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Hinduism,thetextformsmainsourceofknowledgeof
Aryans.
ThewordAryan does notdenote nameofanyrace or
tribe. As German scholar Max Muller (18231900) has
opined, the term Aryan, in scientific language, is
utterly inapplicable to race. It means language and
nothing but language. In 1786, Sir William Jones on
phoneticsandlinguisticbasisshowedadefiniterelation
between the Vedic Sanskrit and some of the principal
Asian and European languages. On this basis it has
beensurmisedthatthepeoplewhospokethecommon
language and shared the common home, dispersed or
emigratedtovariouspartsoftheworld,includingIndia.
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EarlyVedicPeriod(BC1500BC1000)
OriginoftheAryans
Opinionsdifferregardingtheoriginalhomelandofthe
Aryans. The most accepted view is that the region
betweenPolandtotheCentralAsiamighthavebeenthe
homes of Aryans. They were said to be seminomadic
people, who started moving from their original
homeland towards the west, sough and east. The
branch,whichwenttoEurope,wastheancestorofthe
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EconomicCondition
The Aryans who were seminomadic people also
domesticated animals which helped them in the
activitiesofagricultureandotherpastoralandhunting
acts. Animal rearing was the major economic activity.
However, towards the end of Rigvedic period
agriculture formed the major share of the economy.
Canalstoprovideirrigationwasasignificantfeatureof
this occupation. Coins were unknown and trade was
through the barter system. Craft was not a popular
profession. The lack of good roads might have
hampered trade, but river navigation was existing.
Specialization in areas such as carpentry, smithy,
weaving,poetry,etc.,hadbeentakingplace.
Religion
The religion of the Vedic Aryans was a form of nature
worship. Natural phenomena were conceived as the
expression of some spiritual beings manifestations of
various gods. For the different appearances of the sky
different deities were imagined. However, Indra, the
king of Vedic gods also known as the god of war and
god of thunder, was the most prominent among the
Vedic gods and as many as 250 Rigveda hymns are
contains
philosophic
popularcultsandsuperstitions.
speculations,
Dhanurveda
(war),
Gandharvaveda
(music),etc.
TheVedanta: It is the philosophy taught in most of
theUpanishads.
TheUpanishads:Thesetextscontainthe main idea
that constitutes the intellectual aspect of the Hindu
philosophy. They do not lay emphasis on rites,
ceremonies and austerities. The Upanishads are dated
betweenBC800andBC500.TheUpanishadsaremore
than 100 in number. The Brahadaranyaka Upanishad,
Chandogva Upanishad, Aitreya Upanishad are a few
importantones.TheUpanishadreflecttherichnessand
universality of the Indian culture. They are said to be
thethinkingpoweroftheBrahmanasandKshatriyas.
LaterVedicPeriod(BC1000BC600)
PoliticalCondition
The Rigvedic Aryans were divided into several tribes.
There was frequent internal strife among them. The
weakertribeswereabsorbedintothestrongeronesand
thus the kingdoms and larger areas of residence
emerged.ThepoliticalinfluenceoftheAryansextended
towardstheeastandsouth.TheAryansnowestablished
a powerful kingdom in the Deccan, to the north of the
river Godavari. The mode of succession continued to
hereditary.Theexpansionoftheterritoryalsoresulted
in the increased domination of the king assisted by a
hierarchy of nobility. These nobles were assigned
official duties. Thus an administrative machinery
developed. The king now had a council of advisers
whichincludedthekingsrelatives,hiscourtiers,heads
of various department, The purohita (the priest),
senani(thecommander),thesuta(thecharioteer),etc.,
were the individuals which assisted in the kings
activities. The role of the popular assemblies was
important. A notable feature of this period was the
extinction of the Samiti. The Sabha transformed from
being a popular village assembly, continued as a court
orjudicialassembly.
SocialCondition
The need to perform the ceremonial yajnas required
theservicesofhighlytrainedpriestswhowereskilledin
religious matters, This group came to assume the title
of the Brahmanas. They occupied a high status and
wererespectedandhonoredbytheKing.Theconstant
intertribe fighting for establishing supremacy and
strugglewithtehoriginalinhabitantsgavebrithforthe
needofpersonsskilledinwarfare.Thusarosethenew
classoftheKshatriyas.RemainingpeopleintheAryan
society were called Vaisyas. The group who were not
TheEpics
They are the Ramayana and Mahabharata. They
introduceustoaperiodoftransformationinthesocial
and religious institutions of the Vedic age. The
RamayanawrittenbyValmikiispoeticlegendbasedon
mythology.ItportraystheidealmangodRamaandthe
idealwomenSita.Thesacrificesmadebythecharacters
for the preservation of truth appealed to the people.
ThiswaseditedbytheBrahmanasincourseoftimeto
convert it into a book of devotion. The Mahabharata,
which consists of 18 purvas (sections), contains about
1,00,000 verses. This is an encyclopedia of history,
moralsandreligion.
Puranas
Thesearelegendsconnectedwithepicsandlawbooks.
Thereare18mainPurnasandaremostlyrecognizedin
North India. The Visbnu Purnana treats five subjects
namely primary creations, secondary creations,
genealogies of gods and pattiarch reigns of various
manus and history of ancient dynasties. The
VayupuranaisoneoftheoldestPuranas.Itwasedited
duringtheageofGuptaswhentherewasagreatrevival
of the Sanskrit language. The other Puranas include
MatsyaandBrahmandawhichgiveusaccountofkings
up to the imperial Gupta dynasty with other
contemporaries.
LawsofManu
Also known as Manyu Dbaramshasta in Sanskrit, it
comprises of 2,684 couplets arranged in twelve
chapters. It is the earliest of law books. The laws of
Manu from the foundation of the court of law in India
under the name of Hindu Law. The book makes a
distinctionbetweenvarnasandjatis.Thevarnaswere
in the order of the occupations pursued by the people.
Thiswasgivenasbelow,
thelearnedliterateandpriestlyorder
thefightingorthegoverningclass
thetradingandagriculturalgroup
thecommonfolk,labourers
RiversAndTheirVedicNames
ModernName
VedicName
Indus
Sindhu
GhaggarHakra
Saraswati
Sutlej
Shatudri
Beas
Vipasha
Jhelum
Vitasta
Ravi
Parushni
Chenab
Ashikni
Kabul
Kubha
Kurram
Krumu
Gomal
Gomati
Gandak
Sadanitra
Swat
Suvastu
Chautang
Drishavati
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