Pontic Steppe
114-402: Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Proto-Albanian
228-768: A "turning point between the Vedic Hinduism and Puranic Hinduism". The Shramana movement, an ancient Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from Vedic tradition, often defied many of the Vedic and Upanishadic concepts of soul (Atman) and the ultimate reality (Brahman). In 6th century BCE, the Shramnic movement matured into Jainism and Buddhism and was responsible for the schism of Indian religions into two main philosophical branches of astika, which venerates Veda (e.g., six orthodox schools of Hinduism) and nastika (e.g., Buddhism, Jainism, Charvaka, etc.). However, both branches shared
342-567: A century later, after learning Sanskrit in India, Sir William Jones detected systematic correspondences; he described them in his Third Anniversary Discourse to the Asiatic Society in 1786, concluding that all these languages originated from the same source. From his initial intuitions there developed the hypothesis of an Indo-European language family consisting of several hundred related languages and dialects . The 2009 Ethnologue estimates
456-507: A collection of Tamil and later Sanskrit scriptures chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction and creation of murti , worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires and four kinds of yoga. The worship of tutelary deity , sacred flora and fauna in Hinduism is also recognized as a survival of the pre-Vedic Dravidian religion. Ancient Tamil grammatical works Tolkappiyam ,
570-431: A completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase. The precursor of Albanian is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons as well as for some linguistic evidence, or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic . Messapic, which
684-530: A half-human, half-buffalo monster attacking a tiger, which may be a reference to the Sumerian myth of such a monster created by goddess Aruru to fight Gilgamesh . Some seals show a man wearing a hat with two horns and a plant sitting on a throne with animals surrounding him. Some scholars theorize that this was a predecessor to Shiva wearing a hat worn by some Sumerian divine beings and kings. In contrast to contemporary Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations,
798-457: A king was considered to be divine by nature and possessed religious significance. The king was 'the representative of God on earth' and lived in a "koyil", which means the "residence of a god". The Modern Tamil word for temple is koil . Titual worship was also given to kings. Modern words for god like "kō" ("king"), "iṟai" ("emperor"), and "āṇḍavar" ("conqueror") now primarily refer to gods. These elements were incorporated later into Hinduism like
912-529: A lord of animals; and often depicted as having three eyes. The seal has hence come to be known as the Pashupati Seal , after Pashupati (lord of all animals), an epithet of Shiva. While Marshall's work has earned some support, many critics and even supporters have raised several objections. Doris Srinivasan has argued that the figure does not have three faces, or yogic posture, and that in Vedic literature Rudra
1026-622: A millennium. The most popular hypothesis for the origin and spread of the language is the Kurgan hypothesis , which postulates an origin in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of Eastern Europe. The existence of PIE was first postulated in the 18th century by Sir William Jones , who observed the similarities between Sanskrit , Ancient Greek , and Latin . By the early 20th century, well-defined descriptions of PIE had been developed that are still accepted today (with some refinements). The largest developments of
1140-466: A more southern homeland to explain these borrowings. According to Mallory and Adams, some of these borrowings may be too speculative or from a later date, but they consider the proposed Semitic loans *táwros 'bull' and *wéyh₁on- 'wine; vine' to be more likely. Anthony notes that those Semitic borrowings may also have occurred through the advancement of Anatolian farmer cultures via the Danube valley into
1254-995: A much earlier date for the Indo-European languages, proposing an origin in Anatolia and an initial spread with the earliest farmers who migrated to Europe. It has been the only serious alternative for the steppe-theory, but suffers from a lack of explanatory power. Also, the Armenian hypothesis proposes that the Urheimat of the Indo-European language was south of the Caucasus. While the Armenian hypothesis has been criticized on archeological and chronological grounds, recent genetic research has revived debate. The Dutch scholar Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn (1612–1653) noted extensive similarities between various European languages , Sanskrit , and Persian . Over
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#17328482372451368-682: A popular tradition on a reduced degree. The reorganization of the Church as a cult institution in the region took a considerable amount of time, as the Balkans were brought back into the Christian orbit only after the recovery of the Byzantine Empire and through the activity of Byzantine missionaries. The earliest ascertained church vocabulary of Middle Greek origin in Albanian dates to the 8th–9th centuries, at
1482-522: A retrospective view from a much later Hindu perspective. An early and influential work in the area that set the trend for Hindu interpretations of archaeological evidence from the Harrapan sites was that of John Marshall , who in 1931 identified the following as prominent features of the Indus religion: a Great Male God and a Mother Goddess; deification or veneration of animals and plants; symbolic representation of
1596-624: A social frame of bilingualism among early Albanians having to be able to speak some form of Greek. Proto-Albanian came into contact with Latin since the Illyro–Roman wars in the late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BCE, when the Roman Republic defeated the Illyrians and began to establish its rule in the Western Balkans, gradually consolidating its dominion during the last two centuries BCE. But
1710-447: A sophisticated system of declension and verbs used a similarly sophisticated system of conjugation . Relationships to other language families, including the Uralic languages , have been proposed but remain controversial. There is no written evidence of Proto-Indo-European, so all knowledge of the language is derived by reconstruction from later languages using linguistic techniques such as
1824-501: A subject of debate among scholars. While Radhakrishnan , Oldenberg and Neumann were convinced of Upanishadic influence on the Buddhist canon, Eliot and Thomas highlighted the points where Buddhism was opposed to Upanishads. Buddhism may have been influenced by some Upanishadic ideas, it however discarded their orthodox tendencies. In Buddhist texts Buddha is presented as rejecting avenues of salvation as "pernicious views". Jainism
1938-439: A synthesis of linguistics , archaeology , anthropology and genetics has established the existence of Proto-Indo-European and the spread of its daughter dialects through migrations of large populations of its speakers, as well as the recruitment of new speakers through emulation of conquering elites. Comparative linguistics describes the similarities between various languages governed by laws of systematic change , which allow
2052-695: A total of about 439 Indo-European languages and dialects, about half of these (221) belonging to the Indo-Aryan sub-branch based in Southern Asian subregion. The Indo-European family includes most of the major current languages of Europe , of the Iranian plateau , of the northern half of the Indian Subcontinent , and of Sri Lanka , with kindred languages also formerly spoken in parts of ancient Anatolia and Central Asia. With written attestations appearing from
2166-627: A unitary view of the universe with 'God' (Brahman) seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara and Brahman . This post-Vedic systems of thought, along with the Upanishads and later texts like the epics (the Ramayana and the Mahabharata ), is a major component of modern Hinduism. The ritualistic traditions of Vedic religion are preserved in the conservative Śrauta tradition. Since Vedic times, "people from many strata of society throughout
2280-530: Is a contradiction in terms since Vedic religion is very different from what we generally call Hindu religion – at least as much as Old Hebrew religion is from medieval and modern Christian religion. However, Vedic religion is treatable as a predecessor of Hinduism." The rishis , the composers of the hymns of the Rigveda , were considered inspired poets and seers. The mode of worship was the performance of Yajna , sacrifices which involved sacrifice and sublimation of
2394-529: Is attested in this form from 879 CE, required an early long-standing period of Tosk Albanian–East South Slavic bilingualism, or at least contact, resulting from the Tosk Albanian rhotacism -n- into -r- and Eastern South Slavic l-vocalization ly- into o- . The name of the region Labëri resulted through the Slavic liquid metathesis: South Slavic *Labanьja < Late Common Slavic *Olbanьja 'Albania', and
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#17328482372452508-586: Is dated to the 6th–8th century CE, reflecting some of the more archaic phonetic features of Slavic as well as early Albanian phonology. The early Slavic loanwords into Albanian developed Slavic *s as /ʃ/ and *y as /u/ within Albanian phonology of that era. Such toponyms include Bushtricë ( Kukës ), Dishnica ( Përmet ), Dragoshtunjë ( Elbasan ), Leshnjë ( Leshnjë , Berat and other areas), Shelcan (Elbasan), Shishtavec (Kukës/Gora), Shuec ( Devoll ) and Shtëpëz ( Gjirokastër ), Shopël ( Iballë ), Veleshnjë ( Skrapar ) and others. Part of
2622-585: Is evident, many of these features are already present in the oldest known Indo-Aryan language , the language of the Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE), which also includes over a dozen words borrowed from Dravidian. This represents an early religious and cultural fusion or synthesis between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans, which became more evident over time with sacred iconography, traditions, philosophy, flora, and fauna that went on to influence Hinduism, Buddhism, Charvaka, Sramana, and Jainism. Throughout Tamilakam ,
2736-506: Is generally regarded as the result of intensive borrowing, which suggests that their homelands were located near each other. Proto-Indo-European also exhibits lexical loans to or from Caucasian languages , particularly Proto-Northwest Caucasian and Proto-Kartvelian , which suggests a location close to the Caucasus. Gramkelidze and Ivanov , using the now largely unsupported glottalic theory of Indo-European phonology, also proposed Semitic borrowings into Proto-Indo-European, suggesting
2850-980: Is grouped in the same IE branch of Albanian, developed in southeast Italy after crossing the Adriatic Sea at least since the Early Iron Age, being attested in about six hundred inscriptions from Iron Age Apulia . In classical antiquity Proto-Albanian was spoken in the central-western part of the Balkan Peninsula, to the north and west of the Ancient Greeks , as shown by early Doric Greek (West Greek) and Ancient Macedonian loanwords that were treated with characteristic Albanian features, by classical place names exclusively observing Albanian accent and phonetic rules, as well as by several Proto-Albanian items preserved in ancient glossaries. Proto-Albanian speech came into contact in its earlier stage with Ancient Greek since
2964-414: Is known as the Vedic period , which lasted from roughly 1750 to 500 BCE. The Vedic Period is most significant for the composition of the four Vedas, Brahmanas and the older Upanishads (both presented as discussions on the rituals, mantras and concepts found in the four Vedas), which today are some of the most important canonical texts of Hinduism, and are the codification of much of what developed into
3078-525: Is not completely clear, from an insufficiency of evidence. The authors point out that these dates, which are only approximate, are not inconsistent with the dates established by other methods for the various archaeological cultures which are thought to be associated with Indo-European languages. For example, the date for the Tocharian break-off corresponds to the migration that gave rise to the Afanasievo culture;
3192-505: Is provided by ancient common structural innovations and phonologic convergence such as: Those innovations are limited only to the Albanian and Greek languages and are not shared with other languages of the Balkan sprachbund . Since they precede the Balkan sprachbund era, those innovations date to a prehistoric phase of the Albanian language, spoken at that time in the same area as Greek and within
3306-560: Is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Vedic language ṛta ) for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. The term "dharma" was already used in Brahmanical thought, where it was conceived as an aspect of Rta. Major philosophers of this era were Rishis Narayana, Kanva, Rishaba , Vamadeva , and Angiras . During the Middle Vedic period, the mantras of
3420-534: Is the linguistic reconstruction of a common ancestor of the Indo-European languages , as spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans after the split-off of Anatolian and Tocharian. PIE was the first proposed proto-language to be widely accepted by linguists. Far more work has gone into reconstructing it than any other proto-language and it is by far the most well-understood of all proto-languages of its age. During
3534-494: Is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian , before the Gheg – Tosk dialectal diversification (before c. 600 CE ). Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Whether descendants or sister languages of what was called Illyrian by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic , on
Proto-Albanian language - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-524: Is the ultimate foundation of everything; it is "the supreme", although this is not to be understood in a static sense. [...] It is the expression of the primordial dynamism that is inherent in everything...." The term rta is inherited from the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion , the religion of the Indo-Iranian peoples prior to the earliest Vedic (Indo-Aryan) and Zoroastrian (Iranian) scriptures. " Asha "
3762-732: The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex ( c. 2400 –1600 BCE) and spread to the Levant ( Mitanni ), northern India ( Vedic people , c. 1700 BCE ). The Iranian languages spread back throughout the steppes with the Scyths , and into Ancient Iran with the Medes , Parthians and Persians from c. 800 BCE . A number of alternative theories have been proposed. Colin Renfrew 's Anatolian hypothesis suggests
3876-845: The Bronze Age in the form of the Anatolian languages and Mycenaean Greek , the Indo-European family is significant in historical linguistics as possessing the second-longest recorded history , after the Afroasiatic family . Almost 3 billion native speakers use Indo-European languages, making them by far the largest language family. Of the 20 world languages with the largest numbers of native speakers , twelve are Indo-European – Spanish , English , Hindi , Portuguese , Bengali , Russian , German , Punjabi , Marathi , French , Urdu , and Italian – accounting for over 1.7 billion native speakers. The (late) Proto-Indo-European language (PIE)
3990-588: The Christianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers, indeed, the Christian belief among Albanians had survived through the centuries and already become an important cultural element in their ethnic identity. When the Slavic-speaking farmers migrated to the Balkans and settled the plains from the 6th–7th centruries CE, they encountered Albanian-speaking Indo-Europeans and assimilated part of them, but
4104-522: The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro is widely thought to have been so used, as a place for ritual purification. The funerary practices of the Harappan civilisation is marked by its diversity with evidence of supine burial; fractional burial in which the body is reduced to skeletal remains by exposure to the elements before final interment; and even cremation. The documented history of Indian religions begins with
4218-589: The Indus River Valley buried their dead in a manner suggestive of spiritual practices that incorporated notions of an afterlife and belief in magic. Other South Asian Stone Age sites, such as the Bhimbetka rock shelters in central Madhya Pradesh and the Kupgal petroglyphs of eastern Karnataka, contain rock art portraying religious rites and evidence of possible ritualised music. The religion and belief system of
4332-445: The Tosk and Gheg dialects and between Albanian and other Indo-European languages, as well as through contact linguistics studying early loanwords from and into Albanian and structural and phonological convergences with other languages. Loanwords into Albanian treated through its phonetic evolution can be traced back as early as the first contacts with Doric Greek (West Greek) since
4446-580: The Vedas ). The older Upanishads launched attacks of increasing intensity on the ritual. Anyone who worships a divinity other than the Self is called a domestic animal of the gods in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The Mundaka launches the most scathing attack on the ritual by comparing those who value sacrifice with an unsafe boat that is endlessly overtaken by old age and death. Scholars believe that Parsva ,
4560-503: The comparative method and the method of internal reconstruction . Most linguists recognize there is a limit to linguistic reconstruction, and that reconstructing an ancestral language to Proto-Indo-European might not be possible. The Indo-Hittite hypothesis postulates a common predecessor which both the Anatolian languages and the other Indo-European languages came from, called Proto-Indo-Hittite. Although PIE logically had predecessors,
4674-529: The crop cultivation vocabulary, in Eastern Romance languages, indicate that Proto-Albanian speakers were already leading a pastoral lifestyle at the time when Latin speakers assumed the same way of life, borrowing from (Proto-)Albanian a number of technical terms. The post-Roman contact zone between Albanian and Common Romanian is considered to have been located in Dardania and adjacent areas. From this contact
Proto-Albanian language - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-453: The historical Vedic religion , the religious practices of the early Indo-Aryans , which were collected and later redacted into the Samhitas (usually known as the Vedas ), four canonical collections of hymns or mantras composed in archaic Sanskrit . These texts are the central shruti (revealed) texts of Hinduism . The period of the composition, redaction, and commentary of these texts
4902-527: The history of India , they constitute a wide range of religious communities, and are not confined to the Indian subcontinent. Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings. The Harappan people of the Indus Valley civilisation , which lasted from 3300 to 1300 BCE (mature period 2600–1900 BCE), had an early urbanized culture which predates
5016-534: The "ancient, classical, mediaeval and modern periods" periodisation. An elaborate periodisation may be as follows: The earliest religion followed by the peoples of the Indian subcontinent, including those of the Indus Valley and Ganges Valley , was likely local animism that did not have missionaries . Evidence attesting to prehistoric religion in the Indian subcontinent derives from scattered Mesolithic rock paintings such as at Bhimbetka , depicting dances and rituals. Neolithic agriculturalists inhabiting
5130-518: The 19th century, the vast majority of linguistic work was devoted to reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European or its daughter proto-languages such as Proto-Germanic , and most of the current techniques of historical linguistics (e. g. the comparative method and the method of internal reconstruction ) were developed as a result. Scholars estimate that PIE may have been spoken as a single language (before divergence began) around 3500 BCE, though estimates by different authorities can vary by more than
5244-600: The 20th century have been the discovery of Anatolian and Tocharian languages and the acceptance of the laryngeal theory . The Anatolian languages have also spurred a major re-evaluation of theories concerning the development of various shared Indo-European language features and the extent to which these features were present in PIE itself. PIE is thought to have had a complex system of morphology that included inflections (suffixing of roots, as in who, whom, whose ), and ablaut (vowel alterations, as in sing, sang, sung ). Nouns used
5358-552: The 23rd Jain tirthankara lived during this period in the 9th century BCE. Jainism and Buddhism belong to the śramaṇa traditions. These religions rose into prominence in 700–500 BCE in the Magadha kingdom., reflecting "the cosmology and anthropology of a much older, pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India", and were responsible for the related concepts of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle). The shramana movements challenged
5472-584: The 23rd Tirthankara, was a historical figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented a few Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to the shramana movement. Buddhism was historically founded by Siddhartha Gautama , a Kshatriya prince-turned-ascetic, and was spread beyond India through missionaries. It later experienced a decline in India, but survived in Nepal and Sri Lanka , and remains more widespread in Southeast and East Asia . Gautama Buddha , who
5586-536: The 2nd century BCE due to his significant patronage of the religion. His reign is considered a period of growth and influence for the religion, although Jainism had flourished for centuries before and continued to develop in prominence after his time. The early Dravidian religion constituted of non- Vedic form of Hinduism in that they were either historically or are at present Āgamic . The Agamas are non- vedic in origin and have been dated either as post-vedic texts. or as pre-vedic oral compositions. The Agamas are
5700-711: The 3rd millennium BCE Yamnaya migrations into the Danube Valley, while Proto-Germanic and Proto-Balto-Slavic may have developed east of the Carpathian Mountains , in present-day Ukraine , moving north and spreading with the Corded Ware culture in Middle Europe (third millennium BCE). The Proto-Indo-Iranian language and culture probably emerged within the Sintashta culture ( c. 2100 –1800 BCE), at
5814-575: The 7th and 12th centuries a powerful network of cult institutions were revived completely covering the ecclesiastical administration of the entire present-day Albanian-speaking compact area. In particular an important role was played by the Theme of Dyrrhachium and the Archdiocese of Ohrid . The lack of Old Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during
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#17328482372455928-450: The 7th century BCE, but the most important of which are those from Latin (dated by De Vaan to the period 167 BCE to 400 CE) and from Slavic (dated from 600 CE onward). The evidence from loanwords allows linguists to construct in great detail the shape of native words at the points of major influxes of loans from well-attested languages. In historical linguistics Proto-Albanian is broken up into different stages which are usually delimited by
6042-514: The 7th century BCE, when the Greek colonies were founded on the Adriatic coast of Albania. In that period early loanwords were borrowed from Doric Greek (West Greek), either directly from the colonists or indirectly through trade communication in the hinterland. During the 5th–4th centuries BCE Proto-Albanian directly loaned words from Ancient Macedonian , at a time when this language gained prominence in
6156-514: The Albanians had already been completed and it had apparently developed for Albanians as a further identity-forming feature alongside the ethnic-linguistic unity. Church administration, which was controlled by a thick network of Roman bishoprics, collapsed with the arrival of the Slavs. Between the early 7th century and the late 9th century the interior areas of the Balkans were deprived of church administration, and Christianity might have survived only as
6270-800: The Indo-European language group. Using a mathematical analysis borrowed from evolutionary biology, but basing their work on comparative vocabulary, a number of researchers have attempted to estimate the dates of the splitting up of the various Indo-European languages. According to the latest study by Kassian et al. (2021), Hittite was the earliest language to split off from the rest, around 4139–3450 BC, followed by Tocharian around 3727–2262 BC. Subsequently Indo-European split into four branches ca. 3357–2162 BC: (1) Greek-Armenian, (2) Albanian, (3) Italic-Germanic-Celtic, (4) Balto-Slavic–Indo-Iranian. Balto-Slavic split from Indo-Iranian around 2723–1790 BC, Italic-Germanic-Celtic broke up around 2655–1537 BC, and Indo-Iranian split up around 2044–1458 BC. The position of Albanian
6384-421: The Indo-Hittite hypothesis is not widely accepted, and there is little to suggest that it is possible to reconstruct a Proto-Indo-Hittite stage that differs substantially from what is already reconstructed for PIE. Frederik Kortlandt postulates a shared common ancestor of Indo-European and Uralic, Proto-Indo-Uralic , as a possible pre-PIE. According to Kortlandt, "Indo-European is a branch of Indo-Uralic which
6498-412: The Indus Valley lacks any monumental palaces, even though excavated cities indicate that the society possessed the requisite engineering knowledge. This may suggest that religious ceremonies, if any, may have been largely confined to individual homes, small temples, or the open air. Several sites have been proposed by Marshall and later scholars as possibly devoted to religious purpose, but at present only
6612-403: The Indus Valley people has received considerable attention, especially from the view of identifying precursors to deities and religious practices of Indian religions that later developed in the area. However, due to the sparsity of evidence, which is open to varying interpretations, and the fact that the Indus script remains undeciphered, the conclusions are partly speculative and largely based on
6726-422: The Roman Empire after the 3rd century CE, the Imperial structures progressively weakened and eventually collapsed. Proto-Albanian and Proto-Romanian speakers remained in close contact for a substantial time frame as mountain pastoralists . The fact that the Albanian language reflects a clear pastoralist stage does not allow conclusions about the Proto-Albanian speakers' way of life during classical antiquity, as only
6840-485: The Tosk Albanian dialect is considered to have received the first impetus of developments that were shared with Eastern Romance and that did not affect the Gheg Albanian dialect as it had already separated in earlier times. After a period of common innovations, but before the rise of the rhotacism n > r (which preceded contacts with Slavic from c. 600 CE), speakers of Eastern Romance varieties that were not yet affected by this fundamental sound change separated from
6954-408: The Tosk Albanian–Common Romanian contact zone. In a period that followed the rise of those innovations, Tosk Albanian is considered to have moved – driven by the offensive of the Slavs – to Albania south of the Shkumbin river in its historically documented location. At the time of the South Slavic incursion and the threat of ethnic turbulence in the Albanian-inhabited regions, the Christianization of
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#17328482372457068-478: The Vedas were summarized in Upanishads , which are commonly referred to as Vedānta , variously interpreted to mean either the "last chapters, parts of the Veda" or "the object, the highest purpose of the Veda". The early Upanishads all predate the Common Era, five of the eleven principal Upanishads were composed in all likelihood before 6th century BCE, and contain the earliest mentions of yoga and moksha . The śramaṇa period between 800 and 200 BCE marks
7182-462: The Vedic religion and Hindu religions". The late Vedic period (9th to 6th centuries BCE) marks the beginning of the Upanisadic or Vedantic period. This period heralded the beginning of much of what became classical Hinduism, with the composition of the Upanishads , later the Sanskrit epics , still later followed by the Puranas . Upanishads form the speculative-philosophical basis of classical Hinduism and are known as Vedanta (conclusion of
7296-457: The Vedic religion. The documented history of Indian religions begins with the historical Vedic religion , the religious practices of the early Indo-Aryan peoples , which were collected and later redacted into the Vedas , as well as the Agamas of Dravidian origin. The period of the composition, redaction, and commentary of these texts is known as the Vedic period , which lasted from roughly 1750 to 500 BCE. The philosophical portions of
7410-404: The Yajurveda and the older Brahmana texts were composed. The Brahmans became powerful intermediairies. Historical roots of Jainism in India is traced back to 9th-century BC with the rise of Parshvanatha and his non-violent philosophy. The Vedic religion evolved into Hinduism and Vedanta , a religious path considering itself the 'essence' of the Vedas, interpreting the Vedic pantheon as
7524-536: The Yamna-horizon at the Pontic steppe, while the time-range of several Asian cultures also coincides with the proposed trajectory and time-range of the Indo-European migrations. According to the widely accepted Kurgan hypothesis or Steppe theory , the Indo-European language and culture spread in several stages from the Proto-Indo-European Urheimat in the Eurasian Pontic steppes into Western Europe , Central and South Asia , through folk migrations and so-called elite recruitment. This process started with
7638-440: The basic Christian terms are of Latin origin, and since they entered Proto-Albanian before the Gheg–Tosk dialectal diversification, the Proto-Albanian speakers were christianized under the Latin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE. Historical linguistic considerations indicate that the Roman province of Moesia Superior , and more specifically the ancient region of Dardania and adjacent zones, constitute
7752-430: The basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family. The precursor of Albanian can be considered a completely formed independent IE language since at least the first millennium BCE, with the beginning of the early Proto-Albanian phase. Proto-Albanian is reconstructed by way of the comparative method between
7866-418: The best candidate for the area where Proto-Albanian received its major Latin influence, and where intensive contacts between Proto-Albanian and Proto-Romance occurred, eventually producing the shared innovations between Tosk Albanian and (Proto-)Romanian . Those innovations ultimately prompted the rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian, a diversification that began not later than the 6th–7th centuries CE (i.e. before
7980-498: The core beliefs of Hinduism. Some modern Hindu scholars use the "Vedic religion" synonymously with "Hinduism". According to Sundararajan, Hinduism is also known as the Vedic religion. Other authors state that the Vedas contain "the fundamental truths about Hindu Dharma" which is called "the modern version of the ancient Vedic Dharma" The Arya Samaj is recognize the Vedic religion as true Hinduism. Nevertheless, according to Jamison and Witzel ... to call this period Vedic Hinduism
8094-473: The date for the Balto-Slavic–Indo-Iranian break-up may be correlated with the end of Corded Ware culture around 2100 or 2000 BC; and the date for Indo-Iranian corresponds to that of the Sintashta archaeological culture, frequently associated with Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers. Archaeological research has unearthed a broad range of historical cultures that can be related to the spread of the Indo-European languages. Various steppe-cultures show strong similarities with
8208-404: The derived Indo-European languages , which took place from around 4000 to 1000 BCE, potentially explaining how these related languages came to be spoken across a large area of Eurasia spanning from the Indian subcontinent and Iranian plateau to Atlantic Europe , in a process of cultural diffusion . While these early languages and their speakers are prehistoric (lacking documentary evidence),
8322-574: The eastern Pontic steppe. The late PIE culture, within the Yamnaya horizon on the Pontic–Caspian steppe around 3000 BCE, then branched to produce the bulk of the Indo-European languages through migrations to the west and southeast. Albanian , Greek , and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. Proto-Celtic and Proto-Italic may have developed from Indo-European languages coming from Central Europe to Western Europe after
8436-646: The eastern border of the Abashevo culture , which in turn developed from the Corded Ware-related Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture . The Sintashta culture grew into the Andronovo culture ( c. 1900 –800 BCE), the two first phases being the Fedorovo Andronovo culture ( c. 1900 –1400 BCE) and Alakul Andronovo culture ( c. 1800 –1500 BCE). Indo-Aryans moved into
8550-592: The evidence for Marshall's hypothesis to be "terribly robust". Some of the baetyls interpreted by Marshall to be sacred phallic representations are now thought to have been used as pestles or game counters instead, while the ring stones that were thought to symbolise yoni were determined to be architectural features used to stand pillars, although the possibility of their religious symbolism cannot be eliminated. Many Indus Valley seals show animals, with some depicting them being carried in processions, while others show chimeric creations . One seal from Mohen-jodaro shows
8664-410: The fact that Latin and ancient Greek loanwords are treated like native words with regard to taxonomical differences between Gheg and Tosk, but the same is not true of Slavic loans. Armenian Greek Phrygian (extinct) Messapic (extinct) Gheg Tosk Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in
8778-491: The figure as a deity, its association with the water buffalo, and its posture as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would be going too far. Despite the criticisms of Marshall's association of the seal with a proto-Shiva icon, it has been interpreted as the Tirthankara Rishabha by Jains and Vilas Sangave or an early Buddha by Buddhists. Historians like Heinrich Zimmer , Thomas McEvilley are of
8892-534: The fire was believed to reach God. Central concepts in the Vedas are Satya and Rta . Satya is derived from Sat , the present participle of the verbal root as , "to be, to exist, to live". Sat means "that which really exists [...] the really existent truth; the Good", and Sat-ya means "is-ness". Rta , "that which is properly joined; order, rule; truth", is the principle of natural order which regulates and coordinates
9006-517: The first years of the common era when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire . Common Albanian or its two dialects, Proto-Gheg and Proto-Tosk, experienced the earliest contacts with South Slavic languages since the Slavic migrations to the Balkans in the 6th–7th centuries CE. The rise of Tosk from Proto-Albanian was prompted before Slavic contacts circa 600 CE, as evidenced by
9120-513: The havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire, accompanied by the singing of Samans and 'mumbling' of Yajus , the sacrificial mantras. The sublime meaning of the word yajna is derived from the Sanskrit verb yaj, which has a three-fold meaning of worship of deities (devapujana), unity (saògatikaraña), and charity (dána). An essential element was the sacrificial fire – the divine Agni – into which oblations were poured, as everything offered into
9234-525: The history of India, namely the Hindu, Muslim, and British periods. This periodisation has been criticised, for the misconceptions it has given rise to. Another periodisation is the division into "ancient, classical, medieval, and modern periods", although this periodization has also received criticism. Romila Thapar notes that the division of Hindu-Muslim-British periods of Indian history gives too much weight to "ruling dynasties and foreign invasions", neglecting
9348-531: The introduction of cattle at the Eurasian steppes around 5200 BCE, and the mobilisation of the steppe herder cultures with the introduction of wheeled wagons and horse-back riding, which led to a new kind of culture. Between 4500 and 2500 BCE, this " horizon ", which includes several distinctive cultures culminating in the Yamnaya culture , spread out over the Pontic steppes, and outside into Europe and Asia. Anthony regards
9462-565: The kinship groups involved in this movement. According to the widely held Kurgan hypothesis , or renewed Steppe hypothesis, the oldest Indo-European migration split from the earliest proto-Indo-European speech community (archaic PIE) inhabiting the Volga basin, and produced the Anatolian languages ( Hittite and Luwian ). The second-oldest branch, Tocharian , was spoken in the Tarim Basin (now western China ), after splitting from early PIE spoken on
9576-762: The language of the Albanians who had taken refuge in the mountainous areas of present-day northern and central Albania , eastern Montenegro , western North Macedonia , and Kosovo , managed to survive the Great Migrations. Leading a pastoral lifestyle and although separated from Slavic-speakers, Albanian-speakers were not isolated, and contacts between Albanian and Slavic occurred thereafter. In particular, Tosk Albanian came into contact with Eastern South Slavic dialects, and Gheg Albanian with Western South Slavic dialects. Early long-standing contacts between Slavic-speakers and Albanian-speakers might have been common in mountain passages and agriculture or fishing areas, such as
9690-1023: The legendary marriage of Shiva to Queen Mīnātchi who ruled Madurai or Wanji-ko , a god who later merged into Indra . Tolkappiyar refers to the Three Crowned Kings as the "Three Glorified by Heaven". In the Dravidian-speaking South, the concept of divine kingship led to the assumption of major roles by state and temple. Indo-European migrations Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Indo-European migrations are hypothesized migrations of peoples who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE) and
9804-637: The major Latin influence in Proto-Albanian occurred since the first years of the common era, when the Western Balkans were eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire after the Great Illyrian Revolt of 6–9 CE ( Bellum Batonianum ). The Latin loanwords in Proto-Albanian were borrowed through the entire period of spoken Latin in the Western Balkans ( c. 167 BCE–400 CE ), reflecting different chronological layers and penetrating, without any restrictions, into virtually all semantic fields. Even
9918-494: The objective. Both Jainism and Buddhism spread throughout India during the period of the Magadha empire. Buddhism flourished during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire , who patronised Buddhist teachings and unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. He sent missionaries abroad, allowing Buddhism to spread across Asia. Jainism began its golden period during the reign of Emperor Kharavela of Kalinga in
10032-481: The onset of contact with different well-attested languages. Pre-Proto-Albanian is the early stage of the precursor of Albanian during the first millennium BCE, marked by contacts with Ancient Greek, but not yet by contacts with Latin. Proto-Albanian proper is dated to the period of contacts with Latin, starting from the 2nd century BCE after the Roman conquest of the Western Balkans, but the major Latin influence occurred since
10146-554: The operation of the universe and everything within it. "Satya (truth as being) and rita (truth as law) are the primary principles of Reality and its manifestation is the background of the canons of dharma, or a life of righteousness." "Satya is the principle of integration rooted in the Absolute, rita is its application and function as the rule and order operating in the universe." Conformity with Ṛta would enable progress whereas its violation would lead to punishment. Panikkar remarks: Ṛta
10260-497: The opinion that there exists some link between first Jain Tirthankara Rishabha and Indus Valley civilisation. Marshall hypothesized the existence of a cult of Mother Goddess worship based upon excavation of several female figurines, and thought that this was a precursor of the Hindu sect of Shaktism . However the function of the female figurines in the life of Indus Valley people remains unclear, and Possehl does not regard
10374-406: The orthodoxy of the rituals. The shramanas were wandering ascetics distinct from Vedism. Mahavira, proponent of Jainism, and Buddha (c. 563-483), founder of Buddhism were the most prominent icons of this movement. Shramana gave rise to the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara , and the concept of liberation. The influence of Upanishads on Buddhism has been
10488-477: The other hand, the multi-layered Albanian dialects in western North Macedonia provide evidence that the area was inhabited by Albanian-speakers since antiquity. The historical geographic spread of the Albanian dialects as it appeared in medieval times is considered to have been shaped by the settlement of Slavic farmers from the 6th–7th centuries CE. During the centuries of the Great Migration Period in
10602-648: The period of contacts with Slavic). Gheg Albanian was already separated from the Albanian–(Proto-)Romanian contact zone at an earlier period. Toponymy provides evidence that Albanian was already spoken since late antiquity in northern and central Albania, but not yet in southern Albania (south of the Shkumbin river). Those considerations indicate that unlike Gheg, the Tosk dialect could not yet have already occupied its historical geographic distribution in late antiquity. On
10716-443: The phallus ( linga ) and vulva ( yoni ); and, use of baths and water in religious practice. Marshall's interpretations have been much debated, and sometimes disputed over the following decades. One Indus valley seal shows a seated figure with a horned headdress, surrounded by animals. Marshall identified the figure as an early form of the Hindu god Shiva (or Rudra ), who is associated with asceticism, yoga , and linga; regarded as
10830-467: The reconstruction of ancestral speech (see Indo-European studies ). Archaeology traces the spread of artifacts, habitations, and burial sites presumed to be created by speakers of Proto-Indo-European in several stages, from their hypothesized Proto-Indo-European homeland to their diaspora throughout Western Europe, Central Asian, and South Asia, with incursions into East Asia. Recent genetic research, including paleogenetics , has increasingly delineated
10944-530: The region about 3000 to 2500 BCE. They replaced the pre-Indo-European languages , which left traces of the Mediterranean-Balkan substratum. Shortly after they had diverged from one another, Pre-Albanian, Pre-Greek, and Pre-Armenian underwent a longer period of contact, as shown by common correspondences that are irregular for other IE languages. Furthermore, intense Greek–Albanian contacts have continued thereafter. The precursor of Albanian can be considered
11058-508: The region and was not yet replaced by Koine Greek . Several Proto-Albanian terms have been preserved in the lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria and other ancient glossaries. Some of the Proto-Albanian glosses in Hesychius are considered to have been loaned to the Dorik Greek as early as the 7th century BCE. Evidence of a significant level of early linguistic contact between Albanian and Greek
11172-451: The related concepts of yoga, saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle). The Puranic Period (200 BCE – 500 CE) and Early Medieval period (500–1100 CE) gave rise to new configurations of Hinduism, especially bhakti and Shaivism , Shaktism , Vaishnavism , Smarta , and smaller groups like the conservative Shrauta . The early Islamic period (1100–1500 CE) also gave rise to new movements. Sikhism
11286-670: The royal lineage of Ayodhya. Buddhism emphasises enlightenment (nibbana, nirvana) and liberation from the rounds of rebirth. This objective is pursued through two schools, Theravada, the Way of the Elders (practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, SE Asia, etc.) and Mahayana, the Greater Way (practiced in Tibet, China, Japan, etc.). There may be some differences in the practice between the two schools in reaching
11400-630: The social-economic history which often showed a strong continuity. The division in Ancient-Medieval-Modern overlooks the fact that the Muslim conquests took place between the eight and the fourteenth centuries, while the south was never completely conquered. According to Thapar, a periodisation could also be based on "significant social and economic changes", which are not strictly related to a change of ruling powers. Smart and Michaels seem to follow Mill's periodisation, while Flood and Muesse follow
11514-510: The speech of the mountain pastoralists managed to survive the Great Migrations. It has been suggested that the Latin influence on Albanian resulted from a urbanized way of life, which was followed by a flight from towns similar to what occurred to the Eastern-Romance speakers. Nevertheless, the extensive influence of the Albanian language on the pastoral vocabulary and its influence, albeit lower, on
11628-400: The steppe zone. According to Anthony, the following terminology may be used: The Anatolian languages are the first Indo-European language family to have split off from the main group. Due to the archaic elements preserved in the now extinct Anatolian languages, they may be a "cousin" of Proto-Indo-European, instead of a "daughter", but Anatolian is generally regarded as an early offshoot of
11742-401: The subcontinent tended to adapt their religious and social life to Brahmanic norms", a process sometimes called Sanskritization . It is reflected in the tendency to identify local deities with the gods of the Sanskrit texts. During the time of the shramanic reform movements "many elements of the Vedic religion were lost". According to Michaels, "it is justified to see a turning point between
11856-525: The ten anthologies Pattuppāṭṭu , the eight anthologies Eṭṭuttokai also sheds light on early religion of ancient Dravidians. Seyon was glorified as the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent, as the favored god of the Tamils. Sivan was also seen as the supreme God. Early iconography of Seyyon and Sivan and their association with native flora and fauna goes back to Indus Valley Civilization. The Sangam landscape
11970-693: The time of the Byzantine Iconoclasm , which was started by the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian . In 726 Leo III established de jure the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople over the Balkans, as the Church and the State established an institution. The Eastern Church expanded its influence in the area along with the social and political developments. Between
12084-415: The toponyms of early Slavic origin were acquired in Albanian before undergoing the changes of the Slavic liquid metathesis (before c. end of the 8th century CE). They include Ardenicë (Lushnjë), Berzanë (Lezhë), Gërdec and Berzi (Tiranë) and a cluster of toponyms along the route Berat-Tepelenë-Përmet. The evolution of the ancient toponym Lychnidus into Oh(ë)r(id) ( city and lake ), which
12198-552: The valleys of the White and Black branches of the Drin and around the Shkodër and Ohrid lakes. Such contacts in these areas caused many changes in Slavic and Albanian local varieties. As Albanian and South Slavic have been in contact since the early Middle Ages, loanwords in both belong to different chronological strata and reveal different periods of acquisition. The earliest phase of contacts
12312-463: Was called an "awakened one" ( Buddha ), was born into the Shakya clan living at Kapilavastu and Lumbini in what is now southern Nepal. The Buddha was born at Lumbini, as emperor Ashoka 's Lumbini pillar records, just before the kingdom of Magadha (which traditionally is said to have lasted from c. 546–324 BCE) rose to power. The Shakyas claimed Angirasa and Gautama Maharishi lineage, via descent from
12426-685: Was classified into five categories, thinais , based on the mood, the season and the land. Tolkappiyam, mentions that each of these thinai had an associated deity such Seyyon in Kurinji -the hills, Thirumaal in Mullai -the forests, and Kotravai in Marutham -the plains, and Wanji-ko in the Neithal -the coasts and the seas. Other gods mentioned were Mayyon and Vaali who were all assimilated into Hinduism over time. Dravidian linguistic influence on early Vedic religion
12540-521: Was established by a lineage of 24 enlightened beings culminating with Parshvanatha (9th century BCE) and Mahavira (6th century BCE). The 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, Mahavira, stressed five vows, including ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), and aparigraha (non-attachment). As per Jain tradition, the teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all known time. The scholars believe Parshva , accorded status as
12654-619: Was founded in the 15th century on the teachings of Guru Nanak and the nine successive Sikh Gurus in Northern India . The vast majority of its adherents originate in the Punjab region . During the period of British rule in India , a reinterpretation and synthesis of Hinduism arose, which aided the Indian independence movement . Scottish historian James Mill , in his seminal work The History of British India (1817), distinguished three phases in
12768-490: Was not a protector of wild animals. Herbert Sullivan and Alf Hiltebeitel also rejected Marshall's conclusions, with the former claiming that the figure was female, while the latter associated the figure with Mahisha , the Buffalo God and the surrounding animals with vahanas (vehicles) of deities for the four cardinal directions. Writing in 2002, Gregory L. Possehl concluded that while it would be appropriate to recognise
12882-624: Was radically transformed under the influence of a North Caucasian substratum when its speakers moved from the area north of the Caspian Sea to the area north of the Black Sea." Proto-Finno-Ugric and PIE have a lexicon in common, generally related to trade, such as words for "price" and "draw, lead". Similarly, "sell" and "wash" were borrowed in Proto-Ugric . Although some have proposed a common ancestor (the hypothetical Nostratic macrofamily ), this
12996-520: Was reborrowed in that form into Albanian, in the period when rhotacism was still active in Tosk Albanian. Indian religions Indian religions as a percentage of world population Indian religions , sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions , are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent . These religions, which include Buddhism , Hinduism , Jainism , and Sikhism , are also classified as Eastern religions . Although Indian religions are connected through
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