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Indo-Aryan Movements: Migrations of Peoples and the Gestation of Cultures

Historians and Archaeologists estimate that around 1800 BCE a wave of

what has become known as Indo-Europeans burst out of the area between and
north of the Black and Caspian seas. One stream went west into Anatolia and
what is now Turkey. Another established itself on the Persian plateau. It was
from out of this second group that a smaller group known as the Aryans
migrated southwards into India. By about 1500 BCE they had begun to
penetrate the Punjab in northern India. As they moved into the area they
brought their domesticated horses and cultural practices with them.

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Conquest and Settlement

The Aryans did not migrate into an empty land. Rather, they found an
India with a great wealth of cultures and peoples, including the indigenous
Harappan society. The Aryans, however, possessed an important piece of
technology that the indigenous groups they conquered did not, the two-
wheeled chariot. This fast chariot was very useful on the flat plains of India, and
as such, the Aryans were able to use it to gradually subdue and conquer the
sub-continent. Despite this technological advantage, the conquest of India was
not swift. It occurred over centuries because of indigenous resistance and
infighting among the Aryans themselves.

The Aryans lived a mostly nomadic life as they moved across India
conquering cities and spreading their culture and language. But, over time, they
adopted the agricultural practices of the inhabitants of India, irrigating fields
and clearing jungles for farming. By about 600 BCE the Aryans had become
completely settled. The settlements around the Ganges River Valley then began
to merge together into small kingdoms lead by warriors and their priests.

Aryan Culture

The Aryans not only brought with them their weapons and language, but
they also carried their spiritual beliefs. These beliefs have come down to us
from ancient times in the form of hymns called Vedas. These Vedas were likely
part of an oral tradition that were eventually written down about 3000 years
ago. They discuss a great number of gods and creation stories. It is from these
Vedas that historians know about the movements and transformations of the
Aryans. For example, from the Vedas we know that the Aryans considered the
god Indra one of their chief deities. We also know that they praised this god as
a breaker of forts. The fact that a chief god of the Aryans was also a “breaker of
forts” suggests that the gradual conquest of the indigenous Indian cities by the
Aryans was an important process that left a deep cultural mark on the Aryans.

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The Seeds of a Caste System

The long period of conquest and the eventual transformation from

nomads to settlers effected a stratification of Indian society. We know from the
Vedas that the Aryans saw themselves as light skinned and the groups they
fought against in India as dark skinned. This focus on skin color became
preserved in the caste system that emerged in India as the Aryans settled into
the communities. This caste system likely began as a way for Aryans to
distinguish between themselves and the people they conquered. At the top of
this stratified hierarchy were the Aryan priests. Below them were the free Aryan
peasants and traders. And at the bottom were the indigenous slaves and
laborers. The caste system that still exists in India, which orders people in
different ranking social groups based on family history, has its roots in this
older tradition.

The Fusion of Cultures

Over time, the Aryans abandoned their gods and adopted new religious
traditions that reflected a merger of Aryan and indigenous religious traditions.
From this fusion of cultures emerged the distinctly Indian core cultural concept
of reincarnation, the idea that the souls in humans or animals are reborn in new
bodies after death. Also, out of the merger of these two systems of belief
emerged the foundations of what eventually developed into the religion of
Hinduism. One of these foundations was the concept of karma, the idea that
one’s own actions, good or bad, contribute to one’s future fate.

Instructions

In this activity, you will use what you’ve learned about the migrations of
people in Central Asia to come to some determinations about how and why this
migration occurred. As you read, take notes in the graphic organizer below.
Then, use those notes to answer the essay question that follows.

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Reading Analysis

Use the graphic organizer below to take notes as you read.

Which groups migrated?

Which circumstances allowed for the migration?

What were the consequences of this migration?

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Applying Knowledge

Using what you have learned in the reading, answer the following
question: “How did the Aryan migration and settlement in India (1500 – 500
BCE) transform life and culture in India at that time?” Be sure to cite specific
examples from the readings and use your own understanding of migration to
speculate on things not discussed in the reading.

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