Early Societies in South Asia: CHAPTER 4 LECTURE NOTES - TRADITIONS AND ENCOUNTERS 6TH EDITION - AP World History
FOUNDATIONS OF HARAPPAN SOCIETY
- The Indus River
- Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges
- Major society built by Dravidian people (3,000-2,500 BCE)
- Cultivation of poultry
- Chickens, small birds, etc.
- Decline after 1,900 BCE
- Major cities include Harappa (Punjab region)/Mohanjo-Daro (mouth of the Indus River)
- Population: 40,000
- Very large for the 1st time
- Regional center
- part of the larger community, but center of trade/commerce
- Layout, architecture suggests public purpose
- Tall tower built on hills as lookout positions
- School with plenty of tables
- Broad streets, citadel, pool, sewage (very wide)
- Standardized weights evident throughout the region
- Specialized labor/trade
HARAPPAN SOCIETY/CULTURE
- Evidence of social stratification
- Nobility/priest --> Merchants (wealthy) --> Peasants --> Slaves
- Dwelling size decore
- Lots of land/decor important/valuable
- Harappan civilization influences Indian culture
- Statues, figurines, and illustrations reflect a tradition of art/metallurgy
- Venerated a goddess of fertility
MYSTERIOUS END OF HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION
- Reasons for disappearance unclear
- Excess deforestation/ loss of topsoil
- Roots help keep topsoil in place, without it, the wind can blow it away
- Nutrients for crops to sit/rest
- Earthquakes/food
- Evidence of unburied dead
- Disappeared by 1,500 BCE
- Harappan traditions survived agricultural practices, religious beliefs, and urban traditions
EARLY ARYANS
- Pastoral economy, sheeps, goats, horses, cattle
- Cattle not sacred to Aryans until many centuries later
- Religious/literact works: The Vedas
- Four Vedas/Wisdoms, most important is Rig Urda
- 1,028 hymns to Aryan gods
- Songs/stories to tell history, what they do, their jobs, etc. about Aryan gods
VEDIC AGE
- Conflicts between Aryans and indigenous dasas
- Also Aryans fighting each other
- Chiefdoms = rajas
- People moving into smaller groups to protect themselves/work together
- Early concentration in Punjab, migrations further south
- Development of iron metallurgy
- Increasing reliance on agriculture
- Tribal connections evolve into political structures
**NOTES**
Sanskrit = sacred tongue
Prakrit = everyday language evolved --> Hindu, Urdu, Bengali
Dasas = "enemies/subjects"
Varna = caste system
ORIGINS IN ARYAN DOMINATION OF DRAVIDIANS
- Brahmin priest
- Kshatriya, warrior
- Vaishiya - merchant
- Shudra, serf-->farmers
- "Untouchables" --> people who change the sewage systems, collecting dead, etc.
- Jati system of subcastes
- Related with urbanization, increasing social/economic complexity
PATRIARCHY IN ANCIENT INDIAN SOCIETY
- Rule of the Father = the idea that men>women
- Women's most important duties: bear children/maintain wholesome homes
- Social order that stood alongside the caste system and varna hierarchy
ARYAN RELIGION
- Major deity of Rig Veda = Indra, war god
- Becomes part of religion early on
- Elaborate ritual sacrifices to the gods
- Role of the Brahmins (priests) is important
- (around 800 BCE) some movement away from sacrificial cults
- Didn't kill animals to please gods
- Mystical thought influenced by Dravidians
TEACHINGS OF THE UPANISHADS
- Texts that represent blending of Aryan/Dravidian traditions
- Composed 800-400 BCE, some later collections until 13th century
- Brahman: Universal soul
- Everyone comes from this one universal soul
- Samsara: Reincarnation
- Return to the universal soul
- Born a different person, good/bad depending on the person's morals
- Karma: Accounting for incarnations
- Good/bad karma = the more good actions you do, the more good karma you build up, vice versa
- Moksha = Mystical ecstasy
- Idea that a person will reach a level of happiness that seems "mystical", cannot be reached with simple ways
- Reinforced caste/social hierarchy