1 / 13

Early Civilizations of India

Explore the impact of Indo-Aryans on ancient Indian societies, from the Dravidians to the establishment of social structures and religious traditions. Discover the transition from nomadic life to settled communities and the development of the caste system.

christopherryan
Download Presentation

Early Civilizations of India

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Early Civilizations of India

  2. Dravidians: • people of Southern India who may be descended from the ancient Indus River Valley settlers • video

  3. Aryans: more correctly Indo-Aryans • Migrated into South Asia from north of Black and Caspian Seas • Linguistic family not a race • Nomadic herders • Skillful warriors: iron weapons, archers, chariots • May have contributed to collapse of Indus Valley Civilization • City-states ruled by rajah

  4. The Nomadic Indo-Aryans • Around 1750 BCIndo-Aryans appeared • Tribes of the Indo-European peoples • Came from north of the Black and Caspian Seas • Crossed the Hindu Kush Mountains into northwest India • Drawn into this area due to the rich pasturelands • Were sheep and cattle herders as well as skilled warriors • The word for war meant “a desire for more cows” • Armies of archers and charioteers enabled the Indo-Aryans to conquer all of northern India

  5. Influenced Indian Culture: • Long lasting effects of Indo-Aryans • village life • Religion • social structure

  6. Village Life • Farming and herding • Value on cattle • governing

  7. Indo-Aryan Societies (Government) • Gave up nomadic ways and lived in settlements • Settlements were joined to form small independent states or territories who were governed by a raja (chief). • Raja • Military leader, lawmaker, and judge • Had a royal council

  8. Vedas • oral religious traditions of the Indo-Aryans • 4 Vedas: oldest Rig Veda • Eventually recorded in Sanskrit (written language developed by Indo-Aryans) • Basis of Hinduism (long lasting effect)

  9. Varna • Sanskrit meaning color – created a complex system of social order • Social structure and classes of the Indo-Aryans • Brahmins: priest • Kshatriyas: warriors • Vaisyas: land owners, merchants, herders • Sudras: servants, peasants • evolved into caste (long lasting effect) • Caste: rigid system of social ranking by birth

  10. Indo-Aryan Societies (Social Life) • Complex system of social orders • Indo-Aryans nomadic people who were light skinned • Earlier settlerslived in settled communities and were dark skinned • Please remember this for later on!! It will be very important!! • Warriors and priests were at the top of the social structure. • Merchants, traders, farmers, and servants were below them. • Marriage • Elaborate rules government marriage among the different orders • Parent-arranged marriage was favored • Marriage by purchase, by capture, and by mutual consent was recognized

More Related