The Aryans and the Vedic Age

Decline of the Indus River Valley civilizations Possible causes: Monsoons destroyed irrigation and farming prospects Invasions Long distance trade collapsed

Aryans Root of the word is arya meaning “noble” or “pure” Spoke an early form of Sanskrit This Indo-European language is closely related to Persian, Latin, Greek and modern Romance languages.

Aryans Where did they come from? Most scholars argue that the Aryans descended upon North India through the Hindu Kush around 1500 BC Some scholars now think that they arrived much earlier, and perhaps descended from the Harappan

Aryans and Vedas Vedas A collection, in multiple volumes, of hymns, rituals, and philosophies The vedas include stories that attempt to explain how the world was created, who the gods are, etc. Thought to be the earliest written texts

Aryans and Vedas Rig Veda The earliest Veda Originally was recited orally and passed down generation to generation Children began learning the Rig Veda at an early age, would learn to chant each syllable in perfect order

Aryans and Vedas Portrays Aryans as fierce warriors with military skill Aryans did not spread through India quickly, did not carry out well organized military campaigns Aryans were a collection of tribes who gradually, over generations of warring with each other came to power in North India

Aryans and Social Order Each tribe was headed by a raja, or chief Priests were next in importance They learned complicated rituals Rituals typically focused on honoring or appeasing the gods

Aryans and Social Order Warrior class Farmers Non-Aryans made up the lowest class They were not slaves They were only allowed to perform the most menial tasks

Early Indian Society 1000-500 BC Tribal rajas were no longer necessary because tribal life was in decline Kings controlled large pieces of territory The Aryan-influenced areas extended all the way to the Ganges River

Caste System The system of dividing society into hereditary groups that limited interaction with each other, especially marriage between castes The hierarchical strata into which Indian society was divided is called varna

Caste System Brahmins (priests) Kshatriya (warriors and officials) Vaishya (merchants and artisans) Shudra (peasants and laborers) Dalit, or untouchables – outside the caste system Kshatriyas and Vaishyas are usually the upper classes and have the means to pay for these rituals and services. It’s not like going to church every Sunday, there’s a lot of festivals throughout the year and if they can pay for these rituals, that is very good. The shudras cannot really afford to pay for these rituals but they can attend them. It’s not as purifying as paying for them, but it is a way to purify yourself. So paying for the rituals is better karma than simply attending the ritual.

Caste System Brahman Aryan priests who supported the growth of royal power The only caste that was permitted to perform important, sacred, daily religious rituals Most powerful, they’re the only ones that can perform these rituals.

White string across chest means that they’ve come of age as a religious person and can perform rituals. Born once as a baby, then born a second time when you’ve come of age and you can start doing the rituals. Not like being “born again” in the christian sense, but kind of like confirmation.

Caste System Untouchables - Not permitted to participate in religious rituals It is believed that people ended up in this caste as a result of bad karma that accumulated in previous lifetimes Performed the worst jobs. Basically this means they cannot get any good Karma, which means their stuck! It makes it incredibly difficult to recover from whatever awful things that you did in a previous life. They can still do good things and good deeds, but it is very difficult to improve your next life. There’s less opportunity for good karma.

Hour after hour Untouchtables break rocks to repair a railbed in Rajasthan. They will earn one or two dollars a day. Because of their huge numbers—Untouchables now number 160 million, or 15 percent of India's people—many have had to leave their villages to seek work beyond their traditional caste occupations. Yet most Untouchable migrants merely exchange one kind of backbreaking labor for another, working in fields, construction sites, brick kilns, and stone quarries.