ASIAN CIVILIZATION

ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 Indian Subcontinent
 To North: Impassable Himalayas
 To East: Passable low hills
 To Northwest: Passable Hindu Kush, Khyber Pass
 To West: Arabian Sea
 Northern Plain of Indus, Ganges Rivers
 Southern Deccan
 High plateau, extremely dry
 Bordered on East and West by mountains
 Separated from north by river, low mountains
 The Monsoon Winds
 Off the land October to April: Dry Season
 Off the Indian Ocean May to September: Wet Season
ASIAN CIVILIZATION
ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 The Indus River
 Runs through north India, sources at Hindu Kush, Himalayas
 Rich deposits, but less predictable than the Nile
 Wheat and barley were cultivated in Indus valley
 Cultivated cotton before 5000 B.C.E.
 Complex society of Dravidians, 3000/2500 B.C.E.
 Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
 Possibly served as twin capitals
 Each city had a fortified citadel and a large granary
 Broad streets, market places, temples, public buildings
 Standardized weights, measures, architecture, bricks
 Specialized labor and trade
 Domestic trade, items inc. pottery, tools, metals
 Trading with Mesopotamians about 2300 to 1750 B.C.E.

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 Social distinctions as seen from living styles
 Religious beliefs strongly emphasized fertility
 Many deities were feminine
 In later Hinduism, Dravidian gods are blue-faced
 Harappan society declined from 2000 B.C.E.
onward
 Ecological degradation led to a subsistence crisis
 Natural catastrophes - floods or earthquakes
 Population began to abandon their cities by about 1700
B.C.E.
 Almost entirely collapsed by about 1500 B.C.E
 Evidence of warfare, invasion

ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 Indo-Europeans
 Linguistic similarities among Europe, Persia, and India
 Indo-European family of languages
 Indo-Iranian including Aryans (India), Medes/Persians (SW Asia)
 Greek, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Italic, Celtic
 Tocarian, possibly Shang of China
 Migrations as the key to explain linguistic similarities
 Indo-European origins
 North of Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Aral Sea; Ukraine, Southern Russia
 Common origins established through key vocabulary, traditions, myths
 Indo-European migrations
 To Tarim Basin, fourth millennium B.C.E.
 Shang of China appear to have been Indo-Europeans
 To Anatolia (the Hittites), 3000 B.C.E.
 By 2nd millennium, established communities in Europe
 Around 1500 BCE, domesticated horse amongst Indo-Europeans
 Often called the Chariot Peoples; introduced iron and horse technologies

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 The early Aryans
 Depended heavily on a pastoral economy
 No writing system, but orally transmitted works called the Vedas
 Sacred language (Sanskrit) and daily-use language (Prakit)
 The Vedic Age: 1500 to 500 B.C.E.
 A boisterous period, conflict with indigenous peoples
 Called indigenous people dasas - "enemies" or "subject people"
 Indra, the Aryans' war god and military hero
 Aryan chiefdoms fought ferociously among themselves
 Aryan migrations in India
 First settled in the Punjab, the upper Indus River valley
 Spread east and south from their base
 After 1000 B.C.E. settled between Himalayan foothills and Ganges
 Used iron tools and developed agriculture
 By 500 B.C.E. migrated as far south as the northern Deccan
 Lost tribal organizations but established regional kingdoms

ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 Caste and varna
 Caste:
 Hereditary, unchangeable social classes
 Sanskrit word varna, "color," referring to social classes
 Social distinctions based on racial skin colors
 Social distinctions in the late Vedic Age
 Four main varnas, recognized after 1000 B.C.E.
 brahmins (priests)
 kshatriyas (warriors and aristocrats: rulers)
 vaishyas (cultivators, artisans, and merchants)
 shudras (landless peasants and serfs)
 Later, the category of the pariah (untouchables) was added
 Subcaste or jati
 Represents more elaborate social classification, developed after 6th c. B.C.E.
 Jati, or subcastes, were determined by occupations
 The elaborate rules of jati life
 Caste and social mobility
 Caste system was capable of accommodating social change
 Social mobility was very difficult but still possible
 Foreign peoples could find a place in society of the castes

ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 Patriarchal, Patrilineal society
 Original Aryan Society: women had rights, some were chiefs
 Changes occurred with change to sedentary civilization
 Men served as priests, warriors, and tribal chiefs
 Family lines based on male descendants (the patriline)
 Only males could inherit property
 Men learned the Vedas and received formal education
 Source: The Lawbook of Manu
 Prepared by an anonymous sage, 1st century B.C.E.
 Dealt with moral behavior and social relationships
 Advised men to treat women with honor and respect
 Subjected women to the control and guidance of men
 Women's duties: bear children, maintain the household
 Sati as a social custom
ASIAN CIVILIZATION
 The Aryan gods
 The war god, Indra
 The gods of the sun, sky, moon, fire, health, etc.
 The god Varuna - an ethical concern
 Ritual sacrifices
 Importance of ritual sacrifices
 Horse sacrifice originally
 Priests were specialists of the ritual sacrifices
 Ritual sacrifices for rewards from the divine power
 Spirituality
 Many Aryans dissatisfied with ritual sacrifices in late Vedic age
 A shift to spiritual contemplation
 Thoughtful individuals retreated to forests as hermits
 Dravidian notions were coopted
 Transmigration of soul
 Reincarnation (nirvana)

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 The Upanishads
 Works of religious teachings, 800 to 400 B.C.E.
 The religious forums: dialogues between disciples and sages
 Brahman: the universal soul
 Brahman was the only genuine reality
 Highest goal: to escape reincarnation and join with Brahman
 Atman: The individual self-soul that is part of Brahman
 Teachings of the Upanishads
 Samsara: An individual soul was born many times
 Dharma: Caste duties
 Karma: specific incarnations that a soul experienced
 Moksha: permanent liberation from physical incarnation
 Religion and Vedic Society
 Samsara and karma reinforced social hierarchy
 Upanishads were also spiritual and intellectual contemplations
 Taught to observe high ethical standards
 Respect for all living things, a vegetarian diet

ASIAN CIVILIZATION