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Ancient India Unit
1. Explain how did geography affect early settlement in India?
In northern India, the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, and the Indus rivers carry rich silt from the mountains to the plains. India’s early settlers farmed and later built walled settlements in the river valleys. This was the start of civilization in India.
In some parts of the Deccan Plateau in southern India, rich black soil is good for growing cotton.
The Eastern and Western Ghats are near India’s coasts. The Western Ghats are higher and wetter than the Eastern Ghats. The Himalayas along India’s northern border are the highest mountains in the world. The Hindu Kush range runs through present-day Pakistan. It provides access through the Khyber Pass to the Indian subcontinent.
The Thar Desert is a vast desert in northern India which has huge sand dunes, little plant life, and extreme heat. Dust storms are common. Animals, such as lizards, snakes, gazelles, and a variety of birds, live here.
2. Why were the Indus and Ganges river valleys ideal locations for early settlement, rather than other areas?
The Indus and Ganges river valleys were ideal locations for early settlements because the soil next to these two river valleys have silt in them from the Himalayas which makes the soil very good for farming. Since there is land for farming there can be food so people can eat. People could also bath and drink the water from these rivers. The only con of settling in those areas is that the rivers can overflow and destroy crops. Another con is that there could be a monsoon. Overall, living next to those rivers are very ideal locations for early settlements.
3. What can artifacts tell us about daily life in Mohenjodaro?
it’s that all their time their daily life was extremely advanced for the world so it was an advanced empire unlike the others.
4. Can you describe the artifacts that were found at Mohenjodaro?
Historians and archaeologists continue to investigate what happened to this remarkable civilization.
The discovery of standard weights, a scale, and marked rods suggest that the ancient Indians had a uniform way to measure weight and length.
The remains of a brick pool, well, and drain system, lead archaeologists to believe that people may have bathed in and used the pool in religious rituals.
A sewer system carried waste away from the city’s buildings and into the Indus River.
Most people lived in the lower city in rows of 2-story houses made of mud bricks.
As the discovery of game pieces and toys suggests, the people had time to play. Adults may have played an early form of chess.
Archaeologists have found clay models that may have been toys. Some models reveal information about ways of farming and transporting goods to market.
5. Who Ashoka is, why he is important, and what were his four main goals?
Ashoka was the third ruler of the illustrious Maurya dynasty and was one of the most powerful kings of the Indian subcontinent in ancient times. His reign between 273 BC and 232 B.C. was one of the most prosperous periods in the history of India. Ashoka’s empire consisted most of India, South Asia and beyond, stretching from present day Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west, to Bengal and Assam in the east, and Mysore in the south. Buddhist literature document Ashoka as a cruel and ruthless monarch who underwent a change of heart after experiencing a particularly gruesome war, the Battle of Kalinga.Ashoka had four main goals. One was to promote buddhist values in his kingdom. For example, he would tell people to practice nonviolence. Another goal was for the general welfare of people in his kingdom to be good. His third goal was to have good justice, or court systems, in his empire. His fourth and last was to make his country have good security. This included dealing with and protecting from non-citizens and bordering countries.
6. How did Ashoka unify the Mauryan Empire and spread Buddhist values?
The Maurya family ruled and unified India through the use of force and later by spreading the ideas of Buddhism.
Mauryas reigned over a unified India for several generations, from about 322 to 187 B.C.E.
King Ashoka first expanded his empire through war. Then he embraced Buddhist values of love and nonviolence and spread these ideas. However, he allowed slavery and executions for serious crimes and maintained a strong army.
Ashoka had edicts carved into walls and pillars throughout the empire. These edicts promoted Buddhist values, general welfare, justice, and security. The spread of Buddhism in Asia was Ashoka’s most lasting legacy.
7. What is a “golden age”?
A period of peace and wealth that has had many great achievements.
8. Why is the period during the Gupta Empire known as a “golden age”? What were the achievements that occurred and where would they be found in the Gupta Empire?
Golden Age of India because of the large achievements Indians made in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, sculpting and painting during the Gupta Empire.
literature,painting,sculpture,metalwork,mathematics,roads,Hindu provided the upper class with religious training. …They created the decimal system. They were the first to call zero a number. The achievements will be found in the hindu culture.