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Eternal India
encyclopedia
LURE - THRU THE AGES
Pre-Harappan Cultures
Mehrgarh (Chalcolithic) Kot-Diji I:
3400-3000 B.C.
Sothi and Kalibangan I
: 3100-2800 B.C.
Harappan Culture
Mohenjo-daro : 3100-1900 B.C.
Lothal A :
3000-1900 B.C.
Kalibangan II : 2900-1900 B.C.
Rangpur II A :
2000 (?)-1900 B.C.
Late Harappan Culture
Lothal B, Rangpur II B : 1900-1700 B.C.
Devolutionary phase of Late Harappan Culture
Lothal B (latest levels) and Rangpur II C : 1700-1600 B.C.
Prabhas Period II (Early Prabhas Culture): 1800-1500 B.C.
Post-Harappan Cultures
Lustrous Red Ware Culture Rangpur III :1600-1300 B.C.
Late Prabhas Period III : 1500-1200 B.C.
*
Developed brisk overseas trade and established merchant colonies in Bah-
rain, Failaka and the Euphrates -Tigris valley.
*
Built the first dockyard of the world.
*
Introduced weight unit and script in Bahrain and Oman.
*
First to have a decimal graduation for linear measurement equivalent to
Greek Uncia.
*
Conceived of energy in three forms- fire, sun & lightning.
*
Terracotta model of a plough from Banawali and the seed drill motif on a seal
from Lothal confirm the use of sophisticated agricultural implements.
*
Natural calamities caused decay of Harappan towns and cities.
*
Cotton : main commercial crop and used in manufacturing cloth.
*
Domestication of animals and cultivation of plants was done.
*
They liked monkey, squirrel, hare, dove, and parrot and produced excellent
terracotta models of these animals and birds.
*
Tiger, rhinoceros and gharial, though feared, served as symbols of divine
power and were carved on seals.
*
Usage of copper and bronze tools in ornaments and agricultural implements.
*
Bead-making industry catered to international and domestic market.
*
Ceramic industry : rich in typology and decoration.
*
The art of painting on pottery had reached sophistication.
THE VEDIC AGE
The Vedas which form the earliest Indian literature consist largely
of hymns to the Aryan gods in their language, Sanskrit. Veda means
knowledge and is derived from the root,
vid
, to know. The Rig Veda,
the earliest of the Vedas, parts of which were composed prior to 1000
B.C., consists of 1028 hymns to the Aryan gods and were composed by
priests. The remaining Vedic literature- the Sama, Yajur and Atharva
Vedas - is of later date.
Each of the Vedas has two main divisions - the
samhitas,
and the
Brahmanas. The samhitas
consist of the/rawfra portion of the Vedas.
Mantra
means formula, a verse or phrase believed to have magical or
religious efficiency. Each entire collection of
mantras
forms a
samhita.
There are four principal
samhitas - Rig Veda samhita, Yajur Veda
samhita, Sama Veda samhita, Atharva Veda samhita.
The second part
of each
Veda,
the
Brahmana,
is mostly in prose containing detailed
descriptions of the sacrifical rites and the modes of their performance.
The
brahmanas
(composed from about 700 B.C. onwards) being
in prose could not be so readily learnt by rote as verse.
The
Vedas, Brahmanas, Aryanyakas
and
Upanishads
comprise
the literature known as Vedic. They are believed to have been directly
revealed to its authors and are known as
shruti
(‘heard’). They are
therefore of greater sanctity than the later texts known as
smriti
(‘remembered’). The
sutras
and
shastras
are
smriti.
Th
e Aryans
worshipped the forces of nature which they invested
with divinity.
Indra
was the foremost among the Aryan gods. He was
the god of thunder and rain who helped the Aryans to vanquish their
enemies.
Agni
was the god of fire, the purest of the five elements. Fire
played a prominent part in Aiyan rituals. The other gods included
Surya
(Sun),
Varuna,
who presided over the other gods in the Heavens and
Yama,
the god of Death. There were a number of lesser gods and
goddesses and deities.
The Vedic period produced the two great epics of India, the
Ramayana
and
Mahabharata.
The author of the first is reputed to be the
sage
Valmiki,
the author of the second is the sage
Vyasa.
But both the
epics seem to have grown in length with additions and interpolations
being made subsequently.
The complete
Mahabharata
of 100,000 verses, the longest single
poem in the world, is mentioned for the first time in an inscription of
the Gupta period (4th century A.D.). Among the religious poems that
form part of this epic, the most famous is the
Bhagavad Gita,
the "Song
of the Lord", which constitutes the cornerstone of Hinduism.
The
Upanishads
, composed from 700 B.C., represent a higher
stage in Aryan evolution. They contain speculation and thinking about
such fundamental questions as the beginning of creation and the exis-
tence of a creator. The term
Upanishad
means a "sitting down near",
sitting at the feet of a master who imparts spiritual doctrines.
The early
Upanishads
embody a bewildering variety of specula-
tions and theories on the origin of the universe, the nature of the soul
and other problems. Creation was attributed to the primeval person,
Prajapati,
who feeling the need for companionship, divided himself
and produced a wife. This couple taking the form of men and animals,
created the whole universe.
The world was also said to have originated in a ‘Golden Embryo’
(Hiranyagarbha),
which became the basis of the cosmic Egg of later
Hindu mythology.
Hinduism as we know it today developed out of these metaphysi-
cal enquiries. The philosophy of the
Upanishads
with its concept of the
Absolute or the Universal Soul militating against the multiplicity of
Aryan gods, resulted in the idea of the trinity of gods with
Brahma
as
the Creator,
Vishnu
as the Preserver and
Shiva
as the god who destroys
the world when it becomes evil-ridden.
Sacrifices, which occupied a prominent place in the Vedic ritual,
included offerings of milk, grain,
ghee
(clarified butter) and the juice
of the Soma plant.
The object of the sacrifice was the gratification of the gods in order
to obtain boons from them.