3.1 Vedic India and Hinduism

Notes

After the Indus cities declined, a new culture grew in northern India, known from sacred texts called the Vedas.

• Beginning about 1500 BCE, Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples moved into northern India from Central Asia. Scholars still study how this migration and local cultures blended.
• The Vedas, written in Sanskrit, are hymns and rituals. The later Upanishads explore deep philosophical questions.
• Society was organized into four varnas: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (merchants and farmers) and Shudras (laborers). Over time this became the caste system, with many birth-based groups (jati). People outside it, later called Dalits, faced severe discrimination.
• Hinduism has no single founder. Key beliefs: Brahman (a universal spirit), atman (the individual soul), reincarnation (rebirth), karma (actions affect future lives), dharma (one's duty) and moksha (release from the cycle of rebirth).
• Hindus may worship many deities, such as Vishnu and Shiva, often seen as forms of Brahman. Epics include the Mahabharata, which contains the Bhagavad Gita, and the Ramayana.