Chapter Five

Cultural Transitions: Images from Texts and Archaeology, c. 2000– 600 BCE

Chapter outline

(< />)PERSPECTIVES FROM TEXTS (< />)ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROFILES OF DIFFERENT REGIONS OF THE SUBCONTINENT, C. 2000– 500 BCE

(< />)THE PROBLEM OF CO-RELATING LITERARY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (< />)CONCLUSIONS

MEGALITHIC BURIAL, HIRE-BENKAL (KARNATAKA)

Janaka, king ofVideha, was performing a great sacrifice, and Brahmanas had come from far and wide to attend. The king announced a prize of 1,000 cows with 10,000 gold pieces fastened to their

horns for the wisest among all the assembled Brahmanas. At this, sage Yajnavalkya asked his pupil Shamashravas to herd the cows home. The other Brahmanas grew furious at his presumption and an intense philosophical contest ensued. One by one, eight interlocutors posed a series of questions to Yajnavalkya on matters related to the sacrifice, the senses, the worlds to which great men departed, the nature of the atman, the making of the universe, and the resting places of the gods and spirits. One of the interlocutors was a woman named Gargi. As her questions built up to a crescendo, Yajnavalkya thundered at her to stop or else her head might fall off. Gargi retreated, but spiritedly subjected the sage to a second round of queries. Vidagdha, the last questioner, had to pay the price of defeat with his head. All had been silenced by Yajnavalkya’s brilliant responses.

This episode is narrated in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, a text belonging to the Vedic corpus. Is there a historical basis to this incident? Did a great sage named Yajnavalkya ever exist? Did a woman named Gargi participate in a philosophical quest dominated by men? Was the price of defeat in such contests really death? How many people were actually interested in such esoteric issues? It is difficult to answer such questions with certainty, but the episode does conjure a dramatic scene of philosophical inquiry in which the stakes were very high—of reputation and life itself.

The poets who composed the Vedic hymns of praise and supplication to the gods and the priests who explained how the rituals were to be performed were not historians. Vedic texts are religious and ritualistic works, not works of history. However, combined with the available archaeological evidence, they can be used as sources of information on various aspects of the life of people living in the greater Indus valley, the Indo-Gangetic divide, and the upper Ganga valley in the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE.

When discussing this period, most accounts of ancient Indian history make a decisive shift from a narrative based on archaeology to one based on Vedic texts. In general, archaeological evidence is cited only when it supports what the texts seem to be suggesting. This approach has resulted in an undue focus on the northern and north-western regions of the subcontinent and a neglect of other areas. It has led to the sidelining of substantial archaeological evidence from neolithic–chalcolithic, chalcolithic, and early iron age cultures that tells us about the lives of ordinary people living in the various regions of the subcontinent during c. 2000–500 BCE.

The challenge is to incorporate both literary and archaeological evidence, wherever they are available. However, evidence from these two sources does not always match. When dealing with material culture, priority should be given to archaeological evidence. Vedic literature, on the other hand, is a richer source of information on the development of philosophical concepts and religious ideas and practices. Another challenge is to explore and expand the historical potential of the archaeological evidence from regions for which no texts are available, and where archaeology remains the only window into the past.

In order to view the complex historical jigsaw puzzle of the subcontinent in c. 2000–500 BCE, it is necessary to carefully juxtapose the archaeology-based and text-and-archaeology-based profiles of the various regions, recognizing that in some cases, the pieces do not fit together perfectly.

Perspectives from Texts

USING THE VEDAS AS A HISTORICAL SOURCE

Extracting history from a literature as ancient, vast, and complex as the Vedas is no easy task. Unfortunately, critical editions identifying the original core of the texts are not available. The 19th century translations cannot be relied upon, and recent authoritative translations, whether in the European or Indian languages, are few. A great deal depends on the interpretation of words and phrases, whose meanings may vary from one text and context to another.

The Vedic corpus was not a popular literature and, therefore, does not necessarily represent popular ideas or practices. It was composed, preserved, and transmitted by and for a section of the Brahmanas. (Here, the reference is to Brahmanas as a social group. The Brahmanas are also a category of Vedic texts.) The texts were transmitted orally for many centuries and it is not certain when they were first written down. The earliest surviving manuscripts belong to the 11th century CE. Many historians use a rough chronology of c. 1200–1000 BCE or 1500–1000 BCE for the composition of the earliest sections of the Rig Veda. It is possible that parts of the Rig Veda were composed even earlier, perhaps in c. 2000 BCE, but there are limits to how far back its dates can be pushed. The uncertainty of the period of composition of the Rig Veda is a major problem in using this text as a source of history.

Books 2–7, the oldest books of the Rig Veda Samhita, are also known as the family books because their composition is attributed to the families of certain seer-poets—Grit-samada, Vishvamitra, Vamadeva, Atri, Bharadvaja, and Vasishtha. Books 1, 8, 9, and 10 seem to be of a later period. The hymns of this Samhita are arranged in a precise pattern. In the family books, they are arranged according to deity, number of stanzas, and metre. The number of hymns increases in each successive book. Within a particular book, the hymns are arranged in groups according to deity—first come the hymns to Agni, then Indra, and then the other gods. And within a group of hymns addressed to a particular deity, the arrangement follows a pattern of a decreasing number of stanzas per hymn (i.e., the preceding hymns have more stanzas than the succeeding ones). In instances where two hymns have the same number of stanzas, the hymn which is in a metre requiring more syllables is placed first. The arrangement of hymns in the other books of the Rig Veda Samhita follows a different, but recognizable order.

The pattern of arrangement makes it possible to detect interpolations. Hymns that disrupt the pattern must have been added to the collection later. This does not necessarily mean that they were later in terms of their period of composition. The ‘later’, i.e., less old books of the Rig Veda Samhita may actually contain some very old hymns, and the ‘earlier’ books contain some not-so-old hymns. Sometimes, certain hymns are assigned a later date because their content or ideas seem different. However, such differences could be due to their originating in a different milieu or reflecting different ideas current at the time.

The deliberate, careful arrangement of the hymns of the Rig Veda Samhita was the work of its compilers. The language, and possibly also the content, of the hymns may have been modified in the process of compilation, which may have taken place in c. 1000 BCE. The Vedas may have been arranged and compiled because of the desire of priests to create an authoritative text for the sacrifices they performed. We know from other sources that there were various recensions of the Rig Veda, which may have differed from each other in content, arrangement, and traditions of interpretation. Of these recensions, only the Shakala has survived into our own time.

Vedic texts can be used as sources of history for the areas in which they were composed. The family books of the Rig Veda Samhita were composed in eastern Afghanistan and the Punjab, the

land of Sapta-Sindhu or the seven rivers. The rivers in question were the Indus, its five tributaries, and the Sarasvati (which can probably be identified with the modern Ghaggar-Hakra). The core geographical area of later Vedic texts was Kuru– Panchala, which comprised the Indo-Gangetic divide and the upper Ganga valley.

SEE (< />)C(< />)HAPTER 1, (< />)PP(< />). 17–(< />)18 FOR DETAILS ON THE VEDIC CORPUS

PRIMARY SOURCES

The date of the Rig Veda

The dates suggested for the composition of the Rig Veda range from c. 6000 BCE to 1000 BCE.

The chronology of c. 1200–1000 BCE for the family books of the Rig Veda is based on the tentative dates put forward by the German Indologist Max Müller in the 19th century. He worked backwards from dates of later texts to arrive at c. 1200 BCE for the beginnings of Vedic poetry. The reasoning he used is as follows:

The1. Vedanga and Sutra works were roughly contemporary with early Buddhism, so they can be dated c. 600– 200 BCE. As Vedic literature is older than Buddhist literature, it must have been composed before the 6th century BCE.

Going2. by the lists of teachers and other contents of the Vedic Brahmana texts, it can be assumed that the composition of these texts (i.e., the Brahmanas) must have stretched over at least 200 years before 600 BCE. That would mean a time bracket of c. 800–600 BCE for the Brahmanas.

The3. Vedic Samhitas are older than the Brahmanas. Their composition must also have stretched over about 200 years, i.e., c. 1000–800 BCE.

The4. Vedic hymns must have evolved over about 200 years. This suggests c. 1200 BCE as the date for the beginnings of the composition of Vedic poetry.

Max Müller suggested this chain of reasoning only as a way of arriving at a rough date for the Rig Veda. Several Indologists such as H. H. Wilson, G. Bühler, H. Jacobi, and Maurice Winternitz questioned the assigning of 200 years (and not more) for the composition of various categories of texts. Winternitz thought that the Rig Veda was probably older than 1200 BCE. He suggested that the beginning of Vedic literature should be placed closer to 2500 or 2000 BCE, but added that he would prefer not to give any dates at all. Max Müller accepted the criticism provoked by his hypothesis, but reminded his critics that his dates were meant to be hypothetical and provisional.

Astronomical references in the Rig Veda have been used to date the text, but have given different results. For instance, Ludwig concluded that the text was composed in the 11th century BCE,

while Jacobi arrived at a 3rd millennium BCE date. Recently, Subhash Kak (2001) has argued that the astronomical references in the Rig Veda can be dated c. 4000–2000 BCE.

A 1380 BCE inscription found at Bogaz Koi in north-eastern Syria records a treaty between a Hittite and a Mitanni king. It mentions the gods Indara (Indra), Mitras (Mitra), Nasatia (Nasitya, i.e., the Ashvins), and Uruvanass (Varuna)—deities who are mentioned in the Rig Veda. While a majority of the Mitanni people spoke the local Hurrian language, the inscription indicates that their rulers had Indo-Aryan-sounding names and invoked Indo-Aryan gods. Belonging to about the same period is a Hittite text on horse training and chariotry, written by a Mitannian named Kikkuli. This uses several technical terms which resemble Indo-Aryan ones. While these inscriptions are relevant for the history of the Indo-Aryan languages and gods, they do not give direct or definite information about the date of the Rig Veda.

There are close similarities between the language and culture reflected in the Rig Veda and an ancient Iranian text called the Avesta. This could be an important clue to dating the Rig Veda, but unfortunately, the dates of the Avesta are not certain. Its oldest parts may go back to c. 1500 BCE.

Very early dates for the Rig Veda that fall within the 7th or 6th millennium BCE are clearly not acceptable. One reason is that we know from archaeology that the north-western part of the subcontinent was at that time still in the stone age, and the Rig Veda clearly belongs to the chalcolithic age. Dates falling within the late 3rd millennium BCE or the early 2nd millennium BCE (calculated on the grounds of philology and/or astronomical references) cannot be ruled out. The date of the Rig Veda remains a problematic issue.

Many different kinds of histories of the Indo-Aryans have been derived from the Vedas. Nationalist historians extracted historical details from the texts but tended to idealize the Vedic age (Altekar [1938], 1991; Majumdar et al. [1951], 1971). A subsequent trend was more dispassionate in approach, but concentrated on fitting data from the texts into long-term unilinear historical and anthropological models (R. S. Sharma, 1983; Thapar, 1990). Recent studies (e.g., Witzel, 1997a, 1997b) offer a more nuanced textual analysis. Nevertheless, when we talk of the ‘Vedic age’ or ‘Vedic culture’, we must be conscious of the problem of dating the Rig Veda, the religious and elite nature of the texts, their specific geographical contexts, and the availability of substantial archaeological data for these and other regions.

WHO WERE THE INDO-ARYANS?

The use of Vedic literature as a source of history is linked to a number of questions about the people to whom these texts belonged. Who were the Indo-Aryans? Where did they come from? What was the relationship between the Vedic and Harappan cultures? These issues have not always been treated as purely academic ones. They have political implications, and have been used to serve diverse political agendas, both in colonial and post-colonial times (see Trautmann, 2005). And in spite of vigorous and often volatile debate spanning over two centuries, there are still no definite answers.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, when large sections of Africa and Asia were colonized by European nations, many scholars thought about history in terms of the movement and interaction of different races. Some scholars used the term ‘race’ loosely in the sense of an ethnic or cultural group. However, another trend was to classify people of the world into different races such as Caucasian, Mongoloid, Negroid, etc. on the basis of physical and other characteristics. These classifications seemed to be objective and scientific on the surface, but most of them were racist. They provided a pseudo-scientific justification for the European subjugation of Asian and African people, whom they presented as inferior races. The theory of a superior white, blond-haired, and blue-eyed Aryan race, which was a part of Nazi propaganda in 20th century Germany, is a myth and is not based on historical facts. This is the case with all theories that claim that a particular group of people are inherently superior to others. Today, most anthropologists have abandoned racial classifications. There is no doubt that people living in different parts of the world look different. But the old, prejudiced category of race, which presented people in different parts of the world as separate, unrelated, and unchanging entities, frozen in time, has been replaced by more meaningful and objective ways of classifying and understanding human cultures.

The composers of the Rig Veda described themselves as arya, which can be understood as a cultural or ethnic term. The word literally means kinsman or companion, or it may be etymologically derived from ar (to cultivate). The terms ‘Indo-European’ and ‘Indo-Aryan’, as used by linguists and historians, have nothing to do with racial classifications. They are linguistic terms, referring to families of languages and their speakers. The Indo-Aryans were the speakers of a sub-group of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages.

The original homeland of the Indo-Europeans and Indo-Aryans is the subject of continuing debate among philologists (scholars who study old languages), linguists, historians, archaeologists, and others. The dominant view is that the Indo-Aryans came to the subcontinent as immigrants. Another view, advocated mainly by some Indian scholars, is that they were indigenous to the subcontinent. Over the years, many original homelands have been proposed for the Indo-Aryans (see Bryant, 2002). These include Tibet, Afghanistan, Iran, the Aral Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, Lithuania, the Arctic, the Caucasus, the Urals, the Volga mountains, southern Russia, the central Asian steppes, West Asia, Turkey, Scandinavia, Finland, Sweden, the Baltic region, and India. All these claims are not supported by equally convincing evidence, and none of them is free from problems. One of the more widely accepted views locates the original homeland of the Indo-Europeans in the plains of Eastern Europe, especially the area north of the Black Sea.

The Vedas reflect a close connection with Iran. But we do not know when, where, or why the Indo-Iranians and Indo-Aryans parted ways. Today, most historians have discarded the idea of an Aryan invasion of the Indian subcontinent in favour of a theory of several waves of Indo-Aryan migrations. However, there is no consensus on the routes or timing of these migrations. The Indo-Aryan languages of India include the non-Sanskritic or Dardic languages spoken in the mountains of the north-west, which may represent an earlier wave of Indo-Aryan immigrants. Superior military technology and the use of the horse and chariot may have given the immigrants the crucial initial advantage, enabling them to establish their political dominance in the land of the seven rivers.

THE CULTURE REFLECTED IN THE FAMILY BOOKS OF THE RIG VEDA SAMHITA

1

Historians divide the Vedic corpus into two parts—early and later Vedic texts, although recent studies indicate a more complex internal chronology. Early Vedic literature refers to the family books of the Rig Veda Samhita. Later Vedic literature includes Books 1, 8, 9, and 10 of the Rig Veda Samhita, the Samhitas of the Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas, and the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads attached to all the four Vedas. (Among these later texts, the Mantra portions are the earliest, followed by the Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads.) The cultural stages reflected in the two broad strata of early and later Vedic texts have come to be known as the early and the later Vedic cultures. The principal Shrautasutras and some of the early Grihyasutras have been dated c. 800–400 BCE.These texts will, however, be discussed in the next chapter.

TRIBES AND WARS

The Rig Veda is pervaded with the aura of warring tribes. About 30 tribes and clans are mentioned. Five tribes—the Yadu, Turvasha, Puru, Anu, and Druhyu—are collectively known as the ‘five peoples’ (pancha-jana, pancha-kristhya, or pancha-manusha). The Purus and Bharatas are the two dominant tribes. Initially, they seem to have been allies, but at some point, they fell apart. The Rig Veda mentions a chief of the Purus named Trasadasyu. It also mentions a famous Bharata king named Divodasa and describes his victory over the Dasa ruler Shambara, who had many mountain fortresses.

Many Rig Vedic hymns beseech the gods for victory in battle. It is difficult to distinguish between mythical and historical events, between demons and real enemies. There are several references to conflicts with the Dasas and Dasyus. One view is that these were the aboriginal people encountered by the Indo-Aryan tribes. However, they may actually represent earlier (pre-Vedic) waves of Indo-Aryan immigrants. Prayers to Indra to defeat not only the Dasa but also the Arya enemies indicate that there were conflicts among the Aryas too.

There are about 300 clearly non-Indo-European words in the Rig Veda. These ‘loan words’ show that the Rig Vedic people were interacting with people speaking Dravidian and Munda languages. There are many tribes with non-Indo-Aryan names in the Rig Veda, such as the Chumuri, Dhuni, Pipru, and Shambara. The text also refers to Arya chieftains with non-Indo-Aryan names, e.g., Balbutha and Bribu. All this is indicative of processes of cultural interaction.

The ‘battle of ten kings’ (dasharajna), recounted in Book 7 of the Rig Veda Samhita may be based on an actual historical incident. In this battle, the Bharata chief Sudas, grandson of Divodasa, fought against a confederacy of 10 tribes. The mention of the Purus, their former allies, as a part of this confederacy indicates that political alliances were fluid and shifting. Vishvamitra, the Bharata purohita, seems to have been replaced by Vasishtha before the battle, reflecting another sort of behind-the-scenes re-alignment. The great battle took place on the banks of the river Parushni (Ravi). The Bharatas won by breaking a natural dam on the river. Marching on to the Yamuna, they defeated a local ruler named Bheda. Sudas eventually settled down along the Sarasvati and celebrated his victory and position of political paramountcy by performing the ashvamedha sacrifice.

The word rajan (or raja) occurs many times in the family books of the Rig Veda. Since a full-fledged monarchical state had not yet emerged, this word is best translated as ‘chieftain’ or ‘noble’, rather than as ‘king’. It is not always clear from the hymns whether the rajan was the chief of a tribe, clan, clan segment or several clans. But his main task was to protect his people and to lead them to victory in war. The reference to the chieftain as gopa or gopati (lord of the cattle) indicates that

protecting and increasing the cattle herd was his other major role. The royal priest accompanied the rajan to battle, recited prayers, and supervised the performance of rituals. The importance of royal priests such as Vasishtha and Vishvamitra is reflected in many Vedic hymns. Bali refers to an offering made to a god; it also means tribute periodically offered by the clansmen to the rajan. Tribute was no doubt also extracted from tribes defeated in battle. A regular taxation system had not yet emerged.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Hymn to arms (Rig Veda Samhita 6.75)

The following benediction was recited by the purohita (royal priest) either before the chieftain set out on a military expedition or in order to bless the warriors accompanying the consecrated horse in the ashvamedha sacrifice. Note how the various weapons are described and praised, one by one:

His face is like a thundercloud, when the armed warrior goes into the lap of battles. Conquer with an unwounded body; let the power of armour keep you safe.

With the bow let us win cows, with the bow let us win the contest and violent battles with the bow. The bow ruins the enemy’s pleasure; with the bow let us conquer all the corners of the world.

She [the bow] comes all the way up to your ear like a woman who wishes to say something, embracing her dear friend; humming like a woman, the bowstring stretched tight on the bow carries you safely across in battle.

These two [the bow tips] who go forward like a woman going to a rendezvous, hold the arrow in their lap as a mother holds a son. Let the two bow-tips, working together, pierce our enemies and scatter our foes.

He [the quiver which holds the arrows] is the father of many daughters [arrows], and many are his sons [arrows]. He makes a rattling sound as he goes down into battle. The quiver wins the attacks and all the skirmishes when he is strapped on a back and set to work.

Standing in the chariot, the skilful charioteer drives his prize-winning horses forward wherever he wishes to go. Praise the power of the reins: the guides follow the mind that is behind them.

Neighing violently, the horses with their showering hoofs outstrip everyone with their chariots. Trampling down the foes with the tips of their hoofs, they destroy their enemies without veering away.

Spare us, O weapon flying true to its mark; let our body be stone. Let Soma speak a blessing upon us; let Aditi give us shelter.

He beats them on the back and strikes them on the haunches. O whip for horses, drive forward into battle the horses who sense what is ahead.

It wraps itself around the arm like a serpent with coils, warding off the snap of the bowstring. Let the gauntlet [the leather protecting the forearm], knowing all the ways, protect on all sides, a man protecting a man....

Once shot, fly far away, arrow, sharpened with prayer. Go straight to our foes, and do not leave a single one of them there….

I cover with armour those places on you where a wound is mortal. Let Soma the king dress you in ambrosia (or immortality). Let Varuna make wider yet your wide realm. Let the gods rejoice in you as you are victorious.

Whoever would harm us, whether it is one of our own people, or a stranger, or someone from far away, let all the gods ruin him. My inner armour is prayer.

SOURCE O’Flaherty, 1986: 236–38

The Rig Veda mentions assemblies such as the sabha and samiti. The distinctions between their functions are not entirely clear. The sabha seems to have been a smaller, more elite gathering, whereas the samiti appears to have been a larger assembly presided over by the rajan. Such assemblies may have played an important role in the redistribution of resources. Hymns express the desire for harmony among members (‘Assemble, speak together; let your minds be all of one accord.’). The vidatha has been understood as a tribal assembly with diverse functions. However, it actually seems to refer to a local congregation of people meeting to perform socio-religious rituals and ceremonies for the well-being of the settlement.

The family books contain several terms for socio-political units, many of which were based on kinship. These include jana, vish, gana, grama, griha, and kula. Their precise meaning, however, is not always clear. The jana of the Rig Veda can be translated as tribe, vish is often translated as people in general or as clan, and gana as lineage. Grama, which later came to mean village, seems to have originally referred to a mobile group of people who may or may not have been related to each other through kinship.

KEY CONCEPTS

Lineage, clan, tribe

Historians use several sociological terms and concepts while describing ancient cultures. Kinship refers to socially and culturally recognized relationships among people, commonly assumed to be based on natural or biological ties. These ties may be based on birth/descent (consanguinal relations), marriage (affinal relations), adoption, or fosterage. There are also other culturally specified kinds of kinship—e.g., in north India, there is the custom of the rakhi

brother–sister relationship and the ‘muh-bola-bhai’ (a man declared to be a brother). Kinship is so important in Indian society that its language has spread far and wide. Younger people routinely address their elders as ‘uncle’ and ‘aunty’ and people who are not even remotely related may address each other as ‘brother’, ‘sister’, ‘mother’, or ‘father’.

Kinship systems can be unilineal or multi-lineal. Unilineal kinship systems which recognize descent relationships through the father are known as patrilineal or agnatic. Unilineal kinship systems which recognize descent through the mother are known as matrilineal. Multi-lineal or cognatic systems are those in which descent through both the mother and father is recognized. In both patrilineal and matrilineal systems, relationships through the other parent also receive recognition for different purposes at different times—for instance, at times of marriage, during the performance of rituals, and even in matters of inheritance. For example, in a patrilineal society, a son or daughter may inherit property from their mother’s kin, and the mother’s brother may have a significant role to play in the lifecycle rituals of his sister’s children.

A lineage is a group of unilineal kin. In view of the problem of drawing the dividing line between family and lineage, the latter term can be used to refer to relations beyond the three or four generation family. Several unilineal descent groups who trace their descent from a common ancestor, actual or mythical, form a clan. Members of a clan sometimes claim a common place of origin and may have clan property or a clan god. A number of related clans constitute a tribe.

‘Tribe’ is a problematic term. It has often been used by anthropologists to refer to people considered primitive, living in economically less-developed areas, and lacking a script. These days, sociologists are careful to avoid value-laden terms such as ‘primitive’ and are aware of the pitfalls in defining a tribe. André Beteille ([1960], 1977) suggests that a tribe can be defined as a society with a political, linguistic, and somewhat vaguely defined cultural boundary, based on kinship, and lacking in social stratification. Within this very general definition, tribes differ from one another in many ways. In the context of early Indian history, historians often use the term ‘tribal’ to refer to pre-chiefdom and pre-state societies. Others prefer to avoid the use of the term altogether.

PASTORALISM, AGRICULTURE, AND OTHER OCCUPATIONS

Animals such as horses, goats, and sheep are mentioned in the family books, but cattle were clearly prized the most. R. S. Sharma (1983: 24) has drawn attention to the many derivations of the word gau (cow) in the Rig Veda. Words for war with the infix gau—such as gavishti, gaveshana, goshu, and gavya—suggest that many battles were in effect cattle raids. Further indications of the importance of cattle come from other words containing the gau infix. The tribal chief was known as janasya gopa. Measures of time included godhuli (dusk) and samgava (morning), measures of area/distance included gavyuti and gocharman. The buffalo was known as gauri or gavala. The daughter was duhitri (she who milks cows). Gojit (winner of cows) was a word for a hero. A wealthy person was known as gomat (owner of cattle). One of the epithets of the god Indra was gopati (lord of cattle).

Some scholars have used the number of references to pastoral versus agricultural activities in the family books as an index of their relative importance, and have concluded that while cattle rearing was of overwhelming importance, agriculture was either a subsidiary activity or one that was practised by non-Indo-Aryans. However, the frequency of usage in religious or ritualistic texts and contexts may not be an accurate indicator of the relative importance of these activities in everyday life. Apart from word frequencies, it is necessary to examine the nature and content of the references.

R. N. Nandi (1989–90) has drawn attention to the many references to agricultural activity in the Rig Veda and argues that it was by no means marginal. The verbs vap (to sow) and krish (to cultivate) occur, along with references to various agricultural implements. Phala, langala, and sira are words for the plough, which must have been made of wood. Other implements included the hoe (khanitra), sickle (datra, srini), and axe (parashu, kulisha). The word kshetra has a range of meanings, including a cultivated field. Hymns refer to the levelling of fields for cultivation, the desire for fertile fields (urvara), and furrows (sita) drenched by rain, producing rich harvests. The only terms for cereals are yava (barley or a generic term for cereal) and dhanya (a generic term for cereals). There are references to seed processing, food prepared from cereals, and large jars that were probably used to store grain. Some hymns refer to conflicts among people for the protection of sons, grandsons, cattle, water courses, and fertile fields. Prayers to Indra beseech him to grant or enrich the fields. This god is described as the protector of crops, winner of fertile fields (urvarajit), and one who showers such fields on those who perform sacrifices to him. The later parts of the family books invoke Kshetrapati, who seems to have been a guardian deity of agricultural fields. Wars were fought for cattle, but also for land.

Hymns refer to warriors, priests, cattle-rearers, farmers, hunters, barbers, and vintners. The crafts mentioned include chariot-making, cart-making, carpentry, metal working, tanning, the making of bows and bowstrings, sewing, weaving, and making mats out of grass or reeds. Some of these occupations and crafts may have been the jobs of full-time specialists.

There are hardly any references to metallurgical activities in the Rig Veda, and very few of these occur in the family books (see Chakrabarti, 1992). The word ayas occurs in several contexts. There are references to Indra’s thunderbolt of ayas; the chariot of Mitra and Varuna having columns of ayas; and the home of Indra and Soma made of ayas. A hymn to Agni compares his splendour to the edge of ayas. Another hymn to Agni beseeches him to be like a fort of ayas to his worshippers. A prayer to Indra asks him to sharpen his worshipper’s thought as if it were a blade of ayas. The family books also refer to the Dasyus’ cities of ayas, forts of ayas, a horse’s jaws of ayas, a vessel of ayas. The few metal objects mentioned in the Rig Veda are kshura (razor), khadi (maybe a bangle), and asi/svadhiti (axe). But it is not clear precisely which metal these objects were made of. A hymn (4.2.17) refers to the doers of good deeds having freed their birth from impurity in the same way as ayas is purified. The medieval commentator Sayana explains this reference as follows: ‘As the smiths heat metal using bellows.’ There are a few references in the Rig Veda to the words dham and karmara, but these occur in the late books 9 and 10, and it is far from certain whether they refer to iron-welding or iron smiths.

Some scholars have interpreted the references to ayas, metal objects, and metallurgical activity in the Rig Veda as indicative of iron artefacts and iron working. However, there is no definite evidence that this was so. There is in fact no clear or conclusive reference to iron in the family books. Ayas could have meant copper, copper-bronze, or may have been a generic term for metals.

Anthropological studies have brought out the importance of gift exchanges in simple societies, and some of their observations are useful for understanding the culture reflected in the Rig Veda. In his classic work on the gift, Marcel Mauss [1954], 1980) pointed out that such exchanges may appear on the surface to be voluntary and spontaneous, but are actually strictly obligatory and governed by conventions that have to be observed. It is not the individual but groups (families, clans, tribes) who make the exchanges and are bound by their obligations. Such exchanges—known as prestations—do not only involve material goods of economic value. They also involve the exchange of other things such as courtesies, entertainments, military assistance, ritual, women, children, dances, feasts, and hospitality. The rules of the game in gift exchange are different from the logic that operates in ordinary sorts of economic exchanges. The offering, receiving, and reciprocating of gifts are acts that establish and cement social relationships and social hierarchies. In the Rig Veda, we have noted that gifts (bali) were received by the rajan from members of the clan. Priests received dana (ritual gifts) and dakshina (sacrificial fees) at the conclusion of sacrificial rituals.

Gift-giving and receiving do not rule out other kinds of exchange, but trade in the Rig Vedic context was probably minimal. Barter was the mode of exchange and cattle an important unit of value. The word nishka seems to have meant ‘a piece of gold’ or ‘gold necklace’, and there is no indication of the use of coins. There are prayers to the gods to ‘give broad paths to travel’ and ensure a safe journey. Mention is made of chariots and carts drawn by oxen, mules, or horses. The panis (literally, ‘those who possess wealth’) in some instances refer to merchants and in others to stingy people who did not perform sacrifices and hid their wealth. There are references to boats (nau) and the ocean (samudra). Rig Veda 1.116.3 refers to the Ashvins rescuing Bhujya in the ocean with the help of a ship with a hundred oars (shataritra). Book 10 refers to the eastern and western oceans. But both Books 1 and 10 are later books, and historians differ on whether or not the composers of the early sections of the Rig Veda were familiar with sea travel, let alone sea trade.

War booty was a major source of wealth (pana, dhana, rayi, etc.). The references to wealthy people and those worthy of attending the assemblies suggest differences in wealth and rank. The rajan and the assemblies must have had a say in the redistribution of war booty, and the rajan and his immediate kinsmen must have got a larger share. Apart from cattle, other items solicited in prayers and sacrifices include houses, horses, gold, fertile fields, friends, plentiful food, wealth, jewels, chariots, fame, and children. The notion of individual private property ownership as we understand it—associated with the right to buy, sell, gift, bequeath, and mortgage—did not exist. The clan as a whole enjoyed rights over major resources such as land and herds.

The household was the basic unit of labour, and there is no mention of wage labour. The Rig Veda is, however, familiar with slavery. Slavery, is an extreme form of social subordination. A slave, whether male or female, has no rights, power, autonomy, or honour, is considered the property of the master, and is obliged to perform all kinds of services, no matter how menial. The Rig Veda refers to enslavement in the course of war or as a result of debt. The fact that in later times, dasa and dasi are terms used for male and female slaves, suggests that initially, ethnic differences may have been an important basis of enslavement. Slaves, male and female, generally worked in the household, but were not used to any significant extent in production-related activities. As pointed out by Gerda Lerner (1986), in all cultures, throughout history, there was an important difference in the experience of enslavement for men and women—for women, enslavement generally involved sexual exploitation in addition to exploitation of their labour.

Although the family books reflect differences in rank and some inequalities in wealth, these do not add up to distinct socio-economic classes in the sense of significant differences in access to and control over basic productive resources. However, the absence of a class hierarchy does not mean that Rig Vedic society was egalitarian. The family books reflect inequalities between masters and slaves, and between men and women. The rajan stood at the top of the ladder of political and social power and status, the dasi stood at the very bottom.

The Rig Veda mentions food and drink, clothes, and leisure-time pursuits of people. There are references to the consumption of milk and milk products, ghrita (ghee, clarified butter), grains, vegetables, and fruits. Vedic texts refer to meat eating, and to the offering of animals such as sheep, goat, and oxen to the gods in sacrifice (Majumdar et al. [1951], 1971: 396, 461). However, the reference to cows as aghnya (not to be killed) suggests a disapproval of their indiscriminate killing. This issue has sometimes become controversial in view of the sanctity that eventually came to be associated with the cow in Hinduism. However, it should be remembered that religious and dietary practices have always varied considerably over time and space. The drink known as soma consisted of the juice of the soma plant, mixed with milk, sour milk, or yava (cereal). Sura seems to have been an intoxicating drink made out of fermented grain. People wore clothes of cotton, wool, and animal skin, and donned a variety of ornaments. There are references to singing and dancing, and to musical instruments such as the vina (lute), vana (flute), and drums. Dramas may have been a source of entertainment, and chariot racing and gambling with dice were popular pastimes.

VARNA IN THE RIG VEDA

The word varna occurs in many places in the family books and usually means light or colour. However, in some passages, it is associated with the Aryas and Dasas. The fact that similar epithets are applied to Dasas and Dasyus, and that both these terms are used to describe certain enemies, indicate an overlap in their connotations. The Rig Veda describes them as a-vrata (people who do not obey the ordinances of the gods) and a-kratu (those who do not perform sacrifices). Another adjective used for them is mridhra-vacha. This can be interpreted in different ways—as referring to their speech being indistinct, unclear, soft, unintelligible, uncouth, hostile, scornful, or abusive. The fact that this epithet is used in one place for the Purus, an Indo-Aryan tribe, makes it unlikely that it meant ‘unintelligible’. In three places in the Rig Veda, the term krishna-tvach or asiknitvach is applied to the Dasyus. This can be interpreted literally as ‘dark skinned’, or as a figurative use of darkness. In one passage, the Dasas are described as anasa. Whether this means noseless (i.e., flat-nosed), faceless (in some metaphorical sense) or mouthless (i.e., whose speech is incomprehensible) is uncertain.

The old view highlighted the supposed physical differences, and described the Dasas and Dasyus as the dark-skinned, flat-nosed aboriginal people of India who were displaced and pushed southwards by the fair-skinned Aryans. The references cited above should make it clear that the epithets used for the Dasas and Dasyus can be interpreted in different ways. Whether or not there were stark differences in physical appearance can be debated. What is certain is that there were a range of cultural differences, including those of religious practice, and possibly in mode of speech, language, or dialect. Many scholars think that the Dasas and Dasyus were not non-Aryan tribes but earlier waves of Indo-Aryan immigrants who arrived in the subcontinent before the Vedic Aryans. A connection has been suggested between an Iranian tribe called the Dahae and the Dasas of the Rig

Veda, and between the Dahyu tribe and the Dasyus. Although the Rig Veda talks of conflicts between the Aryas and the Dasas and Dasyus, there were also conflicts and military engagements among the Indo-Aryan tribes as well—the conflict between the Bharatas versus the Purus and their allies in the ‘battle of ten kings’ is a case in point.

The words ‘Brahmana’ and ‘Kshatriya’ occur frequently in the family books, but the term varna is never associated with them. There is mention of Brahmanas drinking soma and reciting hymns, and although they seem to have been a group who enjoyed respect, there are no indications that membership of this group was based on birth. The words ‘Vaishya’ and ‘Shudra’ are absent. The earliest reference to the division of society into four strata occurs in the Purusha-sukta, a hymn in Book 10 of the Rig Veda Samhita. As this is a later book, the four-fold varna order is seen as a feature of later Vedic texts.

The absence of a strict social hierarchy and the existence of an element of social mobility is suggested in Rig Veda 3.44–45. In this hymn, the poet asks Indra: ‘O, Indra, fond of soma, would you make me the protector of people, or would you make me a king, would you make me a sage who has drunk soma, would you impart to me endless wealth?’ This suggests that a man could aspire to different sorts of vocations and goals in life.

WOMEN, MEN, AND THE HOUSEHOLD

Nineteenth-century socio-religious reformers and nationalist historians of the early 20th century often presented the Vedic age as a golden age for women. They pointed out that the Vedic people worshipped goddesses; the Rig Veda contains hymns composed by women; there are references to women sages; women participated in rituals along with their husbands; they took part in chariot races and attended the sabha and various social gatherings. Such a presentation of the ‘high’ position of women in Vedic society can be seen as a response to the oppression and humiliation of colonial rule. The idea was to show that in ancient times, Indians were better than the Westerners, at least in the way they treated women. This could also be used as an argument to improve the prevailing condition of women in Indian society (see Chakravarti, 2006).

Recent scholarship has shifted the focus from discussing women in isolation to an analysis of gender relations. Gender refers to the culturally defined roles associated with men and women. Earlier, historians tended to focus on the public, political domain, relegating the family, household, and gender relations to the private, domestic domain. Today, the distinction between the private and political domains is recognized as an artificial one. Ideologies and hierarchies of power and authority exist within the family and household, in the form of norms of appropriate conduct based on gender, age, and kinship relations. Further, there is a close connection between relations within the household, marriage and kinship systems, the control of women’s sexuality and reproduction, class and caste relations, and larger political structures. These are all like the interlocking building blocks of a vast and complex social pyramid. For these reasons, gender relations form an important part of social history.

The experience of women belonging to different groups in society varied, and it is therefore necessary to break down the category of ‘women’ into more specific subcategories based on rank, class, occupation, and age. Women have to be understood in relation to men, and their relationships are embedded in wider social, economic, and political contexts. For all periods, the vague issue of the ‘status of women’ therefore has to be dissolved into smaller, more meaningful questions, such as:

What were the relations between men and women in the domestic sphere? How was a person’s descent recognized? What were the norms of property and inheritance? What was the role of women in production-related activities? Did they have control over these activities or the fruits of their labour? How was the sexuality and reproductive potential of women controlled and regulated? What was the role of women in the religious and ritual spheres? Did they have access to education and knowledge systems? Did they have direct or indirect access to political power? Further, structures of subordination and control were not total or all-encompassing, and an analysis of gender relations has to move beyond seeing women as passive victims of oppressive social structures. In spite of their subordination, women occupied a variety of social spaces, performed different roles, and were participants and active agents in history. A very small part of their history has, however, been written so far.

In the older writings, a great part of the discussion about women of the Vedic age focused on elite women, ignoring the less privileged members of this sex. Although the Rig Veda mentions goddesses, none of them are as important as the major gods. The social implications of the worship of female deities are complex. While such worship does at least mark the ability of a community to visualize the divine in feminine form, it does not automatically mean that real women enjoyed power or privilege. The proportion of hymns attributed to women in the Rig Veda is miniscule (just 12–15 out of over 1,000), as is the number of women sages. This suggests that women had limited access to sacred learning. There are no women priests in the Rig Veda. While women participated as wives in sacrifices performed on behalf of their husbands, they did not perform sacrifices in their own right; nor do they appear as givers or receivers of dana or dakshina. The Vedic household was clearly patriarchal and patrilineal, and women enjoyed relatively little control over material resources. Their sexuality and reproductive resources were controlled through the ingraining of norms of what was considered appropriate behaviour.

Early Vedic literature has several words for household units—durona, kshiti, dam/ dama, pastya, gaya, and griha—which may have corresponded to different kinds of households. Considering that this was a patriarchal and patrilineal society, it is not surprising that Rig Vedic prayers are for sons, not daughters, and that the absence of sons is deplored. The Rig Veda attaches importance to the institution of marriage and refers to various types of marriage—monogamy, polygyny, and polyandry. The rituals indicate post-puberty marriages, and there are references to women choosing their husbands. A woman could remarry if her husband died or disappeared. There are also references to unmarried women, such as the Rig Vedic seer Ghosha. Hymn 7.55.5–8 tells of elopement, the man praying that his beloved's entire household—her brothers and other relatives—as well as the dogs, should be lulled into a deep sleep, so that the lovers could creep out stealthily.

KEY CONCEPTS

The family and the household

The word ‘family’ means different things to different people. If you ask a person about the members of her family, she might mention herself, her siblings, and her parents. Another person

might include grandparents and great-grandparents, dead or alive. Yet another person might include aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, etc.

As pointed out by A. M. Shah ([1964], 1998: 15), the word ‘family’ can refer to:

the1. household, i.e., all people living in one house or under one head, including parents, children, and household employees parents2. and their children, whether living together or separately all3. those who are held to be close relatives by birth or marriage all4. those who are either descended or claim to be descended from a common ancestor a5.property-holding unit a6.ceremonial unit, for instance, including all those who have the right to perform the shraddha rites in honour of deceased ancestors.

Definitions of the family that are based on the issue of property holding or the performance of the shraddha do not help in understanding social groups that are property-less or who do not perform the shraddha rituals in the prescribed way.

Because the word ‘family’ can mean so many different things, sociologists often qualify it with an adjective that makes it more specific. So, for instance, the terms ‘elementary family’ and ‘nuclear family’ refer to a married couple and their children, who may or may not live together. An extended family means two or more elementary families (or parts of them) joined together. This can take the form of a patrilineal joint family—sons and their families living with their father—in societies based on patrilineal descent, and a matrilineal joint family in societies based on the principle of matrilineal descent. It is not easy to draw the dividing line between the joint or extended family and the lineage.

The household is more specific and easier to identify. Members of a household share a common residence. They perform different economic activities, some within, others outside the home. The household is the site of people’s most intimate and profound experiences in life. It is a place where many different kinds of human emotions and experiences are played out every day—those involving love and hatred, conflict and cooperation, oppression and compassion, violence and concern.

Households come to be related to other households, families, and lineages through ties of kinship and marriage. The institution of marriage grants social approval to a union of two people assumed to be sexual partners and grants legitimacy to their offspring. Marriage and the household do not necessarily go hand in hand. For instance, among certain matrilineal groups in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands, the husband does not live with his wife, but visits from time to time.

Families can be divided into different types on the basis of descent, residence, membership, and the number of mates. Mention was made earlier of patrilineal and matrilineal social systems. Some societies recognize cognatic descent—i.e., descent in both the mother’s and the father’s line. For example, in American and European societies, although children often still take the

surname of the father, property rights and ideas of closeness and distance with the mother’s or father’s side do not vary.

Patriliny and matriliny are not equivalent to patriarchy and matriarchy. Patriarchy means societies in which males (usually the eldest male) exercise dominant power and authority within the family. Matriarchy refers to a system in which such power and authority is vested in women. While there are several instances, including in our own times, of matrilineal societies, no known society of the past or the present can be described as matriarchal.

Families in which the wife moves to live in her husband’s father’s house (or his grandfather’s or uncle’s house, if the father is not alive) are known as patrilocal or virilocal. Families in which the husband moves in with his wife’s mother’s family are known as matrilocal or uxorilocal (e.g., the Nayars of Kerala and Khasis of Meghalaya). Another type of arrangement is called duolocal—where the husband and wife continue to live with their respective families even after their marriage (e.g., in the Lakshadweep islands and central Kerala).

Family types can also be distinguished from each other on the basis of the number of mates. Monogamy is a system in which a person has only one spouse at a time. In polygamy, one person can have more than one spouse at the same time. There are two types of polygamy— polygyny is a system in which a man can have several wives, while polyandry is a system in which a woman can have several husbands. There is a form of polyandry where the marriage ritual may be between a woman and one man, but the woman may either be considered the wife of all the brothers, or the latter may have access to her sexual and domestic services.

Sociological studies reveal a great deal of diversity among families and households in different parts of the subcontinent today. Similar diversity must have prevailed in ancient times as well.

Male dominance and the subordination of women is a feature of all known historical societies. The issue is one of the degree of dominance and subordination, and the structures in which these were embedded. Compared to later Vedic literature, the family books of the Rig Veda Samhita reflect a situation in which social status was not as rigidly defined or polarized as it came to be in later times. However, it was not a society of equals—rank and gender were the two main bases of inequality.

RELIGION: SACRIFICES TO THE GODS

The Rig Veda reflects the beliefs and practices of a religious aristocracy and its patrons, and there are several striking similarities with ideas reflected in the Iranian Avesta. The Rig Veda indicates a diversity of religious practice. For instance, there is mention of people who did not worship Indra, and the Dasas and Dasyus are described as not honouring the Vedic gods and not performing sacrifices.

The Vedic hymns divide the universe into the sky (dyu), earth (prithvi), and the middle realm (antariksha). The word deva (literally, ‘shining’, ‘luminous’) is frequently used for the gods. The gods are sometimes also called asuras. Initially, this word referred to a powerful being; in later

times it came to be used exclusively in a negative sense for demons. The Rig Veda asserts that there are 33 gods associated with the sky, earth, and the intermediate region, but the actual number of deities mentioned in the text is more. Some gods are mentioned more often than others, but there is no fixed order of importance nor a fixed pantheon. Whichever deity is invoked in a particular hymn is spoken of as a supreme god. Max Müller described this phenomenon as Henotheism or Kathenotheism. Apart from the gods, the Rig Veda mentions gandharvas (celestial beings), apsaras (celestial nymphs, wives of the gandharvas), and malevolent beings such as rakshasas (demons), yatudhanas (sorcerers), and pishachas (spirits of the dead). Different ideas of how the world was created are mentioned in passing—e.g., as a result of a great cosmic battle, the separation of heaven and earth, or the actions of the gods.

Deities were worshipped through prayer and sacrificial rituals (yajnas). The sacrifice marked a movement from the everyday, mundane sphere of activity and experience to the sacred sphere. The gods are presented as powerful, mostly benevolent beings, who could be made to intervene in the world of men via the performance of sacrifices. Sacrifices took place in the house of the yajamana (the person for whom the sacrifice was performed and who bore its expenses) or on a specially prepared plot of land nearby. They consisted mostly of oblations of milk, ghee, and grain poured into the fire, accompanied by the recitation of appropriate sacrificial formulae. Some yajnas involved the sacrifice of animals. The gods were supposed to partake of the offerings as they were consumed by the fire. A part of the offerings were eaten by the officiating priests. The goals of Rig Vedic sacrifices included wealth, good health, sons, and a long life for the yajamana.

Some sacrifices were simple, domestic affairs, performed by the householder. Others required the participation of ritual specialists. Seven types of sacrificial priests are mentioned in the Rig Veda— the Hotri, Adhvaryu, Agnidh, Maitravaruna, Potri, Neshtri, and Brahmana—each with his particular tasks clearly laid down. Priests were given a fee (dakshina) in return for the important duties they performed. The Rig Veda does not mention temples or the worship of images of deities, which were an important aspect of popular Hinduism of later times.

The Rig Veda reflects a naturalistic polytheism—a belief in many gods who personified natural phenomena. The connection is clear in some cases from the very name of the deity, as in the case of Agni (Fire), Surya (the Sun), and Ushas (Dawn). However, the mythology of some deities stretched far beyond their association with a particular natural phenomenon. For instance, although Indra seems to have been originally associated with the thunderstorm, he rapidly outgrew this connection to develop a much more complex personality. The gods were conceived of as anthropomorphic, i.e., as having a physical form similar to that of humans. The level of detail varies, but mention is often made of their head, face, mouth, hair, hands, feet, clothes, and weapons. There is an overlap in some of their physical features, epithets, and exploits.

Indra is the most frequently invoked god in the Rig Veda. The hymns vividly describe his appearance and personality. He is vigorous and strong, a great warrior, his weapon is the thunderbolt, and he leads the Aryas to victory in battle. He is bounteous (maghavan) and loves to drink soma. There is reference to his mother and father (Tvashtri is often mentioned as his father). Indrani is his consort and the Maruts his companions. There are many references to Indra defeating hostile forces and demons such as Vala, Arbuda, and Vishvarupa. The most important myth connected with him is his victory over the serpent demon Vritra. In this episode, Indra is fortified by the god Soma and accompanied by the Maruts. He kills Vritra with his thunderbolt and frees the waters that

had been obstructed by the demon. The Rig Veda often mentions Indra as Vritrahan, slayer of Vritra. Many scholars interpret the conflict between Indra and Vritra as a creation myth, in which Vritra symbolizes chaos.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Hymn to Indra (Rig Veda 2.12)

This hymn praises Indra, describing various aspects of his personality and referring to various myths connected with him. Note the reference in the fifth verse to people who doubt his existence:

The god who had insight the moment he was born, the first who protected the gods with his power of thought, before whose hot breath the two world halves tremble at the greatness of his manly power—he, my people, is Indra.

He who made fast the tottering earth, who made still the quaking mountains, who measured out and extended the expanse of the sky, who propped up the sky—he, my people, is Indra.

He who killed the serpent and loosed the seven rivers, who drove out the cows who had been pent up by Vala, who gave birth to fire between two stones [this could refer to fire, the sun, or lightning], the winner of booty in combats—he, my people, is Indra.

He by whom all these changes were rung, who drove the Dasas down into obscurity, who took away the flourishing wealth of the enemy as a winning gambler takes the stake—he, my people, is Indra.

He about whom they ask, ‘Where is he?’ or they say of him, the terrible one, ‘He does not exist,’ he who diminishes the flourishing wealth of the enemy as gambling does—believe in him! He, my people, is Indra.

He who encourages the weary and the sick, and the poor priest who is in need, who helps the man who harnesses the stones to press soma, he who has lips fine for drinking—he, my people, is Indra…

He who is invoked by both of two armies, enemies locked in combat, on this side and that side, he who is even invoked separately by each of two men standing on the very same chariot—he, my people, is Indra.

He without whom people do not conquer, he whom they call on for help when they are fighting, who became the image of everything, who shakes the unshakeable—he, my people, is Indra….

Even the sky and the earth bow low before him, and the mountains are terrified of his hot breath; he who is known as the soma-drinker, with the thunderbolt in his hand, with the thunderbolt in palm, he, my people, is Indra....

[To Indra] You who furiously grasp the prize for the one who presses and the one who cooks [the soma], you are truly real. Let us be dear to you, Indra, all our days, and let us speak as men of power in the sacrificial gathering.

SOURCE O’Flaherty, 1986: 160–62

Agni is another important god and is often invoked along with Indra. He represents many aspects of fire—the fire of the cremation pyre, the fire that engulfs forests, the fire that burns enemies, the heat generated by tapas (austerity), and the heat of sexual desire. Most important of all, as the sacrificial fire, he is the intermediary between gods and humans. In this role, he functions as a divine priest. Soma—the personification of the soma plant—is closely associated with Indra and Agni, and is credited with many similar exploits. He is described as a wise god, one who inspires poets to compose hymns, a great god who rules over the earth and all humans. In later hymns, Soma is identified with the moon.

Varuna and Mitra are frequently invoked together in the Rig Veda and are members of an eight-member group of gods known as the Adityas. Varuna is associated with kshatra (secular power), sovereignty, and kingship. He restricts and punishes evil-doers with the fetters or bonds that he has at his command. Although the hymns mention his eye and golden mantle, they do not give vivid descriptions of his physical appearance. He is associated with maya, an ability to construct forms. He is an all-seeing god who knows what everybody is up to.

Other deities of the Rig Veda include the sun god Surya, son of Dyaus. Surya drives away the darkness by riding in his chariot across the sky, and is sometimes visualized as a white horse or an eagle. Vayu is the wind god. The Ashvins are twin gods associated with war and fertility. Vishnu is mentioned infrequently in the Rig Vedic hymns. He is a benevolent god, and is in places associated with Indra. The Rig Veda mentions his three gigantic strides which encompassed the entire universe.

Very few Rig Vedic hymns are addressed to Rudra, a deity associated with great destructive potential. These refer to several attributes similar to those associated with Shiva of later-day Puranic mythology. Rudra is a god who inspires fear. He is not offered the same sacrifices as the other gods—the offering to him consists of a ball of food thrown on the ground, similar to that used to propitiate spirits. The Maruts are Rudra’s sons who drive across the sky in horse-drawn chariots, creating rain and storms.

Ushas, goddess of the dawn, is mentioned 300 times in the Rig Veda, and 20 hymns are addressed to her. Representing the victory of light over darkness, she is generous and is invoked by those desiring wealth. Aditi, mother of the Adityas, is another important goddess. Her name means freedom, and she is invoked to bestow freedom from sickness, harm, and evil. Some hymns speak of her as a mother and connect her with the earth and the cow. Raka is a benevolent, bountiful goddess. Sinivali bestows children. Prithvi (Earth) is a minor goddess, most often invoked together with Dyaus. Vach (speech), Ida (literally, ‘the milk and butter offered in the sacrifice’), and Sarasvati (representing the river of this name) are some of the other goddesses mentioned in the Rig Veda. However, except for Ushas, goddesses have a relatively insignificant presence in the text.

The hymns of the Rig Veda contain fleeting allusions to myths involving gods, humans, and semi-divine beings. Many of these myths are elaborated on in later texts. For instance, Rig Veda 10.95 is a

dialogue hymn consisting of a conversation between king Pururavas and the water nymph, Urvashi. Pururavas implores Urvashi to come back to live with him: ‘My wife, turn your heart and mind to me.’ Urvashi refuses: ‘… What use to me are these words of yours? I have left you, like the first of the dawns. Go home again, Pururavas. I am hard to catch and hold, like the wind.’ The details of the Urvashi–Pururavas myth are given in later texts. Such dialogue hymns may have been part of ritual performances.

FURTHER DISCUSSION

The soma plant and its juice

In the Rig Veda, soma is a plant, the juice extracted from a plant and the name of a god. Soma can be identified with the haoma of the Avesta. The Rig Veda describes soma as a divine drink that confers immortality and many hymns describe its exhilarating effect. It is the drink of the gods and Indra is particularly fond of it. For humans, soma seems to have had the ability to alter physiological functions, alter states of mind, and sharpen creativity. It is described as endowing men with strength in battle, keeping them awake and alert at night, and inspiring poets to compose their hymns. The descriptions suggest that the juice of this plant had hallucinogenic, intoxicating, or sympathomimetic (stimulating the sympathetic nervous system or producing similar results) properties. At some point of time, the soma plant seems to have become difficult to obtain and substitutes had to be used.

The pressing, straining, and drinking of soma juice was an important part of Vedic rituals. The juice seems to have been extracted by laying the plant on a skin and pressing it with stones. It was filtered through sheep’s wool and then offered to the gods. The juice was sometimes mixed with water and milk.

Over 100 different identifications have been suggested for the soma plant. It has been identified with plants such as Cannabis sativa L. (hemp, bhanga), Panax ginseng C.A.M. (ginseng), Peganum harmala L. (Syrian rue), Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy), and Amanita muscarita (fly agaric, a mushroom with hallucinogenic properties). The plants of the Ephedra genus are strong candidates. Varieties of these leafless plants grow in many parts of Asia and Europe, but they are not common in India. They have been used in folk medicine for a long time, and are identified as the original haoma by members of the Parsi community even today. The Ephedras contain ephedrine or pseudo-ephedrine, both of which have sympathomimetic effects. Studies have shown that their effects on human physiology can include the following: a rise in blood pressure, increase in heart muscle contraction, decrease in pulse rate, stimulation of metabolism, increased perspiration, hyperglycaemia followed by hypoglycaemia, stimulation of insomnia, tremor, nausea, and dilation of eye pupils. However, it is possible that the soma juice consisted of the extract of not one, but more than one, type of plant.

SOURCE Nyberg, 1997

The Rig Vedic concept of rita corresponds to the ancient Iranian concept of asha. It refers to the order of the universe, the order of the sacrifice, and the moral order that human beings should adhere to. Some hymns refer to Varuna and Mitra as the guardians or furtherers of rita. In the later Book 10, there is a dialogue hymn in which Yami appeals to her brother Yama (in later mythology, the first son of the sun, the first mortal man, and king of the dead) to commit incest with her in order to procreate. Yama rejects her overtures, stating that to do so would be contrary to rita and to the ordinances of Mitra and Varuna.

As far as funerary practices are concerned, the Rig Veda refers to both cremation and burial. The ideas of a vital force (asu) or spirit (manas) that survive death occur in the text. There are references to a heavenly paradise as well as a terrible hell. These issues are discussed in greater detail in later Vedic texts.

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VEDIC HYMNS

THE HISTORICAL MILIEU OF LATER VEDIC AGE TEXTS

ASPECTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Compared to the Rig Veda Samhita, later Vedic literature reveals greater complexity in political organization, social life, and economic activities. Agriculture increases in importance. Cereals such as barley (yava), wheat (godhuma), and rice (vrihi) are mentioned, and there are several references to agricultural operations such as sowing, ploughing, reaping, and threshing. The Atharva Veda has charms to ward off pests and to avert drought, reflecting the anxieties that farmers must have had. Land was occupied by extended families, and the clan seems to have exercised general rights over land. The institution of private property in land had not yet emerged. The household was the basic unit of labour. Slaves were not used for productive purposes to any significant degree, and there are no words for hired labour.

Hymns in praise of gifts (dana-stutis) in the later books of the Rig Veda refer to generous presents of cows, horses, chariots, gold, clothes, and female slaves made by kings to priests. This indicates the items valued in society, the concentration of wealth in the hands of rulers, and the relationship and exchanges between kings and priests. The earliest references to the gift of land occur in later Vedic texts, but the attitude towards this practice was still ambivalent. The Aitareya Brahmana suggests that the king should gift 1,000 pieces of gold, a field, and cattle to the Brahmana who anoints him. Yet the same text tells us that when king Vishvakarman Bhauvana wanted to make a gift of land as dakshina to his Brahmana priest Kashyapa, the earth goddess herself appeared before him and said that no mortal should give her away. A similar story occurs in the Shatapatha Brahmana in the context of the performance of the sarvamedha sacrifice.

The earliest literary references to iron in the Indian subcontinent are found in later Vedic literature. The terms krishna-ayas, shyama, and shyama-ayas (the black or dark metal) in the Yajur

Veda and Atharva Veda clearly refer to this metal. There are indications of the use of iron in agriculture. The Taittiriya Samhita (5.2.5) of the Black Yajur Veda mentions ploughs driven by 6 or even 12 oxen. These must have been heavy and may have been made of iron. The Atharva Veda (10.6.2–3) mentions an amulet born of a ploughshare, smitten away with a knife by a skilful smith. The reference to the smith and the fact that iron is definitely known in the Atharva Veda suggest that the ploughshare in question was made of iron. In the context of implements used in the ashvamedha sacrifice, the Shatapatha Brahmana (13–2.2.16–19) connects iron with the peasantry. Elsewhere, the same text (13–3.4.5) connects this metal with the subjects or people (praja).

Early Buddhist texts belonging to c. 600–200 BCE contain several references to iron. The Suttanipata refers to many objects (a goad, stake, ball, and hammer) made of ayas. Especially important is a simile that mentions a ploughshare that has got hot during the day, and which ‘splashes, hisses, and smokes in volumes’ when thrown into water. This seems to be a reference to the process of quenching iron objects. The term ayovikara kushi in Panini’s Ashtadhyayi has been translated as ‘iron ploughshare’. All these references suggest that between c. 1000 BCE and 500 BCE, the use of iron in agriculture had become prevalent in the Indo-Gangetic divide and the upper and middle Ganga valley.

Later Vedic texts mention various kinds of artisans, such as carpenters, chariot makers, bow-and-arrow makers, metal workers, leather workers, tanners, and potters. There is a long list of crafts and occupations in the list of victims in the purushamedha sacrifice, described in the Vajasaneyi Samhita (30) and the Taittiriya Brahmana (3.4). These include the following: doorkeeper, charioteer, attendant, drummer, mat maker, smith, ploughman, astrologer, herdsman, maker of bowstrings, carpenter, wood-gatherer, basket maker, jeweller, vintner, elephant keeper, and goldsmith. Vocations mentioned in other later Vedic texts include those of the physician, washerman, hunter, fowler, ferryman, servant, barber, cook, boatman, and messenger. Wagons drawn by oxen were probably the most frequent mode of transport. Chariots (rathas) were used for war and sport, and people rode on horses and elephants. Boats are mentioned, but it is not clear whether they were for riverine or sea travel. The extent of trade is not certain. Exchange was still via barter, as there is no clear reference to coinage. The general milieu as can be gathered from the texts is a rural one, although towards the end of the period, there are traces of the beginnings of urbanism—the Taittiriya Aranyaka uses the word nagara in the sense of a town.

Although only philosophical and religious texts of the time have survived, these allude to other branches of learning. The Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2) gives a list of subjects of study including the Veda, itihasa, purana, spiritual knowledge (brahma-vidya), grammar, mathematics (rashi), chronology (nidhi), dialectics (vakovakya), ethics (ekayana), astronomy, military science, the science of snakes, and knowledge of portents (daiva). Later Vedic texts only indicate how sacred knowledge was imparted. Great importance was attached to the relationship between teacher and pupil and to oral instruction. The Shatapatha Brahmana refers to the upanayana ceremony, which initiated the young boy into brahmacharya—the stage of celibate studenthood. Education—of whatever kind—seems to have been largely restricted to elite males.

The leisure pastimes mentioned in later Vedic texts are similar to those referred to in the family books of the Rig Veda. Chariot racing and dicing were popular, as were music and dancing. Lute players, flute players, conch blowers, and drummers are mentioned. So are musical instruments such as the cymbals (aghati), drums, flutes, lutes, and a harp or lyre with 100 strings (vana). The term

shailusha, mentioned among the victims in the purushamedha in the Vajasaneyi Samhita, may mean an actor or dancer. The Yajur Veda mentions a vansha-nartin (pole-dancer or acrobat).

As for the food people ate, apupa was a cake mixed with ghee, or made out of rice or barley. Odana was made by mixing grain variously with milk, water, curds, or ghee; beans, sesame or meat were sometimes added. Karambha was a porridge made of grain, barley or sesame. Rice was sometimes fried, or else cooked with milk and beans. Yavagu was a gruel made out of barley. Milk products such as curds, sour milk, and butter were consumed. Meat was eaten on special occasions, such as when honouring guests. There are references to an intoxicating beverage called sura. The soma plant had become difficult to obtain, so substitutes were allowed.

People wore woven cotton clothes. Clothes made of woollen thread (urna-sutra) are also mentioned often, and were probably made of sheep’s wool or goat’s hair. There is mention of turbans and leather sandals. Ornaments such as nishka were worn around the neck, and jewels or conch shells were worn as amulets to ward off evil. The Brahmana texts frequently mention the prakasha —either an ornament of metal or a metal mirror.

THE EMERGENCE OF MONARCHY

Warfare is a striking aspect of the milieu of both early and later Vedic literature. Book 1 of the Rig Veda Samhita refers to a battle of 20 kings, involving 60,099 warriors (the numbers need not be taken literally). But the nature of political units was changing. The 6th century BCE political map of north India showed the existence of different kinds of political systems—monarchical states (rajyas), oligarchic states (ganas or sanghas), and tribal principalities. The roots of these developments lie in the period c. 1000–600 BCE. While some communities retained their tribal character, others were making the transition towards statehood. Larger political units were formed through the coalescing of tribes. The Purus and Bharatas came together to form the mighty Kurus, the Turvashas and Krivis formed the Panchalas, and the Kurus and Panchalas seem to have been allies or confederates.

Later Vedic texts reflect a transition from a tribal polity based on lineage to a territorial state. Some historians argue that this transition was not yet complete. On the other hand, since the end of the period of composition of later Vedic texts falls within the 6th century BCE, when territorial states did evidently exist according to the testimony of other sources, it makes little sense to insist that the state emerged in the post-Vedic and not in the later part of the later Vedic age. Witzel (1995) has argued that the Kurus represent the first state in India. He suggests that it was the Kurus under their king Parikshit (and their Brahmana priests) who initiated the collection and codification of the Vedic corpus into a canon. This included the re-arrangement of old and new poetic and ritual material, and was necessary to fulfil the needs of the newly developed shrauta, ritual presided over by various ritual specialists.

As explained in (< />)Chapter 4, the transition to a state polity is always the culmination of a number of complex political, social, and economic processes. The emergence of a monarchical state would have involved multiple processes of conflict, accommodation, and alliances. Monarchy involves the concentration of political power in the hands of a king. The supremacy of the rajan was achieved by sidelining rival claimants to power, establishing coercive mechanisms, and control over productive resources. Apart from the monarchies, there were polities that maintained their tribal moorings and where political power was in the hands of assemblies, not kings.

The rajan of later Vedic texts is, like his Rig Vedic counterpart, a leader in battle. But he is also a protector of settlements and of people, especially Brahmanas. He is a custodian of the social order and sustainer of the rashtra (this term does not necessarily refer to a well-defined territory). Hereditary kingship was emerging. The Shatapatha and Aitareya Brahmanas refer to a kingdom of 10 generations (dasha-purusham rajyam). There are a few references (e.g., Atharva Veda 1.9; 3.4) to the election of the king, but these probably amounted to a ratification of hereditary succession. There is an interesting reference to the Srinjayas expelling their king Dushtaritu Paumsayana from the kingdom, in spite of his 10 generations of royal descent. This was no doubt an exception to the rule. Later Vedic rituals exalted the supremacy of the king, both over his kinsmen and over his people. Terms such as samrajya and samrat reflect the imperial aspirations and ambitions of certain kings.

The emergence of monarchy was accompanied by speculations on the origins of the institution and attempts to provide a legitimizing ideology. Some of these speculations refer to the divine realm, others to the human sphere. The Aitareya Brahmana (1.1.14) states that on being defeated in battle by the demons, the gods realized that the reason for their defeat was that they had no king. So they elected a king, who led them to victory against the demons. Elsewhere in the same text (8.4.12), it is said that the gods, led by Prajapati, decided to install Indra as their king on the grounds that he was the most vigorous, strong, valiant, and perfect among them all, and the one who best carried out tasks that needed to be done.

Later Vedic texts emphasize the close connection between the king and the gods. The Shatapatha Brahmana asserts that the king gains identity with Prajapati through the performance of the vajapeya and rajasuya sacrifices. As the visible representative of Prajapati, although one, he rules over many. Such statements should be understood as attempts to exalt the status of the king, not as a theory of the divinity of kings, nor as indicative of their worship.

The emergence of the rajan as wielder of supreme political power involved his distancing himself from those closest to him—his kinsmen. This distancing was emphasized in ritualized contests such as the chariot race in the vajapeya sacrifice, and the cattle raid and game of dicing in the rajasuya sacrifice. In earlier times, such contests may have decided who was worthy of becoming king, but now they were ritual enactments in which the outcome—the victory of the rajan —was already decided and known.

Another aspect of the rajan’s increasing power was his acquiring greater control over productive resources. Bali, which was initially a voluntary offering, probably consisting of agricultural produce and cattle, gradually became obligatory. The Shatapatha Brahmana (1.3.2.15) states that the Vaishya offers bali because he is under the vasha (control) of the Kshatriya, and has to give up what he has stored when he is told to do so. The rajan is referred to as vishamatta—eater of the vish (people), indicating that he lived off what the people produced. The rajan’s appropriation of bali from the people does not, however, quite amount to a clearly defined and organized system of taxation.

References to the sabha and samiti continue in later Vedic texts. For instance, in the Shatapatha Brahmana (4.1.4.1–6), the king prays: ‘May the samiti and the sabha, the two daughters of Prajapati, concurrently aid me.’ But with the increase in royal power, the power of the assemblies must have correspondingly declined.

Later Vedic texts indicate a close relationship between the king and his purohita (his Brahmana priest and counsellor). Purohita literally means ‘one who is put in front’ (by the king). The relationship between king and purohita is likened to that between earth and heaven. The king is

considered the feminine, subordinate party in this relationship (Coomaraswamy [1942], 1993). The importance of the purohita is graphically illustrated in the rajasuya ceremony, where he introduces the king to the assembled people and announces: ‘This man is your king. Soma is the king of us Brahmanas’ (Shatapatha Brahmana 5.3.12, 4.2.3). The system of administration seems to have been fairly rudimentary.

Kumkum Roy (1994b) has underlined the close connection between the emergence of the monarchical system, the varna hierarchy, the organization of kinship relations, and the structure of households. The grand shrauta sacrifices performed by the king legitimized the king's control over the productive and reproductive resources of his realm, while the domestic sacrifices performed by the grihapati legitimized his control over the productive and reproductive resources of his household. Brahmanical texts implicitly recognize the connections between the political and domestic spheres in their description of the rajan as a custodian of the social order.

FURTHER DISCUSSION

The ceremony of the jewel offering

The ratnahavimshi (ceremony of the jewel offering) was a part of the rajasuya sacrifice. It involved the rajan going on successive days to the homes of certain people—the ratnins (literally, ‘jewels’)— and offering oblations to certain gods.

There is some variation in the names and order of the list of ratnins in different texts. They included the following:

the1. Brahmana or purohita (he usually heads the list) the2. rajanya (nobles) mahishi3. (chief queen) parvrikti4. (the discarded queen; it is necessary to visit her to ward off evil) senani5. (commander of the army) suta6. (charioteer or bard) gramani7. (village headman) kshattri8. (royal chamberlain) sangrahitri9. (charioteer, master of treasury, or collector of tribute?)

10.bhagadugha (literally, ‘milker of shares’, distributor of food or perhaps collector of the king’s share of the produce)

11.akshavapa (literally, ‘thrower of dice’, a functionary connected with dicing or perhaps with the maintenance of accounts)

12.govikartana (chief huntsman)

13.takshan (carpenter)

14.rathakara (chariot maker)

15.palagala (courier)

16.sthapati (probably a judge or a local chief)

The ratnahavimshi ceremony indicates the status of the ratnins and the king’s dependence on them. Some ratnins were related to the king through kinship, whereas others were functionaries with whom he had no kinship relations. This illustrates the transitional nature of the later Vedic

polity—it was in between a polity in which kinship was still an important factor and one marked by an elaborate military and administrative machinery.

Curiously, the Brahmana texts state that some of the ratnins were inferior both to the Brahmanas and to the Kshatriyas. So, immediately after the ceremony, the rajan was supposed to perform two rites to atone for the sin of associating these unworthy persons with the sacrifice.

SOURCE Sharma [1959], 1996: 143–58

THE VARNA HIERARCHY

Although kinship ties were still very important, later Vedic texts indicate the beginnings of a class structure in which social groups had different degrees of access to productive resources. Varna was partly an ideology that reflected the increasing social differentiation of the times. It was even more an ideology that justified this differentiation from the point of view of the elite groups. In dividing society into four hereditary strata, this ideology defined social boundaries, roles, status, and ritual purity. Members of the four varnas were supposed to have different innate characteristics, which made them naturally suited to certain occupations and social rank. The varna hierarchy was to remain an important part of the social discourse of the Brahmanical tradition for many centuries, and the duties and functions of the four varnas are elaborated on in the Dharmashastra literature of later times.

The Purusha-sukta (Purusha hymn) in Book 10 of the Rig Veda Samhita refers to four social groups—Brahmana, Rajanya (instead of Kshatriya), Vaishya, and Shudra, though the word varna is not mentioned. It describes the four groups, and a whole lot of other things as well, as originating from different parts of the body of a primeval giant named Purusha, in the course of a sacrifice supposed to have been held long, long ago, in which Purusha was the sacrificial offering. The body symbolism in the Purusha hymn indicates that the four varnas were visualized as inter-related parts of an organic whole. At the same time, it clearly indicates a hierarchy of ranks, with the Brahmana at the top and the Shudra at the bottom. The fact that the varnas are described as being created at the same time as the earth, sky, sun, and moon indicates that they were supposed to be considered a part of the natural, eternal, and unchangeable order of the world. In fact, as pointed out by Brian K. Smith (1994), the varna scheme was extended beyond society to the classification of other aspects of the world, the gods, and nature.

Initially, there seems to have been some ambiguity about the relative positions of the higher varnas. In the Panchavimsha Brahmana (13, 4, 17), where Indra is associated with the creation of the varnas, the Rajanya are placed first, followed by the Brahmana and Vaishya. The Shatapatha Brahmana (13.8.3.11) also places the Kshatriya first in the list. Elsewhere, in the same text (Shatapatha Brahmana 1.1.4.12) the order is as follows: Brahmana, Vaishya, Rajanya, and Shudra. However, the order of the four varnas in the Brahmanical tradition became fixed from the time of the Dharmasutras onwards.

The relationship between the Brahmana and Kshatriya varnas was close but complex. Later Vedic texts emphasize the importance of the purohita for the king, and the close relationship between the Rajanya and at least a section of the Brahmana community. On the other hand, the conflict between

the gods Mitra and Varuna has been seen as symbolic of a conflict between the two varnas. Mitra represented the principle of brahma (sacred power) and Varuna the principle of kshatra (secular power). There are several statements about the relationship between brahma and kshatra, describing them variously as antagonistic, complementary, or dependent on each other. Upanishadic philosophy has also been viewed, at least in part, as a reflection of the Kshatriya challenge to Brahmanical supremacy in the field of ultimate knowledge.

The first three varnas were known as dvija, literally ‘twice-born’, i.e., those entitled to the performance of the upanayana ceremony, which was considered a second birth. They were eligible to perform the agnyadheya or the first installation of the sacred sacrificial fire, which marked the beginning of ritual activities prescribed for the householder. On the other hand, the texts also emphasize differences between the three varnas. The Aitareya Brahmana (8.36.4) states that the rajasuya sacrifice endowed each of the four varnas with certain qualities—the Brahmana with tejas or lustre, the Kshatriya with virya or valour, the Vaishya with prajati or procreative powers, and the Shudra with pratishtha or stability. Later texts such as the Shrautasutras laid down the different details of the performance of sacrifices such as the soma sacrifice and the agnyadheya, depending on the varna of the sacrificer.

PRIMARY SOURCES

The Purusha-sukta (Rig Veda 10.90)

Purusha has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. He pervaded the earth on all sides and extended beyond it as far as ten fingers.

It is Purusha who is all this, whatever has been, and whatever is to be. He is the ruler of immortality, when he grows beyond everything through food.

Such is his greatness, and Purusha is yet more than this. All creatures are a quarter of him; three quarters are what is immortal in heaven.

With three quarters Purusha rose upwards, and one quarter of him still remains here. From this he spread out in all directions, into that which eats and that which does not eat.

From him Viraj [the active female creative principle] was born, and from Viraj came the Purusha. When he was born, he ranged beyond the earth behind and before.

When the gods spread the sacrifice with Purusha as the offering, spring was the ghee, summer the fuel, autumn the oblation.

They anointed Purusha, the sacrifice born at the beginning, upon the sacred kusha grass. With him the gods, sadhyas [demigods] and sages sacrificed.

From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the melted fat was collected, and he [Purusha?] made it into those beasts who live in the air, in the forest, and in villages.

From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the verses and chants were born, the metres were born from it, and from it the formulae were born.

Horses were born from it, and those other animals that have two rows of teeth; cows were born from it, and from it goats and sheep were born.

When they divided Purusha, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms, and thighs and feet?

His mouth became the Brahmana; his arms were made into the Rajanya; his thighs the Vaishya, and from his feet the Shudras were born.

The moon was born from his mind; from his eye the sun was born. Indra and Agni came from his mouth, and from his vital breath the Wind was born.

From his navel the middle realm of space arose; from his head the sky evolved. From his two feet came the earth, and the quarters of the sky from his ear. Thus they set the worlds in order....

SOURCE O’Flaherty, 1986: 29–32

The Brahmanas had an exalted status in the varna hierarchy, associated as they were with the performance of sacrifices and with knowledge, specifically the study and teaching of the Vedas. In the Aitareya Brahmana (33.4), when Varuna is told that a Brahmana boy was going to be sacrificed to him instead of the son of king Harishchandra, he remarks, ‘A Brahmana is indeed preferable to a Kshatriya’. The Shatapatha Brahmana (11.5.7.1) associates the Brahmana with four special attributes: purity of parentage, good conduct, glory, and teaching or protecting people. He is also associated with receiving four privileges from the people—honour, gifts, freedom from being harassed, and freedom from being beaten. The Kshatriyas or Rajanya were connected with strength, fame, ruling, and warfare. The Vaishyas were associated with material prosperity, animals, food, and production-related activities such as cattle rearing and agriculture. In the soma sacrifice, prayers were offered for the protection of the brahma, kshatra, and vish. The goals varied, depending on the varna to which the yajamana belonged. For the Brahmana, the goal was priestly lustre (brahma-varchas), for the Rajanya it was prowess (indriya), and for the Vaishya, it was animals and food (pashu and anna).

The position of the Shudra at the bottom of the varna ladder was fixed from the very beginning. He was associated with serving the higher varnas and performing menial tasks. He could not perform Vedic sacrifices. A dikshita (one who had undergone initiation for a Vedic sacrifice) was not supposed to speak to a Shudra. According to Aitareya Brahmana 35.3, the Shudra is at the beck and call of others, can be made to rise at will, and can be beaten at will (yatha-kama-vadhya).

There were groups in society who were considered even lower than the Shudras. Slaves (dasas and dasis) are mentioned among gift items in the dana-stutis. However, on occasion, children born of slave women could aspire to high status. For instance, in Book 1 of the Rig Veda, there is a reference to Kakshivan, son of the sage Dirghatamas by a woman slave of the queen of Anga.

Kavasha Ailusha, author of a Vedic hymn in Book 10, is also described as the son of a woman slave. These were probably exceptional instances.

Although there are no clear indications of the practice of untouchability in later Vedic texts, groups such as the Chandalas were clearly looked on with contempt by the elites. The Chhandogya Upanishad and Taittiriya and Shatapatha Brahmanas mention the Chandala in a list of victims to be offered in the presumably symbolic purushamedha (human sacrifice), and describe him as dedicated to the deity Vayu (wind). The dedication to Vayu has been interpreted as indicating that the Chandala lived in the open air or near a cemetery, but this is far from certain. The Chhandogya Upanishad (5.10.7) states that those who perform praiseworthy deeds in this world swiftly acquire rebirth in a good condition—as a Brahmana, Kshatriya, or Vaishya, while those who perform low actions acquire birth in a correspondingly low condition—as a dog, boar or Chandala.

The Shatapatha Brahmana (1.4.1.10) gives the story of a king named Videgha Mathava who originally lived on the banks of the Sarasvati and crossed the Sadanira (Gandak) river with his priest Gotama Raghugana, preceded by Agni Vaishvanara. Historians have often interpreted this story as reflecting the eastward movement of the Indo-Aryans and the first agricultural ‘colonization’ of the eastern lands through burning down the forests. On the other hand, giving an early Videhan king a respectable north-western origin may have been a way of legitimizing his power, and the reference to Agni may allude to the extension of Brahmanical sacrificial ritual to these areas.

Later Vedic texts reflect processes of social interaction, conflict, and assimilation. According to the Aitareya Brahmana (33.6), when his 50 sons did not accept Shunahashepa (Devarata) as his son, Vishvamitra cursed them to become the Andhras, Pundras, Shabaras, Pulindas, and Mutibas. This story reflects the attempt of the Brahmanical tradition to extend some amount of recognition to ‘outsiders’. Some non-Indo-Aryan groups were assimilated into the varna hierarchy, usually at the lower rungs. In fact, the Shudras may have been a non-Indo-Aryan tribe living in the north-west, who later lent their name to the fourth varna (Sharma [1958], 1980: 34–35). However, not all tribal groups were assimilated. Some were simply acknowledged. Later Vedic texts mention forest people such as the Kiratas and Nishadas. They also show the emergence of the concept of mlechchha, a category that included various tribal groups and foreign people considered to be ‘outsiders’ by the Brahmanical tradition (see Parasher, 1991).

While later Vedic texts suggest that society in the upper Ganga valley was becoming increasingly stratified, there was still a certain amount of fluidity in occupations. This is suggested in Rig Veda 9.112.3, where the poet says: ‘I am a reciter of hymns, my father is a physician, and my mother grinds (corn) with stones. We desire to obtain wealth in various actions.’

GENDER AND THE HOUSEHOLD

The household was an important institution, not only for its members, but also for the larger social and political units of which it was a part. A series of household rituals legitimized the householder’s control over the productive and reproductive resources of the household (Roy, 1994b). In later Vedic literature, the variety of household forms of earlier times made way for an idealized griha unit headed by the grihapati. Only a married man, accompanied by his legitimate wife, could become the yajamana in a sacrifice. Marriage (vivaha) was important for the continuation of the patrilineage. Relations between husband and wife (pati and patni) and father and son were hierarchically organized. Women came to be increasingly identified in terms of their relations with men. Words

such as stri, yosha, and jaya were closely associated with wifehood and motherhood, actual or potential. The grihapati had control over the productive resources of the household unit and the reproductive potential of his wife. This control was maintained by a domestic ideology that clearly laid down the structures of dominance and subordination within the family. The productive resources of the household were transferred from father to son, and rituals such as the agnyadheya emphasized the importance of ties with the patrilineal ancestors (pitris).

The Grihyasutras, the earliest of which go back to this period, give lists of six or eight types of marriage (discussed in the next chapter). Later Vedic texts refer to marriage by capture, and to a woman choosing her spouse. Polygyny was more prevalent than polyandry. Kings could have any number of wives and concubines. The Aitareya Brahmana (3.5.3.47) states that even though a man may have several wives, one husband is enough for one woman. The Maitrayani Samhita refers to the 10 wives of Manu. A woman was married not only to a man but into a family. There are references in a later Rig Vedic hymn and in the Atharva Veda to the practice of a widow marrying her younger brother-in-law.

The later Vedic ideas and ceremonies of marriage are reflected in a complex hymn in the tenth Mandala, often referred to as the Surya-sukta (Surya hymn) (Rig Veda 10.85). This hymn suggests that the bride was simultaneously considered a precious asset and a stranger with destructive potential. The marriage ceremonies seem to have been largely confined to the bride, groom, and their immediate families. In the marriage hymn in the Atharva Veda (14.1–2), the priest is assigned a more prominent role in neutralizing the dangerous potential of the bride and in ensuring her incorporation into her new home.

Women are praised and exalted in some places in later Vedic texts. For instance, the Shatapatha Brahmana (5.2.1.10) states that the wife is half her husband and completes him. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (6.4.17) mentions a ritual for obtaining a learned daughter. On the other hand, women were generally excluded from the study of the Vedas. Although their presence as wives was required in the shrauta sacrifices, they could not perform such sacrifices independently in their own right. Later texts even introduce the possibility of an effigy of gold or grass in place of the wife. Most of the samskaras (except, of course, marriage) did not apply to them. In such crucial respects, the position of a woman—no matter what her varna—was indeed similar to that of a Shudra. In fact, the later Dharmashastra equation between women and Shudras goes back to the Vedic texts (see Shatapatha Brahmana 14.1.1.31).

Later Vedic texts reflect the idea that the menstrual blood of women is dangerous and polluting (Smith, 1991). A menstruating wife is not supposed to participate in sacrifices. The sacrifice has to be postponed or it has to be performed without her. The Taittiriya Samhita reflects other taboos as well—it was inappropriate to talk to, sit near, or eat food cooked by a menstruating woman. According to this text, when Indra killed Vishvarupa, son of the god Tvashtri, he transferred one-third of the stain of killing a Brahmana to women. This ‘stain’ is said to have taken the form of women’s menstrual periods (Taittiriya Samhita 2.5.1).

Women were clearly expected to conform to a docile role. Shatapatha Brahmana (10.5.2.9) states: ‘A good woman is one who pleases her husband, delivers male children, and never talks back to her husband.’ According to the same text (4.4.2.3), women own neither themselves nor an inheritance. The Atharva Veda (1.14.3) describes a life of spinsterhood as the greatest curse for women, and deplores the birth of daughters (6.11.3). The Aitareya Brahmana (7.15) describes a

daughter as a source of misery, and states that only a son can be the saviour of the family. The desire for sons is borne out in many hymns. A gestation rite called the pumsavana was prescribed to ensure the birth of a male child. The Atharva Veda contains charms for changing a female foetus into a male one. The Maitrayani Samhita (4.7.4) says: ‘Men go to the assembly, not women.’ Women appear as gifts and commodities of exchange, for instance in the references to rajas gifting their daughters to win over sages. The only form of ritual gift giving or exchange that women could be part of was giving the first alms to the brahmachari, who was supposed to begin his stint by begging from his mother or his teacher’s wife. The increasing social differentiation and emergence of a state was accompanied by an increasing subordination of women.

References to women’s work in later Vedic texts include tending cattle, milking cows, and fetching water. There are also the vayitri and siri (female weaver), peshaskari (female embroiderer), bidalakari (female splitter of bamboo), rajayitri (female dyer), and upalaprakshini (woman corn grinder). The Shatapatha Brahmana mentions women carding wool. Apala is described in the Rig Veda (8. 80) as having taken care of her father’s fields. Vishpala (Rig Veda 1.112.10 and 1.116.5) was a woman warrior who lost a leg in battle, and there are references to other women warriors such as Mudgalini and Vadhrimati. A few women—Gargi and Maitreyi—participated in philosophical debate with Upanishadic sages.

RELIGION, RITUAL, AND PHILOSOPHY

Later Vedic literature contains a variety of ideas on creation. The Purusha-sukta describes creation as the result of a primordial sacrifice, while other hymns describe creation as emanating from the sun or from Hiranyagarbha (the golden embryo). A hymn to the god Vishvakarman (10.81) imagines the creator god as an artisan—as a sculptor, smith, woodcutter, or carpenter—and as the first sacrificer and the sacrificial offering. The Nasadiya hymn, in Book 10 of the Rig Veda Samhita, has one of the most abstract and profound explorations of the mysteries of creation.

In the family books of the Rig Veda, certain gods were brought together by invoking them in the same sacrificial rituals. In the later parts of the text, some hymns emphasized the connections among them. There are 40 hymns in the Rig Veda addressed to Vishvadevas—all the gods. Some hymns speak of the various gods as manifestations of the same divine being. Thus, Rig Veda 1.164 points out the differences in the names Agni, Indra, and Vayu, and goes on to assert that there is one being, whom the poets speak of as many (ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti).

The sacrificial ritual of the Brahmana texts

The Brahmana texts reflect a situation where sacrifices had become longer, more elaborate, and expensive. The sacrifice is presented as the act that created the world, and the correct performance of sacrifice was seen as necessary to regulate life and the world. While some sacrifices involved the participation of just one priest, others involved many more, and the ritual specialists were extremely important. The god Prajapati, who is most closely identified with sacrifice, is the most important deity in the Brahmanas.

PRIMARY SOURCES

The Nasadiya hymn (Rig Veda 10.129)

There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred? Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The life force that was covered by emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat.

Desire came upon that one in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind. Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom found the bond of existence in non-existence.

Their cord was extended across. Was there below? Was there above? There were seed-placers; there were powers. There was impulse beneath; there was giving-forth above.

Who really knows? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe. Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen— perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not—the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows—or perhaps he does not know.

SOURCE O’Flaherty, 1986: 25–26

FURTHER DISCUSSION

The sacrificial arena

The elaborate shrauta (Vedic) sacrifices involved the use of three fires—the garhapatya (householder’s fire), ahavaniya (offeratorial fire), and dakshinagni (southern fire). These fires were supposed to be placed in pits of different shapes. The pit for the garhapatya was supposed to be round, that of the ahavaniya square, and that of the dakshinagni crescent shaped.

The position of the fires—and everything else—was fixed. The garhapatya was located in the west, the dakshie for the various ritual actions), the Udgatri (prinagni in the south, and the ahavaniya to the east. The garhapatya was lit first of all, and the other two fires were then lit from its coals. The vedi was a rectangular area with concave sides, situated between the garhapatya and ahavaniya fires. It was covered with sacred grass, and the equipment required for the sacrifice was placed here.

The positions of the priests such as the Hotri (the priest of the Rig Veda, responsible for recitation), the Adhvaryu (the priest of the Yajur Veda, responsible for the various ritual actions),

the Udgatri (priest of the Sama Veda, responsible for the singing), and the Brahmana were specified. The yajamana and his wife also had their assigned places.

FIGURE 5.1 DIAGRAM OF SACRIFICIAL ARENA

The agnihotra was a simple domestic sacrifice, to be performed daily by the head of a dvija household, morning and evening. It involved the pouring of oblations of milk, and sometimes vegetal substances, into the fire, to the god Agni. There were also the periodic new-moon and full-moon sacrifices, and those performed at the beginning of the three seasons. There were even grander, longer, more elaborate ones which involved the participation of many different ritual specialists along with their assistants, which must have been performed by wealthy people and kings. The yajamana underwent a diksha (consecration) before the sacrifice, and had to follow a number of rules until its completion. The dakshina was an important part of the sacrifice, and as the sacrifices became longer and more complicated, it became larger and larger.

A number of complex sacrificial rituals were associated with kingship. The vajapeya sacrifice was connected with the attainment of power and prosperity, and also contained a number of fertility rites. It included a ritual chariot race in which the rajan raced against his kinsmen and defeated them. The ashvamedha was a sacrifice associated with claims to political paramountcy and incorporated several fertility rites as well. The rajasuya was the royal consecration ceremony. Apart from a number of agrarian fertility rites, it included a ritual cattle raid, in which the rajan raided the cattle of his kinsmen, and also a game of dice, which the king won. At a larger, symbolic level, in the rajasuya, the king was presented as standing in the centre of the cyclical processes of regeneration of the universe (Heesterman, 1957).

The Upanishads

The word ‘Upanishad’ (literally, ‘to sit near someone’) is usually understood as referring to pupils sitting near or around their teacher. Alternatively, it could mean connection or equivalence; the Upanishads were constantly suggesting connections and equivalences between things. The knowledge that was to be imparted and absorbed was no ordinary knowledge. It was all-encompassing, the key to liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, something that could only be taught to select, deserving pupils. It was difficult to explain and even more difficult to comprehend. It was revealed through discussion, debate, and contest among seekers, using a variety of devices—stories, images, analogies, and paradoxes.

The oldest Upanishads are in prose, the later ones in metre. The Brihadaranyaka and Chhandogya are among the earliest. The Upanishads and Aranyakas deal with similar things, and the distinction between the two categories of texts is not always clear. For instance, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is considered both an Aranyaka and Upanishad. While the early Upanishads belong to the period c. 1000–500 BCE, many others are of a later period. These texts mark the first clear expression of certain key ideas and practices that are associated with Hindu and certain other Indian philosophical and religious traditions. These include the concepts of karma, rebirth, and the idea that there is a single, unseen, eternal reality that underlies everything. The Upanishads also deal with the practices of meditation and yoga.

Considering the fact that the Upanishads were the work of many different people living in various parts of north India over many centuries, it is not surprising that they do not contain a single, cohesive, uniform system of ideas. They deal with many issues, but are especially concerned with the two fundamental concepts of atman and brahman (not to be confused with the god Brahma). A major concern of Upanishadic thought is to explore and explain their meaning and mutual relationship.

The word brahman comes from the root brih, which means to be strong or firm. (The word occurs in the Rig Veda, atman does not.) It means something that grants prosperity, a vital force that strengthens and animates. In the Upanishads, there are many efforts to describe brahman. The fact that the texts have difficulty in explaining it is not surprising. The Kena Upanishad (2.1) asserts that the gods themselves were unable to understand brahman, and even those who think they have understood it do not. The Taittiriya Upanishad (3.1.1) states that brahman is that from which all beings are born, that by which they are sustained, and that into which they enter on death. Brahman is the eternal, imperishable reality in the universe. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.8.11), the sage Yajnavalkya tells Gargi that the imperishable brahman sees but can’t be seen, thinks but can’t be thought of, perceives but can’t be perceived. The Mundaka Upanishad (1.1.7) explains that just as a spider spins and gathers its web, just as plants grow upon this earth, and just as head and body hair grow from a living person, even so does everything in this world arise from the imperishable brahman. Later Upanishads speak of brahman as of a god.

If brahman is the ultimate reality pervading the universe, the atman is the ultimate reality within the self of an individual, i.e., the imperishable essential self. There are many explanations of the atman in the Upanishads. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.7.23) describes it as the knowing subject within us, which sees but is not seen, hears but is not heard, comprehends but is not comprehended, knows but is not known. In the Chhandogya Upanishad (3.14.2–3), the atman is described as lying deep within the heart, smaller than a grain of rice, barley, or mustard seed,

smaller even than a millet grain or millet kernel. Paradoxically, it is also described as larger than the earth, the intermediate region, and the sky, larger than even all the worlds put together.

PRIMARY SOURCES

The atman, according to Uddalaka Aruni

The Chhandogya Upanishad tells the following story: One day, Uddalaka Aruni told his son Shvetaketu to go forth and take up the celibate life of a student, as their family was Brahmana only in name and none had so far devoted themselves to study. So Shvetaketu went off to become a student when he was 12 years old. He learnt all the Vedas and came back swollen headed when he was 24, thinking that he knew everything. His father Uddalaka Aruni saw this. He went on to instruct Shvetaketu on a number of issues about which the son knew nothing, and soon made him realize just how little he knew. In the following conversation between father and son in the Chhandogya Upanishad (6.13.3), Uddalaka uses graphic analogy to explain the nature of the atman to Shvetaketu. The first speaker is Uddalaka, and the father and son speak alternately:

‘Bring a banyan fruit.’

‘Here it is, sir.’

‘Cut it up.’

‘I’ve cut it up, sir.’

‘What do you see there?’

‘These quite tiny seeds, sir.’

‘Now, take one of them and cut it up.’

‘I’ve cut one up, sir.’

‘What do you see there?’

‘Nothing, sir.’

Then he told him:

‘This is the finest essence here, son, that you can’t even see—look, on account of that finest essence, this huge banyan tree stands here. Believe, my son: the finest essence here—that constitutes the self of this whole world; that is the truth; that is the self (atman). And that’s how you are, Shvetaketu.’

SOURCE Olivelle, 1998: 255

The word maya occurs in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad. Scholars disagree on whether the idea or something similar is present in earlier Upanishads as well. Maya, often translated as ‘illusion’, can be interpreted in other, different ways. It can mean ignorance (avidya), the inability to realize oneness with brahman, or the creative power of ishvara (god) from the human point of view.

The idea of a cycle of death and rebirth is present in the Brahmanas and Upanishads. The Shatapatha Brahmana states that those who do not perform the sacrificial rites correctly will be

born again and suffer death again. It also talks of a world where material pleasures are enjoyed by those who perform the sacrifices, and of a hell where evil-doers are punished. The same text refers to the dead as having to face two fires—good people pass through, while evil-doers perish in the flames. A person is born again after death and is punished or rewarded for his/her deeds. Some of the Upanishads explain the doctrine of transmigration. Death and rebirth are connected with ignorance and desire, and deliverance can be attained through knowledge. The Upanishads refer to three worlds—the worlds of humans, ancestors (pitris), and gods. Those who will be reborn go after death to the world of the fathers, while those who are destined for immortality go to the world of the gods.

The goal of Upanishadic thought is the realization of brahman. Liberation (moksha, mukti) from the cycle of samsara could only be achieved through such knowledge. This knowledge (jnana) could not be obtained through mere intellectual exertion. This was knowledge of an inner, intuitive, experiential kind, that could only come upon the seeker as a sort of revelation that would transform him instantaneously. Later Upanishads such as the Shvetashvatara point towards yogic meditation as a means of realizing brahman. Performing of sacrifices and following an ethical code of conduct were of no use towards this end. In the Chhandogya Upanishad (3.8.11), Yajnavalkya tells Gargi that even if a man were to make offerings, perform sacrifices, and indulge in austerities for thousands of years, it wouldn’t amount to anything. The same text (2.23.1) states that people who performed sacrifices, recited the Veda, and gave gifts (dana), those who devoted themselves to the performance of austerities (tapa), and those who led a celibate life of studenthood in their teacher’s house studying the Veda—all these people gain worlds earned by merit. A person steadfast in the knowledge of brahman, on the other hand, attains immortality.

In later times, there were many different interpretations of Upanishadic thought, which came to be known as Vedanta (literally, ‘end of the Veda’; also known as Uttara Mimamsa). Upanishadic thought reflects different ideas about atman, brahman, and the world, and statements such as tat tvam asi (you are that), aham Brahm-asmi (I am brahman), and brahma-atma-aikyam (unity of brahman and atman) can be interpreted in different ways. The Bhagavad Gita combined certain aspects of Upanishadic philosophy with a doctrine advocating righteous action. One of the most influential interpretations of the Upanishads was that of the 9th century thinker Shankara. According to Shankara’s monistic Advaita Vedanta (non-dualist Vedanta), the Upanishads tell us that there is only one single, unified reality—brahman—and everything else is not fully real. However, there is also a pantheistic strand in Upanishadic thought which identifies the universe with brahman. There is also a theistic strand of thought, which visualizes brahman as a god who controls the world. Given the diversity and complexity of Upanishadic ideas, it is not surprising that later thinkers interpreted them in very different ways.

The Upanishads are often seen as anti-sacrifice and anti-Brahmana. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states that the performance of sacrifice leads to the world of the fathers (pitriyana), but knowledge leads to the world of the gods. Upanishadic knowledge is in several places associated with kings or Kshatriyas. There are references to Brahmanas being instructed in the knowledge of brahman by kings such as Ajatashatru, Ashvapati, and Pravahana. In the Chhandogya Upanishad (1.8–9), Pravahana tells Uddalaka Aruni that this knowledge has never till the present been in the possession of a Brahmana. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3–4), Yajnavalkya’s ideas are contradicted by Brahmanas, but are received with enthusiasm by king Janaka.

However, the fact that the Upanishads were included in the Vedic corpus as part of shruti should caution us against stretching this argument too far. For one thing, there are connections between the ideas of the Upanishads and early Vedic texts. Furthermore, the Upanishads do not reject sacrifice; rather, they employ the vocabulary of sacrifice to new ends. Ritual is re-described symbolically and allegorically. The link between humans and the cosmos is not the ritual itself but knowledge of the forces symbolically represented in the ritual. Knowledge of this symbolic meaning becomes more important than the performance of the ritual. An example of this is the re-description of the ashvamedha yajna in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. In this re-description, the various parts of the horse’s body are identified with different parts of the cosmos—his head is dawn, his eye is the sun, his breath is the wind, and his mouth is fire. The horse and the horse sacrifice take on new, symbolic meaning. Nevertheless, although ritual was not rejected, the emphasis had certainly shifted to the attainment of a new kind of knowledge.

POPULAR BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

The Brahmanas were manuals for sacrificial priests, while the Upanishads reflect an esoteric quest for a special kind of self-knowledge. Although some of the ideas in these texts may have had a wider circulation, the Brahmanas, Upanishads, and Aranyakas cannot be described as texts reflecting popular beliefs and practices. The Atharva Veda, on the other hand, contains a number of charms and spells—for wealth, children, prosperity, health, etc.—reflecting the concerns of ordinary people. It also has hymns dealing with marriage and death. Although considered the latest Veda from the point of view of language and form, some of the ideas and practices reflected in this text are clearly very old.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Atharva Veda spells

To win the love of a woman (Atharva Veda 6.9):

As the creeper holds the tree in a tight embrace, so embrace me: be my lover and do not depart from me!

As the eagle which seizes its prey beats its wings at the sun, so I beat at your heart: be my lover and do not depart from me!

As the sun during the same day encircles the sky and the earth, so I encircle your heart: be my lover and do not depart from me!

Against fever (Atharva Veda 5.22):

May Agni drive the fever away from here— and so also may Soma, and the stone of the press, and Varuna of pure will, and the altar and the strewing and the flaming logs of wood! May enmities disappear!

You who make yellow all those whom you burn as in the fire, whom you consume— well, fever, may you be without strength: flee away there, flee away below!

That wrinkled fever, daughter of wrinkles, red like a powder, throw it down, drive it away, O herb possessed of all powers!

You are not comfortable in a strange land. Although you are powerful, have pity on us! Fever has found its proper occupation, it will go back among the Bahlika (people of the north-west).

So cold, then burning, you make us shake with coughing, terrible are your characteristics, O fever; spare us from them!

Do not take as allies the lingering sickness, nor the cough, nor shortness of breath; never come back again from where you have gone, O fever, I implore you!

O fever, with your brother the lingering sickness, with your sister the fit of coughing, with your cousin the itch, go away and stay with other people!

The fever which returns on the third day and that which dies down on the third day, the persistent fever and the autumn fever, the cold, the burning, the summer fever, and that of the rainy season, make them all disappear!

To the people of Gandhara and of Mujavant, to those of Anga and of Magadha, we send the fever, like a messenger, like a treasure!

SOURCE Renou, 1971: 23–24

Archaeological Profiles of Different Regions of the Subcontinent, c. 2000–500 BCE

We now move from literature to archaeology. The following sections of this chapter give a summary of the cultural sequences in different parts of the subcontinent as reflected in archaeological evidence. The discussion takes off from where Chapters 3 and 4 ended, and is organized into two parts—the first deals with neolithic–chalcolithic and chalcolithic cultures, and the second with early iron age cultures. The reason why more space has been given to certain regions and sites is not necessarily because they were more important, but because they have been more intensively studied. Full published reports are available for comparatively few sites, and there are some regions for which properly worked-out archaeological sequences and secure dates are unavailable. We can assume the continued existence throughout these centuries of hunter-gatherer communities, who must have interacted with agricultural–pastoral groups.

NEOLITHIC–CHALCOLITHIC AND CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES

THE NORTH-WEST AND NORTH

As mentioned in (< />)Chapter 4, in the north-west, the mature Harappan culture was followed by the late Harappan phase, represented by the Jhukar culture in Sindh and the Cemetery-H culture in Punjab. In

both cases, there are elements of continuity and change; the most clear change is the virtual disappearance of urban features.

The Jhukar culture is known from excavations at Jhukar, Chanhudaro, and Amri. The distinctive pottery is a buff ware with a red or cream slip, with paintings in black, showing some continuity with mature Harappan pottery traditions. The cubical stone weights and female figurines of the Harappan type became rare. The typical rectangular Harappan seals were replaced by circular stamp seals, and writing was confined to potsherds.

The Cemetery-H culture is represented, among other sites, at Harappa. Here, at the lower Cemetery-H levels, the graves consisted mostly of extended burials. The pottery showed some continuity with earlier levels, but there were also new forms and designs. In the upper levels, there were urn burials with disarticulated bones. M. R. Mughal’s study of the Bahawalpur area indicates changes in the number, frequency, and nature of settlements in the Cemetery-H phase. Although there were some fairly large settlements (e.g., Kudwala, 31.1 ha, and four sites—Lurewala, Lundewali II, Gamuwala Ther, and Shahiwala—between 15 and 20 ha), most of the sites were small, under 5 ha. Several of the mature Harappan settlements were abandoned, and late Harappan settlements were established in new locations. The number of sites dropped from 174 (mature Harap-pan) to 50 (late Harappan). There was a decline in the number of industrial sites, and an increase in multi-functional sites combining habitation with craft production. There was also a notable increase in short-duration camp sites. The decline in settlements and population in this area was the result of the drying up of the Hakra river.

In the area between Peshawar and Chitral, on both sides of the Hindu Kush mountains, there are a number of cemeteries belonging to the Gandhara Grave culture. The C-14 dates for this culture range between c. 1710 and 200 BCE. The sites include Loebanr, Aligrama, Birkot Ghundai, Kherari, Timargarha, Lalbatai, Kalako-deray, Balambat, and Zarif Karuna. The graves generally consist of an oblong pit, sometimes with stone-lined walls, usually closed in with a stone slab. This pit was often dug into the base of a larger upper pit, which was filled with soil and charcoal, and often surrounded by a circle of stones. There were three types of burials—flexed burials, post-cremation burials including those in urns, and fractional burial. Both single and multiple burials occur. The site of Katelai yielded two burials of horses along with their masters. The grave goods included lots of plain, buff-red, or grey pottery in a range of shapes such as tall goblets, pedestal cups, beakers with fl ared mouths, and bottles with long and slender necks. Some graves yielded fl at, female fi gurines with appliqué breasts, occasionally with incised eyes and necklaces. There were copper/bronze objects such as pins with decorated tops, and a bronze model of a horse was found at Katelai. Iron objects were rare.

Mythological motifs on Cemetery-Hpottery

The Cemetery-H urns bear naturalistic designs (leaves, trees, stars), but also an interesting series of what seem to be mythological motifs. The latter include peacocks with a human form drawn in the middle, and bulls/cows with plantlike attachments to their horns. In one scene, there are two long-horned animals facing each other, held by a man with long wavy hair; a dog seems to be skipping menacingly behind one of the animals.

These scenes have been interpreted in various ways. Some scholars have tried to connect them with the ideas of death and afterlife in the Vedas. However, all these interpretations remain speculative.

FIGURE 5.2 DESIGNS ON CEMETERY-H POTS

The Ghaligai cave sequence is an important reference point in this area. In this cave, Phases V, VI, and VII correspond to the early, middle, and late phase of the Gandhara Grave culture. Phase V was associated with a number of graves located on the hill-sides. There were cist graves made of vertical and horizontal stone slabs. Post-cremation burials outnumbered inhumations. Remains of rectangular stone houses were identified, and many different types of wheel-made pots and copper and bone artefacts were found. In Phase VI, there were more inhumations than post-cremation burials. Copper artefacts continued, and there was a fine wheel-made pottery in many different shapes, including chalices and cup-on-pedestal. Phase VII represented a late phase of the Gandhara Grave culture and yielded wheel-made red pottery and human terracotta figurines. Iron made its appearance. There is a similarity between some of the pottery types of Periods V–VII and those found in parts of central Asia.

FIGURE 5.3 GANDHARA GRAVE CULTURE BURIAL, LOEBANR

In Kashmir, at sites such as Burzahom and Gufkral, the neolithic phase was followed by a megalithic phase. Megaliths are monuments made of large, roughly dressed slabs of stone. At Burzahom, there are massive menhirs (single, tall stones) and a large megalithic stone circle. Grey or black burnished ware made way for a coarse red ware. Bone and stone tools typical of the earlier period continued, but in fewer numbers. There were a few metal objects.

At Gufkral, the megalithic phase (Period II) is marked by fallen menhirs, and was represented by a 50–60 cm thick habitational deposit. There was a nearly 10 cm thick floor, running throughout, with a few breaks marked by pits. Many of the latter were refuse pits, going down to natural soil levels, and contained lots of broken pottery and animal bones. The pottery of Period II showed continuity with neolithic Period I and included a burnished grey ware, gritty red ware, and thick dull-red ware, but the proportion of thick dull-red ware and wheel-made pottery had increased. There were lots of large finished and unfinished ring stones. Other arte-facts included a copper point, a wooden bead, pestles, spindle whorls, a fine awl, and a miniature pot. The number of bone tools decreased, but there were innovations such as handles for tools, mostly made from the tibia of sheep/goat and bone marrow sockets. All the grains of the preceding neolithic period continued. Rice and millet made their appearance towards the end of Period II. Faunal remains included the bones of cattle, sheep, goat, dog, pig, and fowl. The bones of sheep and goats outnumbered those of cattle. Hunting seems to have declined, because the only wild animal bones found were those of ibex. Iron has been reported at megalithic Gufkral.

MAP 5.1 MAJOR NEOLITHIC–CHALCOLITHIC SITES IN THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Kiari in Ladakh yielded handmade pottery, similar to that found in Period II at Burzahom. Structural remains consisted of hearths. There were stone artefacts such as saddle querns, pestles, and burnishers. Bones of domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats were found. There is a calibrated date of 1000+ BCE from Kiari (Chakrabarti, 1999: 207).

In the Almora area of the Uttarakhand Himalayas, there are various kinds of megalithic burials— dolmens, cairns, menhirs, and cists (see the later section on the megaliths for explanations of these terms). The cist burials of this area are associated with red, grey, and black pots, including pedestalled bowls and spouted pots, and also with horse burials.

THE INDO-GANGETIC DIVIDE, THE UPPER GANGA VALLEY, AND THE DOAB

The late Harappan phase

As many as 563 late Harappan sites have been identified in the area between the Yamuna and Sutlej. Most of the settlements are small, under 5 ha. Evidence of mud floors with post holes and hearths, mud-brick structures, storage pits, kilns, and a fire altar were found from Sanghol in Ludhiana district of Punjab. The late Harappan settlement at Dadheri consisted of mud houses built on a mud platform. Artefacts found here included copper and terracotta objects and beads of carnelian and lapis lazuli. At Banawali in Haryana, there is evidence of mud houses and a rich range of artefacts including faience ornaments, beads of semi-precious stones, and objects made of copper, clay, and terracotta.

Sanghol yielded evidence of a wide range of plant remains in a late Harappan context that was dated c. 1900–1400 BCE. An analysis of the palaeo-botanical remains (Saraswat, 1996–97) identified hulled barley, naked barley, dwarf wheat, bread wheat, jowar millet, Italian millet, khesari, field pea, lentil, chickpea (gram), horse gram, Egyptian clover (barseem), linseed, and sesame (til). The remains of hyacinth bean (sem), fruits (grape, lemon, karaunda, anwala), and opium poppy seeds were also found. The plant remains identified at Mohrana comprised hulled and naked six-row barley, dwarf wheat, club wheat, lentil, and grape pips.

The chalcolithic cultural sequence in the doab includes the late Harappan phase, the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) culture, the copper hoards, and the Black and Red Ware (BRW) phase. Some of these phases spilt out into adjoining areas as well. There are almost 70 late Harappan sites in the doab region, mostly along the higher banks of the tributaries of the Yamuna—the Hindon, Krishni, Kathanala, and Maskara. Most of the settlements are small (the largest measures 200 × 200 m), and the average distance between settlements is 8–12 km. The thickness of the deposits is 1–2 m. Three sites have been excavated—Alamgirpur in Meerut district and Hulas and Bargaon in Saharanpur district. The late Harappan occupation at Hulas may go back to before 2000 BCE and it seems to have continued till about 1000 BCE.

There is very little structural evidence from late Harappan sites in the doab. Houses were generally made of wattle and daub. At Hulas, however, rectangular mud-brick structures with rammed floors, post-holes, and hearths were identified in the earliest phase. In the middle phase, clusters of two or three circular wattle-and-daub structures—perhaps storage bins—were found inside some of the rectangular mud houses. In the final stage, five round furnaces were found in some of the structures. A few burnt bricks were found at this site and at Alamgirpur.

POTTERY FROM LATE HARAPPAN LEVELS, BHORGARH, DELHI

The late Harappan pottery of this area is made of well-levigated clay and includes both handmade and wheel-made types, with both coarse and fine fabrics. It has a thin cream wash or a bright red slip, over which geometric and naturalistic designs were painted in black. A small proportion of the pots also have incised designs. The other artefacts found at these sites included chert blades, stone querns and pestles, and bone points. There were a few copper objects—a broken blade from Alamgirpur, and a fragmentary chisel and some rings from Bargaon. Ornaments included bangles of terracotta, carnelian, and steatite, and beads of terracotta, steatite, agate, carnelian, and faience. Circular and triangular terracotta cakes and terracotta animals, carts, and wheels were also found.

It can be inferred that people living at these sites continued to grow crops such as wheat and barley, which were known in the area in the mature Harappan phase. Rice husk was found embedded in the cores of potsherds at Hulas and Un. The list of plant remains from late Harappan Hulas is impressive—rice, barley, dwarf wheat, bread wheat, club wheat, oats, jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), lentil, field pea, grass pea, kulthi, moong (green gram), chickpea (gram), a broken cowpea, cotton, castor, almond, walnut, fruits, and wild grasses. This was clearly an agricultural community with a diverse and well-established agricultural base.

RECENT DISCOVERIES

The Sanauli cemetery

Excavations at Sanauli (Baghpat district, UP) by D. V. Sharma and his team have revealed what seems to be a vast late Harappan cemetery, although the excavators prefer to label it mature Harappan. Due to the standing crop of sugarcane around the site, it was not possible to estimate its size. The Yamuna river flows about 6 km west of the site today, but it may have been closer in protohistoric times. The discoveries at Sanauli, tentatively dated c. 2200–1800 BCE, are similar in some respects to those found at other mature or late Harappan sites, but they also have certain unique features.

So far, 116 graves have been excavated from different depths. All of them were laid in a northwest–southeast orientation; 52 were extended burials, 35 were secondary burials, and 29, which did not contain any human remains, seem to be symbolic burials. A double burial (Burial 27) at middle levels contained the skeletons of two males, aged 30–35 years. The grave goods included four flask-shaped vessels and a small rimless bowl near the head. A dish-on-stand with a splayed outer rim was placed in the middle of the grave, below the hip portion of the skeletons. A beautifully decorated long steatite bead and another bead of white-banded agate were also found. Only one skull was found among the skeletal material. There was also a triple burial (Burial 69) along with two urn burials. This was a secondary burial. Only one skull was found, placed upside down. The absence of skulls may have been due to the peculiar circumstances of death of the individuals concerned. This grave contained 21 pieces of pottery of different types, including three dish-on-stand and two pitchers with lids in the shape of bull heads.

One of the symbolic burials (Burial 28) in the upper levels contained two mushroom-shaped dish-on-stands. It also had a violin-shaped copper container with 28 tiny, paper-thin, stylized copper objects arranged in six rows. A burnt brick wall with a finished inner surface ran parallel to the burial in the east. Another symbolic burial (Burial 106) contained patterns of steatite inlays, the outer lines of which resembled a human effigy. A completely burnt clay trough found at middle levels of the site may have been used for cremating the dead.

The grave goods in this cemetery comprised copper objects, gold ornaments including heart-shaped bracelets, beads of semi-precious stones, steatite, faience, and glass. One burial

contained a copper antennae sword, along with a sheath. There is evidence suggestive of animal sacrifice in some middle and upper level burials.

The dish-on-stand was clearly an important part of the grave goods. Its form evolved over time and the mushroom shape found in the upper levels has not been found elsewhere. In most burials, it occurred either below the hip or near/ below the head of the buried person; in a few instances, it was close to the feet. It was also used as an offering stand, in one case, holding the head of a goat.

A preliminary study of about 40 skeletons by S. R. Walimbe identified the skeletons of 10 males and 7 females. The sex of 17 skeletons could not be determined. The bones of five child burials were analysed; one of them was 1–2 years old, two were 3–5 years, and two were about 10 years. There were also remains of six sub-adults.

A spectacular cemetery of this kind must have been associated with a large habitation site. This has not yet been located.

SOURCE D. V. Sharma et al., 2005–06

The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture

The Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) was discovered in 1950–51 in western Uttar Pradesh at the sites of Bisauli (Badaun district) and Rajpur Parsu (Bijnaur district). It is an ill-fired, wheel-made ware with a fine to medium fabric, and a thick red slip, sometimes decorated with black bands. Some potsherds have incised designs and post-firing graffiti. The pottery was given its name because when it was rubbed, it left an ochre colour on the fingers. This could be because of water-logging, wind action, poor firing, or a combination of such factors.

Subsequently, OCP was found to be widely distributed in the doab, with a concentration in the Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, and Bulandshahr districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Over 80 sites have been identified in Saharanpur district alone. This pottery has been found outside this area as well, and its distribution extends north–south from Bahadarabad near Hardwar in Uttar Pradesh to Noh and Jodhpura in Rajasthan, and east–west from Katpalon near Jullundar in Punjab to Ahichchhatra near Bareilly. The OCP phase in Rajasthan seems to be earlier than that in the doab.

OCP occurs in two sorts of stratigraphic contexts. At Hastinapura, Ahichchhatra, and Jhinjhana, the OCP level was followed by a break in occupation and a Painted Grey Ware (PGW) level. At Atranjikhera and Noh, the OCP level was followed by a Black and Red Ware (BRW) level, and then a PGW level. Certain sites such as Bargaon and Ambakheri show an overlap between the late Harappan and OCP phase. Some scholars maintain that OCP is just a degenerate form of late Harappan pottery. According to others, it was an independent ceramic tradition that was influenced in some areas by the Harappan pottery tradition. At least two broad categories of OCP can be identified—a western zone (represented at sites such as Jodhpura, Siswal, Mitathal, Bara, Ambakheri, and Bargaon) that shows links with the Harappan tradition, and an eastern zone (represented at sites such as Lal Qila, Atranjikhera, and Saipai) that does not display any such links.

MAP 5.2 OCHRE COLOURED POTTERY SITES

FIGURE 5.4 OCHRE COLOURED POTTERY FROM AMBAKHERI

Major excavated sites include Lal Qila (Bulandshahr district), Bahadrabad and Ambakheri (both in Saharanpur district), Atranjikhera (Etah district), Ahichchhatra (Bareilly district), and Saipai (Etawah district). The OCP deposits are generally shallow, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 m in thickness. The settlements are usually small (upto 200–300 sq m), although there are a few larger settlements such as Lal Qila (632 sq m). The average distance between two sites is 4–6 km in Saharanpur district, and 5–8 km in other parts of the upper Ganga valley.

Due to the disturbed nature of the deposits and the small area covered by excavations, very few structural remains were found at most OCP sites. There were some remains of wattle-and-daub houses at Lal Qila, Atranjikhera, Daulatpur, and Jodhpura. Very few mud- or burnt bricks were found. At Atranjikhera, people lived in mud houses with frames made of posts of babul, sissoo, sal, and chir pine trees. An unlined well was also found. At Jodhpura, a mud-brick structure with the bricks joined together with mud mortar was discovered. Lal Qila must have been an important settlement, going by its size, structures, and range of artefacts. There were remains of oblong wattle-and-daub structures with mud floors and post-holes, and a few sun-dried bricks with mud mortar. An unlined pit may have functioned as a well.

Apart from pottery, very few artefacts have been found at OCP sites. Stone objects included querns and beads. Bone tools were found at Lal Qila. A few copper artefacts also occur at various sites. A piece of copper and fragments of a terracotta crucible containing copper granules were discovered at Atranjikhera. A hooked spearhead and harpoon made of copper were found at Saipai. Lal Qila yielded five copper objects—two pendants, one bead, an arrowhead, and a broken celt. The terracotta objects found at this site included anthropomorphic and animal figurines, wheels, bangles, balls, tablets, gamesmen, crucibles, discs, beads, grinders, and querns. Terracotta figurines of

humped bulls were found at Ambakheri. The Lal Qila pottery included a vase painted with a semi-naturalistic humped bull with long, curved horns.

The people who lived at OCP sites obtained their food from agriculture, animal husbandry, and hunting. Plant remains at Lal Qila included wheat, barley, and rice. Atranjikhera yielded rice, barley, gram, and khesari. This suggests that people grew two crops a year—rice in summer and barley and legumes in winter. At Saipai, sandstone pounders, querns, and pestles were found, and there were bones of domesticated Bos indicus. Lal Qila yielded complete animal skeletons on floors, and there were circular fire pits with charred bones of domesticated cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, horse, dog, and wild deer. Many of the bones had cut marks, indicating that the animals were killed for their meat.

Thermoluminescence dates from Atranjikhera, Lal Qila, Nasirpur, and Jhinjhina range between 2650 and 1180 BCE. The OCP culture can be seen as a late contemporary of the mature Harappan and late Harappan cultures, with certain sites showing contact between them.

The copper hoards

In 1822, a copper harpoon was discovered at Bithur in Kanpur district. Since then, over 1300 copper objects of a similar range have been found in various parts of India, mostly in hoards. Archaeologists refer to them as copper hoards.

Copper hoards have been found at about 90 sites across an area stretching from the upper Ganga valley to Bengal and Orissa. There have also been several discoveries in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, and a few in Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. However, the largest concentration of sites is in the doab region of Uttar Pradesh. The number of objects found together varies from 1 to 47, except in the case of Gungeria in Madhya Pradesh, where 424 objects weighing over 200 kg were found in a single hoard, along with 102 silver objects. Since most of the copper hoard discoveries were accidental and the objects were not found in a stratified context, it is very difficult to date them. The hoards found in Bihar and West Bengal may in fact belong to the historical period. In view of this, the site of Saipai (in Etawah district), where the copper objects were found in the course of an excavation in an OCP level, is especially important.

COPPER HARPOONS FROM SHISHUPALGARH AND HASTINAPURA

FIGURE 5.5 COPPER HOARD OBJECTS

MAP 5.3 COPPER HOARD SITES

The copper hoards include many different kinds of objects such as flat celts, shouldered celts, bar celts, harpoons, antennae swords, and anthropomorphic figures. Most of them seem to be part of hunting equipment. Typological differences can, to some extent, be associated with geographical

areas. For instance, in the eastern zone of Bihar, West Bengal, and Orissa, there is a predominance of flat celts, shouldered celts, bar celts, and double axes. In the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana areas, these types occur along with anthropomorphs, antennae swords, hooked swords, and harpoons. Sites in Rajasthan have yielded mainly flat celts and bar celts.

A comparison of the Harappan copper artefacts and the copper hoard objects shows striking differences in typology and alloying techniques. About 46 per cent of the copper hoard objects had up to 7 per cent arsenic alloying. On the other hand, only 8 per cent of analysed Harappan artefacts show arsenic alloying. The site of Sanauli has recently yielded two antennae swords of the copper hoard types in a late Harappan context. One of these was found in situ in a grave, and has a copper sheath.

The evidence of the copper hoards suggests that between the mid-3rd and 2nd millennium BCE the upper Ganga valley had emerged as a distinct copper-manufacturing area, with interactions extending into the regions of Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, the Deccan, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. What is not clear is whether it was an independent centre of copper working or whether it represents an extension of the older and better documented centre of copper metallurgy in north-eastern Rajasthan.

SEE (< />)P. 215 FOR DETAILS AN PHOTOGRAPHS OF SANAULI

FURTHER DISCUSSION

The copper anthropomorph

The most enigmatic artefact among the copper hoard objects is the anthropomorph. This is a large object, between 25 and 45 cm in length, 30 and 43 cm in breadth, and weighing up to 5 kg. The length is in almost all cases greater than its breadth (the Bisauli piece is an exception to this rule). The object usually has in-curved arms, sharpened on the outer edge, and plain outstretched legs. The arms are thinner than the head, which was thickened by beating the top.

In 2001, a hoard of 31 copper anthropomorphs was found at Madarpur in the Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh (D. V. Sharma et al., 2001–02). They were discovered by workers digging the soil for the preparation of mud-bricks. The artefacts were in situ, stacked one on top of the other. Such a large number of anthropomorphic figures have not been found elsewhere. What is also intriguing is that the shapes are not identical, and there are some that do not occur anywhere else. The artefacts were found in a deposit which also yielded OCP. Madarpur seems to have been a place which specialized in the production of copper anthropomorphs.

What was the anthropomorph used for? One suggestion is that it was a weapon. D. P. Agrawal suggests that when thrown, it has a sort of whirling boomerang effect, and that it may have been a missile used to kill birds. However, why such elaborate artefacts should have been made for this purpose is not clear. The different shapes of the objects also go against this theory. Another possibility is that they had a religious or ritualistic function. It may be noted that tiny anthropomorphic figures, similar to the copper hoard types, are worshipped in parts of northern India as the god Shani.

The Black and Red Ware phase in the doab

Black and Red Ware (BRW) was long known to occur at several archaeological sites in association with various other pottery types, in many different cultural contexts. However, the existence of a distinct and independent Black and Red Ware phase in the doab was first recognized during excavations at Atranjikhera in the 1960s. Here, a BRW level was found sandwiched between OCP and PGW levels. A similar stratigraphic sequence was later identified at Noh and Jodhpura in Rajasthan. Some archaeologists maintain that there are links between the BRW of the doab and Rajasthan, while others disagree.

BRW levels at Atranjikhera did not yield any stone or metal artefacts. There were only fragments

of stone, waste flakes, chips, and cores of quartz, chalcedony, agate, and carnelian. Three beads (of carnelian, shell, and copper) and a fragment of a comb made of bone were also found. BRW levels at Noh yielded a shapeless piece of iron, terracotta bead, and bone spike.

As for evidence of subsistence patterns, rice, barley, gram, and khesari were found from OCP levels at Atranjikhera, and it is likely that the cultivation of these crops continued into the BRW phase. Grains of rice and moong were found at BRW levels at this site.

BRW POT, MEGALITHIC LEVEL, MASKI (KARNATAKA)

PRIMARY SOURCES

Black and Red Ware

As its name indicates, Black and Red Ware (BRW) refers to a pottery that is both red and black. The two colours may appear on the same surface of the pot, or one surface may be black, the other red. BRW should not be confused with black-on-red ware (e.g., the typical Harappan pottery), in which both the inner and outer surfaces of the pot are red, and designs are painted in black.

Many of the BRW pots are black inside and red outside. This could be a result of the inverted firing technique: In this, the pots are positioned upside down in the kiln with some vegetal material placed inside them. When the pot is fired, its outer part is exposed to oxidizing conditions and turns red, while its inner part is subjected to reducing conditions and turns black. Another possibility is that the pots went through two rounds of firing (double firing)—i.e., they were first fired red and then re-fired, so that one of the surfaces became black, or vice versa.

Black-and-red pottery occurs in many parts of the subcontinent in several different cultural contexts. For example, it occurs at neolithic sites (Chirand, Piklihal, etc.), pre-Harappan Lothal, many Harappan sites in Gujarat (e.g., Lothal, Surkotada, Rojdi, Rangpur, and Desalpur), chalcolithic sites in the middle and lower Ganga valley (Chi-rand, Pandu Rajar Dhibi, etc.), sites of the Ahar/Banas culture (Ahar, Gilund), Malwa culture (Navdatoli, Inamgaon), Kayatha culture (Kayatha), and Jorwe culture (Chandoli), iron age PGW sites (Atranjikhera, Hastinapur, etc.), South Indian megalithic sites (Brahmagiri, Nagarjunakonda, etc.), and at early historical levels

all over the subcontinent. At certain sites in the doab (e.g., Atran-jikhera) and Rajasthan (e.g., Noh), there is a distinct BRW level between the OCP and PGW levels.

Not all of this black-and-red pottery are identical. There is in fact a great deal of variation in technique, fabric, and shape among the black-and-red pottery that occurs in different geographical and chronological contexts. In view of all this, it is clear that all black-and-red pottery cannot be treated as representing a single ceramic culture, a single community of artisans, or a single community of consumers. The existence of different varieties of black-and-red pottery at various sites does not necessarily show the existence of cultural uniformity or cultural contact. When we talk about black-and-red pottery in In-dian archaeology, its specific geographical and cultural context must always be indicated.

The case of Black and Red Ware shows that we must always be very careful in making historical inferences on the basis of superficial similarities in pottery.

SOURCE H. N. Singh, 1979

WESTERN INDIA

In (< />)Chapter 3, there was a discussion of the early phase of the Ganeshwar–Jodhpura culture of northeastern Rajasthan, with special reference to the sites of Jodhpura and Ganeshwar. The early phase of the Ahar/Banas culture of south-east Rajasthan, represented at sites such as Ahar, Gilund, and Balathal was also discussed. Rajasthan continued to be a major region for copper metallurgy during the succeeding centuries as well.

At Ganeshwar, Period III is dated from c. 2000 BCE onwards. There was a wide range of pottery in this phase. Hundreds of copper artefacts, e.g., arrowheads, rings, bangles, spearheads, chisels, balls, and celts were found. This shows that Ganeshwar was a major centre for the manufacture of copper artefacts. Compared to Period II, there was a decline in the number of microliths and animal bones, suggesting a decline in hunting.

Period I at Ahar is divided into three periods—Ia (dated from 2500 BCE), Ib (dated from 2100 BCE), and Ic (dated from 1900 BCE). Period Ia was discussed in (< />)Chapter 3. Here we will look at Periods Ib and Ic. As far as pottery is concerned, there is continuity in BRW throughout Periods Ia, Ib, and Ic, but there are some changes in the types and proportions of the associated wares. For instance, in Period Ia, there were mostly convex-sided BRW bowls; buff and imitation buff-slipped wares, red wares, and some grey ware. In Period Ib, the BRW continues, and there is a lot of grey ware and red ware, but no buff and buff-slipped ware. Period Ic was marked by deeply carinated BRW bowls and lustrous red ware.

The artefacts discovered in Period Ib at Ahar included microlithic fluted cores and a blunt-backed blade of quartz; beads of agate, calcite, carnelian, faience, jasper, schist, shell, steatite, bone, and terracotta; terracotta objects such as ear studs, skin rubbers, head scratchers (?), votive tanks, crucibles, dice, bangles, finials, pipes, pendants, and human and animal (bull, horse, and maybe elephant) figurines. Copper objects included rings, bangles, kohl sticks, celts, and a knife blade. In Period Ic, there were microlithic scrapers and borers; beads of carnelian, crystal, glass, jasper, lapis, schist, shell, and terracotta; terracotta skin rubbers, ear studs, a votive tank, crucible, bull and

elephant figurines, stoppers, pendants, bangles, balls, and pipes. The copper items comprised rings and kohl sticks.

Evidence from Ahar indicates that the people who lived here cultivated rice, and possibly millet. The evidence of structures and pottery suggest that in Period Ib, the site was more thickly populated than in the preceding and succeeding periods. It is also likely that there was interaction between the chalcolithic agricultural people of Ahar and the ‘mesolithic’ hunter-gatherers who lived at sites such as Bagor.

Investigations at the late Ahar culture settlement at Purani Marmi (Chittorgarh district, Rajasthan) near Balathal yielded important information on the subsistence base of the people who lived here. A total of 545 animal bones from 4 habitational layers were analysed and identified as those of cattle, sheep, goat, buffalo, blackbuck, spotted deer, and domestic fowl. Two types of freshwater molluscs were also found. The relative quantities of the bones indicate that the people were mainly pastoralists engaged in cattle and buffalo rearing. They supplemented this with some amount of sheep and goat herding and a limited amount of hunting.

Mention should also be made of a number of megalithic sites in the Aravalli stretches of Rajasthan, for instance, Khera, Satmas, and Daosa. Very few details or dates are available for them. The most common type of megalith found in this region is the cairn.

In Gujarat, the mature Harappan phase was followed by a late Harappan phase. As mentioned in (< />)Chapter 4, Kutch and Saurashtra show a marked increase in the number of settlements, from 18 in the mature Harappan phase to 120 in the early late Harappan phase.

The late Harappan settlements in Gujarat can be divided into two phases—the pre-lustrous red ware sites (Lothal B, Rojdi, Babar Kot, Padri) and the lustrous red ware sites. Lothal (in Period B, also known as Phase V) revealed remains of houses made of mud and reed. Short blades of jasper and chalcedony replaced the long chert blades of the mature Harappan phase. Jasper and carnelian beads made way for biconal terracotta beads, and cubical weights of chert and agate were gradually replaced by larger, truncated ones made of schist and sandstone. There was a decrease in the use of copper. Rectangular steatite seals with the Harappan script continued, but without animal motifs. Rojdi Ia, Rangpur IIB and IIC also represent the late Harappan phase.

The settlement at Rojdi was about 7 ha in size. The main settlement area was surrounded by a stone rubble wall on three sides (the Bhadar river lay on the east), with a double-bastioned gateway in the western wall. There were other structures of stone masonry as well. Various types of metal artefacts were found, e.g., an axe, bar celt, bangles, rings, a fishhook, pieces of wire, and a pin. The plant remains included millets, barley, mustard, khesari, lentil, linseed, pea, vetches/beans, various kinds of gram, jujube, and a number of weeds, medicinal plants, and grasses (which may have been used for animal fodder). The late Harappan site of Babar Kot measured about 2.7 ha and had a stone fortification wall. The plant remains included millets and gram.

Prabhas Patan II (Somnath Patan in Junagadh district) on the banks of the river Hiran is divided into two sub-phases—the earlier one has late Harappan pottery but no lustrous red ware, and the later one has late Harappan pottery associated with lustrous red ware. A structural complex made of stone blocks set in mud mortar and divided into smaller compartments was interpreted as a warehouse. Artefacts included a steatite seal amulet, segmented beads made of faience, and cubical chert blades. There were copper objects and beads of chalcedony, carnelian, and agate, and a gold ear ornament.

At Dwarka (Jamnagar district, Gujarat), marine archaeologists found the remains of a submerged settlement and identified its inner and outer walls, bastions, and a large stone jetty. Stone anchors and lustrous red ware were found at the site. The island of Bet Dwarka also revealed a submerged site. The settlement seems originally to have been 4 × 0.5 km, and there are remains of fortifications. A Harappan seal carved with a three-headed animal, lustrous red ware, BRW, and a jar inscribed with Harappan writing were found. Other discoveries included a coppersmith’s stone mould and some shell bangles. There is a thermoluminescence date of 1570 BCE from Bet Dwarka, which is considered to be a late Harappan site.

DWARKA: MARINE ARCHAEOLOGISTS DIVING NEAR SAMUDRA NARAYAN TEMPLE

There are many late Harappan sites in the Rupen valley in north Gujarat, with and without lustrous red ware. The settlements tend to be located on old sand dunes, close to sources of water. Most of them are small and have a thin occupational deposit. The late Harappan sites in this area seem to mostly represent seasonal camp sites of pastoralists.

There is more information from the site of Kanewal in Kheda district at the mouth of the Gulf of Cambay. Here, there were circular wattle-and-daub huts with rammed floors. The artefacts included oblong terracotta cakes, beads of carnelian, faience, shell, and terracotta; terracotta spindle whorls and net sinkers; copper objects; and various types of pottery including lustrous red ware. Some of the pottery found at sites in this area has graffiti in the Harappan script, indicating some level of literacy among the people who lived here.

DIVER MEASURING SUBMERGED STRUCTURE

CIRCULAR STONE STRUCTURE IN THE INTER-TIDAL ZONE

THE MIDDLE GANGA VALLEY

There are a large number of protohistoric sites in this region, especially in the trans-Sarayu area. Narhan in Gorakhpur district (UP) is on the northern bank of the Sarayu (Ghaghara), about 30 km east of Imlidih (Purushottam Singh, 1994). Excavations at this site revealed a cultural sequence stretching from the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE to the 7th century, CE. Period I at Narhan (labelled the Narhan culture) was dated c. 1300–700 BCE. Remains of wattle-and-daub houses with post-holes and hearths were found. The pottery was marked by a white-painted BRW, along with some white-painted black-slipped ware, red-slipped ware, and plain red ware. Other artefacts included bone points; pottery discs; terracotta beads, dabbers, and balls; and one polished stone axe. The copper objects included a ring and fishhook. Recent chemical analysis of these objects, as well as of those found in later periods indicates that they were made of a low-tin bronze. The metal workers were familiar with techniques such as alloying, cold working, annealing, and casting. The source of the copper ores seems to have been the Rakha mines of Bihar.

An exceptionally wide range of plant remains were found at Narhan. Period I remains included cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), hulled and six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare), three kinds of wheat (Triticum compactum, T. aestivum, and T. compactum), pea, green gram, gram or chickpea, and khesari. Oilseeds—mustard and flax (alsi) were found, as were seeds of jackfruit (katahal). Fragments of mahua, sal, tamarind, teak, siris, babul, mulberry, ganiyari, Nux vomica, tulsi (holy basil), mango, katahal, and bamboo were identified. Animal bone remains included those of humped cattle and sheep/goat, wild deer or antelope, horse, and fish. An interesting find was the impression of a fishhook and thread on a mud clod. Iron rust showed that the hook was made of iron, and the analysis of a tiny surviving fibre revealed that the thread was made of ramie (Boehmeria nivea), a

strong, water-resistant fibre. Two iron pieces (a 13 cm long bar and another fragmentary piece), were found in the upper deposits of Period I. Iron objects increased in the subsequent period. The Narhan sequence is repeated at many places in the middle Ganga plains, including in the area south of the Sarayu.

At Khairadih, Period I was marked by BRW and associated pottery. Calibrated dates gave a range of 1395–848 BCE. At Rajghat near the Ganga, the early occupation was marked mainly by a black-slipped ware. The many BRW sites in the area to the south of Mirzapur include Raja Karna Ka Tila on the Karamnasa river. Period I at this site yielded BRW, microlith chips, a clay sling ball, shells, terracotta beads and discs, and bone points and arrowheads. Rice, barley, ragi, foxtail millet, lentil, field-pea, khesari, and moong were identified. Period II began in about 1300 BCE and gave evidence of iron.

Imlidih Khurd is a site on the banks of the Kuwana river. Period I represents the pre-Narhan culture and goes back to c. 1300 BCE. It yielded a crude, handmade cord-or-mat-impressed red ware, including spherical bowls, pedestalled bowls, vases with flaring rims, and handi-like and spouted vessels. There were remains of wattle-and-daub houses, a storage pit (1.95 m in diameter), a circular bin-like structure (about 85 cm in diameter), and ovens. Artefacts included beads of agate, faience, and terracotta, a few steatite micro-beads, bone points, and pottery discs. The faunal remains included bones of domesticated cattle, sheep/goat, and pig. Cattle bones were the most numerous, and had cut marks. Bones of freshwater turtle, fish, and freshwater molluscs were also found. The plant remains were extremely varied and included rice, barley, bread wheat, dwarf wheat, jowar, bajra (pearl millet), lentil, moong, field pea, grass pea, mustard, and sesame. The seeds of fruits—wild jujube, anwala, and grape—were also found. The evidence indicates that agriculture based on two crops a year was already established in the trans-Sarayu plain in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE.

Period II at Imlidih Khurd belongs to the Narhan culture and is dated c. 1300–800 BCE. It was marked by intense structural activity in the form of at least two successive mud floors with several post-holes and ovens. The typical pottery was a white-painted BRW, similar to that found at Narhan. Other artefacts included bone points, pottery discs, terracotta beads, a copper arrowhead, two copper beads, and some curious terracotta pieces that may have been legs or pedestals of some indeterminate object, possibly for ritualistic use. The plant remains comprised rice, barley, wheat, kondon-millet, lentil, chickpea, moong, and anwala, along with various weeds and wild plant species. The faunal remains included the bones of domesticated cattle, goat/sheep, horse, and dog. The bones of wild animals comprised those of boar, hog deer, chital (spotted deer), and barasingha (swamp deer). Except for the molluscs, the aquatic fauna of Period I continued into Period II.

Recent excavations at the 40 ha site of Agiabir in Mirzapur district revealed a long cultural sequence extending from the Narhan phase to the early medieval period. In Period I (the Narhan culture phase), the main pottery types were BRW, black-slipped ware, and red ware. The pottery showed some differences with the typical range of Narhan ware. People lived in wattle-and-daub huts, and two silos used for storing grain were found. There were lots of beads, especially those made of agate. A bead-making workshop was identified. Faience objects, microliths, terracotta beads, bone points, terracotta discs, one copper fishhook, and a clay lamp or incense burner were found. Fireplaces associated with charred animal bones gave evidence of peoples’ food habits.

Period II at Agiabir has been described as pre-NBP with iron. Iron and copper objects were the noteworthy finds of this phase.

There are a number of sites marked by megaliths in and near the northern fringes of the Vindhyas in Allahabad, Banda, Varanasi, and Mirzapur districts of south-eastern Uttar Pradesh. These include Kakoria, Jang Mahal, and Kotia. The main types of megaliths that occur are cairns and stone circles. Some of the graves gave evidence of fractional burial. Others were associated with animal burials. At Kotia, the graves yielded few human skeletal remains, but three contained the remains of domesticated sheep, pig, and cattle. Cut marks suggest that the animals were killed at the time of burial. Many of the megaliths in this area are devoid of skeletal remains of any kind, and may represent memorials for the dead.

The habitation site of Kakoria lies on both sides of the Chandraprabha river, immediately to the north-west of the megalithic cemetery at the base of a hillock. The pottery from the habitation and burial sites included BRW, black-slipped ware, and red ware. Most of it was wheel made, and the main forms included dishes, bowls, perforated vessels, lids, pedestalled cups, and elliptical and globular jars. Lots of microliths made of agate, chalcedony, and chert were found. Beads of terracotta and semi-precious stones, sling balls, grinding stones, and a few copper objects also occurred.

Unlike other parts of India, most of the megaliths of southern Uttar Pradesh belong to a pre-iron age. Kotia in the Belan valley is an exception. Here there were many iron tools, including a spearhead, two sickles, an arrowhead, and an adze, all indicating advanced metallurgical techniques. The Kotia pottery included BRW, red ware, black-slipped ware, and a dull, coarse black or grey ware, all with a thick fabric. There were many bone fragments of domesticated animals such as ox, sheep, and pig, some with cut marks.

A date ranging from the 2nd millennium BCE (or earlier) to the 7th century CE has been suggested for pre-iron Kakoria. The megaliths of Jang Mahal have been estimated as belonging to the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE. Kotia is placed later, between c. 800 BCE and 300 BCE.

EASTERN INDIA

The early phase of occupation at sites such as Chirand and Senuar in eastern India was discussed in (< />)Chapter 3. These sites continued to be occupied into the 2nd millennium BCE. At Chirand, chalcolithic Period II is in many respects a continuation of neolithic Period I. There were microliths, polished celts, beads of terracotta, steatite, and semiprecious stones. The pottery was dominated by BRW along with grey/buff, black- and red-slipped wares. Copper made its appearance in Period II, and the upper levels yielded evidence of many iron objects. The earliest calibrated dates for Period II give a range of 1936–1683 BCE.

At Senuar, Period II is neolithic–chalcolithic. The 2.02 m thick deposit showed a basic continuity with the preceding period. The new elements were some copper objects—a fishhook, piece of wire, needle, and an indeterminate object. A fragmentary rod of lead was also found. The plant remains showed the introduction of bread wheat, kondon millet (Pasupalum scrobiculatum), chickpea, green pea, and horse gram (Dolichos bilorus). There was an increase in the number of faunal remains compared to the earlier period.

Barudih in the Singhbhum district, in the Chhotanagpur plateau of Jharkhand, yielded interesting evidence of microliths, neolithic celts, iron slag, and wheel-made pottery in the same ‘neolithic’

level. The iron objects included a sickle. The earliest radiocarbon dates give a range of 1401–837 BCE for this site.

There seem to be close connections between the cultural patterns in Bihar and West Bengal. Over 65 BRW sites have been found in West Bengal. On the basis of size, the settlements can be divided into three categories—0.5–2 acres, 4–5 acres, and 8–9 acres. The BRW phase began in this region in about the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE. The problem is that ‘Black and Red Ware settlements’ are found upto about 400 BCE, stretching across a period of over a thousand years. Clearly, they belong to different periods, and there is a need to identify their chronological moorings.

There is overall similarity in the range of artefacts found at the Bengal BRW sites—in the pottery, stone tools, beads of semi-precious stones, and fairly limited copper objects. Rice must have been the most important crop. The abundance of deer bones and antlers suggest the presence of large tracts of forests and grassy land. The agriculturists of the plains must have been interacting with communities, including hunter-gatherers, living in the Chotanagpur plateau, an area rich in stone and metal (especially copper and tin). Many BRW sites show some familiarity with iron, but the iron industry in this area really emerged in a major way only towards the end of the BRW phase.

Pandu Rajar Dhibi in the Ajay valley is an important site in West Bengal. Period I, with calibrated dates from c. 1500 BCE onwards, revealed microliths, ground stone tools, bone tools, and pottery. No metal was found, but this may be due to the limited area covered by the excavations. In chalcolithic Period II, there were a few copper artefacts, beads of semi-precious stones, terracotta figurines, iron spearheads and points, slag, and ovens. The pottery included a BRW with designs painted on in white, along with other associated wares such as a red-slipped black-painted pottery, black-slipped pottery, and a buff/grey plain ware. The faunal remains included the bones of domesticated cattle, buffalo, goat, and deer, along with those of hog deer, sambar, fish, turtles, and fowl.

At Bharatpur in the Damodar valley, Period I yielded microliths, small neolithic celts, bone tools, steatite beads, copper objects, and pottery dominated by BRW. The earliest calibrated date range for this period is 1735–1417 BCE. Period I at Mahisdal in the Kopai valley gave evidence of house floors rammed with terracotta nodules, lots of mi-croliths and bone tools, beads of steatite and semiprecious stones, terracotta bangles, a terracotta phallus, and one flat copper celt. The pottery consisted of BRW and associated wares. A storage pit with lots of charred rice grains was found. The earliest calibrated range of dates for Period I at Mahisdal is 1619–1415 BCE.

In Orissa, neolithic stone tools occur in many places as surface finds, but there is a lack of stratified finds and dates. The neolithic sites in Orissa include Kuchai in Mayurbhanj district. Domesticated rice was found at the neolithic site of Baidipur. Sankarganj in Dhenkanal district gave a calibrated date of c. 800 BCE for a level yielding neolithic celts and copper artefacts. Recently, a neolithic celt manufacturing site was discovered at Sulabhdihi in the Sundargarh district of Orissa (Behera, 1991–92).

At the recently excavated site of Golbai Sasan on the Mandakini river in Orissa, neolithic Period I showed traces of floors and post-holes. There was red and grey handmade pottery with cord or tortoiseshell impressions, and a few pieces of worked bone. Period IIA was chalcolithic. The outlines of circular huts (3.9–7.9 m in diameter), with hearths and post holes along the circumference, were identified. Both handmade and wheel-made pottery was found, including BRW, dull red ware and burnished black, chocolate brown, and red wares. Copper artefacts included a

chisel, bangle, fishhook, and ring. The polished stone tools included axes, adzes, and shouldered celts. Bone artefacts included weapons and ornaments (such as earstuds and pendants). Spindle whorls, sling balls, and a crude human figurine were among the other artefacts. The features of Period IIA continued into Period IIB, with the addition of an iron tool shaped like a stone celt. The plant remains of Periods IIA and IIB included rice, moong and kulthi. Faunal remains comprised bones of cattle, goat, deer, and elephant. The occupation of Golbai Sasan seems to fall within the 2nd millennium BCE, if not earlier.

THE NORTH-EAST

The North-eastern states, comprising Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram are rich in archaeological finds and potential, but have not been explored adequately. There are very few dates. Lots of neolithic tools have been found in the Garo, Cachar, and Naga hills, but mostly as surface finds. The evidence from the few excavated sites, meagre as it is, is therefore very important.

At Sarutaru, 25 km south-east of Guwahati, excavations yielded shouldered celts and round-butted axes. The pottery included handmade brown, buff, and grey wares, some with cord impressions. However, the ‘neolithic’ phase at Sarutaru may be as recent as the early centuries CE. Excavations at nearby Marakdola revealed a 1 m thick deposit which yielded wheel-made pottery of fine kaolin clay. Similar pottery was found at Ambari near Guwahati, in contexts dated between the 7th and 12th centuries CE.

In the north Garo hills, at Daojali Hading, a 45 cm thick neolithic deposit yielded stone and fossil wood axes, adzes, chisels, hoes, grinding slabs, querns, and mullers. Handmade grey and dull-red pottery with cord marks, dull-red stamped pottery, and plain red pottery were found. Excavations at Selbalgiri, on a terrace of the Rongram river, yielded a microlithic level, followed by a 60 cm deposit containing stone celts and pottery.

Neolithic tools and handmade grey ware have been found at several places in Na-galand, but the sites have not been excavated. The site of Napchik in Manipur has given an early thermoluminescence date of 1650 ± 350 BCE for handmade cordmarked ware. Other artefacts found at this site included stone choppers, scrapers, flakes, an edged knife, grinding stone, and polished celts.

Neolithic tools have been found at various places in Meghalaya. A small-scale excavation was conducted at Selbalgiri. An excavation at Pynthorlangthen revealed a 1 m thick neolithic deposit containing neolithic adzes, axes, chisels, points, blades, and scrapers. This seems to have been a factory site.

Not all the sites in the North-east that have yielded stone tools and handmade pottery are necessarily early, and some are positively late. For example, the ‘neolithic’ level at the Kanai Gaon Reserve in Dibrugarh district has given a date in the 6th century CE. More excavations and a better idea of the chronology of the sites are required for a clearer picture of the neolithic and neolithic– chalcolithic horizons in this part of the subcontinent. Similarities between some of the artefact types of this region and those from East and South-east Asia have been noted, but nothing definite can be said about the connections or interactions.

THE CULTURAL SEQUENCE IN CENTRAL INDIA

There is some evidence of late Harappan pottery in the north-western part of the Malwa plateau at sites such as Sihoniya, Khudai, and Bassaiya (on the banks of the Asan river, a tributary of the Chambal). Late Harappan pottery has also been reported at Manoti in Mandasore district. However, at present, little detail is available. There is, however, quite a bit of data on the well-established cultural sequence of the Kayatha, Ahar, and Malwa cultures (Dhavalikar, 1979a). The first of these was discussed in (< />)Chapter 3. Here, we will discuss the Ahar and Malwa phases.

The Ahar culture

As mentioned in (< />)Chapter 3, the Ahar culture that flourished in south-eastern Rajasthan also spread to the Malwa region of central India. Ahar culture levels have been identified at Kayatha and at several sites in the Chambal valley. The typical Ahar pottery is a coarse, wheel-made Black and Red Ware, with designs painted on in white (usually on the outer surface, but sometimes also on the inner one). There are bowls and dishes of various kinds; the bowls usually have thin incised grooves on the neck. Another associated pottery type is the red-slipped ware, which includes variants such as tan-, orange-, chocolate-, and brown-slipped pottery, all highly burnished. Coarse handmade red and grey wares are also found.

The other artefacts include necklaces made of short, cylindrical beads. Unlike the meagre remains of stone artefacts at Ahar culture sites in Rajasthan, there was a prominent blade tool industry at Ahar levels at Kayatha. One of the unique features of the Ahar culture in central India are the terracottas. The animal terracottas mostly consist of naturalistic or stylized bull figurines, made of very fine clay with few impurities, baked at a uniformly high temperature. Many of the figurines have prominent humps and long, pointed horns. There is no decoration on their surface, only nail marks. An interesting find was a pair of short horns on a pedestal. It is possible that such figurines may have had a cultic significance.

People lived in small mud houses with walls made of reed screens, thickly plastered with mud. Sometimes house floors were made of gravel and cobble, rammed in hard, compact clay. At Kayatha, there is evidence of a large-scale fire towards the end of the Ahar phase.

The Malwa culture

The Ahar culture phase was followed by the Malwa culture. Navdatoli (west Nimar district), on the southern banks of the Narmada, is the largest settlement of this culture. Calibrated dates for the beginning of the settlement are in the range of 2000–1750 BCE. Other important sites are Maheshwar (Nimar district), Nagda (Ujjain district), and Eran (Sagar district). The cultural sequence at the recently excavated site of Chichali (Khargaon district, MP) consists of Ahar, Malwa, Jorwe, and early historical levels.

The typical Malwa pottery has a somewhat coarse core and a thick buff or orange slip. Designs were painted on in black or dark brown, usually just on the upper part of the pots. The pottery includes lotas, concave-sided bowls, channel-spouted bowls, and pedestalled goblets. Malwa ware is exceptionally rich in form and designs. Over 600 different kinds of motifs occur on the pots, mostly geometric, but some naturalistic. Plants, animals, and even humans are painted on the pots. There are representations of the blackbuck, bull, deer, peacock, pig, tiger, panther, fox, tortoise, crocodile, and insects.

Navdatoli does not show any signs of planning; the houses were built haphazardly, with lanes in between. People lived in circular or oblong wattle-and-daub houses with floors plastered with lime. Houses had wooden posts all around to support a roof that was probably conical. The walls were low; sometimes there was no wall, the sloping sides of the roof coming down to ground level. Mud was often plastered over screens of split bamboo. The diameter of the circular houses ranged from 1 to 4.5 m. The rectangular houses were 5–6 m long. Chulhas and storage jars were found in houses. At Nagda, on the banks of the Chambal, there was evidence of the use of mud-brick. At Eran, there was a massive mud fortification wall and a moat.

More artefacts of stone than copper are found at Malwa culture sites, probably because of the scarcity of copper. There are lots of stone blades. Over 23,000 microliths were found in the Navdatoli excavations (Sankalia et al., 1958), most of them made of chalcedony, but a few also made of carnelian, agate, jasper, and quartz. The fact that all the tool types were evenly distributed in all layers and areas of the site suggests that every household in Navdatoli made its own tools. Some tools were hafted, others hand-held. Stone artefacts included saddle querns, rubbers, hammer stones, and mace heads or weights. Copper artefacts included flat axes, wire rings, beads, bangles, fishhooks, chisels, nail parers, thick pins, and a broken mid-ribbed sword. The axes had round indentation marks, similar to those found at Ganesh-war. An analysis of some of the copper objects revealed tin and lead alloying. Navdatoli also yielded beads of steatite, terracotta, faience, agate, amazonite, carnelian, chalcedony, glass, jasper, lapis lazuli, and shell. There were terracotta animal figurines and spindle whorls. Plant remains included wheat, barley, linseed, black gram, moong, lentil, anwala, ber, and khesari. Rice was found in the later levels. The faunal remains comprised bones of wild deer and domesticated cattle, sheep, goat, and pig.

MAP 5.4 MAJOR CHALCOLITHIC SITES IN MALWA AND THE DECCAN

Excavations at Malwa culture sites yielded some remains of religious or ritualistic activity. At Navdatoli, a 2.3 × 1.92 × 1.35 m pit was dug into the middle of the floor of a house of the earliest occupational phase. The sides and base of the pit were plastered with mud. Wood was found inside, and there were charred wooden posts at its four corners. This pit can be identified as a fire altar where sacrifices were performed. Another interesting discovery at Navdatoli was a huge storage jar decorated with a female figure (a goddess? a worshipper?) on the right, a lizard or alligator on the left, and what looks like a shrine in between. The shrine seems to have been associated with the lizard. There were four such shrines on the four sides, and the shoulder of the jar was ornamented with appliqué patterns. On the other side of the jar was a shrine with a tortoise to its left (the figure on the right cannot be made out). It can be noted that a shell amulet in the shape of a tortoise was found at Malwa culture levels at Prakash (in Maharashtra). A standing human figure with dishevelled hair on a fragmentary channel-spouted bowl found at Navdatoli is identified by some scholars as a proto-Rudra.

Mention may also be made of the bull figurines found at some Malwa culture sites. The evidence from Dangwada suggests the worship of bulls, trees, snakes, and female deities, and there are fire altars where sacrifices were probably performed. Malwa culture sites have given evidence of burials within houses. At Azadpur near Indore, there was a child burial under a house floor. The body was laid in a north–west orientation, with the feet cut off after death. A serrated blade and a small terracotta tablet were placed below the head, and a stone to its right.

THE CHALCOLITHIC FARMERS OF THE DECCAN

The late Harappan and Malwa cultures

Discoveries at Daimabad suggest that the late Harappan culture extended into the Dec-can. Elsewhere in this region, the general chalcolithic cultural sequence consists of the Savalda culture, followed by the Malwa and Jorwe cultures (Dhavalikar, 1979b). The Savalda culture was discussed in (< />)Chapter 3. Here, we will look at the late Harappan phase, and more so at the Malwa and Jorwe cultures, with special reference to the sites of Daimabad and Inamgaon. The detailed excavation reports for both these sites provide an exceptionally detailed range of information about the lives of the early chalcolithic farmers of the Deccan.

As mentioned earlier, the Malwa culture spread from central India to the Deccan. The main concentration of sites in the Deccan was in the Tapi valley, with fewer settlements in the Pravara– Godavari and Bhima valleys. The Malwa ware of the Deccan is a little different from that of central India. The fabric is fine, not gritty and unevenly baked, and the pots were uniformly fired at high temperatures. The typical forms are deep bowls and spouted vessels with flaring mouths (the latter are not found in central India). A coarse handmade red or grey ware, similar to that of the southern neolithic, was also used. Important Malwa culture sites include Daimabad, Inamgaon, and Prakash.

Daimabad (Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra) is a deserted village on the banks of the Pravara, a tributary of the Godavari. It was excavated during 1976–79 by an Archaeological Survey of India team under the direction of S. A. Sali. This important site has a long, well-documented chalcolithic sequence. Period I (before 2300/2200 BCE) belongs to the Savalda culture, Period II (2300/2200– 1800 BCE) is late Harappan, Period III (1800–1600 BCE) has been labelled the ‘Daimabad culture’, Period IV (1600–1400 BCE) represents the Malwa culture, and Period V (1400–1000 BCE) the Jorwe culture (Sali, 1986).

BONE KNIFE, DAIMABAD

In Daimabad Period II (late Harappan), the size of the settlement increased to about 20 ha. The houses were arranged on either side of a 30–50 cm thick wall made of black clay. The largest house measured 6.3 × 6 m. There was a grave lined with mud-bricks containing a skeleton laid out in an extended position. The body seems to have been originally covered with reeds of fibrous plants. The main pottery type was a fine red ware with linear and geometric designs painted on in black; the shapes included the dish-on-stand, bowl-on-stand, dishes, and vases. There was also a burnished grey ware, a thick, coarse hand-made ware, and a few specimens of ribbed bichrome and deep red wares. Two button-shaped seals with Harappan writing and four inscribed potsherds were among the singular discoveries. Other artefacts included stone tools such as microlithic blades, stone and terracotta beads, shell bangles, gold beads, and a terracotta measuring scale. The presence of copper slag indicated that copper was smelted locally. The plant remains included millets, gram, and moong —all of which were present in Period I—with horse gram making its appearance for the first time.

POTTERY FROM DIFFERENT PHASES, DAIMABAD

There was a break in occupation for about half a century between the end of Period II at Daimabad and the beginning of Period III, which has been called the ‘Daimabad culture’. The typical pottery of Period III was a black-on-buff/cream ware. Other artefacts included microlithic blades, bone tools, beads, and a single piece of worked elephant tusk. Part of a copper-smelting furnace was found, as were three different types of burials—a pit burial, post-cremation urn burial, and symbolic burial. Hyacinth bean was the new addition to the plant remains.