The Vedic period is the era in the history of the Indian subcontinent when the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were composed. It is usually divided into an earlier Rigvedic phase, centred on the Punjab, and a later Vedic phase, when the Indo-Aryan-speaking communities spread east into the Ganges plain. The texts were composed and passed on orally in Sanskrit, and they describe pastoral tribal societies that gradually became settled agricultural kingdoms with a hierarchical social order. Rituals, sacrifice and priesthood became central, and the later Upanishads introduced philosophical ideas. The dates are debated, and the period gave way to a second wave of urbanisation and to movements such as Buddhism and Jainism.
Before and after
- from c. 1,550 BCE to 1,292 BCEEighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
- from c. 1,550 BCE to 1,070 BCEEgyptian Empire
- from c. 1,531 BCE to 1,155 BCEKassites
- c. 1,507 BCEBirth of Hatshepsut
- from 16th century BCE to 5th century BCEVedic period
- 16th century BCEVedas
- from 16th century BCE to 3rd century BCEMumun pottery period
- from 16th century BCE to 1st century BCENok culture
- from c. 1,500 BCE to 500 BCELapita
More in Civilizations & archaeology
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- 13th century BCEAncient Celts
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- 80 CEThe Colosseum is inaugurated
- from 285 CE to 1453Byzantine Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires.