Vedic Civilization

HISTORY

Copyright © 2014-2021 Testbook Edu Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: All rights reserved
 Download Testbook

Vedic Civilization

Introduction
The Vedic period, or Vedic age (1500 – 500 BCE), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the
history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (1300-900 BCE), was composed in the northern
Indian subcontinent, The Vedic age is the first historical age, because from this periood we get the written
evidence of History and the records had been deciphered. The Vedic Literature divided into 2 phases, the Rig
Vedic literature and the Later Vedic Literature. The development in this phase led to the growth of Complex
Social System moreover the growth of Kingdom and Mahajanapadas in later phase Attributed to this period.

Contents
 The advent of Aryans and the age of Aryans

 The original home and the age of the Rigveda

 Aryans migration to India

 Tribal conflict

 Material life

 Tribal polity

 Tribe and family

 Condition of women

 Social division

 Rigvedic gods/ religion

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 2

 Download Testbook

 The later Vedic phase: transition to the state and social order.

 Expansion in the later Vedic period

 The Painted Gray Ware - Iron Phase culture

 Artisans

 Agriculture

 Pottery

 Political organization

 Social organization

 Gods, Rituals, and philosophy

 Conclusion

The advent of Aryans and the age of the Rigveda

The advent of Aryan and the time period of Rigveda (1500 BC – 1000 BC) is considered the Early Vedic phase of
Indian History.

Original home and identity of Aryans

 Aryans were distinguished by their common language.

 They spoke the Indo-European language.

 Originally Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the steppes stretching from southern Russia to central
Asia.

 Their earliest life seems to have been mainly pastoral, agriculture being a secondary occupation.

 Society was mainly male-dominated.

 Horses played the most significant role in the lives of Aryans.

 The Rigveda is the earliest text of the Indo-European languages.

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 3

 Download Testbook

Aryans Migration to India

 Aryans migrated to India in several waves.

 The earliest wave is represented by the Rigvedic people who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500
B.C.

 They came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the dasas, dasyus etc.

 Dasas are also mentioned in ancient Iranian literature; they seem to have been a branch of the early
Aryans.

 Dasyus in the Rigveda represents the original inhabitants of the country.

Tribal conflict
Theory Supporters

European Theory Sir William Jones, Giles- Hungary

Central Asian Theory Max Muller

Artic Region theory Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Tibet Theory Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Sampurnanad and A.C. Das- Sapta Sindhu Region Ganganath Jha- Brah-
Indian Theory
marishi Desa (situated in the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna

Tribal conflict
 The Aryans succeeded everywhere because they possessed chariots driven horses.

 Aryans were engaged in types of conflicts

a. Aryans vs pre-Aryans

b. Aryans vs Aryans

 Battle of ten kings

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 4

 Download Testbook

Material life
 Early Vedic people were acquainted with sowing, harvesting, and threshing and knew about the
different seasons. Agriculture was also well known to the pre-Aryans who lived in the area associated
with the Vedic people. But they practiced agriculture mainly to produce fodder. Whereas later Vedic
people produced wheat and rice.

 Ploughshare was mentioned in the earliest part of the Rigveda that is the period between, 1500 BC –
1000 BC (Early Vedic Period) possibly made up of wood.

 They were acquainted with sowing, harvesting, and threshing and knew about different seasons.

 The cow seems to have been the most important form of wealth.

 Rig Veda mentions such artisans as carpenters, chariot makers, weavers, leather workers, the potters, etc.

 Metalworking was known.

Source: Geography realm

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 5

 Download Testbook

 A site called Bhagwanpura has been excavated in Haryana and three sites in Punjab and in all these cases
Painted Grey Ware pottery has been found along with the late Harappan pottery.

 At Bhagawanpura a 13 roomed mud house has been discovered.

Terms Related in Rig Vedic Age Meaning

Godhuli Measure of Time

Gavyuti Measure of Distance

Duhitri Daughter who milks cow

Gotra Kingship Units

Vish Clan

Gana Lineage

Soma Intoxicating Drink

Kshetra Cultivated Land

Tribal polity
 Tribal chief at the centre of administration and called Rajan.

 It seems that in the Rigvedic period the king's post had become hereditary.

 Rajan did not possess unlimited power for he had to reckon with the tribal organisations.

 We have traces of the election of the king by the tribal assembly called the Samiti.

 Several tribal or clan-based assemblies such as sabha, Samiti, vidatha, Gana are mentioned in the Rig Veda.

 Even women attended the sabha and vidatha in the Rigvedic times.

 The two most important assemblies were sabhas and samitis.

 Important functionaries

 Purohita - priest

 Senani - Chief of the army who used spears, axes, swords

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 6

 Download Testbook

 No mention of officers for tax collection and justice delivery.

 Urjapati - authority over large land or pasture.

 Gramanis -head of the small fighting unit.

 Kulapas - heads of the families.

Assemblies Meaning and Duties

Sabha Smaller body meant for elites

Broad Based folk assembly, presided over by the Rajan.

Samiti
Samiti played important role in Electing the King

Vidhata Tribal Assembly with diverse functions

Gana Assembly of Troop

Rig-Vedic Economy
 As the Rig Vedic society was a pastoral Society, Cattle Rearing was their Dominant Activity.

 The Chief measure of wealth was cattle and a wealthy man was known as Gomat

 Evidence of Trade and Commerce was less, no concept of Private ownership

 The unit of Currency was Nishka which was made of Gold.

 Barter system was prevalent, and the cow was an important unit of Value.

 The kingdom was maintained by the voluntary tribute of Subjects, known as Bali

 A lot of other crafts such as Cart-making, Carpentry, tanning, sewing, and Weaving, are mentioned in the
Rigvedic Literature.

 The Chariot Maker enjoyed a special Status in Rig Vedic Society.

Tribe and family

 Kinship was the basis of social structure.

 The man was identified by the clan to which he belongs.

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 7

 Download Testbook

 People gave their primary loyalty to the tribe which was called Jana.

 One or More than one clan made Jana or Tribe. And this is the largest social unit.

 Another important term that stands for the tribe in Rigveda is Vis.

 The term for family (kula) is mentioned rarely in the Rig Veda. The head of the Family known as Kulapa.

 It seems that family in the early Vedic period was indicated by the term Griha.

 The family was a very large joint unit.

 It was a patriarchal family headed by the father as was the case in Roman society.

 The institute of marriage was established, although symbols of primitive practices survived.

 We have some indications of polyandry.

Condition of women
 Women could attend assemblies, they could offer sacrifices along with their husbands.

 We also noticed the practice of levirate and widow remarriage in the Rig Veda

 Few references of women found in the Rig Vedic literature they were, Gargi, Ghosa, Apa

 There is no example of child marriage.

 The marriageable age in Rigveda seems to have been 16 to 17.

Social division
 The factor which contributed most to the creation of social division was the conquest of the indigenous
inhabitants by the Aryans.

 The Word Varna occurs in many places in the Family books and Usually means light or colour.

 The dasas and dasyus, who were conquered by the Aryans, were treated as slaves and Shudras.

 Tribal chiefs and priests acquired a larger share of the booty and they naturally grew at the cost of their
kinsmen, which created social inequalities in the tribe.

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 8

 Download Testbook

 4 social divisions were created - warriors, priests, the people and Shudras.

 In Rigvedic times slaves were not directly employed in agricultural activity.

 There were mainly women slaves used for domestic activities.

 In the age of Rig Veda differentiation based on occupation had started. But this division was not very
sharp and social mobility was permitted.

Rigvedic Gods/ religion

God Supernatural phenomenon attached with

Indra/ Purandra (250 hymns are

Breaker of forts
attributed)

Agni (200 hymns are attributed) God of fire

God of water
Varuna Varuna is an ancient God , probably Indo-Iranian. The Ahura Mazda of
the Avesta agrees with the Varuna in character

Soma God of plants and intoxicants

Maruts God of storm

Aditi and Ushas Represented the appearance of dawn

Solar Deity to whom the famous Gayatri Mantra was attributed to in the
Savitri
Third Mandal of the Rig Veda

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 9

 Download Testbook

The later Vedic phase: Transition to the state and

social order
Expansion in the later Vedic period

The Painted Grey Ware - Iron Phase culture

 The iron axe may have been used to clear the forest in the upper Gangetic basin.

 With iron weapons, the Vedic people may have defeated the few adversaries that may have faced them
in the upper portion of the doab.

 The iron metal itself is called Shyama or Krishna ayas.

Artisans
 Vedic people were familiar with copper from the very beginning. The Vedic people may have used the
copper mines of Khetri in Rajasthan.

 Copper objects have been found in Painted Grey ware sites. They were mainly used for war and
hunting and also for ornaments.

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 10

 Download Testbook

 Weaving was confined to women but was practised on a wide scale.

 Leatherwork, pottery and carpenter’s work made great progress during this time.

Economy of Later Vedic Period

 The Economic activities of Later Vedic period were quite diversified.

 Agriculture, pastoralism, craft production, and trade contributed to the Economic Development.

 Agriculture, rep;lace the pastoralism of earlier society.

 Cattle lost its importance and Land became much more popular.

 Nishka, Satamana, Krisnala were used as medium of transport.

Agriculture
 The Vedic people continued to produce barley, but during this period rice and wheat became their chief
crops.

 For the first time during the expansion Vedic people came to be acquainted with the rice in the region of
doab and rice is called vrihi.

Pottery
 The later Vedic people were acquainted with four types of pottery:

 Black and Red Ware

 Black Slipped ware

 Painted grey Ware

 Painted Red Ware

Painted Grey Ware sites - Map

 Ropar

 Bhagwanpura

 Panipat

 Hastinapur

 Indraprastha

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 11

 Download Testbook

6. Kaushambi

7. Barnawa

8. Bairat

Source: wikimedia.org

Political Organization
 Vidatha completely disappeared. Popular assemblies lost their importance and royal power increased
at their cost.

 The nature of Sabha and Samiti changed and they came to be dominated by chiefs and nobles.

 Women were no longer permitted to sit on the sabha.

 The formation of bigger kingdoms made the chief or the king more powerful.

 The term Rashtra which indicated territory first appears in this period.

 Traces of election of the chief or the king appear in later Vedic texts. However, succession was not always
smooth.

 The king’s influence was strengthened by rituals. He performed various yajnas:

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 12

 Download Testbook

a) Rajasuya sacrifice - supposed to confer supreme power on the king

b) Ashwamedha - unquestioned control over an area

c) Vajapeya / chariot race - royal chariot was made to win the race against the kinsmen.

 Collection of taxes - deposited with an officer called sangrihirti.

 Local administration was carried out by village assemblies.

Social Organisation
 Later Vedic society came to be divided into four varnas:

1. Brahmana

2. Rajanyas/ Kshatriya

3. Vaishyas

4. Shudras

 The rise in the importance of Brahmanas is a peculiar development that is not found in Aryan societies
outside India.

 The vaishyas appear to be the only tribute payers in the later Vedic period.

Gods, Rituals and Philosophy

 The two outstanding Rig Vedic gods, Indra and Agni, lost their former importance. On the other hand,
Prajapati the creator came to occupy a supreme position in the later Vedic period.

 Vishnu was another important god of this period

 Rudra the god of animals became important in the later Vedic period.

 Pushan who was supposed to look after cattle came to be regarded as the god of the Shudras.

 The mode of worship changed considerably.

 Idolatry became much more popular, and takes a solid figure.

 Sacrifices became far more important and they assumed both public and domestic character.

 These sacrifices were adopted, invented, and elaborated on by a priest called Brahmanas.

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 13

 Download Testbook

Conclusion
Later Vedic period marked the important shift from pastoral economy to the agricultural settled economy.
The last Mandala of Rigveda that is the Tenth Mandala, contains the Purush Sukta which talked about the
shift of Aryana from tribal social system to varna divided society.

Mains Question for Practice:

Q.1. The condition of women in society marks the development of civilization. In this context, throw
some light on the changing condition of women from the early Vedic period to the later Vedic period.
(250 words, 15 marks)

Q.2. Though the Indus valley civilization practised did not have any concrete religious evidence, the
Vedic civilization had concrete religious evidence. Considering this fact, briefly discuss the development of
religious ideas in the Vedic civilization. (150 words, 10 marks)

HISTORY | Vedic Civilization PAGE 14