Social, Economic and Political Life of Early Rig Vedic Aryans

Political Life of Rig Vedic Aryans

Rig Vedic society was a tribal society an its people lived a semi-nomadic life. Aryan tribes were called Janas. Their chief (rajan) was known as the Gopati or Gopa (protector of cows), and the chief queen was called the Mahisi. The Janas often had conflicts with the Panis, who used to hide the cattle of Aryans in the forest and were thus deemed the enemies of Aryans. In order to get their cattle back, the Vedic God 'Indra' was invoked and many battles known as Gavisthi, Gaveshana, Goshu or Gavyat (to search for cows) were fought between the Aryans and the Panis. The main function of the rajan was thus to protect the jana and cattle from the enemies along with offering. prayers to gods on behalf of the jana. 

Aspects of Polity and Administration of Vedic Aryans

1. The society's political structure was somewhat similar to the monarchial form, but the Gopati's office was not hereditary and he was selected from among the clan's men and was perhaps elected by the assembly called samiti. 

2. Some important tribal assemblies of this period were: 

(I)   Sabha      -    Smaller body meant for elites 

(II)  Samiti     -    Broad-based folk assembly,                                             presided over by the Rajan

(III) Vidatha  -    Tribal assembly with diverse                                          functions 

(IV) Gana       -     Assembly or troop 

3. Some of the important functionaries of Rig Vedic societies were:

(I)   Purohit (priest)

(II)  Senani (Chief of army)

(III) Gramini (Leader of he village and fighting unit)

(IV) Vrajapati (Officer who controlled the territory) 

It is pertinent to note that there is no mention of any officer for administering justice through Rig Vedic society was not an ideal society as there were cases of theft and burglary. Similarly, there is no evidence of tax collecting officers and it perhaps seems that the people offered to the chief a voluntary contribution called 'bali'. 

4. Vedic society was militaristic and military technique was much evidenced as they possessed chariots driven by horses. The Rig Vedic charioteers used varma (coats of mail) and sipra/sironastra (helmets) and went to combat equipped with asi (swords), hanas (arrows) and ilhianus (bows). The sena was not a permanent fighting group and consisted of able-bodies tribesmen who were mobilised at the time of the wars and later, the king redistributed the tributes and booty collected from war among them. 

5. The Aryans were engaged in two types of battles:

(I) With pre-Aryans (probably referred to them as Dasas/Dasyus) 

(II) Amongst themselves: There have been mentions of two such battles:

(a) A battle occured between a Bharata King Divodasa (winner) and Dasa ruler Shambara.

(b) The 'battle of ten kings'. This was fought between the Bharata chief Sudas, grandson of Divodasa (winner) on one side, and ten other tribes including the famous five tribes, namely, the Yadu, Turvasha, Puru, Anu and Druhyu on the banks of the river Paurushni (Ravi). Later, the Bharatas joined hands with the Purus to form the Kuru tribe who further allied with Panchalas and established their control over the Upper Ganga valley. 

Social Life of Rig Vedic Aryans 

All the social unites were based on brotherhood. Kula (Family) was the basic social unit and Kulapa was the head of the family. Largely, there were joint families in the Rig Vedic age, which followed the patrilineal system. The family was part of a larger grouping called vis or clan. One or more than one clans made jana or tribe. The jana was the largest social unit. 

Aspects of Social Life of Vedic Aryans 

1. The society was patriarchal in nature, through the women had important positions in the society since they were educated and had access to the assembly. They composed hymns and received Upanayana. Women attended the meetings of the Vidatha. Girls were free to choose their life partners and there were no instances of child marriage, sati or purdah in the Rig Veda. There were though few instances of levirate (marrying the husband's younger brother on the death of husband) and widow remarriage. Marriage was usually monogamous, through some references to polygyny and polyandry are also found in the Rig Veda. However, interestingly in the Rig Veda, no desire is expressed for daughters, through the desire for children and cattle is a recurrent theme in the hymns. One of the probable reason behind preference for the birth of a son was because of the martial nature of the society, which required male members for their clashes to establish dominance over the territories.

2. The society was not divided on caste lines and occupation was not based on birth. Everyone, be it the Rajans, the Purohits or the artisans, etc., was part of the clan networks and the members of a family could adopt different occupations. This is indicated by the following verse in the Rig veda: 'I am a poet , my father is a physician , and my mother grinds grain upon the stone. Striving for wealth, with varied plans, we follow our desires like cattle'. 

3. However, certain differences did exist during he period. Varna or colour was the basis of initial differentiation between the Vedic and non-Vedic people. The Vedic people were fair whereas the non-Vedic indigenous people were dark in complexion and spoke a different language. Authors of Rig Veda distinguished themselves from other groups whom they called 'dasyus' or 'dasas'. The dasas were also referred as a-vrata (who do not obey the ordinances of the gods) and a-kratu (those who do not perform sacrifices). 

4. Thus, even though a socially organized 'varna system' was not prevalent and tribal elements were stronger in the society, yet Rig Vedic society can still not be considered a totally egalitarian society as social stratification was based on the division of labour and gender. The oly mention of the four varnas was found in the Purusashukta of the tenth mandal of the Rig Veda, which marks on conclude that there was social mobility and the absence of strict social hierarchy. However, the Rig Vedic people were familiar with slavery. 

Economy of Vedic Aryans 

Since the Rig Vedic society was a pastoral society, cattle rearing was their dominant activity. The chief measure of wealth was cattle and a wealthy man was known as Gomat, that is to say, one who owned many cattle. A large number of words are derived from the word 'gau', meaning cow. It is pertinent to note that even the donations to the priests were mainly cows and women slaves but not land, which reveals the importance of pastoralism. Evidence of trade and commerce is meagre and there was no concept of private property based on land ownership. The clan as a whole enjoyed right over the resources.

 Aspects of Vedic Aryans Economy 

1. The unit of currency was niskha, which was made of gold. Barter was the model of exchange and he cow was an important unit of value. There was no regular revenue system and the kingdom was maintained by the voluntary tribute of subjects and bounty won in a battle. 

2. Gift exchange and redistribution had an mportant important economic role in the Rig Vedic society. Such exchanges, known as 'prestations', were done not on an individual level but at the group level. Apart from economic goods, this also included the exchange of other things such as women, courtesies, hospitality and military assistance. 

3. Shifting agriculture was practiced and fire was used to burn down forest cover and the patch of land thus cleared was then sown. Apart from yava or barley , no other grain is mentioned. The field was known as kshetra and the term krishi referred to ploughing. The Rig Vedic people used wooden plough. Vedic god Indra is also described as Urvarajit (winner of fertile fields), and there are also references to Kshetrapati (guardian deity of agricultural fields). 

4. The term ayas in the Rig Veda refers to coper and bronze and not  iron. Thus, they did not use iron technology, but were familiar with copper. Also, there have been very less references to metallurgical activities.

5. A lot of other crafts such as cart-making, carpentry, tanning, sewing and weaving find mention, though the chariots-maker enjoyed a special status in Rig Vedic society. Chariot-racing and dice gambling were popural pastimes. 

6. For transport, bullock carts, horses and horse-drawn chariots were used. There are also references to the sea (samudra) and boats (nau).