The Origins Of Indian Development

Sherman Alexie, in “Indian Education” tells his experiences in school on the reservation. Some of his teachers did not treat him very good and did not try to understand him. In his ninth grade year he collapsed. A teacher assumed that he had been drinking just because he was Native American. The teacher said, “What’s that boy been drinking? I know all about these Indian kids. They start drinking real young.” Sherman Alexie didn’t listen to the negatives in school. He persevered and became valedictorian of his school.

“Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in India. It was the religion of an ancient people known as the Aryans ("noble people") whose philosophy, religion, and customs are recorded in their sacred texts known as the Vedas” (United Religions). Vedas are written in the ancient language of India, called Sanskrit. Vedas means “knowledge” or “sacred lore.” The Vedas gives great intelligence about the variety of Gods from the Vedic period, 2000 to 500 BCE (Molloy,78).

In the story “Indian Education by Sherman Alexie, he gives the reader a quick narrative of his school experience starting from first grade and continuing all the way through twelfth. It is suggested with many exquisite and not so exquisite points about growing up and being schooled on an American Indian reservation. After reading the story for the first time much of the subliminal messages in it passed me by and the story came across as rather negative and bitter. However, after reading it again I was able to pick up much of the humor such as the analogy to Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham at the conclusion of the second grade. Such concluding remarks come at the end of each chapter and give the story a poetic tone.The story almost reads like

1~ Even if the indias change in looks, in the hearts they are still savages

To start, the Aryan Nations were an organization that only the most rebel and brutal people would join. They were a white supremacist organization. The group wanted to live in an only white race area, in North Idaho. William Potter Gale and Wesley Swift were the inspirations for the program, and Richard Butler was the founder. The Aryan Nations would try to always find a way to offend blacks, and sometimes Jews. They were a somewhat religious group, and they believed that black people, and Jews were direct descendants from Eve and Satan. They cultivated large amounts of racist thoughts and anti- semitism ideas about this, and just overall tried to offend these people any way they could.

Our text book tells us that Aryans became dominant in north India. In Sanskrit text the Indo-Aryan developed the caste and the Brahman religion. The Brahman religion developed into Hinduism. (Beck et al.) India’s caste system there is 4 caste or social levels of people. At the top there is the Bhramin which are the priests and teachers. Second is the Kshatryia which are the leaders and warriors. Third is the Vaishya which are the merchants and landowners. Fourth is the Sundra which are commoners, peasants, and servants. Not considered in the caste system is the untouchables which are the outcasts. They held the lowest valued jobs such as street sweepers, latrine cleaners, and slaughter house workers. The caste system in India forbids people from mingling with other levels of castes. What caste level you were born into you were required to stay at that level. There was no

Throughout India's long and colorful history, there have been a considerable variety of groups who have left their mark on the land and its people. One of the most influential, however, were the Aryans. In fact, some of the Aryan customs still remain in modern-day India, such as cattle demanding great respect, which stems from the Aryan tradition of using such animals as currency (Chamberlain). The Aryans were mainly pastoral, relying on agriculture to survive (Bentley and Ziegler 94). They did not have any sort of writing system; instead, what is known about them is rooted in oral traditions.. This raises the question of religion. The Aryans believed in various gods and, accordingly, had songs, praises, hymns, and

The history of the nation of India is a long and interesting one but most westernizes lack any true understanding of it. Like any long standing culture there have been good and bad periods in their history but one period has been identified as the "Golden Age of India (Dehejia, 1993)." This period, which lasted over a hundred years (322 BCE 185 BCE), began when an exiled general by the name of Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the reigning king Dhana Nanda. Once Chandragupta Maurya had established his new government in the Eastern area of India he began expanding his power westward across Central and Western India and, in the process, the religions of Hinduism and Buddhism also began to spread throughout India (Avari, 2007).

Although we do not know the exact time that Hinduism began, it is believed to be over 4,000 years old. There have been overlapping civilizations in India that may have molded the religion into what it is now (Kinnard 1). Around 2,000 B.C.E., located near the great Indus River, the Indus Valley Civilization, who worshipped many goddesses, may have been the very beginning of the shaping of Hinduism. Near the end of the Indus Valley Civilization around 1,500 B.C.E., a new society surfaced in India. Believed to be brought by the central Asian Aryans, the Vedic religion began (Kinnard). The Aryans’ practices included the sacrifice of animals and other offerings to their gods into a sacred fire. The gods they worshipped were mainly gods of nature such as the fire god and the plant god (flood). This era was the time of the Vedas, which are scriptures describing rituals to please the gods (Kinnard). Later, around 1,000 B.C.E., priests called Brahmins began to reject the materialistic ways of the Vedic tradition and began to adopt practices

Hinduism originated in India over four thousand years ago. The India-based religion lacks an individual founder. In the beginning, the term “Sanatana Dharma” erupted; but Sanatana Dharma soon transformed to “Hindu” after Islamic invasions occurred: “the Muslim invaders pronounced H for I” (Patheos), thus, the inhabitants along the Indus River were called “Hindus” as a result. The primary goal Hindus hope to achieve is to become reincarnated – thus reaching closer and closer to the state of nirvana every Hindu is called to with each transformation after death.

The reason they do take over the north part of India is because of their bronze weapons and advanced military technologies. Then, they developed their own civilization and Hinduism is known as their religion. The system of writing was not fully developed until 1300- 1000 B.C. and this is when the Rig-Veda was put into writing. The Rig-Veda is made up of books (10) that contain information about Aryan culture, belief, and sacrifices they use in rituals. The Rig-Veda is a very huge part of the religion Hinduism and it also explains or demonstrates the caste system. The caste system is in pyramid form and determines your class in society. For example, if you were poor then your children would be considered poor. The Rig-Veda is an important text in history and perhaps still practiced in

India is country known all over the world for its culture and tradition. It is a land with various cultures and traditions which are as vast as the subcontinent upon which they are located. This essay will focus on the Indian culture and highlight the different beliefs that Indians have on life processes. The essay will show the different methods Indians use to stay healthy and how the Indian culture can determine how healthcare services are provided to the people.

There are factors that include why I am writing about the Aryan invasion. I am interested by how many historians disagree about if the Aryan invasion even happened. First of all Aryans were semi-nomadic people. They speak a mix of indian and aryan and they came from eastern europe The historians are trying to prove the Aryan invasion actually happened, and that they are correct.

The Vedic age in India started around 1500 BC with the arrival of Aryans, an Indo-European tribe from central Asia near the Caspian Sea. Aryans settled along the banks of the Indus and its tributaries in the northern part of the subcontinent. Initially, it was a tribal society centered in northwest India and by 1000 BC, it spread along the Gangetic plain with the development of modern agriculture. Aryans dominated the local indigenous population and often ruled over them. Over time, the interbreeding with the local residents led to the emergence of mixed culture. The Vedic age lasted from 1500 BC to 500 BC. Agriculture and cattle rearing were the main occupations of the people. The Vedas and Upanishads were written during this period. The

     India was an ancient civilization that had many rulers and empires. The first rulers were the Harappans. They ruled from 3500 BC through 1500 BC. The Aryans took over the Harappan empire around 1500 BC. Then, Alexander the Great came and took over control of India. After ruling for only a couple of years, he died. A few years later the Mauryan Empire took over. Next was the Ashoka. Finally, the Guptas ruled from 320 BC through 535 AD.