Chapter 4 in Class Notes

1. Chapter 4 in Class Notes Early Societies in South Asia Really cool PPT Show

2. Objectives • What was the Harappan Civilization? • Where, When, So what? • What became of the Harappan Civilization?

3. What do these remains tell you about Harappan Civilization?

4. What do these artifacts tell you about Harappan Civilization?

5. Harappan society and its neighbors, ca. 2000 B.C.E.

6. Foundations of Harappan Society • The Indus River • Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges • Major society built by Dravidian peoples, 3000-2500 BCE • Cultivation of cotton before 5000 BCE, early cultivation of poultry • Decline after 1900 BCE • Major cities: Harappa (Punjab region and Mohenjo-Daro (mouth of Indus River) • 70 smaller sites excavated (total 1,500)

7. Mohenjo-Daro Ruins • Population c. 40,000 • Regional center • Layout, architecture suggests public purpose • Broad streets, citadel, pool, sewage • Standardized weights evident throughout region • Specialized labor • Trade

8. Harappan Society and Culture • Evidence of social stratification • Dwelling size, decoration • Harappan Civilization: matriarchal? • Influence on later Indian culture • Goddesses of fertility • Possible east/west distinctions

9. Mysterious End of Harappan Civilization • Reasons for disappearance unclear • Some evidence of alien abduction • Excessive deforestation, loss of topsoil • Earthquakes? • Flooding? • Evidence of unburied dead • Disappearance by 1500 BCE

10. Objectives • Who were the Aryans? What involvement did they have with the people of the Indus Valley? • What was Aryan culture like?

11. The Aryan “Invasion” • Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from the north • Dravidians, darker-skinned sedentary inhabitants of Harappa • Color Bias • Socio-Economic Implications • Difficulty of theory: no evidence of large-scale military conquest

12. The Early Aryans • Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses, cattle • Vegetarianism not widespread until many centuries later • Religious and Literary works: The Vedas • Sanskrit: sacred tongue • Prakrit: everyday language, evolved into Hindi, Urdu, Bengali • Four Vedas, most important Rig Veda • 1,028 hymns to gods

13. The Vedic Age • Conflicts between Aryans and indigenous dasas (“enemies,” “subjects”) • Aryans fighting Dravidians • Also Aryans fighting each other • Chiefdoms: Rajas • Early concentration in Punjab, migrations further south • Development of iron metallurgy • Increasing reliance on agriculture • Tribal connections evolve into political structures

14. Varna: The Caste System • Origins in Aryan domination of Dravidians • Brahmin, Priest • Kshatriya, Warrior • Vaishya, Merchant • Sudra, Commoner • Harijan: “Untouchables; Pariahs” • Jati subsystem of castes • Related to urbanization, increasing social and economic complexity

15. Brahmins from Bengal

16. Patriarchy in Ancient Indian Society • “rule of the father” • Enforced in the The Lawbook of Manu • Overwhelmed Harappan matriarchy? • Caste, Jati, inheritance through male line

17. Sati (“Suttee”)- Ritual Sacrifice of students who failed to follow teacher’s orders

18. Aryan Religion • Major deity of Rig Veda: Indra, war god • Elaborate ritual sacrifices to gods • Role of Brahmins important • C. 800 BCE some movement away from sacrificial cults • Mystical thought, influenced by Dravidians

19. Teachings of the Upanishads • Texts that represent blending of Aryan and Dravidian traditions • Composed 800-400 BCE, some later collections until 13th century CE • Brahman: the Universal Soul • Samsara: reincarnation • Karma: accounting for incarnations • Moksha: mystical ecstasy • Relationship to system of Varna