The Vedic Age

4.1 Early Vedic (Rig Vedic) Period — c. 1500–1000 BCE

• The Indo-Aryans are believed to have entered India through the northwest passes and settled initially in the region called Sapta Sindhu (land of seven rivers) in present-day Punjab.
• Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas, a collection of 1,028 hymns (suktas) in 10 mandalas, composed in archaic Sanskrit. Mandalas 2–7 are considered the oldest (family books); Mandalas 1 and 10 are later additions. The Gayatri Mantra is found in Mandala 3, addressed to Savitri.
• Political organisation was tribal: the basic unit was the kula (family), several kulas formed a grama, several gramas a vish, and several vish a jana (tribe). The rajan (chief) was often elected/selected and assisted by tribal assemblies sabha and samiti.
• Society was largely pastoral; cattle (gau) was the chief form of wealth, and wars (called gavishthi, "search for cows") were common. The Battle of Ten Kings (Dasarajna) was fought on the river Parushni (Ravi) between King Sudas of the Bharata tribe and a confederacy of ten tribes — described in Mandala 7.
• Social stratification was still fluid; varna was not yet strictly hereditary. Women enjoyed relatively higher status; participated in assemblies; there were women poets like Ghosha, Lopamudra, and Apala.
• Chief deities: Indra (god of war and rain, most hymns dedicated to him), Agni (fire, second most hymns), Varuna (cosmic order/rita), Soma (a plant deity, also a ritual drink), Surya, Ushas.

4.2 Later Vedic Period — c. 1000–600 BCE

• Composition of the Samaveda (liturgical chants, source of Indian classical music), Yajurveda (sacrificial formulae, in prose and verse; has Shukla/White and Krishna/Black recensions), and Atharvaveda (spells, charms, folk traditions — attributed to sage Atharvan).
• Also composed: Brahmanas (ritual explanations attached to each Veda), Aranyakas ("forest texts," transition to philosophy), and Upanishads (philosophical texts, over 200 known, foundational to Vedanta — key concepts: Brahman, Atman, karma, moksha, rebirth).
• The centre of Aryan civilization shifted eastward to the Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
• Iron came into use (referred to as "shyama ayas" or "krishna ayas," black metal) — enabled clearing of forests and expansion of agriculture; rice cultivation became prominent.
• The varna system became more rigid and hereditary: Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors/rulers), Vaishya (traders/agriculturists), and Shudra (service providers) — the Purusha Sukta of the Rigveda (Mandala 10) is the earliest textual reference to the fourfold varna origin myth.
• Political institutions became more centralised; kingship became hereditary; larger kingdoms (janapadas) emerged; new taxes like bali (voluntary gift that became compulsory tribute) appeared. Sabha and Samiti continued but with declining influence of common people; new assemblies included Vidatha.
• Important rituals: Rajasuya (royal consecration), Ashvamedha (horse sacrifice, asserting sovereignty), Vajapeya (chariot race).
• The status of women declined relative to the early Vedic period; child marriage and restrictions increased in later law-book traditions.