RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS INDIA AND CHINA OBJECTIVES WHI

RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS INDIA AND CHINA

OBJECTIVES WHI. 3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH ASIA • Indian Subcontinent • Modern day countries of India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh • Mountains • Hindu Kush, Karakoram, Himalaya • Rivers • Indus and Ganges • Cover 1, 500 mile area called Indus-Ganges plain • Indus river provided access to trade • Monsoons • Seasonal winds • Oct- May: dry winds • June- Sept: winds shift, brings rain

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY • Mountains • River Valleys • Dry Interior Plateau • Fertile Coastal Plains

INDUS RIVER

GANGES RIVER

HIMALAYAS

ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES • Floods • Indus river floods yearly • Deposits silt • Unpredictable, river can change course • Monsoons • Wet/Dry seasons • Mountains/ Desert • Creates natural boundaries

INDUS RIVER PEOPLES • Had contact with Mesopotamia • Developed own distinctive alphabet and artistic forms

CIVILIZATION EMERGES ON INDUS • Lack of evidence • Haven’t deciphered language yet • Many sites have washed away • Earliest Arrivals • Evidence of agriculture and domestication of animals 7000 B. C. E. • 3200 B. C. E. evidence of farming villages

MOHENJO-DARO AND HARAPPA • Planned Cities • 2500 B. C. E. • Sophisticated grid system • Featured fortified citadel, Separate residential districts • Plumbing/sewage systems, Strong central government • Advanced irrigation and large granaries • Culture/Trade • • Little social hierarchy Prosperous society Religion similar to Hinduism Long-distance trade • Traded with Akkad (2300 B. C. E. )

RULERS AND ECONOMY • Divine rule • Royal palace and temple were in 1 building • Part of citadel, or fortress • Farming economy • Relied on Indus River flood for silt • Grew wheat, barley, peas • Trade with Mesopotamia • Copper, lumber, precious stones, cotton, luxury goods

MOHENJO- DARO

END TO THE INDUS CIVILIZATION • 1750 B. C. E. cities declined • Theories? • • • River changed course Flooding Over farming Natural disaster Attack • Aryans • Arrived around same time • Nomadic people from Central Asia

ARYANS • 1500 B. C. E. • Nomadic Indo-Europeans • From Central Asia - crossed Hindu Kush • Conquered Harappans • Merged two cultures • Excelled at war • Used chariot • Eventually controlled all of India

OBJECTIVES WHI. 3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Indus River, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

RIVER DYNASTIES IN CHINA

OBJECTIVES WHI. 3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?

MAP OF INDIA AND CHINA Label the following: Oceans Pacific Indian Questions: What geographic features might have prevented trade between China and the Indus Valley? Features Himalayan Mountains Gobi Desert Taklimakan Desert Civilizations: Shang Zhou Rivers Indus Ganges Huang He (Yellow) Yangtze What area of China was weak to invasions? What physical features were located there?

GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA • Long distances and physical barriers separated it from Egypt, the Middle East, and India • This isolation led to the belief that China was the center of the earth and sole source of civilization

SOUTHEAST JUNGLES

GOBI DESERT

REGIONS • China’s Heartland • Huang He (yellow) River and the Yangzi river supported the largest populations

XINJIANG, MONGOLIA, AND MANCHURIA • Xinjiang and Mongolia are harsh and rugged • Mainly nomads and subsistence farmers • At times invaders from these regions conquered China • Genghis Khan and the Mongols

RIVER OF SORROWS • Chinese history starts in Huang He valley • Called “yellow” river because of the loess that turns the river yellow • Called “China’s Sorrow” because of the constant flooding

FIRST DYNASTIES • Peking Man- Homo erectus skeleton discovered near Beijing on the Yellow River, settled 500, 000 years ago • Myth: 2000 B. C. E. first civilization arose • Mythic ancestor of Chinese: P’an Ku • A leader named Yu tamed Huang He river • No written records • Fact • organized state rose around 2000 B. C. E. with irrigation of Hwang He river • By 1000 B. C. E. • Used pottery, Rode horses • Used Bronze, Introduced Iron • Writing developed • Scientific advances • Interest in music

SHANG DYNASTY • 1532 B. C. E. Shang controlled Huang He valley • Invaders? • Dominated until 1027 B. C. E. • Decline due to Invasion • Characteristics: • First to leave written records • constructed impressive tombs and palaces

WRITING • Oracle bones: animal bones or turtle shells on which priests wrote questions to ancestors or gods’ • by interpreting the cracks in the bone, they answers were provided

WRITTEN CHINESE • Created 4, 000 years ago • Each character represented a word or and idea • Over 10, 000 characters • Calligraphy was an art form • Writing was a unifying force since not everyone spoke the same language.

ZHOU DYNASTY • 1027 B. C. E. the Zhou overthrew the Shang • Lasted until 256 B. C. • To justify overthrowing the Shang, the Zhou promoted the idea of Mandate of Heaven, or divine right to rule • Explains the dynastic cycle • Floods and famine were a sign that the dynasty was out of favor with the gods.

FEUDAL STATES • Zhou rewarded supporters with land • Feudalism: system of government in which local lords governed their own land but owed military service to ruler • Eventually feudalism became more powerful than the dynasty

ACHIEVEMENTS • Iron-making leads to more food production • New crops and irrigation systems • Commerce expanded, use of money • New roads and canals • Led to increase in population

WARRING STATES PERIOD 771 B. C. E. – nomads sacked the Zhou capital of Hao and murdered the monarch A few family members escaped and ruled from new capital for 500 years Powerless, couldn’t control noble families Warlords claimed to be “kings” of territory Led to “warring states” period Warring States Warfare changed, no longer honorable Peasants main force on battlefield New weapons such as a crossbow Central values changed No longer order, harmony, and respect for authority…. Now chaos, arrogance and defiance

OBJECTIVES WHI. 3 • Objective: • The student will be able to demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including the Huang He, by: • Locating the civilization in time and place • Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery • Explaining the development of religious traditions • Explaining the development of language and writing • Essential Questions: • Why did Ancient Civilizations develop in river valleys? • Where were the earliest civilizations located? • When did these civilizations exist? • What were the social, political, and economic characteristics of early civilizations • What religious traditions developed in ancient civilizations? • What forms of language and writing existed in early civilizations?