Pillars of Indian Life
Caste System• To ensure spiritual purity• Couldn’t move up or down in class• “Untouchables”
Effects: Inequality v Social Order•Only relationship where people are equal is friend to friend
Family Life• Structure• Joint Family- is an extended family consisting of many generations living under the same roof.
1. Patriarchal- father is head of family
Family Life• Structure
2. Parents- respected3. Children- continual family support
throughout their lives
Women’s Lives• Shakti: 'The Great Divine Mother' in Hinduism• Had to obey a male relative• Little rights but highly protected
Village Life• Landlord- owned farmland that others
worked on• Small villages• Protection
Economy• Trade with foreign nations
Sold silks, cotton, wool, ivory, spices, & precious gems
Society• Men could have more
than one wife
• Suttee: widows committed suicide by throwing themselves on top of their husband’s flaming funeral
Arranged Marriages
Question:• How would you feel if your parents
arranged your marriage to someone you barely knew?