Home›Open Questions›When were the family books (Mandalas 2 to 7) of the Rig Veda actually composed?Open QuestionsWhen were the family books (Mandalas 2 to 7) of the Rig Veda actually composed?Citation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "When were the family books (Mandalas 2 to 7) of the Rig Veda actually composed?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-were-the-family-books-mandalas-2-to-7-of-the-rig-veda-actually-composed.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). When were the family books (Mandalas 2 to 7) of the Rig Veda actually composed?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-were-the-family-books-mandalas-2-to-7-of-the-rig-veda-actually-composedCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-when-were-the-family-books-mandalas-2-to, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {When were the family books (Mandalas 2 to 7) of the Rig Veda actually composed?}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/open-questions-index/when-were-the-family-books-mandalas-2-to-7-of-the-rig-veda-actually-composed}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXOpen QuestionCross-Tradition ConnectionsSourcesEssays About This Entity (1 essay)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)Open QuestionThe hymn's placement in the family books, the oldest stratum of the Rig Veda, is secure on internal linguistic grounds. The absolute date of that stratum is not: proposed dates range across the whole second millennium BCE, and no inscription, datable artefact or external synchronism fixes any point in that range.What would resolve this A securely dated inscription, artefact or archaeological correlate that can be tied to the language or content of the family books, comparable to the role the Mitanni treaty plays in dating other early Indo-Iranian material, would anchor the range.OpenVedic philology, Indo-Iranian archaeologyStephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton, The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of IndiaCross-Tradition ConnectionsDiscipline NeededIndo-Iranian Archaeology, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of IndiaStephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Breretontier 1Vedic Philology, Scholarly Disciplines Well-attested Source The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of IndiaStephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Breretontier 1Question OnGayatri Hymn, Hymns & Liturgical Texts Well-attested Source The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of IndiaStephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Breretontier 1SourcesThe Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of Indiatier 1Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton, Oxford University Press, 2014View the SourceEssays About This Entity (1 essay)Vedic Philology's Three Questions Are Really Two: One Date Asked Twice, and One PlantThe open question itself, confirmed publicComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year