Vedic Culture Flashcards
Introduction
Speakers of Indo-Aryan language, Sanskrit, entered the north-west India from the Indo-Iranian region
Early Vedic Period or Rig Vedic Period (1500 B.C -1000 B.C)
- Aryans confined to the Indus region -Saptasindhu or the land of seven rivers
Later Vedic Period (1000B.C 600 B.C)
Early Vedic Period or Rig Vedic Period (1500 B.C -1000 B.C)
Political organisation
Basic unit Kula(family) - several families together village or grama ( leader gramani) - group of village Visu (leader vishayapati)
- Highest political unit Jana / tribe - leader Rajan/ king
- King assisted by purohita or priest and senani or commander of the army in his administration
- two popular bodies called the Sabha and Samiti
Social life
- Monogamy generally practiced - polygamy prevalent among royal and noble families
- Women were given equal opportunities as men for their spiritual and intellectual development
- women poets like Apala, Viswavara, Ghosa and Lopamudra during
- could even attend the popular assemblies
- no child marriage and the practice of sati was absent
Economic conditions
Main occupation- cattle rearing
Agriculture practiced,other professions - Carpentry, spinning, goldsmith, potters
Religion
Rig Vedic gods were Prithvi (Earth), Agni (Fire), Vayu (Wind), Varuna (Rain) Indra (Thunder)
Later Vedic Period (1000 BC 600 BC)
Political Organization
- Larger kingdoms - Many jana or tribes were amalgamated to form janapadas or rashtras in the later Vedic period
- various rituals and sacrifices - Rajasuya (consecration ceremony), Asvamedha (horse sacrifice) and Vajpeya (chariot race)
Social Life
- The four divisions of society (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras) or the Varna / Vyavastha system established
- Deterioration in the status of women
- Women also lost their political rights of attending assemblies
- Child marriages become common
- Aitreya Brahmana a daughter has been described as a source of misery
Religion
Prajapathi (the creator), Vishnu (the protector) and Rudra (the destroyer) became prominent
Vedic literature
- 4 Vedas
- Other sacred works
Consists of the four Vedas –
- Rig Veda is the earliest of the four Vedas and it consists of 1028 hymns. The hymns were sung in praise of various gods
- Yajur Veda consists of various details of rules to be observed at the time of sacrifice
- Sama Veda is set to tune for the purpose of chanting during sacrifice. It is called the book of chants and the origins of Indian music are traced in it
- Atharva Veda contains details of rituals
Other sacred works
- Brahmanas - treatises relating to prayer and sacrificial ceremony
- Upanishads - philosophical texts dealing with topic like the soul, the absolute, the origin of the world and the mysteries of nature
- Aranyakas - forest books and they deal with mysticism, rites, rituals and sacrifice
- Ramayana author Valmiki
- Mahabharata author Vedavyas
Rise of Magadha and Alexander’s Invasions
- Sixteen Mahajanapadas’ - Anga, Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vajji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena, Asmaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kambhoja
- mid 6th century B.C., only four kingdoms – Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and Magadha
- Vatsa kingdom - on the banks of the river Yamuna - capital was Kausambi near modern Allahabad - popular ruler was Udayana
- Avanti - capital Ujjain - important ruler Pradyota
- Kosala - capital Ayodhya - King Prasenajit important ruler
- Magadha - emerged powerful and prosperous - nerve centre of political activity in north India- strategic position between the upper and lower part of the Gangetic valley- fertile soil- iron ores in the hills near Rajgir and copper and iron deposits near Gaya - centre of the highways of trade
- Rajagriha - capital of Magadha
- Bimbisara (546 - 494 B.C.) - belonged to the Haryanka dynasty
- efficiently reorganized the administration of his kingdom
- contemporary of both Vardhamana Mahavira and Gautama Buddha
- Ajatasatru (494 - 462 B.C.) -remarkable for his military conquests
- he was a follower of Jainism and subsequently embraced Buddhism - said to have met Gautama - instrumental in convening the First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha soon after the death of the Buddha
- immediate successor Udayin - laid the foundation of the new capital at Pataliputra situated at the confluence of the two rivers, the Ganges and the Son
- Magadha was captured by Saisunaga
- successor was Kakavarman or Kalasoka - second Buddhist Council was held at Vaisali
- Kalasoka was killed by the founder of the Nanda dynasty
- Mahapadma Nanda was a powerful ruler of the Nanda dynasty
- last Nanda ruler was Dhana Nanda - oppressive way of tax collection - resented by the people
- Chandragupta Maurya and Kautilya initiated a popular movement against the Nanda rule - during this time that Alexander invaded India.
