Name:__________________________
Eastern Civilizations: Period:______
Worksheet #_____
Date:_________
Ms. Didyoung
Aryan Civilization Outline
A. The Aryans
1. Settled in different regions of Northwestern India
2. Chief of a tribe which was a hereditary job (meaning passed down)
3. Lived in simple homes and spoke Sanksrit
4. Nomads (moved from place to place) but eventually began to develop settlements
B. Aryan Invasion (12oo B.C.E)
1. Skilled warriors with horses (extremely fast that gave the Aryans an advantage)
2. Indus River Valley people were no match for Aryans with bows and arrows, chariots,
and horses
3. Gradually moved into the Ganges River Valley after conquering where they learned
to make tools and weapons out of iron
4. Cleared rain forests and built farm villages and cities
C. Sanskrit
1. Aryans were originally not educated, had no written language, and could not read
2. Relied on memorizing their history and passing their stories down
3. Spoke in Sanskrit until they needed to keep records so it became a written language
(records became a major source of information about India and the Aryan civilization)
4. Language isn’t spoken today but is basis for many modern languages
D. The Vedas
1. Information on Aryan society come from religious writings (Vedas)
2. Collection of poems, hymns, myths, and rituals that were written by an Aryan Priest
3. Earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization and most sacred books of India
4. Believed that humans did not write the Vedas but that they were handed down
through generations by word of mouth
E. The Caste System
1. Organized into classes of warriors, priests, and commoners (these classes turned into
the caste system)
2. A caste is a social class whose members are identified by their job (thousands of j
jobs)
3. Four categories: Brahmin (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaisya (traders and
agriculturalists), and Sudra (workers)
4. Another group considered below all other groups called the Untouchables (the jobs
no one else wanted)
F. Aryan Society
1. Small communities organized in patriarchal families; three generations of family
lived in the same house
2. No single ruling family, king, emperor, or president in Aryan society but had a Raja,
or skilled warriors
3. Dinnertime was social time and tribes would gather around the central fireplace
4. Ate meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk, and fish
Worksheet #_____
G. Living
1. Houses with large families and animals within
2. Made of wood and reeds and later mud
3. Simple clothes
4. Free time singing, dancing, listening to music, gambling, chariot racing, and hunting
H. Education
1. Gurukula: means the home of the teacher; similar to boarding schools
2. Boys would leave their house at a young age and stay with a guru for 12 years
3. Gurus taught a variety of subjects like religion, math, philosophy, astrology,
astronomy, grammar, and vocational subjects
4. No written material so education was don orally
I. The Future of the Aryans
1. Stayed in Western India and migrated to places like present day Iran
2. Religious and political differences and hard to get along with (political fights and
terrorist activities)
3. Hitler used the term “Aryan” during WWII to promote racism in Germany
4. Although violent, the original Aryan people were not from Germany and most likely
not Caucasian in race