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The Indo-Europeans. Indo-Europeans Migrate. The Indo-Europeans were a nomadic group coming from the steppes north of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian Seas. They were pastoral livestock herders.
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Indo-Europeans Migrate • The Indo-Europeans were a nomadic group coming from the steppes north of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black and Caspian Seas. They were pastoral livestock herders. • No one is completely sure why the migration happened, but the Indo-Europeans migrated outward in all directions between 1700-1200 BC.
The Hittites • By 2000 BC, and Indo-European group called the Hittites occupied Anatolia, or Asia Minor. This empire also occupied Babylon, and struggled with Egypt for control of Northern Syria. Neither group won, so they signed a peace treaty offering to help fight off invaders. • The Hittites used their own language with each other, but internationally they spoke Akkadian, taken from Babylon. • Their superior weaponry skills and iron chariots to help conquer their empire. • Despite their prowess, invaders attached and burned the Hittite capital around 1190 BC, ending the empire. Hittite = Red Egyptian = Green
Around the same time that the Hittites were establishing themselves in Anatolia, the Aryans were migrating through the Indus River Pass into India. They left little archaeological evidence, but their scriptures, the Vedas, gives an idea of their life through prayers, spells, and instructions for performing rituals. The Aryans called the people they found in India the dasas, or “dark,” which referred to the color of their skin. The Aryians were taller, lighter in skin color, and spoke a different language from the people that they found. They did not have a writing system and were more pastoral than the dasas, who lived in walled cities. Aryans Transform India
A Caste System Develops • Aryans were divided into three social classes: Brahmins (priests), warriors, and farmers. They automatically considered the dasas beneath them, so they became the lower class, the sudras. • Class restrictions were ridged – practically permanent. You were part of it for life, and the work they did and people they married were determined by the caste. Cleanliness was important – those considered unclean because of their profession (butchers, gravediggers, and collectors of refuse) were outside the caste system and became known as the “untouchables.” Their touch endangered the purity of everyone else.
Aryan Kingdoms Arise • Over the next few centuries, Aryans extended their settlements east and south, Magadha, a major kingdom, emerged out of this expansion and struggle for power. It covered almost all of the Indian subcontinent. • The great epic Mahabharata shows a blending of cultures as the Aryans moved southward. For example, Krishna, a semi-divine hero of the epic, is described as dark-faced. This suggests he is not Aryan. • The Mahabharata’s violence and confusion leads one to speculate about the place of gods and humans in the world. Due to this, religion gradually changed…
