Period 1: Technological and Environmental Transformations to

600 B.C.E.Early Societies in East Asia

Early Aryan IndiaAryans – Nomadic

and pastoral peoples speaking Indo-European languages who migrate into the Indian subcontinent and settled throughout the Indus valley.

The Aryans and IndiaEarly Aryans:

Heavily Pastoral Early On Sheep, goats, horses,

and cattle.

The Aryans and IndiaEarly Aryans:

Utilized iron implements by 750 B.C.E. to farm and establish more permanent settlements.

More permanent settlements meant evolution of more established political and social organization

Origins of the Caste SystemCaste System – Indian social system based

on hereditary and usually unchangeable status.

Caste SystemBrahmans – Priests,

Nobles, High Government officials

Kshatriya – Warriors and Other Officials

Vaishya – Merchants, Landowners, and Artisians

Shudra – Peasants and laborers

Outcastes – Outsides of the Caste System

SocietyPatriarchal SocietyThe Lawbook of Manu –

Dealt with proper moral behavior and social relationships including sex and gender relationships

Sati – Practice by which widows threw themselves in the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands.

SocietyBhagayad Gita:

Ethical text of the Hindu Religion

Karma: The total effect of ones actions that determines destiny in the wheel of life and reincarnation.

Dharma: Ones duty to their caste.

Aryan ReligionFocused heavily on rituals and ritual

sacrifices.

BrahmanReligious belief that each person

participates in a larger cosmic order and forms a small part of a universal soul.