Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

The hymns Rig Veda, as we know it today, were composed over 3,000 years ago around Punjab and Haryana, and refer to a time when there was movement eastwards towards the Gangetic Plain, a movement facilitated by fire. By the time the Upanishads were composed, 2,500 years ago, there was a familiarity with the Gangetic Plain. This is the region, and the time, associated with the life of the Buddha and the Jina Mahavira.