Transcript The Indo-Europeans - Wheeler World Psych

The Indo-Europeans
Indo-Europeans Migrate
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The Indo-Europeans were a
nomadic group coming from
the steppes north of the
Caucasus Mountains,
between the Black and
Caspian Seas. They were
pastoral livestock herders.
No one is completely sure
why the migration happened,
but the Indo-Europeans
migrated outward in all
directions between 17001200 BC.
The Hittites
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Hittite = Red
Egyptian = Green
By 2000 BC, and Indo-European
group called the Hittites occupied
Anatolia, or Asia Minor. This
empire also occupied Babylon, and
struggled with Egypt for control of
Northern Syria. Neither group
won, so they signed a peace treaty
offering to help fight off invaders.
The Hittites used their own
language with each other, but
internationally they spoke
Akkadian, taken from Babylon.
Their superior weaponry skills and
iron chariots to help conquer their
empire.
Despite their prowess, invaders
attached and burned the Hittite
capital around 1190 BC, ending the
empire.
Aryans Transform India
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Around the same time that
the Hittites were establishing
themselves in Anatolia, the
Aryans were migrating
through the Indus River Pass
into India.
They left little archaeological
evidence, but their scriptures,
the Vedas, gives an idea of
their life through prayers,
spells, and instructions for
performing rituals.
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The Aryans called the people
they found in India the dasas,
or “dark,” which referred to
the color of their skin. The
Aryians were taller, lighter in
skin color, and spoke a
different language from the
people that they found.
They did not have a writing
system and were more
pastoral than the dasas, who
lived in walled cities.
A Caste System Develops
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Aryans were divided into three
social classes: Brahmins (priests),
warriors, and farmers. They
automatically considered the dasas
beneath them, so they became the
lower class, the sudras.
Class restrictions were ridged –
practically permanent. You were
part of it for life, and the work
they did and people they married
were determined by the caste.
Cleanliness was important – those
considered unclean because of
their profession (butchers,
gravediggers, and collectors of
refuse) were outside the caste
system and became known as the
“untouchables.” Their touch
endangered the purity of everyone
else.
Aryan Kingdoms Arise
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Over the next few centuries,
Aryans extended their settlements
east and south, Magadha, a major
kingdom, emerged out of this
expansion and struggle for power.
It covered almost all of the Indian
subcontinent.
The great epic Mahabharata shows a
blending of cultures as the Aryans
moved southward. For example,
Krishna, a semi-divine hero of the
epic, is described as dark-faced.
This suggests he is not Aryan.
The Mahabharata’s violence and
confusion leads one to speculate
about the place of gods and
humans in the world. Due to this,
religion gradually changed…