Kingdoms of the Ganges Mr. Schoff Chapter 3 Section 2 Kingdoms of the Ganges Mr. Schoff

OA Please have your India maps ready for review!!!

The Aryan Civilization Warlike people Migrated across Europe and Asia seeking water and pasture for their horses and cattle Early Aryans built no cities and left no statues or stone seals Vedas – collection of prayers Aryan priests memorized and recited the Vedas for 1,000 years before they were written down Therefore, the period from 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. is often called the Vedic age

The Aryans continued Appear as warriors who fought in chariots with bows and arrows Nomadic herders that valued cattle, which provided them with food and clothing Later, when they became settled farmers, families continued to measure their wealth in cows and bulls

Aryan Society continued Aryans felt highly superior to the Dravidians Aryans separated Dravidians and non-Aryans into a fourth group*, the Sudras (farmworkers, servants, and other laborers who occupied the lowest level of society) *Social Classes seen on last slide

Religious Beliefs Polytheistic – gods and goddesses that embodied natural forces such as sky and sun, storm and fire Fierce Indra, the god of war, was the chief Aryan god Indra’s weapon was the thunderbolt, which he used not only to destroy demons but also to announce the arrival of rain (vital to Indian life) Agni – messenger who communicated human wishes to gods; god of fire Varuna – god of order and creation

Change As lives changed, so did their beliefs Some thinkers were moving toward the notion of a single power beyond the many gods of the Vedas Moved towards mysticism Meditation and yoga, spiritual and bodily discipline

Expansion Led by chiefs called rajahs Aryans gave up their nomadic ways and settled into villages to grow crops and breed cattle Learned to make tools out of iron They spread eastward to colonize the heavily forested Ganges basin Some rajahs were powerful enough to rule over many villages Developed a written language, Sanskrit Priests now began writing down the sacred texts

Literature Preserved a strong oral tradition Memorized and recited ancient hymns, as well as two long epic poems Mahabharata –India’s greatest epic Ramayana – shorter, but equally memorable Mahabharata – 100,000 verses Ramayana – recounts the fantastic deeds of the daring hero Rama and his wife Sita These epics evolved over thousands of years Priest-poets added new morals to the tales to teach different lessons This would evolved into major world religions – Hinduism and Buddhism

Aryans

Now please turn to page 58 and complete # 3-5