In the Rigveda, the term 'Ayas' refers to:

The word "ayas" in the Rigveda refers to a metal, generally understood to be copper or bronze.

About "ayas":

• The Rigveda uses "ayas" for metal objects, such as tools, weapons and vessels.
• Most scholars believe that in the early Vedic period, "ayas" meant copper or bronze, because iron was not yet in common use.

In later Vedic texts, when iron came into use, new words were used to distinguish metals:

• "Krishna ayas" or "shyama ayas" (black metal): iron.
• "Lohita ayas" or "loha" (red metal): copper.
• The word "hiranya" was used for gold.

Metals in the Vedic period:

• Early Vedic period (about 1500-1000 BCE): copper and bronze were used; gold was used for ornaments.
• Later Vedic period (about 1000-600 BCE): iron came into use, especially in the Ganga plains, for weapons and, later, for agricultural tools such as axes and ploughshares.
• The use of iron helped clear forests and expand farming in the Ganga valley.

Archaeological evidence:

• The Painted Grey Ware culture (about 1200-600 BCE) of the upper Ganga valley is associated with the later Vedic period, and has iron objects.
• Sites such as Atranjikhera (Uttar Pradesh) have early iron objects.

Other Rigvedic terms:

• "Gavishti": war (literally "search for cows").
• "Rajan": tribal chief.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Iron was called "krishna ayas" or "shyama ayas" in later texts.
• ✗Gold was called "hiranya".
• ✗The horse was called "ashva".