CHARACTER: Shanti

Also born a princess in Uruk to King Gilgamesh, Shanti was one of six chosen at a young age by her father to receive the nectar of life. Her father died while she was young, before he could explain to her that she will live through the ages, discovering her duty to protect humanity from the children of Chantu.

Now as a grown woman she lives in the Indus Valley with her husband Balraj and several adopted children. As a wealthy and wise businesswoman, she is an important member of her society.

Balraj

Shanti’s husband

Malati, Malini

adopted teen twins

Mitul

adopted teen son who works outside the city

Kala, Arjun

youngest adopted children

Arjun has a habit of getting into trouble. His adventure this time involves an elephant.

SETTING: Mohenjo-Daro

As with all ancient civilizations, historians have theories about the people of Mohenjo-daro, and there are some things they are pretty sure about while other points are disputed. As authors we have to choose a specific theory, while staying as true to the known facts as possible. In your research, you may come up with your own ideas about the city.

map of Indus Valley Civilization

map of major cities and trade routes

basic information about ancient Indus people

pictures from Mohenjo-daro

details about Mohenjo-daro

ITEMS OF INTEREST

image of cubical weights

another image of the weights

objects found in Mohenjo-daro

Indus river dolphin

the Indus unicorn image

thoughts on the Indus unicorn

UP FOR DEBATE

Aryans

For a long time, it was believed that the Aryans were a separate people who came from the north and attacked the Indus civilization, putting and end to the ancient way of life. However, there is much evidence to show that the ancient Vedic texts were set in the Indus Civilization, which means they are older than previously believed and the Arya (basis for the English “Aryans”) were already a part of this civilization.

In this book, we use Arya in its original Sanskrit meaning, before it was distorted by racial theories.

definition of Arya

challenging the theory of an Aryan invasion

The connection to Mesopotamia

overland trade

sea trade

The Sarasvati River

Corruption forces Shanti’s family to flee to Kalibangan, situated in the drainage of the Sarasvati.

Mohenjo-daro was built along the Indus (Sindhu) River, which still flows to this day (although its path near Mohenjo-daro has moved, most likely from west of the city to its present location east of the city’s ruins). But its sister, the Sarasvati, disappeared a long time ago. One theory now is that the seasonal Ghaggar flows in part of the dried bed of the Sarasvati.

map of Indus civilizations along dried up Ghaggar

the possible Sarasvati-Ghaggar connection

information on the Sarasvati

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