INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION AND EARLY ARYAN SOCIETY

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INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATIONAND EARLY ARYAN SOCIETY
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THE GEOGRAPHIC SETTING

• Indian Subcontinent
• To North Impassable Himalayas
• To East Passable low hills
• To Northwest Passable Hindu Kush, Khyber Pass
• To West Arabian Sea
• Northern Plain of Indus, Ganges Rivers
• Southern Deccan
• High plateau, extremely dry
• Bordered on East and West by mountains
• Separated from north by river, low mountains
• The Monsoon Winds
• Off the land October to April Dry Season
• Off the Indian Ocean May to September Wet Season
  

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HARAPPAN SOCIETY

• The Indus River
• Runs through north India, sources at Hindu Kush,
  Himalayas
• Rich deposits, but less predictable than the Nile
  
• Wheat and barley were cultivated in Indus valley
• Cultivated cotton before 5000 B.C.E.
• Complex society of Dravidians, 3000/2500 B.C.E.
• Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
• Possibly served as twin capitals
• Each city had a fortified citadel and a large
  granary
• Broad streets, market places, temples, public
  buildings
• Standardized weights, measures, architecture,
  bricks
• Specialized labor and trade
• Domestic trade, items inc. pottery, tools, metals
  
• Trading with Mesopotamians about 2300 to 1750
  B.C.E.

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HARAPPAN SOCIETY/CULTURE

• Social distinctions as seen from living styles
• Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility
• Many deities were feminine
• In later Hinduism, Dravidian gods are blue-faced
• Harappan society declined from 2000 B.C.E. onward
  
• Ecological degradation led to a subsistence
  crisis
• Natural catastrophes - floods or earthquakes
• Population began to abandon their cities by about
  1700 B.C.E.
• Almost entirely collapsed by about 1500 B.C.E
• Evidence of warfare, invasion

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INDO-EUROPEANS ARYANS

• Indo-Europeans
• Linguistic similarities among Europe, Persia, and
  India
• Indo-European family of languages
• Indo-Iranian including Aryans (India),
  Medes/Persians (SW Asia)
• Greek, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Italic, Celtic
• Tocarian, possibly Shang of China
• Migrations as the key to explain linguistic
  similarities
• Indo-European origins
• North of Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea
  Ukraine, Southern Russia
• Common origins established through key
  vocabulary, traditions, myths
• Indo-European migrations
• To Tarim Basin, fourth millennium B.C.E.
• Shang of China appear to have been Indo-Europeans
  
• To Anatolia (the Hittites), 3000 B.C.E.
• By 2nd millennium, established communities in
  Europe
• Around 1500 BCE, domesticated horse amongst
  Indo-Europeans
• Often called the Chariot Peoples introduced iron
  and horse technologies

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ARYANS IN INDIA

• The early Aryans
• Depended heavily on a pastoral economy
• No writing system, but orally transmitted works
  called the Vedas
• Sacred language (Sanskrit) and daily-use language
  (Prakit)
• The Vedic Age 1500 to 500 B.C.E.
• A boisterous period, conflict with indigenous
  peoples
• Called indigenous people dasas - "enemies" or
  "subject people"
• Indra, the Aryans' war god and military hero
• Aryan chiefdoms fought ferociously among
  themselves
• Aryan migrations in India
• First settled in the Punjab, the upper Indus
  River valley
• Spread east and south from their base
• After 1000 B.C.E. settled between Himalayan
  foothills and Ganges
• Used iron tools and developed agriculture
• By 500 B.C.E. migrated as far south as the
  northern Deccan
• Lost tribal organizations but established
  regional kingdoms

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THE CASTE SYSTEM

• Caste and varna
• Caste
• Hereditary, unchangeable social classes
• Sanskrit word varna, "color," referring to social
  classes
• Social distinctions based on racial skin colors
• Social distinctions in the late Vedic Age
• Four main varnas, recognized after 1000 B.C.E.
• brahmins (priests)
• kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats rulers)
• vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, and merchants)
• shudras (landless peasants and serfs)
• Later, the category of the pariah (untouchables)
  was added
• Subcaste or jati
• Represents more elaborate social classification,
  developed after 6th c. B.C.E.
• Jati, or subcastes, were determined by
  occupations
• The elaborate rules of jati life
• Caste and social mobility
• Caste system was capable of accommodating social
  change

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RISE OF PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY

• Patriarchal, Patrilineal society
• Original Aryan Society women had rights, some
  were chiefs
• Changes occurred with change to sedentary
  civilization
• Men served as priests, warriors, and tribal
  chiefs
• Family lines based on male descendants (the
  patriline)
• Only males could inherit property
• Men learned the Vedas and received formal
  education
• Source The Lawbook of Manu
• Prepared by an anonymous sage, 1st century B.C.E.
  
• Dealt with moral behavior and social
  relationships
• Advised men to treat women with honor and respect
  
• Subjected women to the control and guidance of
  men
• Women's duties bear children, maintain the
  household
• Sati as a social custom

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ARYAN RELIGION

• The Aryan gods
• The war god, Indra
• The gods of the sun, sky, moon, fire, health,
  etc.
• The god Varuna - an ethical concern
• Ritual sacrifices
• Importance of ritual sacrifices
• Horse sacrifice originally
• Priests were specialists of the ritual sacrifices
  
• Ritual sacrifices for rewards from the divine
  power
• Spirituality
• Many Aryans dissatisfied with ritual sacrifices
  in late Vedic age
• A shift to spiritual contemplation
• Thoughtful individuals retreated to forests as
  hermits
• Dravidian notions were coopted
• Transmigration of soul
• Reincarnation (nirvana)

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THE RISE OF HINDUISM

• The Upanishads
• Works of religious teachings, 800 to 400 B.C.E.
• The religious forums dialogues between disciples
  and sages
• Brahman the universal soul
• Brahman was the only genuine reality
• Highest goal to escape reincarnation and join
  with Brahman
• Teachings of the Upanishads
• Samsara An individual soul was born many times
• Karma specific incarnations that a soul
  experienced
• Moksha permanent liberation from physical
  incarnation
• Dharma Caste duties
• Religion and Vedic Society
• Samsara and karma reinforced social hierarchy
• Upanishads were also spiritual and intellectual
  contemplations
• Taught to observe high ethical standards
• Respect for all living things, a vegetarian diet