IndoEuropean Migrations

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Indo-European Migrations

• KEY IDEA Indo-European peoples moved into areas
  new to them, including Europe, India, and
  Southwest Asia.

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Indo-Europeans Migrate

• The Indo-Europeans were semi-nomadic people who
  came from steppes (the dry grasslands) north of
  the Caucasus, an area between the Black Sea and
  the Caspian Sea.
• They rode horses and tended cattle, sheep, and
  goats. They spoke many different languages, but
  all of them came from the same original language.
  

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Indo-European Language Family

• The Language of the Indo-Europeans  is of
  interest to us because it is the foundation for
  many of our modern languages such as English,
  Spanish, Persian and Hindi.
• Historians study the Indo-European language in
  order to determine where the many different
  groups of these people settled.

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An Unexplained Migration

• While some peoples built civilizations in the
  great river valleys, others lived on the huge
  plains of western Asia.
• Then, for some reason, starting about 1700 B.C.,
  they began to leave their homes.
• They moved into some of the settled areas and
  began to conquer them.

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The Aryans Move into India

• The Aryans were a group of these nomadic people
  who entered into India over the Hindu Kush
  mountain range.
• They may have migrated because they sought a
  better climate, or they may have migrated to get
  closer to the major centers of trade.

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Hittite Invaders

• By 2000 BC a group of these Indo-European nomads
  the Hittites- migrated into the area of
  Anatolia (Turkey) and occupied it. They
  established several independent city-states.
•  They rode two-wheeled chariots and used iron
  weapons to conquer the area that is now Turkey.
  They moved farther and took the ancient lands of
  Mesopotamia. When they moved to the south, they
  ran into the Egyptians.
• Neither side was able to defeat the other,
  however, so they decided to make peace.

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Hittites Blend Empire and Technology

• The Hittites adopted many features of the
  culture that had grown in Mesopotamia before they
  arrived.
• They borrowed literature, art, and Hammurabis
  code of law. The Hittites believed the code to
  be far too harsh so they modified it to suit
  their custom better.

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The Beginning of the Iron Age

• The Hittites were masters of warfare. They moved
  war to a whole new level. They developed very
  strong iron weapons in about 1500 BC.
• They used chariots (like the Hyksos) These
  chariots were often pulled by two to four horses.
  They were built on a very sturdy wooden frame,
  embellished with iron implements, and covered
  with leather.

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End of the Hittite Empire

• Their knowledge of metalwork soon traveled
  throughout the area with the Hittite traders and
  through their conquests.
• Although the Hittites were superior in war, their
  empire came to a very abrupt end around 1190 BC.
  Invaders from the north attacked and burned the
  Hittite cities.

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Aryan Invaders Transform India

• In about 1500 BC, the Aryans were another
  Indo-European group that crossed over the Hindu
  Kush range and began settling in the Indus
  Valley.
• The only archeological evidence we have of these
  people is written in their holy books that are
  called Vedas. The Vedas are a collection of
  prayers, magical spells and instructions for
  performing religious rituals.

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• Before migrating to the Indus Valley, the Aryans
  had already developed a fairly rigid 3-level
  class system.
• The priests (Brahmins) were at the top.
• The warriors were the 2nd highest class
• Everyone else made up the lower class.
• When they arrived in India, they set
  themselves apart from the indigenous people and
  created new class levels for them.

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The Aryans were taller, lighter skinned, and
spoke their own language. Also, their religion
was quite different from the native people of the
Indus Valley. These differences became the basis
for class assignment. A fourth class was formed
to include the non-Aryan laborers and craftsmen.
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The Caste System Becomes Rigid

• The class one was born into determined his/her
  role in society. People born into a caste would
  be a member of that cast for their entire lives.
• Membership in a particular caste determined
  everything about their lives from what kind of
  job that they did to whom they could marry.

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Aryan Kingdoms Arise

• The Aryans extended their influence over a large
  area to include the Ganges River valley and the
  Yamuna River valley.
• These tribal units evolved into small kingdoms.
  After years of conflict, a single strong kingdom
  emerged and took over control of the region.
  This kingdom is called Magadha. By 200 BC, the
  Aryan kingdom of Magadha was in control of the
  entire sub-continent of India.

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Aryan Literature

• These battles are described in Indias great epic
  called the Mahabharata (the longest poem ever
  composed). This great poem reflects the struggles
  that took place in India as the Aryans were
  taking over the lands to the south.

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The Mahabharata

• The Mahabharata is written in a way that both the
  Aryan and non-Aryan cultures are expressed. The
  hero of the poem is dark-faced (obviously not an
  Aryan feature).

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Spiritual Quest

• This poem tells of a spiritual quest where the
  traditional religious beliefs of the Aryan and
  non- Aryans are questioned. They begin to
  question the morality of killing other human
  beings.

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The Rise of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism

• Due to the bloody wars during this time, many
  people began to search for the answer to the
  ultimate question What is mans place in the
  universe, what is the place of the gods. Out of
  these questions, new religions emerged Hinduism,
  Jainism and Buddhism.

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The End
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Answer these Questions

• Deduct how the environmental features in Anatolia
  helped the Hittites to advance technologically?
• Make an inference about how physical work was
  viewed by the ancient Aryans? How was their
  ideas reflected in society?
• Determine the factors that cause people migrate
  (think about modern times as well)?