Indus: Ancient Asian Civilizations
World History
Geography/Human-Environment Interaction
India is home to the Himalayan mountains, the tallest mountains in the world. South of the mountains is the Ganges River. To the west of the mountains is the Indus River Valley. This is a very dry plateau that forms the backbone of present day Pakistan. In India the monsoons come from the north and south bringing rains and colder weather than normal. During the dry season it is normally very hot. The Harappans used irrigation to help their crops grow.
culture/Who lives there/How they adapted
The name of the civilization that was located here was called Harappan. They adapted to their environment by building irrigation system for their crops since they were on the Indus River floodplain. Every Time the river flooded it left behind a lot of silt and made the land very fertile.
Writing/language/religion
The Harappan writings were very short 5 word phrases. They also involved pictures. Today the writings cannot be deciphered without a rosetta stone. The religion they practiced was hinduism.
Political/social structure
The Harappan government was based on a theocracy. This means the government was ran by a priest or many priests. They had many laws but no courts. They had personal, social, and human laws.
Accomplishments/Technology/Philosophy
Today we have indoor plumbing and air conditioners. Where did the come from? Were they created by more modernized people? No, the Ancient Indus River Valley Civilization first created the Air conditioner and indoor plumbing. This was the first "modern" technology made in ancient times. Their philosophy was hinduism. They used their religion to explain thins that happen naturally in nature.
Fall/Decline
The Harappans were at their richest from 2600-1900 B.C. They started to decline from 1900-1700 B.C. They started to decline because trade stopped with mesopotamia and the weather was becoming hotter than normal and they could not adapt fast enough.