Indian History:Civilization-Vedas

Indian History

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Indus Valley Civilisation (2500-1750 BC) :

The earliest excavations in the Indus valley were done at Harappa in the west Punjab and Mohanjadaro in Sindh. Both places are now in Pakistan.

Features of the Harappan Culture-

The Harappan Civilization was primarily Urban.
Mohanjodaro and Harappa were the planned cities.
The large-scale use of bricks in almost all kinds of construction are the important characteristics of Harappan culture.
Another remarkable feature was the underground drainage system connecting all houses to the street drains which were covered by stone slabs or bricks.
The most important public place of Mohanjodaro is the great bath measuring 39 feet length,23 feet breadth and 8 feet depth.
Agriculture was the most important occupation. In the fertile soils,farmers cultivated two crops a year. They were the first who had grown paddy.
Wheat and barley were the main crops grown besides sesame, mustard and cotton.
Animals like sheep ,goats and buffalo were domesticated. The use of horse is not yet firmly established.
Bronze and copper vessels are the outstanding examples of the Harappan metal craft.
Alare number of seals numbering more than 2000 have been discovered.

Social Life-

Jewelries such as bangles,bracelets,fillets,girdles, anklets,ear-rings and finger rings were worn by women.These ornaments were made of gold,silver,copper,bronze and semi precious stones.
Fishing was a regular occupation while hunting and bull fighting were other pastimes.
Manufacture of terracotta (burnt clay) was a major industry of the people.
Figures of animals such as sacred bull and dove were discovered.The figures of mother goddesses were used for religious purposes.
Most of the inscriptions were engraved on seals. It is interesting script has not yet been deciphered.
The pipal tree was used as a religious symbol.
The origin of the "Swastika" symbol can be traced to the Harrapan civilization.
The chief male deity was Pasupati,(proto-Siva) represented in seals as sitting in a yogic posture with three faces and two horns.

The Vedic Period

Rig Vedic Age (1500-1000 B.C) :

The early vedic period is known from the rig veda
The rig Veda refers to saptasindhu or the land of seven rivers.This includes the five rivers of the Punjab,namely,Jhelum,Chenab,Ravi,Beas and Sutlej along with the Indus and Saraswathi.
Historians view that the Aryans came from central Asia. They entered India through the Khyber pass between 2000 B.C and 1500 B.C.They first settled in seven places in the Punjab region which they called Sapta Sindhu. Slowly ,they moved towards the gangetic valley.
The Aryan Civilization was a rural civilization.

Vedic : The word "veda" is derived from the root 'vid', which means to know and signifies 'superior knowledge'.

The vedic literature consist of the four vedas- Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva.
The rig veda is the earlist of the four veda divided into 10 mandalas and it consist of 1028 hymns.The hymns were sung by Hotri in praise of various lords.
The Yajur Veda consist various details of rules to be observed at the time of sacrifice.Its hymns were recited by Adharvayus.
The 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.Its hymns were recited by Udgatri .
The Atharva veda contains details of rituals.
Besides the Vedas, there are other sacred works like Brahmans,the Aranyakas ,the Upanishads,and the epics Ramayana and mahabharata.

Political Organisation

During this period,the kingdom was tribal in character.Each tribe formed a separate kingdom.
The basic unit of political organisation was " kula" or family .
The highest political unit was called "jana" or tribe.
There were several tribal kingdoms during the rig vedic period such as Bharatas,matsyas,yadus and purus. The head of the kingdom was called as rajan or king.
There were two popular bodies called the sabha and samiti.The former seems to have been a council of elders and the latter,a general assembly of the entire people.

Economic condition:

The rig vedic Aryans were pastoral people and their main occupation was cattle rearing.Their wealth was estimated in terms of their cattle.
Carpentry was another important profession.

Religion:

The important rig vedic gods were prithvi(Earth),Agni(Fire),Vayu(wind),varuna(Rain) and Indra(thunder).
Indra was the most popular among during the early vedic period.
There were also female gods like aditi ans Ushas. There were no temples and no idol worship during the early vedic period.

JAINISM AND BUDDHISM

JAINISM :

Jainism originated in 6th century B.C.It rejected vedic religion and avoided its rituals.
Founded by Rishabha Deva. Rishabha Dava was succeeded by thirthankara (prophets).Mahavira was the 24th Thirthankara.

Vardhamana Mahavira(540-468 B.C)

Vardhamana Mahavira was born in a village called Kundagrama near Vaishali in Bihar.
His father was Siddhartha.He was the head of a famous Kshatriya clan.
His mother was Trisala. She was a princess of the Lichchhavi clan.She was the sister of the ruler Vaishali.
Vardhamana was married to Ya-soda,a princess.They had a daughter.
At the age of 30,he left his home and family.He became an ascetic(monk).He wandered from place-to-place in search of truth for 12 years.
In the 13th year of his penance,he attained the highest spiritual knowledge called Kalevala Jnana. Thereafter,he was called Mahavira and Jina. His followers were called Janis and his religion Jainism.
He died at the age of 72 in 468 B.C at a place called Pavapuri near modern Rajgir.

Teachings of Jainism :

The three principles of Jainism, also known as Triratnas (three gems),are:

right faith.
right knowledge
right conduct

Mahavira preached his disciples to follow the five principles.They are:

Ahimsa-not to injure any living beings.
Satya-to speak the truth.
Asteya-not to steal.
Tyag-not to own property.
Brahmacharia-to lead a virtuous life.

Spread of Jainism :

Mahavira preached his religion in Prakrit language which was the language of the masses.
Chandragupta Maurya,Kharavela of Kalinga such as the Gangas,the Kadambas,the Chalukyas and the Rashtrakutas patronized Jainism.
Jainism was divided into two sections after vallabhi council,namely Svetambaras (wearing white dresses) under sthulbhadra and digambaras(naked) under Bhadrabahu.
The first jain council was convened at Pataliputra by sthulabhu,the leader of the Digambaras,in the beginning of the 3rd century B.C.

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