Battle of the Ten Kings
| Battle of the Ten Kings | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Trtsu-Bharata (Indo-Aryans) |
Alina Anu Bhrigus (Indo-Aryans) Bhalanas Dasa (Dahae?) Druhyus (Gandharis) Matsya (Indo-Aryans) Parsu (Persians) Purus (Indo-Aryans) Panis (Parni) | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
King Sudas Vashishta |
The Ten Kings Vishvamitra | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown but less | More than 6,666 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown but less | 6,666 (Mandala 7) | ||||||||
The Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá) is a battle alluded to in the Rigveda (Book 7, hymns 18, 33 and 83.4-8),[2] the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. The battle took place during the middle or main Rigvedic period,[3] near the Ravi River in Punjab. It was a battle between the Puru Vedic Aryan tribal kingdoms of the Bharatas, allied with other tribes of the north west India, guided by the royal sage Vishvamitra, and the Trtsu-Bharata (Puru) king Sudas, who defeats other Vedic tribes.
Sources
K. F. Geldner in his 1951 translation of the Rigveda considers the hymns as "obviously based on an historical event", even though all details save for what is preserved in the hymns have been lost. Further details have been provided in an incisive discussion of this hymn by H.P. Schmidt.[4]
Belligerents
The Trtsu are the tribe led by king Sudas. Sudas himself is included in the "ten kings", as the Trtsus are said to be surrounded by ten kings in 7.33.5. But it is not made explicit how this number is supposed to be broken down: if of the tribes mentioned in 7.18, the Turvasas, Yaksuss (pun for Yadu),[4] Matsyas, Bhrgus, Druhyus, Pakthas, Bhalanas, Alinas, Shivas and Visanins are counted, the full number is reached, leaving the Anavas (7.18.14), the Ajas and Sigrus (7.18.19) and the "21 men of both Vaikarna tribes" (7.18.11) without a king, and implying that Bheda (7.18.19, also mentioned 7.33.3 and 7.83.4, the main leader slain by Sudas), Shimyu (7.18.5), and Kavasa (7.18.12) are the names of individual kings. The Bharatas are named among the enemies in 7.33 but not in 7.18.
- Alinas: One of the tribes defeated by Sudas at the Dasarajna,[5] and it was suggested that they lived to the north-east of Nuristan, because the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang.[6]
- Anu: Some place them in the Paruṣṇī (Ravi) area.[7]
- Bhrigus: Probably the priestly family descended from the ancient Kavi Bhrigu. Later, they are related to the composition of parts of the Atharva Veda (Bhṛgv-Āṅgirasa) .
- Bhalanas: Fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in the Bolan Pass area.[8]
- Druhyus: Some align them with the Gandhari (RV I 1.126.7).
- Matsya are only mentioned in the RV (7.18.6), but later in connection with the Śālva.[9]
- Parsu: The Parśu have been connected by some with the ancient Persians.[10]
- Purus: One of the major tribal confederations in the Rigveda.
- Panis: Also the name of a class of demons; later associated with the Scythians.
Background
The situation leading up to the battle is described in 7.18.6: The Turvasas and Yaksus (Yadu),[4] together with the Matsya tribe (punned upon by the rishi by comparing them to hungry fish (matsya) flocking together)[4] appear and ally themselves with the Bhrigus and the Druhyus.
Adaptations and retellings
According to Erdosy, the Battle of Ten Kings provided a prototype for the epic Mahabharata,[11] an idea which Hiltebeitel calls a "particularly baffling fancy."[12]
References
- ↑ Witzel, Michael (2000). "The Languages of Harappa". In Kenoyer, J.. Proceedings of the conference on the Indus civilization.
- ↑ Mookerji 1988, p. 1.
- ↑ Witzel (2000): between approximately 1450 and 1300 BCE
- 1 2 3 4 Schmidt, H.P. Notes on Rgveda 7.18.5-10. Indica. Organ of the Heras Institute, Bombay. Vol.17, 1980, 41-47.
- ↑ Macdonell, A. A. and Keith, A. B. (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, I, 39.
- ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, I, 39.
- ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index I 22.
- ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index.
- ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index, 1912, II 122.
- ↑ Macdonell and Keith, Vedic Index. This is based on the evidence of an Assyrian inscription of 844 BC referring to the Persians as Paršu, and the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia referring to Parsa (Pārsa) as the area of the Persians. Radhakumud Mookerji (1988). Chandragupta Maurya and His Times (p. 23). Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 81-208-0405-8.
- ↑ Erdosy 1995, p. 335.
- ↑ Hiltebeitel 2001, p. 2, note 12.
Sources
- Erdosy, George (1995), The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity, Walter de Gruyter
- Geldner, Karl Friedrich, Der Rig-Veda: Aus dem Sanskrit ins Deutsche übersetzt Harvard Oriental Studies, vols. 33, 34, 35 (1951), reprint Harvard University Press (2003) ISBN 0-674-01226-7
- Griffith, Ralph T.H., Hymns of the Rig Veda (1896)
- Hiltebeitel, Alf (2001), Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King, University of Chicago Press
- Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1988) [first published in 1966], Chandragupta Maurya and his times (4th ed.), Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0433-3