Early Vedic age


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Early Vedic age

Early Vedic age (1500-1000 BC): This period is also known as the Rigvedic period as the rig Veda was composed at this time and it is the chief source of information about this period.

Political life: The early Vedic society was divided into various tribes. They were cattle breeders. The entire kingdom consisted of many villages called gramas. The village headman was called Gramani. The people were called Jana or vish. The tribal chief of king was called rajan. This post was mostly hereditary. However, on some occasions, the chief could also be elected by an assembly called samiti. The king was expected to be strong and able to protect his tribe. He offered prayers on behalf of the tribes and received a Bali for his services which was a voluntary donation.

Economic life: The Vedic people led a settled life. They were pastoral people. Rearing cattle was one of their main occupations. The cow was one of their favorite and sacred animals. It was their principal form of wealth. The kings gifted cows to the priest. Most of their wars were fought for the sake of cows. The cow was also their unit of barter. They also used horses but did not worship them. There were chariots which were pulled by horses.

Social life: The smallest social unit was the joint family in which members of three or more generation lived in the same house. The father was the head of the family. He was known as grihapati (householder). Women held a position of respect in society. They could attend assemblies and offer prayers along with their husbands. Being a patriarchal society, parents preferred sons to daughters. They prayed for brave and strong sons capable of fighting in wars.

Food: The people were very fond of good food which included cereals, vegetables, fruits, honey, milk and milk product. Intoxicating drinks like Sura and Soma were their favorites. They also consumed different varieties of meat.

Clothes and Ornaments: People wore cotton and woolen clothes depending on the weather. Both men and women wore an upper garment wrapped around the shoulders called adhivasa and a lower garment called dhoti which was wrapped around the waist. Some of them wore a shirt called vasa. People wore ornaments like earrings, necklaces, armlets and bangles, depending upon their economic status.

Education and Amusements: The children went to gurukula to study. They lived there and served their guru (teacher) while studying various arts and crafts from him. Chariot racing, horse and hunting were their favorite’s pastimes. They knew the game of dice and played musical instruments like veena and drum. Dancing and singing was also prevalent in their culture.

Religion: Just like the Harappan people, the early Vedic people also found it difficult to explain the natural phenomena like rains, appearance of sun and moon etc; hence they looked upon these natural forces as divine beings. Their most important god was Indra. There were no idols. The prayers were chanted in open air. Rituals were simple. Fire was worshipped and was an integral part of their rituals. At the beginning of the later Vedic period, the Aryans learnt the use of iron. This was the beginning of the Iron Age in India.

 
 


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