Chapter 4: Early Societies in South Asia

By Leon Zhou, Daniel Norwood, Jane Dong, Khashy Hakamian,

and Diane Bai

Harappan Society

Part by Daniel Norwood

Background

• Aryans – Indo-European tribes who settled in India after 1500 B.C.E. Settled near Indus River Valley by 3000 B.C.E.

• Early history hard to follow– Physical remains remain largely

inaccessible – Written records lacking– Writing not yet completely translated

Foundation of Harappan Society

• Indus River– Goes through north India and also into Hindu Kush

and the Himalayas– Not predictable, but rich in soil– Grew wheat, barley, & cotton– Dravidian society 3000 B.C.E.

A map of the Indus River

A cotton flower

Foundation of Harappan Society

• Two Main Cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro– Cities had streets,

markets, temples, gathering places

– Had standardized weights, measurements, architectural styles, and brick sizes

A Harappan Temple

Harappan Society and Culture

• Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility

• Society began to decline from 1900 B.C.E. onward– Natural Disasters: Floods and earthquakes– Almost entirely collapsed by 1500 B.C.E– Some cultural traditions remained

If this is boring you, watch this for a while…

If this is boring you, watch this for a while…

The Indo-European migrations and early Aryan India

Part by Jane Dong

The Early Aryans

• Practiced a limited amount of agriculture; depended mostly upon a pastoral economy

• The early Aryans did not use written language, but they did compose songs and poems

• Sacred language called Sanskrit, less formal language called Prakrit

Ancient Sanskrit

Ancient Prakrit

Spread of the Aryan society

An Aryan painting

An Aryan city

The Vedic Age

• Vedas – “Wisdom”; early collections of prayers and hymns that provide information about Aryan migrations into India around 1500 B.C.E.

• During period of expansion, there were many conflicts with indigenous people, or dasas, which meant “enemies” or “subject people”

• Worshipped Indra, the Aryans’ war god and military hero

• Used iron tools; developed agriculture after migrating to India

The caste system • Castes- a system of hereditary, largely unchangeable social

classes• Sanskrit word varna: “color”; evolved into word for “caste”• The four main varnas

—brahmins (priests)—kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats)—vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, merchants)—shudras (landless peasants and serfs)

• A caste below even the shudras, the untouchables, developed later

• Social mobility was difficult, but foreigners sometimes could find a place in the society of the castes

Jati

• Jati were subcastes determined by occupation• Jati life had elaborate rules for eating,

communication, and behavior• Social deference took place between members

of different jatis in the same caste; some untouchables were even looked down upon by other untouchables

• Citizens associated more closely with their jati than their caste-members, and even citizens of the same city

Patriarchal SocietyThe Lawbook of Manu:a) Prepared by an anonymous

sage, first century B.C.E.b) Dealt with moral behavior and

social relationshipsc) Advised men to treat women

with honor and respect, but subjected women to the control and guidance of men

d) Women’s duties: to bear children and maintain the household

This has nothing to do with World History.

Religion in the Vedic Age

Part by Khashy Hakamian

Gods

• Indra, the war god and king of all gods, was often portrayed as a violent character, a wielder of thunderbolts who led the people into battle against their enemies

• Aryans believed in gods of the sun, sky, moon, fire, health, disease, dawn, and the underworld

The ancient war god, Indra

Ritual sacrifices

• Involved the slaughter of dozens and sometimes hundreds of specially prepared animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, and horses

• Believed gods visited the earth and joined worshipers in rituals of eating and drinking

• Proper honors for the gods required priests’ households to hold no less than five sacrifices per day- a very time-consuming and expensive obligation

Spirituality• Many Aryans became dissatisfied with sacrifices, as it seemed

the priests were not genuinely communicating with the gods• Upanishads – Indian reflections and dialogues that reflected

basic Hindu concepts • Many believed in reincarnation; on would depart one body at

death and become associated with another body through a new birth through a process called samsara

• Animal bodies might well hold reincarnations of the less virtuous, due to evil karma

• The ultimate goal was moksha, in which one’s soul would be released from its earthly ties and become one with Brahman

Teachings

• Taught respect for all living things, animals and humans, as well as honesty, self-control, charity, and mercy

• After all the evil behavior of the old tradition of sacrificing animals, the people wished to not cause any more additional suffering or harm to animals (whom they believed, as you will recall, were humans reincarnate)

• Thus, a vegetarian diet became more common• As can probably be seen, these beliefs eventually

became the basis for modern Hinduism…