India

Saint Gabriel’s College (Document of Teaching: Social Studies I.E.) Secondary 2
Name......................................................................................................... M.2 /............ Number...................
Chapter 1 India’s Early Civilizations
1.1 Geography of India
The Term “Indian Civilization” and “India”
When we discuss Indian Civilization, it does not mean only the area within present India’s
boundary. “India” is the country that was established after gaining its independence from Great
Britain in 1947. It is only a part of the ancient Indian Civilization. The term “Indian Civilization”
extended more than India’s area but covered South Asia’s boundary, including India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. India, however, has the most inherited cultural
heritage from Indian Civilization.

Saint Gabriel’s College (Document of Teaching: Social Studies I.E.) Secondary 2 Page 2
Landscape of India
From the map, India looks like a triangle hanging from the bottom of Asia. India is a
subcontinent because huge mountains separate it from the rest of Asia. These mountains are the
Himalayas, the highest mountains in the world.
India has two very fertile river valleys, including the Ganges River and Indus River. Both
are fed by the mountains in the north. When the snow in the Himalayas melts, water flows into
the rivers. If the water is controlled, the land near these rivers can be used for farming.
South of the river valleys is the dry and hilly Deccan Plateau. The eastern and western
coasts of India are lush, fertile plains.
Climate of India
Monsoons are an important part of the Indian climate. A monsoon is a strong wind that
blows one direction in winter and the opposite side in summer. The winter monsoon brings the
cold, dry air of the mountains. The summer monsoon brings warm, wet air from the Arabian Sea,
which produces drenching rains.
When the monsoon rains begin, many farmers celebrate. If the rains come on time and the
rainy season lasts long enough, the crop will be good. If the rains are delayed, a drought will
occur. This extended period without rain can be disastrous for farmers. Few crops will be
harvested and many people will starve.
How Geography Affect the Civilization?
Connection to the outside world
The main connection between ancient India and the
outside world is in the northeastern mountain passes, such
as Khyber Pass and Bolan Pass. This path is important
because it has been used to exchange goods and culture
with other regions. However, the situation changed in the
15th century when the Europeans discovered the sea route
to Asia, allowing the Westerners to reach India’s coast.
The Origin of the Civilization

The origin of the main Indian Civilization was in the northern river plains, especially the
Ganges and Yamuna river plains, also called the Hindustan plain. These areas are more fertile,
making the population settle down densely. The center of power is also located in the Hindustan
plain.
The Lack of Unity
The landscapes of India are very different, including river plains, plateaus, mountains, and
deserts. Therefore, the landscape differentiated people’s lifestyles, beliefs, and languages. Also,
the mountains, plateaus, and deserts obstructed the unifying of people. So, there were many
small kingdoms in ancient India, which were rarely unified under one rule. The major unification
of India’s kingdoms were only under strong dynasties such as Maurya, Gupta, and Mughal. And
later, India was unified by the colonization of the British Empire.
1.2 The Indus Civilization
India’s early civilization grew up near the Indus River. When the summer monsoon began,
the river rose higher and higher. When the river flooded nearby land, it left behind rich, fertile
soil.
Farmers used the rich soil to grow crops to feed their families. Because people had a
plentiful supply of food, they could spend time doing other things, such as making tools or
building houses. As people began to trade their extra food and goods with other people, their
wealth grew. This allowed them to build larger and larger cities.
India’s early civilization in the Indus River valley began about 3000 B.C. and lasted until
1500 B.C. We know something about the way these people lived from studying the ruins of two
major cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The civilization of this time is called the Harappan or
Indus civilization.

The Cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were large cities for their time. The well-planned cities had
as many as 35,000 people. A fortress was built on a brick platform probably to keep guard over
the residents. There were wide main streets and smaller side streets. A wall surrounded each
neighborhood, and narrow lanes separated the houses.
These ancient city dwellers had some surprising conveniences. Wells supplied water, and
residents even had indoor bathrooms. Wastewater flowed to drains under the streets, running
through pipes to pits outside the city walls. Houses also had garbage chutes connected to a bin
in the street. In addition, residents built large granaries to store food for the entire city’s
population.

Harappan Society
The Harappans used a special script to write on seals and
stamps. However, historians have not agreed on how to interpret
these markings. Because the Harappans did not leave other
historical records, we do not know much about their society or
government. Though, from the ruins, we can guess that religion and politics were closely
connected because the archaeologists discovered the priest-king sculpture and founded that the
royal palace and the temple may have been both enclosed in a fortress.
Most Harappans were farmers. They grew rice, wheat,
barley, peas, and cotton. According to the archaeological
ruins, we know that the city dwellers made copper and
bronze tools, clay pottery, and cotton cloth, as well as
jewelry from gold, shells, and ivory.
It is likely that the Harappans began trading with the
Mesopotamians about 2300 B.C. Some Harappan sailors followed the coastline and crossed the
Arabian Sea, and others traveled over land.
The End of the Indus Civilization
The Indus civilization collapsed about 1500 B.C. Historians think that several earthquakes
and floods damaged the cities. Then the Indus River changed its course, killing many people and
forcing others to flee the area.
1.3 The Aryan Civilization
Who Were the Aryans?
The Aryans lived in central Asia where they raised and
herded animals. Some historians believe that the Aryans were
part of a larger group they refer to as Indo-Europeans. Some
migrated south to India and Iran. Others went west to Europe.
Cattle were a prized possession because they provided
meat, milk, and butter. Cattle were so important that the Aryans

even used them as money. Individual wealth was measured by the number of cattle a person
owned.
The Aryans were good warriors. They were expert horse riders and hunters. They had
metal-tipped spears and wooden chariots, which they sometimes used to invade nearby villages
for food.
After 2000 B.C., the Aryans began leaving their home territory. They moved in waves, and
some groups crossed through the mountain passes in the Himalaya. They entered the Indus River
valley around 1500 B.C. Around 1000 B.C., the Aryans began expanding across the Punjab and
Ganges Plains and south into the Deccan Plateau. Features of their civilization mixed with those
of local cultures.
The Aryans Bring Change
When the Aryans arrived in India, they no longer
lived as nomads. They became farmers but continued to
raise cattle. Eventually, the Aryans would declare that
cattle were sacred and forbid them to be used as food.
Aryan technology improved farming in India.
They invented an iron plow to help clear India’s many
jungles and built canals to irrigate. They slowly turned
the Ganges River valley into good farmland.
The Aryans also brought a new language to India.
As nomads, they had no written language, but in India
they developed a written language later called Sanskrit.
Over time, the sacred songs, poems, and prayers that
Aryans had known for many centuries were written
down.
The Aryans were organized into tribes. Each tribe
was led by a raja, or prince. The rajas ran their own small
kingdoms, which often fought among themselves. Rajas
fought over cattle and treasure and over women

kidnapped from other states. These small rival kingdoms existed in India for about a thousand
years, from 1500 B.C. to 400 B.C.
The Aryan Society
One of the results of the Aryan arrival in India was the development of a caste system. A
caste is a social group that someone is born into and cannot change. A caste dictates what job you
will have, whom you can marry, and with whom you can eat or drink.
Why was this system created? No one is sure, but ideas about skin color were probably
part of it. The Aryans were a lightskinned people. They thought they were better than the dark-
skinned people they encountered in India.
The Aryans might have created the caste system because the people they encountered in
India greatly outnumbered them. The caste system kept groups separate and set the rules for
everyone’s behavior. This helped the Aryans stay in control.
Social Levels of the Caste System
There are four main classes of caste
in Indian society, including Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.
There was one group that did not
belong to any caste. Its members were
called Untouchables. They performed
dirty work considered polluting such as
collecting trash, skinning animals, or
handling dead bodies.
Life for an Untouchable was very
hard. Most Indians believed that being near an Untouchable was polluting, so they forced them
to live apart from others. When Untouchables traveled, they had to tap two sticks together so
that everyone would hear them coming and have time to move away.

The Role of Men and Women
In ancient India, the family was the center of life. Grandparents, parents, and children all
lived together in an extended family. The oldest man in the family was the leader of the family.
Men had many more rights than women. Typically, only sons could inherit property, and
only men could go to school or become priests. Women received their education at home.
In India, parents arranged marriages for their children. Even today, parents arrange 90
percent of marriages in India. Boys and girls often married in their teens. Divorce was not
allowed, but if a couple could not have children, the husband could marry a second wife.
One custom shows how the lives of Indian men were considered more important than the
lives of Indian women. Sometimes when a man from a prominent family died, his wife was
expected to leap into the funeral flames. This practice was called Sati. If the wife resisted and did
not kill herself, it was a great shame. Everyone would avoid the woman from then on.

What did you learn?
1. Describe the cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
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2. Why are monsoons important to Indian farmers?
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3. What caused the collapse of the Indus civilization?
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4. Why do you think nomads like the Aryans were great warriors?
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5. Draw a diagram to show how the Aryans changed the lifestyle of the Indians.
6. How did India’s social classes, or caste, shape India’s society?
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Chapter 2 India’s First Empires
3.1 The Mauryan Dynasty
The Establishment of India’s First Empire
India’s first empire, the Mauryan Empire, was
founded by Chandragupta in 321 B.C. The dynasty was
established after Alexander the Great had invaded
India. Alexander’s invasion weakened many of India’s
kingdoms. After Alexander left, Chandragupta seized
the opportunity to conquer and unite almost all of
northern India.
Emperor Ashoka’s Reign
Although Chandragupta founded the Mauryan
dynasty, but many historians think the empire’s
greatest king was Ashoka the Great. He ruled from
about 273 B.C. to 232 B.C.
Ashoka was an unusual ruler. Like many kings,
he was a strong military leader, but he came to hate bloodshed. After one bloody fight, he walked
over the battlefield. When he saw the dead and wounded, he was horrified and made a vow. He
would dedicate his life to peace and follow the teachings of the Buddha.
Ashoka was history’s first great Buddhist king. He sent many Buddhist monks throughout
India and the rest of Asia. They carried the religion to new believers. When Ashoka expanded his
territory, the stone pillars were created to show the extent of his empire. On the stone pillars, the

Buddha’s teachings were carved for people to read. Ashoka also had laborers build thousands of
stupas. Although he was a Buddhist, Ashoka allowed his Hindu subjects to practice their religion.
With a good road system and a strong ruler, the empire prospered. India became the center
of a huge trade network that stretched to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Fall of the Mauryan Empire
Ashoka died in 232 B.C. Unfortunately, the kings who followed him were not very good
leaders. They forced merchants to pay heavy taxes and seized peasants’ crops for themselves,
which turned the people against them. So, the empire grew weak and collapsed in 183 B.C.
3.2 The Gupta Empire
For 500 years, India was not united. Once again,
small kingdoms fought with one another. Then, in
A.D. 320, one prince in the Ganges River valley grew
more powerful than the others. Like an earlier ruler,
his name was Chandragupta. He founded the Gupta
dynasty.
The Gupta Empire expanded and dominated
almost all of northern India. The Guptas ruled for
about 200 years. Gupta rulers had one advantage over
the earlier Mauryan kings. The empire was smaller
and that made it easier to manage.
The Gupta empire grew wealthy from trade.
Salt, cloth, and iron were common goods traded in
India. Indian merchants also traded with China and with kingdoms in Southeast Asia and the

Mediterranean. The Gupta rulers controlled much of the trade and became very wealthy. Trade
created jobs for people in India and made many people and cities prosperous. Cities grew up
along the trade routes, and many people traveled.
Some people, called pilgrims, often used the trade routes to travel to a religious shrine or
site. Just as cities today make money from tourism, Indian cities that were famous for their
temples became wealthy from visiting pilgrims.
Unlike Ashoka, the Guptas were Hindus. They gave
their full support to Hindu scholars and Hindu shrines. The
shrines they built to Hindu deities inspired Hindus. They
often had brightly painted sculptures of images from the
Upanishads and other sacred writings.

3.3 The World of Indian Culture
Artists, builders, scientists, and writers produced many works while the Mauryan and
Gupta kings ruled. The Gupta era was also considered as Indian’s golden age of art and learning.
Literature
The Vedas of India are an ancient collection of sacred verses, hymns, prayers and
teachings. No one is certain how old they are because for a long time they were only recited, not
written down. After Aryan people developed Sanskrit, then the Vedas could be recorded.
The other kinds of literature are epics. There are two famous Indian epics. One is the
Mahabharata, and the other is the Ramayana. Both of these sacred texts tell about brave warriors
and their heroic deeds.
The Mahabharata is a long sacred text, about 88,000 verses, making it
the longest poem in any written language. Historians think several
different authors wrote it and that it was written down around 100 B.C.
It describes a war between cousins in Aryan society for control of the
kingdom about 1000 B.C. The best-known section is the Bhagavad Gita,
or “Song of the Lord.” It is very important in Hindu writings. In it, the
god Krishna preaches a sermon before a battle. In the sermon, god
Krishna tells Arjuna that in taking action, one must not worry about
success or failure. One should only be aware of the moral rightness of the
act itself.
The Ramayana, written at about the same time, is much shorter
than the Mahabharata. It is a story of Rama. As a result of a palace plot,
he is banished from the kingdom and forced to live as a hermit in the
forest. Later, he fights with Ravana, the demon-king of Ceylon, who had
kidnapped his beloved wife Sita.
Like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is strongly filled with
religious and moral lessons. Rama is seen as the ideal Aryan hero, a
perfect ruler and ideal son. Sita projects the supreme duty of wifely
loyalty to her husband.

The teachings in the Mahabharata and Ramayana contain many of the central beliefs in
Hinduism. They provide important religious and moral lessons. For this reason, they have had a
great impact on Hinduism and continue to influence the Indian people and Indian philosophy.
Music
Music played an important part in the religious and social lives of people in India. Many
of the early sacred texts like the Bhagavad Gita were probably sung in group settings. At annual
festivals people danced and sang. They also used music in plays. Musical instruments included
tambourines, flutes, drums, and lutes.
Architecture
Some of the earliest examples of Indian architecture stem from the time of Ashoka, such
as the stone pillars and Stupas.
The other famous Indian architecture is rock-cut architecture, or the rock chamber carved
out of rock cliffs. These rock chambers are religious sites of both Hinduism and Buddhism. The
most famous Indian rock-cut architectures include Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, and Elephanta
Caves.
Mathematics and Science
Indian mathematicians, especially in the Gupta period, made important contributions.
Aryabhata the most famous mathematician of the Gupta Empire, was one of the first scientists
known to have used algebra. Indian mathematicians developed the idea of zero and a symbol to
represent it. They also explained the concept of infinity—something without an end.
Gupta mathematicians created the symbols for the numbers 1 to 9 that we use today. These
numerals were adopted by Arab traders in the A.D. 700s. European traders borrowed them from
the Arabs. Use of these numbers spread through Europe in the A.D. 1200s, replacing Roman

numerals. Today, this system of number symbols is known as the Hindu-Arabic numerical
system.
Ancient Indians made important contributions in other scientific fields, especially
astronomy. They followed and mapped movements of planets and stars. They understood that
the Earth was round and revolved around the sun.
What Did You Learn?
1. Why was Ashoka an important ruler?
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2. How did the Gupta empire become wealthy?
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3. In what way did early Indian literature influence the
Indian people?
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Chapter 3: The Mogul Empire
4.1 The Expansion of Islam
In the early eighth century, Islam became popular in the northwestern corner of the Indian
subcontinent. The new religion had a major impact on Indian civilization. This impact is still
evident today in the division of the subcontinent into mostly Hindu India and two Islamic states,
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
One reason for Islam’s success in South Asia is that it arrived at a time when India was in
a state of great political disunity. The Gupta Empire had collapsed, and no central authority had
replaced it. India was divided into about seventy states, which fought each other constantly.
Delhi Sultanate
The 8th century began with a long clash between
Hindus and Muslims in this land of many kingdoms.
Starting around the year 1000, however, well-trained
Turkish armies swept into India. Led by Sultan Mahmud
of Ghazni, they destroyed many Indian cities and
temples. These attacks left the region weakened to other
conquerors. Delhi eventually became the capital of a
loose empire of Turkish warlords called the Delhi
Sultanate. These sultans treated the Hindus as
conquered people.
During the latter half of the fourteenth century,
the Sultanate of Delhi began to decline. In 1398, the Mongol ruler, Timur Lenk, destroyed Delhi.
Delhi eventually was rebuilt, but it was not until the 16th century that a leader arose who would
unify the empire.

4.2 The Establishment of Mogul Empire
The death of Timur Lenk removed a major threat from the various states of the Indian
subcontinent, but the calm did not last long. By the early sixteenth century, two new challenges
had appeared. One came from the north in the form of the Moguls, a newly emerging nomadic
power. The other came from Europe, from Portuguese traders arriving by sea in search of gold
and spices.
The Moguls were not natives of India, but came from the mountainous region north of the
Indus River valley. The founder of the Mogul dynasty was Babur. His father was descended from
the great Asian conqueror Timur Lenk, and his mother, from the Mongol conqueror Genghis
Khan. Babur had inherited a part of Timur Lenk’s empire in an upland river valley of the Syr
Darya in Central Asia. He commanded a group of warriors who seized Kabul in 1504. Thirteen
years later, his forces crossed the Khyber Pass to India. In 1526, he captured Delhi and established
his power in the plains of North India. He continued his conquests in North India until his death
in 1530 at the age of 47.
4.3 Akbar’s Golden Age
The Babur’s grandson was called Akbar. He
ruled India from 1556 to 1605. By 1605, he had
brought Mogul rule to most of India. How was
Akbar able to place almost all of India under his rule?
By using heavy artillery, Akbar’s armies were able to
overpower the stone fortresses of their rivals. The
Moguls were also successful negotiators.
Akbar was probably
the greatest of the
conquering Mogul
monarchs, but he is best
known for the generous
character of his rule. Like
all Mogul rulers, Akbar
was born a Muslim, but he adopted a policy of religious tolerance. He
permitted people of other religions to practice their faiths. He even

welcomed the expression of Christian views by his Jesuit advisers at court. He proved his
tolerance by marrying Hindu princesses without forcing them to convert. He proved his
tolerance again by abolishing both the tax on Hindu pilgrims and the hated jizya, or tax on non-
Muslims.
Akbar was also tolerant in his administration of the government. Natives and foreigners,
Hindus and Muslims, could all rise to high office. This approach contributed to the quality of his
government. Akbar also created an effective taxation policy. He collected a tax similar to the
present-day income tax, calculating it as a percentage of the value of the peasants’ crops. Because
this tax was fair and affordable, the number of peasants who paid it increased. This payment
brought in much needed money for the empire.
As Akbar extended the Mogul Empire, he welcomed influences from the many cultures in
the empire. This cultural blending affected art, education, politics, and language. Persian was the
language of Akbar’s court and of high culture. The common people, however, spoke Hindi, a
language derived from Sanskrit. Hindi remains one of the most widely spoken languages in India
today. Out of the Mogul armies, where soldiers of many backgrounds associated, came yet
another new language. This language was Urdu, which was a blend of Arabic, Persian, and
Hindi. Urdu is today the official language of Pakistan.
4.4 Decline of the Moguls
The Reign of Shah Jahan
Akbar’s grandson was Shah Jahan. He had a great passion for two things: beautiful
buildings and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. In 1631, Mumtaz Mahal died at age 39 while giving birth
to her 14th child. To preserve his wife’s memory, he ordered that a tomb be built “as beautiful as
she was beautiful.” Fine white marble and fabulous jewels were gathered from many parts of
Asia. This memorial, the Taj Mahal, has been called one of the most beautiful buildings in the
world. Its towering marble dome and slender minaret towers look like lace and seem to change
color as the sun moves across the sky.

But while Shah Jahan was building gardens, monuments, and forts, his country was
suffering from famine. Furthermore, farmers needed tools, roads, and ways of irrigating their
crops and dealing with India’s harsh environment. What they got instead were taxes and more
taxes to support the building of monuments, their rulers’ extravagant living, and war.
Shah Jahan’s troubles worsened with his illness in the mid-1650s, which led to a struggle
for power between his sons. One of Shah Jahan’s sons, Aurangzeb, had his brother put to death
and imprisoned his father. Aurangzeb then had himself crowned emperor in 1658.
The Reign of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb is one of the most controversial rulers in the history
of India. A master at military strategy and an aggressive empire
builder, Aurangzeb ruled from 1658 to 1707. He expanded the Mogul
holdings to their greatest size. However, the power of the empire
weakened during his reign.
This loss of power was due largely to Aurangzeb’s oppression
of the people. He rigidly enforced Islamic laws, outlawing drinking,
gambling, and other activities viewed social evils. He appointed
censors to police his subjects’ morals and make sure they prayed at the appointed times. He also
tried to erase all the gains Hindus had made under Akbar. For example, he brought back the
hated tax on non-Muslims and dismissed Hindus from high positions in his government. He
banned the construction of new temples and had Hindu monuments destroyed. Not surprisingly,
these actions outraged the Hindus.

The Empire’s Decline
Aurangzeb’s policies led to Hindu outcries and domestic unrest. In addition, a number of
revolts against imperial authority broke out in provinces throughout the empire. Rebellious
groups threatened the power of the emperor, leaving an increasingly divided India vulnerable to
attack from abroad. In 1739, Delhi was sacked by the Persians, who left it in ashes.
4.3 Mogul Culture
The Moguls brought together Persian and Indian
influences in a new and beautiful architectural style. This style
is best symbolized by the Taj Mahal, which was built in Agra
by emperor Shah Jahan.
Another major artistic achievement of the Mogul period
was in painting. Like architecture, painting in Mogul India
resulted from the blending of two cultures: Persian and Indian.
The “Akbar style” combined Persian style, which was colorful
and highly detailed, with Indian patterns. It included the
portrayal of humans in action, for example—a characteristic
not usually seen in Persian art.
What Did You Learn?
1. How did Akbar demonstrate religious tolerance in his empire?
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2. Why was the Taj Mahal built? And what was the consequence of building the Taj Mahal?
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3. Why did the empire weaken under the rule of Aurangzeb?
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References:
Beck, Roger B., Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, and Dahia Ibo Shabaka. World History: Patterns of
Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2009.
Spielvogel, Jackson, J. Journey Across Time. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Spielvogel, Jackson, J. World History. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2005.
วาสนา วงศ์สุรวัฒน์, พิพาดา ยังเจริญ, สาวิตรี เจริญพงษ์, และดินาร์ บุญธรรม. อารยธรรมตะวันออก. พิมพ์ครั=งที? 3. กรุงเทพฯ:
คณะอักษรศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, 2556.
Teachers: Mr. Chayakorn / Mr. Napoth / Ms. Ritchell Head of Department: Ms. Nisakorn Wongsinthop

India

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