Ancient India: Indus Valley to the Maurya Empire
Aligned to C3.D2.His.4 — C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.
What this lesson teaches
India's first cities rose in the Indus Valley around 2600 BCE, famous for careful grid-planning, brick drains, and standard weights. After that civilization declined, many kingdoms arose until the Maurya Empire united most of the subcontinent, reaching its height under Ashoka the Great.
Worked example
The Indus city of Mohenjo-Daro had a covered sewer system and a huge public bath — advanced engineering for its time. Later, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, sickened by the bloody Kalinga war around 261 BCE, converted to Buddhism and carved edicts on stone pillars urging nonviolence and tolerance.
Practice questions
- Name two features that made Indus Valley cities well planned.
- Explain what changed Ashoka's approach to ruling after the Kalinga war.
- Compare how the Indus Valley cities and the Maurya Empire each kept order across a large area.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
La India Antigua: Del Valle del Indo al Imperio Maurya
Las primeras ciudades de la India surgieron en el valle del Indo hacia el año 2600 a.C., famosas por su cuidadosa planificación en cuadrícula, sus drenajes de ladrillo y sus pesas estándar. Tras el declive de esa civilización surgieron muchos reinos, hasta que el Imperio Maurya unió la mayor parte del subcontinente y alcanzó su apogeo con Ashoka el Grande.
Ejemplo: La ciudad del Indo, Mohenjo-Daro, tenía un sistema de alcantarillado cubierto y un enorme baño público: ingeniería avanzada para su época. Más tarde, el emperador maurya Ashoka, horrorizado por la sangrienta guerra de Kalinga hacia el año 261 a.C., se convirtió al budismo y grabó edictos en columnas de piedra que promovían la no violencia y la tolerancia.
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