Chapter 3 Flashcards
(53 cards)
What was another name for the Indus Valley Civilization?
Harappan
How large were each of the five major cities in the top tier of Mature Harappan civilization?
250 acres each
How large were each of the several dozen towns middle tier of Mature Harappan
civilization?
15 to 150 acres each
How large were each of the fifteen thousand smaller agricultural and craft villages in the
bottom tier of Mature Harappan civilization?
2.5 acres each
In Mohenjo-Daro, residences with private wells and baths, along with toilets that drained by
earthenware pipes to sewage drains under the city streets, shows that particular attention was
paid to what feature?
Public sanitation
The Harappan Civilization has been described as proto-historic. What does proto-historic
mean?
There were records of symbols and signs that have not been deciphered and read.
The Harappan Civilization just “faded away”? All of the following are likely causes
EXCEPT which one?
Annihilation from invading armies.
The Vedic Age was named after a set of religious texts. What is the name of the first of these
four religious texts that consists of 1028 hymns and was not written down until after 500
BCE?
Rig-Veda
The Aryans spoke what language?
Sanskrit
The Aryans valued what type of relationship?
Family
The Vedic peoples referred to themselves as Aryans. What does Aryan mean?
“Noble” or “Respectable”
The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The most beloved of the Vedic gods was the god of war
and the storm. He was also the king of the gods. What was his name?
Indra
The Vedic religion was polytheistic. The god of fire and the household hearth summoned the
other gods to the sacrifice and acted as an intermediary between the gods and humans. What
was his name?
Agni
Where was the Indo-Aryan homeland from which the Aryans migrated to India?
The steppe lands of southern Russia.
Just north of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.
During the Later Vedic Age, what two new resources made farming more productive?
Iron tools and rice
As agriculture became more important and occupations became more diverse, what occurred
during the Late Vedic Age?
Village communities began to form.
Populations began to grow.
People began to engage in jobs other than farming.
During the Late Vedic Age, the political structure was both an oligarchy and a republic. How
was this possible?
The heads of the most powerful families governed with the assistance of an assembly.
During the later Vedic Age, the social structure became more hierarchical and rigid. A
system for classifying people based on broad occupational categories developed. What is the
name given to this classification system?
Varna system
What social group was at the top of the Varna system?
Brahmins (priests)
What social group immediately followed the Brahmins in the Varna system?
Kshatriya (chiefs and warriors)
What social group immediately followed the Kshatriya in the Varna system?
Vaishya (commoners)
What social group was at the bottom of the Varna system?
Shudras (servants)
What is the earlies layer of Hinduism called?
Brahmanism
As Brahmanism evolved and became more elaborate, three new Vedas and two new sets of
texts were added to the literature. Which text was primarily handbooks of rituals for the
Brahmins to follow?
Brahmanas
