Indo-European Migrations

Indo-European Migrations

Chapter 3 Section 1

Steppes

• A large area of flat grassland in southeastern Europe and / or Siberia.

Migration

• The movement of animals from one region to another.• Birds migrate south for winter. • Humans migrated from one region of the Earth to

another, until they covered the entire planet.

Indo-European Languages

• A family languages spoken mostly in Europe and southwestern and southern Asia. These languages are descended from a single language about 5,000 years ago in the steppe regions north of the Black Sea.

Vedas

• The oldest and most important of the Hindu sacred texts, composed in Sanskrit and gathered into four collections.

• Think of the Vedas as the Hindu version of the Bible.

Caste System

• A social structure (ranking system) in which classes are determined by birth.

Mahabharata

• A sacred Hindu epic poem written in Sanskrit. Taking place in India and dealing with the struggle between two rival families.