--- title: "Civilization #20: The Proto-Buddhists of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization transcript" description: "Source-synced transcript archive for Civilization #20: The Proto-Buddhists of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization." source_title: "Civilization #20: The Proto-Buddhists of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization" published_at: "2024-12-03" source_class: "episode" public_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/" markdown_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.md" text_url: "https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.txt" source_url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8" data_url: "https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8.json" --- # Civilization #20: The Proto-Buddhists of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization transcript - Source: [Civilization #20: The Proto-Buddhists of the Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8) - Published: 2024-12-03, day precision - Human transcript page: [/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/) - Episode page: [/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/) - Transcript Markdown: [/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.md](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.md) - Transcript text: [/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.txt](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript.txt) - Episode JSON: [/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8.json](https://jianglens.com/data/lens/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8.json) ## Transcript ### 0:00 seg-0001 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0001` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0001](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0001) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=0s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=0s) Okay, so good morning. We finished the Bronze Age today with the Indus Valley Civilization. So we've done Egypt, we've done Mesopotamia, now we're doing the Indus Valley Civilization. And today I'm going to look at three questions, okay? First of all, what is it that makes the Indus Valley Civilization distinct or different from other civilizations? Second is, why did they decline? They reached their peak about 2600 to 1900 BCE, and then for the next 300 to 400 years, they declined and ultimately disappeared. Why did it happen? And the last question is, what is their legacy? What is their contribution to the development of Western Civilization? So let's look at the Indus Valley Civilization. To do so, we need to first understand the Indus Valley Civilization. We need to first understand the world at this time. And this is about 2500 to 2000 BCE, okay? This is what we call the Middle Bronze Age, because most people were using bronze for weapons, for tools. ### 1:14 seg-0002 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0002` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0002](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0002) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=74s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=74s) So over here is Egypt. And as we discussed, by far, Egypt is the wealthiest, most advanced civilization in the Bronze Age. Over here, across the Red Sea, is Arabia. And even though Arabia isn't really discussed that much in world history, it's still significant because it's part of the trading network, okay? So the Arabia, it's many nomads who take goods from Mesopotamia over to Egypt and then into the Mediterranean, which accesses all of Europe. This is... This is... Sumer, which is the beginning of the Mesopotamian Civilization, okay? Up here is Anatolia, the Levant. And then the Indus Valley Civilization is over here. And today, it would cover the countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northwest India. What makes the Indus Valley Civilization important is... It's really by the coast, which allows it to access Mesopotamia and Egypt, okay? Meaning, during the Bronze Age, these three civilizations, Egyptians, Mesopotamians, and the Indus Valley Civilization, were heavily interconnected through trade. ### 2:55 seg-0003 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0003` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0003](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0003) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=175s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=175s) And the Indus Valley Civilization, what was unique to them are certain products, for example, indigo dye, which was really sought after in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. Their handicrafts, their jewelry, were also very famous throughout the world. They usually traded with Sumer and Egypt by trading with the Gulf state nations of Bahrain and Oman and Dubai, okay? And they actually had a colony by the Persian Gulf. This civilization was so good at trading that we believe they even traded with China, which is pretty far away, but their ships were huge and they were very good navigators. As the Bronze Age developed over time, bronze was in heavy demand, and the main components of bronze are copper and tin. Tin is mainly found in the mountains of Afghanistan, over here. Which meant the Indus Valley Civilization started to now expand over to Afghanistan in order to access the tin trade. ### 4:16 seg-0004 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0004` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0004](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0004) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=256s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=256s) So tin was really sought after, but there was also another stone called lapis lazula, which is really sought after by the Egyptians for its spiritual and aesthetic qualities. And over here, because of the trade with Afghanistan. Afghanistan then would start to develop into Anatolia and Mesopotamia, okay? And as well, because of this trade in Afghanistan, new civilizations started to develop as well. And they're not as advanced, as large as the three major ones, but they're still pretty advanced. So for example, up here is what we call the Oxus Valley Civilization. The technical term... The technical term used by archaeologists are the Bactrian -Margiana Archaeological Complex. You don't have to know this, okay? It's called BMAC. What makes this civilization important is it interacts with the Steppes people, okay? Called the Andromino culture. So as you can see, the Indus Valley Civilization, through its partners, the Oxus Valley Civilization, and its colonies over here, now trade with the entire world. ### 5:54 seg-0005 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0005` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0005](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0005) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=354s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=354s) There's no piece of the Western world that the Indus Valley Civilization does not touch. Okay? Does that make sense? So this is a world about 2500 to 2000 BCE. It's a world that's heavily interconnected, and there are two major sources of demand. The Egyptians are extremely wealthy. And they want these valuable sources. valuable jewelry and handicrafts for their burials, okay? That's one source of heavy demand. The main source of demand is actually Mesopotamia, where the city -states of Sumer are fighting wars against each other. And in wars, bronze makes a huge difference, because bronze armor is much more stronger than copper armor, okay? So these two places are driving demand, and as such, the Indian Valley civilization is growing wealthy through trade. Does that make sense? Any questions so far before I continue? Okay, so even though the Indian Valley civilization is connected with Egypt and Mesopotamia, it's a radically different civilization, okay? ### 7:06 seg-0006 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0006` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0006](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0006) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=426s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=426s) So the first thing that makes the Indian Valley civilization interesting is it's a huge area. It's actually, in terms of size, larger than Egypt and Mesopotamia combined. It has a population of, at its peak, about five million people, okay? So this is a huge area. What's really interesting is we have found no evidence of any organized warfare in this region during this time. The reason why is this region is connected through trade. Okay? So what we have found is five major urban centers in the Indian Valley civilization, and these urban centers, you can consider to be what we call value -adding processing centers, okay? These are urban centers that specialize in taking raw goods like metals and agricultural products and turning them into finished products like jewelry, handicrafts, to be shipped, to be traded with, mainly Mesopotamia, but also Egypt, and possibly China as well. It also goes north to the Oxus Valley civilization, which then trades with the steppe people, the Andenov culture, okay? ### 8:36 seg-0007 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0007` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0007](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0007) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=516s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=516s) What we know as the Yamnaya people, all right? So this trade network, it's very, very complex. And everyone is involved in some capacity in this trade network. Okay? So that's the first thing that's interesting about the Indian Valley civilization. They trade internally peacefully. They trade externally peacefully as well. We have absolutely no evidence that they ever had organized warfare. We have absolutely no evidence that they have any intention of organized warfare, meaning we have not found any weapons. We have found tools. We found hunting weapons. We have not found, like, maybe armor, and helmets. Okay? Yeah? Yeah, great question. So how do we know there's no organized warfare? So we know there's a lot of organized warfare in Mesopotamia and other places because of what we have dug up. So we look at cities, we see parts of the city that have ### 9:49 seg-0008 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0008` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0008](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0008) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=589s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=589s) been built on top of or destroyed, meaning there might have been some fires or there might have been some warfare, okay? But with these five urban centers that we've dug up, we have found them pretty intact, meaning they were not built on top of or they were not destroyed when they were around. So that's the first major piece of evidence. The second major piece of evidence is we've dug up their graves. So if you look at maybe the civilizations of the Andronovo culture or Mesopotamia, they tend to bury warriors with their weapons. Okay? So... You know, helmets and armor. But when we look up the IVC culture people, first of all, we don't find a distinct cast of warriors. Also, we don't find any helmets or armor or weapons. Okay? So that's what led us to believe they don't engage in organized warfare. But there's also evidence to suggest our evidence is not solid, okay? ### 10:53 seg-0009 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0009` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0009](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0009) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=653s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=653s) The first piece of evidence is they don't bury their dead. These people don't have a tradition of burying their dead. Some are buried, okay? But not everyone is buried. Second of all, we don't know where they buried their dead. We assume they buried their dead in the cities. But that may not be true. Okay? So the evidence leans towards they were a peaceful civilization. But as we dig up more and more over time, we may discover this was not true. Okay? But right now the evidence suggests they were peaceful. And also what's really important about the IVC, the Innis Valley civilization is this is a new discovery. We've only known about them for the past 100 years. So what's interesting is the Indians themselves never knew they existed. It was the British who discovered these cities and started the work in archaeology to start to reconstruct their civilization. Okay? All right. But thanks for the question. ### 11:56 seg-0010 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0010` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0010](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0010) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=716s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=716s) Okay. So as I said, the first thing that's interesting about their civilization is it was relatively peaceful, okay, compared with what's happening in Mesopotamia. The second thing that was interesting for us is and surprising is for a very large civilization, they are egalitarian. Okay? Meaning in Mesopotamia, when we look at these old cities, Ur and Uruk, there were these huge palaces and temples, which suggested a culture of power in the priesthood and in the king. Okay? But when we look at these five urban centers of the IVC, there are no palaces. There are no temples. Okay? In fact, these cities are extremely well designed. There are these walls around the city, and then as you go into the city, you're able to access every single part of the city. But if you were to go into a city, say in Sumer, if you go into the city, you're only able to access the temple or the palace. ### 13:17 seg-0011 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0011` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0011](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0011) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=797s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=797s) Okay? So authority is centralized in Sumer. Whereas authority is sort of decentralized in the IVC. Now here's a question. If we know, if we suspect they are not engaged in warfare, why do they have walls? Why would, there are a lot of walls inside these cities. Why are there walls? Can anyone guess? Okay. Customs. Taxes. Okay? Meaning this is, again, a value -added, adding process center. And the way they survive economically is by collecting tolls and customs on people who trade. And the way they collect taxes is when you enter the city, you have to go to the customs house and then you pay whatever is required of you and then you can access the city. Okay? And that's the way they centralized, centrally controlled the economy and trade in the IVC. These cities are amazing. These are the first people to invent the sea toilet. The private sea toilet. And this is about the year 2800 BCE. ### 14:36 seg-0012 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0012` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0012](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0012) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=876s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=876s) Okay? So, when you go into these cities, you'll find that in private homes, everyone has a private toilet. And then the thesis is put into a sewage system and the water flushes it out. Okay? That's pretty amazing. These are people who are very concerned about the well -being of all its citizens. So, when we look at skeletal remains through DNA analysis, we've discovered the majority of the people ate about the same high quality of food. There wasn't these disparities between people as you would find in other civilizations. At least half the people, we think, lived past the age of 55. That was an amazing achievement back then. In terms of innovation, they have reservoirs. Okay? They also have public baths. They also have really amazing things called wind towers. I'm not sure if you've studied these wind towers, but they're basically air conditioners. What they do is, these are high towers and there's a hole on top. ### 15:49 seg-0013 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0013` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0013](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0013) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=949s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=949s) So, what happens is, the higher the air is, the cooler it is. Right? So, this wind that's cool gets strapped into the wind tower. It comes down. It pushes out the hot air from the other side. This is what cools the houses in the summer. Okay? This is a pretty advanced technology. Another really cool thing about the IVC is, even though it covers a huge area, they have standardized weights and measurements. Okay? They have standardized weights and measurements. Which means that every brick that they have is the same size. Which means that their buildings, their structures, are extremely stable and resilient. That's why, 5,000 years later, we still have their cities intact. You can actually go to the cities and live in them. That's how stable the technology was. Okay? So, this is a pretty advanced civilization. Unfortunately, we don't know what their writing system is. ### 17:03 seg-0014 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0014` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0014](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0014) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1023s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1023s) Okay? So, if they had writing, and we don't, we can't know for sure if they had writing, it was like Chinese in the idiographic language. Meaning, it is not phonological. Their speaking, their spoken language is not the same as their written language. In other words, it is impossible for us to decipher their written language. We don't have that many artifacts of writing. We have seals with characters written on them, but we don't have anything else. And the reason could be, if you look at Egypt, they use papyrus. Okay? Papyrus is stable or it keeps in the dry Egyptian air. Okay? If you look at Sumerian culture, Mesopotamian culture, they use cuneiform on clay tablets, which keeps forever. Okay? But if they had a writing system and they did write, it would be on palm leaves. Which degrades very easily in the jungle air. Okay? So we don't have access to their writing. This is problematic because without access to their writing, we don't have access to their religion. ### 18:16 seg-0015 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0015` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0015](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0015) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1096s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1096s) We don't know what their religion is. And one thing that you've learned in this class that's very important is religion or mythology, it is the operating system of the culture. Okay? It is the collective consciousness, the collective worldview that gives life to their culture. It explains why they do what they do. And unfortunately, we don't know their religion. But, so, it's a complete mystery to archaeologists, to scholars, as to why this very advanced civilization was very peaceful and very egalitarian. We can only speculate. All right? Any questions so far before I continue? Okay. So, I'm going to speculate as to why they were peaceful and egalitarian. So, what, so, again, the key is the religion. What is the religion? Because that will give us clues as to their mentality, their value system. Right? We know that the Mesopotamian people, their religion focused on struggle and achievement. ### 19:31 seg-0016 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0016` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0016](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0016) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1171s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1171s) We know that the Egyptians, their religion focused on the afterlife. Okay? This life that we live is we, it, the, the, what, what's important is not the here and now. What's important is what happens afterwards. Okay? That's, that's why the Egyptians built the pyramid. That's why they focused so much on funeral rites and on burial goods. All right? So, there had to be a religion in the IBC that was different from the belief system in Sumer and Egypt that made it into a peaceful and egalitarian civilization. So, what is this religion and why were they different? My speculation is this. The key is to understand that this is a civilization based on trade. And, they've been traders ever since they were born as, as a culture. Meaning, they were trading for at least 7,000, 8,000 years before they became a civilization. Okay? And if you're a trader, first of all, you're able to access the entire world. ### 20:40 seg-0017 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0017` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0017](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0017) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1240s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1240s) So, we know for a fact they traded with Sumer and the Persian Gulf states because we have, we have artifacts from the IBC in these places. Okay? We know for a fact. We can speculate it. They also traded with Egypt and with China just based on their technology and their trade networks. So, this is a civilization based on trade. And, as, as traders, they're able to see what's going on in Mesopotamia and Egypt and Egypt. They know they built the pyramids in Egypt. They know there's massive warfare in Sumer. And, I would think that if you were a trader and you saw these things, you wouldn't be impressed. Okay? In fact, you might be disgusted, especially by the warfare in Mesopotamia. This idea called the dialectic, right? And I think this is a very important idea for us to appreciate how history is often driven by the idea of the dialectic. ### 21:48 seg-0018 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0018` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0018](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0018) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1308s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1308s) So, an example that we have in today's world is, you look at Japan and China. Okay? These are two radically different societies that are next to each other. And the question then is, why are they still different? I think the answer is because Japan knows China very well. And, a lot of cultural practice Japan developed over, over the centuries, have been in response to what they see as failings or successes in Chinese culture. Okay? Another example that Doug will appreciate is Canada and the United States. The United States is probably the most belligerent nation in the world. Okay? They cannot get their hands off anything. And then you go north, Canada, and, you know, Canada and the United States share the world's longest border. Basically, Canadians are cousins of the Americans. Okay? I mean, like, there's really no difference. We speak the same language, we have the same cultural practices. But, while Americans are the most belligerent nation ever in human history, Canadians invented peacekeeping. ### 22:57 seg-0019 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0019` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0019](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0019) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1377s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1377s) Okay? The idea, like, nations should strive for meditation, for mediation and, and peace. Okay? And, I think a lot of Canada values, especially its political system, is in response to what it believes to be failings and successes in the American model. Okay? You also have New Zealand and Australia. So, there are many different examples of the dialectic going on in our global political systems. And I believe that's what happened with the IBC, where these traders saw what's happening in Egypt and saw what's happening in Mesopotamia and they were kind of disgusted especially by all this warfare in, uh, Mesopotamia. Okay? Um, warfare back then was pretty awful. And so, in Mesopotamia, the way they fight is they fight with these, um, clay bullets. Okay? And you take a, you take a slingshot and you throw it at someone. And these things kill. ### 24:04 seg-0020 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0020` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0020](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0020) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1444s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1444s) They hurt. So think of David and Goliath. Okay? And if you're a trader, you know, you'll see this warfare going on. You'll see people being, uh, beheaded. And why are they doing this? They're doing it in the name of God. Okay? Every city -state has a patron god that it believes it must defend, uh, and honor and protect. And whenever, whenever there's a, there's a dispute, it's because they feel their god has been dishonored by another city -state. So they go, go to war and they kill each other. Okay? And again, if you're a trader and you see this, you don't think this is a good thing. Um, and you go to Egypt and you see these pyramids and these pyramids are, again, extremely impressive. But at the same time, you also need to see the consequences of these pyramids which is just massive inequality, massive corruption, just massive waste. Alright? ### 24:56 seg-0021 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0021` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0021](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0021) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1496s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1496s) So, I think that by trading with these two civilizations and other civilizations, um, it reinforces the deep cultural values of the IVC people and it, and it basically compels them towards peace and egalitarianism. Okay? That's what I believe happened. Alright? Now you could, there are, there are other arguments. Uh, for example, maybe, um, uh, these people are just genetically peaceful and egalitarian. But I've made the argument that, from the onset of early human history, we were peaceful and egalitarian people. But, uh, different geographic circumstances changed our outlook. Okay? So, for example, uh, the people in the steppes, who we call the Anar people, because of the grasslands, because it is such a poor and rugged and unforgiving environment, they're forced to be cattle ranchers. They're forced to engage in cattle raiding. Okay? And over time, their culture became very aggressive, expansionist, and opportunistic. Opportunistic just means they'll do whatever it needs to survive. If they face a, um, they'll trade with people if it, if it's not, if that's what benefits them. ### 26:23 seg-0022 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0022` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0022](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0022) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1583s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1583s) They'll kill people if that's what benefits them. They are not that moral. Okay? They're very optimistic, opportunistic. And, and as, and I remember, as I said, these people with their cultural values would go in and conquer all of Europe in about 200, 300 years. Okay? And they were called the Anar people. Uh, back in the steppes, these Anar people continued to evolve over time. And over time, they became even more aggressive, more expansionist, and more opportunistic. Okay? Eventually, the Mongols, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, will, um, come from the civilization. Okay? So, that's my argument to you. And again, uh, it's my speculation. It is because of their interaction with other cultures that convinced them to pursue a peaceful and egalitarian lifestyle. Now, there are still inequalities in IBC. We know there are classes. We know there is wealth inequality. But, ### 27:23 seg-0023 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0023` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0023](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0023) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1643s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1643s) relative to Mesopotamia and Egypt, it was a real, it was a relatively peaceful and egalitarian society. Okay? Okay, any questions before I continue? Okay, so the question is, were they invaded the IBC? Okay, because as we discussed, um, in previous classes, when you're peaceful in an egalitarian society, we know that old Europe, okay, before the Amna invasion, was a peaceful and egalitarian society. You will eventually get invaded by other cultures. Okay? And for the longest time, um, there was a theory out there, uh, first proposed by, uh, basically the Nazis, okay, called the Indo -Aryan Invasion. And the idea is, you have these white people sweep into India, conquer the people, and introduce civilization to the Indians. Okay? This is called the Indo -Aryan Invasion. Even though this theory has been discredited, there is a slight kernel of truth to this theory, okay, which I will explain to you. Okay. So, let me explain this theory and what happened. ### 28:56 seg-0024 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0024` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0024](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0024) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1736s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1736s) So, you have the IVC, which is a very advanced civilization. The problem with this civilization is, their entire economy is basically based on trade. Right? Now, we know in about, there's something called the 4.2 kiloyear event, which is, which is basically a massive climate change around the world. And the 4.2 kiloyear event brought basically an end to the Egypt Old Kingdom. Right? It also brought an end to what we call the Akkadian Empire in Sumer. A man named Sargon of Akkad conquered all of Sumer and built the Akkadian Empire. And because of this, all this drought, because of climate change, his empire collapsed. Okay? So, in other words, trade networks that the IVC is heavily dependent on start to collapse. Okay? And, as a result, their cities now, which are dependent on trade, start to depopulate. Meaning, a lot of people start to return to the farms where they are from. ### 30:12 seg-0025 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0025` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0025](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0025) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1812s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1812s) They start also migrating to the rest of India. To the Ganges. Okay? As well, because of this climate change, the IVC itself is being affected heavily. Okay? So there's drought, the rivers are drying up. Remember, like the Indus Valley civilization, it's called the Indus Valley civilization because it's dependent on the Indus River, among other rivers. Okay? So there are some drought issues. Also, what we learned in this class is, over time, all civilizations face eternal tensions. Okay? And these eternal tensions can be divided into two major tensions. The first tension is a conflict among the classes. Okay? So, the idea of elite overproduction. You have too many families striving for limited status. Right? And the conflict is mainly between upper nobility and lower nobility. Okay? And so, here in the IVC, we can imagine the conflict might be between these families that are large training houses against families that are small training houses. ### 31:31 seg-0026 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0026` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0026](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0026) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1891s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1891s) Okay? Or it could be internally among the families. Okay? But there's going to be some social tension going on. The other social tension that we discuss is the idea of rat utopia. Where, and it's basically conflict between the old and the young. Again, the problem in the IVC is you have too many old people living for too long. Which means less opportunities arise for achievement for the young. Okay? And that creates conflict as well. So, what we believe that it also is that during this time there was massive social tension within the IVC. And some people would even say it was a revolutionary time. Okay? When old customs and old mores were being overthrown. Okay? Because of climate change the people in the culture now are forced to leave the steps. Because the steps are no longer suitable for their lifestyle. Okay? So, the idea here is this is not an intentional invasion. Okay? ### 32:51 seg-0027 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0027` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0027](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0027) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1971s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=1971s) It's not like you have a general in your army and they go into the IVC and then they conquer it. Okay? It's more opportunistic. Where at first you're trading and as the IVC declines because of trade trading networks because of the declining trade networks they will start to come in and push out the people. And again the culture of these people is very aggressive so there are two strategies that they will employ. The first strategy is they might wipe out villages. Okay? These villages are depopulated anyway. They come in and they wipe everyone out which means they kill everyone. The second strategy is to come in they'll kill all the men and marry all the women. Okay? And again this is a gradual process of assimilation cultural conquest. But it's not a military invasion. Okay? Does that make sense? Now after the internal culture and the axis culture merge this creates a new civilization a new culture called Proto Indo Iranian. ### 34:05 seg-0028 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0028` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0028](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0028) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2045s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2045s) Okay? Why is it called that? Because now what they will do is they'll go south to the Iranian plateau and they will become eventually the Persian people. Okay? And they will invent a new religion that becomes a great world religion called Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism comes from this merger of the Proto Iranian culture into the Iranian plateau. This is a process we call synchronization by the way. Synchronization where two major religions merge and share the same gods. There are three distinct characteristics of the Proto Indo Iranian culture that becomes salient in the new Zoroastrian religion. Okay? The first is the use of a ritual drink called Soma. Okay? Soma. Again you don't have to know this but I'm just telling you the cultural impact. Okay? Soma is comes from the Proto Indo Iranian culture. Second is the worship of fire. Okay? Fire rituals. Fires are used heavily in the religious practice. Okay? ### 35:23 seg-0029 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0029` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0029](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0029) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2123s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2123s) And as we know Zoroastrianism does use a lot of fire rituals. The last is horse sacrifice. Meaning that warriors are buried with their horses. And so this is an emphasis on the warrior culture of these people. Okay? So that's what happens in Iran. They become the Persian people. We will discuss the Persian people at a later point. Okay? Not now but I just want you to know this is what happened. These people will also push into the IBC and over time and this is a process that takes about 500 years. They'll push out the indigenous people. Okay? And then the indigenous people move into South India where they merge with the folk culture. The animism of the local people there. Okay? And guys what's amazing about this is this process will create two major world religions that are still influential today. Okay? The first we know as Hinduism. Hinduism is the merger the synchronization of Proto -Indo -Indian religion with the local IBC religion. ### 36:46 seg-0030 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0030` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0030](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0030) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2206s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2206s) Okay? And as the IBC pushes south this will create a new religion called Buddhism. Okay? Alright? But Buddhism is just the major one. There are others that are being created as well through this process. Right? The others are being Jainism and Shikism. And again these are the major ones. Okay? That are still with us today. Like basically this process created thousands tens of thousands of new religions. Alright? So this is what happened. It's not a military conquest. It's not an invasion. But it's a process of you could argue cultural genocide. Okay? Where new people come in and over time because they are aggressive experiences opportunities and culture they will eventually take over the culture. Okay? Mainly by marrying the local woman because the people who come in are basically males. Okay? They will marry the local woman and they will either kill or enslave the local man. ### 37:54 seg-0031 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0031` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0031](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0031) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2274s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2274s) Okay? And this is where we get the caste system from in India. Alright? So this is a more subtle explanation of the Indo -Iran invasion theory. Okay? And this is what scholars today accept happen. And again what's really important is to avoid generalizations and simplifications because this is a process that took about 300 years, 400 years and there are different strategies employed by different people. Some of it was peaceful. Some of it was violent. Okay? It was a mix. It's hard for us to generalize. But the overall general effect is the creation of Hinduism and Buddhism which now are the two major world religions. Okay? Any questions? But thanks for the question, Nicole. Any more questions? Before I move on. Actually, you can ask because I'll have some time to rest. ### 39:09 seg-0032 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0032` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0032](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0032) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2349s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2349s) Yep. That's right. ### 39:24 seg-0033 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0033` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0033](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0033) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2364s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2364s) Yep. Yep. ### 39:37 seg-0034 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0034` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0034](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0034) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2377s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2377s) Okay. So that's a great question, Doug. Okay? So when you trade there's always a problem of piracy and banditry. So how do you protect yourselves against that? Okay. We know like Mesopotamia became violent because it was being surrounded by violence. Right? The nomads in Arabia, the nomads in the Zagos Mountains were all pretty violent people. You had to be because to survive you had to be aggressive and opportunistic. So how is it the sorry the IBC was able to be peaceful yet at the same time trade? And the solution is they set up colonies and trade partners in order to facilitate trade. Okay? So we know for example they traded heavily with the civilization. There were lots of trade agreements, long -term trade agreements. We also know they had a colony within the civilization. Okay? We know they traded heavily with a place called Dilman which is now modern -day Buran. Okay? ### 40:40 seg-0035 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0035` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0035](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0035) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2440s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2440s) So these are their main trading partners. And so you would think their trading partners were the ones who were responsible for local security. Okay? We can also suspect they also went to other places as well to seek new trading partners. What's important about this world is this is still a relatively peaceful world. There's tremendous violence in Sumer. But that's still rare. Right? And there are some unique characteristics about Sumer that make it a violent people. But in this world and this is about 5,000 years ago people are still relatively peaceful. Organized warfare is still new and rare in the human experience. And that's why I think the experience in Mesopotamia was so shocking because the idea that you could sack a city the idea that you could kill hundreds of people at one time that's like breaking a massive cultural taboo. Okay? So I think culturally speaking people at this time prefer to trade rather than to fight. ### 41:51 seg-0036 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0036` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0036](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0036) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2511s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2511s) And because they've been trading for such a long time we're talking like you know they start maybe trading about 7,000 6,000 BCE they have a lot of trading networks around the world. They have partners they can trust basically. Okay? Any more questions before I continue? ### 42:10 seg-0037 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0037` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0037](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0037) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2530s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2530s) Maybe one more but I actually ### 42:16 seg-0038 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0038` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0038](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0038) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2536s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2536s) Yeah I'm actually moving into Buddhism. Okay. But any more questions before I continue? Okay. So the last thing I want to discuss is what is the legacy of the IBC? They were a great civilization are they completely lost to us? What is their contribution to Western civilization? So the legacy of Egypt are the pyramids right? We know Egypt because of the pyramids. The legacy of Mesopotamia are many they invented a lot of things like writing cuneiform also they introduced world literature right? The Epic of Gilgamesh. What I want to argue now is the legacy of the IBC is in their spiritual practice. Okay? Their spiritual values. So if you look at Hinduism okay it's very different from Zoroastrianism and that's kind of strange because they're both Proto -Indo -Iranian religions right? But let's look very quickly at Hinduism. Hinduism believes the reality we live in is false. Okay? The real reality is called Brahman the true absolute reality. ### 43:34 seg-0039 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0039` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0039](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0039) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2614s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2614s) So we live in this false reality. As we live in this false reality we collect karma. Karma is basically just an accounting of your good deeds and your bad deeds. And guess what? Throughout your life you're going to accumulate more bad deeds than your good deeds. And your karma means your soul called the Atman is stuck here. Okay? Because the Brahman is pure. You can only return to Brahman to heaven if you're a pure person. So it will take many lifetimes for you to cleanse your soul your Atman in order to return to the Brahman. This process of cleansing your soul is what they call Dharma. Okay? Dharma. The right path. If you if the Dharma over thousands of lifetimes if your Dharma is correct if you achieve Dharma you will achieve what is called Moksha. Which is basically liberation. Moksha releases you, your soul from the physical world and allows you to return to the Brahman where you will live eternally in paradise. ### 44:52 seg-0040 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0040` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0040](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0040) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2692s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2692s) Okay? That is the one of the basic ideas of Hinduism. Another really important idea of Hinduism is this entire process is being meditated or sorry mediated or gate keep by priests called Brahmins. Okay? So you think being a good person is enough. No it's not. You have to listen to the Brahman because only the Brahman understands Dharma. Okay? And depending on who you are your Dharma will be different. So in Hinduism there is a hierarchy. Okay? At the very top are of course the priests and the Brahmins because they have access to spiritual knowledge. Below them are the warriors and the kings. And then below them are the farmers and the merchants who keep the economy running. And at the very bottom are the servants and the laborers. Okay? Now what's what's really interesting about the system is this system can be differentiated by the color of one's skin. ### 46:14 seg-0041 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0041` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0041](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0041) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2774s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2774s) Right? Remember the Proto -Indo -Iranians they have white skin. The IVC culture the people who call the Proto -Dravinians no sorry the Proto -Dravinians okay they have darker skin. So the IVC people of the lower class don't you know mix with the Proto -Indo -Iranians. And so basically the Proto -Indo -Iranians accumulated centralized power through the idea of Hinduism. Okay? They're the priest class. So that's a basic theory of Hinduism. And again Hinduism is an extremely complex religion. I don't want to oversimplify it but I have no choice because I want to explain the differences. Okay? So in this system who's really unhappy now in this system? Which group of people are like very upset with this system? Can you guys can you guys can you guys echo? Can you can you apply what we've learned in this semester and answer the question all these four groups who's the unhappiest? ### 47:24 seg-0042 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0042` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0042](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0042) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2844s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2844s) And who who most wants change or revolutionary change? Excuse me? The lower nobility and who's the lower lower nobility in this system? The kings. Okay? Does that make sense? The kings actually in this system are the lower nobility. The upper nobility are the Brahmins. It's the Brahmins who control access to the Brahmins. Okay? And so the kings must obey the priests. So the kings aren't happy with this. And so for this conflict you have the creation of Buddhism. Right? Remember Suharto Kottama who's considered the first Buddha he was actually a prince before he became the Buddha. And the man most responsible for spreading Buddhism in India he was the king the emperor of the Moran Empire. And he was the one who institutionalized Buddhism as state religion who sponsored missionary projects to China to Greece to Egypt. Okay? So these rulers don't like Hinduism because they see the Brahmin class as a threat to their power. ### 49:00 seg-0043 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0043` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0043](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0043) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2940s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=2940s) So Buddhism follows this system except for one major difference. You don't need the Brahmin to access Nirvana. Okay? You don't need the Brahmin to access spiritual enlightenment. You can do it by yourself through spiritual guidance by monks. Okay? That's a major difference. And as you can see Buddhism is in many respects a revolutionary religion to overthrow the power of the Brahmin class. In response to Buddhism what do the Brahmins do? Do you guys know? They create the caste system. Okay? After the rise of Buddhism Hinduism started to implement what we call today the caste system. Which is to say these classes must separate from each other. They are not allowed to intermingle. They're not even allowed to touch each other. They're not even allowed to touch Okay? These people at the very bottom are what we call today the untouchables. And this system was developed by the Hindu priests the Brahmins in response to the threat of Hinduism. ### 50:22 seg-0044 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0044` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0044](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0044) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3022s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3022s) Now over time because Hinduism like the Proto -Iranian people are aggressive expansionist opportunistic they will defeat Buddhism in this struggle. Okay? And the one way one really important way they defeat Buddhism is by adopting most of Buddhism's practices. Okay? So like yoga meditation and also Nirvana. Okay? The Hindu Brahmins will adopt whatever is popular in Buddhism. Another thing that the Hindu priests will do is they will start basically assimilating other religions as well. So most Indians throughout its history believe in their local folklore gods. Right? Eventually all these gods will be assimilated into the Hindu hierarchy. That's why you have like a million gods in the Hindu religion. Okay? Because they were all over time assimilated into the hierarchy. And obviously these gods are lesser gods. The higher gods the Holy Trinity are Brahmins gods. Alright. So now's the chance for Doug to ask his question about Buddhism before I continue. ### 51:46 seg-0046 - Speaker: SPEAKER_01 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0046` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0046](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0046) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3106s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3106s) Yeah. Yeah. ### 52:04 seg-0047 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0047` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0047](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0047) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3124s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3124s) That's right. That's right. ### 52:10 seg-0048 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0048` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0048](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0048) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3130s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3130s) Yep. ### 52:11 seg-0049 - Speaker: UNKNOWN - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0049` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0049](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0049) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3131s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3131s) Yep. ### 52:26 seg-0050 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0050` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0050](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0050) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3146s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3146s) Okay. Great question. Okay. So what is the IVC religion? The portal religion? Okay. I want to make an argument. And again it's speculation. It's a very strange argument. And most scholars probably will not agree. I think the religion of the IVC is Proto -Buddhism. And the reason why is if you look at Zoroastrianism and you look at Proto -Indo -Iranian the religion there are a lot of similarities. Okay? And Zoroastrianism actually fits into the larger Proto -Indo -European religion framework. When you look at Hinduism you've got this strange idea. You believe in Dharma, Dharma, reincarnation, impermanence, Brahma, the ultimate reality. Like this is not part of the Proto -Indo -European religion in anywhere. Okay? So at the same time Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shikism all share this fundamental belief in the world that this world is a false reality. It's a reality created by our false beliefs. And if we learn to tame our emotions, ### 53:45 seg-0051 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0051` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0051](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0051) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3225s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3225s) we learn to see the underlying reality governing all human structure then we will be released from this world. Okay? Now where would that come from? That must have come from the IBC because there will be no other place. Also it explains why these religions have such huge followings in India. Right? They don't have any followings anywhere else. Okay? Like Hinduism is basically localized to India. So is Jainism. So is Shikism. So they are appealing to a fundamental sense of the world among Indians. They're basically appealing to nostalgia. Right? And where is this nostalgia from? It must be from the IBC. Okay? So I would make that argument. I would believe, I would bet that if we were able to construct the religion of the IBC, the proto -religion, we would see a proto -Buddhism. Okay? The beginnings of Buddhism. It would be very different. Okay? Because Buddhism evolved over thousands of years. But the underlying assumptions about the world, basically the idea of oneness. ### 54:58 seg-0052 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0052` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0052](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0052) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3298s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3298s) Okay? Okay? The idea of false reality. I think these two ideas would be very apparent in the IBC. As they are apparent now in all four major Indian religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Okay? Do you want to continue or? No, no, no, no, I'm finished. But do you want to respond to my argument? Okay. Are you guys following along? Does this make sense to you guys? In fact, I would argue that we as humans fundamentally have nostalgia for these two ideas. Oneness and false reality. Okay? Because if you look at the West, okay? If you look at us today, there are two ideas that are the most powerful today in Western civilization. The first idea is Plato's Allegory in the Cave. Right? The idea that we live in a shadow world and the truth is out there but we have to seek it. It's a very powerful idea. ### 56:24 seg-0053 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0053` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0053](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0053) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3384s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3384s) Right? And it's very similar by the way to the ideas found in Hinduism and Buddhism. Okay? The Allegory in the Cave is the first powerful idea. And then the second powerful idea is the idea of the second coming. The return of Jesus. Because what does the return of Jesus signify? It signifies paradise on Earth. It signifies the destruction of our current reality and the replacement of a new reality that creates oneness, completeness and wholeness on Earth. So, in many ways this is very similar to what the Indians are proposing as well. So, what this is saying is at a fundamental level everyone has a nostalgia for a distant past. Okay? And what is this distant past? The distant past is the idea of animism. So, remember 10,000 years ago 20,000 years ago we were in the Ice Age we were hunter -gatherers. And the way we saw the world was very different from the way we see the world today. ### 57:38 seg-0054 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0054` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0054](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0054) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3458s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3458s) Okay? Back then if you were a hunter -gatherer you could only think you were the same as the tree or as the animal. Okay? It's the idea of oneness. We're no different. We're all part of the life cycle. We're all part of Mother Nature. Okay? The Mother Goddess. All right? We also believe we inhabit different realities at the same time. Right? We live in this world which is the material reality but we're also inhabiting the spiritual reality as well. And what we do spiritually matters a lot more than what we do materially. Okay? So, we can hunt and kill animals as long as we pay the proper respects to the animals we kill. As long as we contribute spiritually to the cycle of life and death. Okay? So, I think that's where Buddhism comes from. It comes from animism. This Buddhism became reinforced and became ### 58:43 seg-0055 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0055` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0055](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0055) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3523s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3523s) much more concrete because it was experiencing a reality in Mesopotamia and Egypt that was abhorrent to the people experiencing that. Okay? War goes against the human experience. Inequality and corruption in ways goes against the human experience. We fundamentally believe this to be evil and wrong. Okay? So, that is my argument about the IBC. Any questions? Any comments? Okay, that's a good question. Do I believe that human nature is fundamentally benevolent? I don't believe human nature is benevolent. I believe humans naturally seek a spiritual understanding of the world. I think humans want to know why. Why are we here? Where are we going? Where do we come from? Okay? We want to know why. We're also curious. We want to explore the world. Okay? So, I think trade is not a new invention. I think it's a very inherent thing to human nature. I think the idea of globalization, this was a globalized world like 5 ### 1:00:25 seg-0056 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0056` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0056](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0056) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3625s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3625s) ,000 years ago. Extremely sophisticated, complex, globalized world. So, I think that's what makes us fundamentally human. Okay? And you can say this is a good thing or a bad thing. And I would say, well, it depends on the circumstance. Right? But I think what drives us as humans is our curiosity and our imagination. Okay? That's what I think being human is. And sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes this is a bad thing. Okay? Sometimes in the IVC this will lead to peace and egalitarianism. But this also is what drives the idea of the second coming which is what's driving the conflict in the Middle East today. Okay? So, it depends on the context. It depends on the circumstance. If this curiosity, this imagination is channeled effectively, then I think that's a good thing. If it's channeled opportunistically, then it's a bad thing. Okay? But thanks for the question. Any more questions? Okay. ### 1:01:39 seg-0057 - Speaker: SPEAKER_00 - Source ref: `video:predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8@transcript:v1#seg-0057` - Transcript segment: [https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0057](https://jianglens.com/episodes/predictive-history-cvi8rukoda8/transcript/#seg-0057) - Video timestamp: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3699s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvI8rukoda8&t=3699s) So, this ends our Bronze Age unit. Okay? So, we looked at the three major Bronze Age civilizations. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and IVC. Next class we'll start the Bible. Okay? The Hebrew Bible. All right.