Vedic Period - The Most Enlightened Period Of Ancient India

 End of Indus Valley Civilization

                               There is no general agreement regarding the breakdown of Harappan urban society. While widely disputed due to a lack of fortifying evidence, scholars have proposed the following principal theories that fall under four headings. The first theory is that environmental changes, such as a shift in climate followed by agricultural devastation, resulted in the abandonment of the civilization. The second theory is that of abrupt natural changes such as floods or droughts, brought about this change. The third theory states the occurrence of an epidemic or a similar disaster. According to this theory, some natural forces compromised the fabric of society and the consequent human intervention led to its complete breakdown. The theory is that of human activities such as invasions, contributed to the abandonment of the Indus Valley cities.

                                According to the invasion theory proposed by Sir Mortimer Wheeler, an Indo-European tribe from Central Asia known as the Aryans invaded the Harappan civilization.  After the collapse, the cities and many distinctively urban traits of the civilization seem to disappear. The successive era, which lasted until about 750 BCE, is called the Post-Harappan or Post-Urban era. The Post-Urban phase is recognizable at Chanhu-daro, Sind province, and other sites. In the Kachchh and Saurashtra regions and eastern Punjab, there is an appearance of smaller settlements.

 The arrival of Aryans in India

                               The Vedic period, or Vedic age, is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India. This is when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas, was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the end of the Indus Valley Civilisation and the second urbanization in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain.

                                  The Vedas, composed in archaic Sanskrit, generally dated between 1500 and 800 BCE, consist of hymns, charms, and ritual observations. They were current among the Indo-European-speaking people known as Aryans, who presumably entered India from the Iranian regions. After the collapse of IVC, groups of Indo-Aryan people moved into north-western India. The Indo-Aryans represented a sub-group that diverged from other tribes at the Andronovo horizon. They migrated via present-day northern Afghanistan to northwest India around 1600 BCE. The migration later led to ethnic and linguistic changes that rippled through the Indian subcontinent.

Routes showing Indo-Aryan migration              

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                                        One theory is that between about 2000 and 1500 BCE, a progressive spread of Indo-Aryan speakers occurred, carrying them much farther into India. This, coinciding with a flourishing cultural interaction between the natives and the settlers, led to a new cultural synthesis. A recent theory put forward by scholars suggests that Aryans did not migrate to India but were an original part of pre-Vedic India. This theory explains the lack of evidence of alleged Aryan conquests and the high degree of continuity between Harappan and Post-Harappan society. Indo-Aryan migration into northern Punjab started soon after the decline of IVC. The Aryan Invasion theory states that this decline was caused by the invasions of violent Aryans who conquered the cities. However, the archeological and genetic data do not support this theory. The Rigved Samhita was composed between 1200-1000 BCE and contains knowledge about the Aryans. The Aryans brought with them distinctive religious traditions and practices. They disrupted the established culture and drove Dravidian- speaking citizens of the Indus civilization southward .Diffusion of this culture and language took place by patron-client systems, which allowed for absorption and assimilation of other groups into this culture.

Rise of Jainism and Buddhism 

                                   Religion in early Indian history did not constitute a monolithic force. The most widespread was the worship of local cult deities. Less popular, especially in the rural areas, were sects of Buddhism and Jainism and the bhakti tradition of Hinduism. Classical Hinduism and more abstract levels of Buddhism and Jainism were also popular. The period between 800 BCE and 200 BCE is considered the developmental period for Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Between this period, the public reconsidered traditional religious practices and beliefs. The Brahmins and the rituals they performed no longer held the same prestige. Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, endorsed by wealthy patronage, provided the base for the initial institutionalization of religion.

                                       Śramaṇa means "one who labors or exerts themselves for some higher or religious purpose". In the Magadha region, the sramana movements (including Jainism and Buddhism) opposed many pre existing societal norms.Several śramaṇa sects existed in India before the 6th century BCE. Buddhism and Jainism eventually emerged from these as sectarian manifestations. These were not direct outgrowths of Vedism, but movements with mutual connections with Brahmanical traditions, reflecting the cosmology and anthropology of a pre-Aryan upper class of northeastern India.

Economic, Political and Social life

    Social:

                                     While Vedic society was relatively egalitarian, the Vedic period also saw the emergence of a hierarchy of social classes. It was a period of transition from nomadic pastoralism to settled villages. Verses of the Rigveda indicate the existence of social mobility and the lack of a strict social system. Women enjoyed a respectable status in society. The clans assembled for ritual actions and other events. 

                                     The emergence of monarchy in the later Vedic age meant a new social hierarchy that emphasized the importance of certain varnas and relayed lesser positions to other varnas. The people were now divided into different varnas or castes and had certain functionalities. The relations between family members were scrutinized and the women were relegated to subordinate and docile roles. By 500 BCE, the state was emerging as a new feature.

Chaturvarna System in Vedic Age

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Political organization:

                                              Early Vedic Aryans were organized into tribes rather than kingdoms. The chief of a tribe was called a rajan. The rajan had tribal councils called Sabha and Samiti that were responsible for the governance of the society. The rajan had a rudimentary court and his chief responsibility was to protect the tribe.

                                                  In the later Vedic period, the tribes had established small kingdoms. The Śrauta rituals created by the kings aimed to strengthen the emerging social hierarchy. Hereditary kingship had started emerging; there was no organized system of taxation. By the end of the Vedic age, political systems such as monarchical and oligarchical states had emerged. The period of the Upanishads was contemporaneous with a new wave of state formations. Linked to the beginning of urbanization in the Ganges Valley, along with the growth of population and trade networks, these social and economic changes put pressure on older ways of life, setting the stage for the Upanishads and the subsequent sramana movements, and the end of the Vedic Period, which was followed by the Mahajanapada period.

Economy:

                                        The economy in the Vedic period was dependent mainly on agriculture. War bounty was also a source of wealth. Cattle was a unit of currency, while coins are not mentioned in the Vedas. The transition of Vedic society from semi-nomadic life to settled agriculture led to an increase in trade and competition for resources. Agriculture dominated the economic activity along the Ganges valley during this period. Agricultural operations grew in complexity and. usage of iron implements increased. New crafts and occupations such as carpentry, leatherwork, tanning, and pottery arose. Individual property owners did not exist and clans enjoyed rights over lands and herds. The technology of iron and the migration into the Ganges valley helped in stabilizing agriculture and settlements. By the mid-1st millennium BCE, the second urbanization was underway.

 Iron implements from Vedic Age

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Formation of Mahajanapada :

                                           The end of the Vedic period marks many linguistic, cultural, and political changes. In the Kosala-Magadha region, the sramana movements were at an infraction with the pre-existing social norms. The sramana culture arose in "Greater Magadha," and it rejected Vedic authority. By the 6th century BCE, the political units consolidated into large kingdoms called Mahajanapadas. Urbanization had begun in these kingdoms, commerce and travel flourished. The Mahājanapadas (great realm) were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics existing in Northern India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE.  Two of the Mahājanapadas were probably oligarchic republics and others had forms of monarchy. Sixteen great kingdoms and republics had developed and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. The newly formed states struggled for supremacy and started displaying imperial ambitions.

                                      The northwest region of the Indian subcontinent was divided into several Janapadas, separated from each other by boundaries. Each of these Janapadas was named after the Kshatriya people who had settled therein. A few of these mahajanapadas, such as Gandhara, Kamboja, Kuru-Pancala, Matsya, Kashi, and Koshala, continued from the earlier period and are mentioned in Vedic literature.

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Significance of Vedic age : 

                                      The Vedic period is when the Vedic literature, includes the Vedas was composed in northern India sub-continent. The Vedas are the sacred texts which formed the basis of the beliefs which developed in the Kuru Kingdom. The Vedas contains details of the life during this period and are primary sources for understanding the period. The Vedic society was patriarchial and patrilineal. Early Indo-Aryans were a late bronze age society, organized into tribes and primarily supported by a pastoral way of life. Around 1200-1000 BCE, Iron tools were adopted and they shifted to an agricultural society.

                                

                                              Hinduism is regarded as a fusion or synthesis of the Vedic age orthopraxy with various Indian cultures, having diverse roots and no specific founder. The Vedic tradition formed one of the main constituents of the "Hindu synthesis". Practices like Yoga and Vedanta acknowledge the authority of the Vedas but interpret the Vedic pantheon as a unitary view of the universe with God seen as immanent and transcendent in the forms of Ishvara and Brahma. The two Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are generally attributed to this period.

                                               The second half of the Vedic period was characterized by the emergence of towns, kingdoms, and a complex social structure distinctive to India. During this time, the central Ganges Plain was dominated by a non-Vedic Indo-Aryan culture of Greater Magadha. The end of the Vedic period witnessed the rise of urban cities and large states (called mahajanapadas) as well as śramaṇa movements (including Jainism and Buddhism) that challenged the Vedic orthodoxy.

Rise of urban centers and trade routes:

                    

                                            The Vedic period was a period where agriculture, metal, commodity production and trade greatly expanded. The transition from semi-nomadic to settled agriculture and the development of iron axes and plows enabled an agricultural expansion that led to increased commerce. The Indo-Aryans cultivated wheat, rice, and barley and implemented new crafts, such as carpentry, leatherwork, tanning, pottery. Economic exchanges were conducted through gift-giving, particularly between kings and priests, and barter using cattle as currency.

                                                  By the 5th century BCE, rudimentary notions of taxation were the genesis of administration. The technology of iron or Krishna ayas helped in sustaining agriculture and settlements. Some of these settlements along the rivers evolved into towns, essentially as administrative and craft centers. Silver bent bar coins and silver and copper punch-marked coins came into use .One main trade route followed the Ganges River and crossed the Indo-Gangetic watershed and Punjab to Taxila and beyond.  Another route extended from the Ganges valley to the west coast or southward to the Deccan. The route to the Ganges delta became more popular, increasing maritime contact with ports on the eastern coast of India. As the number of artisans and merchants increased, some eventually formed guilds (shrenis). The guild system encouraged specialization of labor and the hereditary principle in professions. . The practice of usury encouraged the activity of financiers and found that investment in trade proved increasingly profitable.The changing economy is evident in the growth of cities and of an urban culture in which such distinctions as Pura (walled settlement), durga (fortified town), nigama (market center), nagara (town), and mahanagara (city) became increasingly important. 

                                                   The ancient education system focused on the holistic development of the individual. The system focused on the moral, physical, spiritual and intellectual aspects of life. The Vedas, Upanishads and Dharmasutras along with the writings of Aryabhata, Panini, Katyayana and Patanjali were sources of learning. Many monasteries were set up which attracted students from China, Korea, Tibet and other ancient countries. As kings took active interest in promoting education, many famous educational centres came into existence. Takshashila, Nalanda, Valabhi, Vikramshila, Odantapuri and Jagaddala became centres of community life in the places where they were situated. Takshashila was a noted centre of learning, including religious teachings of Buddhism, for several centuries. It continued to attract students from around the world until its destruction in the 5th century CE. Temples, Mathas, Jain Basadis and Buddhist Viharas also existed as other sources of learning during this period. 

                        

                                        credits : https://i0.wp.com/selfstudyhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Ancient-Education-Centres.jpg?ssl=1

                                                     In many sources, the Nandas are portrayed as extremely rich and as ruthless collectors of various kinds of taxes. Political activity in the 6th–5th century BCE centered on the control of the Ganges valley. The states battled for this control for a century until Magadha emerged victorious. Magadha had an excellent geographic location controlling the lower Ganges and thus drew revenue from both the fertile plain and the river trade. Access to the delta also brought in lucrative profits from the eastern coastal trade. Above all, nearby rich deposits of iron ore gave Magadha a lead in technology.

Rise of Magadha and Nandas : 

                     

                                           Magadha, an ancient kingdom of India, is situated in what is now west-central Bihar state, in northeastern India. It was the nucleus of several larger empires between the 6th and the 8th centuries CE. The importance of Magadha may be defined by its strategic position in the Ganges River valley, enabling it to control communication and trade on the river. The river provided a link between Magadha and the rich ports in the Ganges delta.

                                                The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE. The founder of the dynasty, Mahapadma, overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty in the Magadha region of eastern India and expanded their empire to include parts of northern India. The Buddhist Jain, and Puranic traditions all state that there were 9 Nanda kings, but the sources disagree on the names of these kings. There is little consensus among the ancient sources regarding the total duration of the Nanda regnal period. 

                                                The Nanda empire appears to have stretched from present-day Punjab to Odisha, with Patliputra as its capital. The Puranas state that the Nanda king Mahapadma destroyed the Kshatriyas and attained undisputed sovereignty. The Nanda empire was an integrated monarchy rather than a group of virtually independent states. Under the Nanda rule, the city of Pataliputra became the abode of the goddess of material prosperity (Lakshmi)and the goddess of learning (Sarasvati). Notable grammarians such as Katyayana, Vararuchi, and Vyadi lived during the Nanda period. The last Nanda king- Dhana Nanda was unpopular among his subjects. The Puranas label the Nandas as 'adharmika' suggesting that they did not follow righteous conduct. The Nanda dynasty was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya, supported by his mentor Chanakya. The accession of Chandragupta Maurya preceded what later became the first pan-Indian empire.

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References :  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Vedic-Period

                      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_period

                      Mahajanapadas - Wikipedia

                      https://www.britannica.com/topic/Post-Harappan-Period

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