Vedic culture
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| Geographical range | South Asia |
|---|---|
| Period | Iron Age |
| Dates | c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE (uncertain) |
| Preceded by | Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Followed by | Brihadrathas dynasty, Haryanka dynasty, Mahajanapadas |
The Vedic period (or Vedic age) (c. 1500 – c. 500 BCE) in Northern India at the Ganga basin, has been named after the period in Indian history in Iron Age India during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed.
As described by the Indo-Aryan migration theory, during the early part of the Vedic period the Indo-Aryans settled into northern India, bringing with them their specific religious traditions. The associated culture (sometimes referred to as Vedic civilisation) was initially a tribal, pastoral society centred in the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent; it spread after 1200 BCE to the Ganges Plain, as it was shaped by increasing settled agriculture, a hierarchy of four social classes, and the emergence of monarchical, state-level polities. Scholars consider Vedic civilisation to have been a composite of the Indo-Aryan and Harappan cultures.
The end of the Vedic period witnessed the rise of large, urbanised states as well as of shramana movements (including Jainism and Buddhism) which challenged the Vedic orthodoxy. Around the beginning of the Common Era, the Vedic tradition formed one of the main constituents of the so-called "Hindu synthesis".
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