It is believed that the Aryans entered India from present-day Afghanistan and settled in the valley of Kabul and Punjab. This was called Sapta Sindhu or the land of the seven rivers—Indus, Ravi, Beas, Satluj, Jhelum, Chenab, and Saraswati. Because the region was fertile, the Aryans took to agriculture. It is believed that when the Aryans came to India, they came into conflict with the local people. The local inhabitants were defeated and they came to be known as ‘dasas’ or ‘dasyus’. In this article, we have discussed Aryas-expansion during the later Vedic age.
Aryas-expansion during the later Vedic age
As the population increased, the Aryans moved along the course of the river Ganga and Yamuna. The scene shifted from Punjab to the land of the Kurus which was the region around dem Delhi. Further, they occupied vast regions to the east, such as Kosala (east Uttar Pradesh), Kashi (Varanasi), Videha (north Bihar), and Magadha (South Bihar). The name ‘ Vangas’ occurs in one of the Aranyakas (forest texts), which refers to the people of Eastern Bengal. The Aitareya Brahmana mentioned the Andhra, who in modern times is the Telugu-speaking people of southern India. Thus, the territories occupied by the later Vedic Aryans comprised the whole of India to the north of the Narmada and some regions even to the south of that river.
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