Harappan society: named after Harappa(major city), valley of river(Indus), 3000BCe involved into cities 70 harappan settlements along Indus river. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: City walls, citadel, granarycenters of authority o Market place, temples, sacrificial rites o Temples, cults, rites of passage.
Harappan society: named after Harappa(major city), valley of river(Indus), 3000BCe involved into cities 70 harappan settlements along Indus river. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: City walls, citadel, granarycenters of authority o Market place, temples, sacrificial rites o Temples, cults, rites of passage.
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Harappan society: named after Harappa(major city), valley of river(Indus), 3000BCe involved into cities 70 harappan settlements along Indus river. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: City walls, citadel, granarycenters of authority o Market place, temples, sacrificial rites o Temples, cults, rites of passage.
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Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Introductory story: Indra–rambunctious,few peers in fighting,feasting
Aryans • Aryans – herding Indo-European who migrated to S. Asia in 1500BCe, Indra as chief diety • War between god and demons: Gods picked Indra as leader, won • Indra-rain, battle with dragon lived in sky, hoarded water, 1st slaked thirst with soma(hallucinogenic potion) and attacked the dragon, 7 rivers of N. India • Aryans put Indra as guide when fight Dravidians in India • Faded into nothing • India – 8000-5000BCE, cultivators built Neolithic west of Indus river • 7000BCE, agriculture goes to Indus valley, • 3000BCE, Dravidian people established Neolithic communites o Wheat, Barley, Cotton, Cattle, sheep, goats • Increased into cities • Harappan-earliest urban society, declined from environmental • 1500-1000BCE in turmoil, Aryan and Dracidian Harappan Society: Named after Harappa(major city), valley of river(Indus), 3000BCe involved into cities, • Difficult to follow as physical remains are inaccessible, water raised, earliest is 2500BCE, second, lack of deciphered records, since 1920 Foundations of Harappan Society The Indus River: Draws water from Hindu Kush and Himalayas o Have enormous amounts of silt, rich soil, less predictable o Early cultivators sowed wheat and barley in Sept. then collected in spring Kept first flock of domesticated chicken o Cultivated cotton before 5000BCE, dyed cloth dating b4 2000 o 3000-2500BCE, Dracidians built complex society Supported two cities, Harapa and Mohenjo-Daro o 70 harappan settlements along Indus river. Much of Pakistan and N. India Political Organization: No evidence, no king or central authority o Mohenjo-Daro-35-40K, harappa-smaller Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro: City walls, citadel, granary- centers of authority o Market place, temples, public buildings, residential districts, broad streets in grids, MD had large pool o Had standardized patterns, styles, sizes, weights Specialized labor and trade: engaged in domestic and foreign trade o Pottery, tools, a. decorative items, o Obtained gold,silver etc in Persia o 2300-1750BCE traded with Mesopotamia Harappan Society and Culture: 2500-2000-40K – MD Social distinctions: No pyramids, palaces, or tombs, but wield great power from citadels o Poor – One-room tenements (barracks-style) o Rich – 2, 3 Stories, courtyards, wells, bathrooms, sewage o 3300BCE – earliest dated writing of Harappan, understand several symbol but not enough Fertility Cults: Strong religion for fertility o Mother goddess and horned fertility god, held trees and animals sacred Harappan Decline: 1900BCE, deforest->erosion->reduced rainfall o Indus valley became desert, faced crisis after 1900 o Might be flooding or earthquakes o After 1700BCE, abandoned city, 1500 collapsed The Indo-European Migrations and Early Aryan India: Foreigners came and settled in valley during turmoil, pastural and nomadic, 1500BCE went through Hindi Kush mountains to N.India, several centuries, no military 1500BCe, intermarried The Aryans and India The early Aryans: Aryans practiced little agriculture when entering India, more pastoral economy(sheep, goats, horses, cattle) o Horses are rare in India, expense, need to import horses Used horses for carts/wagons/chariots o Cattle became principal measure of wealth, ate dairy and cattle(not sacred yet) The Vedas: No writing but used poems and songs o Preserved collections of religious and literay works by memorizing them, tramitting orally in Sanskrit, sacred o For everyday used Prakrit ->Hindi, Bengali, Urdu o Vedas – Collections of hymns, songs, prayers and rituals Earliest – Rig Veda, 1028 hymns to gods, 1400-900 Committed to writing around 600 with all 4 o Vedas-priestly perspective, veda(wisdom), shed light on early Aryan history, 1500-500BCe Vedas Age The Vedic Age: a boisterous society in which Aryans clashed Dravidian o Aryans and enemies(dasas”subject people”) o Indra – war god and hero, Aryans clashed repeatedly, attacking cities and wreaking the irrigation system o Adpoted Dravidians techniques o Aryans no state, hundreds of chiefdoms Leader known as a raja, governed with village elders Large amount of potential conflict Aryan Migrations in India: Early centuries, Aryan groups settled in Punjab, upper Indus that straddles India and Pakistan o Most prominent waves in Indo-European Migrations Spread E.S. and into India o 1000BCE, settle between Himalayan and Ganges Made iron tools at same time o 750BCE, established first cities in Ganges o 500BCE, N. Deccan, 1500KM s. of Punjab Changing Political Organization: relied on more agricultural than herd o Gradually lost tribal to councils of elders, directed affaris of small republics – state governed by representatives of citizens o 1000-500BCE,more chiefs worked from permanent capital and demand professional admins o Did not build large imperial states till 400BCE, reginal government Origins of the Caste System: well defined social order, maintain stability, sharp hereditary distinctions. o Caste – portuguse for casta – social class of hereditary, unchangeable Caste and Varna: Caste system developed gradually o Varna – color to refer to social classes, different skin Social Distinction in the late Verdic Age: 1000BCE four main varnas o Priest(Brahmins) o Warriors(vaishyas) o Aristocrats(kshatriyas) o Peasants and serfs(shudras) o Untouables – butcher, dirty skills, Rig Veda – 1000BCE, gods created four varna and B and K best, enhanced their power Subcastes and Jati: 600BCE described pretty well, no specialized labor o Over time, much elaborate social order o Complicated hierarchy of subcastes known as jati, 1800 and 1900 CE, several thousand jati’s o Ate with one another and intermarried, cared for each other o Laws dictate how to communicate, violation of jati rules could result in expulsion from the group Caste and Social Mobility: not absolutey rigid, operate to accodamate change o V or S may turned to new lines of work and prospered, B and K may lose positions, more group than individuals o Moving or taking new line of work. o Foreigners organized into caste too o End Vedic age – caste served as foundation of stability More close with jati than city or state The Development of Patriarchal Society Strong patriarchal society, men already dominate when moving in The lawbook of Manu: Vedic society want to put women under man o 100BCE, Sage wrote book attributed to Manu, founder of human race, about moral and social behaviors o After Vedic but shows roots, Sati: or Suttee, widow voluntarily threw herself into funeral pyre of husband to join in death Religion in the Vedic Age: Mobile a. violent society and then became Hinduism Aryan Religion Aryan Gods: Chief deity is Indra, boisterous and violent war god o Wielder of thunderbolts, led Aryans to battle o Also associated with weather, rain, showed instability and turbulence o Believed Varuna presided over sky and punished with death House of Clay/world of Fathers Ritual Sacrifices: Rituals are important o Complex and elaborate, slaughtered animals, as priests spoke chant and took practice of soma (hallucinogenic concoction) o Proper ritual called to have Brahmins perfom <5 sacrifices per day o Later, dissatisfied, 8000BCE, lived as hermits, Blending if Aryan and Dravidian Values The Upanishads: 800 to 400CE sitting in front of o Gargi Vakaknavi women drove sage Yajnavalkya to exasperation because he could not answer question Brahman the Universal soul: participation in a larger cosmic order and forms a small part of a universal soul o Eternal, unchanging Teaching of Upanishads: Samsara, goes to house of father than back o Karma, specific incarnation that souls experienced o Brhadaranyaka Upanishad – Karma – pure by deeds o Moksha – deep, dreamless sleep, liberation from incarnations Extremely simple lives and yoga Religion and Vedic Society: Upanishads as to justify caste system 04/09/2007 15:30:00 04/09/2007 15:30:00