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Explanation of Some Important Terms

The document explains key terms related to ancient Indian history, including 'Dasas,' who were non-Aryan people mentioned in the Rigveda, and 'Jana,' referring to tribes or communities. It also details the Vedas, a body of literature considered divine knowledge, consisting of four texts with various components, and discusses megaliths, large stone funerary monuments found globally, including in the Indian subcontinent. The Vedas are regarded as the ultimate truth by Hindus and were composed between c. 1500 BCE to 600 BCE.

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33 views1 page

Explanation of Some Important Terms

The document explains key terms related to ancient Indian history, including 'Dasas,' who were non-Aryan people mentioned in the Rigveda, and 'Jana,' referring to tribes or communities. It also details the Vedas, a body of literature considered divine knowledge, consisting of four texts with various components, and discusses megaliths, large stone funerary monuments found globally, including in the Indian subcontinent. The Vedas are regarded as the ultimate truth by Hindus and were composed between c. 1500 BCE to 600 BCE.

Uploaded by

shashanksaran
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Explanation of some important terms

1. Dasas: In the Rigveda the term has been used to refer to people who were considered to
be different from the Aryans in terms of cultural practices and the languages in which
they spoke. The famous battle of the 'ten kings' mentioned in the Rigveda, is supposed to
have been fought between the Aryans and the Dasas led by Shudras.

2. Jana: The term occurs 27 times in the Rigveda and usually refers to a tribe, community
or people.

3. Vedas/Vedic Literature: The word Veda literally means knowledge. As a body of


literature these are four in number-Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda.
Furthermore, each of these Vedas is comprised of four parts namely, the samhitas, the
brahmanas, the aranyakas and the Upanishads. The first two of these are designated as
karma-kanda (the portion pertaining to rituals), the third one as the upasana kanda (or the
portion relating to meditation) and the last one as the gyana-kanda (the portion dealing
with knowledge). The samhitas are collections of sacred hymns composed in the form of
verses and are dedicated to different gods and goddesses. The brahmanas contain details
of sacrificial rites (yajna) and are composed mostly in prose. The aranyakas consist of
mantras (sacred formulae) and could be regarded as a supplement to the brahmanas. Most
of the Upanishads are chapters of the aranyakas except the Isha Upanishad which forms
the last chapter of the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda. The entire corpus of
Vedic literature is considered to be direct revelations from god and hence is regarded as
apaurusheya or not of human [Link] the Hindus the Vedas comprise the ultimate truth
and are called smriti (retaining by hearing) as these were passed down from generation to
generation through oral transmission. The Vedas were composed over a long period as
the divine truths embodied in them were revealed from time to time to the rishis (seers) in
their state of deep meditation. Modern historians ascribe the dates of their composition
from c.1500 BCE to 600 BCE.

4. Megalith: The term derived from two Greek words ' mega' and 'lithos' literally means
large stone. The term is often applied to funerary monuments made of large stones found
in many parts of the world like Europe, Asia, Africa, and in Central and South America.
In the Indian subcontinent, they occur (c. 1000 BCE to the early centuries CE) in the far
south, the Deccan plateau, the Vindhya and Aravalli ranges, and the north-west. Some
important types of megaliths were : rock-cut tombs, umbrella stones etc. The megaliths
reflect different kinds of funerary practices-extended,fractional, post-excarnate,and post-
cremation burials. Some burials contained the remains of more than one person [Link]
megaliths contained Black and Red Ware, Black Polished Ware, Red Polished Ware, iron
tools and weapons, bronze vessels and ornaments and a few gold ornaments. Some
megaliths are funerary sites while others were probably memorials for the dead. The
megalith builders seem to have been agro-pastoral communities.

Source: NCERT (2017) Dictionary of History for School Children (Trilingual), National
Council of Educational Research & Training, New Delhi.
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