Vedic Period

Vedic Period

1. Intro

   • 1500 - 500 BCE approximately, EVP 1500-1000 BCE LVP 1000-500 BCE
   • based on the Vedas, they were nomads from Europe who came to India
   • JAMISON : "one thing remains significant, the age and importance of Vedic religion"

2. How the IVC came to an end

   • Invasion Theory
     • Aryans came from Europe and invaded the Indus valley and became the hierarchy, aryans worshipped war-like gods like Indra - supports this
     • Zaehner used to subscribe to this theory however even he didn't know when the invasion happened and if it really did
       • ZAEHNER : "we are still reduced to guesswork as to when the Aryans entered India"
     • HOWEVER, this theory was seen to be unlikely as there was little evidence of this found, there were no weaponry or dead bodies with violent deaths, and it was a large region that was taken so would have been hard for them to invade it
   • Migration Theory
     • the idea that over hundreds of years people would have migrated there in groups Basham subscribed to this
     • JAMISON : "many scholars today subscribe to variants of the aryan migration theory"
     • this theory seems plausible as they easily could have integrated into society however it is strange that it is the aryans who came to dominate it
   • Flood/natural ending
     • this is a likely theory because it was built along a river and there is evidence that there were cities built on cities
     • also, the river could have dried up meaning that they died out or moved away
     • DR RAIKES thinks it was naturally overcome by flooding
       • DR RAIKES : "finally they had to abandon the cities to water and mud"
   • they were the same group whose ideas had changed and evolved over time
     • unlikely due to different colours in skin and biased accounts of pre-aryans in vedas

3. Religious Features

   • Vedas
     • veda means "to know" - shows how it contains knowledge about the gods and vedic beliefs
       • JAMISON : "for many Hindus they sum up the most significant knowledge"
     • written in sanskrit & it is a shruti text. it is not authored by humans, it was heard by rishis (seers) who are in direct contact with god so therefore it is authored by the divine
     • there are hymns of praise to the gods which are mainly in the rg vedas, like the hymns dedicated to Indra, Agni and Soma
     • they are the most important texts but many Hindus favour the Bhagavad Gita more as it is easier to read and relate to
   • Gods
     • also called deities and divas, there are 33 principle deities - this shows it was a polytheistic time and each god had their own characteristics and powers during the early vedic period, clear they are all individually significant. it was also a very patrilinear society which is reflected in their deities
     • ZAEHNER : said that gods were "this wordly"
       • sun god, rain god...
     • they were also anthropomorphic, had human qualities
     • there was a hierarchal system in the vedic period which reflected which gods you worshipped
       • heavenly deities = priests
       • atmospheric deities = warriors
       • earthly deities = ordinary tribesmen
     • it moved from polytheism in the EVP to kenotheism
       • SMART : "one god at a timeism"
     • LVP turned to tentative monism - Brahman was the one supreme force
       • VEDIC HYMNS : "what is one the wise call by many names"
   • Scarifice
     • vedic practise and is 'yajna' in sanskrit
     • Brahmins where ones to perform sacrifice and they were paid to do so
     • commonly sacrificed ghee, fruit and milk but could also sacrifice animals like horses
     • they sacrificed soma which is hallucinogenic drug which is a crushed up plant that you drink and they believed you could see god in this state
       • ZAEHNER : "the plant soma and fire were the indispensable ingredients of the sacrifice"
     • LVP sacrifice is very important as it is a way of communicating with the gods and sacrifice was then worshipped itself, Agni was an important god who accepted sacrifice
       • ZAEHNER : Agni = "the meditator between god and man"
   • Caste
     • 'varna' = colour, can also be called varna system
     • aryans had lighter skin and the pre-aryans were darker so the caste system reflects the colour chart hence the name varna
     • when the aryans invaded they brought a three fold system
       • the nobility (priests and warriors), the ordinary tribesmen and the pre-aryans
     • this then developed into the four fold system
       • priests, warriors, ordinary tribesmen, and the pre-aryans
     • this was the divine sanction and it reflected the hymn of the primal man where there was a giant who sacrificed his mouth for the Brahmins, his arms for the warriorrs, his legs for the tribesmen and his feet for the pre-aryans
       • HIMMELS & SHARPE : "the four classes are said to have emanated from the primal man"