The Vedic period or Vedic age (c. 1500 – c.

 500 BCE), is the period in the history of the

northern Indian subcontinent between the end of the urban Indus Valley Civilisation and a second
urbanisation which began in the central Indo-Gangetic Plain c. 600 BCE. It gets its name from
the Vedas, which are liturgical texts containing details of life during this period that have been
interpreted to be historical[1] and constitute the primary sources for understanding the period. These
documents, alongside the corresponding archaeological record, allow for the evolution of the Vedic
culture to be traced and inferred.[2]
The Vedas were composed and orally transmitted with precision by speakers of an Old Indo-
Aryan language who had migrated into the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent early in
this period. The Vedic society was patriarchal and patrilineal. Early Vedic Aryans were a Late Bronze
Age society centred in the Punjab, organised into tribes rather than kingdoms, and primarily
sustained by a pastoral way of life. Around c. 1200–1000 BCE, Vedic Aryans spread eastward to the
fertile western Ganges Plain and adopted iron tools which allowed for clearing of forest and the
adoption of a more settled, agricultural way of life. The second half of the Vedic period was
characterised by the emergence of towns, kingdoms, and a complex social differentiation distinctive
to India,[2] and the Kuru Kingdom's codification of orthodox sacrificial ritual.[3][4] During this time, the
central Ganges Plain was dominated by a related but non-Vedic Indo-Aryan culture. The end of the
Vedic period witnessed the rise of true cities and large states (called mahajanapadas) as well
as śramaṇa movements (including Jainism and Buddhism) which challenged the Vedic orthodoxy.[5]
The Vedic period saw the emergence of a hierarchy of social classes that would remain influential.
Vedic religion developed into Brahmanical orthodoxy, and around the beginning of the Common Era,
the Vedic tradition formed one of the main constituents of the so-called "Hindu synthesis".[6]
Archaeological cultures identified with phases of Vedic material culture include the Ochre Coloured
Pottery culture, the Gandhara grave culture, the Black and red ware culture and the Painted Grey
Ware culture.[7]