SOCIAL STUDIES CHAPTER 4 NOTES: ANCIENT INDIA
SECTION 1: India’s Geographic Setting
I. Map and Introduction
-The land of India is separated from the rest of the world by a__________________________.
-Rising along India’s northern border, the wall is nearly _______________ miles long and
nearly _________________ miles high.
-This great barrier is the ____________________________, the highest mountain range in the
world.
II. India’s Geographic Setting
-India juts out from ________________ into the ____________________________________________.
-India is a __________________________, or a large landmass that juts out from a continent.
-For centuries, geography limited the contact the people of the Indian subcontinent
had with _____________________________________________________.
-The ______________________________ and the _______________________________ mountain ranges
separate India from the rest of Asia.
-The Bay of Bengal, the ________________________________, and the ___________________________
limit contact with lands to the east and west.
-India’s climate is dominated by the ___________________________, 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
______________________________________________________________________across the country.
-In the middle of June, the wind blows in from the ___________________________________.
This summer monsoon picks up __________________________ from the ocean. It carries
_______________________________________ that drench the plains and river valleys daily.
-The people of India depend on summer monsoons to provide life-giving ____________.
-Although the ____________________________ separate India from other lands, they do
have _____________________________.
-Passes through the _____________________________________ mountain range have served as
highways for __________________________ and _______________________________.
-Great rivers begin in the ___________________________________.
-The Indus River crosses the Himalayas and empties into the __________________________.
-The Ganges River flows from the Himalayas into the ___________________________________.
-Fed by melting _____________________ and ___________________, the Indus and Ganges
rivers cut through the mountains. They flow across _____________________________________
and make farming possible in the river valleys.
III. Life in the Indus River Valley
-From the rich ______________________ of the Indus valley, early farmers harvested a
surplus of _________________________ and other grains. This led to a growth in the
________________________________________.
-As a result, some villages grew into _______________________________.
-From around _________________ to _______________ B.C., well-planned cities flourished in
the valleys.
-Two such cities were _________________________ and _________________________________, both
located in present-day ______________________________.
-____________________________________ was the larger of the two cities, and it lay along the
banks of the _____________________________________.
-The ruins of Mohenjo-Daro show how carefully the city was planned. To help
protect it from floods, the city was built ________________________________________________.
-___________________________ and ___________________________ made up one side of the city.
________________________________________________________stood on theother side.
-The city’s high point served as a ______________________ or _________________________.
-______________________________________had a drainage system. _____________________________
ran under the brick streets. Theycarried waste from homes and public buildings
______________________________________________________________.
-Outside the city, _____________________________ ran along the Indus River, which often
flooded. The _________________________________ helped to control flooding by catching
overflow from the river.
-In Mohenjo-Daro, merchants and artisans sold their wares from shops that lined
the streets. Traders came from as far away as __________________________________________
to buy and sell _______________________________________________________________________.
-The language of the people is still a ___________________________________________.
-The form of government and the religion of Mohenjo-Daro are also __________________.
-For some unknown reason, around _______________ B.C., Indus valley farmers began to
________________________________________________________.
-Between __________________________ B.C., newcomers from the north entered the valley.
Thesenewcomers eventually gained power throughout the region.
IV. A New Culture Arises
-The newcomers called themselves ___________________________, which in their language
meant “____________________” or “________________________.”
-They migrated from their homelands in ____________________________________. For several
centuries, waves ofthese nomadic herders swept into India.
-The ______________________ drove ___________________________________ that overwhelmed the
enemy’sslow-moving foot soldiers and settled populations.
-Gradually, a new Aryan culture developed. This culture combined the traditions of
the original inhabitants with __________________ and _____________________ brought by the
newcomers.
-This new culture first developed in the northern ______________________________________.
Gradually, it spread into the ________________________ valley to the east, where people
also adopted the Aryan language.
-By about 800 B.C., the people of northern India had learned to make tools and
weapons out of ___________________. With _____________________________, the people cleared
areas of the thick _____________________________ of the northeast. There they built farms,
villages, and even cities.
-Most of what we know of early Aryan life comes from religious books called
________________,which means “____________________________.”
-The ___________________________ tell us that the earliest Aryans were ____________________
and ____________________________ who lived intemporary villages.
-The Aryans organized their society around ______________________ classes.
-Aryan priests, called ________________________________, performed religious services and
composed hymnsand prayers.
-Ranked below them was a class of ____________________ and _______________________.
-Next came the __________________________ and _________________________.
-Gradually, a low-ranking fourth class was formed. It was made up of farm workers,
__________________________________, and ____________________________.
-By 500 B.C., there was a strict division of classes called the _____________________________.
-Under the caste system, people always had to ____________________ in the caste of their
________________________.
-Since people could not ____________________ their caste, they did the same work that
their parents did.
SECTION 2: HINDUISM IN ANCIENT INDIA
I. The Beginnings of Hinduism
-As Aryan culture _______________ with India’s existing cultures, new ideas and beliefs
becamepart of the Vedas. From this blending of _______________________________________,
came one of the world’soldest living religions, ______________________.
-As Hinduism developed over 3,500 years, it absorbed ___________________________ from
other ________________________________________.
-Hindus believe that since people are very different, they need many different ways
_______________________________________________.
-Hinduism is one of the world’s major religions, and a way of life for more than
____________________________________________________________people in India today.
-Hinduism has no one single ___________________, but Hindus have many great religious
________________________________.
-Hindus worship many ________________________ and __________________________. However,
they believe in one singlespiritual ______________________ called ________________________,
which lives in everything.
-Hindus believe there is more than __________________________________ to the truth.
-The gods and goddesses of Hinduism stand for different parts of ____________________.
-The most important Hindu gods are _________________, the Creator; _________________, the
Preserver; and ____________________, the Destroyer.
-Hindu gods take many different forms, called __________________. An _____________________
is therepresentation of a Hindu god or goddess in ______________________________________.
-Hindu teachings say that Brahma was born from a golden egg. He created earth and
everything on it. He is not as widely worshipped as _______________ and ________________.
-Hindus believe that _________________________ is a kindly god who is concerned with the
welfare ofhumans.
-Unlike Vishnu, ______________________ is not concerned with human matters. He is very
powerful andis responsible for both the _______________________ and _____________________
forces of the ______________________________________.
-Hindu gods have their own families. Many Hindus worship Shiva’s wife, the goddess
____________________who is both a destroyer and creator, both ____________ and
_________________.
II. The Teachings of Hinduism
-One of the Hindu religious texts is the Upanishads. Upanishad means “_______________
_______________________.” Much of the Upanishads is in the form of ________________________
by pupils and ______________________ by teachers.
-One important idea in the Upanishads is ________________________, or rebirth of the soul.
-Hindus believe that when a person dies, the __________________ is reborn in the body of
_________________________________________________ .
-Hindus believe that every living thing has a ____________________________.
-According to Hindu belief, the actions of a person in this life ___________________________
his or her _________________ inthe next. Good behavior is always ________________________.
Bad behavior is always _______________________.
-If a person leads a ____________________________________, he or she may be freed from this
cycle of ___________________ and ___________________. As a result, the person’s soul become
one with ____________________________.
-To become united with the one spirit and escape the cycle of death and rebirth, a
person must ___________________ his or her ________________________.
-Dharma is the _____________________________________________________________ of each person.
-In Hinduism, it is a man’s duty to _____________________________ in his family, and it is
theruler’s duty ___________________________________________.
-Another important idea of Hinduism is ____________________________ or nonviolence. To
Hindus, peopleand living things are part of _______________________________ and must be
treated with respect. For thatreason, many Hindus do not ________________________ and
________________________________________________________________________________.
III. The Practice of Hinduism
-Because Hinduism teaches that there is more than one path to truth, it allows its
followers ________________________________________________________________________________.
-Hindus believe yoga exercises help free the ___________________ from the cares of this
world. In thisworld, the ________________ may unite with _______________________________.
-In fact, the word yoga means “______________________.”
-For the Hindu, there are many yogas that may be used as a path to brahman.
_______________________________is one yoga. Another is the yoga of ________________________.
By learning the ________________________, a Hindu practices the yoga of __________________.
And by honoring apersonal god, a Hindu follows the yoga of __________________________.
-Hindus worship in public by praying and ___________________________________ in temples.
-They also show devotion privately at home often at a __________________________________.
SECTION 3: THE BEGINNINGS OF BUDDHISM
I. Introduction
-According to Buddhist tradition, a young Hindu prince named ________________________
__________________________________ lived a life of luxury in his palace. He was surrounded
by ___________________ and ____________________ andnever witnessed old age, sickness, or
death.
-At around age 30, he traveled outside the palace walls and witnessed sickness and
death. This ____________________ and ______________________ troubled him greatly. He
wondered why there wasso much pain and misery in the world. He gave up his
wealth, his family, and his lifeof ease in order to find the causes of ___________________
____________________________________.
-What he discovered after seven years of __________________________________, led to the
beginnings of a majorworld religion:_____________________________.
II. The Buddha and his Teachings
-As Gautama traveled in the 500s B.C., he sought answers to his questions about the
_________________________________________.
-At first, Gautama studied with ___________________________ philosophers, but their ideas
could not satisfyhim. He could not accept the _________________ belief that only priests
could pass on _____________________________________.
-Gautama decided to stop looking ____________________________ for the cause of suffering.
Instead, hetried to find understanding within his own _________________________________.
-Buddhist tradition says that that Gautama fasted and meditated under a
______________________.After forty-nine days, he believed that he finally understood
the _____________________________________________________________________________________.
-For the next forty-five years, Gautama traveled across India and shared his
knowledge. Over the years, he attracted many followers. His followers called him
the ________________________________________ or “____________________________________.”
-Buddhism teaches people to follow the ____________________________________ also called
the ____________________________________.By following this path, a person avoids a life of
_________________________________________________________________________________.
-The Buddha believed that selfish desires for ______________________, _____________________,
and ___________________ causehumans to suffer. By giving up selfish pleasures, a
person can become free from ____________________________________.
-To overcome selfish desires, Buddhists must learn to be ___________________, to behave
________________________,and to ____________________________________________________.
-They must tell the _____________________________ at all times.
-People should also avoid ___________________ and the _____________________________________.
-If people follow the Buddha’s path, their suffering will end. They will eventually
find __________________________, or lasting peace. By reaching _____________________________,
people will be released from the _________________________________________________________.
-Buddhism also taught that all people are created ______________________. Anyone, could
follow the path to ____________________, regardless of his or her __________________________.
-Like other religions, Buddhism has priests. Although monastery life is difficult,
people of any social class can work to become a Buddhist ________________________.
III. Buddhism Inside and Outside India
-After the Buddha’s death, his teachings _____________________ all over India. But the
Buddha’steachings did not ________________ in the land of his birth. Instead, Hinduism
graduallyregained favor among those in power.
-Meantime, Hinduism had developed in ways that made it more appealing to the
__________________________________. Over time, Buddhism _______________________ almost completely in India.
-During those years when Hinduism and Buddhism coexisted in India, a number of
basic ideas _____________________________________________________________________.
-Both Hindus and Buddhists accept the idea that it is wrong to _________________________
_____________________. Both value _________________________ and believe in ___________________
and the _________________________________________.
-Some Hindus came to honor the Buddha as a ________________________________ of the god
________________________. But because _________________________ do not embrace the sacred
_________________ of Hinduism, most Hindus donot worship the Buddha as an
_________________________.
-Buddhism was accepted by millions of people in ___________________________________.
-It took root first in ________________________, where the ideas of the Buddha became
mixed with those of other _________________________________. Millions of ___________________
became Buddhists, and Buddhists monasteries in ______________________________ became
centers of religious thought.
-From ___________________, Buddhism spread to __________________ and _________________.
-Today, Buddhism is part of the cultures of such countries as _________________________
_________________________, the ___________________________, ________________________, Tibet, and
____________________________________.
SECTION 4: THE MAURYA EMPIRE
I. The Rise of the Maurya Empire
-Around 321 B.C., a new ruler came to the throne of a kingdom in northeastern
India. Within thirty-five years, the tiny kingdom had grown into the giant
___________________________________________.
-______________________________________________________founded India’s Maurya Empire.
-Chandragupta had been born to a ___________________________________________ and sold
into slavery at a young age. But later when he became ______________________________,
Chandragupta enjoyed ______________________________ from all parts of ________________.
-India was made up of a number of _______________________________ before Chandragupta
came to power. ___________________and __________________________, Chandragupta’s armies
overthrew kingdoms along the _______________________________________. Turning west, the
armies advanced into the ___________________________________________. Inonly a few years,
Chandragupta’s power extended over most of ____________________________________ India.
-Chandragupta was guided by the basic belief that a ruler must have
____________________________________________.
-Chandragupta commanded a huge army. The army also had a herd of 9,000 war
_____________________________, which struck fear into the __________________________________.
-Under Chandragupta, the empire enjoyed great _____________________________________.
Most of its wealth came from ___________________________________.
-However, as his rule continued, Chandragupta became ________________________________
_________________________________. He feared being ________________________ and _____________
in a different room every night to ward off assassins.
-One story says that toward the end of his life, Chandragupta left the throne to his
______________________ and became a ___________________ in southern India. Fasting and
________________________, he _____________________ himselfto death.
-Although his rule was __________________________, Chandragupta used his wealth to
____________________________________his empire.
-New _________________________________________ brought water to farmers.
-_______________________ were cleared, and more __________________ was produced.
-Government officials promoted ____________________________ and ______________________.
-A vast network of roads made it easier for Maurya ___________________________ to
exchange _______________________________ with foreign _______________________.
-Chandragupta’s leadership brought ________________ and _________________ to his people.
II. Asoka’s Leadership
-Chandragupta passed the leadership of the Maurya Empire on to his ________________.
-After the son died in 273 B.C., Chandragupta’s grandson, _____________, gained power.
-Asoka, whose name means “_____________________________________,” further expanded
Chandragupta’sempire.
-By the end of his lengthy rule in ____________ B.C., Asoka had built the greatest
_________________________________________ Indiahad ever seen.
-For more than ________________years, Asoka rules an empire that included much of the
_______________________________________________.
-Early in his rule, Asoka led his army ______________ into the state of ____________________.
-In about 261 B.C., he won a bloody battle in which thousands of people were
injured or died. The great _______________________ at ________________________ was a
_________________________________in Asoka’s life. He was filled with ________________________
over the ______________________. He gave up ____________ and ___________________. He
freed his prisoners and restored their land. Later, he chose to convert to __________________________.
-Asoka _________________ and _____________________ the teachings of the ____________________.
-He did not allow the use of animals for _______________. He gave up _____________________.
-Asoka thought of his people as his _______________________ and was concerned about
their ____________________. He had _________________________ built and even had _____________
dug every mile beside the roads so that travelers and animals would not go
________________________.
-Asoka was also concerned with his people’s _______________ and ________________________
life. To carry the Buddha’s _________________________ throughout his vast empire, Asoka
issued writings of _________________________________. His advice and laws were carved on
______________________________________________________about forty feet high.
-Asoka practiced religious ________________ toward the _______________________.
-During his rule, many of the_____________________ teachings became part of Hinduism.
_________________________________grew under Asoka.
-At the time of Asoka’s _____________, India was __________________ as never before.
-After his _______________, however, the great Maurya Empire ____________________.
-Without his strong leadership, his territories became ________________________. Small
states ___________________________ with one another.
-Several centuries of ___________________ and _____________________ followed.
-It took almost _____________ years before India was ________________ again.
III. The Influence of India’s Physical Geography
-India has been influenced by its physical geography in many ways. First, the
__________________________ cut India off from the rest of the ancient world. However,
invaders entered India through the passes of the ________________________________
Mountains to _______________________ and _________________________ the land.
-Two great __________________________ systems cut through the ________________________ and
carried melting snow to the plains.
-The ______________________________and the ____________________________limited contact with
lands to the east and west.
-____________________________ dominate the climate and bring _________________ that create
fertile farmlands.
-The _____________________________________contained fertile soil for farming. Well-planned
cities flourished there.
IV. The Rule of Chandragupta and Asoka
-Both were strong rulers who brought _____________and _______________ to their people.
-In the early years of his rule, Asoka was _________________________like his grandfather.
-They were different because Asoka eventually embraced ____________________________
and became concerned about his people’s welfare. Chandragupta, on the other
hand, ruled ___________________________.