Early Societies in East Asia

 Aryans – Nomadic and pastoral peoples speaking
Indo-European languages who migrate into the
Indian subcontinent and settled throughout the
Indus valley.

 Early Aryans:
 Heavily Pastoral Early
On
 Sheep, goats, horses, and cattle.

 Early Aryans:
 Utilized iron implements by 750
B.C.E. to farm and establish more permanent settlements.
 More permanent settlements meant evolution of more established political and social organization

 Caste System – Indian social system based on hereditary and usually unchangeable status.

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Brahmans – Priests,
Nobles, High Government officials
Kshatriya – Warriors and
Other Officials
Vaishya – Merchants,
Landowners, and Artisians
Shudra – Peasants and laborers
Outcastes – Outsides of the
Caste System

 Patriarchal Society
 The Lawbook of Manu –
Dealt with proper moral behavior and social relationships including sex and gender relationships
 Sati – Practice by which widows threw themselves in the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands.

 Bhagayad Gita: Ethical text of the Hindu
Religion
 Karma: The total effect of ones actions that determines destiny in the wheel of life and reincarnation.
 Dharma: Ones duty to their caste.

 Focused heavily on rituals and ritual sacrifices.

 Religious belief that each person participates in a larger cosmic order and forms a small part of a universal soul.