AN01c3 Unit01: Beginnings of Civilization Ch.

02
Timeline: 3
rd
Millennium 2
nd
Millennium BCE (~2300 1750 BCE)
FS: Evidence of Planned Cities found on the Indus River

Main Idea: Of the great river valley civilizations from antiquity, the Indus Valley people may represent the
most prosperous and developed. If we accept the remains of cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as
examples of what these people did, then they may have reached a level of development that neither
Mesopotamia nor ancient Egypt witnessed. The geologic record shows that the rise and fall of the
civilization was inuenced by the environment, as has its cultural heritage. Mountains and deserts to the
North-east, mountains to the north, and large bodies of water on all the other sides of this land mass
suggest an isolated region. Yet, history presents a long list of invaders that worked their way through the
Indus valley. If you add the impact of the Monsoons, you are left with many challenges for a society to
address.

CCSS...

I. Ancient Cities on the Indus River

Indus Culture: A 'Ponder' (https://www.ponder.co/accounts/login/) document for analysis.
II. Achievements
A. Structured, Well-Planned Cities
1. Grid layout of streets
2. Multi-storied structures constructed of uniformly-shaped (baked) brick.
3. Municipal water management: sewage, indoor pipes.
B. Environment
1. Earthen works (levees, walls) to control river water: ood control, irrigation.
2. River aided transportation, commerce, and provided raw materials.
III. Challenges
A. Environment
1. Thar Desert in the Northwest. Mountains from the Northwest to the Northeast.
2. Geologically active area. River course may have reversed according to the
archaeological record.
3. Monsoon winds reverse direction from Winter to Summer. Alternating Dry Wet
seasons with unpredictable severity.
B. Foreign Invaders: Despite the mountainous terrain in the northwest, the Indian subcontinent
has had a history full of foreigners entering through this sector. Facilitating that advance are mountain
passes. These passes are gaps that act as corridors within the mountain range. One well-known pass is
called the "Khyber Pass".
Then, as now, these passes have permitted mountain herders and armies to move between the Asian
continent and the Indian subcontinent.
The list of foreign invaders of the Indian subcontinent reads like a list of "Who's Who of the Ancient
World". Among these, we would include:
1. Aryans: A nomadic Indo-European language group migrated into this area ~1500 BCE.
Historians have revealed that the earliest elements of the Hindu faith were contributed by
this group. Other ndings suggest they lacked a written language and introduced wartime
machines (ie. Chariot) to the region.
2. Persians: The armies of Darius I enter the subcontinent in the 6th C. BCE. They remain in
control of the northwest sector for ~200 years.
3. Macedonians: In the late 4th C. BCE, the combined Macedonian-Greek armies of
Alexander the Great enter the subcontinent. Unlike the Persians, who Alexander
conquers, the Macedonians move further East within the Indo-Gangetic plain. 'Western'
contact with peoples of the northern plain lays contributes to the rise of an Indian empire
that succeeds the Macedonians after Alexander's death.
The invaders, in the long term, were expelled and/or assimilated into the general Indian population. The
foreign presence contributed, via cultural diffusion, to the societies they encountered. The invasion
AN01c3 Unit01: Beginnings of Civilization Ch.02
experience and the resulting diffusion of culture had both benecial and detrimental affects on the local
populations.

C. Where to Escape to? The archaeological record indicates that the Indus Valley people
abandoned their cities. Where could they have gone as the challenges mounted? (Assuming that they
simply did not disappear)

Materials/Sources: Refer to the course calendar for additional assignments and pertinent due dates.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 6 Dec. 07
World History: Patterns of Interaction
Deciphering the Indus Language.
Collapse of the Indus Valley Civilizations Explained May 2012