At the conclusion of the Mahabharat war about 3100 B.C., that marks the point of transition from pre-history to the start of recorded history, there existed several
large cities in the Indus Valley basin where the Indus flowed along with the Saraswati. The Saraswati river subsequently dried up due to natural causes, a cataclysmic event which probably lead to the decline and fall of the Indus Valley civilization.
Harappa and Mohenjo Daro (Mound of the Dead) in Sind were the first cities to be excavated by archaeologists. A large number of seals were also discovered, that bore a pictoral writing that has not yet been fully deciphered. A common motif in many of the seals is that of Shiva (The Lord of the Beasts) seated in a yogic position. As such seals have also been found in Sumeria, it is a logical assumption that trade ties existed between these two maritime nations.
Who were the
people who inhabited the Indus Valley? Most Indian scholars hold it was the “Aryans” or the people of the Vedas, as their
religious books were known, who were the original inhabitants of the Punjab (the land of the seven rivers) from times immemorial. After the drying up of the Saraswati, these people abandoned their urban dwellings and spread over the whole of northern India. They later developed weapons of iron, chariots were drawn by horses and the cow was held in high esteem.
The Vedic people were pantheists (they believed in one God, but worshipped him in many forms) and nature lovers. The joint family was the basic unit of society. Women were treated with honour, girls were educated and the wife took part in religious ceremonies. A man’s wealth was measured in terms of the cattle he possessed. In the beginning, the caste system was flexible – it was entirely dependent upon the occupation, and people could change their caste with a change in occupation. Inter-marriages among the three castes were common.
The Vedic people spoke Sanskrit and had a highly developed religious philosophy. They did not develop the art of writing till much later on, and sacred knowledge (in the form of the Rig Veda) was learnt by heart and transmitted from father to son over the generations. Some of their states were monarchial, yet others were republics where the rulers were representatives elected by the people.
The establishment of large kingdoms brought several non-Vedic people under the fold of hinduism. The customs and cultures of these people were different from the Vedic people, and this lead to the tranformation of hindu social and religious practices. Ceremonies and rituals became an important part of worship, and people began to believe more and more in the doctrine of karma (the theory that one has to face the consequences of one’s actions). The great epics – the Ramayana and the Mahabharat, as well as a number of non religious books, were composed.
The normal
life span of a person was divided into four equal periods – Brahmacharya or student life, Grihast or married life, Vanaprastha or retired life, and Sanyas or the life of an ascetic. A student received his education at the feet of his guru in an ashram or hermitage. As a householder, he married and had children. Later, he detached himself from family ties and wandered from place to place seeking spiritual knowledge.
The kings were regarded as the protectors of society and he upholders of dharma (justice and morality). They were usually benevolent rulers who cared for the welfare of their subjects. They built roads to help in the movement of goods and people. Land revenue was paid to them to meet the expenses of the state. A large majority of the people were farmers, but there were also guilds of workers.
Many wandering ascetics denounced the the practice of rituals and sacrifices, and formed their own orders to re-establish the pristine Vedic faith. Two of them were Mahavir and Gautam Buddha. The followers of Mahavira believed in non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, non-attachment to material goods and belongings, and celibacy. The followers of Buddha believed in the four truths, namely that there is sufffering in this world, that desire is the cause for suffering, that suffering can be overcome, and that the way to overcome suffering is by following the Middle Path. In their teachings, both Mahavira and Gautam Buddha are silent as to the existence of God, the source of all creation, for their faith is in essence an ascetic, intellectual and ethical / moral faith. It laid stress on the fact that good conduct is more important than ritual or ceremony. It preached the equality of all men, and did not recognize caste divisions. However, controversies in dogma and splits among the Buddhists weakened its hold upon the people. The Mahayana Buddhists introduced idol worship and began to worship Buddha as a god, which was antithetical to the very spirit of Buddhism. Still later, Buddha came to be accepted as one of the avatars (incarnations) of the hindu god Vishnu.
Chandragupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, was the first Indian ruler to unify the country. He was ably assisted by Kautilya, who taught that whatever pleases himself the king shall not consider as good, but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good.
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