Chapter 4 Flashcards
What stories were told about india by the Aryans?
He had few peers in flighting, feasitng, or dfrinkig
Who were the Aryans”
They were herding people who spoke an iIndo European langauge and who migrated to suth Asia in large numbers after 1500 BCE
TheAryans okk Inda as a leader againt what?
earthy as well as heavenly foes, they did not mount a planned invsion of India, but they migrated in sizable number s to south Asia
Who were the original people in iIndia?
The Dravidian people
What was the prominent society in India
the Harappan society, named after one of its two cheif cities
Why is it impossible to follow the fevelopment of Harappan society?
- Many of the earliest Harappan physical remains are inaccessable because silt deposits have raied the level ofthe land in the Indus valley and the water table has risen
- . Writing has not been deciphered
If the Greek historian _had known of harappan society, he would have called it the
Herodotus, gift of the Indus
Where does the indus draw its waters?
From the rain and melting now in towering mountains, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas-the worleds highest peaks
What does the water of the Indus pick up as it charges downhill?
I tpicks up enormous quantities of silt, which they carry for hundreds of kilometers
Today, a series of dams has largely
tamed the Indus
What did the indus make possible?
Agricultural sciety in northern inda
What did cultivators plant?
They planted weat, barley in Spetember after the food receded. They also had meat from cattle
What did the Indus Valley keep?
The worlds first chickens
The vast increased food supply stimulatd what?
population growht and supported the establishment of cities and specialized labor
3000-2500 BCE, what did the Dravidian peoples buid?
A complex society that dominated the indus River
What were the two large cities?
Mohenjo Daro aand Harappa.
Did Harpapahave a politica system?
No evidence srvives, concerning the Harappan poitical system. There was no royal or imperial authority
Although they had no political sturcture, what did MD and Harappa make sure they were
They were very prominent in Harappan society, there was a populaiton of 35-40 thousand in MD
What was look of the two cities?
they both had city walls, a fortified itadel and a large granery suggesting that they were the centers of politcal authority.
What were buildings that were in the cities?
There wer emarketplaces, templs, public temples aextensive resitdential districts and broad strreets laid out ona carefully planeed grid
How did the two cities establish pattterns that shaped the larger society?
They had weights, measures, architectural styles and even brick sizes were very good. There was a high d
High degre of standardizeation because
Indus River facilitated trade
What did Harappa depend on?
Sucessful agricutural conomy
Did Harappans engge in trade?
Yes, both ometic and foreign
What did Harappans trade?
They had pottery, tols and decorative items that were prodcuced there and found tway to other places
During the period 2300-1750 BCe, what did trade with mesopotamians show??
Exchanged Indian coppery, ivory, and beads for wool, leather and olive oil
LIke societes in mesopotamia, and Egypt, what idd Harappan society generate?
considerable wealth
What do excavations at Mohenjo Daro show?
Tha tat its high point form 2500 to 2200 BCE, the ity was a thriving exonomic center with a poplatin of 40 thousand
What professions inhabited the Mohenjo Daro?
Goldsmiths, potter,s weavers, masons, and architects among the other professionals
The walth of Harappan societies encoutaged what?
the formation of social distincitons
Harappans built no palaces, pyramids, or magnificentombs, but their rulers weilded what?
great authirity from the citadels at Harappa adn Mohenjo Daro
How does one see the socieal distnctions in Harappa?
You see that many people livedin one roomm tenaments in arracklike structures, but there were also individua l houses of two, three stories and an interior gardents
What did most houses have?
They had ovens if they were wealthy, but all had toilets that drained in to city sewage systems
From when have archaeoligists discovered writing?
As early as 3300 BCE,, adn they have ma
What material shows the cultureof the Harppan society?
Statues, figruines, and illustrations ocarved onto seals refect a tradition o frepresentational art as well as expertise in gold, copper and bronze metallurgy
What is a striking statue?
It is a girl from HD that is dancing
What did Harappan religion relfect?
A strong concern fro fertility, they venerated gods and godddeses whom they associated with creation and procreatio. They recognized a mother goddes and a fertltiy god and they held trees and animals sacred
What do many scholars believe about the Harappan religion?
That ithere is influence in the Hindu religion today
After 1900 BCE, what happned to Harappan ociety?
It entered a period of delicn,
What was teh reason that Harappans decliened?
Because of ecological degradaiton, they deforested the Indus river vally to clear land for cultivation and obtain firewood. This led ot the erosion of topsoiland aslo reduced amounts of rainfall. Maybeflooding of the River also accounted to that
What continues to flourish in the Indus Valley ?
Cltivation of wheat, Barley and cotton
During the second millenium BCE, as Harappansociety delcined, what happened in terms of race constructs?
many foreingers filtered into the pace.
Who were the most prominent poeple who came into india?
The Aryan people, they filed through the passes of the Hindu kush mountains and established small herding and agricultural comunities throughout nothern India
Did the Aryans clash with the Dravidians?
Yes, but it was no tlike a full scle invasion
When they entered India, hasd the Aryans practiced Agriculture?
No, they had much more xperence on pastoral economy
What was teh Aryans’ way with Pastoral economy?
They kept sheep and goats but because they had a lot of horse they were prized. Horses do not preed well in Inda
Because Horses do not breed well in India, what did the Aryans have to do?
They had to replenish it from Central Asia. The cattle became
What was teh principal wealth in Arayan scoiety?
Cattle.
Did teh early Aryans use writing?
no, but they composed numberous poems and songs. T
What did the Aryans have?
They had a collection of religios and literary works by emorizing them and transmitting them orally from one generation ot another in Prakrit
What did Prakit evolve into?
It evolved into Hindi, Bengali and Urdu
What were the earliest works?
They were the Vedas, which were a collection of hyms, songs, prayers andr ritiausl honroing the variousaious gods of teh Aryans
What was teh most important veda?
the Rg Veda
What does Vda mean?
Wisdom, or Knowledge, refers to teh knowledge that priests needed
What do Vedas refelct in India
A boisteros society win which Aryans clashed with Dravidans and other people already in Inda
What do the vedas refer to a lot
The dasasm enemies. They dientify Indra the Aryan war go dand military hero as the one who ravaged citadels
What did teh ARyans learn about from the Dravidians?
They learned about land and agricultural tehcniques
How was teh government in the Aryans?
They fought among themselves, and had a lot o cheifdoms.
The head of a chiefdom was called
A raja. Who governed in collaboraton with a council of village elders.
Durign the early centuries of the Vedic Age, Aryan groups settled in the
punjab. These were some of the msot proominet migrations. Tehy spread east and sout h as well
AT around 1000 BCE, what did the Aryans learn how to do?
Make iron tools and with axes and iron ploys and they cleared frests and established agricurual communities
What di diron implements give?
They allowed them to cultivate more land, produce more food and support larger communities which in tun encouraged them to ush deeper in the Ganges valley
By 750 BCE, what could the Aryans form
The first cities in teh Ganges River Valley.
What was teh fovernment now that there were cities? T
There were councils of elders that directed the affairs of small republics-states governemed by represetntatives of the cities. In most places, htey were regional kingdoms
Where does the term caste come from ?
The Poirtugese term Casta, whch refers to a social class of hereditary adn unchangeable status
How did social classes arise?
From distinctions in skin, they had varnas for color.
What were the four main castes what were recognized later?
Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vishyas, Shudras adn the untouchables.
According to a hymn from the Rig Veda, what happened with the castes?
Golds had created four varnas during the early days and produced the B and Ks to lead their societies
for sometime, the varnas served well, but then what happened?
They needed a more compelx social order.
What were subcastes?
They were called jati
how did one determine thier jati?
Largely by occupation. people working at the same or similar tasks in a given area belonged to the same subcaste.
How did Jati behave
They ate with one another, intermarried and they cared for those who became ill or fell o hard times. Elaborate rules dicated forms of expressions
How did the aste system to accomodate social change
One could lose thier position or loose thier position. IT was not easy, but it was possible
What gender ruled over Aryan society?>
The ame. They recognized descent through the amle line
the Law book of Manu
dealth with proper moral beahvior, social relationships including sex and gender relationships. It reflected the society at early times, the author advised men to treat women with honor and respect.Tjjey said that te women should deliver babies
Who was the cheif deity and what was he likje?
Indra was strong, war god. He was associated iwth the weather and with the coming of rain to water the crops and the weather especiall.
Varuna
Presieded over the sky form his heavnly lce, wehre he oversaw the behaviro of mortals.
Aryans hoped to win the fabor ofthe gods
What did the Aryans beieve about the sacrificial events?
That their gods visited the earth and joined the worship. THey would please the gods to earn success.
When ARyans became dissastisfied, what did they do?
800 BCE, went to the Ganges valley to reflect on the relationship between human beings, the world and other things.
Where did the mystics draw inspiration from?
from the Dravidan peopls who often worhsiped nature spirtis that they associated wiht fertility adn the generationof new life.
What is a popular thing that that Dravidans believed
in reincarnation
WhatWHat were the Upanishads??
They appeared later in the Vedic Age (800-400) and they were most importat
What does the wrod upanishad mean?
A sitting in fron of and it refers to the practice of disiples gathering before a sage for discussion
What did the Upanishads teach?
That individual human beings in fact are not separeate and aunotomous creatus/ Each person participates in a larger cosmic order and forms a small part known as Brahman
The Upanishads developed several specific doctorines to explain this thoguht, what were they?
- Samsara: INdividuals go to the world of Fathers and ten return on Earth
- KRama, which accounted for the specific incarnations
What is the theory of Karma?
THat the person who did bad things would be reborn as a bad creature, but if they did good things, they would be reborn as a good creatur
Even though the under the betof circumstances what did reincarnation require,?
pain and sufferin.
What is MOksha?
It is characterized as a deep sleep.
Because Moksha is the ultimate reality with Brahman, what were the two principals to it
Asceticism and meditation, by embarking on a regime of extreme asceticism, they could purge themselves of desire fo the comforts of the physical world
Just as brahmin theories about the origins of varna, reflected Aryan society at about 1000 bCE, what did the religious views of the Upansihads doveltailed?
Used to justify social castes
What did the Upanishads call for
High ethical standards. THey discouraged gred, envy gluttony and all manner of vice, isnce those traits indicated excesive attactchment to the material world. THey wantned honesty, self contorl, charity and mercy
