Bharatas (tribe)
Bharatas | |
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Ethnicity | Indo-Aryan |
Location | Northern Indian subcontinent |
Parent tribe | Puru (originally) |
Branches | Tr̥tsu. Sr̥ñjaya |
Language | Vedic Sanskrit |
Religion | Historical Vedic religion |
Part of a series on |
Hinduism |
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The Bharatas were an early Vedic tribe that existed in the latter half of the second millennium B.C.E.[1][2][3] The earliest mentioned location of the Bharatas was on the first Sarasvatī River in southern Afghanistan. Led by the tribal king Divodāsa, the Bharatas moved through the Hindu Kush mountains and defeated Śambara. Divodāsa's descendant, Sudās, won the Battle of the Ten Kings against a Pūru-led coalition, after which the initial compilation of hymns of the R̥gveda was carried out.[citation needed] After the battle, the Bharatas and other Pūru clans eventually formed the Kuru Kingdom, which was the first attested state in Indian history.
Etymology
The name Bharata is of Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian origin, meaning "bearers" or "carriers".[4][5]
History
Two Bharatas, Devaśravas Bhārata and Devavāta Bhārata, are mentioned as living near the Āpayā,
Devavāta's son, Sṛñjaya Daivavāta, defeated the
Under the chieftain Divodāsa Atithigva, the Bharatas moved through the
Under
Battle of the Ten Kings
Under Sudās and Vasiṣṭha, the Tṛtsu-Bharatas win the
Though seemingly an unequal battle, going by the numbers (this aspect is highlighted multiple times in the hymns), Sudās decisively won against the tribal alliance by strategic breaching of a (natural) dyke on the river thereby drowning most (?) of the opponents; the victory is attributed to the benevolence and strategizing of Indra, the patron-God of Bharatas, whose blessings were secured by Vasiṣṭha's poetics.[34][38]
Thereafter, the battleground (probably) shifted to the banks of river Yamunā, wherein the local chieftain Bheda was defeated along with three other tribes — Ajas, Śighras, and the Yakṣus.[34][38]
Aftermath
The Battle of the Ten Kings led Bharatas to occupy the entire Pūru territory (Western Punjab) centered around Sarasvatī River and complete their east-ward migration.[34] Sudās celebrated his victory with the Aśvamedha ritual to commemorate the establishment of a realm, free of enemies from the north, east, and west. He still had enemies in the Khāṇḍava Forest to the south, which was inhabited by the despised non-Indo-Aryan Kīkaṭas[34]
A political realignment between Pūrus and Bharatas probably followed soon enough and might have included other factions of the tribal union as well; this is exhibited from how the core collection of Rigveda prominently features clan-hymns of both the sides.[39][34]
There is no clear mention of Sudās’ descendants or any succeeding Bharata king in the Rigveda.[40] The Bharatas eventually evolve into the Kuru Kingdom; however, there is no record of this development due to the time gap between the R̥gveda and other Vedas.[41][42]
Legacy in later literature
In the epic
See also
References
- ISBN 0-684-31512-2
- ISBN 0141937424
- ^ Witzel, Michael (1995b), "Early Sanskritization. Origins and Development of the Kuru State." (PDF), Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, 1–4: 1–26, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-20, retrieved 2017-09-16
- ^ Witzel 1999, p. 19.
- ^ Witzel, Michael (1999b). "Early Sources for South Asian Substrate Languages". Mother Tongue: 3.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, p. 38.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, pp. 38–40.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton 2014, pp. 810–811.
- ^ Macdonell, Arthur Anthony; Keith, Arthur Berriedale (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. John Murray. p. 380.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, p. 247-248.
- ^ Gonda, Jan (1975). A History of Indian Literature: I.1 Vedic literature (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas). Otto Harrassowitz. p. 130.
- ^ Witzel, Michael (2000). "The Home of the Aryans". In Hintze, A.; Tichy, E. (eds.). Anusantatyai : Festschrift für Johanna Narten zum 70. Geburtstag. Dettelbach: Röll. p. 34.
- ^ Witzel 1999, p. 31.
- .
- ^ Witzel 1999.
- ^ Parpola 2015, p. 81, 97-98, 105.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, p. 40.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton 2014, pp. 857–859.
- ^ a b c Parpola 2015, p. 97.
- ^ JSTOR 44002604– via JSTOR.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton 2014, pp. 810, 857.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, pp. 244–246.
- ISBN 978-0-19-022693-0.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, p. 244-246.
- ^ Velankar 1942, p. 663.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, p. 36.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, p. 247.
- ISBN 81-208-0639-5.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton 2014, pp. 815, 833, 837.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, p. 216.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, p. 37.
- ^ Witzel 1995a, pp. 248–249, 251.
- ^ Jamison & Brereton 2014, p. 465.
- ^ S2CID 238465491.
- ISBN 9780190633363.
- ^ Palihawadana 2017, p. 51.
- ^ ISSN 0019-686X.
- ^ ISBN 9780199370184.
- doi:10.11588/xarep.00000110 (inactive 2024-04-25). Retrieved 2021-04-15.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link - ^ Witzel 1995a, p. 337; Palihawadana 2017, p. 52.
- ^ Witzel 1995b, p. 1-2.
- ^ B. Kölver, ed. (1997). Recht, Staat und Verwaltung im klassischen Indien [Law, State and Administration in Classical India] (in German). München: R. Oldenbourg. pp. 27–52.
- Julius Lipner(2010) "Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices.", p.23
- ^ National Council of Educational Research and Training, History Text Book, Part 1, India
- ^ Article 1 of the English version of the Constitution of India: "India that is Bharat shall be a Union of States."
Notes
- ^ Karl Friedrich Geldner deemed it to be Bheda, incorrectly. Witzel proposes Trasadasyu. Palihawadana proposes Purukutsa, Trasadasyu's father.[36]
Bibliography
- Jamison, Stephanie; Brereton, Joel (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press.
- Palihawadana, Mahinda (2017). "The Indra Cult as Ideology: A Clue to Power Struggle in an Ancient Society". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 24 (2): 19–166. .
- Witzel, Michael (1995a). "Ṛgvedic history: poets, chieftains and polities". In Erdosy, George (ed.). The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. De Gruyter.
- Witzel, Michael (1999). "Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900-500 B.C". In Bronkhorst, J.; Deshpande, M. (eds.). Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans, Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. Vol. 3. Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora.