Literature—India
Some of the earliest literature in the world originated in India, beginning with writings in Vedic Sanskrit (an Aryan language), which may well be the oldest literature in any Indo-European language (Hittite being its only competitor for this position). Because of India's warm, damp climate and insect life, however, few existing manuscripts are as old as a thousand years; ancient literature was passed down by word of mouth and by the incredible rote learning of the Brahmans. If there was any literature in the Indus Valley earlier than that produced by the Aryan speakers, it is not known to have survived; only unreadable inscriptions (dating roughly from 2700–1500 BCE), so short that they never exceed two dozen characters, have been preserved from this time. These are presumed to be brief business documents.
The Vedas
The Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas, long religious texts composed in an early form of Sanskrit around 1500–1000 BCE. It was followed by three other Vedas; taken together, these books, called the Samhitas, are something like a bible, being collections of liturgical texts of diverse origin, style, date, and authorship. The Rig Veda, the most important Veda, contains 1,028 hymns, ranging in length from just one to fifty-eight stanzas.
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