HISTORY (VI)-LESSON-4 WHAT BOOKS AND BURIALS TELL US (LESSON NOTES)

 

HISTORY (VI)-LESSON-4

WHAT BOOKS AND BURIALS TELL US

(LESSON NOTES)

____________________________________________________________

v VEDAS:

Ø  A large body of religious texts originating in ancient India are known as Vedas. These were composed in Vedic Sanskrit. These passed on to other generations by memorizing and not writing. The Vedas were written down much later. There are four Vedas:

Ø Rigveda

Ø Samaveda

Ø Yajurveda

Ø Atharvaveda

v RIGVEDA

Ø The oldest Vedas is the Rigveda which was composed about 3500 years ago. It contains over a thousand hymns (“Suktas”) or well said.

Ø The hymns were composed by male and female rishis or sages. The composers of hymns called themselves ‘Aryas’,

Ø These hymns were written in praise of various gods and goddesses. Three gods are especially important-

§  Agni-the god of fire

§  Indra-a warrior god.

§  Soma-a plant from which a special drink was prepared

 

Ø Some hymns in the Rigveda are in the form of dialogues.

v CATTLE, HORSES AND CHARIOTS

Ø In the Rigveda there are many prayers for cattle, children (especially sons), and horses.

Ø Horses were yoked to chariots that were used in battles. Battles were fought for many purpose as-

§  Battles were fought for pasture land and agriculture land.

§  Battles were also fought for water, and to capture people , wealth and cattle.

§  They used this wealth to distribute among the leaders, priests and other people. They also performed ‘Yajnas’ or sacrifices.

v WORDS TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE

Ø In the Rigveda people were describe according to their work,  their language, their place, their family, their communities and cultural practices they performed.

Ø The Rigveda divides people into different groups on the basis of their work :

§  The priest or Brahmins- who performed various rituals like Yajans

§  Rajas- The leaders of a particular community. They did not have their  capital cities, palaces or armies, nor did they collect taxes. Their sons also did not became rajas.

§  Vish or Jana-People or the community as a whole have been referred to as ‘jana’ or ‘vish’. Several vish or jana are mentioned by name like the Puru jana or vish, the Bharata jana or vish, the Yadu jana or vish, and so on.

§  Dasas’/ ‘Dasyus- These were the people who did not perform sacrifices, and probably spoke different languages. Later it came to mean as slaves who captured in war. They were treated as the property of their owners.

v LANGUAGE AND THEIR FAMILY

Ø Indo-European – Sanskrit, Hindi, Kashmiri, Sindhi, English, French

Ø Dravidian family - Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam

Ø Austro-Asiatic family- Language of Jharkhand and Central India.

Ø Tibeto-Burman family- Language of North eastern areas

v MEGALITHS:

Ø These literally mean big stones, which were used by early men to spot burial sites. So theseathese stone boulders arecare as Megaliths.This practice was used in the Deccan, north east and Kashmir. Some megaliths are on the surface and some are underground.

Ø COMMON FEATURE OF MEGALITHS

Ø In all megaliths a distinctive pots, called as Black and Red Ware(BRW) are found.

Ø Some sites also found tools and weapons of iron, skeletons of horses, horse equipments and ornaments of stone and gold.

 

v SOCIAL DIFFERENCE

Ø By studying the burial site the archaeologists come to know about social difference in that society.

Ø The site which have common pot while some have gold ornaments.

Ø For example a megalithic site in Brahmagiri in  Karnataka one skeleton was buried with 33 gold beads, 2 stone beads, 4 copper bangles, and one conch shell. He may be very rich , king or chief.

v BURIAL SPOTS OF FAMILIES:

Ø Some burial chambers have more than one skeleton. It means that one chamber was used for many members of the same family. These are called as cists.

Ø A hole in the wall allowed the chamber to be used over and over again, known as port hole.

v SKELETON STUDIES:

Ø Study of the bone structure helps to differentiate between male and female skeletons. The hip or the pelvic area of a woman is generally larger than a man.

Ø About 2000 years ago, there was a famous physician named Charaka who wrote a book on medicine known as the Charaka Samhita. He states that the human body has 360 bones.

 

v SPECIAL BURIAL AT INAMGAON:

Ø Inamgaon is a site on the river Ghod, a tributary of the Bhima in Maharashtra.

Ø It was occupied between 3600 and 2700 years ago.

Ø Here, adults were generally buried in the ground, laid out straight, with the head towards the north.

Ø Sometimes burials were within the houses. Vessels that probably contained food and water were placed with the dead.

Ø Archaeologists found a man buried in a large, four-legged clay jar in the courtyard of a five-roomed house.

v OCCUPATIONS AT INAMGAON

Ø Archaeologists have found seeds of wheat, barley, rice, pulses, millets, peas and sesame. It means they cultivated.

Ø Bones of a number of animals like sheep, dog, horse, ass, pig, sambhar, spotted deer, blackbuck, antelope, hare, and mongoose, besides birds, crocodile, turtle, crab and fish found.

Ø Many bones bearing cut marks that show they may have been used as food.

Ø  There is evidence that fruits such as ber, amla, jamun, dates and a variety of berries were collected.

 

v TIME LINE

Ø About 3600 years ago – beginning of the settlement of Inamgaon.

Ø About 3500 years ago (i.e. circa 1500 B.C.) – beginning of composition of the oldest of the Vedas, the Rigveda.

Ø About 3000 years ago (i.e. circa 1,000 B.C.) – beginning of the building of megaliths.

Ø Around 2700 years ago (i.e. circa 700 B.C.) – end of settlement at Inamgaon.

Ø Around 2000 years ago – Charaka wrote ‘Charaka Samhita’.

Ø Less than 200 years ago (in the 19th century A.D.) – printing of the Rigveda for the first time.