Unit 4 Notes: India Flashcards
Indus River Valley
2600 BC
Harappa (capital of the region)
Main crops are wheat and barley
Undeciphered language
Mahenjo - Daro
First great civilization of Indian subcontinent
Ganges River
River running through northern India
Sacred to Hinduism beliefs
Aryan Invasion
1800 BCE
Vedas
Large body of ancient religious texts for Hinduism
There are four Vedas
Rig Veda
One of the four vedas
a collection o hymns praising the Hindu gods.
Caste System
Part of Hindu beliefs
A system people are born into.
People are put on earth to fulfill a specific job.
You role of society.
Your Dharma is based on what job you have.
Women
inferior to men
where nothing without their husband
didn’t have the same rights as men
Sati
Women are supposed to be so distraught and useless that they will kill themselves if their husband dies before them.
Sati was a common practice used up until the 1980s
Caste System Ranks
Brahmans
Kshatriyas
Vaisyas
Sudras
Pariahs/Untouchables
Caste System Jobs
Brahmans - Priests, teachers, judges
Kshatriyas - warriors
Vaisyas - farmers and merchants
Sudras - craftworkers and laborers
Untouchables or outcasts - street sweepers, garbage collectors, and hide tanners
Upanishads
Ancient writings about the Vedas.
sacred like the vedas.
Bhagavad Gita
large ‘epic’ story
most sacred hindu texts
teaches devotion to Gods
Karma
If you do good things good things will happen to you and vice versa.
‘Spiritual scorecard’
Moksha
If you have enough good Karma you will be at Moksha and you won’t keep being reincarnated.
You will make it back to Brahman.