GEOGRAPHY:
-In about 1500 BCE, a new group of people called the Aryans flooded through the Khyber Pass into India
-After conquering the peoples of the Indus River Valley, the Aryans continued to push their territory outward. They moved towards the southeast, and conquered the people of the Ganges Plain.
The Aryan culture eventually spread throughout much of South Asia. Many aspects of Aryan culture still exist in these regions today.
GOVERNMENT:
-A rajah, or prince, ruled each city as an independent kingdom (called a city-state)
• The rajah acted simultaneously as a military leader, chief priest, lawmaker & judge
• By 1000 BCE, 16 separate Aryan kingdoms emerged on the Indian subcontinent
• For hundreds of years, the Aryan kingdoms enjoyed peace & independence
RELIGION:
-The VEDAS: The Aryan beliefs and daily life are described in the four Vedas, a collection of poems and sacred hymns, composed in about 1500 BCE. Veda means knowledge. The Vedas are composed of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. This is why the period from roughly 1500 BCE to 1000 BCE is called the Vedic Period, named after the Vedas.

ARYAN CIVILIZATION

-Aryans believed in one supreme god and had lesser gods and goddesses that were a part of this supreme god, with each representing a different force of nature.
-Aryans believed that after death, the supreme god either thrust a soul into a dark pit of punishment, or granted it life into a heaven full of joy. If you were to live a life full of proper actions & repeated rituals, your soul would have better chances of reaching this heaven.
-No temples existed
-Only priests who knew the complicated rituals & could read Sanskrit could actually preform rituals.