Indus Valley Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization
A Primary Phase Culture
Little or no continuity with the following cultures
Forgotten until the 19th Century
rediscovered by the British, while building railroads
Harappan society and its neighbors,
ca. 2000 B.C.E.
Harappan Culture
Indus valley
not desert
well-watered and heavily forested
500 miles along the river valley
10-20 times larger than Mesopotamia or Egypt
Foundations of Harappan Society
The Indus River
Silt-enriched water from mountain ranges
Major society, 3000-2500 BCE
Cultivation of cotton before 5000 BCE
Early cultivation of poultry
Decline after 1900 BCE
Major cities
Harrapa (Punjab region)
Mohenjo-Daro (mouth of Indus River)
Hydraulic
Culture
Like Egypt and
Mesopotamia
Agriculture and flood-
control
Significant industry
and trade
Monsoons
A dominant characteristic of the Indian Subcontinent
Cities
Very densely populated
Houses: two to three stories
Every house is laid out the same
Mohenjo-Daro
Population c. 40,000
Regional center
Layout, architecture
suggests public purpose
Broad streets, citadel, pool,
sewage
Standardized weights
evident throughout region
Specialized labor
Trade
Mohenjo-Daro
Uniform culture
over a wide area
Cities built on a
common plan
a grid: always
NS and EW
axes
with twelve
smaller grids
kiln-dried
brick
A view of the “Great Bath”
Harappan Society
Dominated by priests ?
From the fortified palaces and temples ?
Power base: fertility ?
Deities: male and female
No written records
The Aryan “Invasion”
Aryans, lighter-skinned invaders from
the north
Warrior-nomads
Indo-European language and culture
Difficulty of theory: no evidence of
large-scale military conquest
Possible route of the Aryan invasions
The Early Aryans
Entered India in about 1500 BCE
Pastoral economy: sheep, goats, horses,
cattle
Vegetarianism not widespread until many
centuries later
Religious and Literary works: The Vedas
Sanskrit: sacred tongue
Prakrit: everyday language, evolved into
Hindi, Urdu, Bengali
Four Vedas, most important Rig Veda
1,028 hymms to gods
Oral Tradition
passed down from priests and singers
written down in the 500’s
The Vedas
“Veda” means “knowledge”
The Vedas
our primary source
early Aryan tradition
later Hindu religion
four “vedas”
the Rig Veda is the oldest
The Vedas
oral poetry
come to have a sacred character
provide some historical information
The Aryans
restless, warlike people
tall, fair-skinned
describe the indigenous population as
short, “black”, enslaved
The Aryans, con’t
villages and kingdoms constantly fighting
warchiefs and kings
aristocrats and freemen
The Aryans, con’t
fond of fighting, drinking, chariot racing, gambling chasing
women and bragging about their spears
any modern comparisons ???
fond of taking soma
a psychedelic drug
probably psychotropic mushrooms
Aryans and Hindus
Aryans give rise to Hindu society, but some different
characteristics
Cows: they ate them
Classes, but no castes
Priests subordinate to the nobility
the Mahabharata
The Iron Age: new sources
the Vedas: passed on orally
the Brahamanas: interpretations on the Vedas
the Upanishads: interpretations and symbolic studies
forerunners of later dissenting literature
Strain of change
Iron Age change causes strain on the class system
blurring of lines between Aryans and Daas
answered with the caste system
Caste System, 1000 BC
skin color
ritual purity
“Us--Them” feelings
divine order of four castes
Caste System (“Varnas”)
Brahmins: the priests
Kshatriyas: the warriors
Vaisyas: merchants and peasants
Sudras: non-Aryans
dalits: lowest class, performed the most undesireable jobs
Caste system, con’t
produced by Brahmins
literature emphasized the divine order
hierarchical relationship
inheritance and marriage
Caste system in practice
warrior class did not always accept it
nor the other classes
the process of evolution is still going on
the most powerful organizer of Indian society
thousand of castes today
