Chapter 3 Section 2 IndoAryan Migrants

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Chapter 3 Section 2Indo-Aryan Migrants
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• The Story Continues
• As the Harappan civilization was
• declining, a new warrior civilization was
• entering India. It is possible that this
• group destroyed what was left of the
• Harappan civilization. Whether or not they
• did, we know that these warriors soon
• came to dominate the region.

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I. The Nomadic Indo-Aryans

• 1750s BC - Indo-European people crossed the Hindu
  Kush Mountains into India

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I. The Nomadic Indo-Aryans

• Indo-Aryans were nomadic herders and skilled
  warriors who conquered all of northern India

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A. The Vedic Age

• The Vedas the literature of the Indo-Aryan
  religion the period from 1500 B.C. to 1000 B.C.
  is called the Vedic Age

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A. The Vedic Age

• The Indo-Aryans developed a system of writing
  called Sanskrit to record the Vedas

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B. Indo-Aryan religion

• The earliest gods in the Vedas were drawn from
  nature Earth, fire, light, rain, storms, sun,
  and water

What began as a celebration of natural elements
such as Air, Water and Fire was converted into
the worship of cosmic elements. And thus formed
the triad of the early Vedic Gods - AGNI, VAYU
and SURYA.
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B. Indo-Aryan religion

• One supreme god, Varuna, was guardian of cosmic
  order and a divine judge who punished sin

Varuna is one of the oldest Vedic deities. He is
the personification of the sky and is associated
with clouds and water, rivers and ocean. He
sustains live by giving rain and crops. He has
thousand eyes and oversees the whole world. He is
depicted as riding on a crocodile. In two of his
four arms, he holds a serpent and the noose.
Sometimes he is pictured as riding in a chariot
drawn by seven swans and holding the lotus, the
noose, the conch and a vessel of gems in the four
hands with an umbrella over his head.
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B. Indo-Aryan religion

• Only special priests called Brahmins knew the
  proper forms and rules of the Vedas

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II. Early Indo-Aryan Society

• Indo Aryans settled into an agricultural life and
  joined into small states

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II. Early Indo-Aryan Society

• They were governed by a raja who was also a
  military leader, lawmaker, and judge

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A. Indo-Aryan Society

• The Indo-Aryans brought a new social order, new
  language, and new religious ideas

Dancing Shiva, or Nataraja, king of dance
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A. Indo-Aryan Society

• A complex system of social order developed
  classes were more rigid and more identified with
  ritual purity

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A. Indo-Aryan Society

• Warriors and priests were at the top, with
  merchants, traders, farmers, and servants below
  them

A Hindu priest at a temple in India
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A. Indo-Aryan Society

• Rules restricted marriage among the social
  orders parents usually arranged marriages

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B. Indo-Aryan Economy

• The Indo-Aryans used irrigation and raised a
  variety of crops

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B. Indo-Aryan Economy

• Poor transportation limited trade, which was
  conducted by barter

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C. Southern India

• Southern India was isolated by the Vindhya Range
  the people maintained their distinct ways of life

The Vindhya Range extends in a generally
east-west direction for a distance of about 675
mi. The range separates the drainage basin of the
Ganges River from the Deccan Plateau. Elevations
range from 1500 to 3000 ft and reach a maximum
3651 ft.
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C. Southern India

• People in Southern India remained divided into
  diverse social groups

Most of the South Indians with their dark color
and heavy lips belong to the Dravidian race
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C. Southern India

• Through trade, southern Indians made contact with
  other civilizations in Southeast Asia