Transcript Geography of South Asia

Part 1:
How does culture affect the
daily lives of people?
India
Social Structure
India has a unique social structure
When the Aryans came to India, they
developed a social structure with sharp
distinctions between individuals and groups
according to the occupations and roles in
society
These distinctions became the basis of the
caste system
Brahmins (priests) were at the top of the
caste system
Aryan Social Order
The first Indian civilization was built on
the Indus River valley (in present-day
Pakistan)
In the 1500s B.C., Aryan warriors
came from South Asia and built
kingdoms in Northern India
Their beliefs spread through the
country and later formed the religion of
Hinduism.
Aryan Social Order
Members of the untouchable class
dispose of corpses after the 2004
tsunami
Aryan social hierarchy
served to maintain order
and stability that other
societies such as
Mesopotamia, Egypt,
and China maintained
through state and
political structures
The term caste comes
from the Portuguese
word “casta” meaning a
social class of
hereditary and usually
unchangeable status
The Caste System
These are social classes based on a
person’s ancestry.
Hinduism organized India’s society into
castes
Castes determine what kinds of jobs a
person can have and whom that person can
marry.
Untouchables
Members of
the
untouchable
class dispose
of corpses
after the 2004
tsunami
Some centuries later, the Aryans added the
category of untouchables
The untouchables performed dirty or unpleasant
tasks such as butchering animals or handling dead
bodies
Such work made them become so polluted that their
very touch could defile individuals of higher status
Social Order
Individuals came to identify themselves
more closely with their castes than with
their cities or states
The caste system served as the
principal foundation of social stability in
India, doing what states and empires did
to maintain public order elsewhere
Mobility in the Hierarchy
There were some provisions for movement between
classes, but individual upward mobility was not easy
The caste system enabled foreign people to find a
place in Indian society
As more people migrated to India, especially
Turks and Muslim merchants, the caste system
continued to provide order
Immigrant groups gained recognition as distinct
groups under the umbrella of the caste system
Established codes of conduct both within their
group and in their interactions with others
Geographic Expansion
At first the caste system was confined
to northern India where the Aryans had
first entered
As commercial relationships pushed
south, the caste system took hold there
as well
By the 11th Century, the caste system
was the principal basis of social
organization in southern India
Caste in India Today
The preamble of India’s constitution
forbids negative public discrimination on
the basis of caste.
In reality, caste ranking and castebased interaction continue
More prominent in the countryside than in
urban settings and more in the realms of
kinship and marriage than in less personal
interactions
How were populations controlled in India?
Caste system
Maintained order by assigning an
individual to a place in the social hierarchy
and established a rigid code of behavior
based on that assignment
Allowed immigrant groups to find a place in
society by recognizing them as distinct
groups within the overall system
How does culture affect the
daily lives of people?
Part 2:
How have the physical
settings of India influenced
life?
India
How has the physical setting influenced life?
Today we are looking at…
Landforms
Karakoram Range
Himalayas
Eastern/Western Ghats
Satpura Range
Ganges Plain and Ganges River
Deccan Plateau
Climate
Monsoons
Himalayas
Natural Resources
Products
Green Revolution