The Aryans

The Aryans:

About 1500 B.C., groups of warlike people left their homes in central Asia, possibly near the Caucasus Mountains, and came to India. These people called themselves arya (kinsmen or nobles). They are now known as the Aryans. When the Aryans arrived in India, they found people with an advanced civilization living there. These people, called the Dravidians, lived in towns and grew crops. The Aryans gradually conquered the Dravidians and drove some of them southward. Eventually, the Aryans extended their rule over all of India except the south.

The Aryans tended sheep, goats, cows, and horses. They measured their wealth in herds of cattle. Over time, the Aryans settled into villages. Each village or group of villages was led by a headman and council.

Over many centuries, the caste system became established. The Brahmans--the priests--were the highest caste and the Shudras, who may have been Dravidians, were the lowest. The Brahmans perfected Sanskrit, the language of the Aryans; conducted elaborate rituals and sacrifices; and passed sacred knowledge from one generation to another. Beginning about 1400 B.C., the earliest known Hindu scriptures--the Vedas--were composed. The most important Hindu sacred writings, called the Upanishads, appeared between 800 and 600 B.C.

In the 500's and 400's B.C., two religions were founded in India. The great religious and social reformer Siddhartha Gautama, who became known as Buddha (Enlightened One), founded Buddhism. Another reformer, Mahavira, founded Jainism. Both religions rejected the authority of the Vedas and the Brahmans, and both spread rapidly throughout India.