The similarity between some of the oldest Vedic Myths (compare the story of Manu and the accounts
of the Deluge in Vedic and Babylonian literatures) and those of Sumeria, the recent discovery of the
records of the settlement of some branches of the Aryan race in Syria and Sumeria worshiping some
of the oldest gods of the Vedic pantheon, (see the account of the Mitanni and of the Kassites in Hall’s
Ancient History of the Near East pp. 201-230) the recent discovery of some clay-seals bearing
cuneiform inscriptions found in Southern India, the discovery of the presence of Indigo in the clothes
of some of the Egyptian mummies, the importation of Sonter-incense (Candana) by the Punt (Puanit)
expedition in the reign of the Egyptian Queen Hat- sep-situ, the discovery by Rassam of Indian cedar
in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, and of Indian teak in the temple of the moon-god at Ur refounded
by Nebonidus—all these point to the existence of an intercourse between India and some of the
nations of antiquity.’
Perhaps this connection existed from pro-historic times when the sturdy navigators of ancient India,
whether Aryans or Dravidians, made voyages to the West or to the Eastern archipelago or even
further beyond Mr. Hall in his early History of the Near East, discussing the question of the origin of
the early Sumerians expressed the view, that these people were a branch of Dravidians of Southern
India, who migrated to that region either by land through Persia or by the sea (see Hall, P. 173-74).
We may not accept this view of Mr. Hall but the recent excavations in Mohenjodaro throw light on
the probable Indo-Sumerian intercourse on the Indus valley and confirm this race-contact of the past.
As yet the time is not come when we may form any definite opinion on the subject and we are to wait
until the labours of those scholars engaged in the study of the history of the Assyrians, the
Babylonians, the Elamites, the Kassites, the Mitannians and the Hittites, have succeeded in placing
before us some definite evidence which alone can help us in solving the problem. But this much is
almost certain that maritime intercourse existed between Vedic India and the contemporary ancient
world.
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Early Vedic Age : Origin, Social Life, Economic Life, Culture and Religion
After the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization, another glorious civilization flourished in India. The
people who were responsible for the evolution of this civilization called themselves Aryas or Aryarns.
Arya’ literally means the man of ‘noble character’, and the “free-born”. They belonged to the group of
people known as Indo-Europeans. They entered into India from the north-west.
Although the Rig Veda deals with devotional work of religious nature, yet it gives a vivid picture of
the early Vedic civilization. The Vedic Civilization is best understood from the social life, political
organisation, economic life and religious beliefs.
They spoke the Indo-European languages from which modern languages like Sanskrit, Persian, Latin,
Greek, Celtie, Gothic have developed. Originally, the Aryans seem to have lived somewhere in the
area east of the Alps, known as Eurasia.
European Origin:
The early Aryans were familiar with certain animals such as goats, dogs, pigs, cows, horses etc. and
also with the trees like pine, maple, oak, willow, birch etc. which are found in Europe. This led to Prof.
Giles to suggest the European origin of the Aryans. It is generally believed that they migrated to India
and other parts of Asia from Europe.
It is difficult to locate the exact part of Europe where the Aryans originally lived before they migrated
elsewhere. According to Giles, Balkan countries were the original home of the Aryans. The flora and
fauna and the animals with which the early Aryans were familiar could be found in the Balkan
countries at that time.
Prof. Hist believes that the Aryans migrated from Lithuania Europe into Caucasus and from there they
entered into Iran. Again from Iran they entered into Punjab. This view is proved by the discovery of
Boghaz Koi inscription and the Tel-El- Amarna Letters in Western Asia.
Migration from Southern Russia:
Some historians held the view that the Aryans entered into India from the region of South Russia.
Brandenstain has suggested that the Aryans migrated to India from Kirghitz stepps in Russia. The
great Philologist, Schrader accepts South Russia as the original home of Russians from where they
migrated to different areas.
Indian Origin:
Some historians held the view that Aryans belonged to India. The Rig Veda refers to ‘Sapta Sindhu’
land (of seven rivers) which was the name of Punjab. Subsequently it was called “Panchanada” (land
of five rivers). The flora and fauna with which the Aryans were familiar are not found in Punjab. Again
the fertility of Punjab must have attracted immigration. From the linguistic view point Greek and
Latin belong to Aryan group of Languages. These considerations led the historians to believe that
Aryans do not originally belong to India.
From linguistic study it is proved that the Aryans migrated from Europe or Asia to India. For example
‘Pider’ and ‘Mader’ in Parsi, ‘Pater’ and ‘Mater’ of Latin, “Father’ and ‘Mother’ of English resemble
with ‘Pitru’ and ‘Matru’ of Sanskrit. So the historians generally accepted the view that Aryans
migrated from Europe or Asia to India.
The Aryans first appeared in Iran on their way to India, where the Indo-Iranians lived for a long time.
From Rig Veda, which is the earliest specimen of Indo-European language we know about the Aryans.
The Rig Veda consists of ten mandalas or books. It is a collection of prayers offered to Agni, Indra,
Mitra, Varuna and other gods by various families of poets or sages.
Rig Veda has many things in common with ‘Avesta’ of Iran. The ‘Rig Veda’ and ‘Avesta’ use the same
names for several gods and even for several classes. Some Aryan names engraved in the Kassite
inscriptions of 1600 B.C. and the Mittani inscriptions of the fourteenth century B.C. found in Iraq
proves that from Iran a branch of the Aryans moved towards the west.
Home of the Aryans in India:
The Aryans appeared in India a little earlier than 1500 B.C. The earliest Aryans settled down in
eastern Afghanistan, Punjab, and fringes of Uttar Pradesh. The Rig-Veda mentioned the names of
some rivers of Afghanistan such as the river Kubha, and the river Indus and its five branches. The
earliest settlements of Aryans were confined to the valleys of the river Sindh and its tributaries and of
the Saraswati and the Drishadvati.
Though they were confined mainly in Punjab, yet their outer settlements reached to the banks of the
Ganga and the Yamuna. They named that region Madhya Desa. Gradually they occupied the whole of
Uttarapatha, the loan between Himalayas and the Vindhyas and from the western seas to the east
were called as Aryavarta.
The Vedas:
The Vedas form the oldest literary works of the Aryans and occupy a very distinguished place in the
history of the world literature. Vedas have been looked upon as the revealed words of God by
millions of Hindus. In course of many centuries Vedas had grown up and was orally handed down
from generation to generation. The Vedas were probably authored during 1800 BC and 600 BC. It
consists of three successive classes of literary production.
These three classes are:
(i) The Samhitas or Mantras—these are collections of hymns, prayers, charms, litanies, sacrificial
formulas.
(ii) The Brahmanas—a kind of Primitive theology and philosophy of Brahmanas.
(iii) The Aranyakas and Upanishads—they are partly included in the Brahmanas or attached thereto
and partly exist as separate work. They contain philosophical meditations of the hermits and ascetics
on soul, God, world & man.
There are four Samhitas which are different from one another.
These are:
(i) The Rigveda Samhita:
A collection of hymns. It has ten mandalas with a total of 1028 ‘Suktas’ or ‘stutis” for the worship of
gods like Indra, Surya, Agni, Yama, Varuna Ashwini, Usha etc.
(ii) Samaveda Samhita:
A collection of songs mostly taken from Rig Veda. It contained 1549 stutis. A special class of priests
known as “Udgator” were to recite its hymns.
(iii) Yajur Veda Samhita:
A collection of sacrificial formula. It has 40 mandals. There are two distinct forms of Yajur Veda
namely. “Sukla Yajur Veda” and “Krishna Yajur Veda”. The “Sukla Yajur Veda” contains the genesis
while the “Krishna Yajur Veda” describes the “Vasya” or the philosophy.