Planned Cities on the Indus

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Planned Cities on the Indus

• KEY IDEA People of the first civilization in
  India built cities on the banks of the Indus
  River.

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The Geography of South Asia

• South Asiamodern India, Pakistan, and
  Bangladeshlies separated from the rest of Asia
  by tall mountains, the Hindu Kush Mountains,
  Himalayan Range and the Karakoram Mountains.
• Just below the mountains are two large plains
  that hold the Ganges and Indus rivers- the
  Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Deccan Plateau.
• The high mountains gave the people safety from
  invaders. Because they lived close to the sea,
  the people could travel over the water to trade
  with other peoples.

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Environmental Challenges

• The people along the Indus River had many of the
  same challenges that the people in Mesopotamia
  had.
• Their river flooded each year and left soil good
  for farming, but the floods did not occur at the
  same time each year.
• In addition, the river sometimes changed course.

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Monsoon

• The regions weather caused problems also.
  Seasonal winds called monsoons were responsible
  for the wet and dry seasons of the sub-continent.
• Each winter, strong winds blew dry air across the
  area. Each spring, the winds brought heavy rains.

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Winter Monsoon- Dry Season

• Between October and May, the winter monsoon blows
  from the north bringing cold dry continental air
  from the European continent.

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Summer Monsoon- Wet Season

• Between June and September, the wind direction
  shifts and blows from the south and southwest
  carrying warm moist air onto the subcontinent.

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Little Is Known

• Historians have not learned much about the people
  who settled in the Indus Valley because they
  cannot understand their way of writing.

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Early Arrivals

• They do know that people were farming along the
  river by about 3200 B.C. It is most likely that
  these people came from north through the Hindu
  Kush Mountains through the Khyber Pass
• They also know that the culture of these people
  covered an area larger than either Mesopotamia or
  Egypt.

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What We Do Know

• About 2500 B.C., these people began building
  their first cities. The cities showed careful
  planning.
• In Mesopotamia, cities were a jumble of streets
  laid down without thinking first. In the Indus
  Valley, however, the builders of cities followed
  a grid of streets.
• They built a strong area called a citadel that
  was easy to defend and held all the important
  buildings.
• They also had systems for carrying water and
  sewage.

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The Citadel

• The cities of the Indus Valley had fortified
  areas called citadels which contained major
  buildings of the city.

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Built in Water main that flowed from the river
into the city
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The Great Bath

• The central bathing area of the Great Bath is
  similar to the ritual purification pools that
  have been found in later Indian society. Some
  scholars believe it was used for religious
  ceremonies.

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Underground Sewage System

• Wastes drained through clay pipes into brick
  sewers running below the streets. These sewers
  had manholes through which sanitation workers
  could inspect the drains and clean them out.
  This same type of sewage system did not come back
  into use until the late 1800s.

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No Significant Social Differentiation

• Historians believe the civilization of the Indus
  was peaceful for the following reasons
• The houses were mostly like one another
  suggesting that the Indus culture did not have
  sharp differences between social classes.
• Few weapons have been found at the sites of these
  ancient cities. This suggests that warfare was
  not common.

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Artifacts From Indus Valley
Jewelry
Toys replicas of carts and boats.
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Important Contributions

• These early people left an important mark on the
  region.
• Some religious objects include symbols that
  became part of the culture that developed later
  in India.
• Historians also think that the people of the area
  traded with the people of Mesopotamia because
  they found seals from Mesopotamia at the
  archeological site

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Mysterious Decline

• Around 1750 B.C., though, the cities began to
  show signs of trouble. The Indus Valley
  civilization collapsed around 1500 B.C. No one
  knows the reason, but there are three
  possibilities
• 1. The Indus River may have changed its course,
  ending the good effects of the yearly floods.
• 2. The people may have over-worked the land and
  left the soil too poor to produce crops any
  longer.
• 3. Perhaps a group of invaders defeated the
  Indus civilization.

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Answer these Questions

• What environmental challenges did the farmers in
  the Indus Valley face that the Sumerians and
  Egyptians did not?
• What does the attentions the Indus people gave to
  the plumbing and sewer system suggest about their
  culture?

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The End
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Briefly compare the Indus Valley Civilization to
those of Egypt and Sumer.  
Briefly compare the Indus Valley Civilization to
those of Egypt and Sumer.