Vedic Age

Open the Rigveda and you will not find a single date, a single king's palace or a single coin. What you find is poetry: hymns to fire, rain and dawn, composed by families of seers who lived among rivers, herds and chariots. Yet from those hymns historians rebuild a whole age. That age is the Vedic Age, and it begins with a people who called themselves Arya.

Arya in the Rigveda is not a race. It means a cultured, noble person, and it marks a people who spoke an Indo-European language (Vedic Sanskrit) and followed the Vedic way of worship. Scholars therefore speak of Indo-Aryans, a language-and-culture group. The Vedic period is conventionally split into the Early or Rig Vedic Period (c. 1500-1000 BCE) and the Later Vedic Period (c. 1000-600 BCE).

Where did these Indo-Aryans come from? This is one of the most debated questions in Indian history, and exams usually test only the name of the scholar and the place he proposed. The view held by most historians today, supported by language and by evidence from the Eurasian steppe, is that Indo-Aryan speakers migrated gradually into the north-west of the subcontinent after the urban Harappan phase had declined, bringing Vedic Sanskrit with them. Some Indian scholars argue for an Indian origin. For the exam, learn the table below.

There is also hard evidence for a shared Indo-European world beyond India. A treaty found at Boghazkoi (Turkey, c. 1400 BCE) between Hittite and Mitanni kings invokes the gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra and the Nasatyas (Ashvins), which are Vedic names. The Iranian text Zend Avesta has words and gods very close to the Rigveda (Ahura Mazda is like Asura Varuna). This shows that Indo-Aryans and Iranians once lived close together.

The Rig Vedic Aryans lived in the Sapta Sindhu region, the 'land of seven rivers'. Here the Rigveda names the rivers in detail, and many of these old names have changed. The river hymn Nadistuti Sukta (Rigveda 10.75) lists them. Memorise the pairs below, because 'ancient name of river X' is a favourite question.

The most famous event of the Rig Vedic age is the Dasarajna (Battle of the Ten Kings), fought on the banks of the Parushni (Ravi). Sudas, king of the Bharata tribe (Tritsu family), guided by his priest Vasishtha, defeated a confederacy of ten tribes. The confederacy included the Purus, Yadus, Turvashas, Anus and Druhyus. Earlier priest Vishvamitra had left Sudas and helped his enemies. The Bharatas later merged with the Purus to form the Kuru people, and the name Bharata (the first reference is in the Rigveda) gave India its ancient name, Bharatavarsha. The battle is described in Mandala 7.

The Vedic people had no paper, yet they preserved millions of syllables without a single change for about three thousand years. They did it with memory, rhythm and strict rules of recitation. That is why the Vedas are called Shruti, 'that which is heard', and why the whole literature of this age matters so much to the exam: it is our only window into the period.

Shruti (heard) = the four Vedas with their Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads; regarded as revealed to the seers. Smriti (remembered) = human-authored works such as the Dharmashastras, Puranas and the epics. Each Veda has four layers, in time order: Samhita (hymns) -> Brahmana (rituals explained) -> Aranyaka (forest texts) -> Upanishad (philosophy).

Now the four Vedas themselves. The first three are the Vedatrayi (the triple Veda) because they are the ones used in the sacrifice. The Atharvaveda was accepted as the fourth Veda later, and it reflects the everyday beliefs of ordinary people.

The Rigveda is the oldest text in Indian literature and one of the oldest in the world. It has 10 Mandalas (books) and 1028 Suktas (hymns); each Mandala is divided into Suktas, and each Sukta into Riks (verses). Mandalas 2 to 7 are called the family books because each is linked to a family of seers (Gritsamada, Vishvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja, Vasishtha). Mandalas 1 and 10 are the latest. Mandala 9 is wholly devoted to Soma. Mandala 10 has the Purusha Sukta, the first mention of the four varnas. The Rigveda was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2007.

The Upanishads (about 108 in the traditional list; ten or eleven are called principal) are the philosophical end of the Vedas, which is why they are also called Vedanta. The word means 'sitting down near' the teacher. Their great idea is that the individual soul (Atman) is one with the ultimate reality (Brahman). Famous lines: 'Satyameva Jayate' (Mundaka), 'Tat tvam asi' (Chandogya), 'Aham Brahmasmi' (Brihadaranyaka). The dialogue of the boy Nachiketa with Yama, the god of death, is in the Katha Upanishad.

Besides the four Vedas, six auxiliary disciplines called Vedangas ('limbs of the Veda') grew up to help read, recite and perform the Vedas correctly.

The pairing of Upavedas with Vedas follows the traditional list given in many exam books; a few texts assign Ayurveda to the Atharvaveda. In exams, the pair that is asked most is Samaveda - Gandharvaveda.

After the Vedas came the Smriti literature: the Sutras and Dharmashastras (Manusmriti, Yajnavalkya Smriti), the Puranas and the two epics. They are later than the Vedic age but are usually studied with it.

Finally, the Vedas were kept alive by oral recitation. The recitation used three accents: Udatta (high), Anudatta (low), Svarita (middle). There are eleven recognised methods of recitation (pathas): three basic ones (Samhita, Pada, Krama) and eight complex ones (Jata, Mala, Shikha, Rekha, Dhvaja, Danda, Ratha, Ghana). Ghanapatha is the most complex and thorough.

Picture a Rig Vedic morning: a family lights a fire, a boy drives the cows out to graze, the village head checks the herd, and far away the tribe's chief prepares for a cattle raid. Everything in this age revolves around cattle, kin and the sacrificial fire. Notice how a small, simple society explains its own politics, family life, food and gods, and you will see why the Rig Vedic questions are always about the same few words.

Polity. The Rig Vedic state was a tribal monarchy. The unit of society was the kula (family); several kulas made a grama (village or clan group), several gramas a vish (clan), several vishes a jana (tribe), and the tribes lived in the rashtra (territory) — a word which in this period meant the tribe's country, not a big kingdom.

The Rajan (king) was the leader of the tribe, mainly a war-leader and protector of cattle. The post was usually hereditary but, in some cases, the tribe's assembly accepted or chose him. He had no standing army, no regular tax and no fixed capital. Instead the tribe offered him Bali, a voluntary gift. Because kingship was weak, the king was checked by tribal assemblies.

Think of the Samiti as the 'whole tribe meeting' and the Sabha as the 'council of respected people'. In the Atharvaveda they are called the two daughters of Prajapati. The king could not ignore them, which is why Rig Vedic monarchy is called limited and tribal.

Society. Rig Vedic society was patriarchal and tribal, built on the joint family whose head was the Kulapa. It was patrilineal: the son inherited. People were divided by occupation and tribe rather than by birth. The varna idea appears only once, in the Purusha Sukta of the late Mandala 10: Brahmin from the mouth, Kshatriya from the arms, Vaishya from the thighs, Shudra from the feet of the cosmic Purusha. In the main Rig Vedic hymns, the society was mostly two-fold, Aryas and Dasas/Dasyus, and a poet could say 'I am a bard, my father a physician, my mother grinds grain' (Rigveda 9.112).

The people ate barley (yava), milk, ghee, curd, fruits and, in feasts, meat; they drank Soma (a ritual plant juice) and Sura (a liquor). Clothing was made of cotton, wool and skins, in three parts: Vasa (lower), Adhivasa (upper) and Nivi (undergarment). Entertainment included chariot racing, dice (gambling hymn: Akshasukta, Rigveda 10.34), music (flute, drum, lute) and dance.

Economy. The Rig Vedic Aryans were mainly pastoralists. The cow was the main wealth. Many words show it: Gavishti (search for cows, a word for fighting), Godhuli (cow-dust time, evening), Gomat (rich in cattle), Gopa (cowherd, protector), Goghna (guest, 'cow-killer', for whom a cow was killed), Aghnya (the cow which is not to be killed), Duhitri (daughter, 'milker') and Gavyuti (a measure of distance). Farming existed but was secondary: Yava (barley) was the main grain, and Krishi (ploughing) is mentioned. Iron was not yet known; the metal used was ayas (copper or bronze).

Religion. The Rig Vedic Aryans worshipped forces of nature in human form. There were no temples and no idols; worship was through prayer and yajna (offerings of ghee, grain and Soma into the fire), and what people asked for were worldly things: praja (children), pashu (cattle), dhana (wealth), victory and long life. Male gods were more important than goddesses.

Around 1000 BCE a quiet revolution begins. Iron arrives, forests are cleared, the plough bites deeper, and the Vedic people move from the dry north-west to the rich Ganga-Yamuna doab. A pastoral tribe slowly turns into a settled farming kingdom, and this change touches everything: the king becomes mighty, the priest becomes powerful, the varnas harden, and the gods change. Keep this one story in mind, 'cows to ploughs', and the whole Later Vedic period falls into place.

Polity. Clans merged into larger kingdoms. The famous Kuru (capital Hastinapur) and Panchala (capital Kampilya) kingdoms came up in the doab; others were Kosala, Kashi and Videha. The word janapada now meant a territory, not just a tribe. The king grew powerful and performed grand sacrifices to prove his status: the Rajasuya (royal consecration), the Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice for supremacy) and the Vajapeya (chariot race). He took titles like Samrat, Virat, Ekarat and Sarvabhauma. The Aitareya Brahmana links each direction with a type of rule: east = Samrajya, west = Svarajya, north = Vairajya, south = Bhojya, middle = Rajya.

The king was helped by a group of high officials known as the ratnins ('jewel-holders'), who were honoured in a special ceremony. They included the Purohit (priest), Senani (commander), Gramani (village head), Suta (charioteer-bard), Mahishi (chief queen), Samgrihitri (treasurer), Bhagadugha (tax collector), Akshavapa (keeper of accounts and dice), Govikartana (forest and hunt officer) and Palagala (messenger). Bali (the voluntary gift) became a regular tax, along with Bhaga. Sabha and Samiti still existed but the Vidatha disappeared, and women were pushed out of the assemblies.

Society. The four varnas became rigid and hereditary: Brahmanas (priests), Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors), Vaishyas (farmers, herders, traders and the tax-payers) and Shudras (servants of the three). The first three were dvija (twice-born), entitled to the Upanayana (sacred thread ceremony); Shudras were not. The gotra system (descent from a common ancestor, with marriage outside one's gotra) appeared. The life of an individual was divided into stages (ashramas): Brahmacharya (student), Grihastha (householder), Vanaprastha (forest hermit); the fourth, Sannyasa, became clear only later (the Jabala Upanishad lists all four). Women lost status: they were pushed out of assemblies and the Aitareya Brahmana called a daughter a source of sorrow, though learned women like Gargi and Maitreyi are found in the Upanishads.

Economy. Agriculture became the main occupation, with cattle-rearing second. The Shatapatha Brahmana describes ploughing, sowing, reaping and threshing; a big plough drawn by many oxen is mentioned. The iron ploughshare ('phala') helped clear forests. Crops included barley, wheat, rice (vrihi), pulses (masha, mudga), sesame (tila) and sugarcane. Crafts grew: carpenters, smiths, potters (PGW pottery), weavers, leather-workers and jewellers. Trade and merchants (the shreshthin, 'head of a guild') grew in number, and guilds appear. There were still no real coins; weights like nishka, satamana and krishnala served as media of exchange. Taxes became regular.

Religion. The old nature gods lost importance. Prajapati (the creator) rose to the top, Rudra (later linked with Shiva) and Vishnu gained importance, and Indra, Agni and Varuna declined. Sacrifices became long, costly and full of ritual, controlled by priests. Pushan, once a god of herds, became the god of the Shudras. Against all this, the Upanishadic thinkers said that real knowledge of the Self matters more than rituals: the Atman is the same as Brahman, the soul is reborn by karma (samsara), and the goal is moksha (freedom). This unease with rituals prepared the ground for Buddhism and Jainism.

A good part of the Vedic questions in an exam is not about kings or dates but about ideas and words: moksha, karma, atman, yajna. These words were born in this age and they still shape Indian thought. Learn them as a small family: each idea answers one simple question. 'What should a human being seek?' gives the four purusharthas. 'How should a life be lived?' gives the ashramas. 'What is reality?' gives Brahman and Atman.

The four goals of human life are the purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. The first three guide life in the world (called trivarga); Moksha is the final aim. Always attach one-word meanings: Kama = desire and enjoyment, Moksha = spiritual freedom. These words themselves are the answer to many one-line questions.

Karma, samsara and moksha form one chain. Karma literally means 'action'; the Upanishads say that good and bad actions decide one's next birth. Samsara is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Moksha is the release from it, reached by true knowledge of the Self. The Atman (the inner self or soul) is the same as the Brahman (the one ultimate reality): 'Tat tvam asi', 'That art thou'.

Three debts and five daily sacrifices. A householder was believed to owe three debts (rinas): to the gods (Deva-rina, paid by sacrifice), to the sages (Rishi-rina, paid by study) and to the ancestors (Pitri-rina, paid by having sons). He paid them through the five great sacrifices (Pancha Mahayajna).

The Dharmashastras later listed sixteen samskaras (life-cycle rites) and eight forms of marriage. You need only the lists.

The Vedic tradition later produced six great schools of philosophy, the darshanas. They are not part of the Vedic texts but are often grouped with them, so the founders are asked.