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What were the two largest cities in the Indus River Valley Civilisations?
Harrapa and Mohenjo-daro
What are 4 possible causes of the decline of the civilisation?
Monsoons destroyed irrigation and farming prospects,invasions and long distance trade collapse
What does the word Aryans mean?
Noble/pure
What language did they speak?
An early form of Sanskrit
Why did the Nazis glorify the Aryans as a superior race?
Because they were credited with this important language development
Fun Fact:This Indo-European language is closely related to Persian, Latin, Greek and modern Romance languages.Such as
Spanish,French,Italian&Portuguese
Where did Aryans come from?
They descended upon North India through the Hindu Kush around 1500 BC/Arrived mcuh earlier and perhaps descended from the Harappans-Still a vibrant debate about where they came from
Cattle became the principal measure of ______ in early Aryan Society
wealth
They were____________.(job)
pastorialists
Aryans did not use _______ but they composed numerous poems and songs
writing
The earliest of these orally transmitted works were the
Vedas
What were the Vedas?
which were collections of songs, prayers, philosophies and rituals honoring Aryan gods.
What was the earliest Veda?How many hymns did it contain?
Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns.
What kind of stories were in Vedas?
stories that attempt to explain how the world was created, who the gods are, etc.
What are the four Vedas?
Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas
Rig Veda
The ear`liest Veda
Originally was recited orally and passed down generation to generation.
Children began learning the Rig Veda at an early age, would learn to chant each syllable in perfect order.
Scholars believe that the Rig Veda was the basis of the caste system which developed in ancient India.
In th Vedas,Aryans are portrayed as
fierce warriors with military skills
True or False Aryans spread through India quickly and carried out well organized military campaigns
False
How did Aryans come to power in North India ?
over generations of warring with each other
What was each Aryan tribe headed by?
rajan/chief
Who was second in importance in an Aryan tribe?
priests
What was the priests job?
They learned complicated rituals that were typically focused on honoring or appeasing the gods.
What was the Aryan social order?
Rajan
Priests
Warrior class
Farmers
Non-Aryans-not slaves,only allowed to perform the most ,menial tasks
Where did the Aryans begin to settle after 1000BCE?
the area between the Himalayan foothills and the Ganges river. During this time iron tools and implements were being made.
Eventually the would settle the entire subcontinent and evolve into_____
more formal political institutions.
Early Vedic period was more ______ with ____ being the main distinction between Vedic (Aryan) and non-Vedic people.
egalitarian,varna
What does varna mean?
color
What does Dravidian person mean?
Non-Vedic(Aryan) person
What did the Aryans use the term Varna to refer to?
The major social classes.( “Wheat colored v. darker skinned”)
How many “varnas” were recognized by the Aryans
4
What is a caste system?
The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation.
Social status is determined by the caste of one’s birth.
Marriage outside the caste is frowned upon.
Fun facts about the Caste system
Has been in use for many years
Still today the values of the caste system are held strongly.
Has a major role in modern India
Gives a sense of order and peace among the people.
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Name the Different Castes (from Highest to Lowest)
Brahman → priests, scholars
Kshatriya →ruler, warriors, landowner
Vaishya →merchants
Shudra → artisans, agriculturalists
Harijan → actually not part of the caste system, „outsiders“ and once known as „untouchables“
Where Does The System Come From?
The Indo-Aryans may have established a caste system in which they placed themselves in higher classes
True or False Activists think the system is a form of racial discrimination
True
Three disadvantages for people in the lower caste are:
Are not allowed to go to the high castes areas
They cannot visit the same temples as the higher castes
Often sit in the back of classrooms.
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Many Hindus believe that the system is
a part of the society and not within Hinduism’s backgrounds.
Observers think the caste system is a system of
exploitation of poor lower castes by the higher
What is the world’s oldest and third largest religion?
Hinduism
What is the name of the Hindus one universal sprit (god)?
Brahman
What is the name of the Creator god?
Brahma-created the universe,
What is said about Brahma’s four heads?
each head is said to have delivered the four Vedas (sacred texts)
Who is the protector god?
Vishnu
What is the destroyer god?
Shiva
Reincarnation
The belief that each person has many lives
Karma
the belief that the deeds (actions) of a person affect what he or she will be in the next life.
To have a better existence in the next life—you must follow your
dharma = your place in society (caste)
Avatar
representation of a Hindu god or goddess in human or animal form.
Why do many Hindus not eat meat?
Animals have a supreme life force
What is the name given to one of Hinduism’s religious texts that means “sitting near a teacher.”
Upanishad
In the upanishad much of the text is in the form of
questions by students and responses by teachers.
Why did many Indians want a simpler, more spiritual faith.
some Indians felt unhappy with the many ceremonies of the Hindu religion. (focus on meditation)
What is the name of Buddha?
Siddhartha Gautama
What did the prince do?
gave up wealth and power to understand the meaning of life
Founded a new religion called Buddhism
What did the prince people were too occupied with?
Fame,money and personal possessions
What did the priest predict about Siddhartha Gautama ?
selfless, wandering holy man
At what age did Siddhartha Gautama see sickness, old age, poverty, and death for the first time in his life.?
29
How many years of fasting did Siddhartha Gautama do?
6years
What are the four noble truths?
Life is full of suffering.
People suffer because they desire worldly things and want to satisfy themselves.
The way to end suffering is to stop desiring things.
The only way to stop desiring things is to follow the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Pald
Right View
Right Intentions
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Concentration
Right Mindfulness
They believe that the Eightfold Path can lead to
nirvana
After Buddha died, Buddhism divided into many branches
Theravada Buddhists and Mahayana Buddhists.
Buddhism Today
Today, Buddhism is one of the major world religions.
Most Buddhists live in Southeast Asia and East Asia. Only a few live in India, Buddhism's birthplace
Name animals that the Aryans reared and for what purpose
cattle, sheep, goats, and horses for purposes of milk, meat and hides.
How do we know this about their rearing?
after analyzing the literary evidence in the Rigveda.
. A large number of words are derived from the word ___ meaning ____
go,cow
What was a rich person called?
gomat
Who was the duhitri and what does it mean?
The daughter-one who milks the cows
gaveshana meaning
search for cows, but it also means battle since many battles were fought over cattle.
The cows were thought of as
Providers of everything
What was done for an increase in the number of cattle
Prayers were offered
What was the most important economic activity of Rigvedic Aryans?
cattle breeding
True or False Since Aryans valued cattle abpve all else the early Vedic people had no knowledge of agriculture
False
What was yava
modern jau or barley;cereal
Name some other economic activities other than cattle rearing and smale scale cultivation by the Aryans?
Hunting, carpentry, tanning, weaving, chariot-making, metal smeltery etc
The products of these activities were exchanged through____
barter
The priests received cows, horses and gold ornaments as
fees for performing sacrifices.
Describe the comparison of agriculture with pastoral activities
s meager and mostly late insertions. A few references show that they had knowledge of agriculture and practiced it to supplement their food requirements
What was the norm of marriage and what was the only exception for Rigvedic society?
Monogamy was the usual norm of marriage but the chiefs at times practiced polygamy
When do marriages take place?
after attaining maturity
The family was part of a larger grouping called
vis or clan.
One or more than one clans made
jana or tribe
The jana was the largest
social unit
All the members of a clan were related to each other by
blood relation
The membership of a tribe was based on ____ and not on
birth;residence in a certain area.
Thus the members of the Bharata tribe were known as the
Bharatas
True or False Names of clans implied territory
False
True or false There was a caste system in the Rigvedic society
False
True or False Occupation in Rigvedic society is not based on birth
True Members of a family could adopt different occupations
Describe the appearance of vedic people in constrast to non vedic people
The Vedic people were fair whereas the non-Vedic indigenous people were dark in complexion and spoke a different language
What does dasa mean?
used in the sense of a group different from the Rigvedic people.Later, dasa came to mean a slave
Name a practice that resulted in the creation of some inequalities within a tribe during the later part of this Vedic phase
concentration of a larger share of the war booty in the hands of the chiefs and priests
What were the three sections of the Rigvedic tribe.
The warriors, priests and the ordinary people
Fun fact about the Rigvedic society:
The women in society enjoyed respectable positions. She was married at a proper age and could choose a husband of her own choice. She could take part in the proceedings of the tribal assemblies
What were tribal assemblies called
sabha and samiti.
When did the shudra section of the Rigvedic tribe come?
Towards the end of the period
What were the main concerns of the Rigvedic people
The prayers to propitiate gods for physical protection and for material gains
The Rigvedic gods were generally
personifications of different aspects of natural forces such as rains, storms, sun etc
Why do we not see many goddesses mentioned in the text
The attributes of these gods also reflect the tribal and patriarchal nature of the society
Name some male gods
Indra, Agni, Varuna, Mitra, Dyaus, Pushana, Yama, Som
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