3.1 The Indo-Europeans

steppes

dry, grass-covered plains

Vedas

four collections of sacred writings produced by the Aryans during an early stage of their settlement in India

Brahmin

in Aryan society, a member of the social class made up of priests

What might the geographic spread of Indo-European groups have caused?

individual languages and customs

The technology of iron smelting aided the Hittites because

it made strong weapons that helped them to excel at war

caste

one of the four classes of people in the social system of the Aryans who settled in India-priests, warriors, peasants or traders, and non-Aryan laborers or craftsmen.

Anatolia

the Southwest Asian peninsula now occupied by the Asian part of Turkey-also called Asia Minor

migration

the act of moving from one place to settle in another

The social class that came to be known as the caste system was established in India by

Aryans

The Hittites occupied Anatolia (Asia Minor), a huge peninsula in modern-day

Turkey

Mahabharata

a great Indian epic poem, reflecting the struggles of the Aryans as they moved south into India

Indo-Europeans

a group of seminomadic peoples who, about 1700 B.C., began to migrate from what is now southern Russia to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, and Southwest Asia

Hittites

an Indo-European people who settled in Anatolia around 2000 B.C.

Aryans

an Indo-European people who, about 1500 B.C., began to migrate into the Indian subcontinent