Chapter 5 What Books and Burials Tell Us

Words to describe people in Rigveda

Let us see some of the words used to describe people found in the Rigveda.

There are 2 groups who are described in terms of their work –

The priests: who were also called brahmins. They used to perform various rituals.

The rajas: They did not have capital cities, palaces or armies, nor did they collect taxes. Sons did not automatically succeed fathers as rajas.

Two words were used to describe the people or the community as a whole:

1. One was jana
2. The other was vish

The people who composed the hymns described themselves as Aryas and called their opponents Dasas or Dasyus. The term dasa means slave. Slaves were women and men who were often captured in war.

Silent sentinels – the story of the megaliths

Big stones are known as megaliths, which were arranged by people and were used to mark burial sites. The practice of erecting megaliths began about 3000 years ago and was prevalent throughout the Deccan, south India, in the north-east and Kashmir. All burials have some common features. The dead were buried with distinctive pots, which are called Black and Red Ware.

Finding out about social differences

Objects are found with the skeleton. So, archaeologists think that these objects may have belonged to the dead person. There were differences in status amongst the people who were buried. Rich people were buried with more gold beads, stone beads, copper bangles etc. Whereas poor people were buried with only a few pots.

Were some burial spots meant for certain families?

People belonging to the same family were buried in the same place. Stone circles or boulders placed on the surface served as signposts to find the burial site so that people could return to the same place whenever they wanted to.

A special burial at Inamgaon

It is a site on the river Ghod, a tributary of the Bhima. Here, adults were buried in the ground. They were laid out straight with the head towards the north. Vessels that probably contained food and water were placed with the dead person.