Ancient

India
Interactive
Notebook

1
 Table of Contents
Ancient India Vocabulary
Pages 3 – 5
Geography of Ancient India
Pages 6 – 7
Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro
Pages 8 – 9
Aryans
Pages 10 – 11

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 Ancient India Vocabulary

*cut out pocket &

put dots of glue
along the curved
edge
*cut out vocabulary
cards, write
definitions, and put
cards into pocket

3
migrate monsoon

citadel seal

nomads Sanskrit

caste Vedas
4
 Ancient India Vocabulary
Migrate – move from one area or country to
another

Monsoon – a wind in the Indian Ocean and

southern Asia that brings heavy rains in the
summer

Citadel – a fortress, typically on high ground,

protecting or dominating a city

Seal – a piece of wax, lead, or other material

with an individual design stamped into it

Nomads – people who have no permanent home

and travel from place to place

Sanskrit – an ancient Indo-Aryan language that

is the classical language of India and of
Hinduism

Caste – a division of society based upon

differences of wealth, rank, or occupation

Vedas – a collection of four Hindu sacred texts

composed in Sanskrit

5
 Geography of Ancient India

Geography of Ancient India

The
Landforms
Indus
of India
River

Agriculture Problems
*cut
in Ancient &
along
the solid India Solutions
lines &
fold on
the
dotted
lines
*put glue
under
the
middle
section
*write
notes 6
below
flaps
 Geography of Ancient India
The Indus River –
 Begins in the Himalayas & flows 1,800 miles to the
Arabian Sea
 Floods in the spring and deposits silt (twice as
much as the Nile)
 Made farming possible in a dry region
Landforms of India –
 Himalayas – world’s tallest mountains
 Hindu Kush
 Deccan Plateau
 Indus Plain
Agriculture in Ancient India –
 Wheat, barley, beans, & sesame
 Rice, banana, black pepper, mustard, cotton
 Domesticated cattle & water buffalo
 Used irrigation to water crops
Problems & Solutions –
 Over flooding sometimes swept entire villages
away.
 Wildlife such as tigers, jackals, & wild pigs
threatened lives.
 Parakeets & deer ate crops
 Built dirt walls
 Used slings and clay balls to scare birds away

7
 Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro

H M
A O D
R H A
A E- R
P N O
P J
A O

*cut along the solid

lines & down the
middle
*put glue under the
side tabs
*write notes below
the flaps
8
 Harrapa & Mohenjo-Daro
Limited Knowledge
 Less artifacts have been found
 Archaeologists have not been able to decipher
ancient Indian writing
City-planning
 Streets crisscrossed in a neat pattern.
 Citadel or fortress built on a hill in the western
part of the city
 Large grain warehouse to store surplus grain
 Thousands of same-sized bricks were used to
pave streets and build homes.
 Wells
 A sewer system & garbage collecting kept the
cities clean
Homes
 Flat roofs and windows
 Courtyards
 Separate rooms for sleeping, bathing, & cooking
Economy
 Craftworkers, farmers, & merchants
 Traded with Mesopotamia, Afghanistan, & Persia
 Seals were used to mark goods – writing &
pictures were carved on them

9
 Aryans

A Nomadic Life

Possible Reasons for

Aryans

their Migration

Aryan Culture
*cut
along
the
solid
lines
*put
glue
under
the side Social Classes
tab
labeled
“Aryans
”
*write
notes
below 10
the
flaps
 Aryans
A Nomadic Life –
 Aryans were Indo-Europeans who had been warriors and
hunters.
 Lived in small villages and herded cattle, goats, & sheep
Possible Reasons for their Migration –
 Drought, famine, or disease
 Invaders may have driven them away
Aryan Culture –
 Passed on poems, stories, and songs by word of mouth
 Eventually used Sanskrit – a language they believed was
spoken by their gods
 Vedas – their holiest books
Social Classes –

priests &
scholars

warriors &
rulers

farmers &
merchants

servants & workers


 Untouchables – below all classes
o looked down upon by society
o Could not let their shadow fall on a person of a
higher class
o Given the lowest jobs & had few to no rights

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