CHAPTER-13

The Later Vedic Phase: Transition to State and Social Orders

Expansion in the Later Vedic Period (c. 1000–500 BC)

The collections of Vedic hymns or mantras are known as the Samhitas. The Rig Veda Samhita is the oldest Vedic text.
The Yajur Veda contains not only hymns but also rituals to accompany their recitation, the latter reflecting the social and political milieu of the time.
The Atharva Veda contains charms and spells to ward off evils and diseases, its contents throwing light on the beliefs and practices of the non- Aryans.

Use of Iron

As a pure metal, iron was first made in Mesopotamia in 5000 BC, and later in Anatolia in the third millennium BC. Up to 1200 BC, iron was valued as a precious metal in western Asia and used as presents by rulers.
In the Indian subcontinent, iron is sometimes attributed to Lothal and to some sites in Afghanistan in Harappan times. In India, pure iron at some sites in Rajasthan in the copper–stone age has been reported and also in Karnataka towards the end of that phase.
Iron can thus be placed in the second half of the second millennium BC. Iron implements buried with dead bodies have been discovered in substantial numbers. They have also been found in Baluchistan. At about the same time, iron was used in eastern Punjab, western UP, MP, and Rajasthan.

Agriculture

Ploughing was done with a wooden ploughshare, which could function in the light soil of the upper Gangetic plains.

Arts and Crafts

The Vedic people were familiar with copper from the very outset. Numerous copper tools of the pre-1000 BC period found in western UP and Bihar might suggest the existence of coppersmiths in non-Vedic societies.
The Vedic people may have used the copper mines of Khetri in Rajasthan. The later Vedic people were acquainted with four types of pottery—black-and-red ware, black-slipped ware, Painted Grey Ware, and red-ware.

Social Organization

All the three higher varnas shared one common feature: they were entitled to upanayana or investiture with the sacred thread according to the Vedic mantras. Upanayana heralded the beginning of education in the Vedas.