Vedic India · c. 1500-500 BC

The Vedic age and the sixteen great kingdoms

Hymns memorized word for word for centuries, iron axes clearing the forests of the Ganges plain, and sixteen rival states by 500 BC. Students explore the Vedic age of India and find out how one of the sixteen, Magadha, began to outgrow the others.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 1000 BC to 500 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Hymns memorized word for word for centuries, iron axes clearing the forests of the Ganges plain, and sixteen rival states by 500 BC. Students explore the Vedic age of India and find out how one of the sixteen, Magadha, began to outgrow the others.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the Vedic age: who lived in the Ganges plain, what they believed and how society was organized.
  • Name and locate at least four of the sixteen great kingdoms on the map.
  • Explain why Magadha became the strongest of the sixteen.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

1000 BC

Into the Ganges plain

Open the map in 1000 BC and find the area labelled Vedic Aryans in northern India. Which river plains does it cover? Who lives to the south?

Open this view on the map
b

500 BC

Sixteen kingdoms

Jump to 500 BC. Find Kuru, Pancala, Kosala, Kasi and Magadha on the map. In which direction does this chain of kingdoms run along the Ganges?

Open this view on the map
c

500 BC

Persia at the border

Zoom out to the northwest. Around 518 BC the Persian king Darius took the Indus lands. Find where the Achaemenid Empire touches the Indian kingdoms.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Vedas were memorized and recited for many centuries before anyone wrote them down. How can a text survive without writing?
  2. Iron axes and plows helped farmers clear the forests of the Ganges plain. How did this change who held power?
  3. Vedic society was divided into four groups called varnas. How might it feel to be born into a group you could not leave?
  4. Some of the sixteen states were kingdoms and some were republics ruled by councils. Which would you rather live in, and why?
  5. Magadha grew from one of sixteen states into the heart of an empire. What advantages did it have?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Darius the Great in Rule History. Around 518 BC his armies took the Indus lands, on the northwest edge of this Indian world. After the round, discuss: how was ruling a world empire different from ruling one of the sixteen kingdoms of India?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.