Culture Brief: India

Jane doe

Professor Sayles

30 January, 2018

Culture Brief: India

Geography

India is located on the southern subcontinent of Asia. Geographically, India is divided into four divisions known as The Great Mountain Walls The Great Indo-Gangetic Plain , The Great Deccan Plateau and the Coastal Ghats. In the Great Mountain walls, the range of Himalayas can be divided into two groups: the western and eastern offshoots. The western offshoots consist of Hindu Kush, the Safod Koh, the Sulaiman Koh, and the Kirthar Ranges. Each of these mountains are considerably low compared to the rest of the himalayas. The area is dry and known for its scanty rainfall. The Eastern offshoots include the Khasi, the Lushal, the Jaintia and the Naga Hills. These areas all extend up to the Bay of Bengal. The area is covered with a beautiful forest with heavy rainfall.The Himalayas is the source of many useful and holy rivers. The snow of the mountain and heavy rainfall are responsible to ensure flow of sufficient water throughout the year through these rivers. The rivers irrigate plains, make land fertile that ultimately add to the richness in agriculture and abundant food supply.These rivers played an important part in the evolution of Indian culture. The Earliest civilization of India, Mohanjodara and Harappa, flourished in the valley of the river Indus. The rivers of the Punjab and the Ganges determined also the nature and the course of the Aryan settlements in India.

History

Agriculture plays a huge role in the History of India. Between 2800 BC and 1800 BC the Indus valley civilization had an advanced and successful economic system due to the flourishing agricultural system. The indus valley civilization were some of the first people to create and utilize Irrigation. Irrigation was developed in India in 4500 BC. As a result of this Innovation, the growth in population of the Indus Valley civilization grew tremendously. This eventually resulted in more planned settlements using drainage and sewers. Later on in history, the Neolithic revolution of India came into effect. By 8000-4000 BC, people learned the value of planting crops in rows, threshing, and storing grains in grainery. Things like rearing cattle, sheep and goats, as well as the wheat cultivation became visible by 8000-6000 BC.

Aside from agriculture, Hinduism was a large factor in history that played a big part in the evolution of India. Hinduism is known as the oldest religion in the world and was developed in 500 BC.the people of Ancient India created this religion based on the ideas of karma and reincarnation. One of the main characteristic of Hinduism is the Caste system. A person's Caste is determined by their job, marriage, and friends; they are ranked in a hierarchy order. India’s Caste system consist of four main classes: the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and shudra. Brahmin being the educated and the knowledgable(the highest class) and Shudra being the unskilled laborers (the lowest class). Today, the government is reduce the caste systems effect on society.

In modern Indian history, closer to the 16th and 17th century , India was visited by a large number of frenchman, dutchman, italians, and englishman for many different reasons.