long notes on
polity of vedic period
Answers
Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, the Brahamanas, the Aranyakas, Upanishads and Vedangas are most important sources of knowledge about Aryans and Vedic period. The term “Aryan” denotes the linguistic groups who came from somewhere in Steppes region stretching from southern Europe to central Europe.
Answer:
The polity of the Early Vedic period was basically a tribal polity with the tribal chief in the centre. The tribe was called Jana and the tribal chief was called Rajana. Rajana looked after the affairs of the tribe with the help of other tribal members and two tribal assemblies i.e. Sabha and Samiti.
Explanation:
The main source of the information for the study of early Vedic people is the Rigveda. Rig Vedic society was semi-nomadic tribal society with pastoral economy. Reiterating, the first change so observed in the political milieu was the transformation of the Rig Vedic Jana (meaning, people or tribe) into the Janapada (meaning, the area where the tribe settled).
Society of Vedic period
Society was patriarchal and the eldest male of the Kutumba was the head of the family. In the Rig Vedic society comprises of four varnas which was based on the occupation of individuals. But in the later Vedic period, the society became differentiated on the basis of Varna (Varna came to be birth based rather than profession based). The proliferance of profession gave rise to Jatis. The nature of kingship was transformed and rituals like Rajasuya (Royal coronation) assumed significance in the later Vedic period.
hope it helps you : )