Vedic Culture
Vedic Culture
Vedic Culture
INTRODUCTION
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (c. 1500 – c. 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 (c. 1500–900 BCE), composed in the northern
Indian subcontinent, between the end of urban Indus
Valley Civilisation and a second urbanisation, which
began in central Indo-Gangetic Plain c. 600 BCE.
The Vedas are liturgical texts which formed the basis of
the influential Brahmanical ideology, which developed in
the Kuru Kingdom, a tribal union of several Indo-Aryan
tribes. The Vedas contain details of life during this period
that have been interpreted to be historical[1][note 1] and
constitute the primary sources for understanding the
period. These documents, alongside the corresponding
archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Indo-
Aryan and Vedic culture to be traced and inferred.[2]
The Vedic Age can be divided into two parts, including the
Rig Vedic/Early Vedic Age (15000–1000 BCE) and the
Later Vedic Age (1000–600 BCE). Rig Veda was the
earliest Vedic text, which was created during the early
Vedic period. The remaining three Vedas were composed
during the later Vedic period. Apart from this, there were
some major differences in the nature of society, economy,
and polity between these two periods.
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HISTORY
The early Vedic age is historically dated to the second half
of the second millennium BCE.[10] Historically, after the
collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which occurred
around 1900 BCE,[11][12] groups of Indo-Aryan
peoples migrated into north-western India and started to
inhabit the northern Indus Valley.[13] The Indo-
Aryans represented a sub-group that diverged from
other Indo-Iranian tribes at the Andronovo
horizon[14] before the middle of the
2nd millennium BCE.[15][note 4] The Indo-Iranians
originated in the Sintashta culture, from which arose the
subsequent Andronovo horizon.[14] The Indo-Aryans
migrated through the adjacent Bactria–Margiana area
(present-day northern Afghanistan) to northwest
India,[16][note 5] followed by the rise of the Iranian Yaz
culture at c. 1500 BCE, and the Iranian migrations into
Iran at c. 800 BCE.
Some Indian writers and archaeologists have opposed the
notion of a migration of Indo-Aryans into India, and
argued for an indigenous origin of the Indo-
Aryans.[17][18] In this view, "the Indian civilization must be
viewed as an unbroken tradition that goes back to the
earliest period of the Sindhu-Sarasvati (or Indus)
tradition (7000 or 8000 BCE)."[19] Though popular in
India, and reflecting Indian views on Indian history and
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Urbanization
By the 6th century BCE, the political units consolidated
into large kingdoms called Mahajanapadas. The process of
urbanisation had begun in these kingdoms, commerce
and travel flourished, even regions separated by large
distances became easy to access.[58] Anga, a small
kingdom to the east of Magadha (on the door step of
modern-day West Bengal), formed the eastern boundary
of the Vedic culture.[59] Yadavas expanded towards the
south and settled in Mathura.
During the later Vedic period, most democratic elements
were declining. Due to the agricultural surplus, the
population increased and the kinship-bond-based society
declined. Assemblies fell into disuse and declined.
War booty was no longer given the same importance.
Sabha and Samiti declined. Women lost almost all their
rights. The four-fold varna system evolved, which ruined
the pre-existing structure of Vedic polity.
To the south of their kingdom was Vatsa which was
governed from its capital Kausambi. The Narmada
River and parts of North Western Deccan formed the
southern limits.[60][61] The newly formed states struggled
for supremacy and started displaying imperial
ambitions.[62]
The end of the Vedic period is marked by linguistic,
cultural and political changes. The grammar
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Culture
While Vedic society was relatively egalitarian in the sense
that a distinct hierarchy of socio-economic classes
or castes was absent,[67][68] the Vedic period saw the
emergence of a hierarchy of social classes.[4][5] Political
hierarchy was determined by rank, where rājan (tribal
king or chieftain) and rājanya (tribal nobility) stood at the
top, the viś (the common people) in the middle, and
the dāsa and dasyu (non-Indo-Aryan servants) at the
bottom.[68][69]
The words Brahamana and Kshatriya occur in various
family books of the Rigveda, but they are not associated
with the term varna. The words Vaishya and Shudra are
absent. Verses of the Rigveda, such as 3.44–45, indicate
the absence of strict social hierarchy and the existence of
social mobility:[30]
O, Indra, fond of soma, would you make me the protector
of people, or would you make me a king, would you make
me a sage who has drunk soma, would you impart to me
endless wealth.
The institution of marriage was important and different
types of marriages— monogamy, polygyny and polyandry
are mentioned in the Rigveda. Both women sages and
female gods were known to Vedic Aryans. Women could
choose their husbands and could remarry if their
husbands died or disappeared.[68] The wife enjoyed a
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Political Organisation
Early Vedic Aryans were organised into tribes rather than
kingdoms. The chief of a tribe was called a rajan. The
autonomy of the rajan was restricted by the tribal
councils called sabha and samiti. The two bodies were, in
part, responsible for the governance of the tribe.
The rajan could not accede to the throne without their
approval.
The distinction between the two bodies is not
clear. Arthur Llewellyn Basham, a noted historian
and indologist, theorises that sabha was a meeting of
great men in the tribe, whereas, samiti was a meeting of
all free tribesmen. Some tribes had no hereditary chiefs
and were directly governed by the tribal
councils. Rajan had a rudimentary court which was
attended by courtiers (sabhasad) and chiefs of sects
(gramani).
The main responsibility of the rajan was to protect the
tribe. He was aided by several functionaries, including
the purohita (chaplain), the senani (army
chief), dutas (envoys)
and spash (spies).[76] Purohita performed ceremonies
and spells for success in war and prosperity in peace.[77]
In the later Vedic period, the tribes had consolidated into
small kingdoms, which had a capital and a rudimentary
administrative system.[60] To aid in governing these new
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Economy
Economy in the Vedic period was sustained by a
combination of pastoralism and agriculture.[70] There are
references, in the Rigveda, to the leveling of fields, seed
processing, and storage of grains in large jars. War bounty
was also a major source of wealth.[68] Economic exchanges
were conducted by gift giving, particularly to kings ( bali)
and priests (dana), and barter using cattle as a unit of
currency. While gold is mentioned in some hymns, there
is no indication of the use of coins.
Metallurgy is not mentioned in the Rigveda, but the
word ayas and instruments made from it such as razors,
bangles, axes are mentioned. One verse mentions
purification of ayas. Some scholars believe
that ayas refers to iron and the
words dham and karmara refer to iron-
welders.[85] However, philological evidence indicates
that ayas in the Rigveda refers only to copper and bronze,
while iron or śyāma ayas, literally "black metal", first is
mentioned in the post-Rigvedic Atharvaveda,[8][45] and
therefore the Early Vedic Period was a Bronze Age culture
whereas the Late Vedic Period was an Iron
Age culture.[citation needed]
In the Early Vedic Age, Pastoralism was the major activity,
along with agriculture as a secondary activity. The most
significant sources of wealth were cattle and war booty.
Cows were considered aghanya (shouldn’t be killed).
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Religion
Texts considered to date to the Vedic period are mainly
the four Vedas, but the Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the
older Upanishads as well as the oldest Śrautasutras are
also considered to be Vedic. The Vedas record
the liturgy connected with the rituals and sacrifices
performed by the 16 or 17 Śrauta priests and
the purohitas.[citation needed] The rishis, the composers of the
hymns of the Rigveda, were considered inspired poets
and seers (in post-Vedic times understood as "hearers" of
an eternally existing Veda, Śruti means "what is heard").
In the Early Vedic Period, People classified forces of
nature as deities. Surya (the God who drives away
darkness), Indra (the greatest God of Aryans), Vayu (the
God of air), Varuna (the God of personified
water), Soma (the God of plants), and Maruta were the
major deities during the early Vedic period. Moreover,
‘Agni‘ was worshipped as an intermediary between
people and God. Rig Vedic people followed some
simplistic rituals, including yajnas, domestic rituals, and a
few community rituals that were held by tribal chiefs.
Women were allowed to participate in all these rituals.
The concept of human or animal sacrifice was not there.
People used to offer basic things, such as fruits and
vegetables, during these rituals. The positions of celestial
objects are used to influence the auspiciousness of a
particular time.
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Literature
The reconstruction of the history of Vedic India is based
on text-internal details, but can be correlated to relevant
archaeological details. Linguistically, the Vedic texts could
be classified in five chronological strata:[8]
Rigvedic text: The Rigveda is by far the most archaic of the
Vedic texts preserved, and it retains many common Indo-
Iranian elements, both in language and in content, that are
not present in any other Vedic text.
Mantra language texts: This period includes both
the mantra and prose language of
the Atharvaveda (Paippalada and Shaunmkiya),
the Rigveda Khilani, the Samaveda Samhita (containing
some 75 mantras not in the Rigveda), and the mantras of
the Yajurveda. Many of these texts are largely derived
from the Rigveda, but have undergone certain changes,
both by linguistic change and by reinterpretation.
Conspicuous changes include change of vishva "all"
by sarva, and the spread of the kuru- verbal stem (for
Rigvedic krno-). This is the time of the early Iron Age in
north-western India, corresponding to the Black and Red
Ware (BRW) and Painted Grey Ware (PGW) cultures, and
the early Kuru Kingdom, dating from c. the 12th to 11th
centuries BCE.
Samhita prose texts: This period marks the beginning of
the collection and codification of a Vedic canon. An
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Archaeology
Archaeological cultures identified with phases of
Vedic material culture include the Ochre Coloured
Pottery culture, the Gandhara grave culture, the Black and
red ware culture and the Painted Grey Ware culture.[8]
Ochre coloured pottery culture was first found
approximately between 1950 and 1951, in western Uttar
Pradesh, in the Badaun and Bisjuar district.[100] It is
thought that this culture was prominent during the latter
half of the 2nd millennium, within the transition between
the Indus Valley civilization and the end of Harrapan
culture.[101] This pottery is typically created with wheel
ware, and is ill-fired, to a fine to medium fabric, decorated
with a red slip, and occasional black bands1.
When this pottery was worked with, it often left an ochre
color on the hands, most likely because of water-logging,
bad firing, wind action, or a mixture of these
factors.[100] This pottery was found all throughout the
doab, most of it found in the Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, and
Bulandshahr districts, but also existing outside these
districts, extending north and south of
Bahadrabad.[100] This pottery does, however, seem to
exist within different time frames of popularity, ochre
colored pottery seeming to occur in areas such as
Rajasthan earlier than we see it in the doab, despite the
doab being heavily associated with the culture.[100]
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Sources
• Anthony, David W. (2007). The Horse, the Wheel,
and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the
Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World.
Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05887-
0.
References
• McClish & Olivelle 2012, p. xxiv.
• ^ Witzel 1995, p. 3.
• ^ Bryant 2001.
• ^ Flood 1996, p. 31
• ^ Samuel 2010.
• ^ Witzel 1995, p. 5.
• ^ Erdosy 1995a.
• ^ Erdosy 1995b.