Rigvedic Period - l500-l000B.C

Later Vedic Period - 1000-600B.C

VEDIC PERIOD (IMPORTANT TERMS)

• Akratuh — People who had no faith in rituals.
• Anas — People who didn’t have prominent nose
• Apah — Water
• Brahmin — Rituals
• Dam - House
• Dunitri — daughter
• Gana - Tribal militia
• Gavisti — war
• Godhara — guest
• Godhuli—evening
• Gomat — a wealthy person
• Gopa (Janasya) — the ruler
• Gorasa-milk
• Gosthi — meeting
• Gotra- Cow pen
• Gvayuti — measurement of distance
• Mridhvaka — who were not adept in Vedic language
• Panch Char Sanyah — Five wandering tribes.
• Pani—people having cattle wealth (traders)
• Parjanya — cloud
• Purodasa — Materials used in Yajana
• Rayi — Cattle wealth
• Sadam - House
• Sala — House
• Sardha — Tribal militia
• Sisandeva—Wroshippers of phallus symbol.
• Vayadh — Costumes of a bride.
• Vesmin — House
• Vrata — people who hadnot a well established marriage system or who had incestuous relation.
• Vrata - Tribal militia

Vedic Geography:

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Vedas and their branches:

Rigveda:

Mandalas — Poets/Drasta

1. Mandla - Gritsamada
2. Mandla — Viswamiitra (Mandalas from, II to VII are called Family Text.)
3. Mandla - Vamdeo
4. Mandla — Atri
5. Mandla— Bharadvaj
6. Mandla —. Vasistha
7. Mandla — Kand & Angirasa

The Word Arya means civilized one.

1 & 10 Mandalas were added later on.

References & Evidences,

Vedic Literature:

The Vedas

1. Veda means “to know”.
2. Called “apaurusheya” meaning not created by human beings that means divine.
3. Known as “Shruti” meaning to hear. These have been passed on from one generation to another through verbal transission.
4. They are four in number, (Rig, Sam Yajur and Aharva)
5. They are collection of hymns, prayers, charms and sacrificial formulae.
6. The “rishis” to whom these books are ascribed are known as “Mantradrashta” meaning enlightened saints who received the hymns directly from the supreme creator.

Literary
Archaeological
Foreign Account
Literary Sources

Proto Historic Period : Harappan Script was ideographic, but has not deciphered.
On the fortification wall of the recently excavated city Dholavira depiction of Harappan pictographs have been found which is the oldest sinage of the world.

Vedic Literature:

• Veda means knowledge
• Vedic literature includes all the four Vedas, Brahmnas, Aryankas and Upanishadas.
• Rigveda is the earliest Veda
• Rig means hymns.
• Rigveda is divided into 10 mandalas.
• Mandalas are further divided in to Astakas and Suktas.
• Rigvedas comprises 1028 hymns.
• Total hymns is all vedas are 20,000.
• The last 11 hymns are known Balakhilya (second to seventh mandala are known as Family Text) which are considered as the oldest part of Rigveda.
• Third mandala of Rigveda comprises Gaytri Mantra, composed by Viswamitra.
• Gaytri Mantra is dedicated to savitur who was deity of Sun family.
• Fourth Mandala consists of references of agricultural work.
• Sixth mandala depicts the word Haryupia which has been related with Harappa.
• Ninth mandala is dedicated to soma.
• First type Krishna's description has been found in Chandogya Upnishad.
• Tenth mandala (Purusha Sukta) describes

About the four varnas known as Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and sudra.

• Samanean ‘to Sing’.
• Except 78 hymns all the other hymns of this Veda have been taken from Rigveda.
• Yajurveda is an elaborate elucidation of rituals.
• Krishan-yajurveda comprises description in prose.
• Atharvveda is related with some non-Aryan traditions like magical charm and spell.
• Brahman literature is descriptive detail about Sacrament, sacrifices and different rites and rituals.
• Aitreya and Kausitaki Brahman are related with Rigveda.
• Satpath Brahmn related with Yajurveda describes about Aryans extention in the Ganget c valley.
• Rituals related with agriculture have- been also described in it.
• Aryankas are philosophical in content.
• Philosophy about the unity of Atma and Parniatma has been described in Upanishadas.
• Upanishadas are called Vedanta.
• Total number of Upanishadas is 108. But According to Sankaracharya number of Upanishadas is 16.
• Katha upnishad describes the story yama and Nachiketa.
• Upanisbadas mainly revolves around South and Brahma.
• Mandukopanished of Atharva Veda depicts satyamev Jayte.
• Rigveda, Samveda and Yayurveda are collectively called Trayee.

Vedang Literature:

1. Sikha (Phonetics) - Yaska is the first known writer on Sikha.
2. Kalpa - (Rituals) - There are three Sutras Dharma, Sraut and Grihya.

• Sulva Sutra describes about geometry
• Nirukta (Elymology)
• Chhanda (Metre) - Pingal was the greatest author on Chhanda Shastra.
• Vyakaran (Grammer) - Panini wrote Astadhyayi, Katyayan Vartika and Patanjali- Mahabhasya.
• Jyotisha (Astrology) - No particular book on Vedanga Jyotitha is available

Great Epics:

1. Ramayan : Elucidation of social ideals of ancient Indian Society.

• 24000, Salokas
• Poet - Valmiki (He is called Adikavi)
• Valmiki for first time used the world Sanskrit as nomenclature of the literary language which was earlier known as Bhasa.

2. Mababharta: Political thought of ancient India can be understood on the basis of this epic.

• 10,0000 slokas (It is called Satsahasri Sainhita and also Pancharu Veda.
• Geeta is a part of Bhisma Parva.
• Harivanshapuran of Mahabharat comprises genealogy of the rulers.

Smirti Literature:

1. Manu Smriti is the earliest smriti.

• It was compiled during the period of Kanava ruler.
• It calls foreign rulers Adham kula Kshatriya.
• It criticises violation of varnasharma order.
• According to it Niyog is Kalivaijya means strictly restricted in kali era.

2. Yajnalkya smriti - first described about the origin of Kaysthas.

3. Narad smriti - describes about rituals related with manumission of seth.

4. Parasar smriti - describes about a number or classes of Brahmanas especially rich class of  land owning Brahmanas who were against accepting alms.

Puranas:

Puranas have five important features.

1. Sarg
2. Pratisarg
3. Vansa
4. Manvantar
5. Varsanucharit

• Vansanucharit means geneology
• Vayu puran mentions about geography of Indian culture and about prominent Indian dynasties like Nanda, Maurya, Sunga, Satvahana and Gupta.
• Srimad bhagvat purana is the. greatest puran in respect to Bhakti cult.
• Vayu and Vishnu Puran mention India's geography.
• Vishnu dharmottara puran depicts about wall paintings and iconometry. 

Technical and Scientific Literature

Avurveda:

• Ashwini Kumars. were physicians of the celestial world who got the knowledge of Ayurveda from Brahma.
• Dhanvantri is considered as father of Ayurveda system.
• Athraveda gives first hand information about Ayurveda.
• Charaka who belonged to kushana period wrote charak samihta.
• Shshurut wrote Shrshrut Samhita which also mentions about surgical operation.
• Vagbhata wrote Astang thidya which mentions about eight major organs of human body.

Salient Features:

1. Urban Civilisation
2. Bronze Age Civilisation (Flourished during Circa 2500-2000 B.C.)
3. The largest Civilisation in geographical area of the ancient world.
4. Town-planning and well developed drainage system.
5. Gridiron layout and fortification.

Origin:

1. Origin lies in various indigenous Pre-Harappan cultures.
2. Indus Civilisation was culmination of a long series of cultural evolution.
3. Emerged out of the farming communities of Sind and Baluchistan, Haryana Oujarat and Rajasthan.
4. Continuous cultural evolution from 6000 BC onwards in North West India which finally culminated in the rise of Indus Civilisation.

Phases of Development:

1. Archaeological excavation & research have revealed phases of cultural development bursting up in the emergence of a full-fledged civilization at Kalibangan, Banavali and Rakhigarhi.
2. Began in Baluchistan & Sind are then extended into the plains.
3. These phases are Pre-Harappan, Early Harappan, Mature Harappan and Late Harappan
4. Extent of Harrappa:- From in North Manda (J & K) to 1600 k.m Daimabad (Maharastra.) in East Alamgirpur (U.P.) to 1100 K.m Sutkangedor (Bluchistan). Total Area was 12,99,600 Sq. k.m.
5. These phases of cultural evolution are represented by Mehargarh, Amri, Kalibangan and Lothal respectively.

Different Phases and Transformation:

• Pre-Harappan - Mehargarh - nomadic herdsrnen to settled agriculture
• Early Harappan - Amri - growth of large villages and towns
• Mature Harappan - Kalibangan - rise of great cities
• Late Harappan - Lothal mature as well as decling phase.

Town planning:

Facts on Town Planning

1. Features of Town Planning

• A great uniformity in town planning, the fundamental lay-out of prominent urban settlements exhibits apparent similarities.

• Based on ‘Grid Pattern’: streets and lanes cutting across one another at right angles dividing the city into a number of rectangular blocks. Main streets ran from north to south and were as wide as 30 feet.Streets and lanses were not paved.

2. Entire city complex was bifurcated into two distinct parts: the ‘CITADEL’ a fortified area which housed important civic and religious public buildings including granaries and residences of the ruling class and the ‘LOWER TOWN’, somewhat bigger in area and invariably located east to the former, meant. for commoners. Evidence of fortification of the lower towns as well from a few urban centres like Surkotada and Kalibangan and evidence of division of the city into three parts instead of two from Dhaulvira.

3. Use of standardized burnt bricks on massive scale in almost all types of constructions (an extraordinary feature of the contemporary civilizations), circular stones were used at Dholavira.

4. Elaborate andplanned underground drainage system. Houses were connected to the main drain equipped with manholes. Mostly made up of bricks with mud mortar. Use of gypsum and lime to make it watertight. Cesspits were there inside the houses to deposit solid waste. Bricks culverts meant for carrying rain and storm water have also been found. Bricks were made in ratio of I 2 4. Size of Bricks - 7 C.m in Thick,

• - 14 C.m Width
• - 28 C.m Long.

5. Features of Houses

• Houses were plain and did not exhibit, any refinement and beauty. So far as the decorative value of the houses was concerned, they lacked it. In general they gave plain and un-decorative look.

• An average house comprised a courtyard and four to six rooms, a bedrooms, a kitchen, and a well presence of staircase gives indication of the second storey. Houses had side-entrances and windows were conspicuously absent. Except Lothal, where enterance were on main road and windows were found.

• Houses varied from a single-roomed tenements to houses with a number of rooms and having even a second storey. Floors were generally of beaten earth coated with cowdung. Fire-places were common in rooms. Walls were thick and square holes in them suggest of use of wooden beams. Every house was separated by another by a narrow space of ‘no-man’s land’. Staircases  were usually wooden but some made up of burnt bricks have been found too. Roofs were flat. Doors were set in wooden frames and the average width of a door was one metre. Square and rectangular pillars of burnt bricks were used in larger rooms, round pillars were absent. Kitchen was small in size. A round oven meant for baking chappatis has been found.

Art and Craft:

Pottery

1. Mainly two types Plain pottery and Red and Black Pottery with decoration, the majority being the former.
2. Widespread use of potter’s wheel made up of wood, use of firing technique, use of kiln.

3. Variety of Pleasing Design — Horizontal strips, Check, Chess-Board Pattern, Interesecting Circles (Pattern exclusively found), Leaves & Petals, Natural Motif — Birds, Fish, Animals, Plants, Human Figure — Rare (A Man & A Child found from Harappa), Triangles.

4. Pottery had plain bases. Few ring bases have been found.
5. Mainly famous colour of pot was pink. General design was on the red base horizontally black line on pots.

Seals

1. Seals are the greatest artistic creation of the Harappan people — cutting &polishing craftmanship is excellent.
2. No of seals discovered is approx. 2000
3. Made of steatite (Soft stone), Sometimes of Copper, Shell, Agate, Ivory, Faience, Terracotta.
4. Size— 4 inch to 2Y2 inch.
5. Shape — Square, Rectangular, Button, Cubical, Cylinder, Round
6. Two main types:-
   Square — carved animal & inscription, small boss at the back.
   Rectangular— inscription only, hold on the back to take a cord.
7. Colour — White appearance. Famous colour of seal was green.
8. Displays symbols - Circles, Crosses, Dots, Swastiks, Leaves of the Pipal tree.
9. Most frequently depicted animal - Unicorn
10. Other animals : Elephant, Tiger, Rhino, Antelope, Crocodile.
11. No bird were depicted on Harappan seal.
12. Purpose: Marked ownership of property. Used in applying to bales of merchandise. (Discovery of such seals beside the dockyard of Lothal).
13. Pashupati Seal has been found from Mohanjodaro. It depicts Siva seated on a stool flanked by an elephant, a tiger, a. rhinocerous, a buffalo and two antelopes / goats. Marshall identified it with Proto — Siva.
14.  ‘Persian Gulf Seals’ have been discovered from Lothal.

Technical Achievements:

• Lost-Wax technique, used for making bronze images.
• English Bond method-Bonding system for bricks.
• Flemish Bond method-used for making staircases.
• Kiln Bricks — Evidence of Kiln has been  found at Rakhigarhi
• Water Harvesting System—Dholaveera
• For small measurement binary system and for big measurement decimal system were used in Harappa.

Findings and Evidences

1. Cemeteries ‘H’ & ‘R 37’                                             Harappa
2. Furrow mark                                                               Kalibangan
3. City divided into three parts                                         Dholvira
4. Fragment of Woven cloth                                            Mohanjodaro
5. City without a citadal                                                  Chanhudaro
6. Small pot (Probably an ink-pot)                                  Chanhudaro
7. Cities where lower towns were fortified                      Kalibangan &  Surkotada
8. Cities having both proto—Harappan and mature
Harappan evidences and 
Harappan Cultural Phases                                             Kalibangan & Banwali
9. Dockyard                                                                 Lothal
10. Evidence of Rice                                                     Rangpur & Lothal
11. Evidence of Coffin Burial                                         Lothal
12. Remains of Bones of Horse                                     Surkotada
13. Fire altars                                                                Kalibangan, Banarvali, Lothal and Rakhigarhi
14. Terracotta Models of ships/ boats                            Lothal
15. Temple— like structure                                            Mohanjodaro
16. Human skeletons huddled together indicating
violent death/massacre                                                    Mohanjodaro
17. Houses having front entrances                                   Lothal
18. Bronze rod/stick with measure marks                        Lothal
19. Single — roomed barracks                                      Harappa
20. Bronze models of’ikkas’                                          Harappa, Chandudaro
and ‘bullock-carts’
21. Pasupati Mahadev seal
(As said by John Marshall)                                             Mohanjodaro
22. Medical Beliefs, surgery of                                       Lothal & skull Kalibangan
23. Seal depicting Mother                                              Mohanjodaro
Goddess with a plant growing from her womb
24. Painting on a jar resembling the story of the
cunning fox of panchtantra                                              Lothal