Jewel C.

Manalo
HISTCIV A54
Mr. Mark Marvin Lagos
Legacy The Origins of Civilization: India
March 6, 2014


In the assigned documentary, the subject of interest revolves around the origin of
civilization in Southern Asia, specifically the Indus Valley civilization that flourished
more than 4,000 years ago. The documentary focused on the religious aspect of the
aforementioned civilization, which evolved from different migration of people that
settled in the area.
Just like other ancient civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization flourished in the
vicinity of a major river in its geographyin this case, the Indus river (which would be
the origin of the name of the present day country India). The Indus River provided
irrigation and transportation for the people of the ancient Indus Valley civilization.
According to the documentary, the river also plays a big role in the people in the Indus
Valley civilization as it was considered sacred and a source of life. The culture of ritual
bathing still pervades up until today that is ultimately fulfilling to the part of the Hindus,
which can be traced to the rivers gifts to the ancient people of the Indus Valley
civilization. Relating it to the discussion in the class, the city of Mohenjo-Daro utilized
the river efficiently, setting the bar high for the agricultural and engineering advances
during its time. Furthermore, the grid design of the city allowed the efficiency of the
sewage and waste disposal of each structure, legitimizing the enduring contribution of
this ancient civilization in the world today. The civilizations geography also provided a
major advantage in terms of securing the city from invaders and nomadic tribes that
would attempt to conquer the city. However, it still does not proved effective with the
invasion of Aryans in the area, changing the course of history in the Indus Valley
Civilization forever. The Aryans are a nomadic tribe that invaded the Indus Valley
civilization, and introduced a new culture into the ancient people of the South Asian
civilization. They introduced the Vedic culture, which introduced new philosophical and
religious approach in the civilizationinstilling new gods, teachings and way of life into
the already existing culture of the Indus Valley civilization. With that, the religion in the
Indus Valley civilization became more complex and unimaginably large due to inclusion
of new ideas and religious assertion to the existing religion of the ancient people in the
civilization.
In the depth of the documentary lies a notion that compares the culmination of
Indian religion to the Western philosophy and ideology. Indian religion is internally
presentspirituality plays a major role in worship and ones growth in the community.
Non-violence is prevalently taught in the minds of the followerslooking at Gandhis
life, we can see that the concept of non-violence may be one of the major ideas of Indian
religion. Furthermore, the birth of Buddhism in India proved that religion evolve from the
societal structure and its culture. The caste system is oppressive to those in the bottom of
the hierarchy, thus the need for the people to create a religion that comforts those who are
in the bottom while make those in the top of the pyramid aware of their oppression and
erasing social apathy.
In conclusion, the many religion in India can be traced into the birth of
civilization in the Indus Valley. It evolved through time that saw the change in people
and their culture, through the society that created oppression and enduring contributions
that the modern world will be forever indebted for.