HEHEYA
KINGDOM
In
the Mahabharat epic, the Heheya Kingdom (also known as Haihaya,
Haiheya, Heiheya, etc.) is one of the kingdoms ruled by kings in
the central and western India. It was ruled by the powerful Kartvirya
Arjun, who even defeated Ravan. Its capital was Mahishmati on the
banks of river Narmada in present-day Madhya Pradesh. They conquered
many other kingdoms of India. However, the enmity with the warrior-type
Bhargavs resulted in their demise. Arjun was the Bhargav leader
under whom they were exterminated. Talajangha was an allied kingdom
of Heheya, to the east of it.
Haihaya
clans :
The Haihayas were an ancient confederacy of five gans (clans), who
claimed their common ancestry from Yadu. According to the Harivamsh
Puran (34.1898) Haihaya was the great grandson of Yadu and grandson
of Sahasrajit. In the Vishnu Puran (IV.11), all the five Haihaya
clans are mentioned together as the Talajanghas. The five Haihaya
clans were Vitihotra, Sharyat, Bhoj, Avanti and Tundiker. The Haihayas
were native to the present-day Malwa region of Western Madhya Pradesh).
The Purans style the Haihayas as the first ruling dynasty of Avanti.
Foundation
of Mahishmati :
In the Harivamsh (33.1847), the honour of founding their future
capital city of Mahishmati (in present-day Madhya Pradesh) was king
Mahishmant, son of Sahanja and a descendant of Yadu through Haihaya.
At another place, it names Muchukund, one of the ancestor of lord
Ram as the founder of Mahishmati. It states that he built the cities
of Mahishmati and Purika in the Rksha mountains.
According
to the Padma Puran (VI.115), the city was actually founded by a
certain Mahisha.
Arjun
Kartvirya and his successors :
According to the Mahabharat and the Purans, the most celebrated
Haihaya king was Arjun Kartvirya. His epithet was Sahasrabahu. He
was called a Samrat and Chakravartin. His name is found in the Rig
Ved (VIII.45.26). He ultimately conquered Mahishmati city from Karkotak
Nag, a Nag chief and made it his fortress-capital. According to
the Vayu Puran, he invaded Lanka and took Ravan prisoner. Arjun
propitiated Dattatreya and was favoured by him. Arjun's sons killed
sage Jamadagni. Jamadagni's son Parashuram in revenge killed Arjun.
Arjun had a number of sons. His son Jaydhvaj succeeded him to the
throne. Jaydhvaj was succeeded by his son Talajangha.
The Vitihotras :
Later, the Haihayas were mostly known by the name of the dominant
clan amongst them - the Vitihotras (or Vitahotras or Vitahvyas).
According to the Purans, Vitihotra was the great-grandson of Arjun
Kartvirya and the eldest son of Talajangha. The Purans also mention
the names of two Vitihotra rulers: Ananta, son of Vitihotra and
Durjay Amitrakarshan, son of Anant. The northward expansion of the
Haihaya territory to the mid-Ganges valley by the Vitihotra rulers
was stopped by the Ikshvaku king Sagar. The Mahagovindsuttant of
the Dighanikay mentions about an Avanti king Vessabhu (Vishvabhu)
and his capital Mahissati (Mahishmati). Probably he was a Vitihotra
ruler. Probably, during the rule of the later Vitihotras, the whole
Avanti region developed into two realms, divided by the Vindhyas,
having principal cities at Mahishmati and Ujjayini (present day
Ujjain). According to the Matsya Puran (5.37), Pulik, one of the
ministers of Ripunjay, the last Vitihotra king of Ujjayini killed
his master and made his son Pradyot new king.
It
is said that many of the Haihayas were learned in the Veds.
Medieval
Haihayas :
A number of early medieval dynasties, which include the Kalachuris,
Kansars and the Mushik Kingdom, Mannanar of Kerala, claimed their
descent from the Haihayas. The Haihayas of eastern India fought
against Islamists invaders in medieval times.
References
in Mahabharat :
Disputes with the Ikswaku Kings :
Sagar was a king of Kosal Kingdom, ruling from Ayodhya. He was of
the lineage of Ikshwaku, a famous royal dynasty in ancient India.
Sagar is mentioned as the son of Jadu (MBh 12,56). His army numbered
60,000 men, all of whom he treated as sons.
The
Ikswaku king Sagar is said to have defeated the Haihayas and the
Talajanghas. He brought under subjection the whole of the military
caste. (MBh 3,106)
The
Haihayas and Talajanghas of Vats Kingdom :
(MBh 13,30)
Haihayas and Talajanghas probably had their origins in Vats Kingdom.
Haihayas in the Vats kingdom, known collectively as Vitahavyas and
under King Vitahavya, attacked the neighbouring country called Kashi,
during the reign of four successive generations of Kashi kings viz
that of Haryaswa, Sudev, Divodas
and Pratarddan. The last one among them, Pratarddan, defeated the
Haihayas and probably expelled them from the Vats kingdom. Kashi
kings were also born in the race of Ikshwaku. This could be the
seed of Haihayas's dispute with them.
Under
Haryaswa's reign :
In Saryati’s lineage (Saryati and Ikshwaku were two among
the many sons of Manu (MBh 1,75)), two kings took their birth, viz.
Haihaya and Talajangha, both sons of Vats. Haihaya had ten wives
and a hundred sons, all of whom were highly inclined to fighting.
In Kashi also there was a king, the grandfather of Divodas, known
as Haryyaswa. The sons of King Haihaya, who was otherwise known
as Vitahavyas, invaded the kingdom of Kashi. Advancing into that
country that lies between the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, he fought
a battle with King Haryyaswa, slaying him there. The sons of Haihaya
fearlessly went back to their own delightful city in the country
of the Vats.
Under
Sudev :
Meanwhile, Haryyaswa’s son Sudev was installed on the throne
of Kashi as its new ruler. That righteous-souled prince ruled his
kingdom for some time before the hundred sons of Vitahavya once
more invaded his dominions and defeated him in battle. Having vanquished
King Sudev thus, the Haihaya victors returned to their own city.
Under
Divodas :
After that Divodas, the son of Sudev, was next installed on the
throne of Kashi. Realising the prowess of those high-souled princes,
the sons of Vitahavya, King Divodas, endued with great energy, rebuilt
and fortified the city of Baranasi (Varanasi or Banaras) at Indra's
command. They teemed with articles and provisions of every kind
and were adorned with shops and marts swelling with prosperity.
Those territories stretched northwards from the banks of Ganges
to the southern banks of Gomati, and resembled a second Amravati
(the city of Indra). The Haihayas once again attacked. The mighty
King Divodas, issuing from his capital, gave them battle. King Divodas
fought the enemy for a thousand days but at the end, having lost
a number of followers and animals, he became exceedingly distressed.
King Divodas, his army lost and his treasury exhausted, left
his capital and fled. He sought protection of his priest, Bharadwaj,
the son of Vrihaspati.
Divodas's
son Pratarddan retaliates :
Divodas wished for a brave son who could avenge the Vitahavyas.
With his priest Bharadwaj's, blessings he obtained a son named Pratarddan,
would become well skilled in battle. Divodas installed his son on
the throne of Kashi and asked him to march against the sons of Vitahavya.
He speedily crossed the Ganges on his car followed by his army and
proceeded against the city of the Vitahavyas. The Vitahavyas issued
out of their city in their cars and poured out on Pratarddan, showered
of weapons of various kinds. Pratarddan slew them all in battle.
The Haihaya king Vitahavya then, all his sons and kinsmen dead,
sought protection of his priest Bhrigu. Bhrigu converted him
a Brahman. Sage Saunak, later receiver of the entire Mahabharat
narrative from Ugrashrava Sauti, was born from the line of this
Vitahavya.
Haihaya
King Kartvirya Arjun :
Kartvirya Arjun
(Sahastrabahu Arjun or Sahastrarjun) is described as a noble king
and a devotee of Lord Dattatreya. Endowed with a thousand arms (thought
to symbolise a thousand attendants acting as his hands, executing
his commands) and great beauty the mighty Kartvirya, in days of
yore, became the lord of all the world. He had his capital in the
city of Mahishmati. Of impossible prowess, that chief of the Haihaya
race swayed the whole earth with her belt of seas, together with
all her islands and all her precious mines of gold and gems. Keeping
before him the duties of the Kshatriya order, as also humility and
Vedic knowledge, the king made large gifts of wealth unto the Lord
Dattatreya (MBh 13,152).
Other
Haihaya Kings :
• King Vitahavya is mentioned as the son
of Vatsa (MBh 13,30)
• King Udvarta became the exterminator of his own
race (MBh 5,74)
• The conversation between a Haihaya king and a sage
named Tarkshya is mentioned at MBh 3,183
• As a royal sage of the Haihaya, Sumitra by name
is mentioned by name at MBh 12,124. Sumitra is mentioned as the
son of Mitra at MBh 12,125.
Enmity with the Bhargavs :
The Haihaya tribe's dispute with Bhargav Brahmins is mentioned at
various places in the Mahabharat. The leader of the Bhargavs, Parshuram,
son of Jamadagni, is said to kill the Haihaya king Kartvirya Arjun.
The dispute didn't end there. The Bhargavs went all over India and
slew numerous Kshatriya kings, most of them kinsmen of Kartvirya
Arjun. (MBh 1,104)
In
acquiring the unrivaled "battleaxe of fiery splendour and irresistible
sharpness" from Mahadev of the Gandhamadan mountains, in the
Himalayas (MBh 12,49), Bhargav Ram became an unparalleled force
on earth. Meanwhile, the mighty son of Kritavirya, Arjun of the
Kshatriya order and ruler of the Haihayas, imbued with great energy,
highly virtuous in behaviour, and possessing a thousand arms through
the grace of the great sage Dattatreya, and having subjugated in
battle by the might of his own arms the whole earth with her mountains
and seven islands, became a very powerful emperor.(12,49)
The
King Arjun, mighty lord of the Haihaya tribe, would be killed by
Ram. (MBh 3,115)
Signs
of a tribal war :
"Even though only the leaders Bhargav Ram and Kartvirya Arjun
are mentioned in most places, there is evidence that many people
were involved in this dispute. It could be a dispute between two
tribes, spanning generations."[citation needed]
Once
upon a time the Brahmins, raising a standard of Kush grass, encountered
in battle the Kshatriyas of the Haihaya clan imbued with immeasurable
energy. The best of Brahmins inquired of the Kshatriyas themselves
as to the cause of this. The Kshatriyas told them, "In battle
we obey the orders of one person imbued with great intelligence,
while you are disunited from one another and act according to your
individual understanding." The Brahmins then appointed one
amongst themselves as their commander, who was brave and conversant
with the ways of policy. And they then succeeded in vanquishing
Haihaya the Kshatriyas. (MBh 5,157)
Summary
of the dispute :
Bhargav Ram, having his father Jamadagni slain and his calf stolen
by the Kshatriyas, slew Kartviryas who had never been vanquished
before by foes.
With
his bow he slew 64 times 10,000 Kshatriyas. In that slaughter were
included 14,000 Brahman-hating Kshatriyas of the Dantakur country.
Of the Haihayas, he slew a 1000 with his short club, a 1000 with
his sword, and a 1000 by hanging. Ram slew 10,000 Kshatriyas with
his axe. He could not quietly bear the furious speeches uttered
by those foes of his. And when many foremost of Brahmans uttered
exclamations, mentioning the name of Ram of Bhrigu’s race,
he proceeding against the Kashmirs, the Darads, the Kuntis, the
Kshudrakas, the Malavas, the Angs, the Vangs, the Kalings, the Videhs,
the Tamraliptaks, the Rakshovahs, the Vitahotras, the Trigarts,
the Martikavats, counting by thousand, slew them all by means of
his whetted shafts. Proceeding from province to province, he thus
slew thousands of scores of Haihaya-Kshatriyas. Creating a deluge
of blood and filling many lakes also with blood and bringing all
the 18 islands under his subjection, he performed a 100 sacrifices.
(MBh 7,68)
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Heheya_Kingdom
