The document summarizes early civilizations and religions in India. It describes the Harappan civilization and the arrival of the Aryans who composed sacred texts known as the Vedas. It also outlines the development of Hinduism, including the caste system, key beliefs like karma and reincarnation, major gods like Brahman, Vishnu, and Shiva, and how Hinduism is also known as Sanatana Dharma.

1. India

2. Early Indus River Civilizations –
Harappan Civilization

3. Harappa—An Artist’s Reconstruction
of the Gateway & Drain

4. Harappa--Granary

5. Harappa

6. Mohenjo-Daro—Entrance to City

7. The Aryans – “The Noble People”

8. Sanskrit

9. The Vedas

10. The Vedas
• A collection of poems and sacred hymns (c.
1,500 B.C.) describing Aryan beliefs and daily
life
• “Veda” means knowledge
• 1,500 – 1,000 B.C. – Vedic Period

11. Government
• Raja (“Prince”)
• Maharajas (“Major Princes”)

12. Chandragupta Maurya

13. Chandragupta’s Conquests

14. The Caste System
• Brahmins (Upper class—scholars & priests)
• Kshatriyas (Aristocratic warriors)
• Vaishyas (Merchant class)
• Shudras (Mass of common peasants,
laborers & servants)
• Untouchables

15. The Caste System

16. The Upanishads (6 century B.C.)
th
• Commentaries on the Vedas
• Rejected Brahmin rituals &
inspired people to reach
spiritual truth and peace
through meditation & an
ascetic lifestyle

17. Hinduism
• Emerged from the ideas in the
Upanishads
• Karma & Reincarnation (the rebirth
of the soul in a different form after
death, determined by actions in the
previous life according to the
dharma, a law regulating human
behavior)

18. Three Major Hindu Gods
• Brahman the Creator
• Vishnu the Preserver
• Shiva the Destroyer
• Plus thousands of lesser deities

19. Another Name for Hinduism
• Sanatana dharma
• Sanatana—”that which has no beginning or
end and that which is there always”
• Dharma—refers to the right way or living or
proper conduct