| A | B |
|---|
| subcontinent | a large land mass similar to, but smaller than, a continent |
| Hindu Kush | mountain range north of India |
| Himalayas | mountain range in north India |
| monsoons | a seasonal wind |
| Harappan Civilization | an ancient culture that emerged in the Indus River Valley |
| planned city | city built buy a design |
| Aryan | a group of people that moved into India about 1500 B.C. |
| caste | a social class based on jobs |
| Sanskrit | the language spoken by the Aryans |
| Brahmanism | early Aryan religion |
| vedas | Sanskrit sacred texts |
| Hinduism | the major religion of India |
| Bhagavad Gita | part of teh Mahabharata; an epic poem |
| reincarnation | the belief that each person has many lives |
| karma | the belief that the deeds of a person affect what he or she will be in the be next life |
| ahimsa | nonviolence |
| Buddhism | a religion that is based on the teachings of the Buddha |
| Siddhartha Guatama | the man who became known as the Buddha |
| nirvana | the Buddhist concept of a state of being where suffering ends |
| dharma | the teachings if the Buddha |
| Maurya Empire | ruled from 324 to 183 B.C. under Asoka |
| Asoka | the greatest Maurya king |
| Gupta Empire | A.D. 320 to 467 when Hinduism reached new heights |
| pi | number used to calculate teh the length of a circle's boundary |
| yoga | as old as the Bhagavad Gita and as new as classes taught in health clubs |
| Mohandas Gandhi | a leader who used nonviolence to oppose the British rule of India |
| Hindu-Arabic numerals | the numerals 1-9, which originated in India |
| decem | ten |
