(Notes) Civil Services (Prelims) Examination :Indian History - Quick Revision Notes (III)

Civil Services (Prelims) Examination Special
Quick Revision Notes

Indian History

36. The basis of the political and social organisation of the Rig Vedic people was patriarchal family. The successive higher units were styled gram, vis and jan.

37. The Purus and the Tritsus were two of the most famous Rig-Vedic clans. The names of their prominent rulers are recorded in Rik- Samhita.

38. In the Rig-Vedic period the foot soldiers were called Patti and warriors who fought from chariots were called Rathins.

39. The foundation of the political and social structure in the Rig-Vedic age was the family.

40. Visvavara, Ghosha and Apala were some leading women seers of Rig- Vedic times.

41. Agriculture was the principal occupation of the villagers in Rig-Vedic times.

42. The standard unit of value in Vedic period was a cow, but necklets of gold (nishka) also served as a means of exchange.

43. Rik Samgita is a collection of lyrics from early vedic age which consists of hymns in praise of different gods. These are grouped into books termed as ashtakas or mandalas.

44. Rig Vedic people did not possess the art of writing and early literature of Aryans was known to be transmitted orally.

45. The early Vedic religion has been designated by the name of henotheism or kathenotheism (a belief in single gods, each standing out as the highest).

46. Father Dyaus, the shinning god of heaven, and mother Prithvi, the earth goddess, are among the oldest of the vedic deities.

47. The worship of Varuna, the encompassing sky, in the early Vedic age is one of the first roots of the later doctrine of Bhakti.

48. An important characteristic of Vedic mythology is the pre-dominance of the male element. Thus, Vedic civilisation presents a contrast to the prehistoric culture of Indus Valley, where the mother goddess is coequal with her male partner.

49. Sacrifices occupied a  prominent place in Vedic rituals. These included offerings of milk, grain, ghee and juice of the Soma plant.

50. Before the close of the later Vedic period, the Aryans had thoroughly subdued the fertile plains of Yamuna, upper Ganga and the Gandak. The centre of the Aryan world was the areas stretching from Saraswati to the Gangetic plains and occupied by Kurus, the Panchals and some adjoining tribes. It was from this region that Brahmanical civilisation spread to the outer provinces, to the land of the Kosalas and the Kasis drained by the Sarayu and the Varnavati, to the swamps of east of Gandak colonised by the Videhas, and to the valley of Wardha occupied by the Vidarbhas.

51. The Aryan culture was taken to South India by Agastya.

52. Most important tribe of Rigvedic period was the Bharatas, after whom India has been named in the Constitution. The two most important rulers of Bharatas were Divodas and Sudas. Sudas is famous for his victory in the Battle of Ten Kings.

53. The most distinguished among the tribes of later Vedic period were the Kurus and Panchals, with their capitals at Asandivat and Kampila, respectively. 54. Balhika-Pratipiya, Parikshit and Janamejaya were powerful Kuru kings who figure prominently in early epic legends.

55. The reign of Panchals was home to several theologians and philosophers like king Pravahana- Jaivali and sages like Aruni and Svetaketu.

56. The fame of the land of the Panchals as centre of Brahmanical learning was eclipsed by the Videhas, whose king Janak won the title of Samrat. The Videhan monarchy fell shortly before the rise of Buddhism. Its overthrow was followed by the rise of the Vajjian Confederacy.

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