Background
It is sad how little we know of ancient India. Unlike other religions, Hindus do not have the tradition of religion being spread like the ‘Gospel’. The modern Indians believe that religion is a private affair and hence all must strive to learn it through their individual efforts.
I remember when we were young, our grandparents used to tell us various aspects of our ancient scriptures, religious beliefs, and other such things. Now, of course, it is a thing of the past and no one has time for such things.
I am, however, sure that the youngster of today wants to know about ancient India and have therefore tried to collect certain details/aspects which are interesting and feel you would like to read.
Gotras This term was first used in the book Atharva Veda. It means 'a heard of cows', later it was used for clan. It was initially used by Brahmins and was later adopted by others. There were initially only seven gotras.These were Kasyap, Vasista, Bhrigu, Gautama, Bharadvaja, Atri and Agastasya. Later however others like Vishvamitra, Angrish and so on were added.
Ancient India When Aryans first came to India, they called the land “ARYAVARTA“, the land of the Aryans. The first king of India was Bharata, however some ancient scriptures state that Manu was the first king of Aryans.
Rig Veda These are the oldest vedas and were composed around 2000 BC. These remained in oral form and were passed from one generation to another orally for nearly 1000 years and were put to writing around 1000 BC only.
Type of Holy Books There are two types of religious books. One is called ‘SMRITI’. It means a book which is passed down orally from one generation to another e.g. RIG VEDA and MANU SMRITI. The second type of book is called ‘SHRUTI’. It means a holy book which was written down as soon the contents were revealed or dictated e.g. ‘ARTHASHASTRA.’
If you wish to read more about Ancient India, here are some other articles you can look at.