Indo-Europeans World History/Napp
“The Indo-Europeans were a group of nomadic peoples who came from thesteppes – dry grasslands that stretched north of the Caucasus. The Caucasus Mountains are located between the Black and Caspian seas. Theseprimarily pastoral people herded cattle, sheep, and goats. The Indo-Europeansalso tamed horses and rode into battle in light, two-wheeled chariots. They livedin tribes that spoke forms of a language that we call Indo-European.
The languages of the Indo-Europeanswere the ancestors of many of the modern languages of Europe, Southwest Asia,and South Asia. English, Spanish, Persian, and Hindi all trace their origins backto different forms of the original Indo-European language. Historians can tell where Indo-European tribes settled by their languages. Some Slavic speakers moved north and west. Others, who spoke early Celtic,Germanic, and Italic languages, moved west through Europe. Speakers of Greekand Persian went south. The Aryans, who spoke an early form ofSanskrit, penetrated the mountain passes of the Hindu Kush and entered India.
No one knows why these people left their homelandsin the steppes. The lands where their animals grazed may have dried up. Theirhuman or animal population may have grown too large to feed. They may also havetried to escape from invaders, or from disease. Whatever the reason, Indo-European nomads began to migrate outward in alldirections between 1700 and 1200 B.C. These migrations, movements of a peoplefrom one region to another, happened in waves over a long period of time.
By about 2000 B.C., one group of Indo-European speakers, the Hittites, occupiedAnatolia, also called Asia Minor. Anatolia is a huge peninsulain modern-day Turkey that juts out into the Black and Mediterranean seas. Anatoliais a high, rocky plateau, rich in timber and agriculture. Nearby mountains holdimportant mineral deposits. The Hittitesexcelled in the technology of war. They conqueredan empire against Egyptian opposition – largely through their superior chariotsand their iron weapons. The Hittite war chariotwas light and easy to maneuver. The chariothad two wheels and a wooden framecovered with leather and was pulled by two or sometimes four horses. The Hittites used iron in their chariots,and they owed many of their military victories to the skill of their ironworkers.”
~ World History
Identify and explain the following terms:
Indo-Europeans Caucasus Mountains
Migration Hittites
Anatolia Iron
- Why did so many languagesoriginate from Indo-Europeanroots?
- What were some of thetechnological achievements ofthe Hittites?
Aryans / Caste / Varnas / Mahabharata- About 1500 B.C.,
another Indo-European people, the Aryans, whose homeland was probably between the Caspian and Aral seas, crossed over the northwest
Mountain passes into the Indus River Valley of India
-Their sacred literature, the Vedas left a pictureof Aryan life
- The Vedas are four collections of prayers, magical spells, and instructions for performing rituals
- The most important of the collections is the Rig Veda / - The Aryans developed a fixed social class system known as the caste system
- A person was born into his caste and remained in his caste a lifetime
- The four castes or varnas are Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), and Sudras (farmers)
- Varna, or skin color,was a distinguishing feature of this system
- The Aryans were lighter than the people they conquered / - The Aryans (“the nobles” in their language) called thepeople they found in India dasas (“dark”), referring to the color of their skin
- The Aryans differed from thedasas in many ways
- Aryans were taller, lighter in skin color, and spoke a different language
- The Aryans were also a pastoral people and counted theirwealth in cows.
- The dasas, on the other hand, were town dwellers who lived in communities protected by walls / - One of the great epics of India
- Reflects the struggles that took place in India as the Aryans moved south
- Indicate that a blending of cultures was taking place between Aryan and non-Aryan peoples
- Forexample, Krishna, a semi-divine heroof the Mahabharata, is described as dark-faced – this suggests that he is non-Aryan
For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• Vedas
• Caste
• Varna
• Dasas
• Mahabharata
Questions:
- What important contributions didthe Aryans make to the culture and way of life in India interms of religion, literature, and roles in society?
- What were some of thedifferences between the Aryans and the dasas in India?
The Hindu caste system(1) Lacks social mobility because a person is born into his caste and cannot change his caste in a lifetime
(2) Promotes social mobility because a person can change caste in this lifetime
(3) Has no class divisions
(4) None of the above / The highest caste is
(1) Brahmin
(2) Kshatriya
(3) Vaishya
(4) Sudra
(5) None of the above
P R I M A RY S O U R C E
He who thinks this Self [eternal spirit] tobe a slayer, and he who thinks this Selfto be slain, are both withoutdiscernment; the Soul slays not, neitheris it slain. . . . But if you will not wagethis lawful battle, then will you fail yourown [caste] law and your honor, andincur sin. . . . The people will name youwith dishonor; and to a man of famedishonor is worse than death. ~KRISHNA, speaking in the Mahabharata
- Identify the main idea of the passage.
For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
- Indo-Europeans
- Steppes
- Migration
- Hittites
- Anatolia
- Aryans
- Vedas
- Brahmin
- Caste
- Mahabharata
Who first deduced the existence of an Indo-European culture?
(A) nineteenth-century linguists
(B) twentieth-century archeologists
(C) Jewish scholars
(D) cuneiform translators
(E) None of these answers is correct
The key element in the expansion of the Indo-Europeans from their homeland was
(A) Iron weapons.
(B) Monotheism.
(C) Trade.
(D) Horses.
(E) Writing.
Which of the following was NOT an area to which the Indo-Europeans migrated?
(A) east and southeast Asia
(B) western Europe and the British Isles
(C) India and Iran
(D) Anatolia (modern Turkey)
(E) None of these is a correct answer, because they migrated from all of these places.
The caste system is
(A) A fixed class system
(B) An egalitarian class system
(C) A patriarchal system
(D) None of the above / English, Persian, Spanish, and Hindi are all derived from languages spoken by the
(A) Hittites
(B) Aryans
(C) Hindu Kush
(D) Indo-Europeans
Reincarnation, karma, moksha and the caste system are elements of the belief system of
(A) Jainism
(B) Hinduism
(C) Buddhism
(D) Judaism
Aryan religion during the early Vedic Age was relatively unconcerned with ethics and spirituality, but concerned itself more with
(A) Ritual sacrifices and the god of war.
(B) Fertility and immortality.
(C) Spirituality and meditation.
(D) Building religious buildings.
(E) All these answers are correct.
The Aryans’ term for their four original castes was
(A) Jati.
(B) Brahmans.
(C) Varna.
(D) Shudras.
(E) None of these answers is correct.