Cooper

=__India __=

__India Geography __
India is located in South Asia.Its weather is mostly controlled by the Himalayas in the north of India. There is a range of climate in India so people had to adapt and change to the climate. The first settlers in India settled in the Indus Valley along the Indus River where the land was fertile.

__The Harappans __
The Harappans were a wealthy nation of farmers and traders that thrived Indus Valley during The Harappan Period(2500 B.C - 1700 B.C.). They built highly advanced cities with clay walls and sewage systems. Most houses were one or two stories made with dry clay bricks. They valued bathing and cleaniness and most house had a bathroom. Every house had access to well water. They built sail boats to trade with Persia and Mesopotamia. They also traded over land by Elephants.

__The Aryans __
 The Aryans are a nomad tribe of warriors.They lived in ganas,which meant "collections". Ruled by a warrior chief, each gana had its own territory. The Nobles lived in larger houses. Each house had a central hearth called a yagna, used for cooking. Each house had a fire tender to tend the fire, since they believed that fire was a gift from the gods. Eventually the ancient Aryans established hereditary kingship and a royal line. "In this system of governance, Aryan kings had a sacred responsibility to protect the people, establish and uphold the law, encourage human development and lead the progress of society to a better life."

 **__Writing and Language__**  The Harappans were one of the first civilizations to have a written language. There are 300 symbols in the language and usually include animal and pictures.This type of writing system is logo phonetic, which means it is made up of symbols. Although seals and samples of Indus writing have been studied by the scholastic world for close to 70 years, little progress has been made on deciphering this complex script.   media type="youtube" key="csClwPSzoOI" height="315" width="560" align="right"

**__Inventions of the Harappans__**
The Harappans were a highly advanced civilization with many inventions. They developed a uniform system of weight and measures. Their brick had a prefect ratio of 4:2:1. They had tools for measuring the horizon and the tides. They leaned to work copper, lead, bronze, and tin to make weapons and tools. Also they became skilled wood workers. They developed a technique for testing gold, and they had knowledge of dentistry. They were skilled architects who build massive city with advanced plumbing and public trash container.

 __**Famous People **__  Indira Priyadarshin Gandhi -  Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was the third Prime Minister of India and a central figure of the Indian National Congress party.She was born november,19, 1917 in Allahabad and was assassinated October 31,1984, New Delhi by her own bodyguard.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Jawaharalal Hehru - <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India and a central figure in Indian politics for much of the 20th century. He was Born on November 14, 1889 in Allahabad and died May 27, 1964 in New Delhi.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> __<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Kali** __ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Kali (The Black One) is a ferocious form of the Divine Mother or Parvati, who sent her Shakati to free the gods from domination by the forces of Shumbh and Nisumbh, who had concerned the 3 worlds of Earth, plus the astral plane and the celestial plane. Kali is the goddess of time and death. She is the destructive form of Lord Shiva and the Divine Mother. She destroys ignorance, keeps order in the world, and blesses people who want to understand God. Kali's blackness symbolizes her all-embracing, nature, because black is the color in which all other colors merge; black absorbs and dissolves them. Kali's nudity has a similar meaning. In many instances she is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In her absolute, primordial nakedness she is free from all covering of illusion. She is Nature (Prakriti in Sanskrit), stripped of clothes. It symbolizes that she is completely beyond name and form. Kali is the bright fire of truth, which can not be hidden by the clothes of ignorance. Such truth simply burns them away.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> She is full-breasted; her motherhood is a ceaseless creation. Her disheveled hair forms a curtain of illusion, the fabric of space - time which organizes matter out of the chaos. Her garland of fifty human heads, each representing one of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes the repository of knowledge and wisdom. She wears a girdle of severed human hands- hands that are the principal instruments of work and so signify the action of karma. Thus the binding effects of this karma have been overcome, severed, as it were, by devotion to Kali. She has blessed the devotee by cutting him free from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth are symbolic of purity, and her lolling tongue which is red dramatically shows the fact that she consumes all things and denotes the act of tasting or enjoying what society regards as forbidden, i.e. her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's "flavors".In her upper left hand she wields a bloody sword and in her lower left hand she holds the severed head of a demon. With her upper right hand she makes the gesture of fearlessness, while the lower right hand confers benefits. Draped around her is a chain of severed human heads and she wears a belt made of dismembered arms. As the Divine Mother she is often represented dancing or in sexual union with Shiva. As Bhavatarini, the redeemer of the universe, she stands upon the supine form of her spouse.

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__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">India Today __
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Government: Representative Democracy <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Current Leader: Pranab Kumar Mukherjee <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Population: 1,241,491,960 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Official Langauge: Hindi,English <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Flag: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Fun Facts <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> There is 17 major languages and 844 dialects spoken in India.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Before 1986, India was the only place in the world where Diamonds could be found.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> More than a million Indians are millionaires, yet most Indians live on less than two dollars a day. An estimated 35% of India’s population lives below the poverty line.

Voting system-
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Current Officials-

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> President= <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pranab Kumar Mukherjee <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Vice President= Mohammad Hamid ANSAR <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Prime minster=Manmohan SINGH

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**__Take Home Quiz__** =

__Mesopotamia__
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Mesopotamia is an ancient civilization located in in present day Iraq. At that time two main river ran through Mesopotamia, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The land in between the two river was know as the Fertile Crescent. It was called this because of the arable land in between the rivers. Fours main groups lived in Mesopotamia all at different times,these include, Sumer (3000 B.C.), the Babylonian Empire (1600 B.C.), Phoenicia (1200 B.C.), and Canaan (1000 B.C.). The Sumerians were the first civilization in Mesopotamia about 5000 years ago. They invented a system of writing called cuneiform. They also learned how irrigate their crops and build walled cities with a temple in the middle called a ziggurat. <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">By 2000 B.C. mud-brick ziggurats were being constructed in many Sumerian cities. Later, ziggurats were constructed in Babylonian and Assyrian cities. Then about 3000 years ago the Babylonians conquered the Sumerians. They were led by king Hammurabi, a powerful warrior. Hammurabi also developed a set of laws called Hammurabi's ode. These were a set of laws that help rule the kingdom.

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__Ancient Egypt__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">Egypt is located in northern Africa next to Libya. The Nile River, the longest river in the world at 4,000 miles long, runs straight through Egypt. The rest is almost complete desert. This made it possible for the Egyptians to live here. People started to move to the Nile about 10,000 years ago. Most of the land close to the river was very fertile. Every year the Nile would flood all the land around it. Then the farmers would plant crops. The Egyptians also found that they could trap the flood water and save it. Soon people began to live in small villages. Then the villages started to become larger. About 5,000 years ago, a man named Menes started to rule over a few villages. Then he brought all the villages together in Egypt under his rule. Menes became the first .Pharaoh of Egypt. Pharaoh means "great palace" or "great house". Then he built the new capital city called Memphis and a great palace for himself. Thee Pharaoh also made laws for all of Egypt. Both man and woman had rights in Egypt. The people of Egypt were polytheistic. One of the main gods was Ra, the sun god. every day he would make a journey and the sun would follow. At night he would be swallowed be the sky goddess Nut. The Egyptians thought life was like the sun. A person is born when the sun rises, and a person dies when it sets. They also believed in a after life.About 3,000 years ago Egypt became weak. There was not enough flood and the crops didn't grow as well. Then armies started to invade Egypt. Egypt fell and was continually conquered by different places.

__The Ancient Kingdoms of Kush and Axum__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">2000 years ago an army and an African king named Piannkhi traveled down the Nile and invaded Egypt. These people were from Kush. Kush was located south of Egypt and had taken a lot from them. They learned hieroglyphics and built pyramids, but the pyramids were a little different. Graves were discovered beside the pyramids in tomb chambers which were often found to have held more than one body, unlike the Egyptian pyramid.

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> The capital of Kush was Meroe. Meroe is known for making iron tools. In the streets of Meroe elephants walked around. The people of Kush had tamed elephants and they used them to carry gold and iron tools to places to trade. The people of Kush traded the gold and iron tools for jewelry and rare glass. Next to Kush was a land called Ethiopia. Axum was the most important city in Ethiopia. 1700 years ago the people of Axum invaded Meroe and destroyed it. The king of Axum had a story of the battle carved onto a stone column. They burned the houses and took the food, iron, and gold. Axum became a major trading city. People from Asia soon came to trade with the people of Axum.

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__The Middle Ages__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">When the Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., a called the Middle ages began. This period was between the Roman and Greek Empire, and the Modern Nations. During this time many leaders fought for power and land. There was no trade. Warriors destroyed crops and robbed homes and farms.

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> Then a system developed to rule over Europe. It was called Feudalism. In Feudalism, King and nobles agreed to protect to protect the lower and common people. This is how it works (see picture to right) :

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> Most people lived on a manor. a manor had the noble's house, a small village, a church, and fields and woods. Since trade has stopped everything was made in the manor. The noble's house was a fort or castle with thick stone walls to protect him. Sometimes skilled workers and knights lived there aside from his family. The common people or serfs lived in the village. The serfs had to do many jobs for the noble family and pay taxes and rent. In return the noble gave the serfs protection and a place to live. This made life extremely hard form the serfs.

__<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">The Renaissance and Industrial Revolution __
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">After the Crusades there was a time period called the Renaissance. Renaissance is a French word that means "rebirth". During this time people looked back at Rome and Greece. They developed new ideas about art, science, and literature. Three important artists were Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Petarch. People started to move into cities and the cities turned into nations. Another important person was Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a German Monk, Catholic priest, and a professor in theology. This showed how much he was very religious and this whould have helped him in his protests. He protested against the Roman Catholic Church for letting people pay the church to forgive them for a sin. Luther was kicked out of his church, but more people started to hear him. Luther and his followers became known as Protestants. ​

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<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">__The Age of Exploration__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">In the 1300s and 1400s, Europeans heard stories about the people who lived on a huge continent called Africa. European explorer brought news of Africa's resources. Soon Europeans began coming to africa with plans to become rich. The Europeans used Africa to trade with Asia. Europe sent ships filled with cloth and tools along the Africa coast. They returned with gold and ivory. Beginning in the late 1400's, nations from Europe claimed land in the Americas. They build farms called plantations. Many thing grew on the plantation such as sugar cane, cotton, fruits, and coffee. Then the Europeans started to go to Africa to get slaves. The Europeans hired slave catchers to catch Africans in their villages. Then they would be shipped over to the Americas to be sold. The trip over was terrible. Many people died on the way over. One in six Africans died on the trip over. By the late 1700s, about 70,000 people were taken from Africa. This is where racism first started.

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<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">__The Middle East__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">The Middle East is located between three continents; Europe, Asia, and Africa. The largest country there is Saudi Arabia. The ancient Arabs who lived there were nomads. They all over the place to find water and food. Some Arabs are still nomads today. Although, most live in cites and towns.

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> The common religion in the Middle East is Islam. The people who follow Islam are called Muslims. Islam is monotheistic, meaning they believe in one god. The founder of Islam is a man named Muhammad. He lived in Mecca in the early 600s. One day, while Muhammad was praying in a mountain cave, he heard a voice tell him that there was only one god, Allah. The voice said he was to be the messenger of Allah. Then around 610, Muhammad began to teach people about Allah. His religion was to be called Islam, which means "surrender to God". Muhammad died in 632.

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> The holy book Muslims follow is the Koran. The Korean says you must follow the five pillars of Islam, Here they are. One, The duty of faith in Islam is very important. This means that all Muslims must they believe in one god. Two, They duty of prayer means that Muslims must pray five times a day. This is called Salah. During pray Muslims always turn toward Mecca because that is where Muhammad stated to teach. Three Muslims must give money, or alms, to the poor. The fourth and fifth are fasting and pilgrimage. That means during the ninth month on the Muslim calendar, with is called Ramadan, Muslims are not supposed to eat or drink between dawn and sunset. they also must travel to Mecca once in their lives. <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">

__<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">Oceania __
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">Oceania is south of Asia in the Pacific Ocean, it is made of of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. This includes Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. Australia means "southern land". Australia is also very dry, one third of Australia is desert. The deserts are called the outback. The first people to live in Australia were the aborigines. They came from islands in the South Pacific. The Aborigines were nomads and moved all around Australia to hunt. One of their famous hunting tools was the boomerang, which was actually did not originate in Australia. People have found that Tutankhamen had a older and larger collection of boomerangs. But the boomerang has been found all over the world at different time periods. Strange.

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<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> __The Western Hemisphere__ <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> In 1507, the name Americas was first used on a map of South America. The mapmaker named after a Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci. Christopher Columbus reached america by 1498. by that time other explorer had stated to cross the Atlantic too. In 1496 John Cabot sail to America. Cabot sailed with 18 men on a small ship called Matthew. Cabot landed in Canada on June 24, 1497. he did not find gold, like he hoped, but he did find hige river with fish and forests of pine trees. Its is good that Cabot didn't sail to Canada in the fall. Other wise its would have been very cold. In the winter the West coast of Canada is the warmest part. The largest part of Canada is the Canadian Shield. This is the flat region near Hudson Bay. Gold and lumber can be found here. There are many beautiful thing in the Western hemisphere here are some.

<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> 1. Grand Canyon <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> 2. Harbor at Rio de Janeiro <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> 3. Chichen Itza <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> 4. Christ Redeemer <span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;"> 5. Machu Picchu

__Canada__
<span style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">The first people to live in Canada were the Vikings. The Vikings came over in small sail boats, and probably landed in Newfoundland in about A.D. 1000. They did settled there, but no for long. 500 years passed before another person found Canada. In 1497 an explorer named John Cabot claimed Newfoundland for England. He was followed by several French explorers. A Frenchman named Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence in 1534. The most famous explorer of Canada is Henry Hudson, who sailed for England. Between 1754 and 1763, the the British and french fought the French and Indian war. Great Britain won this war and gained control of Canada. Today Canada is still under British rule, with a population of 34 Million people of all different culture.