The Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rigveda are described as semi-nomadic pastoralists, subdivided into villages (vish) and headed by a tribal chief (raja) and administered by a priestly caste. They formed a warrior society, engaging in endemic warfare and cattle raids among themselves and against the darker-skinneddescribed in e.g. RV 9.41.1 as tvac krshna "black skin" or 9.73.5 tvac ashikni "swarthy skin" Dasa.

The size of a typical tribe was probably of the order of a few thousand people. The account of the dasharajna battle in Mandala 7 mentions 6,666 casualties in a devastating defeat of a confederation of ten tribes, suggesting that a single tribe could muster at maybe some 700-2,000 warriors on average, which would indicate an average size of maybe 3,000-6,000 of a whole tribe. While the number of 6,666 cannot of course be taken literally, and is as likely as not a gross exaggeration, this order of magnitude is consistent with the typical size of tribes of Eurasian nomads.

List of tribes: (incomplete, please expand)

• Anu
• Bhāratas
• Bhrigus
• Matsya
• Puru
• Tritsu

Notes