How are religion and culture connected? consider the rise and fall of great civilizations in south and east asia like the indus river valley civilization, the deccan and tamil kingdoms, the maurya and gupta empires, and the shang, zhou, qin, and han dynasties of ancient china. what do all of these civilizations have in common? how did geographic factors shape each civilization, and each developed distinct elements of culture, including religious and philosophical belief systems? select one civilization from the ones that you have studied in your course and analyze the connections between religion and culture as well as how these contributed to the growth or decline of the civilization.