The document summarizes the origins and culture of the Aryans in ancient India. It discusses that the Aryans migrated throughout Europe and Asia as warriors seeking pastureland, valued cattle and horses, and organized their society into castes including priests, warriors, laborers and merchants. It also describes some of their religious beliefs documented in the Vedas including worship of gods representing natural forces and the development of concepts like Brahman and mysticism. Major epic poems like the Mahabharata and Ramayana reflected the Aryan culture and spread religious ideas throughout India.

1. Section 2 Notes

2.  The Aryans migrated across Europe and Asia
seeking water and pasture for their horses
and cattle
 Early Aryans built no cities and left no
statues
 Most of what we know about them comes
from the Vedas
 Vedas---collection of prayers, hymns, and
other religious teachings

4.  In the Vedas, the Aryans appear as warriors
who fought in chariots with bows and arrows
 They loved eating, drinking, music, chariot
races, and dice games
 The Aryans valued cattle, which provided
them with food and clothing
 When they Aryans became settled
farmers, families continued to measure their
wealth in cows and bulls

5.  From the Vedas, we have learned that the
Aryans divided their society according to
occupation
 Brahmins---Priests
 Kshatriyas---Warriors
 Vaisyas---Herders, farmers, artisans, and
merchants
 Sudras---Farmworkers, servants, and other
laborers
 The Aryans captured the Dravidian people
and placed them along with other non-Aryan
peoples in the Sudra class

6.  During the Vedic age, class divisions came to
reflect social and economic roles more than
ethnic differences between Aryans and non-
Aryans
 As these changes occurred, they gave rise to
a more complex system of castes, or social
groups into which people are born and which
they cannot change

7.  The Vedas show that the Aryans were
polytheistic
 They worshipped gods and goddesses that
embodied natural forces such as sky and sun,
storm, and fire
 Indra---god of war, chief Aryan deity, weapon
was the thunderbolt which he used to
destroy demons and to announce the arrival
of rain
 Veruna---god of order and creation
 Agni---god of fire

9.  Over time, some religious thinkers were
moving toward the notion of a single spiritual
power beyond the many gods of the Vedas
 Brahman---single spiritual power that resided
in all things
 Mysticism also started to evolve
 Through meditation and yoga, Aryan mystics
sought direct communication with divine
forces
 The religions that emerged in India after the
Vedic age reflected the impact of mysticism
as well as the notion of brahman

10.  Aryans tribes were led by chiefs called rajahs
 Rajah---often the most skilled war leader
who was elected to his position by an
assembly of warriors
 Aryans eventually fanned out over the
Ganges basin
 They started making tools out of iron
 Sanskrit---written language developed by the
Indian people

12.  The Mahabharata is India’s greatest epic
 Tells of battles fought between rival Aryan
tribes for control of the Ganges region
 Five royal brothers, the Pandavas, lose their
kingdom to their cousins but win it back
after an 18 day battle and then bring peace
to India
 One episode, known as the Bhagavad-Gita
reflects important Indian religious beliefs
about the immortality of the soul and the
importance of duty

13.  The Ramayana recounts the fantastic deeds
of the daring hero Rama and his beautiful
bride Sita
 Sita is kidnapped by the demon-king Ravana
 The rest of the story tells how Rama rescues
Sita with the aid of the monkey general
Hanuman

14.  Middle East gave rise to three major world
religions---Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
 South Asia was the birthplace of Hinduism
and Buddhism