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?