Ancient India GRAPES
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Ancient India: Teacher Guide & Activities
By Liane Hicks
People have been living on the Indian subcontinent for 250,000 years! Currently there are over 1.3 billion people living in the Republic of India, making it the second most populous country in the world next to China. Learn more with Storyboard That!
G.R.A.P.E.S. and Social Studies
By Liane Hicks
Ancient Civilizations are typically taught focusing on the key areas of: Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economy and Social Structure using the acronym G.R.A.P.E.S. By utilizing this acronym, students can compartmentalize their findings and compare and contrast different civilizations.
Storyboard Description
This G.R.A.P.E.S. Chart is for Ancient India. It stands for: G: Geography; R: Religion; A: Achievements; P: Politics; E: Economy; S: Social Structure. An extension would be to do a separate chart for each category to expand on the information.
Storyboard Text
- ANCIENT INDIA
- GEOGRAPHY
- G
- RELIGION
- R
- ACHIEVEMENTS
- A
- POLITICS
- P
- ECONOMY
- E
- SOCIAL STRUCTURE
- S
- BRAHMAN(Priests, Religious Scholars)
- VAISHYA(Farmers, Merchants)
- KSHATRIYA(Rulers, Warriors, Wealthy landowners)
- India is in Asia and is called a subcontinent. It has large rivers including the Indus and Ganges. India is surrounded on three sides by seas: the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean. It also has several mountain ranges: the Himalayan, Hindu Kush, Western Ghats, and Eastern Ghats. The climate is warm-to-hot year round with two seasons: rainy and dry.
- India has polytheistic religions. Brahmanism led to Hinduism, which believes in reincarnation, karma, nirvana, and three main gods that form one supreme god. It is the world's oldest major religion and the largest religion in India today. Buddhism preaches the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path. It originated in India but spread throughout Asia and is still practiced today. Others include Islam, Jainism, and Sikhism.
- Ancient India made advances in art, architecture, religion, agriculture, math, astronomy, sanitation, and medicine. Sanskrit writing developed in 2000-600 BCE. Math included concepts of zero, decimals, and more exact calculations of pi. Physicians used medicinal plants and even performed surgeries. Yoga was also developed to improve health in mind, body, and soul.
- Rajahs ruled with a council and religious advisors. Power was handed down through families. The Mauryan Empire, 322-187 BCE, conquered much of India to Persia. King Ashoka spread Buddhism and communicated through edicts carved into stone throughout the empire. The Gupta Empire, 320-550 CE, created a time of prosperity and achievements nicknamed the "Golden Age."
- Agriculture developed as early as 3000 BCE with crops like wheat, barley, rice, and cotton in the Indus Valley. The ancient Indians may also have been the first people to raise chickens! Rivers and oceans lent themselves to travel and trade by boat. They imported silk, silver, tin, wool, and grain from China along the silk road and exported cotton, ivory, salt, pearls, beads, gold, and wood.
- Ancient Indian Hinduism imposed a strict hierarchy called a "caste system". The Vedas described four main social classes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras. The Dalit (formerly known as "untouchables") are outside the caste system and treated poorly. The caste system affected every part of life, as the caste one was born into could not be changed and they couldn’t marry outside of their caste.
- DALIT(Sanitation workers, considered outside the caste system and treated poorly)
- SHUDRA(Laborers, Artisans, Servants)
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