Epic-Puranic chronology
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The Epic-Puranic chronology is a timeline of
Itihasa-Purana
The
The Rāmāyaṇa narrates the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. Various recent scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE.[6]
The Puranas (literally "ancient, old",[7]) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly legends and other traditional lore,[8] composed in the first millennium CE.[9][note 1] The Hindu Puranas are anonymous texts and likely the work of many authors over the centuries.[10] Gavin Flood connects the rise of the written Purana historically with the rise of devotional cults centering upon a particular deity in the Gupta era: the Puranic corpus is a complex body of material that advance the views of various competing sampradayas.[11] The content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent.[10]
The
Chronology
Cyclic time and yugas
The Puranas are oriented at a cyclical understanding of time. They contain stories about the creation and destruction of the world, and the yugas (ages).[13] There are four yugas in one cycle:
- Satya Yuga (a time of truth and righteousness)
- Treta Yuga
- Dvapara Yuga
- Kali Yuga (a time of darkness and non-virtue)
According to the Manusmriti (c. 2nd CE),[14] one of the earliest known texts describing the yugas, the length of each yuga is 4800, 3600, 2400 and 1200 years of the gods, respectively, giving a total of 12,000 divine years to complete one cycle. For human years, they are multiplied by 360 giving 1,728,000, 1,296,000, 864,000 and 432,000 years, respectively, giving a total of 4,320,000 human years. These four yugas have a length ratio of 4:3:2:1.[15]
The Bhagavata Purana [3.11.18-20] (c. 500-1000 CE) gives a matching description of the yuga lengths in divine years.
The Kali Yuga is the present yuga. According to Puranic sources, Krishna's departure marks the end of Dvapara Yuga and the start of Kali Yuga,[note 2] which is dated to 17/18 February 3102 BCE,[16][17] twenty years after the Bharata War.[18]
Pre-Bharata War kings and avatars
The Puranas, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana contain lists of kings and genealogies,[12] from which the traditional chronology of India's ancient history are derived.[19] Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Maurya court at Patna at c. 300 BCE, reported to have heard of a traditional list of 153 kings that covered 6042 years, beyond the traditional beginning of the Kali Yuga in 3102 BCE.[20] The royal lists are based on Sūta bardic traditions, and are derived from lists which were orally transmitted and constantly reshaped.[20]
Shraddhadeva Manu
The first king is
- Brahma
- Saptarishis.
- Saptarishis, the seven ancient sages of the Rigveda[note 3] who are the patriarchs of the Vedic religion, and the ancestors of the Gotras of Brahmins.
- .
- Saranyu(Saṃjñā). He is also known as Satyavrata and Shraddhadeva.
Shraddhadeva had seventy children, including
Tentative chronology
The Puranas have been used by some to give a tentative overview of Indian history prior to the Bharata War.
- Pre-flood tradition and the dawn of history
- The Manu Vaivasvata
- The period of king Yayāti (c. 3000–2750 BCE)
- The period of king Mandhatri (c. 2750–2550 BCE)
- The epoch of Parashurama, the sixth avatar of Vishnu (c. 2550–2350 BCE)
- The era of Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu (c. 2350–1750 BCE)
- The period of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu (c.1950–1400 BCE)
- The Mahabharata War(c. 1400 BCE)
According to Subhash Kak,
[T]he Indian civilization must be viewed as an unbroken tradition that goes back to the earliest period of the Sindhu-Sarasvati (or Indus) tradition (7000 or 8000 BCE).[1][28]
Bharata War
The historicity of the Mahabharata War is subject to scholarly discussion and dispute.
Whether a bitter war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas ever happened cannot be proved or disproved. It is possible that there was a small-scale conflict, transformed into a gigantic epic war by bards and poets. Some historians and archaeologists have argued that this conflict may have occurred in about 1000 BCE."[31]
Despite the inconclusiveness of the data, attempts have been made to assign a historical date to the Kurukshetra War.
Attempts to date the events using methods of
Some of the other proposals that have been put forward:
- Vedveer Arya gives the date of 3162 BCE, by distinguishing between Śakanta Eras and applying correction of 60 years to the date given in popular tradition and based on Aihole inscription.[41]
- P. V. Holey states a date of 13 November 3143 BCE using planetary positions and calendar systems.
- K. Sadananda, based on translation work, states that the Kurukshetra War started on 22 November 3067 BCE.
- B. N. Achar used planetarium software to argue that the Mahabharata War took place in 3067 BCE.[42]
- S. Balakrishna concluded a date of 2559 BCE using consecutive lunar eclipses.
- R. N. Iyengar concluded a date of 1478 BCE using double eclipses and Saturn+Jupiter conjunctions.
- P. R. Sarkar estimates a date of 1298 BCE for the war of Kurukshetra.
- Dieter Koch dates the war to 1198 BCE based on super-conjunctions.[43]
- Kesheo Lakshman Daftari, one of the members of the Calendar Reform Committee which prepared the Indian national calendar, holds that the war took place in 1197 BCE.[44]
Post-Bharata War
The Vedic Foundation gives the following chronology of ancient India since the time of Krishna and the Bharata War:[web 1][note 5]
- 3228 BCE – Descension of Krishna[note 6]
- 3138 BCE – The Mahabharata War; start of Brihadrath dynasty of Magadha; start of Yudhisthir dynasty of Hastinapur
- 3102 BCE – Ascension of Krishna; start of Kali Yuga
- 2139 BCE – End of Brihadratha dynasty
- 2139–2001 BCE – Pradyota dynasty
- 2001–1641 BCE – Shaishunaga dynasty
- 1887–1807 BCE – Gautama Buddha[note 7]
- 1641–1541 BCE – Nandas[note 8]
- 1541–1241 BCE – Maurya Empire[note 9]
- 1541–1507 BCE – Chandragupta Maurya[note 10]
- 1507–1479 BCE – Bindusara[note 11]
- 1479–1443 BCE – Ashokavardhan
- 1241–784 BCE – Shunga Empire and Kanva dynasty
- 784–328 BCE – Andhra dynasty[note 12]
- 328–83 BCE – Gupta Empire[note 13]
- 328–321 BCE – Chandragupta Vijayaditya[note 14]
- 326 BCE – Alexander's invasion
- 321–270 BCE – Ashoka[note 15]
- 102 BCE – 15 CE – Vikramaditya, established Vikram era in 57 BCE
Indigenous Aryans - '10,000 years in India'
Indigenous Aryans
The Epic-Puranic chronology has been referred to by proponents of
The Indigenous Aryans theory has no relevance, let alone support, in mainstream scholarship.[49][50][51][52][53][54][55]
'10,000 years in India'
The idea of "Indigenous Aryanism" fits into traditional Hindu ideas about their religion, namely that it has timeless origins, with the Vedic Aryans inhabiting India since ancient times.[note 16]
See also
- Yuga
- Vedas
- Vedic science
- Solar dynasty
- Lunar dynasty
- Hindu cosmology
- Nasadiya Sukta
- Samudra Manthana
- Sanātana Dharma
- Brahmanda Purana
- History of India
- History of Hinduism
- Hindu mythological wars
- Puru and Yadu Dynasties
- List of Indian monarchs
- List of Hindu empires and dynasties
Notes
- Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana to c. 450 CE, Brahmanda Purana to c. 350–950 CE, Vamana Purana to c. 450–900 CE, Kurma Purana to c. 550–850 CE, and Linga Purana to c. 600–1000 CE.[9]
- Wilson, H. H. (1895). The Vishnu Purana. S.P.C.K. Press. p. 61.. Motilal Banarsidass. 1955. p. 515.
(5.38.8) The Parijata tree proceeded to heaven, and on the same day that Hari [Krishna] departed from the earth the dark-bodied Kali age descended.
* Brahma Purana Part 2(2.103.8) It was on the day on which Krishna left the Earth and went to heaven that the Kali age, with time for its body set in.
- ^ Kasyapa is mentioned in RV 9.114.2, Atri in RV 5.78.4, Bharadvaja in RV 6.25.9, Visvamitra in RV 10.167.4, Gautama in RV 1.78.1, Jamadagni in RV 3.62.18, etc.;[22] Original Sanskrit text: ऋषे मन्त्रकृतां स्तोमैः कश्यपोद्वर्धयन्गिरः । सोमं नमस्य राजानं यो जज्ञे वीरुधां पतिरिन्द्रायेन्दो परि स्रव ॥२॥[23]
- Karusha, Sharyati, the eighth, a daughter named Ila, Prishadhru the ninth, and Nabhagarishta, the tenth. They all betook themselves to the practices of Kshatriyas (warriors). Besides these, Manu had fifty other sons on Earth. But we heard that they all perished, quarrelling with one another."[25]
- ^ The Vedic Foundation, Introduction: "The history of Bharatvarsh (which is now called India)'is the description of the timeless glory of the Divine dignitaries who not only Graced the soils of India with their presence and Divine intelligence, but they also showed and revealed the true path of peace, happiness and the Divine enlightenment for the souls of the world that still is the guideline for the true lovers of God who desire to taste the sweetness of His Divine love in an intimate style.[web 2]
- ^ The earliest text to explicitly provide detailed descriptions of Krishna as a personality is the epic Mahabharata which depicts Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu.[web 3]
- ^ Conventionally dated sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BC.[45]
- ^ Conventionally dated 345–321 BC
- ^ Conventionally dated 322–185 BC
- ^ Conventionally dated 340–298 BC
- ^ Conventionally dated c. 320 BC – 272 BC
- ^ Conventionally dated c. 230 BC–AD 220
- ^ Conventionally dated approximately AD 320–550
- ^ Conventionally dated: reign AD 320–335
- ^ Conventionally dated 304–232 BC
- ^ The Vedic Foundation states: "The history of Bharatvarsh (which is now called India) is the description of the timeless glory of the Divine dignitaries who not only Graced the soils of India with their presence and Divine intelligence, but they also showed and revealed the true path of peace, happiness and the Divine enlightenment for the souls of the world that still is the guideline for the true lovers of God who desire to taste the sweetness of His Divine love in an intimate style."[web 2]
- ^ Carol Schaeffer: "Tilak, dubbed the "father of Indian unrest" for his advocacy of violent tactics against British colonialists and inspiration to later Indian Hindu nationalists".[57]
- ^ See also Is our civilisation really 10 millennia old? Or are we simply insecure?; Sanjeev Sabhlok (2013).
References
- ^ a b Kak 2001.
- ISBN 978-81-260-1194-0.
- ^ "Ramayana". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
- ^ Brockington 1998, p. 26.
- ISBN 978-0-19-005411-3.
- ^ Brockington 1998, pp. 379–.
- ISBN 0-877790426.
- ISBN 978-0415172813.
- ^ a b Collins 1988, p. 36.
- ^ ISBN 978-0791413821.
- ^ Flood 1996, p. 359.
- ^ a b Trautmann 2005, p. xx.
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 123–124.
- ^ Olivelle 2005, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Olivelle 2005, pp. 90, 240 (1.61), 241 (1.70-71).
- ^ Matchett, Freda. "The Puranas". In Flood (2003), p. 139.
- ^ Yano, Michio. "Calendar, astrology and astronomy". In Flood (2003), p. 390.
- ^ Singh 2008, p. 22.
- ^ Ganguly 1984, pp. 15–16.
- ^ a b Witzel 2001, p. 69.
- ^ Francis Hamilton (1819). Geneaolgies of the Hindus: extracted from their sacred writings; with an introduction and alphabetical index. Edinburgh: Printed for the author. p. 89.
- ISBN 978-3-900271-18-3.
- ^ Rigveda 9.114.2, Wikisource
- ^ Thapar 2013, pp. 308–309.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-7625-226-3.
- ^ a b Rocher 1986, p. 122.
- ^ a b Ganguly 1984, p. 16.
- ^ a b Kak 1996.
- ^ Mahalanobis, P C. "DSpace at Indian Statistical Institute: New theory of ancient Indian chronology". Library.isical.ac.in:8080. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
- ^ Singh 2006, p. 85.
- ^ a b Singh 2009, p. 19.
- ISBN 9780192823618.
- ^ Singh 2009, pp. 18–21.
- ^ a b Witzel 1995.
- ^ Hiltebeitel 2005, p. 5594.
- ^ Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.246, who summarize as follows: "Astronomical calculations favor 15th century BCE as the date of the war while the Puranic data place it in the 10th/9th century BCE. Archaeological evidence points towards the latter." (p.254)
- ^ "Lord Krishna lived for 125 years | India News – Times of India". The Times of India.
- ^ "5151 years of Gita". 19 January 2014.
- ^ Gupta and Ramachandran (1976), p.55; AD Pusalker, HCIP, Vol I, p.272
- ^ AD Pusalker, op.cit. p.272
- ISBN 978-8194321309
- ^ Singh 2010, p. Chapter 7, Pp. 202–252, 302.
- ^ Koch, Dieter (2015). "Astronomical Dating of the Mahābhārata War" (PDF). p. 395.
- ^ Daftari, K. L. (1942). "The Astronomical Method and Its Application to the Chronology of Ancient India". pp. 40–45.
- ^ Warder 2000, p. 45.
- ^ a b c Trautmann 2005, p. xxx.
- ^ a b Trautmann 2005, p. xxviii.
- ^ Ramasami, Jeyakumar (21 February 2014). "Indus Script Based on Sanskrit Language". Sci News. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
- ^ Witzel 2001.
- ^ Bryant, Edwin F.; Patton, Laurie L. (2005). The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge.
- ISBN 9783110816433.
- ISBN 0-19-513777-9.
- ^ Bryant, Edwin F. (1996). Linguistic Substrata and the Indigenous Aryan Debate.
- ^ Fosse, Lars Martin (2005). "Aryan Past and Post-colonial Present: The Polemics and Politics of Indigenous Aryanism". In Bryant, Edwin; Patton, Laurie L. (eds.). The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge.
- ^ Ravinutala, Abhijith (2013). Politicizing the Past: Depictions of Indo-Aryans in Indian Textbooks from 1998–2007.
- ^ Gyanendra Pandey (2006), Routine Violence: Nations, Fragments, Histories, Stanford University Press, p.103
- ^ a b c Carol Schaeffer (2018). "Alt-Reich. The unholy alliance between India and the new global wave of white supremacy". The Caravan. p. 42.
- ^ a b Kak 1987.
- ^ Kak 1993.
- ^ Sudhir Bhargava (2017). "Brahmavarta, the land of Aryans located". Sanskriti.
Sources
Printed sources
- Brockington, J. L. (1998), The Sanskrit Epics, BRILL, ISBN 90-04-10260-4
- Collins, Charles Dillard (1988), The Iconography and Ritual of Śiva at Elephanta, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-88706-773-0
- Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge University Press
- ISBN 0-631-21535-2
- Ganguly, Dilip Kumar (1984), History and Historians in Ancient India, Abhinav Publications
- Hiltebeitel, Alf (2005), "Mahabaratha", in Jones, Lindsay (ed.), MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion, MacMillan
- Kak, Subhash (1987). "On the Chronology of Ancient India" (PDF). Indian Journal of History of Science (22): 222–234. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
- Kak, Subhash (1993). "Astronomy of the Vedic Alters" (PDF). Vistas in Astronomy. Vol. 36. pp. 117–140. ISSN 0083-6656. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
- Kak, Subhash (1996). "Knowledge of Planets in the Third Millennium BC" (PDF). Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 37: 709–715. Bibcode:1996QJRAS..37..709K.
- Kak, Subhash (2001), "On the Chronological Framework for Indian Culture" (PDF), Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research
- ISBN 978-0195171464
- Rocher, Ludo (1986), The Purāṇas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
- Singh, Upinder (2006), Delhi: Ancient History, Berghahn Books, ISBN 9788187358299
- Singh, Upinder (2008), History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education India
- Singh, Upinder (2009), History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Longman, ISBN 978-8131716779
- Singh, Bal Ram (2010), Origin of Indian civilization (First ed.), Dartmouth: Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts and D.K. Printworld, New Delhi, ISBN 978-8124605608, archived from the originalon 2016-03-04
- ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2
- Trautmann, Thomas (2005), The Aryan Debate, Oxford University Press
- Warder, A.K. (2000), Indian Buddhism, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
- Witzel, Michael (1995), "Early Sanskritization: Origin and Development of the Kuru state" (PDF), EJVS, 1 (4), archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-11
- Witzel, Michael E. J. (2001). "Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts"(PDF). Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 7 (3): 1–115.
Web-sources
- ^ the Vedic Foundation, Chronology
- ^ a b The Vedic Foundation, Introduction
- ^ Wendy Doniger (2008). "Mahabharata (Hindu literature)". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
Further reading
- Frawley, David (1993), Gods, Sages and Kings: Vedic Secrets of Ancient Civilization, Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
External links
- Indigenous understanding of Puranic chronology
- Chronological chart of the history of Bharatvarsh since its origination
- Royal Chronology and History of INDIA (Bharat)
- Hindu Timeline
- Reclaiming the chronology of Bharatvam Archived 2023-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Bharatiya Timeline Archived 2023-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
- The History of Bharata or India According to Indian Astronomy
- Scholarly studies of Indian history
- Sahal Muhammed (2019), How Science Has Destroyed the Foundation of RSS' Idea of India