The Introdction To The Aryans

The Aryans were an important group people that played an important role in influenced the way and life of the people mainly in India. They brought in with them the caste system which divided people into different social classes. Their culture and beliefs of the laid the foundation for the development of Hinduism, one of the oldest religions in the world and the main religion in India.

The Origins of the Aryans

The Aryans were fair-skinned people who lived in Central and Eastern Europe. Around 2000 B.C. they began to migrate. The group that migrated to Britain were called the Celts. The group that migrated to Germany were called the Teutons. The Aryans that migrated to the Greece were called the Greeks. The Aryans that migrated to Italy were called the Latins. The largest group migrated to Persia and Afghanistan.

Finds from Aryana

Mother Goddess

The figure on the seal recalls descriptions of Azhi Dahaka, a figure often believed to represent Babylonia.

The Vedas ( Books Of Knowledge )

Rig-Veda is the heart of the entire Veda with 10,552 verses.

Sama-Veda is mainly liturgical selections from the Rig-Veda arranged for melodious chanting, with about 2000 verses.

Yajur-Veda is cadenced intonation, around 2000 verses

Atharva-Veda has nearly 6,000 verses of prayers, charms and rites which are extremely unique.

Besides its Samhita, each Veda includes one or two Brahmanas, ceremonial handbooks, and Aranyakas, ritual interpretations, plus many inestimable Upanishads, metaphysical dialogs. In all there are over 100,000 Vedic verses, and some prose, in dozens of texts.

The Caste System

When the Aryans came into India, they brought with then a way of dividing people into different social classes. It is also known as varnas. The early Aryans considered the rulers and warriors to be of the highest cast and were known as the kshatriyas.Next in the caste were the priest and religious teachers which were known as the brahmins. The vaishyas were next and consisted of commoners. The late Aryans regarded the Priest as the highest caste as they were the only people that could read and memorise the Vedas. They also added in a new caste called the shudras which consisted of the dasas and Aryans that inter-married with the dasas. The people that were outside the caste system were known as the untouchables or the outcastes. They consisted of people that did jobs that nobody wanted to do and were impure.

From Aryan Tribes To Large Kingdoms

Each Aryan tribe had a raja which ruled over its tribe, these tribes were small at first but as time went by, they developed into Kingdoms. Later, kingdoms started to conquer the smaller ones. Soon, one became more important than the others and the Mauryan Dynasty was established.

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