was called Vrajapati . He helped the heads of fighting groups called gramini . Gramini was the head of the village and fighting unit. Vedic Religion and Rituals Religion and rituals played an important role in Vedic society.
In the Rig Veda, the natural forces sun, moon, rivers, mountains and rains were defined as divinities. The religion was naturalistic and polytheistic. Indra was the most important god and he was called Purandara. Agni was seen as intermediary between god and people.
Surya was a god who removed darkness. Ushas was the goddess of dawn. Aditi , Prithvi and Sinivali are other goddesses. Varuna , the god of water was next in importance.
This god was the upholder of natural order. Soma was the god of plants and the drink was named after him. Soma drink was part of the ritual and the preparation of this intoxicating drink is explained in many hymns of Rig Veda. Maruts was the god of strength.
Interestingly there are few references to Rudra or Siva. XI History - Lesson - - Early India: The Chalcolithic, Megalithic, Iron Age and Vedic Cultures words indicating that Munda speaking-people lived in the Ganga valley. The region of Kosala and Videha were the easternmost territories of the Aryan expansion during this period. By the end of the Vedic period Panchala and Videha were Aryanised.
The area beyond this region in the east was seen as an alien territory. In the Atharva Veda , the people of Anga and Magadha (Bihar) were seen as enemies. Similarly, the Pundras of Bengal and the Andhras were seen as outside the Aryan identity in the Aitreya Brahmana . This suggests that these regions were not influenced by Aryan culture.
What we gather is that the process of Aryanization gradually spread from the north-west to the south-east mainly into the Ganga Valley. of the Aryans in Rig Veda is listed in Aitreya Brahmana as the midland, which indicates the movement of Aryans into the Ganga valley in the Later Vedic period. Perhaps this expansion was induced by the need for water