Planned+Cities+on+the+Indus

Planned Cities on the Indus

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Subcontinent- A landmass that includes different countries Ex. The Indian subcontinent India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Monsoon- a seasonal wind that dominates India's climate. From October to February winter monsoons one from the northeast and blow dry air westward across the country. Harappan Civilization- a named sometimes used for he Indus valley civilization, because of many archaeological discoveries made at that site.

Key People:

Key Events/ Ideas:

GEOGRAPHY OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT:


 * A wall of the highest mountains in the world—the Hindu Kush, Karakorum, and Himalayan ranges—separates this region from the rest of the Asian continent.
 * The world’s tallest mountains to the north and a large desert to the east helped protect the Indus Valley from invasion
 * The Indus and Ganges and the lands they water make up a large area that stretches 1,700 miles across northern India and is called the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
 * The center of the peninsula is a high plateau cut by twisting rivers. This region is called the Deccan plateau.
 * The powerful storms bring so much moisture that flood- ing often happens. When the summer monsoons fail to develop, drought often causes crop disasters.

CIVILIZATIONS EMERGES ON THE INDUS:


 * Historians know less about the civilization in the Indus Valley than about those to the west.
 * the civilization of the Indus Valley influenced an area much larger than did either Mesopotamia or Egypt.
 * No one is sure how human settlement began in the Indian sub- continent.
 * Around 2500 B.C., while Egyptians were building pyramids, peo- ple in the Indus Valley were laying the bricks for India’s first cities.
 * they constructed human-made islands to raisProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 the cities above possi- ble floodwaters.
 * Early engineers also created sophisticated plumb- ing and sewage systems. These systems could rival any urban drainage systems built before the 19th century.
 * The city was partially built on mud-brick platforms to protect it from flooding.
 * Narrow lanes separated rows of houses, which were laid out in block units.

HARAPPAN CULTURE:


 * Like the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations you have studied, the culture was based on agriculture. Artifacts help to explain some aspects of the culture.
 * the Harappan culture developed a written language. In contrast to cuneiform and hieroglyphics, the Harappan language has been impossible to decipher.
 * The Harappan cities show a remarkable uniformity in religion and culture. The housing suggests that social divisions in the society were not great.
 * The presence of animal images on many types of artifacts suggests that animals were an important part of the culture. Animals are seen on pottery, small statues, children’s toys, and seals used to mark trade items.
 * As with other cultures, the rulers of the Harappan civilization are believed to have close ties to religion.
 * Priests likely prayed for good harvests and safety from floods. Religious artifacts reveal links to modern Hindu culture. Figures show what may be early representations of Shiva, a major Hindu god.
 * Gold and silver came from the north in Afghanistan. Semiprecious stones from Persia and the Deccan Plateau were crafted into jewelry.
 * the Indus River provided an excellent means of trans- portation for trade goods. Brightly colored cotton cloth was a desirable trade item since few people at the time knew how to grow cotton.
 * The Indus River provided a link to the sea. This access allowed Indus Valley inhabitants to develop trade with distant peoples, including the Mesopotamians.
 * the used the Persian Gulf trade routes to bring copper, lum- ber, precious stones, and luxury goods to Sumer. Trading began as early as 2600 B.C. and continued until 1800 B.C.

INDUS VALLEY CULTURE ENDS:


 * Around 1750 B.C., the quality of building in the Indus Valley cities declined. Gradually, the great cities fell into decay.
 * satellite images of the subcontinent of India revealed evidence of shifts in tectonic plates. The plate movement probably caused earth- quakes and floods.
 * Some cities along the rivers apparently suf- fered through these disasters and survived.
 * The shifts may have caused another river, the Sarswati, to dry up. Trade on this river became impossible, and cities began to die. Harappan agriculture, too, would have been influenced by these events.
 * Harappan agriculture may have suffered as a result of soil that was exhausted by overuse. This too, may have forced people to leave the cities in order to survive.
 * the Aryans, a nomadic people from north of the Hindu Kush mountains, swept into the Indus Valley around 1500 B.C. Indian civilization would grow again under the influence of these nomads.

Environmental Challenges: The Indus valley civilization had many of the same problems as Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations.


 * Yearly floods spread deposits of rich soil over a wide area, the Indus river was very unpredictable with floods.
 * Sometimes the Indus river would change courses.
 * A cycle of wet and dry seasons brougt by monsoons were unpredictable. If there was too little rain then plants withered in the fields and people went hungry, if ther was too much rain floods swept away whole villages.