History of India/Volume 1/Chapter 5

by Romesh Chunder Dutt

CHAPTER V

WARS AND DISSENSIONS

WHEN the early Hindus wrested the fertile tracts on the banks of the Indus and its tributaries from the primitive races of the Panjab, the aborigines did not give up their birthright without a struggle. Retreating before the more civilized organization and valour of the Hindus in the open field, they still lurked in fastnesses and forests near every Aryan settlement and village, harassed their conquerors in their communications, waylaid and robbed them at every opportunity, stole their cattle, and often attacked them in considerable force.

Unfortunately for themselves, however, they had no poet to hand down their story to later ages, and our only account of this long war of centuries is from the conquering Hindus. The conquest by the Aryans meant a widening of the area of civilization; waste and jungle lands were reclaimed and dotted with villages and towns, and the barbarians either submitted to the conquerors or retreated to those hills and mountains where their descendants still live. History repeats itself, and the banks of the Indus were cleared of these non-Aryan aborigines less than eighteen hundred years before Christ in much the same manner as the banks of the Mississippi have been cleared of their non-Aryan tribes in modern times eighteen hundred years after Christ.

To these wars with the aborigines we have frequent allusions in the Rig-Veda, and a translation of some of these passages will give a better idea of these interminable hostilities than any account that we can give of them. The allusions are so numerous that our only difficulty is in making a selection. Thus we read:—

"Indra, who is invoked by many, and is accompanied by his fleet companions, has destroyed by his thunderbolt the Dasyus and Simyus who dwelt on earth, and then he distributed the fields to his white-complexioned friends (Aryans)." Or again: "Indra with his weapon, the thunderbolt, and in his vigour, destroyed the towns of the Dasyus, and wandered at his will. holder of the thunderbolt be thou cognizant of our hymns, and cast thy weapon against the Dasyu, and increase the vigour and the fame of the Arya."

One of the hymns of the Rig-Veda contains a curious allusion to aboriginal robbers who dwelt on the banks of four small streams called the Sipha, the Anjasi, the Kulisi, and the Virapatni. These robbers, led by Kuyava and Ayu, issued from their fastnesses and harassed the civilized Aryan villages, much in the same way as a true descendant of those aborigines, the Bhil Tantia in our own times, harassed the peaceful villages of Central India.

Other passages alluding to these early struggles read as follows:—

"Indra protects his Arya worshipper in wars. He who protects him on countless occasions, protects him in all wars. He subdues the people who do not perform sacrifices for the benefit of men. He flays the enemy of his black skin and kills him and reduces him to ashes. He burns down all who do injury and all who are cruel."

"O destroyer of foes! collect together the heads of these marauding troops, and crush them with thy wide foot! Thy foot is wide!

"O Indra! destroy the power of these marauding troops! Throw them into the vile pit the vast and vile pit!

"O Indra! thou hast destroyed three times fifty such troops! People extol this thy deed, but it is nothing compared to thy prowess!

"O Indra! destroy the Pishachis, who are reddish in appearance and utter fearful yells. Destroy all these Rakshasas.

"O Indra! the poet prays to thee for pleasant food. Thou hast made the earth the bed (burial-ground) of the Dasas. Indra has beautified the three regions with his gifts; he has slain Kuyavacha for King Daryori.

"O Indra! Seers still extol that ancient deed of prowess! Thou hast destroyed many marauders to put an end to war; thou hast stormed the towns of enemies who worship no gods; and thou hast bent the weapons of foes who worship no gods.

"O Asvins! destroy those who are yelling hideously like dogs and are coming to destroy us! Slay those who wish to fight with us! You know the way to destroy them.

"The far-famed god Indra has raised up the (Aryan) man. Strong, mighty, and triumphant, he has brought low the head of the malignant Dasa!

"Indra, who slew Vritra and stormed towns, has destroyed the troops of the black Dasas, and has made the earth and the water for the (Aryan) man, and fulfilled the wishes of the sacrificer."

It would seem from numerous passages in the Rig-Veda that Kutsa was a powerful warrior and a mighty destroyer of the black aborigines. Thus we are told that the god Indra, in order to bestow wealth on Kutsa, slew the "Dasyu, who is wily and impious"; that he helped Kutsa and came to his house with the object of slaying the Dasyu; and that he slew fifty thousand "black-complexioned enemies" in battle. We also learn that Indra made the Dasyus devoid of all virtues, and the object of hatred of all men; and that Indra destroyed five hundred and a thousand Dasas.

We have similar allusions to the subjugation and destruction of Dasyus or Dasas in other passages, while there is a curious reference to an unknown region inhabited by the Dasyus which deserves translation:—

"O ye gods! We have travelled and lost our way and come to a region where cattle do not pasture. The extensive region gives shelter to Dasyus only. O Brihaspati! lead us in our search for cattle. O Indra! show the way to your worshippers who have lost their way."

We have already mentioned Kuyava and Ayu, two aboriginal robbers who dwelt in fastnesses surrounded by rivers, and harassed the Aryan villages. We likewise have frequent allusions to another powerful aboriginal leader called Krishna, or Black, probably because of his black complexion. One of the passages relating to him is here rendered:—

"The fleet Black warrior lived on the banks of the Ansumati River with ten thousand troops. Indra of his own wisdom became cognizant of this loud-yelling chief; he destroyed the marauding host for the benefit of (Aryan) men.

"Indra said: 'I have seen the fleet Krishna. He is lurking in the hidden regions near the Ansumati, like the sun in a cloud. O Maruts! I desire you to engage in fight and to destroy him.'

"The fleet Black warrior then appeared shining on the banks of the Ansumati. Indra took Brihaspati as his ally and destroyed the fleet and godless army."

Not only have the aborigines been described as howling, yelling, and devoid of a language, but they are considered scarcely human. We are told in one place:—

"We are surrounded on all sides by Dasyu tribes. They do not perform sacrifices; they do not believe in anything; their rites are different; they are not men! O destroyer of foes, kill them! Destroy the Dasa race!"

Elsewhere Indra proclaims that he deprived the Dasyu race of the name of Arya; that he destroyed Navavastra and Brihadratha of the Dasa race; and that

AN INDIAN SCENE.

he cut the Dasas in twain—"it is for this fate that they have been born!"

Such were the aborigines with whom the early Hindus carried on interminable war, and such was the fate to which they consigned their less civilized neighbours, the primeval owners of the Indian soil! It is abundantly evident that no love was lost between the conquerors and the conquered. It was by ceaseless fighting that the conquerors protected themselves in their newly conquered country, gradually extended the limits of cultivation, built new villages, threw out new colonies in primeval jungles, and spread the fame of their prowess around, and thus Aryan history moves forward.

On the other hand, the stubborn barbarians had their revenge. Retreating before the more civilized valour of the Hindus, they hung about in every fastness and

WOMEN DRAWING WATER.

every bend of a river, they waylaid and robbed travellers, harassed villages, killed or stole cattle, and sometimes fell on the Aryans in great hordes. With that dogged tenacity which is peculiar to barbarians they disputed every inch of ground as they retreated, they interrupted the religious rites of the conquerors, despised their gods, and plundered their wealth. But in spite of every resistance, the colonies of the more civilized races extended in every direction, the area of civilization widened, jungles and wastes were brought under cultivation and dotted with villages and royal towns, and the kingdoms of the early Hindus extended over the whole of the Panjab. The barbarians either were exterminated or retreated before the ever-advancing line of Aryan civilization into those hills and fastnesses which their children still inhabit.

It may be imagined, however, that some of the weaker barbarians preferred subjection to extermination or exile; and the Rig-Veda contains allusions to Dasyus who at last owned the domination of the more powerful race and who adopted their civilization and their language. These, then, were the first Hinduized aborigines of India.

On the other hand, the Aryan conquerors were not always at peace among themselves. Sudas was an Aryan king, lord of the Tritsu tribe, and a mighty conqueror. We are frequently told that various Aryan tribes and kings combined against him, but he was victorious over them all. The allusions to these internecine wars among Aryan races, and to the particular tribes who fought against Sudas, especially in the famous battle known as the Battle of the Ten Kings, are historically among the most important passages in the Rig-Veda. The united armies of ten allied kings, aroused to combat by the priest Visvamitra, who had himself once been a warrior, met Sudas at the river Ravi (then called Parushni). Sudas is aided by divine help, invoked by his priest Vasishta, and by the river whose flood sweeps the foe to destruction. The following are verses from the pæan that celebrates the victory:—

"The wily foes planned destruction and broke down the embankment of the Adina (to cause an inundation). But Sudas filled the earth with his prowess, and Kavi, the son of Chayamana, fell like a victim.

"For the waters of the river flowed through their old channel and did not take a new course; and Sudas's horse marched over the country. Indra placed the hostile and talkative men and their children under Sudas.

"Sudas earned glory by killing twenty-one men of both regions. As the young priest cuts the kusa grass in the house of sacrifice, even so Sudas cut his enemies. The hero Indra sent the Maruts for his succour.

"The sixty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-six warriors of Ami and Druhya, who had desired cattle and were hostile to Sudas, were laid low. These deeds proclaim the glory of Indra!"

Another hymn relating to Sudas runs thus:—

"O Indra and Varuna! Your worshippers, relying on your help and seeking to win cattle, have marched eastwards with their weapons. Crush, Indra and Varuna, your enemies, whether Dasas or Aryas, and defend Sudas with your protection.

"Where men raise their banners and meet in battle, where nothing seems to favour us, where the men look up to the sky and tremble, there, Indra and Varuna! help us and speak to us words of comfort.

"O Indra and Varuna! the ends of the earth seem to be lost, and the noise ascends to the skies! The troops of the enemy are approaching. O Indra and Varuna! who ever listen to prayers, come near us with your protection.

"O Indra and Varuna! you pierced the yet unassailed Bheda, and saved Sudas. You listened to the prayers of the Tritsus. Their priestly vocation bore fruit in the hour of battle.

"O Indra and Varuna! the weapons of the enemy assail me in all directions, the foes assail me among marauding men. You are the owners of both kinds of wealth! Save us in the day of battle.

"Both parties invoked Indra and Varuna for wealth at the time of war. But in this battle you protected Sudas with the Tritsus who were attacked by ten kings.

"O Indra and Varuna! the ten kings who did not perform sacrifices were unable, though combined, to beat Sudas.

"You bestowed vigour, Indra and Varuna, on Sudas, when surrounded by ten chiefs; when the white-robed Tritsus, wearing braided hair, worshipped you with oblations and hymns."

Another remarkable hymn gives an account of the weapons used in war in those days. We make some extracts:—

"When the battle is nigh and the warrior marches in his armour, he appears like the cloud! Warrior, let not thy person be pierced; be victorious; let thy armour protect thee!

"We will win cattle with the bow, we will win with the bow; we will conquer the fierce and proud enemy with the bow! May the bow foil the desires of the enemy! We will spread our conquests on all sides with the bow!

"The string of the bow when pulled approaches the ear of the archer, making way in battle. It whispers words of consolation to him and with sound it

ANCIENT INDIAN HEAD-DRESS.
(From a Gandhara sculpture.)

clasps the arrow, even as a loving wife clasps her husband.

"The quiver is like the parent of many arrows; the many arrows are like its children. It makes a sound and hangs on the back of the warrior and furnishes arrows in battle and conquers the enemy.

"The expert charioteer stands on his chariot and drives his horses wheresoever he will. The reins restrain the horses from behind. Sing of their glory.

"The horses raise the dust with their hoofs and career over the field with the chariots, with loud neighings. They do not retreat, but trample the marauding enemies under their feet.

"The arrow is feathered; the deer (horn) is its teeth. Well pulled and sent by the cow-leather string, it falls on the enemy. Wherever men stand together or are separate, there the shafts reap advantage.

"The leather guard protects the arm from the abrasion of the bow-string, and coils round the arm like a snake in its convolutions. It knows its work, and is efficient, and protects the warrior in every way.

"We extol the arrow which is poisoned, whose face is of iron and whose stem is of Parjanya."

Before concluding our extracts, we will make one more from a hymn about the coronation of victorious kings. It is commonly regarded as a later hymn, but it has an interest for the student of history and of customs.

"O king! I place you in the station of a king. Be the lord of this country! Be immovable and fixed! Let all your subjects cherish you! Let not your kingdom be destroyed!

"Remain here fixed as the mountain; do not be dethroned! Remain fixed like Indra and support the kingdom!

"Indra has received the sacrificial offerings and supports the newly crowned king! Soma blesses him.

"The sky is fixed, the earth is fixed, the mountains are fixed, this universe is fixed. He also is fixed as king among his subjects!

"May King Varuna make you immovable! May the good Brihaspati make you immovable! May Indra and Agni support you and make you immovable!

"See, I mix these immortal offerings with the immortal Soma-juice. Indra has brought your subjects under your rule, and made them willing to pay you revenue."

These extracts are enough. We have elsewhere shown that the warriors used not only armour and helmets, but also protecting armour for the shoulder, probably shields. They used javelins and battle-axes, and sharp-edged swords, besides bows and arrows. All the weapons of war known elsewhere in ancient times were known in India four thousand years ago. Drums assembled men in battle, banners led them on in compact masses, and the use of war-horses and chariots was well known; but it does not appear that elephants were regularly used in war in the Vedic Period, as they were in the third and fourth centuries before Christ when the Greeks came to India.

For the rest, it was a turbulent time when the Vedic warriors lived and fought. They had not only to wage unceasing war against the aborigines, but the Hindu states were divided among themselves, and a powerful leader was often bent on annexing his neighbour's state. Rishis engaged in sacrifices asked for prowess to conquer their foes or prayed to the gods for sons who would win victory in battles. Every able-bodied man was a warrior and was ever prepared to defend his home and his fields and his cattle with his strong right arm. Every Hindu colony or tribe, while attentive to the worship of the gods and to the cultivation of the various arts of peace, was at the same time alive to the fact that its national existence depended on constant readiness for war. And the great conglomeration of Hindu tribes, which spread from the banks of the Indus to the banks of the Sarasvati, consisted of hardy, brave, and warlike peoples who maintained their footing in the land and their independence and national existence by constant struggles and a determination to win or die.