1. The document discusses the pre-historic and Vedic civilizations in India, covering topics like the Indus Valley civilization, Vedic society and religion, and ancient Indian kingdoms. 2. It describes the geography, cultures, and political systems during these early periods, highlighting the Indus Valley cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, as well as important Vedic tribes like the Kurus and Panchalas. 3. The document also examines the evolution of Vedic religion, language, and social structures over time, from the early Rig Vedic period through the rise of Buddhism in late Vedic civilization.

1. Pre-historic and Vedic Civilization
1. Ancient geographers referred to Himalayas, as also their less elevated offshoot— the
Patkai, Lushai and Chittagong hills in the east and the Suleiman and Kirthar ranges in the
west— as Himavat.
2. Jambu-dvipa was considered to be the innermost of seven concentric island-continents into
which the earth, as per Hindu cosmographers, was supposed to have been divided. The Indian
sub-continent is said to part of Jambu-dvipa.
3. Sapta sindhavah is the name of the country of the Aryans in the Vedas.
4. In the ancient literature, there are references of India being divided into five divisions. In
the centre of the Indo-Gangetic plains was the Madhya-desh, stretching from river Saraswati,
which flowed past Thanesar and Pehowa (present-day Haryana) to Allahabad and Varanasi. The
western part of this area was known as Brahamrishi-desh, and the entire region was roughly
equivalent to Aryavrata as described in the grammar of Patanjali. To the north of Madhya-desh
lay Uttarapatha and to its west Aparanta (Western India), to its south Dakshinapath or Deccan
and to its east Purvadesh. The term Dakshinapath was in some ancient works restricted to the
upper Deccan, north of river Krishna and far south was termed as Tamilakam or the Tamil
country.
5. The Negritos were the first human inhabitants of India. Originally, they came from Africa
through Arabia, Iran and Baluchistan. They have practically disappeared from the soil of India,
except in Andaman Islands.
6. The Munda languages belong to the Austro-Asiatic family and are to be found at present in
the eastern half of Central India, southern border of the Himalayas and Kashmir and the
territory east of Nepal.
7. Prakit was the single language of Indian sub-continent in third century B.C. Sanskrit came
into being a few centuries later.
8. The term Paleolithic is derived from two Greek words meaning Old Stone. This name is
applied to the earliest people as the only evidence of their existence is furnished by a number
of rude stone implements.

2. 9. Paleolithic men in India are also known as Quartzite men from the fact that majority of
chipped stones found in different parts of India are made of hard rock called quartzite.
10. Paleolithic paintings have been found in caverns at Singanpur near Raigarh in Madhya
Pradesh, as also in Kaimur ranges and some places in Mirzapur district.
11. With the advent of age of metals, in Northern India, copper replaced stone as ordinary
material for tools and weapons. And, it took several centuries for iron to replace copper. In
Southern India, however, the Iron Age immediately succeeded the Stone Age.
12. The Indus civilization existed in the same period as those of Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia.
13. Mohenjodaro was discovered by R.D. Banerjee in 1922 and Harappa by R.B. Dayaram
Sahni. Later on, the work was taken over by Sir John Marshall, Director- General of Archeology.
14. The fertile surrounding region of Mohenjodaro is called Nakhlistan or the Garden of Sind.
15. It is presumed that Iron was not known to the Indus Valley civilisation as not a single scrap
of iron has been found in the excavations at various sites.
16. Developed city-life, use of potter’s wheel, kilnburnt bricks, and vessels made of copper
and bronze are some common and distinctive features of all the civilizations of the pre-historic
period.
17. The use of mud mortar was common during Indus Valley civilisation. Gypsum and mud were
used for plaster. In case of drains, gypsum and lime mortar was used.
18. The most important feature of houses of Mohenjodaro is the presence in them of one or
more bathrooms, the floors of which were fully laid and connected by means of drainage
channels with the main street.
19. More than 500 seals have been discovered at various places inhabited by people of Indus
Valley civilizations. These were made of terra-cota.
20. The seals and painted pottery of the Indus Valley show the figures of Pipal and Acacia
trees. They were regarded as celestial plants and were supposed to be inhabited by divine
spirits.

3. 21. The people of Indus Valley also practiced the worship of Lings and Yoni symbols. The
likelihood that both Shiva and Ling worship have been inherited by Hindus from the Indus Valley
is reinforced by the prevalence of the bull (the vehicle of Shiva) or bull-like animals amongst
the seal-symbols.
22. The pottery of Indus Valley was generally wheelmade and was painted red and black.
23. The Dravadians are thought to have come to India from eastern Mediterranean. At one
time the Dravadian culture was spread throughout India.
24. Puja ceremonies along with flowers, leaves, fruits and water were performed by
Dravadians. Aryans were accustomed to Homa rites or sacrificial fire. Infact, the word puja
has been derived from a Dravadian root called Puru, which means “to smear―.
25. The Dravadian language is still spoken by the Brahui people of Baluchistan.
26. As per the theorypropagated by late Bal Gangadhar Tilak the original home of Aryans was
the Arctic region. However, the most widely accepted view is that the Aryans originated from
Central Asia. The view which is accepted in West isthat original home of Aryans was in South-
East Europe.
27. In the early vedic period river Ravi was known as Parushni, riverJhelum as Vitasta,
Chenab as Asikni, Beas as Vipas and Sutlej as Sutudri.
28. The word Veda comes from the root vid, to know. It means knowledge in general. It is
specially applied to branch of literature which has been handed down by verbal transmission
and is declared to be sacred knowledge or Sruti.
29. Hindus consider the Vedas to be revealed books and give them the titles of Apaurusheya
(not made by man) and nitya (Eternal).
30. According to Kautilya,“The three Vedas, Sama, Rig and Yajus constitute the triple
Vedas. These together with Atharvaveda and the Itihasa Veda are known as the Vedas.―
The ordinary definition of the Veda does not include Itihasa.
31. The Veda consists offour different classes of literary compositions: (a) the Mantra
constitutes the oldest division of Vedic literature and is distributed in four Samhitas or
collections known as the Rik, Sama, Yajus and the Atharva; (b) Brahmanas are the
secondclass of Vedic works. They are mainly prose texts containing observations on sacrifice;

4. (c) Aranyakas or forest texts are books of instruction to be given in the forest or writings
meant for wooddwelling hermits; (d) Lastly there are the Upnishads which are either
imbedded in the Aranyakas or form their supplements. The above named literary works are
classed as Sruti, or revelation, and constitute theVedic literature proper.
32. The Brahmans are the first specimens of praise in the world. They mark the transition
from the Vedic to later Brahmanical social order.
33. The Vedangas are class of compositions that are regarded less authoritative than Sruti and
are styled Smriti. The Vedangas are six in number: Siksha (phonetics), Kalpa (ritual), Vyakaran
(grammar), Nirukt (etymology), Chhand (metrics) and Jyotish (astronomy).
34. In Vyakarana, Nirukt and Chhand we have the great work of Panini, Yask and Pingal.
35. The Nyaya Darsana was written by Gautam. According to it, Tarka or logic is the basis of
all studies. Knowledge can be acquired by four methods: Pratyaksha or intuition, Anumana or
inference, Upma or comparison and sadba or verbal testimony.
36. The basis of the political and social organisation of the Rig Vedic people was patriarchal
family. The successive higher units were styled gram, vis and jan.
37. The Purus and the Tritsus were two of the most famous Rig-Vedic clans. The names of
their prominent rulers are recorded in Rik- Samhita.
38. In the Rig-Vedic period the foot soldiers were called Patti and warriors who fought from
chariots were called Rathins.
39. The foundation of the political and social structure in the Rig-Vedic age was the family.
40. Visvavara, Ghosha and Apala were some leading women seers of Rig- Vedic times.
41. Agriculture was the principal occupation of the villagers in Rig-Vedic times.
42. The standard unit of value in Vedic period was a cow, but necklets of gold (nishka) also
served as a means of exchange.
43. Rik Samgita is a collection of lyrics from early vedic age which consists of hymns in praise
of different gods. These are grouped into books termed as ashtakas or mandalas.

5. 44. Rig Vedic people did not possess the art of writing and early literature of Aryans was known
to be transmitted orally.
45. The early Vedic religion has been designated by the name of henotheism or
kathenotheism (a belief in single gods, each standing out as the highest).
46. Father Dyaus, the shinning god of heaven, and mother Prithvi, the earth goddess, are
among the oldest of the vedic deities.
47. The worship of Varuna, the encompassing sky, in the early Vedic age is one of the first
roots of the later doctrine of Bhakti.
48. An important characteristic of Vedic mythology is the pre-dominance of the male element.
Thus, Vedic civilisation presents a contrast to the prehistoric culture of Indus Valley, where the
mother goddess is coequal with her male partner.
49. Sacrifices occupied a prominent place in Vedic rituals. These included offerings of milk,
grain, ghee and juice of the Soma plant.
50. Before the close of the later Vedic period, the Aryans had thoroughly subdued the fertile
plains of Yamuna, upper Ganga and the Gandak. The centre of the Aryan world was the areas
stretching from Saraswati to the Gangetic plains and occupied by Kurus, the Panchals and
some adjoining tribes. It was from this region that Brahmanical civilisation spread to the outer
provinces, to the land of the Kosalas and the Kasis drained by the Sarayu and the Varnavati,
to the swamps of east of Gandak colonised by the Videhas, and to the valley of Wardha
occupied by the Vidarbhas.
51. The Aryan culture was taken to South India by Agastya.
52. Most important tribe of Rigvedic period was the Bharatas, after whom India has been
named in the Constitution. The two most important rulers of Bharatas were Divodas and
Sudas. Sudas is famous for his victory in the Battle of Ten Kings.
53. The most distinguished among the tribes of later Vedic period were the Kurus and
Panchals, with their capitals at Asandivat and Kampila, respectively. 54. Balhika-Pratipiya,
Parikshit and Janamejaya were powerful Kuru kings who figure prominently in early epic
legends.

6. 55. The reign of Panchals was home to several theologians and philosophers like king
Pravahana- Jaivali and sages like Aruni and Svetaketu.
56. The fame of the land of the Panchals as centre of Brahmanical learning was eclipsed by the
Videhas, whose king Janak won the title of Samrat. The Videhan monarchy fell shortly before
the rise of Buddhism. Its overthrow was followed by the rise of the Vajjian Confederacy.
57. The kings of several regions gave themselves various titles. While the kings of middle
country were called raja, the eastern kings were titled Samrat, the southern Bhoj, those in
the west Svarat, and the rulers of the northern realms were called Virat.
58. The taxes collected from people in the later Vedic age were referred to as bali and sulka.
59. During late Vedic period, Vratyas and the Nishads were two important bodies of men
outside the regular castes. The Vratyas were Aryans outside the pale of Brahminism. They
appear to have had some special connection with the people of Magadha and the cult of Shiv.
The Nishads were non-Aryan people who lived in their own villages and had their own rulers.
They were probably identical with modern Bhils.
60. Shortly before the rise of Buddhism there were sixteen great nations that occupied the
territory from Kabul valley to the banks of Godavari. These were: Anga (East Bihar), Magadha
(South Bihar), Kasi (Benaras), Kosala (Oudh), Vriji (North Bihar), Malla (Gorakhpur district),
Chedi (between Yamuna and Narmada), Vatsa (Allahabad region), Kuru (Thanesar, Delhi and
Meerut districts), Panchal (Bareilly, Buduan and Farrukhabad districts), Matsya (Jaipur),
Surasena (Mathura), Asmak (on the Godavari), Avanti (in Malwa), Gandhara (Peshawar and
Rawalpindi districts) and Kamboj (South-west Kashmir and parts of Kafiristan).
61. The Vriji people were regarded by the Brahaman law-givers as Vratyas or degraded
Kshatriyas. The Vrijis had no monarch, but a popular assembly of elders who carried on the
business of the State. This type of polity was known as Gana or republic. The Mallas also had a
similar constitution.
62. The four kingdoms of later Vedic age who grew most powerful were: Avanti, Vatsa,
Kosala and Magadha.
63. The kingdom of Avanti had its capital at Ujjain in modern Malwa. 4. One prominent ruler
of Vatsa territory was Udayana, a scion of the Bharat race. 65. Kosala had its capital at
Ayodhya and was ruled by a dynasty that claimed descent from illustrious Ishvaku, famed in
Vedic and epic traditions.

7. 66. The Kosalas extended their boundaries in several directions, including Nepalese Tarai, but
their ambitious designs were frustrated by Magadha power.
67. Gargi and Maitreyi were two prominent intellectual women of late Vedic period.
68. Magadha and Anga were two kingdoms which the Aryans could not Brahmanise thoroughly
and came to possess a mixed population. Kikatas were prominent non-Aryans who lived in
Magadha. They were known for their wealth. There was a dislike for Magadha in the Rigveda
and the same dislike was continued even during the period of later Vedic civilisation.
69. In the sixth and fifth century B.C. the throne of Magadha was occupied by a line of kings
styled Saisunagas in the Purans, an appellation derived from Sisunaga, the first king of the
line in the Puranic list.
70. The Buddhist writers, however, put Sisunaga much lower in the list of Magadha kings and
split the line into two distinct groups. To the earlier of the two groups they give the name
Haryanka, whose most remarkable king was Srenika or Bimbisara.
71. The Ashtadhyayi of Panini is a book on Sanskrit grammar.
72. Khari, Patra, Vista, Satamana, Adhaka, Achita, Purusha and Dishta were different
kinds of weights and measures used in later Vedic age. 73. Taxila or Takshashila was a great
centre of learning in late Vedic period. It was famous for the teaching of medicine, law and
military science.
74. India and Persia have very ancient relations. There are many common gods in the Rig Veda
and the Zinda Avesta. The Iranian gods Mithra, Yima and Veretraghna have their counterpart in
the Indian Mitra, Yama and Indra Vritrahan.
75. The Boghaz-Koi inscriptions of about 1400 B.C. refer to certain contracts made between
the King of the Hittites (in Persia) and the King of Mitani. In those inscriptions same gods are
mentioned as the protectors of these contracts.
76. The continuance of strong influence of Persia upon India in the Vedic age is indicated by
prevalence of the Kharoshti script, a variety of Aramaic, in the provinces near the Frontier,
by the long continued use of the Persian title Satrap, by the form of the Ashoka inscriptions
and by the architecture.

8. 77. Sanskrit is a branch of a linguistic tree known as Indo-European. The trunk of the tree was
a common tongue probably spoken in the region north-west of the Black Sea about 2500 B.C.
78. The Upanishads probe into the nature of universe and the human soul, and the relation of
each to the other. They make no absolute statements of right and wrong, of creation, the gods
or man; instead, they speculate, seeking always to find truth, as opposed to stating it, and
offering a wide range of possibilities.
79. A rudimentary administrative system was prevalent during the Vedic period. The tribal
kingdom (rashtra) contained tribes (jana), tribal units (vish) and villages (grama). The
nucleus was the family (kula), with the eldest male member as its head (kulapa)