VEDIC

The people who moved into Northern India around 1500 b.c. were Aryans, also referred to as Vedic people. Their culture was Vedic and their language was Vedic Sanskrit, which is related to other Indo-European languages including Greek and Latin among others. Indo-European speakers had a common linguistic origin known by scholars as Proto-Indo-European or PIE. The years following the Aryan migration are shrouded by a lack of substantial archeological artifacts but there are a few things we do know.

By 800 bc the Aryans ruled in most of northern India, occasionally fighting among themselves or with the peoples of the land they were settling. As they slowly moved south and east along the Ganges River Basin their lifestyle evolved from a semi-nomadic way of life to an agrarian way of life. Their social and political structures evolved as well. Instead of a warrior leading a tribe, with a tribal assembly as a check on his power, an Aryan chieftain ruled over territory, with its society divided into family units like clans. This societal shift was the beginning of the caste system. The four castes that emerged from this era were the Brahmans (priests), the Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), the Vaisyas (merchants, farmers, and traders), and the Sudras (artisans, laborers, and servants). More on that in a later post.

By about the 7th century bc territories combined and grew, giving rise to larger kingdoms that stretched from what is now Afghanistan to the state of Bihar. By the 6th century bc, Indian civilization was firmly centered in the eastern region of the subcontinent, and certain tribal leaders or chieftains became increasingly powerful. The Kingdom of Magadha conquered and absorbed neighboring kingdoms, giving rise to India’s first empire. At the head of the Magadha state was a hereditary monarch in charge of a centralized administration. This empire continued to expand, extending in the 4th century bc into central India and as far as the eastern coast.

Hinduism continued to evolve as well. While the Aryan people settled in the Ganges River Basin, they encountered people groups and assimilated their culture and religious practices into their own. Reform schools of Hinduism emerged, challenging the orthodox practices of the Vedic tradition and presenting alternative worldviews.

One of those schools was led by a discontented Hindu prince by the name of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Buddah.