Download Indo-Europeans Notes

Name_________________________Date_______Block______
The Indo-Europeans
Indo-Europeans Migrate
 Indo-Europeans were ________________ people who came from steppes (the dry grasslands)
north of the Caucasus, an area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
 They rode horses and tended ________________________________________. They spoke
many different languages, but all of them came from the same original language.
Indo-European Language Family
 The Language of the Indo-Europeans is of interest to us because it is the foundation for many of
our modern languages such as _________________________________________________.
 Historians study the Indo-European __________________ in order to determine where the
many different groups of these people settled.
An Unexplained Migration
 While some peoples built civilizations in the great river valleys, others lived on the
______________ of western Asia.
 Then, for some reason, starting about 1700 B.C., they began to leave their homes.
 They moved into some of the settled areas and began _____________________ them.
The Aryans Move into India
 The Aryans were a group of these nomadic people who entered into India over the __________
__________________mountain range.
 They may have migrated because they sought a better _______________, or they may have
migrated to get closer to the major centers of ___________.
Hittite Invaders
 By 2000 BC a group of these Indo-European nomads – the Hittites- migrated into the area of
_________________ (Turkey) and occupied it. They established several independent city-states.
 They rode two-wheeled chariots and used iron weapons to conquer the area that is now
Turkey. They moved farther and took the ancient lands of Mesopotamia. When they moved to
the south, they ran into the __________________.
 Neither side was able to defeat the other, however, so they decided to make peace.
Hittites Blend Empire and Technology


The Hittites adopted many features of the ___________ that had grown in Mesopotamia before
they arrived.
They borrowed literature, art, and Hammurabi’s code of law. The Hittites believed the code to
be far __________________ so they modified it to suit their custom better.
The Beginning of the Iron Age
 The Hittites were masters of ____________. They moved war to a whole new level. They
developed very strong iron weapons in about 1500 BC.
 They used _____________ (like the Hyksos): These chariots were often pulled by two to four
horses. They were built on a very sturdy wooden frame, embellished with iron implements, and
covered with leather.
End of the Hittite Empire
 Their knowledge of metalwork soon traveled throughout the area with the Hittite __________
and through their ________________.
 Although the Hittites were superior in war, their empire came to a very ____________________
around 1190 BC. Invaders from the north attacked and burned the Hittite cities.
Aryan Invaders Transform India
 In about 1500 BC, the _______________ were another Indo-European group that crossed over
the Hindu Kush range and began settling in the Indus Valley.
 The only archeological evidence we have of these people is written in their holy books that are
called _____________. The Vedas are a collection of prayers, magical spells and instructions for
performing religious rituals.

Before migrating to the Indus Valley, the Aryans had already developed a fairly rigid 3-level
______________________. The priests (Brahmins) were at the top. The warriors were the 2nd
highest class. Everyone else made up the lower class. When they arrived in India, they set
themselves apart from the indigenous people and created new class levels for them.
The Caste System Becomes Rigid
 The class one was born into determined his/her role in ___________. People born into a caste
would be a member of that cast for their entire lives.
 Membership in a particular caste determined everything about their lives from what kind of
_______ that they did to whom they could ______________.
Aryan Kingdoms Arise
 The Aryans extended their influence over a large area to include the __________ River valley
and the ________________ River valley.
 These tribal units evolved into small kingdoms. After years of conflict, a single strong kingdom
emerged and took over control of the region. This kingdom is called ____________. By 200 BC,
the Aryan kingdom of Magadha was in control of the entire sub-continent of India
Aryan Literature
 These battles are described in India’s great epic called the Mahabharata (the longest poem ever
composed). This great poem reflects the struggles that took place in India as the Aryans were
taking over the lands to the south.
The Mahabharata
 The Mahabharata is written in a way that both the ___________ and _________________
cultures are expressed. The hero of the poem is dark-faced (obviously not an Aryan feature).
Spiritual Quest
 This poem tells of a spiritual quest where the traditional religious beliefs of the Aryan and nonAryans are questioned. They begin to question the morality ____________ other human beings.
and Jainism
 Due to the bloody wars during this time, many people began to search for the answer to the
ultimate question: What is man’s place in the universe, what is the place of the gods. Out of
these questions, new religions emerged ___________________________________________.