more cultures.

Question 17

What did people from the new civilization after the Indus civilization call themselves?

Answer 17

Aryans (noble ones).

Question 18

During the centuries between 2000 B.C. and 1500 B.C. a new civilization formed. A number of the groups in this era spoke which languages?

Answer 18

Indo-European languages.

Question 19

What does veneration mean?

Answer 19

Special regard.

Question 20

The Indus people did not think animals, such as buffalo and the bull were sacred. True or False.

Answer 20

False :)

Question 21

What may have inspired the people of the Indus Valley to develop their own writing system?

Answer 21

Contact with Sumer.

Question 22

What types of goods did ships carry?

Answer 22

Cotton cloth, grain, copper, pearls, and ivory combs.

Question 23

The Indus Valley people may have been the first people to cultivate cotton and weave its fibers into cloth. True or False?

Answer 23

True.

Question 24

Which crops did the Indus Valley people grow?

Answer 24

Wheat, barley, melons and dates.

Question 25

Why do archeologists believe that the Indus Valley cities must have had experts skilled in mathematics and surveying?

Answer 25

Because cities were laid out in a grid pattern, with long, wide main streets and large rectangular blocks. Houses were built with standard sized bricks.

Question 26

Indus houses had complex plumbing systems, with baths, drains and water chutes. True or False?

Answer 26

True.

Question 27

Which Indus cities were considered possible twin capitals of the civilization, or cities that ruled the area one after the other?

Answer 27

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

Question 28

What happens in the Indian subcontinent when the rains are too heavy?

Answer 28

Rushing rivers will unleash deadly floods.

Question 29

What happens in the Indian subcontinent when it rains late?

Answer 29

Famine and starvation may occur.

Question 30

What happens during May and June during the summer monsoon?

Answer 30

Winds pick up moisture over the Indian Ocean and drench the land with daily downpours.

Question 31

What happens when the winter monsoon comes in October?

Answer 31

It blows hot dry air that withers crops.

Question 32

What’s a defining feature of life in the Indian subcontinent?

Answer 32

Monsoon, a seasonal wind that is part of the global wind pattern.

Question 33

What did coastal people use the seas for?

Answer 33

Fishing and as highways for trade.

Question 34

What provided farmers with water for irrigation?

Answer 34

Rivers and heavy seasonal rains.

Question 35

What does the Deccan lack?

Answer 35

The melting snows that feed the rivers of the north and provide water for irrigation. As a result, much of region is arid, agriculturally unproductive, and sparsely populated.

Question 36

What is the Deccan?

Answer 36

A triangular plateau.

Question 37

What’s a plateau?

Answer 37

A raised area of level land, that juts into the Indian Ocean.

Question 38

Why are rivers sacred to the people of the Indian subcontinent?

Answer 38

The Indian name for river is lokmata, or “mother of the people”.

Question 39

The northern plain is a fertile region watered by which rivers?

Answer 39

• The Indus
• The Ganges
• The Brahmaputra

Question 40

Where does the northern plain lie?

Answer 40

Just south of the Himalayas.

Question 41

What are the three major zones that the Indian subcontinent is divided into?

Answer 41

• The northern plain
• The dry Deccan plateau
• The coastal plains on either side of the Deccan

Question 42

Steep passes through the Hindu Kush served as gateways for….??

Answer 42

Migrating and invading peoples for thousands of years.

Question 43

What aspect of the Indian subcontinent limited contacts between India and other lands and helped its people develop a distinct culture because of the separation?

Answer 43

Towering, snow covered mountains (including Hindu Kush and the Himalayas).

Question 44

What is a subcontinent?

Answer 44

A large landmass that juts out from a continent.

Question 45

Where is the Indus Valley located?

Answer 45

In South Asia, or Indian subcontinent.