Aryans and Dravidians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aryans and Dravidians - Essay Example This essay will discuss the history and culture of two of the most unique civilizations that inhabited the Indian continent, the Aryans and Dravidians. The term ‘Aryan’, according to the Indo-European philology, refers to an individual, recognized ethnically or racially, and the Aryan language, regardless of the ethnicity or race of the inhabitants speaking its different variants (Basham 1954). The Aryan civilization was a new beginning in the culture of India. Harappa was basically a blind alley; the Aryans borrowed almost nothing of the culture of the Harappan civilization (Basham 1954). They did not develop a writing system, built no states, and cities. Rather they were a hostile civilization that governs themselves in kinship, tribal, and individual units (Gottschalk 2000). Basically, the Aryans were a group of nomadic and tribal people inhabiting the remote part of Euro-Asia in unfriendly steppe territories hardly making a sufficient subsistence (Gottschalk 2000). They were undoubtedly a strong population, and they were brave and aggressive. Their religion is governed by a sky-god that commands combat and invasion (Gottschalk 2000). The culture of the Aryan civilization was concentrated around warfare. They were exceptional horseback riders and charged into combat in chariots (Knott 1998). They were ruled by a raja, or a war-chief. They started to move southwards in series of continuous invasion across Persia and India at some point in the second millennium B.C. (Knott 1998). The term ‘Dravidian’ is given to peoples of India related by language. They are claimed to be the earliest inhabitants of ancient India (Basham 1954). The population is mostly made up of the lower class Indian people. Particular groups of people comprise the Tamil, the Todas and the Ghats (Basham 1954). The culture of the Dravidian is quite diverse, with several