SUMMARY Nº1

CHAPTER 3, SECTION 1
THE INDO-EUROPEANS
The indo-Europeans were a group of peoples who came from the steppes, the dry
grassland of western Asia. The indo Europeans rode horses and tamed camel, sheep and
goat. They spoke many different languages. But all of them came from the same original
language. For some reason, starting from 1700 and 1200 B.C. began to leave their
homelands. They moved into some of the settled areas and began to conquer them. These
migrations took place over a long period of time.
The Hittites were one of these Indo-Europeanspeople. Hittites conquered and settled in
Anatolia. Anatolia, also called Asia Minor is a huge peninsula in modern-day Turkey. The
Hittites moved further and took the ancient lands of Mesopotamia. When they moved to the
south, they ran onto the Egyptians. Neither side was able to defeat the other, so they
decided to make peace. The Hittites adopted many features of the culture that arose in
Mesopotamia before they arrived. They change other to introduce their own ideas. Their
laws were not as hard as Hammurabi’s. The Hittites ruled their southwest empire from 2000
to 1190 B.C. Then they fell to a new wave of invaders.
The Aryans were another group of Indo-European people. They moved into what is now
India and transformed it. They first took the land of the people of the Indus Valley.
Archeologists don’t know much about the Aryans. The archeologists only know what they
see in their sacredliterature, the Vedas. The Aryans were divided into four classes of
occupations: Brahmins (priest); warriors; traders and landowners; and peasant traders. The
view the non-aryans living in the area as a fifth class. Overtime, the made many rules
about how people in this caste could interact with one another. People were burn into their
cast for lands. Some people considered impure living in a group outside this class system.
They were butchers, grave diggers and trash collectors. Because they did work that was
though unclean, they were called untouchables. Over the centuries the Aryans take more
and more of what is now India. Eventually, many powerful people tried to create their own
kingdoms. They fought each other, until one kingdom, Magadha took control over almost
all India. Around this time, an epic poem, the Mahabharata was written. It tells the struggles
that took place in India as the Aryans king fought to control the lands.

CHAPTER 3, SECTION 2
Hinduism is a collection of religious belief that forms a system. Unlike many religions, it
was not founded by one person. It is a religion that allows a great variety for its followers.
Certain ideas became commons to the beliefs of all Hindus. Hindus believe that each
person has a soul, however there is also a larger soul called Brahman that brings together
all the Hindu’s individual souls. A person’s goal is to become free of desire and not
bothered by suffer. When that takes place, the person’s soul escapes from life on earth.
Hindu’s believe in reincarnation, they belief the soul again is borned into another body after
death. In the next life the soul has a second chance to learn its lesson. According to Hindu’s
how people behaves in one life has an effect in the person’s other life. This is the soul’s
karma. Another religion that arose in India was Jainism. It was started by Mahavira. A man
who lived from about 599 to 527 B.C. He believed that every creature in the world even an
animal, has a soul. Because of that people must be sure not to harm any creature. Today
Jains take job that doesn’t hurt living things.
Another new religion, Buddhism arose by the same time of Hinduism and Jainism.
Buddhism has million of followers all around the world. It was started about 528 B.C by
Siddhartha Gautama. He looked for a way to escape from suffering of human life. He spent
many years searching for the answer. He was looking for enlightenment or wisdom. Finally,
he sit down and meditated under a tree. After 49 days he had his answer. He was now called
the Buddha, which means the enlighten one. The Buddha began to teach others how the got
the enlightenment. The must follow a plan of behavior called the Eightfold Path. This will
guide people to nirvana, a release for selfishness and pain. The Buddha taught the soul
reborn in a new body.
In the centuries after Buddha’s death, in 483 B.C. Buddhism appeared in Southeast Asia.
Later it was carried to China, and then to Korea and Japan. Merchants and trader played
and important roll by spreading the religion. Strangely, in India where the religion started, it
failed. Many places that are important to Buddhism remain in India. Buddhists from all the
world go there to see places related to Buddha’s Life.