Cemetery H cultureThe Cemetery H culture was a Bronze Age culture in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, from about 1900 BC until about 1300 BC. It is regarded as a regional form of the late phase of the Harappan (Indus Valley) civilisation (alongside the Jhukar culture of Sindh and Rangpur culture of Gujarat), but also as the manifestation of a first wave of Indo-Aryan migrations, predating the migrations of the proto-Rig Vedic people. The Cemetery H culture was located in and around the Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan.
Ravi RiverThe Ravi River (ˈrɑːvi) is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers (Sutlej and Beas River) were allocated to India. Subsequently, the Indus Basin Project was developed in Pakistan, which transfers waters from western rivers of the Indus system to replenish the portion of the Ravi River lying in that country.
UshasUshas (Vedic Sanskrit: उषस् / ) is a Vedic goddess of dawn in Hinduism. She repeatedly appears in the Rigvedic hymns, states David Kinsley, where she is "consistently identified with dawn, revealing herself with the daily coming of light to the world, driving away oppressive darkness, chasing away evil demons, rousing all life, setting all things in motion, sending everyone off to do their duties". She is the life of all living creatures, the impeller of action and breath, the foe of chaos and confusion, the auspicious arouser of cosmic and moral order called the Ṛta in Hinduism.
Andronovo cultureThe Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1150 BC, spanning from the southern Urals to the upper Yenisei River in central Siberia. Some researchers have preferred to term it an archaeological complex or archaeological horizon. The slightly older Sintashta culture (c. 2200–1900 BC), formerly included within the Andronovo culture, is now considered separately to Early Andronovo cultures.
Taittiriya ShakhaThe Taittirīya Shakha (Sanskrit, loosely meaning 'Branch or School of the sage Tittiri'), is a shakha (i.e. 'branch', 'school', or rescension) of the Krishna (black) Yajurveda. Most prevalent in South India, it consists of the Taittirīya Samhita ('TS'), Taittirīya Brahmana ('TB'), Taittirīya Aranyaka ('TA'), and Taittirīya Pratisakhya ('TP'). The 'Taittiriya Shakha' can be loosely translated as 'Branch or School of (the sage) Tittri' or 'Branch or School of Taittiriya' or 'School of the pupils of Tittiri'.
MahajanapadasThe Mahājanapadas (great realm, from maha, "great", and janapada, "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period. The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history. During this period, India's first large cities since the demise of the Indus Valley civilization arose.
IndologyIndology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term Indology (in German, Indologie) is often associated with German scholarship, and is used more commonly in departmental titles in German and continental European universities than in the anglophone academy. In the Netherlands, the term Indologie was used to designate the study of Indian history and culture in preparation for colonial service in the Dutch East Indies.
KshatriyaKshatriya (क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit kṣatra, "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term kṣatriyaḥ is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra. The administrative machinery in the Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary.
Historical Vedic religionThe historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism or Brahminism) constituted the religious ideas and practices among some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontinent (Punjab and the western Ganges plain) during the Vedic period (1500–500 BCE). These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and some Vedic rituals are still practiced today. It is one of the major traditions which shaped Hinduism, though present-day Hinduism is markedly different from the historical Vedic religion.
ĀryāvartaĀryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, lit. "Land of the Aryans", aːrjaːˈʋərtə) is a term for the northern Indian subcontinent along with some other parts in the ancient Hindu texts such as Dharmashastras and Sutras, referring to the area of the Indian subcontinent settled by Indo-Aryan tribes and where Indo-Aryan religion and rituals predominated. The limits of Āryāvarta extended over time, as reflected in the various sources, as the influence of the Brahmanical ideology spread eastwards in post-Vedic times.
