Ch. 1 Sec. 3 Flashcards
From about 1700 to 1200 B.C., waves of Indo-European nomads migrated from their homelands in the______, the dry grasslands north of the Caucasus Mountains.
Steppes
One group, the Hittites, settled in _______, a rugged peninsula in a region today called Turkey.
Anatolia
They conquered __________, the chief city in the Tigris-Euphrates valley, signed a peace treaty with Egypt, and blended many of their traditions with the more advanced Mesopotamian culture.
Babylon
With their superior two-wheeled ________ and their war weapons made of_______, the Hittites created an empire that dominated Southwest Asia for over 450 years.
Chariot ; Iron
About 1500 B.C., another Indo-European group, the ________, entered India trough the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. Unlike the people they conquered, they were light skinned and had not developed a writing system.
Aryans
The invaders were divided into social classes, later called_________.
Castles
Over time four major social classes developed, the highest being the_______, or priests and the lowest, the ________, or laborers.
Brahmins ; Shudras
Beginning around 1000 B.C., chiefs began to set up kingdoms in the Indian subcontinent; the most important of these was__________.
Magadha
Many modern languages trace their origins to languages spoken by the Indo-Europeans. Among the Indo-European family of languages spoken in Europe and Asia today are _________ and__________.
English ; Spanish
Identify and explain the significance of the Vedas in Indian History.
Vedas- their sacred literature left a picture of Aryan life.
Identify and explain the significance of the Mahabharata in Indian history.
Mahabharate- a great epic that reflects the struggles that took place in India as the Aryan kings worked to control Indian lands.
