In the early Vedic period, the region in which the Vedic people lived was called:

In the early Vedic period, the Vedic people lived in the region called "Sapta Sindhu", meaning "the land of the seven rivers".

About Sapta Sindhu:

• It covered the region of present-day north-western India, Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
• It included the Indus (Sindhu) and its tributaries, and the Saraswati.
• The seven rivers are usually listed as the Indus, the five rivers of the Punjab, and the Saraswati, though lists vary.
• The Rigveda mentions about 40 rivers in all, including rivers of Afghanistan such as the Kubha (Kabul), Krumu (Kurram) and Gomati (Gomal).

Life in the Sapta Sindhu region:

• The early Vedic people were mainly pastoral (cattle-rearing), and also practised some agriculture.
• Cattle were the main form of wealth, and many conflicts were over cattle.
• They lived in tribes, under a chief called the "rajan".

Expansion in the later Vedic period:

• In the later Vedic period (about 1000-600 BCE), the Vedic people moved eastwards into the Ganga-Yamuna Doab and beyond.
• The centre of Vedic culture shifted to the region of the Kurus and Panchalas, around present-day Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

Later texts mention new regions:

• "Madhyadesha": the "middle country", the region of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab.
• "Aryavarta": the land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas, from the eastern sea to the western sea.

Sapta Sindhu in Persian texts:

• The Avesta, the sacred text of the Zoroastrians, mentions "Hapta Hindu", which is the Persian form of "Sapta Sindhu".
• This shows the close links between the early Vedic people and the ancient Iranians.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Dakshinapatha, Aryavarta and Madhyadesha are terms from later texts.