THE VEDIC PERIOD

After the ruin of the Indus and Harappan cities, a new culture developed with the coming of the Aryans. Historians view that the Aryans carile from Central Asia. They entered India through the Khyber Pass between B.C. 2000 and B.C. 1500. They first settled in seven places in the Punjab region which they caned Sapta Sindhu. Slowly they moved towards the Gangetic Valley. It was known as Arya Vartha, The Aryan Civilization was a rural civilization.

Sources : The four Vedas, namely, Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva form the main literary sources for this period Veda means knowledge. Among the four Vedas the Rig is the earliest one. It consists of 1028 songs divided into 10 parts. The Brahmanas, Upanishads, Aranyakas, Puranas, Mahabbarata and Ramayana are the other literary sources for this period, There appeared sub They are (1) Ayur Veda (Medicine), (2) Dhanur Veda (War tactics), (3) Gandharva Veda (the art or music), and (4) Shilpa Veda (the art of architecture).
We are able to understand from these literary works the political, social, economic, religious and cultural life of the people of the Vedic period.
The Vedic Age: The Vedic age is divided into two. The Early Vedic period from B.C. 2000 to B.C. 1000 and the Later Vedic period from B.C. 1000 to B.C. 600. We see some differences in the life of the people during these two stages.