Changes

== India ==

== India ==

Little information survives concerning the history of ancient India. There was a massive immigration into the country around 3000 B.C. by people who called themselves "nobles" or "Aryans", a term we explained in the prior lecture.  These immigrants spoke an Indo-European language which formed the basis for Sanskrit, which is the standard ancient language of India just as Latin is the standard ancient language of Europe.  Yet while Latin is a dead language today, Sanskrit is still an official language in India.  The scriptures of Hinduism are written in Sanskrit.  The most sacred of these scripts form the [[Vedas]] and [[Upanishads]], which are considered to have the most authority, importance, and antiquity.

Little information survives concerning the history of ancient India. By 3500 B.C. there were scattered farming communities in the alluvial basin of what is now the Indus River; and during the next 1000 years (what is called the Early Indus Period) walled towns appeared.

[[Image:India rel01.jpg|400px|right]]

[[Image:India rel01.jpg|400px|right]]

By 2000 B.C., the world's population was 27 million, 22% of which lived in India.  Interestingly, India still contains a high percentage of the world's population, but not quite as high as back then: today India has 16% or so of the world's population, or about 1 billion people.  Three of the world's ten most populated cities today are in India: Bombay (recently renamed as Mumbai), Calcutta and Delhi.

By 2000 B.C., the world's population was 27 million, 22% of which lived in India.  Interestingly, India still contains a high percentage of the world's population, but not quite as high as back then: today India has 16% or so of the world's population, or about 1 billion people.  Three of the world's ten most populated cities today are in India: Bombay (recently renamed as Mumbai), Calcutta and Delhi.

With prosperity in the Indus River Valley came more migration. Around 1500 B.C., Aryans nomads invaded through the Bolan and Khyber passes in the Hindu Kush mountain range.  The Aryans spoke Sanskrit, an Indo-European language.  They conquered the Dravidians and forced them southward into what is now India.  Religious (Hindu, the adjective for Hinduism) literature describes these struggles in the "Rig Veda" and two long poems known as the "Mahabharata" and the "Ramayana".  By 900 B.C. iron smelting was discovered and became useful in making weapons and tools to clear fields and the jungle for agriculture.  The Aryans were very successful in cultivating the land along the banks of the Ganges River Valley, aided by forceful winds known as monsoons that brought rain from the Indian Ocean.  Rice was the most popular crop, and remains the world's leading crop even today.

The death collapse of the Indus Civilization came about from a mixture of geographic and human forces. Sometime around, or after 2000B.C. the course of the Indus River shifted away from various centres of civilization. This was compounded in the years up to 1500 B.C., by the hostile incursions of Indo-European (Aryan) nomads invading through the Bolan and Khyber passes in the Hindu Kush mountain range.  The Aryans spoke Sanskrit, an Indo-European language.  They conquered the Dravidians and forced them southward into what is now India.  Religious (Hindu, the adjective for Hinduism) literature describes these struggles in the "Rig Veda" and two long poems known as the "Mahabharata" and the "Ramayana".  By 900 B.C. iron smelting was discovered and became useful in making weapons and tools to clear fields and the jungle for agriculture.  The Aryans were very successful in cultivating the land along the banks of the Ganges River Valley, aided by forceful winds known as monsoons that brought rain from the Indian Ocean.  Rice was the most popular crop, and remains the world's leading crop even today.

By 975 B.C., King Hiram of Phoenicia encouraged trade between India and King Solomon of Israel.  In 950 B.C., Jewish people arrived in India in King Solomon's merchant fleet, and later established colonies there.  Around the same time, perhaps due to increased trade, Sanskrit began to decline as the spoken language of India.  Priestly Sanskrit was later refined between 750 and 250 B.C.   

By 975 B.C., King Hiram of Phoenicia encouraged trade between India and King Solomon of Israel.  In 950 B.C., Jewish people arrived in India in King Solomon's merchant fleet, and later established colonies there.  Around the same time, perhaps due to increased trade, Sanskrit began to decline as the spoken language of India.  Priestly Sanskrit was later refined between 750 and 250 B.C.