Geography of the Indian subcontinent influenced the development of civilization there greatly, because of how diverse India is. The geography of the Indian subcontinent had a big affect not only with the development of civilization, but on economics, religion and social order as well. The Indian subcontinent is diverse in many ways, such as the array of languages, as well as the reputation of being a “cradle of religion” which created two of the world’s major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism(p. 38). For example, in civilizations such as the Harappan civilization the political and social structures were affected by the geography of where their civilization resided. “In several respects, Harappan civilization closely resembled the cultures of Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley”(p. 39). The resemblance resembled closely, because of how the civilizations probably started out being farming villages and slowly grew into a large city. The city that was considered the center of power was the city of Harappa. “The city of Harappa was surrounded by a brick wall over 40 feet thick at its base and more than 3.5 miles in circumference”(p. 39). With this city of power archaeological evidence suggest that the social structures were a loose confederation made up of more than 1500 cities connected by commerce and trade alliances and ruled by the wealthy merchants and landlords. The economy of this era was primary based on agriculture such as, wheat barley, rice, and peas being the primary
. One factor that creates cultural difference is India’s nine religions. Ancient India consisted of three religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. All three ancient religions are part of the nine religions today. Statistics have shown that 827 million (80.5%) have returned themselves as followers of Hindu religion, 138 million (13.4%) as Muslims or the followers of Islam, 24 million (2.3%) as Christians, 19 million (1.9%) as Sikh, 8 million (0.80%) as Buddhists and 4 million (0.4%) are Jain (Religion). I don’t
Geography and climate influenced many Mesopotamian societies. The civilizations of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon show how geography created a violent, warlike culture that valued power and strength. But Israel shared the same geographical features, and its culture that did not to value power, strength or violence. While influential, geography does not determine everything: it is not destiny.
Religion was a very big part in many Indians life. Almost every part of Indian life is related to religion, the land is sacred, and religion plays a part in what can be done with it,
In Greece, the geography affected early settlements in positive ways. An example is Mount Olympus, since it was so high up and covered by clouds, Greeks believed Gods lived there. Document 2 states, ”According to the ancient Greeks, their gods controlled every part of daily life--the weather, crops, money, love, and business, phases of the moon, earthquakes, and even whether a loaf of bread burned in the oven.” This proves that ancient Greeks not being able to see the top of the mountain, made them believe the gods were up there, and it gave them an explanation to everything. Another one is, how hot and dry climates were great for growing olive trees. In document 4 it states, ”Olive oil was as good as money to the ancient Greeks, since they could trade it for other land not available
Geography had a tremendous impact on early civilizations, the topography of the different regions played a key role in their development and formation. This statement by Fernand Braudel “ Geography is the stage in which humanity’s endless dramas are played out” (Getz et al., Exchanges, 26) is a very moving and telling description. The terrain, whether it is natural or man made is not the end all, be all. It does however affect the stage a great deal. Mountainous areas act as blockades, which keep the societies independent, plains open up the area, and rivers enable everything to move around freely. 2
As you can see the Aksum empire was the best and biggest trading empire because of where they were and the geography around them. Ancient Egypt was a smart empire and learn the way the geography around them worked and what it did, so they can plan around it and be successful. Lastly, Ancient Greece was affected and they weren’t able to move and be able to life with a very successful empire where they were. This shows that geography was a huge part of the way the people in the empires lived and if they were successful or
During the years of 3500 BC to 2500 BC, the geography of a land often impacted a civilizations development in great measures. Depending on the resources available or the detriments present due to certain topographical characteristics like rivers or deserts, a civilization could flourish or collapse. By studying the geographic features of growing societies like the Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris Rivers as well as the Mediterranean Sea of Egypt and Mesopotamia, the link between developing cultures and geography will be examined through sources, including Egypt: Ancient Culture, Modern Land edited by Jaromir Malek and Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek. To determine the extent
The geography of the region shaped the lives of the people in the Ancient World by allowing permanent settlements to flourish, by allowing technology to adapt, and by isolating them from other cultures. The geography of a civilization can range from mountains, deserts, oceans, and forests. This can allow for many advancements and setbacks.
civilization in the region at the time. They had developed political, religious, and social systems
Geography affected where ancient civilizations settled in several ways. The three ways that geography affected where ancient civilizations are water sources, fertile soil, and natural barriers. If a community did not have these essential resources, they would perish. Human civilizations started because of these three key items. Fertile soil was necessary if a community did not want to starve.
There is a saying that “Geography is destiny”. For early civilizations, geography was an obstacle when it came to survival. As people settled in permanent locations, they relied on the local geographical features to sustain themselves. As people relied on geography, it helped shape the development of early civilizations, such as to provide many natural barriers, trade routes, and fertile land. China, for example, was able to develop and prosper due to its natural barriers.
Spain and the Balkans came under a long period of Muslim rule as did Iran and the middle eastern countries, which were completely subsumed. Indian culture showed remarkable vitality and survived. Perhaps this was a positive aspect of the rigid codification of laws and the caste system. China and Japan were geographically isolated and never faced large scale invasion from Islam, which anyway spread in Indonesia , the Philippines and malaysis, with the waning of Indian power. East Asia was in fact an important sphere of Indian cultural export, with the Srivijaya Empire, the Majpahit Empire and so on ruling for long. Here as Indian power fragmented and declined. Islam and then European commercialist colonialism stepped in. And yet much of Indian culture survived, in Indochina and Indonesia among other places, and Bali is still Hindu. Indeed India did expand as a culture, via Buddhism all over East Asia and Ceylon, where Indian sages spread the word of Buddha. Asoka was a self conscious cultural proselytizer. The terms like Bhumiputra as well as names show the persistence of india cultural forms even in the 20th
Geography influences culture in many ways. A civilizations geography determines what kind of god(s) they believe in as well as influences from other cultures. These features provide a stepping stone for cultures that are solely based on geography.
Early civilizations started to form beginning from the fourth millennium B.C.E. such as ancient Egypt and early China under the Shang and Zhou. Geography had significant influences on the development of economy, religion, society, and culture in these two civilizations. While both ancient Egypt and early China were isolated by natural borders and thrived on their great river systems, Egypt and China had access different natural resources which affected their culture and religion.
Many studies have demonstrated the idea that institutions are the main factor of economic development because empirical evidence points to strong institutions being able to determine large growth of GDP per capita. Although the characteristics of strong institutions can be described as the potential fundamental cause of economic growth, the effects of geography and materials available to different certain regions have a huge hand in properly developing a society economically and allowing for further growth. The resources of the countries heavily depend on the raw materials available to each region and the kinds of animals they are able to domesticate. This is where the argument circulates around in which geography is a large determinant of whether a civilization or society can prosper in a certain area or not.