Editing History of Pakistan (section)

===Vedic period===
{{Main|Vedic period|Indo-Aryan Migration|Indo-Aryans|Vedas}}
{{Further|Sintashta culture}}
[[File:Cremation_Urn_with_Lid_LACMA_AC1994.234.8a-b.jpg|left|thumb|Cremation urn, [[Gandhara grave culture]], Swat Valley, {{circa|1200 BCE}}]]
The Vedic Period ({{circa|1500|500 BCE}}) is postulated to have formed during the 1500 BCE to 800 BCE. As Indo-Aryans migrated and settled into the Indus Valley, along with them came their distinctive religious traditions and practices which fused with local culture.<ref name="White 2003 28"/> The Indo-Aryans religious beliefs and practices from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Bactria–Margiana Culture]] and the native Harappan Indus beliefs of the former Indus Valley Civilisation eventually gave rise to Vedic culture and tribes.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-46838/India India: Reemergence of Urbanization]. Retrieved 12 May 2007.</ref>{{refn|group=note|Archaeological cultures identified with phases of Vedic culture include the [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]], the [[Gandhara Grave culture]], the [[Black and red ware culture]] and the [[Painted Grey Ware culture]].{{sfn|Witzel|1989}}}} Early [[Indo Aryans|Indo-Aryans]] were a [[Late Bronze Age]] society centred in the [[Punjab]], organised into tribes rather than kingdoms, and primarily sustained by a [[pastoralism|pastoral]] way of life. During this period the [[Vedas]], the oldest [[scriptures]] of [[Hinduism]], were composed.{{refn|group=note|The precise time span of the period is uncertain. [[Philology|Philological]] and [[historical linguistics|linguistic]] evidence indicates that the [[Rigveda]], the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700 and 1100 BCE, also referred to as the early Vedic period.<ref name="Oberlies p. 158">Oberlies (1998:155) gives an estimate of 1100 BCE for the youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a ''terminus post quem'' of the earliest hymns are more uncertain. Oberlies (p. 158) based on 'cumulative evidence' sets wide range of 1700–1100</ref>}}