Aryan Civilization

-Between 2000 BC and 1500 BC a group of nomads from Central Asia migrated to northwestern India
-these nomads married other people from different areas and they became a group called the Aryans (this process called acculturation)
-Aryans settled into villages for farming
-Made axes and weapons out of iron
-rajah: the elected warrior chief of an Aryan tribe
-Aryans divided their society into ranked groups



High to low--> Brahmins (priests)
Kshatriyas (warriors)
Vaisyas (herders, farmers, artisans, and merchants)
Sudras (farmworkers, servants, and other laborers)
Dalits (outside of caste system)

Aryan Civilization

-polytheistic
-worshiped gods and goddesses who embodied natural forces (i.e. Indra, the god of war - weapon was the thunderbolt)
-started to believe in brahmin (the spiritual power that resides in all things)
-this started to create the belief in mystics (people who seek direct communication with divine forces

Caste System in Aryan Society

Religion

-many epics wrote in Sanskrit
-these two epics were memorized and recited:
-Mahabharata: India's greatest epic, it was about warfare and religion
-Ramayana: shorter but very memorable, it taught values of behavior

Epic Literature