The Vedic Aryans were pastoralists in the beginning. Their main source of income was cattle rearing.
Cattle, sheep, goats, and horses were raised for milk, meat, and hides. People were involved in a variety of economic activities aside from cattle-rearing and small-scale agriculture such as Hunting, carpentry, tanning, weaving, chariot-making, metal smelting, and others.
Barter was used to exchange the fruits of these activities. Cows, on the other hand, were the most popular medium of commerce.
Priests were paid in cows, horses, and gold jewelry for performing sacrifices.
Later Vedic Economy
Agriculture became the Vedic people’s staple during the later Vedic period. Buffalo was domesticated for agricultural uses. During this time, the god Indra was bestowed with the title “Lord of the Plough.”
Apart from barley, they also cultivated wheat, rice, pulses, lentils, millet, sugarcane, and other crops. With the advent of food production, agricultural products began to be offered in ceremonies. Tila, the source of the first extensively utilized vegetable cooking oil, was gradually used in ceremonies.
The introduction of iron around 1000 BC was a major element in the spread of the Aryan culture throughout the later Vedic period.
The advent of iron tools now allowed people to remove dense rain forests more effectively, particularly the massive stumps left after fire. Large areas of forestland could be transformed into cultivable land in a relatively short period of time.
