Ancient India

Ancient India



1. Ancient geographers referred to Himalayas, as also their less elevated offshoot—the Patkai, Lushai and Chittagong hills in the east and the Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges in the west—as Himavat.
2. Sapta Sindhavah is the name of the country of the Aryans in the Vedas.
3. The Negritos were the first human inhabitants of India. Originally, they came from Africa through Arabia, Iran and Baluchistan. They have practically disappeared from the soil of India, except in Andaman Islands.
4. The Munda languages belong to the Austro-Asiatic family and are to be found at present in the eastern half of Central India, southern border of the Himalayas and Kashmir and the territory east of Nepal.
5. Prakrit was the single language of Indian sub-continent in third century B.C. Sanskrit came into being a few centuries later.
6. With the advent of age of metals, in Northern India, copper replaced stone as ordinary material for tools and weapons. And, it took several centuries for iron to replace copper. In Southern India, however, the Iron Age immediately succeeded the Stone Age.
7. The Indus civilization existed in the same period as those of Egypt, Assyria and Babylonia.
8. The fertile surrounding region of Mohenjodaro is called Nakhlistan or the Garden of Sind.
9. Developed city-life, use of potter’s wheel, kiln-burnt bricks, and vessels made of copper and bronze are some common and distinctive features of all the civilizations of the pre-historic period.
10. The use of mud mortar was common during Indus Valley civilisation. Gypsum and mud were used for plaster. In case of drains, gypsum and lime mortar was used.
11. The seals and painted pottery of the Indus Valley show the figures of Pipal and Acacia trees. They were regarded as celestial plants and were supposed to be inhabited by divine spirits.
12. The pottery of Indus Valley was generally wheel-made and was painted red and black.
13. The Dravadians are thought to have come to India from eastern Mediterranean. At one time the Dravadian culture was spread throughout India.
14. The Dravadian language is still spoken by the Brahui people of Baluchistan.
15. In the early vedic period river Ravi was known as Parushni, river Jhelum as Vitasta, Chenab as Asikni, Beas as Vipas and Sutlej as Sutudri.
16. The word Veda comes from the root vid, to know. It means knowledge in general.
17. The Veda consists of four different classes of literary compositions: (a) the Mantra constitutes the oldest division of Vedic literature and is distributed in four Samhitas or collections known as the Rik, Sama, Yajus and the Atharva; (b) Brahmanas are the second class of Vedic works. They are mainly prose texts containing observations on sacrifice; (c) Aranyakas or forest texts are books of instruction to be given in the forest or writings meant for wood-dwelling hermits; (d) Upnishads which are either imbedded in the Aranyakas or form their supplements.
18. The Brahmanas are the first specimens of praise in the world. They mark the transition from the Vedic to later Brahmanical social order.
19. In Vyakarana, Nirukt and Chhand we have the great work of Panini, Yask and Pingal.
20. The Nyaya Darsana was written by Gautam. According to it, Tarka or logic is the basis of all studies. Knowledge can be acquired by four methods: Pratyaksha or intuition, Anumana or inference, Upma or comparison and sadba or verbal testimony.
21. The Purus and the Tritsus were two of the most famous Rig-Vedic clans. The names of their prominent rulers are recorded in Rik-Samhita.
22. Visvavara, Ghosha and Apala were some leading women seers of Rig-Vedic times.
23. The standard unit of value in Vedic period was a cow, but necklets of gold (nishka) also served as a means of exchange.
24. The early Vedic religion has been designated by the name of henotheism or kathenotheism (a belief in single gods, each standing out as the highest).
25. Father Dyaus, the shinning god of heaven, and mother Prithvi, the earth goddess, are among the oldest of the vedic deities.
26. The Aryan culture was taken to South India by Agastya.
27. Most important tribe of Rigvedic period was the Bharatas, after whom India has been named in the Constitution. The two most important rulers of Bharatas were Divodas and Sudas. Sudas is famous for his victory in the Battle of Ten Kings.
28. The taxes collected from people in the later Vedic age were referred to as bali and sulka. 29. The Vratyas were Aryans outside the pale of Brahminism. They appear to have had some special connection with the people of Magadha and the cult of Shiv. The Nishads were non-Aryan people who lived in their own villages and had their own rulers. They were probably identical with modern Bhils.