Language In Ancient India

Language in Ancient India

• Early Aryans had no written language

• Their Vedas (prayers, Hymns, stories and poems) were in a language called Sanskrit and were passed down through oral tradition but developed a written script for Sanskrit.

• Sanskrit was used to record sales, trade and land owner ship.

• Today, Vedas are used for rituals and taught in traditional religious schools called Veda Pathashalas.

• Vedas were put together over a long period of time. From 1500 - 500 BCE (the Vedic Period)

• People speaking Indic languages entered South Asia during this period. The Sanskrit and other ancestor languages are still spoken in Asia today.

Multiple Choice

Why would early Aryans need to develop a written form of Sanskrit?

• They needed a better way to keep records once they started farming.

• To write down stories for children.

• To communicate with other cultures

• To make teaching in schools better.

• Over time scattered groups of people who spoke the Indic languages spread across northern India and made contact with speakers of Dravidian ( another ancient Language)

• They would exchange their religious beliefs and traditions.

• This created a single "Vedic" culture in India.

• Sanskrit texts continued to be produced after the Vedic period.

• Texts Dravidian languages ( Tamil and Telugu) began to appear around 300 BCE and a large number of written works were produced until the 1st century C.E

• During this ancient period of Indian history, texts written in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages were passed down for generations in India through a very complex oral tradition.

Multiple Choice

A single Vedic culture developed in India because Sanskrit and Dravidian speakers exchanged tradition and religious beliefs between one another.

• True

• False

Ancient Indian Society

• Royal and commercial towns rose along India's Ganges River as the Aryans settled into India.

• Most people continued to farm, others specialized in carpentry or weaving, and some took part in trade.

• As the economy grew, social classes developed

Varnas

• Social class in India was a religious, social and cultural matter.

• Priests,​ leaders and other elites used religion to justify their high place in society.

• Varnas are the four social classes of ancient India.

• People were members of Varna based on their jobs, personal behaviors and the social class they were born into.

Multiple Choice

How many social classes are in the varnas?

• 3

• 4

• 5

• 6

Brahmins and Kshatriyas: Most powerful varnas

- Brahmins were priests ( people who perform religious ceremonies but not all religious teachers (sages) were Brahmins - Vyasa and Valmiki are sages who were not born into Brahmins.

Kshatriyas were warriors and governors who ran the government and army

Multiple Choice

All religious teachers are Brahmins.

• True

• False

Vaisyas (commoners)

Sudras (Manual Laborers)

• farmers, craftspeople and merchants were Vaisyas.

• Sudras were below the Vaisyas and were manual workers and servants. Most Indians were born into the Sudra Class.

Multiple Choice

What type of people were part of the Vaisyas social class?

• Manuel workers and servants

• Warriors and governors

• Farmers, crafts people, and merchants.

• Priests or religious teachers.

• Higher classes are seen as purer than lower ones

• relations between them are seen as spiritual purity. or impurity.

• Over centuries customs developed to keep the different classes from mixing. This is not different from any other social system in other ancient civilizations

• Caste system is a system where people remain in the same social group for life.

• Each Jati has their own strict dietary and marriage rules and customs.

• Jati determines the jobs that people can take, affect the choice of marriage partners

Jati: a caste sytem

Multiple Choice

You can work your way up to a better place in a caste system

• True

• False

Dalits

• 500 CE a community that came to exist outside of the Jati.

• This system is called the Dalits

• They are known as the untouchables

• They do work that Jati could not do like sanitation, disposal of dead animals and cremation (burning the dead)