esIndia

There's no place like Home    INDIA


 * //__Geography__//**: **Indian subcontinent**, Hindu Kush mountains, Karakorum mountains, Himalayan range, desert to the east, enormous flat and fertile plain, **Indus and Ganges rivers**, Indus flows sw from himalays to arabian sea, lower valley- **Thar desert**, farming only by the Indus river, Ganges flows east through himalayas to brahmaputra river to bay of bengal, 1700 miles across Northern India called **indo-gangetic plain**, used rivers for irrigation and silt, rich land for agriculture, penninsula- the southern part of the subcontinent thrusts out into indian ocean, center on penninsula is **deccan plateau**, framed by e and w ghats mts., blocked moisture so dry region, coasts- thin border of lush tropical land.
 * //__Envirornmental Challenges:__//** unperdictable floods yearly, rivers changed course, **monsoons**- seasonal winds(brought rain) cycled through wet and dry seasons and brought flooding, too little/too much rain.

**//__Cities:__//** **levees**- earthen walls kept water out, huamn made islands to raise cities, largesd Kalibangan, Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, called **Harappan Civilization** because of archeological discoveries, sophisticated city building, precise **grid systems**, **citadel**-fortified area containing major buildings, oven baked **bricks** in standard sizes, **plumbing and sewer systems**, rival until nineteenth century, stong central government ,                  **harrapa**- mud brick platforms, thick brick wll surrounding three and a half miles, citadel for royal family and temple, thirty foot wide streets on grid system, residental districts divided by walls, houses varied in sizes the most being three stories, houses in block units, bathrooms, sewage pits outside city, plumbing brick with wooden seats and pipes **//__Culture:__//** based on agriculture, social divisions not great, prosperous society, few wapons, limited conflict, clay//wooden childs toys, animals are very important, animal pics marked trade items, the meaning of combined animals is a mystery//
 * //__Time Period:__//** 7000 bc- agriculture and domesticated sheep and goats, 3200 bc- farming, **1750 bc- culural decline**

__Religion:__ //thought to be a **theocrasy**, no temple sights, links to modern hindu cluture, likely prayed for good harvests and flood safety, hidu god shiva, mother godess, bulls fetility.// ( a picture of Shiva) __Trade:__ //gold and silver form n. afganistan, semiprecious stones from persia adn deccan plateau, made jewelry, bright colored cloth, Indus river tansportation, overland from persia to caspian sea, traded to meso. and sumer, gave copper lumber and precious stones, **2600-1800 bc.**//

**__Culture Ends:__** 1750 b.c., quality dcined, great cities decayed, 1970 discovered tectonic plates shifted, caused earthquakes, floods, indus river to change course, rivers dried up, agriculture died, can't produce lots of food, soil died out from overuse, nomads-Aryans came in 1500 b.c. from hindu kush mtns, and helped indian culture grow again.

Kshatriyas- warriors and kings (arms) Vaishyas- traders and farmers (thighs) Shudras-laborers and artisans (feet) Untouchables- all the dirty work/everything else (rear end)
 * //__Social Class/ CASTE:__//** Brahmins- priest (mouth)

caste means race in spanish-portugese racial orgins started in 1000 bce. story of how **Purusha** was sacrificed. determines job, diet, and marital prospects. **dharma** - duty and code of proper conduct **karma**- consequences of past deeds and detemines caste when reborn **Rig Veda**- sacred texts tell of caste system and how it came to be (purusha) punishments: fines, outcasting and excommunication lowest caste members had to ring bells, wear no upper body clothing, could not hear or read sacred texts, draw water from same wells as other caste members. **Ambedkar**- wrote indias constitution caste system still exsists today.