The age of Rig Veda cannot be determined. So, there is no one definite and conclusive answer to how old is the Rig Veda. But scholars now agree that Rig Veda can be dated around 4500 – 5000 BC. But many scholars also believed that it is much older. In 1985, the Indian National Science Academy published a volume, History of Astronomy in India, wherein the Harappan civilization and the Brahmana period are correlated, and the Rig Veda is dated to about 7th millennium B.C.
Quotes from an article titled – How antiquity of Rig Veda,other Vedic literatures was distorted to fit into Christian Genesis saga?
Since we know the speed of the movements of the earth and the equinoxes (vernal and autumnal), in view of their relative positions today, the age of the Vedas can be calculated.
On the basis of the astronomical data in the Vedas and the Brahmanas, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Harman Jacoby and George Buehler Buhler reached the conclusion that the Rig Veda is 4500 to 3000 years old. SB Dikshit also reached the same conclusion. More recently, Filliozat has also supported the views of these noted scholars. Indian astronomer Gorakh Prasad commented on the whole issue thus: “If we exclude the possibility of every astronomical notice in Vedic literature being a record of ancient tradition, which is extremely unlikely, we can say that there is strong astronomical evidence that Vedas are older than 2500 B.C. They might be as old as 4000 BC.
Scholars can debate about the date of Rig Veda and it is a never ending debate as the debate is colored by the color of the flag they represent. Incorrect information was deliberately spread for more than 60 years in India by the red, white and green flag bearers. The saffron flag is now attempting to correct the wrong.
The contents of Rig Veda might have floated around for several hundred years before it was collected into verses and taught. It was passed on to one generation to another through listening and byhearting for thousands of years before it was written down. When we take into consideration all these factors it is sure that Rig Veda is much more older than what the scholars think.