The Aryan-speaking tribes seem to have had their early development in the flat grassy country north of the Caspian and Aral Seas. They spoke an order form of Sanskrit, from which has come not only the modern Sanskrit but also all Aryan languages such as Persian, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German, English, Sinhalese, Urdu, and most of the modern languages of India.
The Mongol tribes living in the drier lands farther east were chiefly herdsmen of horses and sheep. The Aryans, their neighbors, had some knowledge of agriculture; they made use of bullocks for ploughing. Their chief crop was barley, which they also made into a drink, called soma. But most of all they valued their herds of cattle. The wealth of a man was valued in terms of so many cattle. And to cause the death of a cow was in their eyes one of the worst crimes.
They lived in tribes scattered over a large region. Each tribe had its leader who was sometimes also its chief priest. Tribes often went to war against each other, but at certain times of the year they all came together for religious purposes, to worship the gods common to them all, the gods of sky, wind, thunder and the sun. Men who were able to make and sing verses in praise of their gods were highly valued. These religious verses have come down to us as the Rig-Veda, the oldest book of the Aryan speaking people.
Weather conditions of the Central Asia were then different from what they are now. There was more rain, lands which are now waste was then covered with trees and grass. But rainfall became less and less, making it hard for them to get enough food and grass, and this almost certainly made them move to other places. Probably also their numbers were getting greater, which made life still harder. They were warlike men, with a desire for new things, and new lands. So, group after group, tribe after tribe, they went away from their old homes, going through the gaps in the Himalayas to attack the more ancient civilized Dravidian people who were then living peacefully in the Punjab. Some went into Persia, some through the Caucasus into Armenia and Mesopotamia, and some westwards into Europe, first into the Balkan Peninsula, then into Italy, and finally some into Russia, Germany, Scandinavia, France and the British Isles.
These events did not take place quickly but were going on for more than a thousand years from about 2,500 BC when Aryans first made attacks on the people of Mesopotamia, till about 1,500 BC., when India was invaded, and after that Aryan invasion of Europe went on, one after another, for nearly two thousand years more.
In fact the Aryan-speaking people went on taking new lands until only a few hundred years ago, when the Spanish, French and British set up colonies on the continent of America and the Dutch and British did the same in South Africa and Australia. There is no continent into which Aryan-speaking people have not gone, though most of Eastern Asia is still chiefly the home of Mongolian people, such as Chinese, Japanese, Siamese and Burmese.
The first Aryan-speaking people who settled in Ceylon came from India about 500 B.C. It is not yet certain whether they came from the region which is now Bengal and Orissa or from the western region now called Gujarat. They came in ships and first settled in the plains of the north, east, and south-east of Ceylon.
The oldest history of Ceylon (the Mahawansa written at least 1000 years later) tells of the landing of the Aryan prince, Vijaya. His father is said to have Sinhababu, chief of Lion tribe Sinhala. It is this word which has given the name to the Aryan language which the settlers brought with them to Ceylon. The Sinhalese are said to have named the island Tambapani from the copper colour which they found on their hands when they touched the red soil.
These Aryan-speaking settlers built up the first known civilization in the isle of Lanka. They brought with them well-made iron tools and weapons; rice and the knowledge of how to cultivate it; and the first system of government by village councils (gun-sabha), which has lasted in Ceylon till today.
No comments:
Post a Comment