Harappan Writing
Undecipherable to date.
Decline of Harappans
• Harappans used up their natural
resources
• Cut down too many trees
• Indus River Valley was invaded
Aryan Migration
 pastoral  depended on their cattle.
 warriors  horse-drawn chariots.
The Aryans
• Semi nomadic group of warriors
–Used chariots
–Immigrated into India over a
period of hundreds of years
–Each tribe headed by chieftain and
priest
–Cow was the standard of trade
• The Vedas (“Wisdom”)
were collections of
prayers and hymns of the
Indo-European Aryans
who migrated into India
around 1500 B.C.
The Vedas
– Reflect the
knowledge that
priests needed to
carry out their
functions
Fanciful depiction of the IndoAryans entering India
The Vedas
 1200 BCE-600 BCE.
 written in SANSKRIT.
 Hindu core of
beliefs:
Rig Veda  oldest work.

hymns and poems.

religious prayers.

magical spells.

lists of the gods
and goddesses.
Sanskrit
writing
• The Aryans developed a social
structure with sharp distinctions
between individuals and groups
according to the occupations and roles
in society
– These distinctions became the basis
of the caste system
– Brahmins (priests) were at the top of
the caste system
• The term caste comes from the
Aryan Social Order
Portuguese word casta meaning a
social class of hereditary and
usually unchangeable status
–Coined by Portuguese merchants
and mariners who visited India
during the 16th Century
Varna
(Social Hierarchy)
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
Vaishyas
Shudras
Pariahs [Harijan]  Untouchables
• After about 1000 B.C., Aryans increasingly
recognized four main
castes.
Varnas
–Brahmins (priests)
–Kshatriyas (warriors and
aristocrats)
–Vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, and
merchants)
–Shudras (landless peasants and
serfs)
• Some centuries later, category of
untouchables
was
added
Untouchables
• The untouchables performed dirty or
unpleasant tasks such as butchering
animals or handling dead bodies
Members
of the untouchable
class
• Such work made them
become
so
dispose of corpses after the 2004
tsunamicould
polluted that their very touch
defile individuals of higher status
Social Order
• Individuals came to identify
themselves more closely with their
jati than with their cities or states
• The caste system served as the
principal foundation of social
stability in India, doing what states
and empires did to maintain public
order elsewhere
Geographic Expansion
• At first the caste system was confined to
northern India where the Aryans had
first entered
• As commercial relationships pushed
south, the caste system took hold there
as well
• By the 11th Century the caste system
was the principal basis of social
organization in southern India
Caste in India Today
• The preamble of India's constitution
forbids negative public
discrimination on the basis of caste.
• In reality, caste ranking and castebased interaction continue
–More prominent in the countryside
than in urban settings and more in
the realms of kinship and marriage
than in less personal interactions
The Vedic Age
The foundations for
Hinduism were
established!
Mauryan Civilization
• Had huge army and secret
police
• Government owned all of
the land
• Peasants had to pay taxes
Mauryan Civilization
• Commerce and industry flourished
• Artisans manufactured jewelry,
perfumes, fine fabrics, leather
work, pottery, and clothing.
• Swords and arrowhead were made
• Traded increased
Chandragupta Maurya
• As he grew older, he became
interested in a religion called Jainism
• In Jainism, the true being was the jiva
or eternal soul that lived inside the
physical body
• They believed that every living thing
has a soul and that killing any living
thing is the greatest evil
The Caste
System
WHO IS…
Brahmins
Kshatriyas
 The mouth?
 The arms?
 The legs?
 The feet?
What is a JATI?
Vaishyas
Shudras