CHAPTER 5

WHAT BOOKS AND BURIALS TELL US

Chapter at a glance
 THE VEDAS
The word
Sacred Veda
books of
Hinduism. knowledge
or wisdom.

One of the Collection

oldest texts of poems
of the world. and hymns.

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 THE VEDAS
There are four VEDAS

Rig Veda – oldest amongst all

Sama Veda – book of melodies; chants prescribed in

song form.

Yajur Veda – book of rituals; handbook for the priests

Atharva Veda – book of spells to protect against

demons and disasters.
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THE VEDAS

Composed by sages( rishis)

Indira: a warrior God
The oldest – the Rig Veda – was
composed 3500 years ago.
Contained thousands of hymns -
1028 hymns to be exact.

Written in Vedic Sanskrit.

In praise of mainly – Indra ( the Warrior Agni: the God of fire

God), Agni ( the Fire God) and Sura (
the drink made from a special plant)

Priests taught students to recite

and memorise.

Mostly composed by men

Soma: a plant of special drink

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 SANSKRIT & OTHER LANGUAGES

Indo-European
Sanskrit, Hindi, Tibeto-Burman
French, German, north-east
Kashmiri

Family of
languages

Dravidian family Austro-Asiatic

Tamil, Telugu,
Malayalam central India

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 INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM
VEDAS BY HISTORIANS
(RIG VEDA)

Many prayers for

Contains hymns praising Cows and horses were
children (especially
the forces of nature. valued animals.
sons).

Wealth from the wars – i)

kept by leaders, ii) given
Battles were fought – i)
to priests, iii) distributed
cattle, ii) land, iii) water &
amongst people, iv)
iv) to capture people.
used for performing
yajnas.

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 INFORMATION COLLECTED
FROM VEDAS BY HISTORIANS
▪ People were described in several ways

As described by people who composed

In terms of work
hymns

Brahmins Rajas Aryas Dasas

Community as a whole

Jana Vish
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 MEGALITHIC CULTURE

▪ Megaliths - large stone boulders or groups

of standing stones

▪ Used to mark burials.

▪ Megalithic culture flourished in Deccan,

south India, in the north-east & Kashmir.

▪ It flourished during the same time as the

Vedic culture (Rig Veda) 3000yrs ago.

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 MEGALITHIC CULTURE
(Features of burial places)
AXES

HORSE EQUIPMENT

Family burials
Buried with Skeletons,
Difference in also common –
distinctive pots, horses,
status amongst buried at the
called black and ornaments, iron
persons buried. same place but
red ware. tools also found.
at different times.

DAGGER
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 MEGALITHIC CULTURE
(Facts - Burial at Inamgoan)

▪ State: Maharashtra

▪ River: Ghod- tributary of the river Bhima

▪ Timeline: between 3600 and 2700 years ago.

▪ Adults buried straight with head towards north.

▪ Some burials were inside the houses.

▪ Example- a man found buried in a 4 legged clay jar of a 5

roomed house, in cross-legged position.

▪ Vessels containing food and water were also placed in the

pit.
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 Occupations at Inamgoan
Archaeologists found:

Wheat Barley Rice Pulses Millets Peas Sesame Bones Fruits

of
animals

Horse Sheep Pig Blackbuck

Jamun Date Amla Ber