History of India/Volume 1/Chapter 11

by Romesh Chunder Dutt

CHAPTER XI

ARYANS AND NON-ARYANS

THE great river systems of Northern India determined the course of Aryan conquests; when we survey the course of these rivers, we comprehend the history of Aryan conquests during ten centuries. And when we have traced the course of the Indus and its tributaries, and of the Ganges and the Jumna as far as Benares and North Behar, we have seen the whole extent of the Indo-Aryan world as it existed at the close of the Brahmanic and Epic Period, or about 1000 b. c. Beyond this wide tract of Hindu kingdoms, South Behar, Malwa, and a portion of the Deccan and the regions to the south of the Rajputana desert formed a wide semicircular belt of country, as yet not Hinduized, but becoming gradually known to the Hindus and therefore finding occasional mention in the latest works of the Brahmana literature. We can imagine hardy colonists penetrating into this encircling belt of unknown and uncivilized regions, obtaining a mastery over the aborigines wherever they went, establishing some isolated settlements on the banks of fertile rivers, and presenting to the astonished barbarians some of the results of civilized administration and civilized life. We can also imagine saintly anchorites retiring into these wild jungles and fringing the tops of hills or fertile valleys with their holy hermitages, which were the seats of learning and of sanctity. And lastly, adventurous royal huntsmen not infrequently penetrated into these jungles, and unhappy princes exiled by their more powerful rivals often chose to retire from the world and take up their abode in these solitudes.

There is a passage in the last book of the Aitareya Brahmana which, along with an account of the principal Hindu kingdoms of the time, makes some mention of aboriginal races in the south and southwest, and the passage deserves to be quoted:—

"The Vasavas then inaugurated him (Indra) in the eastern direction during thirty-one days by these three Rig verses, the Yajur verse, and the great words ('earth, ether, sky'), for the sake of obtaining universal sovereignty. Hence all kings of eastern nations are inaugurated to universal sovereignty and called Samraj ('universal sovereign') after this precedent made by the gods.

"Then the Rudras inaugurated Indra in the southern region during thirty-one days, with the three Rig verses, the Yajur, and the great words, for obtaining enjoyment of pleasures. Hence all kings of living creatures in the southern region are inaugurated for the enjoyment of pleasures and called Bhoja ('the enjoyer').

"Then the divine Adityas inaugurated him in the western region during thirty-one days, with those three Rig verses, that Yajur verse, and those great words for obtaining independent rule. Hence all kings of the Nichyas and Apachyas in the western countries are inaugurated to independent rule and called 'independent rulers.'

"Then the Visvedevas inaugurated him during thirty-one days in the northern region by those three Rig verses, that Yajur verse, and those great words, for distinguished rule. Hence all people living in northern countries beyond the Himalaya, such as the Uttara Kurus and Uttara Madras, are inaugurated for living without a king and called Viraj ('without a king').

"Then the divine Sadhyas and Aptyas inaugurated Indra during thirty-one days in the middle region, which is a firmly established footing ('the immovable centre') to the kingship. Hence the kings of the Kuru Panchalas, with the Vasas and Usinaras, are inaugurated to kingship and called 'kings.'"

This passage shows us at a glance the whole of the Hindu world as it existed at the close of the Epic Period. To the farthest east lived the Videhas and the Kasis and the Kosalas, as we have seen before, and those newest and youngest of the Hindu colonists excelled in learning and reputation their elder brethren in the west.

In the south, some bands of Aryan settlers must have worked their way up the valley of the Chambal and become acquainted with the aboriginal tribes inhabiting the country now known as Malwa. We note, however, that the kingdoms in this direction were already called Bhoja, which was in later times the name of the same region, lying immediately to the north of the Vindhya chain and along the valley of the Chambal.

Westwards from this place surged the waves of

HINDUS OF WESTERN DECCAN.

Aryan settlers or adventurers, until the invaders came to the shores of the Arabian Sea and could proceed no farther. The aboriginal tribes in these distant tracts were regarded with contempt by the civilized colonists or invaders, yet these races, dimly known at the very close of the Epic Period, were the ancestors of the proudest and most warlike Hindu tribe of later times, the Maharattas.

To the north the Uttara Kurus and the Uttara Madras and other tribes seem to have lived in the valleys of the Himalayas. To the present day men in these hills live in independent primitive communities, and have very little concern with chief or king, and it is no wonder that in ancient times they should be known as peoples without kings.

And then, in the very centre of the Hindu world, along the valley of the Ganges, lived the powerful tribes of the Kurus and the Panchalas, and the less known tribes, the Vasas and the Usinaras.

In the west, the deserts of Rajputana were wholly unexplored by the Aryans, and the Bhil aborigines of those deserts and mountains were left undisturbed until new and hardy tribes of invaders entered India after the Christian era.

In the far east, South Behar was not yet Hinduized. A passage in the Atharva-Veda which shows that the people of South Behar did not yet belong to the Hindu confederation alludes in terms of enmity to the Angas and the Magadhas. Bengal proper was as yet unknown.

The whole of India south of the Vindhya range was as yet unoccupied by the Hindus, but the Aitareya Brahmana gives the names of certain degraded barbarous tribes, including the Andhras, who in the Philosophic Period rose to be a great civilized Hindu power in the Deccan.

We have now spoken of all the principal Aryan races and kingdoms which flourished in the Epic Period, and of the non-Aryan kingdoms, which formed a semicircular belt in the south of the Hindu world. But before we take leave of kings, we must make some mention of the great coronation ceremony, as described in the Aitareya Brahmana:

"He spreads the tiger-skin on the throne in such a manner that the hairs come outside and that part

A RAJPUT DESCENDANT OF THE KSHATRIYA CASTE.

which covered the neck is turned eastward. The king, when taking his seat on the throne, approaches it from behind, turning his face eastwards, kneels down with crossed legs, so that his right knee touches the earth, and taking hold of the throne with his hands, prays over it an appropriate mantra. "The priest then pours the holy water over the king's head and repeats the following: 'With these waters, which are happy, which cure everything, and increase the royal power, the immortal Prajapati sprinkled Indra, Soma sprinkled the royal Varuna, and Yama sprinkled Manu; with the same sprinkle I thee! Be the ruler over kings in this world!' And the ceremony concludes with a drink of the Soma wine which the priest gives to the king."

We are then told that with this ceremony priests invested a number of kings whose names are already known to us. Tura, the son of Kavasha, thus inaugurated Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit. "Thence Janamejaya went everywhere, conquering the earth up to its ends, and sacrificed the sacrificial horse." Parvata and Narada thus invested Yudhamsraushti, the son of Ugrasena. Vasishtha invested Sudas, the great conqueror of the Rig-Veda hymns; and Dirghatamas invested Bharata, the son of Duhshanta, with this ceremony. All these allusions have some historic value.

We have another excellent account of the coronation rite in the White Yajur-Veda, from which we quote a remarkable passage in which the priest blesses the newly crowned king: "May God who rules the world bestow on you the power to rule your subjects. May fire, worshipped by householders, bestow on you supremacy over the householders. May Soma, the lord of trees, bestow on you supremacy over forests. May Brihaspati, the god of speech, bestow on you supremacy in speech. May Indra, the highest among gods, bestow on you the highest supremacy. May Rudra, the cherisher of animals, bestow on you supremacy over animals. May Mitra, who is truth, make you supreme in truth. May Varuna, who cherishes holy works, make you supreme in holy acts."

And in the same Veda is found the sum total of all kingly ethics and kingly duty in the noble verse:—

"If thou shalt be a ruler, then from this day judge the strong and the weak with equal justice, resolve on doing good continually to the people, and protect the country from all calamities."