Download Early Societies in S. Asia

Early Societies
in S. Asia
Chapter 4
Harappan Society
 Name after Harappa, a chief city
 Developed near the Indus river, waters used for
irrigation of crops
 Hard to follow Harappan Society for two reasons:
physical remains are inaccessible & lack of written
records
 However understanding Harappan Society still
depends physical remains above water table
 Dravidian Language
Harappan Society
I. Harappan Society cont’d
A. Foundations of Harappan Society
1. The Indus River
a. water from rain and melting mountain snow
b. agriculture possible in N. India
c. most important food crops and domesticated
animals
came from Mesopotamia (wheat, barley & meat from herds)
d. cultivated cotton
e. Agriculture surplus fed two large cities, Harappa &
Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo Daro Excavation (aerial view)
I. Harappan Society cont’d
2. Political Organization
a. no evidence of Harappan political system, still
prominent though
3. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
a. city walls, fortified citadel
grain
b. Large granary, suggesting center of political authority
and site for collection and redistribution of taxes paid in
c. marketplaces, temples, public buildings, residential
districts & broad streets w/carefully planned grid
d. large pool
I. Harappan Society cont’d
e. high degree of standardization possible because
of Indus river facilitating trade, travel &
communication among far regions of Harappa. (all
corners of society)
4. Specialized Labor and Trade
a. Depended on agricultural economy
b. engaged in trade both foreign and domestic
c. pottery, tools, decorative items came to Harappa
d. Traded w/Mesopotamia: copper, ivory, beads &
semi-precious stones for wool, leather & olive oil.
Bronze
Statuette
Produced at
Mohenjo-Daro
Depicts little
Dancing girl
Carving on a seal discovered at Mohenjo-Daro
Depicts a man wearing cattle horns and
Meditating. May represent Harappan deity.
I. Harappan Society cont’d
B. Harappan Society and Culture

Generated considerable wealth

Thriving economically with 40000 population
1. Social Distinctions
a. wealth=social distinctions
citadels.
b. no pyramids, tombs, or palaces but functioned
through
c. rich and poor lived different lifestyles
d. many lived in one-room barrack-like structures , but there
was also individual houses of two/three stories
I. Harappan Society cont’d
system
e. almost all houses had private bathrooms, and drainage/sewage
f. not enough info to understand discovered texts
g. variety of statues, figurines, and illustrations reflect
representational art.
h. experts in gold, copper & bronze metallurgy
2. Fertility Cults
a. Strong concern for fertility, evident with similarities in Harappan
deities and Hindu fertility sculptures
b. Venerated gods and goddesses that were associated with creation
and procreation
c. trees & animals associated w/vital forces
I. Harappan Society cont’d
d. scholars noticed similarities between Harappan and
Hindu deities.
3. Harappan Decline
a. after 1900 bce Harappa entered a state of decline
b. theories: ecological degradation, deforestation
c. eventually lost agricultural benefits and became a desert
d. other theories: natural catastrophes: flooding, earth
quakes
e. by 1700 bce population began to abandon Mohenjo-Daro
because of difficulties to sustain complex urban societies.
I. Harappan Society cont’d
f. peoples from other societies adopted Harappan
ways for their own purposes.
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India
 Foreigners came in and began to settle in the Indus
valley and beyond
 Most prominent Indo-Europeans settlers were the
Aryans
 Est. small herding and agricultural communities
 Aryans did not invade militarily
 1500 bce Aryans & Dravidians interacted,
intermarried and laid social & cultural foundations
that still influence present day India
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
A. The Aryans and India
1. The Early Aryans
a. practiced limited amount of agriculture
b. relied on pastoral economy (sheep, goats)
c. Horses a commodity and often imported
d. Horses harnessed to carts and wagons to
facilitate transportation and chariots
e. cattle=wealth
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
2. The Vedas
a. did not use writing but composed songs and poems.
b. preserved religious and literary works through memorization and
oral transmission
c. they used Sanskrit language to do this
d. Vedas were a collection of hymns, songs, prayers and rituals honoring
the various gods of the Aryans
e. Rig Veda-1028 hymns addressed to Aryan gods
f. Vedas represent a priestly perspective on affairs
g. Veda means “wisdom”/ “knowledge”; priests needed this knowledge
to carry out their functions
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
3. Vedic Age
a. Vedas reflect the clash between Dravidians and others
living in India.
people”
b. Vedas call indigenous people dasas “enemies” or “subject
c. Indra=Aryan war god
d. Relatively peaceful w/Dravidians there were
intermittent conflicts
e. Aryans fought amongst themselves, no state or common
gov’t but many chiefdoms
f. Rajas=chiefdom leaders
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
4. Aryan Migrations in India
a. Aryans settled in Punjab (modern day N border
of India and Pakistan)
b. est. communities through east sub-continent
c. learned how to make iron tools, est. agricultural
communities.
d. iron implements allowed them to cultivate more
land, produce more food, support larger communities
which pushed them deeper into the Ganges river valley.
e. cultivated rice
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
B. Origins of the Caste System
 Aryans constructed a well defined social order
 Hereditary distinctions between individuals and
groups according to their roles and occupation in
society
 Distinctions became foundation of caste system
 Caste means social class of heredity and usually
unchangeable status (Portuguese derivative).
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
1. Caste and Varna
a. caste developed slowly and gradually
b. as they settled in India interactions w/Dravidians led to
refine social distinctions
c. varna=color, major social classes, eludes to the first 4 major
social classes
d. social distinctions arose partly from complexion between
the Aryan “wheat colored” & Dravidians
“darker-skinned”
e. Aryans & Dravidians mixed, mingled, intermarried,
became difficult to distinguish
f. Based social distinction on Ancestry
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
2. Social Distinctions in the Vedic Age
a. 1000bce Aryans recognize 4 main varnas: 1)
brahmins (priests), 2)kshatriyas (warriors &
aristocrats), 3)vaishyas (cultivators, artisans &
merchants), 4) sudras (landless peasants & serfs)
b. untouchables later added, those whom
performed dirty or unpleasant tasks
c. the Rig Veda has hymns about varnas as a part
of the creation of the early days
d. the four castes emanated from the four parts of
Purusha when the gods sacrificed him.
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
3. Subcastes and Jati
a. elaborate scheme of social classification emerged
b. jati=people working at the same or similar tasks in a given
area belonged to the same subcaste and their offspring joined
them in both occupation and jati membership
d. jati members ate with one another and intermarried,
cared for those who became ill or were struggling
e. had rules and specific behavior, specific communication
with members of different castes and subcastes
f. Breaking jati rules could result in expulsion from the larger
group
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
4. Castes and Social Mobility
a. caste system accommodated social change
b. higher caste members could lose their social
positions of honor and move down in social
hierarchy
c. mobility was based more on groups than
individuals
d. mobility in social heirarchy led to an ease of
tensions
e. caste systems also allowed foreigners a place in
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
C. Development of Patriarchal Society

Social order based on gender distinctions

Aryans recognized descent through male lineage

Only males inherit property, preside over rituals for ancestors

Formal education in Sanskrit almost only for men
1. The Law Book of Manu
a. Women under authority of man
b. Law Book dealt w/moral behavior & social relationships
c. respect & honor women, but women subject to guidance of man
II. The Indo-European Migrations
& Early Aryan India cont’d
d. woman’s duty according to the book was to bear
children and maintain their homes.
2. Sati
a. widows voluntarily throw themselves on the
funeral pyre of deceased husband to join him in
death
b. this ritual esp. for socially prominent women to
show devotion to husbands
III. Religion in the Vedic Age

Fusion of Aryan traditions w/Dravidian values laid the foundation
for Hinduism (popular in India & SE Asia)
A.
Aryan Religion
1. Aryan Gods
a. Indra=war deity, but also chief deity
crops
b. associated him also with weather, coming of rain to water the
c. other deities also existed, but Indra represents instability in
early Vedic Age
d. Varuna-another god who presided over the sky, oversaw
behavior of mortal and preserved cosmic order
III. Religion in the Vedic Age
cont’d
2. Ritual Sacrifices
a. performances of ritual sacrifices were more important than
ethical concerns
b. believed their gods came down to earth to join them in rituals
c. felt that sacrificing & pleasing the gods would lead to military
success, large families, long life & abundant herds
3. Spirituality
a. Aryans eventually became tired of the sacrificial rituals (felt
no real communication w/gods)
b. 800bce individual begin to leave villages, go into forests,
reflect on relationships between humans, the world and gods
III. Religion in the Vedic Age
cont’d
c. inspired by Dravidian people connections w/natural spirits
related to fertility
d. Dravidians believed that human souls took on new
physical forms after death (transmigration and reincarnation)
e. idea that you could come back as a plant or
animal or associate w/another body through a new
birth
B. The Blending of Aryan and Dravidian Values
1. The Upanishads
a. a body of work (800-400bce) that refers to the practice of
disciples gathering before a sage for discussion of religious
issues
III. Religion in the Vedic Age
cont’d
2. Brahman, the Universal Soul
a. Upanishads taught that appearances are deceiving and that
we are not separate autonomous creatures
Brahman
things
b. we are a part of a larger cosmic order a part of a universal soul,
c. Brahman is eternal, unchanging, permanent foundations for all
d. Upanishads believed individuals souls were born into the physical
world several times
e. highest goal of the soul was to escape the cycle of birth &
rebirth enter into union with Brahman
f. In the Chandogya Upanishad, a man explained to his son how the
subtle essence of Brahman pervades everything.
III. Religion in the Vedic Age
cont’d
3. Teaching of the Upanishads
a. samsara-at death souls go to the World of the
fathers then return to earth in new incarnation
b. karma-live virtuous lives & fulfill their duties
expect rebirth into a purer and more honorable
existence, however, if you did not fulfill duties your
rebirth would be of a harsher existence
c. Moskha-deep, dreamless sleep that came w/
permanent liberation from physical incarnation
d. yoga helps to concentrate on the nature of Brahman
and its relationship w/the soul
III. Religion in the Vedic Age
cont’d
4. Religion and Vedic Society
a. samsara and karma reinforced the Vedic Social
order it helped explain why individual were born
into social groups
b. Upanishads discourage greed, envy, gluttony
and all manner of vice that indicated attachment
to the material world
c. encourage personal integrity and respect for all
living things