World History: Patterns of Interaction: Chapters 3–4

The Indo-Europeans were a group of nomadic peoples who came from the steppes—dry grasslands that stretched north of the Caucasus.

Whatever the reason, Indo-European nomads began to migrate outward in all directions between 1700 and 1200 B.C. These migrations, movements of a people from one region to another, happened in waves over a long period of time.

When they first arrived in India, Aryans were divided into three social classes: Brahmins (priests), warriors, and peasants or traders.

Later, in the 15th century A.D., explorers from Portugal encountered this social system and called these groups castes. As time went on, the four basic castes gradually grew more complex—with hundreds of subdivisions. People were born into their caste for life.

By the process of reincarnation (rebirth), an individual soul or spirit is born again and again until moksha is achieved.

A soul’s karma—good or bad deeds—follows from one reincarnation to another. Karma influences specific life circumstances, such as the caste one is born into, one’s state of health, wealth or poverty, and so on.

Siddhartha wandered through the forests of India for six years seeking enlightenment, or wisdom.

By following the Eightfold Path, anyone could reach nirvana, the Buddha’s word for release from selfishness and pain.

Monotheism, a belief in a single god, comes from the Greek words mono, meaning “one,” and theism, meaning “god-worship.”

This mutual promise between God and the founder of the Hebrew people is called a covenant.

In 738 B.C., both Israel and Judah began paying tribute—peace money paid by a weaker power to a stronger—to Assyria.

In each province, Darius installed a governor called a satrap, who ruled locally.

Confucius stressed that children should practice filial piety, or respect for their parents and ancestors. Filial piety, according to Confucius, meant devoting oneself to one’s parents during their lifetime.

Confucius stressed that children should practice filial piety, or respect for their parents and ancestors. Filial piety, according to Confucius, meant devoting oneself to one’s parents during their lifetime.

Confucius said that education could transform a humbly born person into a gentleman. In saying this, he laid the groundwork for the creation of a bureaucracy, a trained civil service, or those who run the government.

Other people turned to the ideas of ancient thinkers, such as the concept of yin and yang—two powers that together represented the natural rhythms of life. Yin represents all that is cold, dark, soft, and mysterious. Yang is the opposite—warm, bright, hard, and clear.

Other people turned to the ideas of ancient thinkers, such as the concept of yin and yang—two powers that together represented the natural rhythms of life. Yin represents all that is cold, dark, soft, and mysterious. Yang is the opposite—warm, bright, hard, and clear.

Through measures such as these, Shi Huangdi established an autocracy—a government that has unlimited power and uses it in an arbitrary manner.