What Is Vedic Literature?

The Aryan developed a great culture and civilization. The principle books of Aryans are called the Vedas which occupy a special in the history of world literature. It is not only the earliest literary records of the indo- Aryans, but also of the Aryans of the whole world. The word Veda means knowledge and is specially applied to the four collections of the scared wisdom of the Hindus. These four are known as Rig-Veda, the Sama-Veda, the Yajur-veda and Atharva-veda.  The Vedas were not written by a single person. They were written by different men at different times. But the orthodox Hindus believe that the Vedas were either taught by God to the ancient sages or they were revealed themselves to the seers. The Vedas are also known as Sruti because they were heard and preached from mouth to mouth for many generations.
As far as the date of Vedic compositions is concerned, well there is no unanimity of opinion among the scholars. Some lay down the years 1000 B.C. as the earliest limit while other says between 3000 and 1500 B.C. the Rig-Veda (in the 14th century) is the earliest and the Artharveda(in the 11th century) the latest of the four collections.