Migration Throughout the Ancient World: the Aryans, Bantu and Hun

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Throughout the history of mankind, humans have always been on the move. This is due in part to our inner desire to always seek change. Migration is defined as the movement of people from one area to another in order to establish a new residence (Wood, 1994). Reasons tend to fall under three categories: political, economic and environmental. In early human history, environmental change was usually the biggest reason people migrate from one place to another (Wood, 1994). Flooding, lack of land, and cold climates would push people out of their native lands. Migration also occurred for economic reasons including overpopulation and flooding of plains used for farming (Wood, 1994). Political reasons for migrating usually involve escaping war or invasion from other empires or tribes (Wood, 1994). . The effects of migration; be it political, economic, environmental or social; have had both negative and positive impacts on societies in the ancient world. Therefore, Migration throughout Ancient Civilization played a large role in shaping the cultures, practices and ideas of societies for many centuries. The Indus Valley Civilization flourished along the Indus Valley from 2500 to 1500 B.C.E (Fitzsimons, 1970). At its height, the Indus Valley Civilization covered modern day Pakistan, parts of Afghanistan and most of western India (Fitzsimons, 1970). The flooding of the Indus Valley plains allowed farming to become widespread around the region. The two principal cities of Mohenjadoro and Harrappa both sheltered more than 40,000 people (Fitzsimons, 1970). Both cities were planned remarkably well with right-handed wide streets, public wash stations for prayers, and an extensive drain system (Kenoyer, 1991). This suggested that there was a centralized authority and that the inhabitants respected order and law (Fitzsimons, 1970). Indus Valley Civilization flourished for centuries

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