Discussion on the Aryans, Vedic Culture, and other topics about ancient India

1. THE ARYANS

2. Aryans
■ From South-Central Asia
– Iran
– Seaborne invaders of Greece
– Kassites who invaded and conquered Sumer
– Hindu Kush
■ Spoke early form of Sanskrit
■ Preliterate, preurban, seminomadic tender of cattle, sheep and goats
■ Lived in part from hunting, from plough agriculture of wheat and barley,
and from raiding more highly developed agricultural settlements and
trade center routes

3. Vedic period culture (1000-500 BCE)
■ Combination of Aryan, Harappan, and other
indigenous Indian strains
■ Sanskrit is the oldest written language among the
ancestors of modern European languages

4. Aryan Domination
■ Acquired not only metal-tipped weapons but a
light, fast war chariot with spoked wheels drawn
by two or more horses
■ Glorified war and made a disproportionate military
impact on a more peaceful Indian population
■ Vedas and epics portray Aryans as godlike
■ Became ruling class

5. Aryan Domination
■ Arya
– Noble or pure in Sanskrit
■ Introduction of caste system
■ Aryans brought with them their male and warlike
gods and their male-dominated culture
■ Aryan-speaking group dominated the north of India
while the south were dominated by the Dravidians

6. Vedic culture
■ Vedas and the epics are concerned with romantic
adventure involving gods and demons or with
philosophical and religious matters rather than
with accounts of worldly events or daily life

7. ■ India became the home of the most advanced
knowledge and practice of medicine; of
mathematics, including the numbering system;
and of iron and steel metalworking
■ Ayurveda, Indian medicine
– Ayur - longevity
– Veda - knowledge

8. MAURYAN INDIA

9. The invasion of Alexander the Great
■ Alexander encountered and defeated some of the states in
the Indus Valley and Punjab
■ Defeated Porus, king of West Punjab who have his large
army and his battalions of war elephants but gave back his
kingdom
■ Encouraged his 10,000 Greeks and Macedonian soldiers to
take Indian wives
■ Received a lot of Indian princes, one is the first Indian
emperor named Chandragupta Maurya

10. The Maurya Dynasty
■ The time of ruthless power politics
■ Established the city Pataliputra
– Home to famous library and university
■ Complete with secret service to spy on potential
dissidents, suspected criminals, and corrupt or
ineffective officials
■ Pataliputra was surrounded by a huge wall with 570
towers and 64 gates

11. Kushans and Greeks
■ Kushans adopted and promoted Buddhism
– Became Indianized
■ Greeks sought for spices, precious stones,
incense, brasswork, fine cotton textiles, ivory,
peacocks, monkeys, and even larger wild animals

12. Women in India
■ Early Indian Society, especially the southern India, were
matriarchal
■ Aryans were clearly patriarchal
■ Women were subjects to their parents, husbands, and male
relatives
■ Have control over property
■ Freest women were the courtesans
– High-class prostitutes
■ Hereditary dancers never marry, devoted to god