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LATER VEDIC ARYANS:
1. Geographical area:
• The later vedic Aryans expanded from Punjab over the whole of western Uttar Pradesh covered by the Ganga-Yamuna doab.
• They entered the dense forests of the eastern region, cleared them and reached the modern day Bihar.
2. Polity:
• The political system of the later vedic Aryans shifted towards monarchy.
• The king now ruled over an area of land called Janapada.
• The king started maintaining army and the bureaucracy also got developed.
• The kingship was being given the status of divine origin. There was also emerging the concept of king of kings. Expressions like adhiraja, rajadhiraja, samrat and ekrat are used in most of texts.
• Atharvaveda defines ekrat to be the paramount sovereign.
• The vidatha completely disappeared. However the sabha and samiti continued to hold ground.
• Women were no longer permitted to sit in the sabha and it was now dominated by nobles and Brahmans.
• King performed the rajasuya sacrifice which was supposed to confer supreme power on him.
• He performed the ashvamedha sacrifice which meant unquestioned control over an area in which the royal horse ran uninterrupted.
• He also performed vajapeya sacrifice or chariot race, in which the royal chariot was made to win the race against his kinsmen.
• He started asking for tax which were deposited with an officer. The Sangrihita.
3. Economy:
• Agriculture became primary occupation in later vedic times, though cattle rearing continued as secondary occupation.
• Shatapatha Brahmana speaks at length about the ploughing rituals.
• Rice (vrihi) and wheat (Godhuma) became the chief crops of the later vedic aryans, though they continued to produce barley (yava).
• Few agricultural tools made of iron were used. Later vedic texts speak of six, eight, twelve and even twenty four oxen yoked to the plough.
• The plough was known as sira and the furrow was known as sita.
• Cow dung was used as manure.
• A new metal iron was introduced in the vedic age.
• It was known as shyam ayas and copper was known as lohita ayas.
• Weaving was confined to women but was practised on a wide scale. Leather work, pottery and carpenter’s work made great progress.
• The later vedic people were acquainted with four types of pottery—black and red ware, black slipped ware, painted grey ware.
• The peasants produced enough to maintain themselves and they could also spare a marginal part of their produce for the support of chiefs, princes and priests
• Due to surplus production trading activities developed further. The system of borrowing and lending started in items of commodities only.
• The medium of exchange was the cow and some types of jewellery.
• Atharvaveda mentions that drought and excess rain threatened agriculture.
• Guilds of craftsman came into existence. Shreshthi was the head of guild.
4. Society:
• In later vedic period varna came to be birth based rather than profession based.
• The society came to be divided into four varnas called brahmanas, rajanyas or kshatriyas, vaishyas and shudras.
Occupation Based Four Varnas
Teacher and priests .................. Brahmanas
Rulers, Administrators .............. Kshatriyas
Farmer, Merchant, Bankers ....... Vaishyas
Artisan and Labourers .............. Sudras
Marriage Types:
A. Dharmya
Brahma – Arranged marriage between same classes; No dowry.
Daiva – Father gave his daughter to a sacrificial priest as part of his (priest’s) fee.
Arsa – Token bride price in the form of a cow and a bull was paid to the daughter's father.
Prajapatya – Father gave the girl without dowry and without demanding bride price.
B. Adharmya
Gandharva – A sort of love marriage.
Asura – Marriage by purchase of bride.
Rakshasa – Girl abducted and forced to marry the boy against her wishes.
Paisacha – The modesty of girl was outraged when she was in sleep or was drunk or was mad.
• All the three higher varnas were entitled to upanayana or investiture with the sacred thread according to the vedic mantras.
• The fourth varna (shudra) was deprived of the sacred thread ceremony and the recitation of the gayatri mantra.
• Women were generally given a lower position. They lost their political and religious rights during this period.
• The institution of gotra appeared in later vedic times. Gotra signified descent from a common ancestor. People began to practice gotra exogamy.
• In later vedic period four ashramas came into being viz. brahmachari (student), grihastha (householder), vanaprastha (hermit) and sanyasin (ascetic) who completely renounced the worldly life.
• Incidents of polygamy and child marriage increased as compared to early vedic period.
• Joint families gave way to nuclear families which were male dominated.
5. Religion:
• The two outstanding Rigvedic gods, Indra and Agni lost their former importance.
• The concept of trimurti emerged by which Prajapati (creator), Rudra (god of animals) and Vishnu (preserver and protector) came into being.
• Signs of idolatry appeared in later vedic period.
• Pushan, who was supposed to look after cattle, came to be regarded as the god of the shudras, although in the age of Rigveda cattle rearing was the primary occupation of the Aryans.
• People worshipped gods for the same material reasons in this period as they did in early vedic period.
• Prayers continued to be recited, but they ceased to be the dominant mode for placating the gods. Sacrifices became far more important.
• Sacrifices involved the killing of animals on a large scale and specially the destruction of cattle wealth.
• The brahmanas claimed a monopoly of priestly knowledge and expertise.
• In the later part of later vedic period began a strong reaction against the priestly domination against cults and rituals.
• Around this time the Upanishads were compiled which criticized the rituals and laid stress on the value of right belief and knowledge.
• Upanishads emphasized that the knowledge of the self or atman should be acquired and the relation of atman with brahma should be properly understood.
Hindu Schools of Philosophy:
• Sankhya is the oldest of all six systems of philosophy. It teaches the existence of 25 basic principles (tattva), prakriti (matter) being the first of all the principles. Kapila propounded the system of Sankhya.
• Yoga is probably the best known Hindu philosophical system in the world. Patanjali propounded the system of Yoga.
• The Vaisheshika system is a realistic, analytic and objective philosophy of the world. It classified all the objects under five elements, viz. earth, water, air, fire and ether. Kannada propounded the system of Vaisheshika.
• Nyaya system says salvation is attained through the acquisition of knowledge. Gautama propounded the system of Nyaya.
• Mimansa system recognises Vedas as the final authority in determining the duties of man. It is classified into two groups viz. Purva Mimansa of Jaimini and Uttara Mimansa of Vyasa
Disclaimer:
This content is prepared for educational and informational purposes only. The notes are simplified for better understanding and exam preparation (UPSC and State Exams). Readers are advised to refer to standard textbooks and official sources for detailed study
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