Old NCERT Textbook (RS Sharma): Advent of Aryans & Rig Vedic Period | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

 Page 1


Chapter 7: A dvent of the Aryans and the A ge of the
Rig V eda
Original Home and Identity
The Aryans spok e Indo-European languages, which are current in changed forms
all over Europe, Ir an, and the greater part of the Indian subcontinent. Originally ,
the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the area east of the Alps, in the re-
gion known as Eur asia. Certain names of animals such as goats, dogs, horses,
etc., and names of certain plants such as pine, maple, etc., are similar to one
another in all the Indo-European languages. These common words indicate the
fauna and flor a of Eur asia. They show that the Aryans were acquainted with
rivers and forests. Curiously enough, common words for mountains exist only
in a few Aryan languages, although the Aryans crossed man y hills. Their earliest
life seems to have been in the plains, with agriculture being a secondary occu-
pation. The Aryans did not lead a settled life, with the result that they could not
leave behind an y solid material remains. Although the Aryans used sever al ani-
mals, the horse pla yed the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness enabled
them and some allied peoples to mak e successful inroads into W estern Asia from
about 2000 B. C. onwards.
On their wa y to India, the Aryans first appeared in Ir an, where the Indo-Ir anians
lived for a long time. W e know about the Aryans in India from the Rig V eda,
which is the earliest specimen of the Indo-European language. The Rig V eda is
a collection of pr a yers offered to A gni, Indr a, Mitr a, V aruna, and other gods b y
various families of poets or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, of which
Books II to VII form its earliest portions. Books I and X seem to have been the lat-
est additions. The Rig V eda has man y things in common with the A vesta, which
is the oldest text in the Ir anian language. The two texts share the same names for
sever al gods and even for social classes. Some Aryan names mentioned in the
Kassite inscriptions of 1600 B. C. and the Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth
century B. C. found in Ir aq suggest that from Ir an a br anch of the Aryans moved
towards the west.
A little earlier than 1500 B. C., the Aryans appeared in India. W e do not find
clear and definite archaeological tr aces of their advent. Possibly they used sock-
eted axes, bronze dirks, and swords, which have been discovered in northwest-
ern India. The earliest Bronze A ge in the geogr aphical area covered eastern
Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of western Uttar Pr adesh. Some rivers of Afghanistan,
such as the river K ubha, and the river Indus and its five br anches, are mentioned
in the Rig V eda. The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence
of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly mentioned. Another river mentioned is the
Sar asvati, now lost in the sands of Rajasthan; the area represented b y it is cov-
ered b y the Ghaggar river . Possibly the Aryans obtained copper from the Khetri
mines of Rajasthan. The whole region in which the Aryans first settled in India
is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
The Aryans came to India in sever al waves. The earl iest wave is represented b y
the Rig V edic people, who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 B. C. They
1
Page 2


Chapter 7: A dvent of the Aryans and the A ge of the
Rig V eda
Original Home and Identity
The Aryans spok e Indo-European languages, which are current in changed forms
all over Europe, Ir an, and the greater part of the Indian subcontinent. Originally ,
the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the area east of the Alps, in the re-
gion known as Eur asia. Certain names of animals such as goats, dogs, horses,
etc., and names of certain plants such as pine, maple, etc., are similar to one
another in all the Indo-European languages. These common words indicate the
fauna and flor a of Eur asia. They show that the Aryans were acquainted with
rivers and forests. Curiously enough, common words for mountains exist only
in a few Aryan languages, although the Aryans crossed man y hills. Their earliest
life seems to have been in the plains, with agriculture being a secondary occu-
pation. The Aryans did not lead a settled life, with the result that they could not
leave behind an y solid material remains. Although the Aryans used sever al ani-
mals, the horse pla yed the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness enabled
them and some allied peoples to mak e successful inroads into W estern Asia from
about 2000 B. C. onwards.
On their wa y to India, the Aryans first appeared in Ir an, where the Indo-Ir anians
lived for a long time. W e know about the Aryans in India from the Rig V eda,
which is the earliest specimen of the Indo-European language. The Rig V eda is
a collection of pr a yers offered to A gni, Indr a, Mitr a, V aruna, and other gods b y
various families of poets or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, of which
Books II to VII form its earliest portions. Books I and X seem to have been the lat-
est additions. The Rig V eda has man y things in common with the A vesta, which
is the oldest text in the Ir anian language. The two texts share the same names for
sever al gods and even for social classes. Some Aryan names mentioned in the
Kassite inscriptions of 1600 B. C. and the Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth
century B. C. found in Ir aq suggest that from Ir an a br anch of the Aryans moved
towards the west.
A little earlier than 1500 B. C., the Aryans appeared in India. W e do not find
clear and definite archaeological tr aces of their advent. Possibly they used sock-
eted axes, bronze dirks, and swords, which have been discovered in northwest-
ern India. The earliest Bronze A ge in the geogr aphical area covered eastern
Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of western Uttar Pr adesh. Some rivers of Afghanistan,
such as the river K ubha, and the river Indus and its five br anches, are mentioned
in the Rig V eda. The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence
of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly mentioned. Another river mentioned is the
Sar asvati, now lost in the sands of Rajasthan; the area represented b y it is cov-
ered b y the Ghaggar river . Possibly the Aryans obtained copper from the Khetri
mines of Rajasthan. The whole region in which the Aryans first settled in India
is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
The Aryans came to India in sever al waves. The earl iest wave is represented b y
the Rig V edic people, who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 B. C. They
1
came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the dasas, dasyus, etc.
Since the dasas are also mentioned in ancient Ir anian liter ature, they appear to
have been a br anch of the early Aryans. The Rig V eda mentions the defeat of
Sambar a b y Divodasa, who belonged to the Bhar ata clan. In this case, the term
dasa appears in the name Divodasa. Possibly the dasyus in the Rig V eda repre-
sent the original inhabitants of the country , and an Aryan chief who empow-
ered them was called Tr asadasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the dasas
but strongly hostile to the dasyus. The term dasyuhalya, slaughter of the dasyus,
is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig V eda. The dasyus possibly worshipped the
phallus and did not k eep cattle for dairy products.
Tribal Conflicts
W e know little about the weapons of the adversaries of the Aryan peoples, al-
though we hear of man y defeats inflicted b y Indr a on the enemies of the Aryans
in the Rig V eda. Indr a is called Pur andar a, which means that he was the break er
of forts. But no concrete identity of the forts held b y the pre-Aryans is known;
some of them ma y have been Har appan settlements. However , there is no doubt
about the Aryan successes, and these came because the Aryans possessed char-
iots driven b y horses and introduced them for the first time into W est Asia and
India. The Aryan soldiers were probably also equipped with coats of mail (var-
man) and better arms.
The Aryans were engaged in two types of conflicts—first, they fought with the
pre-Aryans, and secondly , they fought amongst themselves. Intr a-tribal conflicts
rock ed the Aryan communities for a long time. Divided into five tribes called
panchajana, the Aryans fought amongst themselves and sometimes enlisted the
support of the pre-Aryan peoples for the purpose. The Bhar atas and the Tritsus
were the ruling Aryan clans, and they were supported b y priest V asishtha. The
country Bhar atavarsha was eventually named after the term Bhar ata, which ap-
pears first in the Rig V eda. The Bhar ata ruling clan was opposed b y a host of
ten kings, most of whom were heads of Aryan tribes and the remaining half of
non-Aryan peoples. While that was going on, the other Bhar atas were fighting
among the host of ten kings on the other side, known as the Battle of T en Kings.
This battle was fought on the river Parushni, id entical with the river Ravi, and
it gave victory to Sudas and established the supremacy of the Bhar atas. Of the
defeated tribes, the most important was that of the Purus. Subsequently , the
Bhar atas were defeated b y Puru, the son of the king of the Purus, and the latter
became the K urus, combined with the Panchalas, and they together established
their rule in the upper Gangetic basin, where they pla yed an important part in
later V edic times.
Material Life
W e can form some idea of the material life of the Rig V edic Aryans. They owed
their success in India to their possession of horses, chariots, and possibly some
better arms made of bronze, of which we have no archaeological evidence. When
they settled in the western part of the subcontinent, they possibly used copper
supplied b y the Khetri mines in Rajasthan. The Rig V edic people possessed better
2
Page 3


Chapter 7: A dvent of the Aryans and the A ge of the
Rig V eda
Original Home and Identity
The Aryans spok e Indo-European languages, which are current in changed forms
all over Europe, Ir an, and the greater part of the Indian subcontinent. Originally ,
the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the area east of the Alps, in the re-
gion known as Eur asia. Certain names of animals such as goats, dogs, horses,
etc., and names of certain plants such as pine, maple, etc., are similar to one
another in all the Indo-European languages. These common words indicate the
fauna and flor a of Eur asia. They show that the Aryans were acquainted with
rivers and forests. Curiously enough, common words for mountains exist only
in a few Aryan languages, although the Aryans crossed man y hills. Their earliest
life seems to have been in the plains, with agriculture being a secondary occu-
pation. The Aryans did not lead a settled life, with the result that they could not
leave behind an y solid material remains. Although the Aryans used sever al ani-
mals, the horse pla yed the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness enabled
them and some allied peoples to mak e successful inroads into W estern Asia from
about 2000 B. C. onwards.
On their wa y to India, the Aryans first appeared in Ir an, where the Indo-Ir anians
lived for a long time. W e know about the Aryans in India from the Rig V eda,
which is the earliest specimen of the Indo-European language. The Rig V eda is
a collection of pr a yers offered to A gni, Indr a, Mitr a, V aruna, and other gods b y
various families of poets or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, of which
Books II to VII form its earliest portions. Books I and X seem to have been the lat-
est additions. The Rig V eda has man y things in common with the A vesta, which
is the oldest text in the Ir anian language. The two texts share the same names for
sever al gods and even for social classes. Some Aryan names mentioned in the
Kassite inscriptions of 1600 B. C. and the Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth
century B. C. found in Ir aq suggest that from Ir an a br anch of the Aryans moved
towards the west.
A little earlier than 1500 B. C., the Aryans appeared in India. W e do not find
clear and definite archaeological tr aces of their advent. Possibly they used sock-
eted axes, bronze dirks, and swords, which have been discovered in northwest-
ern India. The earliest Bronze A ge in the geogr aphical area covered eastern
Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of western Uttar Pr adesh. Some rivers of Afghanistan,
such as the river K ubha, and the river Indus and its five br anches, are mentioned
in the Rig V eda. The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence
of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly mentioned. Another river mentioned is the
Sar asvati, now lost in the sands of Rajasthan; the area represented b y it is cov-
ered b y the Ghaggar river . Possibly the Aryans obtained copper from the Khetri
mines of Rajasthan. The whole region in which the Aryans first settled in India
is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
The Aryans came to India in sever al waves. The earl iest wave is represented b y
the Rig V edic people, who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 B. C. They
1
came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the dasas, dasyus, etc.
Since the dasas are also mentioned in ancient Ir anian liter ature, they appear to
have been a br anch of the early Aryans. The Rig V eda mentions the defeat of
Sambar a b y Divodasa, who belonged to the Bhar ata clan. In this case, the term
dasa appears in the name Divodasa. Possibly the dasyus in the Rig V eda repre-
sent the original inhabitants of the country , and an Aryan chief who empow-
ered them was called Tr asadasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the dasas
but strongly hostile to the dasyus. The term dasyuhalya, slaughter of the dasyus,
is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig V eda. The dasyus possibly worshipped the
phallus and did not k eep cattle for dairy products.
Tribal Conflicts
W e know little about the weapons of the adversaries of the Aryan peoples, al-
though we hear of man y defeats inflicted b y Indr a on the enemies of the Aryans
in the Rig V eda. Indr a is called Pur andar a, which means that he was the break er
of forts. But no concrete identity of the forts held b y the pre-Aryans is known;
some of them ma y have been Har appan settlements. However , there is no doubt
about the Aryan successes, and these came because the Aryans possessed char-
iots driven b y horses and introduced them for the first time into W est Asia and
India. The Aryan soldiers were probably also equipped with coats of mail (var-
man) and better arms.
The Aryans were engaged in two types of conflicts—first, they fought with the
pre-Aryans, and secondly , they fought amongst themselves. Intr a-tribal conflicts
rock ed the Aryan communities for a long time. Divided into five tribes called
panchajana, the Aryans fought amongst themselves and sometimes enlisted the
support of the pre-Aryan peoples for the purpose. The Bhar atas and the Tritsus
were the ruling Aryan clans, and they were supported b y priest V asishtha. The
country Bhar atavarsha was eventually named after the term Bhar ata, which ap-
pears first in the Rig V eda. The Bhar ata ruling clan was opposed b y a host of
ten kings, most of whom were heads of Aryan tribes and the remaining half of
non-Aryan peoples. While that was going on, the other Bhar atas were fighting
among the host of ten kings on the other side, known as the Battle of T en Kings.
This battle was fought on the river Parushni, id entical with the river Ravi, and
it gave victory to Sudas and established the supremacy of the Bhar atas. Of the
defeated tribes, the most important was that of the Purus. Subsequently , the
Bhar atas were defeated b y Puru, the son of the king of the Purus, and the latter
became the K urus, combined with the Panchalas, and they together established
their rule in the upper Gangetic basin, where they pla yed an important part in
later V edic times.
Material Life
W e can form some idea of the material life of the Rig V edic Aryans. They owed
their success in India to their possession of horses, chariots, and possibly some
better arms made of bronze, of which we have no archaeological evidence. When
they settled in the western part of the subcontinent, they possibly used copper
supplied b y the Khetri mines in Rajasthan. The Rig V edic people possessed better
2
knowledge of agriculture. Ploughshare is mentioned in the earliest part of the
Rig V eda, though some consider it an interpolation. Possibly this ploughshare
was made of wood. They were acquainted with sowing, harvesting, and thresh-
ing, and knew about the different seasons.
In spite of all this, there are so man y references to the cow in the Rig V eda that
the Rig V edic Aryans seem to have been a pastor al people. Most of their wars
were fought for the sak e of cows. The term for war in the Rig V eda is gavishti or
search for cows. The cow seems to have been the most important form of wealth,
and whenever we hear of gifts made to priests, it is stated in terms of cows and
women slaves and never in terms of the measurement of land. The Rig V edic
people ma y have occasionally occupied pieces of land, but land did not form a
well-established type of property .
The Rig V eda mentions such artisans as the carpenter , the chariot-mak er , the
weaver , the leather work er , the potter , etc. This indicates that they pr acticed all
these cr afts. The term a yas, used for copper or bronze, shows that metal-working
was known. The word samudr a mentioned in the Rig V eda mainly denotes a
collection of water .
Political Organization
The titles of the officials do not indicate their administr ation of territory . How-
ever , some officers seem to have been attached to territories. They enjo yed po-
sitions of authority in the pasture grounds and settled villages. The officer who
enjo yed authority over the pasture ground is called vr ajapati. He led the heads
of the families called kulapas, or the heads of the fighting hordes called gr ama-
nis, to battle. In the beginning, the gr amani was just the head of a small tribal
fighting unit. But when the unit settled, the gr amani became the head of the
village, and in course of time, he became identical with the vr ajapati.
The king did not maintain an y regular or standing arm y , but in times of war , he
mustered a militia, which mainly fought from the prepared field. B y and large,
it was a tribal system of government in which the military element was strong.
There was no civil system or territorial administr ation because people were in
a stage of perpetual expansion, migr ating from one area to another . Spies were
emplo yed to k eep an eye on unsocial activities such as theft and burglary , espe-
cially the theft of cows.
Tribe and F amily
Kinship was the basis of social structure, and a man was identified b y the clan
to which he belonged, as can be seen in the names of sever al Rig V edic kings.
People gave their primary lo yalty to the tribe, which was called jana. The term
jana occurs about 275 times in the Rig V eda, and the term janapada or territory
is not used even once. The people were attached to the tribe, and the primary
bond of allegiance was to the clan.
Another important term which stands for the tribe in the Rig V eda is vis. It is
mentioned 170 times in that text. Probably the vis was divided into one or more
3
Page 4


Chapter 7: A dvent of the Aryans and the A ge of the
Rig V eda
Original Home and Identity
The Aryans spok e Indo-European languages, which are current in changed forms
all over Europe, Ir an, and the greater part of the Indian subcontinent. Originally ,
the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the area east of the Alps, in the re-
gion known as Eur asia. Certain names of animals such as goats, dogs, horses,
etc., and names of certain plants such as pine, maple, etc., are similar to one
another in all the Indo-European languages. These common words indicate the
fauna and flor a of Eur asia. They show that the Aryans were acquainted with
rivers and forests. Curiously enough, common words for mountains exist only
in a few Aryan languages, although the Aryans crossed man y hills. Their earliest
life seems to have been in the plains, with agriculture being a secondary occu-
pation. The Aryans did not lead a settled life, with the result that they could not
leave behind an y solid material remains. Although the Aryans used sever al ani-
mals, the horse pla yed the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness enabled
them and some allied peoples to mak e successful inroads into W estern Asia from
about 2000 B. C. onwards.
On their wa y to India, the Aryans first appeared in Ir an, where the Indo-Ir anians
lived for a long time. W e know about the Aryans in India from the Rig V eda,
which is the earliest specimen of the Indo-European language. The Rig V eda is
a collection of pr a yers offered to A gni, Indr a, Mitr a, V aruna, and other gods b y
various families of poets or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, of which
Books II to VII form its earliest portions. Books I and X seem to have been the lat-
est additions. The Rig V eda has man y things in common with the A vesta, which
is the oldest text in the Ir anian language. The two texts share the same names for
sever al gods and even for social classes. Some Aryan names mentioned in the
Kassite inscriptions of 1600 B. C. and the Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth
century B. C. found in Ir aq suggest that from Ir an a br anch of the Aryans moved
towards the west.
A little earlier than 1500 B. C., the Aryans appeared in India. W e do not find
clear and definite archaeological tr aces of their advent. Possibly they used sock-
eted axes, bronze dirks, and swords, which have been discovered in northwest-
ern India. The earliest Bronze A ge in the geogr aphical area covered eastern
Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of western Uttar Pr adesh. Some rivers of Afghanistan,
such as the river K ubha, and the river Indus and its five br anches, are mentioned
in the Rig V eda. The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence
of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly mentioned. Another river mentioned is the
Sar asvati, now lost in the sands of Rajasthan; the area represented b y it is cov-
ered b y the Ghaggar river . Possibly the Aryans obtained copper from the Khetri
mines of Rajasthan. The whole region in which the Aryans first settled in India
is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
The Aryans came to India in sever al waves. The earl iest wave is represented b y
the Rig V edic people, who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 B. C. They
1
came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the dasas, dasyus, etc.
Since the dasas are also mentioned in ancient Ir anian liter ature, they appear to
have been a br anch of the early Aryans. The Rig V eda mentions the defeat of
Sambar a b y Divodasa, who belonged to the Bhar ata clan. In this case, the term
dasa appears in the name Divodasa. Possibly the dasyus in the Rig V eda repre-
sent the original inhabitants of the country , and an Aryan chief who empow-
ered them was called Tr asadasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the dasas
but strongly hostile to the dasyus. The term dasyuhalya, slaughter of the dasyus,
is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig V eda. The dasyus possibly worshipped the
phallus and did not k eep cattle for dairy products.
Tribal Conflicts
W e know little about the weapons of the adversaries of the Aryan peoples, al-
though we hear of man y defeats inflicted b y Indr a on the enemies of the Aryans
in the Rig V eda. Indr a is called Pur andar a, which means that he was the break er
of forts. But no concrete identity of the forts held b y the pre-Aryans is known;
some of them ma y have been Har appan settlements. However , there is no doubt
about the Aryan successes, and these came because the Aryans possessed char-
iots driven b y horses and introduced them for the first time into W est Asia and
India. The Aryan soldiers were probably also equipped with coats of mail (var-
man) and better arms.
The Aryans were engaged in two types of conflicts—first, they fought with the
pre-Aryans, and secondly , they fought amongst themselves. Intr a-tribal conflicts
rock ed the Aryan communities for a long time. Divided into five tribes called
panchajana, the Aryans fought amongst themselves and sometimes enlisted the
support of the pre-Aryan peoples for the purpose. The Bhar atas and the Tritsus
were the ruling Aryan clans, and they were supported b y priest V asishtha. The
country Bhar atavarsha was eventually named after the term Bhar ata, which ap-
pears first in the Rig V eda. The Bhar ata ruling clan was opposed b y a host of
ten kings, most of whom were heads of Aryan tribes and the remaining half of
non-Aryan peoples. While that was going on, the other Bhar atas were fighting
among the host of ten kings on the other side, known as the Battle of T en Kings.
This battle was fought on the river Parushni, id entical with the river Ravi, and
it gave victory to Sudas and established the supremacy of the Bhar atas. Of the
defeated tribes, the most important was that of the Purus. Subsequently , the
Bhar atas were defeated b y Puru, the son of the king of the Purus, and the latter
became the K urus, combined with the Panchalas, and they together established
their rule in the upper Gangetic basin, where they pla yed an important part in
later V edic times.
Material Life
W e can form some idea of the material life of the Rig V edic Aryans. They owed
their success in India to their possession of horses, chariots, and possibly some
better arms made of bronze, of which we have no archaeological evidence. When
they settled in the western part of the subcontinent, they possibly used copper
supplied b y the Khetri mines in Rajasthan. The Rig V edic people possessed better
2
knowledge of agriculture. Ploughshare is mentioned in the earliest part of the
Rig V eda, though some consider it an interpolation. Possibly this ploughshare
was made of wood. They were acquainted with sowing, harvesting, and thresh-
ing, and knew about the different seasons.
In spite of all this, there are so man y references to the cow in the Rig V eda that
the Rig V edic Aryans seem to have been a pastor al people. Most of their wars
were fought for the sak e of cows. The term for war in the Rig V eda is gavishti or
search for cows. The cow seems to have been the most important form of wealth,
and whenever we hear of gifts made to priests, it is stated in terms of cows and
women slaves and never in terms of the measurement of land. The Rig V edic
people ma y have occasionally occupied pieces of land, but land did not form a
well-established type of property .
The Rig V eda mentions such artisans as the carpenter , the chariot-mak er , the
weaver , the leather work er , the potter , etc. This indicates that they pr acticed all
these cr afts. The term a yas, used for copper or bronze, shows that metal-working
was known. The word samudr a mentioned in the Rig V eda mainly denotes a
collection of water .
Political Organization
The titles of the officials do not indicate their administr ation of territory . How-
ever , some officers seem to have been attached to territories. They enjo yed po-
sitions of authority in the pasture grounds and settled villages. The officer who
enjo yed authority over the pasture ground is called vr ajapati. He led the heads
of the families called kulapas, or the heads of the fighting hordes called gr ama-
nis, to battle. In the beginning, the gr amani was just the head of a small tribal
fighting unit. But when the unit settled, the gr amani became the head of the
village, and in course of time, he became identical with the vr ajapati.
The king did not maintain an y regular or standing arm y , but in times of war , he
mustered a militia, which mainly fought from the prepared field. B y and large,
it was a tribal system of government in which the military element was strong.
There was no civil system or territorial administr ation because people were in
a stage of perpetual expansion, migr ating from one area to another . Spies were
emplo yed to k eep an eye on unsocial activities such as theft and burglary , espe-
cially the theft of cows.
Tribe and F amily
Kinship was the basis of social structure, and a man was identified b y the clan
to which he belonged, as can be seen in the names of sever al Rig V edic kings.
People gave their primary lo yalty to the tribe, which was called jana. The term
jana occurs about 275 times in the Rig V eda, and the term janapada or territory
is not used even once. The people were attached to the tribe, and the primary
bond of allegiance was to the clan.
Another important term which stands for the tribe in the Rig V eda is vis. It is
mentioned 170 times in that text. Probably the vis was divided into one or more
3
later tribal units meant for fighting. When the gr amas clashed with one another ,
it caused samgr ama or war . The most numerous varna of vaish ya arose out of
the vis or the mass of the tribal people.
The term for family (kula) is mentioned r arely in the Rig V eda. It comprised not
only mother , father , sons, slaves, etc., but man y more people also. It seems that
family in the early V edic phase was indicated b y the term griha, which frequently
occurs in this text. In the earliest Indo-European languages, the same term is
used for nephew , gr andson, cousin, etc. This would mean that differentiation
in family relationships leading to the setting up of separ ate households had not
proceeded far , and the family was a very large joint unit. It was obviously a
patriarchal family headed b y the father , as was the case in Roman society . It
seems that sever al gener ations of the family lived under the same roof. Because
it was a patriarchal society , the birth of a son was desired again and again, and
especially people pr a yed to the gods for br ave sons to fight the wars. In the Rig
V eda, no desire is expressed for daughters, though the desire for children and
cattle is a recurrent theme in the h ymns.
W omen could attend assemblies. They could offer sacrifices along with their
husbands. W e have an instance of five women who composed h ymns, although
later texts mention 20 such women. Obviously , the h ymns were composed or ally ,
and nothing written belongs to that period.
Marriage and Social Pr actices
The institution of marriage was established, although symbols of primitive pr ac-
tices survived. W e hear of a proposal made b y Y ami, the twin-sister of Y ama, for
establishing love relations, but the offer is resisted b y Y ama. W e have some indi-
cations of polyandry . F or instance, the Maruts are stated to have enjo yed Rodasi,
and the two Ashvin brothers are represented as living with Surya, the daughter
of the sun god. But such instances are not too man y . Possibly they indicate ma-
trilineal tr aces, and we have a few instances of sons being named after their
mother , as in the case of Mamateya.
W e also notice the pr actice of levir ate and widow remarriage in the Rig V eda.
There are no examples of child-marriage, and the marriageable age in the Rig
V eda seems to have been 16 to 17.
Social Divisions
The Rig V eda shows some consciousness of the ph ysical appear ance of peopl e in
northwestern India in about 1500–1000 B. C. V arna was the term used for color ,
and it seems that the Aryans partially gave rise to social orders, but its impor-
tance has been exagger ated b y those western writers who believe in r acial dis-
tinctions. The factor which contributed most to the creation of social divisions
was the conquest of the indigenous inhabitants b y the Aryans. The dasas and
the dasyus were the first social divisions.
4
Page 5


Chapter 7: A dvent of the Aryans and the A ge of the
Rig V eda
Original Home and Identity
The Aryans spok e Indo-European languages, which are current in changed forms
all over Europe, Ir an, and the greater part of the Indian subcontinent. Originally ,
the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the area east of the Alps, in the re-
gion known as Eur asia. Certain names of animals such as goats, dogs, horses,
etc., and names of certain plants such as pine, maple, etc., are similar to one
another in all the Indo-European languages. These common words indicate the
fauna and flor a of Eur asia. They show that the Aryans were acquainted with
rivers and forests. Curiously enough, common words for mountains exist only
in a few Aryan languages, although the Aryans crossed man y hills. Their earliest
life seems to have been in the plains, with agriculture being a secondary occu-
pation. The Aryans did not lead a settled life, with the result that they could not
leave behind an y solid material remains. Although the Aryans used sever al ani-
mals, the horse pla yed the most significant role in their life. Its swiftness enabled
them and some allied peoples to mak e successful inroads into W estern Asia from
about 2000 B. C. onwards.
On their wa y to India, the Aryans first appeared in Ir an, where the Indo-Ir anians
lived for a long time. W e know about the Aryans in India from the Rig V eda,
which is the earliest specimen of the Indo-European language. The Rig V eda is
a collection of pr a yers offered to A gni, Indr a, Mitr a, V aruna, and other gods b y
various families of poets or sages. It consists of ten mandalas or books, of which
Books II to VII form its earliest portions. Books I and X seem to have been the lat-
est additions. The Rig V eda has man y things in common with the A vesta, which
is the oldest text in the Ir anian language. The two texts share the same names for
sever al gods and even for social classes. Some Aryan names mentioned in the
Kassite inscriptions of 1600 B. C. and the Mitanni inscriptions of the fourteenth
century B. C. found in Ir aq suggest that from Ir an a br anch of the Aryans moved
towards the west.
A little earlier than 1500 B. C., the Aryans appeared in India. W e do not find
clear and definite archaeological tr aces of their advent. Possibly they used sock-
eted axes, bronze dirks, and swords, which have been discovered in northwest-
ern India. The earliest Bronze A ge in the geogr aphical area covered eastern
Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of western Uttar Pr adesh. Some rivers of Afghanistan,
such as the river K ubha, and the river Indus and its five br anches, are mentioned
in the Rig V eda. The Sindhu, identical with the Indus, is the river par excellence
of the Aryans, and it is repeatedly mentioned. Another river mentioned is the
Sar asvati, now lost in the sands of Rajasthan; the area represented b y it is cov-
ered b y the Ghaggar river . Possibly the Aryans obtained copper from the Khetri
mines of Rajasthan. The whole region in which the Aryans first settled in India
is called the Land of the Seven Rivers.
The Aryans came to India in sever al waves. The earl iest wave is represented b y
the Rig V edic people, who appeared in the subcontinent in about 1500 B. C. They
1
came into conflict with the indigenous inhabitants called the dasas, dasyus, etc.
Since the dasas are also mentioned in ancient Ir anian liter ature, they appear to
have been a br anch of the early Aryans. The Rig V eda mentions the defeat of
Sambar a b y Divodasa, who belonged to the Bhar ata clan. In this case, the term
dasa appears in the name Divodasa. Possibly the dasyus in the Rig V eda repre-
sent the original inhabitants of the country , and an Aryan chief who empow-
ered them was called Tr asadasyu. The Aryan chief was soft towards the dasas
but strongly hostile to the dasyus. The term dasyuhalya, slaughter of the dasyus,
is repeatedly mentioned in the Rig V eda. The dasyus possibly worshipped the
phallus and did not k eep cattle for dairy products.
Tribal Conflicts
W e know little about the weapons of the adversaries of the Aryan peoples, al-
though we hear of man y defeats inflicted b y Indr a on the enemies of the Aryans
in the Rig V eda. Indr a is called Pur andar a, which means that he was the break er
of forts. But no concrete identity of the forts held b y the pre-Aryans is known;
some of them ma y have been Har appan settlements. However , there is no doubt
about the Aryan successes, and these came because the Aryans possessed char-
iots driven b y horses and introduced them for the first time into W est Asia and
India. The Aryan soldiers were probably also equipped with coats of mail (var-
man) and better arms.
The Aryans were engaged in two types of conflicts—first, they fought with the
pre-Aryans, and secondly , they fought amongst themselves. Intr a-tribal conflicts
rock ed the Aryan communities for a long time. Divided into five tribes called
panchajana, the Aryans fought amongst themselves and sometimes enlisted the
support of the pre-Aryan peoples for the purpose. The Bhar atas and the Tritsus
were the ruling Aryan clans, and they were supported b y priest V asishtha. The
country Bhar atavarsha was eventually named after the term Bhar ata, which ap-
pears first in the Rig V eda. The Bhar ata ruling clan was opposed b y a host of
ten kings, most of whom were heads of Aryan tribes and the remaining half of
non-Aryan peoples. While that was going on, the other Bhar atas were fighting
among the host of ten kings on the other side, known as the Battle of T en Kings.
This battle was fought on the river Parushni, id entical with the river Ravi, and
it gave victory to Sudas and established the supremacy of the Bhar atas. Of the
defeated tribes, the most important was that of the Purus. Subsequently , the
Bhar atas were defeated b y Puru, the son of the king of the Purus, and the latter
became the K urus, combined with the Panchalas, and they together established
their rule in the upper Gangetic basin, where they pla yed an important part in
later V edic times.
Material Life
W e can form some idea of the material life of the Rig V edic Aryans. They owed
their success in India to their possession of horses, chariots, and possibly some
better arms made of bronze, of which we have no archaeological evidence. When
they settled in the western part of the subcontinent, they possibly used copper
supplied b y the Khetri mines in Rajasthan. The Rig V edic people possessed better
2
knowledge of agriculture. Ploughshare is mentioned in the earliest part of the
Rig V eda, though some consider it an interpolation. Possibly this ploughshare
was made of wood. They were acquainted with sowing, harvesting, and thresh-
ing, and knew about the different seasons.
In spite of all this, there are so man y references to the cow in the Rig V eda that
the Rig V edic Aryans seem to have been a pastor al people. Most of their wars
were fought for the sak e of cows. The term for war in the Rig V eda is gavishti or
search for cows. The cow seems to have been the most important form of wealth,
and whenever we hear of gifts made to priests, it is stated in terms of cows and
women slaves and never in terms of the measurement of land. The Rig V edic
people ma y have occasionally occupied pieces of land, but land did not form a
well-established type of property .
The Rig V eda mentions such artisans as the carpenter , the chariot-mak er , the
weaver , the leather work er , the potter , etc. This indicates that they pr acticed all
these cr afts. The term a yas, used for copper or bronze, shows that metal-working
was known. The word samudr a mentioned in the Rig V eda mainly denotes a
collection of water .
Political Organization
The titles of the officials do not indicate their administr ation of territory . How-
ever , some officers seem to have been attached to territories. They enjo yed po-
sitions of authority in the pasture grounds and settled villages. The officer who
enjo yed authority over the pasture ground is called vr ajapati. He led the heads
of the families called kulapas, or the heads of the fighting hordes called gr ama-
nis, to battle. In the beginning, the gr amani was just the head of a small tribal
fighting unit. But when the unit settled, the gr amani became the head of the
village, and in course of time, he became identical with the vr ajapati.
The king did not maintain an y regular or standing arm y , but in times of war , he
mustered a militia, which mainly fought from the prepared field. B y and large,
it was a tribal system of government in which the military element was strong.
There was no civil system or territorial administr ation because people were in
a stage of perpetual expansion, migr ating from one area to another . Spies were
emplo yed to k eep an eye on unsocial activities such as theft and burglary , espe-
cially the theft of cows.
Tribe and F amily
Kinship was the basis of social structure, and a man was identified b y the clan
to which he belonged, as can be seen in the names of sever al Rig V edic kings.
People gave their primary lo yalty to the tribe, which was called jana. The term
jana occurs about 275 times in the Rig V eda, and the term janapada or territory
is not used even once. The people were attached to the tribe, and the primary
bond of allegiance was to the clan.
Another important term which stands for the tribe in the Rig V eda is vis. It is
mentioned 170 times in that text. Probably the vis was divided into one or more
3
later tribal units meant for fighting. When the gr amas clashed with one another ,
it caused samgr ama or war . The most numerous varna of vaish ya arose out of
the vis or the mass of the tribal people.
The term for family (kula) is mentioned r arely in the Rig V eda. It comprised not
only mother , father , sons, slaves, etc., but man y more people also. It seems that
family in the early V edic phase was indicated b y the term griha, which frequently
occurs in this text. In the earliest Indo-European languages, the same term is
used for nephew , gr andson, cousin, etc. This would mean that differentiation
in family relationships leading to the setting up of separ ate households had not
proceeded far , and the family was a very large joint unit. It was obviously a
patriarchal family headed b y the father , as was the case in Roman society . It
seems that sever al gener ations of the family lived under the same roof. Because
it was a patriarchal society , the birth of a son was desired again and again, and
especially people pr a yed to the gods for br ave sons to fight the wars. In the Rig
V eda, no desire is expressed for daughters, though the desire for children and
cattle is a recurrent theme in the h ymns.
W omen could attend assemblies. They could offer sacrifices along with their
husbands. W e have an instance of five women who composed h ymns, although
later texts mention 20 such women. Obviously , the h ymns were composed or ally ,
and nothing written belongs to that period.
Marriage and Social Pr actices
The institution of marriage was established, although symbols of primitive pr ac-
tices survived. W e hear of a proposal made b y Y ami, the twin-sister of Y ama, for
establishing love relations, but the offer is resisted b y Y ama. W e have some indi-
cations of polyandry . F or instance, the Maruts are stated to have enjo yed Rodasi,
and the two Ashvin brothers are represented as living with Surya, the daughter
of the sun god. But such instances are not too man y . Possibly they indicate ma-
trilineal tr aces, and we have a few instances of sons being named after their
mother , as in the case of Mamateya.
W e also notice the pr actice of levir ate and widow remarriage in the Rig V eda.
There are no examples of child-marriage, and the marriageable age in the Rig
V eda seems to have been 16 to 17.
Social Divisions
The Rig V eda shows some consciousness of the ph ysical appear ance of peopl e in
northwestern India in about 1500–1000 B. C. V arna was the term used for color ,
and it seems that the Aryans partially gave rise to social orders, but its impor-
tance has been exagger ated b y those western writers who believe in r acial dis-
tinctions. The factor which contributed most to the creation of social divisions
was the conquest of the indigenous inhabitants b y the Aryans. The dasas and
the dasyus were the first social divisions.
4
Religion and W orship
The Aryans personified natur al forces such as the advent of r ains, the appear-
ance of the sun and the moon, and the existence of rivers, mountains, etc., and
look ed upon them as living beings to whom they gave human or animal at-
tributes. W e have a large number of such divinities in the Rig V eda, which is full
of h ymns composed in their honor b y the poets of various families. The most
important divinity in the Rig V eda is Indr a, who is called Pur andar a or break er
of forts. Indr a pl a yed the role of a warlord, leading the Aryan soldiers to victory
against the demons. Two hundred and fifty h ymns are devoted to him. He is
considered to be the r ain god and thought to be responsible for causing r ainfall.
The second position is occupied b y A gni, the god to whom 200 h ymns are de-
voted. Fire pla yed a significant part in the life of primitive peoples because of its
use in burning forests, cooking, etc. The cult of fire commanded an important
place not only in India but also in Ir an. In V edic times, A gni acted as a kind of
intermediary between the gods, on the one hand, and the people, on the other .
The oblations offered to A gni were supposed to be carried in the form of smok e
to the sky , and thus brought down r ain. The most important of the gods of the
Rig V eda was V aruna, who was supposed to uphold the natur al order , and what-
ever happened in the world was thought to be the reflection of his d esires. Soma
was considered to be the god of plants, and an intoxicating drink is named after
him. The Maruts personify the storm. Thus, we have a large number of gods
who represent the different forces of nature in one form or another but are also
assigned human activities.
W e also find some female divinities such as A diti and Ushas, who represented
the appear ance of the dawn. But they were not prominent in the time of the
Rig V eda; in the patriarchal setup of the period, the male gods were far more
important than the female.
The dominant mode of worshipping the gods was through the recitation of pr a yers
and offering of sacrifices. Pr a yers pla yed an important part in Rig V edic times.
Both collective and individual pr a yers were made. Originally , every tribe or clan
was the votary of a special god. It seems that the gods were not worshipped in
the form of images. A gni and Indr a were invited to partak e of sacrifices made b y
the whole tribe (jana). Offerings of vegetables, barley , etc., were made to gods.
But in Rig V edic times, the process was not accompanied b y an y ritual or sacrifi-
cial formulae. At this stage, the magical power of the word was not considered as
important as it came to be in later V edic times. People worshipped gods mainly
for pr aja (children), pasu (cattle), food, wealth, health, etc., and not for spiritual
uplift or for ending the miseries of existence.
Exercises
1. What is meant b y the Aryans? Where did they live originally , and how did
they come to India?
2. Give an account of the material life of the Rig V edic people. Is it correct to
call them an agricultur al community?
5