# Early People, Indus Valley and the Vedic Age

- Link: https://thecuriosi.com/lessons/aptet-evs-early-people-indus-vedic/
- Published: 2026-11-03T19:12:36+05:30
- Author: MAHENDRA MANCHIKALAPATI

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 2. [APTET EVS Social: History, Polity and Society](https://thecuriosi.com/courses/aptet-evs-social-history-polity-society/)
 3.  Lesson 1 of 10

History in the primary EVS classroom begins with a simple question: how did people
live long ago? This course covers the history, polity, society and culture units
of EVS Social Studies, plus social studies methodology. This first lesson covers**
early people**, **nomadic life**, the **Belum Caves**, **rock paintings**, the move**
towards settled life**, the **Indus Valley civilisation**, and the **Vedic period
and its literature**.

## Early people and settled life

  |  Age |  Approximate time |  Way of life |  
   |  Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) |  from about 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago |  **hunter-gatherers**; rough stone tools; discovery of **fire**; lived in caves and rock shelters; **nomadic** (moved in search of food and water) |  
 |  Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) |  about 12,000 to 10,000 years ago |  very small, sharp stone tools (**microliths**); changing climate; grasslands spread |  
 |  Neolithic (New Stone Age) |  from about 10,000 years ago |  **farming** and **domestication** of animals; polished tools; pottery, weaving; **settled villages** |

**Why people became settled:** once they grew crops such as wheat, barley and rice
and kept animals such as sheep, goats and cattle, they had to stay near their fields.
Settled life led to permanent houses, storage of grain, crafts and, later, villages
and towns. Mehrgarh (in present-day Pakistan) is one of the earliest farming villages
of the subcontinent.

**Rock paintings** in caves and rock shelters show animals, hunting scenes and dances,
drawn with natural colours. **Bhimbetka** (Madhya Pradesh) is a UNESCO World Heritage
Site with thousands of such paintings; Andhra Pradesh has rock paintings at **Ketavaram**(
Kurnool district).

**Belum Caves** (now in Nandyal district, earlier Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh)
are among the **longest caves in the Indian subcontinent**. Pottery and other remains
show their use by people in early times, and later by Buddhist and Jain monks.

## The Indus Valley (Harappan) civilisation

The **Harappan civilisation** flourished about **4,700 years ago** in the Indus 
river valley and nearby areas. **Harappa** was excavated first (1921), followed 
by **Mohenjo-daro**.

  |  Site |  Known for |  
   |  Mohenjo-daro |  the **Great Bath**, large granary, bronze “dancing girl” |  
 |  Harappa |  granaries, the first site discovered |  
 |  **Lothal** (Gujarat) |  a **dockyard** for boats |  
 |  Kalibangan (Rajasthan) |  evidence of a ploughed field |  
 |  **Dholavira** (Gujarat) |  water reservoirs; a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021 |

**Features:**

 * **Planned cities** with streets at right angles, a raised **citadel** and a lower
   town;
 * houses of **baked bricks**, many with wells and bathrooms;
 * **covered drains** along the streets;
 * **seals** with animals (such as the “unicorn”) and signs; the **Harappan script
   has not yet been deciphered**;
 * crafts in copper, bronze, beads and pottery; among the earliest people to grow**
   cotton**;
 * trade with distant lands, including Mesopotamia.

No large palaces or temples have been found. The cities declined after about 3,900
years ago, possibly due to drying rivers, floods or deforestation.

## The Vedic period and literature

The **Vedas** are among the oldest texts in the world, composed in **Sanskrit** 
and passed on orally for centuries.

  |  Veda |  Content |  
   |  **Rig Veda** (the **oldest**, about 3,500 years old) |  over a thousand hymns to gods such as Agni, Indra and Soma |  
 |  Sama Veda |  hymns set to music for singing |  
 |  Yajur Veda |  rules and formulas for rituals (yajnas) |  
 |  Atharva Veda |  charms, everyday life, healing |

Later Vedic literature includes the **Brahmanas**, **Aranyakas** and **Upanishads**(
philosophical discussions about the soul and the universe). The epics **Ramayana**(
Valmiki) and **Mahabharata** (Vyasa) were composed later.

  |  Early Vedic period |  Later Vedic period |  
   |  mainly **pastoral** (cattle were wealth) |  settled **agriculture** with iron tools |  
 |  tribes (jana) led by a raja; assemblies called **sabha** and **samiti** |  larger kingdoms (janapadas) |  
 |  some women composed hymns (Ghosha, Apala, Lopamudra) |  the varna system became more rigid; fewer rights for women |

### Exam focus

 * Neolithic = farming, domestication, settled life.
 * Bhimbetka rock shelters (MP); Belum Caves in Andhra Pradesh.
 * Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro; dockyard at Lothal; Dholavira UNESCO 2021.
 * The Indus script is undeciphered.
 * Rig Veda is the oldest; sabha and samiti were Vedic assemblies.

### Example

Mrs Sunitha’s Class 5 makes “stone tools” from pebbles, grinds grain on a flat stone
and tries to “paint” animals with turmeric and charcoal on brown paper. They then
compare their efforts with pictures from Bhimbetka and discuss how life changed 
once people began farming.

## Key takeaways

 * Early people were nomadic hunter-gatherers; farming in the Neolithic age led 
   to settled villages.
 * Rock paintings at Bhimbetka and Ketavaram, and the Belum Caves, are evidence 
   of early life.
 * The Harappan civilisation had planned cities, covered drains, the Great Bath,
   seals and trade.
 * Its script is still undeciphered.
 * The four Vedas, with the Rig Veda oldest, are the main sources for the Vedic 
   period.
 * Early Vedic people were pastoral, with sabha and samiti assemblies; later Vedic
   people farmed.

## Practice

 1.  Farming and domestication of animals began in the:
 2.   * (A) Palaeolithic age
      * (B) Mesolithic age
      * (C) Neolithic age
      * (D) Iron Age
 3.  The Belum Caves are located in:
 4.   * (A) Andhra Pradesh
      * (B) Madhya Pradesh
      * (C) Maharashtra
      * (D) Odisha
 5.  The rock shelters famous for prehistoric paintings and listed as a UNESCO World
     Heritage Site are at:
 6.   * (A) Ajanta
      * (B) Ellora
      * (C) Elephanta
      * (D) Bhimbetka
 7.  The Great Bath was found at:
 8.   * (A) Harappa
      * (B) Mohenjo-daro
      * (C) Lothal
      * (D) Kalibangan
 9.  Which Harappan site had a dockyard?
 10.  * (A) Mohenjo-daro
      * (B) Lothal
      * (C) Harappa
      * (D) Kalibangan
 11. The oldest of the four Vedas is the:
 12.  * (A) Sama Veda
      * (B) Yajur Veda
      * (C) Atharva Veda
      * (D) Rig Veda
 13. The script of the Harappan civilisation:
 14.  * (A) has not yet been deciphered
      * (B) is Brahmi
      * (C) is Sanskrit
      * (D) is the same as modern Tamil
 15. The assemblies of the early Vedic period were called:
 16.  * (A) panchayat and zilla
      * (B) diwan and wazir
      * (C) sabha and samiti
      * (D) mahajanapada and gana

Answers and explanations (tap to show)

 1. (C) The Neolithic age saw the beginning of farming and settled life.
 2. (A) The Belum Caves are in Andhra Pradesh (Nandyal district).
 3. (D) Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh has prehistoric rock paintings. Ajanta’s paintings
    are much later Buddhist art.
 4. (B) The Great Bath is at Mohenjo-daro.
 5. (B) Lothal in Gujarat had a dockyard.
 6. (D) The Rig Veda is the oldest.
 7. (A) Scholars have not yet been able to read the Harappan script.
 8. (C) Sabha and samiti were assemblies of the early Vedic people.

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