Indus Valley Civilization 

The Harappan Society

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Mohenjo-Daro Society

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Hydraulic Culture

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The Early Aryans The Vedas Caste System

Harappan society and its neighbors, ca. 2000 B.C.E.

Harappan Culture  Indus valley – not desert – well-watered and heavily forested  500 miles along the river valley – 10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt

Foundations of Harappan Society    The Indus River – Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges Major society built by Dravidian peoples, 3000-2500 BCE – Cultivation of cotton before 5000 BCE, early cultivation of poultry – Decline after 1900 BCE Major cities: Harrapa (Punjab region and Mohenjo-Daro (mouth of Indus River)

India

Harappan culture sites

Hydraulic Culture  like Mesopotamia  agriculture and flood-control  significant industry and trade  cities were very common

Major Cities  Harappa and Mohenjo-daro – surrounded by smaller cities, towns, and villages

Mohenjo-daro view of the “Citadel”

Cities  very densely populated  houses: two to three stories  every house is laid out the same

Culture and Society  advanced agriculture  surplus production  textiles: wool and cotton  domesticated animals and fish

Combination of Changes  climate shift: the monsoon patterns  flooding  destruction of the forests  migrations of new peoples: the Aryans

The Aryan “Invasion”      Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from the north Dravidians, darker-skinned sedentary inhabitants of Harappa Color Bias Socio-Economic Implications Difficulty of theory: no evidence of large-scale military conquest

Possible route of the Aryan invasions

The Aryans  not to be confused with Hitler’s “Aryans”  these Aryans speak an Indo-European dialect  related to other languages like Greek and Latin

The Aryans, con’t  they called themselves “Aryans”  their land: “Aryavarta” – land of the Aryans

The Early Aryans   Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses, cattle – Vegetarianism not widespread until many centuries later Religious and Literary works: The Vedas – Sanskrit: sacred tongue – Prakrit: everyday language, evolved into Hindi, Urdu, Bengali – Four Vedas, most important Rig Veda • 1,028 hymms to gods

Oral Tradition  passed down from priests and singers  written down in the 500’s 

The Vedas

– “Veda” means “knowledge”

The

Vedas

 our primary source – early Aryan tradition – later Hindu religion  four “vedas” – the

Rig Veda

is the oldest

Krishna with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksketra

Krishna reveals himself to Arjuna in his manifold aspects

The

Vedas

 oral poetry  come to have a sacred character  provide some historical information

Caste System, 1000 BC  skin color  ritual purity  divine order of four castes

Caste System (“Varnas”) 

Brahmins

: the priests 

Kshatriyas

: the warriors 

Vaisyas

: merchants and peasants 

Sudras

: non-Aryans