The Indo Aryan civilization in India

 

Much has been written and debated about the origins of the Aryans who came to India after the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization which came to an end around 1500 BCE. While some scholars favour the out of India origin of the Indo Aryans others favour that the Aryans originated in India. The word Aryan comes from the Sanskrit word ‘arya’ which means the noble ones. The Aryans migrated from their ancestral homes in central Asia corresponding to modern Russia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan.The timing of the Indo European migrations can be traced back to 4000 BCE in Europe when the speakers of Proto Indo European languages spread and dispersed through large parts of Iran, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Greece, and a large part of northern India. This dispersal has been confirmed by linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, and genetics. This explains the similarity between various languages like Sanskrit, Persian, Russian, Greek, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, and Gujarati. We also notice a striking similarity in the use of the past tense in Russian and many Indo Aryan languages.

It has been claimed by many historians that the Aryans destroyed the Indus Valley civilization and that they entered India as invaders. The Aryans entered India after the demise of the Indus valley civilization around 1500 BCE and there is no direct evidence linking the Indo Aryans to the destruction of the Indus Valley civilization. The religion and the rituals of the Indo Aryans bears a striking resemblance to those of ancient Iranian religions and Greek religions. For example, the horse is considered as an indispensable trait of the Aryan culture and the term asva(horse) appears in the Rig Veda and in Zend Avesta the religious text of the Iranians. It also appears in Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and other Indo European languages. Similarly, the pit dwellings, sacrificial rituals, the svastika, language, and inscriptional evidence is a common feature among the speakers of the Indo Aryan languages.

The speakers of the Indo Aryan languages came to be identified by their tribal identity and subsequently, it gave rise to Jana and varna system of social differentiation. This system of social differentiation eventually gave rise to jatis or castes like the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras.Tribal conflicts were frequent among the Indo Aryans.The rajan(king) was expected to lead the tribes in battle against each other.The four Vedas namely the Rigveda, Yajurveda,Atharvaveda and Samaveda were composed in this period. Eventually, this formed the basis of the Vedic age which lasted from 1500 BCE to 500 BCE in ancient India.

Slavery in the British Empire

The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century the foremost global power in the world. Its influence extended in the political, cultural, legal and linguistic domain. The Age of Discovery led to the European exploration of the globe and in the process the establishment of large overseas colonies.

At the end of the 14^th century Europeans began to take people from Africa against their will. In 1672 Charles II gave the Royal African Company (RAC) the monopoly to supply African slaves to the British colonies. These slaves were mainly transported to the Carribean and American colonies to work as indentured labourers. At times the slaves resisted and there were frequent rebellions by slaves against their masters. The slaves lived in inhuman conditions and many of them died of disease, starvation and misery. The white colonists claimed racial superiority over the enslaved black Africans. Between 1698 and 1797, 75,000 slaves were transported from Africa to the Carribeans through the Atlantic slave trade. It was estimated in 1796 that every year about 72,000 slaves were transported from Africa to the West Indies.

Over the next 20 years the Royal African Company (RAC) carried over 90,000 slaves to the Americas. In the beginning of the 18^th century the RAC lost its monopoly to supply slaves to the British colonies. Between the 16^th and the 19^th centuries up to 15 million Africans were carried as slaves to the Americas. The Church of England encouraged the British slave trade and owned a large number of slaves. However, many church members condemned slavery and opposed it. Two of them, Granville Sharp and Thomas Clarkson established the society for the abolition of the slave trade in 1787. In the beginning of the 19^th century there were various efforts made for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. The British Parliament finally abolished slavery in 1833 but it was not until 1838 that slavery was officially abolished in the British Empire. After the abolition of the slave trade new societies emerged in America and many Africans were displaced from their homelands. Britain used racial superiority to justify the enslavement of Africans.

Thus, it can be said that the slave trade in the British Empire was an outcome of the European colonization of the Americas, Africa and Asia. It was a profit for the slave owners to own slaves and engage in the enslavement of Africans. However, in the present context with the advancement of human rights and democracy slavery no longer exists since all nations of the world have recognized the natural rights of human beings.

The Communist Revolution in China (1911-1949)

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The declaration of the People’s Republic of China by Mao Zedong on 1^st October 1949 brought to an end the conflict between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT). Historians trace the origins of the 1949 revolution in China to sharp inequalities in Chinese society. The rule of the Qing dynasty or the Manchu dynasty (1644-1911) was characterized by high rates of rent, usury and concentration of wealth in the hands of village chiefs and landlords. Also China was under the pressure of Western powers leading to the opium wars, unequal treaties and the Boxer Rebellion. Extreme internal inequality combined with external aggression was the factors which led to the rise of nationalism, class consciousness and leftism among the Chinese population.

The Xinhai revolution of 1911 brought to an end the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China. The people of China came in to contact with the western ideas. Dr Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) advocated a modern state in China based up on the Western ideals. He formed the Kuomintang or the Nationalist Party in China in 1921. He was instrumental in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). He was the first provisional president of the Republic of China. After the death of Sun Yat Sen in 1925 Chiang Kai Shek became the head of the Kuomintang or the Nationalist party. Meanwhile Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao had formed the Chinese Communist party in 1921. They believed in the ideology of the dictatorship of the proletariat through revolutionary means. Inspired by the Russian revolution they formed small Marxist groups throughout China and wanted to gain power through revolutionary means. At the third congress of the Communist party in Shanghai in June 1923 the delegates reaffirmed their commitment to working with the KMT. They agreed on a common plan to work for the rural peasants in China. But their relations strained in 1926 and in May 1926 Chiang Kai Shek expelled the communists from responsible posts with the exception of Mao Zedong.

In July 1926 Chiang Kai Shek aimed to unify the country in the Northern Expedition and overthrow the conservative government in Beijing. Mao quit the Kuomintang after fallout with Chiang Kai Shek and established bases for guerilla warfare in China. This was the beginning of Chinese Civil War. With the beginning of the Second World War and the Sino Japanese war the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist PARTY (CCP) of Mao Zedong decided to briefly cease all hostilities. The Kuomintang and the CCP decided to form a united front against Japan. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 hostilities resumed again. In the countryside and in the cities the CCP gained the upper hand. Mao formally assumed the role of the chairman of the CCP IN 1946. The Communists gained control of mainland China and established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 while the nationalists retreated to the island of Taiwan. No armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed and the debate continues whether the civil war has officially ended.

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Title: Ancient and Medieval India Paperback 

Author: Poonam Dalal Dahiya