The Rig-Vedic and Post-Rig-Vedic Polity (1500 BCE-500 BCE)

R.U.S. Prasad

• Publisher: Vernon Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781622730438
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The book critically examines and assesses the literary evidence available through Vedic and allied literature portraying the nature of Vedic polity, the functionalities of its various institutions, and the various social and religious practices. The book is not a narrative but critically examines the nature of changes in a host of these areas that occurred at each stage of Vedic polity from early Vedic period to post ?ig-Vedic period. It outlines in historical perspective the various stages involved in the development of Vedic polity and Vedic canon and how the two processes have gone along together. It contains extensive discussions on political system and institutions, religious and social practices as they obtained during the Rig-Vedic and post Rig-Vedic periods. It provides a fresh approach to the cult of sacrifice and fire rituals practiced by Vedic Aryans along with an in-depth analysis of the Vedic view of Nationalism, Sovereignty and State as discernible from Vedic texts.The book also features an extensive discussion on the institution of kingship, administrative machinery, role of various entities in the polity including the Purohita, the Sabha and the Samiti, position of women, Varna system and features of tribal kingdoms, such as the Kuru-Panchalas and Kosala-Videhas. Isolating political and social aspects from the essentially religious character of Vedic literature, an attempt has been made to show with due corroboration that the tribal polity was not deficient in political content contrary to the stance of some scholars to depict Vedic Aryans as apolitical and inward looking.

The present book partakes both the current and previous scholarship on the subject but breaks a new path with its exclusive focus on the Rig-Vedic and Post Rig-Vedic polity, together with a balanced and objective assessment of their features. It brings all the relevant and connected issues on to one platform, and deals with them in a holistic manner. Its unique features include:

• The “Vedic Grid” a graphical representation and tabulations of the characteristics of each of the about 50 Vedic tribes, including information on the location of their habitat, their time line, the names of their chieftains and their linkage with priestly clans.
• A special focus on the Second Urbanization taking place in the Gangetic valley between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. It explains how towards the end of the later Vedic period, the polity underwent a change in political, social and economic spheres which blossomed later during the period of Mauryas.
• Two appendices dealing with the theories of Aryan migration and the relationship of the Vedic Aryans with the Harappa culture and what can be ascertained by Vedic literature.

Chapter I
Introduction

“The Vedas, I feel convinced, will occupy scholars for centuries to come, and we take and maintain forever, its position as the most ancient of books in the library of mankind”.
- Friedrich Max Müller

Vedic Age (1500 BCE- 500 BCE)

The story of Vedic India begins with the demise of mature Harappan phase around 1900 BCE and ingress of Aryans in successive batches around 1500 BCE into the northwestern region of the Indian sub-continent. The collapse of the mature Harappan phase was triggered most likely by ecological or tectonic reasons. The Harappan civilization was urban centric with well laid out urban settlements and a high level of cultural organization. The disintegration of the urban phase, scholars believe, occurred in a progressive manner and involved an eastward drift of population to regions corresponding to modern Saurashtra, Haryana and Delhi where some elements of the Harappan culture still survived. The settlements in these regions, however, do not provide any conclusive evidence for survival of any critical feature of the Harappan culture, such as, international trade, seals, drainage system etc. In fact, the post-urban phase witnessed a return to, what Allchin calls, the material culture ‘closer to that of the pre-urban stage.’³ The demise of this civilization also had another important fall-out. With the disappearance of the semblance of economic and political unity, which the mature Harappan phase represented, a power vacuum was created in the region to the northwest of India. This presented an opportunity for incursions by the pastoralist Vedic tribes who ventured into the region around 1500 BCE. Later they moved to areas along the river Yamuna and even the Ganges as can be inferred from the later vedic texts. The network of Vedic tribes was thus established in the entire region which would correspond to the area of the Greater Panjab up to Delhi and the upper Ganges as well as adjacent areas in Afghanistan.

The question of the origin of the Vedic Aryans is a hotly debated issue among the scholars and it continues to be so. This issue has been discussed in detail in Appendix I of the book. There is, no meeting point between the nationalist discourse which regards the Vedic Aryans as indigenous people, and the protagonists of migration theory who hold that the Vedic Aryans came from outside. There is, however, a broad consensus among the scholars which favours their migration from the Central Asian region. The movement of Vedic Aryans from this region, it is believed, was actuated by their desire to escape from harsh living conditions they faced and a search for a more hospitable terrain to elk out a living. This seems plausible since even Alexander⁴ during his campaign had to encounter the rigours of inhospitable terrain of the Central Asian region and serious logistical crisis, when he led his troops early in the spring of 329 BCE, north across the Hindukush into Bactria. This was the first of many such disasters he encountered due to “exceptionally harsh weather and rugged terrain of the area”. Initially, the Vedic tribes were confined to areas surrounding Afghan mountains as the older books of the Ṛgveda (Books 4 and 6) seem to suggest. This region, where they initially settled had semi-arid climate and suffered from paucity of rain. This did not present to them as an ideal location for their settlement and soon they moved eastwards in search of arable land and better pastures along the lower Himalayan foothills. Finally, they found the vast expanse of the Sapta-Sindhu⁵ region which covers the northwestern plank of the Indian sub-continent as suitable for their settlement. The region was endowed with availability of water on a regular basis and a salubrious climate which the Aryans found very attractive for pursuing their pastoral profession in an unhindered manner. The climatic factors and the availability of water seem to have been a crucial and determining element in the movement of the Indo-Aryan speaking tribes in successive stages. Discussing the importance of water availability, Harry Falk⁶ has attributed this as a factor in the movement of the Indo-Aryan tribes from the Central Asian region “fed by the melting snows for a short time in spring with changing quantities from year to year” to the region along the Sapta-Sindhu fed by perennial rivers drawing water from the melting Himalayan snow. The availability of regular water supply haunted the Aryans again when they moved towards east in the Madhyadesa region (Uttar Pradesh and surrounding areas), where they had to face the uncertainties of monsoon rains. The mythology regarding Indra’s (Warrior god) victory over the cosmic serpent Vṛtra resulting in liberation of waters, underscores the importance of water availability for Vedic Aryans for meeting their economic needs as also performance of rituals. This event also led to personification of Indra as a god of the rains.

The other credible reason for the movement of the Indo-Aryans from the Central Asian region could have been the demise of the urban civilization that flourished in the Indus Valley and the abandonment of settlements in the Indus and Sarasvatī⁷ regions. The course of infiltration towards the north-west region initially and from there to fertile plains eastwards was, perhaps, actuated by the search for better pastures and arable land that was more conducive to the production of crops such as, rice and millet.

However, on coming to the north-west region of India, the Aryan tribes encountered antagonism from both man and nature. First, they had to struggle to secure their existence from the original inhabitants who offered resistance; secondly, they had to devise formulae for overcoming the vagaries of nature. To meet the first challenge, required better leadership, formidable (perceived as manly) warriors and more effective resources.

The use of horses and light-spoked wheel chariots which they had brought, helped them to outmanouvre their opponents when faced with such resistance. The Ṛgveda mentions about such resistance in the stone forts of the local leader Śambara⁸ in the mountainous area of the Northwest. The Vedic tribes ensured their success through effective use of these resources. They also turned to deities to obtain success in such encounters. The Ṛgvedic hymns abound in invocations to Indra, perceived as a warrior god, seeking his benediction for success in battle and to shower his blessings on the clan. Whitaker⁹ while discussing the importance of masculine gods in the Ṛgvedic hymns, also refers to poet-priests insistence on men to keep Indra on their side in the eventuality of a war and “that this relationship can be achieved only through ritual performances”. To meet the second challenge of escaping the vagaries of nature, they invoked different deities found in the Vedic hymns, such as Varuṇa (lord of cosmic law), Agni (Fire god), Marut (a group of deities symbolizing storm, thunder, lightning, wind and rain), Uṣas (the goddess of Dawn) and Prithvi (the earth) etc., who personified nature in its various forms. The Vedic Aryans did not worship animal figures unlike the Harappans.

The process of migration into the new found territory was, however, not entirely disruptive. Such skirmishes with the indigenous tribes did not halt the progress of Indo-Aryan culture. The long duration of the Ṛgvedic period, as many scholars contend, drawing support from the various Ṛgvedic hymns, could not have passed without close interaction at different levels between the Aryan and non-Aryan tribes. This interaction was mostly but not always one of acrimony and constant strife but also had a peaceful dividend reflected in the initiation of “multiple processes of cultural, social and linguistic acculturation” on mutual basis between the two. While, on the one hand, this led to the adaptation by the local tribes to the salient features of Aryan culture, such as Vedic Sanskrit, Vedic gods, pastoralism and social structure, on the other, some non-Aryan words also entered Ṛgvedic lexicon, such as, names of low level deities piśa̅ca, Cūmuri, and names of poets like Ka̅ṇva and Kavaṣa.

The culmination of these processes resulted in “Aryanization” of local population and “Indianization” of the immigrating Indo-Aryans. This is clearly reflected in the researches of Kuiper who has established how the language of the Aryan tribes was brought “into harmony with the languages of the indigenous families, in particular Dravidian and Munda”.¹⁰ Kuiper¹¹ has also carried out a detailed analysis of words of foreign origin in the Ṛgvedic lexemes and concluded that they constitute approximately 4 percent. This figure, he maintains, represents a much slower process of Aryanization as compared to western societies where the process of acculturation is much faster. This is primarily because the local population did not have to adjust to the new environment ushered in by the Aryans as they were already ‘firmly rooted in their dwelling places and probably were in the majority’.

On the political plane too, there are instances of Aryan kings with non-Aryan names, such as Balbutha and Bṛbu.¹² This was something similar to what happened later to Alexander’s empire after his demise which broke up into Hellenistic kingdoms each with its own dynasty.¹³ While Alexander’s campaigns ensured spread of Greek culture, “the Hellenistic kingdoms revealed a two way effects of accommodation and assimilation”.

It is generally acknowledged that the Indo-Aryan speaking people who came to India sometime in the second millennium BCE, composed the Vedic texts which not only contain rituals and their explanation but also philosophical speculation. They are also regarded as the first reference point ̣of political thought and institutions in ancient India. The Vedic literature which were compiled in different time span, show how the Indian thought process underwent a change in successive phases and what impact it had on political and social institutions and the way of life of Vedic Aryans. The Vedic corpus bequeathed by the Vedic Aryans stands out as their monumental gift to mankind.

After the Indus civilization, the influx of these Vedic tribes is regarded as the next important development in shaping early Indian civilization. The Vedic age, in fact, is identified with the timeline of the composition of Vedic texts, beginning with the composition of the Ṛgveda, the oldest and the most venerated Vedic text for which the maximally possible time frame is reckoned between 1400-1000 BCE. This period is characterized as the Rgvedic phase.

The time frame for the composition of the later Vedic texts, namely, the Yajur-Veda, the Sāma-Veda, the Atharva-Veda , the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas ending with the Upaniṣads is suggested as the early part of the first millennium BCE which is identified with the post Ṛgvedic phase. To the list of the later Vedic texts, the Dharmasūtras, the earliest law books, written circa 500 BCE-200 BCE could also be added in the category of post Ṛgvedic texts and identified with the post Ṛgvedic phase. These Dharmasūtras deal with taxation, property, family matters and issues having a bearing on political institutions and social life of the time. These taken together constitute the Vedic corpus. Thus the Vedic corpus encompasses various phases of socio-political development, ranging from the Ṛgvedic to Atharva-Vedic times and that of the other Mantra collections (post R̟gvedic) of the Yajur-Veda, the Sāma-Veda and the Ṛgveda Khilas and the period of the early Krishna Yajur-Veda prose.

These texts mirror the social, religious and philosophical speculation of the Indian mind, and present a curious blend of religion with politics where the practice of Ṛta (cosmic law later morphed into Dharma) – as the highest harmonizing principle – regulates the political and social order. The contents of Vedic literature cover a vast ground with the hymns...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Abbreviations
• Preface
• Chapter I Introduction
• Chapter II Sources of Study and Methodology
• Chapter III Development of Vedic Canon and Polity
• Chapter IV Vedic Concepts of Nationalism and Sovereignty
• Chapter V Vedic Rāṣṭṛa
• Chapter VI Important Ṛgvedic Tribes
• a)      Anus
• Chapter VII Vedic Grid
• Chapter VIII The Post-Ṛgvedic Tribes
• Chapter IX Political System and Institutions during the Rig-Vedic and Post Rig-Vedic Periods
• Chapter X Ṛgvedic and Post Ṛgvedic Social Practices
• Chapter XI Vedic Values and Religious Practices
• Chapter XII Tribal Kingdoms
• Chapter XIII Features of the Post Ṛgvedic Period
• Chapter XIV Second Urbanization
• Chapter XV Summary and Conclusions
• Appendix I
• Appendix II
• 5) The Brāhmaṇas
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index