India L1: Indus River Valley and Geography

India L1: Indus River Valley and Geography

Intro to India

The land of India is separated from the rest of the world by a great wall. Rising along India's northern border, the wall is more than 1,500 miles long and nearly five miles high. The wall is not made of stone or bricks. It is a wall of snow-capped peaks and icy glaciers. This great barrier is the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world.

Multiple Choice

What separates India from the rest of the world?

• a stone wall

• Indus River

• Himalayas

• Indian Ocean

Multiple Choice

How many miles long are the Himalaya Mountains?

• 800 miles

• 5 miles

• 5,000 miles

• 1,500 miles

India

Stretching south from the Himalayas, the kite-shaped land of India jets out from Asia into the Indian Ocean. Geographers refer to India as a subcontinent, or a large landmass that juts out from a continent.

Multiple Choice

What word means a large landmass that juts out from a continent?

• peninsula

• subcontinent

• geographer

• continent

Geographic Setting

For centuries, geography limited the contact the people of the Indian subcontinent had with the rest of the world. Notice how the Himalaya and the Hindu Kush mountain ranges separate India from the rest of Asia. The Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea limit contact with lands to the east and west. These mountains and waters have been a major influence on the history and culture of the land.

Open Ended

How does the water and mountains that surround India affect it?

Monsoon climate

 India's climate is dominated by the monsoons, strong winds that blow across the region at certain times of the year. From October to May, the winter monsoon blows from the Northeast, spreading dry air across the country. Then, in the middle of June, the wind blows in from the Indian Ocean. This summer monsoon picks up moisture from the ocean. It carries rains that drench the plains and river valleys daily.

Life-giving rain

The people of India depend on summer monsoons to provide life-giving rain. If the monsoon is late or weak, crops die, which causes famine. If it brings too much rain, overflowing rivers may cause deadly floods.

Open Ended

Why do the people of India depend on the summer monsoons?

Passes

Although the mountains separate India from other lands, they do have openings. For thousands of years, passes through the Hindu Kush mountain range have served as highways for migration and invasion. The earliest people of Northern India probably entered the Indus River Valley through these pathways.

Multiple Choice

What did passes between mountain ranges enable people to do?

• hike and sightsee

• migrate and invade

• invade and landscape

• farm and build

Indus and Ganges

Great rivers begin in the mountains. The Indus River crosses the Himalayas and empties into the Arabian Sea. The Ganges River flows from the Himalayas into the Bay of Bengal. Fed by melting snow and rain, the Indus and Ganges Rivers cut through the mountains. They flow across Northern India and make farming possible in the river valleys.

Multiple Choice

What makes farming possible in Northern India?

• Himalayas

• Indus River

• Indus and Ganges Rivers

• Hindu Kush

First cities

From the rich soil of the Indus Valley, early farmers harvested a surplus of wheat and other grains. With a surplus of food, the population grew. Some villages grew to become cities. From around 2,500 to 1,500 BC, well planned cities flourished in the valley. Two such cities were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, both located in present-day Pakistan. Mohenjo-Daro was the larger of the two cities, and it lay along the banks of the Indus River.

Open Ended

What were the names of two of the first cities settled in the Indus River valley?

Mohenjo-Daro

The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro show how carefully the city was planned. To help protect it from floods, the city was built above ground level. Homes and workshops made up one side of the city. Public buildings stood on the other side. Streets separated these regular blocks of homes and buildings.

Open Ended

Why was the city of Mohenjo-Daro built above ground level?

City Height

The city's highest point served as a citadel, or fortress. Built on a high mound of earth, the citadel was probably enclosed by a high brick wall. This wall would have protected the city's most important buildings, including a storehouse for grain and a bathhouse.

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the citadel?

• fortress

• temple

• storage

• wall

Pipes and canals

 Unlike most other cities of the time, Mohenjo-Daro had a drainage system. Clay pipes ran under the brick streets. They carried waste from homes and public buildings away from the city. Outside the city, canals ran along the Indus River, which often flooded. The canals helped to control flooding by catching overflow from the river. The water was then directed where it was most needed.

Multiple Choice

What did Mohenjo-Daro have that most ancient cities did not?

• flooding

• organized religion

• drainage system

• storage for grain

Life in the city

 In Mohenjo-Daro, merchants and artisans sold their wares from shops that lined the streets. Carts loaded with grain rolled through the city. Traders came from as far away as Mesopotamia to buy and sell precious goods. The citizens of Mohenjo-Daro lived in homes that opened onto courtyards. Children played with toys and pets. Adult enjoyed games and music. Artisans fashioned jewelry and bright cotton clothing for the people to wear.

Open Ended

Describe what you might see if you had visited the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro.