Download Chapter 4: Early Societies in South Asia

Chapter 4: Early Societies in
South Asia
By Leon Zhou, Daniel Norwood,
Jane Dong, Khashy Hakamian,
and Diane Bai
Harappan Society
Part by Daniel Norwood
Background
• Aryans – Indo-European tribes who
settled in India after 1500 B.C.E. Settled
near Indus River Valley by 3000 B.C.E.
• Early history hard to follow
– Physical remains remain largely
inaccessible
– Written records lacking
– Writing not yet completely translated
Foundation of Harappan
Society
• Indus River
– Goes through north India and also into Hindu
Kush and the Himalayas
– Not predictable, but rich in soil
– Grew wheat, barley, & cotton
– Dravidian society 3000 B.C.E.
A map of the
Indus River
A cotton flower
Foundation of Harappan
Society
• Two Main Cities:
Harappa and
Mohenjo-daro
– Cities had streets,
markets, temples,
gathering places
– Had standardized
weights,
measurements,
architectural styles,
and brick sizes
A Harappan Temple
Harappan Society and Culture
• Religious beliefs strongly emphasized
fertility
• Society began to decline from 1900
B.C.E. onward
– Natural Disasters: Floods and earthquakes
– Almost entirely collapsed by 1500 B.C.E
– Some cultural traditions remained
If this is boring you,
watch this for a while…
The Indo-European migrations
and early Aryan India
Part by Jane Dong
The Early Aryans
• Practiced a limited
amount of agriculture;
depended mostly upon
a pastoral economy
• The early Aryans did
not use written
language, but they did
compose songs and
poems
• Sacred language called
Sanskrit, less formal
language called Prakrit
Ancient Sanskrit
Ancient Prakrit
An Aryan city
Spread of the Aryan society
An Aryan painting
The Vedic Age
• Vedas – “Wisdom”; early collections of prayers and
hymns that provide information about Aryan
migrations into India around 1500 B.C.E.
• During period of expansion, there were many
conflicts with indigenous people, or dasas, which
meant “enemies” or “subject people”
• Worshipped Indra, the Aryans’ war god and military
hero
• Used iron tools; developed agriculture after migrating
to India
The caste system
• Castes- a system of hereditary, largely unchangeable social
classes
• Sanskrit word varna: “color”; evolved into word for “caste”
• The four main varnas
—brahmins (priests)
—kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats)
—vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, merchants)
—shudras (landless peasants and serfs)
• A caste below even the shudras, the untouchables, developed
later
• Social mobility was difficult, but foreigners sometimes could find
a place in the society of the castes
Jati
• Jati
were
subcastes
determined
by
occupation
• Jati life had elaborate rules for eating,
communication, and behavior
• Social deference took place between
members of different jatis in the same caste;
some untouchables were even looked down
upon by other untouchables
• Citizens associated more closely with their jati
than their caste-members, and even citizens
of the same city
Patriarchal Society
The Lawbook of Manu:
a) Prepared by an anonymous
sage, first century B.C.E.
b) Dealt with moral behavior
and social relationships
c) Advised men to treat
women with honor and
respect, but subjected
women to the control and
guidance of men
d) Women’s duties: to bear
children and maintain the
household
This has nothing to do with World History.
Religion in the Vedic Age
Part by Khashy Hakamian
Gods
• Indra, the war god and
king of all gods, was often
portrayed as a violent
character, a wielder of
thunderbolts who led the
people into battle against
their enemies
• Aryans believed in gods of
the sun, sky, moon, fire,
health, disease, dawn,
and the underworld
The ancient war god, Indra
Ritual sacrifices
• Involved the slaughter of dozens and
sometimes hundreds of specially prepared
animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, and
horses
• Believed gods visited the earth and joined
worshipers in rituals of eating and drinking
• Proper honors for the gods required priests’
households to hold no less than five
sacrifices per day- a very time-consuming
and expensive obligation
Spirituality
• Many Aryans became dissatisfied with sacrifices, as it seemed
the priests were not genuinely communicating with the gods
• Upanishads – Indian reflections and dialogues that reflected
basic Hindu concepts
• Many believed in reincarnation; on would depart one body at
death and become associated with another body through a new
birth through a process called samsara
• Animal bodies might well hold reincarnations of the less
virtuous, due to evil karma
• The ultimate goal was moksha, in which one’s soul would be
released from its earthly ties and become one with Brahman
Teachings
• Taught respect for all living things, animals and
humans, as well as honesty, self-control, charity, and
mercy
• After all the evil behavior of the old tradition of
sacrificing animals, the people wished to not cause
any more additional suffering or harm to animals
(whom they believed, as you will recall, were humans
reincarnate)
• Thus, a vegetarian diet became more common
• As can probably be seen, these beliefs eventually
became the basis for modern Hinduism…