EARLY SOCIETIES IN SOUTH ASIACh. 4

Harappan Society

Foundations of Harappan Society

The Indus River Political Organization

Harappa &Mohenjo-Daro

Specialized Labor& Trade

• Less predictable• Agriculture possibleIn N. India• Wheat & barley• Cotton• Agricultural surplusLed to pop. Growth to Cities & spec. labor

• No evidence of Harappan political System• Economic &Political centers forTheir own regions

• City walls• Fortified citadel• Granary• Political authorityCenters• Collection/redistributionOf taxes in grain• Marketplaces• Temples• Residential cities• Streets• Standardization:weights,Measures, brick size,Architectural designthroughout

• Trade: domestic& foreign• Export: pottery,Tools , decorativeItems• Import: gold, silver,Copper, lead, gems• Traded with: Persia,Mesopotamia, HinduKush

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What do you think standardization infers about Harappan society?

Harappan Society and Culture

Social Distinctions Harappan DeclineFertility Cults

• No palaces, tombs• Rulers ruled from A citadel• Rich & poor had Different lifestyles• From 1 bedroomTenements to 2/3Story houses w/severalRooms, courtyards• Rich had wells and brick ovens• Private bathrooms/Showers• Water/sewer systems veryAdvanced• Representational art• Gold, copper & Bronze experts

• Concern for Fertility• Venerated gods/goddessesAssociated w/creation & Procreation• Animals & trees sacred dueTo association of vital forces• Similarities w/Harappan &Hindu Deities.

• 1900bce decline• Theory: ecological Degradation (deforestationFor cultivation & firewood)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

2. Why do you think Harappan society was able to have such technological advancements (ex. Brick ovens, sewer systems)?

3. Why do you think Harappans maintained a closeness with the idea of fertility cults?

The Indo-European Migrations and Early Aryan India

The Aryans and India

The Early Aryans The Vedas The Vedic Age

• limited agriculture• pastoral economy

(sheep, goats)• Horses a commodity

and imported• Horse used tofacilitate transportation and chariots• Cattle=wealth

• Songs and poems. • Preservation through

memorization and oral transmission

• Collection of hymns, songs, prayers & rituals honored Aryan Gods

• Rig Veda-1028 hymns addressed to Aryan gods

• priestly perspective on affairs• Veda means “wisdom”/

“knowledge”; needed to carry out priestly functions

• Dravidians and others living in India.

• indigenous people dasas “enemies”/“subject people”

• . Indra=Aryan war god• Intermittent conflicts

w/Dravidians• Aryans fought

amongst themselves• No state or common

gov’t, but chiefdoms• . Rajas=chiefdom

leaders

The Aryans and India Cont’d

Aryan Migrations in India Changing Political Organizations

• Settled in Punjab• Est. communities through east

sub-continent• Make iron tools (cultivate, food

surplusSupport large communities• agricultural communities• Cultivated rice

• well defined social order• Hereditary distinctions between

individuals & groups according to their roles & occupation in society

• Foundation of caste system• Caste =social class of heredity,

usually unchangeable status

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

4. Compare and Contrast Dravidians and Aryans.

Origins of the Caste SystemCaste & Varna Social Distinctions

In the Late Vedic AgeSubcastes &Jati

Caste & SocialMobility

• Developed slowly And gradually• Interactions w/Dravidians led to refine social distinctions• Varna=color• Social distinctions Arose partly from Complexion• Aryans & Dravidians mixed, mingled, intermarried, became difficult to distinguish• Social distinction on Ancestry

• 4 main varnas: 1)brahmins (priests), 2)kshatriyas (warriors &aristocrats), 3)vaishyas (cultivators, artisans &merchants), 4) sudras (landless peasants & serfs)

• Untouchables= dirty or unpleasant tasks

• Varnas as a part of the creation of the early days

• Elaborate socialClassification• jati=people working

at the same or similar tasks in a given area belong to the same subcaste

• Offspring joinedOccupation & Membership• Jati membersCared for each other• rules and specific

behavior• Breaking jati rules

could result in expulsion from the larger group

• Accommodated social change

• Higher castes members

Could moved down socially• Based more

on groups than

Individuals• Social mobility

eased tensions

• Allowance of foreigners in

The system

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

5. Do you think the varna would have developed into the caste system had the Aryans and Dravidians never interacted?

6. Why do you think that the jati had to move up as a group and could not move up individually?

Development of a Patriarchal SocietyThe Lawbook ofManu

Sati

• Women under authority of man

• Law Book dealt w/moral behavior & social relationships

• Respect & honor women, but women subject to guidance of man

• Woman’s duty according to the book was to bear children and maintain their homes.

• Widows voluntarily throws themselves on the funeral pyre of deceased husband to join him in death

b. this ritual esp. for socially prominent women to show devotion to husbands

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

7. Why do you think that sati was only for prominent women?

Religion in the Vedic Age

Aryan ReligionAryan Gods Ritual Sacrifices Spirituality

• Indra=war deity, chief deity

• Associated withweather, rain to water the crops• Other deities, but

Indra represents instability in early Vedic Age

• Varuna-sky god, oversaw behavior of mortal and preserved cosmic order

• Rituals more important than ethical concerns

• Believed gods came down to earth to join them in rituals

• Felt that sacrifice& pleasing gods would lead to military success, large families, long life & abundant herds

• Tired of sacrificial rituals (no real communication w/gods)

• Inspired by Dravidian connections w/natural spirits

• Believed human souls took on new physical forms after death (transmigration and reincarnation)

• idea that you could come back as a plant or animal or associate w/another body through a new birth

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

8. Why do you think that the Aryan religion shifted from ritual sacrifice to more spirituality?

Blending of Aryan and Dravidian Values

TheUpanishads

BrahmanThe UniversalSoul

Teachings ofUpanishads

Religious &Vedic Society

• a body of work (800-400bce) that refers to the practice of disciples gathering before a sage for discussion of religious issues

• Appearances are deceiving, we are not separate autonomous creatures

• We are a part of a larger cosmic order a universal soul, Brahman

• Brahman is eternal, unchanging, permanent foundations for all things

• Individuals souls were born into the physical world several times

• Highest goal of the soul was to escape the cycle of birth & rebirth enter into union with Brahman

• Samsara- souls go to the World of the fathers, return to earth in new incarnation

• Karma-live virtuous lives ,fulfill duties expect rebirth more honorable existence,

• Did not fulfill duties,rebirth would be a harsher existence

• Moskha-deep, dreamless sleep,liberation from physical incarnation

• Yoga helps to concentrate on Brahman and relationship w/the soul

• Samsara and karma explain why individual were born into social groups

• Upanishads discourage all manner of vice that indicated attachment to the material world

• Encourage personal integrity and respect for all living things

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

9. Why do you think Upanishads encouraged a detachment from material things?