WAR OF 10
KINGS,
VEDS AND AVESTAN |
When
asked about the ancient classics of Bharat, most would quickly reply
with The Ramayan and The MahaBharat. Although this answer is correct,
there is an even more ancient story that has been forgotten. That ancient
story is called the Dasharajnya or ‘Battle of ten Kings.
This
battle is memorialized in the 7th Mandala of the Rigved, in hymns 18,
33 and 83.4-8). In this Battle of Ten Kings all the people of the Rig
ved Bharat were involved. It took place near the Parusni River (Ravi
River) in Punjab. The place where they fought later became the site
of the city of Harappa, possibly the first modern urban center in history.
This
Battle is also Important as it heralded the spread of Vedic beliefs
to other parts of the world, for the simple reason the kings and their
subjects were forced to pay tributes and had to migrate outwards towards
the present lands now called as Iran, Iraq, Egypt etc… An Aryan
migration, out of Bharat could be seen here.
In
the battle some of the powerful Puru tribes created an alliance with
other tribes from the Bharat and Persia. Guided by the royal sage Vishvamitra,
this army came on to oppose the Bharat King Sudas (Note: King Sudas
was also descendant of Puru Dynasty) in battle. But, Sudas defeated
them all, and captured all the Rig vedic tribes.
King
Sudas was the grandson of the powerful king Divodas Atithigva and son
of King Pijavana. Divodas had his empire in the regions of Punjab and
earned fame as a warrior by waging a long war with the powerful non-Arya
King Sambara whom he ultimately defeated and killed.
Sudas’s
capital city was on the Sarasvati River. He inherited the kingdom from
his grandfather and greatly expanded it. He was also supported by the
spiritual mentorship of his guru, the legendary sage Vashishth. In the
process, he alienated all the neighboring kingdoms surrounding him.
After years of subjugation, a group of roughly a dozen or ‘ten’
(dasha) kings and chieftans (‘raja; rajnya’) formed a confederacy
to combine their strength and defeat King Sudas once and for all.
This
Battle is also Important as it heralded the spread of Vedic beliefs
to other parts of the world, for the simple reason the kings and their
subjects were forced to pay tributes and had to migrate outwards towards
the present lands now called as Iran, Iraq, Egypt etc… An Aryan
migration, out of Bharat could be seen here.
Sudas’s capital city was on the Sarasvati River. He inherited
the kingdom from his grandfather and greatly expanded it. He was also
supported by the spiritual mentorship of his guru, the legendary sage
Vasishta. In the process, he alienated all the neighboring kingdoms
surrounding him. After years of subjugation, a group of roughly a dozen
or ‘ten’ (dasha) kings and chieftans (‘raja; rajnya’)
formed a confederacy to combine their strength and defeat King Sudas
once and for all.
The list of confederate kings involved in this war is actually slightly
over ten, but was referred to roughly as ‘dasha’ (ten) in
the Rig Ved. It may be that they belonged to ten tribes in all. Some
of the Tribes mentioned in Rigved are:
- Paktha
RV(7.18.7)
- Alinas
: it was suggested that they lived to the north-east of Nuristan,
because the land was
mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Hiouen Thsang. RV(7.18.7)
- Anu
: Some place them in the Parusni (Ravi) area. RV(7.18.13)
- Bhrigus
: The priestly family descended from the ancient Kavi Bhrigu. Later,
they are
related to the composition of parts of the Atharv Ved (Bhrigu-Angiras).
RV(7.18.6)
- Bhalanas
: Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in the Bolan Pass
area. RV (7.18.7)
- Druhyus
: Some align them with the Gandhari. (Later age Druids of Europe)
RV (7.18.6)
- Matsya
: are only mentioned in the Rig ved (7.18.6), but later in connection
with the Salva Kingdom.
- Parsus
: The Parsu have been connected by some with the ancient Persians.
RV (7.83.1)
- Purus:
One of the major tribal confederations in the Rig ved.
- Panis
: Also the name of a class of demons; later associated with the Scythians.
- Vishanin
RV (7.18.7)
- Shivi
RV (7.18.7)
- Turvasha
RV (7.18.6)
- Matsya
RV (7.18.6)
- Vaikarnas
RV (7.18.11) ( 21 in number)
- Pruthus
(which includes Kavi Chayamana) RV(7.18.8)
- Simyu
RV (7.18.5)
These
all were segregated under 10 kings for the war. Along with this, there
were many other enemies with whom Sudas fought the war on the banks
of Yamuna. They were :
- Yakshas
RV (7.18.19)
- Shigrus
RV(7.18.19)
- Aja
RV (7.18.19) and whose leader was a king called Bheda RV (7.18.19)
There were other enemies who had attacked on the Vashishth
:
- Yudhyamadhi,
who were killed by drowning RV(7.18.24)
- Trushnaj
RV(7.33.5)
The only
known ally of Sudas in this war were Trutsu people (Ikshvakus)
Now after knowing the participants of the war, let us now see how the
war took place.
The war was started on the banks of the river Parushni. RV (7.18.8)
records that the banks of the Parushni were broken and badly damaged
by the enemies. The war was a big one and Sudas and his army fought
bravely. The enemies were destroyed and finally Sudas won the war, Later
on, he had to fight Aja, Shigru and Yakshas on the Yamuna and he defeated
them too. They had to pay a war revenue to Sudas.
Sudas emerged as a winner of the war. A total of 6666 people were killed
in the war as mentioned in RV (7.18.14).
He donated handsome gifts to the Vashishth as mentioned in RV (7.18.22-25).
These
kings, though some are described as Aryans, were actually fallen Aryans,
or rebellious and materialistic kings who had given up the spiritual
path and were conquered by King Sudas.
Occasionally, there was a degeneration of the spiritual kingdom in areas
of Bharat, and wars had to be fought in order to reestablish the spiritual
Aryan culture in these areas.
The
war was started on the banks of the Parusni (Ravi) river and it span
for many years between Puru and Bharat. According to Rig ved, Sudas
and his army was forced to retreat but managed to cross the Parusni
river safely, while his foes, trying to pursue, were scattered by a
flood and either drowned or were slaughtered by Sudas’s men. Later
on, he had to fight Aja, Shigru and Yakshas on the Yamuna river and
he defeated them too.
Sudas was able to defeat the entire confederacy of ten+ Kings and emerge
as victorious. All enemies of Sudas were defeated, thousands were killed.
There
are diffferent account as to when this battle actually took place due
to different hypothesis from different scholars. Some date it back to
near 3000-4000 BCE while other consider it to be dated around the 2350
BCE.
The
Battle of Ten Kings or the dasharajanya war is the Worlds first recorded
Battle. Not just that, it was no mere neolithic stick and stone fight.
It was the first organized war with infantry, archers and elephants.
After
the Battle of Ten Kings, many inhabitants of Bharat got scared and out
of fear migrated west wards into Iran and beyond. (RV-VII:18,19,33,83).
Western scholars easily misinterpreted this battle to mean an invasion
of nomadic people called Aryans rather than simply a war in which the
superior Aryan kings re-established the spiritual values and the Vedic
Aryan way of life.
It
is important to note that the Sanskrit word ‘Arya’ (English:
‘Aryan’) has no racial connotation in the Vedas and is a
term originally used to identify the members of the Puru-Bharat Dynasty.
The Vedic Aryans were not the ultimate ancestors of the different tribes
and peoples found in the Sanskrit texts. They have a definite historical
identity: the Vedic Aryans were the Purus of the ancient texts.
The Purus were a confederation of tribes located at the banks of the
Sarasvati River. According to the Purans (ancient Hindu texts), the
Bharats are descendant of the Purus. “Bharat”– the
official name of the Republic of Bharat — is actually named after
a descendant of the Puru dynasty King Bharat and King Sudas was the
descendant of Emperor Bharat. This Puru-Bharat dynasty provided the
continuity of leadership for thousands of years which is documented
in the ancient scriptures, particularly the Rigved.
The
Bharat ruler later allied and merged with the Purus Tribe, to form the
Kuru Dynasty. It was King Sudas, whose later descendants fought the
great Mahabharat war.
After
15 generations of Kuru Dunasty, Kauravas and Pandavas were born who
fought the epic battle of Mahabharat.
According
to historian, King Porus who fought Alexander in the Battle of the Hydaspes
River, was descendant of the Purus and Pandava of Mahabharat. The modern
Punjabi surname Puri may have originated with the Puru tribe.
Effects
of the War of 10 kings (Dashradnya Yuddh) :
As discussed in my earlier post, the War of Ten Kings or Dasharadnya
Yuddha is one of the major wars described in the Rigved. We have seen
how Sudas defeated his enemies and won over much of the land in Sapta-Sindhu
region and expanded his kingdom North Panchal which existed in the doab
region between Ganga and Saraswati in east Haryana.
But the effects of this war do not stop here. There are many significant
effects which can be attributed to this war which in turn was instrumental
in giving birth to a contemporary religion to ours- Zoroastrianism.
A piece of history which one needs to know is that Sudas' grandson
Somaka had also fought with the same people along with the Gautam family
rishis. This battle is called Varshagira Battle which took place in
Afghanistan.
Now
we all know the Avesta is the scripture of Zoroastrianism and Zoroaster
or Zaruthustra is their God. The Avesta in it's Gathas and Vendidad
has striking references to Rigvedic people. But how come these people
got related to the Vedic people in Bharat?
The answer is, the communities who had to leave Bharat after the War
of Ten Kings were indeed those who composed the Avesta...!!!!
Lets have a look at the communities who left Bharat after the
war :
- Prithus
or Parthavas (VII.83.1) : Parthians.
- Parshus
or Parshavas (VII .83.1) : Persians.
- Pakthas
(VII.18.7) : Pakhtoons.
- Bhalanas
(VII.18.7) : Baluchis.
- Shivas
(VII.18.7) : Khivas.
- Vishanins
(VII.18.7) : Pishachas (Dards).
These were some of the major communities and we find that their names
reflect current names
in today's Afghanistan and Central Asia.
But apart from this, one more thing in common in these people is that
majority of these people
belong to the Anu tribe.
Now
let us look at the story from the side of the Avesta :
The Avesta states that it's people had roamed 16 lands and gives it's
names. The names clearly go in an order from North to south and then
towards east. They are-
Sogdiana (Gava), Margiana (Mourv), Bactria (Baxti, Nisaya between Margiana
and Bactria, Areia (Haroiva), Kabulistan (Vaekarsta), the Gazni region
(Urva), Xnanta, Arachosia (Haraxvaiti), Drangiana (Haetumant), a territory
between Zamin-davar and Qal‘at-i-Gilzay (Raya), the Lugar valley
(Caxra), Buner (Varana), Punjab (Hapta Handu), Ranha (between the Kabul
and the Kurram, in the region where it seems likely the Vedic river
Rasa flowed.) and Airyana Vaejah…
Airyana Vaejah is the 16th land and by logic if the
lands start from north to south and then to east, we say that Airyana
Vaejah is to the east of Ranha or the area of Rasa which is obviously
Kashmir.With a striking similarity, the Puranas also state that indeed
the Anu people lived in Kashmir..!!!!
Let
us directly look at the references to Vedic people in Avesta :
• |
(Y.44.20)
of the Gathas directly mentions Ausijas, a branch of Angiras
family. |
• |
The
term Anu got itself replicated for a region in Afghanistan called
Anauon. |
• |
Bhargavas
were the priests of the Anus and their names are used interchangeably
in the Rigved RV(5.31.4) with RV(4.16.20) or RV(7.18.14) with
RV(7.18.6) |
• |
Ahur
Mazda who led the Avestans out of their land Airyana Vaejah
says Angra Manyu had created severe cold due to which they had
to leave. |
• |
It
is mentioned that Zaruthustra had a debate with a person called
Nadhyaongha Goetema (can be gautam Rishi son Nodha) which is
clearly Nodhas |
• |
Gautam
and the Rigved also confirms this part of history as we saw
that indeed Somaka had gone to Afghanistan for war with the
Gautam family of rishis. |
• |
We
know that Kavasha Ailusha was a person who fought against Sudas.
This name Kavash also appears in the Avesta. |
• |
We
know Kavi Chayamana was also against Sudas. If these names are
combined to Kavi Kavasha, then it sounds similar to Kavi Kavata,
the founder of the Avestan dynasty. |
• |
The
Avestan people call themselves Dah (Das), Dahyu (Dasyu) and
Ahur (Asur) proudly who were enemies in the Rig ved. |
•
|
Also,
Indra who is a Deva in Rigved is ridiculed in Avesta by calling
him Andra. The Daeva ( Devas) are their enemy. |
This
gives us a clear indication that indeed the Avestan people were those
who migrated from Bharat after the war of 10 kings. These people were
Anus which can be proven from their journey to Afghanistan.
First the Avesta tells they were present in Airyana Vaejah which we
have shown to be Kashmir. And as stated, even the Purans tell us that
Anus were indeed ruling the Kashmir area. Then the Avesta says they
shifted to the region of HaptaHandu or Sapta Sindhu or Punjab. And the
Puranic history tells us that during the era of Ikshavku king Mandhata,
the Druhyus who were then ruling in Punjab were pushed back by him to
the far north-west and the vacant place in the Punjab was occupied by
Anus who established Kekaya, Madra, Shivi kingdoms there.
So
we can scrutinize the different periods of the Anu migrations with respect
to the Rigvedic era-
• Pre-Rigvedic
period
The
Anus were living in Kashmir. The Avesta was not in existence and very
early hymns of Rigved were in existence
• Early
Rigvedic period
The Anus found vacant space in Punjab due to Mandhata's war with the
Druhyus and they shifted to Punjab or Sapta Sindhu, The Avesta was not
composed in this time but the Avestans remember this period as their
stay in the Hapta-Handu area. In this era, the Anus were in cordial
relations with the Bharats. They even had fought the Hariyupiya war
together against the Yadus and Turvasus.
• Middle Rigvedic period
This was the era of king Sudas when the relations between the Anus and
Bharats declined and they went on war. The Anus were defeated and some
of them left Bharat and went further west to Afghanistan. This
is the early era of the Avesta. Zaruthustra was existing
in there times when he had a debate with Nodhas Gautam (Nodha son of
Rishi Gautam). Sudas's grandson Somaka also went to Afghanistan and
had war with the Avestan people. This era was the times of tension.
• Late Rigvedic period
In
this era, majority of the Rigved was composed and the Avesta was halfway
composed. In this era, the Avestan people got their separate land and
the tensions got reduced between them and the Vedic people. Soon everything
was forgotten. A new religion of Zoroastrianism had been born in Iran.
One war, and so much effects. And the
most positive point of this war description is that we end up proving
that the movement of people was from Bharat to central Asia and not vice
versa as stated by the Aryan Invasion Theory.
RV
Means Rig Ved
|