{"id":672,"date":"2018-04-19T12:09:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-19T06:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/?p=672"},"modified":"2025-07-14T16:13:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T10:43:04","slug":"rig-vedic-geography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/","title":{"rendered":"Rig Vedic Geography"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >What's Inside this Blog!<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Rig_Vedic_Geography\" title=\"Rig Vedic Geography\">Rig Vedic Geography<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Society\" title=\"Society\">Society<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Salient_Features_of_Vedic_Society\" title=\"Salient Features of Vedic Society\">Salient Features of Vedic Society<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Education\" title=\"Education\">Education<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Food_and_Drinks\" title=\"Food and Drinks\">Food and Drinks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Economic_Life\" title=\"Economic Life\">Economic Life<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Political_Structure\" title=\"Political Structure\">Political Structure<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/rig-vedic-geography\/#Administration\" title=\"Administration\">Administration<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rig_Vedic_Geography\"><\/span>Rig Vedic Geography<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Rig Vedic people called themselves <em>\u2018Aryans\u2019<\/em>. They had detailed knowledge of the geographical area in which they lived. Name and location and pattern of geographical features such as rivers and mountains mentioned in Rig-Veda suggest location of the regions of the geographical area of their habitat.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Nadi-sukta<\/em> hymn of the Rig Veda mentions 21 rivers, which include the <em>Ganga<\/em> in the east and the <em>Kubha<\/em> (Kabul) in the west.<\/li>\n<li>The pattern of rivers is given in a definite order from the east to west i.e. from the <em>Ganga<\/em> in the east to the <em>Kubul<\/em> in the west. The rivers like <em>Yamuna, Saraswati, Sutlej, Ravi, Jhelum,<\/em> and <em>Indus<\/em> are situated between <em>Ganga<\/em> and <em>Kabul<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The mountain namely the <em>Himalayas<\/em> and the <em>Mujavant<\/em> (as mentioned in the Veda) are located in the north.<\/li>\n<li>The Ocean i.e. <em>\u2018Samudra\u2019<\/em> is mentioned in connection with rivers Sindhu and the river <em>Saraswati<\/em> had been falling into the ocean. Ocean has been also mentioned in the context of foreign trade.<\/li>\n<li>The geography of Rig Vedic period covers present-day western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, the whole of Pakistan, and the south of Afghanistan.<\/li>\n<li>The battle of ten kings, mentioned in the Rig Veda, gives names of ten kings who participated in a war against <strong>Sudas<\/strong> who was <em>Bharata<\/em> king of <em>Tritsus<\/em> It illustrates that the territory known to Vedic people was divided into a number of states-republics and monarchical (kingdoms).<\/li>\n<li>The battle was fought on the bank of <em>Parushani<\/em> (Ravi) river and Sudas emerged as victorious.<\/li>\n<li><em>\u2018Bharatvarsha\u2019<\/em> was the name used for the whole country. It was given by the most important people of the Rig Veda. They were <em>\u2018Bharatas\u2019<\/em> who were settled in the region between the rivers <em>Saraswati<\/em> and <em>Yamuna<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The Rig Veda also gives the location of other people, such as <strong>Purus<\/strong> in the region of <em>Kurukshetra<\/em>; the Tritsus east of Ravi; the Alinas, the Pakhtas, the Bhalanas and the Sibis west of Indus (up to Kabul river) and so on<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Society\"><\/span>Society<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Occupation of individuals was the basis of classification of a society in the Rig Vedic period.<\/li>\n<li>It was divided into four <em>varnas<\/em>, namely\n<ul>\n<li><em>Brahmanas<\/em> (teacher and priests);<\/li>\n<li><em>Kshatriya<\/em> (rulers and administrators);<\/li>\n<li><em>Vaisya<\/em> (farmers, merchants, and bankers); and<\/li>\n<li><em>Sudra<\/em> (artisan and laborers).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>There was complete freedom and mobility for the adoption of a profession.<\/li>\n<li>Trades and occupations did not assume a hereditary character in the society (till now).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Salient_Features_of_Vedic_Society\"><\/span>Salient Features of Vedic Society<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>The family was the smallest unit of a society. It was primarily monogamous and Patriarchal.<\/li>\n<li>Child marriage was not in fashion.<\/li>\n<li>There was freedom of choice in marriage.<\/li>\n<li>A widow could marry the younger brother of her deceased husband.<\/li>\n<li>The wife was a partner of the husband in all religious and social ceremonies.<\/li>\n<li>The father&#8217;s property was inherited by son.<\/li>\n<li>The daughter could inherit it only if she was the only child of her parents.<\/li>\n<li>Right to property was known in moveable things like cattle, horse, gold, and ornament and so also in immoveable property like land and house.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/status-of-women-during-different-period-3-638.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-674\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/status-of-women-during-different-period-3-638.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"638\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/status-of-women-during-different-period-3-638.jpg 638w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/status-of-women-during-different-period-3-638-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/status-of-women-during-different-period-3-638-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Education\"><\/span>Education<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>The teacher was given great respect.<\/li>\n<li>The school was in the home of the teacher where he taught the particular sacred texts.<\/li>\n<li>The texts were in the first instance learnt by pupils repeating the words taught by their teacher.<\/li>\n<li>A great importance was attached to enunciation and pronunciation.<\/li>\n<li>Oral learning was the method of training.<\/li>\n<li>Students were given intense training and learning to memorize and preserve the huge mass of Vedic literature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Food_and_Drinks\"><\/span>Food and Drinks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>The important part of the diet was milk and its products like curd, butter, and <em>ghee<\/em>. Grains were cooked with milk (<em>kshira-pakamodanam<\/em>).<\/li>\n<li><em>Chappati<\/em> (bread) of wheat and barley was eaten mixed with <em>ghee<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>People used to eat the meat of birds, wild animals (like boar, antelopes, and buffalo), and fish.<\/li>\n<li>The meat of animals such as sheep, goat, and buffalo etc., which were sacrificed on ceremonial occasions, was also eaten.<\/li>\n<li>The cow was mentioned as <em>aghnya<\/em>e. not to be killed. The Vedas prescribe a penalty of death or expulsion from the kingdom to those who kill or injure cows.<\/li>\n<li><em>Sura<\/em> and <em>Soma<\/em>e. alcoholic drinks were also consumed, though their consumption had been condemned.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Economic_Life\"><\/span>Economic Life<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Agriculture, cattle rearing, and trade and commerce were the main economic activity of the Rig Vedic people.<\/li>\n<li>People had domestic animals like cows, sheep, goats, asses, dogs, buffalos etc.<\/li>\n<li>Oxen were used for ploughing and drawing carts and horses for drawing the chariots.<\/li>\n<li>The plough was drawn by the oxen at times in a team of six, eight, or even twelve.<\/li>\n<li>The grains were harvested with sickles.<\/li>\n<li>Manure was used for high yield; irrigation was also practiced.<\/li>\n<li>Excess of rains and drought is mentioned as damaging the crops.<\/li>\n<li>The grains are collectively called <em>\u2018Yava\u2019<\/em> and <em>\u2018Dhanya.\u2019<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Some other occupations were pottery-making, weaving, carpentry, metal working, leather-working, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Initially, copper was the only metal that was used and the general term <em>&#8216;ayas&#8217;<\/em> had been used for this. In a later period, terms like <em>\u2018lohit ayas\u2019<\/em> and <em>\u2018syam ayas\u2019<\/em> were used for copper and iron respectively.<\/li>\n<li>The trade and traders (<em>vanik<\/em>) were also known in the Rig Vedic era.<\/li>\n<li>The practices of exchange of goods (Barter Economy) were in trend. It has been found that ten cows were quoted as the price for an image of <em>Indra<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The use of money can be traced in the mention of a gift of 100 <em>nishkas<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>Money-lending was also popular. It is mentioned that an eighth or a sixteenth part of one being paid either as an interest or part of the principle.<\/li>\n<li>The sea is mentioned in the context of trade and ocean wealth, like pearls, and shells.<\/li>\n<li>Politics of Vedic India was well structured and organized.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Political_Structure\"><\/span>Political Structure<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>The political structure of Rig Vedic India can be studied in the following ascending order \u2212\n<ol>\n<li>The Family (<em>Kula<\/em>), the smallest unit.<\/li>\n<li>The Village (<em>Grama<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>The Clan (<em>Vis<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>The People (<em>Jana<\/em>)<\/li>\n<li>The Country (<em>Rashtra<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Kula<\/em><\/strong> (family) included all the people living under the same roof (<em>griha<\/em>).<\/li>\n<li>A collection of several families constitutes the <em>grama<\/em> (village) and its headman was called <strong><em>gramini<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The collection of several <em>grama<\/em> (village) was called as the <strong><em>Vis<\/em><\/strong> and its head was called <strong><em>Vispati<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Several <em>Vis<\/em> constituted a <strong><em>Jana<\/em><\/strong> as it is mentioned as <em>Panchajanah, Yadva-janaha,<\/em> and <em>Bharata-janaha<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The aggregation of all <em>Jana<\/em> constitutes <strong><em>Rashtra<\/em><\/strong> (country).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Administration\"><\/span>Administration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>The hereditary kings were the popular form of Government.<\/li>\n<li>The provision of a democratically elected king by the assembly of people Jana was also known.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Rashtra<\/em> was small states ruled by a <em>raja<\/em> (king).<\/li>\n<li>The bigger kingdoms were ruled by <em>\u2018samrat\u2019<\/em> that reflects that they enjoyed a position of greater authority and dignity.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Raja<\/em> administered justice with the assistance of <em>Purohita<\/em> and other officials.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Raja<\/em> was offered <strong><em>bali<\/em><\/strong>, which was voluntary gift or tribute for his services. The <em>bali<\/em> was offered by his own people and also from defeated people.<\/li>\n<li>The crimes were strongly dealt with by the administration. Major crimes were theft, burglary, robbery, and cattle lifting.<\/li>\n<li>The important royal officials were \u2212\n<ol>\n<li><em>Purohita<\/em> (chief priest and minister)<\/li>\n<li><em>Senani<\/em> (army chief)<\/li>\n<li><em>Gramini<\/em> (head of a village)<\/li>\n<li><em>Dutas<\/em> (envoys)<\/li>\n<li><em>Spies<\/em> (spy)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li><em>Sabha<\/em> and <em>Samiti<\/em> were two important assemblies mentioned in the Rig Veda. These assemblies were forms the essential feature of the government.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Samiti<\/em> was mainly dealt with the policy decisions and political business, included common people.<\/li>\n<li>The <em>Sabha<\/em> was a selected body of the Elders or Nobles and less political in character.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Map_of_Vedic_India-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-675\" src=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Map_of_Vedic_India-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"683\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Map_of_Vedic_India-1.png 683w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Map_of_Vedic_India-1-150x107.png 150w, https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Map_of_Vedic_India-1-300x215.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rig Vedic Geography Rig Vedic people called themselves \u2018Aryans\u2019. They had detailed knowledge of the geographical area in which they<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[226],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quick-revision-prelims-history"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31619,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/31619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/triumphias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}