Map of early Iron Age Vedic India after Witzel (1989). Realms or tribes are labelled black, Foreign tribes mentioned in early Vedic texts purple, Vedic shakhas in green. Rivers are labelled blue. The Thar desert is marked orange.
The Vedic period (or Vedic Age) is the period in the history of India during which the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, were being composed. Scholars place the Vedic period in the 2nd millennium and 1st millennium continuing up to the 6th century BCE based on literary evidence.
The associated culture, sometimes referred to as Vedic civilization, was centered in northern and northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. Its early phase saw the formation of various kingdoms of Ancient India. In its late phase (from ca. 700 BCE), it saw the rise of the Mahajanapadas, and was succeeded by the golden age of Hinduism and classical Sanskrit literature, the Maurya Empire.
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