Chapter 3: Settlers and Migrants: The Creation of States in Asia 5000-500 BCE

Settlers and Migrants: The Creation of States in Asia (5000-500 BCE)

Overview

• Backstory themes:

  • After agriculture enabled permanent settlements, states emerged in Southwest Asia and Northeast Africa first (~3000 B.C.E.).

  • In Asia, urban states arose in river valleys (Southwest Asia, South Asia, East Asia) with distinctive trajectories.

  • Interactions between settled agriculturalists and mobile pastoralists (nomads) connected diverse regions and influenced technologies (e.g., bronze) and cultural practices.

• Key geographical and environmental contexts:

  • River valleys facilitated irrigation and large populations (Indus, Ganges, Yellow River, Yangzi).

  • The vast Eurasian steppes enabled pastoralism and horse domestication, enabling long-distance mobility and warfare adaptation (e.g., chariots).

• Broad chronological frame:

  • Early states and urban cultures emerge by 3rd millennium B.C.E. and continue to evolve through 1st millennium B.C.E.

The Nomads and Settlers of Early Eurasia (Core Dynamics)

• Two basic livelihoods in Asia before full state formation:

  • Settled farming in fertile river valleys (irrigation possible with rain-fed rivers).

  • Pastoral nomadism in steppe and semi-arid regions (herding animals).

• Domestication of the horse (~$2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$) increases mobility, enabling long-distance movement and cross-regional links among urban states.

• Indo-European language speakers (nomadic pastoralists) play a crucial role in Eurasian history, spreading across western China, Europe, and the Indian subcontinent.

• Central Asia and the Tarim Basin show evidence of Indo-European language presence later (e.g., burials with European physical traits dated to around $2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$).

• Contact, contact networks, and exchanges between nomads and settled peoples influence political, military, and economic developments across Eurasia.

• “Seeing the Past” box highlights:

  • Nomads described by Sima Qian as Mountain Barbarians with horses, bows, and lack of cities or writing; a reminder that sedentary sources often shaped historians’ views.

  • The bias of settled societies in producing sources about nomads, and the reciprocal influences between nomads and settled communities.

• Pastoralist terminology:

  • pastoralist: animal herder who moves with flocks in search of grazing land.

  • pastoralism: lifestyle/ economy based on herding.

The Indus Valley Culture (2600-1900 B.C.E.)

• Geographic extent and urban spread:

  • Mature Indus culture emerged around $2600 ext{ B.C.E.}$; urban centers stretched ~$1100 ext{ miles}$ along the Indus from the north to the Arabian Sea and ~$800 ext{ miles}$ east–west.

  • Large cities (five major urban centers) with populations possibly around 30,000; more than thirty smaller cities and over fifteen thousand villages.

• Urban planning and architecture:

  • Cities built on mud-brick platforms with a grid-like layout (north–south, east–west orientation).

  • Large public works and standardized urban design across sites suggest coordinated planning and shared norms.

• Mohenjo-Daro (largest site, eastern Pakistan) features:

  • Great Bath: 23 ft wide by 39 ft long, 8 ft deep; lined with plaster; waterproofed with bitumen; possible ritual bathing.

  • Large granary/storehouse adjacent to the Great Bath; a pillared hall on the platform.

  • Sanitation and infrastructure: private bathrooms, wells, sewage channels under streets, large artificial basins for water collection; potential harbors via basins.

• Social organization and power:

  • Indus cities show social stratification but little evidence of militarized elite rule; no monumental weapons found in tombs; no clear temples.

  • The elite authority’s source is unclear; possibilities include a merchant class or elites who renounced luxury.

  • Urban uniformity across cities suggests close contact and trade as a unifying factor rather than a single centralized state.

• Trade and economy:

  • Long-distance trade with Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf; exchange of craft goods and trade goods like carnelian, lapis lazuli, shells, timber, textiles, ivory.

  • Uniform weights and measures across Indus towns facilitated trade and economic integration.

• The Indus script and writing:

  • Indus script dated approx. $2600-1900 ext{ B.C.E.}$; around 4,000 texts known, mostly on stamp seals, pottery, and jewelry.

  • Script consists of ~400 signs; signs likely represent words; inscriptions short (avg ~5 signs).

  • Writing used for ownership marks and trade administration; seals circulated widely across the valley and into trading partners (e.g., Bahrain).

• End of the Indus Valley Culture:

  • Around $1900 ext{ B.C.E.}$ large-scale urban centers were abandoned; cultures began to diverge; possible reasons include climate drying, disrupted trade networks, or movement of people toward wetter regions.

  • Influx of Indo-European-speaking populations may have contributed, but direct evidence of conquest is lacking.

• Examining the evidence (prompted questions):

  • What does Indus writing tell us about administration and trade?

  • How do Indus seals compare across sites? What do their similarities imply about standardization and connectivity?

  • How does uniform urban design inform us about political organization and social structure?

• Key terms from Indus Valley study:

  • Harappan culture: term used for the Indus urban civilization; Harappa as a key site.

  • Great Bath; modular brick construction; sanitation infrastructure; standardized bricks.

  • Seals and inscriptions: used for ownership and trade records; Indus script remains undeciphered.

The Indo-Europeans (3000-1000 B.C.E.)

• Linguistic concept:

  • Indo-European refers to a family of languages related by common origins (not a single race or ethnicity).

  • Early connections observed by comparing Sanskrit with Greek and Latin (e.g., words for mother, father, home show cognates).

• Migrations and linguistic spread:

  • By $100 ext{ B.C.E.}$, Indo-European languages spread widely from western China to western Europe, implying broad social contact and movement.

  • Arya (Aryan) term: “noble”; Aryas entered South Asia after $2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$, displacing non-Indo-European language speakers (Dravidian) in parts of the subcontinent.

• The two main explanatory models for Indo-European migrations:

  • Agricultural displacement: indo-European languages spread with farming from the Near East/Turkey region; parallels to Bantu migrations in Africa.

  • Pastoralist expansion: horse-centered migrations from the southern Russian steppes; may involve conquest or integration with local farming populations; horse-based warfare and mobility played a crucial role.

• Eurasian history impact:

  • Indo-European language spread contributed to linguistic diffusion across a vast area from the Atlantic to western China.

  • The Tarim Basin in western China shows Indo-European linguistic evidence in later centuries; mummies with European features dated to around $2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$; chariot technology appears in Shang China around the same period—likely linked through nomadic intermediaries.

• The broader significance:

  • Language families trace cultural and political connections across Eurasia; nomads influenced settled societies through technology, warfare, and exchange networks.

• Examining the evidence (prompted questions):

  • How do language families help us trace population movements?

  • What role did horse domestication and chariot use play in shaping Eurasian interactions?

India’s Vedic Age (1500-500 B.C.E.)

• Arrival of the Aryas:

  • By $1500 ext{ B.C.E.}$, Aryas entered the Indian subcontinent from the Iranian plateau; pastoralist migrants moved into fertile river valleys (northwest India first, then east).

  • Fusion of Aryan and local traditions led to foundational cultural shifts that shaped later Indian civilization.

• Vedic origins and literature:

  • The Vedas (literally ‘sacred knowledge’) comprise hymns, prayers, and dialogues in early Sanskrit; oldest compositions are Rig Veda (c. $1500-900 ext{ B.C.E.}$) but written down ca. $500 ext{ B.C.E.}$.

  • Aryas depicted as light-skinned nomadic warriors who conquered darker-skinned local populations (Dasa); conflicts describe warfare on horse-drawn chariots; cattle valued; access to grazing lands essential.

  • Contemporary scholarly view emphasizes peaceful interactions and intermarriage with local groups; the literature reflects social conflict and transitions.

• Rise of a new social structure: families, clans, and castes

  • Vedic society organized around extended patriarchal families; leading men held authority; women had limited rights and did not inherit wealth unless there were no male heirs (Lawbook of Manu describes female dependence).

  • Clans formed the basis of early political organization; assemblies and a raja (leader) emerged as a military and political head.

  • Varna system (originally four groups): Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (peasants/merchants), Shudras (artisans, laborers). A later fifth group: Untouchables, worked with materials considered impure.

  • Varna determined social position; endogamy within varna; later development of jati (birth-based occupational groups) that defined sub-castes and occupations; individuals typically remained within their jati, complicating social mobility but allowing new arrivals to integrate via jati formation.

• Vedic religion and ritual economy:

  • Gods: Indra (war god and ruler), Varuna (cosmic order), Agni (fire and messenger between humans and gods); ritual sacrifice central; Brahmins specialized in ritual knowledge; raja heads sacrifices and gains divine attributes; ritual power reinforces political authority.

  • Emergence of social division between ritual (Brahmins) and political/military leadership (raja).

  • Literacy and sacred knowledge remained concentrated among Brahmins, reinforcing control over religious and ceremonial life.

• Intellectual developments and belief systems:

  • Upanishads (c. $500 ext{ B.C.E.}$) reinterpret Vedic ideas, combining indigenous and Vedic traditions; shift from ritual emphasis to personal spiritual realization.

  • Core ideas: Brahman (universal soul), atman (self/soul), karma (moral consequence in rebirth), reincarnation (rebirth after death), moksha (liberation from cycle of rebirth).

  • Reincarnation and karma underpin the caste system and social duty, linking ethical conduct with future rebirths.

• Developments in literacy and social integration:

  • The Brahmins’ monopoly on Vedic literacy slowed wide literacy spread; widespread writing did not become common until about $500 ext{ C.E.}$, unlike Mesopotamia where writing emerged earlier for administrative use.

• Key terms and concepts:

  • Varna, jati, raja, Brahmins, Dasa, Rig Veda, Upanishads, Brahman, atman, karma, moksha, reincarnation.

• Examining the Evidence (Reading prompts):

  • How did Vedic ideas evolve when Aryans encountered indigenous traditions?

  • How did the Upanishads reinterpret ritual sacrifice in terms of personal transcendence?

The Early Chinese Dynasties (2000-771 B.C.E.)

• Cultural continuity and state formation in China:

  • Unlike India's more disruptive arrivals, early Chinese cultures show continuity and gradual development toward centralized states.

  • The middle Yellow River Valley becomes the seat of successive dynasties; archaeological evidence provides a different narrative from Sima Qian’s historical account.

• Literary tradition and archaeology:

  • Sima Qian (c. 100 B.C.E.) presented a dynastic sequence (Xia, Shang, Zhou); archaeology reveals a pattern of large urban centers and elite burials from 2000-771 B.C.E.

  • Oracle bones (bone and turtle shell inscriptions) provide the earliest Chinese writing; about 200,000 inscriptions exist, dating to the Shang dynasty (c. $1200-1027 ext{ B.C.E.}$).

  • Script features: each sign often represents a word; some signs are pictorial; script standardization occurred later under Shi Huangdi (noted in Chapter 5) but roots are older.

• The growth of states and bronze age innovation:

  • After $2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$, bronze technology expands rapidly; massive production begins around $1500 ext{ B.C.E.}$, with large-scale objects and many workers; indicates specialized labor and social stratification.

  • Erlitou culture (~$1900 ext{ B.C.E.}$) center in central Yellow River region shows early urban characteristics and rituals; some scholars link it to a Xia dynasty, though its exact relation is debated.

• The Shang Dynasty (1570-1027 B.C.E.) and the consolidation of power:

  • Multiple northern cities; hierarchical centers with elite tombs; capital often relocated; Anyang as a major royal center with large tombs for kings and queens.

  • Fu Hao: queen consort to King Wu Ding; tomb includes 460+ bronze vessels, 70+ stone sculptures, 705 jade objects, 7000 cowrie shells; over 100 weapons; evidence of female participation in warfare and divination; 6 human sacrifices.

  • Rituals and ancestor worship: the living king sought guidance from ancestors via oracle bones; king’s military and ritual authority linked to ancestral power.

  • Zhou intervention and the Mandate of Heaven:

  • Zhou toppled Shang around 1027 B.C.E.; the Mandate of Heaven justified the Zhou’s overthrow and could be withdrawn if a ruler failed to maintain order.

  • Heaven (Tian) as a legitimating force for rulership; a just ruler governs harmoniously; disobedience leads to cosmic upheaval and rebellion.

• The Zhou dynasty and political organization (1027-771 B.C.E.):

  • Indirect rule through local lords within a large but loosely integrated realm; approximately 200 regional lords by ~800 B.C.E.; Zhou king at the top but actual control delegated to kin and allied rulers.

  • Transformation of ritual practices: shifting from direct sacrifices to bronze donations in which donors’ names were inscribed on bronzes; ancestors provided favors in return.

  • Oracle bones decline; divination shifts to textual readings and later literary works (Book of Songs and other Zhou-era texts).

• The Zhou legacy and cultural model:

  • The Zhou period becomes an ideal model for governance and social structure in later Chinese thought.

  • The Book of Songs offers a window into court life and common life; themes include love, social constraints, and political ritual.

• Examining the Evidence (Reading the Past):

  • How does the Book of Songs reflect Zhou court life and rural experience?

  • How do ritual and ancestor practices reinforce political authority in Zhou China?

• Key terms from Early Chinese Dynasties study:

  • Oracle bones, divination, Mandate of Heaven, Tian (Heaven), Erlitou, Xia, Shang, Zhou, Fu Hao, Book of Songs, bronzes, chariots, heiarchy of lords.

The Oxus Culture (Counterpoint: Central Asia, 2100-1700 B.C.E.)

• Geographic and environmental context:

  • Located in Central Asia along the Amu Darya (Oxus) and Syr Darya valleys; irrigation agriculture possible in oases; reliance on canal networks.

• Settled society and fortifications:

  • Fortified fortress settlements with walls, guard towers, and gates; distinct clans housed in centralized centers; leadership clustered in center.

• Language and origins:

  • Language remains uncertain; some historians suggest Indo-European migrants from northern regions; possible later southward migration toward Iran and the Indian subcontinent.

• Material culture and economy:

  • Elaborate metalworking (axes, stamp seals, vessels) and luxury goods (sculptures of women in semi-precious stones) indicate wealth enough to sustain craft production.

• Trade and connectivity:

  • Cultivated regional wealth and connected to broader Eurasian networks by around $2000 ext{ B.C.E.}$ via overland routes; artifacts found across the Iranian plateau.

• Demise and causes:

  • Culture abruptly disappeared around $1700 ext{ B.C.E.}$; possible drought, social/political turmoil, or ecological constraints of oases; settlements abandoned, followed by a period of re-migration to other environments.

• Significance:

  • Demonstrates how people exploited ecological niches for settled life and how environmental change could abruptly end a culture.

• Connection to broader history:

  • Illustrates interactions between settled and nomadic peoples and potential influence on later South Asian and Iranian civilizations.

The End of the Indus Valley, and the Rise of the Indo-Europeans in South Asia

• End of Indus urban culture (~$1900 ext{ B.C.E.}$):

  • Cities abandoned; cultural practices diverged; climate change and trade disruption proposed as contributing factors; Indo-European-speaking migrants arrive in the region around this time, potentially influencing regional culture, though not by explicit conquest.

• Indo-European languages and Eurasian diffusion:

  • The spread of Indo-European languages across Eurasia by the start of the Common Era reflects extensive and long-term contact between farmers and pastoralists, with language spread accompanying other cultural changes.

Key Connections Across Regions

• Interactions between settled and nomadic groups were pivotal across Asia:

  • Nomadic horsemen and chariot technology altered military and economic power dynamics; intimate contact with sedentary economies through trade, exchange, and cultural transmission.

  • Urban planning, craft specialization, and long-distance trade served as mechanisms that connected distant regions (Indus Valley to Mesopotamia; Shang to western Asia; Oxus to Iran and India).

• Continuities and differences:

  • China’s dynastic legitimacy and bureaucratic models persisted (Mandate of Heaven, Zhou political ideology).

  • India’s social order evolved into a caste and sub-caste system; shift toward philosophical inquiry (Upanishads) and deeper questions about the self and the universe.

  • Indus Valley demonstrates an urban phenomenon with high standardization and trade integration, yet lacking clear evidence of centralized military power or religious temples.

• Ethical, philosophical, and practical implications:

  • The Mandate of Heaven creates a moral framework for political legitimacy tied to cosmic order and responsibility.

  • Reincarnation and karma provide a worldview linking personal conduct to future existence and social structure, reinforcing caste-based organization.

  • The tension between nomads and settled communities highlights the reciprocity of cultural exchange and the non-binary nature of “civilization” boundaries.

Quick Reference: Terms and Concepts (Glossary Notes)

• Pastoralist: Animal herder who moves with flocks; pastoralism.

• Harappan/Indus Valley: Early urban culture in the Indus Valley ( $2600-1900 ext{ B.C.E.}$ ); notable for planned cities, sanitation, granaries, and standardized trade.

• Oracle bones: Shang-era divination tools carved with early Chinese writing; used for predicting the future; basis of earliest Chinese script.

• Mandate of Heaven: Chinese political philosophy legitimizing rulers who maintain order; withdrawal of mandate justifies rebellion.

• Xia/Shang/Zhou: Three successive dynasties in early Chinese history; Erlitou as a potential precursor to Shang; Zhou expansion and political reform.

• Vedas: Ancient Indian hymns and prayers; Rig Veda as foundational text (c. $1500-900 ext{ B.C.E.}$); preservation of knowledge by Brahmins and priests.

• Varna and Jati: Varna as broad social classes; Jati as occupation-based sub-castes; late evolution of caste governance in Indian society.

• Upanishads: Philosophical texts (c. $500 ext{ B.C.E.}$) shifting emphasis from ritual sacrifice to personal spirituality and concepts of Brahman/atman/karma.

• Indus script: Indus Valley writing system; undeciphered; signs likely correspond to words; used on seals and vessels for trade and ownership.

• Erlitou: Early urban center in the Yellow River region; debated link to Xia dynasty; some elements carried into Shang period.

• Fu Hao: Queen of Shang dynasty; tomb with substantial wealth and evidence of female participation in warfare and divination.

The Early Chinese Dynasties (2000-771 B.C.E.)

Note: The Xia dynasty's existence and exact timeline are debated, often linked to archaeological finds like the Erlitou culture, but lacked concrete evidence like a distinct writing system as seen in later dynasties.