Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c38.5

v2.c38.5

It appears more likely that the Ṛgvedic civilization was indigenous and, flourishing on the banks of the Sarasvatī and its tributaries such as Dṛṣadvatī, Śatadru or Sutlej, was neolithic or mesolithic in the Pre-Harappan, and chalcolithic during the Mature-Harappan era. Its economy was essentially agro-rural when it came into contact with the economically exploiting class of the Panis or Harappan traders. The Ṛgvedic war was basically a civil war fought around 2500-2000 BC and won by the authors of the Ṛgveda. Their opponents belonged to the same racial stock but different religious sect. As the Sarasvatī river got dried up, the Ṛgvedic people moved towards the eastern valley of Gaṅgā and Yamunā and continued with the later part of the Vedic civilization, lasting up to 800 BC and heralding the onset of the second urbanisation and the Historical Period in India.