Archaeological evidence indicates that civilization emerged in the Indus Valley around 3300
BCE. Over two millenniums, the inhabitants of this northwestern region of the Indian
subcontinent developed into a prosperous civilization with a distinct cultural style. However,
around 1500 BCE, a new culture, the Aryans, entered India through the Khyber Pass, and
began integrating themselves into the social framework of the Indus Valley civilization.
The origin of the Aryan people is subject to continuous scholarly debate; however, two theories
prevail. Traditionally, it has been thought that the Aryans emerged in the Caucasus region and
migrated westward into Europe and eastward into India. Another theory, the Cultural Diffusion
Hypothesis, states that the Aryans originated in the Indus Valley.
The Aryans furnished civilization in the Indian subcontinent with many impressive cultural and
religious contributions and shaped Indian society for thousands of years with the creation of the
caste system.
Society
According to traditional theories, the Indian caste system has its origins in the advent of the
Aryans in the Indus Valley. Thus, this social stratification system was the product of the Aryan
people’s will to separate themselves from, and subjugate, the local populations.
Initially, this new society, which included Aryans and non-Aryans, was hierarchically divided into
four varnas (i.e. castes). In fact, these four original varnas could be better categorized in two
groups: Aryans and Non-Aryans. Nevertheless, the four varnas, from the top down, were: the
Brahmins—Aryans (priests, scholars, and philosophers); the Kshatriyas—Aryans (rulers and
warriors); the Vaishyas—Aryans (farmers, traders, merchants, and craftsmen); and the lowest
caste, the Shudras—non-Aryans (laborers, peasants, and servants for the other castes).
Each varna was divided into jatis (i.e. sub-castes), which identified the individual’s occupation
and imposed marriage restrictions. Marriage was only possible between members of the same
jati (or two that were very close).
Both varnas and jatis determined a person’s purity level. Members of higher varnas or jatis had
higher purity levels, and if contaminated (even by touch) by members of lower social groups,
they would have to undergo extensive cleansing rites.
First, as the highest court in the land, it is the court of last resort for those looking for justice. Second, due to its power of judicial review, it plays an essential role in ensuring that each branch of government recognizes the limits of its own power.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett ( 1862 – 1931) was an African American woman who was an investigative journalist and a leader of the civil rights movement in America. She displayed the unjust treatment of the blacks and especially the lynching of black people at that racially divided time. She was one of the founders of the NAACP.
<u>The unique challenges she faced in fighting for the rights of African American women:
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- Her newspaper and press were destroyed by a white mob
- She was continually threatened to be killed so she had to move from Memphis to Chicago
- She had to face public disapproval for her fight in the women’s suffrage movement
Becuause in the time of the slaves they had nothing to help them so they started to belive in god to give them hope, and now today they still take this tradition on from there ansestors