Indus Valley Civilisation & Vedic Age:

IVC is Discovered in 1920-1921. This is the pioneer of Hinduism in India
 Roots of Indus Valley Civilization

The earliest civilizations in Indus Valley were discovered in 1856 by a railroad crew.
Harappa
Mohenjo-Daro or “Hill of the Dead”
Both cities shared urban design and architectural features.
3 miles in circumference with populations of 40,000

The contemporary Civilization of IVC:

Roots of Indus Valley began as early as 7000 B.C.E.

Possibly began as herders who moved into the river valley during colder months.
Over time, they may have decided to farm – river-watered lands of the valley.
They began trading by boat along the Indus down into the Arabian Sea, into the Persian Gulf, and
 up the Tigris and Euphrates into Mesopotamia.

The Artifacts:  Crafts and the Arts:

Crafts of the Indus valley included pottery making, dyeing, metalworking in bronze, and bead
making
Small sculptures in stone, terra cotta, and bronze appear to represent priestly or governmental
officials, dancing girls, and perhaps mother goddesses. 
Since there are no surviving texts to explain identities, these can only be guesses.
Dice and small sculptures of bullock carts were probably used as toys and games.
The first known use of cotton as fiber for weaving textiles occurred in the Indus Valley.

Mahenjo-Daro & Harappa:

To the north is a citadel or raised area.
In Mohenjo-Daro, the citadel is built on an architectural platform about 45 feet above the plain.
There was a huge communal bath.
Next to the large bath was a huge open space—a granary where food was stored from possible
floods.
Fortified walls mark the southeast corner.
The lower city was laid out in a gridiron with the main streets about 45 feet wide.
Private houses, almost everyone with its own well, bathing space, and toilet consisting of a brick
seat over a drainage area.
 Brick-lined drains flushed by water carried liquid and solid waste to sumps, where it was carted
away, probably to fertilize nearby fields.
The town plan was regular.
Even fire-baked bricks were uniform in size and shape.
The regularity of plan and construction suggests a government with organization and bureaucratic
capacity.
No monumental architecture clearly marks the presence of a palace or temple.
There is little sign of social stratification in the plan or buildings.
The Indus Valley people do not appear to have been in possession of the horse: there is no
osteological evidence of horse remains in the Indian sub-continent before 2,000 BCE.

Trade & Transport:

This is very much a trade-dependent civilization. Bull cart is used for civil transport. There is evidence in Dockyard in Lothal that proves that IVC had traded with their contemporary civilizations. The
trade networks, economically, integrated a huge area, including portions of Afghanistan, the coastal
regions of Persia, northern and western India, and Mesopotamia.

Religion:

One Indus valley seal shows a seated, possibly, figure with a horned headdress, surrounded by
animals. John Marshall identified the figure as an early form of the Hindu god Shiva as Pashupati,
who is associated with asceticism, yoga, and linga; regarded as a lord of animals, and often depicted
as having three heads.   

Existence of a cult of Mother Goddess worship is based upon the excavation of several female
figurines. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilization)

The Aryan Invasion:

In approximately 1500 B.C.E. a nomadic and pastoral people who spoke the Indo-European
language passed through the Hindu Kush mountains.
They called themselves “Aryans” or “noble people.”
They established small herding and agricultural communities throughout northern India.
Their migrations took place over several centuries.

Influence of Aryan over IVC:

Aryan migrations took place over several centuries.
Their arrival was not an invasion or organized military campaign.
It is likely that Indo-European migrants clashed with Dravidians (people settled in the Harappan area.)
 By the time Aryans entered India, internal problems had already brought Harappan society to the
point of collapse.
During the centuries after 1500 B.C.E., Dravidian and Indo-European peoples intermarried and laid
social and cultural foundations that influenced Indian society to the present day.
The Aryans survived on a pastoral economy, sheep, and goats.
They especially prized their horses and cattle, but horses did not breed well in India so they had to
import animals from Asia.
The Aryans consumed both dairy products and beef.  Centuries later cattle would become sacred.
The Vedas were collections of religious and literary poems and songs transmitted orally.
There were four parts.
The most important part was the Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns addressed to the Aryan gods. 
Aryan priests compiled the Rig Veda between 1400 and 900 B.C.E.
It wasn’t put into writing until about 600 B.C.E.
The Vedas refer often to conflicts between Aryans and the Dravidians and other people already living in India.
The Vedas refer to Indra, the Aryan war god and military hero, who would destroy parts of the city.
This suggests that the Aryans clashed repeatedly with the Dravidians of the Indus valley, attacking 
their cities and wrecking their irrigation systems.
The Aryans often had friendly relations with Dravidian peoples.
They learned about the land and adopted Dravidian agricultural methods.
Still, there was a competition over land and resources.
It appears that the Aryans did not have a formal government but they formed chiefdoms with a
leader known as a raja (Sanskrit term for the king.)

The Cast System:

Originally based on color:  Aryans were “wheat-colored” and Dravidians were darker-skinned.

Four Main Varnas or Castes:
1. Priests (brahmins)
 
    2. Warriors and Aristocrats (Kshatriyas)
    3. Cultivators, artisans, and merchants (vaishyas)
    4. Landless peasants and serfs ( Shudras)
And also Untouchables (people who performed dirty tasks) were added much later.

The Patriarch Society:

Aryan Society had a strong patriarchal social order at the time of their migration into India.
All priests, warriors, and tribal chiefs were men.
Women influenced affairs within their families but had no public authority.
Women rarely learned the Vedas and were denied formal education.
Sati, the practice of a wife sacrificing herself on her husband’s funeral pyre, was considered noble.

Religion:

The Rig Veda sheds light on religious practices.
The chief deity was Indra, a war god, who was partial to fighting and drinking.
Varuna was a god who presided over the sky from his heavenly palace.  He oversaw the behavior of
morals and preserved order.
Cattle, sheep, goats, and horses from Aryan herds were sacrificed to gain divine support, and large
families, long life, and abundant herds.
The Upanishads were dialogues that explored the Vedas.