1. Sanskrit, Hinduism and the Caste System
Legacy of the Aryans
Sanskrit, Hinduism and
the Caste System

2. Change of People
After the Indus Valley Civilizations mysteriously disappeared, the nomadic Aryan people arrived in India. It’s important to note that most archaeologists do not believe that the Aryans destroyed the Indus Valley Civilizations; artifacts show that they disappeared hundreds of years before their arrival.
Besides their ability to wage war, the Aryans also brought with them their language, Sanskrit, as well as their holy texts, the Vedas.

3. Sanskrit
Sanskrit is an ancient language that can be traced back to the Aryans. It is the basis for several world religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Unlike other ancient languages such as Egyptian, Mesopotamian and even Latin, there are still people who natively speak Sanskrit today.
It could also be considered the “mother tongue” of many Indian languages, including areas such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

4. The Vedas
The Vedas, the name of which translates to “knowledge” in Sanskrit, contain the oldest versions of Sanskrit and the earliest form of Hinduism. Hindus, those who practice Hinduism, consider the Vedas to be without an author and powerful, like Christians and the Bible. There are four Vedas in total.

5. The Vedas are made up of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas
The Vedas are made up of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. This is why the period from roughly 1500 BC to 1000 BC is called the Vedic Period. It is named after the Vedas. Around their campfires at night, the Aryan people told stories of the first god who created the world, Purusha. Purusha sacrificed his body, and from it came humans. His body parts turned into four different groups of people. Some historians believe this was the beginning of the caste system in India, or at least the idea of a caste system.

6. The Caste System
A caste is a social system to which someone belongs to according to birth. It is not possible to change castes. In the traditional Indian caste system there are five castes. The first four come from Purusha, according to the Rig Veda:
“The brahmin was his mouth, his two arms became the rajanya (kshatriyas), his thighs are what the vaisya are, and from his feet the shudra was made.”
Later, a fifth caste, known as the Untouchables, Dalit, or Harijan, were added.

9. Brahmins
priests and religious scholars
duty to study and teach the Vedas.
highest place in society
Brahmins were responsible for correctly interpreting the Vedas and performing the required rituals.
Became the dominant class in India. Later Vedic religion is often called Brahmanism.
Brahmanism taught that a well-organized society was divided into different social classes.
Today, we call this practice of social organization the caste system. The vedas describe four main social classes, or varnas.

10. Kshatriyas (KSHA-tree-uhs)
Rulers and warriors
duty to become skilled with weapons

11. Vaishyas (VIESH-yuhs)
Herders and Merchants
Hindu religious texts assigned Vaishyas to traditional roles in agriculture and cattle-rearing but over time they came to be landowners, traders and moneylenders

12. Shudras (SHOO-druhs)
servants, artisans, farmers, and laborers

13. Dalits/Untouchables meaning “suppressed” “crushed”
- ways of life involved activities that were considered lowly or “dirty” such as handling garbage
This way of organizing society is just one example of how ancient religion affected daily life in India

14. The Caste System today
Under the leadership of the Mahatma Gandhi, the British left India in the 1940s. Since then, caste discrimination has been made illegal, and lower caste members are treated better, although casteism is still an ongoing problem.