Vedic and later Vedic periods

The Vedic period, named for the Vedas, spans the composition of the Rigveda in the northwest and the later expansion into the Ganges valley with iron, agriculture and larger kingdoms. Early Vedic society was pastoral and tribal, organised around the jana and assemblies such as the sabha and samiti. By the later Vedic period, agriculture, the varna order, kingship rituals and territorial kingdoms had transformed that world. The contrast between the two phases, not a single timeless Vedic age, is the key exam point.