Aryans & Vedic Period

Answer : The Vedic Age (1500 BC-600 BC) was precipitated by the migration of the Aryan people from northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Vedic Age saw the development of agricultural activities on a large scale in the upper Gangetic plains of India.Various Aryan tribes migrated to the Indian subcontinent in large hoards from what is present-day Iran through the famous Khyber Pass. They rapidly spread to the area known as the Saptsindhu (the land of seven rivers), which included eastern parts of present-day Afghanistan, the Punjab and fringes of western Uttar Pradesh. The Aryans soon mingled with the local people and adopted an agrarian way of life after settling down in small, organized communities in northwestern India.

The Vedic Age gets its name from the four Vedas or religious-philosophical hymns that were composed by the Aryan people, in Sanskrit language, when they came to India. The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas and provides a vivid insight into the life of the early Vedic period. The other three collections of hymns are the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Atharva Veda, which were written later. These hymns with their social, religious and philosophical doctrines, laid the foundation of the Hindu way of thought and Hindu religion.

The people of the early phase of the Vedic age were semi-nomadic and subsisted on large herds of domesticated cattle and farm animals. They moved their settlements from one pastoral area to another and lived on agrarian and dairy products obtained from cattle. As the requirements and needs of these communities grew with the gradual rise in population, they settled down as full-time farmers. They brought large tracts of fertile land of North India under the plough, driven by oxen. These communities were generally clan or tribe-based and were governed by a tribal chief. The office of the tribal chief was not hereditary and he had to perform his duties in consultation with a group of wise men or the entire tribe. The strength of the Aryan tribes was derived from the Jana (people) and not the Janapada (land). The tribal chief and the warriors under him protected the people, while the priest and his juniors catered to the religious and ritual demands of the clansmen. Religious rituals were performed mainly to protect crops or cattle and to ensure victory in battle. The early Vedic religion was based on nature worship. Sun, moon, wind, rain, and other natural phenomena were worshipped as gods. Prayers were organized and gods were invoked by chanting of religious hymns and mantras. Animal sacrifice was a common practice. Ritual sacrifices and prayers were offered to gods for the well being of people and cattle and to grant more wealth and to be kind to them. Cow was not considered a sacred animal, but there were frequent struggles between various tribes over the control of cows. The early Vedic people did not have rigid differences of caste; the only demarcation was between the Aryans (white-skinned people) and the non-Aryans or the Dasa (slaves or dark-skinned people).

The later part of the Vedic Age is also termed as the Epic Age (1000 BC-600 BC), when the two great epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Upanishads were written. The society and polity described in these epics are not mythological; they have deep historical roots. The Ramayana and Mahabharata deal with social, political, and religious aspects of life and contain within them the broad principles of Hindu religion. The Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharata, deals solely with the basic concepts of Hinduism. The Upanishads are socio-philosophical treatises, dealing with the functioning and governance of society.

The social life of the Later Vedic age had undergone changes since the days of the Rigveda. Outside the four-fold division of the society the carpenters, the blacksmiths, the tanners, the fishermen and members of other professions formed their own castes or communities. The power and prestige of the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas increased hut the position of the Vaishyas and Sudras deteriorated. The condition of the sudras was miserable. They occupied the lowest position in the society. A passage in ‘Aitareva Brahmana’ describes the sudras as ‘the servant of another, to be expelled at will and to be slain at will.’ The period saw the beginning of untouchables. The Sudras were considered impure.

Caste system was not absolutely rigid in this period. Barring the sudras a man could change his profession and caste. Inter- marriages and inter-dining among the three higher castes were not prohibited. The gulf between the Vaishyas and the Sudras was gradually narrowing and they were becoming vocal in protest against the supremacy of the Brahmanas and Kshatriyas. On the other hand the Later Vedic age also saw the beginning of rivalry between the Brahmanas and the Kshatriyas for supremacy in the society.

In this age the position of women greatly deteriorated. They lost their right to take holy thread and to participate in political and religious work. Evil practices like child-marriage, polygamy, polyandry, widow-remarriage, dowry system, all appeared at the same time. They received higher education. Many of them passed their lives studying philosophy and theology. They were called ‘Brahmavadini’; many women engaged themselves in teaching. Gargi and Maitreyi were among the distinguished women of this age. The system of ‘chaturasram’ (four old stages of life) which was introduced towards the close of the Rigvedic age was widely prevalent in the Later Vedic age. Education spread among the members of the higher castes. Regarding dress, people also wore silk costumes along with’cotton and woolen garments.

The increase in population, development of the agrarian economy, increase in local trade, the caste factors, the emergence of the ruling class, and hereditary nature of kingship, etc., all led to the rise of small kingdoms and republics, out of which emerged some of the first great empires of ancient India.

Answer : Society : The growing importance assigned to the varna hierarchy is the most noticeable change. The Varna distinction could have been in the beginning primarily between the Arya and the Dasa : the Arya Varna probably divided into senior and junior lineages- the rajanya and the vis respectively. However, gradually the system widened to include the brahmanas on the one hand and the Shudras on the other. The brahmanas, the highest category become vitually synonymous with priesthood during this phase. Considerable stress is laid on the cooperation between the brahmanas and rajanyas. They both had to cooperate to ensure the 'proper' andering of society, which implied the subordination of the vaisya and shudra to the rajanya and the brahmana on one hand, and the subordination of the rajanya in turn to the brahmanas. This was fraught with tension, as both the categories claimed pre-eminence. Nevertheless, mutual dependence served to cement ties, as the brahmana was depenent on the rajanya for material support while the latter dependent on the former for legitimisation.

The more prosperous households probably became the vaisya and in the case of especially successful individuals, the gramani. The poorer members of the vis were degraded into shudras. The graihapatis too held yajnas, and thus, a part of their wealth got channelled to the brahmanas. The reference to shudras point that they might have included artisans and labourers. Slaves, both dasas and dasis are mentioned. But neither the slaves or shudras appear to be very significant from the socio-economic point of view and both were probably involved in production only and that too a limited extent. Shudras were denied the right to perform sacrifices.

The Varna system get further tied up with the concept of Dhamra, to establish a systematic functioning of the society. However, the Varna-dharma system was not properly developed in the vedic society. There are clear indications that the women were being increasingly subordinated. The notion of untouchability was, however, still absent. The instituion of gotra appeared during this period. Gotra signified descent from a common ancestor and marriages could not take place between couples belonging to the same gotra. Three ashrams, i.e. stages of life were prescribed and these stages were represented by the brahmanacharya (studentship), grihasta (house-holds), vanaprastha (partial retirement from household life by living in the forest). The fourth stage of life, i.e.. sanyasa (or complete retirement from active participation in the world) was first mentioned in the upanishads. Education which began with an investiture ceremony, Upanayan, was the prerogative of the upper classes, mostly boys. But sometimes even girls were initiated.

Economy : The widening of the geographical horizons made possible by the availability of vast tracts of fertile alluvial lands of the Ganga-Yamuna doab and the middle Ganga Valley, was accompanied by a marked shift in economic production, from relative pre-dominance of pastoralism to an increasing emphasis on agriculture. Initially, the land was cleared by means of fire. Later burning was supplemented by the use of socketed iron axe found at Noh (iron was introduced around 1,000-800 B.C.) There are several references in later literature to ploughs driven by oxen. The plough was probably made of hard wood. It is possible that iron ploughshares, which must have been more effective, were used towards the end of the period, an example of which has been found from Jakhera. A fairly wide variety of crops is attested in both the literary and the archaeological records. Yava or barley continued to be important but a new grain. Vrihi or rice assumes importance as the staple diet of the people. Rice transplantation was probably still not practised, so the yields would have been low.

Other grains include wheat or Godhuma which appears to have been relatively insignificant. The texts refers to pulses, such as moong (mudga) and urab (mass), millet (syamaka) and sesame (tila) and also to sugarcane. PGW settlements show both an increase in number and a remarkable stability lasting over two on three centuries, which would suggest a fairly strong agricultural base. What is more significant is that the patrilineal household, the griha was recognized as the basic unit of agricultural production. There was a consequent shift from a situation where the entire vis or clan owned the land, to one in which the grahapati emerges as the de facto owner of land, which he cultivated with the assistance of members of the family, as well as a limited number of sudras and slaves.

A certain amount of development is evident in various crats, especially as a result of the use of iron during this periods. References to the metal (krsnayas or syamasa) and to smelters and smiths, together with archaeological evidence of iron weapons and tools from the PGW sites confirm the importance of metallurgy. What, however, is significant, is the pre-ponderance of weapons over tools, which would suggest that the impact of iron technology on agriculture was rather limited during this period. It also comes to the notice that the technique of metal extraction was primitive and wasteful. Other crafts such as leather working, pottery — reflected in the standardised, wheel-thrown PGW, carpentry, construction and the manufacture of jewellery were also practised. the manufacture of glass was also known. Weaving was still practised by women within the household.

There seems to have been some development of trade and there are explicit reference to the sea during this period. Further, apart from cattle serving as a medium of exchange, there are frequent references to the niska, a gold ornament, possibily representing a fixed weight of metal and the satamana, a weight of gold/silver, which consisted of a hundred smaller units known as the krsnala, which possibly preceded the fully developed coinage system which emerged in the 6th century B.C. Towns are nagars are also referred to in the latest part of the vedic literature under consideration. These may have been the political centres rather than centres for the manufacture of crafts. But these point to a growing socio-economic differentiation. The archaeological records also yield evidences of the beginnings of urbanisation from sites such as Ahichhatra, Kausambi and Hastinapur.

Use of Iron : This period extends roughly from 1,000 to 600 B.C. There are both literary as well as archaeological sources to study this period. The archaeological evidence for this period is substantial. It is now being generally accepted that the iron-using phase of the PGW culture broadly corresponds with the geographical area referred to in later vedic literature. The nature of conflicts within the tribes also changed. Fights were no longer were skirmishes over cattle. The acquisition of land was an important element in these disputes. The growth of population within the tribes provided the necessary impetus for acquiring more territory. Iron weapons and light wheeled chariots driven by horses raised the efficiency of the fighters.

Answer : The Aryans worshipped the grand and the terrible aspects of nature as gods so that they might grant them their prayers. Indra, Varuna, Agni etc., were their chief deities. But they never forgot that god is one. In fact the many were worshipped as manifestations of the one. They performed their worship in the open air. Chant­ing of hymns, in which all the members of the fam­ily took an active part, was an important feature of such worship in the open air.

The central feature of the vedic rituals was the performance of sacrifices and daily prayers. These sacrifices, which were performed daily were very simple one and could easily be performed by the members of the family themselves. In these sacri­fices offerings of milk, grains and ghee, etc. were made. Besides these daily sacrifices there were some elaborate or grand sacrifices which were performed on some special festivals. They were very costly and could be performed by the kings or the aristocratic people. These were performed by a large number of priests and continued for several days and sometimes for several months. It is held that along with the offerings of milk, grains and ghee, etc., the offering of flesh and the “Soma” were also made in these elaborate sacrifices. These sac­rifices and Yajnas were performed with great in­terest and care to invoke the blessings of the gods.

Vedic rituals became more and more complex and it was somewhat difficult to understand it. New ceremonies and rituals were gaining importance day by day in the religion of the later vedic Aryans. In place of simple sacrifices now many elaborate sacrifices lasting for months together, had come into prominence. The common people developed a sort of faith in witch craft, charms, spells and spirits during this period. In order to cure their disease and to destroy their rivals and enemies the people and now begun to depend on magic and charms. This period also saw the rise of snake-worship.