About 1500BC a race of nomadic herders who had long since migrated from the central asian steppe thrust their way into northwest India. They spoke an Indo-European language, an early form of sanskrit, and for this reason they are popularly known as the Aryans. In the valley of the River Indus, which lies in present day Pakistan, these Aryans found the remains of what had once been a civilization as advanced for its day as those of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The great cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa had stood here but had long since sadly begun to crumble into dust. The Aryans were well armed warriors. Thus they had little difficulty in dominating north west India and establishing supremecy over the people they found there.

This period of Indian history ushered in by the Aryans is known as the Vedic age, after a series of literary compositions of great antiquity known as the Vedas (Veda means knowledge). The oldest is the Rig Veda, a collection of one thousand and twenty eight poetic hymns. Three other Vedas later came into beinC:

The most elaborate sacrifice was the Ashvamedha or "Horse Sacrifice" which went on for about a year and involved a small army of specialist priests and the ritual slaughter of a large number of animals. It was an exceedingly costly affair.

At the social center of this new culture, there developed a caste system, which divided the population up into various hierarchial groups: the priesthood (brahmanas); the warriors and the aristocrats (kshatriyas); the traders and other professionals (vaishyas); and the cultivators (shudras). Later a sub caste appeared: the untouchables (harrijans), who were probably of aboriginal stock and strictly speaking did not have any caste at all. Caste probably already existed in the Indus valley civilization and rested on a racial basis - the Aryans merely adapted it to their own purposes, taking care to reserve the upper echelons for themselves.

The caste system was a closed system. Once born into a caste, there was no leaving it. Upward and downward mobility was unknown. This system has survived to the present time and has its critics and apologists. However, the spiritual health of India owes rather less to Brahminism than to an alternative tradition that had its roots in pre-Aryan culture. This was essentially and ascetic tradition and its exponents were not Brahmins as a rule, but rather kshatriyas of the warrior aristocratic caste. They would renounce the world and go off either singly or in small groups into the solitude of the forest and mountain retreat. It has been suggested that some were merely dropouts, casualties who had failed to adapt successfully to coventional social life. Others may have been in search of paranormal powers - the forerunners of the legendary fakirs who later astonished European travellers in India by amgically charming snakes, levitating and performing the Indian rope trick. The best of them however, certainly withdrew from their social duties for only the highest spiritual purposes. They no doubt practices meditation and other mystical disciplines, including forms of yoga.

Brahman was ultimate reality, no less. It is said to be one and all pervading, but formless and ineffable - a great mystery. Thus it is often referred to in negative terms - "Neti, neti" - "not this, not this". These noble teachings, were recorded, though not in systematic form in the 200 hundred or so Upanishads, which were composed between about 800 and 400 BC. Like the Vedas, these are the work of great poets but ones whose lyrical inspiration was fully informed by profound insight.

Alarmed at the number of young men who were giving up their family duties to take to the homeless ascetic life, the brahmanas began to ponder the notion of Four Stages of Life. Firstly one is a student, then a householder, later one retires and gradually loosens the bonds that tie one to the world, and finally, can one become a renunciate or sanyassin and go off in search of the religious truth. Unfortunately, even the highest teachings seem invariably to undergo a fall when they are packaged for popular consumption by a professional priestly class. Thus it was with the Upanishads. It was part of Buddhas project to point out these debasements of the oncenoble teachings of the Upanishads, which in their original and highest forms were quite consistent with his own teachings.

As life became more organized, it also became more expedient for those ascetics to abandon their old anarchic ways and become more organized themselves. They had also to demonstrate their seriousness and usefulness to society. Thus we find identifiable sects emerging, each with its own philosophy and practices, and centered around a shramana or teacher. Five main sects can be determined:

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