INDIAN HISTORY

HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION
1. 3500 BC – 2600 BC Early Harappan period
2. 2600 BC – 1800 BC Mature Harappan period
3. From 1800 BC Late Harappan period
4. Archeologists Sir John Marshal, R.D. Banerjee and Dayaram Sahni



Pakistan –
1. Harappa - Montgomery district – Punjab.Granaries Great Bath
2. Mohenjadaro – Larkhana district – Sind



India – Kalibangan (Rajasthan) - Lothal (Gujarat) (Fine Alters Trade center, Rice field plough)

5. Urban civilization – Town planning, Drainage system are impressive features.
6. Occupation – Agriculture (Rice field – Lothal) cultivated cotton, dates, rice, and wheat.
7. Animal Rearing – Cattle, Sheep & Goat were known to them. But they did not aware of Horse.
8. Graft – Terracotta Paintings, Iron was not known to them. Bronze statue of Dancing Girl.
9. Religion – Worshipped Mother Goddess and Male God Pasupati

10. Indus script – Not deciphered so far. May be proto – Dravidian – Father Heres


VEDIC LITERATURE
1. The Vedic literature consists of 1. Vedas or Samhitas, 2. Brahmanas, 3. Aranyakas and 4. Upanishads.
2. Samhitas are collections of hymns sung in the praise of various gods. They are four in number – Rig Veda Samhita, Sama Veda Samhita, Yajur Veda Samhita and Atharva Veda Samhita

1. Rig Veda is the oldest
2. The Sama Veda, meaning Veda of Melody, Indian Music
3. The Yajur Veda, meaning Veda of ritualistic formulas.
4. The Atharva Veda, meaning Veda of magic formulas, contains charms and spells.

3. Brahmanas deal with the science of sacrifice and propagate the ‘Karmamarga’ (path of deeds)
4. Aranyakas literally meaning forest books, they deal with mysticism and symbolism of sacrifice and priestly philosophy.
5. Upanishads are philosophical texts. 108 in number. ‘Satya Meva Jayate’ was taken from Mundaka Upanishad. Being critical of the rituals and sacrifices, they lay stress on the ‘jnanamarge’ (path of knowledge)
6. There are six Vedangas: 1. shiksha (phonetics), 2. Kalpa (rituals), 3. Vyakarna (grammar), 4. Nirukta (etymology), 5. Chandas (metrics) and 6. Jyotisha (astronomy). The Vedangas are called ‘smiriti’ or literature handed down by tradition.

7. Four Minor Vedas came to be written on the basis of the Vedic literature. They are Ayur Veda (medicines) Silpa Veda (sculpture), Gandharva Veda (music) and Dhanur Veda (warfare).
8. Units
9. Tribal Chief is known as ‘rajan’.
10. Tribal assemblies are existence of different assemblies in the Rig Vedic period; ‘vidata – the oldest assembly, performed judicial, religious and redistributive functions; ‘sabha; - the council of tribal elders, exercised executive powers; ‘samiti’ – general assembly of the tribe, exercised legislative powers and elected the king.
11. In the Rig Vedic period, there were only a few officials on a part-time basis like ‘purohita’ (priest), ‘senani’ (commander), ‘vrajapati’ (in charge of pasture lands), ‘gramani’ (head of village) etc.
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