The Hindu temple of DeviJagadambika in Khajuraho, India

c. 1500 B.C.The Aryans arrive in India

563 B.C.The Buddha is born

Early India

2500 B.C. 1500 B.C. 500 B.C. A.D. 5002500 B.C. 1500 B.C. 500 B.C. A.D. 500

c. 3000 B.C.India’s earlycivilizationbegins

A.D. 320The Guptaempire begins

Dav

id C

umm

ing/

CO

RB

IS

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India’s First CivilizationsPeople’s social status affects how they live. The earliest Indian civiliza-

tion developed on the Indus River. Later, the Aryans arrived innorthern India. A social system that determined how people livedevolved.

Hinduism and BuddhismReligion shapes how culture develops, just as culture shapes how

religion develops. India’s two main religions were Hinduism andBuddhism. These two religions affected every aspect of people’slives.

India’s First EmpiresCivilizations are strengthened by a variety of advances. Early India had

two great empires: the Maurya and the Gupta. Both empires madeadvances in the arts, sciences, and math.

View the Chapter 4 video in the Glencoe Video Program.

Chapter Overview Visitca.hss.glencoe.com for a preview of Chapter 4.

Identifying Make this foldable to help you identify and learn key terms.

Reading and WritingAs you read the chapter,write the terms fromBuilding Your Vocabularyin your foldable. Write adefinition for each term.Then turn your foldableover (upside down) towrite a short sentenceusing each term.

Step 1 Stack four sheetsof paper, one on top ofthe other. On the topsheet of paper, draw alarge circle.

Step 2 Withthe papers stillstacked, cutout all fourcircles at thesame time.

Step 3 Staple the paper circles togetherat one point around the edge.

Step 4 Label thefront circle as shownand take notes on the pages that open to the right. Chapter 4

KeyTerms

This makesa circularbooklet.

Staplehere.

235

234-237 CH4 CO-868874 3/14/06 3:45 PM Page 235

Make studying like

a game. Create

questions and then

read to find answers

to your own questions.

One way to make sure you understand what you are reading isto ask questions of the text. Learn to ask good questions by usingquestion starters such as who, what, when, where, why, and how.Think deeply about the main ideas, and ask questions such as"What would have happened if . . . ?"

An easy way to practice asking questions during reading is toturn the headings into questions. A heading that reads “ChinaReunites” can be turned into “How did China reunite?” The authorhas done this for you in some places in this chapter. When you turnthe heading into a question, you can expect that it will be answeredin the passage. Read the following passage from Section 2.

Hinduism (HIHN • doo • IH • zuhm) is one of theoldest religions in the world, and today it is thethird largest. The basic principles of what is knowntoday as Hinduism were already formulated by1500 B.C. They are to be found in the four Vedas.The Aryans believed in many deities who controlledthe forces of nature and governed society. We knowabout Aryan religion from their sacred hymns andpoetry, especially their epics, or long poems.

— from page 247

Questioning

236

Here are some questions you might ask about this paragraph:

• What is the oldest religion in the world?• What is the largest religion in the world today?• Who were the Aryans?

234-237 CH4 CO-868874 6/1/06 1:52 PM Page 236

Read the following paragraph. Then answer these questionswith a partner: Who built India’s first empire? What assistancewas provided by Alexander the Great? Write a What If?

paragraph based onwhat you read in thischapter. For example,what if Alexander hadnot left India, or what ifHinduism wereinfluenced by otherreligions of the time?Your paragraph shouldanswer your What If?questions.

Read to Write

As you read the chapter, look foranswers to section headings that arein the form of questions.

237

India’s first empire was founded byChandragupta Maurya (CHUHN • druh• GUP • tuh MAH • oor • yuh).Chandragupta was an Indian princewho conquered a large area in theGanges River valley soon afterAlexander invaded western India.Alexander’s invasion weakened manyof India’s kingdoms. After Alexanderleft, Chandragupta seized the opportu-nity to conquer and unite almost all ofnorthern India.

—from page 260

Ganesha

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India’s First Civilizations

Looking Back, Looking AheadIn India, just as in Egypt and

Mesopotamia, the first civilizationsdeveloped in fertile river valleys.

Focusing on the • Climate and geography influenced

the rise of India’s first civilization.(page 239)

• For the Indian civilization, new ideasand technology were developed.(page 242)

• The Aryans created a caste systemthat separated Indians into groups.(page 243)

Locating PlacesHimalaya (HIH•muh•LAY•uh)Ganges River (GAN• JEEZ)Indus River (IHN•duhs)Deccan Plateau

(DEH•kuhn pla•TOH)Harappa (huh•RA•puh)Mohenjo-Daro

(moh•HEHN• joh DAHR•oh)

Meeting PeopleAryans (AR•ee•uhnz)Brahmins (BRAH•mihns)

Content Vocabularysubcontinent

(SUHB•KAHN•tuhn•uhnt)monsoon (mahn•SOON)Sanskrit (SAN•SKRIHT)raja (RAH• juh)caste (KAST)guru (GUR•oo)

Academic Vocabularysimilar (SIH•muh• luhr)individual (IHN•duh•VIHJ•wuhl)

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Complete adiagram like the one below showinghow the Aryans changed India.

Major Ways Aryans Changed India

c. 3000 B.C.India’s early civilization begins

c. 1500 B.C.Aryansarrive inIndia

c. 1000 B.C.Aryans controlnorthern India

Ganges R.

KhyberPass Harappa

3000 B.C. 2000 B.C. 1000 B.C.3000 B.C. 2000 B.C. 1000 B.C.

238 CHAPTER 4 • Early India

HistorySocial ScienceStandardsWH6.5 Studentsanalyze the geographic,political, economic,religious, and socialstructures of the earlycivilizations of India.

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WH6.5 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of India.

WH6.5.1 Locate and describe the major river system and discuss the physical setting that supported the rise of this civilization.

The Land of IndiaClimate and geography influenced the

rise of India’s first civilization.

Reading Connection Do you have tornadoes or hur-

ricanes where you live? Read to find out how geography

and weather affected India’s first civilization.

Look at the map below. India looks likea diamond hanging from the bottom ofAsia. India is a subcontinent (SUHB •KAHN •tuhn •uhnt) because even though it is part ofAsia, huge mountains separateit from the rest of Asia. Thesemountains are the Himalaya(HIH • muh • LAY • uh), the highestmountains in the world.

Today, six nations make upthe Indian subcontinent: India;Pakistan in the northwest; Nepal;Bhutan; Bangladesh in thenortheast; and Sri Lanka, anisland to the southeast.

India has two very fertileriver valleys. Both are fed by themountains in the north. Whenthe snow in the Himalaya melts,water flows into the GangesRiver (GAN • JEEZ) and the IndusRiver (IHN•duhs). If the water iscontrolled, the land near theserivers can be used for farming.

The Ganges River runs southof the Himalaya and flows intothe Indian Ocean. The IndusRiver empties into the ArabianSea. South of the river valleys isthe dry and hilly Deccan Plateau(DEH•kuhn pla•TOH). The east andwest coasts of India are lush, fer-tile plains.

Monsoons (mahn • SOONZ)are an important part of theIndian climate. A monsoon is a

strong wind that blows one direction in win-ter and the opposite direction in summer.The winter monsoon brings the cold, dry airof the mountains. The summer monsoonbrings warm, wet air from the Arabian Sea,which produces drenching rains.

When the monsoon rains begin, manyfarmers celebrate. If the rains come on timeand the rainy season lasts long enough, thecrop will be good. If the rains are delayed, adrought will occur. This extended period

N

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500 km0

500 mi.0

Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

30°N

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TROPIC OF CANCER

90°E

In

dus R.

Ganges R.

B a y o fB e n g a l

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D E C C A N

P L A T E A U

GANGES PLAIN

HI M

A L A Y A

KARAKORAMRANGE

Mt. Everest29,035 ft.(8,850 m)

I N D I A

Geography of India

1. Location What two rivers are found innorthern India?

2. Human/Environment Interaction Based onthe area’s geography, what parts of the Indiansubcontinent do you think are best suited forsettlement?

Find NGS online map resources @ www.nationalgeographic.com/maps

Winter monsoon(dry winds)Summer monsoon(wet winds)Mountain peak

KEY

CHAPTER 4 • Early India 239

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240

Necklace from Mohenjo-Daro

Model of oxcart from Mohenjo-Daro

Harappanpriest-king

The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro (below) show a carefully planned city.The picture to the right shows a typical house in the city. Fromwhat material were most of the houses in Mohenjo-Daro made?

Early Indian CivilizationEarly Indian Civilization

without rain can be disastrous for farmers.Few crops will be harvested, and manypeople will starve.

India’s Early Civilization In earlier chap-ters, you learned about civilizations thatbegan in river valleys. Indian civilizationalso began in a river valley.

India’s early civilization grew up nearthe Indus River. When the summer monsoonbegan, the river rose higher and higher.When the river flooded nearby land, it leftbehind silt, a rich, fertile soil.

Farmers used the rich soil to growcrops to feed their families. Because peoplehad a plentiful supply of food, they couldspend time doing other things, such asmaking tools or building houses. As peo-ple began to trade their extra food andgoods with other people, their wealthgrew. This allowed them to build largerand larger cities.

India’s early civilization in the IndusRiver valley began about 3000 B.C. andlasted until 1500 B.C. This region is todaypart of Pakistan. More than a thousand villages and towns were part of this civi-lization, which stretched from the Himalayato the Arabian Sea. We know about thesepeople from studying the ruins of two major cities, Harappa (huh • RA • puh) andMohenjo-Daro (moh • HEHN • joh DAHR • oh).Archaeologists call this civilization theHarappan or Indus civilization.

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro Harappaand Mohenjo-Daro were large cities fortheir time. The well-planned cities had asmany as 35,000 people. A fortress was builton a brick platform to keep guard over theresidents. There were wide main streets andsmaller side streets. A wall surroundedeach neighborhood, and narrow lanesseparated the houses.

(l)Robert Harding Picture Library, (c)National Museum of India, New Delhi, India/Bridgeman Art Library, (r)Borromeo/Art Resource, NY, (br)Harappan National Museum of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan/Bridgeman Art Library

238-245 Ch4 S1-868874 4/3/06 8:53 AM Page 240

Most houses had flat roofs and wereconstructed with mud bricks that werebaked in ovens. Some houses were largerthan others, but they all had a similar lay-out. There was a courtyard in the middleand smaller rooms around it.

These ancient city dwellers had somesurprising conveniences. Wells suppliedwater, and residents even had indoor bath-rooms. Wastewater flowed to drains underthe streets, running through pipes to pitsoutside the city walls. Houses also hadgarbage chutes connected to a bin in thestreet. In addition, residents built largegranaries to store food for the entire city.

Harappan Society The Harappans used aspecial script to write on seals and stamps.However, historians have not agreed on howto decipher these markings. Because theHarappans did not leave other historicalrecords, we do not know much about their

society or government. From the ruins,though, we can tell that the royal palace andthe temple were both enclosed in the fortress.This reveals that religion and politics wereclosely connected.

Most Harappans were farmers. Theygrew rice, wheat, barley, peas, and cotton.City dwellers made copper and bronze tools, clay pottery, and cotton cloth, as well as jewelry from gold, shells, and ivory.Archaeologists have also found many toysamong the ruins, such as small monkeys thatcould be made to climb up a string.

It is likely that the Harappans begantrading with the Mesopotamians about2300 B.C. Some Harappan sailors followedthe coastline and crossed the Arabian Sea,and others traveled the difficult overlandroute through the mountains.

Explain How did India’sgeography help early civilizations?

Roofs were used to dry crops in the sun. The dried crops were then placed

in cool storage rooms in the house.

Almost every building had its own well. Cool water was pulled up when needed.

Outer walls ofbuildings had

no windows. Thishelped prevent

the hot summersun from heating

the insides of the house.

Bathrooms had an advanced drainage system. Drains started from houses and joined the main

sewer, which carried the water out of town.

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WH6.5.2 Discuss the significance of the Aryan invasions.

WH6.5.7 Discuss important aesthetic and intellectual traditions (e.g., Sanskrit literature, including the Bhagavad Gita; medicine;metallurgy; and mathematics, including Hindu-Arabic numerals and the zero).

N

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500 km0Lambert AzimuthalEqual-Area projection

500 mi.0

30°N

10°N

70°E50°E 90°E

Ganges R.

Indus R.

Am

uD

arya

ArabianSea Bay of

Bengal

AralSea

CaspianSea

INDIANOCEAN

H I M A L A Y AGANGES PLAIN

H I N D UK U S H

D E C C A N

P L A T E A U

PUNJAB PLAIN

Mohenjo-Daro

Harappa

The AryansFor the Indian civilization, new ideas

and technology were developed.

Reading Connection What would your life be like

without cars or computers? Read to find out how new

ideas and technology affected the Indians.

The Harappan civilization collapsedabout 1500 B.C. Historians think that severalearthquakes and floods damaged the cities.Then the Indus River changed its course,killing many people and forcing others toflee the area. In the years that followed, agroup of people called the Aryans (AR •ee •uhnz) began settling in the region. Soon anew civilization emerged.

Who Were the Aryans? The Aryans camefrom central Asia where they raised andherded animals. The Aryans were not a raceor ethnic group. Some historians believethat the Aryans were part of a larger groupthey refer to as the Indo-Europeans. TheIndo-Europeans all spoke similar lan-guages. Some migrated south to India andIran. Others went west to Europe.

Cattle were a prized possession amongthe Aryans because they provided meat,milk, and butter. Cattle were so importantthat they were even used as money.Individual wealth was measured by thenumber of cattle a person owned.

The Aryans were good warriors. Theywere expert horse riders and hunters. They

had metal-tipped spears andwooden chariots, which theAryans sometimes used toinvade nearby villages for food.

About 2000 B.C., the Aryansbegan leaving their home terri-tory. They moved in waves,and some groups crossedthrough the mountain passesin the Himalaya. They enteredthe Indus River valley around1500 B.C.

Around 1000 B.C., theAryans had begun expandingacross the Punjab and GangesPlains and south into theDeccan Plateau. Their civiliza-tion spread to all of Indiaexcept the southern tip.

242 CHAPTER 4 • Early India

2000–1500 B.C.

1500–1000 B.C.

1000–500 B.C.

Aryan migration:

KEY

Aryan Migration 2000–500 B.C.

70°E 90°E

20°N

Indu

sR

.

Ganges R.

INDIA

SRILANKA

CHINA

IRAN

BHUTANAFGHAN-ISTAN

BANGLADESH

NEPAL

PAKI

STAN

OMAN

The Region Today

1. Place After crossing the mountains, whatphysical feature did the Aryans followinto India?

2. Location Into what area of southernIndia did the Aryans travel?

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WH6.5.4 Outline the social structure of the caste system.

The Aryans Bring Change When theAryans arrived in India, they no longerlived as nomads. They became farmers butcontinued to raise cattle. Eventually, theAryans would declare that cattle weresacred and forbid them to be used as food.

Aryan technology improved farming inIndia. They invented an iron plow to helpclear India’s many jungles and constructedcanals to irrigate. They slowly turned theGanges River valley into good farmland.

India’s varied climate supported manytypes of crops. In the north, farmers grewgrains such as wheat, barley, and millet. Ricewas grown in the river valleys. In the south,there was a mix of crops, including spicessuch as pepper, ginger, and cinnamon.

The Aryans also brought a new lan-guage to India. As nomads, they had nowritten language, but in India they devel-oped a written language called Sanskrit(SAN • SKRIHT). Now the sacred songs, poems,and prayers that Aryans had known formany centuries could be written down.

The Aryans were organized into tribes.Each tribe was led by a raja (RAH • juh), orprince. The rajas ran their own small king-doms, which often fought among them-selves. Rajas fought over cattle and treasureand over women kidnapped from otherstates. These small rival kingdoms existedin India for about a thousand years, from1500 B.C. to 400 B.C.

Analyze How did thearrival of the Aryans change India?

Society in Ancient IndiaThe Aryans created a caste system that

separated Indians into groups.

Reading Connection Have you ever wondered why

some people seem to be treated differently than other

people? As you read, try to find out why this idea was

accepted in India.

One of the results of the Aryan arrival inIndia was the development of a caste sys-tem. A caste (KAST) is a social group thatsomeone is born into and cannot leave.

CHAPTER 4 • Early India 243

Development ofSanskrit c. 1500 B.C.Sanskrit became the most importantlanguage for public affairs in much ofancient India. Hindi, the nationallanguage of India today, and otherregional languages evolved out ofSanskrit. The earliest example of orallytransmitted, ancient Sanskrit is the fourVedas. Sanskrit was in common usageuntil about A.D. 1100 and was used insome official communications until A.D. 1830.

Sanskrit word Definition

EnglishDefinition

Nava Ship Navalor navy

A fleet of

Dua Two Dual Consisting of

Deva God Divine Divine God;

Sanskrit Influences on English Words

word

ships

two parts

relating tobeing a god

Web Activity Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 4—Student Web Activity tolearn more about India.

238-245 Ch4 S1-868874 4/3/06 9:11 AM Page 243

A caste dictates what job you will have,whom you can marry, and with whom youcan socialize. In India, no one uses the wordcaste, which is the word Portuguese mer-chants used to describe India’s social groups.Indians call these groups jati. Thousands ofjati exist in India.

Why was this system created? No one issure, but ideas about skin color were prob-ably part of it. The Aryans were a light-skinned people. They thought they werebetter than the dark-skinned people theyencountered in India. This idea was wrong,but the Aryans believed it.

Another reason the Aryans might havecreated the caste system was because thepeople they had encountered in Indiagreatly outnumbered them. The caste sys-tem kept groups separate and set the rules

for everyone’s behavior. This helped theAryans maintain control.

Social Levels of the Caste System Thethousands of different castes, or jati, inIndia were grouped together into fourclasses called varnas. The top two varnaswere Brahmins (BRAH • mihns) and Ksha-triyas (KSHA • tree • uhs). Brahmins were thepriests—the only people who could per-form religious ceremonies. The Kshatriyaswere warriors who ran the governmentand army.

Next were the Vaisyas (VYSH • yuhs), orcommoners. Vaisyas were usually farmersand merchants. Below the Vaisyas came theSudras (SOO • druhs). Sudras were manuallaborers and servants and had few rights.Most Indians belonged to the Sudra varna.

There was one group that did notbelong to any varna. Its members werecalled Pariahs or Untouchables. They per-formed dirty work such as skinning animals or handling dead bodies.

Life for an Untouchable was very hard.Most Indians believed that being near an

244 CHAPTER 4 • Early India

Today, Untouchables refer tothemselves as Dalit, which means “oppressed.” Why did the Aryans create the castesystem?

Warriors, rulers

Common people

Unskilled laborers, servants

Kshatriyas

Vaisyas

Sudras

Brahmins Priests

UntouchablesPariahs

Early India’s Social SystemEarly India’s Social System

A Brahmin

(l)Carl Purcell/The Purcell Team, (r)AFP Worldwide

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Reading SummaryReview the • India’s first civilization, including

the cities of Harappa andMohenjo-Daro, developed in thefertile Indus River valley.

• The Aryans, a group of nomadicherders, arrived in northern Indiaabout 1500 B.C. They brought theiron plow and the Sanskrit lan-guage to India.

• India’s caste system divided peo-ple into rigid social and economicclasses. Ancient Indian societyfavored men over women.

1. Describe the cities of Harappaand Mohenjo-Daro.

2. Why are monsoons importantto Indian farmers?

Critical Thinking3. Cause and Effect Why did

the Harappan civilization collapse?

4. Cause and Effect Draw adiagram to show how theAryans changed the lifestyle of the Indians.

5. In what ways didthe caste system affect thepeople who lived in India?

6. Explain How did the Aryanscontrol people in India?

7. Persuasive Writing Write a description of Harappa orMohenjo-Daro that could havebeen used to attract people tothe city.

8. QuestioningCreate a list of questions aboutIndia’s geography that will helpyou understand how it shapedIndian civilization. CA HR1.

CA 6WA2.5

CA CS3.

CA 6RC2.3

CA 6RC2.4

CA 6RC2.7

What Did You Learn?

CHAPTER 4 • Early India 245

Cause Effect

Cause Effect

Cause Effect

Study Central Need help understanding Aryan society? Visit ca.hss.glencoe.com and click on Study Central.

Untouchable was harmful, so they forcedthem to live apart from others. WhenUntouchables traveled, they had to tap twosticks together so that everyone would hearthem coming and have time to move away.

The Role of Men and Women In ancientIndia, the family was the center of life.Grandparents, parents, and children alllived together in an extended family. Theoldest man in the family was in charge.

Men had many more rights thanwomen. Typically, only sons could inheritproperty, and only men could go to schoolor become priests. Women’s education wasmostly done at home

In families at the top of society, a boyhad a guru (GUR • oo), or teacher, until hewent to the city for more education. Youngmen from these families could marry onlyafter finishing 12 years of schooling.

In India, parents arranged marriages fortheir children. Even today, parents arrange

90 percent of marriages in India. Boys andgirls often married in their teens, but ideallynot until after completing their education.Divorce was not allowed, but if a couplecould not have children, the husband couldmarry a second wife.

One custom shows how the lives ofIndian men were considered to be moreimportant than the lives of Indian women.In India, people were cremated, or burned,when they died. When a man from a promi-nent family died, his wife was expected toleap into the flames. This practice wascalled suttee (suh •TEE). If the wife resistedand did not kill herself, it was a greatshame. Everyone would avoid the womanfrom then on.

Identify What were thefive major groups in Indian society?

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