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Aryan Migration into India
Directions: Read the description of the Aryan Migration into India and answer the questions which
follow.
In about 1500 BCE Aryans crossed over the northwest mountain passes into the Indus River
Valley in India. They left almost no archeological record behind, except for their most scared literature,
the Vedas. This left a reliable picture of Aryan life. The Vedas are four collections of prayers, spells, and
instructions for performing religious rituals. The most importation of the Vedas is the Rig Veda. It has
1028 hymns dedicated to Aryan gods. The Vedas were not written down. Elders passed the tradition
orally to men of the next generation. Prayers had to be accurate, or the gods might punish those who
made the mistake.
The Aryans called the people they found in India (the Dravidians) dasas (dark), referring to the
color of their skin. (Dasa will eventually become the Aryan word for slave.) The Aryans were taller, ligher
skinned, and spoke a different language than the Dravidians. Unlike the Dravidians, the Aryans had not
developed a written language. The Aryans were also pastoral people who relied on cows for their
wealth. The Dravidians lived in towns protected by walls. The Aryans worshiped nature gods, whole the
Dravidians worshiped gods such as Shiva and mother goddesses.
The Aryans had divided themselves into three social classes when they arrived in India. The
Brahmins; or priests, warriors, and peasants or traders. The three classes could mix freely. Eventually
non-Aryans formed the fourth class, the Shudras, or laborers. To stop relationships between Aryans and
non-Aryans, the Aryans made very rigid class restrictions. The Shudras were forced to do the jobs the
Aryans did not want to do. The classes became known as the Varna’s (meaning skin color). Today these
classes are known as the castes. The rigid class rules stated that the caste a person was born into was
the caste they would be in for life. The caste determined the job a person could have, who they could
marry, and who they could associate with. The lowest groups of people became known as the
untouchables, they did the unclean jobs – butchers, gravediggers, trash collectors).
As the Aryans pushed south into the subcontinent, they began to meet resistance from the
Dravidians. The Dravidians elected chiefs to govern their tribes; however the Aryans began to set up
kingdoms. One of the greatest epics of India, the Mahabharata, tells the story of the struggles that took
place in India as the Aryans invaded southward. The Mahabharata is the longest poem, at 106,000
verses long. It is the story of a war between two sets of cousins, the Pandavas, and the Kauravas.
As the Aryans spread south, Aryan and Dravidian culture blended, and this can be seen in the
Mahabharata. Krisna, a hero of the epic is described as dark-faced; non-Aryan. Slowly, the religion of the
Aryans and Dravidians blended to become Hinduism.
The Rig Veda: Creation Hymn
Of the several Vedic texts, the Rig Veda is the most fundamental to India thought. Composed over a long
period of time, and coming into their present form between 1500 and 1000 BCE, the Vedic hymns were
eventually attributed to a vision seen by those who told it.
“There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky
which is beyond. What stirred? Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep?
There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of
day. That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond.
Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The
life force that was covered with emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat.
Desire came upon that one in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind. Poets seeking in their
heart with wisdom found the bond of existence in non-existence.
Their cord was extended across. Was there below? Was there above? There were seed-placers; there
were powers. There was impulse beneath; there was giving-forth above.
Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The
gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?
Whence this creation has arisen—perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not—the one who looks down
on it, in the highest heave”
Hymn to Agni (God of Fire)
Agri, the god of fire, is a terrestrial deity. He is often compared to animals, with wood for his food and
melted butter for his drink. He is the mouth by which the gods consume items during sacrifices. He is
born from wood (two sticks rubbed together makes fire) but then devours his parents. He is the guest in
human dwellings in the form of the domestic fire.
”I call upon Agni, the one placed in front, the divine priest of the sacrifice, the invoker, the best bestower
of gifts.
Agni is worthy of being called upon by seers past and present: may he bring the gods here!
Through Agni may one obtain wealth and prosperity day by day, splendid and abounding in heroic sons.
O Agni, the sacrifice and work of the sacrifice, which you encompass on all side-that alone goes to the
gods.
To you, ruler of the sacrifices, keeper of the Rta (cosmic law), bright shining, growing in your abode.
So, be if easy access to us. Agni, as a father to his son. Abide with us for out well being.
Questions:
1) How did the Aryan migration change early Indian culture?
2) What did the Aryan’s introduce to Indian culture?
3) Discuss how Indian culture changed after the Aryan migration.
4) According to the Rig Veda, what role did the gods play in the creation of Earth?
5) What role does Agni play when it comes to the gods?
6) What does the story of Agni tell you about the religious traditions of the Aryans?