Geography
Describe three reasons why the rivers are where most early Indians settled:
fertile land
fresh water
trade/transportation route
irrigation
fishing
Where did the very first human settlements develop in ancient India?
Indus/Ganges river plains
The five castes or varnas found in the Vedas are the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and this caste was not in there and are mistreated India. Name the 5th caste.
Untouchables
Who was Siddhartha Gautama?
The prince who became the Buddha.
During ancient times the Mauryan Empire were the first to unite India under one rule, before the Gupta Empire united India under their rule many small kingdoms ruled. TRUE or FALSE
True
The Ganges River, Brahmaputra River, and the Indus River all began from this mountain chain?
Himalayas
The two biggest settlements that were part of the Indus Valley Civilizations were Mohenjo Daro and ____________.
Harappa
Name the holy river in India where many Hindus make a pilgrimage to reach Moksha/Samsara. This is when the continuous cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is stopped when their soul is united with Brahman.
Ganges
The eightfold path is the morals Buddhists should live their lives by, which belief in Hinduism is similar since it guides how they live by fulfilling their duty/role in life?
Dharma
Chandragupta Maurya was harsh at first and used his _______________ to force his rule, as well as torture to be sure no one threatened his power as the central government ruler.
large army
What natural weather event affects India every summer with heavy rains
Monsoons
Mohenjo Daro was a well-planned city. Name two features of the city.
the layout of the city into blocks of streets.
Two story housing
Public bath, wells and a sewer system.
They also had a citadel for protection.
Hindus also believe that acquiring good karma is needed to reach Moksha/Samsara. What is Karma?
Karma is when one's actions in lives affect their future in this life or the next life.
A Buddhist's goal is to reach ______________, which is the highest happiness that comes from gaining enlightenment (deep spiritual truth/knowledge).
Nirvana
Name one way the Gupta Empires rule was different than the Mauryan Empires rule?
Hindu
Provinces
Governors and towns made their own decisions
Many achievements/ Golden Age
India considered a _________________ since
it is a huge landmass that is somewhat separated from the rest of the continent by natural physical feature barriers.
Subcontinent
The Aryans were believed to be the ones who ended the Indus Valley civilizations by conquering them. Where were they from?
Central Asia by Caspian Sea
The Aryans brought the religion of Hinduism to India with their sacred teachings in this book written in this language. Name the language and book?
Vedas
Sanskrit
Who unified India under Buddhism Chandragupta Mauryan or his grandson Ashoka?
Ashoka
The Gupta Empire was considered the Golden Age since during their rule the people were happy prosperous and able to achieve. Name two achievements or advances created during the Golden Age of the Gupta empire. Be specific!
Universities like Nalanda promoted learning which encouraged people to discover and advance
Math and the use of the number zero and the decimal system. All this helped with trade and business.
Literature like the Puranas a collection of Hindu legends, Mahabharata a poem about Hindu values with the Bhagavid Gita included in the poem. This shows they had the time and support to be creative but also finally recorded beloved ancient texts like the Vedas.
Painting like the Ajanta cave murals done in red purple and green that had scenes of Buddhist values. The artists had time and support to be creative and many of the painted scenes showed how well they lived.
Sculpture made of stone, woods, bronze, and clay and showed the human form simply and gracefully and were usually of the Buddha or Hindu gods. Shows they had the time and resources to make.
Metalwork highly skilled knew how to make iron, and engraved gold and copper coins honoring their rulers.
Roads were built with care and were made of hard packed dirt and were smooth and level with ditches along the side to prevent flooding. Thet promoted trade within the empire and faraway places like China.