to this period. The popular assemblies lost power and importance. The Vidhata completely disappeared. The Sabha and Samiti were waging a losing battle for power with the king. Women were no longer permitted to sit on the Sabha, and it was now dominated by nobles and brahmanas. Traces of election of king appear in later Vedic texts. The king received voluntary presents called 'bali' from the common people called Vis. Kingship was usually hereditary though not always so. The king influence was strengthened by rituals like the rajasuya sacrifice, which was supposed to confer .supreme power on him. He performed the ashvamedha sacrifice, which meant unguestioned control over an area in which the royal horse ran uninterrupted. He also performed the Vajapeya or the Chariot race, in which the royal chariot was made to win the race against his kinsmen. All thee rituals added to the power and prestige of the king. Also the collection of taxes and tributes deposited with an officer called Sangrihitri provided the king with a source of revenue. The king was assisted in central administration by an increasing number of officials but a structured bureaucracy did not yet come into being. At the lower level, the administration was possibly carried on by village assemblies, which may have been controlled by the chiefs of the dominant clans. These assemblies also tried local cases. But even in later Vedic times the king did not possess a standing army. Tribal units continued to be mustered in times of war. The political system was growing in complexity and the Aitreya Brahmana gives references to live types of state systems such as Rajya, Bhojya, Swarajya, Vairajya and Samrajya. Rajya was ruled by Raj, Bhojya by Bhoj, Swarajya by Swarat, Vairajya by Virat and Samrajya by Samrat. Economic Life Early Vedic Period: The people in the early Vedic age were predominantly pastoral, though agriculture was also practiced. Various animals as cow, sheep, goat, camel, bull horse were reared of which the most important was the cow. The men grosperous with many cattle was called Gomath. Wealth was computed in the form of cow. Cattle were also given as gifts or dhakshina to the priests. Land does not figure as an item of donation and postures were more important. The terms for war in the Rig Veda is gavishti or the search for cows. Most of the wars were fought for the sake of cows. People also fought for possession of good grazing grounds. Prayers were made for increase in the cattle wealth. Panis were non-aryans involved in barter (pan). They were much criticised in the Rig Veda for stealing cows and thereby amassing huge cattle wealth. In the early Vedic period, agriculture was secondary to postoralism. The cultivated field was known as kshetra and, ploughing was known as Krishi. The plough was known as Langla or Sira. Ployghshare was known as Phala. Furrous were known as Sita though later on Sita came to signify wealth produced in land. Rig Veda also



provides references of ploughed fields, stone pulley wheels and irrigation channels. The Rig Veda mentions only one food grain called 'Yava' which in later times had the specific sense of barley but in Rigveda it is the common name for any food grain. Cotton, Rice, Wheat are nowhere mentioned in the Rigveda,

Ajas' is the common metal having the colour of Sun or fire and is used to refer to copper or bronze. It does not indicate Iron. Hiranya or gold is mentioned as obtained from river sands. The spoked wheel mentioned in the Rig Veda is a new development. The smelting of metals was known and metal smellers were called "Karmar'. Rig Veda mentions' grama' which is a fighting unit on the move and not a village. The Rig Veda does not mention of any 'Nagar'. Hariyuppa is mentioned as a Pur (fort), it's identified with Harappa. The Rig Vedic Aryans used copper hordes and their predominant pottery type is Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) though Black and Red ware type of pottery was also known to them. Rig Vedic economy was a pre-state economy in which taxation system was not developed and 'bali' was a form of voluntary contribution given by the producers to the king. It was not a usual form of tax. Whatever the king acquired by way of contbutions was redistributed among his subjects as a result of which there were no big differences in wealth among the various sections of the Society. Later Vedic Period: The later Vedic age saw the expansion of people into the easteln areas using fire and iron. Iron objects have been found in north India in the bracket of 1000 - 700 BC. Iron was initially used for weapons and later on for agriculture. The Aryans while moving eastwards integrated the technological knowledge of the indigenous people as a result many non-aryan words entered the Vedic literature and agriculture also became advanced. Various crops are mentioned in the literature of the later Vedic age- including rice, wheat, sugarcane, lentil, barley, millet, mustard etc. Various crop protection mantras are also mentioned. Atharva contains many references to agriculture. Surplus was produced in agriculture in the later Vedic age. Wheat, barley and rice have been found from later Vedic strata. Rice is mentioned as 'Vrihi' and wheat as 'godhuma' and barley as 'yava'. Sugarcane is mentioned as 'lkshu'. We still do not have references to land donation though land became more important. Cattle rearing continued to be practiced though agriculture was the predominant economic activity. The people in the later Vedic age are associated with Painted Grey Ware (PGW) alongwith use of Iron, wattle and doab houses, rice and horses. Iron in the later Vedic age is mentioned as 'Krishna-ayes' or the black metal. Lots of improvement was made in the arts and Crafts. Besides the copper and bronze workers, there appeared iron smiths and chariot makers. Shipping was known to people in the later Vedic age. We have

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