# GEP1005 Week 5 Part 1

**Channel:** BAUGO
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfRCjf6Fiek
**Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/mfRCjf6Fiek

## Chapters

- 0:16 — Introduction to Ancient India
- 5:17 — Aryan Migration and Vedic Society
- 8:09 — The Caste System Explained
- 11:10 — Vedic Texts and Hindu Beliefs

## Transcript

**[0:16]:** hi everyone this week we'll make a small virtual journey to ancient india another rivalry civilization emerged around the indus river valley in the bronze age india's name comes from the indus river its history begins with the indus valley civilization and the coming of the aryans these two phases are also described as the prayer vedic and wedding periods key concepts of this unit are indus kanjas harpa aryan sanskrit hinduism brahman caste system buddhism mauryan available evidence suggests that the use of iron copper and other metals was widely prevalent in the indian subcontinent at a quite early period which is indication of the level of progress in this region let's begin with the indus valley civilization or harappan civilization then moved to the aryan or vedic periods indus valley emerged in northwest india along the indus river harappa and mohammedara were the two centuries of the civilization they were located in present-day pakistan mohenjo-daro in the sindh

**[1:45]:** province and harappa in punjab it was part of india until partition of the country as pakistan and india in 1947. harappa has given its name to the harappan civilization which is the other name for the indus valley civilization it's usually divided into early middle and major periods the region was founded by a british general alexander cunningham who became the head of the indian archaeological survey in 1850 it is four times the size of sumer and twice in the size of egypt twin capitals of the civilization made up meaning of smaller urban centers and villages archaeological surveys showed that harpon people knew how to make bronze weapons tools mirrors and pottery recurring motives balls and longhorn cattle and elaborate the decorated balls and storage urns in their settlements indicate links to early agricultural communities in the middle east most of their tools were inferior to those of mesopotamian peoples with whom they connected they had used more primitive weapons than mesopotamians poor weaponry of the harappans would have left them vulnerable to invasions by people who were

**[3:16]:** more capable at warfare harappan society was dominated by a powerful period class which ruled from castle of each city the indus valley civilization was basically an urban civilization and the people lived in well-planned and well-built towns which were also the centers for trade the ruins of mohenjodara and harappa showed that these were welpland merchant cities they had wide roads and a well-developed draining system the houses were made of baked bricks and had two or more stores the highly solid harappans knew the art of growing cereals and wheat and barley constitute their basic food they consumed vegetables and fruits and ate mutton pork and eggs as well evidences showed that they wore cotton as well as woolen garments by 1500 bc the harappan culture came to an end among various causes ascribed to the decay of indus valley civilization are the recurring fluids and other natural causes like earthquake it has been argued that excessive flooding

**[4:35]:** of the indus river and the gradual desertification of the region might weaken harappa's agricultural and urban base some horse riding and cattle herding indo-europeans entered the indonesian sub-continent in roughly the same period that's to say it was under the nomadic invasions which might have an impact for the collapse of the harappan civilization like sumer and its successor civilizations harappa could not resist natural catastrophes and nomadic invasions it managed from history between about 1500 bc and 1200

**[5:17]:** bc now wittig in other words aryan civilization aryan invasions established a new civilization in india the aryan or vedic civilization flourished between 1500 bc and 500 bc on the fertile the indo-genetic plains of the indian subcontinent it's named after duetas with us is the early literature of the hindu people the vedic civilization flourished along the river saraswati in a region that now consists of haryana and punjab vitek is synonymous with hinduism which is another name for religious and spiritual toad that has evolved from the vedas the vedic period refers to that time period when the vedic sanskrit texts were composed in india aryan by the way is a linguistic people who were shepherds and spoke one type of indo-european languages used to live in the area between caspian and black seas they began to migrate in large numbers from their homelands towards west into asia minor and eventually europe they were warlike people they had

**[6:45]:** strong warrior leaders and they lived in tribal units which turned out to be larger kingdoms over time mobility and military courage of the aryans provided them to rule over the peoples they occupied however aryans took many centuries to reach the level of the civilization achieved by the hierophants as in mesopotamian civilization and egypt the civilization occurred in its full form in india when people became sedentary to agriculture once sedentary agriculture was established it supported many elite indian people and led to the emergence of extensive trade and non-agrarian manufacturers during the process of the formation of full civilization towns developed around the capitals of new kingdoms in india commercial centers formed around ganges river where merchants and artisans emerged as separate social groups wealthy merchants had high social status in the commercial community warriors purists and commoners were the class division in the early aryan invaders this changed over the centuries and society was organized according

**[8:09]:** to the caste system what is the caste system in the ancient india in the vedic period there was no social stratification based on socio-economy indicators rather people were classified according to their warner or castes warner is the term used for the cast position determined by a person's birth people should accept their position and try to do their best in performing it to have a better situation in the other world if one refuses to accept his warner or his cast position at birth it commits a sin since he she refuses the divine commandation caste system composed of brahmans purists warriors merchants peasants and untouchables untouchables were people conducted socially humiliating tasks it has been believed that people are born with their caste as the commendation of divine power gods therefore it was believed that rulers were divinely ordained people should accept the divine commendation and live in accordance with their strata without any resistance what was

**[9:38]:** the logic in the system the segregation of people based on their warner was intended to decongest the responsibilities of one's life preserve the purity of a caste and establish eternal order this would resolve and avoid all forms of disputes or donating from conflicts within business and encroachment on respective duties in the system specific tasks are designated to each warner the main idea is that such order in a society would lead to contentment perpetual peace willful adherence to love willful deterrence from all misconduct responsible exercise of liberty and freedom and keeping the fundamental social trait of shared prosperity about all the others brahmans in other words highest purists were entrusted with the deity of educating peoples of all warners to understand and practice order and mutual harmony regardless of distress circumstances individuals cannot change their caste no rise was possible in social status those who refused his cast they outcast from society they were the main

**[11:10]:** advocators of the caste system brahmans were the only people who could read the sacred texts vedic in sanskrit the alphabet of india sanskrit alphabet was used in india it had been developed in the 700 bc vedas is the name of the sacred book in ancient india it was composed of hymns iron invaders were described as restless and warlike people in hymns ramayana and mahabharata are the epics written by ancient indian people it gives detailed information about family life and gender relations from these texts it was understood that extended family was the desired family type whereas the family structure was generally nuclear and social system was patriarchal ancient indian epics tell how women subjected to the patriarchal authority people of ancient india were polytheists the dominant religion in ancient india was hinduism the rules of hindu religion can be traced back to the vedic period hinduism is believed to be the oldest of major religions and

**[12:35]:** originated in northern india early aryan already culture was the early hinduism whose interaction with non-aryan cultures resulted in what we call classical hinduism hinduism was a polytheistic religion which was ran by brahmans who were the religious leaders highest periods in the ancient india you will learn more about the brahmans in a short while people worship in a wide range of deities that resembled humans and reminded human emotions and needs they had various gods and goddesses brahma vishnu shiva sarawati and lakshmi are some examples for them after the fall of harappa civilization renewed not only great plains of the ganges and indus river but also in the fourth hills of the himalaya mountains people founded small states or hill republics which were ruled by a council of three warriors they elected their kings in due time more powerful kingdoms were established these kingdoms were supported by religious leaders brahmans kings were not controlled by a council

**[14:00]:** and claimed divine descent that was rationalized by high previous

**[14:13]:** brahmans