Vedic Age – Origin and Political Life

Vedic age as discussed by Harsh Kumar

Origin:

The Vedic age was commenced around the c. 1500 BC when the Aryans came to Indian subcontinent. Vedic Aryans were originally belonged to the Central Asian clan who originally belonged to the Eurasian region clan. The Vedic Aryans followed Harappans in Indian regions but there were fundamental differences between these two. The early Aryans who came to India came to known as the Dasyus. The original inhabitant of the Indian subcontinent came to known as Dasas.

 In this post we will going to discuss about the pollical aspects of the early and later phase of the Vedic age.

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IVC – Indus Valley Civilization – Decline and Continuity

Political Life of Early Vedic Age:

The Rig Vedic Samhita throws light on the Political, Social, Economic and Religious life of the Vedic Age. The early Vedic Aryans were tribal in nature because they were living in small tribal groups. There was no concept of the state as Vedic Aryans were living nomadic life and they were led by their tribal chiefs. Democratic elements were presented in the Vedic age as there are different type of institution existed during the age. Sabha, Samiti, Vidath, Prishad and Gana.

Sabha was the assembly of the Brahmans and elders. Samiti was the assembly of the commoners. Vidath was responsible for the distribution of war booty among the members. Parishad was assembly where the matters of common interest were discussed, it was like a legislative body. Gana was the highest advisory body. Women were the part of both the Sabha and Samiti.

The early Vedic age was liberal and progressive in regard of political life. Any type of rigid restrictions was absent as peoples enjoyed their freedom in both public and private life. This age was egalitarian in their outlook as every one was considered equal despite their social and economic status. Family was the primary unit of political life, they known as the Kula, Kulapa. The heads of their families represented them in political life. 

The number of family members together constituted the Grama and Gramini as the head of the group. Number of Grama together constituted the Vish and Vishpati as its head. Jana was the highest-level political unit which was headed by the Janaseya or Gopa. He was equivalent to the king.

The political system was monarchy in nature where king was the head of the region or tribal communities. The republican elements also present but the monarchy was most prevalent. During the initial years, the king was elected by the members of Samiti’s but later the post became hereditary in nature. Despite that the power and prestige of the institution of king was not so high. As the main function of the king was to lead the tribe during the wars and conflicts.

The bureaucracy was not developed yet as there are hardly three posts recorded in the Vedic texts. These are Purohit, Gramini and Senani. There were no codified laws for the crimes as judicial system was in its infancy. The cattle lifting was the most common crime mentioned in the Rig Vedic Samhita. The king was the highest court of appeal as he took decisions by considering all the customs and beliefs of the tribes.

War and battles were quite frequent during the Vedic age because of the cattle lifting. The alliances and counter-alliances were common. For example, the alliance of ten kings was defeated by the king Sudhas of Bharat Tribe on the bank of river Purushini (Ravi River). There was no standing army during the Vedic age but the men individuals used to participate in the war and battle voluntarily under the leadership of the Gramini.

The taxation system was still in its nascent stage of development. The only tax mentioned by the Rig Vedic Samhita was Bali. But in reality, the Bali was a form of voluntary donation by the members of tribe. Thus, the proper taxation system was yet to emerged.  

Political System during the Later Vedic Age

References from the later Vedic Age throw light on the political life of the later Vedic age. The tribal nature of Vedic age was demised because of the amalgamation of tribe and population growth. As a result, the size of tribe increased, the attributes attached to the particular tribe got demised that make it harder to identify a tribe from such a large group. The concept of state got develop as peoples started to live a sedentary life that result definite reginal identity got develop.

The democratic elements were still prevalent the later Vedic age. The Sabha, Samiti, Parishad, Vish, Gana etc. still playing a critical role in later Vedic age. Even the Sabha and Samiti were mentioned as the twin sisters of the Prajapati. But the women were prohibited from taking part in the Sabha and Samiti. That indicates the erosion of the equalitarian element of the early Vedic age. But still the institution was progressive in nature, other than women the system still following the equalitarian approach.

Janapada or Rashtra was emerged as the highest political unit during the later Vedic age. the power and prestige of the crown was increased significantly as various rituals and ceremonies get emerged for increasing the prestige of the crown. Ritual and ceremonies like Rajasuya, Ashwamedha, Vajapaya became frequent during the later Vedic age.

Rajasuya was performed at the time of coronation. The Vajapaya was performed to increase the strength of the king and kingdom. Ashwamedha was performed to increase the territorial extent of the state. The concept of Divine Monarchy was developed during the later Vedic age. In the Atharva Veda, the king Parikshit was mentioned as the Arahadeva.

The kings started to adopt the high-sounding titles like Ekraj (solo monarch) and Sarvabhumi (the lord of whole land). There were some titles which were region specific like Samrat in east, Swarat in west, Virat in north, Raja in central region and Bhoja in south. King maintained a specific court in which the officials and other functionaries used to participate.

The bureaucracy was evolved significantly as there are about 16 officials mentioned in the literature of the later Vedic age. The Purohit, Senani, Yuvaraja, Akshawapa (king’s companion in the game of dice), Rakshin (Police chief) and Palagar (ambassador) were among the 16 officials mentioned in literature. The judicial system was still as it was earlier in early Vedic age.

War and battles were quite common but the character of them got change as the purpose of the war and battles was no more for cattle lifting. The territorial extension became the main reason of conflict.  For the first time, the imperial outlook got visible during the later Vedic age. As a result of the territorial extent, the Jana of early Vedic age got transformed into the Janapadas.

The taxation system got evolve further as Bali now became a proper tax and Balisadhaks were appointed to collect the tax Bali. The Bhaga was the tax’s share of king. Bhoga was voluntary tax which was actually the ceremonial gifts by peoples.  

Thus, we have seen the various transition in the political system from the early Vedic age to later Vedic age like changes in taxation, political participation of peoples, status of people etc.