Underline the changes in the field of society and economy from the Rig Vedic to the later Vedic period.

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From the Rig Vedic to the Later Vedic period, society moved from fluid, kin-based tribes to territorial kingdoms with hereditary varna and lower status for women. The economy shifted from cattle-keeping to iron-aided plough agriculture in the Ganga-Yamuna doab, with voluntary bali becoming regular taxes.

**Introduction**

From the Rig Vedic phase (c. 1500 to 1000 BCE) in the Sapta Sindhu to the Later Vedic phase (c. 1000 to 600 BCE) in the Ganga-Yamuna doab, Vedic life moved from a cattle-keeping tribal order to a settled agrarian one, as Painted Grey Ware sites like Hastinapur confirm.

**Changes in Vedic Society**

1. **Tribe to territory**: Loyalty to the jana gave way to the janapada, as Kuru-Panchala kingdoms rose and the sabha and samiti weakened.
2. **Varna hardens**: The fluid occupational varna, named only in the late Purusha Sukta, became hereditary, with Brahmanas and Kshatriyas on top and Shudras reduced to service.
3. **Gotra and women**: Gotra exogamy took root, while women like Apala and Ghosha, who composed hymns, gave way to women barred from the sabha, though Gargi's debate in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad shows exceptions.

**Changes in Vedic Economy**

FIGURE: history-p8-0 | From pastoral tribal society to agrarian janapadas

1. **Pastoral to agrarian**: Cattle wealth and gavishti (war for cows) yielded to plough agriculture, with rice and wheat in the Shatapatha Brahmana.
2. **Iron and crafts**: Iron (shyama ayas), found at Painted Grey Ware sites, cleared the doab's forests, and smiths, carpenters, potters and weavers specialised, with the nishka as a measure of value.
3. **Gifts to taxes**: The voluntary bali became regular dues collected by officials like the sangrihitri and bhagadugha.

**Conclusion**

These changes turned a mobile pastoral people into a settled, stratified, surplus-producing society. They laid the base for the Mahajanapadas, and the ritualism and rigid varna they bred provoked the Buddhist and Jain responses of the 6th century BCE.

Underline the changes in the field of society and economy from the Rig Vedic to the later Vedic period.

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