Vedic Age
c. 1500 – 600 BCE
The composition of the Vedas, the Painted Grey Ware settlements, the early kingdoms.
139 entries
- AditiThe boundless;
- AgniAgni is the Vedic and Hindu god of fire, addressed in the opening hymn of the Rigveda as the…
- AgniFire;
- AiravataAiravata is the divine white elephant that carries Indra, king of the Vedic gods, and ranks a…
- AmshaĀditya of the share due to gods and worshippers.
- AnalaVasu of fire.
- AnantaGuardian of the nadir;
- AnilaVasu of wind.
- ApsarasApsaras are celestial female beings of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, renowned as divine dance…
- AranyaniGoddess of the forest and its wild solitude.
- AryamanĀditya of customs, hospitality and marriage.
- AshvinsTwin horsemen;
- AtriOne of the seven seers;
- BanasuraThe thousand-armed demon-devotee of Shiva.
- BhagaĀditya of fortune, wealth and just apportionment.
- BhandasuraThe demon born of ashes, destroyed by Lalitā.
- Bharata dynastyThe Bharata dynasty is the legendary lunar-line (Chandravansha) royal lineage described in th…
- BhriguProgenitor-sage who tested and marked the three great gods.
- BhudeviThe Earth goddess;
- BrahmaBrahma is the creator deity of the Hindu Trimurti, traditionally depicted with four heads rep…
- BrihaspatiPreceptor of the gods;
- ChitraguptaThe scribe of Yama who records every deed of every soul.
- ChyavanaThe aged sage restored to youth by the Aśvins.
- DadhichiThe sage who gave his own bones to forge Indra’s thunderbolt.
- DevasThe shining gods as a class;
- Devi, devata, Brahman and yajnaDevi, deva/devata, Bhagavan, Ishvara, Brahman, and Atman are core Sanskrit terms in Hindu the…
- DhanvantariPhysician of the gods;
- DharaVasu of the earth.
- DhatriĀditya of health, domestic ritual and creation.
- DhruvaVasu of the pole star;
- DitiMother of the Daityas;
- DurvasaThe short-tempered sage whose curses and boons drive many tales.
- DyausThe sky father;
- The Eight VasusThe elemental spheres — Dhara, Anala, Anila, Apa, Soma, Dhruva, Prabhāsa, Pratyūṣa.
- The Eleven RudrasThe vital forces / howlers;
- GanasThe dwarfish, motley attendants of Shiva, led by Gaṇeśa.
- GandharvasGandharvas are a class of male celestial beings in Hindu and Buddhist tradition associated ch…
- GangaThe Ganges;
- GodavariThe “Ganges of the South”;
- HinduismHinduism is the world's oldest continuously practiced major religious tradition and the domin…
- HiranyakashipuThe invincible tyrant slain by Narasiṃha.
- HiranyakshaWho dragged the earth into the sea;
- IndraIndra is the Vedic king of the gods and the deity of thunder, lightning, rain, and war, the m…
- Indus Valley Civilization: Hindu perspectivesIndus Valley Civilization: Hindu perspectives surveys the interpretive tradition, both schola…
- IshanaGuardian of the Northeast;
- JalandharaThe mighty asura born of Shiva’s wrath.
- Janapadas after the KurusThe Janapadas were the polities of Iron Age North India that succeeded the Vedic-era Kuru kin…
- Jati, varna and gotraJati, varna, and gotra are three distinct traditional frameworks for social classification an…
- JyotishaJyotisha is the traditional Indian science of astronomy and astrology, one of the six Vedanga…
- KamadevaThe god of love, who looses flower-arrows of desire.
- KashyapaThe primal patriarch;
- KaveriLife-giving river-goddess of the Tamil country.
- KinnarasHalf-human, half-bird celestial musicians.
- KuberaGuardian of the North;
- Kuru KingdomThe Kuru Kingdom was both a historically attested late Vedic polity of the upper Ganga-Yamuna…
- MahabaliThe virtuous demon-king sent to the underworld;
- MahishasuraThe buffalo-demon slain by Durga.
- MarkandeyaThe ever-youthful sage who survived the cosmic dissolution.
- MarutsThe storm-troop;
- MenakaApsara sent to break the penance of Viśvāmitra.
- MitraGod of friendship, contracts and the light of day.
- NagasNagas are serpent deities and semi-divine beings in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, wors…
- Names for IndiaIndia has been known by a range of names across history and languages — including Bharata, Hi…
- NaradaThe wandering divine sage and musician;
- NarakasuraThe demon of Prāgjyotiṣa slain by Krishna.
- NarmadaThe self-born river of central India, holy to Shiva.
- NirritiGuardian of the Southwest;
- Pancha BhutaThe Pancha Bhutas, the five great elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space, are the fou…
- ParasharaSage-father of Vyāsa;
- ParjanyaThe rain-cloud god;
- PatanjaliCodifier of the Yoga Sūtras;
- PitrsThe deified ancestors, honoured in the śrāddha rites.
- PrabhasaVasu of dawn-light and splendour.
- PrāgjyotiṣaPrāgjyotiṣa is the name the epics give to the kingdom of the Brahmaputra valley, ruled by Nar…
- PrahladaThe demon-prince and supreme devotee of Vishnu.
- PrajapatiLord of creatures;
- PrithviPrithvi is the Vedic and Hindu goddess personifying the earth, worshipped from the earliest S…
- PunjabPunjab, the "Land of Five Rivers" straddling the India-Pakistan border in the northwestern su…
- PushanNourisher and guardian of roads, herds and travellers.
- RaktabijaWhose every drop of blood spawned a clone;
- RambhaCelebrated apsara of Indra’s court.
- RatriThe goddess of night.
- Sacred animals in HinduismSacred animals in Hinduism are creatures accorded ritual reverence or mythological significan…
- SandhyaGoddess of the ritual twilight junctures.
- SaptarishiThe seven great seers of the age: Kaśyapa, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bh…
- Sarasvati river debateThe Sarasvati debate concerns whether the river praised in the Rigveda is the now-dry Ghaggar…
- SaraswatiSaraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, learning, speech, music and the arts, worshipped si…
- SavitrThe solar impeller;
- ShivaShiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the destroyer within the Tri…
- Shraddha and Pitru PakshaShraddha is the Hindu ritual of offering food and libations to deceased ancestors, performed…
- ShukraVenus;
- SiddhasPerfected beings possessing spiritual powers.
- SomaThe sacred draught and the moon;
- ŚūrasenaŚūrasena was a mahājanapada of the Mathurā country, the kingdom in whose territory the Kṛṣṇa…
- SuryaSurya is the principal solar deity of Hinduism, worshipped in the Vedas as the source of ligh…
- SuryavanshaSuryavansha, or the Solar Dynasty, is the Puranic and epic genealogical lineage tracing desce…
- SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral hooked cross, one of the oldest continuously used symbols in h…
- TarakasuraThe demon slain by Kārttikeya, born for that purpose.
- TilottamaApsara fashioned from the finest particle of every beautiful thing.
- TulsiThe sacred basil deified;
- TvashtarThe heavenly artisan who forged Indra’s thunderbolt.
- The Twelve ĀdityasSolar sovereigns — Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Bhaga, Dhātṛ, Aṃśa, Vivasvān, Savitṛ, Tvaṣṭṛ, Pūṣa…
- UpanishadsThe Upanishads are a body of Sanskrit philosophical texts, composed over several centuries fr…
- UrvashiThe most beautiful of the apsaras.
- UshasThe radiant goddess of dawn.
- VacThe goddess of sacred speech and the creative word.
- VarunaGuardian of cosmic order (ṛta) and the waters;
- VayuVāyu is the Vedic and Hindu god of wind and breath, one of the Pañca Bhūta (five elements), i…
- VayuThe wind;
- VedasThe Vedas are the oldest layer of Hindu scripture, a body of Sanskrit hymns, ritual formulas,…
- VidyadharasSky-dwelling magicians and keepers of esoteric knowledge.
- VishnuViṣṇu is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the Preserver of the Trimūrt…
- VishvadevasThe “all-gods”;
- VishvakarmaThe divine architect and craftsman of the gods.
- VishwamitraKing who became a brahmarṣi;
- VritraThe primordial serpent of drought, slain by Indra.
- VyasaCompiler of the Vedas and author of the Mahābhārata.
- Yadu and the Yādava lineageYadu was a Ṛgvedic people whose name became, in later tradition, the great Yādava lineage of…
- YakshasNature-spirits of forests and wealth;
- YamaFirst mortal and lord of the dead;
- YamunaThe dark river of Vṛndāvana;
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
- AditiThe boundless;
- AgniAgni is the Vedic and Hindu god of fire, addressed in the opening hymn of the Rigveda as the…
- AgniFire;
- AiravataAiravata is the divine white elephant that carries Indra, king of the Vedic gods, and ranks a…
- AmshaĀditya of the share due to gods and worshippers.
- AnalaVasu of fire.
- AnantaGuardian of the nadir;
- AṅgaAṅga was a mahājanapada east of Magadha with its capital at Campā, and the first of the great…
- AnilaVasu of wind.
- Anu, Druhyu and TurvaśaAnu, Druhyu and Turvaśa are three peoples named repeatedly in the Ṛgveda who, with the Yadu a…
- AranyaniGoddess of the forest and its wild solitude.
- AryamanĀditya of customs, hospitality and marriage.
- AshvinsTwin horsemen;
- AtriOne of the seven seers;
- AvantiAvanti was a mahājanapada of the Malwa plateau ruled from Ujjayinī, the strongest of Magadha'…
- BhagaĀditya of fortune, wealth and just apportionment.
- Bharata dynastyThe Bharata dynasty is the legendary lunar-line (Chandravansha) royal lineage described in th…
- BhriguProgenitor-sage who tested and marked the three great gods.
- BrahmaBrahma is the creator deity of the Hindu Trimurti, traditionally depicted with four heads rep…
- BrihaspatiPreceptor of the gods;
- ChediChedi was a mahājanapada of the Bundelkhand country south of the Yamuna, known from the epics…
- ChitraguptaThe scribe of Yama who records every deed of every soul.
- ChyavanaThe aged sage restored to youth by the Aśvins.
- DadhichiThe sage who gave his own bones to forge Indra’s thunderbolt.
- Devi, devata, Brahman and yajnaDevi, deva/devata, Bhagavan, Ishvara, Brahman, and Atman are core Sanskrit terms in Hindu the…
- DhanvantariPhysician of the gods;
- DharaVasu of the earth.
- DhatriĀditya of health, domestic ritual and creation.
- DhruvaVasu of the pole star;
- DitiMother of the Daityas;
- DurvasaThe short-tempered sage whose curses and boons drive many tales.
- DyausThe sky father;
- The Eight VasusThe elemental spheres — Dhara, Anala, Anila, Apa, Soma, Dhruva, Prabhāsa, Pratyūṣa.
- The Eleven RudrasThe vital forces / howlers;
- IndraIndra is the Vedic king of the gods and the deity of thunder, lightning, rain, and war, the m…
- IshanaGuardian of the Northeast;
- Janapadas after the KurusThe Janapadas were the polities of Iron Age North India that succeeded the Vedic-era Kuru kin…
- Jati, varna and gotraJati, varna, and gotra are three distinct traditional frameworks for social classification an…
- JyotishaJyotisha is the traditional Indian science of astronomy and astrology, one of the six Vedanga…
- KamadevaThe god of love, who looses flower-arrows of desire.
- KambojaKamboja was a people of the Kabul valley and the northwestern highlands, counted among the ma…
- KashyapaThe primal patriarch;
- KāśīKāśī was a mahājanapada of the middle Ganga around Vārāṇasī, an old and wealthy kingdom that…
- KīkaṭaKīkaṭa is a people named once in the Ṛgveda, in a hostile aside, and identified by later comm…
- KuberaGuardian of the North;
- Kuru KingdomThe Kuru Kingdom was both a historically attested late Vedic polity of the upper Ganga-Yamuna…
- MadraMadra was a kingdom of the central Punjab around Śākala, named in later Vedic literature and…
- MarkandeyaThe ever-youthful sage who survived the cosmic dissolution.
- MarutsThe storm-troop;
- MatsyaMatsya was a mahājanapada of eastern Rajasthan with its capital at Virāṭanagara, best known a…
- MitraGod of friendship, contracts and the light of day.
- NaradaThe wandering divine sage and musician;
- NirritiGuardian of the Southwest;
- Pancha BhutaThe Pancha Bhutas, the five great elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space, are the fou…
- PanchalaPanchala was a later Vedic kingdom of the upper Ganga–Yamuna Doab that, with its neighbour Ku…
- ParasharaSage-father of Vyāsa;
- ParjanyaThe rain-cloud god;
- PatanjaliCodifier of the Yoga Sūtras;
- PrabhasaVasu of dawn-light and splendour.
- PrajapatiLord of creatures;
- PrithviPrithvi is the Vedic and Hindu goddess personifying the earth, worshipped from the earliest S…
- PuruThe Puru were a Ṛgvedic tribe of the Punjab, remembered chiefly as the leading opponents of t…
- PushanNourisher and guardian of roads, herds and travellers.
- RatriThe goddess of night.
- ŚālvaŚālva was a people of the country between Rajasthan and Haryana, named in the later Vedic lit…
- SaptarishiThe seven great seers of the age: Kaśyapa, Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Viśvāmitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Bh…
- SaraswatiSaraswati is the Hindu goddess of wisdom, learning, speech, music and the arts, worshipped si…
- SavitrThe solar impeller;
- ShivaShiva is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the destroyer within the Tri…
- Shraddha and Pitru PakshaShraddha is the Hindu ritual of offering food and libations to deceased ancestors, performed…
- ShukraVenus;
- SomaThe sacred draught and the moon;
- ŚūrasenaŚūrasena was a mahājanapada of the Mathurā country, the kingdom in whose territory the Kṛṣṇa…
- SuryaSurya is the principal solar deity of Hinduism, worshipped in the Vedas as the source of ligh…
- TvashtarThe heavenly artisan who forged Indra’s thunderbolt.
- The Twelve ĀdityasSolar sovereigns — Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Bhaga, Dhātṛ, Aṃśa, Vivasvān, Savitṛ, Tvaṣṭṛ, Pūṣa…
- UpanishadsThe Upanishads are a body of Sanskrit philosophical texts, composed over several centuries fr…
- UshasThe radiant goddess of dawn.
- Uśīnara and the ŚibiUśīnara and Śibi were related peoples of the Punjab, remembered in Vedic and Buddhist literat…
- VacThe goddess of sacred speech and the creative word.
- VarunaGuardian of cosmic order (ṛta) and the waters;
- VatsaVatsa was a mahājanapada at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna, ruled from Kauśāmbī,…
- VayuVāyu is the Vedic and Hindu god of wind and breath, one of the Pañca Bhūta (five elements), i…
- VayuThe wind;
- VedasThe Vedas are the oldest layer of Hindu scripture, a body of Sanskrit hymns, ritual formulas,…
- VishnuViṣṇu is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, worshipped as the Preserver of the Trimūrt…
- VishvakarmaThe divine architect and craftsman of the gods.
- VishwamitraKing who became a brahmarṣi;
- VyasaCompiler of the Vedas and author of the Mahābhārata.
- Yadu and the Yādava lineageYadu was a Ṛgvedic people whose name became, in later tradition, the great Yādava lineage of…
- YamaFirst mortal and lord of the dead;
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
Buddhist23 here · all Buddhist →
- ApsarasApsaras are celestial female beings of Hindu and Buddhist mythology, renowned as divine dance…
- AvantiAvanti was a mahājanapada of the Malwa plateau ruled from Ujjayinī, the strongest of Magadha'…
- DevasThe shining gods as a class;
- GanasThe dwarfish, motley attendants of Shiva, led by Gaṇeśa.
- GandharvasGandharvas are a class of male celestial beings in Hindu and Buddhist tradition associated ch…
- KambojaKamboja was a people of the Kabul valley and the northwestern highlands, counted among the ma…
- KāśīKāśī was a mahājanapada of the middle Ganga around Vārāṇasī, an old and wealthy kingdom that…
- KinnarasHalf-human, half-bird celestial musicians.
- MenakaApsara sent to break the penance of Viśvāmitra.
- NagasNagas are serpent deities and semi-divine beings in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, wors…
- Pancha BhutaThe Pancha Bhutas, the five great elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space, are the fou…
- PitrsThe deified ancestors, honoured in the śrāddha rites.
- RambhaCelebrated apsara of Indra’s court.
- SiddhasPerfected beings possessing spiritual powers.
- SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral hooked cross, one of the oldest continuously used symbols in h…
- TilottamaApsara fashioned from the finest particle of every beautiful thing.
- UrvashiThe most beautiful of the apsaras.
- Uśīnara and the ŚibiUśīnara and Śibi were related peoples of the Punjab, remembered in Vedic and Buddhist literat…
- VatsaVatsa was a mahājanapada at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna, ruled from Kauśāmbī,…
- VidyadharasSky-dwelling magicians and keepers of esoteric knowledge.
- VishvadevasThe “all-gods”;
- YakshasNature-spirits of forests and wealth;
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
- AṅgaAṅga was a mahājanapada east of Magadha with its capital at Campā, and the first of the great…
- AvantiAvanti was a mahājanapada of the Malwa plateau ruled from Ujjayinī, the strongest of Magadha'…
- SwastikaThe swastika is an equilateral hooked cross, one of the oldest continuously used symbols in h…
- YogaYoga is a body of Indian spiritual and physical disciplines, rooted in Vedic ritual and Upani…
Islamic1 here · all Islamic →
Folk & Regional10 here · all Folk & Regional →
- BhudeviThe Earth goddess;
- GangaThe Ganges;
- GodavariThe “Ganges of the South”;
- KaveriLife-giving river-goddess of the Tamil country.
- NagasNagas are serpent deities and semi-divine beings in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain tradition, wors…
- NarmadaThe self-born river of central India, holy to Shiva.
- PrāgjyotiṣaPrāgjyotiṣa is the name the epics give to the kingdom of the Brahmaputra valley, ruled by Nar…
- SandhyaGoddess of the ritual twilight junctures.
- TulsiThe sacred basil deified;
- YamunaThe dark river of Vṛndāvana;
Political & Secular23 here · all Political & Secular →
- AṅgaAṅga was a mahājanapada east of Magadha with its capital at Campā, and the first of the great…
- Anu, Druhyu and TurvaśaAnu, Druhyu and Turvaśa are three peoples named repeatedly in the Ṛgveda who, with the Yadu a…
- The Aryan questionThe Aryan question concerns how Indo-Aryan languages came to be spoken in South Asia, and is…
- AvantiAvanti was a mahājanapada of the Malwa plateau ruled from Ujjayinī, the strongest of Magadha'…
- ChediChedi was a mahājanapada of the Bundelkhand country south of the Yamuna, known from the epics…
- Indus Valley Civilization: Hindu perspectivesIndus Valley Civilization: Hindu perspectives surveys the interpretive tradition, both schola…
- KambojaKamboja was a people of the Kabul valley and the northwestern highlands, counted among the ma…
- KāśīKāśī was a mahājanapada of the middle Ganga around Vārāṇasī, an old and wealthy kingdom that…
- KīkaṭaKīkaṭa is a people named once in the Ṛgveda, in a hostile aside, and identified by later comm…
- MadraMadra was a kingdom of the central Punjab around Śākala, named in later Vedic literature and…
- MatsyaMatsya was a mahājanapada of eastern Rajasthan with its capital at Virāṭanagara, best known a…
- Names for IndiaIndia has been known by a range of names across history and languages — including Bharata, Hi…
- Ochre Coloured PotteryOchre Coloured Pottery is a Chalcolithic ware of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, dated to roughly the…
- PanchalaPanchala was a later Vedic kingdom of the upper Ganga–Yamuna Doab that, with its neighbour Ku…
- PrāgjyotiṣaPrāgjyotiṣa is the name the epics give to the kingdom of the Brahmaputra valley, ruled by Nar…
- PuruThe Puru were a Ṛgvedic tribe of the Punjab, remembered chiefly as the leading opponents of t…
- ŚālvaŚālva was a people of the country between Rajasthan and Haryana, named in the later Vedic lit…
- Sarasvati river debateThe Sarasvati debate concerns whether the river praised in the Rigveda is the now-dry Ghaggar…
- ŚūrasenaŚūrasena was a mahājanapada of the Mathurā country, the kingdom in whose territory the Kṛṣṇa…
- Uśīnara and the ŚibiUśīnara and Śibi were related peoples of the Punjab, remembered in Vedic and Buddhist literat…
- VatsaVatsa was a mahājanapada at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna, ruled from Kauśāmbī,…
- Warfare in ancient IndiaWarfare in ancient India spans the tribal conflicts described in the Rigveda and the epics th…
- Yadu and the Yādava lineageYadu was a Ṛgvedic people whose name became, in later tradition, the great Yādava lineage of…