Forming part of the border between modern Pakistan and India, the Indus River, like the Nile in Egypt and the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, was home to early permanent settlement. In fact, ties between the ancient civilizations were well established as early as the third millennium BC when the Harappan culture had significant trade contact with Mesopotamia through the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf. And mud buildings found in the Western Indus Valley of modern Pakistan dating back to about 7000 BC are among the oldest in the world; part of a long and rich cultural heritage. But because the ancient script of early Indus Valley civilization has yet to be translated by modern linguists, relatively little is known about the long Indus Valley history. Until ancient pictographic script found on artifacts is interpreted, the written history that’s been so important in understanding the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt will remain a mystery in the Indus Valley.
Still, it’s apparent that early Indus Valley civilization was advanced for its time, as towns were typically laid out in rectilinear grid fashion with well-constructed brick buildings and extensive water and drainage works; as demonstrated in the important Harappan urban centers of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Not surprisingly, with established trade connections, the Indus Valley Civilization shared advanced technology with the Fertile Crescent such as agricultural plowing and metal working. And the old coastal town of Lothal is even believed to have been home to the first significant boat loading dock in the world, with a nearby storage warehouse contributing to operational efficiency.
While their social customs and governance is unknown without understandable written records, a lack of war references and not a great disparity of housing is considered by some to suggest tendencies of social equality. Regrettably, however advanced or fair Harappan culture may have been, the childish ambition for war and empire plaguing the world would not have left them in peace. And invasion may have ultimately brought Harappan civilization to an end. For whatever reason, still unknown, the urban centers and extensive agriculture seem to have been abandoned in the second millennium BC. There’s speculation that the Harappan culture was overran by nomadic Aryan peoples from the west or northwest, creating the Indo-Aryan culture, based on the apparent spread of the Aryan language that eventually encompassed the Indian subcontinent. The new language, or at least new writing, can be seen in the period from 1500 to 500 BC known as the Vedic Age in reference to the collections of poems and other writings known as the Vedas which constitute the oldest known Sanskrit literature and the oldest texts of Hinduism.
After an apparent disruption, static settlement eventually took root again, and by 1,000 BC there were at least sixteen different realms across the Indian fertile crescent that includes the plains of the Ganges river system along with that of the Indus. Many of those states are said to have been kingdoms ruled by hereditary kings, but others were ruled by elected leaders. By 500 BC the many kingdoms had been consolidated into four: the Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and Magadha. Regardless of the number of kingdoms, they depended primarily on agriculture for their prosperity, aided as it was in the fertile valleys by automated irrigation that included the advent of the water wheel.
In less practical but equally compelling matters, Hinduism, the popular Indian religion of the period, was highly complex and dominated by Brahmins (priests) performing secretive ceremonies. But people began to reject the priestly mysticism and by 800 BC there was a movement away from the confusing complexity of the different roles and intrigues of the many gods, and toward the philosophy of an enveloping essence of all that ever was, is, or will be, that transcends even the gods.
That shift away from personalities of the gods to contemplation of life and the interrelation of all form and function is believed to have influenced the development of the sixth century BC philosopher Siddhartha Gautama who announced he gained enlightenment in 537 BC and subsequently gave birth to Buddhism. Through the centuries Buddha has proven very popular, but one of his contemporaries was equally popular, if not more so than Buddha, during the period.
Vardhaman, was born a prince but gave up worldly possessions and desires, to refine and teach the concepts of Jain. Known as Mahavira, he preached far around India, with no material possessions, not even clothes. The naked ascetic attracted a lot more attention to the already established religion of Jainism, and was reported to have as many as 400,000 followers during his lifetime 2,500 years ago. From outward appearances, it seems a different sense of life pervaded India than those cultures to the west. Material wealth and conquest was not stressed as much in India, as reflected by the nature of the Dharmic religions. War and fighting still occurred, but a higher level of respect seemed to foster more peace than other places.
Early civilizations flourished in the river valleys of China and other areas of East Asia as well, with pottery dating to 8,000 BC reported in Korea. At one Chinese site called Jiahu, ancient people were fashioning flutes and cultivating rice as early as the 7th millennium BC along with the much more important grain of the time, millet. By the 3rd millennium BC bronze was being worked in the Xia Dynasty, one of the early long-lived dynasties that have been characteristic of China’s recorded history.
The Xia Dynasty was succeeded by the Shang along the Yellow River, who ruled from 1600 to 1046 BC. Eventually the Shang would fall to a neighboring ally called the Zhou that was even recognized by the Shang as the protector of the western frontier before the Zhou king Wen was imprisoned by the emperor of the Shang, Di Xin. Although he was later released, Wen demonstrated why Emperor Di Xin had reason to fear his ambition when he attacked the Sin clan, capturing some Shang territory before his death in 1050 BC. Wen’s son Wu completed the conquest of the Shang Dynasty in 1046 BC. Later, the Zhou extended their territory to include some of the Yangtze River Valley. The power of the Zhou Dynasty fluctuated through time, but managed to hang onto power until the third century BC during which time the arts flourished, and some of the most influential systems of Chinese philosophy were introduced.
One of those philosophers that would have a lasting impact on Chinese culture was Confucius, who introduced a system of ethics and proper behavior for the good of society which was taught through repetitive ritual. About the same time that Buddha and Mahavira were encouraging people to see beyond their desires in India, Confucius was teaching respect and civil order in China. Though Confucius lived in the sixth century BC, his system of applied thought wasn’t adopted by an Emperor until long after the decline of the Zhou Dynasty when it was promulgated by the Han Dynasty that began around the end of the third century BC.
Another important philosophy introduced in China under the Zhou Dynasty was the system of thought that stressed the three jewels of compassion, moderation, and humility known as Tao. Many people today are familiar with the Yin and Yang of Taoism, just as people around the world are familiar with so many first millenium BC doctrines that are very influential in shaping culture even today. From the scientific and artistic awakening in Greece, to the vision of singular unity of the universe in India, to the contemplative reverence of China, the first millenium BC was a time of prolific philosophic offering that ran contrary to much of the prevalent traditional fantasy. Gone were the demons and ritual of old; replaced by a sense of practicality and inquisitiveness.
But not everyone got the word. The power of fantasy and selfish desire may have been tested, but it was far from unseated as the principal human motive. From the eighth century BC the Zhou Dynasty fractured and lost power. Other kingdoms arose and battled for control, but failed to unite until Ying Zheng, king of the Qin, subdued the opposition to unite much of the homeland of the Han Chinese, signaling the beginning of two thousand years of nearly continuous imperial rule. Qin Shi Huangdi, as Ying Zheng was known empirically, had little use for philosophy when he could use force to prevent dissent and develop a robust bureaucracy to govern the vast territory and population under his control. Reverent philosophy was not strong enough to resist brute force, and Qin outlawed Confucianism and other teachings that might undermine his control. His crude tactics to synchronize everybody’s opinions with his own included mass book burnings and executions, including not only political critics, but even their families put to death to minimize reprisals.
Many of those not sentenced to death for failing to purge history and philosophy of things displeasing to the state were sent north to construct what’s considered the first Great Wall to keep out northern invaders. And the emperor used the temporary military service of all men aged seventeen to sixty to push the Xiongnu toward Mongolia. Besides demonstrating ruthless political ambition, Qin’s rule is credited with ambitious building projects; standardizing writing, measurement and currency; and unification of the legal code.
Still, with all the ambition of his government, one odd thing he’s remembered for is the great lengths to which he went to cheat death. He even ingested concoctions, or serums, containing mercury, the toxic metal that’s one of only two that are in liquid form at room temperature. And just like people today, what did he do when the treatments weren’t effective? He increased the dosage and hastened, instead of delayed, his own demise. Incensed by the misfortune, and feeling contempt toward the alchemists who advised him, he took revenge by ordering over 460 scholars buried alive. But still, despite the brutality of his regime, self-destructive poison therapy and large public projects, he’s probably best known for the large terracotta army built to guard his lavish tomb and serve him in the afterlife. In that way, he’s reminiscent of the ancient Egyptians that placed valuable items with the deceased for future use.
In another story of irony, when Qin Shi Huangdi died, his chief eunuch, Zao Gao, manipulated one of Qin Shi Huangdi’s sons into committing suicide by forging the late emperor’s will. Zao Gao also had a top military commander and his family executed so that he could set up another of the late emperor’s sons as his puppet ruler. The irony, of course, is that eunuchs were castrated so that they couldn’t have children, in an attempt to discourage any notion of seizing the power of the court to set up a new dynasty. Even so, the Qin Dynasty was very short-lived, only holding power for fourteen years after unifying the “Warring Nations” in 221 BC. The territories again broke apart and vied for power within a few years of Qin Shi Huangdi’s death. And it was Liu Bang, King of the Han, centered around Hanzhong, that emerged triumphant in the ensuing wars of consolidation, beginning the Han Dynasty in 202 BC. After the dust had settled, the Han Dynasty garnered a reputation of being less harsh than the Qin, with relaxed social controls, lower taxes, and a more cooperative government attitude fostering creative thought and expression for which the Han Dynasty is well known.
The book Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian detailed Chinese history from the Xia Dynasty of legend up to the contemporary Emperor Wu who reigned from 141 to 87 BC. That book and other sources detail how Wu both embraced the teachings of Confucius and expanded the Han Empire from Korea to Vietnam and west approximately as far as the Tibetan Plateau with alliances around the Tarim Basin. The country prospered under the Han. So much so that the Han dynasty ruled for more than 400 years. And the pace of innovation accelerated during the period, with the invention of paper credited to a court eunuch named Cai Lun (50 – 121 CE).
That invention was soon complemented by woodblock, or woodcut, printing; providing a breakthrough in mass production of written media. And stable society also allowed better study of the natural sciences. For example, Wang Chong of the first century CE is said to be the first to describe the cycle of water evaporation and precipitation. And the important scientific inventor Zang Heng, who lived from 78 to 139, accurately surmised that the light of the moon is reflected sunlight, in addition to his pioneering work in gear systems, invention of a water powered armillary sphere, and even the first seismometer to measure earthquake activity.
Innovation wasn’t limited to internal development either. The world got a little bit smaller when Emperor Wu sent delegations to kingdoms to the west and south, encouraging goodwill and trade. In the process, those missions helped establish a flourishing enterprise in trade over routes that collectively came to be called the Silk Road: the most famous trade route of all time. Along with other exchanges, Buddhism is said to have entered China through the Silk Road in the first century CE from Kush lands around modern Afghanistan.
But, trade caravans are vulnerable to robbers along thousands of miles of trails through various degrees of wilderness, and trouble can be imported or exported just as readily as peaceful initiative. Near the end of the first century the Han Dynasty sent a 70,000 man army as far as the Ukraine, reportedly in pursuit of Xiongnu fighters.
Such endeavors don’t come cheap and in order to support his army Emperor Wu also privatized vast tracts of territory by selling land. That was a much more fair arrangement than simply forcing citizens into an army and taking what supplies the army needed from the citizenry, but he may have mistakenly promoted the divide between rich and poor by taxing farmers at too high a rate, forcing many to sell to large landholders and then work for a portion of the proceeds. And over the course of many generations, popular discontent increased in response to favorable treatment for the wealthy. Just as in so many empires before and since, peasant uprisings, aided by fighting amongst greedy large landholders eventually caused the collapse of the Han Dynasty.