HIS 249: PRE MODERN INDIA                                           THE VEDIC AGE: An Outline

ARYAS
DASA/ DASYU
SAPTA SINDHU (area of the Indus, Saraswati, and five PUNJAB rivers)
RIG VEDA (less important: YAJUR VEDA, SAMA VEDA, ATHARVA VEDA)
AGNI, SOMA, INDRA (Vedic Gods)
VARNA [Caste]: BRAHMIN, KSHATRIYA, VAISHYA (VIS in early Vedic), SHUDRA
JATI (occupational "born into" groups, also termed caste groups)
SABHA, SAMITI, JANAPADA (Terms related to political organization)
UPANISHADS: Philosophical commentaries on the Vedas.
MONISM: Upanishadic philosophy
KARMA, SAMSARA, MOKSHA: Important ideas in the Upanishads.

2. Chronology and Important Developments

EARLY VEDIC AGE (a.k.a. Rig Vedic Age) c. 1500-1000 B.C.E.

CONQUEST
RELATIONS WITH DASAS
ECONOMY: PREDOMINANTLY PASTORAL
SOCIAL PRACTICES: SOME SOCIAL HIERARCHIES, (Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vis) BUT SOCIAL MOBILITY WAS ALSO POSSIBLE
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: RELATED TO NATURE AND TO WAR
 

LATER VEDIC AGE c. 1000 - 600 B.C.E.

DISCOVERY OF IRON
EASTWARD MIGRATION
AGRICULTURE AND SPECIALIZATION OF OCCUPATIONS
EMERGENCE OF CASTE HIERARCHIES
THE RISE OF TERRITORIALITY: JANAPADAS/ MAHAJANAPADAS (STATES)
GROWTH OF RITUALISM AND SPECULATIONS ABOUT NATURE OF DIVINITY
EARLY REACTION AGAINST RITUALISM -- UPANISHADS

3. . Historical Evidence

VEDAS, PARTICULARLY THE RIG VEDA
SCANTY ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
PAINTED GREY-WARE (connected with later Vedic sites: c. 800-400 B.C.E.)