Transcript Migrations of Peoples and Early Religions

Migrations of Peoples and
Early Religions
Unit 3
Indo-Europeans
• Group of nomadic peoples who came from
the steppes – dry grasslands that
stretched north of the Caucasus Mts.
Between the Black Sea and the Caspian
Sea
– Pastoral people, tamed horses
• Lived in tribes and spoke a language we call IndoEuropean
– This language was the ancestor to many modern
languages used today in Europe, Southwest Asia, and
South Asia (English, Spanish, Persian, Hindi, Germanic,
Slavic, etc)
Indo-Europeans
• Migration – movement of people from one region to another
– Unknown why the Indo-Europeans moved
• Hittites occupy Anatolia on a huge peninsula in modern day Turkey
– City-states unite to form an empire about 1650B.C.with Hattusas
as its capital
• Dominates southwest Asia for 450 years including Babylon
(Chief city on Tigris and Euphrates)
• Fight with Egypt over control of Syria
• Neither can win and a truce is established – join forces to stop
future invaders
– Used own language locally, but adopted Akkadian from
Mesopotamians for international use – also borrowed many ideas
and traditions
– Excelled in technology of war
• Chariot light and easy to maneuver – had 2 wheels and a
wooden frame covered in leather pulled by 2 to 4 horses
• First to use iron for weapons (rather than bronze)
– Hittite Empire falls suddenly (1190B.C.) despite strength due to
new invaders from the north
Indo-Europeans
• Aryans – homeland is between the Caspian and
Aral Seas, migrate to the Indus River Valley of
India
– Knowledge of Aryan peoples comes from their sacred
literature – the Vedas
– Caste System develops
• Aryans call people of India “dasas” or dark – later this word
will come to mean slaves
– Aryans taller, lighter skinned and spoke a different language
– Aryans pastoral while “dasas” lived in towns protected by walls
Caste System
•
Aryans divided into 3 social classes
1.
2.
3.
–
Brahmins (priests)
Warriors
Peasants/traders
A fourth class was added upon arrival in
India – non-Aryan laborers (shudras) did the
work that Aryans didn’t want to do
•
These groups later called castes by the
Portuguese
Caste System
• Castes became more complex over time with
hundreds of sub-divisions
– born into caste for life
– Determined the work they did, who they would marry,
and the people with whom they could eat
• Cleanliness and purity became all-important
– People considered most impure due to their work –
(butchers, gravediggers, trash collectors) lived
outside caste structure
• Called “untouchables” because even their touch
endangered the ritual purity of others
Aryans Spread
• Aryans slowly spread across India, but
territorial kingdoms fight each other for
land and power
– Kingdom of Magadha emerges out of fighting
and eventually occupies almost all of Indian
subcontinent
Hinduism
• Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs
• It developed slowly and can be traced to
ancient times
• It cannot be linked to one founder
• Verses from the Vedas are to be recited
daily
Hindu Beliefs
• Share of a common worldview
• Religion is a way of liberating (freeing) ones soul
from illusion, disappointment, and mistakes from
everyday life
• Teachers try to interpret and explain the
meaning of Vedic Hymns which take the form of
questions
– Example:
• What is nature?
• What is morality?
– These teachers comments were written down and
became known as Upanishads
Lessons from the Upanishads
• These writings explain how a person can
achieve Moksha (a perfect understanding of all
things)
– This understanding is gained over many lifetimes and
it is achieved through reincarnation (a person’s soul is
born over and over until Moksha is attained)
– Souls Karma (good or bad deeds) accompany the
soul from reincarnation to the next life
• Karma influences the circumstances of the next life
– Example: caste, health, wealth, etc.
Today’s Hindus
• Are free to worship the deity (god) of their
choosing (most follow family traditions)
• Turn to religion for guidance in their life
New Religions Arise
• Jainism
– Formed between 599 – 527B.C.
• Believed everything in the universe had a soul and should
not be harmed
• Jain monks carried the doctrine of non-violence
• Followers choose occupations that will not harm any creature
• Today’s Jains
–
–
–
–
–
–
Usually choose careers in trade or commerce
Make up one of the wealthiest communities in India
Practice religious tolerance
Make little effort to convert others
Don’t send out missionary
Nearly 5 million Jains in the world today
• Most living in India
Buddhism
• Developed around the same time as
Hinduism
• Founded by Siddhartha Gautama
– Born to a noble family in Nepal
• Prophet told his father
– If child kept home and never leaves the palace, he will be
a great world leader
– If the child goes outside the gates he will become a
spiritual leader
• His father confined him to the palace
• Siddhartha married
Siddhartha’s Quest
•
Never stopped wondering about the world outside the
palace
At the age of 29 he would leave the palace 4 times
•
–
Outside the Palace he encountered (in the following order)
1.
2.
3.
4.
•
An old man
A sick man
A corpse
A holy man who seemed at peace with himself
He understood this to mean:
–
•
All living things experience old age, sickness, and death, but
only a religious life offers refuge from suffering.
Decided to spend his life in search of religious truth
–
After the birth of his son, he left the palace and spent the next
six years seeking enlightenment (wisdom)
• Sought to seek enlightenment by:
– Debating other religious seekers
– Fasting
• But, no matter how hard he tried, neither brought
him any closer to the truth
• One day he sat under a large fig tree and started
meditating
– He awoke 49 days later with a perfect understanding to
the cause of suffering in the world
» Form this point he became known as Buddha (the
enlightened one)
Buddha’s Beliefs
•
5 friends accompanied him during his
pilgrimage and his first sermon to these men
laid out 4 main ideas
1. Everything in life is suffering.
2. People suffer due to selfish desire for temporary
pleasures.
3. All suffering can be ended by ending all desire.
4. To overcome desire (achieving enlightenment) one
must follow the Eight Fold Path
Eight Fold Path
•
Eight Fold Path similar to a staircase
– One must master one step at a time
•
Mastery is achieved over many lifetimes
– Buddhism contains the Hindu belief in reincarnation
» REJECTS the Caste System
– Anyone can achieve Nirvana (release from
selfishness and pain) by following the path
– To ensure right behavior one should follow the Five
Precepts (rules)
– The Dharma (Buddhist doctrine of law) contains
Three Jewels of Buddhism
1. I take refuge in Buddha
2. I take refuge in law
3. I take refuge in the community
Buddhism and Society
• Early followers included craft people and
laborers
• Gained a large following in northeast India
• Monks and Nuns took a vow of:
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A life of poverty
Never to marry
To be nonviolent
To carry a single begging bowl to receive daily charity
• Buddha’s teachings were not written down until
after his death
Spread of Buddhism
• After his death, missionaries spread his
teachings into Asia
• In the 3rd century BC Buddhism reached China,
spread along central Asian trade routes
• Traders played a critical part in the spread of
Buddhism, along China’s silk routes
• Buddhism spread into Korea and Japan
• However, Buddhism never gained a significant
foothold in its’ birthplace of India