The document provides an overview of the Vedic period in India from around 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. It discusses the origins and composition of the Vedic texts such as the Rigveda, the development of Vedic literature including the Upanishads and Puranas, the transition to an agricultural society and iron-working, the growth of kingdoms and political organization, the development of the caste system, and changes in religious practices and philosophy. The Vedic period marked important developments in early Indian civilization.
The document provides an overview of the Vedic period in India from around 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. It discusses the origins and composition of the Vedic texts such as the Rigveda, the development of Vedic literature including the Upanishads and Puranas, the transition to an agricultural society and iron-working, the growth of kingdoms and political organization, the development of the caste system, and changes in religious practices and philosophy. The Vedic period marked important developments in early Indian civilization.
The document provides an overview of the Vedic period in India from around 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. It discusses the origins and composition of the Vedic texts such as the Rigveda, the development of Vedic literature including the Upanishads and Puranas, the transition to an agricultural society and iron-working, the growth of kingdoms and political organization, the development of the caste system, and changes in religious practices and philosophy. The Vedic period marked important developments in early Indian civilization.
The document provides an overview of the Vedic period in India from around 1500 BCE to 600 BCE. It discusses the origins and composition of the Vedic texts such as the Rigveda, the development of Vedic literature including the Upanishads and Puranas, the transition to an agricultural society and iron-working, the growth of kingdoms and political organization, the development of the caste system, and changes in religious practices and philosophy. The Vedic period marked important developments in early Indian civilization.
• The oldest book known all over the world is supposed to be that of the Vedas. • They were written about 3,700 years back and are the earliest literary source available. • The Vedas: The word, Veda means Knowledge. There are four Vedas: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The Rigveda is the oldest Veda. It was composed about 3,700 years ago. The hymns have been compared by sages. These hymns were recited and passed from one generation to another until they were written down. These hymns are in praise of different gods such as Indra (the god of warrior), Agni (the god of fire also known as connecting between God of earth and God of sky), Varun (the god of sky) and many others. • While studying about the past, historians examined Rigveda. Most of the hymns in Rigveda were in the form of dialogues. Historians study these dialogues to arrive at conclusions. • Most prayers in the Rigveda are for cattle, children and horses. Horses were yoked to chariots and used in battles. Battles aimed to capture cattle, land, pasture, water and people. A portion of the wealth was used for performing Yajnas or sacrifices in which offerings were put into fire, for gods including ghee, grains and rare animals. • The Vedas even tell us about political life of this sage. The head of state was called Raja. The Raja had no capital, palaces, armies or right to collect taxes. • Agriculture, cattle-rearing, chariot-making, pottery, jewellery-making tanning and metalwork were the main occupations. • While Aryans composed Vedas, another group of people opposed to Vedas. They were called Dasas or Dasyus or slaves. • Archaeologists assume that objects discovered with a skeleton, probably belonged to the dead person. In Brahmagiri, a skeleton was buried with 33 gold beads, 2 stone beads, and one conch shell whereas other skeleton only had a pot which shows the difference in status, amongst the people who were buried. Some were rich while others were poor. Sometimes, megaliths have more than one skeleton. It indicates that people belonging to the same family were buried at the same place though at different times. Special burials took place at Inamgaon. • Animals were used as food. Skeletal studies tell us about better way of identifying dead bodies.
Vedic period (1500 BCE – 1000 BCE)
The Veda Finally concluded by KRISHNA DWVAYAPAYANA VEDA VYAS.
Rigveda • oldest religious text in the world • Consists of 1028 hymns divided into 10 mandalas (books). • 2nd to 7th mandala known as vamsha mandala. • In IIIrd Mandala, Gayatri mantra is addressed to solar God. • X Mandala addressed to Purusha Sukta which explains four Varna i.e., Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and shudder. • The hymns were recited by Hotra.
Later Vedic period (1000 BCE - 600 BCE)
The history of the later Vedic period is based mainly on the Vedic texts which were compiled after the age of Rig Veda. 1. Later Vedic Texts a. The Veda Samhita’s i. Sama Veda – The book of chants with hymns taken from Rig Veda. This Veda is important for Indian Music basically in dhrupad raga . Sama Veda derives its roots from saman which means melody. The hymns of Sama Veda recited by Udgatri at soma sacrifice. ii. Yajur Veda – The book consists of sacrificial rituals and formulae. Two texts of Yajur Veda i.e., Shukla or white Yajur Veda and Krishna or black Yajur Veda. The hymns were recited by Adhvaryu. iii. Atharva Veda – This book consists of charms and spells to ward of evils and diseases therefore also known as book of magical formula. The hymns were recited by Brahma.
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b. The Brahmana’s – Consists of the explanatory part of the Vedas in prose form. Sacrifices and rituals have also been discussed in great detail. i. Rig Veda – Aitreya and Kaushitiki Brahmana ii. Yajur Veda – Shatapata and Taittariya iii. Sama Veda – Panchvisha, Chandogya, Shadvinsh, and Jaiminaya iv. Atharva Veda - Gopatha c. The Aranyakas – Concluding portions of Brahmans, also called as Forest texts written mainly for the hermits and students living in forests. d. The Upanishads – Appearing at the end of the Vedic period, they criticized the rituals and laid stress on right belief and Knowledge. Note- Satyamev Jayate has been taken from Mundaka Upanishad.
2. Vedic literature – Following the Later Vedic age, a lot of Vedic Literature was developed, inspired from the Samhitas which follow the Smriti – Literature which was written in comparison to Shruti – Word of Mouth tradition. Important texts in Smriti tradition are further subdivided into a. Vedangas i. Shiksha - Phonetics ii. KalpaSutras – Rituals • Srauta Sutras deals with large public sacrifice • Grihya Sutras deal with ritual connect with birth naming and marriage • Dharma Sutras deal with social and local customs iii. Vyakarna - Grammar iv. Nirukta - Etymology v. Chhandha - metrics vi. Jyotisha - Astronomy b. Smriti i. Manu Smriti - First book on laws also known as Manav Dharma Shastra ii. Yajnavalkya Smriti iii. Narada Smriti iv. Parashara Smriti v. Brihaspati Smriti vi. Katyayana Smriti c. Mahakavyas i. The Ramayana written by Valmiki/ Ratnakar, consists 6000 verses initial but later raised to12000 and finally 24000 verses. ii. The Mahabharata older than Ramayana originally consists 8800 verses which raised to 24000 known as Jai Samhita and later it consists 50000 verses and known as Bharat which finally has 100000 verses and known as Mahabharata d. The Puranas i. 18 Maha Parana’s – Dedicated to specific deities such as Brahma, Surya, Agni, Saiva and Vaishnava. They include Bhagavata Purana, Matsya Purana, Garuda Purana etc ii. 18 Upa Puranas – Lesser known texts e. The Upvedas i. Ayurveda - Medicine ii. Gandharvaveda - Music iii. Arthaveda - Vishwakarma iv. Dhanurveda - Archery f. Shad - Darshanas or Indian Philosophical Schools i. Samkhya by Kapil muni ii. Yoga by Patanjali iii. Nyaya by Gautam iv. Vaisheshika by Kannad v. Mimansa by Jamini vi. Vedanta by Vyas
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3. The PGW-Iron Phase Culture and Later Vedic Economy
The settlements covered the whole of the North India with the Ganges being the center of culture. The appearance of Iron implements in Dharwar, Gandhara and Baluchistan region from 1000 BC. Iron was called as Shyama or Krishna Ayas and was used in hunting, clearing forests etc.
a. Territorial Divisions i. Aryavarta – North India ii. Madhya Desa – Central India iii. Dakshinapah – South India b. The transition of chief source of livelihood from Pastoralists to well-settled and sedentary Agriculture based economy. Rice (Vrihi), Barley, Wheat, and Lentils were chief produce. c. Arts and Crafts improved with the use of Iron and Copper implements. Weaving, leatherwork, pottery and carpenter’s work also made great progress. d. The growth of Towns or Nagaras were seldom found. The Later Vedic phase didn’t develop into an urban Phase. Kaushambi and Hastinapur are called as Proto-Urban Sites. e. Seas and Sea Voyages are also mentioned in the Vedic texts.
4. Political Organization a. Assemblies – Popular assemblies lost their importance. The character of Sabha and Samiti changed while Vidatha disappeared. Rich nobles and chiefs started to dominate these assemblies. i. Women were no longer allowed in these assemblies. They lost their importance gradually. b. Formation of bigger kingdoms led to Kings becoming powerful and tribal authority becoming territorial. Rashtra indicates territory appears first in this phase c. Though Election of the chief appears in the text, the post tends to become hereditary. But the Bharata Battle shows Kingship knows no Kinship. d. The king performed various rituals to strengthen his powers. Some of them are i. Ashvamedha – Unquestioned control over an area in which the royal horse ran uninterrupted. ii. Vajapeya- Chariot race iii. Rajasuya Sacrifice to confer supreme powers
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e. Sangrihitri – An officer appointed to collect taxes and tributes
f. Even in this phase, the King did not possess a standing army and tribal units were mustered in times of war.
5. Social Organization a. Chaturvarna System developed gradually due to the increasing power of Brahmanas as Sacrifice rituals were becoming more common. But even now the Varna system had not advanced very far. b. The Vaishyas were the common people who paid tributes while the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas lived on the tributes collected from the Vaishyas. The three Varnas were entitled to Upanayana and the recitation of Gayatri Mantra which was deprived to Shudras. c. Gotra started to appear with Gotra Exogamy begun to be practiced. d. Ashramas (Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha, and Sannyasin) were not well established.
6. Gods, Rituals, and Philosophy
a. The cult of Brahminical Influence developed with growing rituals and sacrifices. b. Indra and Agni lost their importance while Prajapati acquired the supreme position with Rudra and Vishnu having important positions c. Signs of idolatry started to appear d. People worshipped god for material reasons e. Sacrifices became more important with sacrificial rituals and formulae accompanying sacrifices f. The guest was called as Go Ghana or one who was fed on cattle. g. Brahmans demanded golds, cloth, horses along with territories/lands as part of their sacrificial gifts.
