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DR.  B.R  AMBEDKAR  OPEN  UNIVERSITY 

UNIVERSITY  -  LIBRARY 


N08400 


»Y  S.  C.  KB**, 
fading  iatWwMtf 
R.  CAKMUY  *  Co. 
Ctlcutt*. 


Printed  by  D.  C.  Ke 
At  the  Vilmiki  Pn 

3,  Haider  Lane, 
Bowbatar,  Caloittt 


To 
The  Hon'ble  Sir  ASUTOSH  MOOKERJEE,  Kt, 

CS.I.,  M.A.,  D.L.,  D.Sc.,  Ph.D* 
who  has  instilled  new  life  and  vigour 

into  the  University  of  Calcutta 
by  stimulating,  encouraging  and  promoting 

Original  Research 

in  the  departments  of  Arts  and  Science, 
this  volume  is  dedicated 

by  the  author 
in  token  of  sincere  admiration  and  esteem. 


PKEFACE  TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 

1  have  called  this  work  "  Rgvedic  India  "!  with  a  view 
to  limit  my  enquiry  into  the  early  history  of  the  Aryans  to 
the  period  during  which  the  Rgvedic  hymns  were  composed. 
Even  this  period  is  wide  enough,  consisting  as  it  does  of  three 
ages,  via.,  the  Early  age^  the  Medieval  age,  and  the  Later  age, 
during  which  the  hymns  were  revealed  (Rv.  hi.  32,  13  &  vi. 
21,  5).*  The  Rgveda  is  admittedly  the  oldest  work  extant 
of  the  Aryans,  and  with  it  may  be  classed  the  S£ma-Veda. 
The  former  is  a  book  of  hymns  or  psalms  offered  to  the 
different  Gods,  and  the  latter  consists  entirely  of  hymns 
(excepting  only  75)  taken  from  the  Rgveda,  and  "  arranged 
soley  with  reference  to  their  place  in  the  Soma  sacrifice." 
The  Yajur-Veda  consists  not  only  of  hymns  mostly  borrowed 
from  the  Rgveda,  but  also  of  original  prose  formulas  for 
the  performance  of  sacrifice.  Its  matter  lias  come  down  to 

1  To  put  it  briefly,  this,  work  is  an  outline  of  the  Early  History  of  India 
as  depicted  in  the  Rgveda,  examined  in  the  light  of  the  results  of  modern 
Geological,  Arch«eological  and  Ethnological  investigations,  and  drawn  from  a 
comparative  study  of  the  early  civilisations  ot  the  Deccan,  ancient  Aryana, 
Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phoenicia,  Asia  Minor,  Egypt  and  Pre-histonc  Europe. 
•  Rv.  iii.  32  13.— 


"  The  worshipper,  by  his  conservatory  sacrifice,  hai>  made  Indra  present. 
May  I  bring  him  to  my  presence  to  obtain  new  wealth,  him  who  has  been 
exalted  by  praises,  whether  ancient,  mediaeval  or  recent. 

Rv.  vi.  21,  «>  —  f^T  ft  %    tfWT,    3TTOT.    WTCT   *TO   !J*i»«<iH:  I     ft 


11  ^O  Indra),  the  performer  of  many  feats,  those  (Rsis)  who  flourished  in 
the  early  age  became  thy  friends  by  performing  the  sacrifices  as  at  present. 
Those  (that  flourished)  in  the  medutval  age,  and  those  (that  have  flourished) 
in  recent  time*  have  similarly  earned  thy  friendship.  Therefore,  (O  Indra), 
worshipped  as  thou  art  by  many,  (condescend  to)  listen  to  this  hymn  offered  by 
thy  (present)  humble  (adorer)." 


*i  PREFACE. 

us  in  two  forms.  In  the  one,  the  sacrificial  formulas  only 
arc  given;  in  the  other,  these  are  to  a  certain  extent  inter- 
mingled with  their  explanations.  The  Yijui-Vt-iU  resembles 
the  SAnna-Veda  in  having  its  c  >  i tents  arrange J  in  the  order 
in  which  it  was  actually  employs  i  in  vmiou*  sicnfic-s.  It 
is,  therefore,  a  book  of  sjicnli  ial  pr,iy«  rs  \Yifus)  l  The 
Atharva-Veda  is  undoubtedly  ol  Idler  oiigm,  as  can  be 
judged  not  only  by  its  language,  hut  also  by  other  internal 
evidences,  though  it  represents  a  much  more  pri  nitive  stage 
of  thought  than  what  we  find  in  the  Rgv-da.  As  Professor 
Macdonell  observes,  "  while  the  R^vedd  deils  almost  exclu- 
sively with  the  higher  G  J  Is  as  co  ic</ived  by  a  comparatively 
advanced  and  refined  sacerdotal  class,  the  Athuva-Vecia  is, 
in  the  main,  a  book  of  spells  and  incantitions  appeiling  to 
the  demon-world,  and  teems  with  notims  of  witi  h-craft 
current  among  the  lower  grades  of  the  po()u!  uion.  and  derived 
from  an  immemorial  antiquity"  H  nee,  tno  i^h  it  was 
compiled  in  an  evidently  later  aj%  it  p  j-»s  *>s  -s  a  valui  of  its 
own  in  so  far  as  it  helps  us  to  u  i  lerstand  ihe  st  ite  of  early 
popular  culture  in  ancient  Aryan  ^ociety. 

But  the  language  of  the  R.JV*  lie  hym  is  bein^  undoubted- 
ly more  archaic  excepting  s  uns  hy  nns  of  tne  ffntli  M  indila 
than  that  of  the  Atharva-Veda,  their  composition  is  rightly 
regarded  as  belonging  to  an  ear'ier  period  The  Yajur-Veda 
and  the  Atharva-Veda  contain  in  them  distinct  geographical 
references  and  other  internal  evidences  which  go  to  show  that 
they  were  composed  in  a  mudi  later  period  than  the  Rgvedio, 
the  two  periods  havingprobably  been  separated  from  each  other 
by  thousands  of  years,  during  which  many  physical  and  climatic 
changes  had  taken  place.  The  Brahmana.>,  the  Upani?ads,  and 
tbe  Sdtras  were  composed  in  a  still  later  age  which  extended 
down  to  what  is  ordinarily  known  as  the  Epic  age.  The 
Bribmapas  explain  the  true  import  of  the  mantras  in  their 

*     Vid*  Profcttor   A.   A.    Macdonell 's    History    of  Sanskrit  Littratut*, 


PREFACE.  vH 

application  to  the  performance  of  sacrifices,  and  their  com- 
position beca  ne  necessary  in  view  of  the  growing  intricacies 
of  rituals,  which  people,  in  a  later  age,  found  difficult  to 
understand,  The  composition  of  the  Upani^ads  and  the 
Sdtras  marked  the  close  of  what  is  usually  known  as  the  Vedic 
period.  But  this  period,  com  prising  as  it  did,  several  thousand 
years  in  its  compass  is  too  vast  and  extensive  to  be  treated 
as  one  period,  as  it  contains  distinct  strata,  one  separated 
from  another  by  historical  and  geographical  fossil-remains 
that  clearly  mark  the  different  stages  of  the  evolution  of 
Aryan  culture  and  civilisation.  It  would,  therefore,  be  un- 
scientific to  treat  the  uhole  a*  one  homogeneous  period,  as  b 
usually  done.  The  Rgveda,  being  admittedly  the  oldest 
record  of  the  Aryans,  furnishes,  as  it  were,  the  datum  line  in 
historical  stratigraphy,1  and  1  have  tried  to  decipher  and 
read  the  fos^ls  that  have  come  to  my  notice  in  this  stratum, 
to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I  do  not  claim  that  all  the  fossils 
in  this  stratum  havr  been  exhausted  ;  on  the  other  hand,  I  have 
reasons  to  believe  that  there  are  a  pood  many  of  them, 
probably  more  eloquent  and  convincing,  which  only  wait  to 
be  discovered  by  the  diligent  research  of  patient  Vedic 
students,  and  are  likely  to  throw  additional  light  on  hitherto 
daikand  unsuspected  corners.  But  what  I  do  claim  is  an  humble 
attempt  to  treat  the  subject  of  ancient  Aryan  history,  strata  by 
strata,  consistently  with  and  in  the  order  and  sequence  of  the 
most  ancient  records  available.  In  my  humble  opinion,  it 
would  be  a*  absurd  to  treat  the  Rgveda  and  the  other  Vedas, 
the  Rrdhmanas,  the  Upani?ads,  and  the  Sctras  as  belonging 
to  one  and  the  same  period,  as  it  would  be  to  treat  the 
achievements  of  maturih,  \\hen  relating  the  freaks  and 


x  "The  liymns  of  the  7?^r^/,j  bi  ing  nmnly  invocations  of  the  Gods,  their 
contents  are  !,<rg«  ly  mythological  Aerial  interest  attaches  to  this  mythology, 
because  it  rr/ro<  tifs  an  tarher  tta^c  <•/  thought  than  is  to  b*  found  in  any 
other  literature.  It  is  Mifllciently  i>i.mitive  to  enable  us  to  see  clearly  the 
process  of  personification  by  which  natural  phenomena  developed  into  Godt." 
Mac  don  ell's  History  of  Sanskrit  1  itt  ru  furrt  p.  67, 


Viii  PREFACE. 

prattlings  of    childhood,    or    dealing  with  the    follies    and 
excesses  of  youth  in  a  biographical  sketch.     It  is   no   doubt 
true  that  the  child  is   father   of   the   man  ;  but   manhood   is, 
after  all,  the  outcome  of  the  gradual   development,   stage   by 
stage,  of  the  physical,   mental,   and    moral  faculties  of  the 
child,  and  the  successful  biographer,  while  dealing   with  each 
stage  separately,  co-ordinates  the  progress  made  in  one  stage 
with  that  of  the  next,  and  shows  how  one  naturally  leads   to 
another,  until  the  fully  developed  stage  is  reached.    So  far  as 
the  ancient  history  of  the  Aryans   is    concerned,    no   serious 
attempt  seems  hitherto   to   have   been   made   to   study  and 
trace  the  gradual  growth  and  development  of  the  race,    stage 
by  stage,  after  distinctly  marking  each  out  by  a  study  of  the 
vast  ancient  materials  available.  As  I  have  already  remarked, 
the  Vedic   Literature    is  usually  treated  as  belonging  to  one 
period,   without   any   care    being   taken   to   discern   that   it 
consists   of  different    strata,   one    separated  from  another  by 
distinct    marks,   and    to   note   that    each    deserves   separate 
treatment  in  order  to  make  it  yield  valuable  historical   truths. 
But  this  is  too  heavy  and  arduous  a  task  for  any  single  scholar 
to  accomplish.      It   should,    therefore,   be   taken    up    by   a 
number  of  learned    Vedic  scholars,  preferably  Indians,  well 
versed  in  the  modern  art   of   historical    research    on    a   truly 
scientific  basis,  who  should  form  themselves   into  a   Society 
for  the  Reconstruction  of  Ancient  Indian  History  from  Vedic 
literature  which  forms  the  only  basis  of  research  in  this  line. 
The  task  should  be  divided  among  scholars,   each   competent 
to  take  up  a  special  stratum  of  the    Literature   for   adequate 
treatment,  who  should  place  before  the  Society  the  results  of 
their  researches  for  discussion.     After  all  the   results   of  the 
researches   made    by   them    in    the  different  strata  will  have 
been  fully  discussed  and  co-ordinated,  it  will  be  time  to  write 
a  succinct  history   of  the   anoient  Aryans.      The    study  of 
Comparative  Philology,  Comparative  Mythology,  Comparative 
Religion,     Comparative     Culture,     Geology,     Archaeology, 
Ethnology)    Ancient  Geography,  the  Ancient   Histories   of 


PREFACE.  i* 

Egypt,  Babylonia  and  Western  Asia,  and  the  pre-historio 
picture  of  the  European  Races  as  outlined  by  competent 
scholars,  should  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  subject  with  a  view 
to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  several  results  of  investigation. 
In  one  sense,  to  an  Indian  Vedic  scholar,  the  task  would  be  far 
easier  than  that  of  compiling  a  history  from  the  discoveries 
made  in  ancient  ruins,  the  decipherment  of  writings  on  stones, 
clay-bricks,  or  papyrus,  in  languages  that  are  dead  and 
unintelligible,  and  the  study  of  old  coins  of  different  dynasties 
that  may  have  reigned  in  a  particular  country,  or  extended 
their  conquest  to  another.  These  materials,  though  highly 
reliable,  have  not  all  been  brought  to  light  as  yet,  and  such 
as  have  been,  lie  scattered  and  are  not  always  and  everywhere 
available.  But  in  the  Vedic  Literature  we  have  a  sure  amj 
easily  accessible  basis  to  go  upon,  and  the  materials  furnished 
by  it  are  all  compact,  whioh  it  only  requires  an  adequate 
mental  equipment  to  study  for  the  discovery  of  historical 
truths.  The  task  of  reconstructing  the  history  of  the  ancient 
Aryans  on  the  basis  of  the  researches  made  in  Vedic  Litera- 
ture should,  therefore,  prove  far  easier  of  accomplishment 
than  that  of  writing  the  ancient  history  of  any  other  people 
«n  the  face  of  the  Globe,  and  should  be  taken  up  by  Vedic 
scholars  in  right  earnest  on  the  Hues  suggested  above.  Such 
a  history,  if  compiled,  would  moreover  be  a  real  history  of  the 
Aryan  people*— the  people  as  they  lived,  moved,  acted, 
struggled,  hoped,  thought  and  advanced,  step  by  step,  towards 
progress  and  enlightenment,  thousands  of  years  ago,  until  they 
were  able  to  speculate  on,  and  attempt  satisfactory  solutions  of 
the  highest  problems  of  human  life.  It  would  be  a  unique  history 
tn  the  world— a  truly  democratic  history  of  a  most  anoient 
people,  in  which  the  achievements  of  kings  and  rulers  are 
discounted9  and  the  people  only  loom  large,  and  the  gradual 
development  of  the  human  mind  is  traced,  step  by  step,  until 
we  find  the  divinity  in  man  fully  discovered  and  realised. 
from  thii  point  of  view  it  would  be  a  Universal  History  for 
All  Mankind. 


*  PREFACE. 

'  The  present  small  and  unpretentious  volume  is  a  faint 
and  feeble  attempt  at  studying  the  ancient  history  of  the 
Aryan  race  from  the  earliest  record  available, — the  Rgveda, 
on  these  lines.  How  far  will  this  attempt  be  found  successful 
it  is  not'for  me  to  say.  But  I  am  fully  conscious  of  my  own 
shortcomings,  inadequate  equipment,  and  limited  knowledge 
and  power,  and  would  fain  leave  the  task  to  abler  hands* 
My  only  excuse,  however,  in  undertaking  it  is  the  necessity  I 
strongly  feel  for  drawing  the  attention  of  Vedic  scholars  to 
the  line  of  research  adopted  by  me,  which,  if  properly  worked- 
and  found  scientifically  correct,  may  yield  valuable  historical 
truths. 

To  quote  an  instance  in  point,  I  have  tried  to  depict  the 
physical  features  of  the  ancient  Punjab  from  certain  geogra- 
phical references  in  the  Rgveda,  which  can  only  be  clearly 
understood  in  the  light  of  the  results  of  modern  Geological 
investigations.  I  have,  therefore,  had  to  draw  on  Geology 
for  such  help  as  would  throw  some  light  on  the  different 
distribution  of  land  and  water  in  the  Punjab,  in  ancient  times, 
of  which  clear  indications  are  found  in  the  Rgveda.  I  must 
admit  that  the  coincidence  of  Rgvedic  and  Geological  evidence 
is  so  startling  and  remarkable  as  to  make  me  incline  to  the 
belief  that  some  at  least  of  the  ancient  hymns  of  the  Rgveda 
were  composed  before  the  dawn  of  history.  If  the  age 
assigned  by  Geologists  to  the  different  distribution  of  land 
and  water  in  the  Punjab  be  correct,  the  composition  of  these 
ancient  hymns  must  also  necessarily  synchronise  with  that 
age.  This  is  the  only  legitimate  inference  we  can  draw  in 
the  matter. 

The  admission  of  the  correctness  of  the  above  inference 
will  naturally  lead  to  the  further  inference  that  the  Aryans 
were  autochthonous  to  .the  Punjab  (or  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  it* 
u^ed  to  be  called  in  Vedic  times),  or  at  any  rate,  had  been 
Hying  in  the  country  fronj  time  immemorial  and  had  advanced 
to  a  high  state  o£  culture  from  the  stage  of  nomadic  hunters 
thing  by  the  chase,  before  the  Rgvedio  hymns  were  composed 


t>feBFAC6.  xi 

Their  immigration,  therefore,  from  Central  Asia,  Northerci 
Europe,  or  the  Arctic  region  becomes  very  improbable.  If 
we  accept  this  as  a  conclusion,  the  appearance  of  Aryan 
language  in  Europe  has  to  be  accounted  for,  and  this  I  have 
endeavoured  to  do  with  the  help  of  the  results  of  investigations 
made  by  European  savants  themselves  in  the  domains  of 
Ethnology  and  Archaeology.  The  Turanian  type  of  the  Celts, 
as  established  by  Dr.  Thurnam,  has  also  been  explained  by 
me  as  satisfactorily  as  it  has  been  possible  for  me  to  do  with 
the  help  of  available  materials  and  the  deductions  drawn 
therefrom. 

The  mention  of  a  "  black  "  people  in  the  Rgveda,  who 
were  called  Ddsas (slaves)  and  Dasyus  (robbers),  has  led  Vedic 
scholars  to  identify  them  with  the  Kolarians  and  the  Dravi- 
dians,  more  particularly,  the  latter,  who  were  supposed  to 
have  been  the  predecessors  of  the  Aryan  immigrants  in,  if 
not  the  original  inhabkints  of  the  Punjab,  from  which,  it  is 
said,  they  were  driven  by  their  Aryan  invaders  to  the  south 
aftt-r  a  long  and  sanguinary  struggle.  But  there  is  absolutely 
no  justification  for  this  supposition.  I  have  proved  in  this 
book  that  these  races  were  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
southern  Peninsula  which,  in  Rgvedic  times,  formed  part 
of  a  huge  continent  which  was  entirely  cut  off  from  Ihc 
Punjab  by  intervening  seas,  and  of  which  the  Deccan  is  only 
a  remnant.  The  DAsas  and  the  Dasyus  were  either  the 
Aryan  nomads  in  a  savage  condition,  or  Aryan  dissenters 
from  the  orthodox  Vedic  faith.  There  was  absolutely  no 
room  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  for  the  Kolarians  and  the 
Dravidians.  Their  original  home  in  Central  Asia  is  also 
a  myth. 

The  Pants,  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  were  Ary*n 
merchants  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  who  traded  both  on  land  and 
sea,  and  probably  on  account  of  their  cosmopolitan  character, 
did  not  subscribe  to  the  orthodox  Vedic  faith.  Their  money- 
grabbing  spirit  and  avaricious  nature  made  them  highly 
unpopular  in  SapU-Sindhu,  and  after  the  upheaval  of 


xii  PREFACE. 

bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  in  post.Rgvcdic  times,  most  of 
them  were  compelled  to  leave  the  shores  of  their  mother* 
country  in  search  of  convenient  sea-coasts.  They  must  have 
i  settled  for  sometime!  among  other  places,  in  the  Malabar 
'  and  the  Coromondal  coasts  of  Southern  India,  famous  for 
timber  (the  Indian  teak)  that  furnished  excellent  materials 
for  ship-building,  where  they  spread  such  Aryan  culture  as 
they  possessed  among  the  Pi^yas  and  the  Cbolas.  These 
aryanised  Dravidian  tribes  emigrated  to  and  settled  in  Egypt 
and  Mesopotamia  respectively  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Pagis,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Egyptian  and 
Babylonian  civilisations.  These  Pa^is  are  known  in  Classical 
Literature  as  the  Punic  race,  and  latterly  as  Phoenicians  after 
they  had  settled  on  the  coast  of  Syria.  I  have  dealt  at  some 
length  in  this  book  with  Egyptian  and  Babylonian  civilisations 
and  traced  in  them  the  influence  of  Aryan  (Vedio)  culture. 
The  Chaldeans,  the  Egyptians,  the  Phoenicians,  and  the  pure 
Aryan  immigrants  like  the  Kossaeans,  the  Hittites,  the 
Mitannians,  the  Phrygians  and  the  Lydians,  etc.,  who  had 
settled  in  the  various  parts  of  Western  Asia  and  Asia 
Minor  in  different  stages  of  civilisation,  were,  in  a  later  age, 
completely  absorbed  by  the  great  Semitic  race  which,  though 
influenced  by  Aryan  culture  as  represented  by  the  Chaldeans 
and  the  ancient  Babylonians,  grew  into  a  powerful  nation  and 
played  an  important  part  in  the  early  history  of  Western 
Asia. 

I  have  also  tried  to  prove  in  this  book  that  Northern  or 
Central  Europe  was  not,  and  could  not  have  beeen  the  original 
cradle  of  the  Aryan  race.  Nor  was  the  Arctic  region  their 
cradle.  Mr.  B41  Gang&dbar  Tilak  has  made  a  strenuous 
and  sustained  attempt  to  prove  that  there  are  indirect 
evidences  in  the  Rgveda,  and  direct  evidences  in  the  Zend* 
Avesta  of  the  original  home  of  the  Aryans  in  the  Arctic 
rq^on.  I  have,  therefore,  examined  in  extcnso  all  his  principal 
arguments,  and  proved  their  unreliabilky.  I  have  devoted 
several  chapters  to  an  elaborate  examination  of  the  proofs 


PREFACE. 

tendered  by  him  in  support  of  his  theory,  but  I  have  found 
them  unconvincing.  ' 

I  have  also  thoroughly  examined  the  hypothesis  of  tb** 
Cental  Asiatic  home  of  the  Aryans,  and  found  it  to  be 
untenable.  In  Rgvedic  times  there  was  a  large  Asiatic 
Mediterranean,  extending  from  below  ancient  Bactriana  to 
the  heart  of  Siberia  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the  confines 
of  Mongolia  to  the  Black  Sea  on  the  other,  covering  an 
immense  area.  This  sea  disappeared  only  in  early  historic 
times  by  the  opening  of  the  Bosphorus  in  consequence  of 
volcanic  action  which  caused  a  large  portion  of  its  waters 
to  be  drained  off  into  the  European  Mediterranean,  thereby 
leaving  its  shallow  parts  dry,  which  have  since  been  converted 
into  steppes,  and  its  deeper  parts  as  isolated  lakes,  ?*#., 
the  Black  Se*,  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  Sea  of  Aral  and  Lake 
Balkash,  There  was  also  another  large  Asiatic  Mediterranean 
to  the  east  of  Turkestan,  which  was  dried  up  in  comparative* 
ly  recent  times,  and  of  which  Lake  Lobnor  is  the  remnant 
The  existence  of  these  seas  at  a  time  when  the  Rgvedic 
hymns  were  composed  in  the  Punjab  precluded  the  possibility 
of  Central  Asia  having  ever  been  the  cradle  of  the  Aryans  before 
their  alleged  immigrations  to  the  south  and  the  west  Such 
portions  of  it  as  were  habitable  were  occupied  by  the 
Turanian  or  Mongolian  nomadic  savages,  leaving  no  room 
for  the  growth  and  expansion  of  the  large  Aryan  tribes. 

The  original  cradle  of  the  Aryans  was,  therefore,  Sapta- 
Sindhu  which  included  the  beautiful  valley  of  Kashmir  on 
the  north,  and  Gandhira  on  the  west.  Its  southern  boundary 
was  the  Rajputana  Sea,  and  the  eastern  boundary  the  Eastern 
Sea  covering  the  Gangetic  trough.  It  was  completely  cut 
off  from  southern  India  by  sea,  but  it  was  connected  by  land 

*  It  is  a  matter  of  deep  personal  regret  to  me  that  Mr.  Tilmk  died  before 
this  book  could  be  got  out  of  the  Press.  I  had  hoped  to  read  his  learned 
reply  to  my  humble  criticism  of  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  Cradle  of  the  Aryans, 
which  undoubtedly  would  have  furnished  most  interesting  reading.  His  death 
has  caused  a  gap  in  OrienUl  scholarship,  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  fill 


*d*  PREFACE. 

with  Western  Asia  in  the  direction  of  Gandhlra  and 
Kabulistan,  through  which  waves  after  waves  of  Aryan 
immigration  advanced  to  the  west,  and  to  Europe  across  the 
province  of  Pontus  (Sans.  pantk<$}  highway)  and  .over  the 
isthmus  of  Bosphorus  from  early  neolithic  times,  the  earliest 
Aryan  tribes  that  had  left  Sapta-Sindhu  having  been  pushed 
farthest  into  Europe  by  those  thrit  followed  them  at  long 
intervals,  and  in  different  stages  of  civilisation.  This  subject 
has  been  elaborately  dealt  with  in  this  book. 

These  are  some  of  the  main  conclusions  I  have  arrived 
at;  but  there  are  also  others  no  less  interesting  and  startling 
which  I  l^ave  my  readers  to  find  out  in  this  work.  I  humbly 
bespeak  their  patience  to  go  through  it  to  the  end  before 
forming  their  judgment  on  the  merits  of  these  conclusions. 

As  tuis  book  has  necessarily  dealt  with  controversial 
matters,  I  found  no  opportunity  of  dealing,  except  in  a 
cursory  and  incidental  manner,  with  the  culture  and  civilisation 
pf  the  ancient  Aryans  as  depicted  in  the  Rgveda.  I  reserve 
a  fuller  and  more  detailed  treatment  of  the  subject  for 
another  volume. 

Frequent  references  have  b^en  made  in  the  early 
chapters  to  the  results  of  geological  investigations.  I  have 
tried  my  best  to  explain  some  of  the  geologic  il  terms  as 
clearly  as  possible.  Bat  I  think  that  it  will  be  necessary  for 
the  lay  reader  to  remember  the  different  epochs,  through 
which  the  Earth  hab  passed  and  which  are  discernible  in 
the  fossil-remains  of  plants  and  animals  found  embedded  in 
rocks  and  some  of  the  upper  strata  of  the  Earth's  surface, 
showing  a  gradual  evolution  of  plant  and  animal  life.  The 
earliest  is  the  Palaeozoic  era  when  animal  life  on  the  Earth 
'was  of  the  crudest  kind.  The  next  was  the  Mesozoic,  when 
a  farther  evolution  and  development  of  animal  life  took  place. 
Then  folir<  ved  the  Cainozoic  era  which  saw  the  appearance 
of  mammals  and  their  highest  evolution  in  Man.  Each  era 
Js  divided  into  certain  periods  or  epochs  which  it  is  not  quite 
necessary  to  understand  for  the  purposes  of  this  book.  But 


PREFACE. 


as  a  table  showing  the  different  eras  and  epochs  in  the  order 
of  their  sequence  and  succession  from  the  earliest  to  the 
recent  times  wiH  help  the  reader  to  understand  the  different 
phases  through  which  the  evolution  of  life  has  passed  on 
our  Globe,  I  give  it  below  : — 

Epochs. 

.     Fundamental  Gneiss. 
fCambrian 
|  Silurian 

I  Devonian      and     Old    Red 
Standstone 

Carboniferous 

Permian. 
"Triassic 

Jurassic 

Cretaceon 

Eocene 

Oligocene 

Miocene 

Pliocene 

o    4.  T  -*•  r\     .  Pleistocene  (Glacial) 

Po,t-Tertu,v  or  Quaternary   ..{Recent  (PosUlachl) 

In  co'icliLsi  >n,  1  invite  in  th-;  .ia  ne  of  Truth  candid 
criticism  of  th«*  points  urged  by  m°  in  this  work.  Noiie  will 
rejoice  mor«-  th-in  myself  if  they  prove,  on  criticism,  to  be 
untenable.  For,  Truth  alone  triumpheth,  and  not  Untruth,  * 
as  a  Vedic  R?i  has  declared.  I  have  ventured  to  \vrite  this 
book  on  the  principle  that  one  hypothesis  is  probably  as 
good  as  another,  if  it  can  be  supported  by  facts  and  arguments, 
ami  afford  some  food  for  thinking  to  the  learned.  At  this 
stage,  therefore,  it  would  be  quite  premature  for  me  to 
predict  the  course  that  the  ancient  history  of  the  Aryan  race 
must  take,  if  my  hypothesis  be  found  on  examination  to 
contain  any  elements  of  Truth. 

I  have  given  references  in  the  foot-notes  to  the  authorities 
consulted  by  me  when  discussing  a  point.  Yet,  for  the  sake 
of  convenience,  I  have  given  a  short  Bibliography  elstwhere. 
An  Index  also  has  been  appended,  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  be 
by  the  reader  for  making  ready  references..  It 


Eras. 
Archaean  or  Eozoic 


Primary  or  Palaeozoic 


Secondary  or  Mesozoic 


Tertiary  or  Cainozoic 


xvt  PREFACE. 

is  just  possible  that  through  hurry,  inadvertence  or  printer's 
mistake,  a  passage  here  and  there  may  have  gone  unacknow- 
ledged, which,  when  brought  to  my  notice,  will  be  thankfully 
acknowledged  in  subsequent  editions. 

My  indebtedness  to  those  Archaeologists  and  Oriental 
scholars,  European,  American  and  Indian,  whose  works  I 
have  consulted  and  drawn  freely  from,  is  immense.  But  for 
the  results  of  the  investigations  made  by  them  in  their 
respective  subjects,  it  would  have  been  quite  impossible  for 
me  to  collect  materials  for,  and  write  this  work.  It  is, 
however,  fair  to  state  here  that  having,  unfortunately,  no 
sufficient  knowledge  of  any  other  European  language  than 
English,  I  have  had,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  depend  on  the 
English  translations  of  the  works  of  French,  German  and 
other  European  savants,  when  available,  or  references  made 
to  their  opinions  on  particular  points  by  English  authors,  in 
order  to  draw  therefrom  my  own  conclusions.  A  few  verses 
of  the  Rgveda  have  also  been  translated  by  me  strictly  on 
the  basis  of  S£yana's  commentary.  To  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica^  the  Historians'  History  of  the  World^  Dr. 
Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  Mr.  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in 
the  Vedas>  Professor  Macdoneli's  History  of  Sanskrit 
Literature^  Mr.  Pavgee's  Ary&vartic  Home,  and  Mr.  Scott- 
Elliot's  Lost  Lemur  ia,  to  mention  only  a  few  of  the  many 
excellent  works  1  have  consulted,  I  owe  a  deep  obligation 
which  I  hereby  acknowledge,  for  writing  some  of  the  chapters 
of  this  book.  Lastly,  I  owe  a  deep  debt  of  gratitude  to  my 
Alma  Mater,  the  University  of  Calcutta,  and  to  the  Hon'ble 
Sir  Asutosh  Mookerjee,  Sarasvatl,  C.S.I.,  M.A.,  D.L.,  D.Sc., 
Ph.D.,  the  worthy  President  of  the  Council  of  Post-Graduate 
Teaching  in  Arts  in  this  University,  for  encouraging  me  in 
my  research-work  and  helping  this  humble  volume  to  see 
the  light. 

"CALCUTTA,  \ 

The  1 7th  December^  1920.    )  A*  C.  D, 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 

I  have  revised  this  book  in  the  light  of  the  results  of 
more  recent  geological  investigations,  and  estimated  the  age 
of  the  beginnings  of  Rgvedic  civilisation  in  ancient  Sapta- 
Sindhu  at  about  25,000  B.C.  I  have  answered  the  criticisms 
of  my  theory  made  by  some  European  savants  in  the  First 
Chapter  of  my  book  Rgvedic  Culture  (1925),  to  which  I  beg 
my  readers  to  refer.  They  will  also  find  Professor  Jacobi's 
objections  and  Professor  Keith's  criticism  answered  in  this 
book  (pp.  47-50).  The  recent  discoveries  of  the  relics  of  an 
ancient  civilisation  made  at  Harrapa  in  the  Punjab,  and 
Mahenjodaro  in  Sind,  whose  age,  according  to  Sir  John 
Marshall,  goes  back  beyond  3,000  B.C.,  open  out  possibilities 
for  testing  the  vast  antiquity  of  Rgvedic  civilisation.  If  the 
relics  be  proved  to  belong  to  the  Sumerian  or  Dravidian  civi- 
lisation, the  latter  may  not  necessarily  be  pre-Vedic,  as  is 
commonly  surmised  If  Rgvedic  civilisation  be  proved  to 
have  its  beginnings  in  the  Punjab  about  25,000  B.C.,  the  age 
of  every  other  civilisation,  Sumerian,  Dravidian  or  Egyptian, 
must  be  post-Vedic,  and  not  pre-Vedic. 

CALCUTTA,  ^ 

The  i6th  April  1927.      )  A.  C.  D. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPIEK  I. 

PAGE. 

The    Antiquity    of    the    Rgveda    and    the    Physical 

Features  and  Climate  of  Ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  ...  j 

CHAPTER  II. 

Geological    Evidence  about  the    Physical  Features  of 

Ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  in  Rgvedic  times  ...  19 

CHAPTER  III. 

Rgvedic  Evidence,  supporting  the  Geological  Evi- 
dence, and  proving  the  vast  Antiquity  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu  ...  ...  ...  ...  32 

CHAPIER  IV. 

Further  Rgvedic  Evidence  about  the  Antiquity  of  the 

Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  ...  .  ...  51 

CHAPTER  V. 

Description  of  the  Land  and  the  Rivers  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  and  its  Fauna,  Flora  and  Minerals  from 
the  Rgveda  ...  ..  ...  ...  67 

CHAPIER  VI. 
The  Deccan  or  Southern  India  in  Rgvedic  Times    ...  96 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Aryan  Tribes  of  Ancient  Sapta-Sindhu   and  the 

DAsas  and  the  Da  ay  us  of  the  Rgveda  ia* 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXV.  PAGE. 

Examination   of  Mr.   Tilak's   Theory  of  the  Arctic 

Cradle  of  the  Aryans  (concluded).    The  Avestic 

Evidence         ..                 ..                ...  ..         571 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Concluding  Remarks             ...                 ...  .         575 

Bibliography       ...                ...                ...  ...        593 

General  Index     ...                ...                  ..  .  .         599 

Prefaces  and  Contents          ...                ...  ...      i-xxii. 


RQVEDIC  INDIA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  TBE  RGVEDA  AND  THE    PHYSICAL  FEATURES  AND 
CLIMATE  OF  ANCIENT  SAPTA-SINDHU. 

MODERN  historians,  before  commencing  to  write  the 
history  of  a  people,  usually  devote  a  chapter  to  the  description 
of  the  land  and  climate  in  which  they  live.  For,  it  is  generally 
acknowledged  that  land  and  climate  exert  a  direct  and  no 
small  influence  on  the  growth  and  formation  of  a  people's 
character,  and  the  development  of  their  social,  religious,  and 
political  institutions.  Any  omission,  therefore,  to  take  note 
of  this  influence  is  surely  to  warp  our  judgment,  and  lead  us 
to  make  a  wrong  estimate  of  the  people  whose  history  we 
write.  The  hanly  and  daring  Afghan  is  as  much  the  product 
of  his  rugged  mountainous  country  and  cold  inhospitable 
climate,  as  the  mild,  intelligent  and  peace-loving  Hindu  is  the 
product  of  the  well-watered  fertile  plains  of  Northern  India, 
and  the  hot  enervating  climate  prevailing  there.  A  careful 
study  of  a  people's  environments — of  the  geographical  and 
climatic  conditions  in  \\hich  they  have  thriven  is,  therefore, 
essential  to  the  correct  study  of  their  history. 

Of  course,  this  study  should  only  be  made  with  regard  to 
a  people  who  have  been  known  to  live  in  a  country  for  a 
considerable  length  of  time,  extending  over  several  thousand 
years, — in  fact,  fiom  time  immemorial.  It  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  man  \vas  in  days  of  yore,  as  he  is  even  now,  a 
migratory  animal,  and  any  recent  migration  of  a  people  to  a 
new  country  would  not  exhibit  in  them,  to  any  appreciable 
extent  or  degree,  the  effects  of  climate  and  environments  of 
the  country  of  their  adoption.  It  would  take  ages  before  these 


2  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

would  tell  on  their  character  and  temperament.  The  Boer, 
the  Australian,  the  American,  the  Canadian  and  the  English 
in  India  would  retain  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  their 
race  for  yet  several  generations  to  come,  before  the  lands  and 
climates  could  mark  them  out  as  their  own. 

This  naturally  leads  us  to  the  inference  that  the  age  of  a 
people  in  a  particular  country  is  gaugt  d  by  the  proportion  of 
the  development  of  their  character  harmoniously  with  the 
climate  and  environments  in  which  they  live,  move  and  have 
their  being,  and  the  greater  this  proportion,  the  longer  is  the 
age  of  the  people  in  the  country.  If  they  art-  autochthonous, 
and  a  different  climate,  and  different  environments  are  proved 
to  have  existed  in  geological  times  when  man  flourished  in 
this  planet,  their  present  characteristics  must  be  traced  lurk 
to  hoary  antiquity  which  should  l><»  calculated  not  by  hundreds 
but  by  thousands-  of  years,  when  this  change  took  pla<  ^i. 

History,  in  the  proper  -rn>  -  of  the  word,  docs  not,  in  the 
piesent  state  of  our  knowledge,  acquired  by  research  and 
investigation,  go  beyond  fifteen  thousand  years  at  the  utmost. 
No  reliable  records  or  proofs  have,  so  far,  been  available  to 
antiquarians,  which  can  justify  them  in  pushing  it  back  to 
more  ancient  times.  The  history  of  ancient  Babylonia, 
Assyria  or  Egypt  has  been  based  and  constructed  on  tangible 
and  unmistakable  proofs  obtained  by  the  exploration  of 
ancient  ruins  and  the  decipherment  of  the  relics  of  a  by-gone 
age  and  by-gone  civilisation.  Dut  no  sucli  tangible  proofs 
have  been  available  in  the  land  of  thr  ancient  Indo-Aryans. 
Not  only  have  no  ancient  monuments  bren  *o  far  discovered, 
that  can  vie  with  Babylonian,  Assyrian,  or  Egyptian  monu- 
ments in  antiquity,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  such  monuments 
do  exist  in  any  part  of  India,  only  waiting  to  be  unearthed 
and  laid  bare  to  the  gaze  by  the  diligent  research  of  patient 
antiquarians.  The  ancient  monuments,  hitheito  discovered 
in  India,  do  not  go  byond  the  Buddhistic  era,  i.e.,  the  Sixth 
Century  B,  C,  which,  compared  with  Habylonian,  Assyrian  and 


I.]  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  3 

Egyptian  monuments,  are  but  the  products  of  yesterday.1 
And  yet,  strange  and  absurd  as  it  would  seem,  the  Hindus 
claim  to  be  the  most  ancient  civilised  people  in  the  world, 
more  ancient  than  even  the  pre-dynastic  races  of  ancient 
Egypt,  the  Sum^rians  of  Chaldea,  or  the  Ass\rians  of  Nineveh. 
Such  a  claim,  based  as  it  is  on  mere  tradition,  and  probably 
kept  alive  by  national  \anity,  and  not  founded  on  any  tangible 
proofs,  is  rightly  dismissed  by  lustori.ms  as  unworthy  of  any 
credence  or  serious  consideration.  The  Indo-Aryans  have 
been  put  down  by  them  as  a  branch  of  the  great  "  Indo- 
Germanic  ''  family,  which  immigrated  to  India  either  from 
Northern  and  Central  Europe,  or  the  Circum-Polar  regions, 
through  Western  or  Central  As»ia,  and  developed  an  independ- 
ent civilisation  of  their  own  in  the  land  of  the  Five  Waters 
long  after  ancient  Babylonia,  Assyria  or  Egypt  had  flourished, 
and  probably  commenced  to  decline. 

European  historians  are  accustomed  to  call  the  civilisation  of 
ancient  Egypt  'and  also  of  Babylonia)  as  "a  world  influence  r 
and  for  it  is  claimed  by  them  the  honour  of  having  laid  the 
foundation  of  European  civilisation.  Referring  to  the  civilisa- 
tion of  ancient  Egypt,  Dr  Adolf  Erman  observes  : 

"  It  is  an  early  blossom  put  forth  bv  the  human  race  at  a 
time  when  olh- r  nations  \\i*rv  \\iapped  up  in  their  winter 
sleep  In  anrirnt  I>al>yl  ni.i  alone,  where  conditions  equally 
favourable  piev.uled,  the  nation  of  the  Sumerians  reached  a 
similar  height  "J  Further  on,  he  savs  : — *'  In  the  future,  as 
in  the  past,  the  feeling  with  \\hich  the  multitude  regard;*  the 

1  The  recent  discoveries  made  at  Hartppa  in  the  Punjab  and  at  Mahenjo 
Daro  in  Sind,  however,  take  back  Inch  in  civilisation,  if  not  the  "very  beginnings 
of  it,  to  the  Third  or  the  Fourtn  Millennium  B  C.,  according  to  Sir  John 
Marshall,  Director  Oencr<il  ot  Anhijloijv  >»»  India  It  is  believed  th.tt 
Sumenan  civilisation  in  Babylonia  was  planted  there  l>v  a  peopk*  like  the 
Dravidians  of  Southern  India  (vide  Clnp  XII'.  These  discoveries  will 
necessarily  change  the  outlook  on  ancien*  Indian  history,  and  help  in  proving 
the  hoary  antiquity  of  Rgvedic  civilisation  It  is  too  eirly  yet  to  bise  any 
definite  conclusions  on  them. 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  Wurid,  Vol.  I,  p.  59, 


4  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAIN 

remains  of  Egyptian  antiquity  will  be  one  of  awe-struck 
reverence.  Nevertheless,  another  feeling  would  be  more 
appropriate,  a  feeling  of  grateful  acknowledgment  and  venera- 
tion, such  as  one  of  a  later  generation  might  feel  for  the 
ancestor  who  had  founded  his  family,  and  endowed  it  with  a 
large  part  of  its  wealth.  In  all  the  implements  which  are 
about  us  now-a-days,  in  every  art  and  craft  which  we  practise 
now,  a  large  and  important  element  has  descended  to  us  from 
the  Egyptians.  And  it  is  no  less  certain  that  we  owe  to  them 
many  ideas  and  opinions,  of  which  we  can  no  longer  trace  the 
origin  and  which  have  long  come  to  seem  to  us  the  natural 
property  of  our  own  mind.1'1 

This  feeling  of  grateful  acknowledgment  would  appear  to 
be   most  appropriate  and  natural,  when  it  is  remembered  that 
it   is   admitted  by  European    savants  themselves  that  the  age 
of  the  oldest  neolithic  lake-dwellings  in  Switzerland  is  3,000 
to  4,000  years2,  or  at  best  6,000  to  7,000  years,  and  the  epoch 
of  bronze  in  that  country  is  as  old  as    1000   B.C.     According 
to  M.  Arcelin,  as  late  as  1 150  B.C.,  stone  implements  were  still 
exclusively  used  in  Central  Gaul,  and  about  400  B.C.,  bronze 
had  not  yet  been  replaced  by  iron  "   It  would  thus  appear  that 
when  the  peoples  of  Europe  were  "  wrapped  up  in  their  winter 
sleep,"   or    more   correctly    speaking,  grovelling  in  darkness, 
Egypt  and  Babylonia  had  developed  a  civilisation  which,  after 
having  reached  its  zenith,   was   on   the   decline,   and   whose 
remnants   still   command   the   admiration   of  the  world.     No 
wonder,    therefore,    that    the   Indo-Aryans,  being  regarded  as 
the  cousins  of  the  Neolithic  Aryan  race  of  Europe,  the  age   of 
their  civilisation   could  not  logically  be  pushed  beyond  3,000 
to  4,000  years,  and  must  necessarily  be  held   to  be   posterior 
to  the  civilisations  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia. 

The   study   of  ancient  monuments  undoubtedly  furnishes 
more  or  less   reliable   data  for  the   construction  of  ancient 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  63. 

•  Keller,  Lak*  Dwellings,  pp.  526-528. 

*  Taylor,  Tht  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  p.  59. 


J.]  ANTIQUITY  Of  THE  RGVEDA.  5 

history ;  but  ancient  records,  either  on  stone  or  papyrus,  or 
hymns  committed  to  memory  and  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation  without  the  loss  of  even  a  single  syllable,  if  such 
really  exist,  would,  without  doubt,  be  a  better  and  surer  source 
of  reliable  history.  The  ancient  Egyptians  had  their  records 
in  hieroglyphic  writing,  as  found  on  the  famous  Rosetta  stone, 
and  on  walls  and  monuments,  and  in  papyrus  scrolls,  inscribed 
in  the  hieratic  character  which  was  "  a  much  modified  cursive 
form  of  hieroglyphic  simplified  in  the  interest  of  rapid  writing." 
These  records  have  furnished  antiquarians  with  abundant 
materials  for  writing  a  correct  history  of  ancient  Egypt.  In 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  the  records  were  inscribed  either  on 
stones  or  clay-bricks  that  were  afterwards  baked.  These 
brick-tablets  which  once  formed  the  library  of  the  Assyrian 
King  Asshurbanapal  at  Nineveh  have  been  found  in  large 
numbers,  and  carefully  assorted  and  interpreted  by  Assyrio- 
logists.  They  have  furnished  reliable  materials  for  writing  a 
succinct  history  of  ancient  Mesopotamia.  In  India,  no  records 
either  on  stones,  clay-bricks,  or  papyrus,  of  the  same  age  as 
the  Egyptian  and  Mesopotamian  records,  have  anywhere  been 
discovered.  But  the  most  ancient  record  of  Indo-Aryan  cul- 
ture is  to  be  found  in  the  sacred  Scripture,  called  the  Hgveda 
$amhita<  a  collection  of  hymns  addressed  to  the  various  bright 
deities  ot  the  sky,  as  well  as  to  other  deities,  in  language  and 
sentiments,  at  once  beautiful  and  simple,  which  bespeak  a  cul- 
ture higher  than,  and  in  far  advance  of  that  of  either  the 
civilised  Egyptians,  or  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians,  not  to 
speak  of  the  savage  neolithic  lake-dwellers  of  Switzerland,  or 
the  Teutonic  savages  of  kitchen-midden  fame.  These  hymns, 
however,  were  not  committed  to  writing  on  papyrus,  palm- 
leaves,  or  baked  clay-bricks,  but  to  human  memory  carefully 
cultivated  for  the  purpose,  and  were  handed  down  from  gene- 
ration to  generation  without  the  loss  of  even  a  single  word  or 
syllable.  The  ancient  Indo-Aryans  probably  thought  this  to 
be  the  surer  and  better  method  of  preserving  them  from 
perishing  in  a  world  where  everything,  either  stone,  brick,  or 


6  &GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAPS 

papyrus  perishes,  excepting  the  human  mind  and  soul.  And 
herein  probably  lies  the  fundamental  difference,  unfortunately 
overlooked  by  European  scholars,  between  the  spirits  of  pure 
Aryan  and  pare  Semitic  or  Turanian  civilisations.  This 
intuition,  on  the  part  of  the  ancient  Indo-Aryans,  of  the 
superiority  of  mind  and  spirit  over  matter  very  probably 
accounts  for  the  absence  of  any  material  proofs,  of  their 
antiquity,  which  can  directly  appeal  to  an  ordinary  observer 
or  antiquarian.  The  proofs  they  have  left  are  altogether  of 
a  different  kind,  which  can  only  be  correctly  read  by  those 
who  are  endowed  with  a  far  greater  amount  of  patience,  dili- 
gence, perseverance,  and  capacity  for  taking  pains  than  is 
required  in  deciphering  a  clay,  tablet  or  a  stone-slab,  and  in 
fixing  the  age  of  a  broken  statue,  or  a  stone  monument.  It 
is  because  these  proofs  do  not  appeal  to  the  senses  that  they 
have  not  hitherto  received  that  amount  of  attention  which 
they  eminently  deserve.  And  the  difficulty  has  been  a  thou- 
sand-fold enhanced  by  the  dead  and  archaic  language  in  which 
the  hymns  of  the  Rgveda  are  found  to  be  clothed.  Even 
those  who,  by  dint  of  their  wonderful  diligence  and  persever- 
ance, were  able  to  master  it,  could  not  always  get  at  the  real 
spirit  underlying  the  hymns,  probably  through  bias,  prejudice 
and  pre-conceived  ideas,  with  which  they  started  their  study 
and  enquiry.  These  have,  in  many  instances,  blinded  them 
to  the  real  import  of  passages  which,  read  in  the  light  of 
modern  scientific  knowledge  in  the  domains  of  Geology, 
Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  could  have  put  them  on  the  right 
track,  and  led  them  to  the  discovery  of  great  historical  truths. 
For  example,  I  have  not  seen  the  attention  of  any  Vedic 
scholar,  either  European,  American  or  Indian,  strongly 
arrested  by  the  perusal  of  verse  2,  Sukta  95  of  the  Seventh 
Magdala  of  the  Rgveda,  which  runs  as  follows:  — 

"  Ekd    cetat    Sarasvaft   nadlnam    Suciryati  giribhyah 
dsamudrdt."* 


•»    Rv.  vii.  95,  2:—  r^rr 


I.]  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  7 

This  passage,  rendered  into  English,  would  stand  thus : — 
"  Of  the  rivers,   the  Sarasvatl   alone   knows  (this), — the 
sacred  stream  that  flows  from  the  mountains  into  the  sea"1 

This  verse  clearly  indicates  that,  at  the  time  of  its  com- 
position,  the  river  Sarasvatl  used  to  flow  from  the  Himalaya 
directly  into  the  sea.  This  river,  however,  at  the  present 
time,  never  reaches  the  sea,  but  loses  itself  in  the  sands  of 
the  desert  of  R&jputana,  the  sea  having  receded  a  long  dis- 
tance, some  hundreds  of  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  evident 
inference  is  that  since  the  composition  of  the  verse,  a  different 
distribution  of  land  and  water  has  taken  place,  probably 
caused  by  a  cataclysm  or  a  series  of  cataclysms,  resulting  in  a 
sudden  or  gradual  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  a  sea  that  had  once 
rxistrd  there  Tho  result  of  geological  investigation  shows 
that,  in  a  remote  nge,  a  sea  actually  covered  a  very  large 
portion  of  modern  Rajputand,  extending  as  far  south  and  east 
as  the  Aravalli  mountains,  \\hich  Geologists  have  designated 
by  the  name  of  the  Ra*jputa"na  Sea.2  When  did  this  sea 
fin  illy  disappear,  it  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain.  But  from' 
the  fact  that  "Tertiary  and  Secondary  strata  stretch  across 

1  Professor  Macdonell  understands  by  the  word  bamudra  not  the  sea  or 
ocean,  but  the  lower  course  of  the  Indus,  which  is  a  •'  collection  of  waters," 
i.e.,  of  the  tributaries.  But  this  interpretation  is  wrong  as  we  have  pointed 
out  later  on  (see  Chapter  III)  Ragozin  also  labours  under  the  same 
wrong  impression,  for  she  says  that  Samudra  means  "  gathering  of  waters." 
She  thinks  that  the  word  in  the  Rgveda  means  "  not  the  sea  or  ocean,  but 
the  broad  expanse  formed  by  the  re-union  with  the  Indus  of  the  '  five  rivers, ' 
whose  waters  are  brought  to  it  by  the  Pantchanada  "  <  Vedic  India,  p.  268, 
foot-note).  The  Sarasvatl,  however,  never  flowed  into  the  Indus,  but  directly 
into  the  sea,  like  the  Indus.  It  was  an  independent  river,  and  the  marks  of 
the  old  bed,  still  discernible  in  the  sands,  do  not  point  to  its  conjunction  with 
the  Indus.  The  above  passage  of  the  Rgveda  has  so  much  puzzled  Ragozin 
as  to  make  her  observe.  *'  This  passage  has  led  to  the  positive  identification 
of  the  Sardsvati  as  the  Indus  !  "  ip  208).  This  shows  the  length  one  is  apt  to 
go  by  overlooking  the  plain  meaning  of  a  word 

1  "  The  A  ra  vail  is  are  but  the  depressed  and  degraded  relics  of  a  far  more 
prominent  mountain  system  which  stood  in  Palaeozoic  times  on  the  edge  of  the 
RdjputdndSca  "  Imp  Gag.  of  the  Ind.  Emp.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  1-3  (1907^ 


8  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

from  Sind,  beneath  the  sands  of  the  desert,  towards  the 
flank  of  the  Aravalli,"1  it  can  be  safely  surmised  that  it 
lasted,  at  all  events,  down  to  the  end  of  the  Tertiary  epoch. 
Even  after  this  sea  had  disappeared,  the  low-lying  flat 
regions  of  Rajputana  were  occasionally  encroached  upon 
by  the  Arabian  Sea.  "  Such  encroachments  of  the  sea  on 
land "  says  Mr.  Wadia  in  his  Geology  of  India  (P.  168), 
"  known  as  (  marine  transgressions,'  are  of  comparatively 
short  duration,  and  invade  only  low  level  areas,  converting 
them  for  the  time  into  epi-continental  seas."  Though  the 
duration  of  these  seas  invading  Rajputdna"  from  time  to  timt* 
was  comparatively  short,  speaking  geologically,  it  is  to  be 
computated  by  at  least  thousands  of  years.  It  is  very 
probable  that  during  the  period  of  one  such  "  marine  trans- 
gression "  in  pre-historic  times,  the  Sarasvatl  was  observed 
to  flow  right  into  the  sea,  and  the  verse  above  referred  to 
was  composed.  The  well-known  antiquarian  scholar,  Mr.  V. 
B.  Ketkar  of  Poona  has  recently  "  proved  on  astronomical 
evidence  and  Pauranic  account  that  the  RAjputana  and  the 
Gang^tic  seas,  nearly  separating  the  Jambudvlpa  (Southern 
India)  from  the  Punjab  and  the  Himalayas,  disappeared  after 
7,500  B.  C.  by  the  upheaval,  partly  volcanic  and  partly  seismic, 
of  their  beds.11  -  If  this  calculation  be  correct,  then  the  verse 
regarding  the  Sarasvatl  flowing  into  the  sea  must  have  been 
composed  long  before  this  date. 

Does  not  this  furnish  a  datum,  as  strong  and  reliable  as  a 
Mesopotamian  brick-tablet,  or  an  Egyptian  stone  to  go  upon 
for  proving  the  hoary  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  or  for  the 
matter  of  that,  of  Vedic  civilisation  ? 

And  yet  the  above  verse  is  not  the  only  solitary  evidence 
of  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  and  of  a  different  distri- 
bution of  land  and  water  at  the  time  of  its  composition.  The 

»     Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  XXII,  p  866  (Eleventh  Edition). 

*  Paper  read  at  the  First  Oriental  Conference  held  at  Poona  in  19x9. 
Th«  above  extracts  are  made  from  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr  Ketkar  to  the 
author  on  May  14,  «921- 


L]  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  g 

land  In  which  the  Vedic  Aryans  lived  is  called  in  the  Rgveda 
by  the  name  of  Sapta-Sindhavah  or   the    Land  of  the  Seven 
Rivers,  which  included  the  Indus  or  Sindhu  with  its  principal 
tributaries,  on  the  west,  and  the  Sarasvatl    on  the  east.     The 
Ganga  and   the  Yamund  have  certainly  been  mentioned  only 
once  or  twice,  but  they  have  not  at  all  been  included  in  the  com- 
putation of  the  Seven   Rivers  that  gave  the  country  its  name. 
As  we  shall  find  later  on,  they  were,  in  those  days,  comparatively 
insignificant  rivers  with  only  very  short  courses  to  run.  Beyond 
the  Gangd  and  the  Yamnna,  no  other  rivers  of  Northern  India, 
nor  any  provinces  like  Pancala,  Kosala,  Magadha,1    Anga  andi 
Vanga  find  any  mention  in  the  Rgveda.     Towards  the   south, 
neither    the     Deccan,     nor  the  Vindhya  mountains   nor  any 
of  the   large  and  famous  rivers  flowing  through  the  Peninsula 
have  been  mentioned.     The  land,  inhabited   by   the    Aryans, 
appears     to     have    extended    as   far   to    the    north-west   as 
Gandhara,  which  is  identified  with  modern  Kandaharand  Cabul, 
and  as  far  to  the  north  as  Bactria  and  Eastern  Turkestan  across 
the  Himalaya.     Within  these  bounds  was  shunted  the  ancient 
Sapta-Sindhu,  or  more  correctly  speaking,  the  Greater  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  the  sacred  land  that  witnessed  the  composition  of  the 
most  ancient  hymns  extant  of  the  Aryan    race  and    the   early 
growth  and  development  of  their  most  wonderful    civilisation. 
But  if  this  land  wer«-»  their  original  home,  is  it  not  very  strange 

1  Kikata  was  the  ancient  name  of  South  Behar  As  the  word  occurs  in 
Rv  ">•  53.  *4»  '*  *s  supposed  by  European  scholars  like  Wilson  and  Weber  to 
refer  to  Magadha  or  South  Behar.  Say  ana  explains  the  word  to  mean  "the 
country  inhrtbited  by  the  non-  Aryans."  As  the  Vedic  Aryans  never  knew  of  the 
existence  of  any  land  to  the  east  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose 
that  they  knew  South  Behar  or  Magadha,  without  knowing  Panchala,  Kosala, 
etc.  Kikata  in  the  Rgveda,  therefore,  does  not,  and  cannot  mean  Magadha  or 
South  Behar.  It  was  probably  a  barren  hilly  region  in  Sapta-Sindhu  where  the 
people  did  not  offer  Soma  juice  to  Indra  by  mixing  milk  with  it.  Hillebrandt 
locates  it  in  Sapta-Sindhu  in  a  mountainous  region.  This  name  must  have 
been  transferred  from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  South  Behar  by  Aryan  immigrants  in 
a  later  age,  like  the  word  Sarayu  which  was  transferred  from  Gandhftra  to 
Kosala.  (For  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  subject,  read  ftgvedic  Culture  Ch.  Ill, 
pp.  161-162.) 


io  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP 

thtt,  daring  a  long  stretch  of  time,  which  was  necessary  to  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  Rgvedic  literature  and  civilisa- 
tion, the  Aryans  were  not  at  all  acquainted  with  the  neighbour- 
ing provinces  like  Pancftla,  Kosala  and  Magadha  which  were 
not  separated  from  Sapta-Sindhu  by  any  insurmountable 
mountain-barriers,  and  formed  parts,  as  it  were,  of  the  same 
plain  as  their  own  mother-country  ?  The  same  query  holdsgood 
with  regard  to  the  Deccan  also.  The  Vindhya  Ranges  could 
not  be  said  to  have  presented  any  serious  obstacle  to  those 
who  were  accustomed  to  cross  the  Himalaya  and  the  Sulaiman 
Ranges  through  narrow,  steep  and  difficult  passes.  How- 
can,  then,  the  total  absence  of  any  mention  in  the  Rgveda 
of  these  neighbouring  and  accessible  countries  be  satisfactori- 
ly explained  ?  European  scholars  have  broached  the  theory 
that  the  Vedic  Aryans  came  to  the  province  of  Sapta-Sindhu 
as  invaders ;  and  they  settled  there  after  carrying  on  a 
sanguinary  and  protracted  warfare  with  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  who  were  a  black  race,  and  far 
inferior  to  the  Aryans  in  culture  and  civilisation,  and  vvh^m 
the  latter  ultimately  vanquished  and  drove  to  the  Southern 
Peninsula.  It  has  been  argued,  with  some  force,  that  this 
long  period  of  pre-occupation  of  the  Aryans  in  the  struggle 
prevented  them  from  penetrating  either  to  the  east  or  the 
south  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  that  it  was  only  in  later  and  more 
peaceful  times  that  they  thought  of  gradually  expanding  and 
migrating  farther  and  farther  to  the  east  and  the  south.  This 
theory,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  is  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
other  tluory  of  Aryan  immigration  to  India  irom  Northern 
and  Central  Europe,  through  Western  or  Central  Asia,  which 
is  now  generally  accepted  by  European  and  Indian  scholars 
alike.  But  it  is  passing  strange  that  it  did  not  strike  any 
of  them  that  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  Eastern  Provinces  for  no  other  reason  than  because 
they  did  not  really  exist  di^ring  Jlgvedic  times)—*  long 
stretch  of  sea  having  been  in  existence  in  the  Pleistocene 
and  the  beginning  of  the  modern  Epoch  from  the  eastern 


I.]  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  u 

shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu  down  to  the  confines  of  Assam,  ii\to 
which  the  Gang£  and  the  Yamuni,  after  running  their  short 
courses,  poured  their  waters  ;  and  that  the  Deccan,  having 
been  completely  cut  off  and  separated  from  Sapta-Sindhu 
by  the  Rdjputdna  sea  and  the  sea  lying  between  the  Central 
and  Eastern  Himalaya  and  the  Vindhya  Ranges,  it  was  not 
at  ali  easily  accessible  to  them.  ]  The  existence  of  these 
seas  is  a  geological  fact,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  which  also 
finds  an  unexpected  corroboration  in  the  Rgveda  itself. 
Verse  5  in  Sukta  136  of  the  Tenth  Mandala  distinctly 
mentions  the  existence  of  the  Eastern  and  the  Western 
Seas  :— 

VdtasydSvo  vdyoh  sakhdtha  deve$itomunih}  ubhau 
samudravd  kseti  yasca  purva  utdparah  - 

This  verse,    rendered    into  English,  would  read  thus  .— 
"  The   Muni    is   the   aerial    steed   and   friend   of   Vayu, 
whom  all  the  Devas  feel  an   eagerness   to   behold,   and   who 
dwells  in  ooth  the  seas — that  which  is  in   the   east,   and   that 
which  is  in  the  west." 

A  word  of  explanation  seems  to  be  necessary  here.  The 
Muni  is  the  God  KeSi  (lit.  hairy)  who  is  identified  with  the 
Sun  whose  ray*  ate  like  the  auburn  (golden)  hair  of  a  Muni 
or  ascetic,  The  Sun  is  usually  also  compared  to  the  hor^e 
in  the  Rg\eda.  The  bard,  therefore,  bays  that  the  Sun  is 
the  aerial  btecd,  and  friend  of  V4yu  (wind),  whom  all  the 
Devas  feel  an  eagerness  to  behold,  in  as  much  as  they  are 
all  Godh  of  light,  and  darkness  is  against  their  very  nature. 
This  God,  Kesl,  or  the  Sun,  says  the  poet,  dwells  both  in 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Seas,  because  he  is  seen  to  rise 
from  the  Eastern  Sea  and  to  *»ink  down  to  rest  in  tlir 
Western.  Now  this  Eastern  Sea  could  have  been  no  other 

1     Mr.  H.  G.  Wells  in   his  Outline   of  //w/^ry,   (pp.  39  &  45)  points   out 
the  existence  of  this  sea  between  50,000  and  25,000  years  ago.     (See  Infra}. 

•j    RV.  x.  130,  5  — ^rersfrfr  *r*ft:   **iw  ^rfWtafo  i    w 

j 

l     Compare  also  Kv.  vn.  55,  7  and  x.  72, 7. 


\2  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

than  the  sea  that  washed  the  eastern  shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu, 
in  as  much  as  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  did  not  know  of  the 
existence  of  any  land  to  the  east  of  their  country.  It  was> 
over  this  sea  that  the  A-vins,  the  twin  deities  that  preceded 
and  heralded  the  Dawn,  used  to  come  to  Sapta-Sindhu, 
sailing  in  their  boats  which  they  left  moored  in  the  harbour 
on£he  sea-coast  (Rv.  i.  46,  8),  and  it  was  from  this  sea  that 
their  car  turned  up  (Rv.  iv.  43,  5).  It  was  from  this  sea  again 
thai  the  Dawn  appeared  on  the  horizon  of  the  eastern  sky, 
looking  bright  and  beautiful  like  a  young  damsel,  after  her 
nwrntng  ablutions  (Rv.  v.  So,  5).  Further,  it  was  from  the 
depth  of  these  waters  that  the  Sun  was  seen  from  the  shores 
of  Sapta-Sindhu  to  emerge  and  ascend  the  sky  (Kv.  lii.  55,  •  ; 
v/45,  10  ;  vii.  55,7;  x.  136,  5),  and  this  fact  is  still  further 
confirmed  by  the  following  passage  :  "  The  Gods  lifted  Surya. 
out  of  the  sea  (samudra)  wherein  he  lay  hidden  "  (Rv.  x. 
72,  7).  These  waters  were,  therefore,  rightly  regarded  as 
"  the  birth-place  of  the  Sun'1  and  "  the  mother  of  the  A'  vins  " 
who  have  been  described  as  bindhumatarah  (Rv  i  46,  2). 
The  Western  Sea  into  \\hich  the  God  Ke^i  sank  down  to 
rest  was  undoubtedly  an  arm  of  the  Arabian  Sea  which,  in 
those  days,  ran  up  the  present  lower  valley  of  the  Indus 
along  the  foot  of  the  Western  Ringe,  ,m«l  covered  a  Urge 
poition  of  the  present  province  of  Sine,  prob.tbly  up  to  Lat. 
30°  North.  Does  not  this  internal  evidence  of  the  Rgveda 
support  the  geological  evidence,  and  unmibUk  ibly  prove 
its  hoary  antiquity  ? 

There  is  yet  another  internal  evidence  furnished  by 
the  Rgveda  to  prove  its  high  antiquity.  In  some  verses 
mention  has  been  made  of  four  different  seas  with  which 
the  ancient  In  do-  Aryans  seemed  to  have  been  familiarly 
acquainted  l  (Rv.  ix.  33,  6  and  x.  47,  2).  But  Vedic 


Rv.  ix.  33,  6  : 

47, 

4ra  far' 


I.]  AD  FIQUI  TY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  13 

scholars,  both  European  and  Indian,  have  passed  them  by, 
and  not  cared  to  ascertain  the  existence  of  the  four  seas 
mentioned  therein,  probably  for  the  simple  reason  that  there 
is  only  one  sea  to  the  south-west  of  Sapta-Sindhu  at  the 
present  time,  viz..  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
identify  the  other  three  with  any  m  odern  seas.  The  Bay  of 
Bengal  to  the  east,  and  the*  Indian  Ocean  to  the  south,  of 
India  are  quite  out  of  the  question,  as  it  has  been  admitted 
that  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  did  not  go  beyond  the  limits  of 
Sapta-Sindhu,  and  were  not  acquainted  with  any  land 
eastward  or  southward  during  Rgvedic  times.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  four  seas  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda, 
which  were  navigated  by  Aryan  merchants  in  quest  of 
wealth,  l  have  probibly  been  regarded  as  more  mythical 
than  real.  But  geological  evidence  goes  to  show  that  there 
were  actually  three  seas  on  the  three  sides  of  Sapta-Sindhu, 
viz ,  the  Eastern,  the  Western,  and  the  Southern,  and  it 
now  only  remains  for  us  to  identify  the  fourth  sea.  It  must 
have  been  situated  somewhere  on  the  north,  beyond  the 
Himalaya,  on  the  confines  of  the  land  inhabited  by  the 
Aryans.  And  Geology  proves  that  such  a  sea  did  actually 
exist  in  ancient  times,  stretching  from  below  the  highlands 
of  modern  Turkestan  toward*  Siberia  on  onr  >ide,  and  from 
the  confine-,  of  Mongolia  to  the  Black  Sea,  on  the  other, 
covering  an  immense  area.  This  sea  disappeared  in 
comparatively  recent  geological  times,  leaving  the  Black  Sea, 
the  Sea  of  Aral,  Lake  Balkash,  and  an  extensive  depression 
now  dry  and  converted  into  steppes,  as  its  remnants.  The 
Black  Sea  was  not  at  that  time  connected  with  the 
Mediterranean,  and  its  webtern  shores  formed  the  Isthmus 
of  Bosphorus  linking  Europe  with  Asia.  On  the  confines 
of  East  Turkestan  also  there  was  in  ancient  times  another 
immense  Asiatic  Mediterranean  Sea,  of  which  Lake  Lobnor 
is  the  remnant.  These  are  stern  geological  facts  which 

»     Hv.  i,  48,  3 ;   56,  J ,    1 16,  3 ,   iv.  55,  6 ,  also  v  85,  6  ;  vii.  88,  3. 


14  SiGVEDlC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

will  be  dealt  with  in  greater  details  in  the  next  chapter, 
but  which  find  a  startling  corroboration  in  the  Rgveda. 
Does  not  this  again  prove  its  vast  antiquity  ? 

Lastly,  the  climate  and  the  seasons,  as  prevailed  in 
ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  have  also  undergone  a  complete 
change  in  comparatively  recent  times,  probably  through  a 
change  of  her  physical  environments.  There  is  Rgvedic 
and  Avestic  evidence  to  prove  that  in  ancient  times  a  cold 
climate  prevailed  in  the  land  for  a  greater  part  of  the  year, 
which  was  highly  conducive  to  the  development  of  the 
physical  and  mental  activities  of  the  Aryans.  The  year  has 
been  called  in  the  Rgveda  by  the  names  of  Sarad  (autumn) 
(Rv.  vii.  66,  16)  or  Hima  or  Hemanta  (winter,  Rv.  i.  64,  14  ; 
ii.  iiii;  33,2;  v.  54,  15 ;  vi,  10,  7;  48,  8),  probably  on 
account  of  the  predominance  of  the  characteristics  of  a 
particular  season,  during  a  greater  part  of  the  year,  in 
particular  areas.  But  the  very  use  of  the  above  words  to 
denote  a  year  clearly  indicates  the  existence  of  either  a  cold 
or  temperate  climate  in  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  Avesta  says 
that  Sapta-Sindhu  or  Hapta  Hendu  possessed  a  delightfully 
cold  climate  in  ancient  times,  which  was  changed  into  a 
hot  climate  by  Angra  Mainyu^  the  Evil  one.  Mr.  Medlicott 
also  says : — "  There  are  some  curious  indications  of  a  low 
temperature  having  prevailed  in  the  Indian  area  at  ancient 
epochs."  l  In  this  conjecture  he  is  supported  by  Mr.  H.  F. 
Blanford  who  says  : — "  In  the  early  Permian,  as  in  the  Post- 
Pliocene  age,  a  cold  climate  prevailed  clown  to  low  latitudes, 
and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  in  both  hemispheres  simul- 
taneously." *  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  also  says : 
"  Evidence  exists  of  a  former  far  greater  extension  of  glaciers 
in  the  Himalaya,  possibly  at  the  period  during  which  the 
great  glacial  phenomena  of  Europe  occurred  ;  but  too  little 
is  known  to  enable  us  to  affirm  that  this  indicates  any  general 

*  Manual  of  the  Geology  of  India,  (Preface,  p.  xxij . 

*  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,   Vo!.   XXXI,    1875,   PP- 
534,540. 


I.]  AUTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  15 

period  of  cold  that  affected  the  Northern  hemisphere  as  far 
south  as  the  Himalaya,  though  the  facts  are  sufficiently 
striking  to  suggest  such  a  conclusion."  l  The  Post-Pliocene 
epoch  being  conterminous  with  the  Pleistocene  epoch 
when  man  undoubtedly  flourished  on  our  globe,  the 
designation  of  the  year  by  the  word  Hima  or  winter  in  the 
Rgveda  clearly  points  to  the  prevalence  of  low  temperature 
in  that  country  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  modern 
epoch,  and  also  to  the  great  antiquity  of  the  sacred  Scripture 
itself.  The  present  climate  of  the  Punjab  or  Sapta-Sindhu 
is  excessively  hot,  except  during  the  winter  months,  when 
the  cold  becomes  intense.  \Ve  will  presently  see  what 
brought  about  this  change  of  climate. 

We  find  evidence  in  the  IjLgveda  of  heavy  showers  of 
rain  falling  in  Sapta-Sindhu  during  the  rainy  season  which 
lasted  for  three  or  four  months,  covering  the  sky  all  the 
time  with  a  thick  pali  of  sombre*  clouds,  behind  which  the 
Sun  and  the  Dawn  remained  hidden,  making  the  days  look 
like  nights  and  considerably  adding  to  the  misery  and 
discomfort  of  men  and  beasts.  The  rivers  were  in  high 
flood,  and  the  spill-water  covered  an  extensive  area.  All 
these  characteristics  of  the  rainy  season  have  now  disappeared 
from  Sapta-Sindhu  where  the  rain-fall  is  scanty  and  the 
climate  dry.  This  change  is  due  to  the  disappearance  of 
three  out  of  the  four  seas  round  about  Sapta-Sindhu,  and 
the  upheaval  of  a  vast  tract  of  arid  desert  in  the  south. 
The  immense  volumes  of  watery  vapours,  which  were 
generated  in  and  carried  from  the  seas  in  ancient  times, 
used  to  be  precipitated  as  snow  over  the  high  and  low 
altitudes  of  the  Himalaya,  and  as  showers  of  ram  in  the 
plains.  Ihe  rain-water  in  the  rainy  season,  and  the  melting 
snow  in  summer  kept  up  a  perennial  supply  of  water  in  the 
rivers,  and  the  Sarasvati  and  the  Dr?advatl  which  probably 
took  their  rise  from  glaciers  on  the  southern  slopes  of  the 

1     Ency,  Bnt.,  Vol.  II,    p.    68    (Ninth    Edition) ;     Read  also    Wadia's 


16  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Himalaya  in  ancient  times,  were  mighty  streams  whose 
praises  have  been  sung  in  the  Rgveda.  With  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  ocean-area,  the  glaciers  also*  disappeared 
and  the  rivers  gradually  dwindled  into  insignificant  and 
straggling  streams.  ]  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  says  : 
"  An  explanation  of  the  decrease  of  Himalayan  glaciers  is 
that  it  was  a  consequence  of  the  diminution  of  the  fall  of 
snow,  consequent  on  the  gradual  change  of  climate  which 
must  have  followed  a  gradual  transformation  of  an  ocean- 
area  into  one  of  dry  land.  The  last-named  circumstance 
would  also  account  for  the  great  changes  in  the  quantity 
of  rain-fall,  and  in  the  flow  of  the  rivers,  of  which  there  are 
many  indications  in  Western  India,  in  Persia,  and  the  region 
east  of  the  Caspian."  2 

It  would  thus  appear  that  there  have  been  vast  changes 
in  the  land,  water  and  climate  of  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  since 
the  Rgvedic  hymns  were  composed.  Do  not  these  internal 
evidences  of  the  Rgveda,  supported  as  they  are  by  the 
results  of  modern  geological  investigations,  go  to  prove  its 
vast  antiquity,  stretching  hack  to  time  immemorial  ?  And 
are  they  not  as  reliable  as  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  writings 
and  inscriptions,  and  Mesopotamian  brick-tablets,  and 
writings  on  clay-cylinders  ?  But  it  is  a  thousand  pities 

1  Mr.  Wadia  in  his  Geology  of  India  (1919)  writes  as  follows  "Many 
parts  of  the  Himalayas  bear  the  records  of  an  Ice-age  in  comparatively  recent 
times.  Immense  accumulations  of  moraine  debris  are  seen  on  the  tops  and 
sides  of  many  of  the  ranges  of  the  middle  Himalayas!  which  do  not  support 
any  glaciers  at  the  present  time.  Terminal  moraines,  often  covered  by  grass, 
are  to  be  seen  before  the  snouts  of  existing  glaciers  at  surh  low  elevations  as 
6,000  feet  or  even  5,000  feet.  Sometimes  there  are  grassy  meadows,  pointing 
to  the  remains  of  old  silted-up  glacial  lakes.  These  facts,  together  with  the 
more  doubtful  occurrences  of  what  may  be  termed  fluvio-glacial  drift  at  much 
lower  levels  in  the  hills  of  the  Punjab,  lead  to  the  inference  that  this  part  of 
India  at  least,  if  not  the  Peninsular  highlands,  experienced  a  Glacial  Age  in 
the  Pleistocene  period/1  (pp  15-16)  Elsewhere  he  says:  "The  ice-transported 
blocks  of  the  Patwar  plains  in  Rawalpindi  also  furnish  corroborative  evidence 
to  the  same  effect."  (P.  245). 

*     Ency.  Britn  Vol.  II,  p.  688  l^jfyji  Editjpn). 


I.]  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  17 

that  Vedic  scholars  and  Indologists  have  not  brought  even 
a  tithe  of  that  careful  and  diligent  research  to  bear  on  the 
study  of  ancient  Indian  history,  that  has  been  bestowed  on 
the  study  of  Egyptian  and  Mesopotamian  history  by  Egypto- 
logists and  Assyriologists,  probably  through  a  pre-conceived 
idea  that  Indo-Aryan  civilisation  could  not  be  older  th$q 
the  civilisation  of  the  neolithic  lake-dwellers  of  Europe, 
and  an  omission  to  study  ancient  Indian  history  in  the  light 
of  the  results  of  modern  geological  investigations.  The 
time,  however,  has  come  when  a  fresh  study  should  be  com- 
menced on  these  lines,  and  a  re-examination  of  the  already 
accepted  theories  made,  regardless  of  the  conclusions  they 
may  lead  us  to. 

I  hope,  I  have  been  able  to  demonstrate  in  this  chapter 
the  absolute  necessity  of  studying,  with  the  help  of  Geology, 
the  old  distribution  of  land  and  water  of  a  country  in  which 
a  very  ancient  people  have  lived  from  time  immemorial  in 
order  to  read  aright  their  ancient  history.  I  have  also  given 
occasional  glimpses  to  my  readers,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
possible  for  me  to  do  in  a  preliminary  chapter,  of  the  hoary 
antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  containing  as  it  does  unmistakable 
geological  proofs  of  a  different  distribution  of  land  and 
water,  and  the  existence  of  a  different  climate  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  in  ancient  times.  These  geological  proofs  will  be 
more  closely  examined  and  more  elaborately  discussed  in 
the  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 


GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE  ABOUT  THE  PHYSICAL  FEATURES  OF  ANCIENT 
SAPTA  SINDHU  IN  RGVEDIC  TIMES. 

Physical  changes,  constant  though  often  silent  and 
imperceptible,  have  been  going  on  in  our  globe.  Sometimes 
in  the  past  the  changes  were  extremely  violent  and  sudden, 
due  to  fearful  volcanic  action  and  extensive  seismic  disturb- 
ances of  great  intensity,  resulting  in  the  sudden  upheaval  or 
subsidence  of  vast  tracts  of  land.  But  such  disturbances  and 
changes  were  more  frequent  in  very  ancient  than  in  recent 
geological  epochs  The  upheaval  of  the  Middle  and  Northern 
Himalaya  had  taken  place  before  man  flourished  on  our  globe. 
The  magnitude  and  intensity  of  the  throes  through  which 
Mother  Earth  passed  when  giving  birth,  though  after  lorg 
intervals,  to  the  different  parts  of  this  gigantic  child  surpass 
even  the  keenest  and  most  comprehensive  human  imagination. 
With  the  elevation  of  the  Middle  Himfilaya  was  produced  a 
deep  trough  at  its  foot  on  the  southern  side.  How  was  it 
produced  is  a  matter  of  conjecture  and  controversy  among 
Geologists,  with  which  we  are  not  here  concerned.  Sir  Sidney 
Burrard's  hypothesis  is  that  "  the  depression  of  the  trough  was 
produced  by  a  withdrawal  of  material  towards  the  Himalaya," 
and  he  considers  "  the  range  to  have  been  produced  by  the 
invasion  of  the  material  so  withdrawn.1'1  The  great  Geologist, 
Edward  Suess,  "  has  suggested  that  it  is  *  fore-deep  '  in  front 
of  the  high  crust-waves  of  the  Himalayas  as  they  were  checked 
in  their  southward  advance  by  the  inflexible  solid  land-mass 
of  the  Peninsula."2  These  are  the  latest  explanations  of  its 
origin,  which  are  more  or  less  accepted  But  whatever  may 
be  the  causes  of  this  upheaval  and  depression,  there  is  no 

^Memoirs  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  Vol.  XLII,  Part  2  (Oldham, 
On  the  Structure  of  the  Himalaya),  p.  137.  Read  also  "  On  the  Origin  of  the 
Himalaya  Mountains."  Survey  of  India,  Prof.  Paper  No.  12,  Calcutta,  1912. 

*  Wadia'e  Geology  of  India.  P.  248. 


1L]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  i0 

question  that  a  deep  trough  did  exist  at  the  foot  of  the 
Himalayan  range  in  ancient  geological  times.1  This 
trough  or  sea  lasted  through  long  ages  during  which 
it  was  gradually  filled  up  with  alluvium,  into  which  were 
embedded  the  remains  of  a  rich  varied  fauna  "of  herbivores 
carnivores,  rodents  and  of  primates,  the  highest  order  of  the 
mammals,"  brought  down  by  the  rivers  and  streams.  Their 
inter-stratification  with  marine  fossiliferous  beds  took  a  long 
period  of  time,  at  the  end  of  which  another  seismic  disturb- 
ance of  great  intensity  caused  an  upheaval  of  these  beds, 
which  formed  the  outer  or  sub-Himalayan  Zone,  "  correspond 
ing  to  the  Siwalik  Ranges,  and  composed  entirely  of  Tertiary, 
and  principally  of  upper  Tertiary  sedimentary  river-deposits.11"2 
With  the  upheaval  of  the  Siwalik  Range  was  again  produced 
a  deep  trough  at  its  foot  which  also  began  to  be  filled  up 
with  alluvium  until  the  present  plains  of  Northern  India  were 
formed.  Mr.  R.  D.  Oldham  says  that  "  the  depth  of  the 
alluvium  along  the  outer  edge  of  the  Himalaya  is  great, 
amounting  to  about  15,000  to  20,000  feet  towards  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  alluvial  plain/*3  As  regards  the  underground 
form  of  the  floor  of  the  trough,  it  lias  been  found  that  "  it  has 
deepened  steadily  from  south  to  north  at  about  130  feet  to  the 
mile,  and  that  this  slope  is  continuous  for  over  100  miles  from 
the  southern  edge,  so  that  in  this  way  we  reach  an  estimated 
drpth  of  over  13,000  and  probably  about  15,000  feet/'4  This 
trough  end*  up  on  the  east  where  the  Assam  Range  impinges 
on  the  Him&laya  and  terminates  on  the  west  as  the  Salt  Range 
of  the  Punjab  is  reached.  It  is  "a  fairly  symmetrical  trough, 
ranged  along  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  Himalaya,  which  is 
not  complicated  by  the  junction  or  contact  of  other  ranges."-'* 
It  has  been  described  by  Mr.  Oldham  as  **  the  Gangetic 

1  "The  northern  frontier  of  this  (the  Southern)  continent  was  approxi- 
mately co-extensive  with  the  central  chain  ot  the  Himalayas,  and  was  washed 
by  the  water  of  the  Tethys  "  (Wadia's  Geology  of  India,  pp.  109-1  to.) 

»  Wadia's  Gtology  of  India  P.  10. 

s     Memoirs  of  the  Ceo.  Surv.  of  India,  Vol.  XL11,  Part  2,  p   119- 

*  7*tf,  p.66. 

•  /bid,  p.  96. 


do  ftGVEDlC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

trougn,"  in  as  much  as  "  three  quarters  of  its  length  and  more 
than  that  proportion  of  its  area  He  within  the  drainage  of  the 
Granges.1... There  is  some  reason  to  suppose  that  a  deep  trough 
filled  with  alluvium  similar  to  that  which  has  been  dealt  with, 
though  smaller  in  size,  runs  along  the  foot  of  the  hill  ranges 
of  the  Western  frontiers  of  India  proper,  which  might  be 
called  the  Indus  trough,  as  that  river  traverses  it  from  end  to 
en 4.... But  thare  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  two  troughs 
are  Connected.  Apart  from  the  observations  which  have  been 
dealt  with,  the  outcrops  of  old  rocks  in  the  Chiniot  and  other 
hills  which  rise  from  the  alluvium,  point  to  the  presence  of  a 
rock-barrier,  stretching  under  the  plains  of  the  Punjab  to  the 
Salt  Range,  and  separating  the  two  troughs."2 

It  would  thus  appear  that  a  large  portion  at  It- ast  of  the 
Punjab,  or  Sapta  Sindhu  as  the  Vedic  bards  called  it,  was 
older  than  the  alluvial  plains  now  occupying  the  Gangetic 
and  the  Indus  troughs  which  were  undoubtedly  large  stretches 
of  inland  seas  at  the  beginning.  Even  now,  the  valley  of  the 
Indus  or  the  Sindhu  is  known  by  the  name  of  "  Sindhu-SAgara," 
or  the  Sindhu  Sea.  But  this  sea,  not  having  been  so  wide, 
long  and  deep  as  the  sea  that  occupied  the  Gangetic  trough, 
the  period  of  time  taken  to  fill  it  up  with  alluvium  was 
necessarily  shorter,  though  certainly  computed  by  thousands 
of  years,  than  that  taken  to  fill  up  the  Gangetic  trough.  In 
other  words,  when  the  Punjab  was  firm  land,  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  Kashmir  valley  and  the  Himalaya  and  on  the 
west  by  the  Sulaiman  Range,  with  the  Indus  and  its  tributaries 
arid  the  SarasvatI  flowing  through  the  plains  into  the  arm  of 
the  Arabian  Sea  covering  a  part  of  Rajputana  and  the  lower 
regions  of  Sind,  the  Gangetic  trough  was  still  an  inland  sea, 
stretching  from  the  confines  of  Sapta-Sindhu  to  those  of 
Assam,  which  was  certainly  not  so  deep  at  that  time  as  it  had 
been  at  its  origin,  but  yet  deep  enough  to  be  called  a  sea  for 
several  thousand  years  more,  during  which  it  was  gradually 
silted  up  with  alluvium. 

*     Ibid,  p  .98 


H.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  *i 

* 
With  regard   to  the    Gangetic  trough,  Mr.   Wadiathus 

observes  in  his  Geology  of  India,  (P.  248) :  "  In  the  Pleistocene 
period,  the  most  dominant  features  of  the  geography  of  Ifftfta 
had  come  into  existence,  and  the  country  had  then  acquired 
almost  its  present  form  and  its  leading  features  of  topography, 
except  that  the  lands  in  front  of  the  newly  upheaved 
mountain1:  formed  a  depression  which  was  being  rapidly 
filled  by  the  waste  of  the  highlands.  Th^  origin  of  this 
depression  or  trough,  lying  at  the  foot  of  the  (Himalaya) 
mountains,  is  doubtless  intimately  connected  with  the  origin 
of  the  latter,  though  the  exact  nature  of  the  connexion  is  not 
known  and  is  a  matter  of  discussion/'  It  would  thus  appear 
that  in  the  Pleistocene  period  and  even  still  later,  there  was 
a  sea  over  the  Gangetic  trough  which  was  being  rapidly  filled 
up  with  alluvium,  and  became  firm  land  only  after  Rgvedic 
times,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

In  this  connexion  it  would  not  be  out  of  place  and 
uninteresting  to  refer  to  two  maps  sketched  by  Mr.  H.  G. 
Wells  and  printed  on  pages  39  and  45  respectively  of  his 
excellent  book,  'I he  Outline  of  History  (1920).  The  first 
map  shows  "  the  possible  outline  of  Europe  and  Western 
Asia  at  the  maximum  of  the  Fourth  Ice  Age  about  50,000 
years  ago"  corresponding  to  the  "  Neanderthaler  Age,"  and 
the  second  map  shows  their  possible  outline  "  in  the  later 
Palaeolithic  age  (35,000  to  25,000  years  ago)."  So  far 
as  Ancient  India  is  concerned,  we  find  it  outlined  very  much 
in  the  same  manner  as  I  have  outlined  it  in  my  map  from 
"a  geological  study  in  the  light  of  Rgvedic  evidence."  The 
whole  of  Northern  India  and  Rajputana  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  Punjab  are  shown  in  Mr.  Wells'  first  map  as 
covered  by  a  vast  and  continuous  sea  which  was  connected 
with  the  Arabian  Sea  on  the  west  and  the  Bay  of  Bengal  on 
the  east.  Though  my  map  of  Rgvedic  India  or  Sapta* 
Sindhavah  does  not  coincide  in  all  its  details  with  Mr.  Wells' 
map,  yet  their  general  agreement  in  the  broad  outlines  is 
certainly  very  remarkable.  Mr.  Wells'  second  map  which 
represents  a  possible  outline  of  Europe  and  Western  Asia 


22  AGVEDIC  INDIA. 

v* 

about  35,000  to  25,000  years  ago  shows  the  uninterrupted 
continuity  of  the  sea  that  separated  the  Punjab  and  the 
Himalayas  from  Southern  India  broken  only  by  the  formation 
of  land  in  Eastern  Rajputana,  and  points  to  the  existence 
of  a  sea  over  a  large  portion  of  the  Gangetic  trough  (which 
was  undoubtedly  "  the  Eastern  Sea "  of  the  Rgveda),  and 
of  another  sea  or  gulf  over  Western  Rajputana  and  the  whole 
of. the  province  of  Lower  Smd.  Both  the  maps  generally 
agree  with  the  different  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  the 
Punjab,  as  ir  was  in  Rgvedic  times,  and  this  indirectly  proves 
the  hoary  antiquity  of  the  Rgvedic  hymns  which  must  have 
been  composed  during  a  period  extending  from  about  25,000 
to  7500  B.  C.  Let  us  now  return  to  a  discussion  of  the 
geological  evidence  regarding  the  Punjab. 

Mr.  Oldham  thus  distinguishes  the  features  of  the  Gangetic 
plains  from  those  of  the  plains  of  the  Punjab: — "  From  the 
Yamuna  eastwards  to  the  junction  with  the  Brahmaputra 
Valley  is  the  great  tract  of  the  typical  Gangetic  alluvium 
which  bears  all  the  characters  of  a  plain  of  deposit,  and  across 
which  the  rivers  flow  in  courses  determined  by  their  own 
action  and  inter-action.  In  the  plain  of  the  Punjab  these 
features  are  largely  absent,  and  the  surfaces  suggest  a  much 
smaller  thickness  of  alluvial  deposit,  a  suggestion  which  is 
strengthened  by  the  occurrence  of  inliers  of  older  rocks,  rbing 
as  hills  in  the  centre  of  the  alluvial  plain.'*1 

Mr.  Oldham  further  says  elsewhere  :  "  The  general  facie s 
of  the  fauna  (found  in  the  beds  of  the  Salt  Range  of  the 
Punjab)  are  of  Cambrian  age  and  consequently  the  oldest  in 
India,  whose  age  can  be  determined  with  any  approach  to 
certainty."2  The  Cambrian  age,  it  should  be  remembered, 
is  the  first  of  the  Palaeozoic  Era.  As  the  beds  of  the  Salt 
Range  have  been  proved  to  belong  to  that  age,  the  land  of 
Sapta-Sindhu  must  have  been  in  existence  from  very  early 
times,  and  is  certainly  older  than  the  northern  Himalaya 
which  probably  was  elevated  at  the  end  of  the  Palaeozoic  or 

*  /«<*,  P.  3. 

*  Manual  of  the  Geology  of  India,  p.  109,  Edn,,  1893. 


H.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  23 

the  beginning  of  the  Mesozoic  Era,  as  is  evidenced  by  its 
Carboniferous  and  Triassic  formations.1  The  ancient  age 
of  the  Punjab  will  be  further  proved  by  the  following  extracts 
from  the  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India  :2 

"  The  datum  line  in  stratigraphy  is  the  base  of  the 
Cambrian  system,  the  so-called  Olenellus  zone,  characterised 
in  various  parts  of  the  world  by  remains  of  this  genus,  or  its 
near  relations  belonging  to  the  extinct  order  of  Crustacea 
known  as  Trilobites.  Below  this  line,  there  are  many  thousand 
(eet  of  strata  without  determinable  fcssil  remains,  and  generally 
quite  unfossiliferous ;  above  it  are  piled  the  great  fossil- 
bearing  systems  preserving  the  records  of  evolution  among 
animals  and  plants  through  the  Palaeozoic,  Mesozoic  and 
Cainozoic  eras  to  the  present  day. 

"Fortunately,  in  India,  we  have  a  trace  of  this  datum 
line  preserved  in  the  Salt  Range  of  the  Punjab,  where, 
although  the  Trilobites  preserved  are  not  exactly  like  the 
well-known  Olenellus,  there  are  forms  which  must  have  been 
closr  relations  of  it,  and  we  can  safely  assume  that  these  beds 
arc  equivalent  to  the  lower  Cambrian  of  the  European  scale" 

It  is  thus  clear  that  the  Punjab  or  Sapta-Sindhu  is  the 
oldest  life-producing  region  in  the  whole  of  the  Indian 
continent ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  here  the  evolution 
among  animals  continued  uninterruptedly,  until  man  was 
evolved  or  created,  and  appeared  on  the  scene. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  in  passing  that  the  Indo-Aryans 
believe  themselves  to  be  autochthonous  to  the  Punjab,  and 
the  Rgveda  to  be  as  old  as  the  creation  of  man,  in  other 
words,  to  have  emanated  from  BrahmA,  the  Creator  himself; 
and  it  is  regarded  as  Apauruseya,  i.e.,  not  ascribable  to  any 
human  agency,  though  the  Rsis  or  seers  might  have  clothed 
the  revealed  truths  and  eternal  verities  in  languages  of  their 
own,  from  time  to  time.  This,  bereft  of  all  exaggerations, 
would  mean  that  the  Rgveda  has  existed  from  time  immemorial. 


i     H.  F.  Blanford   in  the  Quarterly   fournat  of  tk*  Geological  Society 

Vol.  XXXI,  1875,  PR-  5«4-4». 

•     Imp.  Ga*.  of  India,  Vol.  I,  p  S3.  Bdn-»  *9°7* 


24  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

To  this  belief  of  the  Indo-Aryans,  however  absurd  it  might 
seem,  the  results  of  geological  investigations,  as  quoted 
above,  undoubtedly  lend  some  strong  colour.  It  may  also  be 
stated  here  that  the  ancient  Aryans  did  not  believe,  like  Darwin, 
in  the  evolution  of  man  from  anthropoid  apes;  but  they  be- 
lieved, like  Agassiz  of  the  Creationist  School,  that  man  was 
created  independently  as  such.  As  Agassiz  says,  "  there  is  a 
manifest  progress  in  the  succession  of  beings  on  the  surface 
of  the  earth.  This  progress  consists  in  an  increasing  similarity 
of  the  living  fauna,  and  among  the  vertebrates  especially,  in 
their  increasing  resemblance  to  man.  .  .  But  this  connection 
is  not  t  he  consequence  of  a  direct  lineage  between  the  faunas 
of  different  ages.  There  is  nothing  like  parental  descent 
connecting  them.  The  fishes  of  the  Palaeozoic  age  are  in  no 
respect  the  ancestors  of  the  reptiles  of  the  Secondary  age, 
nor  does  man  descend  fro'ii  the  mammals  which  preceded 
him  in  the  Tertiary  age.  The  link  by  which  they  are 
connected  is  of  a  higher  and  immaterial  nature  ;  ami  their 
connection  is  to  be  sought  in  the  view  of  the  On  ator 
Himself,  whose  aim  in  forming  the  earth  in  allowing  it  to 
undergo  the  successive  changes  which  geology  has  pointed 
out,  and  in  creating  successively  all  the  different  types  of 
animals  which  have  passed  away,  was  to  introduce  man  upon 
the  surface  of  our  globe.  Man  is  the  end  towards  which  all 
the  animal  creation  has  tended  from  the  first  appearance  of 
the  Palaeozoic  fishes."  l  This  exactly  represents  ihe  view 
of  man's  appearance  on  the  globe  held  by  the  ancient 
Indo-Aryans  also,  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  writr 
hereafter. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  if  the  composition  of  the  Rgvedic 
hymns  be  ascribed  to  a  period  computed  from  about  25,000 
to  7500  B.  C,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  man,  particularly 
Aryan  man  in  India,  was  in  a  comparatively  civilised  state 
in  this  period.  The  Pleistocene  is  ordinarily  known  as  the 
"  human  epoch/'  and  there  is  evidence  of  Pleistocene  man 
having  made  some  progress  towards  rudimentary  civilisation 

»    Princifl**  <tf Zoology,  pp.  005-306. 


II.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  25 

in  some  parts  of  the  world.  Thus  Dr.  Keith  writes  about 
the  culture  of  Neanderthal  roan  in  Europe:  "In  mid- 
Pleistocene  times,  the  brain  of  Neanderthal  man,  in  point 
of  size,  was  equal  to  that  of  contemporary  forms  of  modern 
man.  His  culture,  that  of  the  Mousterian  age,  was  not  a 
low  one/'  l  Rev.  Mr.  E.  O.  James  says  in  his  Introduction 
to  Anthropology  (1919)  that  "  the  Palaeolithic  period  of 
archaeology  corresponds  roughly  to  the  Pleistocene  of  the 
geologist,  while  the  pre-PalaeoIithic  or  Eolithic  period 
extended  far  back  into  the  Tertiary  era.'9  (P.  18).  Further 
on  he  says  :  "  It  may  be  reasonably  supposed  that  clothing, 
like  cave-dwelling,  was  one  of  the  arts  of  life  learnt  by  man 
in  the  Pleistocene,  probably  early  in  the  Mousterian  phase,  " 
and  that  "  in  the  early  Pleistocene,  there  is  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  fires,  as  for  example,  in  the  hearths  discovered 
in  Moasterian  sites "  (P.  98).  From  all  these  extracts, 
we  get  some  idea  of  the  predecessors  of  modern  man  in  the 
Pleistocene  epoch,  and  also  glimpses  of  the  state  of  their 
culture,  which  "  was  not  a  low  one." 

As  the  Punjab  was  the  oldest  life -producing  region 
in  the  whole  of  the  Indian  continent,  and  admittedly  one 
of  the  principal  foci  of  civilisation  in  the  ancient  world,  we 
may  take  it  for  granted  that,  in  the  Pleistocene  epoch,  the 
primitive  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  or  the  Punjab  developed 
a  culture  not  only  not  inferior  to  that  of  Pleistocene  man  in 
Europe,  but,  in  many  respects,  probably  even  far  superior 
to  it,  as  its  gradual  and  continuous  development  and  final 
culmination  in  Rgvedic  civilisation  would  lead  one  to  suppose. 
If  the  Indo-Aryans  were  autochthones  in  Sapta-Sindhu, 
they  must  have  passed  through  the  eolithic,  the  palaeolithic 
and  the  neolithic  stages  of  their  development,  though,  in  the 
Rgveda,  we  do  not  find  any  mention  of  stone  or  bone 
weapons,  excepting  Indra1  **jra%  as  the  Rgvedic  Aryans 
had  long  ago  passed  through  those  stages  and  were 
well  acquainted  vuth  the  use  of  iron,  from  which  weapons 
and  implements  were  made.  The  mortar  and  pestle  which 

»  Keith's  Tkt  Antiquity  of  Man  (1916),  p.  503. 
4 


a6  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

probably  were  made   of  stone,   as  also  of  wood,    the   flat 

stone    slab    and  the    round    stone    hammer,   used  for    the 

purpose  of  crushing  and  pounding  hard   substances    (Dfsad- 

(fpald),  all   of   which    were   requisitioned   at  the  time  of  the 

Soma  sacrifice,    and    the   horn-tipped    arrow-head  mentioned 

in  the  Rgveda    (vi.  75,  n)    might,  however,  be    some   of  the 

relics  of    the    early  stages  of    civilisation,  through  which  the 

ancient  Aryans  had    passed.  1     They    seem    to   have  been  a 

highly   gifted   people,   endowed  with  a  superior  genius  which 

enabled  them  to   effect   their   material,    moral   and   spiritual 

evolution  more  rapidly  than  their  contemporaries  in  Southern 

India,  some  of  whom  are  still  in   the    same   savage   condition 

of  the   Stone    Age   as  they  were  in,  hundreds  of  thousands  of 

years   ago.     Writing   about    them    Ragozin    observes:  "We 

seem  to  listen  to  the  grotesque  fancies  of  a  dream,    wild  even 

for  a  dream,  when  we  are  told  of  people  who    live,  or  at  least 

huddle  together   for    shelter    in  kennel  hut*,  six  feet  by  eight, 

wear  no  clothes  but  bunches  of  leaves  fastened    to  a  string  of 

beads   that    encircles    the    waist,    and    use  flint  weapons,  not 

having  even    words    for    any    metals    in  their  language,  thus 

affording  us  a    startling  glimpse  of  the  Stone  Age,  a  survival 

not  even    of    the    highest    type  of  that    Age's  civilisation."  - 

Thus  it  would  appear  that  while    palaeolithic    men,    belonging 

to  the    Dravidian    and  the  Kolarian  races,  roamed  as  savages 

in  the  hills  and  forests  of  Southern  India,  the  ancient  Aryans 

of   Sapta-Sindhu,    completely   cut    off   from     them    by    sea«, 

developed   a   high   state  of   civilisation,  obliterating  all  relics 

of  the  primitive  stages  of  their  progress. 

Let  us  now  turn  back  from  this  digression  to  the  other 
geological  evidences  proving  the  antiquity  of  Sapta-Sindhu. 
The  existence  of  the  R4jputftn&  Sea  to  the  south  of  this  region 
down  to  the  seventh  or  eight  millennium  B.  C.  has  already 
/been  referred  to.  The  large  admixture  of  salt  in  the  sandy 
soil  of  the  deserts  of  Rajput&na,  the  salt  beds  from  which 

1     For  a  fuller  treatment  of  this  subject,  read   author's  ftpvtdic  Culture 
Ctiap.  II. 

*     Vedic  India,  p.  399.     Read  also  Chap. 


II.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  27 

even  now  an  abundant  supply  of  salt  is  drawn,  and  the  exist* 
ence  of  the  Sambhar  and  other  lakes  whose  waters  still  retain 
much  of  the  salinity  of  the  sea,  all  point  to  the  extension  of 
the  Arabian  Sea  up  to  the  confines  of  Sapta-Sindhu  on  the 
one  hand,  and  of  the  Aravalli  Hills  on  the  other.  It  is  further 
certain  that  the  Arabian  Sea  also  sent  up  an  arm  towards  the 
Indus  trough  and  covered  a  lar^e  part  of  the  province  of  Sind, 
which  is  now  occupied  by  desert  a  nd  the  lower  course  of 
the  Indus. 

As  regards  the  existence  of  a  sea  in  the  northern  direction 
of  Sapta-Sindhu  beyond  the  HimAlaya,  the  following  geological 
evidence  collected  from  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  is 
adduced  here : 

u  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  (l)  that  the  area  of 
the  Caspian  mu-t  have  formerly  been  much  more  extensive 
than  at  present  ;  (2)  and  that  it  must  at  some  time  have  had 
free  communication  with  the  Ocean.  It  was  long  since 
pointed  out  by  Pallas  that  the  presence  of  salt  lakes,  dry 
saline  deposits,  and  sea-shells  of  the  same  species  as  those 
no\v  inhabiting  the  Caspian,  over  a  very  large  extent  of  the 
steppes  to  the  east,  north  and  west  of  the  present  basin,  can 
only  be  accounted  for  on  such  a  hypothesis,  and  he  traced 
out  what  may  probably  be  regarded  as  a  northern  shore-line, 
along  the  base  of  the  Mongodjar  Hills.  Further,  the  fauna 
of  the  Caspian  corresponds  so  remarkably  with  that  of  the 
Black  Sea  on  the  one  side,  and  with  that  of  the  Sea  of  Aral 
on  the  other,  that  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  they  were 
formerly  in  free  communication  with  one  another,  and  the 
line  of  this  communication  can  be  pretty  certainly  traced  out 
by  the  peculiar  lowness  of  the  level.  Thus  between  the 
Caspian  and  the  Black  Sea,  or  rather  the  Sea  of  Azoff,  it 
would  have  lain  across  the  low-lying  portion  of  the  steppe 
which  is  at  present  a  receptacle  for  the  drainage  of  the 
surrounding  area,  forming  the  long  and  shallow  Lake 
Manytsch.  And  between  the  Caspian  and  the  Aral  Sea,  it 
probably  followed  both  the  northern  and  the  southern  borders' 
of  Ust-Urt,  which  would  thus  form  an  isolated  platform.  If 


»8  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

the  elevation  of  level  were  sufficiently  great  to  raise  the 
water  of  Lake  Aral  to  the  height  which  it  had  in  former 
times,  (as  is  shown  by  various  clearly  discernible  landmarks), 
it  would  have  overflowed  a  large  area  to  the  south  also,  and 
of  this  again,  some  parts  of  the  coast-line  are  traceable.  A 
very  slight  elevation  would  bring  it  into  communication  with 
the  Arctic  Sea."  ' 

The  writer  then  goes  on  .  "There  is  much  to  support 
this  view  not  only  in  the  writings  of  ancient  geographers  and 
in  the  incidental  notices  which  have  been  gleaned  from  the 
records  of  early  travel,  but  also  in  the  physical  relation  of 

the  three  basins,    now   forming  separate  seas It  is  a  fact 

qf  no  little  interest  that  the  exigence  of  a  communication 
between  the  Aralo-Caspian  basin  and  the  Northern  Ocean 
was  most  distinctly  affirmed  by  Strabo  and  other  ancient 
geographers."  2 

"  Now  as  there  is  strong  reason  to  suspect,  from  the  evi- 
dence of  recent  volcanic  change  in  that  locality,  that  the 
opening  of  the  Bosphorus  took  place  within  a  period  which 
geologically  speaking  was  very  recent,  it  does  not  at  all  seem 
improbable  that  this  event  (which  some  writers  identify  with 
the  deluge  of  Deucalion)  was  the  commencement  of  a  series 
of  changes  by  which  the  *  Asiatic  Mediterranean  '  came  to  be 
divided  into  three  separate  basins  which  now  constitute  its 
'  survivals/"  3 

The  writer  means  to  say  that  the  level  of  the  European 
Mediterranean  Sea  having  been  lower  than  that  of  the  Asiatic 
Mediterraneany  the  opening  of  the  Bosphorus  caused  the 
water  of  the  latter  to  be  drained  off  into  the  former,  until  both 
attained  the  same  level.  This  draining  off  of  the  water  from 
the  Asiatic  Mediterranean  left  its  shallow  portions  dry,  and 
converted  the  sea  into  isolated  lakes,  and  its  dry  basins  into 
extensive  steppes.  The  writer  then  arrives  at  the  following 
conclusion :  "  Thus  it  would  appear  that  the  condition  of  the 

*     »     Enty  BrUn  Vol.  V,  pp.  179-180  (Ninth  Edition). 

•  7***,P<  »8o. 

•  Ibid,?.  180. 


II.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  *> 

Aralo-Caspian  area  must  have  undergone  very  considerable 
alterations  within  the  historic  period"  l  The  same  writer 
elesewhere  says  :  "  The  saltness,  not  only  of  the  water  of  the 
Caspian  and  Aral  Seas,  but  of  that  of  the  numerous  lakes  still 
remaining  in  the  most  depressed  spots  formerly  covered  by 
the  Asiatic  Mediterranean,  together  with  the  large  admixture 
of  salt  in  the  sand  that  covers  what  is  now  its  dried-up  bed, 
can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  this  Asiatic 
Mediterranean  was  itself  a  '  sutvira/'  of  the  extension  of  the 
oceanic  area  properly  so-called^ — retaining  not  only  much  of 
its  salinity,  but  a  portion  of  its  characteristic  fauna.  And  this 
conclusion  derives  confirmation  from  the  fact  (ascertained  by 
the  researches  of  the  Russian  naturalist  Bogdanoff)  that  the 
polar  fauna  may  be  traced  through  the  succession  of  salt  lakes 
lying  to  the  north  ot  the  Aral  Sea,  and  that  its  proportion 
increases  as  we  approach  the  Polar  Ocean/'  *2 

From  the  above  excerpts,  it  is  clear  (a)  that  at  an  early 
geological  epoch,  a  large  sea  connected  with  the  Arctic  Ocean 
had  existed  in  Central  Asia  ;  (b)  that  at  a  later  period,  this  sea 
was  converted  into  an  inland  sea,  covering  a  large  area  of 
Central  Asia,  and  extending  as  far  west  as  the  Black  Sea,  and 
it  continued  to  exist  as  an  Asiatic  Mediterranean  down  to  the 
dawn  of  historical  times ;  and  (c)  that  a  volcanic  action  having 
opened  up  the  Bosphorus,  and  joined  the  Abiatic  with  the 
European  Mediterranean,  a  vast  quantity  of  water  of  the 
former  was  drained  off  into  the  latter,  leaving  the  shallow 
parts  of  the  former  dry,  and  the  deeper  parts  as  disconnected 
and  isolated  lakes.  Thus,  the  existence  of  a  large  sea  to  the 
northwest  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and  of  the  region  inhabited  by 
branches  of  the  ancient  Aryans  is  an  undoubted  geological 
fact,  and  proves  the  hoary  antiquity  of  the  land  and  of  the 
Rgveda. 

That  this  Asiatic  Mediterranean  extended  as  far  south-east 
as  Turkestan  will  appear  from  the  following  extracts : 

11  Representatives  of  all  the  Tertiary   formations  are  met 
with  in  Turkestan  ;  but  while  in  the  highlands  the   strata  are 
1     /***,  p.  181.  *    /Wrf,  p.  180. 


30  ,%GVEDtC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

coast-deposits,  they  assume  an  open-sea  character  in  the  low 
lands,  and  their  rich  fossil  fauna  furnishes  evidence  of  the 
gradual  shallowing  of  that  sea,  until  at  last,  after  the  Sarma- 
thian  period,  it  became  a  close  Mediterranean  During  the 
Post-Pliocene  period,  the  sea  broke  up  into  several  parts 
united  by  narrow  straits.  The  connexion  of  Lake  Balkash 
with  the  Sea  of  Aral  can  hardly  be  doubted  ;  but  this»  portion 
of  the  great  sea  was  the  first  to  be  <livi<ied  While  the  Sea  of 
Aral  remained  in  connexion  with  the  Caspian,  the  desiccation 
of  the  Lake  Balkash  basin,  and  its  break-up  into  smaller 
separate  basins  were  already  going  on.  The  Quaternary 
Epoch  is  represented  in  vast  morainic  deposits  in  the  valley 

of  the   Tianshan In    the    low    lands,    the    Aral-Caspian 

deposits  which  it  is  difficult  to  separate  sharply  from  the  later 
Tertiary,  cover  the  whole  area.  They  contain  shells  of 
molluscs  now  inhabiting  the  Sea  of  Aral  and  in  their  petro- 
graphical  features  are  exactly  like  those  of  the  lower  Volga. 
The  limits  of  the  Post-Pliocene  Aral-Caspian  Sea  have  not 
yet  been  fully  traced,  it  extended  some  200  miles  north, 
and  more  than  90  miles  east  of  the  present  Aral  shores.  A 
narrow  strait  connected  it  with  Lake  Balkash.  The  Ust-Urt 
Plateau  and  the  Mugdjar  (Mongodjar)  mountains  prevented 
it  from  spreading  north-westward,  and  a  narrow  channel 
connected  it  along  the  Uzboi  with  the  Caspian,  which  sent  a 
broad  gulf  to  the  east,  spread  up  to  the  Volga,  and  was 
connected  by  the  Manytsch  with  the  Black  Sea  basin.  Great 
interest,  geological  and  historical,  thus  attaches  to  the  recent 
changes  undergone  by  the  basin."  l 

As  regards  Eastern  Turkestan,  the  following  extends  will 
be  found  interesting  in  connection  with  the  existence  of 
another  large  sea  in  Central  Asia : 

14  Lob-nor  now  consists  of  two  basins,  but  the  largest  of 
them,  although  it  has  an  area  four  times  as  large  as  that  of 
the  Lake  of  Geneva,  can  hardly  be  called  a  lake,  since  its 
greatest  depth  is  less  than  20  feet,  while  reeds  rise  20  feet 
above  the  thin  film  of  water,  and  extend  far  beyond  its  shores. 
*  S»cy.  BrU.t  Vol  XXIII,  p.  634  (Ninth,  Edit  ion).  ~ 


II.]  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE.  & 

In  fact,  the  whole  of  the  region,  notwithstanding  its  consider- 
able altitude  above  the  ocean,  has  but  recently  emerged  from 
under  water.  During  the  later  portion  of  the  Tertiary  period, 
it  was  covered  with  one  immense  Mediterranean  sea,  and  even 
during  the  Post-Pliocene  period,  was  occupied  by  a  lake. ..The 
desiccation  of  East  Turkestan  must  have  gone  on,  within 
historical  time,  at  a  much  more  rapid  rate  than  geologists 
seem  prepared  to  admit."  ] 

The  existence  of  vast  inland  seas  in  Central  Asia  down 
to  recent  geological  times  is  thus  undoubted.  The  question 
now  is  whether  the  region,  inhabited  by  the  ancient  Aryans, 
extended  as  far  as  East  Turkestan,  close  to  the  confines  of 
the  Central  Asian  seas.  On  this  question,  the  following 
observations  made  by  Lassen  will  throw  some  light: — 

"  It  appears  very  probable  that  at  the  dawn  of  history, 
East  Turkestan  was  inhabited  by  an  Aryan  population,  the 
ancestors  of  the  present  Slavonic  and  Teutonic  races,  and 
a  civilisation,  not  inferior  to  that  of  Bactriana,  had  already 
developed  at  that  time  in  the  region  of  the  Tarim."  2 
Whether  these  Aryan  people  were  the  ancestors  of  the 
Slavonic  and  the  Teutonic  races  is  quite  another  matter  with 
which  we  are  not  here  concerned.  All  that  we  need  note 
here  is  that  a  scholar  like  Lassen  holds  that  at  the  dawn  of 
history,  East  1  urkestan  was  inhabited  by  an  Aryan  population. 

1  shall  not,  therefore,  be  wrong,  if  I  conclude  that  the 
region  inhabited  by  the  ancient  Aryans  extended  as  far  north 
as  Bactriana  and  Eastern  Turkestan  in  recent  geological 
times  that  saw  the  early  dawn  of  hij»tory. 

From  an  examination  and  discussion  of  the  above 
geological  evidences  is  clearly  proved  the  existence  of  the 
four  seas,  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  round  about  the  region, 
inhabited  by  the  ancient  Aryans,  which  included  Sapta-Sindu 
on  the  south,  Bactriana  and  Eastern  Turkestan  on  the  north, 
Gandhftra  on  the  west,  and  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Ganga* 
and  llie  YamunA  on  the  east.  The  age  of  the  Rgveda, 
therefore,  must  be  as  old  as  the  existence  of  these  four  seas 
in  ancient  limes.  ^^ 

•  /bid.,  p.  638. 

*  Laura's  Indiacke  AlttYthums-Kunda. 


CHAPTER  in. 


BOYEDIC  EVIDENCE  SUPPORTING  THE  GEOLOGICAL  EVIDENCE  AND 
PROVING  TOE  VAST  ANTIQUITY  OF  SAPTA-S1NDHU. 

It  is  a  pity  that  well-known  Sanskrit  scholars,  both  Euro- 
pean and  Indian,  have  sometimes  studied  the  Rgveda  in  a 
most  superficial  and  perfunctory  manner,  and  drawn  conclu- 
sions which  are  not  at  ail  warranted  by  the  evidences  found 
in  the  sacred  Scripture.  For  instance,  Professor  A  A. 
Macdonell  in  his  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature  has  observed 
that  the  Indo-Aryans  were  not  directly  familiar  with  the 
ocean.  I  will  quote  his  very  words  below  :  — 

"  The  southward  migration  of  the  Aryan  invaders  does 
not  appear  to  have  extended  at  the  time  when  the  hymns  of 
the  Rgveda  were  composed,  much  beyond  the  point  where 
the  united  waters  of  the  Punjab  flow  into  the  Indus.  The 
ocean  was  probably  known  only  from  hearsay \  for  no  mention 
is  made  of  the  numerous  mouths  of  the  Indus,  and  fishing, 
one  of  the  main  occupations  on  the  banks  of  the  Lower  Indus 
at  the  present  day,  is  quite  ignon  d.  The  word  for  fish 
(matsya)  indeed  only  occurs  once,  though  various  kinds  of 
animals,  birds,  and  insects  are  so  frequently  mentioned. 
This  accords  with  the  character  of  the  rivers  of  the  Punjab 
and  Eastern  Kabul  1st  an,  which  are  poor  in  fish,  while  it 
contrasts  with  the  intimate  knowledge  of  fishing  betrayed  by 
the  Yajur-veda,  which  was  composed  when  the  Aryans  had 
spread  much  farther  to  the  east,  and  doubtless  also  to  the 
south.  The  word  which  later  is  the  regular  name  for 
*  Ocean'  (Sam-udra)  seems,  therefore,  in  agreement  with  the 
etymological  sense  (4  collection  of  waters'),  to  mean  in  the 
'Rgveda  only  the  lower  course  of  the  Indus,  which,  after 
receiving  the  waters  of  the  Punjab,  is  so  wide  that  a  boat  in 
mid-stream  is  invisible  from  the  bank,  it  has  been  noted 
in  recent  times  that  the  natives  in  this  region  speak  of  the 


ill.]  THE  SEA  OR  SAMUDRA.  '  33 

river  as  the  '  Sea  of  Sindhu, '  and  indeed  the  word  Sindhu 
(river)  in  several  passages  of  the  Rgveda  has  practically  the 
sense  of  the  '  sea/  Metaphors  such  as  would  be  used  by  a 
people  familiar  with  the  ocean  are  lacking  in  the  Rgveda. 
All  references  to  navigation  point  only  to  the  crossing  of 
rivers  in  boats,  impelled  by  oars,  the  main  object  being  to 
reach  the  other  bank  (pdra).  This  action  suggested  a 
favourite  figure,  which  remained  familiar  throughout  Sanskrit 
Literature.  Thus  one  of  the  poets  of  the  Rgveda  invokes 
Agni  with  the  words  '  Take  us  across  all  woes  and  dangers 
as  across  the  river  (Sindhu)  in  a  boat ' ;  and  in  the  later 
Sanskrit  Literature  one  who  has  accomplished  his  purpose 
or  mastered  his  subject  is  very  frequently  described  as 
'  having  crossed  the  farther  shore  '  (p&raga).  The  Atharra- 
veda,  on  the  other  hand,  contains  some  passages  showing 
that  its  composers  were  acquainted  with  the  ocean."  1 

I  must  candidly  confess  here  that  I  was  never  more  sur- 
prised in  my  life  than  when  I  first  read  the  above  paragraph. 
For,  I  have  come  across  innumerable  passages  in  the  Rgveda, 
in  which  the  word  Samudra,  meaning  the  Sea,  occurs. 
Professor  Macdonell  contends,  from  the  so-called  etymological 
meaning  of  the  word  Samudra  (collection  of  waters),  that 
the  lower  course  of  the  Indus,  united  by  its  several  tributaries, 
was  denoted  by  that  name  ;  but  if  that  were  so,  what  would 
be  the  meaning  of  the  "  Eastern  and  the  Western  Samudras," 
in  both  of  which  the  deity  named  Ke&}  or  the  Sun,  used  to 
dwell?  (Rv.  x.  136,  5).  If  the  Indus  be  identified  with  the 
Western  Samudra^  what  was  the  Purva  Samudra  ?  There 
was  no  large  river  like  the  Indus  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
Punjab;  and  the  Sarasvatl,  and  the  Gangd  and  the  Yamuni 
in  their  upper  courses  near  Sapta-Sindhu,  were  only  small 
streams  in  comparison  with  the  Indus.  What  would  again 
be  the  meaning  of  "  the  four  Samudras  "  mentioned  in  Rv. 
ix.  33,  6  and  Rv.  x  47,  2  ?  The  Sin  dims  (or  rivers)  were 

1     History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,  pp.  1 43*  1 4 4-     Prof.    E.    W,    Hopkin*  is 
also  of  the  *ame  opinion.     Vide  Appendix  to  this  Chapter. 


34  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

enumerated  as  seven  in  the  Rgveda,  and  not  four ;  and  M  the 
four  Samudrafe,"  if  they  were  simply  rivers,  would  be  quite 
meaningless.  The  distinction  between  the  words  Sindhu 
and  Samudra  has  been  most  clearly  drawn  in  Rv.  viii.  6,  4 
(Samudrayeva  Sindhavah)  1,  where  it  has  been  said  that  all 
mankind  bow  before  Indra  through  fear,  as  the  Sindhus  i.e. 
the  rivers,  (or  the  mouths  of  the  Indus,  if  you  please),  do 
their  obeisance  to  the  Samudra  i.e.  the  Ocean ;  as  also  in 
Rv.  viii.  92,  22,  where  it  has  been  said  that  all  offerings  of 
Soma  reach  Indra,  just  as  all  the  Sindhus  enter  into  the 
Samudra.  Further  in  Rv.  iii.  36,  7,  it  has  been  said  that  the 
Sindhus  or  rivers  fill  the  Samudra  or  ocean  with  their 
waters.  The  word  Sindhu  has  also  been  used  in  the  Rgveda 
to  denote  the  sea,  as,  for  instance,  when  the  A£vins  have 
been  called  Sindhu -m&tar  ah  (Rv.  i.  46,  2),  'sons  whose 
mother  is  Sindhu'  or  the  Ocean,  because  they,  being  the 
precursors  of  the  Dawn,  2  were  seen  to  come  out,  as  it  were, 
from  the  womb  of  the  Eastern  Sea.  Here  Sindhu  cannot 
mean  "  the  Indus,'9  because  the  ASvins  do  not  rise  from  the 
western  horizon ;  nor  does  it  mean  "  river/'  because  there 
was  no  river  of  wide  expanse  like  the  Indus  in  the  east,  from 
whose  bosom  they  might  be  said  to  rise.  But  it  is  just 
possible  that  the  idea  of  the  sea  was  first  obtained  by  the 
ancient  Aryans  of  the  Pleistocene  Epoch  from  the  sea 
that  occupied  the  Indus  trough,  which  was  called  Sindhu, 
and  that  afterwards  when  that  sea  was  filled  up  with  alluvium, 
and  the  present  river  Sindhu  occupied  its  place,  it  was  called 
by  the  old  name,  and  the  term  Sindhu  came  to  denote  a  river 
as  well  as  a  sea  To  avoid  this  confusion,  however,  the  word 
Samudra  was  probably  afterwards  coined  to  mean  the  ocean. 
Bat  the  etymological  meaning  of  the  word  is  not  "  a  collec- 
tion of  waters  "  but  a  vast  expanse  of  water  that  wets  and 
floods  the  dry  land  by  the  rising  and  swelling  tides.  And 

»     Rv.  viii.  6,  4:-9TOlprt  fWt 
Cf.  also  he  86,  8  ;  xf  65, 13  ;  66,  n. 
»    Rv.  1^4,  10 ;  46,  I  i  and*.  39, 


111.]  f  HE  S£A  ktf OWN  T&  ARYANS.  3* 

this  is  the  chief  characteristic  feature  of  an  ocean  or  sea. 
It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  word  is  used  in  the  verse,  in  which 
the  river  Sarasvatl   has  been   described   to  flow  from  the 
mountains  into  the  sea  (Samudra))    meaning  an  arm  of  the 
Rljputini    Sea;  as    also    in    the    verse    where    all  rivers 
(Sindhus)  are  said  to  be  flowing  into   the  Samudra.    A  Rji 
expresses  his    wonder   that   all    the  flowing  rivers  cannot  fill 
up  the  one  Ocean.     (Rv.  v.  85,  6 ;  cf.  i.  13,  2).  The  sea  or 
Samudra   was  supposed  by   the  ancient  Aryans  not  only  to 
extend  over  the  earth,  but  also  over  the   vast  expanse  of  the 
sky  in   the  form   of    watery    vapours,    from    which    water 
descended  on  the  earth  in  torrents  of  rain.     (Rv.  x.  98,  5.  12). 
This  gives  us   a  pretty  good   idea  that  the  Aryans  formed 
of  the   wide  extent  of  the  ocean,  which  was  certainly  larger 
than  the  width  of  the   largest   river  in   Sapta-Sindhu.     The 
unfathomable   depth   of  the  sea   was  also  used  as  a  simile 
to   denote  the  magnitude  of   one's  greatness  (Rv.  vii.  33,  8). 
As   regards   fishing,   there  is   a   whole  Sokta  (viii.  67)   that 
describes  the  plaintive   prayer  of   fishes,    caught  in   a  net 
It  might  be   a  figurative    description    of  the  pitiful  cry  of 
men   caught   in   the   meshes   of    sin  and  worldliness.     But 
such  a  figure  of  speech  would   never   have  been   used,   if 
fishing  with   nets   was   not  a  familiar  scene  in  ancient  Sapta- 
Sindhu.     Fish  is  also  mentioned  in    Rv.    x.   68,8.     Professor 
MacdonelPs  assumption,   therefore,   that  the  ancient  Aryans 
were  not  directly   acquainted    with    the    ocean    is    simply 
gratuitous  and  not  warranted  by  evidence.   The  very  numerous 
mention  of  the  word  Samudra  in  the  Rgveda  quite  accords 
with  their  perfect  knowledge  of  the  four  seas  that  surrounded 
the  land  of  Sapta-Sindhu.     That  the  Aryans  navigated  the 
seas  and  were  acquainted  with  the   art   of   navigation  would 
appear  from  the  fact  that  they  had  sea-going  vessels,  propelled 
by  one  hundred  oars   (Rv.  i.  116,5),  and  also  furnished  with 
wings,  f.*.,  sails  (Rv.  x.  143,5).    The  dimension  of  a  vessel 
that  is  propelled  by  one  hundred  oars  would  be  very  much 
larger  than  that  of  an  ordinary  river-craft  intended  and  used 


3*  &SVED1C  INDIA. 

fot  crossing  tbe  Indus  even  at  the  time  of  her  highest  flood. 
The  A*vins  are  *said  to  have  rescued  Bhujyu  who  was  ship- 
wrecked in  the  sea,  and  brought  him  to  the  shore  in  their 
hundred-oared  boat  after  voyaging  for  three  days  and  nights. 
(Rv.  i.  1  164).  This  sea  (Samudra)  has  been  described  as 
without  support,  without  any  land  or  shores,  and  without 
any  object  that  can  be  grasped  for  protection.1  It  was,  in 
fact,  a  shoreless  and  limitless  ocean,  with  nothing  but  water 
and  water  on  every  side.  Islands  (Dv\pas)  have  also  been 
mentioned  in  the  Rgveda  (i.  169,  3).  The  Aryan  merchants 
used  to  "  plough  "  the  seas  with  their  vessels  in  quest  of 
wealth  (Rv.  i.  56,  2),  and  they  offered  prayers  to  the  Ocean 
before  undertaking  a  voyage  (  Rv.  iv.  55,  6).  Merchants 
possessed  fleets  of  merchantmen  which  they  sent  across  the 
seas  for  the  purposes  of  trade.  (Rv.  i.  48,  3).  It  is  said  that 
Bhujyu,  at  the  direction  of  his  father,  King  Tugra,  organized 
an  expedition  to  punish  some  recalcitrant  islanders,  and  it 
was  during  this  voyage  that  he  was  shipwrecked  and  rescued 
by  the  A£vins  (Sdyana).  Indra  is  said  to  have  crossed  the 
ocean  and  brought  back  to  the  shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu  Yadu 
and  TurvaS  who  had  left  their  country  and  lived  on  the 
farther  shores  of  the  ocean  as  unanointed  kings,  probably  in 
a  nsw  colony  of  their  own.  (Rv.  iv.  30,  17  ;  and  vi.  20,  12). 
They  were  thus  rescued  from  barbarism,  into  which  they  had 
pr6bably  been  relapsing,  cut  off  as  they  were  from  their  own 
kith  and  kin  by  the  intervening  sea  (Rv.  i.  54,  6).  Vasisfha 
is  said  to  have  made  a  sea-voyage  with  Varuna,  and  he  himself 
has  described  bow  the  voyage  was  enjoyed,  and  the  vessel 
rocked  and  rolled  over  the  waves.  (Rv.  vii.  88,  3.).  Varuna 

1    The  verse  (Rv.  i.  i  i6f  5)  is  as  follows  :— 


The  literal  translation  of  the  above  verse  is  as  follows  :— 
*  This  exploit  you  achieved,  AaVins,  in  the  ocean  where  there  is  nothing 
to  give  support,  nothing  to  rest  upon,  nothing  to  cling  to  t  that  you  brought 
Bbuj/tt,  sailing  in  a  hundred-oared  ship  to  his  father's  house." 


lit.]         df  HgR  £VIt>ENCtfS  OF  ANTIQUtTV,         3# 

was  the  Lord  of  the  Ocean,  living  below  the  waters  (Rv.  vti. 
49,  4),  in  a  palace  with  a  thousand  doors  or  entrances  (Rv.  viL 
88,  5)  which  probably  mean  the  thousand  rivers  that  fall  into 
it.  He  is  said  to  have  stretched  the  ocean  (Rv.  vii.  87,  6), 
and  known  the  different  routes  or  lines,  along  which  ships 
were  navigated.  (Rv.  i.  25,  7).  As  Varu^a  was  identified 
with  the  wide  ocean  below,  so  he  was  also  identified  with  the 
expanded  sky  of  the  night,  with  his  thousand  eyes  glittering 
and  sparkling  in  the  darkness  in  the  shape  of  the  stars.  From 
the  above  references,  it  would  be  quite  clear  to  our  readers 
that  the  ocean  was  an  object  familiar  to  the  Rgvedic  Aryans, 
and  this  is  quite  consistent,  as  I  have  said,  with  the  existence 
of  the  four  seas  round  about  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu.  Do  not  the 
above  evidences  thoroughly  contradict  Professor  MacdonelPs 
assumption  that  the  ancient  Aryans  knew  the  ocean  only  from 
hearsay  and  had  no  direct  knowledge  of  it  ?  This  is  a  glaring 
instance  and  proof  positive  of  the  way  in  which  wrong  judg- 
ments are  sometimes  formed  through  bias  and  pre-conceived 
ideas.  * 

Besides  the  mention  of  the  four  seas,  there  are  many 
other  evidences  in  the  Rgveda  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the 
Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindlm.  That  they  regarded  the  land  as 
their  original  home  would  appear  from  the  fact  that  the  region 
between  the  SarasvatI  and  the  Sindhu  (the  Indus)  was  called 
the  ••  God-fashioned  region,  or  source  of  life  and  production/1 
(Devakrta  Yoni).-  The  descriptive  phrase  occurs  in  Rv.  Hi. 

*  In  this  connection,  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  Professor 
Wilson's  views  on  the  subject .     "  They  (the  $gvedic  Aryans)    were  a  mari- 

time  and  mercantile  people Not  only  are  the  Sdktas  familiar  with  the  ocean 

and  its  phenomena,  but  we  have  merchants  described  as  pressing  earnestly  on 
board  ship  for  the   sake   of  gain,  and   we  have  a  naval  expedition  against  a 
foreign  island  or  continent   (dvlpa)  frustrated  by  a   ship-wreck,"     i  Wilson's 
Translation  of  the  JJgveda.    Intro  :  p.  xli,  Second  Ed.  1860). 

•  Yoni  here  means  grha   or  abode  (vide  Yaska's  Nighant*  Hi,  4)-    Yoni 
also  means  "  water,"  and  Devakrta  Yoni  may  mean  "  water  made  by  the  Gods," 
in  other  words,  ••  the  ocean."    But  the  meaning  that  the  rivers  are  advancing 
towards  the  *  God-made  home  or   region  "  of  the  Aryans  seems  more  appro- 
priate, as  it  is  supported  by    Manu   who  describes  the  original   home  of  the 
Aryans  as  "  Dnanirmita  Defa  "or  God-fashioned  region.    All  regions  have 
been  made  by  God,  but  the  region  specially  made  for  the  Aryans  to  live  in  has 
been  described  as  0»w*f  to  Yoni  or  D****irmita  D*$*. 


3*  *GV£D1C  MDtA.  [CHAP. 

33*  4.  where  the  two  rivers  Bipdt  and  the  Sutudri  (the  Beas 
and  the  Sutlej)  have  been  made  to  say  that,  swollen  with 
water,  they  are  advancing  towards  the  "God-fashioned 
region/11  This  sentiment  about  the  sacredness  of  the  region 
was  in  a  later  age  echoed  by  Manu  in  his  celebrated  Saqihitl, 
in  which  the  region  between  the  Sarasvatl  and  the  Dftadvatl 
has  been  described  as  the  "  God-fashioned  country  "  (Deia- 
nirmita  deia).*  Further,  in  Rv.  ii.  41,  1  6,  the  Sarasvatl  has 
been  described  as  "  the  best  of  mothers,  the  best  of  rivers, 
and  the  best  of  Goddesses,"3  and  in  verse  17  of  the  same 
Sakta,  this  sacred  river  has  been  described  to  be  the  support 
of  all  (life),  which  probably  means  that  all  animals  were 
evolved  in  the  region  of  the  Sarasvatl.4  This  certainly 
accords  with  the  geological  fact  that  the  Punjab  was  the  most 
ancient  life-producing  region  in  India.  It  will  be  in  the 
recollection  of  our  readers  that  in  the  famous  Siwalik  beds 
within  the  sub-Himilayan  range  have  been  found  the  vast 
stores  of  extinct  mammalia,  and  it  is  significant  that  the 
Sarasvatl  has  her  source  in  the  Himalaya  in  that  region.  The 
Rgvedic  Aryans  must  have  been  aware  of  the  existence  of 
these  vast  stores  of  extinct  mammalia  to  justify  them  in  saying 
that  the  Sarasvatl  was  the  source  and  support  of  all  life. 

Another  evidence  (though  of  a  negative  kind)  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  Rgveda  and  of  the  In  do-  Aryans  is  the  total 
absence  of  any  mention  in  it  of  the  great  Deluge  which  is 
referred  to  in  the  Atharva-veda  and  related  in  the  $a  tap  at  ha 
Brdhmana  and  later  Sanskrit  Literature,  such  as  the  Maha- 
bharata  and  the  Puri^as.  A  Deluge  is  also  mentioned  in  the 

»     Rv.  Hi.  33,4  :- 

WT  TO  «w« 


*  Iviq-n  H^C)  H 

(Manu  ii,  17  J 
«     Rv.ii.4i.  16:— 


*    Rv.  it.  41.  17  :  — 

w  fm  wuft  frur 


Ill;]  MANU'S  FLOOD.  35 

Gilgamesh  Epic  of  Babylonia,  in  another  Babylonian  account 
of  it  left  by  Berossus,  in  the  ancient  flood-legend  of  Egypt, 
with  which  the  name  of  Tern,  "  the  father  of  human  beings  "  is 
associated,  in  the  classical  accounts  of  Greece,  and  lastly  in  the 
Biblical  account  of  the  Great  Flood  from  which  Noah  saved 
himself  along  with  the  seeds  of  all  floras  and  faunas.  Whether 
all  these  different  accounts  refer  and  point  to  the  one  and 
same  event,  it  is  very  difficult  to  ascertain  ;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  occurrence  was  a  real  event,  at  any  rate,  in 
India.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  time  of  its  happening, 
one  thing  stands  out  clear  and  certain,  that  the  Deluge  as 
mentioned  in  the  Sa  tap  at  ha  Brdhmana,  occurred  long  after 
the  hymns  of  the  Rgveda  Samhita  had  been  composed;  for 
if  it  had  happened  before  or  during  the  period  of  their 
composition,  there  was  every  likelihood  of  its  being  mentioned 
or  referred  to  somewhere  in  the  Rgveda.  The  accounts  of 
the  flood  as  found  in  the  Satapatha  Brdhmana,  and  in  the 
Babylonian  story  of  Berossus  and  the  Gilgamesh  Epic  differ 
in  one  material  aspect,  which  is  worth  mentioning  here. 
While  Manu's  Flood  seems  to  have  been  caused  by  the 
swelling  of  the  sea,  situated  to  the  south  of  the  land  in  which 
he  lived,  and  carried  his  ship  northward  to  the  "  Northern 
Mountain  "  (Uttara  Giri)}  meaning  of  course  the  Himalaya, 
the  Babylonian  account  of  Berossus  speaks  of  "  a  deluge  of 
rain  "  which  continued  for  "  three  days,"  and  the  Epic  of 
Gilgamesh  also  mentions  of  "  heavy  rains  "  pouring  down  from 
14  black  clouds/1  which  made  the  earth  look  like  the  sea.  The 
Biblical  account  of  the  flood  similarly  mentions  that  it  was 
caused  by  heavy  down-pourings  for  "  forty  days  and  forty 
nights  "  (Genesis,  vii.  12).  The  Indian  Flood,  not  having  been 
caused  by  heavy  rainfall,  must  therefore  have  been  caused  by 
violent  seismic  action  which  seems  to  have  some  connection 
with  the  partial  disappearance  of  the  R&jput&ni  Sea,  situated 
to  the  south  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  A  portion  of  the  bed  of  this  sea 
was  probably  suddenly  upheaved,  displacing  and  scattering 
the  vast  .volume  of  water,  which  caused  a  flood  in  Sapta* 


*o  *GVED9C  INDIA. 

Sindhu,  and  covered  the  lower  regions  of  the  HimAlaya  for 
sometime.  Manu's  ship  was  carried  inland  by  the  flood  and 
i$  said  to  have  been  stranded  on  a  low  peak  of  the  Himilaya 
on  the  north  of  Kashmir,  which  is  known  as  Manor  avata  ray  a  »i, 
or  the  place  where  Manu  disembarked  from  his  ship.  Though 
much  of  the  flood-water  returned  to  the  sea  through  the 
river-channels,  some  of  it  must  have  oeen  left  in  the 
hollows  and  low  lands  of  the  plains,  where  it  stagnated. 
The  rapid  desiccation  of  this  sea-water  very  likely  gene* 
rated  vast  volumes  of  watery  vapours,  which,  having  partly 
been  carried  westward,  might  have  been  precipitated  in 
Babylonia  in  a  deluge  of  rain,  causing  a  flood  in  that 
country.  The  rest,  having  been  carried  northward,  was 
probably  precipitated  in  Airyana  Vaejo  and  Bactriana  as  snow, 
causing  those  regions  to  be  invaded  by  ice.  But  there  is 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  flood  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the 
Deluge  in  Babylonia  were  not  simultaneous  events.  The  flood 
in  Sapta-Sindhu,  if  caused  by  the  partial  upheaval  of  the  bed 
of  the  R&jput£n&  Sea,  and  the  displacement  of  its  waters,  must 
have  occurred  long  before  the  Deluge  took  place  in  Babylo- 
nia, as  the  existence  of  Tertiary  and  Secondary  strata  across 
the  desert  of  RAjputAnA  from  Sind  towards  the  flank  of  the 
Aravalli  mountains  would  seem  to  indicate.  The  Deluge  in 
Babylonia  must  therefore  be  traced  to  some  other  cause,  which, 
I  believe,  was  the  desiccation  of  the  Central  Asiatic  Mediterra- 
nean Sea  in  Eastern  Turkestan,  of  which  Lake  Lob  Nor  is  the 
remnant.  The  vast  volumes  of  watery  vapours,  thus  generated, 
probably  passed  southward  and  caused  a  deluge  of  rain  in 
Babylonia,  of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  Gilgamesh  Epic 
and  the  account  of  Berossus.  Noah's  flood  which  also  was 
caused  by  heavy  downpours  of  rains  may  have  been  a  simul- 
taneous event  with  the  Babylonian  and  the  Egyptian  floods. 
In  Ancient  Greece,  according  to  Xenophon,  there  were  no  less 
than  five  deluges,  and  the  last  that  happened  in  the  reign  of 
Deucalion  "  was  produced  by  the  inundation  of  the  water  of 
the  river  Peneus  whose  regular  course  was  stopped  by  an 


IIL]        NOAH'S  FLOOD  AND  OTHER  FLOODS.       4| 

earthquake  near  Mount  Ossa  and  Olympus."  and  "  is  supposed 
to  have  happened  1503  years  B.C."  l  The  opening  of  the 
Bosphorus,  which  caused  the  water  of  the  Aralo-Caspian  Sea 
to  flow  into  the  European  Mediterranean,  must  also  have 
occasioned  an  inundation  of  the  low-lying  coasts  of  Asia 
Minor,  Africa,  and  Greece,  facing  the  Mediterranean.  If,  as 
is  supposed  by  some  European  savants,  the  opening  of  the 
Bosphorus  took  place  in  the  reign  of  Deucalion  about  1503 
B.C.,  the  disappearance  of  the  undivided  Aralo-Caspian  Sea 
which  extended  as  far  as  the  Black  Sea  must  have  occurred 
in  historical  times,  and  the  theory  of  Professor  MaxMuller 
and  others  about  the  Central  Asiatic  home  of  the  Aryans 
would  thus  fall  to  the  ground,  in  as  much  as  Central  Asia 
would  not  afford  sufficient  pasturage  to  the  cattle  of  a  large 
pastoral  people  as  the  ancient  Aryans  are  supposed  to  have 
been,  and  especially  because  we  find  them  already  settled  in 
Sapta-Sindhu  long  before  that  event.  As  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor 
remarks :  "  A  semi-nomadic  pastoral  people,  such  as  the 
primitive  Aryans  doubtless  were,  must  have  required  a  vast 
space  to  nurture  the  cattle  necessary  for  their  support.  A 
Tartar  family  in  Central  Asia  requires  three  hundred  heads 
of  cattle,  and  occupies  rather  more  than  three  thousand  acres. 
Hence  a  tribe  consisting  of  10,000  people  would  occupy  from 
4,000  to  6,000  square  miles."-  North-Western  Asia  and 
Central  Asia,  having  been  in  ancient  times  covered  by  large 
seas,  would  not  afford  the  pastoral  Aryans  sufficient  space 
for  themselves  and  their  cattle,  but  the  level  plains  of  the 
Punjab,  intersected  as  they  are  by  broad  rivers,  would  afford 
them  such  space. 

It  may  be  urged  that  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda 
from  the  absence  of  any  mention  of  the  Deluge  in  that  sacred 
work  would  be  an  instance  of  argumentum  ex  silentio  ;  for 
the  event  may  have  occurred  within  the  long  period  during 

.  l     Lempriere's  Classical  Dictionary,  p.  aoo. 
'  JJ    Taylor's  Or  fin  of  tht  Aryans,  p.  15. 

6 


41  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

%  * 

which  the  hymns  were  composed,  though  there  was  no  neces- 
sity for  mentioning  it  in  any  hymn,  simply  because  the  Rgveda 
was  not  a  chronicle  of  the  principal  events  of  the  age.    There 
is  undoubtedly  some  force  in  this  argument,  especially  as 
the  event  has  been  referred  to  in  the  Atharva-veda,  which, 
however,  is  admittedly  a  later  work  than  the    Rgveda,  * 
though  it  is  undoubtedly  older  than  the  Taittinya  Brdhmana 
and  the  Sat  ap  at  ha  Brdhmana,  in  which  it  has  been  referred 
to  more  than  once.     It  is  indeed  extremely  difficult  to   try  to 
fix   the   period  of   time  in   which  the  flood  took  place  or  the 
R&jputanS,   sea    disappeared.     But   it  may  be  safely  surmised 
that  it  took  place  long  after  some  of  the  most   ancient   hymns 
of  the  Rgveda  had  been  composed,  for  we  find  mention  made 
in  the  latter  of  the  Sarasvatl  and  the  Sutudri  (Rv.  iii.  33,  2) 
flowing  into  the  sea,  which  could  be  no  other  than  the  Raj. 
put  in  ft  Sea.     These  two   rivers    must  have   changed   their 
courses  after  the  upheaval  of  the  sea-bed,  the  one  meander- 
ing alongside   of  the  newly  thrown-up  sand-banks  in  a  chan- 
nel  running  parallel   to  the   Indus-bed    until  it   was  finally 
choked  up  by  gradually  drifting  sand,  while  the  other  swerv- 
ing towards  the  west  and  joining  the  Indus  at  the  confluence 
of  her  tributaries.     If  the  partial  disappearance  of  the  Raj- 
putana  Sea  was  synchronous  with  the  flood,  and   the   sea   be 
proved  to  have  existed  down  to  the  Quaternary  Era,  the  flood 
must  have  occured   sometime   in   that   Era,  long  long  before 
Noah's  Deluge  or  the  flood  in  Babylonia  took  place. 

Another  evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda  and  of 
the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  is  the  reference  in  some  of  the 
hymns  to  extensive  seismic  disturbances,  causing  upheaval?  and 
depressions  of  land  and  frequent  earthquakes  of  great  intensity. 
In  Rv.  ii.  12,  2,  we  read  that  the  great  Indra  made  the  agitated 
and  troubled  earth  firm,  and  controlled  the  angry  mountains 
that  also  must  have  shown  si«n«?  of  agitation  and  volcanic 

1  The  Athanm-vfda  mentions  the  Ma^dhas  a  .d  the  Angas  (v.  22),  the 
inhabitants  of  the  countries  which  were  under  the  sea  when  the  Rgved* 
was  composed. 


III.]  SEISMIC  DISTURBANCES.  4r 

action.1  In  Rv.  ii.  17,  5,  it  has  been  stated  that  Indra  made. 
the  shifting  mountains  immovable  by  his  prowess.2  The  worcr 
for  mountains  in  the  original  is  parvatdn,  which  has  also  been 
used  in  the  Rgveda  to  mean  '  clouds/  in  as  much  as  they 
look  like  mountains.  The  above  verse  may,  therefore,  be  also 
interpreted  to  mean  that  Indra  made  the  shifting  clouds 
immovable  before  pouring  down  rain.  But  read  the  following 
translation  of  Rv.  i.  63,  i  :  —  "  All  created  objects  and  animals, 
the  mountains,  and  all  other  hard  and  large  objects  that  exist, 
trembled  through  fear  of  thee  (Indra)  like  the  rays  of  the  sun 
in  the  sky."3  In  this  hymn  the  word  girayah  does  not  mean 
"  clouds  "  but  really  hard  and  solid  mountains.  Read  again 
the  following  translation  of  Rv.  i.  62,  5  :—  "  O  Indra,  thou 
hast  levelled  down  the  high  grounds  of  the  earth."4  These 

1     Rv,  ii.  12.  2  is  as  follows   — 


The  English  translation  ot  the  above  is  a*  follow*    * 

"  He  who  fixed  firm  the  moving  earth  ,  who  tranquilized  the  incensed 
mountains  ;  who  spread  the  spacious  firmament  ;  who  consolidated  the 
heaven  ;  he,  men,  is  Indra." 

1     Rv.  ii.  17,  5  is  as  follow*    - 


The  English  translation  ii>  a->  follows  — 

"  By  his  strength  he  fixed  the  wandering  mountains  he  directed  the 
downward  course  of  the  waters  ;  he  upheld  the  earth,  the  nur*e  (of  all  creatures) 
and  by  his  craft  he  stayed  the  heaven  from  falling.' 

s     Rv.  i.  63,  i  .— 


q&ft  finrr  firof^wT  finre^fr^i  ftr^^T'rar'i  n 

"  Indra,  thou  art  the  mighty  one,  who  becoming  manifest  in  (the  hour  of) 
alarm,  didst  sustain  by  energies  heaven  and  earth  ;  then  through  (fear  of 
thee)  all  creatures  and  the  mountains,  and  all  other  vast  and  solid  things, 
tremble4,  like  the  (tremulous^  rays  of  the  Sun." 

*     Rv.  i.  62,  5.—  • 

M 


WTO 

•'  Thou  hast  made  straight  the  elevations  of  the  earth." 
Head  also  $g.  tiu  30,  9. 


*4  |LGVE*nfc  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

acts  of  the  great  Indra  undoubtedly  refer  to  violent  earth- 
quakes and  volcanic  actions.  It  can  thus  be  inferred  that  the 
ancient  Aryans  were  pretty  familiar  with  frequent  earthquakes 
of  great  intensity,  that  caused  marked  alterations  in  the 
tondscape  and  the  physical  features  of  the  country  by  depres- 
sing high  grounds,  uplifting  hills  or  shifting  them  to  other 
places.  The  following  extracts  from  the  Encyclopedia  Britan- 
nic* will  be  found  interesting  in  this  connection  :  "  The  great 
disturbance  which  has  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  existing 
chain  of  the  Himalayas  took  place  after  the  deposition  of  the 
Eocene  beds.  Disturbances  even  greater  in  amount  occurred 
after  the  deposition  of  the  Pliocene  beds.  The  eocenes  of 
the  sub-Himalayan  range  were  deposited  upon  uncontorted 
Palaeozoic  rocks,  but  the  whole  has  since  been  violenty  disturb- 
ed. There  are  some  indications  that  the  disturbing  forces 
were  more  severe  to  the  eastward  during  middle  Tertiary 
times,  and  that  the  main  action  to  the  westward  was  of  later 
date.  It  seems  highly  probable  that  the  elevation  of  the 
mountain  ranges  and  the  depression  of  the  Indo-Gangetic  plains 

were  closely  related Probably  both  are  due  to  almost  con- 

temporary  movements  of  the  earth's  crust.  The  alluvial  deposits 
prove  depression  in  quite  recent  geological  times ;  and  within 
the  Himalayan  region,  earthquakes  are  still  common,  while  in 
the  Peninsular  India,  they  are  rare."1  The  recent  violent 
earthquake  in  the  Kangra  valley,  that  caused  very  widespread 
destruction,  corroborates  this  view. 

We  can  therefore  safely  conclude  that  if  the  Aryans  lived 
in  Sapta-Sindhu  even  in  Pleistocene  times,  they  witnessed 
violent  seismic  disturbances,  resulting  in  the  elevation  of 
mountains  and  the  depression  of  high  grounds,  all  of  which 
they  attributed  to  the  prowess  of  the  dreaded  Indra.  The 
ancient  Vedic  bards  also  attributed  to  Indra  the  acts  of 
causing  the  Indus  in  her  upper  course  to  flow  northward 
(Rv.  ii.  15,  6)  and  of  cutting  with  his  thunderbolt  paths 

*  Bncy.  Brit  vol.  xii,  p.  726  (Ninth  Edition). 


1IL]  HOPKINS'  INTERPRETATION.  4$ 

through  rocky  barriers  for  fill  the  rivers  of  Sapta-Sindhu 
to  flow  into  the  ocean.  (Rv.  ii.  15,  3.)  The  Indus  now  flow 
in  a  north-western  direction  on  the  north  of  Kashmir ;  but 
probably  in  ancient  times,  she  had  a  direct  southward  course 
which  must  have  been  obstructed  by  rocks  falling  into  her  bad 
or  new  rocks  or  hills  rising  across  it,  thereby  changing  her 
course  northward. 

There  are  many  other  Rgvedic  evidences  to  prove  its  anti- 
quity, which  will  be  dealt  with  in  the  next  chapter. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  III. 

Professor,  E.  W.  Hopkins  in  his  work  entitled  The  Religions  of  India 
(1895),  thus  comments  on  the  Rgvedic  Aryans'  knowledge  of  the  ocean  (p.  34): 

14  Some  scholars  believe  that  this  people  had  already  heard  of  the  two 
oceans,  (i.e.,  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  Arabian  Sea).  This  point  again  is 
doubtful  in  the  extreme.  No  descriptions  imply  a  knowledge  of  ocean,  and  the 
word  for  ocean  means  merely  a  'confluence*  of  waters,  or  in  general  a  great 
oceanic  body  of  water  like  the  air.  As  the  Indus  is  too  wide  to  be  seen  across, 
the  name  may  apply  in  most  cases  to  this  river."  The  holiowness  of  this 
view,  entertained  by  Prof.  Macdonell  also,  has  been  exposed  in  this  chapter. 

With  regard  to  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Samudras,  mentioned  in 
Rv.  I.  136,  5,  in  which  the  God  Keti,  (ie.t  the  Sun)  is  said  to  dwell,  Prof. 
Hopkins  says  rp.  34):  *'  An  allusion  to  '  eastern  and  western  floods/  which  is 
held  by  some  to  be  conclusive  evidence  for  a  knowledge  of  the  two  seas,  is 
taken  by  others  to  apply  to  the  air-oceans."  But  the  air-ocean  is  really  one 
and  not  two,  extending  over  the  antariksa  or  the  sky  from  the  east  to  the 
west  uninterruptedly,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Vedic  bard  should  divide 
it  into  two,  when  the  Sun  may  be  said  to  dwell  in  it  all  along  in  his  journey 
from  east  to  west.  Prof,  Hopkins,  probably  realising  the  absurdity  of  this 
interpretation,  proceeds  to  explain  the  passage  in  his  own  way :  "  The 
expression  may  apply  simply  to  rivers,  f  jr  it  is  sud  that  the  Vipas  and 
Sutudri  empty  into  the  *  ocean  '  i.e.,  the  Indus,  or  the  Sutudari's  continuation. 
(Rv  iii.  33,  2)."  The  word  in  the  verse  is  Samudra,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that 
in  those  days  the  Sutudri  like  the  Sindhu  and  the  Sarasvati  flowed  directly  into 
the  arm  of  the  Arabian  Sea  that  ran  up  the  modern  provice  of  Sind,  and  was 
called  Samudra.  The  Sutudri,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  must  have 
deflected  her  couse  towards  the  west  and  joined  the  Sindhu  after  the  upheaval 
of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea.  If  the  Sindhu  was  the  Western  Samudra  or 
14 flood"  as  translated  by  Prof.  Hopkins,  what  was  the  Eastern  Samudra  or 


46  &GVEDICJNDIA.  [APP.  TO  CHAP. 

% 

"  flood/1  for  there  was  no  Urge  river  like  the  Indus  on  the  east  ?  This  question 
rejpains  unanswered.  The  Professor  says :  "One  late  verse  alone  speaks  of 
the  Sarasvati  pouring  into  the  ocean,  and  this  would  indicate  the  Arabian  Sea." 
But  in  the  foot-note,  he  says:  "  Here  the  Sarasvati  can  be  only  the  Indus " — a 
view  followed  also  by  Ragozin.  If  the  Sarasvati  was  the  Sindhu,  how  is  it  that 
they  have  been  mentioned  in  the  same  verse  (Rv.  x.  64,  9)  along  with  the 
Sarayu  as  different  rivers  ?  This  only  goes  to  show  the  extreme  length  scholars 
are  apt  to  go  in  order  to  prove  their  pet  theory.  If  they  made  an  effort  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  the  passage  in  the  light  of  the  results  ot  geological 
investigations,  they  would  never  have  identified  the  sea  into  which  the 
Sarasvati  flowed  with  the  Arabian  Sea,  or  the  Sarasvati  with  the  Indus  The 
Sea,  as  we  have  seen,  was  no  other  than  the  RAiput£n£  Sea,  and  the  Sarasvati 
was  the  same  river  as  she  is  at  present,  though  she  is  now  merely  a  skeleton  of 
her  former  greatness  in  consequence  of  a  different  distribution  of  land  and 
water,  and  great  climatic  changes  in  recent  times.  The  Western  scholars 
have  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  the  distribution  of  land  and  water 
and  the  condition  of  the  rivers  in  the  Punjab  are  nearly  the  same  now  as 
they  were  in  Rgvedic  times,  and  not  being  able  to  harmonize  the  Rgvedic 
description  of  the  Sarasvati  with  her  present  attenuated  condition,  have 
sometimes  identified  her  with  the  Indus,  and  sometimes  with  the  Avestic 
Harahvati,  the  name  of  a  river  in  ancient  Arachosia.  "  The  Sarasvati  river  ' 
says  Prof.  Hopkins,  "  may  have  been  originally  one  with  the  Arghandab 
(on  which  is  Kandahar),  for  the  Persian  name  of  this  river  (s  becomes  h)  ib 
Harahvati,  and  it  is  possible  that  it  was  really  this  river,  and  not  the  Indus 
which  was  first  lauded  as  the  S<trasvati."  (p.  31).  This  again  shows  a  hopeless 
confusion  of  ideas.  If  the  Indus  was  the  Samudra  into  which  the  Harahvati 
flowed,  then  it  could  not  possibly  be  the  Western  Samudra  into  which  the 
God  Ke&  sank  down  to  rest;  for  admittedly  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  knew  of 
lands,  mountains  and  rivers,  situated  in  Arachosia  to  the  west  of  the  Indus, 
over  which  the  Sun  shone.  The  rising  and  the  setting  of  the  Sun  can  only 
be  connected  with  seas  or  wide  expanses  of  water,  whose  farther  shores  were 
unknown  and  invisible,  and  which  presented  a  boundless  appearance.  This 
condition  could  not  be  fulfilled  in  the  case  of  the  Indus  in  the  west  or  any 
river  in  the  east  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  irresistible  conclusion,  therefore,  is 
that  the  Eastern  and  the  Western  Samudras  really  refer  to  seas  to  the 
immediate  east  and  west  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  Rgvedic  Sarasvati  was  the 
same  as  the  present  attenuated  river  of  that  name  in  the  Punjab,  as  would 
appear  from  her  joint  mention  with  the  Drsadvati  and  the  Apaya  in  Rv.  iii, 
43»  4-  The  Sarasvati  having  been  the  most  sacred  river  of  the  early  Aryans, — 
made  famous  in  sacred  songs, — it  .is  not  improbable  that  the  Iranian  branch 
of  the  Aryans,  after  their  expulsion  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  named  a  river  of 
Arachosia  into  which  they  had  migrated,  after  the  most  sacred  river  of  the 
mother-country.  As  regards  the  two  seas,  the  Eastern  and  the  Western, 
Prof.  Hopkins  has  fallen  into  an  error  by  identifying  them  respectively  with 


HI.]  JACOBI'S  OBJECTIONS.  % 

the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  present  Arabian  Sea,  whose  knowledge  on  the  wt 
of  Rgvedic  Aryans  cannot  be  supported  by  any  internal  evidence  of  tne 
Rgveda.  If  he  could  only  identify  them  with  the  Eastern  Sea  over  the 
Gangetic  trough,  and  an  arm  of  the  Arabian  Sea  running  up  the  present 
province  of  Sind,  he  would  have  found  the  Rgvedic  description  of  the  seas 
quite  consistent.  He  is  probably  right  in  saying  that  "  as  a  body,  the  Aryans 
of  the  Rgveda  were  certainly  not  acquainted  with  either  ocean/'  namely,  the 
Arabian  Sea  or  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  But  his  interpretation  of  the  words, 
Samudra  and  Sarasvati,  like  that  of  Prof.  Macdonell  and  other  Vedir  scholars, 
is  undoubtedly  wrong  and  misleading. 

I  think  that  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  here  to  Professor  Hermann 
Jacobi's  objections  against  the  geological  evidence  that  I  have  made  use  of  to 
prove  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda.  In  a  communication,  dated  26th  February 
1926,  to  the  author,  he  has  been  pleased  to  observe:  "  I  cannot  agree  with 
you  in  your  opinions  about  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  even  from  geological 
considerations.  For  the  upheaval  of  the  country  which  caused  the  retreat  of 
the  Rajputana  Sea,  has  certainly  greatly  altered  the  previous  level  of  the  land, 
and  caused  a  new  drainage  of  it.  It  is  therefore  not  to  be  imagined  that 
before  that  catastrophe  the  same  rivers  should  already  have  existed  in  the 
Punjab  as  afterwards."  I  have  already  given  a  reply  to  this  frank  criticism  of 
the  learned  Professor,  which  may  be  thus  summarized*  (i)  The  country 
(vf'jr.,  the  Punjab)  was  not  upheaved,  but  only  a  portion  of  the  bed  of  the  Raj- 
putana Sea,  which  merely  affected  the  lower  courses  of  certain  Punjab  rivers, 
trf*.,  the  Sarasvati,  the  Drsadvatl,  and  the  Sutudri  'or  the  Sutlej)  in  the  Southern 
part  of  the  country,  which  bordered  upon  th*t  Sea.  The  Rgveda  mentions  the 
Sarasvati  and  the  Sutudri  as  flowing  directly  into  the  Sea  (Rv.  vu.  95,  2 ;  iii. 
33,  2).  The  upheaval  of  the  sea-bed  in  post-Rgvedic  times  must  have  caused 
an  obstruction  to  the  lower  channels  of  these  rivers  which  had,  therefore,  to 
deflect  their  courses  towards  the  west.  The  Sarasvati  at  first  meandered  along- 
side of  the  newly  thrown-up  sand-banks,  and  pursued  a  course  which  was 
almost  parallel  to  that  of  the  Sindhu  or  the  Indus,  until  she  reached  the 
Arabian  Sea.  The  drifting  sands,  however,  gradually  choked  up  this  newly 
formed  channel,  and  the  rain-fall  having  become  scanty  in  consequence  of  the 
disappearance  of  the  Sea  in  the  south,  the  Sarasvati  gradually  became  attenuat- 
ed, and  her  current  was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  cut  a  way  through  the  sand- 
choked  channel  which  has  since  then  remained  abandoned.  Traces  of  this 
abandoned  channel  are  still  discernible  in  the  sands  The  Sutudri  which  had 
used  to  flow  right  into  the  Kajputana  Sea  in  Rgvedic  times,  having  also  met 
with  obstructions  caused  by  the  upheaval  of  the  sea-bed,  subsequently  deflect- 
ed her  course  towards  the  west  and  joined  the  Indus  at  the  confluence  of  her 
tributaries  (2)  The  upptr  courses  of  these  rivers  or  any  other  river  of  the 
Punjab  were  not  at  all  affected  by  the  seismic  forces  that  caused  a  partial 
upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  and  remained  very  much  the  same 
as  in  Rgvedic  times.  The  alluvial  deposit  over  the  plain  of  the  Punjab  is  not  v 


4»  RGVEDie  INDIA.          [APP.  TO  CHAP. 

very  thick,  compared  with  that  of  the  Gangotic  plain,  and  below  this  deposit 
occur  "  inliers  of  older  rocks,  rising  as  hills  in  the  centre  of  the  alluvial  plain.1  " 
Mr.  Oldham  says  that  "  the  general  facies  of  the  fauna  (found  in  the  beds  of 
the  Salt  Range  of  the  Punjab)  are  of  Cambrian  age,  and  consequently  the 
oldest  in  India,  whose  age  can  be  determined  with  any  approach  to  certainty."* 
(vide  Ch,  II  p.  22).  It  would  thus  appeaffthat  the  plain  of  the  Punjab  has 
remained  much  the  some  ever  since  the  Cambrian  age  when  life  in  its  lowest 
form  appeared  in  it,  and  has  not  been  appreciably  disturbed  anywhere,  except- 
ing  probably  in  some  parts  of  the  Himalayan  region  where  seismic  forces  are 
still  at  work,  as  was  evidenced  by  the  recent  great  earthquake  in  the  Kingra 
Valley.  The  Rgvedic  Aryans  were  also  acquainted  with  such  disturbances  in 
the  mountain-regions,  which  occasionally  caused  a  change  in  the  landscape 
and  sometimes  in  the  upper  courses  of  some  rivers  in  the  mountainous 
valleys,  reference  to  which  has  been  made  in  the  Rgveda.  The  courses  of  the 
rivers  in  the  plain,  however,  remained  unaffected,  excepting  the  lower  courses 
of  the  Sarasvat!  and  the  Sutudri,  as  already  stated.  (3)  Though  a  portion  of 
the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  was  upheaved  in  post- Rgvedic  times,  evidences 
are  not  wanting  to  prove  that  upheavals  and  subsidences  are  going  on  in  the 
borders  of  Rajputana  and  Cutch  facing  the  Arabian  Sea,  even  in  recent  times. 
Mr.  Wadia,  in  his  Geology  of  India,  (pp.  30-31)  writes  "The  recent  subsi- 
dence in  1819  of  the  Western  border  of  the  Rann  of  Cutch  under  the  Sea, 
accompanied  with  the  elevation  of  a  large  tract  of  land  (the  Allah  Bund),  is 
the  most  striking  event  of  its  kind  recorded  in  India  and  was  witnessed  by  the 
whole  population  of  the  country.  Here  an  extent  of  the  country,  some  2,000 
square  miles  in  area,  was  suddenly  depressed  to  a  depth  of  from  12  to  15  feet, 
and  the  whole  tract  converted  into  an  inland  sea.  The  Fort  of  Sindres, 
which  stood  on  the  shores,  the  scene  of  many  a  battle  recorded  in  history,  was 
also  submerged  underneath  the  waters,  and  only  a  single  turret  of  that  fort 
remained  for  many  years,  exposed  above  the  Sea.  As  an  accompaniment  of  the 
same  movement,  another  area,  about  600  square  miles,  was  simultaneously 
elevated  several  feet  above  the  plains  into  a  mound  which  was  appropriately 
described  by  the  people  '  the  Allah  Bund  '  (built  of  Godj. 

"Even  within  historic  times,  the  Rann  of  Cutch  w is  a  gulf  of  the  sea, 
with  surrounding  coast-towns,  a  few  recognisable  relks  of  which  yet  exist.  The 
gulf  was  gradually  silted  up,  a  process  aided  no  doubt  by  a  slow  elevation  of  its 
floor,  and  eventually  converted  into  a  low-lying  tract  of  land,  which  at  the 
present  day  is  alternately  a  dry  saline  desert  for  a  part  of  the  year,  and  a 
shallow  swamp  for  the  other  part." 

Mr.  Wadia  further  says  .  "  Rajputana  affords  a  noteworthy  example  of  the 
evolution  of  desert  topography  within  comparatively  recent  geological  times. 

1     Memoirs  of  Geo.  Survey  of  Jndia,  Vol.  xlii,  Part  2,  p.  6. 
•    Manual  of  the  Geology  of  India,  p.  109.     Read   also   The  Imperial 
Gazetteer  of  India,  Vol.  i,  p.  53. 


III.]  KEITH'S  CRITICISM.  49 

This  change  had  been  brought  about  by  the  great  dryness  that  has  overconie 
this  region  since  Pleistocene  times,  leading  to  the  intensity  of  aeolian  action  on 
the  surface.'1  (pp.  33-34). 

It  is  hoped  that  the  above  facts  and  evidences  would  throw  a  flood  of  light 
on  the  point  raised  by  Professor  Hermann  Jacob!,  and  convince  him  that  the 
upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  RajpUtana  sea  in  post-Rgvedic  times,  whether 
gradual  or  sudden  at  places,  did  not,  t8  any  appreciable  extent,  alter  the  level  of 
the  plain  of  the  Punjab  excepting  near  the  sea-coast,  or  affect  the  courses  of  the 
Punjab  rivers  as  they  had  been  in  Rgvedic  times,  excepting  the  lower  courses  of 
the  Saras  vat  i,  the  Drsadvati  and  the  Sutudri.  The  rocky  and  inflexible  solid 
land-mass  of  the  plain,  below  the  thin  layer  of  alluvium,  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  affected  or  disturbed  in  any  way  by  seismic  or  volcanic  actions  and  has 
remained  very  much  the  same  as  in  ancient  geological  epochs. 

Professor  A.  Berriedale  Keith  of  Edinburgh  University  also  does  not  attach 
any  importance  to  the  geographical  evidence  that  I  have  cited  in  this  book  and 
in  Rgvedic  Culture.  In  a  communication  to  the  author,  dated  27th  January  1926, 
he  has  been  pleased  to  observe  : 

"  I  am  afraid  your  speculations  on  the  age  of  the  Rgveda  do  not  convince. 
I  do  not  think  your  geographical  evidence  needs  or  perhaps  even  admits  the 
explanation  which  you  give ;  the  fact  that  for  many  generations  no  one  has  felt 
the  difficulties  you  have  raised  and  that  most  of  us  now  do  not  appreciate  them 
is  an  argument  of  considerable  weight  against  their  validity."  I  must  frankly 
confess  that  I  did  not  expect  an  observation  like  the  above  from  the  learned  and 
renowned  Professor.  His  words,  I  am  afraid,  savour  of  the  doctrine  of  infalli- 
bility, and  seem  to  indicate  that  simply  because  for  many  generations,  no  Vedic 
scholar  has  felt  the  difficulties  I  have  raised,  and  most  of  the  Western  scholars 
now  do  not  appreciate  them,  therefore  the  new  facts  and  evidences  that  I  have 
discussed  can  nut  bj  valid  !  This  is  indeed  "  an  argument  of  great  weight 
against  their  validity."  But  has  not  the  theory  of  the  original  cradle  of  the 
Aryans  changed  from  generation  to  generation  in  the  light  of  the  discovery  of 
fresh  facts  and  evidences  ?  And  has  not  what  was  valid  in  one  generation 
become  invalid  in  another  ?  The  recent  discovery  of  archaeological  finds  at 
Harappa  in  the  Punjab  and  at  Mahenjo  Daro  in  Sind  will  presently  make  the 
current  theory  about  the  age  of  ancient  Indian  architecture  invalid,  and  necessi- 
tate the  re-writing  of  ancient  Indian  history,  if  Sir  John  Marshall  is  to  be 
credited.  Similarly,  the  geological  and  ancient  geographical  evidences  that  I 
have  cited  in  explanation  of  certain  geographical  facts  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda, 
have  to  be  very  carefully  examined  in  the  interests  of  historical  truth,  before 
they  can  be  summarily  dismissed.  It  is  indeed  very  hard  to  have  to  change 
one's  opinion  which  one  has  held  and  clung  to  during  a  whole  life-time,  but 
still  one  should  be  prepared  to  face  and  consider  new  facts  and  evidences,  how- 
ever belated  may  be  their  discovery,  with  an  open  mind.  As  I  have  elsewhere 
said  :  ••  There  is  nothing  like  finality  in  views  that  are  mainly  based  on  mere 


So  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [APR.  TO  CHAP. 


intelligent  guesses*  surmises,  and  probabilities  rather  than  on  positive  and 
incontestable  historical  proofs,  and  there  should  be  room  enough  for  a  fresh 
view,  based  on  fresh  materials,  in  an  arena  where  so  many  have  struggled  and 
are  still  struggling  for  existence  and  recognition.  Truth  can  only  be  arrived 
at,  not  certainly  by  stifling  any  independent  opinion,  boldly  expressed  and 
formulated,  but  by  encouraging  it  and  giving  it  a  patient  hearing."1 

1    Rgvedic  Culture :  Preface,  p.  viii. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE  ABOUT  THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  THE 
ARYANS  OF  SAPTA-SINDEU. 

Mr.  B.  G.  Tilak  in  his  Orion  has  proved  from  astronomical 
statements  found  in   the   Vedic   Literature  that  "  the  Vernal 
Equinox   was   in  the  constellation  of   Mfga  or   Orion  about 
4,500  B.C.,"  when,  he  believes,  some  of  the  hymns  of  the  Rg- 
veda  were  composed.    The  evidence  adduced  by  him  has  not, 
however,   been   regarded   as   conclusive   by  some  European 
savants,   though   Sanskrit   scholars  like  Professor  Bloomfield, 
Dr.  Biilher  and  others  acknowledged  the  force  of  his  argument. 
From  a   statement   in   the   Taittir%ya  Brdhmana  (iii.  4.1.15) 
which  says  that  "  Bjrhaspati,  or  the   Planet  Jupiter,    was   first 
discovered  when  confronting  or  nearly  occulting  the  star  Tijya," 
Mr.  V.  B.  Ketkar  has  shown  that  the  observation  was  possible 
only  at  about  4,650  B.  C,  which  goes  to  confirm  independently 
Mr.  Tilak's  conclusions  about  the  age  of  some  of  the  hymns.1 
As  Professor  Bloomfield  observed  while  noticing   Mr.   Tilak's 
Orion  in  his  address  on  the   occasion   of   the  eighteenth  an- 
niversary of  John    Hopkin's   University,   "  the  language  and 
literature   of   the   Vedas   is,    by  no  means,  so  primitive  as  to 
place   with   it   the  real  beginnings  of  Aryan  life...... These  in 

all  probability  and  in  all  due  moderation,  reach  back  several 
thousands  of  years  more.1'2  This  suggests  the  hoary  antiquity 
of  the  Aryan  civilisation,  whether  in  Sapta-Sindhu  or  else* 
where,  it  does  not  matter.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  this 
connection  that  the  fygveda  SamhitA  is  only  a  collection  of 
hymns  which  were  composed  not  in  any  particular  period,  but 
in  different  periods  of  time,  one  group  separated  from  another 
by  probably  thousands  of  years,  and  handed  down  to  posterity 
from  generation  to  generation.  There  is  distinct  mention  in 

*  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  V*dast  Preface  p.  ii, 

*  Ibid  Preface  p.  H. 


5«  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  Rgveda  of  the  hymns  having  come  down  from  the 
ancestors  of  the  Aryans  from  olden  times,  clothed  in  new 
language  (Rv.  Hi.  39,  2).  The  composition  of  the  earliest 
hymns,  therefore,  would  take  us  back  to  several  thousand 
years  more  than  4500  B.  C.,  and  "the  real  beginnings  of 
Aryan  life  "  would  be  assigned  to  time  immemorial,  during 
which  long  period  the  archaic  language  of  the  hymns,  having 
proved  unintelligible,  had  to  be  changed  into  Vedic  Sanskrit. 
This  inference  is  quite  in  accord  with  the  geological  facts 
mentioned  in  Chapter  II,  and  other  astronomical  evidences 
found  in  the  Rgveda  itself,  which  put  down  the  Vjrsakapi  hymn 
(x.  86)  to  about  16,000  B.  C.,  and  a  verse  of  the  Marriage 
hymn  (x.  85,  13)  to  about  15,000  B.C.1 

There  are  many  other  evidences  of  the  antiquity  of  the  Rg- 
vedaand  Sapta-Sindhu,  some  of  which  are  enumerated  below  :— 

I.  Indra  is  said  to  have  given  lands  to  the  Aryans  in 
Sapta-Sindhu  to  live  in  (Rv.  iv.  26,2),  and  protected  them 
in  every  way  by  causing  timely  rains  to  fall,  and  the  corn 
to  grow.  The  rains,  however,  used  to  be  withheld  by  Vj-tra, 
the  demon  of  drought,  in  his  capacious  cloud-body,  which 
caused  great  distress  to  the  people  ;  but  Indra  invariably  came 
to  their  rescue  by  killing  the  demon  and  letting  loose  the 
flood  of  imprisoned  waters.  Vrtra  has  been  described  in  the 
Rgveda  as  an  Ahi%  or  serpent,  and  judging  by  his  epithet 
Deva  or  '  bright '  (Rv.  i.  32,  12),  which  is  seldom  applied  to  a 
demon,  it  seems  to  me  that  he  was  probably  identified  by  the 
ancient  Vedic  bards  with  the  zig-zag  lightning  that  flashed 
through  black  clouds,  followed  by  a  loud  clap  of  thunder, 
which  the  Aryans  imagined  to  have  been  produced  by  the 
hurling  of  the  bolt  against  him  by  Indra  in  his  deadly  struggle 
with  him.  The  demon,  who  has  been  described  in  several 
hymns  as  mdydbl  or  guileful,  seemed  always  to  elude  the  aim 

»  Vide  Mr.  D.  MukbopMhyf  yt's  article  on  "  The  Hindu  NakSatras  " 
In  the  Vcumalof  the  Department  of  Science  (vol.  vi,  pp.  19-20.)  Published  by 
the  Calcutta  University.  Read  also  fgvedic  Culture,  Ch.  i,  pp.  37-38. 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE,  53 

of  Indra  by  as  suddenly  appearing  in  one  place  as  disappear- 
ing from  another.  And  very  hard,  long  and  arduous  was  the 
struggle  that  Indra  waged  against  him.  He  succeeded,  however, 
in  the  long  run,  in  vanquishing  the  foe  and  laying  him  low  on 
the  ground,  over  which  the  released  waters  flowed,  to  the 
great  delight  of  men  and  Gods.  This  Vrtra-legend  is  as  old 
as  the  Rgveda,  nay  even  older,  as  it  came  down  to  the  Vedic 
bards  from  their  predecessors  of  the  hoariest  antiquity.  In  Rv. 
i.  32,  i,  the  Vedic  bard  says  :  "  I  will  relate  the  valiant  deeds 
that  Indra,  the  wielder  of  the  thunderbolt,  first  performed." 
After  this  brief  prelude,  he  proceeds  to  narrate  them,  saying 
that  Indra  slew  Ahi,  the  serpent,  and  then  caused  rains  to 
fall.  The  Ahi  that  he  slew  was  the  first-born  of  all  the  Ahis 
(  prathamajam  ahlndm)  (Rv.  i.  32,  3).  With  the  slaying  of 
the  Ahi,  his  trickeries  also  were  destroyed,  and  Indra  cleared 
the  horizon  of  all  his  foes  by  causing  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn 
to  shine  and  the  blue  sky  to  appear  (Rv.  i.  32,  4).  The  dead 
body  of  Vjrtra  fell  down  into  the  rivers,  crushing  them  by  its 
weight,  and  the  glistening  waters  that  he  had  encompassed 
within  his  body  during  his  life-time,  flowed  over  it,  and  it  lay 
below  them.  The  arch-enemy  of  Indra  thus  fell  into  "  the 
long  sleep  "  that  knows  no  waking  (Rv.  i.  32,  10).  After 
describing  the  defeat  and  death  of  th  e  Ahi  in  the  above 
hymns,  the  bard  extols  Indra' s  deeds  by  saying  how  he  clever- 
ly warded  off  the  blows  aimed  at  him  by  Vftra,  by  diffusing 
himself  like  a  horse-tail,  l  and  how  he  won  the  cows  (/.*.,  the 
rain-laden  clouds  or  the  solar  rays)  and  the  Soma  juice,  and 
how  he  opened  the  flood-gates  of  the  Seven  Sindhus  or  rivers 
(Rv.  i.  32,  12).  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  first  valorous 
deed  of  Indra  was  performed  in  the  Land  of  the  Seven 
Rivers  or  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  it  was  there  that  Indra  killed 
the  first-born  of  the  Ahis. 


*  This  simile  was  probably  suggested  by  the  form  of  the  lightning  which 
branched  off  at  the  end.  Indra  to  ward  off  the  blow  had  also  to  diffuse  himself 
like  a  horse-tail. 


S4  $GVEt>IC  INDiA.  [CHAt>. 

Now,  this  legend  about  the  killing  of  ttis  first-born  of  the 
Ahis  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  handed  down  to  the  Vedic  bard  from 
his  remote  ancestors,  takes  us  back  at  once  to  the  dim  past 
that  witnessed  the  first  dawning  of  the  Aryan  mind  to  a  sen- 
sible realisation  of  the  physical  happenings  in  the  world  of 
the  primitive  Aryan  thinker  who  seemed  to  have  grasped  and 
unravelled,  for  the  first  time,  the  mystery  of  clouds  and 
lightning  and  thunder  and  rain-fall.  Verily,  the  distressing 
drought  was  the  work  of  the  wicked  Ahi  who  absorbed  the 
11  water  of  life  "  in  his  capacious  cloud-body  ;  and  verily,  it 
was  the  mighty  Indra,  the  beneficent  deity,  who  took  up  his 
dreadful  thunderbolt  to  wage  war  against  the  powerful  Ahi, 
and  continued  the  struggle  deftly  and  vigorously  till  he 
succeeded  in  vanquishing  and  laying  him  low.  It  was  a 
grand  discovery,  probably  the  grandest  to  the  primitive  Aryan, 
opening  up,  as  it  did,  a  magnificent  vista  of  thought  and 
moral  visions  that  went  on  widening  in  scope  and  grandeur 
with  the  progress  of  time.  The  discovery  of  the  Ahi  and 
Indra  must  have  been  simultaneous,  and  the  Ahi  whom  Indra 
was  first  seen  to  slay  necessarily  became  the  first-born  of  the 
A  his,  who  however  appeared,  year  after  year,  by  a  mysterious 
process  of  resuscitation.  But  it  was  enough  that  he  was 
slain  for  the  time  being,  and  the  imprisoned  waters  released 
and  the  herd  of  cows,  in  the  shape  of  the  clouds  (or  the 
obstructed  solar  rays),  set  free  and  won  back  by  the  mighty 
Indra,  and  the  bright  Sun  and  the  beautiful  Dawn,  and  the 
bright  blue  sky  freed  from  his  trammels  to  gladden  men's 
heart  again.  It  was  a  most  wonderful,  glorious  and  bene- 
ficent deed  that  the  great  Indra  performed  for  the  benefit  of 
the  world,  which  deserved  to  be  sung  in  joyous  strains,  and 
handed  down  to  posterity  to  be  sung  for  all  time  to  come. 
And  so  was  it  sung  in  hymns,  which  were  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation,  clothed  in  new  and  felicitous  lang- 
uage as  suited  the  taste  and  needs  of  ever-changing  time,— 
a  fact  which  one  of  the  greatest  bards  of  the  Rgveda  joyous- 
ly proclaimed  in  the  following  beautiful  verse  which,  for  its 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE.  55 

naive  simplicity  and  wealth  of  truth,  possesses  an  intrinsic 
value  of  its  own,  not  generally  appreciated  or  recognised  ;r 

"  (O  Indra),  the  hymn,  chanted  long  before  (the  rise  of 
the  Sun),  that  awakens  (thee)  by  being  sung  at  sacrifices,  is 
old  and  has  come  down  to  us  from  our  ancestors,  clothed  in 
white  and  graceful  robes."  (Rv.  iii.  39,  2.) 

We  need  not  at  all  wonder  at  the  fact  that  this  beneficent 
deed  of  the  great  Indra,  together  with  the  other  valiant  deeds 
that  he  performed  for  the  good  of  the  early  Aryans  who  were 
struggling,  through  a  mysterious  impulse,  towards  light,  should 
have  made  a  deep  and  abiding  impression  on  their  mind, 
and  raised  Indra  in  their  estimation  to  the  first  place  in  the 
hierarchy  of  their  Gods.  The  ancient  bards  felt  such  a  great 
enthusiasm  for  this  all-powerful  Deva  as  to  make  themselves 
his  ardent  votaries  and  ascribe  to  him  the  position  of  the 
Creator,  who  created  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  expanded  and 
upheld  the  star-bespangled  heavens,  protected  and  sustained 
the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  by  pouring  down  timely 
rains,  made  the  agitated  earth  firm,  kept  the  moving  mountains 
in  position,  cut  paths  for  the  seven  rivers  to  flow  down 
into  the  sea,  killed  Vrtra,  the  demon  of  drought,  which  earned 
for  him  the  designation  of  Vrtrahan,  gave  the  Aryans  land 
to  live  in,  extirpated  the  Aryan  non-believers,  and  unmannerly 
and  half-savage  nomads  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  helped  his 
votaries  to  vanquish  their  enemies.  All  these  glorious  deeds 
were  attributed  to  Indra,  and  the  Aryans  knew  of  no  higher 
or  more  powerful  deity  than  him.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that 
the  worship  of  the  other  Gods  were  subordinated  to  his 
worship ;  and  the  ancient  Aryans,  in  return  for  all  his  good 
and  kindly  acts,  instituted  the  Soma  sacrifice  at  which  they 
offered  him  a  special  preparation  of  the  Soma  juice,  the 
invigorating  drink  that  made  him  strong  and  hilarious,  and 

1     Rv.  iii.  39  2  :— 


56  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

that  he  shared  with  all  other  Devas  who  helped  him  in  his 
work.  The  Soma  cult  was  as  old  as  the  worship  of  Indra, 
nay,  even  older,  in  as  much  as  it  is  said  that  as  soon  as  Indra 
was  born  of  Aditi,  he  felt  a  strong  craving  for  the  Soma  juice 
before  he  even  thought  of  sucking  his  mother's  breast  (Rv.  iii. 
48,  2).  If  we  fully  realised  the  high  estimation  in  which 
Indra  was  held  by  the  ancient  Aryans,  we  should  not  be  at 
all  surprised  to  come  across  such  sentiments  about  him  as  the 
Vedic  bards  delighted  to  indulge  in,  viz.>  '•  There  can  be  no 
world  without  the  great  Indra"  (Rv.  ii.  16,  2),  and  "  neither 
the  heavens  nor  hundreds  of  earth  can  measure  the  greatness 
of  Indra,  nor  a  thousand  suns  reveal  him  "  (Rv.  viii.  70,  5). 
In  fact,  he  was  regarded  as  the  first  and  foremost  Deity,  the 
first-born  among  the  Devas,  and  the  most  powerful  in  heaven 
and  earth  (Rv.  viii.  6,  41).  It  was  this  great  Indra  whose 
first  great  exploit  was  the  killing  of  Vrtra,  the  first-born  of  the 
Ahis,  and  this  great  and  renowned  exploit  was  performed  in 
the  Land  of  Sapta-Sindhu>  and  was  first  witnessed  in  the 
region  watered  by  the  SarasvatI,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
The  great  antiquity  of  I ndra-worship,  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  Indra  first  performed  his  heroic  deeds  in  Sapta-Sindhu, 
goes  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  and  of  the  Aryans 
who  lived  in  the  land. 

2.  I  have  already  said  that  the  region  between  the  Indus 
and  the  SarasvatI  was  regarded  as  the  God-fashioned  birth- 
place of  the  Aryans  (Devakrta  Yoni),  and  the  strip  of  country 
between  the  SarasvatI  and  the  Drgadvatl  looked  upon  even  in 
later  times  as  the  "  God-created  land  "  (Devanirmita  deia}. 
We  have  also  seen  that  the  SarasvatI  was  described  as  "  the 
best  of  mothers,  the  best  of  rivers,  and  the  best  of  all 
Goddesses  "  The  ancient  Aryans  loved  to  cling  to  her  valley, 
as  a  child  loves  to  cling  to  its  mother's  breast,  and  many 
were  the  prayers  offered  to  her  that  they  might  not  have  to  go 
far  away  from  her  banks  (Rv.  vi.  61,  14).  Now  this  attitude 
of  the  ancient  Aryans  towards  this  sacred  stream  and  the 
region  watered  by  her,  touching  as  it  is  to  a  degree,  bespeaks 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE.  57 

a  genuine  love  for  her,  as  can  only  be  felt  for  one's  mother- 
land, and  not  for  any  land  of  one's  adoption.  Her  great 
antiquity  is  also  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  was  in  her  region 
that  the  first-born  Ahi  or  Vrtra  was  seen  by  the  early  Aryan 
Rsts  to  be  killed  by  Indra,  which  fact  earned  for  her  the  name 
of  Vrtraghni  (or  killer  of  Vjrtra),  and  made  her  share  with 
Indra  the  glory  of  the  deed  and  the  appellation  (Rv.  vi.  61,  7). 
In  verse  3  of  the  same  Sakta,  she  has  been  praised  for  having 
killed  the  detractors  of  the  Devas,  and  the  wily  son  of  Vfjaya, 
i.e.,  Vftra.  In  the  same  verse  she  has  also  been  praised,  like 
Indra,  for  having  provided  lands  to  the  Aryans.  These  deeds 
of  the  Sarasvatl  were  identical  with  those  of  the  great  Indra, 
and  we  shall  not  be  wrong,  if  we  hold  that  they  were  perform- 
ed in  the  region  watered  by  her. 

Sarasvatl  in  the  Rgveda  is  the  name  of  not  only  the 
river  and  of  the  region  watered  by  her,  but  also  of  Agni  or 
the  sacrificial  Fire.  The  Fire,  first  kindled  in  the  region  of 
the  Sarasvatl,  was  called  by  that  name.  Another  name  of  the 
sacrificial  Fire  is  Bhdrail,  derived  from  the  name  of  the  land 
inhabited  by  the  Bharatas,  a  renowned  clan  of  the  ancient 
sacrifice-loving  Aryans,  who  afterwards  became  so  advanced 
and  powerful  as  to  give  their  name  to  the  whole  country  which 
has  since  been  called  Bharatavarsa.  A  third  name  of 
Agni  is  Ila,  derived  from  the  region  in  which  the  great  Manu 
performed  his  penances  and  sacrifices,  and  which,  accordingly, 
came  to  be  regarded  as  his  spiritual  preceptress  (Rv.  i.  31,  u). 
lid  has  been  described  as  the  daughter  of  Dak?a,  one  of  the 
Creators  in  the  Vedic  Pantheon,  and  identified  with  a  region 
which  was  one  of  the  best  regions  known  to  the  ancient  Aryans 
(Rv.  iii.  23,  4).  It  would  thus  appear  that  these  sacrificial 
Fires  were  called  after  the  names  of  the  regions  in  which  they 
had  been  first  kindled,  Ila,  Bhdrati  dad  Sara^vatl  must  have 
been  contiguous  regions,  as  the  three  Fires,  called  after  their 
names,  have  invariably  been  mentioned  together  in  the 
Rgveda,  and  the  sarificial  Fire,  lid,  invoked  to  burn  auspici- 
ously in  the  homes  of  the  Aryans  living  on  the  banks  of  the 

8 


58  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

,   and  to  bring  as 

much  prosperity  to  them  as  to  the  Aryans  living  in  114  (Rv.  iii. 
23,  4).  The  very  fact  that  lift  derived  her  name  from  the 
daughter  of  Dakja  Prajipati,  one  of  the  Creators,  and  was 
regarded  as  the  spiritual  preceptress  of  the  great  Manu,  the 
semi-divine  being  who  is  said  to  be  presiding  over  the 
destinies  of  the  human  race,  points  to  its  vast  antiquity.  So 
is  proved  the  vast  antiquity  of  the  region  between  the 
Sarasvatl  and  the  Dfgadvatl,  which  has  been  described  as 
Brahmdvarta  in  the  Manu  SamhitA  (ii.  17),  and  is  still 
regarded  as  the  most  sacred  spot  in  all  India.  With  regard 
to  this  spot,  says  Muir  : 

"  And  even  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya,  we  find  the 
country  distributed  into  several  tracts,  more  or  less  holy, 
according  to  their  distance  from  the  hallowed  spot  in  the 
north  lying  on  the  bank  of  the  river  Sarasvatl.  First,  then,  we 
have  this  small  region  itself,  Brahmavarta.  This  name  may 
signify  ft)  either  the  region  of  Brahmfi,  the  Creator,  in  which 
case  it  may  have  been  regarded  as,  in  some  peculiar  sense, 
the  abode  of  the  God,  and  possibly  the  scene  of  creation ; 
or,  (ii)  the  region  of  devotion  or  the  Vedas  (Brahma),  and 
then  it  will  denote  rather  the  country  which  was  sanctified 
by  the  performance  of  holy  rites,  and  the  study  of  sacred 
literature."1 

The  word  Arydvartat  defined  by  Manu  in  verse  22  of 
Chapter  II  of  the  Manu  Saqihita,  has  been  explained  by  the 
commentator,  Kulloka  Bhatta,  as  "  the  land  in  which  the  Aryas 
or  Aryans  are  born  again  and  again."2  From  this  analogy, 
the  word  Brahmdvarta  may  be  explained  to  mean  the  region 
where  Brahm£,  the  Creator,  appears  again  and  again  at  the 
time  of  a  fresh  creation  after  the  final  disintegration  of  the 
world  at  the  end  of  a  cycle.  Or,  if  the  word,  Brahma  means 
the  Vedas,  it  may  indicate  the  region  where  the  Vedas  were 

*     Muir's  Original  Sanskrit  Texts,  Vol.  II,  pp  400-401,  Ed,  1871. 


IV.]  £  URTHER  ftGVEDIC  EVIDENCE.  $9 

first  revealed  or  produced,  and  will  be  revealed  and  produced 
again  and  again  at  the  end  of  Kalpas.  Whatever  may  be 
the  meaning  of  the  word,  it  is  significant  as  pointing  to  the 
belief  of  the  ancient  Aryans  that  they  were  autochthones  in 
Sapta-Sindhu  and  were  not  colonist*  from  another  country, 
and  this  belief  is  corroborated  by  the  Rgvedic  evidence 
about  the  antiquity  of  the  region,  which  has  been  discussed 
above. 

There  is  some  indication  in  the  Sat  ap  at  ha   Brahman  a  of 
the  situation  of  the  region  named  Ila.  There  it  has  been  stated 
that  Manu  at  the  time  of  the  great  Deluge  Bailed  in   his   ship 
northward  from  the  shores  of  the   Southern    Ocean,   and   his 
bark  having  been  stranded  on  the  "  Northern  Mountain/'  i.e., 
the  Himalaya,  he  disembarked  and  landed  on  firm  ground   on 
the  mountain.     Mere  he  met  a  beautiful    damsel,    named    Ila, 
who  described  herself  as  his  daughter.  It  is  very  probable  that 
this  was  the    region,   called  lid,  in    the    Rgveda,    and  if   our 
surmise   be   correct,    it    was    situated  over  the  Himalaya  and 
regarded  as  one  of  the  best  countries,  known   to   the   ancient 
Aryans.1      The     regions,     watered     by   the  Sarasvatl,   the 
Dr?advatl,  and  the  Apaya,  were  on  tra  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu, 
spread  out  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya.     As  Manu's  bark  was 
stranded   on   a    mountain-peak    in  the  region  of  Ila,  which  is 
pointed  out  in  Kashmir,  we  can  identify  the  former   with   the 
latter.     And  this  supposition  is  strengthened  by  the  extremely 
cold  climate  that  prevailed  in  Ila,  a:>    suggested    by    the    fact 
that  the  year  was  called  Hinia  in  that  region.-     In  Rv.   x.  62, 
9,   the    region  where  Manu  lived  has  been  described  to  be  as 
elevated  as  the  heavens,  which  also  points  to  its  situation   on 
the  Himalaya.     This  also  goes  to  prove  ih.it  the  happy  valley 
of  Kashmir  as  well  ab  the    plains   of   Sapta-Sindhu   were,    in 
ancient   times,  peopled  by  the  Aryans.     It  will  be  interesting 
to   note   here   that   "  Adelung,   the    father   ol     Comparative 


»  RV.  HI.  23.  4  :-15f  art  &  TC 

•  RV.  u  i.  u  :— 


60  kGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Philology,  who  died  in  1806,  placed  the  cradle  of  mankind  in 
the  valley  of  Kashmir,  which  he  identified  with  Paradise."1 
Whether  Kashmir  was  the  cradle  or  Paradise  of  mankind  or 
not,  it  can  be  confidently  asserted  that  this  beautiful 
mountainous  country  and  the  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu  were  the 
cradle  of  the  Aryan  race. 

3.  The  early  institution  of  the  Soma  sacrifice,  and  its 
existence  from  time  immemorial  in  the  Indo- Aryan  community 
also  furnish  an  evidence  of  the  vast  antiquity  of  Sapta-Sindhu 
and  of  Aryan  culture.  The  Soma  cult  is,  as  I  have  already 
said,  as  old  as  the  cult  of  Indra-worship,  for  the  Soma  sacrifice 
was  mainly  performed  for  propitiating  Indra,  and  strengthen- 
ing him  in  his  daily  and  annual  fight  with  Vrtra.  It  was  an 
institution  peculiar  to  the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  disting- 
uished them  from  all  other  branches  of  the  Aryan  race,  who 
either  on  account  of  thrir  disbelief  in  Indra,  or  from  the 
difficulty  in  procuring  the  genuine  Soma  plant  in  any  country 
other  than  Sapta-Sindhu  or  the  Himalaya,  did  not  take  to  the 
sacrifice,  or  discontinued  it,  when  they  left  the  country.  The 
ancient  Parsis  or  Iranians  hated  Indra  and  his  worship  on 
doctrinal  grounds,  because  they  did  not  like  to  give  precedence 
to  any  deity  over  Fire  and  the  Sun.  Hence,  there  was  a 
religious  schism  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  divided  the 
Aryan  community  into  t»vo  hostile  parties,  and  was  attended 
with  such  bitterness  of  feeling  and  mutual  hatred  and  recri- 
mination as  to  lead  to  a  long  and  bloody  warfare  which 
terminated  only  with  the  ultimate  expulsion  of  the  Parsi 
branch  from  Sapta-Sindhu.  Indra  was  regarded  by  them  as 
the  enemy  of  mankind,  and  the  chief  of  the  powers  of  evil,  in 
fact  as  an  A  sura  in  the  sinister  sense  used  in  later  Vedic 
parlance,  the  equivalent  Par  si  word  being  Daiva.  The  Parsis, 
when  they  lived  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  were  addicted  to  the  Soma 
drink,  like  their  brethren,  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  made 
offerings  of  it  to  the  Gods  ;  but  after  their  expulsion  from 

Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  p.  9 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE.  61 

Sapta-Sindhu,  they  strongly  condemned  the  Haoma  (Soma) 
sacrifice,  and  purged  it  out  of  their  rituals.  Later  on,  however, 
they  were  compelled  to  revive  it  in  some  shape  even  in  the 
country  of  their  sojourn  and  adoption  in  deference  to  the 
clamour  of  a  certain  section  who  had  a  strong  predilection 
for  the  drink.  "  The  High  Priests,"  according  to  Dr.  Haug, 
"  seem  to  have  tried  to  conciliate  the  men  of  the  old  party, 
who  were  unwilling  to  leave  the  ancient  polytheistic  religion, 
(cilled  paoiryo  tkarsho  'of  the  old  creed')  and  their 
time-hallowed  rites  and  ceremonies.  The  old  sacrifices 
were  reformed  and  adapted  to  the  more  civilised  mode  of 
life  of  the  Iranians.  The  intoxicating  Soma  beverage 
was  replaced  by  a  more  wholesome  and  invigorating 
drink  prepared  from  another  plant,  together  with  twigs 
of  the  pomegranate  tree,  and  without  any  process  of 
fermentation  (water  being  merely  poured  over  them)  ;  but 
the  name  in  the  Iranian  form,  Haoma,  remained,  and 
some  of  the  ceremonies  also."1  Dr.  Windischmann  has 
observed :  "  The  worship  of  Haoma  is  placed  anterior  to 
Yima,  that  is,  to  the  commencement  of  Iranian  civilisation, 
and  in  fact  is  declared  to  be  the  cause  of  that  happy  period." 
The  Rgveda  also  refers  to  the  high  antiquity  of  the  Soma 
worship  when  it  says  of  Soma  (i.  gr,  i)  (i  By  thy  guidance, 
O  brilliant  (Soma),  our  courageous  fathers  have  obtained 
treasures  among  the  Gods.  "-  Mr.  Whitney  also  says: 
11  The  high  antiquity  of  the  cultus  is  attested  by  the  references 
to  it  found  occurring  in  the  Persian  Avesta ;  "3  and  Madame 
Ragozin  says  :  "  And  like  the  Fire-worship,  the  Soma  cult 
takes  us  back  to  the  So-called  Indo-Aryan  period,  the  time 
before  the  separation  o.  the  two  great  sister  races,  for  we 
have  seen  Soma,  under  the  name  of  Haoma,  play  exactly  the 
same  part  in  the  worship  and  sacrifices  of  the  Iranian  followers 

1      Dr.  Haug's  Essays  on  the    Sacred  Language,  Writings    and  Religion  of 
ike  Parsis  p.  259  (Popular  Edition). 

*     Dissertation  on  the  Soma  WorMp  of  the  Arians* 

9     TM  journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society,  III,  p.  300. 


62  SLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  the  Avesta.  Indeed,  we  probably  trace  here  one  of  the 
very  few  relics  of  even  an  earlier  time — that  of  the  undivided 
Aryan,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  'the  Proto- Aryan  '  period. 
For,  the  Avesta  bears  evident  traces  of  the  use  of  the 
Haoma  at  the  sacrifices,  being  a  concession  made  by 
Zatathustra  to  old  established  custom,  not  without  subjecting 
it  to  a  reforming  and  purifying  process."1  Lastly,  Mr.  B.  G. 
Tilak  says  :  "  That  the  Soma  sacrifice  is  an  ancient  institution 
is  amply  proved  by  parallel  rites  in  the  Parsi  scriptures  ;  and 
whatever  doubt  we  may  have  regarding  Soma  in  the  Indo- 
European  period,  as  the  word  is  not  found  in  the  European 
languages,  the  system  of  sacrifices  can  be  clearly  traced  back 
to  the  primeval  age.  Of  this  sacrificial  system,  the  Soma 
sacrifice  may,  at  any  rate,  be  safely  take n  as  the  oldest 
representative,  since  it  forms  the  main  feature  of  the  ritual 
of  the  Rgveda,  and  a  whole  Mandala  of  1 14  hymns  in  the 
Rgveda  is  dedicated  to  the  praise  of  Soma."2 

Thus,  it  would  appear  that  the  cult  of  the  Soma  sacrifice 
was  the  oldest  in  Sapta-Sindlm.  A  drink  was  prepared  from 
the  fermented  juice  of  the  Soma  plant,  mixed  with  honey 
and  milk,  which  had  a  cheering  and  invigorating,  if  not 
quite  intoxicating  effect  on  the  drinkers,  and  was  offered  as 
oblation  to  Indra,  and  drunk  by  his  worshippers.  But  this 
plant — the  genuine  Soma  plant,  and  not  its  spurious  substitute 
among  the  ancient  Parsis,  was  nowhere  obtainable  except  a 
peak  of  the  Himalaya,  the  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  the 
banks  of  the  Indus,  its  tributaries,  and  the  Sarasvatl  (Kv.  ix. 
61,  7  ;  65,  23),  and  the  shores  of  Lake  Saryanavat  in  Kuruk?etra 
(Rv.  ix.  65,  22;  113,  i).  The  plant,  brought  from  the  Himd- 
laya,  however,  was  the  best  of  its  kind  and  was  very  much 
sought  for  by  the  saciificers  (Rv.  ix.  82,  3).  It  used  to 
grow  on  the  Mujavat  mountain  which  was  a  peak  of  the 

1     Ragozin's  Vedic  India,  pp.  168-70. 

•     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  205-06. 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE.  63 

Himalaya,  and  from  the  place  of  its   growth,   it   received    the 
appellation  of  Maujavata  (Rv.  x.  34,  i).1 

The  Soma  has  been  described  in  the  Rgveda  as  "  the 
oldest  "  (pratnamit,  ix.  42,  4)  "  anterior  to  all  sacrifices  " 
(Yajnasya  purvyah,  ix.  2,  10)  "the  very  essence  and 
spirit  of  sacrifice  "  (Yajnasya  atmd.vn*  2,  10;  6,  8),  "  the 
favourite  drink  of  the  Gods  from  the  ancient  times  "  (divah 
piyusam  purvyam^  ix.  110,  8)  "  the  father  of  Indra  and  other 
Gods  "  (Rv.  ix.  96,  5)  and  "  the  father  of  all  th  e  Gods  "  (Pita 
devatanam>  ix.  86,  10,.  All  these  descriptions  of  the  Soma 
point  to  its  hoary  antiquity,  as  also  the  antiquity  of  the  land 
that  produced  it,  and  of  the  people  that  first  used  it  in 
sacrifice. 

That  it  was  nsr<i  in  snrrifioe  by  the  ancestors  of  the  Rg- 
vedir  lists  is  prcwd  1>\  various  manfras^  two  of  which  are 
quot'-fl  hrlmv  ll  Om  .innent  ancestors,  the  Vasi^thas,  who 
vvt-rt-  iond  of  iliihlvini;  th<-  Soma  juice,  performed  the  Soma 
sacrifice  according  to  established  rites  "  (Rv.  x.  15,  8). 

"  Our  ancestors,  the  Angirases,  the  Atharvans,  and  the 
Bhfgus  have  just  come  (to  this  sacrifice),  and  they  are  entitled 
to  share  the  Soma  drink  with  us  ''  (Rv.  x.  14,  6). 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  early  ancestors  had 
initiated  the  institution  of  sacrifice  by  producing  Fire  (Rv.  i. 
3',  '  ;  ?ii  3  ;  x-  2I»  5  •'  92»  l0)-  AS  they  were  the  earliest 
sacrificers,  and  probably  also  initiated  the  Soma  sacrifice, 
their  spirits  were  invoked  at  the  time  of  holding  a  sacrifice, 
and  they  were  asked  to  share  the  Soma  drink  with  their 
descendant*. 

I  will  conclude  this  subject  of  the  Soma  sacrifice  by 
quoting  the  following  words  from  Ragozin's  Vvdic  India  : 

1      Cf.  the  MahAbhfaata  (xiv.  8.  l)  : 


Also  Nirukta  '. 


64  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

(( The  Soma,  used  in  India,  certainly  grew  on  mountains, 
probably  in  the  Himalayan  highlands  of  Kashmir.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  Aryan  tribes  dwelt  in  this  land  of  tall  summits  and 
deep  valleys  in  very  early  times — probably  earlier  than  that 
when  the  Hg-hymns  were  ordered  and  collected,  or  the  already 
complicated  official  ritual  which  they  mostly  embody  was 
rigidly  instituted.  From  numerous  indications  scattered 
through  the  hymns,  it  appears  probable  that  this  was  the 
earliest  seat  of  the  Soma  worship,  known  to  the  Aryan  Hindus, 
whence  it  may  have  spread  geographically  with  the  race 
itself,  and  that  as  the  plant  did  not  grow  in  the  lower  and 
hotter  regions,  the  aridity  of  some  parts  disagreeing  with  it 
as  much  as  the  steam-laden  sultriness  of  others,  they  conti- 
nued to  get  '  from  the  mountains  '  the  immense  quantities 
needed  for  the  consumption  of  the  gradually  widening  and 
increasing  Aryan  settlements.  A  regular  trade  was  carried 
on  with  Soma  plant,  and  the  traders  belonged  to  mountain- 
tribes  who  were  not  Aryan,  and,  therefore  irn-vTcntly  handled 
their  sacred  ware  like  any  other  merchandise,  bargaining  and 
haggling  over  it.  This  is  evidently  the  reason  why  Soma 
traders  were  considered  a  contemptible  class ;  so  much  so 
that,  when  customs  hardened  into  laws,  they  were  included  in 
the  list,  comprising  criminals  of  all  sorts,  breakers  of  caste 
and  other  social  laws,  followers  of  low  professions,  as  usurers, 
actors,  etc. — of  those  who  are  forbidden  to  pollute  sacrifices 
by  their  presence.  To  an  Aryan  Hindu,  the  man  who  owned 
the  Soma  and  did  not  press  it  was  a  hopeless  reprobate  In 
fact,  he  divided  mankind  into  *  pressers  '  and  4  not  pressers/ 
the  latter  word  being  synonymous  with  4  enemy  '  and  '  godless 
barbarians.1  They  were  probably  itinerant  traders,  and  the 
bargain  was  concluded  according  to  a  strictly  prescribed 
ceremonial,  the  details  of  which  seem  singularly  absurd  and 
grotesque,  until  one  learns  that  they  had  a  symbolical  mean- 
ing. The  price  (probably  for  a  given  quantity,  though  that  is 
not  mentioned)  is  a  cow  light-colored  or,  more  precisely, 
reddiste-brown,  with  light-brown  eyes,  in  allusion  to  t  e  ruddy 


IV.]  FURTHER  RGVEDIC  EVIDENCE  65 

or  '  golden  '  color  of  the  plant—which   must  not  be  tied,  nor 
pulled  by  the  ear— *'.*.,  not  handled  roughly."1 

With  regard  to  the  tiaders  of  the  Soma  plant,  whom 
Ragozin  calls  non-Aryans,  it  should  be  stated  here  that  the 
Rgveda  mentions  of  the  Soma  plant  having  been  brought  by 
the  falcon  (Syena).  The  falcon  was  also  called  Garuda  or 
Suparna,  the  golden-winged  king-bird  of  prey.  But  there  is 
also  mention  of  a  Rsi  or  sage  of  the  name  of  Sy^na  whose 
son  was  Suparna.  We  shall  see  later  on  that  there  were 
nomadic  and  non-sacrificing  Aryan  tribes  in  Sapta-Sindhu, 
who  were  described  by  the  derisive  terms  of  birds&nA  sarpas, 
i.e.,  serpents,  on  account  of  their  constant  habit  of  moving 
from  place  to  place  and  living  in  a  semi-barbarous  condition. 
The  traders  of  the  Soma  plant  belonged  to  this  class  and 
were  hated  by  the  sacrifice-loving  Aryans  for  their  ungodly 
and  un-Aryan  ways.  It  is,  therefore,  wrong  to  call  them  non- 
Aryans,  as  Ragozin  has  done.  Sapta-Sindhu  was  not  access- 
ible to  any  non-Aryan  tribes  in  those  ancient  times,  and  was 
inhabited  by  ihe  p  ir,»ly  Aryan  race,  among  whom  there  were 
classes,  both  cultured  and  uncultured,  and  the  traders  of  the 
Soma  plant  belonged  to  the  latter  class.  And  this  is  probably 
t!ie  reason  why  Syena  and  Suparnn  have  been  described  as 
Hsist  or  the  Sage-leaders  of  these  nomadic  and  uncultured 
Aryan  tribes. 

To  sum  up  the  internal  evidences  of  the  Rgveda,  dealt 
with  in  thU  and  the  previous  chapter:  We  have  seen(i) 
that  thert*  were  four  seas  round  about  Sapta-Sindhn,  a  fact 
which  is  confirmed  by  the  geological  evidence  about  the 
existence  of  those  seas  in  ancient  times;  (2)  that  the  region 
between  the  SarasvatI  and  the  Indus  was  regarded  as  the 
God-created  birth-place  of  all  life;  (3)  that  the  total  absence 
of  the  mention  of  the  Deluge  in  the  Rgveda  proves  the 
period  of  the  composition  of  the  hymns  to  be  anterior  to  that 
event ;  (4)  that  this  event  took  place  sometime  before  the 

1     Vedic  India,  pp.  170171, 

9 


66  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

composition  of  the  Atharva-Veda,  in   which  it  has  been  refer- 
r«d  to ;  (5)  that  the  frequent  references   in   the   Rjveda   to 
seismic  disturbances  of  great  intensity,  and  the  depression  of 
high  grounds,   and  the   elevation  of   mountains,   point  to  the 
hoary  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  which  takes  us  back    to  later 
Pleistocene  times  when  such  occurrences  were   common  ;  (6) 
that  if  some  of  the  later  hymns    of   the   Rgveda  be   proved  to 
have  been   composed    about    5000    B    C  ,    the  beginnings   of 
Aryan  life    must   be    traced  back    to  several     thousand   years 
more ;  (7)    that    Fndra    was    one   of   the    oldest  Gods  of  the 
Aryans,  to  whom  was   ascribed  the  volcanic    action    resulting 
in  the  tossing  up  of  mountains,  the  depression  of  high  grounds 
and  the  carving  out  of  paths  for  the  Indus  and  the  other  rivers, 
which  carries  us  back  almost  to  the    beginning  of   human  life 
on  this  globe  ;  (8)  that    it  was    in  Sapra-Sinclhu    that  the  first 
great  exploit  of  Imlra,  viz  ,  the  killing  of  Vrtra  was  performed, 
and  the  region  where    this  act    was  first    witnessed    was    that 
watered  by  the  SarasvatI,  which  earned  both  for  her  and  Indra 
the  appellation  of  "the  Killer  of  Vrtra  "  ;   (9)   that  the    region 
of  114  which  was  as  old  as  that  of  the    SarasvatI    was  situated 
high  up  in  the  Himalaya,    probably  in  Kashmir,    and    was  the 
country  where  Dak?a  Praj&pati,  one  of  the  Creators,  and  Manu, 
the  leader  of   the  Aryan  race,  lived  ;  and  (10)  that  the    Soma 
sacrifice  was  admittedly  the  oldest  sacrifice  among  the  Aryans, 
and  the  genuine  Soma  plant  grew  nowhere  else  excepting  the 
Himalaya  and  Sapta-Sindhu.     All  these  evidences   unmistak- 
ably point  to  the  vast   antiquity  of    the  Rgveda  and  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  and  go  to  prove  that  the  Aryans  were  autochthonous, 
and  did  not  settle  there  as  colonists    from  any  country.     This 
conclusion  is  confirmed    by  the  following   observations    made 
by  Muir,  the  eminent  Sanskrit   Scholar  :     "I  must,    however, 
begin  with  a  candid  admission  that,   so  far  as  I  know,  none  of 
the  Sanskrit  books,  not  even   the  most   ancient,  contain   any 
distinct  reference  or   allusion    to   the   foreign    origin    of   the 
Indians."1 

'     Muir's  Original  Santkrit  Texts,  Vol.  II,  p.  322  (1871), 


CHAPTER  V. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  UNO  4ND  TUB  RIVERS  OF  SAPTA  SINDHU, 
AND  ITS  FAUNA,  FLORA  AND  MINERALS. 

Having  established  the  vast  antiquity  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and 
of  the  Aryans  in  that  lan.l,  we  \vill  now  turn  to  a  description 
of  the  outlines  of  the  land,  and  of  its  rivers,  nnd  an  account 
of  its  Fauna,  Flora  and  Minerals,  as  found  in  the  Rgveda. 
We  have  already  said  I'tat  Sipta-Siii  ihu  had  four  seas  on  its 
four  boundaries,  e\cep:iug  o;i  t'ie  north-west  where  it  had 
direct  connecuoa  with  Persia,  and  through  it,  with  Western 
Asia.  On  the  north  were  the  Himalayan  range,  and  the  Asiatic 
Mediterranean  Sea  beyond,  extending  northward  from  the 
borders  of  Turkestan,  «md  westward  as  far  as  the  Black  Sea. 
On  the  west  were  the  Sulaiman  Ranges  and  a  strip  of  sea  below 
them,  which  ran  up  the  present  province  of  Sind  as  an  arm 
of  the  Arabian  Sea.  On  the  north-west  was  GandhAra  which 
is  identified  with  modern  Vfglnnistin,  which  also  was  peopled 
by  Aryan  colonists.  On  the  east,  was  a  sea,  at  places  three 
miles  deep,  near  the  foot  of  the  Himalaya,  stretching  from  the 
cast  coabL  ot  Sapta-Si  ,cl  w  down  to  Assam  On  the  south,  was 
theRajputana  Sea,  M.Kitrhinti;  a^  far  south  as  the  Aravalli  Ran^e, 
and  connected  with  the  Aiahian  Sea  on  the  west  through  the 
Gulfb  of  Cutch  and  Sind,  and  with  the  Eastern  Sea  occupying  the 
Gangetio  trough  on  the  north-east,  by  probably  a  shallow  b  trait, 
below  modern  Delni.  North-east  Rajputana  is  full  of  hilU  and 
rocks  which  form  a  continuation  of  the  Aiavalli  range  termi- 
nating at  the  Ridge  near  D^lhi,  but  probably  extending  under 
the  alluvium,  as  Oldham  surmises,  l  across  the  Gangetic 
trough  till  the  range  impinges  on  the  Himalaya.  This,  then, 
probably  marked  the  eastern  coast-line  of  Sipta-Sindhu, 
below  which  was  the  Eastern  S^a  receiving  tiie  waters  ot 

1     Memoirs  on  tk*  Geological  Survey  of  India,  Vok  XLII,  P,  2,  p.  97. 


68  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

the  Gangd  and  the   Yamuna   and   the   other   rivers   on  the 
southern  slopes   of  the  Him&laya.     From  this  it  would  appear 
that  they  were   not   large    rivers    in    those    days.       "  The 
termination  of  the  (Aravalli)  range  to  the  northwards.. .is  solely 
due  to  a  gradual  lowering  of  the  general  elevation,  which  has 
allowed  the   alluvium   to   invade    the  valleys  to  a  greater  and 
greater  extent,  leaving  the  higher  pviaks  standing  out  as  rocky 
inliers  in  the  alluvium,  till  the  range  finally    disappears  in  the 
last   exposure   of   rock    at    Delhi."  l     At   the  time  when  the 
Rgveda  was  composed,  the  sands  on  the  northern  coast  of  the 
RAjput£na  Sea  used  probably  to  be  drifted    up    inland  by  the 
strong  wind  that  blew  continually    from  the    south    and  south- 
west.    These  sands  covered  up  a  large  p  jrtion  of  the  southern 
coast  of  Sapta-Sitidhu,  converting  much  of  it  into  arid  desert, 
and  probably  helping  to  graJu.illy  choke  up  the  mouth  of  the 
SarasvatI  which,  on  accou.u  of  the   force  of  it?  current  in  those 
days,  as  we  shall  presently  bee,  did  its  best  to  sweep  them  back 
again  into  the  sea.      It  wa>»  lik;  a  perp  -tuai  struggle  between 
the  waters  of  the  Sarasvati  and  the  sand*  on    the    sea-beach  ; 
but  with    the    ultimate   di>ippcarancc    of  the  Eastern  and  the 
Rajputana  Seas,  and  the  unhe.ival  or  gradual  filling  up  of  their 
beds  with    sand    and   alluvium,    the  rainfall  became  markedly 
scanty  in    Sapta-Sindhu,     ind   the  SarasvatI  gradually  lost  its 
strength  till  it    \v-is    reduced    to   the  insignificant  river  that  it 
is  at  present,  and  its  mouth  completely  choked  up  by  the  ever- 
increasing   sand-drifts    blown    from    the  desert      This  event, 
however,  took  place  long  after  the  age  of   the  Rgveda.    During 
Rgvedic   times,    the    SarasvatI  was   a  large  and    magnificent 
stream  which,  in  spite  of  the  sand-drifts,   meandered    through 
the  desert  till  it  reached  the  RAjputanft  Sea.     Even  then,  there 
was  a  large  strip  of  desert  in  the  southern    portion    of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  of    which    frequent    mention    is  made  in    th  Rgveda. 
(Rv.  iii.  45,  i  ;  ix.  79,  3;  x.  63,  15). 

Long  after  the  RajputanS.   Sea  had    become  firm    land,  it 
"  was  too  arid  for  general    habitation  "   a*  the   rain-fall    was 

pp.  96-  97- 


V.]  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LAND.  69 

very  scanty ;  and  this  is  proved  by  the  anthropological  fact 
of  "  the  great  rarity  of  weapons  of  the  stone  age  in  Rajputana 
as  compared  with  other  parts  of  India."1  It  can  be  safely 
inferred  that  RajputanA  was  a  sea  long  after  the  stone  age 
had  commenced  in  Southern  India,  and  that  the  Rgveda  was 
composed  during  that  age. 

We  have  already  mentioned  three  of  the  principal  sub- 
divisions of  Sapta-Sindhu,  viz.,  (i)  Sarasvatl,  the  region  water- 
ed probably  by  the  upper  course  of  the  river;  (2)  Bhdrati,  the 
region  watered  by  its  lower  course  and  inhabited  by  the 
Bharatas,  under  the  spiritual  guidance  ot  Visvamitra  and  (3) 
Ila,  situated  in  the  Himalayan  valley  of  Kashmir.  Besides 
these  three  important  sub-divisions,  there  were  two  more,  one 
inhabited  by  the  Trtsus,  somewhere  to  the  east  of  Paru?nl, 
under  the  spiritual  leadership  of  the  Vasisthas,  and  the  other 
on  the  banks  of  the  Sindhu  or  the  Indus.  In  addition  to  these 
principal  sub-divisions  inhabited  by  the  five  principal  clans  of 
the  Aryans,  among  whom,  besides  the  Bharatas  and  the 
Trtsus,  were  included  the  Anus,  the  Druhyus,  and  the  Tur- 
ba^es  or  the  Yadus,  who  were  called  by  the  name  of  Pancaja- 
nah  (or  Five  Tribes),  there  were  many  other  parts  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  probably  the  different  fertile  region*  known  in  modern 
times  as  the  Doabs,  -  which  were  occupied  by  other  Aryan 
tribes,  none  the  less  important  than  the  Pancajandh^  like  the 
Purus  and  the  Cedis.  Watered  by  a  number  of  rivers,  the 
alluvial  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu  were  naturally  very  fertile,  and 
produced  a  variety  ot  bumper  crops  like  barley,  millets  and 
rice  which  formed  the  staple  food  of  the  ancient  Aryans. 
These  fertile  plains  also  afforded  rich  pastures  to  the  cattle 
which  the  ancient  Aryans  valued  a^  wealth  and  possessed  in 
large  numbers 

The  Indus  or  the  Sindhu  has  its  source  in  the  region  to 
the  west  of  mount  Kailasa  on  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Hima- 

1     Memoir*  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  Vol.  XLV,  P,  i,  p.  103. 
*     Doab  literally  means  the  region   between   two   rivers  (Do  =  two   and    ad 
or  Apt=  water). 


70  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

laya.  It  *  first  follows  in  a  westernly  direction  the  great 
rock-gorge  which  runs  with  a  depth  of  len  thousand  feet  be- 
tween the  parallel  mountain  chains  of  the  Karakoram  (Muz- 
Tagh)  and  the  Himalaya.  After  breaking  through  the  Hindu- 
kush  mountains  in  a  narrow  bed,  it  flows  in  a  southernly 
direction  from  the  point  where,  not  tar  from  the  city  of  Attock, 
at  the  west  of  the  flowery  vale  of  Kd.bh.nir,  its  waters  are 
increased  by  the  Kabul  river."  '  The  western  UibuUnes  of 
the  Sindhu  are  thus  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda  . — 

"  First  thou  goest  united  with  the  Tntfttnfi  on  this 
journey,  with  the  Susartu,  the  Rasd,  and  the  Svett,  O  Sindhu, 
with  the  Kubha  (Kophen,  Kabul  river)  to  the  Gomati  ^Gomal), 
with  the  Mehtnu  to  the  Kruniu  (Kuruin)— with  whom  thou 
proceeded  together.1'-'  The  rivers  to  the  east  of  the  Sindhu, 
some  uniting  together  ab  tributary  to  it,  and  others  flowing 
as  independent  nver*>  into  the  adjacent  seas,  have  been  thus 
mentioned  in  the  Rg\eda  (x.  75,  5;  In  ih<-  re  note  eastern 
border  were  the  G\n^S  and  th A  Y.i-nuna  which,  running 
their  sliort  course^  in  the  plain,  flowed  into  the  E^tijrn  Sea 
covering  the  Gangetic  trough.  To  the  west  of  tne  Yamuna 
were  the  DrsadvatI  and  the  Sm.vati  which,  having  been 
united  together,  flowed  into  tlu  Kijputana  Sea.  Then  came 
the  Satadru  and  the  Vipas  win.  h  were  united  «is  on<  II\M 
and  flowed  into  the  sea  whii  h  was  undoubtedly  the  Kajj)U- 
t5m&  Sea  (Rv.  iii  33  2).  N  xt  w»is  (he  I'.uu^ni.  which  is 
identified  with  the  nud"rn  I'dvl  n\  liavati,  anil  (lows  into 
the  Marudvfdha  which  was  th1:  n  t  »n-  ol  tlu  lowi-i  uniti-il 
course  of  the  Asiknl  (modern  Chenub  ui  (  han<li.\bliag§)  and 
the  VitastS  (modern  Jh^lum)  and  flo^vs  inlo  the  Indus  as  its 
tributary.  Besides  the  nam'-s  of  the-.e  rivers,  there  is  also 
mention  of  the  ArjiklySL,  which  is  said  to  have  been  united 
with  the  SugomSL.  According  tj  Yaska,  the  ArjiklyJL  is  the 
Vipft^  and  the  Su?oma  is  the  1  idus  Signs  of  an  abandoned 
old  river-bed  betwern  the  Satadru  and  th-  Paru^l  are  htill 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol    M 

*    Jjt£.  x.  75,  6  (Mitxmuller's  Translation). 


V.]  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LAND.  71 

visible,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  continuation  of  the  Vip£§, 
and  joined  the  Indus  probably  lower  down  the  point  where 
the  Mnrudvrdha  now  joins  it.  If  the  Ar  jiklyS  be  the  old 
name  of  (he  VipS,,  then  YSska's  identification  of  the  SujomS 
with  lh.*  Indus  may  be  correct.  The  Satadru  is  now  of  course 
a  tributary  to  the  Marud\rdhS  which  flows  into  the  Indus. 
Probably  the  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea 
offered  an  obstruction  to  its  bed,  and  caused  it  to  deflect  its 
course  towards  the  west  till  it  joined  the  Maruclvrdha.  We 
thus  find  the  names  of  the  Seven  Rivers  that  gave  the  country 
its  ancient  name  of  Sapta  Smdhavh,  which  were  undoubtedly 
the  SarasvatI,  the  fiatadru,  tht^  ArjikiylL  or  Vipa-,  the  Parusnl, 
the  Asiknl,  the  YiUsta,  and  the  Sindhu. 

Two  of  these  livrMs,  nimely  the  SarasvatI  and  the  Arji- 
Ki\a  it  lie  old  Vipa-)  \\en«  subsequently  dried  up,  and  bjcame 
I'l'iijnilirant,  when  S.ipl  i  Sindhu  came  lobe  called  as  the 
ritnuib  or  the  Land  of  Five  Rivers. 

The  present  name  of  the  Drs.idvati  is  Ghaggar.  But  the 
SarasvatI  and  the  Draadv.itl,  as  we  have  already  said,  are  not 
now  great  rivers.  The  Sarn^vatl  is  represented  by  a  channel 
or  channels,  occupying  the  position  of  the  ancient  much-praised 
stream,  but  now  nearly  dry  for  a  great  part  of  the  year.  The 
present  condition  of  the  Dr^advatl  or  the  Ghaggar  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  SarasvatI  They,  as  well  as  the  M&rkanda  and 
the  ('hitting,  rise  from  the  lower  hills  of  Sirmur,  and  are 
violent  torrents  during  the  rains,  though  nearly  dry  at  other 
times. 

The  rivet  A  pay  A  has  been  mentioned  with  the  SarasvatI 
and  the  D^advatl  in  the  Rgveda  (iii.  23,  4).  Probably  the 
ApayS  can  be  identified  with  either  the  MSrkanda  or  the 
Chitung. 

The  Gangd  and  the  Yamun&  have  been  mentioned  in  the 
Rgveda  (x.  75,  5)  with  the  Sindhu  and  its  tributaries,  and  the 
SarasvatI.  But  as  vte  have  seen,  they  are  not  included  in  the 
computation  of  the  seven  rivers  that  gave  the  country  its  name, 


74  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

The  cloths  manufactured  there  were  known  by  the  name  of 
Sindhu,  and  were  of  such  fine  texture  as  to  have  created  a 
demand  for  them  not  only  in  Sapta-Sindhu  but  also  in  far- 
off  countries  like  Babylonia  and  Assyria  even  in  much  later 
times.1  The  woollen  fabrics  of  the  Punjab  and  Kashmir,  . 
which  even  now  elicit  the  admiration  and  praise  of  the  civilised 
world,  were  famous  also  in  Rgvedic  times.  The  fertile 
valley  of  the  Indus  produced  such  abundant  crops  as  to  justify 
the  Vedic  bard  in  calling  it  a  granary  of  the  river.  The  above 
description  of  the  Sindhu  undoubtedly  gives  us  a  vivid  picture 
Of  agricultural  and  industrial  activities  and  prosperity  of  the 
ancient  Aryans  in  those  very  early  times.  In  fact,  it  seems  to 
me  as  if  the  Sindhu  represented  and  was  the  emblem  of  Action 
which  made  the  Aryans  a  great  and  powerful  people,  when 
the  rest  of  the  world  was  "  wrapped  up  in  winter  sleep,"  just 
as  much  as  the  SarasvatI  represented  and  was  the  emblem  of 
the  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  culture  that  made  them  a  highly 
civilised  nation.  The  banks  of  the  SarasvatI  were  the  scene  of 
Contemplation,  where  sacrifices  were  performed  and  the  bards 
indulged  even  then  in  the  highest  speculations  regarding  the 
Soul  (Atma)  and  the  Universal  Spirit  (Parmdtma)  that  per- 
meates and  underlies  all  things,  and  tried  to  solve  the  riddle 
of  life.  The  Spiritual  Contemplation  of  the  people  was  com- 
bined with  Action  which  was  directed  towards  the  improve- 
ment of  material  prosperity,  not  divorced  from  spiritual 
culture,  but  wedded  to  and  dominated  by  it,  It  was  this 
happy  combination  of  Spirit  and  Matter  that  helped  to  make 
the  ancient  Aryans  a  great  and  glorious  people. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  beautiful  verses  composed  in 
praise  of  the  SarasvatI : — 

11  May  SarasvatI,  the  purifier,  the  giver  of  food,  the 
bestower  of  wealth  in  the  shape  of  sacrificial  fruits,  seek 
viands  in  our  sacrificial  rite. 

1     "  The  old  Babylonian  name  for  muslin  was  Sindhu,  i.  e.t  the   stuff  was 
simply  called  by  the  name  of  the  country  which  exported  it."    Ragozin's 


V.]  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LAND.  7$ 

"  SarasvatI,  the  inspirer  of  truthful  word,  the  instructress 
of  the  right-minded,  has  accepted  our  sacrifice. 

"  SarasvatI  makes  manifest  by  her  deeds  a  huge  river, 
and  generates  all  knowledge."  (Rv.  i.  3,  10-12.) 

These  verses  are  an  unimpeachable  testimony  of  the 
grateful  acknowledgment  by  the  ancient  Aryans  of  the  facility 
that  the  SarasvatI  afforded  them  to  perform  their  sacrifices, 
and  compose  the  mantras  of  the  Rgveda,  that  embodied,  as 
it  were,  the  truth  that  was  revealed  to  the  ancient  seers. 

Read  again  the  translation  of  the  following  verses  >•* 

11  SarasvatI,  appearing  in  the  form  of  this  river,  has  bdcn 
breaking,  with  her  strong  and  swift  waves,  the  high  elevation 
of  the  hills,  like  those  who  dig  up  for  roots.  Let  us  offer  our 
service  to  her  who  breaks  both  her  banks,  and  propitiate  her 
by  means  of  hymns  and  sacrifices  for  our  own  protection. 

"  O  Sarasvati,  thou  hast  destroyed  the  detractors  of  the 
Gods,  and  killed  the  wily  and  all-pervading  son  of  Vfgaya. 
O  Goddess  Sarasvati,  rich  in  food-stores,  thou  hast  given  lafjds 
to  men,  and  caused  rains  to  tall  for  their  benefit. 

"  0  thou  food-supplying  Goddess  Sarasvati,  dost  thou 
protect  us  from  harm  at  the  time  of  war,  and  grant  us,  like 
Pu?an,  enjoyable  wealth. 

"The  dreaded  Sarasvati,  who  is  seated  on  a  golden 
chariot  and  destroys  our  enemies,  covets  our  beautiful  hymns. 

"  Her  velocity  is  immeasurable,  which  overcomes  all  ob- 
structions, and  makes  a  thundering  sound  while  bringing  waters. 

"  As  the  daily  sojourning  sun  brings  the  days,  so  may 
Sarasvati,  defeating  our  enemies,  bring  to  us  her  other  watery 
sisters. 

"  May  our  most  beloved  Sarasvati,  who  has  seven  riparian 
sisters,   and   was   adored    with  hymns   by  the  ancient 
always  deserve  our  praise. 


?6  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

11  May  SarasvatI  who  has  filled  the  earth  and  heaven  with 
her  brightness,  protect  us  from  the  attack  of  unbelievers  and 
detractors. 

"  May  SarasvatI  be  invoked  by  men  in  every  battle — the 
seven-bodied  SarasvatI  who  extends  over  the  three  worlds 
and  is  the  benefactress  of  the  five  tribes. 

11  May  SarasvatI  deserve  the  praise  of  the  learned  hymn- 
makers— SarasvatI  who  is  the  most  famous  among  her  seven 
sisters  by  her  greatness  and  valiant  deeds,  who  has  got  the 
greatest  velocity  of  all  rivers,  and  is  adorned  with  many 
excellent  qualities  on  account  of  her  superiority. 

"  O  Sarasvati,  dost  thou  lead  us  on  to  immense  wealth 
and  not  make  us  low.  Dost  thou  not  trouble  us  with  excess 
of  water,  but  accept  our  friendship  and  be  welcome  to  our 
homes.  May  we  not  be  compelled  to  go  to  any  inferior  place 
far  away  from  thy  banks, "  (Rv.  vi.  61.) 

"  May  SarasvatI,  Sarayu  and  Sindhu,  the  rivers  that  flow 
with  huge  waves,  come  here  to  protect  us.  They  are  like  our 
mothers,  supplying  us  with  water.  May  they  supply  us  with 
water,  tasteful  like  clarified  butter,  and  sweet  as  honey  "  (Rv. 
x,  64,  9). 

u  SarasvatI  is  flowing  with  life-sustaining  water  and  pro- 
tects us  like  an  iron  citadel.  She  is  extended  like  a  (broad) 
thoroughfare,  and  proceeds  in  her  glory,  outstripping  the 
other  flowing  streams. 

"  The  holiest  of  rivers,  flowing  from  the  mountains  into 
the  Sea,  SarasvatI  alone  knows  (the  merits  of  sacrifice).  It 
was  she  who  gave  Nahu$a  vast  wealth  and  produced  milk  and 
butter  for  him 

"  May  the  fortunate  Sarasvati  be  pleased  to  listen  to  our 
hymns  at  this  sacrifice.  May  the  adorable  Gods  approach 
her  with  bent  knees,  who  is  rich  in  everlasting  wealth  and 
kind  to  her  friends. 


V.]  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LAND.  77 

"  O  Sarasvati,  we  shall  get    wealth   bestowed    on  us  by 
thee,  by  offering  thee  these 
before  thee.     We  shall  come  in 
this  thy  favourite  dwellinj 
thee  like  a  tree. 

"  O  fortunate  Sarasvati, 
door  to  the  hall  of  sacrifice. 
(Rv.  vii,  95). 

From  the  above  description 
ly  appears  that  she  was  a  dreaded^ 
vedic  times,  flowing  from  the  u ;  •"  * ]  'y^^^flTiL*  J I ifl^Tn  sea  with 
great  velocity,  and  with  spill- waters  flooding  the  country  around. 
She  supplied  the  ancient  Aryans  with  pure  drinking  water  and 
made  her  banks  fertile,  and  rich  in  crops.  The  Aryan  agricul- 
tural population  was  greatly  indebted  to  her,  and,  as  \\e  have 
already  seen,  clung  to  her  as  a  child  clings  to  its  mother's  breast, 
with  a  love  and  fondness  that  is  quite  touching.  It  uas  on  the 
banks  of  the  Sarasvati  that  great  sacrifices  used  to  be  performed 
and  the  Aryans  composed  most  of  their  hymns.  In  those  days, 
as  we  have  already  said,  she  was  certainly  not  an  insignificant 
river  which  she  is  now,  but  a  noble  stream,  with  a  current 
running  throughout  the  year,  which  was  probably  fed  by  the 
melting  snow  of  the  glaciers  near  her  source.  As  has  already 
been  observed  in  a  previous  chapter,  there  is  evidence  of  a 
cold  climate  having  prevailed  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  and 
geologists  think  it  quite  probable  that  the  Himalaya  was 
covered  with  snow  even  in  the  lower  altitudes.  The  dis- 
appearance of  snow  from  these  lower  heights  and  the  scanti- 
ness of  rainfall  even  during  the  rainy  season  in  modern  times, 
due  to  the  disappearance  ol  the  surrounding  seas,  have  reduc- 
ed the  Sarasvati  to  her  present  skeleton  which  is  not  even  the 
shadow  of  her  former  greatness.  The  Sarasvati  \\as  also 
famous  for  the  number  of  sacrifices  performed,  and  the  rich 
knowledge  in  spiritual  matter  that  the  ancient  Aryans  acquired 
on  her  banks.  That  the  region  through  which  the  Sarasvati 
flows  was  inhabited  by  Aryan  tribes  from  very  ancient  times 


78  ftGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

would  also  appear  Trom  the  fact  acknowledged   by  the   Vedic 
bards  that  she  was  praised  by  their  ancestors  in  olden  times. 

The  lower  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  watered  by  her  rivers, 
were  fertile,  which,  but  for  the  rivers,  the  Salt  Range,  long 
stretches  qf  woods  and  the  strip  of  desert  in  the  south,  would 
have  made  the  landscape  somewhat  dreary  and  monotonous. 
There  is  no  beautiful  hill  scenery  in  the  plains  ,  but  on  the 
west,  the  north-west  and  the  north,  mountain-ranges  lift  up 
their  heads  to  the  skies  and  make  the  landscape  look  grand, 
beautiful  and  variegated.  The  snowy  ranges  of  the  Himalaya 
have  been  referred  to  in  the  Rgveda  (x.  121,  4),  though  none 
of  its  highest  peaks  mentioned,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there 
were  no  means  of  advancing  eastward  on  account  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Eastern  Sea,  anil  exploration  of  the  gigantic 
mountain  range  was  more  difficult  in  those  days  by  reason  of 
a  low  temperature  having  prevailed  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the 
lower  elevations  having  been  covered  with  snow  The  peak 
of  the  Mujavat  where  the  Soma  plant  grew  was  familiar  to  the 
ancient  Aryans,  as  well  as  the  valley  of  Kashmir  and  the  sur- 
rounding ranges  of  the  Himalaya  The  mountains  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu  have  been  described  in  one  beautiful  verse  which 
being  translated  into  English,  stands  as  follows  : — "  The  moun- 
tains stand  immovable  for  seons  after  icons,  as  if  their  desires 
have  been  satiated  and  fulfilled,  and  hence  they  do  not  leave 
their  places  on  any  account.  They  are  free  from  the  decrepi- 
tude of  old  age,  and  are  covered  with  green  trees,  looking 
green,  and  filling  heaven  and  earth  with  the  sweet  melodies 
of  birds."  (Rv.  x.  94,  12).  In  two  other  verses  the  immov- 
able mountains  have  been  invoked  to  be  propitiatory.  (Rv. 
vii.  35,  3  and  8).  In  Rv.  i.  56,  2,  it  has  been  stated  that 
ladies  used  to  climb  up  the  hills  to  pluck  flowers.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  the  mountainous  regions  of  Sapta-Sindhu 
were  as  much  inhabited  as  the  plains  by  the  ancient  Aryans. 
Arachosia  and  Afghanistan  on  the  west  were  also  inhabited 
by  Aryan  tribes,  who  were  ruled  by  Aryan  kings  performing 
Vedio  sacrifices, 


V.]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  79 

Having  given  a  short  description  of  the  physical  features 
of  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  revealed  in  the  Rgveda,  we  will  now 
proceed  to  give  a  short  description  of  its  fauna  and  flora. 

Among  domestic  animals,  we  find  the  largest  mention  of 
cattle  (cows)  made  in  the  Rgveda.  The  cow  was,  as  she  is 
even  now,  a  most  useful  animal.  She  supplied  the  Aryans 
with  milk  and  butter,  and  her  dried  dung  was  used  for  fuel. 
Butter  clarified  was  used  not  only  in  food,  but  also  in  the  liba- 
tions offered  to  Agni  or  Fire  at  the  time  of  sacrifice.  As  reli- 
gious sacrifice  formed  an  essential  part  of  Aryan  life  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  and  clarified  butter  prepared  from  cow's  milk  only  was 
used  in  sacrifiYr,  the  value  of  the  cow  from  a  religious  stand* 
point  can  easily  be  imagined.  It  was  the  belief  of  the  ancient 
Aryans,  as  it  is  still  the  belief  of  their  descendants,  that  liba- 
tions, offered  to  Agni,  were  shared  by  all  the  Gods,  and  as  such, 
Agni  was  the  Purohita  or  priest  of  the  Sacrifice.  The  liba- 
tions of  ghrta  (clarified  butter)  kindle  the  flames  of  the  sacri- 
ftYial  Fire,  and  help  it  to  consume  the  other  offerings  made  to 
it.  The  cow,  therefore,  was  not  only  a  highly  useful  but  also 
a  sacred  animal,  and  two  whole  Saktas  have  been  devoted  to 
the  praise  of  the  Gavl-devatft  or  the  Cow-goddess.  (Rv.  x.  19 
and  169.)  The  bull  was  the  emblem  of  power  and  generation, 
and  was  used  for  drawing  the  plough  and  the  car  or  rart. 
But  there  is  evidence  of  its  having  been  killed  in  sacrifices 
and  its  cooked  flesh  offered  to  the  Gods,  especially  to  Indra 
who  seemed  to  have  developed  a  keen  taste  and  inordinate 
desire  for  it.  (Rv.  x.  86,  13  and  14.) 

There  is  also  evidence  of  beef  having  been  eaten  by  the 
ancient  Aryans.1  But  milch-cows  were  seldom  sacrificed, 
though  there  is  evidence  in  the  Rgveda  and  the  BrdJtmanas*2 
of  the  practice  of  sacrificing  barren  cows  (Vehat),  or  cows 
that  miscarried  or  produced  still-born  calves.  In  later  times, 
however,  the  sacrifice  of  bulls  or  barren  cows  was  entirely 

1     Rv.  vi.  39,  i.— Read   also  ii.  7,    5.  v*-    16*  49?   39-    '»'  '*•    l69t  3-    *• 
27,  a;  28,3;  86,  I.  3&    14. 

•     £v.  ii,  7.  5  J  *i*  Brah.  I.  3,  4. 


80  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

discontinued  and  prohibited,  as  beef  was  probably  found  un- 
suitable for  consumption,  and  disagreeable  to  health,  on 
account  of  the  change  of  cold  into  warm  climate.  The  horse- 
sacrifice  also  was  afterwards  discontinued,  probably  for  the 
same  reasons  and  also  because  it  was  more  costly  than  the 
bull-sacrifice.  The  cow-hides  were  tanned  and  made  into 
many  articles  of  everyday  use.  There  was  no  prejudice,  as 
there  is  at  the  present  day,  against  using  receptacles  made  of 
cow-hides  for  storing  water,  wine,  honey,  oil,  clarified  butter, 
and  even  articles  of  worship  like  the  Soma  juice.  (Rv.  i.  28, 
9  and  ix.  66,  29).  Cow-dung  was  also  probably  used  as 
manure  for  fertilizing  agricultural  lands. 

It  may  be  argued  that  though  bulls  were  sacrificed,  and 
their  flesh  cooked  and  offered  to  the  Gods,  it  was  not  partaken 
of  by  the  sacrifices,  or  the  Aryans.  But  in  Rv.  vi.  39,  i,  the 
sage  Bharadvdja  distinctly  prays  to  Indra  to  grant  him 
and  the  worshippers  food  with  "go  "  or  cow  as  the  principal 
item.1  This,  of  course,  may  be  interpreted  to  mean  that  by 
the  word  "go"  or  cow  is  implied  not  her  flesh  but  her  milk 
and  milk-products  like  butter,  curd,  ghee,  etc.  This  may  be 
a  possible  explanation  ,  but,  as  Professor  Wilson  says,  "  there 
does  not  seem  to  be  anything  in  the  Veda  that  militates 
against  the  literal  interpretation/'  In  the  Aitareya  Brah- 
man  a  which  was  composed  long  after  the  Rgveda,  we  come 
across  a  passage  which  says  that  when  the  king  or  any 
respected  person  comes  as  a  guest,  one  should  kill  a  bull  or 
a  Vehat)  i.e.,  an  old  barren  cow  (i.  3,  4).-'  Ydjnavalkya  also 


1    RV.  vi  39,  i  .- 

Sayana  comments  on  this  as  follows  —  *znr?t  *Fm  ^tTT  ift  W. 


*     This   practice     probably   continued    till    comparatively    recent   times. 
In  the  Uttara  R  dm  a-  Cant  am  of  Bhavabhuti  occurs  the  following  passage  .  — 
"Why,  know  you  not, 
The  Vedas,  which  enshrine  our  holy  laws, 
Direct  the  householder  shall  offer  those 
Who  in  the  law  are  skilled,  the  honied  meal, 
And  with  it  fiYsh  ot  ox,  or  calf,  or  go.it, 
And  the  like  treatment  shall  the  householder 
Receive  from  Brahmans  learned  in  the  Veda  ?" 
(Hindu  Theatre,  1.  339.) 


V.]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  81 

expresses  a  similar  view.1  In  the  Mahdbhdrata}  it  hats  been 
related  that  for  the  royal  kitchen  of  King  Rantideva,  two 
thousand  cows  and  other  animals  used  to  be  slaughtered 
daily.2  In  the  Rgveda  also,  there  is  distinct  mention  of  a 
place  for  slaughtering  cows.  (x.  89,  14.)  From  all  these 
evidences  it  is  clear  that  there  was  no  prejudice  of  the  ancient 
Aryans  against  beef-eating.  *  Very  probably  it  was  dis- 
continued, as  we  have  already  said,  after  the  climate  had 
become  very  hot,  as  it  \\as  found  injurious  to  health-,  and 
then  beef  came  to  be  religiously  prohibited  as  an  article  of 
food. 

The  horse  was  the  next  most  useful  domestic  animal. 
Professor  Macclonell  lias  ^aid  that  the  horse  was  never  used 
by  the  ancient  Aryan*  for  riding  but  only  for  drawing  cars  or 
chariots.4  This  again  appears  to  me  to  be  another  mis- 
statement  of  fact.  For  there  are  many  \erses  in  the  Rgveda 

In  the  Mahavlracantam  also  occurs  the  following    — 

*'  The  heifer  is  reid}  lor  .sacrifice,  and  the  food  is  cooked  in  ghee.  Thou 
art  a  learned  man,  come  to  tho  house  of  the  learned,  favour  us  (by  joining  in 
the  entertainment.) 

I      (Vdfjna  I.  109  ) 


Mahtibharata  fl'ana  Parva)  Ch.  266,  verges  in    1  1  •  — 


"  O  BrAhmafla,  in  the  da^s  of  yore,  two  thousand  animals  used  to  be  killed 
every  day  in  the  kitchen  of  Kingf  Rantideva.  And  in  the  same  manner  two 
thousand  kine  were  killed  every  d*y  Rantidev.i  daily  distributed  food  miled 
with  meat.  O  foremost  of  BrAhmaiMs,  th.it  king  thus  acquired  unrivalled 
fame."  (M.  N.  Dutt's  Translation) 

"     For  an  elaborate  account  of    beef-citing    and    cow-sacrifice   in    ancient 
India,  read  Dr.  Mitra's  Indo-Arvant,  Vol.  I,  pp.  354-388. 
MacdonelTs  History  »f  Sanskrit  Literature,  p.  150, 
II 


82  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

showing  that  the  horse  was  used  as  much  for  riding  as  for 
driving,  of  which  I  will  quote  only  a  few  below  :  — 

"  O  ASvins,  come  quickly  to  the  place  where  we  are  offer- 
ing hymns,  riding  on  your  fleet  horses."  (viii.  5,  7.)  l 

"  O  Indra,  come  thou  to  us  from  the  distant  region,  rid- 
ing on  thy  two  handsome  horses,  and  drink  this  Soma." 
(viii.  6,  36.)  * 

"  Our  captains  (leaders)  have  assembled  riding  on  their 
horses.  O  Indra,  may  our  charioteers  be  victorious  in  the 
battle/'  (vi.  47,  31.)  3 

"  Warriors,  eager  to  fight,  follow  me  on  their  beautiful 
horses,  and  assembling  together  invoke  my  aid  in  battle." 

(iv.  42,  5.)  * 

A 

"  Adorable  Aditya,  may  I  pabs  (safe)    in  your   car   from 

the  illusions  which  (you  desire)  for  the  malignant,  the  snares 
which  are  spread  for  your  foes,  (in  like  manner)  as  a  horse- 
man (passes  over  a  road)"  (Rv.  ii.  27,  22). 

The  word  A&viva  (*n?ta)  has  been  used  in  this  verse  to 
mean  "  like  a  horseman." 

The  Maruts  or  winds  have  also  been  described  in  Rv.  x. 
92,  9,  as  advancing  rapidly  on  horseback. 

In  Rv.  x.  156,  i,  mention  has  been  made  of  Aji  or  the 
race-course,  where  fleet  horses  were  run  in  a  race.  Unless 
the  horses  were  ridden,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  hold 
horse-races.  The  stake  marking  the  goal  in  the  race-course 
was  called  Kdrsma.  The  chariot-race  was,  of  course,  distinct 
from  the  horse-race. 


1    Rv.  viii.  5,  7  i-^t  m     tttorq     5*Hp     ^%fi?   ?TOfif:  | 

it 

»   RV.  viii.  6,  36  :—  ^  ^  qrf%  xrcrofttftwit 
n 

(Read  also  $g.  x.  96,  10  and  ftgvedic  Culture  Ch.  v.  222-227.) 

•   Rv.  vi.  47»  3«  .—  OTmhrcto  'ft  'rfts^rarfo*  tfWt  *&f  \ 
«   RV.  iv.  42,  5  :—  ift  «rc:  w  TOi^Jt  nt  TOT: 


V,]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  83 

Dadhikras  is  the  deity  of  the  war-horse,  and  also  the 
name  of  Fire,  to  which  the  horse  has  been  frequently  com- 
pared. Three  Saktas,  viz.,  Rv.  iv.  38,  39  and  40  have  been 
devoted  to  the  praise  of  the  war-horse  or  Dadhikras  and  from 
a  perusal  of  these  spirited  hymns,  it  appears  that  the  war- 
horse  was  used  for  riding  as  well  as  for  drawing  war-chariots. 

The  war-chariots  could  only  be  manceuvred  on  even 
plains  and  hard  grounds  ;  but  the  cavalry  could  easily  pursue 
the  enemy  over  rough  grounds  and  ups  and  downs,  which  it 
was  impossible  for  war  chariots  to  do.1  It  would,  indeed, 
be  strange  if  the  Aryans  did  not  discover  the  use  of  the 
horse  as  an  animal  for  riding,  when  they  used  it  as  a  beast  of 
burden  (Rv.  viii.  46,  8).  The  horse  was  also  used  for  draw- 
ing the  plough.  (Rv.  x.  101,  7). 

The  horse,  as  we  have  already  said,  was  the  emblem  of 
Fire,  the  Sun  and  Power,  and  used  to  be  formerly  sacrificed, 
and  its  cooked  flesh  partaken  of  by  the  worshippers  with  great 
relish  (Rv.  i.  162,  12).  The  horse,  decked  with  pearl,  gold 
and  silver  ornaments,  took  part  in  festive  processions,  as  it 
does  even  now  in  modern  India. 

The  ass  has  also  been  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda.  It 
was  employed  to  draw  carts  (Rv.  i.  34,  4),  and  also  to  carry 
burdens.  The  wild  ass  (Asinus  Onager)  is  still  confined  to 
the  sandy  deserts  of  Sind  and  Cutch,  where  from  its  speed 
and  timidity  it  is  almost  unapproachable.-  Probably  these 
wild  asses  were  tamed  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu. 

I  have  not  come  across  any  distinct  mention  of  the  mule 
in  the  Rgveda.  But  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Aitareya 

»  In  this  connection,  the  translation  of  the  following  verses  from  the 
46th  Sukta  of  the  Sixth  Mandate  of  the  Rgveda  will  be  found  interesting  :— 

"  O  Indra,  when  the  great  battle  begins,  thou  urgest  our  horses  over  the 
uneven  paths,  like  falcons  darting  upon  their  food  and  flying  over  inaccessible 
regions  with  great  speed. 

11  Rushing  rapidly  like  rivers  in  their  downward  course,  and  although 
neighing  loudly  through  terror,  they  yet,  tight-girthed,  return  repeatedly  (to 
the  conflict)  for  cattle,  like  bird*  darting  on  their  prey." 

•     Ency.  Brit.  Vol.  XII.!  p.  7*2,  Ninth  Edition, 


84  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Brahman  a  (vi.  17.  3).  It  would  thus  appear  that  cross- 
breeding was  known  in  India  from  very  early  times,  and  the 
utility  of  mules  as  beasts  of  burden  understood  by  the  ancient 
Aryans. 

The  buffalo  was  also  a  domestic  animal  in  ancient  Sapta- 
Sindhu.  Probably  its  rich  milk  was  used  for  food  ;  and 
butter  was  made  of  it.  It  was  also  used  as  a  draught-animal 
for  drawing  carts  and  ploughs.  Herds  of  buffaloes  were 
grazed  in  the  woods,  just  as  they  are  done  even  to  this  day. 
(Rv.  ix.  33,  i.)  They  were  also  killed  for  their  flesh,  Indra 
having  been  very  fond  of  it  and  devouring  at  a  time  the  flesh 
of  100  to  300  buffaloes.  (Rv.  v.  29,  8  ;  vi  17,  1 1.)1 

The  goat  was  also  domesticated  for  food,  milk  and  its 
soft  wool,  for  which  it  is  even  now  famous  in  Kashmir  and 
Tibet.  It  was  also  sacrificed  in  honour  of  the  Gods,  and  it 
replaced  the  bull  and  the  horse  in  later  time>,  most  probably 
because  it  was  discovered  to  be  singularly  free  from 
tuberculosis.  It  ^is  remarkable  that  in  all  affections  from 
this  disease,  the  Ayurveda  which  embodies  the  Hindu  system 
of  medicine,  prescribes  goat's  milk  and  goat's  flesh  for 
patients  as  necessary  diets.  The  goat  was  sometimes 
harnessed  to  light  carts  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindliu.  (Rv.  ix. 
26,  8.) 

The  bheep  \\as  also  largely  domesticated  for  its  flesh  and 
wool,  and  sactiliced  in  honour  of  the  Gods.  (Rv.  i.  91,  14.) 
The  sheep  of  Gandhara  (Kandahar)  was  famous  for  its  wool. 
(Rv.  i.  126,  /  and  iv.  37,  4)  The  camel  was  a  familiar 
beast  of  burden  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhn,  as  it  is  even  now  in 
the  modern  Punjab.  It  was  even  then,  as  it  is  now,  "  the 

*  In  Hart-vamSa  Parva  of  the  MahAbhArata  (Chaps  146-147)  i&  the 
description  of  a  picnic,  held  in  Pindftraka.a  watering  place  on  the  west  coast  of 
Guzrat,  near  Dvdraka,  in  which  Kr$n,a,  Baladeva,  Arjuna  and  others  took  part. 
At  the  banquet  roast  buffalo  meat,  which  seemed  to  have  been  a  favourite  dish 
was  served.  In  Chap.  205  of  the  Vanaparva  of  the  Mahdbhdrata  also,  it  is 
related  that  buffalo-meat  was  publicly  sold  in  the  market,  and  the  stalls  display- 
ing it  were  crowded  by  customers. 


V.]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  $5 

ship  of  the  desert  "  (Rv.  viii.  46,  28),  carrying  burdens  and 
travellers  on  its  back  across  the  sandy  wilds  of  Sind  and 
southern  Sapta-Sindhu. 

The  dog  was  also  a  pet  domestic  animal.  Its  size  must 
have  been  enormous  in  those  days,  as  it  was  used  as  a  beast 
of  burden.  (Rv.  viii.  46,  28.)  It  is  well  known  that  in  the 
polar  regions  the  dog  is  used  by  the  Esquimaux  to  draw 
sledges  over  the  ice.  Even  in  later  times,  Sapta-Sindhu  was 
famous  for  its  dogs,  and  large  numbers  used  to  be  exported 
to  Persia  and  Mesopotamia  to  assist  in  the  hunt.1 

There  are  evidences  of  the  elephant  having  been  tamed 
after  capture,  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu.  Both  European  and 
Indian  scholars  have  said  that  the  elephant  hat>  but  rarely  been 
mentioned  in  the  Rgveda.  Professor  Macdonell  goes  so  far 
as  to  say  that  the  animal  "  is  explicitly  referred  to  in  only  two 
passages  of  the  Rgveda^  and  the  form  of  the  name  applied  to 
it  '  the  beast  (wrga)  with  a  hand  (hasti)  '  shows  that  the 
R§is  still  regarded  it  as  a  strange  animal. nj  It  was 
indeed  a  strange  animal,  as  it  was  not  so  familiar  on  the 
plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu  as  the  horse,  the  cow,  the  buffalo  or 
the  camel.  It  is  a  ferocious  animal  in  its  wild  state,  living 
on  mountains  and  in  the  deep  recesses  of  forests.  It  is 
caught  and  tamed  with  great  difficulty  and  hazard,  and  none 
but  kaja^  and  rich  noblemen  can  afford  to  keep  it.  There  is 
DO  lea^uii  for  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  R$is  called  it  by  its 
distinguishing  limb,  the  proboscis,  which  the  annual  uses  just 
a.s  we  use  our  hand  for  picking  up  food  and  things  But  it 
was  albo  known  by  the  names  of  Ibha  and  Vdrana,  and  has 

1  ''The  Babylonians  imported  Indian  dogs.  The  breed  is  asserted  tc  be 
the  largest  and  strongest  that  exist,  and  on  that  account,  the  best  suited  for 
hunting  wild  lions  which  they  will  readily  attack.  The  great  fondness  felt  by 
the  Persians,  for  the  pleasure  of  the  chase,  by  whom  it  was  regarded  a*  a 
chivalrous  exercise,  mubt  have  increased  the  value  and  use  of  these  animals 
which  soon  became  even  an  object  of  luxury."  (Hist.  Hist  of  the  World; 
Vol.  I,  p.  488) 

•     Macdoneil's  Hi*t.  of  Sansk.  Lit.,  p.  148- 


86  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP.* 

been  referred  to  not  in  two  passages  only  of  the  Rgveda  as 
Professor  Macdonell  says,  but  in  several  passages  in  one 
name  or  another,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  below  : 

"  O  Maruts,  ye  eat  the  trees  of  the  forest  like  the  beasts 
called  elephants."  (Rv.  i.  64,  y,)1 

"  O  Agni,  thou  goest  with  fearless  power  (majesty),  just 
as  the  king  goes  with  his  minister  on  the  elephant."  (Rv.  iv. 
4,  'O2 

"  (O  ASvins),  as  the  hunters  desire  to  trap  large 
elephants,  so  I  am  invoking  ye,  day  and  night,  with  these 
articles  of  sacrifice."  (Rv.  x.  40,  4.)* 

This  verse  shows  that  hunters  used  to  trap  or  catch 
elephants  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  they  were  constantly 
on  the  look-out  for  elephants,  as  the  catching  of  these  animals 
was  highly  paying  and  profitable  to  them. 

"  Indra  assumes  uncontrollable  power  in  sacrifices,  like 
an  elephant  that  exudes  the  mada  juice,  i.e.t  becomes  must  or 
rogue."  (viii.  33,  8.)4 

44  The  powerful  mother  replied,  '  he  \\ho  seeks  thy  enmity, 
fights  like  an  elephant  on  the  mountain.'  "  (Rv.  viii.  45,  5.):' 

"O  A^vins,  like  a  rogue  elephant,  driven  by  ankufa 
(iron  hook),  kill  ye  the  enemies,  bending  your  bodies." 
(Rv.  x.  106,  6.)° 

From  the  above  quotations  it  would  appear  that  elephants, 
that  inhabited  the  mountains  and  forests  of  Sapta-Sindhu, 
were  caught  and  tamed  by  hunters,  and  sold  to  the  Rajas 
who  used  to  ride  them  with  their  ministers.  They  were  also 


»     Rv.  J.  64,  7  —  ifin  f*  ^ftW  WTOTT  ^TT  I  etc- 
*     Rv.    iv   4,  i    — 

s    RV.  x.  40,  4 


*    Rv.  viii.  33,  8  -*r*r  faft  *r  *ncnr.  HW  *ro*  &  \  etc. 
»    RV.  viii  45,  5  —  irftr  ecu  *wrft  wfiKU'tf 
n 


•    RV.  *.  106,  6  .—  *q[>  sppft  gqr'fr^SnWhr  jqfft  TO  ftwr,  ctc« 


V.]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  87 

probably  used  in  war.  That  these  animals  were  the  natives 
of  the  Himalayan  forests  would  appear  from  the  following 
extracts  from  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (Vol.  XII, 
p.  742)  : — "  The  elephant  still  exists  in  considerable  numbers 
along  the  terai  or  sub-montane  fringe  of  the  Himalaya."  It 
is  therefore  extremely  likely  that  the  elephant  existed  in  the 
Himalayan  forests  of  Sapta-Sindhu  in  ancient  times  also. 

Among  other  wild  animals  and  beasts  of  prey,  mention  is 
made  in  the  Rgveda  of  the  spotted  deer  (i.  37,  i),  the  musk- 
deer  (x.  146,  6),  the  black  buck,  known  as  Krsnasara  Mrga 
(x.  94,  5),  the  wild  boar,  the  bison  (viii.  45,  24),  the  lion 
(viii.  i,  20  ;  ix.  89,  3  ;  x.  28,  10),  the  wolf  (Vrka},  the  bear, 
the  hare,  the  mongoose  (Nakula}^  the  monkey  (Kapi)}  and 
the  jackal.  There  were  long  stretches  of  woods  and  thickets 
in  the  plains,  and  forests  on  the  mountains,  in  which  they 
lived  and  freely  roamed.  A  whole  beautiful  Sakta  has  been 
devoted  to  the  description  of  Aranydni  or  forest.  (Rv.  x  146), 

The  lion  is  still  found  in  the  deserts  of  Rajputand,  having 
probably  been  driven  to  the  south  by  the  destruction  of  the 
woods  and  forests  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  tiger  ( Vydghra) 
has  not  been  anywhere  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  as  it  was 
probably  in  those  days  a  native  of  Southern  India ;  but  now 
its  natural  home  is  the  swampy  jungles  of  Bengal,  though  he 
is  also  found  in  all  the  forests  of  India.  The  absence  of  the 
tiger  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  unmistakably  points  to  its 
complete  severance  from  the  Deccan.  The  lion  used  to  be 
trapped  and  caught  alive,  and  kept  in  cages  probably  for 
show.  (Rv.  x.  28,  10.) 

With  regard  to  the  black  buck,  the  antelope  proper 
(Antilope  bezoartica),  it  should  be  mentioned  here  that  it 
was  held  sacred  by  the  ancient  Aryans,  and  its  skin  used  at 
the  time  of  holding  sacrifices.  The  white  hairs  of  the  skin 
represented  the  Rfcs}  the  black  represented  the  Sdmas,  and 
the  yellow  the  Yajus.1  "  Its  special  habitat  is  the  salt  plains, 

»    The  Satapatha  Brlhma^a.  I.  4.  2. 


88  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

as  on  the  coast  lines  of   Guzrat  and   Orissa,   where  herds .  of 
fifty  does  may  be  seen,  accompanied  by  a  single   buck.     The 
doe  is  of  a  light  fawn  colour,  and  has  no  horns.     The  colour  of 
the  buck  is  a  deep  brown-black    above,    sharply    marked    off 
-from  the  white  of  the   belly.     His    spiral    horns,    twisted    for 
three  or  four  turns  like  a  corkscrew,  often    reach    the   length 
of  30  inches.     The  flesh  is  dry  and  unsavoury,  but  is  permit- 
ted meat  for  Hindus,  even    of  the  Brahman  caste."1     It  is  to 
be  noted  that  the  Aryans  even  in   a    later   age    regarded    the 
black  buck  as  a  distinguishing  mark    of  the  Aryan    land    pro- 
per, or  more  correctly    speaking    of    the    land    where    Vedic 
sacrifices   could   be    performed    (Yajniya    de§a).     All    other 
lands  over  which  the  black  buck  did  not  roam  were    unfit    for 
holding  sacrifices  in,  and  regarded  as    Mleccha   dt&a  *     Pro- 
bably the  proper  habitat  of  the  black  buck  in  ancient  times  was 
the  Southern  and  Eastern  coast-lines   of  Sipta-Sinclhu,  which 
in  later  times  extended,  with  the  disappearance  of  the  Eastern 
Sea  from  the  Gang«*tic   trough,    to  the   coast-line   of   Orissa, 
and  with  the  disappearance    of    the    Rajputana    Sea,    to   the 
coast-line   of   Guzrit.      This     extended     country   afterwards 
formed  Aryavarta,  *  or  the  country  inhabited  hy   the  Aryans. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  black  buck  is  found   nowhere  else  in 
India  excepting  Aryavarta. 

The  proper  home  of  the  musk-deer  is  in  the  Himalaya 
where  it  is  still  found,  and  killed  by  hunters  for  its  musk. 

The  Gaura  Wrga  which  has  been  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  Rgveda  (viii.  9,  3;  45,  24)  is  probably  the  Gour 
(Bibos  Gaurus),  the  "  bison  "  of  sportsmen,  "which  is 
found  in  all  the  hill  jungles,  in  the  Western  Ghat,  in  Central 
India,  in  Assam,  and  in  British  Burma,"  and  "  sometimes 

i     Ency.  Bnt ,  Vol.  XII    p.  742  (Ninth  Edition). 

! ftiut  ^t  iT^fuWTiTC  li 

(Manu,  II,  23.) 

r:  ti 

(Manu,  II,  24.) 


V.]  FAUNA  AND  FLORA.  89 

attains  the  height  of  20  hands  (close  on  7  feet),  measuring 
from  the  hump  above  the  shoulder.  Its  short  curved  horns 
and  skull  are  enormously  massive.  Its  colour  is  dark  chest- 
nut or  coffee-brown.  From  the  difficult  nature  of  its  habitat 
and  from  the  ferocity  with  which  it  charges  an  enemy,  the 
pursuit  of  the  bison  is  no  less  dangerous  and  no  less  exciting 
than  that  of  the  tiger  or  the  elephant."1  As  it  is  now  found 
in,  and  confined  to  the  Southern  Peninsula,  Assam  and 
Burma,  it  must  have  migrated  to  these  countries  from  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  after  it  had  become  connected  with  the  Deccan  and 
Assam  by  the  disappearance  of  the  R&jputani  Sea  and  the 
Eastern  Sea  respectively.  There  is  geological  evidence  to. 
prove  that  the  Deccan  was  connected  with  Assam  and 
Burma  on  the  one  hand,  and  South  Africa  on  the  other,  and 
extended  as  far  south  as  Australia,  forming  a  large  continent 
by  itself,  and  completely  cut  off  from  Sapta-Sindhu  by  seas.. 
The  Gaitra  *l/)ga}  having  once  migrated  to  the  .south,  freely 
roamed  east  and  \vest  through  the  jungles  and  over  the  hills 
of  Central  India,  the  Western  Ghats,  Assam  and  Brithh 
li.irin.it  and  completely  disappeared  from  Sapta-Sindhu  which, 
with  tho  destruction  of  thr  woods,  could  no  longer  afford  it 
free  pasturage  and  absolute  security. 

Among  reptiles,  frogs  and  snakes  are  mentioned  in  the  Rg- 
veda  (vii.  50,  103).  The  blatant  croakings  of  the  frogs  have 
been  compared  with  the  loud  recitations  of  the  Vedic  hymns 
by  the  pupils  and  disciples  of  the  Rsis  in  the  abodes  of  learn- 
ing, (Rv.  viii.  103,  5\  a  grotesquely  beautiful  comparison, 
no  doubt.  The're  are  whole  Suktas  devoted  to  Mantras  for 
taking  off  poison  injected  by  the  bites  of  poisonous  snakes 
and  insects,  which  proves  that  these  reptiles  were  numerous  in 
ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  (Rv.  i.  191  ;  vii.  50).  Fishes  also  have 
been  mentioned  (Rv.  x.  68,  8),  and  the  Mah&mina,  or  the 
large  fish,  referred  to  in  Rv.  viii.  67,  could  be  no  other  than 
the  whale.  There  was  a  country  called  MatsyadeSa  to  the 

Rncy.  Brit ,  Vol.  XII,  p.  742. 
12 


90  FLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

south-east  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  probably  at  the  junction  of  the 
R£jput&n&  and  the  Eastern  Seas,  which  was  so  called  pro- 
bably on  account  of  the  abundance  of  fish  obtained  there  on 
the  sea-coasts. 

Among  birds,  mention  is  made  in  the  Rgveda  of  pea- 
cocks (Hi.  45,  i)  of  which,  it  is  said,  there  were  21  species 
(Rv.  i,  191,  14),  falcons  (Syena)  (/.  PeregrinatorJ,  goose  or 
swan  (HamsaJ  (iii.  8,  9  ;  viii.  35,  8  and  ix.  32,  3), quails  (Var- 
tikd)  (i.  112,  8),  Francoline  partridge  (Kapinjala)  (ii.  42  and 
43),  black  daxvs  (krsna  f akuna}  (ix.  16,  6),  owl  (Uluka),  whose 
screeches  were  regarded  as  inauspicious  (x.  165,  5  and  6), 
Cakravdkas  or  ruddy  geese,  parrots  (Suka)  and  the  vulture 
(Grdhra)  (x.  123,  8).  Bird-catchers  are  mentioned  in  the  Rg- 
veda, who  either  netted  or  snared  them  and  sold  them  to 
those  who  were  fond  of  birds'  flesh.  (Rv.  i.  92,  10). 

Of  the  Flora  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  the  ASvattha  (Fiats 
religiosa)  was  called  the  Vanaspati>   or  "  king  of  forest  "   on 
account  of  its  size  and  tallness.     it  was  held  sacred,   and   its 
wood  was  used   for    making    Soma-vessels.     Professor   Mac- 
donell  has  translated  it  by  the  word.  u  horse-stand,"  probably 
suggesting  thereby  that  the  shade  of   the  tree   was    used   for 
stabling  horses.     But  it  has  been  derived    otherwise  by  San- 
skrit Etymologists,  and  is  meant  to  be  the  tree  that  is   not  of 
yesterday,  but  stands  from  olden  times.     And,  in  reality,  the 
ASvattha  is  not  short-lived,  and  can    easily  withstand   violent 
storms  and  blasts  of  wind.     The  Rgveda,  however,  does  not 
mention  the  other  well-known  sacred  tree  of   the  plains,  viz., 
the  Nyagrodha  or  Vat  a  (Ficus  /ndicus).     This  was  probably 
a  native  of  the  Deccan.     The   Saml    tree    (Acacia  suma)   is 
mentioned  in  the  Rgveda  (x.  31,  10).  as  well  as   the   Pal/i^a 
(Bute a  Frondosa)    (x.  97,  5)   and  the   SAlmal)   (Eriodendron 
anfractuosime]  (x.  85,   2).     There   is   also  mention   of    the 
Khadira  (Mimosa  catechu}   and   of  the  §im*ap£  (Dalbergia 
Situ)  in  Rv.  iii.  53,  19.     The  scholiast  says  that  the  bolts  of 
the  axles  of  carts  and  chariots   were   made  of  the   Khadira 


V.]  FLORA  AND  MINERALS.  gi 

wood,  and  the  SimSapfi  furnished  the  wood  for  the  floor.  The 
Simbul  or  Simul  (Bombax  malabarica)  is  also  mentioned  in 
Rv.  iii.  53,  22.  The  Soma  grew  on  the  Mujavat  peak  of  the 
Himalaya,  as  also  in  the  plains.  The  Iksu  or  sugar-cane  is 
also  mentioned  (ix.  86,  18).  Yava  or  barley,  (v.  85,  3 ;  x.  69,3) 
and  Dhdnya  or  rice  (x.  94,  13)  are  also  mentioned  as  the 
principal  crops  cultivated.  As  regards  Dhdnya^  I  was  sur- 
prised to  read  the  following  remarks  of  Professor  Macdonell  : 
"  Rice  which  is  familiar  to  the  later  Vedas,  and  regarded  in 
them  as  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
Rgveda  at  all.  Its  natural  habitat  is  in  the  south-east,  the 
regular  monsoon  area,  where  the  rain-fall  is  very  abundant. 
Hence  it  probably  did  not  exist  in  the  region  of  the  Indus 
river-system  when  the  Rgveda  was  composed,  though  in 
later  times,  with  the  practice  of  irrigation,  its  cultivation 
spread  to  all  parts  of  India."1  This  supposition  of  the  Profes- 
sor is  gratuitous,  as  we  have  already  proved  that  rains  were 
abundant  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  on  account  of  its  proximity 
to  the  seas,  and  helped  the  tillers  in  the  cultivation  of  paddy 
which  is  also  distinctly  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda.-  (x.  94. 
13).  (Read  also  R<?vedic  Culture,  ch.  vii). 

Mention  is  also  made  of  sweet  edible  fruits,  available  in 
the  forests  in  great  abundance  (Rv.  x.  146,  3),  as  well  as  of 
many  flowery  creeper^  and  medicinal  herbs.  The  white  lotus 
(Rv.  x.  142,  8)  was  the  favourite  flower  among  the  ancient 
Aryans,  and  was  obtained  from  the  lakes.  The  mango-tree 
is  nowhere  mentioned,  as  it  probably  was  indigenous  to  South 
India,  nor  is  the  Sdla  (Shorea  robiista)^  the  famous  timber- 
tree  of  the  submontane  regions  of  the  Himalaya  and  of  the 
Deccan.  The  Kusa  was  the  sacred  grass  which  was  largely 
used  in  the  performance  of  sacrifices. 

Of  Minerals,  mention  has  been  made  of  gold,  silver, 
copper,  iron  and  precious  stones  in  the  Rgveda.  The 

1     Micdonell's  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,  p.  140. 

»    Rv.  x.  94, 13 .   TOft  ^tirf*r* 


92  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

ancient  Aryans,  both  men  and  women,  were  fond  of  bedecking 
their  persons  with  gold  ornaments,  either  plain  or  set  with 
precious  stones.  Coins  were  made  both  of  gold  and  silver. 
But  whether  copper  coins  were  in  existence  is  not  quite  clear. 
Iron  was  largely  used  for  making  weapons  of  war,  and 
agricultural  implements.  Mailed  coats  were  also  made  of 
iron.  There  is  also  mention  of  iron  forts  which  were 
probably  so  called  in  a  figurative  sense  on  account  of  their 
strength  and  invincibility.  It  would  thus  appear  that  even 
in  Rgvedic  times,  the  Aryans  were  acquainted  with  the 
various  uses  of  the  principal  metals,  and  had  already  passed 
the  stone  age  of  civilisation.  To  trace  up  their  history  to 
that  age  would  be  a  feat  as  impossible  as  that  of  drawing  a 
landscape  in  blinding  and  impenetrable  darkness.  The 
ancient  Aryans  had  reached  a  very  high  rung  of  the  ladder  of 
civilisation,  when  the  rest  of  the  world  did  not  even  approach 
its  foot.  These  metals  and  precious  stones  were  procurable 
in  the  northern  mountainous  regions  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  Even 
in  comparatively  recent  times,  the  Babylonians  used  to  draw 
their  supply  of  gold  and  precious  stones  from  these  regions. 
Ctesias  says  expressly  that  the  precious  stones  were  imported 
from  India,  and  that  onyxes,  sardines  and  the  other  stones 
used  for  seals  were  obtained  in  the  mountains  bordering  on 
the  sandy  desert.  "  Emeralds  and  jaspers,"  says  Theophristus 
a  more  recent  author  but  worthy  of  credit,  "  which  arc  used 
as  objects  of  decorations-  came  from  the  desert  of  Bactria  (of 
Gobi).  They  are  sought  for  by  persons  who  go  thither  on 
horse-back  at  the  time  of  the  north-wind  which  blows  away 
the  sand,  and  discovers  them." 

11  The  country  where  gold  is  found  and  which  the  griffins 
infest "  says  Ctesias,  "is  exceedingly  desolate.  The 
Bactrians  who  dwell  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Indians, 
assert  that  the  griffins  watch  over  the  gold,  though  the  Indians 
themselves  deny  that  they  do  anything  of  the  kind,  as  they 
have  no  need  of  the  metal ;  but  (say  they)  the  griffins  are 
only  anxious  on  account  of  their  young,  and  these  are  the 


V.]  MINERALS.  .93 

objects  of  their  protection.  The  Indians  go  armed  into  the 
desert  (of  Gobi)  in  troops  of  a  thousand  or  two  thousand  men. 
But  we  are  assured  that  they  do  not  return  from  these 
expeditions  till  the  third  or  the  fourth  year." 

These   classical   accounts   go   to   prove   that  there  was 
abundance  of  gold  and  precious  stones  in  Sapta-Sindhu  which* 
extended  as  far  as  Bactria  in  Rgvedic  times. 

Of  the  Minerals  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  no  mention  is  made  of 
salt  in  the  Rgveda,  although  the  Salt  Range  exists  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  country  from  time  immemorial,  and  salt 
could  also  be  manufactured  from  the  sea-water,  if  any 
necessity  arose.  This  has  led  some  European  scholars  to 
infer  that  the  ancient  Aryans  were  not  at  all  acquainted  with 
the  use  of  salt.  As  Professor  Macdonell  has  rightly  observed, 
it  is  "a  good  illustration  of  the  dangers  of  argumentum  ex 
silentio  "  Such  an  argument  would  be  as  absurd  as  to  say 
that  the  ancient  Aryans  did  not  know  the  use  of  shoes 
(Updnaka),  as  they  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda, 
although  the  warriors  had  helmets  on  their  heads,  breast- 
plates on  their  breasts,  iron  mail-coats  on  their  bodies  and 
skin-gloves  on  their  hand*,  and  that  the  only  limbs  that  they 
omitted  or  did  not  care  to  protect  were  their  legs  and  feet 
that  required  a^  much  protection  as  the  other  limbs,  nure 
particularly  to  enable  them  to  march  easily  over  grounds, 
rough,  hot  and  cold.  It  is  often  forgotten  that  the  Rgveda 
\$  not  a  history  of  the  ancient  Aryans,  in  the  proper  sense  of 
the  word,  but  only  a  collection  of  hymns  addressed  to  their 
various  Gods  ;  and  it  is  indeed  a  matter  for  wonder  that  in  a 
work,  essentially  religious,  there  should  be  found  so  many 
evidences  of  the  incidents  of  their  secular  life  and  material 
civilisation,  which,  when  carefully  read,  give  us  a  pretty  good 
idea  of  their  modes  of  living  and  thought.  Would  it  not, 
therefore,  be  rash  to  deduce  an  inference  from  the  omission 
of  the  mention  of  a  particular  article  or  custom  in  the 
Rgveda,  and  to  say  that  it  did  not  at  all  exist  ? 


94  *GVED1C  INDIA.  [CHA*. 

However  this  may  be,  we  hope,  we  have   been    able   to 
draw  an  approximate  picture   of   the   physical  features    of 
ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  its  fauna,  flora,  and  minerals.     We 
have  shown  ( i )  that  the  Sarasvatl   was  a   mighty  stream   in 
those  ancient  days,  with  water  flowing   through  her  channel 
all  the  year  round,  which  was   probably  perennially   supplied 
by  melted  snow  at  her  source,  and  that  her    banks,  as  well  as 
the  banks  of  the  other  rivers,  were  inhabited  by  a  prosperous 
people,  fond  of  holding  sacrifices  in   honour  of  their   Gods ; 
(2)  that  the  submontane   regions  of    the    Himalaya  and   the 
valley  of  Kashmir  were  also  inhabited  by   Aryan   tribes  ;  (3) 
that  the  country,  besides  being  intersected  by  the  rivers,  had 
also  long  stretches  of  forests,  and  a   desert  in  the  south  ;  (4) 
that  the  banks  of  the  Sindhu  were    also  well    populated,    and 
had  important  centres  of  manufacture  in  wool,  woollen  goods, 
and  cotton  fabrics  ;  (5)  that  the  horses  bred  in    the  region    of 
the  Sindhu   were   famous,    and   probably    in   great   demand 
throughout  the  country ;  (6)    that  the    forests    were   infested 
with  wild  animals  such  as  the    wolf,  the  lion,   the   wild  boar, 
the  elephant,  the  monkey,  the  bear,  the  jackal,  the  bison,  the 
buffalo,  the  deer  and  the  antelope  ;  (7)  that  the  black   buck, 
held  sacred  by  the  sacrifice-loving  Aryans,  was  a  distinguish- 
ing mark  of  the  land  inhabited  by  them  ;  (8)  that  barley,  rice, 
millet,  and  probably  other  cereals  also  were  the  principal  pro- 
ducts of  Aryan  agriculture  ;  (9)    that   they  domesticated  the 
cow,  the  buffalo,  the  ass,  the  horse,  the  goat,  the  dog,  the  sheep 
and  the  camel,  and  caught  and  tamed  even  the  wild  elephant ; 
and  (10)  that  they  were  acquainted  with  the  use  of  gold,  silver, 
copper,  iron  and  precious  stones  thai  were   the   products   of 
either  Sapta-Sindhu,  or  of  contiguous  regions.    It  was  indeed 
a  self-contained  country  possessing  an  equable   climate,  pro- 
viding all  the  necessaries  of  life,  and   affording   facilities   for 
advancing  towards  a  higher  civilisation   and   developing   all 
those  traits  of  character  that  make  a   people  great.     Though 
divided  into  numerous  clans  and  tribes,   the   more  advanced 
Aryans  were  a  homogeneous   people  who   felt    a   mysterious 


V.]  SUMMARY..  95 

impulse  to  develop  their  peculiar  genius;  and  actuated 
by  that  impulse,  they  tried  their  best  to  get  rid  of  all  discord- 
ant  elements,  and  eliminate  them  from  their  community. 
They  were  engaged  in  their  noble  and  arduous  task  of  self- 
assertion  and  self-determination  for  a  long  time,  but  the  story 
of  their  struggle  will  be  narrated  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 


CHAPTER  VI- 

THE  DBCCAN  OR  SOUTHERN  INDIA  IN  RGVED1C  TINES, 

As  we  have  already  said,  there  is  no  mention  whatever 
in  the  Rgveda  of  the  Deccan,  or  the  Vindhya  mountains,  or 
the  famous  rivers  of  the  Southern  Peninsula  like  the  Nar- 
mad&,  the  God&varl,  the  Krsnfi,  etc.,  or  of  the  peoples  inhabit- 
ing that  country.1  It  is  therefore  not  at  all  possible  to 
describe  the  country  from  any  internal  evidence  of  the  Rg- 
veda. The  Deccan  was  completely  cut  off  from  Sapta- 
Sindhu  by  the  RAjput^na  Sea,  and  the  Sea  occupying  the 
Gangetic  trough  ;  and  the  Aryans  did  not  care  to  go  to  that 
country,  dark  and  unknown,  by  crossing  the  deep  and  danger, 
ous  sea.  If  they  ever  migrated  or  extended  in  any  direction 
during  Rgvedic  titoes,  they  did  so  by  the  overland  route  in 
the  direction  of  Gandhdra,  Bactriana,  Persia  and  Western 
Asia.  There  were  undoubtedly  sea-going  vessels  and  mer- 
chant-ships in  Sapta-Sindhu  ;  but  navigation  in  those  early 
days  was  most  difficult  and  dangerous,  and  ship-wrecks  were 
probably  very  common  occurrences.  We  may  therefore 
safely  surmise  that  the  multitude  generally  avoided  the  sea- 
route  for  going  to  any  foreign  country.  It  was  only  the 
covetous  and  daring  Aryan  merchants,  the  Vaniks  or  Panis, 
as  they  are  called  in  the  Rgveda,  who  ventured  on  a  sea- 
voyage  for  the  purpose  of  trading  in  neighbouring  countries. 
It  is  just  possible  that  the  Aryan  merchants  crossed  the 
R4jput£n£  Sea,  and  traded  along  the  Western  coast  of  the 
Deccan,  exchanging  the  surplus  products  of  Sapta-Sindhu  for 
those  of  the  latter  country.  But  it  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  the  Malabar  coast  existed  in  those  days  in  its  present 
shape.  There  is  geological  evidence  to  prove  that  in  very 
early  times,  Southern  India  formed  part  of  a  huge  continent 
which  extended  from  Burma  and  South  China  on  the  east,  to 


»  Vide  Appendix  (A)  to  this  Chapter. 


VI.)  SOUTHERN  CONTINENT.  97 

East  and  South  Africa  on  the  west,  and  from  the  VimUiya  hilts 
on  the  north  to  Australia  on  the  south  ;  and  it  was  probably 
not  connected  anywhere  with  Western  Asia,  though  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  it  had  some  connection  with  the  Eastern 
Himalaya  through  Assam  This  continent  was  bounded  on 
the  north,  as  we  have  already  seen,  by  a  long  stretch  of  sea 
extending  from  As^am  to  the  southern  coast  of  Sind  as  it 
then  was,  and  joined  with  what  the  classical  writers  called 
the  J^rytjinejin  Sea,  o£  the  Arabian  Sea,  as  we  now  call  it. 

This  Southern  Continent  existed  from  early  Permian  times 
up  to  the  close  of  the  Miocene  epoch,  according  to  Mr.  H.  F. 
Stanford.  Mr.  Alfred  Russel  Wallace  say*  :  "  It  (this  conti- 
nent) represents  what  was  probably  a  primary  zoological 
region  in  some  past  geological  epoch  ;  but  what  that  epoch 
was  and  what  were  th-  limits  of  the  region  in  question,  we 
are  quite  unable  to  say.  If  we  are  to  suppose  that  it  com- 
prised the  whole  area  now  inhabited  by  Lemuroid  animals, 
we  must  make  it  extend  from  West  Africa  to  Burma,  South 
Thini  and  Celebes,  an  area  which  it  probably  did  once 
orcupy."1 

Elsewhere  he  writes  •  "  It  is  evident  that  during  much 
of  the  Tertiary  period,  Ceylon  and  South  India  were  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  considerable  extent  of  sea,  and  probably 
formed  part  of  an  extensive  Southern  Continent  or  great 
KI  i'id.  The  very  numerous  and  remarkable  cases  of  affinity 
\\ith  Malaya  require,  however,  some  closer  approximation 
with  the.se  islands,  whi^h  probablv  occurred  at  a  later  period. 
When,  still  later,  the  great  plains  and  tablelands  of  Hindo- 
^t  in  were  formed  and  a  permanent  land  communication 
effected  with  the  rich  and  highly  developed  Himalo-Chinese 
fauna,  a  rapid  immigration  of  new  types  took  place,  and  many 
of  the  less  specialised  forms  of  mammalia  and  birds  hec-ime 

T  "The  Geographical  Distribution  of  Anim  tb  with  a  study  of  the  rela- 
tions of  living  and  extinct  Faunas,  as  elucidating  the  pist  changes  of  the 
Birth's  surface11  I  ondon,  Macmillan  &  Co  1870  Vol.  I,  pp.  76-77. 

13 


98  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

extinct.  Among  reptiles  and  insects,  the  competition  was 
less  severe,  or  the  older  forms  were  too  well  adapted  to  local 
conditions  to  be  expelled  ;  so  that  it  is  among  these  groups 
alone  that  we  find  any  considerable  number  of  what  are 
probably  the  remains  of  the  ancient  fauna  of  a  now  submerged 
Southern  Continent/'1 

Mr.  H.  F.  Blanford  says  •  "  The  affinities  between  the 
fossils  of  both  animals  and  plants  of  the  Beaufort  group  of 
Africa  and  those  of  the  Indian  Panchets  and  Kathmis  are 
such  as  to  suggest  the  former  existence  of  a  land  connexion 
between  the  two  areas.  But  the  resemblance  of  the  African 
and  Indian  fossil-faunas  does  not  cease  with  Permian 
and  Triassic  times.  The  plant  beds  of  the  Utenhage  group 
have  furnished  eleven  forms  of  plants,  two  of  which  Mr.  Tate 
has  identified  with  Indian  Rajmehal  plants.  The  Indian 
Jurassic  fossils  have  yet  to  be  described  (with  a  few  excep- 
tions),  but  it  has  been  staled  that  Dr.  Stoliezka  was  much 
struck  with  the  affinities  of  certain  of  the  Cutch  fossils  to 
African  forms  ;  and  Dr.  Stoliezka  and  Mr.  Griesbach  have 
shown  that  of  the  Cretaceous  fossils  of  the  Umtafuni  river  in 
Natal,  the  majority  (22  out  of  35  described  forms)  are  H^nti- 
cal  with  species  from  Southern  India. 

"  With  regard  to  the  geographical  evidence,  a  glance  at 
the  map  will  show  that  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  west 
coast  of  India  to  that  of  the  Seychelles,  Madagascar,  and  the 
Mauritius,  extends  a  line  of  coral  atolls  and  banks,  including 
Adas  Bank,  the  Laccadives,  Maldives,  the  Chagos  group  and 
the  Saya-de-Mulha,  all  indicating  the  existence  of  a  submerg- 
ed mountain  range  or  ranges.  The  Seychelles,  too,  are  men- 
tioned by  Mr.  Darwin  as  rising  from  an  extensive  and  tolerably 
level  bank  having  a  dr pth  of  between  30  and  40  fathoms  ;  so 
that,  alth-Mig'i  now  partly  rncircled  by  fringing  reefs,  they  may 
be  regarded  as  a  virtual  extension  of  the  same  submerged  axis. 

1    /bid  pp.  328-329, 


VI.]  INDO-OCEANEA.  99 

Farther  west,  the  Cosmoledo  and  Comoro  Islands  consist  of 
atolls  and  islands  surrounded  by  barrier  reefs ;  and  these 
bring  us  pretty  close  to  the  present  shores  of  Africa  and 
Madagascar.  It  seems  at  least  probable  that  in  this  chain  of 
atolls,  banks  and  barrier  reefs,  we  have  indicated  the  position 
of  an  ancient  mountain  chain,  which  possibly  formed  the 
back-bone  of  a  tract  of  later  Palaeozoic,  Mesozoic  and  early 
Tertiary  land,  being  related  to  it  much  as  the  Alpine  and 
Himalayan  system  is  to  the  European-Asiatic  continent,  and 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Andes  to  the  two  Americas.  As  it 
is  desirable  to  designate  this  Mesozoic  land  by  a  name,  I  would 
propose  that  of  Indo-Oceanea.  Professor  Huxley  has  suggest- 
ed on  pakeontological  grounds  that  a  land  connexion  existed 
in  this  region  (or  rather  between  Abyssinia  and  India)  during 
the  Miocene  epoch.  From  what  has  been  said  above,  it  will 
be  seen  that  I  infer  its  existence  from  a  far  earlier  date. 
With  regard  to  its  depression,  the  only  present  evidence 
relates  to  its  northern  extremity  and  shows  that  it  was  in  this 
region,  later  than  the  great  trap  flows  of  the  Dakhan.  These 
enormous  sheets  of  volcanic  rock  are  remarkably  horizontal 
to  the  east  of  the  Ghats  and  the  Sahyadri  range,  but  to  the 
west  of  this,  they  begin  to  dip  seawards,  so  that  the  island  of 
Bombay  is  composd  of  the  higher  part  of  the  formation 
This  indicates  only  that  the  depression  to  the  westward  has 
taken  place  in  Tertiary  times,  and  to  that  extent,  Professor 
Huxley's  inference,  that  it  was  after  the  Miocene  period,  is 
quite  consistent  with  the  geological  evidence. 

"  Palaeontology,  physical  geography  and  geology,  equally 
with  the  ascertained  distribution  of  living  animals  and  plants, 
offer  their  concurrent  testimony  to  the  former  close  connexion 
of  Africa  and  India,  including  the  tropical  islands  of  the 
Indian  Ocean.  The  Indo-Oceanic  land  appears  to  have  exist- 
ed from  at  least  early  Permian  times,  probably  (as  Professor 
Huxley  has  pointed  out)  up  to  the  close  of  the  Miocene 
epoch ,  and  South  Africa  and  Pemrisuler  India  are  the 


(oo  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

existirig  remnants  of  that  ancient  land.  It  may  not  have  been 
aftsolutely  continuous  during  the  whole  of  this  long  period. 
Indeed,  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Southern  India  and  Southern 
Africa,  and  the  marine  Jurassic  beds  of  the  same  regions, 
prove  that  some  portions  of  it  were  for  longer  or  shorter 
periods,  invaded  by  the  Sea  ;  but  any  break  of  contininty  was 
probably  not  prolonged  ;  for  Mr.  Wallace's  investigation  in 
the  Eastern  Archipelago  have  shown  how  narrow  a  sea  may 
offer  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  migration  of  land  animals. 
In  Palaeozoic  times,  this  land  must  have  been  connected  with 
Australia,  and  in  Tertiary  times  with  Malayana,  since  the 
Malayan  forms  with  African  alliances  are  in  several  cases 
distinct  from  those  of  India.  We  know  as  yet  too  little  of 
the  geology  of  the  eastern  peninsula  to  say  from  what  epoch 
dates  the  connexion  with  Indo-Oceanic  land.  Mr.  Theobold 
has  ascertained  the  existence  of  Triassic,  Cretaceous  and 
Nummulitic  rocks  in  the  Arabian  coast  range,  and  Carboni- 
ferous limestone  is  known  to  occur  from  Moulmein  south- 
ward, while  the  range  east  of  the  Irrawadi  is  formed  of 
younger  Tertiary  rocks.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  a 
considerable  part  of  the  Malaya  Peninsula  must  have  been 
occupied  by  the  sea  during  the  greater  part  of  the  Mesozoic 
and  Eocene  periods.  Plant-bearing  rocks  of  Raniganj  age 
have  been  identiiied  as  forming  the  outer  spurs  of  the  Sikkim 
Himalaya  ;  the  ancient  land  must  therefore  have  extended 
some  distance  to  the  north  of  the  present  Gangetic  delta. 
Coal  both  of  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  age  occurs  in  the  Khasi 
hills,  and  also  in  upper  Assam,  but  in  both  cases,  associated 
with  marine  beds  ;  so  that  it  would  appear  that  in  this  region, 
the  boundaries  of  land  and  sea  oscillated  somewhat  during 
Cretaceous  and  Eocene  times.  To  the  north-west  of  India, 
the  existence  of  great  formations  of  Cretaceous  and  Nummu- 
litic age,  stretching  far  through  Baluchistan  and  Persia,  and 
entering  into  the  structure  of  the  north-west  Himalaya  prove 
that  in  the  later  Mesozoic  and  Eocene  ages  India  had  no 
direct  communication  with  western  Asia ;  while  the  Jurrasic 


VI.]  INDO-OCEANEA.  101 

rocks  of  Cutch,  the  Salt  Range,  and  the  northern  Himalaya 
show  that  in  the  preceding  period  the  sea  covered  a  large  part( 
of  the  present  Indus  basin  ;  and  the  Triassic,  Carboniferous, 
and  still  more  recent  marine  formations  of  the  Himalaya 
indicate  that  from  very  early  times  till  the  upheaval  of  that 
great  chain,  much  of  its  present  site  was  for  ages  covered  by 
the  Sea." 

Mr.  Blanford  thus  sums    up  the  views  advanced   by  him  : 

"  ist — The  plant-bearing  series  of  India  ranges  from  early 
Permian  to  the  latest  Jurassic  times,  "indicating  (except  in  a 
few  cases  and  locally)  the  uninterrupted  continuity  of  land 
and  fresh-water  conditions.  These  may  have  prevailed  from 
much  earlier  times. 

"  2nd — In  the  early  Permian,  as  in  the  Post-Pliocene  age, 
a  cold  climate  prevailed  down  to  low  latitudes,  and  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  in  both  hemispheres  simultaneously.  With 
the  decrease  of  cold,  the  flora  and  reptilian  fauna  of  Permian 
times  were  diffused  to  Africa,  India,  and  possibly  Australia  ; 
or  the  flora  may  have  existed  in  Australia  somewhat  earlier, 
and  have  been  diffused  thence. 

"  3rd— India,  South  Africa  and  Australia  were  connected 
by  an  Indo-Oceanic  Continent  in  the  Permian  epoch  ;  and  the 
two  former  countries  remained  connected  (with  at  the  utmost 
only  short  interruptions)  up  to  the  end  of  the  Miocene  period. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  time,  this  land  was  also  connect- 
ed with  Malayana. 

"4th— In  common  with  some  previous  writers,  I  consider 
that  the  position  of  this  land  was  defined  by  the  range  of 
coral  reefs  and  banks  that  now  exist  between  the  Arabian  Sea 
and  East  Africa. 

"  5th — Up  to  the  eiul  of  the  Nummulitic  epoch,  no  direct 
connexion  (except  possibly  for  short  periods)  existed  between 
India  and  Western  Asia."1 

1  H.  F.  Blanford  "  On  the  Age  and  Correlations  of  the  Plant-bearing 
series  of  India  and  the  former  existence  of  an  Indo-Oceanic  Continent/' 
Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,  Vol.  XXXI,  1875,  pp.  534-540. 


102  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

From  the  above  extracts  it  would  appear  that  South  India 
remained  connected  with  South  Africa  up  to  the  end  of  the 
Miocene  Epoch,  as  a  huge  continent,  completely  cut  off  from 
Sapta-Sindhu  or  the  modern  Punjab,  by  a  long  stretch  of  sea, 
extending  from  Assam  to  the  Arabian  sea.  Though  Mr. 
Blanford  establishes  the  connection  of  India,  South  Africa  and 
Australia  in  the  Permian  epoch,  it  is  possible  that  the  con- 
nection lasted  with  interruptions  till  the  end  of  the  Miocene 
epoch  or  even  later  when  man  flourished  on  the  globe,  as  we 
shall  see  later  on ;  and  that  the  isolation  of  Sapta-Sindhu 
continued  till  a  much  later  period. 

Mr.  Ernst  Haeckel  thus  writes  about  the  ancient  Southern 
Continent :  *'  This  large  continent  of  former  times  Sclater, 
an  Englishman,  has  called  Lemuria,  from  the  monkey-like 
animals  which  inhabited  it,  and  it  is  at  the  bame  time  of  great 
importance  from  being  the  probable  cradle  of  the  human  race 
which  in  all  likelihood  here  first  developed  out  of  anthropoid 
apes."1 

Elsewhere  he  writes  •*  There  are  a  number  of  circum- 
stances (especially  chronological  facts)  which  suggest  that  the 
primeval  home  of  man  was  a  continent  now  sunk  below  the 
surface  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  which  extended  along  the  south 
of  Asia,  as  it  is  at  present  (and  probably  in  direct  connection 
with  it),  towards  the  east,  as  far  as  Further  India  and  tlje 
Sunda  Islands ;  towards  the  west,  as  far  as  Madagascar  and 
the  south-eastern  shores  of  Africa."- 

Whether  this  continent  was  the  original  cradle  of  man- 
kind or  not,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  man  existed  here  from 
very  early  times,  and  that  his  creation  in  this  continent  was 
made  possible  only  after  the  creation  of  anthropoid  apes 
which  were  his  nearest  approach.  There  is  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  Pliocene  man  in  the  valley  gravels  of  the  Nar- 

*    Ernst  Haeckel's  "  History  of  Creation/'  2nd  Ed.,  1876.    Vol.  I,   pp. 
360-61. 

»     Ernst  HaackeN  "  History  of  Creation/'  1876.    Vol.  II.  pp.  325-26. 


VI.]  AGASTYA'S  FEAT.  103 

mada  and  of  Miocene  man  in  Upper  Burma.1  It  can,  there- 
fore, be  safely  surmised  that  man  had  existed  in  this  conti- 
nent long  before  the  time  when  the  greater  portion  of  it  was 
submerged  in  consequence  of  a  violent  cataclysm.  Though 
Sapta-Sindhu  was  not  directly  connected  with  it,  conditions 
similar  to  those  of  the  lost  continent  must  have  prevailed 
there,  which  favoured  the  creation  of  a  family  of  human  beings 
entirely  different  from  that  of  the  Southern  Continent ;  and 
these  were  the  progenitors  of  the  Aryan  race  who,  having 
been  endowed  with  higher  mental  faculties,  developed  a  civil- 
isation which  was  destined  to  dominate  the  whole  world,  and 
uplift  the  entire  human  race. 

It  is  possible  that  the  same  seismic  forces  that  caused  the 
subsidence  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  Southern  Continent 
also  caused  the  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  R&jput£n£  Sea ;  and 
if  these  two  events  were  simultaneous  and  synchronous,  they 
must  have  occured  long  after  Rgvedic  times  ;  for  the  R£jpu- 
t&n£Sea  had  been  in  existence,  when  some  at  least  of  the  ancient 
hymns  of  the  Rgveda  were  composed  The  upheaval  of  its 
bed  must  have  caused,  by  the  displacement  of  the  vast  volumes 
of  its  waters,  a  deluge  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  known  as  Manu's 
Flood,  which  \ve  have  discussed  in  a  previous  chapter.  The 
depression  of  the  Aravalli  mountain  was  also  probably  due 
to  the  same  causes  that  upheaved  the  sea-bed  and  submerged 
a  large  portion  of  the  Southern  Continent.  It  is  related  in 
the  PurAnas  that  the  great  sage  Agastya  sipped  up  the  ocean  dry 
and  caused  the  high  peaks  of  the  Vindhya  mountains  to  bend, 
when  he  crossed  over  to  Southern  India,  where  he  was  the  first  to 
lead  an  Aryan  colony.  This  sipping  up  of  the  ocean  and  bend- 
ing down  of  the  Vindhya  are  undoubtedly  connected  with  the 
physical  disturbances  that  led  to  the  drying  up  of  the  Ra*jpu- 
tdnd  Sea  and  the  depression  of  the  Aravalli  mountain,  as  the 
Vindhya  is  called,  and  have  been  fathered  upon  Agastya  who 

1     Thi  Students1  Lyoll  (1896)  pp.   236,  237,  45-     Tke  Story  of  Primittot 
(1895)  p.  3.     Read  also  Appendix  (B)  to  this  Chapter. 


104  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

first  ventured  to  the  south.  This  Agastya,  however,  is  not 
the  Vedic  bard  of  that  name,  but  probably  one  of  his  descend- 
ants who,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  ancient  days,  bore  the 
patronymic  of  Agastya.  This  tradition  which  is  connected 
with  an  undoubted  physical  fact  goes  to  prove  the  antiquity 
of  the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and  of  the  Rgveda. 

But  to  return  to  our  account  of  the  Deccan  in  Rgvedic 
times.  It  formed  part  of  a  vast  southern  continent  that  ex- 
tended, as  we  have  seen,  from  Further  India  to  south-eastern 
Africa,  and  probably  as  far  south  as  Australia.  The  stage  of 
the  civilisation  of  the  original  human  inhabitants  of  this  vast 
continent  may  well  be  judged  by  that  of  their  descendants  who 
afe  the  present  remnants  of  the  race  in  Africa,  South  India, 
Australia,  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  and  the 
islands  scattered  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  Indian  Ocean. 
Most  of  them  are  in  the  same  primitive  condition  of  life  as 
their  progenitors  were  in,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago. 
The  Kolarian  and  the  Dravidian  races  of  the  Indian  Peninsula 
are  allied  to  the  Negroid  races  of  Africa,  with  such  modifica- 
tions in  their  physical  features  and  characteristics  as  climate 
and  different  environments  have  imposed  upon  them  ;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were  the  original  inhabitants 
of  the  lost  continent.  Of  the  Kolarians  and  the  Dravidians, 
it  seems  that  some  tribes  of  the  latter  made  some  progress 
towards  civilisation,  which  was  further  advanced  by  their 
having  come  in  contact  with  the  Aryans  after  a  communica- 
tion had  been  effected  between  Sapta-Sindhu  and  the  Southern 
Peninsula  by  the  drying  up  of  the  R4jput£n£  Sea.  The 
Kolarians,  on  the  other  hand,  except  such  as  came  in  contact 
with  the  Aryans  on  the  borders  of  the  Gangetic  plains  in  later 
times,  have  remained  in  their  primitive  savage  condition.  A 
brief  account  of  some  of  the  primitive  tribes  of  both  the  races 
will  be  found  interesting  here  : 

"  Among  the  rudest  fragments  of  mankind  are  the  isolated 
Andaman  islanders  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal.     The  old  Arab  and 


VI.]        SOME  WILD  TRIBES  OF  THE  DECCAN.       105 

European  voyagers  described  them  as  dog-faced  man-eaters. 
The  English  officers,  sent  to  the  islands  in  1855  to  establish  a 
settlement,  found  themselves  surrounded  by  quite  naked  canni- 
bals of  a  ferocious  type,  who  daubed  themselves  when  festive 
with  red  earth  and  mourned  in  suit  of  olive-coloured  mud. 
They  made  a  noise  like  weeping  to  express  friendship  or  joy, 
bore  only  names  of  common  gender  which  they  received 
before  birth,  and  their  sole  conception  of  a  god  was  an  evil 
spirit  who  spread  disease.  For  five  years,  they  repulsed  every 
effort  at  intercourse  by  showers  of  arrows  ;  but  the  officers 
slowly  brought  them  to  a  better  frame  of  mind  by  building 
sheds  near  the  settlement  where  these  poor  beings  might  find 
shelter  from  the  tropical  rains,  and  receive  medicines  and  food. 

"  The  Anamalai  Hills  in  Southern  Madras  form  the  refuge 
of  a  whole  series  of  broken  tribes.  Five  hamlets  of  long- 
haired wild-looking  Pullers  live  on  jungle  products,  mice  or 
any  small  animals  that  they  can  catch,  and  worship  demons. 
Another  clan,  the  Mundavers,  shrink  from  contact  with  the 
outside  world,  and  possess  no  fixed  dwellings,  but  wander 
over  the  innermost  hills  with  their  cattle,  sheltering  themselves 
under  little  leaf-sheds,  and  seldom  remaining  in  the  same 
spot  more  than  a  year.  The  thick-lipped  small-bodied  Kadus 
1  Lords  of  Hills '  are  the  remnants  of  a  higher  race.  They 
file  the  front  teeth  of  the  upper  jaw  as  a  marriage  ceremony, 
live  by  the  chase,  and  wield  some  influence  over  the  ruder 
forest-folk.  These  hills,  now  very  thinly  peopled,  abound  in 
the  great  stone  monuments  (kistvaens  and  dolmens)  which 
the  primitive  tribes  used  for  their  dead.  The  Nairs  of  south- 
western India  still  practise  polyandry,  according  to  which  a 
man's  property  descends  not  to  his  o\vn  but  to  his  sister's 
children.  This  system  also  appears  among  the  Himdlayan 
tribes  at  the  opposite  extremity  of  India. 

"  In  the  Central  Provinces,  the  aboriginal  races  form  a 
large  portion  of  the  population.  In  certain  districts,  as  in  the 
Feudatory  State  of  Bastar,  they  amount  to  three-fifths  of  the 

14 


io6  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

inhabitants.  The  most  important  race,  the  Gonds,  have  made 
some  advances  in  civilisation  ;  but  the  wilder  tribes  still  cling 
to  the  forest,  and  live  by  the  chase,  with,  a  few  years  back, 
flint  points  for  their  arrows.  The  Marias  wield  bows  of  great 
strength,  which  they  hold  with  their  feet,  while  they  draw  the 
strings  with  both  hands.  A  still  wilder  tribe,  the  Maris,  fly 
from  their  grass-built  huts  on  the  approach  of  a  stranger. 
Qrtce  a  year,  a  messenger  comes  to  them  from  the  local  Raja 
to  take  their  tribute  of  jungle  products.  He  does  not  enter 
their  hamlets,  but  beats  a  drum  outside,  and  then  hides 
himself.  The  shy  Maris  creep  forth,  place  what  they  have  to 
give  in  an  appointed  spot,  and  run  back  again  into  their 
retreats. 

"  Further  to  the  north-east,  in  the  tributary  states  of 
Orissa,  there  is  a  poor  tribe,  10,000  in  number,  of  Juangs  or 
Pdtudst  literally  the  '  leaf-wearers/  whose  women  formerly 
wore  no  clothes.  Their  only  vestige  of  covering  was  a  few 
strings  of  beads  round  the  waist  with  a  bunch  of  leaves,  tied 
before  and  behind.1  Those  under  the  British  influence  were 

1  Col.  Dalton  thus  writes  about  the  Juangs  in  his  Descriptive  Ethnology  of 
Bengal,  p.  155  — 

lv  The  females  of  the  group  (the  Juangs  of  Keunjhar)  had  not  amongst 
them  a  particle  of  clothing.  Their  sole  covering  for  purposes  of  decency  con- 
sisted in  a  girdle  composed  of  several  strings  of  beads  from  which  depended 
before  and  behind  small  curtains  of  leaves.  Adam  and  Eve  sewed  fig-leaves 
together  and  made  themselves  aprons.  The  Juangs  are  not  so  far  advanced  ; 
they  take  young  shoots  of  the  A'sin  (Terminalia  tomentosa),  or  any  tree  with 
young  soft  leaves  and  arranging  them  so  as  to  form  a  flat  and  scale-like 
surface  of  the  required  size,  the  sprigs  are  simply  stuck  in  the  girdle,  fore 
and  aft,  and  the  toilet  is  complete  The  girls  were  well  developed  and  finely 
formed  specimens  of  the  race,  and  as  the  light  leafy  costume  let  the  outlines 
of  the  figure  entirely  nude,  they  would  have  made  good  studies  for  sculpture. 
Next  day  they  came  to  my  tent  at  noon,  and  whilst  I  conversed  with  the 
males  on  their  customs,  language,  and  religion,  the  girls  sat  nestled  together 
in  a  corner,  for  a  long  time  silent  and  motionless  as  statues ;  but  after  an  hour 
or  two  elapsed,  the  crouching  nymphs  showed  signs  of  life  and  symptoms 
.of  uneasiness,  and  more  attentively  regarding  them,  I  found  that  great  tears 
were  dropping  from  the  down-cast  eyes  like  dew  drops  on  the  green  leaves. 


VI.]        SOME  WILD  TRIBES  OF  THE  DECCAN. 

clothed  in    1871    by  order  of  Government,  and  their  native 
chief  was  persuaded  to  do  the  same  work  for  the  others.  This 
leaf-wearing  tribe  had  no  knowledge  of  the  metals  till   quite 
lately,  when  foreigners  came  among  them,  and  no  word  exists 
in   their  language   for   iron,    or   any   other  metal.     But  this 
country  abounds  with  flint  weapons,  so  that  the   Juangs   form 
a   remnant,  to  our  own  day,  of  the  Stone  Age.     (  Their  huts  ' 
writes  the   officer   who   knows   them   best    '  are   among  the 
smallest  that  human  beings  ever  deliberately  constructed  as 
dwellings.     They  measure  about  6  feet  by   8.     The   head   of 
the   family   and   all   the   females  huddle  together  in  this  one 
shell,  not  much  larger  than  a  dog-kennel.'     The  boys  and  the 
young  men  of  the  village  live  in  one  large  building   apart  by 
themselves  ;  and   this   custom  of  having  a  common  abode  for 
the  whole  male  youth  of  the  hamlet  is  found  among   many  of 
the   aboriginal   tribes  in  distant  parts  of  India.     The  Kandhs 
of  Orissa  who  kept  up  their  old  tribal  ritual  of  human  sacrifice 
until  it  was  put  down    by   the    British   in    1835-45,    and   the  ' 
Santals  in   the   west  of  Lower  Bengal  who  rose  in  1855,  are 
examples  of  powerful  and  highly  developed  non- Aryan  tribes."1 

Now,  look  at  this  brief  survey  of  some  of  the  wild  tribes  • 
of  the  Dravidian  and  the  Kolarian  races  of  the  Southern 
Peninsula,  who  are  probably  in  the  same  primitive  condition 
of  savages  to-day  as  their  ancestors  were  in,  thousands,  nay 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago,  little  removed  from  the 
state  of  brutes,  living  by  the  chase,  eating  human  flesh  and 
raw  meat,  some  of  them  totally  ignorant  of  the  use  of  metals, 
and  using  flint  weapons,  as  if  mankind  was  still  in  its  infancy 
and  did  not  progress  beyond  the  Stone  Age— their  women 
going  nearly  stark  naked,  and  huddling  together  with  the 

On  my  tenderly  seeking  the  cause  of  their  distress,  I  was  told  that  the  leaves 
were  becoming  dry,  stiff  and  uncomfortable,  and  if  they  were  not  allowed 
to  go  to  the  woods  for  a  change,  the  consequence  would  be  serious,  and  they 
certainly  could  not  dance  It  was  a  bright,  dry  diy,  and  the  crisp  rustling, 
as  they  rose  to  depart,  confirmed  the  statement." 

1     Snayclopadia  Britannica,  Vol.  XII,  p.  477      (Ninth  Edition). 


'io8  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

chief  of  the  family  in  kennel-huts,  6  feet  by  8,  and  many  tribes 
possessing  no  marriage-laws  or  custom  to  speak  of — I  say, 
just  look  at  this  picture  and  think  whether  these  men,  even  if 
they  were  not  in  a  far  worse  condition  thousands  of  years  ago, 
could  ever  immigrate  from  far-off  Central  Asia  over  the  snowy 
ranges  of  the  Himalaya,  across  rapid  and  wide  rivers,  and 
deep  impassable  seas,  and  dreary  deserts,  to  the  plains  of  the 
Punjab  or  the  hilly  forest-tracts  of  Central  and  Southern 
India.  Even  if  the  Aryans  be  regarded  as  immigrants  to 
Sapta-Sindhu,  and  supposed  to  have  waged  a  long  sanguinary 
warfare  (which  we  cannot  bring  ourselves  to  think  to  be  at  all 
likely)  with  these  primitive  savages  of  the  Stone  Age,  who 
had  nothing  but  rude  stone  weapons  and  missiles  for  offence 
or  defence,  and  were  therefore  no  match  for  their  superior 
adversaries, — and  to  have  driven  them  to  the  Southern 
Peninsula,  how  could  these  savages  cross  the  sea  over  the 
Gangetic  trough  and  the  Rajputana  Sea,  of  whose  existence 
we  find  unmistakable  evidence  in  the  Rgveda  ?  Such  a 
feat  would  be  impossible  for  naked  savages  to  accomplish, 
as  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  fauna  and  flora  to  do.  The 
fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  Dravidian  or  the  Kolarian  races 
never  came  from  Central  Asia  to  the  Punjab,  nor  did  they 
ever  come  into  conflict  or  contact  with  the  Aryans  during 
Rgvedic  times;  that  Sapta-Sindhu  was  a  distinct  country 
from  Southern  India,  cut  off  as  it  was  by  seas;  that  the 
Aryans  were  as  much  autochthones  in  Sapta-Sindhu  as  these 
wild  tribes  were  in  Southern  India  which,  as  we  have  seen, 
formed  part  of  a  huge  continent  extending  from  Burma  and 
South  China  to  Eastern  and  Southern  Africa,  and  as  far  south 
as  Australia ;  that  these  savages,  though  looking  like  men, 
were  little  removed  from  the  condition  of  anthropoid  apes  or 
brutes,  in  which  some  of  their  tribes  are  still  to  be  found  ;  that 
they  passed  through  the  palaeolithic  and  the  neolithic  stages 
of  development,  of  which  they  have  left  ample  evidences  in  the 
valley  gravels  of  the  Narmada,  and  in  the  flint  weapons  found 
scattered  throughout  the  Southern  Peninsula  as  far  north  as 


VI.]         THE  KOLARtANS  AND  DRAV1DIANS.        109 

Raniganj  and  Rajmehal  in  Bengal,  and  of  which    the  Juangs 
of  Orissa   are  still   the   living   survivals ;  that  some   of  the 
Kolarian  tribes,  notably  the  Santals,   and   some  of  the  Dra- 
vidians  living  in    the  southern -most  part   of   the   Peninsula, 
notably  the  Cholas,  the  Pa^dyas,  and  the  Cheralas  or  Keralas, 
circumstanced  as  they   were,   and   probably   having  come   in 
contact  with  the  Aryans,  learnt  the  use  of  the  metals  and  made 
some  progress  towards  civilisation,   but  the  rest   remained   in 
their  rude  primitive  condition,  and  as   ignorant  as  ever  of  the 
arts  of  civilised  life.    That  these    savages  of  Southern   India 
were  autochthonous  would  further  be  proved  by  the  undoubted 
fact  that  "  the   aboriginal   tribes   in    Southern    and   Western 
Australia  use  almost  the  same  words   for  /,  thou>  he,  we,  you 
&c.,  as  the  fishermen  on  the  Madras  coast,    and   resemble   in 
many  ways  the    Madras    Hill    tribes,    as   in  the   use  of  their 
national  weapon,  the  boomerang/'1     There  is  also   some  lin- 
guistic affinity   between    the    Dravidian    languages  and  the 
languages  in  some  of  the  islands  in  the  distant  Pacific  Ocean. 
As  a  writer  says  :  "  That  some  of  the    islands  in   the   distant 
Pacific  Ocean  were  peopled  either    from  the  Dravidian  settle* 
ments  in  India,  or  from  an  earlier  common  source,   remains  a 
conjectural  induction  of  philosophers  rather  than  established 
fact."  -     It  would  certainly  not  have    remained  a   conjectural 
induction  of  philosophers,  but  would  have  been  an  established 
ethnological  fact  by  this  time,  had  the  fact  of  Southern  India 
forming  part  of  a  huge  continent,  now  submerged,  but  extend- 
ing in  ancient  times  from  the   coasts  of   the  Pacific   Ocean  to 
South  Africa  and  Australia  been  taken  into  account.     A  large 
portion  of  the  continent  having  been  submerged,  the  remnants 
of  it,  with  their  human  inhabitants,  became  isolated  and  sepa- 
rated from  one  another  by  wide  oceans,  and  the  only  evidences 
of  their  having  once  belonged  to  the   same  continent  are  now 
to  be  found  in  the  similarities  of   their   fauna,    flora,   original 
human  inhabitants  and  their  languages,  such  as  have  survived 
1    Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  778  (Ninth  Edition). 


$SVED1C INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  changes  and  modifications  imposed  upon  them  by  time, 
circumstances,  and  altered  environments.  1 

There  can  thus  be  no  doubt  that  the  Kolarian  and  the 
Dravidian  races  were  the  original  inhabitants  of  Southern 
India,  and  the  theory  of  their  having  been  immigrants  from 
Central  Asia  first  to  the  Punjab,  and  then,  through  the 
pressure  of  the  invading  Aryans,  to  the  Southern  Peninsula, 
is  more  fanciful  than  real.  It  is  also  certain  that  when  the 
Indo-Oceanic  Continent  or  Lemuria  was  submerged,  it  was 
inhabited  by  human  beings  in  very  low  stages  of  development, 
and  this  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  aboriginal  savages  in 
South  Africa,  Australia,  Southern  India,  and  the  islands  in 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  who,  though 
probably  belonging  to  the  same  human  family,  became 
isolated  and  separated  from  one  another,  and  developed 

1  As  a  further  illustration  of  the  point  we  may  mention  the  Veddas  of 
Ceyion  and  the  Sakais  and  Semangs  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  who  wonderfully 
resemble  one  another  in  their  physical  features.  Mr.  Thurston  in  his  introduc- 
tion to  Castes  and  Tribes  of  Southern  India  (p.  33)  writes  :  "  Speaking  of  the 
Sakais,  the  same  authorities  (Skeat  and  Blagden)  state  that '  in  evidence  of  their 
striking  resemblance  to  the  Veddas,  it  is  worth  remarking  thtt  one  of  the 
brothers,  Sarasin,  who  had  lived  among  the  Veddas  and  knew  them  very  well, 
when  shown  a  photograph  of  a  typical  Sakai,  at  first  supposed  it  to  be  a  photo- 
graph of  a  Vedda.'  For  myself  when  I  siw  the  photographs  of  Sakais  publish- 
ed by  Skeat  and  Blagden,  it  was  difficult  to  realize  that  I  was  not  looking  at 
pictures  of  Kadirs,  Paniyans,  Xurumbas  or  other  jungle  folk  of  Southern  India/' 
This  testimony  also  goes  to  prove  the  existence  of  the  lost  IndoOceanic  conti- 
nent which  was  peopled  by  these  allied  tribes.  The  linguistic  affinity  also  has 
been  established  by  Pater  Schmidt  in  his  Die  Man- Khmer-  Vblker  among  the 
following  groups  of  languages. — The  Munda  languages  of  India,  Nikobar  spoken 
in  the  Nikobar  islands ;  Khasi  spoken  in  the  Khisi  Hills  of  Assam;  Palong 
Wa,  and  Riang  of  Salwin  basin,  Upper  Burma  ;  Sakai  and  Semang  languages 
of  the  Malay  Peninsula,  and  the  Mon-Khmer  languages.  Dr.  Konow  also, 
working  from  the  point  of  view  of  India  proper,  has  been  able  to  show  that  the 
Munda  languages  are  connected  with  Mon-Khmer.  These  allied  groups  of 
languages  have  been  styled  Austro-Asiatic  by  Schmidt  who  postulates  the  exis- 
tence of  an  Austro-Asiatic  race  characterised  "  by  long  or  medium  head,  hori- 
zontal non-oblique  eyes,  broad  nostrils,  dark  skin,  more  or  less  wavy  hair  and 
short  or  medium  stature."  (vide  R.  Chanda's  The  Indo- Aryan  Races,  p.  10). 


VI.]        THE  KOLARIANS  AND  DRAVIDIANS.        m 

distinguishing  characteristics  harmoniously  with   the  changes 
of  their  environments  and  climate. 

I  have  spoken  only  of  the  Dravidian  and  Kolarian  abori- 
gines of  Southern  India,  but  along  with  them  should  be 
mentioned  the  savage  tribes  inhabiting  the  hills  of  Upper 
Burma,  Assam,  Tippera  and  the  North-East  frontier  of  India, 
who  belong  to  the  Mongolian  family.  These  are  the  Abors, 
the  Akas,  the  Mishmis,  the  Nag&s,  the  Ch&kmas  and  others 
who,  in  some  pre-historic  time,  had  probably  lived  side  by 
side  with  the  forefathers  of  the  present  Mongolians  and  the 
Chinese,  and  crossed  over  into  India  through  the  north-eastern 
passes.  "  Some  of  the  hill  languages  in  Eastern  Bengal " 
says  a  writer,  "  preserve  Chinese  terms,  others  contain  Mongo- 
lian. Thus  the  N&gfts  in  Assam  still  use  words  for  three  and 
water,  which  might  almost  be  understood  in  the  streets  of 
Canton  "  ' 

These  wild  tribes  probably  drove  the  Kolarians  from 
these  hilly  tracts  and  the  spurs  of  the  Eastern  Himalaya  into 
the  Southern  Peninsula.  It  will  be  in  the  recollection  of  our 
readers  that  Mr.  H.  F.  Blanford  has  said  that  the  ancient  land 
of  the  Southern  Peninsula  "  extended  some  distance  to  the 
north  of  the  present  Gangetic  delta/1  connecting  itself  with 
the  Khasi  Hills  and  Upper  Assam.  A  contributor  to  the 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica  writes:  "  It  is  highly  probable  that 
the  Jurrnsic  and  Cretaceous  coast-line  ran  across  the  northern 

part  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  Probably  the  Jurrasic  traps  of 

the  Rajmehal  Hills,  west  of  the  Delta  of  the  Ganges,  were 
continuous  with  those  of  Sylhet  and  the  Delta."  If  we  bear 
in  miml  this  connection  of  the  Deccan  or  Southern  India  with 
the  hilly  tracts  of  Assam  and  Sylhet,  we  shall  be  able  to  under- 
stand  the  significance  of  the  following  observations  made  by 
Mr.  J.  F.  Hewett :  "  That  they  (the  Kolarian  tribes)  came 
from  the  East  is  shown  by  the  following  facts  :  First,  they 

1     Encyclopedia  Britannica.  Vol.  XII,  p.  777-    (Ninth  Edition). 
»     Bncy.  Brit.,  p.  726. 


H2  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

themselves  always  say  that  they  did  so ;  secondly,  the  most 
powerful  and  purest  Kolarian  tribes  are  found  in  the  east ; 
thirdly,  their  languages  are  allied  to  those  used  on  the  Bhahma- 
putra  and  the  Irawaddy  by  the  Kambojans  and  the  Assam- 
ese." *  The  correctness  of  this  belief  or  tradition  among 
the  Kolarians  would  be  clearly  proved,  if  we  remembered  that 
the  lost  Southern  Continent  extended  as  far  east  as  Burma 
and  South  China.  The  invasion  of  the  Mongolian  wild  tribes 
must  have  driven  them  to  the  south-west  right  into  the  heart 
of  the  modern  Indian  Peninsula.  They  could  not  of  course 
advance  directly  westwards,  as  their  progress  was  barred  by 
the  existence  of  the  sea  over  the  Gangetic  trough.  But  some 
of  these  tribes,  for  instance,  the  Kurkis,  marched  westward 
through  the  Peninsula  and  are  now  found  some  400  miles 
distant  from  the  hilly  country  inhabited  by  the  Santals,  with 
no  tradition  among  them  of  a  common  origin. 

The  Dravidians  occupied  the  western  and  the  southern 
borders  of  the  Peninsula  where  their  descendants  are  still  found 
in  very  large  numbers.  It  seems  that  their  evolution  was  far 
in  advance  of  that  of  the  Kolarians,  and  they  made  rapid 
progress  towards  civilisation  after  they  had  come  in  contact 
with  the  highly  civilised  Aryans  in  post-Rgvedic  times, 
when  the  Southern  Peninsula  became  connected  with  Sapta- 
Sindhu  by  the  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea. 
It  was  a  descendant  of  the  great  sage  Agastya  of  Rgvedic 
fame,  who,  as  we  have  already  said,  first  led  an  Aryan  colony 
to  the  south  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  by  crossing  the  dried-up 
ocean  and  the  Vindhya  mountains.  Another  decendant  of 
this  Agastya  was  a  contemporary  of  the  great  R&tna,  the 
hero  of  Valmlki's  Rimaya^a,  king  of  Kosala,  which  was  then 
a  flourishing  country  in  the  Gangetic  plain,  stretching  far 
into  the  Peninsula.  The  Aryan  colonization  of  the  Deccan 
must,  therefore,  have  occurred  thousands  of  years  after  the 
composition  of  the  most  ancient  hymns  of  the  Rgveda. 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1888  and  1889. 


VI J        THE  KOLARIANS  AND  DRAVIDIANS.        113 

The  poet  Vftlmlki,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Rama,  and 
had  his  hermitage  or  asr&ma  near  the  Chitrakuta  Hills,  about 
ten  kro$as  to  the  south  of  modern  PrayAga  or  Allahabad, 
knew  partly  from  personal  experience,  and  partly  from 
hearsay,  of  the  extremely  savage,  nay  fierce  brute-like  condi- 
tion of  the  dark  human  denizens  of  the  hills  and  extensive 
forests  of  Central  and  Southern  India,  and  called  them  by 
the  hateful  names  of  Vdnaras  (lit.  forest-men,  or  monkeys), 
and  Rdksasas,  the  eaters  of  raw  meat  and  human  flesh.  The 
V&naras  lived  in  Ki$kindhy£  which  is  identified  with  modern 
Mysore,  and  therefore  undoubtedly  belonged  to  the  Dravidian 
race;  but  though  they  fought  their  enemies  with  stones  and 
branches  of  trees,  showing  that  they  still  remained  in  the 
Stone  Age  of  human  progress,  they  were  more  morally 
advanced  than  the  Rftk^asas  who  were  full  of  brutal  instincts 
and  propensities  and  scarcely  resembled  human  beings. 
The  Mundavers  and  the  Puliers  of  the  Anamalai  Hills  of 
Southern  India,  the  Juangs  of  Orissa  and  the  Andamanese 
of  the  Bay  of  Bengal  would  be  described  as  R£k?asas  by 
a  modern  poet,  as  Valmlki  described  their  forefathers, 
thousands  of  years  ago.  "  In  the  Aitareya  Br&hmana  "l  says 
Professor  Sir  R.  G.  Bhandarkar,  *  which  is  anterior  to  the 
whole  of  the  so-called  classical  Sanskrit  Literature,  the  sage 
Vibvftmitra  is  represented  to  have  condemned  by  a  curse  the 
progeny  of  fifty  of  his  sons  to  ( live  on  the  borders*  of  the 
Aryan  settlements,  and  these,  it  is  s'dcl,  were  the  Andhras, 
Pundras,  Sabaras,  Pulindas,  and  Mutibhas,  and  the  descen- 
dants of  Vi^vdmitra  formed  a  large  portion  of  the  Dasyus."2 
Tne  Andhras  are  the  Telugu  people,  and  it  is  likely  that 
Aryan  colonies  led  by  the  descendants  of  Vi§v£mitra  were 
established  in  Southern  India  in  post-Rgvedic  times;  and 
the  Aryans,  having  freely  mixed  with  the  original  inhabitants, 
were  as  proportionately  degraded  as  the  aboriginal  tribes 

1     Ait.  Brah.  VII.  18. 

*     Prof.  Sir  R.  G.  Bhandarkar's  ' '  Early  History  oftht  Dtkkan,"  Bdn.  1884, 
P.  5. 


ii4  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

were  uplifted.  The  age  in  which  the  great  Sanskrit  Grammar- 
ian,  P&9U1I,  flourished  is  now  admitted  to  be  the  seventh 
Century  B.C.,  i.e.  to  say,  he  had  flourished  long  before  Buddha 
was  born.  From  the  absence  of  the  names  of  any  country 
south  of  Kaccha  (Cutch),  Avanti,  Kosala,  Karu?a  and 
Kalinga  in  P£nini's  Grammar,  Professor  Bhandarkar  draws 
the  following  inference  :  "  Supposing  that  the  non-occurrence 
of  the  name  of  any  country  farther  south  in  Panini's  work  is 
due  to  his  not  having  known  it,  a  circumstance  which,  looking 
to  the  many  names  of  places  in  the  north  that  he  gives, 
appears  very  probable,  the  conclusion  follows  that  in  his 
time  the  Aryas  were  confined  to  the  north  of  the  Vindhya, 
but  did  proceed  or  communicate  with  the  northern-most 
portion  of  the  Eastern  coast,  not  by  crossing  that  range,  but 
avoiding  it  by  taking  an  easterly  course."1  This,  we  are 
afraid,  is  another  good  illustration  of  the  dangers  of  argumen- 
tum  ex  silentio.  The  omission  of  the  name  of  Rama  in 
P£mni's  work,  though  the  word  occurs  in  the  Rgveda  as  the 
name  of  a  powerful  and  generous  king,2  albeit  not 
of  Kosala,  cannot  certainly  prove  that  the  Rgveda 
is  a  later  work  than  Panini's.  Similarly,  it  would  be 
wrong  to  argue  that  because  no  countries  south  of  the 
Vindhya  are  mentioned  in  Pdnini's  work,  therefore  he  was 
not  acquainted  with  them,  or  the  Aryas  did  not  settle  in 
Southern  India  as  colonists  during  or  before  his  time.  Such 
wrong  inferences  would  be  easily  avoided,  if  we  remembered 
that  Panini's  Grammar  was  composed  to  help  the  understand- 
ing of  the  derivation,  formation  and  use  of  such  important 
words  as  are  mainly  found  in  the  Vedic  and  post-Vedic 
Literatures,  and  his  omission  to  mention  one  word  or  another 
in  his  book  did  not  affect  ancient  history  in  any  way.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  Deccan  began  to  be  colonized  by  the 
Aryan  settlers  soon  after  the  means  of  communication  with 
that  country  by  land  had  been  effected  by  the  upheaval  or 

1     Bhandarkar's  Early  History  of  the  Dekkan,  P.  6, 
*     $v.  x.  gp,  14. 


VI.]  THE  PANIS  OF  THE  RGVEDA.  115 

drying  up  of  the  bed  of  the  Rijputini  Sea  and  the  formation 
of  the  Gangetio  plains.  As  we  have  already  said,  a  descend- 
ant of  Agastya  was  the  first  to  cross  the  Vindhya,  and  lead 
an  Aryan  colony  to  the  south.  It  is  very  likely  that  some 
descendants  of  ViSv&mitra  also  followed  in  his  footsteps,  and 
having  settled  in  the  Deccan,  mingled  with  the  original 
inhabitants  by  ties  of  marriage,  and  produced  the  Andhra 
people.  But  this  must  have  happened  several  thousands  of 
years  ago,  and  not  after  700  B.C.  as  wrongly  suggested, 
nay,  concluded  by  Professor  Bhandarkar.  A  conclusion 
like  this  would  be  not  only  unreasonable,  but  highly 
misleading,  to  say  the  least 

As  I  have  already  said,  even  in  Rgvedic  times,  the 
Pants  or  Vaniks  who  were  a  branch  of  the  Aryan  race  and 
lived  on  the  eastern  coasts  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  afforded 
safe  harbour  to  their  merchant-ships,  and  supplied  them  with 
excellent  timber  for  ship-bulding  from  the  spurs  of  the 
Himalaya,  and  who  were  hated  by  their  Aryan  brethern  not 
only  for  their  extreme  avarice  and  niggardliness,  but  also 
for  their  not  subscribing  to  the  tenets  of  the  orthodox  Aryan 
faith,  came  in  contact,  in  the  course  of  their  voyages,  with  the 
inhabitants  on  the  coasts  of  the  Southern  Continent,  though 
the  configuration  of  the  coast-line  in  those  early  days  must 
have  been  quite  different  from  that  of  the  present  Southern 
Peninsula,  and  imparted  to  them  some  of  their  culture.  But 
the  persecutions  of  these  dissenting  and  avaricious  people 
by  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  gradually  drove  them  away  from 
the  country,  and  their  expulsion  from  Sapta-Sindhu  became 
complete,  when  the  Rijput^na  Sea  was  dried  up,  thereby 
barring  all  passage  of  their  ships  to  the  open  sea.  This 
must  have  decided  their  leaving  Sapta-Sindhu  for  good,  and 
made  them  seek  other  convenient  sea-coasts  for  planting 
new  colonies.  It  is  just  possible  that  some  of  them  settled 
for  a  time  on  the  Malabar  coast  of  the  present  Southern 
Peninsula,  not  only  ^  for  the  feake  of  the  rich  indigenous 


n6  RGVEDlC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

products  of  the  country,  but  also  because  Indian  teak  was 
plentiful  there,  which  afforded  excellent  timber  for  ship- 
building.  During  their  sojourn  on  this  coast,  they  must  have 
come  in  contact  with  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  DravJdian 
race,  notably  the  Cholas  and  the  Pandyas  who  lived  in  the 
extreme  south  of  the  Peninsula,  and  were  thus  in  a  position 
to  receive  a  portion  of  Aryan  culture.  It  may  be  surmised 
that  it  was  from  the  Panis  that  they  first  learnt  the  use  of 
the  metals  like  iron,  copper  and  gold,  and  the  art  of  ship- 
building. This  intercourse  with  the  Aryan  merchants, 
carried  on  for  a  long  time,  must  have  resulted  in  their  uplift 
and  ultimate  superiority  over  the  other  branches  of  the 
Dravidian  race,  and  civilised  them  to  a  degree  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  latter.  The  opening  up  of  the  overland  route 
also  from  Sapta-Sindhu  helped  many  Aryan  tribes  to  settle 
in  the  Deccan  along  the  western  sea-coast ;  and  Janasth&na, 
Gujarat,  Sauniftra  and  Ki?kindhya  (Mysore)  became  well- 
known  Aryan  settlements,  where  the  Aryans  remained 
engaged,  from  generation  to  generation,  in  spreading  light 
and  culture  among  the  savage  inhabitants  of  the  dark 
Peninsula  in  ancient  times.  But  the  mountainous  regions 
of  Central  India,  and  the  dark,  impenetrable,  extensive  and 
primeval  forests  of  the  Peninsula  remained  inaccessible  to 
the  Aryans  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  which  accounts 
for  the  primitive  savage  condition  of  most  of  their  human 
denizens  down  to  recent  times. 

The  Panis,  it  may  be  said  here,  had  a  restless  spirit  of 
adventure,  and  there  is  evidence  to  prove  that  some  of  them 
settled  in  Mesopotamia,  and  afterwards  on  the  sea-coast  of 
Syria,  in  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  on  the 
north  coast  of  Africa,  trading  along  the  sea-coasts  of  Southern 
Europe  and  even  the  coasts  of  Great  Britain  and  Norway, 
and  spreading  Aryan  culture — such  as  was  left  to  them  after 
their  banishment  from  Sapta-Sindhu  and  their  long  sojourn 
In  foreign  countries  among  the  savage  populations  of  the 


VI.]      PART  PLAYED  BY  THE  PANIS.     nj 

lands  they  visited.    These    Panis  were  the  ancestors  of  the 
Phoenicians  of  history.   They  could  not,  however,  help  getting 
mingled  with  the  natives  of  the  different  countries  they  visited 
and  colonized,    and   gradually  Jost  their  characteristics  as  an 
Aryan    people.     We   shall   tell   the  interesting  story  of  their 
expansion   in   another   chapter,    and   show   how   they   were 
instrumental    in    spreading  Aryan  culture  in  the  west,  just  as 
the  European    merchants   and   adventurers   in   modern  times 
have  been  instrumental  in  spreading    Western   civilisation  in 
the   East,    which   only   proves   the    truth    of   the  adage  that 
"  History  repeats   itself. "     Be   that    as  it  may,  there  can  be 
no  question   that   the   Cholas   and    the  Pandyas  of  Southern 
India   were    greatly    benefited    by    their    having    come    in 
contact   with   the   Panis   on    the   one   hand,  and  the  Aryan 
settlers  from  the  north  on  the  other,  and  ultimately  developed 
a  civilisation   which   was    neither    purely   Aryan,   nor  purely 
Dravidian,   but  a    mixture   of   both,    though   the  note  of  the 
former  was  dominant.    The  Cholas  and  the  Pandyas  emulated 
the  Panis  in    their  spirit  of  adventure,   and    in    later   times, 
under  the  guidance  of  their  Aryan  masters,  founded    colonies 
in  Mesopotamia   and    Egypt   that   played   important  parts  in 
the  history   of   the   ancient  world.     We   shall   deal  with  that 
story  more  fully  in  subsequent  chapters.      Suffice  here  to  say 
that  of  the   Dravidian   and   the    Kolarian    races  peopling  the 
Indian  Peninsula,  the  Cholas  and  the   Pandyas  were  probably 
the  first  to  be   influenced    and   uplifted  by  Aryan  civilisation 
and  culture,   which   they   helped    to   spread,   along   with  the 
Paais  or  Phoenicians,  in  Western  Asia,    Northern  Africa  and 
Southern   Europe,    and  which  formed  the  basis,  as  it  were,  of 
the  Semitic  and  European  civilisations.1 

Such  then,  was  the  Indian  Peninsula  in  Rgvedic  times 
and  after.  I  hope  that  my  readers  have  been  fully  convinced 
that  the  Dravidian  and  the  Kolarian  races  were  not  immi- 
grants to  India  from  Central  Asia,  but  were  autochthones  in 

L._  t.  .   .     «.    ..i..n    .  .         •    *  ».. 

1   VW*  Appendix  (O  to  this  Chapter. 


ii8  J£GVED,IC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

the  now  lost  Indo-Oceanic  Continent,  of  which  Southern 
India  is  one  of  the  remnants.  Sir  Herbet  Risley  does  not 
support  the  view  of  Sir  William  Hunter  and  Mr.  Hewett 
about  their  Central  Asiatic  home  on  ethnological  and  other 
grounds,  *  and  Mr.  H.  R.  Hall  also  agrees  with  Sir  Herbert 
Risley  in  making  them  the  original  inhabitants  of  the  Indian 
Peninsula,  where  the  Dravidians  had  developed  a  civilisation 
which  was  taken  to  Mesopotamia,  and  formed  the  basis  of 
the  Semitic  civilisation.2  It  is  gratifying  to  find  that  these 
views  find  a  strong  corroboration  in  the  geological  evidence 
that  we  have  adduced  in  this  chapter  regarding  Southern 
India  forming  part  of  a  separate  continent,  entirely  cut  off 
'from  Sapta-Sindhu  in  ancient  times,  which  continued  to  exist 
as  such  down  to  Rgvedic  times. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VI. 

(A)  THE   DECCAN  OR  DAKSINA'PATHA. 

Professor  D.  R.  Bhandarkar  in  his  Carmichael  Lectures  (1918),  p.  2,  has 
picked  out  the  expression  daksintipadd  from  Rgveda,  x.  61,  8,  meaning 
*  with  southward  foot/  and  used  with  reference  to  a  man  who  is  expelled  to  the 
South.  "  This,"  rightly  observes  the  Professor,  "  cannot  of  course  denote  the 
Daksindpatha  or  Southern  India,  as  we  understand  it,  but  rather  the  country 
lying  beyond  the  world  then  inhabited  by  the  Aryans  "  This  country,  which 
was  apparently  a  place  for  banishment,  was  probably  the  strip  of  desert  lying 
to  the  south  of  Sapta-Sindhu  along  the  northern  coasts  of  the  Rajputana  Sea, 
and  an  exile  deported  to  this  region  was  literally  between  the  Devil  and  the 
Deep  Sea.  The  desert  (Sk.  maru  from  rnrt  to  die)  was  not  fit  for  human 
habitation,  as  it  afforded  neither  shelter  nor  food,  and  was  regarded  as  a 
veritable  region  of  Death.  Hence,  the  southward  direction  probably  came  to 
be  associated  with  the  direction  over  which  Yama,  the  Lord  of  Death,  presided. 

1  The  People  of  India,  pp.  47-48  Sir  H.  Risley  sajs:  "It  is  extremely 
improbable  that  a  large  body  of  vtry  black  and  conspicuously  long-headed 
types  should  have  come  from  the  one  region  of  the  earth  which  is  peopled 
exclusively  by  races  with  broad  heads  and  ytllow  complexions.  With  this  we 
may  dismiss  the  theory  which  assigns  a  trans-Himalayan  origin  to  the 
Dravldiins." 

»     The  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East,   pp.  171-74. 


VI.]  MIOCENE  AND  PLIOCENE  MAN.  119 

The  expression  daksinbpadd  therefore  does  not  seem  to  be  at  all  connected 
with  Daksindpatha. 

(B)  MIOCENE  AND  PLIOCENE  MAN. 

Archaeologists  are  not  yet  agreed  about  the  existence  of  Miocene  Man, 
though  that  of  Pliocene  Man  is  admitted.  Dr.  Keith  says  "  There  is  not  a 
single  fact  known  to  me  which  makes  the  existence  of  a  human  form  in  the 
Miocene  period  an  impossibility."  (The  Antiquity  of  Man,  p.  511  Ed.,  1916). 
"Judging  from  the  analogy  of  other  species/'  says  Lord  Avebury  in  his 
Prehistoric  Times  (Ch  XII,  p  403*,  "I  am  disposed  to  think  that  in  the 
Miocene  period  man  was  probably  represented  by  anthropoid  apes,  more  nearly 
resembling  us  than  do  any  of  the  existing  quadrumana.  We  need  not,  however, 
expect  necessarily  to  find  the  proofs  in  Europe  ,  our  nearest  relatives  in  the 
animal  kingdom  are  confined  to  hot,  almost  to  tropical  climates  ;  and  though 
we  know  that  during  parts  of  the  Miocene  period,  the  climate  of  Europe  was 
warmer  than  at  present,  so  that  monkeys  lived  much  north  of  their  present 
limits,  still  it  is  in  the  warmer  regions  of  the  earth  that  we  may  reasonably  find 
the  earliest  traces  of  the  human  race" 

It  is  therefore  extremely  probable  thtt  man  first  evolved  out  of  anthropoid 
apes  in  the  Tropics  and  not  in  the  Torrid  Zone  He  emigrated  to  this  region 
after  it  had  become  habitable  in  consequence  of  a  change  of  climate.  The 
relics  of  mm  found  in  this  region  are  therefore  not  necessarily  the  earliest.  It 
is  within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  man  appeared  in  India  in  the  Miocene 
epoch,  as  the  relics  discovered  in  Further  India  go  to  show.  (Clodd's  Story  of 
Primitive  Man,  p.  23)  The  geographic  *1  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  India 
in  the  Pleistocene  eporh  and  later  agrees  to  a  very  large  extent  with  the 
description  of  hnd  and  water  in  the  Rgveda,  which  emboldens  us  to  surmise 
that  Pleistocene  man  at  any  rate  attained  some  degree  of  civilisation  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  as  suggested  by  some  of  the  earliest  hymns  of  the  Rgveda.  It  will 
surely  be  regarded  as  a  very  bold  surmise,  but  we  are  forced  to  it  by  the 
irresisMb'e  evidence  found  in  the  Rgveda.  The  following  literature  about 
Pliocene  and  Wiorenc  mm  is  taken  from  Prehistoric  Times  (1912),  pp.  399- 

403 : 

"  .\f.  Debnoyers  has  called  attention  to  some  marks  noticed  by  him  on  bones 
found  in  the  upper  Pliocene  bed-*  of  St  Prest,  and  belonging  to  the  Elephas 
meridional  is,  Rhinoceros  leptorhinus,  Hippopotamus  major,  several  species  of 
deer  (including  the  gigantic  Megiceros  Carmutorum,  Laugel),  and  two  species 

of  Bos,  which   he  considers   to   be  of  human  origin At  the  same  place 

(St.  Prest),  that  indefatigable  archaeologist,  M.  b'Abbe*  Bourgeois,  has  more 
recently  discovered  worked  flints,  including  flakes,  awls  and  scrapers,  but 
unfortunately  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  stratigraphical  relations  of  the  bed 
in  which  they  occurred,  Moreover,  some  authorities  consider  these  beds  to  be 

interglacial.    In    the  interglacial  coal-beds  of  Durnten Prof.  Rutimeyer  has 

found  a  fragment  apparently  of  rough  basket  or  wattle  work.    The  interpretation 


iao  $GVEDIC  INDIA. 

in  this  ease  again  has  been  questioned,  but  Prof.  Schwendener,  who  has  recently 
examined  the  specimens  with  great  care,  is  decidedly  of  opinion  that  it  is  of 
human  workmanship. 

"  At  the  meeting  of  Spezzia  of  the  '  Societe*  Italienne  des  Sciences 
Nature  lies,"  Prof.  G  Ramorino  exhibited  some  bones  of  Pliocene  Age,  said  to 
bear  marks  of  knives. 

"  M.  Capellini  also  has  described  certain  bones  supposed  to  belong  to  the 
same  geological  period,  which,  in  his  opinion,  bear  marks  of  flint  knives  ..  .. 

11  Dr  Dubois  has  discovered  in  Java,  in  a  layer  apparently  of  Pliocene 
Age,  to  judge  from  the  other  mammalian  remains,  the  upper  part  of  the  skull, 
a  thigh  bone  and  two  teeth  of  an  animal  about  as  large  as  a  chimpanzee,  which 
he  regards  as  having  been  intermediate  between  man  and  the  anthropoid  apes, 
and  there  is  this  strong  support  of  his  view  that  while  the  remains,  in  the 
opinion  of  some  eminent  authorities,  are  those  of  an  anthropoid  ape,  allied  to 
the  existing  gibbons,  others  are  equally  convinced  that  they  are  those  of  a  low 
type  of  man 

"  Dr.  Noetling  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India,  has  also  recorded 
unquestionable  flint  flakes  found  in  Burma  with  remains  of  Rhinoceros  peri- 
mensis,  and  Hippotherium  (Hipparion)  Antelopinum,  in  strata  considered  to 
belong  to  the  Pliocene  period. 

"  Some  archaeologists  even  consider  that  we  have  proof  of  the  presence 
of  man  in  Miocene  times.  Thus  M.  Bourgeois  has  found  in  Calcaire  de  Beauce, 
near  Pontlevoy,  many  flints  which  have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  heat, 
and  others  which  he  considers  to  show  marks  of  human  workmanship.  On  the 
age  of  the  deposit  there  is  still  some  difference  of  opinion,  and  the  action  of 
fire,  though  it  points  strongly  to,  does  not  absolutely  prove,  the  presence  of 
man.  These  interesting  specimens  were  found  in  a  stratum  which  contains  the 
remains  of  Acerotherium,  an  extinct  animal  allied  to  the  Rhinoceros,  and 
beneath  a  bed  which  contains  the  Mastodon,  Dinotherium,  and  Rhinoceros. 
The  enormous  number  of  these  cracked  flints  also  throws  some  doubt  on  their 
being  of  human  origin. 

"  In  the  Materiaux  pour  V  Histoire  de  1'Homme  for  1870  is  a  figure  of  a 
flint  flake  found  by  M.  Tardy  in  the  Miocene  beds  of  Aurillac  (Auvergne), 
together  with  the  remains  of  Dinotherium  giganteum,  and  Machairodus 

latidens From  the  figure  given  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that   it  is 

of  human  workmanship.  M.  Delaunay  also  has  called  attention  to  a  rib,  found 
by  him  at  Pouance  (Maine  et  Loire),  and  belonging  to  a  well  known  miocene 
species,  the  Halitherium  fossile ;  this  bears  certain  maiks  which  closely 
resemble  those  which  might  have  been  made  by  flint  implements.  M.  Hanny 
gives  a  good  figure  of  this  interesting  specimen.  Whether,  however,  we  have 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  existence  of  man  in  Miocene  times  is  a  question  on 
which  archaeologists  are  still  of  different  opinions." 


VI.]  THE  PANDYAS. 


rai 

The  human  remains  discovered  at  Piltdown  (Sussex)  are  regarded  as 
belonging  to  the  Pliocene  man,  the  "  Dawn  Man "  as  he  is  called.  With 
regard  to  the  epoch  in  which  the  Piltdown  race  flourished,  Dr.  Keith  says: 
"Dr.  Dawson  and  Dr.  Smith  Woodwar4  were  ultra  cautions  assigning  a 
Pleistocene  date  to  the  remains  found  at  Piltdown.  All  the  evidence  seems  to 
point  to  a  Pliocene  age."  (The  Antiquity  of  Man.t  p.  315  ) 

(C)  THE  PANDYAS. 

Prof.  D.  R.  Bhandarkar  in  his  Carmichael  Lectures  for  igiBt  (Calcutta) 
says  that  the  Pandyas  were  the  descendants  of  an  Aryan  tribe,  named  Paugu, 
who  emigrated  to  the  south  from  the  Punjab.  "  There  was  "  he  says  "  a  tribe 
called  Pangu,  round  about  Mathura,  and  when  a  section  of  them  went  south- 
wards and  were  settled  there,  they  were  called  Pandyas.  This  is  clear,  I  think, 
from  K&tyAyana's  Vdrtika,  Pandor-dyan,  which  means  that  the  suffix  ya  was 
to  be  attached  not  to  Pan^u,  the  name  of  the  father  of  the  Pandavas,  but  to 
Pandu,  which  was  the  name  of  a  Ksatf  iya  tribe  as  well  as  a  country.  Evi- 
dently Pandya  denotes  the  descendants  of  the  Pandu  tribe,  and  must  have  been 
so  called  when  they  migrated  southwards  and  established  themselves  there." 
(P.  10).  But  who  were  these  Pap d us  ?  We  do  not  find  their  name  men- 
tioned in  the  Rgveda,  though  the  word  Pani  occurs  frequently.  The  consonant 
n  is  pronounced  as  ndt  and  the  correct  pronounciation  of  Pani  would  be  Pa.ndi. 
Had  this  word  any  connection  with  Pandu  °  I  have  reasons  to  think,  it  had. 
The  Pan  is  lived  on  the  eastern  sea -shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  on  the  high  banks 
of  the  Gang&,  and  probably  also  of  the  Yamuna.  Many  left  Sapta-Sindhu 
after  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  had  been  unheaved,  and  settled  on  the 
Malabar  coast,  and  these  Panis  or  Panels  were  probably  the  ancestors  of  the 
Pandyas  who,  however,  represented  a  mixed  race  of  Aryans  and  Dravidians, 
and  developed  a  civilisation  which  was  afterwards  taken  to  Egypt.  (Vide 
Chapters  XII  &  XIII). 


16 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  ARYAN  TRIBES  OF  SAPTA-SINDHU  AND  THE  DA'SAS  AND 
THE  DASYUS  OF  THE  RGVEDA, 

We  will  now  revert  to  a  further  account  of  ancient 
Sapta-Sindhu,  and  describe  the  people  that  inhabited  in 
Rgvedic  times.  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
was  the  original  home  of  the  ancient  Aryans  who  lived  there, 
divided  into  tribes  or  clans  in  accordance  with  their  religious 
beliefs  and  different  grades  of  development.  Some  of  them 
hat]  a  homogeneous  development  in  religious  thoughts  and 
sentiments;  and  they  were  like  one  people, — though  living 
in  separate  kingdoms  under  the  rule  of  separate  kings,  yet 
practising  the  same  religious  rites  and  ceremonies,  worship- 
ping the  same  Gods,  observing  the  same  social  customs,  and 
speaking  the  same  language.  These  tribes  were  the 
Paiicajanas  and  the  Paficakrstis  of  the  Rgveda.  What  the 
names  of  these  tribes  exactly  were,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  ; 
but  from  the  frequent  mention  of  the  Amts>  the  Druhyus, 
the  Yadus,  the  Turba$es>tt\e  Trtsus^  the  Purusand  the  Bhara- 
tas>  it  may  be  surmised  that  a  combination  of  these  represent- 
ed the  five  principal  tribes,  known  as  Paiicajanas,  with  a 
homogeneous  development  in  civilisation.  For  example,  the 
Yadus  and  the  TurbaSes  were  regarded  as  one  tribe  like 
the  Tftsus  and  the  Bharatas.  There  were  many  other 
Aryan  tribes  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  not  holding  the  same 
religious  views,  or  observing  the  same  social  customs  as 
the  Five  Tribes  who,  therefore,  hated  them  and  kept 
themselves  as  much  aloof  from  their  contact  as  possible. 
The  Five  Tribes  were  fond  of  performing  the  Soma  sacrifice, 
and  prided  themselves  on  their  designation  of  sacrificers. 
The  sacrifices  were  mainly  performed  in  honour  of  Indra  who 
shared  the  offerings  with  the  other  principal  Devas  whom 
fhe  fjye  Aryan  tribes  worshipped.  Those  Aryan  tribes  who 


VII.]         DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  CULTURE.         123 

did  not  perform  the  Soma  sacrifice,  or  believe  in  the  supre- 
macy or  even  the  existence  of  Indra,  were  put  down  as 
non-sacrificers,  Dasas,  Dasyus,  and  unworthy  of  even  being 
called  men.  To  quote  Ragozin  again  :  "  To  an  Aryan  Hindu, 
the  man  who  owned  the  Soma  and  did  not  press  it  was  a 
hopeless  reprobate.  In  fact,  he  divided  mankind  into  '  press- 
ers/  and  '  not  pressers, '  the  latter  word  being  synonymous  with 
1  enemy '  and  'godless  barbarians'"1  This  undoubtedly 
bespeaks  a  degree  of  religious  intolerance  among  the  ancient 
Aryans,  which  would  not  ordinarily  be  suspected.  We  shall 
see  later  on  to  what  lamentable  lengths  it  went  in  ancient 
Aryan  society. 

To  understand  clearly  why  in  a  country  inhabited  by  the 
same  race  and  family  of  human  beings  from  the  very  earliest 
times,  there  are  diversity  of  culture  and  different  grades  in 
the  development  of  social  and  religious  institutions,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  us  to  refer  briefly  to  the  different  stages  through 
which  man  had  to  pass  in  all  lands  and  climes  in  his  onward 
march  towards  progress.  It  is  an  established  fact  that  primi- 
tive man  was  at  first  a  nomad,  never  confining  himself  to  one 
place,  but  roaming  about  in  quest  of  food,  only  settling 
or  rather  hanging  about  for  sometime  in  places  that 
afforded  him  sufficient  edibles  and  shelter,  and  abandoning 
that  place  again  in  search  of  "  fresh  fields  and  pastures  new." 
He  was  also  by  nature  a  vegetarian,  and  not  a  carnivorous 
animal,  as  is  sometimes  wrongly  supposed.  It  was  only  when 
fruits  and  edible  herbs  were  not  found  in  abundance  that  he 
had  recourse  to  the  flesh  of  animals,  birds  and  insects, 
which  he  had  to  kill  for  his  support  with  rude  weapons  of 
stones  or  bones.  A  particular  habit,  contracted  through  force 
of  circumstances,  tended  to  persist  and  continue,  even  though 
the  circumstances  that  had  produced  it  no  longer  existed. 
Thus,  a  primitive  man  who  once  contracted  the  habit  of  sub- 
sisting on  flesh  would  not  easily  give  it  up,, even  if  fruits  and 
herbs  that  would  maintain  his  life  were  found  in  abundance. 

1     Vcdic  India  p.  171. 


124  BLGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

But  animals  and  birds,  whose  flesh  was  used  as  food,  were 
not  always  available ;  and  the  second  stage  of  the  primitive 
man's  development  was  marked  by  his  desire  to  secure  them 
alive,  and  stock  them  against  future  wants.1  This  necessity 
for  keeping  livestock  gradually  developed  in  him  the  art  of 
taming  and  domesticating  wild  animals  Some  animals  were 
more  easily  tamed  and  domesticated  than  others,  as  for 
instance,  the  goat,  the  sheep,  and  cattle  ;  and  these  were  the 
first  to  be  tamed.  Thus,  the  primitive  hunter  gradually  de- 
veloped into  the  primitive  cattle-keeper  or  herdsman.  Cattle 
or  pafu  now  became  veritable  wealth  to  him,  and  the  posses* 
sor  or  owner  thereof  was  considered  rich  or  well-to-do,  as 
their  possession  put  him  above  want.  The  milk  of  cattle  was 
fouhd  nutritious,  and  as  the  animals  multiplied  every  year, 
some  of  them  could  also  be  slaughtered  for  food  in  times  of 
necessity,  without  the  number  of  heads  being  diminished  to 
any  appreciable  extent.  But  the  possession  of  cattle  imposed 
upon  him  the  duty  of  pasturing  them  ;  and  so,  he  had  to  take 
them  out  to  places  that  afforded  them  good  grazing  and 
supplied  them  with  abundant  water.  Thus,  the  nomadic 
hunter  still  remained  the  nomadic  cattle-keeper. 

In  course  of  time,  however,  wild  corn  was  discovered  and 
it  was  found   by   observation    that  by   cultivation,  the   seed 

1  It  is  related  in  the  'Laittirlya  Samhitd  (vii  I.  i.  4-6)  that  Prajapati  or 
the  Creator  first  created  BrAhmarus  among  men  and  goats  among  brutes  from  his. 
mouth ;  then  he  created  Rajanyas  among  men  and  sheep  among  brutes  from  his 
chest  and  arms ;  afterwards,  he  created  Vaisyas  among  men  and  cows  among 
brutes  from  his  belly,  and  lastly  he  created  Sudras  among  men  and 
horses  among  brutes  The  order  in  which  the  goat,  the  sheep,  the  cow  and  the 
horse  are  said  to  have  been  created  shows  the  order  in  which  these  animals 
were  domesticated  by  the  primitive  Aryans  in  long  and  gradual  course  of  time. 
It  is  curious  that  though  the  cow  is  held  sacred  and  classed  with  Brfchmaoas  in 
the  later  religions  literature  of  the  Hindus,  the  goat  has  been  given  precedence 
in  the  Stmhitft,  and  coupled  with  the  Brihmai^as  ;  but  the  above  description 
probably  represents  the  true  order  in  which  these  animals  were  domesticated 
and  brought  to  the  use  of  the  primitive  Aryans,  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  of 
primitive  men. 


VIJ.]        DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  CULTURE.          125 

improved  in  quality  and  the  corn  in  quantity,  and  accordingly 
cultivation  was  resorted  to  by  some  of  the  nomads,  who  how- 
ever had  soon  to  give  up  or  modify  their  nomadic  life,  in  as 
much  as  the  corn,  as  long  as  it  remained  in  the  fields,  re- 
quired  to  be  carefully  tended  and  protected  from  the  attack  of 
birds  and  beasts,  or  worse  still,  human  pilferers.  After  the 
crops  were  harvested,  they  had  to  be  thrashed  out  from  the 
sheaves,  the  grains  winnowed,  and  the  surplus  product  stored 
for  future  use.  The  necessity  for  performing  all  these  duties 
naturally  curbed  their  nomadic  propensities,  and  induced 
them  to  settle  permanently  near  their  corn-fields.  The 
cattle,  however,  were  important  and  indispensable  adjuncts 
to  agriculture,  as  it  was  with  the  help  of  oxen  that  the  fields 
were  ploughed,  and  the  corn  harvested  home.  Though  the 
stalks  or  straws  supplied  them  with  nutritious  fodder,  they 
still  required  to  be  pastured  and  were  actually  taken  out, 
during  a  part  of  the  year,  to  rich  pastures,  far  or  near.  But 
there  was  a  large  number  of  tribes  who  still  remained  in  the 
hunting  stage  of  their  development  and  lived  by  the  chase, 
and  there  were  others  who  were  nomads,  and  roamed  about 
with  their  cattle  and  families  from  place  to  place,  and  these 
people  naturally  felt  tempted  to  steal  the  cattle  of  the  settled 
population  and  actually  stole  and  drove  them  away. 

The  settled  and  agricultural  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  had 
passed  through  all  these  stages  of  development  when  the 
Rgveclic  hymns  began  to  be  composed ;  but  there  were  still 
in  that  land  those  of  the  race,  who  remained  in  the  primitive 
stage  of  hunters,  or  in  the  nomadic  stage  of  cattle-keepers, 
lagging  far  behind  in  the  race  of  life,  and  unable  to  keep  pace 
with  their  more  advanced  brethern.  They  constituted  the 
very  dregs  of  society — the  pests  and  curse  of  the  country — 
and  were  called  by  the  hateful  names  of  D&sas  and  Dasyus} 
i.e.,  slaves  and  robbers.  The  robbers  were  notorious  cattle- 
lifters,  who  generally  lived  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  forests, 
beyond  the  reach  of  civilised  men,  or  in  inaccessible  mountain 


126  FLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

fastnesses,  secure  against  attacks,  and  under  cover  of  dark- 
ness,  suddenly  descended  upon  the  peaceful  agricultural 
population  and  carried  away  their  cattle  and  goods,  just  as 
some  of  their  descendants,  the  restless  tribes  on  the  North- 
Western  frontier  of  India  do  even  to  the  present  day.  The 
savage  hunters  mainly  subsisted  on  flesh  and  killed  the  stolen 
animals  for  food,  whose  flesh  they  ate  raw,  or  partially 
roasted  or  boiled ;  and  hence  they  were  called  raw  meat- 
eaters  and  R/ik?asas,  i.e.,  persons  from  whom  self-protection, 
was  necessary.  Our  readers  need  not  be  surprised  at  the 
practice  of  eating  raw-meat,  that  prevailed  among  the  savage 
Aryans  of  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  for  even  in  modern  times, 
the  Baluchis,  in  whose  veins  still  courses  Aryan  blood,  are 
known  to  be  fond  of  raw-meat.1  The  nomads  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  like  the  present  nomadic  1 ranis  or  Iranians  who,  by 
'  the  way,  are  the  surviving  remnants  of  the  ancient  nomadic 
Aryans,  were  also  petty  traders  who  pitched  their  tents  with 
their  cattle,  horses  and  dogs  near  civilised  Aryan  settlements, 
and  bartered  articles  of  trade  for  grains,  gold,  cattle  or  other 
articles  of  indigenous  product.  Though  posing  as  honest 
traders  by  day,  they  waited  for  an  opportunity  to  steal  the 
cattle  of  the  villagers  at  night,  which  they  usually  did,  and 
mingling  them  with  their  own  herds,  swiftly  moved  away  to 
other  places  beyond  the  reach  of  the  outraged  inhabitants 
Sometimes,  they  were  hotly  pursued,  and  a  free  fight  ensued 
between  them  and  the  villagers.  As  inhabitants  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  they  as  well  as  the  hunting  savages  were  well 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  iron  weapons,  though  they  were 
unable  to  manufacture  them,  and  were  as  well  armed  for 
offensive  purposes  as  the  settled  Aryans.  These  gangs  were 
led  by  powerful  chiefs  and  many  were  the  pitched  battles 
that  the  settled  Aryans  fought  with  them.  Occasionally,  they 
proved  such  intolerable  pests  and  so  powerful  that  the  chiefs 
or  kings  of  the  settled  Aryans  who,  by  the  way,  called 

1    Vide  account  of  the  Baluchis  to  the  Ency.  Brit. 


VII.]  BLACK  DASAS  AND  DASYUS.  127 

themselves  Kr stay  ah  or  agriculturists,  and  Vi§ah,  i.e., 
"  settlers  "  (Weber),  had  to  organize  armed  expeditions  with 
a  view  to  clear  them  out  of  their  territories  and  punish  them, 
arid  thereby  to  assure  their  subjects  of  peaceful  protection. 

As  the  hunters  and  the  nomads  roamed  about  the 
country  without  any  fixed  habitations,  and  were  exposed  to  the 
inclemencies  of  all  the  weathers,  they  were  naturally  dark-com- 
plexioned, and  not  possessing  the  pure  white  complexion  of 
the  settled  Aryans,  were  called  by  them  "blacks"  or  "blackies," 
not  only  in  a  literal,  but  also  in  a  figurative  sense  to  depict 
the  blackness  of  their  hearts.  The  frequent  mention  of 
"  black-skinned "  Disas  and  Dasyus  in  the  Rgveda  does 
not  refer,  as  is  wrongly  supposed,  to  the  existence  of 
black-skinned  non-Aryans  of  the  Dravidian  or  Kolarian 
stocks  in  Sapta-Sindhu — for  they  were  entirely  cut  off  from 
this  land  by  the  Southern  and  the  Eastern  Seas — but  to  these 
Aryan  pests  who,  on  account  of  their  savage  state  and  want 
of  culture,  were  a  disgrace  to  the  race,  and  called  "blacks," 
just  as  an  Englishmen  would  call  an  English  robber  or* 
swindler  a  "  black-guard.11  And  this  is  the  interpretation 
that  some  Western  Sanskrit  scholars  feel  disposed  to  put  on 
the  words  "  black  "  and  •'  black-skinned."  In  this  connection, 
it  may  be  stated  here  that  there  is  a  notable  instance  of  the 
use  of  the  epithet  "  black "  applied  to  the  Vedic  Aryans 
themselves  by  their  enemies,  the  Iranians  or  Persians,  who 
were  also  a  branch  of  the  Aryan  race.  In  the  GathA  Ustavaiti^ 
Zarathustra  says:  "  12.  That  I  will  ask  Thee,  tell  me  it 
right,  Thou  living  God,  who  is  the  religious  man,  and  who 
the  impious,  after  whorp  I  wish  to  enquire.  With  whom  of 
both  is  the  black  spirit,  and  with  whom  the  bright  one  ?  Is  it 
not  right  to  consider  the  impious  man  who  attacks  me  or 
Thee,  to  be  a  black  one  ? "  J  It  would  thus  appear  that  a 
branch  of  the  Aryan  race,  who  were  inimical  to  another,  on 
account  of  difference  of  religious  opinions,  called  the  latter 

1     Dr.  Haug's  "  Essiy  on  the  Sacred   Language,    Writings  and   Religion 
of  the  Parsees"  Ed.  1862  p.  151. 


128  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

41  blacks/1  although  they  were  admittedly  a  white  people. 
We  need  not,  therefore,  at  all  wonder  that  the  Rgvedic 
Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  called  the  dregs  of  their  society 
"  blacks,"  not  only  for  their  dark  complexion  but  also  for 
their  dark  life  and  character. 

The  analogy  of  the  "  black  skin  "  was  possibly  drawn 
by  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  from  the  colour  of  the  cloud  which 
was  regarded  as  the  body  of  the  demon,  Vrtra,  who  also 
tormented  the  Aryans  by  captivating  life-giving  rains  within 
its  compass,  and  was  compared,  along  with  his  hosts,  to  the 
Disas  and  Dasyus  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  who  stole  the  milk-giving 
cows  of  the  settled  Aryans.  Hence,  Vjtra  and  his  hosts 
were  also  designated  by  the  names  of  D&sas  and  Dasyu? 
after  the  Aryan  robbers  and  hunting  savages.  The  rain- 
clouds,  by  a  further  stretch  of  analogy,  were  compared  to 
milch-cows,  the  rumblings  of  the  thunder  to  their  lowing, 
and  their  ruddy,  black  and  white  colours  to  those  of  the  cows. 
In  all  these  descriptions  and  similes,  we  find  the  fact  of  the 
stealing  of  cows  by  the  Disas  and  the  Dasyus  from  the 
settled  Aryans  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  the  Vedic  bards, 
as  this  caused  them  very  great  anxiety,  and  oppressed  their 
minds  with  sad  and  vindictive  thoughts. 

After  a  careful  analysis  of  the  use  of  the  word  "  Dasyu  " 
in  the  Rgveda,  Muir  came  to  the  following  conclusion  :  "  I 
have  gone  over  the  names  of  the  Dasyus  or  Asuras,  men- 
tioned in  the  Rgveda,  with  the  view  of  discovering  whether 
any  of  them  could  be  regarded  as  of  non- Aryan  or  indigenous 
origin;  but  I  have  not  observed  any  that  appear  to  be  of 
this  character."  ]  Professor  Roth  also  says  in  his  Lexicon  : 
"  It  is  but  seldom,  if  at  all,  that  the  explanation  of  Dasyu  as 
referring  to  the  non-Aryans,  the  barbarians,  is  advisable." 
Muir  clearly  says  that  none  of  the  names  of  the  Dasyus  were 
of  non-Aryan  or  indigenous  origin.  By  the  word  "  indige- 
nous "  he  probably  meant  "  aboriginal,"  as  the  black-skinned 

1     Muir's  Original  Sanskrit  Text,  vol.  II,  p.  387  Ed,  1871. 


VII.]  THE  DASAS  AND  DASYUS. 

Dravidians  and  Kolarians  were  supposed  to  h*ve  bpen  ibe 
original  inhabitants  of  the  Punjab,  whom  the  Aryan  invader* 
are  said  to  have  ousted  from  occupation  and  driven  to  the 
south.  The  Aryans  not  having  been  regarded  as  indigenous, 
the  names  of  the  Dasyus  also  were  necessarily  not  regarded 
as  "  indigenous  "  by  Muir.  But  in  the  light  of  the  results  of 
our  present  investigation,  we  should  call  these  names, 
indigenous,  though  certainly  Aryan,  because  the  D&sas  and 
the  Dasyus  formed  the  lowest  dregs  of  Aryan  society,  and 
were  as  much  autochthones  in  Sapta-Sindhu  as  the  cultured 
Aryans  themselves.  They  were  merely  the  remnants  of  the 
very  early  stages  of  Aryan  development,  probably  the  dross 
and  by-products  of  the  race  in  the  gradually  purifying 
process  of  their  evolution, — the  laggers  that  could  not 
accommodate  their  pace  to  that  of  their  most  advanced  brethi 
ren,  and  were  thus  left  far  behind  in  the  race,  revelling  in 
their  primitive  savage  condition,  as  a  distinct  community, 
having  very  little  in  common  with  the  cultured  Aryans,  except- 
ing blood  and  language  which  again  was  not  the  pure  language 
as  spoken  by  the  cultured  class,  hut  a  jargon,  called  Mleccha^ 
or  corruption  of  Vedic  Sanskrit, 

These  Dasas  and  Dasyus  were  also  called  Asuras  and 
Rdksasas.  The  word  Asura  literally  means  "  powerful  " 
and  was  at  first  used  as  an  epithet  of  the  Devas  to  denote 
their  superhuman  beneficient  powers.  But  this  meaning 
gradually  degenerated,  and  the  word  came  to  denote  all 
that  was  evil.  The  etymological  meaning  of  the  word,j 
Rdksasx,  according  to  the  great  Vedic  commentator,  Ykska,  \ 
is  (<  one  from  whom  protection  is  necessary  "  ;  and  so,  the ) 
word  originally  meant  a  formidable  man  capable  of  inflicting 
evil.  Afterwards,  the  word  came  to  mean  a  demon,  or 
monster  with  three  or  more  heads,  destroying  human  life  by 
means,  visible  or  invisible,  in  fact,  a  supernatural  evil  being, 
or  a  lasus  natures.  But  the  epithet,  Rdksasa,  applied  to  the 
D&sas  and  the  Dasyus,  had  undoubtedly  its  etymological  sig- 
nificance in  the  Rgveda,  and  meant  persons  "  from  whom 
& 

'7 


130  fcGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

protection  was  necessary.1*  For,  they  were  the  very  pests  of 
Aryan  society,  looting,  pillaging,  and  plundering  the  Aryan 
villages  in  well-organized  powerful  bands,  disturbing  the 
peaceful  occupations  of  the  inhabitants,  and  retarding  their 
progress.  They  were  like  the  grim  shadows  of  a  past  life  of 
grossness  and  barbarism,  that  haunted  and  tormented  the 
advanced  Aryans,  and  made  their  very  existence  miserable 
and  unbearable.  These  evil  shadows  had  to  be  got  rid  of, 
and  purged  from  their  society  and  country  anyhow,  before 
they  could  think  of  working  out  their  own  evolution.  And  it 
appears  from  a  study  of  the  Vedic  hymns  that  the  cultured 
section  of  the  people  applied  themselves  to  the  task  of  either 
annihilating  or  extirpating  them  from  the  country  with  a  grim 
determination.  A  very  large  number  of  the  Rgvedic  hymns 
breathe  this  spirit  of  determination.  They  were  well  cogni- 
sant of  the  powers  of  the  great  Indra  who  vanquished  Vjtra 
and  his  hosts,  the  supernatural  foes  of  mankind,  and  they 
invoked  his  aid  in  hymn  after  hymn  in  this  their  great  and 
difficult  task.  The  mighty  Indra  seemed  to  listen  to  their 
prayers,  and  slaughtered  their  enemies  like  beasts  in  the 
fields  of  battle,  hunted  them  out  from  their  mountain  fast- 
nesses  and  scattered  them  like  wind,  burned  them  out  from 
the  forests,  and  after  destroying  their  haunts  and  nests, 
butchered  them  mercilessly.  It  was,  indeed,  an  awful,  bloody, 
and  protracted  struggle  in  which  the  Aryans  were  engaged. 
It  is  sad  to  reflect  that  the  advanced  Aryans  did  not  think  of 
reclaiming  them  from  barbarism  by  more  humanizing  and 
peaceful  methods  ;  but  probably  in  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  placed,  it  was  not  possible  for  them  to  do  so. 
They  thought  slaughter  or  extirpation  to  be  the  only  means 
of  getting  rid  of  them,  and  we  find  the  Vedic  bards  gloating 
and  exulting  over  the  slaughter,  offering  hymns  and  Soma 
libations  to  Indra  for  their  victories,  quaffing  the  Soma  drink 
in  excess  to  the  point  of  intoxication  to  celebrate  their  success, 
and  feeling  a  cruel  satisfaction  at  the  terrible  execution  made 
by  them.  The  whole  country  was  up  in  arms  against  the , 


VII.]  THE  DASAS  AND  bASYUS.  Hi 

marauding  Dasyus — men,  women  and  children ;— even  Rsi$ 
took  up  arms  and  fought  against  the  Dasyus,  and  a  lady 
named  Mudgalam,  the  wife  of  a  R?i  of  the  name  of  Mudgala, 
drove  the  car  for  her  husband  in  pursuit  of  the  robbers,  took 
up  his  bow  and  arrows,  fought,  and  won  back  her  husband's 
stolen  cows.  The  Vedic  bard  has  described  this  heroic  feat 
in  glowing  language,  and  with  a  pride  that  he  justly  felt  in 
the  glorious  achievements  of  this  virago.  (Rv.  x.  102). 
The  incident  shows  the  high  degree  of  excitement  to  which 
the  whole  country  was  roused  against  the  Dasyus,  and  the 
pitch  of  indignation  generally  felt  against  them.  The  result 
of  this  united,  determined  and  persistent  effort  was  the  extir- 
pation, dispersion,  or  destruction  of  the  Dasyus.  Many  fled 
from  the  country,  dispersed  themselves  beyond  the  precincts 
of  Sapta-Sindhu  westward,  and  were  scattered  over  Western 
Asia,  and  thence  over  Europe.  Those  that  remained  were 
subdued,  and  reclaimed  into  Aryan  society  by  some  Rfis  and 
kings  who  possessed  the  milk  of  human  kindness  in  a  larger 
quantity  and  were  more  catholic  than  their  confreres. 

Let  us  describe  here  some  of  the  brave  feats  that  Indra, 
or  more  correctly  speaking,  his  worshippers,  performed  in 
this  connection  : 

"  I  (Indra)  have  killed  Atka  with  my  thunderbolt  for  the 
good  of  the  man,  known  as  Kavi.  I  have  protected  Kutsa  by 
adopting  various  means  of  protection.  I  took  up  the  thunder- 
bolt for  killing  Su?aa.  /  have  deprived  the  Dasyus  of  their 
appellation  of  Arya. 

"  Kutsa  hankered  after  the  territory  known  by  the  name 
of  Vetasu.  I  brought  it  under  his  sway,  as  I  had  done  in  the 
case  of  his  father,  and  Tugra  and  Smadiva  became  his  vassals. 
It  is  through  my  favour  that  the  sacrificer  prospers.  I  give 
him  coveted  objects,  as  to  my  own  son  ;  and  thus  he  becomes 
invincible. 

"  I  am  that  Indra  who,  as  Vftrahan,  killed  Vjrtra,  and  have 
broken  the  two  persons  known  by  the  names  of  Nava-v^stva 


132  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

and  Bfhadratha  (lit.  New  settler,  and  Possessor  of  a  big 
chariot).  These  two  foes  had  become  very  powerful ;  but 
I  pursued  them,  and  drove  them  out  of  this  sunlit  globe. 

"  My  two  fleet  horses  carry  me,  and  riding  on  them,  I 
travel  round  the  Sun.  When  men  prepare  the  Soma  juice, 
and  invoke  me  to  purify  it,  I  cut  down  the  Ddsa  into  twain. 
For,  he  has  been  born  for  that  fate. 

14 1  have  destroyed  the  seven  strongholds  of  the  enemy. 
However  great  a  capturer  may  be,  there  is  none  greater  than 
myself.  I  have  strengthened  Yadu  and  Turba§,  and  made 
them  famous.  I  have  strengthened  others  also  and  destroyed 
ninety-nine  towns.1*  (Rv.  x.  49). 

From  the  above  extracts,  it  would  appear  that  the  Dasyus 
were  Aryan  tribes,  and  bore  the  name  of  Arya,  of  which, 
however,  they  were  deprived  by  Indra.  It  would  also  appear 
that  the  name  D§sa  was  applied  to  those  who  were  not  sacri- 
ficers. 

In  Rv.  ix.  73,5,  it  has  been  said  that  Indra  cannot  bear 
tbe  sight  of  the  black  skin,  and  he  expelled  "  the  black  skin/' 
both  from  heaven  and  earth.  The  "  black  skin  "  has  pro- 
bably a  double  meaning  here,  as  we  have  already  said,  viz.,  the 
black  cloud  (the  body  of  Vftra)  which  he  dispersed  from  the 
sky,  and  the  dark-complexioned  sun-burnt  Aryan  Dasyus 
whom  be  expelled  from  the  earth.  Or,  it  may  simply  mean 
that  Indra  drives  away  the  black-clouds  that  are  formed  high 
up  in  the  sky,  and  the  dark  mists  that  are  formed  below,  near 
the  earth. 

The  term  Arya  was  appropriated  by  the  settled  agricul- 
turists of  Sapta-Sindhu,  who  performed  the  sacrifices,  and 
Were  a  cultured  people,  as  distinguished  from  the  uncultured 
nomads  and  hunters  who  roamed  about  the  country,  plunder- 
ing and  pillaging  the  Aryan  villages,  and  did  not  perform  any 
sacrifice  at  all.  Y&ska  has  explained  the  word  in  the  Nirukta 
by  the  synonym  /ivtrafutra  or  "  son  of  God."  Sftyaga,  the 
£reat  commentator  of  the  Rgveda,  has  interpreted  it  to  mean 


VIL]  THE  DASAS  AND  DASYUS.  133 

"  the  person  who  should  be  approached  by  all  persons  for 
knowledge  and  enlightenment,"  (Rv.  i.  130,  4),  and  also 
"  the  person  who  is  learned  and  performs  the  sacrifices." 
(Rv.  i.  51,  8).  He  also  identifies  the  Arya  with  all  persons 
belonging  to  the  first  three  twice-born  castes  of  Aryan  society. 

We  have  already  said  that  the  sun-burnt  dark-com- 
plexioned hunters  and  nomadic  Dasyus  were  called  "  black- 
skinned  "  from  an  analogy  drawn  from  the  colour  of  the  black 
clouds  which  Indra  dispersed  in  his  fight  with  Vftra.  In  Rv. 
i.  101,  r,  Indra  has  been  described  as  having  killed  the  preg- 
nant wives  of  Kr?ua.  By  the  word  "  wives  "  are  meant  the 
rain-laden  black  clouds.  In  Rv.  ii.  20,7,  reference  has  been 
made  to  Vftrahan  (or  Indra)  having  destroyed  the  army  of 
black  origin  (krsna  yonih)  and  created  rain  for  Manu. 
This  black  army  was  undoubtedly  the  black  hosts,  or  clouds 
ofVftra.  But  in  Rv.  iv.  16,13,  **  has  been  said  that  Indra 
killed  fifty  thousand  black  foes.  In  Rv.  vii.  5,3,  VaiSv&nara 
or  Fire  has  been  described  to  have  pierced  the  citadel  of  the 
enemy,  when  the  black  people  came  out  pell-mell,  through 
consternation  and  distress,  leaving  their  dinner  unfinished  ; 
and  in  verse  6  of  the  same  Sokta,  Agni  is  said  to  have  driven \ 
out  the  Dasyus  from  their  hiding  places,  by  burning  and( 
blazing  fiercely.  The  black  people,  referred  to  in  these 
verses,  were  undoubtedly  the  sun- burnt  Aryan  Dasyus  who 
lived  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  forests  for  self-protection, 
but  who  were  afterwards  expelled  in  consequence  of  the 
forests  being  set  on  fire.  There  was  also  a  Dasyu  chief, 
njy5!^JKrULa_(tke  Black),  who  lived  on  tUe  banks  of  the 
Aqi£umatl  or  the  Yamund,  and  had  ten  thousand  followers 
with  whose  help  he  harassed  the  settled  Aryans  (Rv.  viii. 
96,  13-15)- 

Though  these  Dasyus  were  called  black  from  their  com- 
plexion and  character,  they  were  similar  in  appearance  to  the 
Aryans,  and  it  was  difficult  to  distinguish  a  Dasyu  from  an 
Aryan;  Hence  the  Vedic  bard  invokes  Indra  to  know  and 


134  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

\ 

distinguish  the  Aryans  from  the  Dasyus  who  were  opposed 
to  the  performance  of  sacrifices  (Rv.  i.  5,8).  Muir  has  trans- 
lated  the  verse  thus :  "  Distinguish  between  the  Aryas  and 
those  who  are  Dasyus,  and  chastising  those  who  observe  no 
sacred  rites,  subject  them  to  the  sacrificers.  Be  strong 
supporter  of  him  who  sacrifices."  In  Rv.  x.  86,19  Indra 
says:  "  I  come  looking  about  me,  and  seeking  the  Das  as  and 
the  Aryas.  I  drink  the  Soma  juice  from  those  who  prepare 
it  and  cook  offerings  for  sacrifice  in  my  honour.  I  am  ascer- 
taining who  among  these  is  endowed  with  good  sense." 
Thus  it  is  clear  that  the  DSLsas  and  the  Arya  were  so  alike  in 
appearance  that  Indra  had  difficulty  in  distinguishing  the  one 
from  the  other,  and  he  knew  only  the  Arya  by  seeing  him 
prepare  the  Soma  juice  aud  cook  the  offerings  for  sacrifice. 

It  would  also  appear  that  the  word  Dasyu  was  applied 
to  the  numerous  gangs  of  Aryan  robbers,  and  the  word  Ddsa 
to  those  Aryans  who  were  not  sacrificers  and  did  not  observe 
the  religious  rites  of  the  Vedic  Aryans.  These  DSsas  were 
not  necessarily  nomads,  and  for  aught  we  know,  were  the 
settled  inhabitants  of  the  country,  living  on  the  products  of 
agriculture  like  the  sacrifice-loving  Aryas.  But  as  they  were 
not  sacrificers  and  had  their  own  modes  of  worship,  they, 
like  the  Dasyus,  incurred  the  odium  and  displeasure  of  the 
Aryas  who  sacrificed,— which  furnishes  another  instance  of 
religious  intolerance  prevailing  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu.  The 
following  references  will  illustrate  our  meaning : 

In  Rv.  i.  51,  9,  it  has  been  stated  that  Indra  brings  those 
who  do  not  sacrifice  under  the  subjection   of  those   who   do. 
In  Rv.  i.  51,5,  the  Vedic  bard  says  that  Indra  defeated  those 
*  who*,  instead  of  offering  sacrificial   food  to  the  Gods,  them- 
selves swallowed  them ;  and   in   Rv.  v.   42,9,  Brahma^aspati 
has  been  invoked  to  reduce  the   wealth   of  those  who  seek 
pleasure  for  their  own  sake,  but  who  do  not  please  the  Gods 
by  chanting  hymns,  and  to  deprive  them  of  the  sun-light,  and 
cast  .  them   into  dismal  darkness  (though  they  may  have 


VII.]  THE  DASAS  AND  DASYUS.  ^133 

children)  for  the  sin  of  detracting  from  the  efficacy  of  the 
ptantras.  In  Rv.  i.  33,5,  Indra  has  been  praised  for  com- 
pelling those  to  turn  their  backs,  who  do  not  perform  sacrifices 
and  are  opposed  to  their  performance.  In  Rv.  ii.  22,4,  Indra 
is  praised  for  defeating  "  all  that  is  godless  "  (^Adevam),  and 
in  Rv.  Hi.  31,  19,  he  has  been  invoked  to  kill  all  godless 
persecutors  of  mankind  In  Rv.  i.  174,  8,  Indra  has  been 
praised  for  having  destroyed  the  towns  of  the  godless  foes, 
and  bent,  i.e.  broken  their  weapons.  In  Rv.  i.  100,  18,  Indra 
is  said  to  have  destroyed  the  Dasyus  and  the  Simyus 
(demons),  and  divided  and  shared  their  lands  with  his  white 
friends,  meaning  the  Arya  worshippers*  In  verse  4  of  the 
same  Sdkta,  it  has  been  said  that  Indra  deprived  the  Dasyu* 
of  all  good  parts,  and  made  the  Dasas  infamous.  In  Rv.  x. 
22,8  the  Rfi  says :  "  We  live  in  the  midst  of  the  Dasyu 
tribes  who  do  not  perform  sacrifices,  nor  believe  in  anything. 
They  have  their  own  rites,  and  are  not  entitled  to  be  called 
'  men.'  O  Thou  Destroyer  of  enemies,  annihilate  them  and 
injure  the  Ddsas"  This  is  another  instance  of  religious 
bigotry  and  intolerance  we  come  across  in  the  Rgveda.  In 
Rv.  vi.  47,  20  a  R?i  when  out  on  a  search  for  his  lost  cattle, 
thus  describes  the  land  infested  by  the  Dasyus  :  "  Ye  Devas, 
in  the  course  of  our  wanderings,  we  have  reached  a  place  where 
there  is  no  trace  of  cows.  The  wide  tract  gives  shelter  to  the 
Dasyus.  O  Brhaspati,  guide  us  in  our  search  for  the  cows* 
O  Indra,  lead  thy  worshipper  on  the  right  track,  who  has  lost 
his  way." 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  Dasyus  lived  in  secluded 
spots  far  from  the  agricultural  settlements  of  the  Aryans, 
and  performed  their  peculiar  rites  which  were  regarded  as 
dark  and  wicked  by  the  cultured  Aryas  ;  and  as  they  did  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  the  Aryan  Gods,  they  incurred 
the  hatred  of  their  advanced  neighbours. 

That  the  very  existence  of  Indra  was  doubted  by  even 
some  of  the  cultured  Aryans  would  appear  from  the  following 
quotations :  "  Ye  men,  believe  in  that  dreaded  Deva  whose 


136  «GVEDiC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

name  is  lodra,  about  whom  people  ask  'where  is  he?1 
and  assert  that  he  does  not  exist."  (Rv.  ii.  12,5).  "Ye 
warriors,  if  it  is  true  that  Indra  exists,  then  offer  libations  of 
Soma  to  him,  with  true  hymns.  The  Rai  who  is  called  Neraa 
*ays:  '  There  is  no  Deva  of  the  name  of  Indra*  Who  has 

]seen  him  ?    Whom  shall  we  offer  our  hymns  to  ? '  "  (Rv.   viii. 

( 100,3). 

It  is  thus  clear  that  there  were  dissenters  from  the 
orthodox  faith  even  in  cultured  Aryan  society ;  and  we  can 
easily  imagine  the  extent  of  ill-feeling  that  existed  between 
these  free-thinkers  and  the  orthodox  Aryans,  which  after- 
wards led  to  a  protracted  sanguinary  warfare  resulting  in  the 
ultimate  expulsion  of  the  dissenters  from  Sapta-Sindhu. 
These  dissenters  were  called  the  Arya  enemies,  i.e.,  enemies 
belonging  to  the  cultured  Aryan  classes,  as  distinguished 
from  the  Dasas  and  the  Dasyus  who  mostly  belonged  to  the 
uncultured  classes  of  the  race,  and  remai  ned  in  the  primitive 
condition  of  their  development.  I  will  quote  the  translations 
of  a  few  hymns  to  show  the  attitude  of  the  orthodox  Aryans 
towards  the  cultured  dissenters: 

"  O  Indra,  those  who  have  been  separated  from  us,  and 
do  not  come  in  contact  with  us,  are  not  thine,  because  of 
their  want  of  faith  in  thee  "  (Rv.  v.  33,  3). 

"  O  Indra,  thou  instantly  killed  Arya  Arna  and 
Citraratha,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Sarayu  "  !  (Rv.  iv. 
30,  18). 

"  O  Indra,  thou  who  art  praised  by  many  people,  dost 
ordain  that  our  godless  enemies,  whether  belonging  to  the 
Aryan  clans,  or  the  Disas,  are  easily  discomfited  by  us,  when 
they  come  to  fight  with  us"  (Rv.  x.  38,  3). 

"  O  Manyu  (Anger),  help  us  so  that  we  may  successfully 
fight  our  enemies,  whether  belonging  to  the  Arya  clans 
Or  those  of  the  D&W."  (Rv.  x.  83,  i.) 

*    Sarayu  was  a  river  either  in  Sapta-Sindhu  or  Arachosia,  and  not  the 
river  of  that  name  in  Kosala, 


VII.]  SAVAGE  ARYAN  TRIBES.  137 

11  O  thou  valiant  Maghavan,  be  exhilarated  by  this  Soma 
drink,  and  destroy  all  our  opposing  enemies,  whether  they  be 
our  own  kith  and  kin,  or  not.  (Rv.  vi.  44,  19). 

"  May  that  kinsman  of  ours,  who  is  not  pleased  with  us, 
and  wishes  our  annihilation  from  a  distance,  be  destroyed  by 
all  the  Devas."  (Rv.  vi.  75,  19  ) 

From  the  above  extracts,  it  would  appear  that  ancient 
Aryan  society  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  depicted  in  the  Rgveda, 
was  not  an  ideal  peaceful  society  to  live  in.  It  was  cut  up 
into  numerous  tiibes  and  factions  in  the  different  stages  of 
development  and  culture,  warring  with  one  another,  the  more 
advanced  tribes  the  Pancajanas^  combining  against  the 
DAsas,  the  Dasyus,  and  the  seceders  from  the  orthodox  faith, 
and  trying  to  extirpate  them  with  the  object  of  creating  an 
altogether  new  and  peaceful  atmosphere  in  the  country, 
conducive  to  their  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  growth  and 
development,  according  to  their  own  standard  of  excellence. 
In  this  they  were  eminently  successful  in  the  long  run,  the 
discordant  elements  having  been  purged  out  of  the  country. 
The  nomads  and  the  hunting  savages,  belonging  to  the  Aryan 
family,  were  driven  out  of  the  land,  and  some  of  them  took 
refuge  in  the  hills  and  forests  of  the  western  and  north-western 
frontiers,  as  there  was  no  land  either  eastwards  or  southwards, 
where  they  could  migrate ;  while  others  passed  out  of  the 
country  through  the  north-western  gates  into  Western  Asia, 
and  a  wider  world  beyond,  where  they  found  ample  space 
for  living  and  hunting,  and  freely  mixed  with  the  native 
populations,  and  gave  them  their  language  and  culture,  such 
as  they  possessed.  This  story  of  the  Aryan  expansion  will  be 
told  in  subsequent  chapters  ;  but  it  will  suffice  here  to  state 
that  these  Aryan  savages  left  Sapta-Sindhu  in  Rgvedic 
times,  and  a  sect  of  the  cultured  Aryans  who  seceded  from 
the  orthodox  faith  and  were  subsequently  known  in  history 
as  the  Iranians  or  Parsis,  was  compelled  to  leave  Sapta- 
Sindhu  after  a  protracted  sanguinary  war,  known  in  later 

18 


138  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Vedic  literature  and  the  PurAijas  as  the  Devdsura-Samgrdma, 
or  war  between  the  Devas  and  the  Asuras,  which  will  be 
dealt  with  later  on. 

We  have  already  given  a  short  account  of  the  Panis,   an 

Aryan  tribe,  who  were  the  merchants  par  excellence  in  ancient 

Sapta-Sindhu,  and  traded  not  only  in  the  country,  but  also  by 

land  and  sea  in  other  countries  as  well.  They  were,  however, 

not  the  votaries  of  Indra,  but  of  Vala.     While  trading  in    the 

interior,  they  were  in  the  habit  of  deceivingthe  simple  villagers, 

and  sometimes  stole  their  cows  and  ran    away   to   places   of 

safety,  beyond  their  reach.     There  is  a  story  of  cattle-lifting 

mentioned    in    Sakta     108    of  the  Tenth   Mandala   of   the 

Rgveda,   in   which    the     Panis     were    concerned.      Saram& 

(literally,  the  mother  of  dogs)    was   sent   by    Indra   to    track 

them,  which  she  succeeded  in  doing  ;  but  she  failed  to  induce 

the  Panis  to  come  back  or  return  the  stolen  cows.     Whatever 

astronomical,  cosmological  or  meteorological   interpretations 

may  be  put  on  the  conversation    held    between    Saramft   and 

the  Pauis,  one  fact  stands  out  above  others,  and  that  is    their 

stealing   of    cows    from   the  settled  Aryans,  which  involved  a 

good  deal    of   search,    and   caused    not   a    little    worry   and 

anxiety  to  the    owners    thereof.      The    Panis    have     been 

%  described  in  Rv.  vi.  51,    14   as    u  greedy    like   the   wolf,"   in 

Rv.   vi.   61,    i  as  "  extremely  selfish  "  and   "  niggardly  "  and 

j  in   Rv.   vi.  20,  4   as  "  non-sacrificing,  voluble,   of  cruel   and 

•  unkind  speech,   devoid   of    reverential   sentiments,    and   not 

multiplying."     In    Rv.  vi.  20,  4,  it  is  said  that  they  once  gave 

battle  to  King  Kutsa,  but  were  defeated    by   him,   and   they 

fled  away,  with  hundreds  of  followers,  in  fright  and  disorder. 

They  were  a  small  community — these  Patois, — but  rich, 
adventurous,  cruel,  selfish,  extorting,  usurous,  and  trading  on 
the  gullibility  of  the  poor  simple  villagers,  like  the  Jews  of 
modern  times ;  and  thus  they  came  to  be  regarded  as  veritable 
pests  of  the  country.  Not  subscribing  to  the  orthodox  Aryan 
faith,  they  were  hated  and  persecuted  by  the  Vedic  Aryans, 


VII.]  PANIS,  YADUS  AND  SANAKAS,  139 

and  at  last  driven  out  of  the  country.    As  I  have  aleady  said, 
they  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Phoenicians  of  classical  history 
and  what  is  known  as  the  Punic  race,  and  spread  over  Western 
Asia,    Northern    Africa,    and    the    islands    of     the    Greek 
Archipelago.     But  some  of  them  that  stayed  in   the  country 
were  gradually  converted  to  the  orthodox  faith,   and   became 
incorporated    in    the    cultured    Aryan    community.      They 
probably  lived,  as  I  have  already  said,  on  the   eastern  coast- 
lines of  Sdpta-Sindhu  and  on  the  high  banks    of   the   Ganga, 
as  the  following  quotation    will   show  : — "  Bjbu    was   placed 
high   among   the    Panis,    like  the  lofty  banks  of  the  GangA  " 
(Rv.  vi.  45,  31).     It  is  related   that   he   once   helped  hungry 
Bharadv£ja,  a  Rgi,  who  had   been   benighted   in    the   woods, 
and  had  lost  his  way.     The    Vedic   bard   thus   praises   Bfbu 
in  Rv.  vi.  45,   33  .— "  We   always    praise   Bjrbu   with   songs, 
who  gave  us  one  thousand  cows,  is  wise,  and  deserves  to   be 
sung  in  hymns."     This  shows  that  a  compromise  was  effected 
between  such  of  the  Panis  as  were  left    in   the   country,   and 
the  leaders  of  the  cultured  Aryan    community.     Bfbu   was   a 
great  builder,  probably  of  ships,  and  has  been   called    Tvastr 
or  master-carpenter,  or  master-builder. 

The  Yadus  were  an  Aryan  tribe  living  in  Sapta-Sindhu, 
but  very  probably  they  had  at  first  been  seceders  from  the 
orthodox  faith,  and  had  gone  across  the  Southern  Sea  (the 
Rajputana  Sea)  and  settled  somewhere  on  its  farther  shores, 
possibly  in  modern  Gujarat.  They  were,  however,  brought 
back  by  Indra  to  Sapta-Sindhu,  where  they  re-settled,  and 
performed  many  sacrifices  on  the  banks  of  the  Sarasvatl.  As 
they  had  been  heterodox  in  their  faith,  they  were  described 
in  Rv.  x.  62,  10  as  kings  belonging  to  the  Dasa  tribe,  or 
unbelievers. 

The  Sanakas  were  also  an  Aryan  tribe.  Even  to  this  day, 
when  oblations  are  offered  to  the  manes  of  the  original  six  men 
(manusyas)  who  were  probably  distinguished  at  the  beginning 
of  Aryan  society,  the  name  of  Sanaka  is  mentioned  first. 


fiLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

But  the  descendants  of  Sanaka  became  opposed  to  the  insti- 
tution of  sacrifice,  and  the  Rgveda  mentions  how  they  were 
killed  by  Indra  :— 

"  The  Sanakas  who  were  opposed  to  the  institution  of 
sacrifice  met  with  death,  (O  Indra),  coming  as  they  did  to  be 
killed  by  arrows  shot  from  thy  bow."  (Rv.  i.  33,  4.) 

That  there  were  many  Aryan  clans  in  Sapta-Sindhu  who 
did  not  worship  the  Aryan  Gods  would  appear  from  the 
following  quotation :  "  Ye  men,  that  God  is  Indra  who 
killed  with  his  thunderbolt  many  sinful  non-worshippers.  He 
does  not  bestow  success  on  the  proud  and  is  the  destroyer  of 
the  Dasyus."  (Rv.  ii.  [2,  10.) 

The  Puru-s  have  been  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda  (x.  48, 
5}  as  also  the  Cedis  (Rv.  viii.  5,  17.  38-39).  The  famous 
King  Puru-Kutsa  whose  praise  has  been  sung  in  many  a 
hymn  was  probably  a  most  distinguished  leader  of  the  former. 
The  Cedis,  however,  do  not  appear  to  have  figured  much  in 
Rgvedic  history. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  descendants  of 
the  fifty  sons  of  Vi^vamitra,  who  were  cursed  to  be  the  pro- 
genitors of  the  lowest  orders  of  mankind,  via.,  the  Andhras, 
the  Pundras,  the  Sabaras,  the  Pulindas,  and  the  Mutibhas  who 
,were  ranked  among  the  Dasyus.  As  the  curse  is  mentioned 
in  the  Aitareya  Brahmana,  and  not  in  the  Rgveda,  we  may 
take  it  that  long  after  Rgvedic  times,  the  descendants  of 
VHvdmitra  freely  mixed  with  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  Southern 
India,  and  became  their  leaders,  just  as  the  descendants  of 
Agastya  crossed  the  Vindhya,  settled  in  Southern  India,  and 
spread  light  and  culture  among  its  dark  denizens. 

But  even  in  the  Rgveda,  we  come  across  instances  of 
the  advanced  and  cultured  Aryans  becoming  the  leaders  of 
the  dark-complexioned  Aryan  Dasyus.  Trasa-dasyu  (lit.  one 
who  frightens  the  Dasyus)  was  an  Aryan  king,  son  of  Puru« 
Kutsa,  and  famous  for  his  charities  and  gifts.  In  Rv.  viii. 


VI!.]        DASAS  AND  DASYUS  ALL  ARYANS.        141 

*9j  37)  he  has  been  described  as  the  leader  of  the  t(, dark- 
complexioned  men."  Very  likely,  after  subduing  the  Dasyus, 
he  reclaimed  them  from  their  evil  ways  and  became  their 
leader.  Here,  then,  is  an  instance  of  a  benevolent,  powerful, 
and  noble  Aryan  Prince  engaged  in  the  sacred  task  of  uplift- 
ing  the  low  and  degraded. 

We  thus  find  that  the  Dasas,  the  Dasyus,  the  Asuras  and 
the  R&kgasas  were  all  Aryan  tribes  living  in  Sapta-Sindhu 
from  the  earliest  times,  but  mostly  belonging  to  the  low  and 
degraded  classes  in  the  primitive  stages  of  development,  who 
did  not  worship  the  Gods  of  the  cultured  classes,  nor  perform 
the  sacrifices,  and  were,  therefore,  hated  by  them.  They 
proved  such  pests  by  their  evil  and  wicked  ways,  unclean 
habits,  and  criminal  propensities  that  a  systematic  organization 
was  made  to  extirpate  and  expel  them  from  Sapta-Sindhu. 
After  a  guerilla  warfare  continued  for  a  long  time,  they  were 
either  killed,  subdued,  or  driven  out.  But  those  that  remained 
adopted  civilised  manners,  became  converts  to  the  Aryan 
faith  and  were  incorporated  in  Aryan  society  not  as  equals 
but  inferiors,  occupying  the  lowest  place  and  forming  pro- 
bably the  majority  of  the  Sadra  caste.1  What  became  of  those 
who  had  been  expelled  from  the  country,  it  would  be  our 
endeavour  to  ascertain  in  the  next  chapter. 

1  Mr.  Nesfield  in  his  Brief  View  of  the  Caste  System  of  the  North-Western 
Provinces  and  Oudh  says  that  there  is  no  such  division  of  the  people  as  the 
Aryan  conquerors  of  India  and  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  that  this  division 
is "  modern "  and  that  there  is  "  essential  unity  of  the  Indian  race."  He 
further  says  that  the  great  majority  of  Brahmans  are  not  of  lighter  complexion 
or  of  finer  or  better  bred  features  than  any  other  caste/'  or  "  distinct  in  race 
and  blood  from  the  scavengers  who  swept  the  road."  (  Vide  P£vgee's  Aryd» 
varticHome,  p.  271.) 


CHAPTER  VSII. 

THE  DISPERSION  OF  THE  EARLY  BARBAROUS  ARYAN  TRIBES  FROM 
SAPTA-SINDflU. 

The  Rgveda  Samhita,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  merely 
a  collection  of  hymns  which  were  composed  not  in  any  parti- 
cular period,  but  in  different  periods,  separated  from  one 
another  probably  by  thousands  of  years.  There  are  innumer- 
able references  in  the  Rgveda  to  older  hymns  which  came 
down  to  the  bards  of  the  Rgveda,  clothed  in  new  language 
(Rv.  vi.  22,  7),  and  to  their  great  ancient  ancestors,  for 
instance,  Manu,  the  Angirases,  the  Atharvans  and  the  Bhrgus 
who  were  the  first  to  light  the  Sacrificial  Fire,  and  inaugurate 
the  institution  of  Sacrifice  (Rv.  x.  46,  2  ;  92,  10).  It 
is  said  that  the  sage,  Atharvan,  was  the  first  to  produce 
Fire  (Rv.  x.  21,  5),  and  the  Angirases  the  first  to  organize 
Fire-worship.  The  Vasisthas  and  the  Agnisatvas  have  also 
been  mentioned  among  the  Pitrs  or  ancestors  (Rv.  x.  15,  8 
&  II).  A  time  is  referred  to  when  the  Maruts,  t.e.>  the 
presiding  deties  of  the  winds  and  the  Rbhus  were  men^  who 
were  afterwards  transformed  into  Devas  on  account  of  their 
piety  and  good  work.  (Rv.  x.  77,  2).  The  old  and  the  new 
feats  of  Indra  have  also  been  referred  to  (Rv.  v.  31,  6),  and 
the  ancient  ancestors,  the  Navagva  Saptar?is  (the  Seven 
Rgis)  mentioned.  (Rv.  vi.  22.3.)  The  famous  R?i  Bharadv&ja 
says  in  a  hymn:  "  (O  Indra),  the  performer  of  many  feats, 
those  (R?is)  who  flourished  in  the  early  age  became  thy 
friends  by  performing  the  sacrifices  as  at  present.  Those 
that  flourished  in  the  medieval  age  and  those  that  have 
flourished  in  recent  times  have  similarly  earned  thy  friendship. 
Therefore,  (O  Indra),  worshipped  as  thou  art  by  many, 
condescend  to  listen  to  this  hymn,  offered  by  thy  (present) 
humble  (adorer)  "  (Rv.  vi.  21,  5).  The  three  ages  into  which 
the  Rgvedic  period  was  divided,  vis.,  the  Early,  the 


VIII.]  STAGES  OF  ARYAN  CULTURE.  143 


Mediaeval  and  the  Recent  (or  Later)  have  also  been  men- 
tioned in  Rv.  iii.  32,  13.  The  "  ancient  "  and  the  "  modern  " 
R?is  have  moreover  been  mentioned  in  Rv.  vii.  22,  9  and 
the  ancient  R?is  described  as  the  benefactors  of  mankind. 
(Rv.  vii.  29,  3.) 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Rgveda  which  is  regarded 
as  the  oldest  work  extant  of  the  Aryan  race  refers  to  still 
older  times  when  Fire  was  first  produced,  the  sacrifices  first 
introduced,  and  hymns  first  offered  to  the  Gods,  and  gives 
us  faint  glimpses  of  things  whose  origin  is  shrouded  in  the 
impenetrable  darkness  of  the  past,  and  will  probably  never 
stand  revealed. 

In  the  last  chapter,  I  have  already  briefly  referred  to  the 
stages  through  which  the  cultured  Aryan  had  passed  before 
he  reached  the  stage  of  civilisation  in  which  we  find  him  in 
Rgvedic  times.  He  had  been  the  primitive  hunter  with  his 
stone  weapons,  living  on  the  spoils  of  the  chase,  and  must 
have  passed  through  the  palaeolithic  and  the  neolithic  stages 
be* fort*  he  emerged  into  a  comparatively  civilised  stage.  There 
is  no  direct  reference  to  stone  weapons  in  the  Rgveda, 
excepting  Indra's  vajra}  though  horn-tipped  arrows  also  are 
mentioned ;  and  the  palaeolithic  or  the  neolithic  Aryan 
savage  must  have  been  completely  superseded  by  the  Aryan 
hunter  and  nomad,  possessing  iron  weapons,  as  the  latter 
was  superseded  by  the  more  civilised  Aryan  agriculturist 
who  settled  down  in  village-life  in  the  fertile  alluvial  plains 
of  Sapta-Sindhu,  The  Aryan  later  palaeolithic  or  neolithic 
savages,  pressed  by  the  more  advanced  tribes,  must  have 
withdrawn  into  inaccessible  parts  where  they  secluded  them- 
selves beyond  the  reach  of  other  tribes,  just  as  the  Juangs  of 
Orissa,  and  the  Puliers  and  the  Mundavers  of  Southern 
India  have  kept  themselves  aloof,  even  to  this  day,  from  the 
contact  of  the  more  advanced  tribes  of  their  race,— content 
to  remain  for  long  untold  ages  in  the  primitive  stone  stage 
of  their  development,  and  not  knowing  the  use  and  even  the 


144  $GVEDie  INDIA.  CHAP. 

names  of  metals.    Still  further  pressed  by  the  more  Advanced 
tribes,  they  were  at  last  compelled  to  leave  the  land  that  gave 
them  birth,  and  to  disperse  into  countries  beyond  the  precincts 
of  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  no  longer  afforded  them  sufficient  secu- 
rity and  protection,  nor  proved  congenial  to  their  mode  of  life. 
They  could  not  disperse  eastwards  or  southwards  on  account  of 
the   existence  of  impassable  seas,  nor  northwards  into  Central 
Asia  for  the  very  same  reason.     The  only   direction  in  which 
they  could  and  did  disperse  was  westward,   through   Baluchi- 
stan,  Afghanistan  and  Persia  along  the  southern  coasts  of  the 
Central  Asian  Sea.     Here,   probably,   they   came   in  contact 
with  the  nomadic  savages  of  the    Mongolian   race,   who  also 
pressed  westwards  along  the  southern    coasts  of  the  same  sea 
in  search  of  "  fresh  fields  "   for  hunting,  and  "  pastures  new" 
for  their  cattle,   if   they   possessed   any.     It  can   be  safely 
surmised  that,  as   the    more   civilised    Chinese   occupied   the 
eastern    portions    of    Asia,     the    hordes   of   the    Mongolian 
savages,  not  finding  any  room  for  expansion  in  that  direction, 
naturally  turned  to   the    west ;  but   the   Central   Asian   Sea 
having  barred  their  progress,  they  could    not   but   pick    their 
way  through  Turkestan  and  Bactriana,  and  advance  along  its 
southern  coasts,  till  they  came   in    contact    with   the   Aryan 
nomadic  savages  in  \Vestern  Asia,  and  got  mixed  with  them. 
This  intermingling  of   the   two    races   of   primitive  savages, 
probably  placed  in  the  same  stage    of   development,  resulted 
in  the  production  of  a  physical  type  which  was  neither  purely 
Aryan  nor  purely  Mongolian,  but  a  mixture  of  both,  in  which 
the  Mongolian  type  with   brachy-cephalic   skulls   seemed   to 
predominate,  due  probably  to  the  superiority   of  the  Mongo- 
lians in  number  and   the   prepotence    of  the   race.     But  the 
Aryan    tribes,    being    probably    more    advanced    than   the 
Mongolians  in  some  respects,  gave    them   their  language,  or 
more  correctly  speaking,   certain     words   describing  family 
relationships,    animals,    plants    and    other   natural     objects. 
Some  of  the  savage  tribes  both  of  the  Aryan   and  the  Mongo- 
lian  races,   however,   did   not  mix   with  one  another,   and 


VI1L]        ARYAN  AND  MONGOLIAN  NOMADS.        145 

retained  their  racial  characteristics  and  languages  intact. 
"  The  irresistible  impulse  "  for  migration  westwards,  referred 
to  by  Grimm  and  Max  Miiller,  was  created  by  the  dire 
necessity  for  expansion,  felt  by  the  Aryan  and  the  Mongolian 
nomads,  and  their  keen  struggle  for  existence,  as  they  were 
ousted  from  their  haunts  and  places  of  refuge,  and  pushed 
forward  by  the  more  advanced  tribes  who  also  were  in  need 
of  expansion.  As  the  Semitic  race  had  not  as  yet  occupied 
Western  Asia,  the  Aryan  and  the  Mongolian  nomads  must 
have  tarried  there  for  a  pretty  long  time  until  they  were 
pushed  forward  again  by  other  more  powerful  tribes  follow- 
ing them.  The  European  Mediterranean  Sea  having  stopped 
their  further  progress  to  the  west,  they  must  have  turned  north- 
wards, some  occupying  the  Caucasius  mountainous  regions, 
while  others  passed  through  the  broad  isthmus  of  Bosphorus 
into  Europe,  where  they  found  abundant  room  for  expansion. 
The  Ice  Age  having  terminated,  and  the  post-Glacial  epoch 
commenced  in  Europe,  there  was  a  general  movement  among 
the  savage  tribes  not  only  of  Asia,  but  also  of  North  Africa 
and  Southern  Europe,  resulting  in  their  migration  to 
Northern,  Western  and  North-eastern  Europe  whose  wide 
grassy  plains  and  forests  afforded  them  sufficient  shelter  and 
security.  Thus,  some  of  the  nomads  from  Asia  passed  on 
to  the  north  through  the  plains  of  Russia,  while  others  took 
their  path  up  along  the  banks  of  the  Danube  into  Central, 
Southern  and  Western  Europe.  These  migrations  advanced 
in  waves,  each  succeeding  wave  pressing  forward  the  one 
that  had  preceded  it,  until  the  whole  of  Europe  was  over- 
spread by  them.  These  waves  were  originated  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  where,  as  we  have  already  seen,  a  disturbance  was 
caused  by  the  storm  that  had  been  violently  raging  there, 
and  also  in  Mongolia  where  similar  conditions  likely  pre- 
vailed, and  started  on  their  career  in  the  direction  that  offered 
them  the  least  resistance.  Europe  during  the  Ice  Age  was 
very  thinly  populated,  most  probably  by  the  Iberians  in  the 
South,  and  by  the  Canstadts  in  the  North,  who  lived  on  the 

'9 


146  JLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

shores  of  the  Baltic,  the  former  probably  in  the  later  palaeo- 
lithic stage  of  development  and  living  by  the  chase,  and  the 
latter  in  the  palaeolithic  stage,  and  subsisting  mainly  on  fishes 
and  sea-shells  which  they  found  in  abundance,  as  the  kitchen- 
middens  of  Denmark  testify  even  to  this  day.  They  were  in 
a  far  wilder  and  more  degraded  state  than  the  later  palaeoli- 
thic Aryan  and  Mongolian  savages  who  first  appeared  on 
the  scene  probably  with  more  advanced  modes  of  life, 
and  a  superior  speech  which  they  gave  to  those  who  came 
in  contact  with  them.  This  subject  will  be  dealt  with  more 
fully  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

We  may  mention  here  in  passing  that  European  ethnolo- 
gists now  hold  the  opinion  that  Europe  was  peopled  in  the 
Second  Interglacial  Period  more  than  two  hundred  thousand 
years  ago  by  a  people  whom  they  have  designated  as  the 
"  Heidelberg  men,  "  and  who  possessed  big  bodies  and  large 
forelimbs,  and  were  unlike  the  true  men  of  modern  times. 
There  was  another  type  of  men  living  in  Europe  in  the 
Fourth  Glacial  Age  about  50,000  years  ago,  who  were  called 
Neanderthalers  and  who,  to  judge  from  their  jaw-bones, 
were  probably  the  descendants  of  the  clumsier  and  heavier 
Heidelberg  men.  If  the  Heidelberg  men  and  the  Neander- 
thalers belonged  to  the  same  race,  then  this  race,  may  be 
said  to  have  lasted  out  for  more  than  200,000  years  in 
Europe.  The  Neanderthaler  race,  to  which  undoubtedly 
belonged  the  Canstadts,  was  supplanted  by  the  type  of  the 
41  first  true  men  "  (Homo  Sapiens)  who  probably  developed  in 
"South  Asia  "  or  "  North  Africa,"  and  were  superior  to  the 
Neanderthalers  both  in  intelligence  and  primitive  culture. 
These  true  men  were  of  two  distinct  types.  One  type  of 
them  was  called  the  Cro-Magnards,  because  in  the  grotto  of 
Cro-Magnon  were  first  discovered  their  complete  skeletons. 
They  were  a  tall  people,  with  very  broad  faces  and  prominent 
noses,  and  astonishingly  big  brains,  and  their  type  was 
Mongolian,  which  goes  to  show  that  they  had  emigrated 
to  Europe  from  Asia,  These  Cro-Magnards  wefe  probably 


VIH.]  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  147 

the  products  of  amalgamated  Mongolian  and  Aryan  savages 
who  entered  into  Europe  in  later  Palaeolithic  times  and  extir- 
pated the  Neanderthal  race.  The  other  type  of  these  true 
men  was  African,  with  Negroid  characteristics,  and  they  were 
called  the  Grimaldi  men.  Both  the  Cro-Magnards  and  the 
Grimaldi  men  were,  some  thousands  of  years  later,  superseded 
by  superior  Neolithic  men,  the  ancestors  of  the  present 
principal  European  races,  who  had  entered  into  Europe 
with  Neolithic  culture  and  Aryan  language  from  "  South- 
western Asia "  which  may  have  been  North-Western  India 
or  Persia.  They  could  not  help  amalgamating  themselves 
with  the  Cro-Magnards  and  the  Grimaldi  men,  and  the 
modern  European  races  are  supposed  to  be  the  products 
of  this  amalgamation,1 

Be  that  as  it  may.  the  gradual  advancement  of  the  early 
Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  towards  civilisation,  through  the 
discovery  and  use  of  Fire  and  the  metals,  the  establishment 
of  sacrifices,  and  the  development  of  the  art  of  agriculture, 
compelled  the  savage  nomadic  Aryans,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  to  migrate  westwards  from  the  land  of  their  birth,  and 
the  advanced  Aryans  were  rather  glad  to  get  rid  of  them. 
But,  as  already  stated,  there  were  still  other  Aryan  hunters 
and  nomads  left  in  the  country,  who,  though  somewhat  more 
advanced  than  the  early  primitive  savages  of  the  neolithic 
stage,  in  so  far  as  they  knew  the  use  of  iron,  yet  proved  to 
be  veritable  pests  to  the  settled  and  civilised  Aryans  who 
called  them,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  hateful  names  of  Dasas 
and  DasyuS)  and  combined  together  to  extirpate  them  from 
the  country.  Many  were  put  to  death  or  killed  in  battles, 
and  the  rest,  finding  the  country  made  too  hot  for  them  to 
live  in,  left  it  and  migrated  westwards  through  the  same 
paths  that  their  predecessors  had  taken.  The  descendants  of 
the  Dasyus  hung  about  the  wilds  of  Persia  and  Media  under 
the  name  of  Dahae  (or  robbers)  even  in  a  later  age.  When 

1     Read  also  ftgvedic  Culture  Ch.  I  (pp.  5*20). 


148  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

the  Iranian  branch  of  the  'Aryans  settled  there,  the  Iranian 
peasants  who  "  lived  in  patriarchal  conditions  under  heredi- 
tary princes  were  continually  at  war  with  the  robbers  and 
nomads."  *  We  find  a  tribe  named  "  Dahae  "  located  to  the 
west  of  the  borders  of  Makran  in  Baluchistan,  and  "  we  know 
that  tribes  of  this  name  from  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
accompanied  Alexander's  army."  2  We  can  thus  safely  sur- 
mise that  these  were  the  descendants  of  the  Dasyus  whom 
the  Aryans  had  driven  out  of  their  country. 

Some  of  the  nomadic  Aryan  tribes   were  also  called  by 

the  names   of   Sarpas  (serpents)  and   Garudas  (birds),   on 

account  of  their  constant   movements   and   migratory   habits. 

In  the  Aitareya  Brdhmana}  we  find   mention  made   of  a   R?i 

of  the  Sarpa  tribe,  who  was  called  Arvuda   and  presided   at  a 

sacrifice  held    by  the   Br&hmanas    (vi.  26.  i).     In   the  Mafia- 

bhdrata,  we  find  the  name  of  a  R?i  whose  name  was  Jaratkaru 

and  who  married  the  sister  of  Vdsuki,  the  King  of  the  Sarpas. 

That  the   Sarpas  were   not   crawling     reptiles,   but   Aryan 

nomads  of  a  somewhat  savage  type,  would  appear   from  these 

accounts.     In  the  Harivamfa  of  the  MahabhSrata,  it  has  been 

related  that  King   Sagara,  under   the   direction  of  Vasi?tha, 

caused  certain  Ksatriya  tribes,  viz.,  the  Sakas,  the  Yavanas,  the 

K&mbojas,  the  Paradas,  the  Pahnavas,  the  Kolis,  the  Sarpas, 

the  Mahi?akas,  the  Darvas,  the  Cholas,  and  the  Keralas  to  be 

degraded  and  deprived  of  the  right  of   reading  the  Vedas   or 

performing  the  sacrifices,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  country.* 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  Sarpas  were  originally  an  Aryan 

tribe  living   in  Sapta-Sindhu.     "  In   Sarawan,  we  find   the 

Sirperra,  and  Pliny   tells   us   that  a   tribe   called   Sarapara 

resided  near  the  Oxus."4     The  names  of  these   tribes  bear  a 

close  resemblance  to  the  word  Sarpa,   and  it  is  just  possible 

1  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  569. 

»  Enty.  Brit.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  300  (Ninth  Edition). 

*  ffarivamsam,  Ch.  24. 

*  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  Hi,  p.  300  (Ninth  Edition). 


VIII.]  THE  GARUPAS  AND  SARPAS.  149 

that  they  were  the  descendants  of  the  early  Aryan   nomads 
of  Sapta-Sindhu,  called  Sarpas,  who  had  been  driven  out  of  it. 
On  the  borders   of  Makran  are  the   plains  of  Gressia,   the 
ancient  Gedrosia,  which  was  probably  named  after  the  Aryan 
nomads  known  as  the  Garudas   or  the  Syenas.    The  Garudas 
and  the  Sarpas  were  at  constant  war  with  one  another  in  ancient 
times,  the  former  more  advanced  than  the  latter,  and  in  sym- 
pathetic touch  with  the  settled   Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu.     It 
is  said  that  Garuda   or   Syena,   the  chief  of  the  tribe,   first 
brought  the  Soma  plant  from  heaven,  or  the  lofty   heights  of 
the  Mujavat  peak  in  the  Himalaya,  and  gave  it  to  the  Vedic 
Aryans  who  were  thus  enabled  to  perform  the  Soma  sacrifice. 
It  is  related  in  the  Puranas  that  the  Soma  used  to  be  guarded 
by  the  Sarpas  ;  but  Garuda  defeated  them  and  carried   it  to 
the  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu.     We  have  seen   in   the   Rgveda 
that  the  Soma  plant  used  to  be  brought  from  the   mountains 
for  sale  by  savage  tribes  whom  the  civilised  Aryans  hated  for 
their  ill-bred  manners  and  irreligious  life,  and  pitied   for   not 
performing    the    Soma   sacrifice,    although    they    were   the 
purveyors  of  the  plant,  and  brought  it  to  the  markets  for  sale. 
Probably  these  savage  tribes  were  the  Sarpas  and  the  Garudas, 
some   of   whom    having   been   driven    out   of   Sapta-Sindhu, 
afterwards  settled  in  the    wilds   of   Baluchistan,    Persia  and 
even  Southern  India.     For,    we   find    mention    made   in    the 
Mah&bhftrata  of  the  fact  of  the  migration  of  the  Sarpas,   with 
the  assistance  of  the  Garudas,  to  an  island   which,   for  aught 
we  know,  might  have  been  the  lost  Southern  Continent.     In 
the  Rimiyana,  we  find  Jatayus,  the  king  of  the  birds,    as  an 
ally  of  King  DaSaratha  of  Kosala,  and  reigning   in   Southern 
India  near  Janasth&na.     He  made  a  supreme  effort  to    rescue 
Slt&  from  the  clutches  of  R£vana,  when  he  was  carrying  her 
off,  but  failed  and  lost  his  life  in  the  attempt.     Sampati,  the 
brother  of  Jatayus,  was  reigning  at  this  time  at  the   southern- 
most point  of  the  Indian  Peninsula  near  the  sea-shore.  These 
stories  go  to  show  that  some  of  the  Garudas  and  the  Sarpas 
might  also  have  migrated  to  Southern  India. 


FLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Manu  says  that  many  Aryans,  in  very  degraded  conditions, 
were  driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and  lived  on  the  mountains 
of  the  Western  frontier  under  the  name  of  Dasyus,  speaking 
either  the  Aryan  language,  or  its  corrupted  forms  which  were 
known  as  Mleccha.1 

All  these  evidences  go  to  prove  that  the  Aryan  savages 
and  nomads  were  driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu  in  ancient  times, 
and  they  dispersed  mainly  towards  the  west,  driving  before 
them  the  primitive  Aryan  and  Mongolian  savages  in  the  later 
palaeolithic  stage  of  development,  who  had  been  in  occupation 
of  the  land. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Dasyus  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  the 
Pa&is,  or  the  Vaniks,  and  the  Iranian  branch  of  the  Aryans, 
who  did  not  subscribe  to  the  tenets  of  the  orthodox  Aryan 
faith,  were  compelled  to  leave  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  Panis 
probably  left  first,  and  the  Iranians  afterwards.  The  Panis, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  were  opposed  to  the  worship  of 
Indra,  having  been  the  votaries  of  Vala,  and  to  the  perform- 
ance of  the  Soma  sacrifice,  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  of  any 
sacrifice.  As  they  were  also  cattle-raiders,  swindlers,  and 
usurers  who  "  counted  the  days  for  computing  interest " 
(Rv.  viii.  66,  10),  and  oppressed  the  people  by  their  greed 
and  avarice,  cruel  speech  and  rough  manners,  the  Aryan 
sacrificers  and  worshippers  of  Indra  began  to  persecute  and 
harass  them  so  persistently  that  a  majority  were  compelled 
to  leave  the  shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu  either  in  their  merchant- 
shjps  for  Southern  India  and  Mesopotamia,  or  by  the  overland 
rpute  across  the  mountains  for  the  countries  of  Western  Asia, 
of  them  must  have  landed  in  the  Malabar  and  Coro- 

coasts,  or  such  coasts  as  then  existed  in  the  Southern 
Ccrotioent,  while  others  settled  in  Mesopotamia  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  and  civilised  the 
original  inhabitants  of  the  countries,  who  were  in  an  extremely 

condition.    They  kept   up  their  trade  and  mutual 

Manu  Samkita,  Chap,  x,  45. 


VHL]      THE  PANIS,  pANDYAS  AND  CHOLAS.       151 

communication  between  Southern  India  and  Mesopotamia, 
the  more  so,  because  the  Western  sea-coasts  of  the  former 
were  rich  in  teak-wood  which  was  necessary  for  ship-building, 
and  had  therefore  to  be  exported  to  Mesopotamia  which  was 
poor  in  timber.  The  Cholas  and  the  Pftndyas  on  the  sea-coasts 
of  the  Indian  Peninsula  were  greatly  benefited  by  their  contact 
with  the  Panis  and  made  rapid  strides  towards  progress.  But  as 
the  coasts  of  southern  Persia  and  Mesopotamia,  besides  being 
poor  in  timber,  did  not  afford  the  Panis  sufficient  scope  for  their 
trade,  they  must  have  left  the  country  after  a  long  sojourn  in 
search  of  a  better  land  and  passed  on  to  Palestine  on  the  Medi- 
terranean coast  either  by  the  overland  route,  or  by  voyaging 
up  the  Red  Sea  to  the  Isthmus  of  Suez.  Here,  as  timber  for 
ship-building  was  found  in  great  abundance,  and  the  sea-board 
afforded  them  numerous  safe  harbours,  they  settled  down,  and 
called  their  country  Phoenicia,  i.e.,  the  land  of  the  Panis.  The 
P&ndyas  and  the  Cholas  of  Southern  India,  imbibing  and 
imitating  the  adventurous  spirit  of  the  Panis,  and  being  gradual- 
ly initiated  in  the  arts  of  civilisation  by  the  Aryan  settlers  of 
Southern  India  after  the  disappearance  of  the  Rajputana  Sea, 
sent  out  colonies  in  a  later  age  to  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia, 
under  the  guidance  of  Br&hmana  (Aryan)  priests,  and  founded 
kingdoms  in  Egypt  and  Chaldea,  which  played  most  important 
parts  in  the  history  of  the  ancient  and  modern  world.  We 
shall  relate  these  stories  in  greater  details  in  subsequent 
chapters. 

The  Iranian  branch  of  the  Aryans,  as  we  have  already 
said,  had  also  to  leave  Sapta-Sindhu  through  religious 
difference  with  the  Aryans  of  the  orthodox  faith  after  a  long 
and  protracted  struggle,  a  brief  account  of  which  will  be 
given  in  the  next  two  chapters. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE  DEVAS  AND  THE  ASURAS. 

The  Devas  in  the  Rgveda  were  the  benevolent  powers, 
and  the  Asuras  the  malevolent  powers  of  Nature.  The  Devas 
were  bright  and  shining  Gods,  and  the  etymological  meaning 
of  the  word  supports  this  view,  as  it  is  derived  from  the  root 
divt  to  shine.  The  etymological  meaning  of  the  word  Asura, 
as  we  have  already  said,  is  powerful ;  and  this  word  was  at 
first  applied  to  the  Devas  to  denote  their  power  for  good. 
In  the  early  Mandates  of  the  Rgveda,  Indra,  Varuna,  Mitra, 
Savitf,  the  Maruts,  Rudra,  Fire  (Agni),  the  Sky  and  other 
Devas  have  been  addressed  as  Asuras,  and  even  powerful 
kings  and  priests  received  that  epithet ;  but  afterwards,  the 
meaning  degenerated  into  "  malevolent  power,"  and  the 
epithet  was  applied  to  the  D£navas  i.e.9  those  evil  powers 
that  acted  in  opposition  to  the  Devas,  wrought  mischief  in 
the  world,  and  harassed  all  living  beings,  especially  mankind. 
The  early  application  of  the  word  "Asura"  to  the  Devas 
was,  however,  retained  by  a  branch  of  the  Aryans,  who 
continued  to  call  their  deities  Asuras,  though  this  practice 
was  resented  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  who  accordingly  called 
them  the  worshippers  of  the  powers  of  evil.  The  latter 
retaliated  and  called  the  Vedic  Aryans  the  worshippers  of 
the  powers  of  evil,  and  with  them  the  word  Deva  came  to  be 
synonymous  with  such  evil  powers.  Both  the  branches  really 
worshipped  the  bright  powers,  viz.,  Varuna,  the  Sky,  the  Sun, 
Fire,  etc.,  and  hated  the  powers  of  evil  or  darkness ;  but  the 
retention  of  an  original  epithet  by  the  one  branch,  and  the 
rejection  of  it  by  the  other  made  a  world  of  difference,  and 
created  such  bad  blood  between  them  as  led  to  serious 
consequences,  social,  religious  and  political.  "  What's  in  a 
name  ?  "  asks  the  poet,  and  without  stopping  for  an  answer, 
himself  answers  the  question  by  saying  that  a  rose  would 


IX.]  INDRA. 


«53 


smell  as  sweet,  by  whatever  name  we  might  call  it.  This 
is  true,  no  doubt ;  but  the  reply  given  by  the  poet,  in  his 
wisdom,  shows  that  it  was  necessitated  by  the  great  import, 
ance  that  people  usually  attached  to  names,  which  led  to 
quarrels  and  dissensions.  The  importance  which  two 
branches  of  the  ancient  Aryans  attached  to  the  names  Deva 
and  A  sura  led  in  ancient  times  to  schisms  and  dissensions 
with  very  serious  consequences,  about  which  we  shall  write 
in  this,  and  the  following  chapter. 

Mitra  and  Varima  seem  to  be  two  of  the  earliest  deities 
of  the  Aryans.  Mitra  was  the  deity  presiding  over  day,  and 
Varuna  over  night.  The  Sun,  therefore,  was  Mitra,  and 
Night,  with  its  thousand  eyes  sparkling  in  the  darkness,  in 
the  shape  of  bright  stars  and  planets,  was  Varuna.  There 
was  another  ancient  deity,  viz..  Fire.  All  these  deities  the 
ancient  Aryans  worshipped  as  Devas  or  bright  Gods.  But 
another  powerful  Deva,  under  the  name  of  Indra,  was  revealed 
to  the  Vedic  Aryans  who  gave  him  the  first  place  among  all 
the  Devas,  not  only  on  account  of  his  all-pervading  power, 
but  also  for  the  beneficent  deeds  that  he  performed  for  the 
good  of  the  world  and  of  mankind.  Hence  with  the  Vedic 
Aryans,  Indra  became  the  first  and  foremost  of  the  Devas 
(Rv.  i.  102,  9).  He  was  regarded  as  so  all-pervading  that 
in  the  second  verse  of  the  above  Sokta  it  has  been  said  that 
"  the  Sky,  the  Earth  and  the  Antariksa  (the  region  between 
these  two)  reveal  his  visible  body."  It  may  be  asked  what 
is  meant  by  the  visible  body  of  Indra  ?  Verse  8  of  the  same 
Sakta  answers  the  question  thus :  "  Thou  art  capable  of 
carrying  three  tejas  in  the  three  Locas  (regions),  and  of 
upholding  the  entire  world. "  SSyana,  the  great  Vedic 
commentator,  commenting  on  this  hymn  says  that  the 
"  three  tejas  "  are  the  Sun  in  the  sky,  the  Fire  on  the  Earth, 
and  Lightning  in  Antariksa>  and  in  this  interpretatipn  he  is 
confirmed  and  supported  by  Rv.  i.  103,  i,  which  says: 
11  His  (Indra's)  one  lustre  is  in  the  Fire  on  the  Earth,  and  his 
another  lustre  is  in  the  Sun  on  the  sky."  These,  therefore, 

20 


£GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAR. 

together  with  Lightning  in  mid-heaven,  are  the  three  visible 
bodies  of  Indra.  That  Fire  burns  in  the  Sun  has  been 
mentioned  in  Rv.  x.  45,  3.  Fire  has  also  been  identified 
with  Lightning  (Rv.  x.  45,  i ),  and  Indra  with  the  Sun  (Rv- 
viii.  97,  10).  But  Indra  is  greater  than  the  Sun  himself,  as 
the  translation  of  the  following  hymns  would  testify : — 

"  O  Indra,  thou  hast  given  lustre  to   the    Sun,   and   thou 
art  the  Maker  of  this  Universe,  and  great."  (Rv.   viii.    98,  3.) 
"  Thou  hast  revealed  the  heavens  "     (Rv.  viii.  98,  3)* 
"  He  (Indra),  from  whom  the  Sun  was   produced,   is  the 
oldest  of  all  the  Devas,  ;'.?.,  none   had   existed   before   him." 
(Rv.  x.  120,  i.) 

"  Indra  won  the  cows  by  producing  the  Sun,  and    reveal- 
ing the  days  by  his  lustre  "  (Rv.  ii.  18,  3). 

"  Indra  has  upheld  and  extended  the  Earth  "  (Rv.  i.  103, 
2). 

The  Vedic  bard  had  all  these    attributes   of  Indra  before 

his  mind's  eye  when    he   sang:  "  O    Indra,    neither   can    the 

Heavens,  nor  hundreds  of  Earths    measure  thy  greatness,  nor 

a   thousand   Suns   reveal    thee."     (Rv.  viii.  70,  5.)     Another 

R?I  in  his  ecstatic  vision  of  Indra,   sang  as  follows  :  "  I  sing 

the  praise  of  Him  who  is   the   Creator   of   all    Creators,    the 

Lord   of    this    world,    the    Preserver   of   mankind,   and   the 

Destroyer  of  all  his  enemies.  .  .  .  May  Indra   bless  us  in  this 

our    sacrifice,   who   possesses   extensively  wide   powers,    is 

magnificent,  and  is  invoked   before  all    others."     (Rv.  x  128, 

7  &  8.)      Another  R?i  has  aptly   compared   the   greatness  of 

Indra  with  that  of  Varuna  by   saying   that    Indra   is   like   an 

Emperor  (Samrdt),  while  Varuaa  is  like  a  King  or  Provincial 

Ruler  (Svardt).    (Rv.  vii.  82,  2).     This,  then,  was  the  grand 

conception  that  the  Vedic  bards  had   formed  of  the  great 

Indra.     He  was  not  merely  the  God  of  rain,   or   of  the  sky, 

as  Western  scholars  are  fond   of  telling   us,   but   He  was  an 

all-powerful  Deity,  pervading  and  dominating  the  Universe, 


IX.]  GREATNESS  Of  INDRA.  155 

the  Creator  of  Creators,  whose  greatness  could  not  be 
measured  by  the  Heavens  and  hundreds  of  Earths,  and  whose 
lustre  could  not  be  equalled  by  that  of  thousands  of  burning 
Suns  !  It  was  a  very  grand  idea,  probably  the  grandest  that 
the  early  Aryans  could  conceive  of  Indra,  from  an  adequate 
realisation  of  which  the  mind  of  even  the  highest  and  greatest 
modern  thinker  and  Yogi,  would  recoil,  baffled  and  defeated. 
In  fact,  to  express  in  the  language  of  later  Aryan  philosophers, 
the  great  and  mighty  Indra  was  none  other  than  Saguna 
Brahman  Himself,  with  the  three  attributes  of  the  Creator, 
the  Preserver,  and  the  Destroyer,  combined  in  him.  It  was 
in  honour  of  this  Great,  All-powerful,  and  All-pervading 
Deity  that  sacrifices  were  primarily  performed  by  the  ancient 
Aryans. 

The  bright  and  blazing  Fire  on  the  earth,  and  the  bright 
Sun  in  the  sky  were  the  two  emblems  of  this  great  Deity, 
in  fact  his  "  visible  bodies,"  as  aptly  expressed  by  a  Vedic 
bard  ;  and  Indra  could  only  be  worshipped  by  these  visible 
emblems.  Fire  is  within  every  body's  reach,  and  can  be 
kindled  whenever  required.  All  offerings  made  to  the  sacri- 
ficial Fire,  which  are  instantly  consumed  by  it,  reach  the 
Deity  or  Deities  in  whose  name  they  are  offered.  Hence 
the  system  of  sacrifice  by  kindling  Fire  was  introduced  in 
ancient  Aryan  society,  and  Fire  was  regarded  as  the  Purohita 
or  Priest  of  the  Sacrifice  (Rv.  i.  I,  2),  through  whom  alone 
the  Devas  could  be  approached.  Of  all  Devas,  therefore, 
Fire  was  eminently  fitted  to  be  used  in  Sacrifice.  (Rv. 
iv.  15,  i.)  It  was  a  delight  to  contemplate  on  the  brightness 
of  the  Devas  by  looking  at  the  sacrificial  Fire  whose  bright 
glow,  fed  by  the  oblations  of  Ghrta  or  clarified  butter,  helped 
the  sacrificer  to  realise  the  nearness  of  the  Devas,  in  whose 
praise  the  sacred  hymns  were  chanted  and  to  whom  they 
offered  the  best  things  available,  out  of  reverential  gratitude 
for  all  the  good  they  accomplished  for  them,  by  pouring  them 
with  ghrta  into  Fire,— Fire  the  bright,  the  beautiful,  and  the 
emblem  of  the  Gods.  The  instant  consumption  of  these 


156  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

sacred  offerings  by  Fire  afforded  them  the  supreme  satisfac- 
tion of  realising  that  they  were  consumed  by  the  Gods 
themselves.  The  kindling  of  the  sacrificial  Fire  was  thus 
regarded  as  essential  to  the  worship  of  the  Gods. 

The  Devas  were,  as  we  have  already  said,  bright  and 
benevolent  deities  who  were  constantly  engaged  in  doing 
good  to  the  world.  But  there  were  also  the  evil  powers  who 
were  as  constantly  acting  in  opposition  to  the  Devas.  This 
conflict  between  Good  and  Evil,  therefore,  was  constant, 
nay,  everlasting.  The  powers  of  evil  were  dark,  and  appeared 
in  the  shape  of  darkness  and  black  clouds.  The  darkness 
of  the  night  extinguished  the  light  of  the  bright  Sun,  and 
imprisoned  him,  as  it  were,  in  his  gloomy  cave.  Indra  had 
to  wage  a  daily  fight  with  the  power  of  darkness,  and  release 
the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  from  his  grasp.  The  clouds,  again, 
imprisoned  not  only  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  but  also  "  the 
water  of  life  "  within  their  dark  bosom,  thereby  causing  a 
drought  in  the  country.  These  clouds  represented,  as  it 
were,  the  body  of  the  Evil  One,  whose  name  was  Ahi,  the 
Serpent,  or  Vrtra,  the  enveloper.  The  Sun,  the  Dawn  and 
the  waters  had  to  be  released  for  the  good  of  mankind,  in 
fact,  of  all  living  creatures,  and  Indra  had  to  fight  a  hard 
and  tough  fight  with  this  wily,  withal  powerful  demon.  The 
fight  raged  for  several  months  at  a  stretch,  and  Indra  had  to 
be  strengthened  by  the  offering  of  the  cheering  Soma  juice, 
and  roused  by  the  chanting  of  hymns.  Hence  arose  the 
necessity  of  the  Sattras,  the  daily,  the  periodical,  and  the 
annual  sacrifices  that  were  performed  by  the  ancient  Aryans 
for  the  propitiation  of  the  great  Indra  and  the  other  Devas. 
This  daily  and  yearly  conflict  between  the  Devas  and  the 
Danavas,  i  e.,  the  Asuras  or  demons,  is  known  in  ancient 
Sanskrit  literature  as  the  Devdsura-Samgrdma,  or  war 
between  the  Devas  and  the  Asuras.  In  one  sense,  it  may  be 
said  that  this  conflict  commenced  from  the  very  beginning 
of  creation,  and  will  last  till  the  end  of  it.  The  Sat  ap  at  ha 
Brdhmana,  the  Aitareya  Brahman  a  and  the  other  Brdhma- 


IK.]  DEVAS  AND  ASURAS,  157 

nas  have  declared  that  the  Devas  and  the  Asuras  were  the 
sons  of  Praj^pati,  the  Creator,  and  all  were  equally  powerful* 
In  other  words,  the  dualism  of  Good  and  Evil  is  co-existent 
with  the  creation  of  the  world,  and  Evil  is  as  powerful  as 
Good.  It  was  thought  necessary  to  strengthen  the  power  of 
the  Devas,  who  represented  the  principle  of  Good,  by  means 
of  prayers  and  sacrifices,  and  the  early  Aryans  realising  this, 
took  to  sacrifices  in  honour  of  Indra  and  the  other  Devas. 
But,  as  we  have  said  before,  there  were  men  and  sects  in 
ancient  Aryan  society,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  existence 
of  Indra  or  his  beneficent  powers,  and  held  independent 
opinions  of  their  own.  Some  did  not  see  the  necessity  of 
worshipping  Fire,  or  performing  the  Soma  sacrifice  in  honour 
of  Indra ;  while  others  regarded  Fire  as  too  sacred  to  be 
polluted  by  the  offerings  of  the  flesh  of  sacrificed  animals. 
This  gave  rise  to  schsims,  dissensions,  religious  intolerance, 
and  afterwards  to  active  hostility  resulting  in  terrible  blood- 
shed. 

Indra  having  been  regarded  as  the  all-powerful  and  bene- 
volent Deva,  those  that  were  opposed  to  his  worship  were 
naturally  put  down  to  be  malevolent,  and  siding  with  the 
Asura,  named  Vrtra,  and  his  hosts,  and  were  in  fact  called 
Asuras.  The  Cosmic  struggle  was  thus  transferred  to  earth 
and  men.  The  followers  and  the  worshippers  of  Indra  and 
the  other  deities  were  called  the  Devas,  and  the  opponents  of 
Indra-worship  and  sacrifice  were  called  the  Asuras,  and 
these  became  the  hateful  terms  to  the  one  party,  or  the  other. 
The  nomadic  Aryans  and  hunters  who  harassed  the  settled 
Aryans  by  stealing  their  cows  and  looting  and  pillaging  their 
villages  were  regarded  as  the  incarnations  of  the  evil  powers 
or  the  Asuras,  and  those  that  opposed  the  worship  of  Indra 
and  the  performance  of  sacrifices,  though  they  were  not  so 
barbarous  as  the  nomads,  and  were  probably  as  advanced  in 
civilisation  as  the  Vedic  Aryans,  were  also  classified  with  the 
nomads  and  hunters  under  that  name,  and  called  the  "  Aryan 
enemies,0  The  struggle  was  thus  two-fold,  one  against  the 


158  RG  VEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

savage  nomads,  and  the  other  against  the  civilised  and  settled 
dissenters,  all  of  whom  were  called  "  black  "  figuratively,  and 
also  from  an  analogy  with  the  colour  of  the  clouds  represent- 
ing the  body  of  Vrtra,  The  struggle  against  the  savage 
nomads  and  hunters  was  short  and  swift,  but  that  against  the 
civilised  dissenters  long  and  arduous,  as  they  were  equally 
well  armed,  and  having  been  more  worldly,  were  richer  and 
more  powerful  and  resourceful  than  their  opponents,—  living 
in  well-fortified  towns,  and  successfully  holding  their  own 
against  the  attacks  of  the  Vedic  Aryans.  The  kings  of  the 
latter,  vis,,  Kavi,  Kutsa,  Ayas,  Srutarvfi,  Divod&sa,  Trasa- 
Dasyu,  Rjrsv&n,  Savya  and  others  were  the  special  prot£gis 
of  Indra  who  helped  them  in  defeating  the  Asura  kings, 
Tugra,  Smadiva,  Mrigaya,  VeSa,  Satgrivi,  Sambara,  Varci, 
NavavAstva,  Bfhadratha,  Kr?na,  §u?na,  Pipru  and  others.  As 
we  have  already  said,  it  was  an  awful  straggle,  resulting  in 
terrible  massacre.  Many  battles  were  fought,  in  some  of 
which  ten  to  fifty  thousand  Aryan  enemies  were  killed.  One 
R?i  sings  :  "  I  burn  down  the  world  that  does  not  acknow- 
ledge the  supremacy  of  Indra,  and  revolts  against  Indra- 
worship.  The  enemies  have  been  killed  in  the  place  where 
they  were  assembled.  They  have  been  completely  destroyed 
and  are  lying  on  the  SmaSdna  (lit  cremation-ground),  i.e., 
the  battle  field."  (Rv.  i.  133,  i).«  This  was  the  spirit  that 


Rv.  i.  133,  i  —  ^   H^ffo   tteft   WtT   Sift 

f  qft  **<w  TOk^  M 


The  literal  translation  of  this  verse  is  as  follow*  :  "  By  sacrifices  I  purify 
both  the  sky  and  the  earth.  I  burn  the  wide  (realms  of  earth)  that  are  without 
Indra,  and  are  the  haunts  of  the  wicked  ;  wherever  the  enemies  have  congre- 
gated, they  have  been  slain  ;  and  utterly  destroyed,  they  sleep  in  a  deep  pit." 
Wilson  comments  on  this  as  follows  :  "  Vailtuthanam  aferan  '  they  have 
slept,'  or  irregularly  they  sleep  in  a  place  which  is  of  the  nature  of  a  vila,  a 
hole,  a  cavern,  a  pit  The  scholiast  considers  the  expression  in  this  and  in  the 
third  stanza  to  be  equivalet  to  Smabdna,  a  place  where  dead  bodies  are  burned, 
or  as  it  would  here  seem  to  imply,  a  place  where  they  are  buried,  as  if  it  was 
the  practice  to  bury  the  dead  when  this  hymn  was  composed.'*  Very  likely,  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  enemies  were  collected  together  after  a  battle,  and  thrown 
into  a  deep  pit,  and  buried.  Burial  had  been  an  earlier  custom  among  the  Vedic 
Aryans  than  cremation.  (Vide  Rgiedic  Culture  ch.  x  pp.  405*421). 


IX.J  ASURAS  DISTINGUISHED.  159 


the  Indra-worshippers  against  their  enemies,  the 
dissenters. 

As  the  dissenters  were  opposed   to   the  Vedic   mantras 

addressed  to  the   Devas,   they  did    not   cultivate   the  Vedic 

language  as  carefully  as  the   orthodox  Aryans  did,   and   used 

in  their  speech  the  common  dialects  of  the  people,  which  were 

corrupted  forms  of  the  Vedic  Sanskrit  spoken  by  the  cultured 

classes.     Hence  they  have  been  described   in  the    Rgveda  as 

Andsa  («tf  =  no,  and  <&£  =  mouth),  i.e.,  "  mouthless."     Wilson 

commenting  on  the  word  says  that  it  "  alludes  possibly  to  the 

uncultured   dialects   of    the     barbarous   tribes.'1     But     some 

Western  scholars,  in  their  eagerness  to  identify  these   tribes 

with  non-  Aryan  aborigines,  have  interpreted  the  word  to  mean 

"noseless,"   i.e.,   flat-nosed,     as   describing    their   repelling 

countenance,  by  way  of  distinction    from  the    well  -developed 

nose  of  the  Aryans.     But  this  interpretation  is  wrong,  as  will 

appear  from  the  use  of  the  epithet    mrdhra-vacah  applied    to 

the  Asuras.     In  Rv.  v.  32,  8  and    Rv.  vii.  6,  3    the  word   has 

been  interpreted  by  SAyana  to  mean  "  persons    whose  power 

of  speech   is  undeveloped,'*   and    in    Rv.    i.  174,2,10   mean 

11  persons  who  cannot  speak  fluently,  or    who   speak   softly." 

In  the  Satapatha  Br&hmana  a  curious  reason  has  been  assigned 

to  the  defeat  of  the  Asuras  who,  instead  of   addressing   their 

enemies  as  u  arayah  "  addressed  them  with  a  soft  and    liquid 

accent   as  "  alavah  "  (iii.  2.1.  23-24).1     Whether  this  was  the 

real  cause  of  their  defeat  or  not,  the  anecdote  shows  the  great 

care  taken  in,   and   the    great    importance   attached   to  the 

correct  pronunciation  of  words  by  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  the 

contempt  they  felt  for  those  who  could  not   pronounce   them 

correctly.     The  author  of   the    Br&hmana   draws   this    moral 

from  the  anecdote  :     "  Therefore,  no  Brdhmana    should   pro- 

nounce words  incorrectly  ;  for  such  words  have  no  power." 

*    tat.  Brdh.    (iii.  2.  I.  23-24)  :—  %  VQQ  ^TTOTOt  *  *l*Wt  %  TO*  ifif 


i6o  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Asuras  (among  whom  were  in- 
cluded the  ancient  Iranians,  the  Panis  and  all  dissenters) 
were  opposed  to  the  worship  of  the  Devas,  especially  Indra, 
and  to  the  performance  of  sacrifices.  The  ancient  Iranians 
were  not  strict  in  the  pronunciation  of  words,  and  generally 
used  their  corrupted  forms.  For  example,  they  pronounced 
Asura  as  Ahura,  panca  as  paja,  matar  as  mddar,  bhrdtar 
as  brader,  sapta  as  hapta,  santi  as  hanti,  asmi  as  ah  mi, 
Sapta-Sindhu  as  Hapta-ffendu,  So  ma  as  Horna  and  sahasra 
as  hdzdra.  These  are  some  of  the  instances  of  the 
soft  or  incorrect  pronunciation  of  words,  for  which  they 
incurred  the  odium  and  ridicule  of  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  were 
called  by  the  opprobrious  names  of  "  mouthless  or  speechless." 
The  orthodox  Aryans,  believing  as  they  did  in  the  power  of 
mantras,  insisted  on  their  correct  pronunciation  to  make 
them  efficacious.  The  Iranians  were  probably  a  sect  of  re- 
formers who  used  the  dialect  spoken  by  the  people  for  the 
propagation  of  their  faith,  and  effected  reforms  in  other 
matters,  e.g.,  in  looking  upon  Fire  as  sacred,  and  unfit  to  be 
polluted  by  the  flesh  of  animals  or  by  dead  bodies  which 
used  to  be  consigned  to  it  by  the  orthodox  Aryans,  and  in 
the  discontinuance  of  the  Soma  sacrifice  or  of  the  Soma 
drink  which  had  some  intoxicating  effect  on  the  consumers. 
But  like  all  reformers,  whether  in  ancient  or  modern  times, 
they  were  opposed  and  condemned  for  their  new-fangled 
ways  by  the  orthodox  party.  As  the  ancient  Iranians  were 
as  strong  and  powerful  as  the  Vedic  Aryans,  they  were  not 
easily  discomfited,  but  they  carried  on  the  struggle  for  a 
pretty  long  time,  now  defeating  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  now 
being  defeated  by  them.  It  was  virtually  a  war  of  Prin- 
ciples—carried on  between  two  powerful  branches  of  the  Aryan 
race,  and  was  looked  upon  by  the  common  people  as  a  war 
between  the  deities  worshipped  by  the  respective  branches, 
i.e.,  a  war  between  the  Devas  and  the  Asuras.  We  learn 
from  the  Rgveda  that  the  enemies  of  the  Aryans  were  ulti- 
mately crushed,  defeated  and  driven  out  of  the  country, 


IX,]  DEFEAT  OF  ASPRAS.  161 

which  implied  that  the  Devas  were  victorious,  and  the  Asuras 
defeated.  This  defeat  of  the  Asuras  established  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Vedic  Aryans  the  supremacy  and  superiority  of  the 
Devas  over  the  Asuras,  of  the  R?is  to  whom  the  mantras 
were  revealed  over  the  Iranian  reformers  and  dissenters,  of 
the  Vedic  faith  over  the  non- Vedic,  of  mantras  over  simple 
prayers  couched  in  the  dialects  of  the  people,  and  of  Indra 
over  Ahura  Mazda.  The  Vedic  hymns  addressed  to  Indra 
breathe  a  joyous  triumphant  spirit,  and  a  sense  of  relief  at 
this  victory,  which  made  the  Vedic  Aryans  supremely  con- 
scious  of  their  powers,  of  a  sense  of  right  and  justice  on  their 
side,  and  of  the  immense  superiority  of  their  Faith  and  their 
Devas.  This  consciousness  added  a  zest  to  their  ordinary 
humdrum  existence,  and  probably  helped  them  to  make 
strides  on  the  path  of  progress. 

This  account  of  the  defeat  of  the  Asuras  in  the  Rgveda 
is  supplemented  by  the  elaborate,  though  somewhat  fanciful, 
accounts  given  in  the  Brdhmanas^  which  are  couched  in  such 
language  as  to  make  them  relate  to  supernatural  events 
rather  than  to  human  affairs.  It  is  Indra,  Fire,  the  Asvins, 
the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  and  the  Maruts  who  are  represented  to 
have  been  lighting  with  Vftra  and  his  hosts.  It  is  the  account 
of  the  struggle  of  the  Cosmic  Powers  over  again,  though 
here  and  there  we  cannot  fail  to  catch  glimpses  of  human 
and  mundane  affairs  with  which  the  struggle  was  mainly 
connected. 

Though  the  Brfthmanas  are  not  within  the  scope  of  our 
treatment,  it  will  not,  I  think,  be  quite  out  of  place  to  make 
occasional  references  to  them,  if  only  to  throw  some  addi- 
tional light  on  points  that  are  not  quite  clear  in  the  Rgveda. 
There  are  some  direct  references  in  the  Rgveda  to  the 
Panis  having  been  vanquished  by  an  Aryan  king  in  a  battle, 
and  having  fled  from  Sapta-Sindhu  in  a  body;  but  I  have  not 
come  across  any  reference  to  the  Iranians  or  the  worshippers 
of  Ahura  Mazda  having  left  the  country  on  account  of 

21 


162  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

religious  dissensions,  though  it  has  been  related  in   a  general 
way  in   the   Rgveda   that   the   dissenters   who   were    called 
Asuras  were  defeated,    and  expelled  from  the  country.     It  is 
just  possible  that  some  of  the  Asuras  left   the   country,  while 
others  withdrew  to  its  remote  parts  or  lived  in    Sapta-Sindhu 
in  a  sort  of   armed   truce   during   a   part  of   Rgvedic  times; 
and  it  was  only  when  the  cleavage  became  well   marked,  and 
the  gulf  between   the   two   sects    too  wide  to  be  bridged  that 
their  final  dispersion  took  place.     There    were   many   points 
of  agreement  between  the  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda,  and  the 
Vedic    Aryans.       Both    sects     worshipped     the    Fire    with 
offerings,  among  which,  however,  the   Asuras  did  not  include 
the  flesh  of  sacrificed  animals  ;  both    worshipped   many  com- 
mon   Devas   with   identical    names  ;  but  the  Asuras  did  not 
acknowledge   Indra   to    be    the    supreme    Deva,  though  they 
worshipped  him  in  substance   under  the  name  of  Vrtraghna ; 
both  performed  the  Soma  sacrifice  which  the  Asuras  (Iranians) 
called  Hoama  sacrifice,  though  they  objected  to  the   intoxica- 
ting properties  of  the  juice,  and  tried  to  substitute  the  plant  by 
another  of  the  same  genus,  ami  both  were  equally  civilised  and 
powerful.     The  retention  of  the  name  of  A  sura  for  their  deitirs 
by  these   dissenters,   and    the    denial    of  Indra's  existence  or 
superiority    were    the    main    points   of  difference  and  friction 
between  the  two  sects  ;  and  the  Vedic   Aryans    called   them, 
as  we  have    seen,    by   the   name    of   Asuras,  used  in  the  bad 
sense   of  the   word,   which  the  latter  retaliated  by  attaching 
an  equally  bad  sense  to  the  word  Deva,   which,   however,  had 
no  etymological   justification   as   that  of  the  word  Asura-     It 
is  sufficient,  however,  for  our  purpose  to  remember  that  these 
dissenters  were   simply   called   Asuras  and  not  Iranians,  for 
they  had  not  settled  in  Iran  or  Airyana  as  yet. 

The  Brahmanas  relate  that  the  Asuras  as  well  as  the 
Devas  were  the  progeny  of  Prajdpati,  and  both  performed 
sacrifices  and  became  powerful.  But  the  Asuras  having  tried 
to  establish  their  supremacy  over  the  Devas,  a  conflict  arose 


IX.]  BRAHMAN  1C  ACCOUNTS.  163 

between  them,  which  lasted  for  a  long  time,  during  which 
several  bloody  battles  were  fought.  Ihe  Aitareya  Brdhmaya 
(i-  3-  3)  says  that  at  first  there  were  fightings  in  the  east, 
the  west,  the  south  and  the  north,  in  all  of  which  the  Devas 
were  defeated  by  the  Asuras ;  but  when  the  fighting  took 
place  in  the  north-east  direction  (of  Sapta-Sindhu),  the  Devas 
were  victorious,  and  since  then,  this  direction  has  been 
regarded  as  invincible.  Hence,  when  the  Soma  plant  was 
brought  for  sacrifice,  it  became  the  custom  among  the  Aryan 
worshippers  of  the  Devas  to  take  it  out  from  the  cart  from 
that  direction.  l 

It  is  further  related  in  the  Brfthmana  that  as  the  Devas 
attributed  their  defeat  to  their  having  no  king,  they  made 
Soma  their  king ;  and  with  the  help  of  Soma,  they  became 
victorious  in  all  the  directions.  This  undoubtedly  refers  to 
the  controversy  about  the  use  of  the  Soma  juice  in  sacrifice, 
which  was  discontinued  by  the  Asuras  or  the  ancestors  of  the 
Iranians  for  sometime,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  and  bears 
testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  worshippers  of  the  Devas 
established  the  necessity  and  efficacy  of  the  Soma  sacrifice, 
and  carried  their  point  in  the  teeth  of  well-organized  opposi- 
tion. 

There  is  another  anecdote  in  the  Aitareya  Brdhmana 
in  connection  with  this  conflict  between  the  Devas  and  the 
Asuras,  which  is  worth  mentioning  here.  The  Asuras 
thought  of  birring  the  Devas  from  Bhuloka  (the  Earth), 
Antariksa  (the  Mid-heaven),  and  Dyuloka  (the  Heaven)  by 
constructing  three  walls,  w"*.,  one  of  iron,  another  of  silver, 
and  the  third  of  gold  respectively.  Against  this  plan  and 
device  of  the  Asuras,  the  Devas  constructed  a  sadas  (a  place 
of  sacrifice),  an  agnidhra  or  place  for  the  sacred  sacrificial 
Fire,  and  two  carts  named  habirdhan  in  which  offerings  for 
Sacrifice  were  brought.  After  that,  they  performed  (fce 

./iij.ft 

1    Ait.  Brdk.  i.  3.  3. 


164  kdVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Sacrifice,  named  Updsat.  At  the  end  of  the  first  day's  sacri- 
fice,  the  Asuras  were  driven  out  of  the  earth  ;  at  the  end  of 
the  second  day's  sacrifice,  they  were  driven  out  of  mid- 
heaven  ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  third  day's  sacrifice,  they  were 
driven  out  of  heaven.  Then  the  Asuras  fell  back  on  the  six 
seasons  ;  but  the  Devas  drove  them  out  of  these  by  perform- 
ing six  Upasats.  The  Asuras  then  fell  back  on  the  twelve 
months,  from  which  they  were  expelled  by  the  Devas 
performing  twelve  Upasats  Then  the  Asuras  fell  back  on 
the  twenty-four  fortnights,  from  which  also  the  Devas 
expelled  them  by  performing  twenty-four  sacrifices.  Lastly, 
the  Asuras  fell  back  on  day  and  night  (Ahoratra)^  from  which 
also  the  Devas  expelled  them  by  performing  two  daily 
sacrifices,  one  in  the  morning,  by  which  they  were  expelled 
from  day-time,  and  one  in  the  after- noon,  by  which  they  were 
expelled  from  the  night.  This  compelled  the  Asuras  to  take 
refuge  only  at  the  junctions  of  Day  and  Night  at  both  ends, 
ri'jr.,  early  dawn,  and  evening.  * 

This  anecdote  proves  that  the  Asuras  were  rich  in 
worldly  possessions  and  prosperous,  which  enabled  them  to 
construct  three  walls  of  iron,  silver,  and  gold,  but  they  were 
poor  in  spiritual  powers  which  could  only  be  acquired, 
according  to  the  Vddic  Aryans,  by  the  performance  of 
sacrifices  and  religious  rites.  The  Devas,  though  not  rich 
from  a  worldly  point  of  view,  were  spiritually  strong ;  hence, 
they  were  enabled  to  expel  the  Asuras  from  the  three  worlds 
by  the  performance  of  three  sacrifices  ;  from  the  six  seasons, 
by  the  performance  of  six  sacrifices  ;  from  the  twelve  months, 
by  the  performance  of  twelve  sacrifices ;  from  the  24  fortnights, 
by  the  performance  of  24  sacrifices  ;  and  from  the  days  and 
nights,  by  performing  the  sacrifices  twice  daily.  This  was 
the  cause  of  the  victory  of  the  Devas ;  in  other  words,  it  was 
by  spiritual  culture,  and  the  performance  of  sacrifice  twice 
daily,  and  not  by  mere  worldly  possessions,  that  they  became 

>     Ait  Brdh.  (i.  4.  6). 


IX.]  BRAHMANIC  ACCOUNTS.  165 

victorious  in  the  long  run.  This  marks  the  very  characteris- 
tics of  the  two  branches  of  the  Aryan  race,  which  are 
observable  even  to  this  day. 

It  has  been  previously  said  that  the  Asuras,  without 
offering  any  havyas  (oblations)  to  the  sacrificial  Fire,  ate 
them  up  themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Vedic  Aryans 
offered  all  the  best  things  to  Agni,  even  the  flesh  of  the 
animals  sacrificed.  *  The  Asuras  were  evidently  opposed  to 
such  sacrifices,  and  tried  to  stop  them  by  force.  But  the 
Devas  drove  them  away  by  having  recourse  to  a  device. 
When  the  animal  was  made  ready  for  sacrifice,  the  Asuras 
came  towards  the  yupa  (wooden  block  for  sacrificing  an 
animal).  Seeing  this,  the  Devas  made  three  concentric  walls 
of  fire  for  protecting  themselves  and  the  sacrifice.  The  very 
sight  of  these  walls  of  fire  surrounding  the  animal  to  be 
sacrificed  was  sufficient  to  drive  them  away  from  the  place 
of  sacrifice,  as  it  was  highly  repugnant  and  revolting  to  their 
sentiments.  Thus  with  the  help  of  the  sacrificial  Fire,  the 
Devas  succeeded  in  killing  the  Asuras  and  the  Rak?asas 
both  in  the  east  and  west.  *2 

It  further  appears  from  a  perusal  of  the  Br&hmanas  that 
the  Asuras  were  so  much  persecuted  by  the  Devas  that 
they  were  compelled  to  assume  the  forms  of  Brahmanas 
and  Yatis  (ascetics)  for  self-protection.  This  is  probably 
another  way  of  saying  that  the  priests  and  the  ascetics  of 
the  Asuras  were  similar  in  appearance  to  the  Br&hmanas 
and  the  ascetics  of  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  were  indistinguish- 
able from  them,  as  they  all  very  likely  wore  the  same  sacer- 
dotal robes  and  badges.  The  Aitareya  Brdhmana  says  that 
11  Indra  killed  VigvarQpa,  the  son  of  Tvagtf,  as  well  as  Vrtra. 
He  killed  the  Yatis,  and  threw  their  dead  bodies  to  be 

1  Paku  or  animal  (cattle)  was  in  the  earliest  time*  regarded  as  wealth  ; 
and  its  flesh  at  one  time  formed  the  main  article  of  food.  Hence  flesh  or 
meat  was  prized  above  all  things. 

•     Ait.  Brdh.t\\.  7.  I. 


166  FLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

devoured  by  wild  dogs.  He  also  killed  the  Arurmaghas,  and 
thwarted  Bjrhaspati,  for  which  acts  the  Devas  condemned 

Indra  who  was  thus  deprived  by  them  of  the  Soma  drink 

...But  Indra  afterwards  forcibly  took  the  Soma  drink  away 
from  Tva?tr,  and  since  then  has  been  entitled  to  it."  l  The 
Taittiriya  Brdhmana  also  says  that  Tvagtr  created  a  Br&h- 
maga  by  name  Vrtra  whom  Indra  killed.  He  also  killed 
Tva?tr's  son  VisvarQpa,  hacked  to  pieces  the  Asuras  who 
assumed  the  forms  of  Yatis  or  ascetics,  and  got  their  bodies 
devoured  by  wild  dogs.  He  further  killed  the  Asuras  named 
Arurmaghas^  who  assumed  the  forms  of  Brahmanas. 

These  anecdotes  bring  us  at  once  from  supernatural  to 
mundane  matters, — from  the  Devas  and  Asuras  to  Brahmaaas, 
Yatis  and  Arurmaghas.  It  seems  that  before  the  split 
between  the  two  branches  of  the  Aryans  occurred,  their 
priests  had  been  Brahmanas  and  Yatis  or  ascetics.  But  after 
the  split  had  been  effected,  Tvagtr  jcreated  some  persons 
called  Arurmaghas  who  assumed  the  forms  of  Brahmaaas,  and 
whom  Indra  killed,  because  in  his  superior  wisdom,  he  came 
to  know  them  to  be  really  Asuras  in  disguise,  and  not  Br&h- 
manas.  But  this  killing  of  Brahmaaas  (though  they  were  really 
Asuras)  by  Indra  and  his  followers  made  them  incur  the 
displeasure  and  censure  of  both  Gods  and  men,  and  no  Soma 
drink  was  consequently  offered  to  Indra,  or  any  Soma  sacri- 
fice performed  in  his  honour.  It  has  been  said,  however, 
that  Indra  forcibly  snatched  the  Soma  drink  from  Tva?tf, 
which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that,  though  the  Soma  sacrifice 
and  Indra-worship  had  been  discontinued  for  sometime,  they 
were  renewed  again  by  the  followers  of  Indra. 

It  remains  for  us  now  to  see  who  this  Tva?tr  was,  and 
who  these  Arurmaghas.  In  Rv.  x.  no,  9  we  find  the  name 
of  Tvajtr  as  Apri  Devata  or  God  of  Fire,  and  his  attributes 
mentioned  as  follows  :  — 

i    Ibid,  vii.35.  a. 


IX.]  VlSVAROPA.  167 

"O  Hota,  worship  to-day  that  Deva  whose  name  is 
Tvajtr,  who  has  produced  Dydvd-Prithivl  (Heaven  and 
Earth)  and  created  the  various  living  creatures.12 

It  would  thus  appear  that  Tva?tr  was  identified  with  the 
Creator  Himself.  His  son  was  Vi§varQpa.  The  Taittiriya 
Samhitd  thus  speaks  of  him  : — 

"  ViSvarQpa,  son  of  Tva$tr,  was  the  priest  of  the  Devas, 
and  was  their  nephew,  being  sister's  son.  He  had  three 
mouths,  through  one  of  which  he  drank  the  Soma  juice ; 
through  the  second,  he  used  to  drink  wine  ;  and  through  the 
third,  he  used  to  take  his  usual  food.  He  used  to  say  openly 
that  the  share  of  havis  was  legitimate  to  the  Devas  ;  but  in 
private  parlance,  he  would  say  that  the  Asuras  were  entitled 
to  it.  Indra  having  come  to  know  this,  and  apprehended  a 
revolution,  cut  off  his  three  heads  with  the  help  of  his  thunder- 
bolt. The  killing  of  this  BrShmana  priest  by  Indra  made  him 
incur  the  sin  generally  attached  to  the  killing  of  a  Br5hmana.M 

The  Devas,  as  we  have  seen,  were  fond  of,  and  drank  the 
Soma  juice ;  but  the  Asuras  drank  sura  or  wine,  and  men  ate 
food.  It  is  clear  from  the  above  anecdote  that  Vi£varQpa 
used  to  partake  of  the  offerings,  made  respectively  by  the 
Devas,  the  Asuras  and  men,  with  the  help  of  his  three  differ- 
ent mouths.  As  the  Asuras  rejected  or  were  deprived 
of  the  Soma  juice,  and  substituted  a  new  drink  in  its  place, 
prepared  from  another  plant,  which  they  considered  to  be  less 
intoxicating  than  the  Soma  juice,  the  Brahmanas  retaliated  by 
calling  their  drink  by  the  name  of  wine,  i.e.,  a  really  intoxi- 
cating liquor  as  compared  with  the  Soma  drink,  and  therefore 
unfit  for  being  offered  to  the  Devas.  It  appears  also  that  the 
religion  of  the  Devas,  the  Asuras  and  men  was  one  at  first,  as 
ViSvarQpa  received  all  these  offerings  from  all  the  votaries, 
and  partook  of  them.  But  Indra,  having  killed  Vigvardpa, 
Tvagtr  in  his  rage  discontinued  the  offering  of  the  Soma 
drink  to  him,  though  the  latter  afterwards  forcibly  took  a 
share  of  it  from  him. 


168  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

It  was  Tvafttjr  who  is  said  to  have  forged  the  thunder- 
bolt for  ludra  (Rv.  i.  61,  6;  189,  14),  which,  however, 
was  used  by  the  latter  in  killing  his  two  sons,  Vftra  and 
ViSvardpa.  This  created  a  revulsion  of  feeling  Against  Indra, 
and  his  worship  was  consequently  discontinued  by  Tvagtf's 
followers  who  substituted  him  for  Indra.  As  Tva$tf  was  the 
God  of  Fire,  he  was  worshipped  by  them  as  Fire. 

But  Fire  on  earth  was  identical  with  the  Sun  in  heaven, 
and  also  represented  the  splendours  of  the  great  Creator  of 
the  Sun  himself  whom  the  Asuras  and  their  descendants,  the 
Iranians,  called  Afithra  (Vedic,  Mitra).  Therefore,  Fire  or 
Tvagtf,  the  Sun  and  Mithra  formed,  as  it  were,  a  Trinity. 
The  Sun  was  called  by  them  Ahura  Mazda,  which  appears 
to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  Asura  Maghavd,  and 
literally  means  "  the  great  God  fit  to  be  worshipped  by  men." 
It  should  be  pointed  out  that  in  the  Rgveda,  the  epithet, 
Maghavan,  has  been  usually  applied  to  Indra,  though  other 
Devas  also  have  sometimes  shared  it  with  him.  Therefore, 
it  may  be  surmised  that  Ahura  Mazda,  or  as  he  is  commonly 
called,  Ormuzd,  in  a  still  more  corrupted  form,  was  equal  to 
the  Vedic  Indra  or  the  Sun,  and  Tva?tr  was  the  same  God 
in  another  form,  via  ,  Fire.  It  will  be  in  the  recollection  of 
our  readers  that  in  the  Rgveda,  the  Sun  and  the  Fire  have 
been  called  the  visible  bodies  of  Indra  who  created  both  of 
them,  and  was  therefore  also  equal  to  Mithra  of  the  Asuras. 
As  Fire  belongs  to  the  earth,  he  is  the  God  with  whom  men 
can  easily  associate,  and  through  whom  they  can  worship 
both  the  Sun,  or  Ormuzd,  and  the  still  higher  deity,  Mithra. 
Tva?tr  thus  became  the  preceptor  of  men,  and  as  he  existed 
from  time  immemorial,  he  was  called  Jurat  Tvastr,  or  the 
ancient  Tva?tr,  which  was  corrupted  into  Zara-thustra^  and 
still  further,  into  Zoroaster.  As  with  the  orthodox  Aryans, 
Agni  or  Fire  (Brahm£)  revealed  the  Vedas,  so  with  the 
Iranians,  Zara-thustra,  or  Zoroaster  (the  ancient  Fire  God) 
revealed  to  them  their  religion  as  embodied  in  their  sacred 


IX.]  ZOROASTER.  169 

Scripture,  the  Zend-Avesta.  Hence,  the  Asura  tribes  after- 
wards  settled  in  Airyana  or  Iran,  called  themselves  the 
followers  of  Zoroaster,  and  are  known  as  Zoroastrians.  But 
the  Zoroaster  of  history  was  a  great  Prophet  who  appeared 
in  a  later  age,  and  was  probably  regatded  as  an  incarnation 
of  Jarat  Tva?tf  or  the  Fire-God.  He  came  to  the  world  for 
the  good  of  the  race,  and  for  embodying  the  tenets  of  the 
religion  in  the  sacred  Scripture,  the  Zend-Avesta.  The 
religion  had  existed  from  very  ancient  times,  and  it  remained 
for  him  only  to  give  it  a  new  shape  and  life.  As  a  writer 
observes  :  "  A  great  religion  is  always  a  slow  growth,  and 
any  particular  religious  teacher  to  whom  it  may  be  ascribed, 
after  all,  has  done  nothing  more  than  focalise  the  national 
tendency,  or  form  a  centre  about  which  the  ideas  and  ten- 
dencies of  an  epoch  may  crystallize In  the  case  of  the 

Zoroastrian  religion,  it  was  finally  given  tangible  and  perma- 
nent expression  in  the  pages  of  the  Zend-Avesta,  or  sacred 
book  of  the  Persians.  The  national  spirit  given  expression 

is in  many  ways  of  a  high  order It    seems  quite   clear 

that  the  early  religion  of  the  Persians  was  almost  a  pure 
monotheism,  not  did  it  in  its  later  stages  depart  more  widely 
from  the  monotheistic  type  than  has  been  the  case,  at  some 
stage  of  its  developments,  with  every  other  great  religion  of 
which  we  have  any  knowledge.  Thus  the  Zoroastrian  system 
admits  of  a  Sun-God,  Mithra,  who  is  the  creator  of  the  God 

of  Light,  Ormuzd,  and  of  the  God  of  Darkness,  Ahriman 

When  we  try  to  get  close  to  the  thought  of  this  creed,  we 
find  that  Ormuzd  is  regarded  equal  to  Mithra,  even  though 
created  by  him,  and  that  on  the  other  hand,  Ahriman  is 
supposed  ultimately  to  be  conquered  by  the  God  of  Light, 
notwithstanding  the  ages  of  time  throughout  which  he  wields 
malevolent  powers."  * 

Zoroaster,  the  Prophet,  "  asserted  the  existence  of  a  king- 
dom of  light,  and  a  kingdom  of  darkness  ;  in  the  former,  reigns 


1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  566. 
22 


170  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Ormuzd,  the  author  and  giver  of  all  good;  in  the  latter. 
Ahriman,  the  source  of  all  evil,  moral  as  well  as  physical. 
The  throne  of  Ormuzd  is  surroun  ded  by  the  seven  Amshas- 
pands,  the  princes  of  light,  of  whom  the  sage  himself  was  the 
first."  * 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  sage  was  an  incarnation 
of  Jarat  Tvastr,  the  first  Prince  of  Light,  who,  with  six 
others,  surround  the  throne  of  Ormuzd. 

No  reference  to  the  name  of  the  sage  has  been  made  in 
the  Rgveda,  or  the  later  Vedic  Literature,  though  the  name 
of  Tvagtr  as  Fire  and  Creator  is  found,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
the  former.  The  Prophet,  therefore,  must  have  flourished  in 
a  much  later  period,  though  the  religion,  as  we  have  already 
said,  had  been  in  existence  from  very  early  times.  It  was 
not  known  in  Rgvedic  times  as  the  Religion  of  Zoroaster, 
but  as  a  religion  of  the  Asuras  who  worshipped  Asura 
Maghava,  Ahura  Mazda,  or  Ormuzd.  Hence  it  was  also 
known  as  the  Religion  of  Ormuzd,  and  its  followers  were 
called  Ormuzdians,  or  as  the  later  Vedic  Aryans  called  them, 
Arurmaghas.  It  was  these  Arurmaghas,  described  as  Brah- 
manas  in  the  Aitareya  Brahmana  and  the  Taittirlya  Samhita, 
who  were  killed  by  Indra,  because  he  knew  them  to  be  Asuras 
under  the  garb  of  Brahmanas,  and  as  we  have  seen,  their 
killing  led  to  great  religious  dissensions  and  schisms  in 
ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  .vhich  deprived  Indra  of  his  favourite 
Soma  drink  for  a  time,  to  the  point  of  being  ousted  from 
worship.  These  Arurmaghas  (which  word,  by  the  way,  has 
remained  unexplained  up  to  this  time),  therefore,  were  no 
other  than  the  priests  or  votaries  of  Asura  Maghavd,  Ahura 
Mazda,  or  Ormuzd,  the  great  God  of  Light,  whom  the 
Asuras,  or  dissenters  from  the  orthodox  Vedic  faith,  worship- 
ped in  place  of  Indra.2  From  the  fact  that  Indra  was  cen- 
sured and  condemned  for  killing  these  Brdhmanas,  it  appears 

1     Ibid,  p  636. 

•  These  Arurmaghas  were  probably  the  ancestors  of  the  Magi  or  priests 
of  ancient  Media  who  were  simply  called  maghas  or  Magi.  They  formed  a 


IX.]  THE  TWO  SECTS  SfcPAkATE.  171 

that  though  the  Asuras  had  ceased  to  worship  Indra,  and 
were  worshipping  Asura  Maghavi,  under  a  new  system  of 
faith,  they  were  still  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  Aryan  com- 
munity in  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  their  priests  looked  upon  as 
Brdhmarjas  and  Yatis,  for  the  sin  of  killing  whom  Indra  had 
to  incur  a  public  censure.  This  furnishes  us  with  a  curious 
instance  of  catholicity  and  sympathetic  tolerance  in  an  age 
which  seems  to  have  been  characterized  by  religious  intoler- 
ance and  bigotry  of  the  worst  type.  Very  probably,  Indra's 
censure  was  due  to  a  reaction  of  the  popular  mind  from  the 
terrible  scenes  of  blood-shed  and  persecution  that  were 
enacted  in  the  ancient  land,  in  the  name  of  religion.  The 
killing  of  the  Arurmaghas,  however,  though  afterwards  con- 
doned by  the  Vedic  Aryans,  created  a  revulsion  against  Indra 
in  the  mind  of  the  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda,  and  the  breach 
between  the  two  sects  widened  beyond  repair. 

But  though  the  schism  had  taken  place,  and  there  had 
been  much  bloodshed  and  persecution  in  consequence  of  it, 
the  Asuras  in  all  probability  .did  not  leave  Sapta-Sindhu  in 
a  body  during  Rgvedic  times.  This  they  probably  did  in  a 
later  age,  after  the  Panis  had  mostly  left  the  country.  But 
it  is  just  possible  that  those  who  were  defeated  by  the  Vedic 
Aryans  in  battles,  and  had  their  forts  broken  or  demolished, 
emigrated  towards  the  north-west,  and  after  roaming  about 

hereditary  sacerdotal  caste  and  Herodotus  thus  writes  about  their  status .  "  A 
Magian  man  stands  by  and  chants  a  theogony  thereto,  for  such  the  Persians 
say  the  chant  is.  Without  a  Magian  it  is  not  lawful  for  him  to  offer  prayers." 
Prof.  Moulton  writes  •  '*  From  the  first  the  Greek  writers  assume  that  the 
Magi  were  priests,  with  special  skill  in  divination  and  oneiromancy.  They 
were  already  essential  for  all  priestly  acts,  and  identified  thoroughly  with  the 
Persian  religious  system.  Moreover  from  the  fourth  century  B.  C.  down, 
there  are  frequent  allusions  to  Zoroaster  himself  as  a  Magus,  and  many  of  the 
foremost  modern  authorities  have  accepted  this  as  probably  true."  (Early 
Zoroastrianism,  pp.  196-197).  The  word  Magha  or  Magus  was  probably  a 
corruption  of  Maghavan,  meaning  "worshipful/'  a  title  which  was  probably 
applied  to  these  priests,  Moulton's  theory  that  the  Maghas  or  the  Magi 
belong  to  a  non-Aryan  race  is  quite  untenable. 


172  BLOVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

in  several  countries  in  a  helpless  condition,  finally  settled 
down  in  Bactriana  which  they  called  Arya  Veeja  or  Airy  ana 
Vaejo  (which  literally  means  "  the  nursery,  or  place  of  origin 
of  the  Aryans "),  to  distinguish  it  from  Sapta-Sindhu 
which  they  were  compelled  to  leave,  and  for  which  they 
no  longer  entertained  any  love,  as  it  was  inhabited  by 
their  hereditary  enemies,  the  Vedic  Aryans.  This  Airyana 
Vaejo  was  afterwards  destroyed  by  an  invasion  of  Ice  in 
post-Rgvedic  times,  probably  in  consequence  of  vast 
volumes  of  watery  vapours,  generated  by  the  drying 
up  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  having  been  pre- 
cipitated there  as  snow,  which  compelled  Yima,  the 
ancient  leader  of  the  Iranians,  to  leave  it  with  his  people 
and  migrate  towards  the  north,  to  the  Arctic  region.  Long 
after  this  event,  Airyana  Vaejo  became  again  habitable,  and 
the  Prophet  Zoroaster1  settled  there  with  his  followers,  and 
made  it  a  centre  for  the  propagation  of  his  new  reformed 
faith.  As  this  chapter  has  already  grown  too  long,  I  will 
deal  with  the  subject  of  the  dispersion  of  the  followers  of 
Ahura  Mazda  from  Sapta-Sindhu  in  the  next  chapter. 

1  Xanthos  of  Lydia,  a  contemporary  of  Artaxerxes  I  (465-424  B.  C.), 
places  Zoroaster  6,000  years  before  the  expedition  of  Xerxes.  Aristotle 
makes  him  6,000  years  before  the  death  of  Plato.  This  date,  however  is  not 
accepted  by  modern  European  scholars.  Hertel  makes  him  live  about  660- 
533  B.  C.  If  that  were  so,  Artaxerxes  who  lived  in  the  fifth  century  B.  C., 
would  not  have  fixed  Zoroaster's  time  about  6,000  years  before  the  expedition 
of  Xerxes,  and  Aristotle  calculated  a  similar  date.  Zoroaster's  date,  however, 
has  not  yet  been  definitely  settled,  though  the  date  of  the  classical  writers 
closely  tallies  with  Vedic  chronology.  (Vide  Keith's  Tke  Religion  and  Philoso- 
phy of  the  Veda  and  Upanishads  vol.  iit  Appendix  A.  Page  614  ft.  1925). 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  DISPERSION  OF  THE  FOLLOWERS  OF  AHURA  MAZDA  FROM 
SAPTA-SINDHU. 

Professor  Max  M tiller  after  a  careful  study  of  the  Vedas 
and  the  Zend-Avesta  arrived  at  the  following  conclusion  : 

"  The  Zoroastrians  were  a  colony  from  Northern  India. 
They  had  been  together  for  a  time  with  the  people  whose 
sacred  songs  have  been  preserved  to  us  in  the  Veda.  A 
schism  took  place  and  the  Zoroastrians  migrated  westward 
to  Arachosiaand  Persia."1 

Elsewhere  he  said  :  "  Still  more  striking  is  the  similarity 
between  Persia  and  India  in  religion  and  mythology.  Gods 
unknown  to  any  Indo-European  nation  are  worshipped  under 
the  same  name  in  Sanskrit  and  Zend ;  and  the  change  of 
some  of  the  most  sacred  expressions  in  Sanskrit  into  names 
of  evil  spirits  in  Zend  only  serves  to  strengthen  the  convic- 
tion that  we  have  here  the  usual  traces  of  a  schism  which 
separated  a  community  that  had  once  been  united."*2 

Dr.  Haug  also  came  to  the  same  conclusion :  "  The 
ancestors  of  the  Brahmans,  and  those  of  the  Par»is  (the 
ancient  Iranians)  lived  as  brother  tribes  peacefully  together. 
This  time  was  anterior  to  the  combats  of  the  Devas  and  the 
A  suras,  which  are  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Brah- 
manas,  the  former  representing  the  Hindus,  the  latter  Ira- 
nians."3 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  Iranians  did  not  all  at 
once  settle  in  Arachosia  or  Persia  after  leaving  Sapta- 
Sindhu.  They  had  roamed  about  in  many  countries  in  a 

1  Science  of  Language^  Vol.  II,  p.  170  (Fifth  Edition). 
•  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop,  Vol.  I,  p.  83. 

8  Dr.  Haug's  Introduction  to   the    Aitareya   Brdhmana,   Vol.  I,  pp.  2-3, 
Edition  1863. 


174  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

helpless  condition  before   they   settled  down  as  agriculturists 
in  their  new  colony.     We  have  said  in  the  previous  chapter  that 
the  main  body  of  the  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda  did  not   leave 
Sapta-Sindhu    during     Rgvedic    times,    though   it   is   likely 
that  some   tribes   who   could    not  hold  their  own  against  the 
attacks  of  the  Vedic  Aryans  did  so,  and  got   themselves  scat- 
tered in  different  parts  of   Asia  and  Europe.     The  Arurma- 
ghas    or   the   followers   of   Ahura  Mazda   were  regarded  as 
Brahmanas  and  were  suffered   to    live   in    Sapta-Sindhu,    as 
long  as  they  did  not  become    obtrusive  or  militant.     But  as 
soon  as  they  became   active    propagandists   and   aggressive, 
attacking  and   condemning    the  Vedic   faith   and   the  Vedic 
rites,   under    the    instigation    of   their   priests  or  prophets,  a 
regular  campaign  against    them    was  organized   and   started 
by  the  Vedic  Aryans,   which   resulted  in  their  ultimate  expul- 
sion from  Sapta-Sindhu.     As   I   have  already  said  in  the  last 
chapter,    the   name    of    Zarathustra    does    not   occur  in   the 
Brihmanas  or  the  later  Vedic   literature,   though  the  name  of 
Tva?tr  as  the  Fire  God  and  Creator,  occurs  in  them  as  well 
as  in  the  Rgveda.     Zarathustra,    therefore,    must  have   flour- 
ished  in  comparatively    recent   times.     It  was  he  who  gave 
the  Ahura  religion  the  shape  in  which  we  find  it  in  the  Zend- 
Avesta,  and  instilled  into  it  a  new  life  and  vigour  by  shaking 
off   the   foreign   accretions    that   had   gathered  round  it,  and 
purifying  it  as  much  as  possible.     He  was,  therefore,  a  great 
Reformer   of   the    Ahura    religion,  and  his  words  carried  the 
greatest  weight   with    its   votaries  when  he  declared  himself 
or  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  Prophet,  and  an  incarnation  of 
Jarat  Tvagtr,  the  first  of   the  seven  Amshaspands,  or  Princes 
of  Light,  who  surrounded    the  throne  of  Ahura  Mazda.     In* 
spired  and  encouraged  by  his   teachings,  his  followers  must 
have  assumed  a  fresh   militant  attitude   towards   the   Vedic 
faith,  and  thereby  brought   upon  themselves  the  wrath  of  the 
united  Vedic  Aryans   who   compelled   them  to  fly  far  from 
Sapta-Sindhu,  the  land  of  their  birth.     It  was  when   reduced 
to  this  helpless  condition  and  sorry  plight  that  the   Prophet 


X.]  EXPULSION  OF  PARSIS.  175 

with  his  followers  gave  vent  to  the  following  lamentations   as 
are  recorded  in  the  GAthA  Ustanvaiti : 

"  To  what  country  shall  I  go  ?  Where  shall  I  take  my 
refuge?  What  country  is  sheltering  the  master  (Zarathustra) 
and  his  companions  ?  None  of  the  servants  pays  reverence  to 
me,  nor  the  wicked  rulers  of  the  country."  [4.  (46)  i], 

"  I  know  that  I  am  helpless.  Look  at  me,  being  amongst 
few  men.  For,  I  have  few  men.  I  implore  thee  (Ahur  Mazd, 
the  wise)  weeping,  thou  living  God."  [4  (46)  2]. 

"The  sway  is  given  into  the  hands  of  the  priests  and 
prophets  of  idols,  who,  by  their  atrocious  actions,  endeavour 
to  destroy  the  human  life..."  [4  (46)  n].1 

Thus  expelled  from  Sapta-Sindhu  and  other  places  in* 
habited  by  the  Vedic  Aryans,  the  followers  of  the  Prophet 
probably  roamed  about  in  various  lands  mentioned  in  the 
first  Fargard  of  the  Vemlidad  until  they  found  a  safe  shelter 
in  old  Airyana  Vaejo  which,  though  destroyed  by  Ice  in  a 
former  age,  had  again  become  habitable  This  province, 
acrording  to  Spiegel,  "  is  to  be  placed  in  the  furthest  east  of 
the  Iranian  plateau,  in  the  region  where  the  Oxus  and  the 
Jaxartes  take  their  rise,"  though  Baron  Von  Runsen  supposes 
it  to  be  "  the  table-land  of  Pamir  and  Khokand."2  The  lands 
mentioned  in  the  Fargard  of  the  Vendidad  are  (i)  Airyana 
Vaejo ;  (2)  Sughdha  or  Sogdiana  (Samarkand)  ;  (3)  Mouru 
or  Margiina  (Mero)  ;  (4)  Bakhdid  or  Bactria  (Balkh)  ;  (5) 
Nisaya  or  Nisaea ;  (6)  Haroyu  (Sans.  Sarayu}  or  Arcia 
(Herat)  ;  (7)  Vaekareta  (Cabul)  ;  (8)  Urva,  Cabul,  according 
Dr.  Haug,  or  land  around  Ispahan,  according  to  Dermesteter  ; 
(9)  Khnenta  in  Vehrkena  (Kandahar);  (10)  Harahvaiti  (Sans. 
Sarasvafiy  or  more  probably  Irdvati)  or  Arachosia  (Harut) ; 
(n)  Ha6tumant  (Helmend) ;  (12)  Ragha  (Rai)  ;  (13)  Chakhra  ; 
(it)  Varena ;  (15)  Hapta-Hendu  (Sapta-Sindhu)  and  (16) 

1  Dr.  Martin  Haug's  Religion  of  the  Parsees,  pp.  153,  155  and  1 66.  Ed. 
1862. 

•     Muir's  Onginal  Sanskrit  Texts,  Vol.  II,  pp.  332,  481.  Ed.  1871. 


176  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CttAP. 

Rangha.  These  were  the  sixteen  countries  which  were 
known  to  the  ancient  Iranians.  There  is  a  controversy 
among  some  Western  scholars  as  to  the  geographical  and 
historical  value  of  this  account  of  the  countries  mentioned 
in  the  Vendidad.  Bunsen  is  of  opinion  that  the  first  mention- 
ed country  was  the  primeval  abode  of  the  Iranians,  from 
which  they  subsequently  emigrated  to  the  other  countries — an 
opinion  with  which  Spiegel  at  first  agreed.  But  it  appears 
that  the  latter  subsequently  revised  this  opinion  as  will  appear 
from  his  remarks  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Avestft  (Vol.  II,  p. 
cix) :  "  I  cannot  c  oincide  in  the  attempt  to  discover  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Vendidad  an  account  of  the  gradual  migra- 
tions of  the  Iranians,  It  has  been  said  that,  that  list  of 
countries  is  a  continuous  history  of  their  attempts  at  coloni- 
zation, beginning  with  their  northern  home,  and  ending  with 
Hapta-Hendu  or  India.  But  the  list  nowhere  speaks  of  any 

such  migration Hence,  I  see  in  this  chapter  nothing  but  a 

specification  of  the  countries  known  to  the  Iranians  at  a 
particular  time.  This  period,  however,  cannot  be  a  recent 
one,  as  the  name  Hapta-Hendu  is  connected  with  the  Vedic 
period." 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  soundest  view  of  the  matter. 
The  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda  were  very  closely  connected 
not  only  in  blood,  but  also  in  language,1  and  religious  faith 
and  practice  2  (of  course,  before  the  regrettable  schism  took 

1  Geldner  writes  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  (Vol.  XXI,  p.  347 ; 
1  ith  edition) .  "  The  clearest  evidence  of  the  extreme  age  of  the  language 
of  the  Gath&s  is  its  striking  resemblance  to  the  oldest  Sanskrit,  the  language 
of  the  Vedic  poems.  The  Gatha  language  (much  more  than  the  later  Zend) 
and  the  language  of  the  Vedas  have  a  close  resemblance,  exceeding  that  of  any 
two  Romanic  languages ;  they  seem  hardly  more  than  two  dialects  of  one 
tongue.  Whole  strophes  of  the  Gathas  can  be  turned  into  good  old  Sanskrit 
by  the  application  of  certain  phonetic  laws." 

*  Eduard  Myer  thus  summarises  in  the  same  work  (p.  203)  the  common 
elements  of  the  two  religions :  "  Fire-worship,  especially  the  sacrificial  flame  ; 
the  preparations  of  the  intoxicating  Sorna,  which  fills  man  with  divine  strength 
and  uplifts  him  to  the  Gods ;  the  injunction  to  '  good  thoughts  and  good 


SOSHYANTAS.  *77 

place)  with  the  Vedic  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  which  was 
their  common  home.  When  a  difference  in  religious  opinion 
and  practice  arose,  they  came  to  be  called  Asuras  by  the 
Vedic  Aryans  whom  they,  in  their  turn,  called  Devas  or 
Daevas,  i.e.,  Devils.  This  religious  controversy  gradually 
degenerated,  even  in  Rgvedic  times,  into  an  implacable 
hatred  for  one  another  ;  and  from  words,  they  came  to  blows, 
and  from  blows  to  bloodshed,  resulting  in  the  defeat  of  the 
Asuras.  Some,  as  we  have  already  said,  fled  to  other 
countries,  while  others  remained  in  Sapta-Sindhu  peacefully, 
without  provoking  further  quarrels.  "  The  Soshyantas  or 
fire-priests/'  writes  Dr.  Haug,  "who  seemed  to  be  identical 
with  the  Atharvans,  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  real  predeces- 
sors of  Zarathustra  Spitoma,  who  paved  the  way  for  the  grand 
religious  reform  carried  out  by  the  latter.  It  is  distinctly  said 
(Yas.  53.  2),  that  the  good  Ahura  religion  was  revealed  to 
them  and  that  they  professed  it  in  opposition  to  the  Deva 
religion,  like  Zarathustra  himself  and  his  disciples.  (Yas.  12. 
7).  These  ancient  sages,  therefore,  we  must  regard  as  the 
founders  of  the  Ahura  religion,  who  first  introduced  agricul- 
ture and  made  it  a  religious  duty,  and  commenced  war  against 
the  Deva  religion."  *  We  have  seen  the  result  of  this  war 
during  Rgvedic  times,  and  prior  to  the  age  of  the  Br&h- 
manas  in  which  the  Soshyantas  (who  were  probably  identi- 
fied in  the  Rgveda  with  Susna,  the  demon  of  drought) 
and  their  followers  got  the  worst,  most  of  them  having  been 
compelled  to  leave  the  country.  It  was  only  when  Zarath- 
ustra, the  fiery  and  intolerable  Reformer  and  Prophet,  flourish- 
ed, that  fresh  troubles  arose,  as  the  result  of  which  his 

works '  imposed  on  the  pious  by  Veda  and  Avesta  alike ;  the  belief  in  an 
unwavering  order  (rta)-a  law  controlling  gods  and  men  and  dominating  them 
all ;  yet  with  this,  a  belief  in  the  power  of  the  magical  formulae  (mantra), 
exclamations  and  prayers,  to  whose  compulsion  not  merely  demons  (the  evil 
spirits  of  deception — druh),  but  even  the  gods  (daeva)  must  submit,  and  lastly, 
the  institution  of  a  priesthood  of  fire-kindlers  (atharvan)  who  are  at  once  the 
repositories  of  all  sacred  traditions  and  mediators  in  all  intercourse  between 
earth  and  heaven." 

1     Dr.  Haug's  Religion  of  the  P*rsccst  p.  251.     Ed.  1862. 

23 


178  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

followers  were  driven  out  of  the  country,  who  roamed  about 
in  a  helpless  condition  until  they  made  their  final  halt  in  old 
Airyana  Vaejo  which  had  been  destroyed  by  Ice  in  a  former 
age  when  Yima  had  been  its  ruler,  and  so  named  probably 
to  donote  the  original  place  where  the  Ormuzdian  religion 
had  been  first  propagated,  preached  and  practised  undisturbed. 
This  land,  therefore,  was  given  precedence  over  all  other  lands, 
and  regarded  as  Paradise,  when  compared  with  Hapta-Hendu, 
from  which  the  Iranians  had  been  driven  out,  and  for  which 
they  no  longer  entertained  any  love,  in  as  much  as  it  was  peopled 
by  their  inveterate  enemies,  the  Vedic  Aryans.  We  may, 
accordingly,  conclude  that  the  naming  of  Hapta-Hendu 
towards  the  end  of  the  list,  as  given  in  the  first  Fargard  of 
the  Vendidad,  does  not  indicate  that  the  Iranians  emigrated 
from  their  northern  home  and  came  to  Sapta-Sindhu  at  the 
end  of  their  migrations.  Such  a  theory  would  be  against 
the  conclusions  at  which  all  impartial  students  and  critics 
must  arrive  after  a  careful  study  of  the  Vedas  and  the  Zend 
Avesta. 

Secure  in  this  earthly  paradise,  and  free  from  molesta- 
tions, Zarathustra  began  a  thorough-going  reform  of  the  old 
religion  as  professed  by  the  votaries  of  Ahura  Mazda.  The 
following  extracts  from  Yasna  12  of  the  Avesta  will  un- 
mistakably indicate  the  line  of  reform :  "  I  cease  to  be  a 
Deva  worshipper.  I  profess  to  be  a  Zoroastrian  Mazdayasna 
(worshipper  of  Ahura  Mazda),  an  enemy  of  the  Devas,  and  a 
devotee  to  Ahura,  ...I  forsake  the  Devas,  the  wicked,  bad, 
false,  untrue,  the  originators  of  mischief,  who  are  most 
baneful,  destructive,  the  basest  of  all  beings...!  am  a  Mazda- 
yasna, a  Zoroastrian  Mazdayasna.  I  profess  this  religion  by 
praising  and  preferring  it  to  others."  l 

The  Zoroastrians  forsook  not  only  the  "  wicked  and 
false  "  Devas,  but  also  the  Soma  sacrifice  which  characterized 
the  Vedic  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  Gdthd  Ahunavaiti 

1     Dr.  Haug's  Religion  of  the  Parsees,  p.  165,  Ed.  1862, 


X.]  SOMA  OR  HOMA.  179 

(Yasna  32)  says :  "  Ye  Devas,  sprung  out  of  the  evil  spirit 
who  takes  possession  of  you  by  intoxication  (Soma),  teaching 
you  manifold  arts  to  deceive  and  destroy  mankind,  for  which 
arts  you  are  notorious  everywhere."  l  In  Gatha  Spenta- 
Afainyus  also  we  find  :  "  When  will  appear,  thou  wise,  the 
men  of  vigour  and  courage  to  pollute  that  intoxicating  liquor  ? 
This  diabolical  art  makes  the  idol  priests  so  overbearing, 
and  the  evil  spirit,  reigning  in  the  countries,  increases  this 
pride."  2  Dr.  Haug  comments  on  the  verse  of  this  Gathd  as 
follows  :  "  This  verse  refers  to  the  Brahman's  Soma  worship 
which,  as  the  cause  of  so  much  evil,  was  cursed  by 
Zarathustra." 

But  though  Zarathustra  thus  condemned  the  Soma,  with 
a  view  to  dissuade  his  followers  from  using  it  in  their  rituals, 
the  old  party  seemed  to  retain  a  predilection  for  the  drink, 
and  would  not  easily  give  it  up.  Hence  the  High  Priests 
effected  a  sort  of  compromise  by  substituting  the  intoxicating 
Soma  beverage  "  by  a  more  wholesome  and  invigorating 
drink  prepared  from  another  plant,  together  with  the  branches 
of  the  pomegranate  tree,  and  without  any  process  of  ferment- 
ation ;  but  the  name  in  the  Iranian  form  Homa  remained, 
and  some  of  the  ceremonies  also."3  We  need  not,  therefore, 
be  at  all  surprised  that  Zarathustra  also  suddenly  became  an 
admirer  of  the  Soma  who,  it  is  said,  once  visited  him  in  his 
brilliant  supernatural  body.  "  Being  asked  by  the  prophet 
who  he  was,  he  told  that  he  was  Homa,  and  requested  him  to 
worship  him  in  the  same  way  as  the  ancient  sages  and 
prophets  had  done.  Zarathustra,  after  having  attentively 
listened  to  the  angel's  reports,  bowed  before  him  and 
commenced  to  consecrate  the  branches  of  the  Homa  plant 
which  were  before  him,  in  order  to  put  into  them  secret 
powers.'1  Zarathustra  then  praised  Soma  or  Homa  as 
follows:  "  I  praise  the  high  mountains  where  thou  hast 

*    ibid,  p.  145.  •    /ttrf.p.  159. 

8     Dr.  Haug's  Religion  of  the  Parsees,  pp.  219-220;  also  Chapter  IV  of  this 
book.    (pp.  60-6 1.) 


i8o  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

grown,  Homa !  I  praise  the  Earth,  the  wide,  which  is  full  of 
ways,  labouring,  thy  Mother,  Homa!"1  This  conversion  of 
Zarathustra  to  the  Soma  cult  is  remarkable,  in  as  much  as  it 
goes  to  show  that  his  followers  came  from  Sapta-Sindhu  where 
the  Soma-sacrifice  prevailed.  The  Soma  plant,  as  our  readers 
will  remember,  grew  nowhere  else  excepting  on  the  Himalaya 
and  in  some  regions  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  One  of  the  reasons 
why  the  Soma  plant  was  substituted  by  another  plant  by 
Zarathustra  may  have  been  its  scarcity  in  Airyana  Vaejo 
where  the  plant  did  not  probably  take  kindly  to  the  soil. 

41  It  is  plain,"  says  Dr.  Issac  Taylor,  '•  from  the  character 
of  the  culture  words  common  to  Zend  and  Sanskrit  that  the 
Indians  and  Iranians  had  before  their  separation  advanced 
farther  in  the  path  of  civilisation  than  any  of  the  other  Aryan 
nations.  They  knew  themselves  as  a  united  people  (Sanskrit 
Arya,  Zend  Airya).  They  had  common  words  for  bridge, 
column,  battle,  fight,  sword,  spear,  and  bow-string,  and  they 
could  count  up  to  a  thousand.  But  the  agreement  in  religious 
terms  is  the  most  striking  proof  of  the  stage  of  culture  they 
had  reached.  They  had  common  words  for  priest,  sacrifice, 
song  of  praise,  religious  aspergation,  for  heroes  and  demons, 
and  for  Mithra,  the  God  of  Light.  The  chief  Indian  God, 
Indra,  the  god  of  storms,  who  in  the  Rgveda  is  a  beneficent 
deity,  becomes  in  the  Avesta  a  malignant  power.  It  was 
formerly  believed  that  a  religious  schism  was  the  primary 
cause  of  the  separation  of  the  Indians  and  Iranians,  but  this 
notion  is  now  universally  given  up."  2 

Dr.  Taylor  does  not  say  on  what  grounds  has  this 
notion  been  universally  given  up.  But  if  it  has  really  been 
given  up  by  the  Western  scholars,  so  much  the  pity  for 
historical  truth.  The  very  fact  that  Indra,  not  merely  "  the 
God  of  storms,"  but  the  mightiest  beneficent  deity  of  the 
Vedic  Aryans,  was  regarded  by  the  Iranians  as  a  malignant 

1     Dr.  Haug's  Religion  of  the  Par  sees,  pp.  167-168. 

of  the  Aryans,  pp.  189-190.     (Second  Edition,  1893.) 


X.]  RELIGIOUS  DISSENSION.  181 

power  goes  to  the  very  root  of  the  religious  dissension 
between  the  two  sects,  and  points  to  the  real  cause  of  their 
separation,  as  we  have  shown  very  clearly  in  these  pages 
from  evidences  adduced  both  from  the  Vedic  literature  and 
the  Zend-Avesta.  It  is  therefore  extremely  surprising  to  be 
told  that  religious  schism  was  not  the  primary  cause  of  their 
separation.  The  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda  felt  such  a  great 
repugnance  for  the  name  of  Indra,  to  whose  prowess  were 
ascribed  their  defeat  and  slaughter  by  Vedic  Aryans,  that 
they  came  to  look  upon  him  as  Devil  himself,  and  his  votaries 
as  Devil-worshippers,  though,  strangely  enough,  Indra's 
epithet  of  Vrtraghna  was  retained  by  them  as  the  epithet 
of  their  supreme  angel.  The  Soma  sacrifice  also  was  at 
first  discarded  as  unworthy  of  the  followers  of  Ahura  Mazda, 
not  only  on  account  of  the  intoxicating  properties  of  the 
Soma  drink,  but  also  because  it  was  mainly  connected  with 
the  worship  of  Indra  and  thus  savoured  of  the  Devil.  But  as 
ancient  custom,  like  superstitions,  die  very  hard,  Zoroaster 
had  to  re-introduce  it  in  the  rituals  under  the  very  old  name, 
though  the  drink  was  made  less  intoxicating  by  an  altogether 
different  process  of  preparation.  In  the  face  of  these  and 
the  other  evidences  dealt  with  in  this  and  the  previous 
chapter,  it  would  be  bold  to  assert,  that  religious  schism  was 
not  the  primary  cause  of  the  separation  of  the  two  sects. 

We  have  already  stated  the  opinions  of  Spiegel  and 
Bunsen  about  the  probable  situation  of  Airyana  Vaejo,  the 
Paradise  of  the  Iranians,  where  they  settled  and  prospered 
after  their  expulsion  from  Sapta-Sindhu.  Whether  it  was 
situated  in  the  farthest  east  of  the  Iranian  plateau  at  the 
sources  of  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes,  or  on  the  table-land 
of  the  Pamir  and  Khokand,  there  can  be  no  question  that  it 
was  placed  on  sufficiently  elevated  land,  to  be  called 
"  Paradise,"  and  was  not  easily  accessible  ,to  their  enemies. 
But  it  has  been  mentioned  in  the  second  Fargard  of  the 
Vendidad  that  fatal  winters  fell  on  this  happy  land  which 
was  consequently  invaded  by  snow  and  ice,  and  thus  made 


182  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

unfit  for  human  habitation.  Yima,  the  ruler  of  the  land,  had 
been  previously  warned  by  Ahura  Mazda  about  this  impending 
calamity  and  advised  to  remove  to  another  place  with  "  the 
seeds  of  sheep  and  oxen,  of  men,  of  dogs,  of  birds  and  of  red 
blazing  fire  "  !  and  create  a  Vara  or  enclosure  there  for 
their  protection.  Mr.  Bal  Gangadhar  Tilak  thinks  that 
Airyana  Vaejo  was  situated  in  the  Arctic  region,  the  climate 
of  which  was  genial  before  the  advent  of  the  last  Glacial 
epoch  about  10,000  years  ago,  and  the  destruction  of  this 
happy  land  was  caused  by  the  invasion  of  snow  and  ice  when 
that  epoch  came.2  He  is  further  of  opinion  "  that  the 
Airyana  Vaejo  was  so  situated  that  the  inhabitants  of  Yima's 
V&ra  therein  regarded  the  year  only  as  a  day,  and  saw  the 
sun  rise  only  once  a  year."3  This,  according  to  him,  points  to 
the  situation  of  Airyana  Vaejo  in  the  Arctic  region.  The  V£ra 
was  undoubtedly  situated  in  the  Arctic  or  the  Circumpolar 
region,  because  the  year  there  was  only  a  day,  and  the  sun 
rose  only  once  a  year.  But  where  is  the  evidence  to  show 
that  these  were  also  the  physical  phenomena  and  characteris- 
tics of  Airyana  Vaejo  ?  When  Ahura  Mazda  first  informed 
Yima  about  the  impending  calamity  that  was  to  overtake  his 
country,  and  advised  him  to  remove  to  the  Vara  with  the 
seeds  of  birds,  beasts,  men  and  the  blazing  fire,  the  latter 
naturally  asked  Ahura  Mazda  :  "  O  Maker  of  the  material 
world,  thou  Holy  One  !  What  lights  are  there  to  give  light 
in  the  V4ra  which  Yima  made  ?  "  Ahura  Mazda  answered  : 
44  There  are  uncreated  lights  and  created  lights.  There  the 
stars,  the  moon  and  the  sun  are  only  once  (a  year)  seen  to 
rise  and  set,  and  a  year  seems  as  a  day."4  These,  then,  were 
the  physical  characteristics  of  the  V£ra  whither  Yima  was 
advised  to  go,  and  not  of  Airyana  Vaejo,  as  wrongly  concluded 
by  Mr.  Tilak.  The  physical  characteristics  of  the  V4ra  were 

1     Darmesteter. 

*    Tilak's  Arctic  Hone  in  the  Vcdas,  p.  381. 


*    Darraesteter. 


X.]  AIRYANA  VAEJO  AND  VARA.  183 

so  entirely  different  from  those  of  Airyana  Vaejo  that  Ahura 
Mazda  had  to  take  the  trouble  of  mentioning  them  in  exfenso 
for  Yima's  enlightenment.  If  they  were  similar  to  those  of 
Airyana  Vaejo,  he  would  have  said  so  very  briefly  without 
going  into  details.  Then,  again,  if  the  V£ra  were  situated 
within  Airyana  Vaejo,  the  mere  creation  of  an  enclosure  would 
not  have  saved  it  from  the  invasion  of  Ice  that  overtook  the 
whole  country.  If  there  be  any  truth  in  this  story,  the  fact 
probably  was  that  Yima  migrated  from  Airyana  Vaejo  to  the 
Circumpolar  region,  the  climate  of  which  was  genial  in  the 
Interglacial  period,  and  there  created  an  enclosure  for  the 
protection  of  his  beasts  and  men,  not  against  the  invasion  of 
Ice,  but  of  indigenous  savages.  As  regards  Airyana  Vaejo 
which  we  believe  to  have  been  situated  either  on  the  tableland 
of  Pamir  and  Khokand,  or  in  the  farthest  east  of  the  Iranian 
plateau,  it  remains  for  us  to  explain  how  it  was  destroyed  by 
the  invasion  of  Ice  and  made  unfit  for  human  habitation. 
Mr.  Tilak  says  :  "  It  seems  that  the  Indian  story  of  the  deluge 
refers  to  the  same  catastrophe  as  is  described  in  the  Avesta, 
and  not  to  any  real  deluge,  or  rain.  For  though  the  Satapatha 
Brahmana  mentions  only  a  flood  (aughah)y  the  word  prdleya^ 
which  Panini  (vii.  3.  2)  derives  from  pralaya  (a  deluge), 
signifies  *  snow,'  '  frost,'  or  '  ice '  in  the  later  Sanskrit 
literature.  1  his  indicates  that  the  connection  of  ice  with  the 
deluge  was  not  originally  unknown  to  the  Indians,  though  in 
later  times  it  seems  to  have  been  entirely  overlooked."1 
Though  this  explanation  is  very  ingenious,  it  cannot  be  gain- 
said that  the  Satapatha  Brihrnana  speaks  distinctly  of  &  flood, 
over  which  Manu  was  conveyed  in  a  ship  which  was  piloted 
by  a  great  fish  to  a  peak  of  the  "  Northern  mountain  "  (the 
Himalaya).  Now  this  flood,  as  we  have  more  than  once  said 
before,  was  probably  caused  by  the  sudden  upheaval  of  the 
bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  by  a  seismic  action  of  great 
intensity,  and  the  displaced  waters  must  have  covered  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  thereby  creating  a  flood.  These  waters  in  the  course 

1     Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p.  387. 


i84  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  drying  up  or  subsiding  must  have  generated  vast  volumes 
of  vapours  which,  having  been  carried  over  the  Himalaya, 
were  precipitated  on  the  high  altitudes  as  snow.  Airyana 
Vaejo,  having  been  situated  either  on  the  Pamir  or  the  Iranian 
plateau,  must  have  been  thus  invaded  by  snow  and  ice,  which 
caused  severe  winters  to  fall  on  the  land,  and  made  it 
uninhabitable  either  for  men  or  beasts.  The  occurrence  of 
an  extensive  and  destructive  flood  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the 
invasion  of  Airyana  Vaejo  by  ice,  would  thus  be  simultaneous 
events,  without  being  identical,  as  Mr.  Tilak  supposes  them 
to  be.  It  has  been  related  in  the  first  Fargard  of  the  Vendidad 
that  Angra  Mainyu,  the  destroyer,  destroyed,  in  opposition  to 
the  creation  of  Ahura  Mazda,  the  genial  climate  of  Airyana 
Vaejo,  by  bringing  in  severe  winter ;  and  he  also  destroyed 
the  genial  climate  of  Hapta-Hendu  by  bringing  in  "  pernicious 
heat."  Now,  it  is  a  geological  fact  that  the  drying  up  of  the 
Rajputana  Sea,  and  the  creation  of  an  extensive  desert  in  its 
place  affected  the  climate  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and  made  it 
excessively  hot  and  dry.  Similarly  the  precipitation  of  vast 
quantities  of  snow  on  the  tops  and  valleys  of  the  Himalaya, 
caused  by  the  vapours  of  the  displaced  waters  of  the  above- 
named  sea,  changed  the  climate  of  Airyana  Vaejo,  and 
ushered  in  long  and  severe  winters.  These  coincidences 
undoubtedly  go  to  prove  the  contiguity  of  the  two  countries. 
Mr.  Tilak's  contention,  therefore,  that  Airyana  Vaejo  was 
situated  in  the  Arctic  region  has  no  substantial  basis  to  stand 
upon. 

I  admit,  however,  that  the  V&ra,  to  which  Yima  removed 
with  his  men  and  beasts,  was  situated  somewhere  in  the 
Circumpolar  region,  probably  in  the  north  of  Russia,  where  a 
genial  climate  prevailed  in  the  pre-Glacial  epoch.  As  Yima 
could  not  migrate  to  the  south,  in  which  direction  was  situated 
Sapta-Sindhu,  inhabited  by  the  enemies  of  his  people,  he  was 
directed  by  Ahura  Mazda  to  proceed  to  the  north,  either  by 
crossing  the  Central  Asian  Sea,  if  the  sea  had  existed  in 
those  days,  or  by  land,  if  the  sea  had  disappeared  by  that 


X.]  SLAVONIC  AND  IRANIAN.  185 

time*  And  this  he  did  by  leading  his  colony  of  men  and 
beasts  to  North  Russia.  This  fact  of  Iranian  colonization  of 
North  Russia  in  some  remote  age  is  proved  by  linguistic 
evidence  also,  to  which  I  will  now  briefly  refer. 

As  early  as  1851,  in  his  edition  of  the  Ger mania  of 
Tacitus,  Dr.  Latham  stated  that  Li  thuanian  is  closely  related 
to  Sanskrit  and  no  less  archaic.  The  connection  between 
Greek  and  Indo-Iranian  has  been  established  by  Grassmann, 
Benfey,  Sonne  and  Kern.  Again,  Schmidt,  Ascoli,  Leskian 
and  Miklosich  have  proved  the  connection  between  In  do- 
Iranian  and  Slavonic.  It  has  been  ascertained  that  the 
affinities  of  the  Indo-Iranians  with  the  European  Aryans  are 
chiefly  with  the  Slavs  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  the  Greeks 
on  the  other.  l  Schmidt  also  showed  "  that  the  more  geo- 
graphically remote  were  any  two  of  the  Aryan  languages, 
the  fewer  were  the  peculiarities  they  possessed  in  common. 
Thus  while  there  are  fifty-nine  words  and  roots  peculiar  to 
Slavo-Lithuanian  and  Teutonic,  and  sixty-one  to  Slavo- 
Lithuanian  and  Indo-Iranian,  only  thirteen  are  peculiar  to 
Indo-Iranian  and  Teutonic.  Again,  while  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  words  and  roots  are  peculiar  to  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  ninety-nine  to  Greek  and  Indo-Iranian,  only  twenty  are 
peculiar  to  Indo-Iranian  and  Latin.  Hence  Slavonic  forms 
the  transition  between  Teutonic  and  Iranian,  and  Greek  the 
transition  between  Latin  and  Sanskrit."  2  This  clearly 
shows  that  a  branch  of  the  Iranians  must  have  migrated  from 
Iran  to  Russia,  and  this  migration  is  proved  by  Yima's  leav- 
ing Airyana  Vaejo  for  the  V£ra  in  the  Circumpolar  region, 
when  the  former  was  destroyed  by  ice  and  snow.  Subsequently, 
the  climate  of  Airyana  Vaejo  must  have  changed  to  make  it 
possible  for  the  Prophet  Zarathushtra  and  his  followers  to 
settle  in  that  country,  when  the  latter  were  finally  expelled 
from  Sapta-Sindhu  by  the  Vedic  Aryans. 

1     Tk*  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  pp.  2O-22. 

,  PP. 
24 


186  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

The  connection  of  the  Iranians  with  the  Slavs  is  further 
proved  by  certain  words  which  are  common  to  the  languages 
of  both  these  branches  of  the  Aryan  race.  "  Slavo-Lettic," 
says  Dr.  Taylor,  "  agrees  with  Indo-Iranian  in  the  designa- 
tion of  the  supreme  deity,  Bagu  (Sansk.  and  Iran.  Bhaga), 
in  the  word  for  marriage,  and  in  several  numerals ;  and  also 
in  two  cases  of  the  noun,  four  forms  of  the  verb,  and  certain 
forms  of  the  pronoun  ...Iranian,  Greek,  and  Slavonic  change 
£  into  h  between  two  vowels,  and  Iranian  and  Greek  replaces 
an  initial  s  by  A"  l  Elsewhere  he  says  : — "  In  the  Slavonic 
languages,  Bogu  denotes  the  supreme  deity.  The  word  is 
found  in  the  Rgveda  as  Bhaga}  which  means  the  distributor 
of  gifts,  especially  of  food,  and  is  used  as  an  epithet  of  the 
gods,  and  also,  seemingly,  as  the  name  of  a  subordinate  deity. 
In  the  Avesta  the  word  has  attained  a  larger  significance, 
and  is  applied  as  an  epithet  to  Mithra  and  also  to  Ahura 
Mazda,  who  is  called  Bhaga-BhagAnam,  God  of  gods.  The 
word  only  became  the  name  of  the  supreme  deity  among  the 
Slavs,  and  among  the  closely  related  Phrygians. "  2  We  need 
not  adduce  further  proofs  of  the  close  connection  of  the 
Iranians  with  the  Slavs.  But  some  European  savants  have 
inferred  from  this  the  origin  of  the  Aryans  in  Europe,  and 
assert  that  the  Indo-Iranians  emigrated  from  Europe  into 
Asia.  We  will  discuss  this  subject  in  greater  details  in  a 
subsequent  chapter.  All  that  we  now  say  is  that  this  theory 
is  untenable  in  the  face  of  the  evidence  we  have  adduced 
about  the  emigration  of  the  Iranians  from  Sapta-Sindhu, 
their  original  home,  into  Airyana  Vaejo,  and  thence  into 
Europe. 

It  is  just  possible,  however,  that  the  colony  led  by  Yima 
was  not  the  first  to  go.  Other  tribes  of  this  branch  of  the 
Aryans  had  emigrated  long  ago  into  Europe,  along  with  the 
half-savage  nomadic  tribes  of  the  race,  who  had  been  com- 

*     /bid,  p.  2?  i. 

,  p.  318. 


X.]  ARYAN  COLONIZATION.  187 

pelled  to  quit  Sapta-Sindhu  in  consequence  of  their  persecu- 
tion by  the  more  advanced  Vedic  Aryans.  The  route  of  their 
march  lay  through  Western  Asia  and  Southern  Europe,  as 
their  linguistic  affinity  with  the  Greeks  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Phrygians  on  the  other,  abundantly  testifies.  Some  of 
these  savage  tribes  must  have  been  the  ancestors  of  the 
Phrygians,  the  Slavs  and  the  Lithuanians  ;  while  others  were 
the  ancestors  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Celts.  The  Teutons 
were  the  mixed  products  of  these  nomadic  Aryan  tribes  and 
the  dolicho-cephalic  savages  known  as  the  Canstadts  or 
Neanderthals,  to  whom  they  imparted  such  culture  as  they 
possessed.  This  culture,  however ,  was  of  the  lowest  order, 
as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  Europe,  though  Aryanised  in 
early  prehistoric  times,  remained  in  the  neolithic  stage  of 
development  till  even  comparative  ly  recent  times. 

We  may  conclude  this  chapter  by  pointing  out  that  the 
immigration  of  Yima  to  Vara  in  the  Circumpolar  region  in 
the  pre-Glacial  period  points  to  the  vast  antiquity  of  the 
Indo-Aryan  civilisation,  as  the  Iranians  had  long  before  this 
event  left  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  settled  in  Airyana  Vaejo  in 
consequence  of  religious  d  issens  ions.  The  upheaval  of  the 
bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  and  the  invasion  of  Airyana  Vaejo 
by  Ice,  if  these  events  were  at  all  simultaneous,  must  have 
taken  place,  as  we  have  pointed  out  in  a  previous  chapter, 
long  after  the  composition  of  the  Rgveda  which  does  not 
contain  any  reference  to  the  Flood  or  the  Ice-Deluge.  This 
also  goes  to  establish  the  vast  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda 
itself. 


CHAPTER  XI- 

THE  PAN1S  OF  SAPTA-SINDHU,  THEIR  EXPANSION  IN  WESTERN 

ASIA  AND  THEIR  INFLUENCE  ON  SEMITIC,  EGYPTIAN 

AND  GREEK  CIVILISATIONS. 

The  Panis  have  been  mentioned  more  than  once   in   the 

previous  chapters.     We  have  shown  that   they   were  Aryans, 

belonging  to  the  trading  class,  who  traded  not   only   on  land 

but  also  by  sea,  and   were    notorious   for  their  avarice  and 

money-grabbing  spirit  that  made  them   highly  unpopular  with 

the  cultured  Aryans.     They  were  a  community  by  themselves, 

selfish,  narrow-minded,  intent  only  on  their  own  business  and 

gain,  and  seldom  coming  in  contact  with  the  high  culture  and 

speculative  thoughts   of   their    advanced   neighbours.     They 

did  not  perform  the   same    sacrifice,    nor   worship   the   same 

Gods  as  the  cultured   Aryans    did,    which    made   them    incur 

their  displeasure,  nay,    hatred.     They    lived    on    the   eastern 

sea-coast  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  on  the  banks   of   the    Gangd,  and 

were  famous  builders  of  ships,  for  the    construction    of  which 

they  procured  suitable   timbers   from   the    Himalaya,    which 

probably  were  brought  down  the  stream    in   floats.     Though 

hated  and  persecuted  by  the   Vedic    Aryans,    they   probably 

continued  to  live  in  Sapta-Sindhu  as  long  as  their  route  over 

the  sea  remained  open.     It    was   only    when    the   Rajputana 

Sea  disappeared  and  cut  them  off  from  the    outer   world  that 

they  probably  thought  of  abandoning    their    native   home   in 

search   of  a   land  that   would   give    a    free   scope   to  their 

trading  and  sea-roving   propensities.     T  hose    that   remained 

in  the  country  gradually  became    incorporated  into  the  Vedic 

Aryan   society,   and   became    the    ancestors   of  the    Vapiks 

of  later    times,    who    formed    the    third    twice-born   caste, 

known  as  the  VaiSya  caste.     Even  in  later  Sanskrit  Lexicons, 

the  Va^iks  came  to   be   identified   with   the    Panikas  who 

were  no  other  than   the   Pa$is  of   Rgvedic   times.1     That 


l  *&j*-Nirghanta: 


XI.]  PANIS  COLONIZE.  189 

• 

the  word  Vanik  was  derived  from  the  Rgvedic  word  Pani 
or  the  Sanskrit  word  Panika^  goes  without  saying.  The 
latter  word  is  still  traceable  in  the  Sanskrit  words  panya 
(merchandise),  and  Apana  or  bipani  meaning  the  place  where 
articles  of  trade  are  sold.  Originally,  panya  must  have  meant 
those  articles  only,  in  which  the  Partis  principally  traded ; 
but  afterwards  it  came  to  mean  any  article  of  trade. 

If  the  upheaval  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  was  due  to  the 
great  seismic  disturbance  that  caused  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Indo-Oceanic  Continent,  separating  and  isolating  its  rem- 
nants from  one  another,  the  present  configuration  of  the 
coasts  of  Southern  India  must  be  dated  to  that  time.  The 
Panis,  in  their  search  of  a  sea-coast  for  establishing  a  new 
colony,  would,  therefore,  naturally  first  select  the  coasts  of 
modern  Gujarat  for  this  purpose.  And  very  probably  they 
did  settle  there  for  sometime.  But  as  they  combined  in 
themselves  the  functions  of  both  traders  and  ship-builders, 
and  as  Gujarat  was  probably  poor  in  timber,  they  must  have 
moved  along  the  western  coasts  of  the  Deccan  Peninsula  in 
search  of  a  suitable  land  that  would,  in  the  first  place,  supply 
them  with  suitable  timber  for  ship -building,  in  the  second, 
afford  their  ships  a  safe  harbour,  and  in  the  third,  give  them 
sufficient  scope  for  trade  and  expansion.  The  narrow  strip 
of  land  between  the  mountain  range,  known  as  the  Western 
Ghats,  and  the  sea,  did  not  answer  and  satisfy  all  their 
requirments.  It  is  true  that  Southern  India  is  rich  in  Indian 
teak  which  grows  in  abundance  and  affords  excellent  material 
for  ship-building ;  but,  in  many  places,  the  mountains  rise, 
as  it  were,  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  sea  whose  breakers 
dash  up  against  their  sides  in  fury,  and  make  safe  navigation 
impossible  along  the  coasts.  The  Pauis  must,  therefore, 
have  moved  furthur  south  till  they  came  to  the  Malabar  coast 
which  was  not  only  rich  in  timber  ,  }  but  also  afforded  safe 

1  "  This  particular  tree  (the  Indian  teak)  is  to  be  located  with  more  than 
ordinary  accuracy :  it  grows  in  Southern  India  (Dekhan)  where  it  advances 
close  to  the  Malabar  coast,  and  nowhere  else ;  there  is  none  north  of  the 
Vindhya."  Rigorin's  Vtdic  India,  p.  205. 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

harbours  to  their  ships.  Rounding  the  island  of  Ceylon 
which  was  probably  in  those  days  connected  with  the  main- 
land, they  must  have  come  also  to  the  Coromondal  coast 
which  answered  their  purpose  equally  well  for  planting  a 
colony. 

It  is  also  probable  that  some  of  the  Panis  finding  the 
sea-route  closed  by  the  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana 
Sea,  sailed  with  their  ships  from  the  eastern  coast  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu  down  the  sea  then  occupying  the  Gangetic  trough, 
and  passing  out  into  the  Bay  of  Bengal  through  the  passage 
caused  by  the  depression  of  the  range  connecting  the  Raj- 
mahal  Hills  with  the  mountains  of  Assam,  navigated  along 
the  eastern  coast  of  the  Southern  Peninsula  till  they  found 
safe  harbour  on  the  Coromondal  coast  where  they  settled. 
In  these  regions  as  well  as  on  the  coasts  of  Malabar,  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  Dravidian 
race,  vis.,  the  Cholas  on  the  Coromondal  coast,  and  the 
Pandyas  on  the  Malabar  coast.  The  Panis  must  have  freely 
mixed  with  them  and  imparted  to  them  some  of  their  culture, 
in  as  much  as  of  all  the  Dravidian  tribes,  we  find  the  Pa"n- 
dyas,  the  Cholas  and  the  Keralas  or  Cheralas  to  be  the  most 
advanced  in  ancient  times,  and  playing  important  parts  in 
the  early  history  of  the  Southern  Peninsula.  But  they  must 
have  been  wild  savages  at  first,  like  the  Puliers,  the  Munda- 
vers,  or  the  Juangs  of  the  present  day.  It  was  only  when  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  Panis  that  they  probably  first  learnt 
the  arts  of  civilisation  and  became  advanced  peoples.  They 
must  have  learnt  from  them  not  only  the  use  of  iron,  but  also 
the  arts  of  agriculture,  ship-building  and  architecture  and  the 
process  of  irrigation  by  means  of  canals.  4<  The  Cholas,  M 
says  Mr.  Krishnaswami  Aiyangar, — "  were  great  builders  of 
not  only  cities  and  temples.. .but  also  of  useful  irrigation  works. 
. . .  That  they  maintained  an  efficient  fleet  is  borne  out  by  refer- 
ences  to  the  destruction  of  the  Chera  fleet  at  Kandatur  placed 
on  the  west  coast  by  Dr.  Hultzsch...  Ancient  Tamil  literature  is 
full  of  details  and  descriptions  of  the  sailing  craft  of  those 


XI.]  CHOLAS  AND  PANDYAS.  191 

days.  They  also  show  abundant  evidence  of  nautical  expe- 
rience by  the  figures  and  tropes  made  use  of  in  the  works. 
To  give  only  an  instance,  the  author  of  the  Epic  of  the 
Anklet  refers  to  beacon-lights  being  placed  on  the  tops 
of  palmyra  trunks  in  lamps  made  of  fresh  clay... on  dark 
nights  when  the  sea  was  rough."1  These  descriptions  un- 
doubtedly relate  to  facts  of  comparatively  recent  times.  But 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  later  civilisation  of  the  Cholas 
came  down  to  them  from  hoary  antiquity,  and  our  readers 
need  not  therefore  be  surprised,  if  they  are  told  that  it  was 
imparted  to  them  first  of  all  by  the  Panis.  The  very  fact 
that  the  Panis  were  renowned  ship-builders  in  ancient  times 
leads  us  to  surmise  that  the  Cholas  learnt  the  art  of  ship- 
building from  them,  as  well  as  the  arts  of  agriculture  and 
irrigation  by  means  of  canals.  These  latter  they  might  also 
have  learnt  from  the  other  Aryan  tribes  that  settled  in 
Southern  India  after  the  drying  up  of  the  Rajputana  Sea ; 
but  the  art  of  ship-building  could  only  have  been  imparted  to 
them  by  the  Pauls,  unless  we  suppose  that  they  learnt  it  in 
the  natural  course  of  their  own  evolution.  But  this  supposi- 
tion can  only  be  based  on  the  further  supposition  that  the 
Cholas  and  the  P£ndyas  were  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea- 
coasts  of  the  lost  Indo-Oceanic  Continent  from  time  imme- 
morial. If  the  Malabar  and  the  Coromondal  coasts  were 
their  original  homes,  very  lik  ely  these  regions  formed  parts 
of  inland  provinces  of  the  lost  continent,  and  the  sea  was 
far-off  from  these  places.  In  such  a  case,  their  natural 
evolution  as  sea-faring  peoples  from  very  early  times  would 
be  impossible.  It  was  only  when  the  sea  was  brought  near 
to  its  present  position  that  they  would  think  of  constructing 
crafts  for  navigating  it,  if,  of  course,  they  were  sufficiently 
advanced  in  civilisation  to  do  so — a  supposition  which  is  not 
supported  by  the  savage  condition  of  the  other  allied  tribes 
who  were  their  neighbours,  and  some  of  whom  are  still  in  the 

1     Aiyangar's  Ancient  India  p.  185. 


192  KGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

primitive  stage  of  civilisation.  But  if  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Indo-Oceanic  Continent  was  synchronous  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  then  the  necessity  that 
the  Panis  felt  for  founding  a  colony  on  the  new  sea-coasts 
would  naturally  bring  them  to  the  Malabar  and  the  Coromon- 
dal  coasts,  and  into  contact  with  the  original  inhabitants 
thereof.  For  these  reasons,  my  surmise  is  that  the  Cholas 
and  the  Pdndyas  were  uplifted  and  civilised  by  the  Panis 
first  of  all,  and  this  surmise  is  strengthened  by  the  subse- 
quent history  of  these  tribes,  which  will  be  related  later  on. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Panis  afterwards  emigrated  from 
the  coasts  of  Gujarat,  and  the  Malabar  and  the  Coromondal 
coasts  to  those  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  established  a  colony 
near  the  mouths  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  Though 
thus  removed  far  away  from  their  mother-land,  they  must  have 
kept  up  an  intercourse  with  her  coasts  for  a  long  time,  mainly 
in  the  interest  of  their  trade.  The  immigrants  to  Mesopo- 
tamia, however,  appear  to  have  left  their  new  colony, 
probably  after  a  long  sojourn,  not  only  because  it  was  very 
poor  in  timber  suitable  for  ship -building,  but  also  because 
they  must  have  been  ousted  from  occupation  by  the  invasion 
of  the  Semitic  hordes. 

Herodotus  says  that  the  Phoenicians  "formerly  dwelt,  as 
they  themselves  say,  on  the  coasts  of  the  Erythraean  Sea. 
From  thence,  they  passed  transversely  across  Syria,  and 
now  dwell  on  the  sea-shore  "  (of  the  Mediterranean).  Now, 
this  Erythraean  Sea  was  a  common  designation  of  the  sea  that 
modern  Geographers  call  by  the  name  of  the  Arabian  Sea 
which,  with  all  its  gulfs,  washes  the  shores  of  Arabia,  Persia, 
Baluchistan  and  Western  India.  If  the  Phoenicians  asserted 
that  they  had  immigrated  to  Phoenicia  from  the  shores  of 
the  Erythraean  Sea,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  they 
believed  that  their  ancestors  had  been  immediate  immigrants 
from  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  But  some  modern 
European  scholars  are  loath  to  place  any  credence  in  this 


XL]  MIGRATIONS  OF  PANIS.  193 

ancient  tradition  and  to  locate  their  original  home  on  these 
shores,  mainly  on  the  ground  that  they  were,  as  they  still  are, 
poor  in  suitable  woods  for  ship-building,  and  could  not  there- 
fore  have  afforded  any  scope  for  the  rise  of  a  maritime  people. 
As  a  write  r  says  :  "  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  particular 
regions  which  have  been  specially  represented  as  the  primi- 
tive home  of  the  Phoenicians,  namely,  the  Babylonian  coasts 
of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  those  which  lie  to  the  west  of  them, 
are  so  little  qualified  to  favour  the  rise  of  navigation, 
owing  to  the  want  of  suitable  woods  that,  as  Aristobulus 
informs  us,  when  Alexander  the  Great  conceived  the  idea  of 
bringing  the  coast  district  of  Eastern  Arabia  under  his 
dominion,  both  seamen  and  portable  ready-made  ships  had 
to  be  brought  from  Phoenicia  to  Babylon,  and  this  was 
actually  done  with  the  express  intention  of  making  of  Baby- 
lonia what  it  had  never  hitherto  been,  namely  a  second 
Phoenicia."  l 

These  observations  would  be  eminently  just,  if  these 
Babylonian  sea-coasts  were  represented  to  be  "  the  primitive 
home  "  of  the  Phoenicians.  But,  as  our  readers  have  already 
been  told,  if  the  Phoenicians  of  history  were  the  descendants 
of  the  Panis  of  Rgvedic  times,  their  "  primitive  home " 
would  be,  as  it  certainly  was,  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  from  which 
they  emigrated  to  the  coasts  of  Gujarat,  and  the  Malabar  and 
the  Coromondal  coasts,  and  thence  to  the  coasts  of  Babylonia. 
The  last-named  region,  however,  not  favouring  their  rise  as 
a  maritime  people  on  account  of  the  paucity  of  suitable 
woods,  they  were  compelled  to  leave  them  in  search  of  a 
more  suitable  country  which  they  at  last  found  in  Phoenicia 
on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  would  thus 
appear  that  Herodotus  faithfully  jotted  down  the  tradition 
that  had  been  current  among  the  Phoenicians  in  his  time, 
and  it  would  indeed  be  unjust  to  summarily  dismiss  it  with 
a  view  to  establish  the  theory  of  their  original  home  in  Syria. 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  262 


194  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

The  same  writer  says :  "  It  is  in  itself  probable  that  they 
were  originally  native  not  to  Phoenicia  but  to  some  place 
further  south,  and  in  the  interior  of  Palestine;  but  not 
because  we  have  information  to  that  effect,  but  solely  on 
account  of  the  outlying  position  of  their  settlements,  repre- 
senting the  most  northerly  extent  of  territory  of  the 
Canaanites.  Amongst  the  peoples  of  antiquity,  the  Phoeni- 
cian is  not  the  only  one  which  must  not  be  regarded  as 
autochthonous,  although  all  the  accounts  of  their  immigration 
which  we  possess  are  unworthy  of  credit."  1  An  argument 
like  this,  we  need  hardly  say,  is  far  from  convincing. 

The  tradition  of  their  immigration  from  the  coasts  of 
Eastern  Arabia  and  Babylonia  through  Syria  to  Phoenicia 
seems  to  us  to  indicate  one  of  the  real  lines  of  their  march, 
and  furnishes  the  reason  of  their  movement.  Phoenicia  was 
an  ideal  country  for  a  maritime  people  like  the  Pa^is  to  live 
in  and  prosper.  "  Phoenicia  proper,  even  in  the  most 
flourishing  state,  was  one  of  the  smallest  countries  of  anti- 
quity. It  comprised  that  part  of  the  Syrian  coast  extending 
from  Akko  to  Aradus  (Arvad), — a  narrow  strip  of  land  about 
two  hundred  miles  in  length  from  north  to  south,  and 
probably  nowhere  more  than  thirty-five  miles  in  width.  This 
short  line  of  coast,  rich  in  bays  and  harbours,  was  covered 
with  lofty  mountains,  many  of  which  ran  out  into  the  sea, 
and  formed  promontories,  and  whose  heights,  covered  with 
forests,  supplied  the  most  valuable  material  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  fleets  and  habitations  of  the  Phoenicians... The 
sea  which  broke  with  great  fury  upon  this  rocky  shore  had 
probably  separated  some  of  these  promontories  from  the 
main-land,  forming  little  islands  at  a  small  distance  from  the 
shore,  which  are  not  less  worthy  of  note  than  the  mainland 
itself,  being  everywhere  covered  with  extensive  colonies  and 
flourishing  cities."  2 

1     Ibid.  Vol.  II,  p.  162. 
»    Ibid,  Vol.  II,  p.  255. 


XI.]  PANIS  COLONIZE  SYRIA.  195 

Here,  then,  did  the  Phoenicians  find  a  suitable  country  to 
live  in,  that  satisfied  all  their  requirements  as  a  sea-faring 
people.  But  this  immigration  was  made  long  long  after  their 
leaving  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  must  have  taken  place  several 
thousand  years  ago,  and  of  which  they  had  only  a  vague  tradi- 
tion. In  the  course  of  their  wanderings  and  settlements  in 
various  lands,  they  intermingled  with  the  native  populations, 
and  could  not,  therefore,  retain  the  pristine  purity  of  their 
Aryan  blood,  but  were  transf  ormed  into  an  altogether  new 
people  neither  purely  Aryan,  nor  purely  Semitic,  nor  Tura- 
nian. Their  speech  also  underwent  a  thorough  change,  but 
like  the  Tamil-speaking  Aryans  of  Southern  India,  they  could 
not  help  retaining  some  words  of  Sanskrit  origin,  and  the 
names  of  some  of  the  Gods  whom  their  forefathers  had 
worshipped  in  Sapta-Sindhu. 

European  scholars  regard  the  Phoenicians  as  a  race  not 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  Canaanites,  especially  from  the 
various  elements  of  the  pre-Israelite  population  of  Palestine. 
They  regard  their  history  as  "  only  that  of  a  section  of  the 
Canaanite  race,  the  history  of  that  portion  which,  as  far  back 
as  the  times  to  which  the  earliest  historical  information  con- 
cerning this  territory  refers,  had  fixed  its  abode  not  in  the 
interior  of  Palestine  but  on  the  edge  of  the  sea... Although  in 
the  matter  of  descent  no  difference  can  be  discovered  between 
them  and  the  other  Canaanites,  historical  science  must,  never- 
theless, regard  them  as  a  different  people.  It  is  in  this  sense 
that  they  are  spoken  of  as  a  Phoenician  race,  the  Phoenician 
people/*1  This  looks  like  a  tardy  and  halting  admission  of 
the  fact  that  though  the  Phoenicians  resembled  the  Canaanites 
in  many  respects,  there  was  something  in  their  character  and 
genius,  which  was  distinctly  their  own,  and  distinguished  them 
from  the  rest. 

In  the  opinion  of  eminent  geologists,  Phoenicia  was  an 
inhabited  country  at  some  wholly  pre-historic  period  long 

1    Ibid,  Vol.  II,  pp.  259*260. 


196  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

before  the  first  appearance  of  the  Semitic  race  in  that  land. 
"  It  is  in  no  way  probable  that  when  the  Phoenicians  chose  the 
low  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  Lebanon  Chain  as  their 
place  of  abode,  they  took  possession  of  a  tract  of  country 
which  had  as  yet  practically  no  population.  But  we  have 
not  the  slightest  grounds  for  guessing  the  stage  of  civilisation 
of  the  predecessors  whom  they  encountered  there,  nor  to 
what  race  these  belonged.  Certain  scholars  have  indeed 
sought  to  answer  the  question  why  it  was  in  Phoenicia  that 
in  early  times  a  much  higher  development  of  civilisation 
appeared  than  in  most  of  the  other  countries  inhabited  by 
members  of  the  Semitic  family  of  peoples,  by  the  hypothesis 
that  the  branch  of  Semites  that  immigrated  there  found,  as 
did  those  who  settled  in  Babylonia,  a  population  entirely 
different  in  endowments  and  descent,  who  had  long  been  in 
possession  of  a  manifold  civilisation;  with  these  they  may 
have  intermingled,  and  from  the  complete  amalgamation  first 
proceeded  that  section  of  humanity,  which  bears  in  history 
the  name  of  Phoenicians.  This  hypothesis  has  no  other 
foundation  than  the  idea  that  otherwise  it  would  be  necessary 
to  attribute  to  a  Semitic  people  qualities  which  are  denied  to 
the  Semitic  family  generally."  l 

But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  above  hypothesis  has  a  more 
solid  foundation  than  a  mere  idea,  which,  however,  for 
obvious  reasons,  the  writer  has  failed  to  notice  ;  and  it  really 
explains  the  origin  of  the  Phoenicians  of  history,  who  were 
the  product  of  an  amalgamation  of  a  highly  civilised  people 
of  a  different  family,  inhabiting  the  sea-coast,  and  the 
Semites  who  immigrated  there  subsequently.  The  amalga- 
mation became  so  complete  that  the  Semitic  type  ultimately 
predominated  in  the  race,  and  hence  they  are  usually  called  a 
Semitic  people.  It  is  needless  to  say  here  that  the  original 
people  whom  the  Semitic  immigrants  found  on  the  sea-coast 
in  a  high  state  of  civilisation  were  no  other  than  the  Panis  of 

»    Ibid,  Vol.  II,  pp.  363-364. 


XI.]  CULTURE  SPREAD  BY  PANIS.  197 

Vedic  India,  who  had  ultimately  settled  there  after  their  long 
sojourn  in  various  lands,  the  last  being  the  shores  of  the 
Persian  Gulf.  This  would  clearly  explain  why  the  civilisa- 
tion of  the  Phoenicians  was  more  highly  developed  than  that 
of  the  other  sections  of  the  Semitic  family. 

The  Panis,  while  settling  on  the  fertile  plains  near  the 
mouths  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  must  have  found  the 
original  inhabitants  in  an  extremely  savage  and  wild  state, 
not  knowing  the  use  of  agriculture,  or  any  of  the  arts  that 
help  men  to  advance  on  the  path  of  civilisation.  It  was  the 
Panis  who  first  lighted  up  the  torch  of  culture  among  them, 
and  reclaimed  them  from  barbarism.  It  can  therefore  be 
asserted  that  the  civilisation  of  Western  Asia  was  first  born 
on  the  shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  from  which  it  gradually 
spread  northwards.  A  writer  says .  "  It  is  pure  supposi- 
tion to  say  that  civilisation  in  Babylonia  started  out  from  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  spread  from  there  towards 
the  north,  but  it  is  a  supposition  which  has  a  high  degree  of 
probability.  In  this  direction  points  the  old  legend  of  Baby- 
lonians, as  Berossus  relates  it,  which  describes  the  origin  of 
civilisation  in  the  legend  of  the  divine  fish-man  Cannes  (or 
Musarus  Cannes)  who  came  up  in  the  morning  from  the 
Erythraean  Sea,  instructed  the  inhabitants  of  Chaldea,  who 
were  still  living  like  animals,  in  the  arts  and  sciences,  and 
then  in  the  evening,  disappeared  under  the  waves.  This 
fibh-god  has  long  since  been  recognised  as  the  god  who  is  so 
frequently  depicted  on  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  monuments, 
and  it  can  now  hardly  be  longer  doubted  that  he,  the  god  of 
waters,  or  rather  the  source  of  light  and  fire  in  the  waters, 
is  the  god  Ea.  This  god  with  his  circle  is  without  doubt 

indigenous  to  Southern    Chaldea Thus    if   legend   traces 

the  culture  of  the  Chaldeans  from  the  instruction  of  this  god, 
this  is  the  origin  of  the  tradition  that  his  worshippers,  who 
must  have  been  mariners  and  dwellers  on  the  sea-coast} 
introduced  this  civilisation  into  Chaldea."1 

1    Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p,  535. 


ig8  FLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

This  fish-man,  as  has  been  suggested  in  the  above 
extract,  was  undoubtedly  the  leader  or  deity  of  those  ancient 
mariners  who  visited  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and 
helped  to  spread  civilisation  among  the  aboriginal  savages, 
who  regarded  their  teachers  more  as  denizens  of  the  deep 
than  landsmen  like  themselves,  as  they  probably  used  to  live, 
while  reconnoitering  the  sea-coasts  for  a  suitable  settlement, 
in  their  ships  that  must  have  been  anchored  in  the  sea  far 
out  of  sight  of  the  aboriginal  population.  Hence  they  were 
called  fish-men,  and  their  leader  or  deity  the  fish-god.  Now 
it  was  to  the  interest  of  these  mariners  to  civilize  the  natives 
in  order  that  they  might  settle  down  and  prosper  in  this  new 
country  without  being  molested  by  them.  They  all,  therefore, 
set  themselves  to  this  task,  and  were  successful  in  their 
effort. 

These  early  mariners  could  have  been  no  others  than  the 
Panis  of  Sapta-Sindhu  who  traded  along  the  coasts  of  the 
Erythraean  Sea,  and  were  afterwards  compelled  to  leave  their 
original  home  in  search  of  countries  for  planting  colonies 
therein.  And  this  supposition  is  strengthened  by  th^  follow- 
ing observation  made  by  the  same  English  writer  a*  I  have 
quoted  above  :— "  The  people  who  brought  its  culture  ;to  the 
southern  coasts  of  Babylonia,  and  probably  also  to  UK  coasts 
of  Elam,  and  communicated  it  to  the  still  uncultured  races 
living  there,  seems  to  have  belonged  to  \\wA.  peaceful  commer- 
cial race  which  the  Hebrews  designated  as  the  *  Sons  of 
Kushyn  which  was  not  unlike  the  Phoenicians  and  was 
placed  in  the  same  category ;  a  race  which,  while  jealous  of 

1  In  the  PauraTLic  literature  of  the  Hindus,  mention  has  been  made  of  a 
country  named  Kuba  or  Kuba-dinpa,  which  is  identified  by  some  with  Southern 
India  or  Australia,  and  by  others  with  Africa.  Probably  it  was  applied  to  the 
whole  Indo-Oceanic  continent.  The  "  sons  of  Kush  "  therefore  might  mean 
the  peoples  of  the  Southern  Continent  whose  remnants  were  Southern  India, 
Burma,  East  or  South  Africa,  and  Australia.  As  the  Panis  came  from  the 
coasts  of  Southern  India,  they  would  rightly  be  called  "the  sons  of  Kush." 


XI.]  PHOENICIA.  199 

its  independence,  was  not  aggressive,   although   inclined  to 
colonisation,  and  to  making  distant  journeys."1 

There  can,  therefore,  be  no  doubt  about  the  identity  of 
the  people  who  first  brought  their  culture  to  Babylonia. 
They  were  the  Phoenicians,  or  people  like  them,  who  could 
not  but  be  the  Panis  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  The  characteristics 
of  the  race  as  described  above  fully  agree  with  those  of  the 
Panis.  These  peaceful  settlers  after  a  long  sojourn  in 
Babylonia  were,  as  we  have  already  said,  compelled  to  leave 
the  country  partly  on  account  of  the  absence  of  materials 
for  ship-building,  and  partly  for  political  reasons,  as  the 
country  was  invaded  and  conquered  by  the  turbulent  and 
uncivilised  Semites ;  and  they  marched  northwards  by  the 
overland  route  through  Syria  to  the  coasts  of  Lebanon,  where 
they  settled  again  to  their  occupations  which,  however,  were 
not  altogether  peaceful,  and  called  their  new  colony 
Phoenicia. 

Julius  Africanus,  a  Christian  Chronographer  who  wrote  in 
the  first  quarter  of  the  third  century  A.D.,  mentions  inci- 
dentally that  there  were  versions  of  Phoenician  history,  in 
which  the  latter  was  made  to  go  back  no  less  than  30,000 
years.2  Though  this  is  regarded  as  incredible  by  European 
savants,  there  may  be  an  element  of  truth  in  this  computa- 
tion. Their  sojourn  to  Babylonia  and  Western  Asia  from  the 
shores  of  Southern  India  was  made  in  pre-historic  times 
which  must  have  been  several  thousand  years  before  the 
Christian  Era,  if  not  exactly  30,000  years,  as  mentioned  by 
Julius  Africanus. 

The  long  contact  of  the  Panis  with  the  Dravidians,  the 
aborigines  of  Babylonia,  and  the  Semites,  and  their  complete 
separation  from  the  Vedic  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  the  parent 
stock  from  which  they  were  descended,  wrought  a  thorough 
change  in  their  language,  manners,  and  modes  of  life,  though 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I   p.  536. 
»    Jbid,  Vol.  II,  p.  264. 


ado  IlGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

from  a  conservative  instinct  they  retained  the  names  of  and 
worshipped  some  of  the  Vedic  Gods.  "  The  Phoenician  reli- 
gion was  of  a  distinctively  natural  type.  The  active  and  the 
passive  forces  of  Nature  were  symbolised  by  male  and  female 
deities,  as  in  Egypt,  but  the  Phoenician  Gods  were  more  defi- 
nitely associated  with  the  heavenly  bodies  than  the  Egyp- 
tian."1 In  the  Phoenician  cosmogony,  the  beginning  of  all 
things  was  a  moving  and  limitless  chaos  of  utter  darkness. 
After  the  lapse  of  ages,  this  agitated  air  became  enamoured 
of  its  own  first  principles,  and  from  this  embrace  was  gene- 
rated Mot,  which  some  interpret  mud,  (Sanskrit  Mrit}>  and 
others  the  putrefaction  of  a  watery  mixture.  From  this  the 
universe  came  forth,  first  living  creatures  without  sensation, 
then  intelligent  beings  in  shape  like  an  egg.  From  this,  too, 
the  sun,  moon  and  stars  were  evolved  ;  and  the  heat  and  light 
generated  clouds,  winds  and  rain/2  The  principal  divinity  of 
the  Phoenicians  was  Baal  or  the  Sun,  and  this  name  came  to 
be  equivalent  to  the  Supreme  God,  in  which  sense  it  was 
more  frequently  used  than  with  reference  to  his  original 
character  of  Sun-God.  Another  name  of  the  Sun  was 
Ouranus  which  is  the  same  as  the  Vedic  Varuna. 

From  the  above  brief  account,  it  would  appear  that  the 
Phoenicians  retained  a  mutilated  form  of  Rgvedic  cosmogony, 
and  were  Nature-worshippers  like  the  Aryans  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  their  principal  deities  being  Baal,  the  Sun-god,  and 
Ouranus  or  Varuna.  Now  this  god  Baal  or  Vala  is  also  men- 
tioned in  the  Rgveda,  and  identified  with  the  Sun.  The 
Rbhus,  whom  Sdyana  identifies  with  solar  rays,  were  the  sons 
of  Vala  or  Baal  (Rv.  iv.  33,  34,  35,  36  and  37).  Fire  also 
was  called  a  son  of  Vala  (Rv.  iv.  18).  The  Panis  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  under  the  leadership  of  Bfbu,  were  the  votaries  of 
the  Rbhus.  The  Phoenicians  worshipped  a  god  named  Res- 
chufi  which  word,  for  aught  we  know,  may  be  a  corruption  of 

'    Ibid,  Vol.  II,  p.  350. 
•     Ibid,  Vol.  II,  p.  349- 


XL]  THE  PHOENICIANS.  201 

the  Vedic  word  Rbhti.  As  the  Pagis  were  opposed  to  the 
worship  of  Indra,  and  were,  therefore  put  down  by  the  Kg- 
vedic  Aryans  as  Asuras  or  unbelievers,  the  name  of  their  God 
Baal,  although  it  represented  the  Sun-god,  came  to  be  identi- 
fied with  Vftra  who  stole  the  cows  and  <2iM0V^&L  gods. 
(Rv.  i.  ir,  5).  The  Pauls  also  were^ 
in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  we 
legend  of  Sara  ma  and  the  Pauls,  aj 
if  their  God  al? o  was  identified 
(rain-clouds  or  solar  rays)  and  ke| 
dark  cave.  In  the  land  of  their 
however,  the  Panis  having  probabl) 
ated  in  consequence  of  their  contac 
became  worse  than  cattle-lifters. 
slaves  at  ridiculously  low  prices  but  kidnapped  men,  women 
and  children  from  the  neighbouring  countries.  "  These 
spoilers  hunted  the  coasts  and  harbours  of  Phoenicia,  Asia 
Minor  and  Syria,  and  either  exacted  a  high  ransom  from  the 
relatives  of  their  captives,  or  sold  them  in  the  public  slave- 
markets.  During  the  mo<t  prosperous  period  of  the  slave-trade, 
we  find  the  Phoenician  slave-dealers  everywhere,  even  on  the 
fields  of  battle,  where  they  followed  the  fortunes  of  war  as 
peddlers  and  purveyors.  The  booty  which  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  soldiers  was  at  once  purchased  by  these  traffickers,  and 
the  little  children  and  women,  whose  transport  would  have 
been  difficult,  were  sold  to  them  at  a  very  low  price,  or 
exchanged  for  wine  or  some  other  commodity  valued 
by  the  soldiers.  The  beautiful  women  and  boys  of  Greece 
had  from  early  times  been  introduced  into  the  East  as  slaves. 
In  Homeric  times  they  commanded  a  higher  price  than  any 
other  commodity,  and  they  were  brought  by  Phoenician 
pirates  as  prisoners  of  war  to  Egypt  and  Palestine."1 

The  Phoenicians,  in   the   time   of   Homer,    "  visited   the 
Greek  islands  and  the  coasts  of  the  continent   as   robbers   or 

»    /«*  Vol,  II,  pp.  344-345. 
26 


202  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

merchants,  according  as  circumstances  offered.  They  came 
with  trinkets,  beads  and  baubles,  which  they  sold  at  a  high 
price  to  the  inexperienced  and  unwary  Greeks  ;  and  they  thus 
gained  opportunities  of  kidnapping  their  boys  and  girls,  whom 
they  turned  to  good  account  in  the  Asiatic  slave- markets,  or 
who  .tfere  redeemed  at  heavy  ransoms  by  their  parents  and 
countrymen.  A  most  faithful  and  lively  picture  of  the  state 
of  society  in  these  respects  is  drawn  by  the  Greek  bard  him- 
self in  the  narrative  which  he  makes  Eumaeus  relate  of  his 
birth  and  early  adventures/'1 

It  would  thus  appear  that  they  became  worse  pests  in 
Western  Asia  and  Southern  Europe  than  they  had  been  in 
Sapta-Sindhu.  It  was  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  the  God  Baal, 
whom  the  Phoenicians  worshipped  came  to  be  looked  upon  by 
the  Vedic  Aryans  as  a  dark  malevolent  deity  like  Vjrtra,  for 
it  was  natural  to  believe  that  the  character  of  the  votaries  of 
a  particular  God  was  moulded  and  influenced  by  that  of  the 
God  himself. 

The  name  of  Our  anus  which  was  also  applied  to  Baal  by 
the  Phoenicians  is,  as  we  have  said,  clearly  traceable  to  the 
Vedic  Varuna ;  and  this  name  represented  one  of  the  oldest 
gods  of  the  Aryans,  being  an  Aditya  or  Sun-god,  though 
more  correctly  speaking,  the  Sun  of  Night,  and  also  the  Lord 
of  the  Ocean.  The  worship  of  Baal  was  introduced  by  the 
Panis  into  their  first  settlement  on  the  coasts  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  where  also  it  became  a  principal  deity  among  the 
ancient  Babylonians  and  Assyrians. 

"  In  religious  doctrine  they   were   more  receptive  than 

productive Instead  of  continuing  through  free  speculation 

what  is  understood,  or  impressing  an  idiosyncratic  national 
stamp  on  what  was  foreign,  they  reduced  the  fundamental 
elements  to  a  complicated  convolution  of  ideas,  devoid  of 
clear  forms  or  ethical  foundations.  As  their  life  was  so 
permeated  with  the  mercantile  spirit,  they  placed  their  divini- 
t  Vo|  H(  p  ^ 


XL]  THE  PHCENICIANS.  203 

ties  in  direct  relation  with  appearances  of  practical  experience, 
and  desecrated  the  deep  doctrines  by  material  significations, 
by  lasciviousness  and  by  cruel  practices."1  This  is  a  most 
faithful  description  of  their  character  that  made  them  so  un- 
popular with  the  Vedic  Aryans. 

Of  their  cruel  practices,  one  may  be  mentioned  here,  viz.y 
the  practice  of  human  sacrifice.  On  the  occasion  of  any  extra- 
ordinary calamity,  an  unusual  number  of  victims  was  sacrified, 
but  human  sacrifice  was  also  part  of  the  established  ritual,  and 
every  year  a  youthful  victim  was  chosen  by  lot.  "  Infants  were 
burnt  alive,  and  the  most  acceptable  of  all  sacrifices  was  that 
of  an  only  child.  The  image  of  Saturn  was  brass,  the  out- 
stretched hands  were  hollowed  so  as  to  receive  the  body  of  the 
child,  which  slid  thence  to  a  fiery  receptacle  below.  Mothers 
brought  their  infants  in  their  arms,  and  quieted  them  by  caress- 
es till  the  moment  they  were  thrown  into  the  flames,  since  any 
manifestation  of  reluctance  would  have  rendered  the  sacrifice 
unacceptable  to  the  God."2  If  the  Panis  practised  this  cruel 
custom  in  Sapta-Sindhu  also,  we  should  not  wonder  at  the 
strong  hatred  the  Vedic  Aryans  felt  towards  them  and  their 
religion. 

But  with  all  their  faults,  draw-backs,  and  shortcomings,  the 
Panis,  or  Phoenicians  as  we  should  now  call  them,  are  credited 
with  helping  the  advancement  of  civilisation  in  the  ancient 
Western  world  to  a  very  large  extent.  It  is  a  strange  dispensa- 
tion of  God  that  both  in  the  olden  and  modern  times,  the  selfish 
and  greedy  merchants  should  be  selected  for  the  outspread 
of  a  particular  civilisation  in  other  lands.  As  the  European 
merchants  have  paved  the  way  for  the  spread  of  Western 
culture  in  Eastern  lands,  so  did  the  Panis  also  help  to  spread 
the  culture  of  the  East  in  Western  countries  in  ancient  times. 
Of  course,  none  were  actuated  by  altruistic  motives  or  a 
missionary  spirit  to  undertake  this  noble  task.  But  their 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  tht  World,  Vol  II,  p.  354- 

«     Hist.  Hist,  ofth?  World,  lbidt  Vol.  II,  p.  35 1. 


204  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

inordinate  love  of  gain  and  restless  spirit  of  adventure  took 
them  far  away  from  their  homes,  and  brought  them  into 
contact  with  different  peoples  in  different  climes,  who  could 
not  help  imbibing  some  of  their  culture  as  well  as  their 
vices.  It  is  probably  thus  that  God  fulfils  himself  in  History. 
To  sum  up :  The  Panis,  after  leaving  Sapta-Sindhu 
through  sheer  necessity  arising  out  of  adverse  circumstances, 
first  settled  down  on  the  coasts  of  Southern  India  among  the 
Cholas  and  the  Pandyas  who  could  not  help  imbibing  a 
portion  of  their  culture  and  spirit  of  adventure.  Thence 
they  proceeded  towards  the  coasts  bordering  on  the  Persian 
Gulf,  followed  by  the  Cholas,  and  settled  there  for  a  pretty 
long  time,  keeping  up  a  close  and  constant  communication 
with  the  sea-coasts  of  Southern  India,  and  imparting  such 
culture  to  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  their  new  colony  as 
was  calculated  to  make  them  friendly  and  helpful,  instead  of 
antagonistic  to  the  principal  vocation  of  their  life,  viz.}  trade. 
When  subsequently  this  colony  was  invaded  by  the  strong, 
though  comparatively  uncivilised  Semites,  the  Panis  not 
finding  the  country  any  longer  congenial  to  the  successful 
pursuit  of  their  vocation,  moved  on  towards  the  north  and 
settled  down  on  the  sea-coast  of  Syria,  which  they  called 
Phoenicia,  or  the  Land  of  the  Panis  or  Pa^ikas.  This  land 
furnishing  them  with  full  facilities  for  trading  in  the  islands 
of  the  Greek  Archipelago,  Southern  Europe  and  Northern 
Africa,  and  for  manufacturing  articles  of  trade  with  the  help 
of  the  vast  number  of  slaves  whom  they  captured  or  bought 
at  nominal  prices,  the  Panis  soon  became  a  prosperous  and 
powerful  people,  founding  colonies  in  the  islands  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  on  the  coasts  of  Northern  Africa.  Carthage 
was  a  Phoenician  colony  and  every  student  of  ancient  history 
knows  what  important  parts  she  played  in  historic  times  in 
Southern  and  Western  Europe.  In  all  the  islands  and 
countries  where  they  settled,  the  original  inhabitants  coming 
in  contact  with  them  learnt  from  them  the  arts  of  civilised 
life.  They  traded  by  sea  as  far  north  as  the  coast  of  Great 


XI.]  SUMMARY.  205 

Britain  and  ancient  Gaul  and  even  Scandinavia,  whose 
original  inhabitants  also  learnt  from  them  the  use  of  the 
metals  and  the  art  of  agriculture.  In  this  way  the  Panis,  or 
the  Phoenicians,  spread  Aryan  culture  not  only  among  the 
Semitic  peoples  of  Western  Asia  and  Arabia,  but  also  among 
the  early  pre-historic  inhabitants  of  Egypt  and  of  North 
Africa,  and  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Iberians,  the  Celts 
and  the  Gauls  of  Europe.  Professor  Nilsson  has  attempted 
to  show  that  the  Phoenicians  had  settlements  far  up  on  the 
northern  shores  of  Norway  also,  where  they  spread  the 
worship  of  their  God  Baal  (vide  Appendix  to  this  Chapter). 
It  is  simply  wonderful  to  contemplate  how  an  Aryan  tribe, 
originally  small  and  insignificant,  and  driven  out  of  their 
home  for  their  vicious  ways  and  manners,  helped  in  the 
course  of  several  thousand  years  to  spread  such  culture  as 
they  possessed  over  a  large  portion  of  the  then  known  world. 
Having  been  traders,  they  were  of  necessity  the  first  to 
invent  and  develop  a  purely  alphabetical  script  which  was 
afterwards  borrowed  and  improved  upon  by  the  Greeks. 
The  Semites  also,  with  their  help  and  that  of  the  Chaldees  or 
Chaldeans  whom  we  shall  find  in  the  next  chapter  to  be  the 
Cholas  of  Southern  India,  made  rapid  strides  towards  progress 
and  founded  the  famous  kingdoms  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
to  which  also  early  European  civilisation  was  immensely 
indebted  The  ancient  Egyptians  also,  who  are  supposed 
to  be  an  amalgamation  of  the  Punic  race  (the  Panis),  the 
Pandyas  of  the  Malabar  coast  of  Southern  India  and  the 
prehistoric  peoples  of  the  land,  developed  a  civilisation  which 
influenced  European  civilisation  to  a  very  large  extent.  The 
Greeks  received  their  culture  from  the  Phoenicians,  the 
Babylonians  and  the  Egyptians,  and  imparted  it  to  the 
Romans,  and  the  latter  in  their  turn  imparted  it  to  the 
Iberians,  the  Celts,  the  Teutons  and  the  Slavs.  But  we  are 
afraid  that  we  are  anticipating  too  much  in  this  chapter. 
The  interesting  romance  of  the  expansion  of  Indo-Aryan 
civilibation  from  Sapta-Sindhu  and  the  Deccan  over  Western 


zo6  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Asia,  Egypt,  Northern  Africa  and   Europe   will  be  told  more 
elaborately  in  subsequent  chapters. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XI. 

Writing  about  Phoenician  influence  on  Pre-historic  Europe,  Lord  Avebury 
thus  observes  in  his  Prehistoric  Times,  pp.  67-71,  (Ed.  1912) 

"  We  are  surely  quite  justified  in  concluding  that  between  B.  C.  1500  and 
B.  C.  1200  the  Phoenicians  were  already  acquainted  with  the  mineral  fields  of 
Spain  and  Britain,  and  under  these  circumstances  it  is,  I  think,  more  than 
probable  that  they  pushed  their  exploration  still  farther,  in  search  of  other 
shores  as  rich  in  mineral  wealth  as  ours.  The  amber  also,  so  much  valued  in 
ancient  times,  could  not  have  been  obtained  from  the  coast  of  the  German 
Ocean. 

"  Professor  Nilsson  has  attempted  M  ..to  show  that  the  Phoenicians  had 
settlements  far  up  on  the  northern  shores  of  Norway.  His  arguments  may  be 
reduced  to  seven,  namely,  the  small  size  of  the  sword-handles,  bracelets,  etc. ; 
the  character  of  the  ornaments  on  the  bronze  implements ;  the  engravings 
in  Bronze  Age  tumuli ;  the  worship  of  Baal ;  certain  peculiar  methods  of  reap- 
ing and  fishing  ;  and  the  use  of  war-chariots  . 

"The  implements  and  ornaments  of  bronze  certainly  appear  to  have 
belonged  to  a  race  with  smaller  hands  than  those  of  the  present  European 
nations.  This  indicates  an  Eastern,  but  not  necessarily  a  Phoenician  origin. 

"  The  ornaments  on  them  are  also  peculiar,  and  have,  in  Professor  Nilsson's 
opinion(  a  symbolic  meaning.  Although  the  great  stones  in  tumuli  attributed 
to  the  Bronze  Age  are  very  seldom  ornamented,  or  even  hewn  into  shape,  still 
there  are  some  few  exceptions,  one  of  these  being  the  remarkable  monument 
near  Kivik  in  Christianstad.  From  the  general  character  of  the  engravings, 
Professor  Nilsson  has  no  hesitation  in  referring  this  tumulus  to  the  Bronze 
Age,  and  on  two  of  the  stones  are  representations  of  human  figures,  which  may 
fairly  be  said  to  have  a  Phoenician  or  Egyptian  appearance. 

"  On  another  of  the  stones  an  obelisk  is  represented,  which  Professor 
Nilsson  regards  as  symbolical  of  the  Sun-God  ;  and  it  is  certainly  remarkable 
that,  in  an  ancient  ruin  in  Malta  characterized  by  other  decorations  of  the 
Bronze  Age  types,  a  somewhat  similar  obelisk  was  discovered  ;  we  know  also 
that  in  many  countries  Baal,  the  God  of  the  Phoenicians,  was  worshipped  under 
the  form  of  a  conical  stone. 

"  Nor  is  this,  by  any  means,  the  only  case  in  which  Professor  Nilsson  finds 
traces  of  Baal  worship  in  Scandinavia.  Indeed,  the  festival  of  Baal,  or  Balder, 
was,  he  tells  us;  celebrated  on  Midsummer's  night  in  Scania,  and  far  up  into 


XI.]  APPENDIX.  207 

Norway,  almost  to  the  Loffoden  Islands,  until  within  the  last  fifty  years.  A 
wood  fire  was  made  upon  a  hill  or  mountain,  and  the  people  of  the  neighbour- 
hood gathered  together  in  order,  like  Baal's  prophets  of  old,  to  dance  round 
it  shouting  and  singing.  This  Midsummer's-night  fire  has  even  retained  in 
some  parts  the  ancient  name  of  '  Balders-baal '  or  Balders-fire.  Leopold  von 
Buch  long  ago  suggested  that  this  custom  could  not  have  originated  in  a 
country  where  at  midsummer  the  sun  is  never  lost  sight  of,  and  where,  conse- 
quently, the  smoke  only,  not  the  fire,  is  visible.  A  similar  custom  also  pre- 
vailed until  lately  in  some  parts  of  our  islands.  Baal  has  given  his  name  to 
many  Scandinavian  localities,  as,  for  instance,  the  Baltic,  the  Great  and  Little 
Belt,  Belteberga,  Baleshaugen,  Balestranden,  etc. 

11  The  ornamentation  characteristic  of  the  Bronze  Age  is,  in  the  opinion  of 
Professsor  Nilsson,  decidedly  Semitic  rather  than  Indo-European.  He  lays 
considerable  stress  on  two  curious  '  vase-carriages, '  one  found  in  Sweden  and 
one  in  Mecklenburg,  which  certainly  appear  to  have  been  very  like  the  '  vases  ' 
made  for  Solomon's  temple,  and  described  in  the  first  Book  of  Kings.  Finally, 
he  believes  that  the  use  of  war-chariots,  the  practice  of  reaping  close  to  the 
ear,  and  a  certain  method  of  fishing,  are  all  evidences  of  Phoenician  intercourse. 

"  Professor  Nilsson  is  so  great  an  authority  as  an  archaeologist,  and  his 
labours  have  contributed  so  much  to  place  the  science  on  a  sound  basis,  that 

his   opinions   are   deserving   of   the   most   careful   consideration That    the 

Phoenicians  have  left  their  traces  in  Norway  is,  however,  in  my  opinion  all  that 
can  fairly  be  deduced  from  the  facts  on  which  he  relies,  even  if  we  attributed 
to  them  all  the  significance  claimed  for  them  b\  him  ..  .  As  regards  the  small- 
ness  of  hands,  we  must  remember  that  Hindoos  share  this  peculiarity  with 
Egyptians ,  this  character  is  therefore  not  less  reconcilable  with  an  Indo- 
European  than  with  a  Phoenician  origin  of  the  Bronze  Age  civilisation." 


CHAPTER  XII 

INDO-ARYAN  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  ANCIENT  CIVILISATIONS  OF 
BABYLONIA  AND  ASSYRIA. 

In  the  last  chapter,  we  have  related  the  legend  of  the 
Fish-god  (Musarus  Oannes)  who  first  taught  the  wild  and 
savage  inhabitants  of  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf  the 
rudimentary  arts  of  civilised  life.  This  Fish-god,  as  we  have 
already  said,  undoubtedly  represented  a  sea-faring  people  who 
visited  the  coasts  in  early  prehistoric  times,  and  could  have 
been  no  others  than  the  Panis  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  after- 
wards of  the  Deccan,  for  we  know  of  no  other  people  in  that 
dim  past,  who  were  sufficiently  advanced  to  undertake  sea- 
voyages.  These  Panis,  as  we  have  seen,  were  the  mariners 
par  excellence  in  those  ancient  days  and  continued  as  such 
down  to  historical  times.  We  have  further  seen  that  leaving 
India,  they  first  settled  down  on  the  fertile  coasts  of  the 
Persian  Gulf  as  colonists,  and  \\ere  either  accompanied  or 
followed  by  the  Cholas.  The  latter  were  probably  at  first 
pressed  into  their  service  as  sailors  and  artisans  or  husband- 
men, and  went  with  their  masters  to  this  new  colony.  Other 
Cholas,  probably  hearing  excellent  reports  of  the  country 
from  those  who  returned  from  the  voyages,  followed  the  first 
batch  of  immigrants  and  founded  a  colony  of  their  own.  As 
we  have  already  said,  it  was  undoubtedly  to  the  self-interest 
of  the  Panis  to  induce  a  large  number  of  the  Cholas  to  immi- 
grate and  settle  in  this  new  colony  where,  otherwise,  they 
would  be  in  the  midst  of  savages  and  find  no  facility  for 
carrying  on  their  trade.  The  Cholas,  having  long  ago  learnt 
the  art  of  agriculture,  naturally  felt  inclined  to  settle  in  this 
new  land  where  the  soil  was  exceedingly  fertile  in  conse- 
quence of  the  alluvial  deposits  of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates 
near  their  mouth.  As  the  Cholas  had  been  aryanised,  they 
probably  went  there  with  their  Gods  and  Aryan  priests,  and 


XIL]  CHALDEA.  209 

called  their  colony  Choladeta^  which  word  through  corrupted 
pronunciation,  came  to  be  known  as  Chaldea,  i.e.,  the  land 
of  the  Cholas.  This  land  was  the  "  Shinar "  land  of  the 
Semites,  and  the  Babylonia  of  the  Greeks. 

Chaldea  or  Babylonia  is  a  wide  plain  of  rich  brown  soil, 
about  a  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth,  where  the  two  rivers, 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  approach  most  nearly,  and  the 
banks  touch  the  so-called  Median  wall.  It  seems  that  the 
new  colonists  first  settled  down  in  the  land  of  Makan,  the 
district  of  the  mouth  of  the  two  rivers,  and  were  known  to 
the  early  inhabitants  as  Sumerians,  because  the  tract  of  land 
was  called  Sumer  with  its  capital  Ur.  The  colonists,  however, 
called  their  settlement  Chaldea,  and  hence  were  also  known 
by  the  name  of  Chaldees  or  Chaldeans. 

"  The  most  ancient  population  of  this  country/'  says  a 
writer  in  the  Historians'  History  of  the  World  (Vol.  I,  p.  341), 
"  formed  several  closely  related  races  which  had  no  connec- 
tion with  the  other  nations  of  Western  Asia ;  but,  in  the  course 
of  historical  evolution,  they  lost  their  language  and  nationality, 
and  were  submerged  in  the  neighbouring  races." 

"  It  is  coming  to  be  a  common  agreement  among  Assyrio- 
logists,"  he  continues,  "  that  the  original  peoples  of  Babylon 
were  of  a  race  that  was  not  Semitic.  Just  what  it  was,  these 
scholars  are  not  yet  prepared  to  say ;  although  the  inclina- 
tion of  belief  is  that  it  was  an  Indo-European  race  and  most 
probably  of  the  Turanian  family.  An  attempt  has  recently 
been  made  to  connect  the  aborigines  with  the  Urgo-Finnish 
branch  of  the  Ural-Altaic  family,  but  with  what  success  it  is 
still  too  soon  to  say.  But  whatever  these  peoples  the 
Sumerians  may  have  been,  they  occupied  the  land  of  Baby- 
lonia until  dislodged  by  a  great  wave  of  Semitic  migration."1 
"  That  the  Sumerians,  like  the  Semites,  were  not  an  autoch- 
thonous race  in  Babylonia  follows  from  the  condition  of  the  soil 
which  had  to  be  rendered  fit  for  agriculture,  and  indeed,  for 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  342. 


210  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

human  habitation,  by  a  system  of  canals.  Whence,  then,  did 
the  Sumerians  originally  come,  before  they  took  possession  of 
the  swampy  Euphrates  valley  and  settled  there?"1 

We  have  already  answered  this  question  by  asserting  at 

the  beginning  of  this  chapter  that  they  were  the  Cholas  of  the 

Coromondal  coast  of  Southern  India,  who  had  already  become 

a  cultured  people  under  the  direct  influence  of  Aryan  civilisa- 

tion, and  learnt  the  art  of  agriculture  by  the  construction  of 

canals,  from  which  they  irrigated    their   lands.     Yet,  we  shall 

endeavour  to  answer  it  more  fully  and   satisfactorily  in   this 

chapter  by  a  careful  study  of  the  ancient    civilisation  of  the 

Sumerians  or  Chaldeans  themselves.  Though  Professor  Joseph 

Hal£vy  is  of  opinion  that  the  earliest  civilisation  of  Babylonia 

was  developed  by  a  people   of  the  pure   Semitic  race,  yet, 

"  after  a  long  dispute,  carried  on  chiefly  by   philologists,  it  is 

now  generally  conceded   that   the    earliest    civilisation    of 

Southern  Babylonia  was  due   to   a    non-Semitic   people,   the 

Sumerians.     To  this  people,  it  would  seem,  must  be  ascribed 

the  honour  of  developing  the  chief    features  of  Mesopotamian 

civilisation,  including  the  invention    of   cuneiform   system  of 

writing."2     It  is  not  at  all  clear  at  precisely   what   time  the 

Semitic  people,  destined  ultimately  to    become   predominant 

in  this  region,  made  their  appearance  ;  but  u  as  early   as  the 

beginning  of  the  fourth  millennium  before  the  Christian  Era, 

the  Semitic  Babylonians   were   already  settled  in   northern 

Babylonia  and,  as  is  proved  by  the  Naram-sin  inscription  and 

several  dating  from  the  time  of  Sargon,  his  father  (Circa  3,800 

B.  C.),  had  already  acquired  the  Sumerian  character  (and,  by 

inference,  the  Sumerian  civilisation).     In  the  case  of  southern 

Babylonia,  the  discoveries  at  Telloh  has  put  us  in  possession 

of  a  number  of  sculptures  —  some   of   them    in    relief,   others 

severed  heads  of  statues   dating  from    the   period  between 

Circa  4,000   B.  C.  or  earlier,   and  Circa  3,000  B.  C.    These 


Vol.  I,  p.  337. 


XII.]  SUMERIANS  AND  SEMITES.  211 

present  two  different  types— one  is  characterised  by  a 
rounded  head  with  slightly  prominent  cheek-bones,  always 
beardless,  and  usually  with  clean-shaven  crown.  To  this  type 
certainly  belong  the  representatives  of  vanquished  foes  on  the 
archaic  sculpture,  known  as  the  Vulture  Stele,  though  the 
primitive  method  of  representing  the  brow  and  nose  by  a 
single  slightly  curved  line  gives  a  merely  superficial  resem- 
blance to  the  Semitic  cast  of  countenance.  The  other  is  a 
longer-skulled  (dolichocephalous)  type,  with  thick,  black  hair, 
and  long,  flowing  beard. 

"  It  is  certainly  by  no  mere  accident  that  the  heads  of  the 
Telloh  statues,  most  of  which  are  supposed  to  represent  kings, 
are  of  the  first-named  (Sumerian)  type,  while  the  bronze 
votive  offerings,  which  likewise  bear  the  name  of  Gudea,  are 
carried,  as  is  evidenced  by  a  glance,  by  Semites.  And  as 
there  were  Semites  among  the  subjects  of  Gudea,  where  the 
Sumerians  were  a  dominant  race,  so  we  find  the  same  Semitic 
type  clearly  marked  in  the  figures  round  the  stem  of  a  Vase, 
while  the  party  of  musicians  who  were  seen  approaching  with 
submissive  gestures  on  the  fragment  of  a  bas-relief,  which 
probably  also  dates  from  the  reign  of  Gudea,  must  likewise 
be  of  Semitic-Babylonian  descent. 

"  Fortunately,  ancient  Babylonian  art  gives  us  the  oppor- 
tunity, not  merely  of  studying  the  wholly  non-Semitic  language 
of  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  Babylonia  in  lengthy  bilingual 
original  inscriptions  such  as  many  of  the  statues  of  Gudea 
bear,  but  of  seeing  with  our  own  eyes  the  bodily  semblance 
of  this  singular  people,  and  so  observing  the  striking 
correspondence  of  non-Semitic  elements  in  speech  and  facial 
type.  In  this  connection  we  would  draw  attention  to  an 
ancient  Babylonian  statue  of  a  female  figure  now  in  the 
Louvre  at  Paris.  We  may  confidently  assume  that  the  woman 
represented  is  a  Sumerian,  and  not  a  Semitic  Babylonian; 
and  it  may  thus  be  regarded  as  a  splendid  counterpart  of  the 
Gudea  statues,  which  by  the  whole  character  of  workmanship 


212  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

it  c&lls  to  mind.  Whether  we  have  here  a  queen  or  some 
other  lady  of  high  rank  (the  supposition  that  she  is  a 
goddess  appears  to  be  excluded  by  the  absence  of  the  head- 
dress  goddesses  are  wont  to  wear)  cannot,  of  course,  be 
determined  with  certainty.  It  is  only  natural  that  various 
mixed  types  should  have  developed  in  course  of  time, 
especially  in  northern  Babylonia,  and  many  of  the  faces  we 
meet  with — on  the  seal-cylinders  more  particularly,  may  be 
representations  of  such."1 

It  is  clear  from  the  above  long  extracts  that  the  Sumer- 
ians  had  been  a  distinct  people  from  the  Semites  who  after- 
wards invaded  Babylonia  and  established  their  supremacy 
over  it,  and  advancing  farther  north,  founded  the  kingdom 
of  Assyria.  It  must,  however,  be  mentioned  here  that  the 
original  home  of  the  Babylonian  Semites  is  set  down  by 
orientalists  like  Eduard  Meyer  and  Sprenger  in  the  desert  of 
Arabia,  which,  according  to  them,  used  to  send  forth  the 
surplus  of  her  predatory  and  Bedouin  population  to  the  great 
pastoral  districts  in  the  vicinity,  that  is,  to  Palestine,  the 
plain  of  Mesopotamia  (Aram),  and  in  times  long  out  of  mind, 
to  northern  Babylonia  also.  But  this  theory  has  been  directly 
refuted  by  later  investigations  set  on  foot  by  A.  Von  Kremer, 
and  followed  up  by  Ign.  Guidi  at  Rome,  and  lastly  by 
Hommel  who  thinks  that  he  has  succeeded  in  proving  that 
"  the  people  who  afterwards  became  the  Babylonians  and 
Assyrians  must  have  separated  from  the  common  stock  in 
some  part  of  Central  Asia  where  the  lion  was  indigenous, 
and  emigrated  into  northern  Babylonia  through  one  of  the 
passes  of  the  Medio-Elamite  range,  certainly  no  later  than  the 
fifth  millennium  B.C."  Whatever  may  be  the  original  home 
of  the  Semitic  Babylonians,  it  would  be  interesting  and  of 
great  historical  importance,  if  some  philologists  oould  clearly 
establish  the  identity  of  the  family,  to  which  the  non-Semitic 
language  in  the  bilingual  inscriptions  on  the  statues  of  Gudea 

/bid.  Vol.  I,  pp,  34»-343. 


XII.]  SUMERIANS  AND  DRAVIDIANS.  213 

belonged.  If  it  be  found  to  have  belonged  to  the  Aryan, 
Dravidian  or  Dravido-Aryan  family,  the  hypothesis  that  tlte 
Sumerians  or  Chaldeans  came  from  India  would  be  established 
on  a  firm  and  sound  basis,  and  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  philologists  would  direct  their  earnest 
attention  to  make  researches  in  this  line,  though  it  must  be 
stated  here  that,  so  far,  the  result  of  their  spasmodic  and 
desultory  investigations  has  established  a  resemblance 
between  the  Sumerian  and  the  Dravidian  languages.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  "  it  must  be  understood  that  the  Sumerians, 
whatever  their  precise  racial  affinities,  were  a  different  people 
from  the  Semitic  races  that  superseded  them.  There  is 
reason  to  believe  that  they  were  an  essentially  creative  race, 
whereas  the  Semites,  and  in  particular,  the  Assyrians,  were 
pre-eminently  copyists  and  adapters  rather  than  originators. 
It  would  appear  that  all  the  chief  features  of  a  later  Assyrian 
civilisation  were  adumbrated,  if  not  indeed  fully  elaborated 
in  that  early  day  when  the  Sumerians  were  dominant  in 
southern  Babylonia.  Even  the  cuneiform  system  of  writing, 
with  all  its  extraordinary  complexities,  is  believed  by  philo- 
logists to  give  unequivocal  evidence  of  Sumerian  origin. ni 

As  regards  the  Babylonian  religion,  it  "  was  largely 
influenced  by  the  Sumerians,  which  was  an  astral  religion. 
The  names  of  the  Gods  are  found  written  with  the  same 
ideograms,  although  they  were  doubtless  pronounced 
differently."* 

That  the  Sumerianb  introduced  agriculture  in  Babylonia, 
which  they  carried  on  by  means  of  irrigation  from  a  number 
of  canals  specially  constructed  for  the  purpose,  has  already 
been  referred  to.  "  They  also  excelled  the  Semites  in  artistic 
spirit  and  ability,  perhaps  also  as  traders  and  mariners,  and 
the  latter  probably  imitated  the  former,  and  seldom  reached 


Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  461. 
Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  523. 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

them  and  never  superseded  them."1  It  would  thus  appear 
that  the  Suraerians  gave  their  indelible  stamp  over  the 
ancient  civilisation  and  religion  of  the  Babylonians  and  the 
Assyrians,  to  which  again  modern  European  civilisation  is 
immensely  indebted.  As  Mr.  G.  Smith  says :  "  The  history 
of  Babylonia  has  an  interest  of  a  wider  kind  than  that 
of  Egypt,  from  its  more  intimate  connection  with  the 
general  history  of  the  human  race,  and  from  the  remarkable 
influence  which  its  religion,  its  science  and  civilisation  have 
had  on  all  subsequent  human  progress.  Its  religious 
traditions  carried  away  by  the  Israelites  who  came  out  of 
Ur  of  the  Chaldees  (Genesis  XI.  31)  have,  through  that 
wonderful  people,  become  the  heritage  of  mankind,  while  its 
science  and  civilisation,  through  the  mediums  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans,  have  become  the  base  of  modern  research 
and  advancement." 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  I  have  said  that  from  an  histori- 
cal point  of  view,  it  would  be  highly  interesting  to  discover 
the  identity  of  the  race  to  which  the  Sumerians  or  the  Chal- 
dees belonged.  As  we  have  already  pointed  out,  the  inclina- 
tion of  belief  among  European  savants  is  that  it  was  an  Indo- 
European  race,  and  most  probably  of  the  Turanian  family. 
But  it  would  probably  be  more  correct  to  say  that  the 
Sumerians  belonged  to  a  race  which  was  a  mixture  of  peoples 
belonging  to  the  Indo-Aryan  and  the  Turanian  (Dravidian) 
families.  It  is  admitted  generally  that  the  Dravidian  civilisa- 
tion was  influenced  and  developed  by  Aryan  colonists  from 
Sapta-Sindhu  ;  and  we  have  seen  that  it  was  the  Panis  who 
were  probably  the  first  to  settle  on  the  Malabar  and  the 
Coromondal  coasts  of  Southern  India  and  introduce  Aryan 
civilisation  and  culture  among  the  aboriginal  populations, 
particularly  among  the  Cholas  and  the  Pagdyas,  and  that  the 
Panis  afterwards  left  these  coasts  in  search  of  a  new  colony 
on  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  followed  by  the  Cholas  who 

'     /«rffVbl.I,p.S3S. 


X!n.]  SUMERIANS  AND  DRAVIDIANS. 

settled  there  and  founded  a  flourishing  colony.  The 
Sumeriatis,  therefore,  must  have  been  the  product  of  the 
intermixture  of  the  Aryan  and  Dravidian  races.  It  may  be 
argued  that  all  this  is  mere  supposition  on  which  no  historical 
hypothesis  or  fabric  can  be  based  or  constructed.  It  is  a 
supposition,  no  doubt ;  but  it  is  a  supposition  which  becomes 
a  probability  when  we  take  into  our  consideration  the 
following  incontestable  facts  via,  (i)  that  the  resemblances 
between  the  severed  heads  of  the  statues  discovered  at  Telloh 
or  Tell-loh  in  Chaldea  and  the  facial  type  of  the  Dravidians 
of  Southern  India  are  remarkable  ;  (ii)  that  the  language  of 
the  Sumerians  was  agglutinative  like  the  Dravidian  lan- 
guages ;  (Hi)  that  the  Sumerians,  i.e.,  the  Chaldees  were  agri- 
culturists and  builders  of  canals  like  the  ancient  Cholas ;  (iv) 
that  they  were  mariners  and  traders  like  the  latter  who,  in 
their  turn,  must  have  learnt  the  art  of  navigation  and  the 
principles  of  commerce  from  the  Panis,  and  emulated  them  in 
everything,  even  in  their  spirit  of  adventure  ;  (v)  that  of  all 
countries  in  Western  and  Southern  A^ia,  a  commercial  inter- 
course was  admittedly  kept  up  between  the  coasts  of  Southern 
India  and  those  of  the  Persian  Gulf  in  ancient  times  ;  and  (vi) 
that  there  having  been  no  other  civilised  country  anywhere  in 
the  southern  portion  of  Asia  or  East  Africa,  no  highly  civilised 
people  excepting  the  Indians  would  found  a  colony  on  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  We  shall  see  later  on  how  close 
and  intimate  was  the  intercourse  between  India  and  Meso- 
potamia in  the  ancient  days,  and  how  not  only  the  material 
civilisation  but  also  the  religion  of  the  Babylonians  and  the 
Assyrians  bear  unmistakable  evidences  of  the  influence  of 
Vedic  and  Dravidian  civilisation  and  religion.  If  all  these 
facts,  circumstances,  and  probabilities  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration, the  conclusion  would  be  irresistible  that  the 
Sumerians  who  were  the  founders  of  the  Babylonian  and  the 
Assyrian  civilisations  were  the  products  of  a  mixed  race  of 
Aryans  and  Dravidians. 

In  this  connection  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

here  what  Mr.  H,  R.  Hall  says  about  the   Sumeriatis  in  his 
Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East  (Chap.  V,  pp.  172-174) : 

"  The  Sumerian  culture  springs  into  our  view  ready- 
made,  as  it  were,  which  is  what  we  should  expect  if  it  was, 
as  seems  on  other  grounds  probable,  brought  into  Mesopotamia 
from  abroad.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  time  when  the 
Sumerians  were  savages :  when  we  first  meet  with  them  in 
the  fourth  millennium  B.  C.,  they  are  already  a  civiKsed, 
metal-using  people  living  in  great  and  populous  cities, 
possessing  a  complicated  system  of  writing,  and  living  under 
the  government  of  firmly  established  civil  and  religious 
dynasties  and  hierarchies.  They  had  imposed  their  higher 
culture  on  the  more  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  river  valley 
in  which  they  had  settled,  and  had  assimilated  the  civilisation 
of  the  conquered,  whatever  it  may  have  been,  to  their  own. 
The  earliest  scenes  of  their  own  culture-development  had 
perhaps  not  been  played  upon  the  Babylonian  stage  at  all, 
but  in  a  different  country,  away  across  the  Persian  mountains 
to  the  eastward.  The  land  of  Elam,  the  later  Susiana,  where 
till  the  end  a  non-Semitic  nationality  of  Sumerian  culture 
maintained  itself  in  usual  independence  of  the  dominant 
Mesopotamian  power,  was  no  doubt  a  stage  in  their  progress. 
There  they  left  the  abiding  impress  of  their  civilisation, 
although  the  Elamites  developed  their  art  on  a  distinct  line 
of  their  own.  Whether  the  Elamites,  whom  they  probably 
civilised,  were  racially  related  to  them  we  do  not  know  ;  the 
languages  of  both  Elamite  and  Sumerian  were  agglutinative, 

but    otherwise    are    not   alike The    ethnic   type    of  the 

Sumerians,  so  strongly  marked  in  their  statues  and  reliefs, 
was  as  different  from  those  of  the  races  which  surrounded 
them,  as  was  their  language  from  those  of  the  Semites, 
Aryans,  or  others ;  they  uere  decidedly  Indian  in  type.  The 
face-type  of  the  average  Indian  of  to-day  is  no  doubt  much 
the  same  as  that  of  his  Dravidian  race-ancestors  thousands 
of  ye^rs  ago.  Among  the  modern  Indians,  as  amongst  the 
modern  Greeks  or  Italians,  the  ancient  pre-Aryan  type  of  the 


XIL]  SUMERIANS  AND  DRAVIDIANS.  217 

land  has  (as  the   primitive   type  of  the   land  always  does) 
survived,  while  that  of  the   Aryan   conqueror   died   out   long 
ago.     And  it  is  to  this  Dravidian  ethnic  type  of  India  that  the 
ancient  Sumerian  bears  most  resemblance,  so  far  as   we  can 
judge  from  his  monuments.     He   was  very  like  a  Southern 
Hindu  of  the  Dekkan  (who  still  speaks  Dravidian  languages). 
And  it  is  by  no  means  improbable   that  the   Sumerian  s   were 
an  Indian  rape  which  passed,  certainly    by  land,  perhaps  also 
by  sea,  through  Persia  to  the  valley  of  the   Two    Rivers.     It 
was  in  the  Indian  home  (perhaps  the    Indus    valley)  that   we 
suppose  for  them  that  their   culture    developed.     There  their 
writing  may   have   been    invented,   and    progressed   from   a 
purely  pictorial  to  a  simplified  and    abbreviated   form,    which 
afterwards    in    Babylonia    took    on    its    peculiar  cuneiform 
appearance  owing  to  its  being  written    with   a   square-ended 
stilus  on  soft  clay.     On  the  way  they  left  the    seeds   of  their 
culture  in  Elam.     This  seems  a  plausible  theory  of  Sumerian 
origin,  and  it  must  be  clearly  understood   that   it   is   offered 
by  the  present  writer  merely  as   a   theory,    which    has    little 
direct  evidence  to  back  it,  but  seems  most  in  accordance  with 
the  probabilities  of  the  case.     There  is  little  doubt  that  India 
must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  centres    of  human  civilisa- 
tion, and  it  seems  natural  to  suppose  that  the   strange  un- 
Semitic,  un-Aryan  people  who  came  from  the  East  to  civilise 
the  West  were  of  Indian  origin,  especially   when  we  see  with 
our  eyes  how  very  Indian  the  Sumerians  were  in  type." 

Mr.  Hall  adds  in  a  foot-note  that  "  this  civilisation  was 
not  Aryan.  The  culture  of  India  is  pre-Aryan  in  origin  ;  as  in 
Greece,  the  conquered  civilised  the  conquerous.  The  Aryan 
Indian  owed  his  civilisation  and  his  degeneration  to  the 
Dravidians,  as  the  Aryan  Greek  did  to  the  Mycenaeans." 
This,  to  our  mind,  is  reading  history  on  an  altogether  wrong 
line.  If  Mr.  Hall  had  cared  to  study  Rgvedic  civilisation 
as  diligently  as  he  has  studied  Babylonian  civilisation,  he 
would  assuredly  have  come  to  a  quite  different  conclusion. 
As  our  readers  have  seen,  it  was  Aryan  civilisation  that  put 

38 


2i8  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

its  indelible  stamp  on  Dravidian  culture,  and  uplifted  the 
Dravidian  races,  notably  the  Cholas  and  the  P&^dyas,  who 
took  their  reformed  civilisation  to  Babylonia  and  Egypt 
respectively,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

11  Thirty  years  ago,"  writes  Ragozin,  "  no  one  would 
have  thought  of  connecting  India  (pre- Aryan  India)  with 
archaic  Babylonia,  and  if  a  solitary  fact  pointing  that  way  was 
once  in  a  while  picked  out  by  an  exceptionally  inquisitive 
and  observant  mind,  it  was  suffered  to  remain  unexplained 
as  a  sort  of  natural  curiosity,  for  the  inferences  it  suggested 
was  too  startling  to  be  more  than  hinted  at.  Eminently  such 
a  mind  was  the  late  Francois  Lenormant,  and  he  laid 
great  stress  on  the  use  of  the  word  mand  as  early  as 
the  Rgveda  to  denote  a  definite  quantity  of  gold — a 
word  which  can  be  traced  to  ancient  Chaldea  or  Semitic 
Babylonia  with  the  same  meaning,  and  which  afterwards 
passed  into  the  Greek  monetary  system  (mand,  still 
later  latinised  into  mi  no].  Well,  this  little  fact  simply 
points  to  a  well-established  commercial  intercourse  between 
Dravidian  India  (for  the  Kolarians  never  came  as  far  west  as 
the  land  by  the  Indian  ocean)  and  Babylonia  and  Chaldea."1 
Ragozin's  ideas  appear  to  be  a  little  confused  in  the 
above  extracts  that  we  have  made  from  the  excellent  work, 
Vedic  India.  The  writer  is  clearly  convinced  that  there  was 
commercial  intercourse  between  Dravidian  India  and  Babylo- 
nia or  Chaldea  in  the  ancient  days.  But  by  using  the  phrase 
"  pre-Aryan  India  "  the  author  seems  to  think  that  the  word 
mand  used  by  the  Dravidians  and  the  Babylonians,  and 
borrowed  by  the  Greeks,  was  either  of  Dravidian  or  Baby- 
lonian origin,  and  that  it  was  borrowed  by  the  Vedic  Aryans 
from  the  Dravidians,  and  used  in  the  Rgveda  after  they  had 
settled  down  in  Sapta-Sindhu.  This  line  of  thinking  perfect- 
ly accords  with  the  hypothesis  in  vogue  that  the  Aryans  were 
immigrants  into  the  Punjab  from  either  Central  Asia  or  some 

•     Ragozin'  Vedic  India,  pp.  304-305. 


XII.]  ETYMOLOGY  OF  MAN  A.  jig 

remote  region  at  a  comparatively  recent  time,  or  at  any  rate, 
at  an  age  later  than  the  flourishing  of  the  Babylonian  empire. 
But  if  Ragozin  had  more  carefully  studied  the  Rgveda,  and 
more  closely  examined  the  etymology  of  the  word,  she  would 
have  assuredly  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Vedic  Aryans 
were  autochthonous  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the  word  is  of 
purely  Sanskrit  origin,  being  derived  either  from  the  root  ma, 
to  measure,  or  man,  to  prize  or  value.  The  verse  where  the 
word  occurs  has  been  translated  as  follows  : — "  Oh,  bring  us 
jewels,  cattle,  horses  and  mands  of  gold."  (Rv.  viii.  78,  2.) 
Mand  is  here  undoubtedly  a  definite  measure  of  gold,  which 
had  a  fixed  and  recognised  weight  and  value!  and  used 
probably  as  coin,  and  therefore  prised  and  coveted  by  all, 
even  by  Rsis.  To  suggest  therefore  that  it  was  a  word 
borrowed  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  from  the  Dravidians  is  simply 
preposterous.  The  only  plausible  suggestion  should  have 
been  all  the  other  way,  via.,  that  it  was  borrowed  by  the 
Dravidians  probably  from  the  Aryan  merchants,  the  Pa^is, 
and  taken  by  them  or  the  latter  to  Chaldea,  whence  it  passed 
on  to  the  Greeks. 

Ragozin  further   goes   on :  "  In   the   ruins  of  Mugheir, 
ancient  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  built   by  Ur-Ea    (or   Ur-Bagash)1 
the  first  king  of  United  Babylonia,  who  ruled   not   less   than 
3,000  B.C.,  was  found  a  piece  of  Indian  teak.-     The  evidence 
is    exceptionally    conclusive   because,    as    it    happens,  this 
particular  tree   is   to   be   located   with    more   than   ordinary 
accuracy :  it  grows   in    Southern    India   (Dekhan)   where   it 
advances  close  to  the   Malabar  coast,   and   nowhere    else ; 
there  is  none  north  of  the   Vindhya."3     This  clearly   proves 

1  Among  certain  Ruling  Families  of  Southern  India,  especially  the  Mysore 
(or  Mahisur)  Family,  we  find  the  title  of  Ur  given  to  the  names  of  Princes. 
Has  it  got  anything  to  do  with  the  ancient  name  of  Ur  used  in  Babylonia, 
and  can  it  be  that  Mugheir  was  a  corrupted  form  of  Mahisur  P  Here  is  some 
food  for  philologists. 

•    Sayce,  Hibbert  Lectures  for  1887,  pp.  18,  136,  137, 

9     Ragozin,  Vedic  India,  pp.  305-306. 


220  fiiGVEDiC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

that  there  was  commercial  intercourse  by  sea  between  Chaldea 
and  Southern  India,  and  that  this  particular  timber  used  to 
be  transported  in  ships  from  the  Malabar  coast  either  by  the 
Parjis  or  the  Cholas  for  building  purposes — the  building  of 
ships  as  well  as  of  houses.  This  fact  also  lends  a  strong 
colour  to  the  view  that  the  Chaldt-ans  were  really  the  Cholas 
of  the  Dravidian  family. 

From  the  Babylonian  name  of  muslin,  which  was  sindhu, 
Ragozin  rightly  concludes  that  the  article  used  to  be  manu- 
factured by  the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  "  at  an  amazingly 
early  period " — "  a  fact  which  implies  cultivation  of  the 
cotton  plant  or  tree,  probably  in  Vedic  times."1  She  thinks, 
however,  that  this  stuff  of  Aryan  product  used  to  be  exported 
by  the  enterprising  Dravidian  traders  only,  and  not  by  the 
Aryan  merchants,  as  the  Aryans  had  no  export  trade,  "  not 
being  acquainted  with  the  sea,  or  the  construction  of  sea-going 
ships/1  '2  I  have  quoted  this  last  amusing  passage  in  order  to 
show  how  superficial  has  been  the  study  of  the  Rgveda  with 
some  Western  scholars,  and  how  errors,  once  ushered  into 
existence,  die  hard.  After  a  careful  study  of  the  Rgveda, 
Professor  Wilson  observed:  "  They  (the  Rgvedic  Aryans') 
were  a  maritime  and  mercantile  people. ...Not  only  are  the 
Suktas  familiar  with  the  ocean  and  its  phenomena,  but  we 
have  merchants  described  as  pressing  earnestly  on  board  ship 
for  the  sake  of  gain  ;  and  we  have  a  naval  expedition  against 
a  foreign  island  or  continent  (dvlpa)  frustrated  by  a  ship- 
wreck."3 Our  readers  also  have  already  clearly  seen  (vide 
Chapter  III)  that  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  were  fully  acquainted 
with  the  sea,  having  four  seas  round  about  their  country,  that 
they  had  sea-going  ships  propelled  by  one  hundred  oars,  and 
furnished  with  sail  or  "wing,"  as  the  Rgvedic  bard  has 

*  /bid,  p.  306. 

»     Ibid,  p.  307. 

*  Wilson's  Translation  of   the  $g-Veda,  Intro .  p.   XLI    second  edition, 
1860. 


XII.]  THE  SEA  KNOWN  TO  ARYANS.  221 

picturesquely  described  the  thing,  and  that  one  of  their  tribes, 
the  Paijis,  were  famous  ship-builders  and  sea-faring  merchants, 
possessed  of  a  dash  and  daring  enterprise  which  is  simply 
amazing.  The  Dravidians,  after  they  were  uplifted  and 
civilised  by  the  Pan  is,  might  have  exported  the  stuff  known 
as  sindhu  in  post-Rgvedic  times  to  Babylonia,  but  this  does 
not  in  any  way  prove  that  the  Aryans  were  not  acquainted 
with  the  sea,  or  did  not  themselves  export  the  products  of 
their  manufacture  to  foreign  countries.1  "Professor  Max 

1  European  scholars  have  invented  the  theory  that  the  ancient  Aryans 
lived  in  some  place  with  a  homogeneous  civilisation,  culture  and  language, 
whom  they  have  called  Proto-Aryans,  and  that  they  gradually  dispersed  from 
that  one  central  hive  over  Europe  and  Asia.  The  very  fact  that  there  is  no 
common  word  for  the  sea  among  the  various  branches  of  the  Aryan  family  has 
led  them  to  infer  that  the  primeval  home  of  the  Proto-Aryans  was  an  "  inlmnd 
home/'  The  Vedic  word  for  the  sea  is  Samudra,  the  Latin  and  the  Greek 
name  is  Pontos,  Pontus  (a  high-road,  Sank.  Panthd) ;  the  Slavs  call  it  M6ri* 
(Lat.  Mar,  Italian  and  Spanish  Mare,  French  Her,  German  Meer,  English  Men, 
meaning  a  lake,  Celtic  Uuir)  which  is  derived  from  a  Sanskrit  root  mri 
meaning  "  destruction."  This  difference,  says  Ragozin,  is  well  accounted  for 
"  when  we  consider  that  the  only  seas  the  Slavs  and  Teutons  were  acquainted 
with  were  the  Black  Sei,  the  Baltic,  and  the  German  Ocean,  all  rough  and 
treacherous,  all  renowned  for  their  fierce  tempests,  which  must  have  been 
destructive  indeed  to  small  and  imperfect  craft,— while  the  fortunate  dweller 
on  the  genial  Mediterranean  shores  well  could  look  at  the  sea,  not  as  a 
barrier,  but  as  a  high  road,  more  useful  for  trade  or  travel  than  any  other 
road."  (Vedic  India,  pp.  72-73.)  But  our  theory  is  that  the  early  Aryans  of 
Sapta-Sindhu  were  in  different  stages  of  civilisation  in  Rgvedic  times,  and 
the  savage  and  nomadic  Aryan  tribes  lived  in  the  forests  and  mountains  from 
which  they  were  gradually  driven  out,  and  moved  westward  through  western 
Asia,  and  the  isthmus  of  Bosphorus  into  Europe.  Those  of  them  who  became 
acquainted  with  the  sea  in  Europe,  gave  separate  names  to  it,  according  to  their 
different  experiences ;  but  this  does  not  in  any  way  prove  that  the  Vedic  Aryans 
were  not  acquainted  with  the  sea  The  very  meanings  of  the  word  Samudra, 
either  "a  collection  of  waters  "  or  'waters  that  swell  and  flood  the  land  by 
tidal  waves "  would  be  most  natural  to  apply  to  the  sea.  Hence  I  am  of 
opinion  that  the  Vedic  Aryans  were  fully  acquainted  with  the  sea  from  the 
very  earliest  times,  but  the  savage  and  nomadic  Aryan  tribes  who  lived  in 
the  hills  and  forests  on  the  northern  portions  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  afterwards 
were  dispersed  towards  the  west,  were  not.  Hence  they  applied  different 
names  to  the  sea  when  they  became  acquainted  with  it. 


222  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Muller,"  says  Ragozin,  "  has  long  ago  shown  that  the  names 
of  certain  rare  articles  which  King  Solomon's  trading  ships 
brought  him,  were  not  originally  Hebrew.1  These  articles 
are  sandal-wood  (indigenous  to  the  Malabar  coast  and  no- 
where else),  ivory,  apes  and  peacocks  ;  and  their  native 
names,  which  could  easily  be  traced  through  their  Hebrew 
corruptions,  have  all  along  been  set  down  as  Sanskrit,  being 
common  words  of  that  language.  But,  now  quite  lately,  an 
eminent  Dravidian  scholar  and  specialist  brings  proofs  that 
they  are  really  Dravidian  words,  introduced  into  Sanskrit."  * 
This  observation  may  be  applicable  to  later  Sanskrit,  but 
certainly  not  to  Rgvedic  Sanskrit  in  which  mayura  is  the 
distinct  name  for  peacock,  and  kapi  for  monkey.  There  is 
no  mention  of  sandal-wood  in  the  Rgveda,  showing  clearly 
that  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  had  no  knowledge  of  the  Malabar 
coast  to  which  the  tree  is  indigenous.  By  the  way,  the 
Hebrew  word  for  peacock  is  tukiyim  which  bears  a  close 
resemblance  to  the  old  Tamil  word  tokai.  But  I  have  not 
come  across  any  Rgvedic  word  which  is  derived  from 
total.  The  Sanskrit  word  mukta  may  have  been  derived 
from  the  Tamil  word  muttu,  but  the  word  occurs  nowhere  in 
the  Rgveda  to  denote  pearl.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the 
Dravidians  had  no  connection  whatever  with  the  Vedic  Aryans 
in  Rgvedic  times.  However  this  may  be,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Dravidian  names  of  these  animals  and  articles, 
current  in  Hebrew,  go  to  prove  the  early  intercourse  of  the 
Dravidians  with  the  Semites.  But  it  is  also  a  fact  which  is  to 
be  remembered  in  this  connection  that  the  vessels  of  the 
Phoenicians  or  the  Pajjis  "visited  the  coasts  of  Arabia, 
Ethiopia,  and  the  Malabar  coast  of  India "  and  "  the  com- 
modities which  they  imported  were  ivory,  precious  stones, 

1     Science  ef  Language,  First  series,  pp.  203-204.    (1862). 

*     Ragozin's  Vedic  India,  p.  307.    The  eminent  Dravidian  scholar  is   Dr. 
Caldwcll.    (Vide  "  Introduction  to  Comparative   Grammar  of  the  Dravidian " 
Language.'1) 


XII.]  DRAVIDIANS  AND  CHALDEANS,  2*3 

ebony  and  gold,  to  which  may  be  added  apes  and  peacocks ; 
all  satisfactorily  proving  that  they  visited  the  countries  just 
mentioned."1 

The  connection  between  the  Dravidians  and  the  first 
Babylonian  Empire — the  Babylonia  of  the  Shumiro-Accads 
before  the  advent  of  the  Semites — * '  becomes  less  surprising/' 
says  Ragozin,  "  when  we  realise  that  there  was  between  them 
something  more  than  chance  relations,  that  they  were  in  fact 
of  the  same  race  or  stock — that  which  is  broadly  designated 
as  Turanian.  Philology  points  that  way,  for  the  Dravidian 
languages  are  agglutinative  ;  craniology  will  not  disprove  the 
affinity,  for  a  glance  at  the  Gondh  types,  and  the  turbanned 
head  of  Tell-loh  (Accadian  Sirgulla)  will  show  the  likeness 
in  features  and  shape.  But  even  more  convincing  is  the 
common  sacred  symbol — the  serpent,  the  emblem  of  the 
worship  of  Earth,  with  its  mystery,  its  wealth  and  its  forces. 
The  Accadian  Serpent-God  Ea  was  worshipped  at  his  holiest 
shrine  at  Eridhu  under  the  form  of  a  serpent,  and  as  Eridhu 
was  the  centre  from  which  the  first  Chaldean  civilisation 
started  and  spread,  so  the  serpent-symbol  was  accepted  as 
that  of  the  race  and  its  religion.  The  Turanian  Proto-Medes 
also,  before  they  were  conquered  by  the  Aryan  followers  of 
Zarathustra,  worshipped  the  snake-symbol  of  Earth,  which 
afterwards  was  identified  by  the  Eranian  Mazdayasnians, 
with  Angra  Mainyush,  the  Evil  one,  the  spirit  of  Lie  and 
Death.  This  Proto- Median  serpent,  like  his  Dravidian 
brother,  had  the  honour  of  being  admitted  into  the  Aryan 
Mythic  Epos."  (Vedic  India^  pp.  309-310.) 

The  correctness  of  this  last  conclusion  drawn  by  Ragozin 
is  doubted.  In  the  Rgveda,  we  find  a  whole  Sakta  (Rv.  x. 
189)  composed  by  a  lady-R$i,  named  S§rpa-R£jnl  (the  Ser- 
pent-Queen) who  is  regarded  as  the  deity  presiding  over  the 
Earth.  (SAyana.)  The  verses  of  this  Sakta  have  been 
addressed  to  the  Sun.  The  Satapatha  Br£hmana  explaining 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  tht  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  333. 


224  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

v 

them  says:  "  The  Earth  herself  is  Sarpa-Rljnl  "  (ii.  i.  4,  30). 
The  Aitareya  Brdhmana  also  explains  the  word  as  "  the 
Earth  "  (v.  4.  4).  The  ancient  Babylonian  worship  of  the 
Earth  in  the  emblem  of  a  serpent  is,  therefore,  not  indigenous 
to  the  land  or  Southern  India,  nor  peculiar  to  the  Dravidians. 
We  have  already  mentioned  an  Aryan  tribe  who,  on 
account  of  their  nomadic  habits  and  a  probable  leaning 
towards  the  worship  of  Vjrtra  who  was  called  A  hi  or  the 
serpent  and  sometimes  Deva,  were  hated  by  the  Vedic 
Aryans  who  worshipped  Indra  —the  chastiser  and  destroyer 
of  Vjrtra,  and  ultimately  driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  We 
have  also  mentioned  the  name  of  a  R?i  of  the  Sarpas,  who 
presided  at  a  sacrifice  held  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  and  whose 
mantras  have  found  a  place  in  the  Rgveda.  ]  We  have 
further  referred  to  the  story  related  in  the  Mahdbharata  about 
the  migrations  of  the  Sarpas  to  an  island,  probably  to  Southern 
India,  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  that  of  a  R?i  who  married  the 
sister  of  the  Sarpa-king,  VAsuki.  The  Panis  also  may  have 
been  the  votaries  of  Vjtra  who  is  identified  in  the  Satapatha 
Brihmana  (i.  5.  3.  18)  with  the  Moon,  the  God  of  Night 
(Darkness),  and  was  the  arch-enemy  of  Indra,  and  they 
probably  worshipped  him  in  the  symbol  of  Serpent  (Ahi).  2 
In  Rv.  ii.  31,  6,  we  find  mention  made  of  a  god,  named  Ahi- 
Budhna  ;  and  this  name  has  been  explained  by  Sdyana  to 
be  that  of  "  the  God  Ahi  who  lives  in  antariksa  "  (mid- 
heaven).  This  explanation  has  been  admitted  by  Roth  in 
his  lexicon  as  correct.  Probably  this  god  was  none  other 


1     $g.  x.94,  1-14. 

•  The  new  crescent  moon  appears  on  the  horizon  like  a  sickle,  which 
looks  like  a  serpent.  Vftra  was  therefore  Ahi.  The  Vftra  worship  seems  to 
refer  to  the  worship  of  the  Moon,  as  opposed  to  the  worship  of  the  Sun.  The 
$gvedic  Aryans  worshipped  the  Srn  only  and  not  the  Moon  whom  they 
looked  upon  as  Vftra  or  the  Demon  of  darkness.  He  was  probably  called  a 
D*»  oa  account  of  the  brightness  of  the  Moon.  The  Paqis  were  identified 
with  Vftra  bteause  they  were  Moon-  worshipers.  Vftra  wss  also  sometime*  ' 
Identified  with  the  zig-zag  lighgtning,  which  had  the  shape  of  a  serpent. 


.XII*]  AH  I  AND  EA.  325 

than  the  Moon.  But  as  Ahi  was,  in  common  Vedic  -parlance, 
identical  with  the  arch-enemy  of  Indra,  his  worshippers  were 
necessarily  put  down  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  as  the  worshippers 
of  Vrtra,  or  the  power  of  evil.  In  these  circumstances,  I 
am  disposed  to  think  that  the  worship  of  Ahi  or  the  Serpent 
as  the  symbol  of  the  Earth,  or  the  Moon,  must  have  pro- 
ceeded from  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  been  carried  to  Southern 
India  by  the  Panis,  and  those  Aryan  tribes  who  were  called 
Sarpas  not  only  on  account  of  their  nomadic  habits,  but 
also  because  they  worshipped  their  deity  in  the  symbol  of  a 
serpent.  The  very  name,  Ahi,  is  traceable  in  the  Sumerian 
or  Chaldean  Ea ;  and  the  name  of  the  town  of  Eridhu,  in 
which  the  holiest  shrine  of  Ea  stood,  may,  for  aught  we  know, 
have  been  a  corruption  of  the  word  Vrtra,  which  is  so 
difficult  to  pronounce  correctly.  It  oan  be  safely  surmised, 
therefore,  that  the  worship  of  Ahi  or  the  serpent  continued 
among  the  non- Vedic  Aryans  uninterruptedly ;  and  was 
certainly  not  borrowed  either  from  the  Turanians  or  any 
other  race. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  question  now  as  to 
who  the  Sumerians  or  the  Chaldeans  were,  and  whence  they 
immigrated  to  Chaldea.  They  were,  as  I  have  already  said, 
a  mixed  race,  sprung  from  the  Panis  and  the  Dravidians 
(Cholas),  and  were  immigrants  from  the  Coromondal  and  the 
Malabar  coasts.  The  Cholas  had  been  "aryanised"  before 
they  left  their  original  home,  and  took  with  them  their 
Aryan  culture  and  civilisation,  as  adopted  and  modified  by 
them,  to  their  new  colony. 

We  have,  in  a  previous  chapter  (Chapter  HI),  discussed 
the  Flood-legends  as  were  current  among  the  ancient  Aryans, 
the  Chaldeans  or  Babylonians,  the  Israelites,  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Greeks,  and  pointed  out  the  material  difference 
noticeable  in  the  various  legends.  We  have  also  pointed 
out  that  these  floods  did  not  occur  at  one  and  the  same  time 
in  the  different  countries,  and  that  the  Flood,  with  which 
Manu's  name  is  connected,  had  occurred,  long  before  the, 

29 


ttf  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Flood  id  Babylonia  and  Noah's  Flood  occurred,  if  these  really 
xxmred  at  all.     The  Indian  Flood-legend,  referred  to   in   the 
tahafva-Veda,   is   related   first  in   the  Satapatha   Brihma^a 
which  says  that  it  was  caused  not  by  heavy   and   continuous 
downpours    of   rain     "for    three   days11     as   mentioned  by 
Berossus  in  the  Babylonian  account,  or  for  u  forty   days   and 
forty  nights  "    as  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  but   by    the   waters 
of  the  ocean  rising  in  a  tremendous    flood   and   covering   the 
land,  probably  in  consequence   of  some   seismic  disturbance 
of  great  intensity.     Manu,  who  had  been    previously    warned 
by  the  Divine  Fish  and  constructed  a  ship,  got  into  it   when 
the  Flood  came,  and  the  Divine  Fish  dragged    his   ship   to  a 
peak   of  the    "  Northern    Mountain "     (the   Him&laya),   and 
advised  his  protege*  to  disembark  as  soon  as  the  Flood  should 
subside.     I  have  already  more  than   once   ventured   a   guess 
that  the  Flood  was  caused  in    Sapta-Sindhu   by    the   sudden 
upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana   Sea,    which    displaced 
and  scattered  around  the  vast  volumes  of   its    waters.     After 
the  subsidence  of  the  Flood,  and  the  drying   up   of    the    sea- 
bed, there  was  a  rapid  immigration  of  many  surviving   Aryan 
tribes  of  Sapta-Sindhu    into  the    Deccan,    headed   by   a   de- 
scendant of  Agastya,   to   whom    is   ascribed   the   wonderful 
feat  of  having  first  sipped  up  the  ocean  dry  and   then  crossed 
the   Vindhya,   and   by   the   descendants   of  Vi^vdmitra,    the 
Panis,  and  others.     These   peoples    must  have   carried   with 
them   the   story   of  the   wonderful   and    devastating     Flood 
(Augha)  in   Sapta-Sindhu,  and   it   went   down   among  their 
descendants  and  the  Dravidian  peoples  (who  must  have  heard 
it  from  the  Aryan  settlers),    from   generation   to   generation, 
with  such  exaggerations  and  embellishments   as   the   story- 
tellers were  capable  of  inventing.     In  course  of  ages,   people 
forgot  all  about  the   place   of  origin   of  the   Flood,   or   the 
previous  existence    of    the     Rajputana   Sea;   and   the  sea 
from  which    Manu's    ship    started    towards   "  the   Northern 
mountain "     naturally    came     to    be     identified     with      the 
Indian  Ocean,   and   the   place   where   Manu  had   lived   and 


XII.]  THE  STORY  OF  MANU'S  FLOOD. 

performed  his  penances,  located  on  the  banks  of  "  the  river 
Kritamil&"  in  Malabar,  as  related  in  the  Bhdgavata 
Purdna,  or  "  in  a  certain  region  of  Malaya "  (Malabar) 
as  related  in  the  Matsya  Purdna.  As  these  Puri^as  are 
admittedly  of  more  recent  date  than  the  Satapatha  Br4hma$a, 
we  can  easily  understand  how  the  story  of  the  Flood  travelled 
from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  the  coast  of  Malabar  with  the  emigra- 
tion of  the  Aryan  colonists,  who  embellished  it  with  fuller 
details  to  give  it  an  air  of  probability  than  those  found  in 
the  story  related  in  the  Satapatha  Br&hmana.  Hence  it 
would  be  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  story  travelled 
with  the  Cholas  and  the  Panis  from  Southern  India  to  the 
coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf  in  the  form  in  which  we  find  it  in 
the  Puranas  and  the  Babylonian  and  Biblical  accounts  than 
that  it  came  from  the  latter  place  to  India,  as  is  supposed 
by  some  European  scholars.  The  belief  that  Manu  was 
saved  by  the  Divine  Fish  which  was  identified  by  some  with 
Prajapati,  the  Creator,  and  by  others  with  Vi?$u,  at  once 
raised  the  Fish-God  to  the  highest  place  in  the  Hindu 
Pantheon,  for  which  a  cult  was  established.  Very  likely, 
the  cult  was  propounded  and  developed  by  the  aryanised 
Dravidians  who  became  the  chief  votaries  of  the  God,  and 
also  claimed  Manu  as  a  Dravidian  king  under  the  name  of 
Satyavrata.  l  This  word  (Satyavrata)  was  probably  corrupt- 
ed into  Hasisadra  by  the  Chaldeans,  and  Xisuthrus  or 
Sisithrus  by  the  Greeks, — the  name  of  the  king  who  was 
the  hero  of  the  Chaldean  or  Babylonian  Flood.  Hasisadra, 
however,  is  not  given  any  mission  or  task,  like  Manu  or 
Noah,  "  but  is  simply  translated  with  his  mpfe  into  immortal 
life.'1  (Ragozin.)  Be  that  as  it  may,  as  the  Divine  Fish  was 
regarded  as  an  incarnation  of  Vig$u  or  the  Sun,  who  saved 
Manu — the  son  of  Vivas  vat  or  the  Solar  Deity— and  as  the 
Sun  was  also  identified  with  Indra,  the  vanquisher  of  Vrtra, 
Ahi,  or  the  Moon,  the  Fish-God  or  Vi^u  also  was  given  the 

'-    Vide  Bhdgt&ata  Purdna 


RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

title  of  Ahi-kan,  like  Indra  who  had  the  title  of  Vitra-han  ; 
and  the  Dravidian  worshippers  of  Visnu  or  the  Fish-God 
probably  worshipped  him  under  the  name  of  Ahi-han,  to 
distinguish  him  from  Indra  who  was  called  Vrtra-han,  though 
he  also  appears  under  the  name  of  Ahi-ban  in  the  Rgveda 
(«•  *9i  3)-  l  Though  Indra  and  Vignu  were  originally  one 
deity,  we  notice  an  effort  made  in  the  Rgveda  itself  to  sepa- 
rate them,  Vifnu  being  regarded  as  an  helper  of  Indra  in  his 
fight  with  Vjtra.  In  ancient  Dravidian  India,  we  find  the 
two  deities  still  more  separated  with  different  titles  which, 
however,  have  the  same  significance,  and  the  worship  of 
Vi0£U  established  in  the  place  of  Indra -worship.  Later  on, 
in  the  age  of  the  Puranas,  the  Indra-cult  appears  to 
have  been  over-thrown  by  the  Vignu-cult,  as  Kf^a,  the 
jncarnation  of  Vi§nu,  has  been  described  to  have  waged  a 
war  against  Indra  and  defeated  him.  Ahi-han  thus  replaced 
Vjrtra-han,  and  represented  the  Supreme  Deity  who  was 
worshipped  by  the  followers  of  Vi$nu  However  this  may 
be,  the  Chola  tribe  oi  the  Dravidians  must  have  taken  with 
them  to  Chaldea  the  image  of  their  Supreme  Deity,  the 
Fish-God,  the  incarnation  of  Visnu — whom  they  called  Abi- 
han,  which  was  corrupted  into  Ea-han,  and  still  more  into 
Cannes,  -  to  which  the  epithet  Musaras  or  Matsya  (Fish) 
was  added.  As  the  Cholas  attributed  their  culture  to  the 
direct  influence  of  Ahi-han,  the  civilisation  spread  by  them 
in  Chaldea  among  the  aboriginal  population  was  also  attri- 
buted to  him.  Possibly  the  word  Ahi-han,  savouiing  as  it 
*  did  of  Indra,  came  to  be  abbreviated  into  simple  Ahi  or 
Ea  through  the  influence  of  the  Panis  who  were  the  worship- 
pers of  the  Earth  and  the  Moon  under  the  name  of  Ahi  or 
Ahi-Budhna,  and  Ea  or  Ahi,  under  the  forms  of  the  Fish-god 
or  the  Serpent,  became  the  principal  God  of  the  Chaldeans, 

1  The  legend  of  KfSUa  (a   later  incarnation   of  Visg.u)  vanquishing  the 
serpent  Kiliya  in  a  lake  near  Brindavana,    can  be  traced  to   this  mythology 
which  has  its  roots  in  the  Rgveda. 
•     Ragozin'b,  Vedic  India,  p.  346. 


XHJ  THE  FLOOD-LEGENDS  229 

All  these  probabilities  being  taken  into  consideration,  my 
surmise  is  that  the  story  of   Manu's  Flood  travelled  with  sub- 
sequent embellishments  from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  Southern  India, 
and  thence  to  Chaldea.     This  story,  with  other    legends  and 
religious  traditions,  must  have  been    "  carried   away  by  the 
Israelites  who  came   out   from    Ur  of  the  Chaldees "    (vide 
Genesis  xi.  31),  and  Noah  was  substituted  by  them  for  Manu, 
and  the  Fish-god  was  merged  into  the  God  of    the    Israelites. 
The  Floods,  however,  in  Chaldea  and  Israel  were  caused   not 
by  the  rising  of  a  stupendous  tidal  wave  from    the   ocean   in 
consequence  of  some  volcanic  action,  but   a   deluge  of  rain, 
as  probably  the  story-tellers  could  not  conceive  the  idea  of  a 
country  being  flooded  excepting  by  a  heavy   and   continuous 
downpour  of  rain.    A  deluge  of  rain,  continued  for  three  days, 
as  told  by  Berossus,  was  probably  considered  insufficient    for 
flooding  a  country  by  the  Israelites,   who  therefore    improved 
the  story  by  saying   that  heavy  showers  of  rain    fell    for   forty 
days  and   nights.     The    element   of   the    Fish   in   the    story, 
however,  was  eliminated  both  by  the  Babylonians  (who  were  a 
mixed  people,  sprung  from  the  intermingling  of  the  Chaldeans 
and  the  Semites)  and  the  Israelites  who  were  a  purely  Semitic 
people,  characterised  by  a  strong  commonsense  and  practical 
spirit,  and  the  fish  was  replaced  by  God,  their  Supreme  Deity, 
who  warned  both  Hasisadra  and  Noah  of  the    coming   Flood. 
The  introduction  of  the  Fish  in  the  Vedic  legend  is  essentially 
original,  and  thoroughly  disproves  the  theory    of    the   legend 
having  been  borrowed  or  brought  to  India,  through  the  Dravi- 
dians.     The  Vedic  legend  lacks  some   of   the   details    of  the 
Babylonian  and  Biblical  accounts  of  the  Flood,  and  is  devoid 
of  literary  embellishment,  thus  pointing  to  the  crude  original 
ore  from  which  the  article  was  picked   up  and   subsequently 
embellished  and  finished. 

It  may  be  asked  :  "  How  can  the  Vedic  legend  of  Manu's 
Flood  be  rationally  explained  ?  "  I  will  attempt  a  brief  explana- 
tion here.  Manu  was  washing  himself  one  morning,  when  he 
found  a  little  fish  poured  with  the  water  into  the  hollow  of  his 


*3°  SLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

palms.  Being  an  ascetic  of  kindly  dispqsition,  be  took  pity  on 
the  tiny  creature ,  and  fearing  that  it  might  be  eaten  up  by  a 
larger  fish,  if  thrown  back  into  the  pond,  kept  it  in  a  water-jar. 
When  the  tiny  fish  grew  too  large  for  the  jar,  he  threw  it  into 
the  pond,  and  when  it  grew  sufficiently  large  in  the  pond,  and 
was  thought  by  Manu  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  itself,  he  threw 
it  into  the  river,  and  from  (he  river,  it  swam  down  into  the  sea, 
which  appears  to  have  been  close  to  Manu's  hermitage.  Manu, 
living  on  the  sea-shore,  probably  noticed  great  agitations 
both  in  land  and  water,  due  to  seismic  causes,  and,  being  a 
wise  man,  caused  a  ship  to  be  built  for  his  safety  and 
protection.  The  seismic  action  of  the  earth  having  grown 
stronger  and  stronger  every  day,  he  betook  himself  to  the 
ship  for  his  safety ;  and  when  the  great  tidal  wave  came, 
flooding  the  whole  country,  his  ship  floated  up  with  the  tide  till 
she  reached  a  peak  of  the  Himalaya.  Manu  noticed  a  huge 
fish,  probably  a  whale,  swimming  inland  with  the  incoming 
tidal  wave  just  in  front  of  his  ship ;  and  he  thought  of  the 
little  fish  that  he  had  saved,  and  cast  into  the  sea,  when  it  had 
grown  large.  Manu  probably  also  thought  that  his  miraculous 
escape  from  that  devastating  flood  was  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
mercy  of  God,  because  he  had  himself  been  merciful  to  a  tiny 
creature  of  His ;  and  he  naturally  attributed  to  that  tiny  fish 
the  cause  of  his  safety  and  dr liverance.  The  fish,  therefore, 
loomed  large  before  him  like  a  luminous  embodiment  of 
Divine  Mercy,  and,  in  the  fulness  of  his  gratitude,  identified 
it  with  the  Divine  Being  Himself.  This  simple  incident  was 
the  focus  of  the  Vedic  legend  of  the  Flood  as  related  in  the 
Satapatha  Br&hmana.  Our  readers  will  thus  see  that  there 
is  nothing  absurd  in  the  legend,  but  it  is  as  simple  and 
beautiful  as  any  legend  can  be. 

The  religion  of  the  ancient  Chaldeans  or  Babylonians 
appears  to  have  been  moulded  by  those  who  had  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  Vedic  religion.  The  cosmogony,  theogony, 
arts,  industries  and  astronomical  science  of  the  ancient 
Chaldeans  bear  in  them  the  unmistakable  stamp  of  Vedic 


XII.]  CHALDEAN  GODS.  131 

India.  Not  only  are  the  names  of  some  of  the  Chaldean  Go* 
traceable  to  those  of  the  Gods  of  the  Vedic  Pantheon,  of 
which  we  have  already  given  a  few  instances,  but  their  very 
religious  thoughts  bear  the  impress  of  the  Vedic  religion. 
The  names  of  the  Gods  worshipped  by  the  Babylonians  and 
the  Assyrians  were  common,  though  some  particular  God 
was  assigned  the  supreme  place  by  the  one  people  or  the 
other.  At  Nineveh,  the  capital  of  Assyria,  the  god  who 
seems  to  have  been  the  highest  in  the  celestial  hierarchy  is  Ilu 
or  Ana ;  but  his  character  is  no  further  defined,  and  his  symbol 
is  often  only  the  abstract  representation  of  the  divinity. 
Though  the  divinity  is  one,  he  is  at  the  same  time  divisible. 
"  Dogma  proclaims  this  divinity  in  certain  passages,  but  when 
we  wish  to  learn  its  exact  individuality,  it  eludes  us,  so  that  we 
may  seize  only  the  abstraction.  We  are  led  to  believe  in  a 
celestial  hierarchy  of  beings  inhabiting  a  superior  world,  and 
subordinated  to  an  all-powerful  God  who  governs  gods,  worlds 
and  men.  He  is  enthroned  in  spaces  inaccessible  to  us  in 
our  condition,  and  appears  only  in  legends  ;  his  power  inter, 
venes  only  when  the  order  of  the  Universe  is  threatened."  J 
This  Ilu  or  Ana  corresponds  to  the  abstract  (attributeless) 
Brahman  of  the  Hindus,  who  incarnates  himself  only  when  the 
mordl  order  of  the  Universe  is  in  danger  of  being  upset. 
We  have  seen  that  Indra  also  was  raised  to  the  position  of 
an  all-powerful  and  incomprehensible  deity  in  the  Rgveda, 
and  Ilu  must  be  a  corruption  of  the  word  Indra,  or  HApati 
Parjanya  (another  name  of  Indra,  vide  Rv.  v.  42,  14),  or  of 
the  Sanskrit  word  Alii,  meaning  the  supreme  deity,  as  Ana 
was  a  corruption  of  Ahi-han.  He  was  also  called  Asshur  by 
the  Assyrians,  a  word  which  they  must  have  borrowed  directly 
from  the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  not  from  their  neighbours,  the 
Iranians,  who  pronounced  the  word  as  Ahura.  The  next 
God  was  Bel  or  Baal  who,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was 
worshipped  by  the  Pa^is  or  Phoenicians,  and  is  identified 
with  the  $gvedic  Vala  or  the  Sun.  The  third  God  was 
»  Hint  Hist  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  516. 


*GVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHA*>. 


i  or  Agni  (Fire),  whose  another  Babylonian  name 
Daganu  (Sansk.  Dahana,  fire).  "  These  three  divinities 
appear  as  the  reflection  of  the  gods  of  the  superior  world, 
whioh  we  have  already  mentioned,  but  to  which  we  have  been 
unable  to  ascribe  names.11  1  We  have  seen  also  in  the  Rg- 
veda  that  the  visible  bodies  of  the  great  Indra  was  the  Sun  in 
the  sky,  the  Lightning  in  mid-heaven,  and  Fire  on  earth.  Sin 
(Sansk.  Candra)  was  the  god  of  the  Moon  ;  Samash  was 
another  name  of  the  Sun,  and  Bin  (Sansk.  Vayu,  or  Rgvedic 
Vena)  was  "  the  god  of  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere, 
arbitrator  of  the  heavens  and  earth,—  the  god  who  presides 
over  the  tempests."  In  Sakta  123  of  the  Tenth  Mandala  of 
the  Rgveda  we  find  the  god  Vena  to  be  a  bright  and  res- 
plendent deity,  sending  down  rain,  and  residing  high  above 
the  sky  in  "  the  third  heaven."  The  name  of  the  Babylonian 
storm-god  was  Matu  or  Martu,  which  corresponds  to  the 
Vedic  name  of  the  same  god,  Afarut.  This  Babylonian  name 
was  probably  afterwards  borrowed  by  the  Romans  who  called 
their  god  of  war  Mars  (Martes).  The  Indian  Sun-god  Dinega 
(the  lord  of  day)  was  identical  with  the  Assyrian  Sun-god 
Dianisu  ;  and  the  Greek  nanfe  Dionysus^  applied  to  the  same 
god,  was  probably  borrowed  from  the  Assyrians.  Sayce  has 
discovered  in  an  Assyrian  inscription  the  name  Mitra  applied 
to  the  Sun-god,  who  corresponds  to  the  Vedic  deity  of  the  same 
name.  The  Babylonian  deity  Zarpanit  (Sansk.  Sdrpardjnl)  was 
the  goddess  "  who  particularly  represented  the  fertile  principle 
of  the  Universe."  Ishtar  (Astarte)  is  the  name  of  a  goddess 
whose  consort  was  Tammuz,  (Sansk.  Tamaja>  lit.  born  of 
darkness,  z.*.,  the  Sun,  who  springs  out  of  darkness)  ;  and 
Ishtar  resembles  the  Vedic  Us  as  who  was  the  wife  of  the  Sun. 
But  there  is  one  curious  feature  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian 
gods,  which  deserves  mention  here  ;  they  assume  a  human  form 
"  often  joined  with  that  of  various  animals  fish,  oxen  or  birds." 
This,  at  first  sight,  would  appear  to  be  a  purely  Assyrian  or 
Babylonian  invention  ;  but  on  careful  research,  we  can  trace 

VoL  I,  P.  517- 


'  REPRESENTATIONS  OF  GODS.  233 

them  to  Indian  mythology,  nay  to  Rgvedic  descriptions  of 
certain  gods  who  have'  been  compared  with  various  animals. 
For  instance,  the  god  Rudra  has  been  compared  with  the  boar 
to  denote  his  fierceness  (Rv.  i.  1 14,  5),  the  god  Vena  or  Marut 
with  the  vulture  to  denote  his  speed  (Rv.  i.  88,  47  and  x.  123, 
6  &  8),  the  Sun  with  the  horse  (Rv.  x.  136,  5),  or  the  golden- 
winged  eagle  (Rv.  i.  164,  46),  to  denote  his  speed,  or  flight  in 
the  high  heavens,  and  Indra  with  vrsa  or  the  bull  to  denote 
his  strength  and  majesty  (Rv.  i.  32,  3).  These  comparisons 
must  have  caused  the  gods  themselves  to  be  identified  with 
the  respective  animals  in  later  mythology,  specially  when  it 
reached  Southern  India.  Thus  the  fish  in  the  story  of  Manu's 
Flood  became  there  the  very  incarnation  of  Visnu,  and  was 
represented  as  Fish-god  ;  the  boar  became  the  incarnation  of 
Vi?nu  under  the  name  of  Varaha  ;  the  lion  with  his  flowing 
tawny  manes,  being  compared  with  the  Sun  with  his  refulgent 
rays,  became  another  incarnation  of  Vi 91111  under  the  name  of 
Nfisimha  (man-lion)  ;  and  the  bull,  with  his  virile  powers  of 
generation,  came  to  be  identified  with  Indra  who  poured 
showers  of  rain  to  fertilize  the  earth.  The  Greek  legend  of 
Zeus  (Jupiter  or  love)  assuming  the  form  of  a  bull  may  also 
be  thus  traced  to  this  mythology.  Many  stone  statues  have 
been  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon  re- 
presenting  one  god  as  half-man  and  half-beast,  another  as 
half-man  and  half-bird,  and  yet  another  as  half-man  and  half- 
fish.  More  such  statutes  may  be  discovered  in  the  course  of 
further  excavations.  In  a  majority  of  cases,  the  head  only 
is  human,  and  the  rest  of  the  body  resembles  that  of  an 
animal  either  a  lion  or  a  bull,  furnished  with  wings  to  symbo- 
lize the  celestial  character  of  the  deity.  In  the  case  of  the 
representation  of  the  God  Eagle-Man  only,  do  we  find  the 
head  to  be  that  of  the  bird,  and  the  rest  of  the  body  human, 
but  furnished  with  wings.  This  deity  undoubtedly  represents 
the  Garuda  or  the  £yena  of  the  Rgveda,  who  in  later 
mythology  vied  with  the  Sun  or  Vi?n,u  for  supremacy,  and 
was  regarded  as  Vijnu  himself.1  Very  likely,  Garuda 

1    MahtbMrata,  Book  I,  Chapter  33. 
3° 


234  RGVEDIC  INDIA, 

represented  the  nomadic  Aryan  tribes  who  used  to  bring  the 
Soma  plant  for  the  Vedic  Aryans  from  the  Himalaya,  and 
afterwards  migrated  to  Southern  India,  and  flourished  in  the 
age  of  the  R£m£yana  under  kings  Jatayus  and  Samp£ti.  The 
Cholas  must  have  carried  these  mythologies  with  them  to  their 
new  home  in  Chaldea,  and  given  a  tangible  shape  to  them  in 
the  statues  which  have  been  discovered  in  the  ruins  of 
Nineveh  and  Babylon. 

The  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Cosmogonies  also  resemble 
the  Vedic  Cosmogony  in  some  of  its  principal  features.  Mr. 
L.  W.  King  has  discovered  certain  tablets  whose  translation 
he  has  published  in  his  Seven  Tablets  of  Creation.  The 
authorities  of  the  British  Museum  have  given  a  gist  of  the 
records,  from  which  the  following  is  condensed  :— 

The  First  Tablet  of  the  series  describes  the  time  when 
the  heavens  were  not,  when  there  were  no  planets,  and  before 
the  gods  had  come  into  being,  and  when  the  water-deep  was 
the  source  and  origin  of  all  things.  The  male  and  female 
deities  of  the  primeval  watery  mass  were  called  Apsu  and 
Tiamat ;  their  children  were  called  Lakhmu  and  Lakhfimu, 
and  their  grand-children  Anshar  and  Kishar,  and  their  great* 
grand-children  were  Amu,  Bel,  Ea  and  other  great  Gods.  The 
other  Tablets  describe  how  Tiamat  afterwards  became  jealous 
of  the  gods,  and  created  a  brood  of  monsters,  so  that  they 
might  wage  war  against  the  gods.  The  plot  having  become 
known  to  the  gods,  they  assembled  to  take  counsel  among 
themselves,  and  made  Marduk  their  leader.  Marduk  fought 
with  Tiamat,  and  defeating  her,  cut  her  up  into  two  halves, 
one  of  which  formed  the  firmament  and  the  other  the  earth. 
Then  the  stars  were  created,  the  year  with  twelve  months 
established,  and  the  Moon  appointed  "  to  determine  the  days." 
Then  men  was  created  by  Marduk  from  his  flesh  and  bones. 1 

»  Hist  Hist  of  the  Walrd,  Vol.  I,  pp.  520-521.  This  Marduk  is  wrongly 
identified  by  some  scholars  with  the  Maruts  of  the  $gveda.  The  name 
pf  the  Babylonian.  Storm-Go4  was  Matu  or  Mart*  which,  as  we  have  seen 


XII.]  COSMOGONICAL  ACCOUNTS.  235 

The  Babylonian  religion  was  largely  influenced  by  the 
Sumerian,  which  was  an  astral  religion.  The  legend  of 
the  Babylonian  creation  was  practically  the  same  as  the 
Assyrian  :  "  In  the  begining  was  Chaos,  consisting  of  watery 
mass.  Only  two  beings  existed — Apsu,  the  Deep,  and 
Tiamat,  the  Universal  mother.  These  two  represent  the 
two  formulative  elements,  from  whose  unions  the  gods  were 
created."  *  Then  followed  the  creation  of  the  brood  of 
monsters  produced  by  Tiamat  with  the  object  of  annihilating 
the  gods,  as  in  the  Assyrian  legend,  and  her  ultimate  defeat 
and  destruction. 

Now  compare  these  cosmogonical  accounts  with  the 
account  of  the  Vedic  Cosmogony  (Rig.  x.  129): — 

"  i.  Nor  aught  nor  naught  existed  then  ;  not  the  aerial 
space,  nor  heaven's  bright  woof  above,  What  covered  all  ? 
Where  rested  all  ?  Was  it  water,  the  profound  abyss  ? 

was  the  same  as  the  Vedic  Marut,  and  must  have  been  taken  by  the  Panis 
and  Cholas  to  Babylonia.  Marduk  was  probably  the  same  God  as  Afdrdika, 
mentioned  in  Rg  iv.  18,  12,  who  was  opposed  to  Indra,  and  is  said  to  have 
killed  Indra's  father,  Dy&vd  or  the  sky,  by  probably  covering  it  up  with  clouds 
or  darkness,  for  which  reason  he  was  not  only  not  recognised  in  the  Rgveda 
as  a  Deva  (Rv.  iv.  18,  13),  but  put  down  as  a  malevolent  deity,  like  Vrtra, 
probably  worshipped  by  savage  Aryan  tribes  who  were  opposed  to  Indra-worship 
The  name  of  M&rdika  must  have  been  carried  by  the  Pailis  to  Southern  India, 
whence  it  travelled  to  Mesopotamia  under  the  name  of  Marduk.  It  is  remark- 
able, however,  that  like  Indra  in  India,  he  was  the  leader  of  the  Gods  in  Baby* 
Ionia,  and  fought  with  Tiamat  or  darkness,  the  Universal  mother,  who  produced 
a  brood  of  monsters  (serpents  or  Ahis)  in  opposition  to  her  first-born  sons,  the 
Gods,  with  a  view  to  defeat  them.  As  Indra  killed  Vrtra  and  Vftra's  mother, 
so  Marduk  also  killed  Tiamat  with  all  her  dark  brood  of  monsters.  It  would 
thus  appear  that  MArdika  in  the  Rgvedi  was  the  god  of  those  Aryan  tribes 
who  were  opposed  to  Indra-worship,  and  was,  in  fact  a  rival  of  Indra  like  Vrtra, 
Vala,  or  Ahura  Mazda.  Though  regarded  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  as  an  evil 
power,  M&rdika  resembled  Indra  in  some  of  the  feats  performed  by  him.  To 
say  that  Marduk  travelled  all  the  way  from  Babylonia  to  Rgvedic  India,  and 
found  mention  in  a  Rgvedic  hymn  under  the  name  oi  Mfirdika  is  simply  pre- 
posterous and  is  opposed  to  sound  commonsense  and  the  correct  reading  of 
ancient  Indian  History. 
»  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  522, 


336  BLGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

"  2.  Death  was  not  then,  nor  immortality ;  there  was 
no  difference  of  day  and  night.  That  One  breathed  breathless 
of  Itself  (*.*.,  existed,  but  without  exerting  or  manifesting 
Itself) ;  and  there  was  nothing  other  than  It. 

"  3.  In  the  beginning  there  was  darkness  in  darkness 
enfolded ;  all  was  undistinguishable  water.  That  One,  which 
lay  in  the  empty  space,  wrapped  in  nothingness,  was  develop- 
ed by  the  power  of  heat.  1 

"  4.  Desire  first  arose  in  It— that  was  the  primeval 
germ  of  mind,  which  poets  searching  with  their  intellects, 
discovered  in  their  hearts  to  be  the  bond  between  Being  and 
Not- Being. 

"  5.  A  ray  of  light  which  stretched  across  these  worlds, 
did  it  come  from  below  or  from  above  ?  Then  seeds  were 
sown  and  mighty  forces  arose,  Nature  beneath,  and  Power 
and  Will  above. 

"  6.  Who  indeed  knows  ?  Who  proclaimed  it  here— 
whence,  whence  this  creation  was  produced  ?  The  Gods  were 
later  than  its  production— who  then  knows  whence  it  sprang  ? 

"  7.  He  from  whom  this  creation  sprang,  whether  He 
made  it  or  not,  the  All-seer  in  the  highest  heaven,  He  knows 
it,— 01  He  does  not." 

The  Vedic  thinkers  conceived  primeval  chaos,  unquickened 
as  yet  by  the  first  fiat  of  Creative  Will,  yet  brooded  over  by 
the  Divine  Presence,  which  their  great  poetic  gift  enabled 
them  to  clothe  in  such  words  as,  to  use  Max  M Ciller's  enthusi- 
astic expression,  "  language  blushes  at  but  her  blush  is  a  blush 
of  triumph."  "  One  of  the  great  beauties  of  this  matchless 
piece/'  says  Ragozin,  "  is  that  while  reaching  the  uttermost 
bounds  of  philosophical  abstraction,  it  is  never  obscure  unless 
to  the  absolutely  uninitiated." 

1  Max  Miillor  hab  translated  tapasas  into  "by  power  of  he  it,"  but  the  word 
also  means  "  by  penance."  The  Taittiriya  Brahma.no.  reads  "  tamasa  "  which 
means  "out  of  darkness." 


XH.J  COSMOGONICAL  ACCOUNTS.  237 

There  is  another  short  cosmogonic  piece  in  the  Rgveda 
(x.  190),  which  is  worth  quoting  here  : 

11  From  kindled  heat  (tapasa]  Right  and  Law  were  born 
(Satya  and  ftta,  the  Cosmic  Order),  and  night,  then  the  watery 
flood.  And  from  the  watery  flood  the  coursing  year  was  born, 
disposing  day  and  night,  the  ruler  of  all  that  close  the  eyes. 
And  in  their  order  the  Creator  formed  the  sun  and  the  moon, 
and  heaven  and  earth,  the  regions  of  the  air  and  light." 

The  accounts  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Cosmogonies 
are  characterized  not  only  by  obscurity  of  expression  but  also 
by  a  confusion  of  thoughts  and  ideas.  They  seem,  however,  to 
have  embodied  in  them  not  only  the  account  of  the  Vedic 
cosmogony  but  also  the  Vedic  account  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Gods  to  overcome  the  powers  of  darkness,  viz.,  Vrtra  and  his 
hosts,  which  forms  the  theme  of  many  a  Rgvedic  hymn.  In 
the  Rgveda,  we  find  that  the  mother  of  Vrtra  was  slain  with 
Vftra  himself  by  Indra,  and  they  both  lay  down  below  the 
waters  (Rv.  i.  32,  8.  9).  This  probably  is  the  origin  of  the 
story  of  the  cutting  up  of  Tiamat  into  twain  by  Marduk  in  the 
Assyrian  account.  It  seems  very  probable  that  this  account  of 
the  Vedic  cosmogony  and  the  struggle  of  the  Gods  with 
Vrtra  was  taken  by  the  aryanized  Cholas  in  an  abbreviated 
form  from  Southern  India  to  Mesopotamia.  Like  Vrtra,  the 
sons  of  Tiarnat  are  all  snakes,  or  dragons  in  the  Babylonian 
legend. 

This  cosmogonical  account  of  the  Babylonians  and  Assy- 
rians must  have  found  its  way  among  the  Israelites  who,  as  we 
have  already  pointed  out,  emigrated  to  Syria  from  the  city    of 
Ur,  the  ancient  capital  of  Chaldea.  The  Biblical  account  of  the 
creation  of  the  world,  though  resembling  the   Vedic    in    some 
points,  is  also  characterized   by   obscurity   of    language,    and 
confusion  of  ideas.    It  would  be  beyond  the  scope  of  this  chap- 
ter to  deal  with  these  defects  of  the   Biblical   account ;  but   I 
would  refer  my  readers  to  the  chapter  on  Genesis,  so  that  they 
may  be  able  to  judge  for  themselves  the  truth  of  my  remarks. 


238  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

The  words  Apsu  and  Tiamat  in  the  Assyrian  and  Babylo- 
nian accounts  undoubtedly  resemble  the  Sanskrit  words  A  pa 
and  Tamas,  meaning  water  and  darkness  respectively.  The 
water,  of  course,  was  not  the  material  water  we  see,  but  the 
very  essence  of  it  in  abstraction,  the  tanmatra,  as  it  is  called 
by  Sanskrit  philosophers.  Tamas  was  the  darkness  reigning 
over  the  bottomless  abyss.  But  Tiamat  has  been  wrongly 
rendered  into  English  as  water  or  ocean,  which  she  was  not. 
The  brood  of  the  dark  evil  powers,  produced  by  Tiamat  in- 
dependently, could  not  be  but  the  brood  of  Darkness  itself.  It 
would  be  profitless  further  to  seek  a  resemblance  of  the  names 
of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Gods,  for  they  were  mostly 
transformed  into  words  of  Semitic  origin,  or  corrupted  in 
pronunciation  beyond  recognition.  That  the  Sumerians  or 
Chaldeans,  after  the  invasion  of  the  Semites,  adopted  the 
language  of  their  conquerors  is  an  undoubted  fact.  "The  most 
ancient  populations  of  this  country,"  says  a  writer,  "  formed 
several  closely  related  races  which  had  no  connection  with 
the  other  nations  of  Western  Asia,  but  in  the  course  of  histori- 
cal evolution,  they  lost  their  language  and  nationality,  and 
were  submerged  in  the  neighbouring  races."  !  It  is  therefore 
really  astonishing  that  we  should  still  find  in  the  Semitic 
language  some  traces  of  the  source  from  which  the  religion  of 
the  ancient  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  was  derived. 

About  77  years  ago,  Dr.  Edward  Hinks  propounded  the 
theory  that  though  the  Sumerians,  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  Babylonian  civilisation,  might  not  have  been  an  Aryan  race, 
their  speech  bore  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  influence  of 
Aryan  speech,'2  and  his  conclusions  are  now  generally  admitted 
to  be  correct.  Hommel,  Delitzsch  and  Kremer  have  discovered 
certain  primitive  relations  between  Aryan  and  Semitic  speech. 
Hommel  adduces  six  culture-words  which,  in  this  opinion,  esta- 
blish such  a  primitive  connection.  "  Delitzsch  goes  deeper.  He 

i     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  341. 
•    J.  R.  A.  S.,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  387-449  (1848). 


XIL]         CREATION  OF  MAN  AND  CASTES.          239 

claims  to  have  identified  one  hundred  Semitic  roots  with  Aryan 
roots."1  In  my  humble  way,  I  have  endeavoured  to  establish 
the  identity  of  the  names  of  some  of  the  Babylonian  and 
Assyrian  Gods  with  those  of  the  Aryan  (Vedic)  Gods,  and  to 
prove  that  the  Babylonian  Cosmogony  bore  the  stamp  of  the 
Vedic  Cosmogony.  All  these,  however,  do  not  prove  the  Aryan 
origin  of  the  Sumerians,  but  only  go  to  show  that  they  must 
have  been  a  people  who  came  under  the  influence  of  Aryan 
speech  and  culture.  I  have  already  said  that  these  Sumerians 
or  Chaldeans  belonged  to  the  Chola  tribe  of  the  Dravidian  race, 
who  had  been  aryanized  by  the  Panis  and  other  Aryan  settlers 
in  Southern  India.  I  will  now  proceed  to  note  down  some 
more  points  of  resemblances  between  the  Chaldean  and  the 
Vedic  civilisations. 

The  creation  of  man  from  the  flesh  and  bones  of  Marduk 
as  related  in  the  Assyrian  tablet  resembles  the  Rgvedic 
legend  of  the  sacrifice  of  Purusa,  and  the  creation  from  his 
limbs  of  the  four  castes  into  which  mankind  is  divided.  The 
primitive  four  castes  are  common  to  and  observable  in  all 
races  of  mankind,  whether  civilised  or  barbarous.  But  while 
they  are  elastic  in  other  communities,  they  have  become  hard 
and  crystallized  in  the  present  Hindu  society.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  I  will  quote  here  the  passages  from  the  Rgveda  (x.  90, 
ii  and  12)  which  describe  the  creation  of  the  four  castes 
from  the  severed  limbs  of  Puru?a  : 

"  When  the  Gods  divided  Puru?a,  into  how  many  parts 
did  they  cut  him  up  ?  What  was  his  mouth  ?  What  his  arms  ? 
What  his  thighs  and  feet  ? 

"  The  Br&hman  was  his  mouth  ;  the  Rajanya  was  made 
his  arm  ;  the  VaiSya,  he  was  his  thighs ;  the  Sadra  sprang 
from  his  feet." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  resemblance  between  the 
two  legends  is  remarkable,  with  this  difference  only  that  the 
Babylonian  legend  is  brief,  while  the  Vedic  legend  is  elaborate. 

1     Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans^  p.  40. 


240  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

The  religious  ceremonies  of  the  ancient  Babylonians,  like 
those  of  the  Vedic  Aryans,  bore  a  relation  to  external  worship  ; 
they  all  ended  in  invocation  or  sacrifice.  "  The  'cylinder-en- 
graved  scenes  give  us  an  idea  of  these  ceremonies  ;  we  usually 
see  the  priest  in  an  attitude  of  adoration  or  prayer,  sometimes 
alone,  but  often  before  an  altar  on  which  reposes  the  object  of 
adoration,  or  that  which  is  going  to  be  sacrificed.  The  most 
usual  victim  is  a  ram  or  kid.  The  Assyrian  kings  never  began 
an  important  expedition  without  having  invoked  the  Gods  and 
held  religious  ceremonies  ;  after  a  victory  they  offered  a  sacri- 
fice on  the  borders  of  their  newly  conquered  states.  These 
sacrifices  generally  took  place  in  the  open  air  ;  nevertheless 
temples  were  numerous  in  Assyria  and  Chaldea."1  These 
customs  and  practices  mostly  resembled  those  of  the  ancient 
Indo-Aryans. 

The  priests  of  ancient  Chaldea  held  a  high  position  in 
society,  like  the  Brahman  priests  of  ancient  or  modern  India. 
They  were  called  Patesis  which  may  have  been  a  corruption 
of  the  Sanskrit  word  Purohita.  Says  Diodorus  :  "  The 
Chaldeans  being  the  most  ancient  Babylonians  held  the  same 
station  and  dignity  in  the  Commonwealth,  as  the  Egyptian 
priests  do  in  Egypt.  For  being  deputed  to  Divine  offices 
they  spend  all  their  time  m  study  of  Philosophy,  and  are 
especially  famous  in  the  Art  of  Astrology.  They  are  mightily 
given  to  Divination,  and  fortel  future  events,  and  employ 
themselves  either  by  Purification,  Sacrifices,  or  other  In- 
chantments  to  avert  Evils,  or  procure  good  Fortune  and 
Success.  They  are  skilful  likewise  in  the  art  of  Divination, 
by  the  flying  of  Birds,  and  interpreting  of  Dreams  and 
Prodigies  :  And  are  reported  as  true  Oracles  (in  declaring 
what  will  come  to  pass)  by  their  exact  and  diligent  viewing 
of  Intrails  of  the  Sacrifices.  But  they  attain  not  to  their 
Knowledge  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Greecians  do  ;  for  the 
Chaldeans  learn  it  by  Tradition  from  their  Ancestors,  the  Son 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  519, 


&L]  THE  PATESIS. 


241 


from  the  Father,  who  are  all  in  the  meantime  free  from  all  other 
public  offices  and  Attendances,  and  because  their  Parents  are 
their  Tutors,  they  both  learn  everything  without  envy,  and  rely 
with  more  confidence  upon  the  truth  of  what  is  taught  them  ; 
and  being  trained  up  in  this  Learning  from  their  very  child- 
hood, they  become  most  famous  Philosophers/'  l  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that  this  was  the  picture  of  the  Chaldean 
priests  in  the  first  century  B.C.,  for  Diodorus  was  born  in 
Sicily  about  44  B.C.,  and  visited  Mesopotamia  probably  a  few 
years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  During  8,000  years,  the  sacred 
learning  and  culture  of  the  Patesis  probably  changed  very 
little,  as  they  were  the  conservative  custodians  of  the  ancient 
religion,  and  the  sacred  lore  was  handed  down  from  father  to 
son,  as  it  is  still  done  in  india.  They  were  undoubtedly  the 
descendants  of  those  priestly  Brahmans  who  accompanied  the 
Cholas  to  their  new  colony  as  'their  spiritual  guides,  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  historical  era.  The  fact  that  the  offiice 
of  the  Patesis  as  well  as  their  learning  were  hereditary  lends 
a  strong  colour  to  this  view.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  func- 
tions of  the  Babylonian  Patesis  resembled  those  of  the 
Brahman  priests,  as  depicted  in  the  Atharva-vedaJ}  which 
according  to  Professor  Macdonell  "  is,  in  the  main,  a  book  of 
spells  and  incantations,  appealing  to  the  demon- world,  and 
teems  with  notions  of  witch-craft,  current  among  the  lower 
grades  of  the  population,  and  derived  from  an  immemorial 
antiquity." 

Like  the  chief  priests  of  the  temples  of  Southern  India  in 
anoient  times,  the  Patesis  of  ancient  Babylonia  were  the  rulers 
of  Provinces  and  Kingdoms.  The  Mahantas  of  modern  times 
in  India  seem  to  us  to  be  the  survivals  of  a  similar  system 
that  was  in  vogue  in  Ancient  India.  We  know  from  the  Rg- 
veda  what  great  influences  used  to  be  wielded  over  kings  and 
rulers  by  the  R$is  in  Vedic  times.  Vigv4mitra  himself  led  an 
army  against  the  Tjtsus  (Rv.  iii.  33  and  53)  and  Vasitfha,  as 

1     Booth's  Translation,  1700. 
31 


242  fcGVEDIC  tNDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  leader  <s>f  the  Tftsus,  invoked  the  aid  of  the  powerful 
Indra  for  victory  over  their  enemies  in  the  very  field  of  battle 
{Rv.  vii.  83).  These  Bt?ii>,  though  not  actual  rulers  of  the 
country,  guided  them  by  their  counsels  in  all  important  matters 
of  the  state.  Very  likely,  when  the  Aryans,  under  the  leader- 
ships  of  their  Rjis,  founded  colonies  in  Southern  India,  the 
latter  necessarily  took  the  supreme  control  of  the  Government 
in  their  hands,  and  became  de facto  Rulers.  In  ancient 
Chaldea  also,  a  similar  system  prevailed.  Says  a  writer: 
'•  Without  referring  to  the  legendary  history  of  Babylonia 
related  by  Berossus,  our  earliest  knowledge  of  the  land  is  of 
a  country  of  independent  kingdoms,  the  cities  with  temples 
forming  their  centres.  The  ruler  is  often  the  Patesi  or  high 
priest."1 

In  this  connection  we  are  reminded  of  an  extremely  re- 
volting and  abominable  custom  that  obtained  in  ancient  Baby- 
lonia, which,  we  suspect,  was  taken  there  in  an  aggravated 
form  from  Southern   India,  where   in   many  temples   is  still 
attached  a  number  of  maidens,   dedicated  to  the  Gods,   who 
live  there  all  their  life,  ostensibly  as  pure  maidens  (Devaddsis) 
but  really  in  secret  prostitution.    In   Babylonia)   the  custom 
assumed  a  worse  and  more  gruesome  aspect,  in  as   much   as 
not  merely  a  certain   number  of  dedicated   maidens,   but   all 
maidens,  irrespective  of  rank  or  position,  had  once  in   their 
life  to  prostitute   themselves  in    the    temple  premises  to 
strangers.     Decency  forbids  us  to  give  in  these  pages  a 
detailed  account  of  this  abhorrent  ceremony,   for  it  was  no 
other  than  a  religious  ceremony,  but  we  refer  our  curious 
readers  to  Historian's  History  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  page  478, 
for  a  gruesome  account  of  it.    This  oustom  unmistakably 
shows  Dravidian  influence  on  the  ancient  civilisation  of  the 
Babylonians  who  imitated  not  only  the  virtues  but  also  the 
vices    of  their  teachers.    It  is,  indeed,  extremely  strange 
that  this  custom  had  a  sort  of  religious  sanction,   which  pro- 

»     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  world,  Vol.  I,  p.  323. 


XII.]  CHALDEAN  ASTRONOMY.  243 

bably  made  the  moral  sense  of  the  people  impervious  to  the 
revolting  ugliness  and  immorality  of  the  whole  thing.  It  has 
been  related  that  women  whose  appearance  was  not  engag- 
ing had  sometimes  to  remain  in  the  temple  of  Venus  "  from 
three  to  four  years  unable  to  accomplish  the  terms  of  the 
Law." 

The  Dravidians  were  famous  in  ancient  time  for  their 
astronomical  knowledge  which  they  undoubtedly  derived  from 
the  Vedic  Aryans,  and  especially  the  Panis  who  had  to  study 
the  motions  of  the  planets  and  stars  for  guiding  their  ships  in 
the  seas,  The  fact  that  the  ancient  Chaldeans  also  developed 
the  astronomical  science  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection  streng- 
thens our  opinion  that  the  science  was  taken  from  India  by 
the  Cholas.  Like  the  twelve  Adityas  of  the  Veda,  there  were 
also  twelve  suns  among  the  Chaldeans,  "  to  each  of  which/1 
says  Diodorus,  "  they  attribute  a  month,  and  one  Sign  of  the 
Twelve  in  the  Zodiack.  Through  these  twelve  signs,  the 
Sun,  Moon  and  the  other  Five  Planets  run  their  course.  The 
Sun  in  a  Year's  time,  and  the  Moon  in  the  space  of  a  Month. 
To  every  one  of  the  Planets  they  assign  their  own  proper 
courses  which  are  performed  variously  in  lesser  or  shorter 
time  according  as  their  several  motions  are  quicker  or  slower. 
These  stars,  they  say,  have  a  great  influence  both  as  to  the 
good  and  bad  in  Men's  Nativities."1  This  shows  that  like 
the  Indians,  the  Chaldeans  were  also  astrologers. 

The  Babylonian  year,  according  to  Edward  Mayer,  con- 
sisted of  simple  lunar  months  (twenty-nine  or  thirty  days) 
which,  as  with  the  Greeks  and  the  Mahomedans,  was  deter- 
mined by  the  course  of  the  moon  itself.  To  make  this  year 
coincide  with  the  course  of  the  sun  an  extra  month  was 
intercalated.  2 

Now  in  the  Rgveda  also,  we  find  the  calculation  of  the 
Lunar  year  by  thirteen  months,  and  of  the  Solar  year  by 

»  Booth's  Translation,  1700. 

•  Htot.  ffisi.  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  565. 


RGVEDIC  INDIA*  *[€HAP, 

twelve  months,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  translation 
of  a  verse  (Rv,  L  25,  8) : 

"  He  (Varuija)  in  his  wisdom,  knows  the  twelve  months, 
each  producing  a  distinctive  result,  as  well  as  the  thirteen 
months." 

The  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac  have  also  been  referred 
to  in  the  following  verse  (Rv.  i.  164,  11) : 

A 

11  The  wheel  of  the  well-ordered  Aditya  which  is  furnished 
with  twelve  spokes  is  continually  moving  round  the  heavens, 
*  and  never  becomes  old.  O  Agni,  seven  hundred  and  twenty 
mithunas  (pairs)  live  in  this  wheel  as  the  sons  (of  Aditya)." 
These  seven  hundred  and  twenty  pairs  are  evidently  the  days 
and  nights  that  make  up  a  year,  and  the  twelve  spokes  are 
the  twelve  months  or  the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac. 

In  verse  48   of  the  same  Sakta  pccurs   the   following 
enigmatical  problem :     "  Twelve  fellies,  one  wheel  and  three 
naves,  who  knoweth  the  mystery  ?    In  that  wheel  are  three 
hundred  and  sixty  spokes."     The  wheel  is  the  ecliptic  of  the 
sun ;  the  twelve  fellies  are  the  twelve  parts  that  make  up 
the  rim — either  the  twelve  months   or  the  twelve  signs  of 
the    Zodiac,  and  the  three  naves  are  the  three   principal 
seasons,Ws.,  summer,  winter  and  the  rainy  season. 

In  verse  iz  of  the  same  Sakta,  mention  has  been  made 
of  the  twelve  different  characteristics  that  the  sun  assumes 
in  the  twelve  months  as  well  as  of  his  two  motions,  viz.,  the 
Uttarayanam  (going  to  the  north),  and  the  daksindyanam 
(going  to  the  south). 

Though  the  seasons  have  been  sometimes  mentioned  as 
three  and  sometimes  as  five,  they  are  ordinarily  numbered  as 
six  in  the  Rgveda,  a  couple  of  months  being  assigned  to 
each  ;  but  when  there  were  thirteen  lunar  months,  the  seventh 
season  was  regarded  as  single,  i>.f  not  connected  with  a  couple 
of  months  (Rv.  i.  164,  15).  This  solitary  month  or  season  was 
called  malimlucha,  and  regarded  as  inauspicious,  as  not 


XI L]  THE  SAITS  OF  CHALDEA.  245 

forming  a  mithuna  or  couple.  A  similar  belief  also  prevailed 
among  the  ancient  Babylonians  with  regard  to  this  thirteenth 
month.  "  Hugh  Winckler  has  suggested  an  ingenious  theory 
for  the  fact  that  thirteen  has  always  been  considered  as  an 
unlucky  number.  In  order  to  make  the  Babylonian  calendrical 
system  of  lunar  months  agree  with  the  solar  year,  it  was 
necessary  to  insert  an  extra  month.  This  thirteenth  month 
was  regarded  as  being  in  the  way  and  disturbing  calculations. 
So  thirteen  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  superfluous  unlucky 
number.  Another  sign  of  the  Zodiac  was  appointed  for  this 
extra  month,  and  this  was  the  sign  of  the  raven."  l  It  would 
thus  be  seen  that  the  ancient  Babylonians  or  Chaldeans  were 
greatly  influenced  not  only  in  religion,  but  also  in  astronomy 
by  Rgvedic  culture. 

We  have  seen  that  the  ancient  Cholas  were  great  builders 

•—builders  not  only  of  canals  and  ships,  but  probably  also  of 

temples.     Southern  India  is  famous  from   early  times  for  the 

existence  of  old  massive  temples,  for  the  construction  of  which 

atone  materials  could  be  procured  in  great  plenty.     But  very 

probably,  the  buildings  were  at  first  made  of  wood,   as   wood 

suitable  for  building  purposes  was  abundant.  They  undoubtedly 

carried  their   art  to   Chaldea,   and  the  Semitic  Babylonians 

and  Assyrians  were  greatly  indebted  to  them  for  learning  and 

developing  it.     The  Salts  of  Chaldea  were   a  people   "who 

Certainly  were  not  descended  from  a   race  inter-mixed  with 

Semitic  blood/'    They  must  have  belonged  to  the  same  race 

as  the  early  Chaldeans  or  Cholas  who  had  first  established  their 

colony  on  the  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf.    My  surmise  is  that 

they  were  the  Seths  or  Srejthls  of  Southern  India,  who  mostly 

belonged  to  the  enterprising  mercantile  class,  the  Chetties  as 

they  are  even  to  this  day  called,  and  went  to  Chaldea  probably 

at  a  later  period  than  the  invasion  of  it  by  the  Semites.  These 

Seths  or  Saits  greatly  influenced   Babylonian    and    Assyrian 

art.     <4  Not  until  under  the  Saits did  art  rise  again  to  a 

*    Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  5*4' 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

height  which  recalled  the  palmy  days  of  the  ancient  realm. 
This  early  Chaldio  art  was  the  mother  of  that  of  Babylonia 
and  Assyria,  and  the  Semites  of  Babylon  and  Asshur  proved 
themselves  diligent  students,  gifted  imitators,  who  gave  to 
their  works  also  the  stamp  of  their  own  genius ;  but  they 
were  never  more  than  students  and  imitators ;  they  never 
produced  anything  original,  which  might  stand  in  equality  by 
the  side  of  early  Cbaldic  art.  The  Semitic  race  occupies  one 
of  the  foremost  positions  in  the  history  of  civilisation,  and 
is  highly  talented.  But  in  architecture  and  sculpture  it  has 
always  worked  in  close  connection  with  foreign  masters,  and 
never  produced  anything  really  great  by  itself.  The  further 
it  goes  from  the  ancient  centres,  where  the  great  tradition  of 
the  former  so  highly  developed  art  still  lived  on,  the  more 
unskilful  becomes  its  production  in  the  field.  Assyria  where 
the  Semitic  blood  was  purer  than  in  Babylonia,  and  which 
was  certainly  surpassed  in  art  by  the  latter,  Phoenicia, 

Palestine  and  Arabia  are  proofs   of  this Considered  as 

artists,  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  stand  foremost  among 
the  Semites,  but  they  are  indebted  for  this  to  the  early 
Chaldeans."  l 

We  thus  see  that  it  was  the  ancient  Chaldeans  who  influenc- 
ed, nay,  laid  the  very  foundations  of  the  Babylonian  and  Assy- 
rian  civilisations  in  all  their  phases— viz.,  agriculture,  arts,  in- 
dustries, architecture,  natural  science,  religion  and  philosophy.' 
That  the  Chaldeans,  and  latterly  the  Saits  were  peoples 
entirely  different  from  the  Semites  is  admitted  on  all  hands. 
I  have  endeavoured  in  this  chapter  (as  briefly  as  it  has  been 
possible  for  me  to  do  so)  to  prove  that  they  were  Indians 
who  came  to  Chaldea  from  Southern  India,  and  probably 
belonged  to  the  Chola  tribe  of  the  Dravidian  race,  who  in 
their  turn  received  their  culture  and  civilisation  from  the 
Vedic  Aryans  ;  that  they  founded  a  colony  with  the  help  of 
Pa^is  on  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf  near  the  mouth  of  the 

i    Hist.  Hist,  of  the  Wold,  Vol.  I,  pp,  Stf'547. 


XII.]  ANTIQUITY  OF  VED1C  CULTURE.  247 

Tigris  and  the  Euphrates,  which  they  called  Kengi,  and  which 
was  also  called  Sumer  (Sutner  being  probably  a  corruption 
of  the  Sanskrit  word  Sa-maru  which  literally  means  the  land 
contiguous  to  the  desert),  or  Chaldea  ;  that  they  spread  their 
culture  first  among  the  aboriginal  savage  tribes,  and  afterwards 
among  the  barbarous  Semites  when  they  conquered  the 
country  and  established  their  supremacy  over  it ;  and  that 
the  Semites,  as  apt  pupils,  were  able  to  assimilate  Chaldean 
culture  and  founded  famous  empires  at  the  early  dawn  of  the 
historical  age,  about  ten  thousand  years  ago.  The  whole  of 
Western  Asia  and  Southern  Europe  were  indebted  to  Baby- 
lonia and  Assyria  (as  also  to  Egypt)  for  their  early  culture 
and  civilisation.  As  a  writer  says  :  "  If  the  earlier  walls  of 
the  Temple  of  Bel  (Baal)  at  Nippur  really  date  from  6,000  or 
7,000  years  B.C.,  as  the  records  seem  to  prove,  there  was  a 
continuous  powerful  empire  in  Mesopotamia  for  at  least  five 
or  six  thousand  years.  The  civilisation  of  Greece,  of  Rome, 
or  of  any  modern  state  seem  mere  mushroom  growth  in 
comparison."  1 

If  the  civilisation  of  Chaldea  be  proved  to  be  nearly  ten 
thousand  years  old,  how  older  was  the  civilisation  of  the  Cholas 
of  Southern  India  ?  And  how  older  again  was  the  Rgvedic 
civilisation  that  was  taken  to  Southern  India  after  the  partial 
disappearance  of  the  Raj putana  Sea?  These  are  questions 
which  cannot  be  definitely  answered.  The  age  of  the  early 
BLgvedio  civilisation  goes  back  to  a  period  of  time  which  is 
lost  in  the  impenetrable  darkness  of  the  past — to  which 
thousands  of  years  can  be  safely  assigned,  without  one 
being  accused  of  romancing  wildly.  The  Chaldean  priests 
told  Diodorus  that  at  the  time  when  Alexander  the  Great 
was  in  Asia,  their  civilisation  had  been  470,000  years  old. 
This  appeared  incredible  to  Diodorus,  as  it  undoubtedly 
would  to  all  men  of  modern  times.  But  if  the  priests  were 
of  Aryan  extraction,  as  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  they 

*    Ibid,  Vol.  I,  P.  3»9« 


JBLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

were,  the  tradition  of  the  hoary  antiquity  of  their  civilisation 
would  be  partly  justified  and  corroborated  by  the  extremely 
old  age  of  the  Rgvedic  civilisation,  of  which  they  were  the 
inheritors.  We  should,  in  this  connection,  recall  to  mind 
the  tradition  current  among  the  Phoenicians  who  told  Julius 
Africanus  that  they  had  been  in  Phoenicia  for  nearly  30,000 
years.  If  there  is  any  element  of  truth  in  this  tradition,  the 
Chaldean  civilisation  in  Mesopotamia  must  be  older  than 
10,000  years. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  XII. 
A  FEW  IMPORTANT  NOTES. 
(a)  The  PaJlis  and  the  Dravidians. 

Long  before  the  complete  disappearance  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  about 
7500  B.C.,  as  asserted  by  Mr.  V.  B.  Katkar,  the  Aryan  merchants,  e.g.,  the 
PaljLis,  must  have  established  trade- relations  with  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of 
the  Deccan,  especially  those  who  lived  on  the  sea-coasts  This  contact  of 
the  two  peoples  undoubtedly  resulted  in  the  uplift  of  the  latter  under  Aryan 
influence  and  tutelage.  The  civilising  process  of  the  Dravidians  was  further 
accelerated,  when  the  drying  up  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  facilitated 
the  free  immigration  of  the  Aryan  colonists  to  the  South. 

(b)  Yima's  emigration  to  the  Arctic  region  from  Airyana  Vaejo. 

Mr.  B.  G.  Tilak  has  identified  Manu's  Flood  with  the  invasion  of. 
Airyana  Vaejo  by  Ice.  But  probably  the  two  events  were  not  at  all  identical 
Airyana  Vaejo  must  have  been  destroyed  through  some  other  causes,  VIM,,  the 
advent  of  the  last  Glacial  Epoch  which,  according  to  American  Geologists, 
lasted  down  to  8,000  B.C.,  after  which  the  Post-Glacial  Epoch  commenced. 
Yima's  emigration  to  the  Arctic  region  whose  present  inclement  climate, 
according  to  American  Geologists,  "  dates  from  the  Post-Glacitl  period,"  must 
therefore  have  taken  place  a  few  millenniums  ago  before  8000  B.C.  When 
the  Post-Glacial  epoch  came,  the  climate  of  Airyana  Vaejo  became  temperate, 
enabling  Zoroaster  and  his  followers  to  re-settle  in  the  lost  and  abandoned 
"  Paradise,"  and  the  climate  of  Sapta-Sindhu  also  changed  from  cold  to  hot, 
due  probably  to  the  complete  disappearance  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  subse- 
quent to  7500  B.C.  Xanthos  of  Lydia's  estimate  about  the  age  of  Zoroaster 
who  was  supposed  by  htm  to  have  flourished  6,000  years  before  the  expedition 
of  Xertes,  as  well  as  Aristotle's  similar  calculation,  seem  to  be  approximately 
correct.  The  Zend-Avesta  also  must  have  been  as  old  as  that  period. 


XII.]  APPENDIX.  249 

(c)  The  Papis  and  the  Chaldeans. 

The  Aryan  sea-going  merchants  used  to  visit  the  coasts  of  the  Deooan 
and  of  the  Persian  Gult  from  a  few  millenniums  earlier  than  7500  B.C.  The 
Cholas  and  the  Paijtdyas  had  already  been  civilised  by  them.  They  established 
colonies  with  their  help  in  Mesopotamia  and  Egypt,  and  also  independently  in 
Syria. 

(d)  Manu's  Flood  and  the  Babylonian  Flood. 

Manu's  Flood  must  have  taken  place  about  7500  B.  C.  or  later.  The 
Babylonian  Flood  was  not  identical  with  it,  and  was  probably  a  myth.  The 
legend  of  Manu's  Fiood  may  have  been  carried  to  Mesopotamia  by  the  Aryan 
and  Dravidian  colo. lists.  Ila*  was  a  region  in  Kashmir,  known  to  the  Rgvedic 
Aryans  as  the  best  of  regions,  where  Manu's  ship  later  on  was  stranded  after 
the  Flood.  I  la.  has  been  described  in  the  Satapatha  Brihmaua  as  Mnnu's 
daughter.  It  had  been  known  to  him  before  and  he  probably  lived  there  ;  but 
he  also  appeared  to  have  a  hermitage  on  the  shore  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  when 
the  Flood  occurred.  His  ship  was  probably  carried  up  to  Ha*  by  a  stupendous 
tidal  wave  along  some  flooded  valley  of  a  Punjab  river  that  has  its  source  in 
the  Kashmir  mountains. 

(e)  Dravidian  colonisation  of  the  Punjab, 

After  the  Punjab  had  land-connection  with  the  Deccan,  there  must  have 
been  an  influx  of  enterprising  Dravidians,  mostly  merchants,  into  the  Punjabi 
who  established  trade-centres  at  different  places  of  the  Indus-valley  and  other 
river-valleys,  founding  flourishing  towns  and  ports.  Most  of  the  Vedic 
Aryans  had  probably  withdrawn  to  remoter  and  safer  parts  of  the  country 
after  the  Great  Flood.  Harappa  in  the  Punjab  and  Mahenjo-daro  in  Sind 
may  have  been  Dravidian  colonies,  having  direct  trade-relations  with  Sumeria 
and  other  countries,  as  the  recent  archaeological  finds  in  those  places  go  to 
establish.  Most  of  the  Vedic  Aryans,  as  already  stated,  had  been  gradually 
leaving  the  Punjab  and  advancing  towards  the  east,  occupying  the  newly 
formed  Gangetic  plains  and  founding  flourishing  kingdoms  and  cities  therein. 
The  ancient  relics  of  Dravidian  and  Sumerian  civilisations,  found  in  the  course 
of  archaeological  excavations  in  these  two  places,  do  not  at  all  prove  that  these 
civilisations  were  pre-Aryan.  The  finds  of  graves  and  urns  containing  ashes 
do  not  also  point  to  their  un-  Aryan  character.  The  Rgveda  clearly  mentions 
the  existence  of  the  customs  of  burial,  cremation,  and  ceremonial  burial  of 
ashes  in  urns,  among  the  ancient  Aryans.  (Vide  Rgvedic  Culture  Ch  X). 
Probably  the  population  in  these  trade-centres  was  mixed,  consisting  of 
Aryans,  Dravidians  and  other  foreign  peoples,  speaking  different  languages 
and  observing  different  religious  customs.  This  fact  has  been  very  likely 
referred  to  in  the  following  verse  of  the  Athawa-ved*  (xii,  I,  45). 

•nf  flwft 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

INDO-ARYAN  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  CIVILISATION  OF  ANCIENT  EGYPT. 

European  scholars  are  not  agreed  as  to  which  of  the  two 
civilisations!  the  Egyptian  and  the  Babylonian,  was  more 
ancient  than  the  other.  Some  claim  for  the  former  the  earliest 
antiquity,  while  others  assert  that  it  was  the  Babylonian  civili- 
sation that  influenced  the  Egyptian.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  there  was  free  intercourse  in  ancient  times  between 
Egypt  and  Babylonia,  and  it  was  within  the  bounds  of 
probability  that  both  the  civilisations  exerted  mutual  influence 
upon  each  other,  without  the  one  effacing  the  individual 
characteristics  of  the  other.  In  one  point,  however,  all  scholars 
are  agreed,  viz.,  that  both  exerted  a  tremendous  influence 
over  the  early  civilisation  of  Europe,  to  which  they  gave  not 
only  a  shape,  but  also  a  life  whose  vigour  still  continues 
unabated,  dominating  the  civilisations  of  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  modern  world. 

J,"  In  this  place  (Egypt),"  says  Dr.  Adolf  Erman,  u  there 
early  developed  a  civilisation  which  far  surpassed  that  of  other 
nations,  and  with  which  only  that  of  far-off  Babylonia,  where 
somewhat  similar  conditions  obtained,  could  in  any  degree 
vie."1  Elsewhere  he  says :  "  Even  under  the  Old  Kingdom, 
Egypt  is  a  country  in  a  high  state  of  civilisation  ;  a  centralised 
government,  a  high  level  of  technical  skill,  a  religion  in  exu- 
berant development,  an  art  that  had  reached  its  zenith,  a  liter- 
ature that  strives  upward  to  its  culminating  point— this  it  is 
that  we  see  displayed  in  its  monuments.  It  is  an  early  blossom, 
put  forth  by  the  human  race  at  a  time  when  other  nations  were 
wrapped  up  in  their  winter  sleep.  In  ancient  Babylonia  alone, 
where  conditions  equally  favourable  prevailed,  the  nation  of  the 

1    Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World  Vol.  I,  pp.  57-58. 


XIII.]  EGYPTIAN  ANTIQUITY,  251 

Suraerians    reached    a    similar    height"*     Further  on,  the 
Professor  says  :    "  In  the  future  as   in   the    past,   the   feeling 
with  which  the  multitude  regards   the   remains   of    Egyptian 
antiquity  will  be  one  of  awe-struck  reverence.      Nevertheless, 
another  feeling  would  be  more  appropriate,  a  feeling  of  grate- 
ful acknowledgment  and  veneration,  such  as   one   might  feel 
for  the  ancestor  who  had  founded  his  family  and   endowed  it 
with  a  large  part  of  its  wealth.     For,  though  we  are  seldom 
able  to  say  with  certainty  of  any  one  thing  in  our   possession 
that  it  is  a  legacy  we  have  inherited  from  the  Egyptians,  yet 
no  one  who  seriously  turns  his  attention  to  such   objects  can 
now  doubt  that  a  great  part  of  our  heritage  comes  from  them. 
In  all  the  implements  which  are  about  us  now-a-dayst  in  every 
art  and  craft  which  we  practise  now,  a   large   and   important 
element  has  descended  to  us  from  the  Egyptians.    And  it  is 
no  less  certain  that  we  owe  to  them  many  ideas  and  opinions 
of  which  we  can  no  longer   trace  the  origin,  and   which   have 
long  come  to  seem  to  us   the   natural   property   of   our   own 
minds."2 

These  observations  may  justly  apply  to  the  civilisation 
of  the  modern  nations  of  Europe,  but  certainly  not  to  that  of 
some  of  the  oldest  nations  of  Asia,  vis.}   the  Vedic  Aryans, 
the  Dravidians,  and  probably  the  Chinese.    They  also  go  to 
show  how  European  savants  in  their  eagerness  to  acknow- 
ledge their  debt  of  gratitude  to  an  ancient  people   who  were 
the  neighbours  of  the  European  nations,  and  from  whom  they 
derived  their  civilisation  directly,   have  been  led  to  overlook 
the  just  claims  of  other  nations,  far  older  than  the  Egyptians 
and  the  Babylonians,  to  be  regarded  as  the  real   founders  of 
those  civilisations  that  blossomed  forth  in  ancient  Egypt  and 
Babylonia.     It  is,  we  are  afraid,  blind   prejudice  that  has 
narrowed  and  circumscribed  their  vision,  and  prevented  them 
from  taking  that  broad  outlook  on  the  ancient   world,   which 

*  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  59. 

•  /AM,  Vol.  I,  p.  69. 


252  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP, 

is  the  natural  outcome  of  a  calm  and  dispassionate  mind, 
capable  of  studying  the  histories  of  all  ancient  peoples  on  a 
comparative  basis,  and  making  a  general  survey  of  them  by  a 
sweep  of  clear  and  far-sighted  vision.  Such  a  mind  has  yet 
to  appear ;  and  when  it  does  appear,  the  history  of  the 
ancient  world  will  certainly  have  to  be  re-cast,  and  written 
anew. 

Egypt  is  the  lower  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  is  bounded  on 
the  east  and  west  by  desert  land.     Between  the  two   deserts, 
occupying  a  breadth  of  from  15  to  33  miles  lies  the  depression 
forming  the  fruitful  valley  of  the  Nile.    On  the   north   is  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  on  the  south  is  a  chain  of  mountains 
through  which  the  river  Nile  flows   in  cataracts,   the   "  First 
Cataract"  forming  the  southern  boundary  of  Egypt,   beyond 
which  is  the  Nubian  sandstone  plateau.     Egypt  is  thus  totally 
shut  off  from  the  rest  of  Africa.  It  is   the  narrowest   country 
in  the  world.    Embracing  an  expanse  of  570  miles  in   length, 
it  does  not  contain  more  than  12,000  square   miles    of   fertile 
land,  that  is  to  say,  it   is    not   larger   than    the   kingdom   of 
Belgium. 

This  country  was  called  "  Kamit"  (black  country)  by  the 
ancient  inhabitants.  "  The  name  of  Egypt  in  hieroglyphics 
is  Kem... The  sense  is 'black  land/  Egypt  being  so  called 
from  the  blackness  of  its  cultivable  soil.1'1  But  the  country 
was  called  by  the  Greeks  Aigyptos,  which  name  first  occurs  in 
the  Homeric  writings.  In  the  Odyssey ,  it  is  the  name  of  the 
Nile  (Feminine).  But  it  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
country  watered  by  the  river.  No  satisfactory  Egyptian  or 
Semitic  origin  has  been  proposed  for  the  word.  u  The  probable 
origin  is  the  Sanskrit  root  '  gup  '  ( to  guard  '  whence  may 
have  been  formed  dgupta  c  guarded  about.'  "  2 

"Semitic  people  call  Egypt,  we  know  not  why,  Afior  or 
Musr  (Hebrew  Mizraine,  the  termination  being  a  very  common 

*    Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  VII,  p.  700  (Ninth  Edition). 


XIH.]        ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAMES  OF  EGYPT.        253 

one  with  the  names  of  localities).    In  its  Arabian  form   Masr, 
the  word,  at  the  present  day,  has  become  the  indigenous  name 
of  the  country  and  of  its  capital  which  we  call  Cairo."1    The 
river  Nile  was  called  by  the  ancient  Egyptians    Hapi  or  Aur. 
"  The  Greek  and  Roman  name  Neilos  is   certainly  not  trace- 
able to  either  of  the  Egyptian  names  of  the  river,  nor   does  it 
seem  philologically  connected  with  the  Hebrew  ones.     It  may 
be  like  schichor  indicative  of  the  colour   of  the    river,   for   we 
find  in  Sanskrit  nila  *  blue,'  probably  especially   '  dark   blue,1 
also  even  black,  as  nila  panka  '  black  mud.'  "2 

From  the  above  extracts,  it  would  appear  that  the  names, 
Egypt  and  Nile,  were  respectively  imposed  upon  the  land  and 
the  river  by  the  Greeks,  or  by  a  people  whose  language  was 
of  Sanskrit  origin.  But  the  names  Kami*,  and  Hapi  can  also 
be  traced  to  Sanskrit  words.  From  the  etymological  mean- 
ing of  the  word  Kamit  (black  soil),  it  seems  to  us  that  it  was 
derived  from  the  Sanskrit  roots  ku  "  black  "  (in  a  physical 
sense  as  in  ku-rupa)  and  mrt  "  soil,  "  and  the  word  Hapi 
appears  to  be  a  mere  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Apa 
meaning  water.  The  names  Aigyptos  and  Neilos  were  pro- 
bably given  afterwards  by  the  Greeks  as  further  descriptive  of 
the  country  which  was  well  guarded  about  from  the  outer 
world,  and  of  the  river  whose  water  looked  dark-blue.  Thus 
both  the  original  and  the  subsequent  names  of  the  land  and 
the  river  were  undoubtedly  given  by  peoples  whose  language 
was  derived  from  or  allied  to  Sanskrit.  The  Semitic  names 
Musr  may  also  have  been  derived  from  the  Sanskrit  word 
Mi&ra  (mixed),  to  denote  the  people  of  mixed  origin  who 
lived  in  the  country. 

Egyptologists  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  ethnographical 
place  of  the  ancient  Egyptians.  While  philologists  and  his- 
torians assume  a  relation  with  the  neighbouring  Asiatic  races, 
separating  the  Egyptian  by  a  sharp  line  of  distinction  from 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  84. 

»    Bncy.  Brit.,  Vol.  VII  p.  705  (Ninth  Edition). 


*S4  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

the  Negro  race,  ethnologists  and  biologists  have  defined  them 
as  genuine  children  of  Africa,  who  stood  in  indisputable 
physical  relation  with  the  races  of  the  interior  of  the  conti- 
nent. But  "  a  careful  comparison  leads  to  the  conclusion  that 
in  ancient,  as  in  modern  Egypt,  there  are  two  co-existent 
types:  one  resembling  the  Nubian  more  closely,  who  is 
naturally  more  strongly  represented  in  Upper  Egypt  than  in 
Memphis  and  Cairo ;  and  one  sharply  distinguished  from  him, 
whom  we  may  define  as  pure  Egyptian.  Midway  between 
these  two  stands  a  hybrid  form  represented  in  numerous 
examples  and  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  intermixture 
of  the  two  races.  While  the  Nubian  type  is  closer  akin  to 
the  pure  Negro  type  and  is  indigenous  in  Africa,  we  must 
regard  the  purely  Egyptian  type  as  foreign  to  the  continent ; 
this  directs  us  towards  the  assumption  that  the  most  ancient 
home  of  the  Egyptians  is  to  be  sought  in  Asia.  The  Egyp- 
tians have  depicted  themselves,  times  out  of  number,  on 
monuments,  and  enable  us  clearly  enough  to  recognise  their 
type.'" 

Prehistoric  Egypt  is  supposed  to  have  been  inhabited  by 
a  steatopygous  race  of  "  Bushman  "  type.  They  were  in  the 
palaeolithic  stage  of  civilisation,  and  were  superseded  by  a 
fresh  race  of  European  type — slender,  fair-skinned,  with  long 
wavy  brown  hair.  Their  skull  was  closely  like  that  of  the 
ancient  and  modern  Algerians  of  the  interior.  They  seem  to 
have  entered  the  country  as  soon  as  the  Nile  deposits  render- 
ed it  habitable  by  an  agricultural  people.  They  already  made 
well-formed  pottery  by  hand,  knew  copper  as  a  rarity,  and 
were  clad  in  goatskins.  Entering  a  fertile  country,  and  mix- 
ing  probably  with  the  earlier  race,  they  made  rapid  advance 
in  all  their  products,  and  in  a  few  generations  they  had  an 
able  civilisation.  After  some  centuries  of  culture,  a  change 
appears  in  consequence  of  the  influx  of  a  new  people  who 
probably  belonged  to  the  same  race,  as  the  type  is  unaltered, 

*    Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  85. 


XIII,]  ANCESTORS  OF  EGYPTIANS.  255 

but  showing  some  eastern  affinities.  These  later  people  seem 
to  have  flowed  into  Egypt  from  Syria  or  North  Arabia,  and  it 
is  perhaps  to  them  that  the  Semitic  element  in  the  Egyptian 
language  is  due. 

"  This  prehistoric  civilisation  was  much  decayed,  when 
it  was  overcome  by  a  new  influx  of  people,  who  founded  the 
dynastic  rule.  These  came  apparently  from  the  Red  Sea,  as 
they  entered  Egypt  in  the  reign  of  Coptos,  and  not  either 
from  the  north  or  from  the  Upper  Nile.  They  were  a  highly 
artistic  people,  as  the  earliest  works  attributable  to  them — the 
Min  Sculptures  at  Coptos — show  better  drawing  than  any 
work  by  the  older  inhabitants,  and  they  rapidly  advanced  in 
art  to  the  noble  works  of  the  1st  Dynasty.  They  also  brought 
in  the  hieroglyphic  system,  which  was  developed  along  with 
their  art.  It  seems  probable  that  they  came  up  from  the  Land 
of  Punt,  at  the  south  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  they  may  have  been 
a  branch  of  the  Punic  race  in  its  migrations  from  the  Persian 
Gulf  round  by  sea  to  the  Mediterranean.  They  rapidly 
subdued  the  various  tribes  which  were  in  Egypt,  and  at  least 
five  different  types  of  man  are  shown  on  the  monuments  of 
their  earliest  kings.  Of  these,  there  were  two  distinct  lines, 
the  kings  of  Upper  and  the  kings  of  Lower  Egypt."1 

This  people,  then,  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Egyptiansj 
and  it  will  now  be  our  endeavour  to  establish  their  identity 
with  a  civilised  people  of  ancient  times. 

It  has  been  suggested  above  that  they  probably  formed  a 
branch  of  the  Punic  race  in  its  migration  from  the  Persian 
Gulf  round  by  sea  to  the  Mediterranean.  Now,  as  we  have 
seen  in  the  two  previous  chapters,  the  Punic  race  was  identical 
with  the  Fanis  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  who  at  first  emigrated  to  the 
Malabar  and  Coiomondal  coasts  of  Southern  India,  and  thence 
to  the  coasts  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  One  branch  of  the  Panis 
settled  down  with  the  Cholas  in  Chaldea ;  while,  another 
branch,  very  likely  accompanied  by  the  P&n^yas  who  lived 

»    ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  89. 


HLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

on  the  Malabar  coast,  must  have  proceeded  probably  directly 
from  the  shores  of  India  to  Egypt  through  the  Red  Sea. 
Those  of  the  Panis  who  preferred  a  maritime  life  to  settling 
down  as  peaceful  agriculturists!  selected  the  sea-coast  of  Syria 
for  establishing  a  separate  and  independent  colony  of  their 
own,  and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  Phoenicians  of  history. 
The  very  fact  that  the  name  of  Kamit  which  the  immigrants 
gave  to  Egypt,  and  the  name  of  Hapi  which  they  gave  to  the 
river  Nile,  can  be  traced  to  words  of  Sanskrit  origin  goes  to 
strengthen  the  view  that  the  new-comers  hailed  from  that  part 
of  India  which  was  peopled  by  a  race  whose  speech  was 
Sanskrit,  or  who  had  been  influenced  by  Indo-Aryan  civilisa- 
tion. And  this  part  of  India  could  have  been  no  other  than 
the  Malabar  coast,  peopled  by  the  P&ncjyas,  which  was 
probably  called  the  "  Land  of  the  P£ndyas,"  afterwards 
corrupted  in  Egypt  into  the  "  Land  of  Punt."  It  would  be 
interesting  to  note  here  that  among  the  earlier  students  of  the 
subject  of  the  origin  of  the  Egyptians,  "  Heeren  was  prominent 
in  pointing  out  an  alleged  analogy  between  the  form  of  skull 
of  the  Egyptian  and  that  of  the  Indian  races.  He  believed  in 
the  Indian  origin  of  the  Egyptians."  l  One  of  the  most  recent 
authorities,  Professor  Flinders  Petrie,  "  inclines  to  the  opinion 
that  the  Egyptians  were  of  common  origin  with  the  Phoenicians, 
and  that  they  came  into  the  Nile  region  from  the  land  of 
Punt,  across  the  Red  Sea."  2  That  Heeren  was  right  in  his 
belief,  and  Petrie  in  his  conjecture,  will  be  clearly  proved 
from  an  account  of  the  culture  and  civilisation  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  themselves,  about  which  we  shall  write  later  on. 
But  let  us  first  see  what  descriptions  the  Egyptians  gave  of 
the  Land  of  Punt. 

"  Under  the  name  of  Punt,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Kamit  understood  a  distant  country,  washed  by  the  great  sea, 
full  of  valleys  and  hills,  rich  in  ebony  and  other  valuable 

»  ibid,  Vol.  i,  P,  77. 

«    IHd,  Vol.  I,  p.  77. 


Xlll.]  LAND  OF  PONt 

woods,  in  incense,  balsam,  precious  metals  and  stones,  rich 
also  in  animals,  for  there  are  camelopards,  cheetas,  panthers', 
dog-headed  apes,  and  long-tailed  monkeys  ;  winged  creatures 
with  strange  feathers  flew  up  to  the  boughs  of  wonderful 
trees,  especially  of  the  incense-tree  and  cocoanut-palm.  Such 
was  the  conception  of  the  Egyptian  Ophir,  doubtless  the  coast 
of  the  modern  Somaliland  which  lies  in  view  of  Arabia, 
though  divided  from  it  by  the  sea."  l 

The  writer  has  undoubtedly  noticed  some  resemblance  of 
the  physical  characteristics  of  Somaliland  with  the  above 
description  of  the  Land  of  Punt  to  enable  him  to  identify  the 
latter  country  with  the  former.  But  the  above  description 
equally  well  applies  to  the  Malabar  coast  of  Southern  India 
which  is  also  "  a  distant  country,  washed  by  the  great  sea, 
full  of  valleys  and  hills,  rich  in  ebony  and  other  valuable 
woods,  etc."  The  animals  mentioned  in  the  above  extract 
are  all  natives  of  Southern  India,  excepting,  perhaps,  the 
camelopard  which  is  now  a  native  of  Africa.  Southern  India 
having  been  in  ancient  times  joined  with  Africa,  the  camel 
opard,  or  the  giraffe,  atao  might  have  been  one  of  its  fauna, 
though  it  subsequently  became  extinct ;  or  the  animal  might 
have  been  the  Sambhar  or  the  Nilghau  which  was  probably 
mistaken  for,  or  likened  with  the  giraffe.  The  incense  was 
probably  derived  from  the  sandal-wood  of  the  Malabar  coast, 
which  was  so  eagerly  sought  for  in  the  ancient  civilised  world. 
We  have  seen  that  sandal,  ebony,  precious  stones,  apes, 
peacocks,  etc.,  used  to  be  brought  from  the  Malabar  coast  to 
ancient  Babylonia,  and  as  there  was  an  established  commer- 
cial intercourse  between  Western  Asia  and  India,  it  is  most 
likely  that  ancient  Egypt  also  drew  her  supplies  from  that 
country.  The  Land  of  Punt,  therefore,  could  not  but  be  the 
Malabar  Coast  of  India,  "  the  land  of  the  Pip4yas."  With 
regard  to  Somaliland,  there  is  no  proof  that  it  was  inhabited 
by  any  civilised  people  in  anoient  times,  from  which  they 

i    /bid,  Vol.  I,  p.  108. 
33 


fiLGVEDtC  IN0IA. 

oi^ht  have  immigrated  with  their  Gods  and  culture.    The 
of  evidence,  therefore,  rather  leans  on  the  side  of 
than  Sonudiland. 

"  According  to  the  old  dim  legend,  the  Land  of  Punt  was 
the  primeval  dwelling  of  the  Gods.  From  Punt,  the  heavenly 
beings  had,  headed  by  Amen,  Horus  and  Hathor,  passed  into 
the  Nile  Valley.  The  passage  of  the  Gods  had  consecrated 
the  coast-lands,  which  the  water  of  the  Red  Sea  washed  as 
far  as  Punt,  and  whose  very  name  Gods'  land  (Ta-nater) 
recalls  the  legend.  Amen  is  called  Haq,  that  is  '  King  of 
Punt,'  Hathor  simply  '  Lady  and  Ruler  of  Punt,*  while  Hor 
was  spoken  of  as  '  the  holy  morning  star '  which  rises  west- 
ward from  the  Land  of  Punt.  To  this  same  country  belongs 
that  idol  Bes,  the  ancient  figure  of  the  deity  in  the  Land  of 
Punt,  who  in  frequent  wanderings,  obtained  a  footing,  not 
only  in  Egypt,  but  in  Arabia  and  other  countries  of  Asia,  as 
£ar  as  the  Greek  islands.  The  deformed  figure  of  Bes,  with 
its  grinning  visage,  is  none  other  than  the  benevolent  Diony- 
sus (Bacchus)  who  pilgrimaging  through  the  world  dispenses 
gentle  manners,  peace  and  cheerfulness  to  the  nations  with  a 
fcvish  hand."* 

We  will  try  to  identify  these  Gods  with  the  Gocjs  of  the 
Hindu  Mythology  later  on.  But  it  may  be  said  here  that  Hor 
or  Horus  was  a  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Suryas  (the 
first  s  being  corruptly  pronounced  as  A),  and  that  this  '  God' 
yras  spoken  of  by  the  Egyptians  as  "  the  holy  morning  star 
which  rises  westward  from  the  land  of  Punt."  This  land, 
therefore,  was  the  « the  land  of  the  rising  Sun,"  so  far  as  the 
Egyptians  were  concerned,  and  cannot  certainly  be  identified 
With  Somaliland  which  was  situated  far  off  to  the  south  of 
The  land  of  Punt  was  undoubtedly  situated  some- 
to  the  east  of  Egypt,  which  also  goes  to  confirm  our 
that  the  land  was  no  other  than  the  Malabar  coast 
of  India.  The  allegation  that  "  the  water  of  the  Red  Sea 
i  Afi£'Vof.  i,  p.  108.  "J 


X»I.}  LAND  OF  PUNT. 

washed  the  coast-lands  as  far  as  Punt "  can  be  eitptattoftf  fy* 
the  fact  that  the  "  Erythraean  Sea/1  formerly  identified  wftb 
the  modern  Arabian  Sea,  was  probably  translated  into  th* 
"  Red  Sea  "  which  name  is  now  only  confined  to  the  sea  ot 
that  denomination  and  is  not  applied  to  the  Arabian  Sea 
extending  as  far  as  the  western  coasts  of  India.  This  coA- 
ftiskm  has  probably  led  the  writer  of  the  above  extract  to 
locale  the  Land  of  Punt  to  the  south  of  the4  present  Red  Sea 
in  Somaliland. 

In  this  connection,  it  would  be  interesting  to  mention  the 
conclusion  of  Egyptologists  that  "  the  Egyptians  of  history 
are  probably  a  fusion  of  an  indigenous  white  race  of  north- 
eastern Africa  and  an  intruding  people  of  Asiatic  origin."1 
If  these  intruding  people  had  originally  come  from  Somali- 
land1,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  been  put  down  as  "  a 
people  of  African  origin."  It  may  be  argued  that  they  were 
an  Asiatic  people  who  came  to  Egypt  from  some  part  of  Asia 
through  Somaliland.  But  this  would  not  help  to  identify  the 
latter  country  with  the  Land  of  Punt  which  was  traditionally 
and  undoubtedly  the  original  home  of  the  Asiatic  intruders. 
We  have  already  said  that  Heeren  clearly  believed  in  the 
Indian  origin  of  the  Egyptians,  and  Petrie  thinks  that  they 
were  a  branch  of  the  Phoenicians,  or  the  Punic  race,  or  the 
Punites  who  came  to  Egypt  through  the  Red  Sea.  This  leads 
us  to  infer  that  the  Land  of  Punt  was  the  Malabar  coast  of 
Southern  India. 

It  is  said  that  it  was  under  Pharaoh  Sankh-ka-Ra  that "  the 
first  Ophir-voyage  to  Punt  and  Ophir  was  accomplished."  * 
With  regard  to  the  identity  of  the  land  of  Ophir,  another  writer 
says :  "  Ophir  was  the  general  name  for  the  rich  countries 
of  the  south,  lying  on  the  African,  Arabian  and  Indian  coasts, 
as  far  as  at  that  time  known.  From  there  the  Phoenicians  had 
already  obtained  vast  treasures  by  caravans  ;  but  they  now 

*  »*i  Voh  t  p.  66. 
t    /bid,  Vol.  I,  p.  108. 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

opened  a  maritime  communication  with  them,  in  order  to 
lighten  the  expense  of  transport,  and  to  procure  their  merchan- 
dise at  best  hand.  The  name  of  Ophir  was  common  even  in 
the  time  of  Moses,  and  was  then  applied  to  those  southern 
countries  only  known  by  common  report.  It  was  therefore 
now  spoken  of  as  a  well-known  name  and  country,  and  it  may 
be  fairly  presumed  that  when  the  Phoenicians  entered  upon 
this  new  line  of  trade,  they  only  took  possession  of  a  previously 
well-established  system,  since  it  was  a  regular,  settled  navi- 
gation, and  not  a  voyage  of  discovery.  From  its  taking  three 
years  to  perform,  it  would  appear  to  have  been  directed  to 
a  distant  region  ;  but  if  we  consider  the  half-yearly  monsoons, 
and  that  the  vessels  visited  the  coasts  of  Arabia,  Ethiopia, 
and  the  Malabar  coast  of  India,  and  also  that  the  expression 
1  in  the  third  year,*  may  admit  of  an  interpretation  that  would 
much  abridge  the  total  duration,  the  distance  will  not  appear 
so  great.  The  commodities  which  they  imported  were  ivory, 
precious  stones,  ebony  and  gold,  to  which  may  be  added  apes 
and  peacocks ;  all  satisfactorily  proving  that  they  visited  the 
countries  just  mentioned,  especially  Ethiopia,  and  probably 
India."  » 

I  need  hardly  say  that  there  could  be  no  probability  in 
the  case  of  India,  but  absolute  certainty  ;  for  it  was  from  the 
shores  of  India  that  the  Panis,  the  ancestors  of  the  Phoenicians, 
had  originally  emigrated  to  the  coast  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
thence  to  Syria.  The  route  of  navigation  to  India  was  perfectly 
known  to  them,  as  it  was  they  who  had  established  it.  It  is  a 
mistake,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  they  "  only  took  possession 
of  a  previously  well-established  system. "  Be  that  as  it  may, 
there  can  be  no  question  that  the  term  Ophir  included  India 
also  among  the  Southern  countries,  and  that  the  Land  of 
Puot  was  especially  the  name  of  India,  or  more  correctly 
speaking,  of  the  Malabar  coast  winch  was  the  land  of  the 
P4$dyas.  From  all  these  considerations,  and  particularly 

t  Vol.  II,  p.  333. 


XIIL]  SOME  EGYPTIAN  GODS.  261 

from  the  opinions  of  Heeren  and  Petrie,  my  surmise  is  that  a 
branch  of  the  P4$dyas,  headed  or  led  by  the  Paais,  immigrated 
to  Egypt  and  settled  there.  This  surmise  will  be  immensely 
strengthened  by  a  striking  similarity  of  social  and  religous 
customs  prevailing  among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Indians, 
about  which  I  will  now  write. 

The  Egyptian  religion,  like  the  Rgvedic  religion,  was 
based  upon  natural  phenomena  and  manifestations.  Their 
Gods  were  mostly  Solar  deities,  and  the  name  of  their  Sun- 
god  was  Horus,  which,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  was  a 
corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Suryas  (Gk.  Sirius).  The 
name  of  another  God  was  Osiris  and  that  of  his  consort  Isis, 
which  are  identified  by  some  with  the  Sanskrit  words  ISvara 
and  /ft.  But  I  have  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Egyptian 
word  Osiris  is  a  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  A-suryas, 
which  literally  means  *  the  Sun  devoid  of  his  solar  character  ' 
(the  «<tf-Sun),  or  as  the  Egyptians  described  the  deity,  "  the 
Sun  of  the  night,"  when  he  loses  his  lustre,  and  becomes,  to 
all  intents  and  proposes,  quite  dead.  The  Rgveda  has 
described  the  Sun  of  the  night  as  "  the  sleeping  sun  "  (Rv. 
x.  86,  2r),  the  idea  being  the  same  as  the  Egyptian  idea,  as 
sleep,  in  the  words  of  the  greatest  English  poet,  is  "  every 
day's  death."  Isis,  the  consort  of  Osiris,  is  no  other  than  the 
Vedic  Ugas  (Gk.  Eos).  In  the  Rgveda  occur  many  verses 
in  whioh  Usas  has  been  described  as  the  consort  of  the  Sun 
who  eagerly  covets  and  follows  her,  "  as  a  bull  follows  a 
cow."  There  was  another  Egyptian  God  whose  name  was 
Amen  or  fmu.  This  God,  however,  was  not  a  visible  one 
like  Horus,  but  a  deity  quite  imperceptible  and  inconceivable. 
This  God  was  also  called  Ra,  and  he  "  was  the  greatest  God 
of  all,  '  the  king  of  Gods.1  Amen  was  sometimes  identified 
with  Ra,  and  the  tendency  was  towards  the  recognition  of  a 
most  important  central  God  who,  to  a  certain  extent,  ruled 
over  and  controlled  the  hierarchy  of  the  lesser  deities.1'1  Ra 

*    Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  aao. 


26a  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CriA* 

was  "  the  uncreated,  the  autocrat  of  the  heavens.  Hornt, 
the  Sue-god,  who  fought  each  day  in  the  interest  ot  mankind 
against  the  malignant  demon  Set  or  Sutekh,  and  who  was  over- 
come each  night  only  to  revive  again,  and  renew  the  combat 
with  each  succeeding  morning  was  a  God  of  great  and  wnfeiy 
recognised  power.  Yet  it  appears  that  he  was  not  quite 
identified,  as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  with  the  Supreme 
God  Ra.  To  the  latter  attached  a  certain  intangibility,  a 
certain  vagueness  inconsistent  with  the  obvious  visual  reality 
of  the  Sun-god  or  with  the  being  of  any  other  God  whose 
qualities  could  be  explicitly  defined.  In  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  the  conception  of  Ra  was  vague.  He  presented  the 
last  analysis  of  thought  from  which  the  mind  recoils  dazed, 
and  acknowledging  itself  baffled."1 

The  Ra,  therefore  resembled  the  Vedic  Brahman  "  the 
one  without  a  second,  "  who  transcends  the  three  gunas,  or 
the  vehicles  of  manifestation  as  the  Creator,  the  Preserver 
and  the  Destroyer,  whose  very  nature  is  Supreme  Bliss  or 
Beatitude  (dnandam]  and  fron  whom  "  words,  with  the  mind, 
not  reaching,  recoil  baffled."2  This  Vedic  conception  of  the 
Supreme  Being  perfectly  agrees  with  the  Egyptian  concep- 
tion of  Ra.  Some  one  asked  "  Had  the  Egyptians  any  idea 
of  one  God  ?  In  other  words,  is  their  religion  a  complex 
structure  raised  upon  monotheistic  foundation  ?"  The  Egyp- 
tian religious  writings  are  held  by  M.  De  Rouge  to  give  an* 
affirmative  answer  to  this  question.  "  They  speak  o(  one 
Supreme  Being,  Self  -existent,  Self-producing,  the  Creator  of 
Heaven  and  Earth,  called  the  double  God  or  double-being,  as 
the  parent  of  a  second  manifestation.  From  the  idea  of  a 
Supreme  Deity,  at  once  father  and  mother,  producing  a 
second  form,  probably  originated  a  first  triad,  like  the  triads 
of  father,  mother  and  son,  frequent  in  Egyptian  Mythology/'3 
The  double  God  was  undoubtedly  the  Nirguna  Brahman  and 


.  Voi;  I,  p. 
y*Upa 
'    Bncy.  Brit.,  Vol.  VII,  p,  714  (Ninth  Edition). 


XUL]      VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  MYTHOLOGY       963 

tbe  S^funa  Brahman  of  the  Aryans.  Hara  or  Siva!  in  later 
Hfedu  Mythology,  represented  the  Nirgu^a  Brahman,  the 
Unmanifested  Being,  and  the  Egyptian  Ra  was  probably  a 
corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Hara,  the  ha  (\)  having  been 
silent  in  Egyptian  pronunciation.  Amen  or  Imu  who  was 
identified  with  Ra  was  probably  a  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit 
mystic  word  Aum,  the  emblem  of  the  three  gunas  or  manifes- 
tations of  Brahman  (Taitt.  Upa.,  I.  8),  the  gradual  cadence 
of  the  last  syllable  signifying  the  merging  of  the  Manifested 
or  Finite  (vyakta)  into  the  Unmanifested  or  Infinite  (a-vyakta\ 
whose  name  in  the  later  Hindu  Mythology  was  Hara,  corre- 
sponding to  the  Egyptian  Ra. 

In  the  Rgveda  we  find  the  description  of  a  constant  fight 
going  on  between  the  Power  of  Light,  and  the  Power  of 
Darkness,  the  latter  overcoming  the  former  in  the  night,  and 
being  overcome  again  by  its  adversary  in  the  day.  Indra 
or  Sdryas  represents  the  Power  of  Light,  and  Vrtra,  the 
Power  of  Darkness.  The  latter  is  a  malevolent  power,  work- 
ing mischief  in  the  world,  yet  bearing  in  the  Rgveda  the  title 
of  Deva  or  bright  (Rv.  i.  32,  12).  This,  at  first  sight,  leads  to 
some  confusion  in  our  mind  about  his  identity.  We  have 
identified  this  Deva  in  his  form  of  a  cloud  as  the  Lightning. 
But  when  there  is  no  cloud  but  simple  darkness,  we  feel  some 
difficulty  in  identifying  him.  The  Satapatha  Brahmana 
however  helps  to  remove  this  difficulty,  when  it  says  :  "  The 
Sun  that  gives  us  heat  and  light  is  Indra,  and  the  Moon  is 
Kr/ra.  The  Sun  is  like  the  Moon's  natural  and  eternal  enemy.'1 
(I.  5.  3.  1 8).  Usas  or  the  Dawn  has  been  described  in  the 
Rgveda  as  the  wife  of  the  Sun  (probably,  the  Sun  of  the 
night),  but  sometimes  also  as  his  mother  (undoubtedly,  the 
mother  of  the  morning  Sun,  the  Kumdra  or  the  son,  who 
appeared  to  have  been  produced  by  her).  Nakta  or  Night  has 
been  described  in  the  Rgveda  as  the  wife  of  the  Moon,  and 
Usas  and  Nakta  (the  Dawn  and  the  Night)  as  twin  sisters, 
nay,  the  one  and  the  same  deity  with  different  aspects.1  If 

I    $v.  i.  123,  7  and  9)  $v.  i.  124,  8, 


264  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

we  remember  these  principal  figures  of  the  Vedio  Mythology, 
we  shall  be  able  to  understand  clearly  its  resemblance  with 
the  Egyptian  Mythology. 

Osiris,  as  we  have  said,  was  identified  by  the  Egyptians 
with  "  the  Sun  of  the  night,"  "  He  has  a  life-long  conflict 
with  a  malevolent  power,  his  brother  or  son,  Seth,  who  is  not 
wholly  evil... The  opposition  of  Osiris  and  Seth  is  a  perpetual 
conflict.  Osiris  is  vanquished.  He  is  cut  in  pieces,  and  sub- 
merged in  the  water.  Watched  by  his  sisters,  Isis,  his  consort, 
and  Nephthys,  the  consort  of  Seth,  he  revives.  Horus,  his  son, 
avenges  him... and  destroys  the  power  of  Seth,  but  does  not 
annihilate  him.  The  myth  is  a  picture  of  the  daily  life  of  the 
Sun,  combating  Darkness,  yet  at  last  succumbing  to  it,  to 
appear  again  in  renewed  splendour,  as  the  young  Horus,  a 
solar  God,  triumphs  over  Seth.  It  is  also  a  picture  of  human 
life,  its  perpetual  conflict,  and  final  seeming  destruction,  to  be 
restored  in  the  youth  of  a  brighter  existence.  In  this  view 
suffering  is  not  wholly  evil,  but  has  its  beneficent  aspect  in  the 
accomplishment  of  final  god... We  may  regard  Osiris  as  the 
Sun  of  the  night,  and  so  the  protector  of  those  who  pass  away 
into  the  realm  of  Shades.'11 

Nephthys  or  Night,  in  the  above  extract  is  the  same  as  the 
Vedic  Nakta.  Isis,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  the  same  as 
the  Sanskrit  Usas  or  Greek  Eos.  Seth,  is  identical  with  the 
Sanskrit  word  Sveta,  meaning  white,  the  colour  of  the  Moon. 
Horus  (Suryas]  is  the  son  of  Osiris  (A-sury&s),  the  dead  Sun 
of  the  night,  who  is  born  again  in  him.  The  following  Gods  are 
identified  with  Osiris  in  the  Theban  system  :  (i)  Seb  (Vedio 
Savitf  who  is  also  the  Sun  of  the  night,  and  the  PaurSaic  Siva), 
his  consort  being  Nut  (Sanskrit,  Nakta  or  Night),  the  sister 
of  Isis,  or  Isis  herself  in  another  form— the  Paur&gjc  Kdft  (or 
Kdlardrti) ;  (2)  Hesiri  or  Osiris,  his  consort  being  Hes  or  Isis 
(Vedic  Usas,  Pauri^ic  Umd) ;  (3)  Har  (Paur^ic  Har*\  his 
consort  being  Hat-har  (Sanskrit,  Hotri  or  Sdvitri).  Isis  is 

*    Bncy.  Brit.t  Vol.  VII,  p.  716  (Ninth  Edition). 


XIIL]        VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  MYTHOLOGY.      165 

also  identified  with  Pakht  (Sanskrit,  Prakfti),  and  Sekbtt 
(Sanskrit,  Sakti),  and  is  called  <(the  ancient/.9  as  she  is 
called  in  the  Rgveda,  in  as  much  as  there  was  nothing  bat 
darkness  in  the  beginning,  out  of  which   evolved  Light  and 
the  Shining  Ones.     Hence  she  was  called  by  the  Egyptian 
word  Mut  (Sanskrit  Mdtd,  mother),  *.*.,  the   mother  of  the 
Gods.    Amen  or  Amu   (corrupted   from  Sanskrit  Aum,  the 
mystic  word  representing  the  Three  Principles  of  Creation, 
Preservation  and  Destruction)  was  called  by   the   Egyptians 
"  Lord  of  Punt,"  as  Hathor  or  Sdvitri}  the  root-mantra  on 
which  the  structure  of  the  Vedic  or  Hindu  religion   is   based, 
was  called  the  "  Lady  and  Ruler   of   Punt."    This   probably 
meant  that  the   religious  cult  of    the    Egyptians    originally 
belonged  to,  and  came  from  Punt.    The    God   Bes  was   un- 
doubtedly the  Vedic  Visnu9  the  Protector  of  the   world,  who, 
according  to  the  Egyptians,  dispensed  "  gentle  manners,  peace 
and  cheerfulness  to   the   nations   with   lavish   hands."     This 
God  afterwards  came  to  be  identified  with   Bacchus,  and   his 
worship  degenerated  into  orgies,  at  which  the  lowest   human 
passions  were  given  a  free  indulgence.    These  orgies  appear 
to  be  the  result  of  a  misinterpretation  of  the  esoteric  meaning 
attached  to  the  autumnal  and  spring  festivals  (the    Rdsa  and 
the  Dola]  held   in    India  to   celebrate   the  union   of   Krg^a 
(Incarnation   of    Vi?$u)    with  his   devout   worshippers,   the 
Gopik&s.     But  the  Bacchanial  festival   was  of  a  later    date 
than  the  worship  of  Bes  in  ancient  Egypt  and   was   probably 
introduced  into  Western   Asia    from   India  long  after  the 
had  immigrated  to  Egypt. 


From  the  above  account  of  the  Egyptian  Gods,  and  subse- 
quent account  to  be  given  in  its  proper  place,  it  would  appear 
that  the  immigration  of  the  Indians  (the  aryanised  Pfydyas) 
to  Egypt  must  have  taken  plaoe  at  a  period  of  transition  from 
the  Vedic  to  the  Paur&^ic  faith  in  India,  in  as  much  as  we  find 
not  only  some  of  the  Vedic  gods  and  Vedic  sacrifices  (notably 
the  bull-sacrifice)  in  Egypt,  but  also  some  of  the  Gods  and 

34 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Goddesses  of  purely  Paur&nic  Mythology,  who  were  undoubt- 

»  edly  the  later  developments  of  Vedic  deities   and   the  myths 

attached  to  them.     This   striking  resemblance  between  the 

theogonies  and  mythologies  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and   the 

^indo- Aryans  would  alone  prove  the  Egyptians  to  be  of  Indian 

origin,  even  if  we  exclude  from  our  consideration  the  similarity 

*x>f  skulls   of  the   Indian   and  Egyptian  races,  discovered  by 

Heeren.     We  shall  find  that  in  social,  religious  and   political 

institutions   also,  the  Egyptians  pre-eminently  resembled  the 

.Indians. 

\ 

With  the  Egyptians,  as  with  the  ancient  Aryans,  "  the 
'king  was  the  representative  of  the  deity,  and  his  royal 
authority  was  directly  derived  from  the  Gods.  He  was  the 
-head  of  the  religion  and  of  the  state ;  he  was  the  judge  and 
law-giver ;  and  he  commanded  the  army  and  led  it  to  war. 
It  was  his  right  and  his  office  to  preside  over  the  sacrifices, 
and  pour  out  libations  to  the  gods,  and  whenever  he  was 
present,  he  had  the  privilege  of  being  the  officiating  high 
'priest11  l 

As  with  the  Indo-Aryans,  so  with  the  Egyptians,  '•  the 
sceptre  was  hereditary ;  but  in  the  event  of  a  direct  heir  fail- 
ing, the  claims  for  succession  were  determined  by  proximity 
of  parentage,  or  by  right  of  marriage.  The  king  was  always 
either  of  the  priestly  or  military  class,  and  the  prince  also 
belonged  to  one  of  them."  2  In  Rgvedic  society,  we  have 
noticed  Rsts  or  priests,  like  Vasitfha  and  ViSvAmitra,  wielding 

1     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  199. 

Cf.  Chap.  VII  of  the  Manu  Samhitd  : 

"  The  Lord  created  the  king  for  the  protection  of  all  mankind,  from  the 
essences  drawn  from  Indra,  Vayu  (Wind),  Yama  (Lord  of  Death),  the  Sun,  the 
Moony  Varu^-a  and  Kuvera  (Lord  of  wealth).  The  king  is  a  great  deity  in  the 
shape  of  man.  The  king  is  the  wielder  of  the  sceptre,  the  leader,  and  the 

governor,  and  is  the  representative  of   D  harm  a,  and   the  four   ASramas,    He 
should  perform  the  sacrifices  and  make  various  gifts,     (verses  3,  4,  8.    17,  79, 
rtc.) 
'      '    Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  199. 


XIH.]        VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS.          267 

great  influence  over  the  kings,  if  not  actually  wielding  the 
sceptres.  We  have  also  instances  of  warrior-priests  not  only 
in  Vedic  times  but  also  in  the  later  ages.  In  the  MahibhArata, 
Brahmans  like  Drona,  Kfpa,  and  ASvatthftmft,  were  renowned 
warriors,  and  in  the  earlier  age  Bhftrgava,  the  son  of  the  sage 
Bhrgu,  extirpated  the  Kgatriyas  twenty  times  and  one.  This 
shows  that  in  ancient  Aryan  society,  the  occupations  of 
priests  and  warriors  were  interchangeable.  ViSvclmitra,  who 
had  originally  belonged  to  the  warrior  class,  became  afterwards 
a  famous  R$i,  and  Vedio  priest.  A  similar  condition  prevailed 
in  ancient  Egyptian  society:  "  The  army  or  the  priesthood 

were  the  two  professions  followed  by  all  men  of  rank The 

law  too  was  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  so  that  there  were 
also  two  professions.  Most  of  the  kings,  as  might  be  expected, 
were  of  the  military  class,  and  during  the  glorious  days  of 
Egyptian  history,  the  younger  princes  generally  adopted  the 
same  profession.  Many  held  offices  also  in  the  royal  house- 
hold, some  of  the  most  memorable  of  which  were  fan-bearers 
on  the  right  of  their  father,  royal  scribes,  superintendents  of 
granaries  or  of  the  land  and  treasures  of  the  king ;  and  they 
were  generals  of  the  cavalry,  archers  and  other  corps,  or 
admirals  of  the  fleet."1 

In  ancient  India,  the  Brahmans  or  priests  not  only  framed 
the  laws,  but  interpreted  and  administered  them  as  judges. 
They  were  also  selected  as  ministers  on  account  of  their  learn- 
ing and  experience.  As  regards  the  office  of  fan-bearers  held 
by  the  Princes  in  ancient  Egypt,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  a  similar 
custom  prevailed  in  ancient  India  also.  In  V£lmlki's  Rdmdya$a 
(Book  VI,  Chap.  130),  we  find  a  picture  of  the  Princes  Bharata 
and  Lak?mana  acting  as  fan-bearers  to  King  R&ma,  and  Prince 
Satrughna  holding  the  royal  umbrella  over  the  king's  head. 
As  regards  the  high  military  offices,  they  were  held  by  the 
royal  Princes  in  India,  as  in  Egypt. 

*    Do.   Vol.  I,  p.  199. 


**8  $GV£D1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

"  The  Egyptians,91  says  a  writer,  "  are  said  to  have  been 
divided  into  castes,  similar  to  those  of  India ;  bat  though  a 
marked  line  of  distinction  was  maintained  between  the 
different  ranks  of  society,  they  appear  rather  to  have  been 
classes  than  castes,  and  a  man  did  not  necessarily  follow  the 
precise  profession  of  his  father.  Sons,  it  is  true,  usually 
adopted  the  same  profession  or  trade  as  the  parent,  and  the 
rank  of  each  depended  on  his  occupation  ;  but  the  children 
of  a  priest  frequently  chose  the  army  for  their  profession,  and 
those  of  a  military  man  could  belong  to  the  priest-hood.1'  *  It 
would  thus  appear  that  the  Egyptian  caste-system  like  that  of 
the  Aryans  in  Vedic  times  was  elastic,  and  not  crystallised  as 
it  afterwards  became  in  India. 

Says  the  same  writer :  "  The  priests  and  military  men 
held  the  highest  position  in  the  country  after  the  family  of 
the  king,  and  from  them  were  chosen  his  ministers  and  con* 
fidential  advisers  '  the  wise  counsellors  of  Pharaoh/  and  all 
the  principal  officers  of  the  state."* 

"  The  priests  consisted  of  various  grades.— There  were 
the  king's  own  priests.  They  acknowledged  him  (the  king)  as 
the  head  of  the  religion,  and  the  state  ;  nor  were  they  above 
the  law  ;  no  one  of  them,  not  even  the  king  himself,  could 
govern  according  to  his  own  arbitrary  will.113 

The  king,  in  ancient  India  also,  was  never  absolute  nor 
autocratic.  He  was  guided  by  three  councils,  w*.,  (*)  the 
council  of  Rtviks  or  Priests,  (it)  the  council  of  Afantris  or 
Ministers,  and  (Hi)  the  council  of  Amdtyas,  or  Executive 
officers,  each  in  charge  of  a  department,  whose  number  varied 
from  8  to  33  ;  and  the  king  bad  to  accept  the  decision  of  the 
majority  of  his  councillors*4  Manu  has  distinctly  said  that 

'    /bid,  Vol.  I,  p.  too. 

•  Ibid,  Vol.  1,  p.  300. 

•  /bid  Vol.  I,  p.  200. 

«~    Vid*  my  article  on lr Limited   Monarchy  in  Ancitnt  India"    in  the 
Jfefer*  ftffev  (CaU,  Vol.  II,  p,  346. 


XIII.]         VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS. 

the  king  who  governs  according  to  his  arbitrary  wilt  and  not 
harmoniously  with  the  constitution,  and  is  actuated  by  low 
selfish  desires  is  killed  by  the  constitution  itself.1  This  con- 
stitution was  impersonated  in  the  Danda  or  sceptre,  which 
the  king  himself  wielded. 

As  in  India,  so  in  Egypt,  "  next  in  rank  to  the  priests, 
were  the  military."* 

The  mode  of  warfare  among  the  Egyptians  "  was  not  like 
that  of  nations  in  their  infancy,  or  in  a  state  of  barbarism  ;  and 
it  is  evident,  from  the  number  of  prisoners,  that  they  spared 
the  prostrate  who  asked  for  quarter.  Those  who  sued  for 
mercy  and  laid  down  their  arms  were  spared  and  sent  bound 
from  the  field."3 

This  seems  to  be  a  faint  echo,  or  imitation  of  the  custom 
that  prevailed  in  Ancient  India.  Says  Manu  :  "  The  warrior 
shall  not  kill  his  adversary  with  any  weapon  concealed  in  a 
wooden  sheath  (which  the  latter  never  suspects  to  be  a  deadly 
weapon),  with  karn%,  or  weapon  tipped  with  poison,  or  made 
red-hot  by  fire.  Nor  shall  he  kill  an  enemy  who  is  on  foot, 
who  is  a  hermaphrodite,  who  joins  his  hands  in  supplications 
of  mercy,  whose  hair  has  been  dishevelled,  who  is  resting  and 
says  '  I  am  thine,'  i  *.,  surrenders  himself ;  nor  an  adversary 
who  is  asleep,  has  doffed  his  mail-coat,  is  semi-naked  (as  in 
sleep  or  while  resting),  is  unarmed,  non-combatant,  and  is 
either  a  spectator,  or  fighting  with  some  one  else  ;  nor  him 
from  whose  hands  his  weapons  have  fallen,  who  is  over- 
whelmed with  grief  (in  consequence  of  the  death  of  .a  comrade 
or  near  relative  in  the  fighting  line),  who  has  been  dangerous- 
ly wounded  or  terror-stricken  and  not  engaged  in  fighting— 
always  remembering  that  this  is  the  D/iarma  (canon)  followed 
by  all  right-minded  men."4 

•  U*n*S*mkita,  Ch.  VII,  37*28. 

•  Hist.  Hist,  of  ike  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  201. 

•  /*t*Vol.I,p.3o8. 

•  Hanu,  Chap.  VII,  90-93* 


270  ^GVEDIC  INDIA;  [CHAP; 

This  was  what  the  ancient  Aryans  understood  by  "  honest  * 
and  clean  fighting."  Whether  this  high  standard  of  the  mode 
of  warfare  is  maintained  even  by  the  present  civilised  nations 
of  the  world  who  always  boast  of  the  high  state  of  their  civi- 
lisation, I  leave  my  readers  to  judge. 

I  will  now  mention  some  of  the  customs  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  which  will  be  found  to  bear  a  close  resemblance  to 
those  of  the  ancient  Aryans.  Says  Herodotus  :  "  Those  Egyp- 
tians who  live  in  the  cultivated  parts  of  the  country  are  of  all 
whom  I  have  seen  the  most  ingenious,  being  attentive  to  the 
improvement  of  memory  beyond  the  rest  of  mankind.1  To  give 
dome  idea  of  their  mode  of  life :  for  three  days  successively 
every  month,  they  use  purges,  vomits,  clysters  ;  this  they  do 
out  of  attention  to  their  health,  being  persuaded  that  the 
diseases  of  the  body  are  occasioned  by  the  different  elements 
received  as  food/'2 

Herodotus  writes  upon  another  custom  of  the  Egyptians, 
which  is  essentially  Aryan.  Says  he  :  "  The  Egyptians  surpass 
all  the  Greeks,  Lacedaemonians  excepted,  in  the  reverence 
which  they  pay  to  age  :  if  a  young  person  meets  his  senior,  he 
instantly  turns  aside  to  make  way  for  him  ;  if  a  senior  enters 
an  apartment,  the  youth  always  rise  from  their  seats ;  this 
ceremony  is  observed  by  no  other  of  the  Greeks.  When  the 
Egyptians  meet,  they  do  not  speak,  but  make  a  profound 
reverence  bowing  with  the  hand  down  to  the  knee."3  I  need 
not  take  the  trouble  of  quoting  Manu  4  to  prove  the  existence 
of  this  custom  in  ancient  India,  as  it  is  still  observable  among 

*  The  cultivation  of  memory  among  (the   Aryans   was  most  remarkable. 
As  writing  was  probably  not  in   vogue,  they  committed  to  memory  the  four 
Vedas  and  the  Smrtis,  the  latter  so  called,  because  they  were  remembered. 

•  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  212.    In  the  Hindu   Medical   works, 
purging  and  vomiting 'have  been  recognized  as    means    for    eliminating   all 
undigested  and  indigestible  elements  of  food  taken,  in  order  to  ensure  the 
preservation  of  health. 

•  Ibid,  Vol.  I.  p.  213. 

*  Manu,  Cb.  II,  119-121. 


,X|JL]         VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS.         271 

the  descendants  of  the  Aryans.  "  The 'life-currents  of  ayoudg 
man/1  says  Manu,  "  tend  to  flow  out  of  his  body  when  an 
elder  comes,  and  attain  only  their  normal  condition  when  he 
stands  up  to  accost  and  recieve  him." 

Herodotus  further  says  :  "  Of  the  Egyptians  it  is  further 
memorable  that  they  first  imagined  what  month  or  day  was 
to  be  consecrated  to  each  deity ;  they  also  from  observing  the 
days  of 'nativity,  venture  to  predict  the  particular  circumstances 
of  a  man's  life  and  death."1 

I  need  not  point  out  that  the  custom  was  similar  among 
the  ancient  Aryans  also.  Each  month  was  consecreated  to  the 
worship  of  a  particular  deity.  The  months  also  were  named 
after  the  movements  and  ascendancy  of  certain  constellations 
of  stars  in  the  heavens.  The  particular  circumstances  of  a 
man's  life  and  death  were  also  predicted  by  the  ancient 
Hindus  from  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  stars  and  planets  at 
the  time  of  his  nativity.  The  science  of  astrology  was  highly 
developed  among  the  Aryans.  The  Bhrgu  Samhittl  claims  to 
predict  not  only  the  events  of  man's  present  existence,  but 
also  to  read  the  events  of  his  past  and  future  incarnations. 

4 'The  Egyptians/'  says  Herodotus,  lc  express  aversion 
to  the  customs  of  Greece,  and  to  say  the  truth,  to  those  of  all 
other  nations.11^  In  this  they  essentially  resembled  the 
ancient  Aryans,  with  whom  all  was  Mleccha  that  was  not 
Aryan.  This  term  was  also  applied  to  those  of  their  own 
race,  who  did  not  conform  to  their  manners  and  customs,  and 
way  of  thinking. 

"  In  the  treatment  of  women,  they  seem  to  have  been  very 
far  advanced,  beyond  other  wealthy  communities  of  the  same 
era,  having  usages  very  similar  to  those  of  modern  Europe,  and 
such  wasthe  respect  shown  to  women  that  precedence  wasgiven 
to  them  over  men,  and  the  wives  and  daughters  of  kings  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  like  the  male  branches  of  the  Royal  family. 

*  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  213. 

*  Itid,  Vol.  I.  p.  21*4. 


J72  liGVEDIC  INDIA. 

Nor  was  the  privilege  rescinded  even  though  it  had  more  than 
once  entailed  on  them  the  troubles  of  a  contested  succession, 
foreign  kings  often  having  claimed  a  right  to  the  throne, 

through  marriage  with  an  Egyptian  princess It  was  a 

right  acknowledged  by  law,  both  in  private  and  public 
life."* 

It  should  be  stated  here  that  women  in  Ancient  India 
were  also  held  in  high  esteem,  and  enjoyed  equal  freedom 
with  men  in  many  important  matters.  For  instance,  ladies 
with  a  religious  turn  of  mind  composed  hymns  in  praise  of 
the  Devas,  and  the  most  distinguished  among  them  were 
classed  with  the  Rsis,  i.e.}  the  seers  or  sages.  They  could 
also  take  part  with  men  in  the  discussion  of  abstruse  philo- 
sophical questions,  make  their  own  choice  of  husbands  or 
lead  a  life  of  celibacy,  just  as  they  pleased.  They  also  took 
up  arms,  and  assisted  their  husbands  in  the  defence  of  their 
hearths  and  homes,  when  any  need  arose.  They  were  the 
real  help-mates  and  soul-mates  of  their  husbands,  shared  all 
their  rights  and  privileges,  helped  them  in  the  performance 
of  their  religious  ceremonies,  and  were  the  real  rulers  of  their 
household.  The  daughter  had  the  same  right  as  the  son, 
and,  in  the  absence  of  any  male  issue  of  her  parents,  succeeded 
to  their  estates  as  a  matter  of  right.  The  widow  also,  if 
childless,  inherited  her  husband's  property,  and  could  adopt 
a  son  to  perpetuate  the  line  of  her  husband's  family.  It  is 
true  that  we  do  not  find  the  mention  of  any  lady-ruler  in 
ancient  Sanskrit  Literature  ;  but  if  the  claims  of  ladies  to  sit 
on  the  throne  were  passed  over  in  favour  of  the  next  male 
heir,  it  was  done  more  for  the  sake  of  expediency  than 
anything  else. 

Like  the  Aryans,  the  Egyptians  also  had  "an  abiding 
faith  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul."  They  also  resembled 
the  Aryans  in  the  observance  of  many  customs.  Herodotus 
says  :  "The  Egyptians  who  at  other  times  have  their  heads 

*  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  217. 


XIII.]          VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS.          273 

closely  shorn  suffer  the  hair  to  grow''  on  the  occasions  of 
sorrow  and  bereavements-— a  custom  which  the  Hindus 
observe  even  to  this  day.  "One  of  their  customs,"  says 
Herodotus,  "is  to  drink  out  of  brazen  goblets,  which  it  is  the 
universal  practice  among  them  to  cleanse  every  day.  They 
are  so  regardful  of  neatness  that  they  wear  only  linen,  and 
that  always  newly  washed.  Their  priests  every  third  day 
shave  every  part  of  their  bodies  to  prevent  vermin  or  any 
species  of  impurity  from  adhering  to  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  service  of  the  gods.  The  priests  wash  themselves  in 
cold  water  twice  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  as  often  in  the 
night. f>1  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  Hindu  customs 
will  notice  their  striking  resemblance  with  these  Egyptian 
customs.  Brazen  utensils,  and  gold  and  silver  ones,  are 
regarded  by  the  Hindus  to  be  pure,  and  any  contamination  is 
easily  removed  by  washing  them  simply. 

The  Egyptians,  like  the  ancient  Aryans,  performed  the 
bull-sacrifice.  If  the  Egyptians  went  from  India,  about  which 
however  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt,  they  must  have  done  so 
at  a  time  when  bull-sacrifice  was  in  vogue  in  the  country. 
Bull-sacrifice  was  discontinued  in  India  in  post-Vedic  times, 
when  the  ram,  the  goat  and  the  buffalo  took  the  place  of  the 
ox.  This  shows  that  the  Indians  must  have  emigrated  to 
Egypt  several  thousand  years  ago,  and  the  immigrants  took 
the  custom  with  them,  which  remained  intact  in  Egypt  down 
to  a  later  age,  and  was  probably  imitated  and  adopted  by  the 
Semitic  race,  afterwards. 

I  will  give  here  a  brief  account  of  the  bull-sacrifice  which, 
in  the  selection  of  the  animal,  the  cutting  up  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  victim,  and  consigning  them  to  the  fire  with  liba- 
tions, and  the  uttering  of  mantras  (which  Herodotus  wrongly 
understood  to  be  imprecations)  over  the  severed  head,  resem- 
bled the  Aryan  ritual,  with  this  difference  that  instead  of 
pouring  libations  of  wine,  the  Aryans  poured  libations  of 

1  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol  I,  p.  213. 

35 


274  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

ghrta  or  melted  butter  into  the  Fire.  Says  Herodotus  : 
"They  (the  Egyptians)  esteem  bulls  as  sacred  to  Epaphus, 
which  previous  to  sacrifice  are  thus  carefully  examined  ;  if 
they  can  but  discover  a  single  black  hair  in  his  body,  he  is 
deemed  impure.  Having  led  the  animal  destined  and  marked 
for  the  purpose  to  the  altar,  they  kindle  a  fire,  a  libation  of 
wine  is  poured  upon  the  altar  ;  the  god  is  solemnly  invoked, 
and  the  victim  then  is  killed  ;  they  afterwards  cut  off  his  head, 
and  take  the  skin  from  the  carcass  ;  upon  the  head,  they 
heap  many  imprecations."1 

The  intestines  of  the  victim  were  then  taken  off,  leaving 
the  fat  and  paunch.  "They  afterwards  cut  off  the  legs,  the 
shoulders,  the  neck,  and  the  extremities  of  the  loin  ;  the  rest 
of  the  body  is  stuffed  with  the  fine  bread,  honey,  raisins,  figs, 
frankincense,  and  various  aromatics  ;  after  this  process,  they 
burn  it,  pouring  upon  the  flame  a  large  quantity  of  oil. 
Whilst  the  victim  is  burning,  the  spectators  flagellate  them- 
selves,  having  fasted  before  the  ceremony  ;  the  whole  is 
completed  by  their  feasting  on  the  residue  of  the  sacrifice."2 
The  different  parts  of  the  carcass  of  a  victim,  whether  a  bull 
or  a  horse,  used  similarly  to  be  thrown  into  the  fire  with 
libations  of  ghrta}  with  which  cakes,  barley,  scsamum  seeds, 
etc.,  were  mixeH)  in  ancient  India.3  There  is  evidence,  how- 
ever, in  the  Rgveda  that  the  horse-flesh  used  to  be  cooked 
and  the  meat  partaken  of  by  the  worshippers  with  great 
relish.  (Rv.  i.  162,  11-13). 

Herodotus  further  says:  "All  the  Egyptians  sacrifice 
bulls  without  blemish,  and  calves  ;  the  females  are  sacred  to 
Isis,  and  may  not  be  used  for  this  purpose.  The  divinity  is 
represented  under  the  form  of  a  woman,  and  as  the  Greeks 
paint  lo,  with  horns  upon  her  head  ;  for  this  reason,  the 

1  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  pp.  213  and  223 
*  Ibid,  Vol.  I,  p.  224. 

8  Read  the  account  of   a  horse-sacrifice  in  the  Rdmdya^a,  Bk.  I,  Canto  14 
Verses  31*38- 


XIII.]         VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS.         275 

Egyptians  venerate  cows  far  beyond  all  other  cattle."  The 
ox  (Apis)  was  sacred  to  Osiris,  whose  soul,  according  to  the 
Egyptians,  passed  into  the  animal.  Similarly  they  probably 
believed  that  the  soul  of  Isis  also  passed  into  the  cow,  which 
accordingly  was  identified  with  the  goddess  herself.  But  if 
this  was  merely  the  reason  for  not  sacrificing  the  cow,  it 
would  have  held  equally  good  with  the  ox  also.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  however,  the  ox  only  used  to  be  sacrificed  but  not  the 
cow,  the  reason  probably  having  been  originally  economical, 
rather  than  religious.  While  only  a  few  oxen  were  sufficient 
for  breeding  purposes,  the  loss  of  cows  by  indiscriminate 
sacrifice  or  slaughter  would  have  made  cattle  gradually 
extinct.  Hence  only  the  male  animals  were  selected  for 
sacrifice.  The  ancient  Aryans,  however,  sometimes  sacrificed 
barren  and  old  cows,  from  which  no  multiplication  of  the 
breed  was  expected.  It  should  be  noted  here  that,  like  the 
Hindus,  the  Egyptians  also  venerated  the  cow  as  a  sacred 
animal. 

The  aloofness  in  which  the  Egyptians,  like  the  ancient 
Hindus,  kept  themselves  from  foreigners  will  be  best  illus- 
trated by  the  following  quotations:  — "  Neither  will  any  man  or 
woman  among  them  (the  Egyptians)  kiss  a  Grecian,  or  u£e  a 
knife  or  spit  or  any  domestic  utensil  belonging  to  a  Greek, 
nor  will  they  eat  even  the  flesh  of  such  beasts  as  by  their  law 
are  pure,  if  it  has  been  cut  with  a  Grecian  knife."  (Hero- 
dotus.) 

It  seems  that  some  Egyptians  preferred  the  sacrifice  of  a 
particular  animal  to  that  of  another.  "Those  who  worship  in 
the  temple  of  the  Theban  Jupiter,  or  belong  to  the  district  of 
Thebes,  abstain  from  sheep,  and  sacrifice  goats." 

Like  the  Hindus,  the  Egyptians  looked  upon  the  hog  as  an 
unclean  animal,  and  "if  they  casually  touch  one,  they  imme- 
diately plunge  themselves,  clothes  and  all,  into  the  water." 
(Herodotus.)  The  hatred  that  the  Semites  felt  for  the  hog 
was  probably  imbibed  by  them  from  the  ancient  Egyptians. 


376  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Diodorus  says  that  the  Egyptians  "adored  and  worshipped" 
some  animals   "even  above  measure  when  they  are  dead,  as 
well  as  when  they  are  living,"  and  this  custom  struck  him  as 
"  most   strange   and   unaccountable,"  and  worthy  of  enquiry. 
11  These  creatures  are  kept   and   fed   in   consecrated  ground 
inclosed,  and  many  great  Men  provide  food  for  them  at  great 
cost  and  charge."     It  is  generally  believed  that  the  teachings 
of  the  Buddha  in  India,  which  were  a  loud  protest  against  the 
custom   of  animal  sacrifice,  had  much  to  do  with  the  creation 
of  a  revulsion  of  feeling  against  it,  and  the  development  of 
kindly    sentiments  towards  all  living  creatures  ;  and  that  the 
reaction  of  the  popular  mind  was  so  great  that  not  only  were 
animals    protected    from    torture   and   slaughter,    but  large 
hospitals  were  established  for  the  treatment  of  their  diseases, 
and  refuges  maintained  for  their  protection  in  old  age  and  in 
sickness.     The  fact,  however,  is  overlooked  that  the  advent  of 
a  great  Teacher   becomes  impossible  unless   the  ground  is 
previously  well  prepared  for  him.   The  Buddha  would  not  have 
been  able  to  successfully  inculcate  the  teachings  of  good    will 
and  kindness  to  all  animals,  unless  the  sentiment  had  already 
existed  in  the  popular  mind.     The  very  fact  that  the  cow,  the 
bull,  and  some  other  animals  and  birds  were  regarded  as  sacred 
by  the  Aryans  from  Vedic  times  pointed  to  the    existence    of 
kindly  sentiments  in  their  mind  towards  those  creatures  ;  and 
though   the   prevalence   of   the   custom   of    animal  secrifice 
seemed,   at   first   sight,   to  give  the  lie  direct  to  the  real  exis- 
tence of  these  sentiments,  it  should  be   borne   in   mind   that 
animal-sacrifice  had  the  sanction  of  Religion  from  hoary  times, 
which  it  was  impossible  for  ordinary  weak  minds  to  disregard. 
Who  can  say  that  the  religious  sanction  itself  was  not  a  make- 
shift to  curb  a  desire  for  slaughtering  animals  for  daily  -food, 
and  to  restrict  it  only  to  special  occasions  of  religious  celebra- 
tions, which  are  generally  attended  with  a  series   of  intricate 
and  difficult  ceremonies  ?  It  has  been  mentioned  in  the  Sata- 
patha  BrAhmana  that  the  Sacrifice,  or  Yajna  as   it  is  called, 
was  at  first  in  the  cow  or  bull,  from  which  it  went  into  the 


XIII.]         VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  CUSTOMS.          277 

horse,  and  from  the  horse  it  went  into  the  goat,  and  from  the 
goat  it  went  into  the  earth,  where  it  found  a  place  in  the 
grains  produced  by  the  earth.  This  anecdote  shows  the 
different  stages  through  which  Sacrifice  had  to  pass  according 
to  the  different  stages  of  the  mental  developments  of  the 
people  who  practised  it,  till  animal-sacrifice  was  abandoned 
or  sought  to  be  abandoned,  and  its  place  was  taken  up  by 
grains,  fruits  and  flowers  dedicated  as  offerings  to  the  Deity. 
This  undoubtedly  points  to  a  remarkable  development  of 
moral  and  spiritual  sentiments,  which  was  carried  still  higher 
when  it  was  enjoined  that  purely  mental  worship  of  the  Deity 
by  the  contemplation  of  all  His  divine  attributes  was  the  best 
of  all  forms  of  worship.  If  we  keep  this  fact  in  our  mind,  the 
existence  of  kindly  sentiments  towards  animals  simultaneously 
with  the  existence  of  the  cruel  custom  of  animal -sacrifice 
would  not  at  all  seem  incongruous  in  certain  stages  of  the 
development  of  the  human  mind.  And  so  both, — the  senti- 
ment and  the  custom — existed  side  by  side,  as  we  see  in  the 
case  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  the  ancient  Aryans.  The 
custom,  however,  was  sought  to  be  eradicated  in  India  in  the 
time  of  the  Buddha  who  was  successful  in  his  noble  efforts  in 
a  large  measure.  We  need  not,  therefore,  be  at  all  surprised 
that  long  long  before  the  Buddha  was  born,  a  kindly  sentiment 
towards  animals  had  developed  both  in  ancient  India  and 
Egypt  to  the  extent  of  worshipping  and  adoring  certain  dumb 
caeatures  of  God  and  keeping  and  feeding  them  in  "conse- 
crated grounds,"  enclosed  for  the  purpose.  So  far,  we  have 
noticed  such  a  close  resemblance  between  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians and  the  ancient  Aryans  in  their  theogony,  religious 
practices,  social  customs,  and  political  institutions  as  to  lead 
us  to  the  irresistible  conclusion  that  they  were  one  people  in 
some  remote  age  and  lived  in  one  and  the  same  country.  That 
this  country  was  not  Egypt  would  appear  from  the  fact  that 
the  Egyptians  were  not  autochthonous  in  Egypt  ;  but  as  they 
are  said  to  have  come  from  the  Land  of  Punt,  from  which  the 
Sun  rises  and  proceeds  on  his  journey  westward,  their 


278  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

original  home  must  have  been  in  India  on  the  Malabar  Coast, 
which  is  situated  towards  the  east  of  Egypt.  We  will  notice 
below  some  other  striking  resemblances  between  the  Egyp- 
tians and  the  ancient  Aryans. 

We  have  said  that  the  bull  which  was  sacred  to  Osiris, 
(Siva  or  Seb)  and  into  which  the  soul  of  Osiris  entered,  was 
looked  upon  as  Osiris  himself,  and  the  cow  which  was  sacred 
to  I  sis,  and  with  which  she  was  identified,  having  been  re- 
presented with  horns  on  her  head,  was  as  much  venerated  as 
Isis  herself.  The  bull  and  the  cow  thus  came  in  to  represent 
the  Male  and  the  Female  Principles  of  creation  respectively. 
These  two  Principles  were,  in  course  of  time,  still  more 
emblematically  represented  in  the  male  and  the  female  organs 
of  generation,  the  Lingam  and  the  Yoni  of  the  Hindus,  the 
stone  symbols  of  which  are  still  to  be  found  in  every  Sivaite 
temple  of  India. 

It  is  customary  both  with  European  and  Indian  scholars  to 
father  the  inauguration  of  these  symbols  on  the  Dravidians, 
and  to  trace  their  source  to  non-Aryan  agency.  But  I  have 
come  across  the  word  "Sisnadev£h"  in  the  Rgveda 
(vii.  21,  5),  which  referred  to  those  Aryan  tribes  who  wor- 
shipped the  symbol  of  the  male  organ  of  generation.  Of 
course,  these  Aryan  tribes  were  hated  by  the  Vedic  Aryans 
for  their  mode  of  worship,  and  classed  with  the  R4k?asas  or 
demons.  But  the  fact  stands  out  as  incontrovertible  that  the 
worship  of  the  Lingam  existed  in  Rgvedic  times  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu.  It  is  very  likely  that  this  worship  was  carried  by 
these  tribes  to  Southern  India  where  it  was  freely  adopted  by 
those  who  came  in  contact  with  them.  The  adoration  of  the 
generative  organs  as  symbols  of  the  creative  powers  of 
Nature  is  known  by  the  name  of  Phallic  worship.  This  wor- 
ship is  still  widely  prevalent  in  modern  India  ;  but  it  was  also 
prevalent  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  in  fact  in  the  whole  ancient 
world.  Richard  Gough,  in  his  Comparative  View  of  the 
Ancient  Monuments  of  India  (London  1785),  said  :  "  Those 


XIII.]  PHALLIC  WORSHIP.  279 

who  have  penetrated  into  the  abstruseness  of  Indian  Mythology 
find  that  in  these  temples  was  practised  a  worship  similar  to 
that  practised  by  all  the  several  nations  of  the  world,  in  their 
earliest  as  well  as  their  most  enlightened  periods.  It  was 
paid  to  the  Phallus  by  the  Asiatics  j1  to  Priapus  by  the 
Egyptians,  Greeks  and  Romans  ;  to  Baal-Peor  by  the  Cana- 
anites  and  idolatrous  Jews.  The  figure  is  seen  on  the  fascia 
which  runs  round  the  circus  of  Nismes  and  over  the  Cathedral 
of  Toulouse  and  several  churches  of  Bordeaux.  M.  d'  Ancar- 
ville  has  written  two  large  quarto  volumes  to  prove  phallic 
worship  to  be  the  most  ancient  idea  of  the  deity." 

"  Originally  "  says  the  auther  of  Phallism  -  "  Phallic  wor- 
ship had  no  other  meaning  than  the  allegorical  one  of  that  mys- 
terious union  between  the  male  and  the  female,  which  through- 
out nature  seems  to  be  the  sole  condition  of  the  continuation 
of  the  existence  of  animated  beings.  There  is  no  reason  what- 
ever for  supposing  that  licentiousness  invented  the  rites  inci- 
dental to  the  worsnip  of  Pan,  Priapus,  Bacchus  and  Venus 
whatever  may  have  been  made  of  them  afterwards.  4  It  is 
impossible  to  believe,'  said  Voltaire,  'that  depravity  of  man- 
ners would  ever  have  led  among  any  people  to  the  establish- 
ment of  religious  ceremonies,  though  our  ideas  of  propriety 
may  lead  us  to  suppose  that  ceremonies  which  appear  to 
us  so  infamous  could  only  be  invented  by  licentiousness.  It 
is  probable  that  the  first  thought  was  to  honour  the  deity  in 

1     Phallus  is  the  same  as  the  Sanskrit  Pela. 

Some  eighty  years  ago  a  writter  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  "  pointed 
out  certain  points  of  comparison  between  the  Osiris  in  Egypt,  and  Bacchus  in 
Greece  under  the  emblem  of  Phallus.  It  is  under  the  same  emblem  that  he 
is  still  venerated  in  Hindoostan,  and  Phallus  is  one  of  the  names  in  the 
Dictionary  of  Amara  Singha.  The  bull  was  sacred  to  him  in  Egypt. 
Plutarch  assures  us  that  several  nations  of  Greece  depict  Bacchus  with  a 
bull's  head,  and  that  when  he  is  invoked  by  the  women  of  Ehs,  they  pray 
him  to  hasten  to  their  relief  on  the  feet  of  a  bull.  In  India,  he  is 
often  seen  mounted  on  a  bull ;  hence  one  of  his  sacred  names,  Vrsadhvaja, 
signifying  'whose  sign  is  the  bull '  "  (Phallism  p.  53.  London  1889). 

*    ^Phallism  (London)  Privately  printed.  1889.  p.  10. 


a8o  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  symbol  of  life,   and  that  the   custom   was   introduced   in 
times  of  simplicity.3  " 

Though  the  Phallic  worship  was  widely  prevalent  in  the 
ancient  world,  there  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  the  two 
forms  of  worship  as  prevailed  in  ancient  Egypt  and  India, 
Osiris  and  Isis  are  identical  with  Siva  and  Sakti  (A-Surya  and 
Usas  or  Sekhet).  In  both  the  countries,  the  bull  was  secred 
to  Osiris  or  Siva  and  the  cow  to  Isis  or  Usas  or  Um£.  "  A 
circumstance  occured  some  years  ago,  which  illustrates  in  a 
remarkable  manner  the  similarity  of  Pagan  systems  which 
we  have  been  alluding  to,  and  as  it  is  too  well  authenticated 
to  admit  of  doubt,  it  is  of  particular  value.  It  was  this  :— 
During  the  expedition  into  Egypt  against  the  French,  the 
Indian  soldiers,  who  had  been  taken  there  by  the  Red  Sea  and 
Suez  to  assist  in  the  work,  recognized  many  of  the  mythologi- 
cal forms,  especially  the  bull  and  some  stone  figures  of  serpents, 
as  similar  to  what  they  had  in  their  own  country.  They 
at  once  made  this  known  to  their  officers,  affirming  that  the 
people  who  formerly  inhabited  Egypt  must  have  been  Hindoos ; 
and  when  they  saw  the  temple  of  Hadja  Silsili  in  a  state  of 
decay,  they  were  filled  with  indignation  that  the  natives 
should  have  allowed  it  to  fall  into  such  condition,  as  they 
conceived  it  to  be  the  temple  of  their  own  god  Siva"1  This 
incident,  though  simple,  strongly  corroborates  our  view  about 
the  identity  of  Osiris  with  Siva. 

Students  of  Hindu  Mythology  know  fully  well  that  the 
Hindu  Trinity  is  represented  by  the  Sun,  the  morning  Sun 
being  looked  upon  as  Brahmi,  the  Creator,  the  midday  Sun  as 
Vienu  or  Hari  (Egyptian  Horus),the  Preserver,  and  the  setting 
Sun  as  Siva  or  Hara  (Egyptian  Har,)  the  destroyer,  covering 
the  world  with  darkness,  and  wrapping  all  living  creatures 
in  deathlike  torpor.  Siva  is  thus  regarded  as  "  the  Sun  of 
the  night."  This  will  enable  us  to  clearly  understand  the 
following  words  of  Diodorus  :—  "  Some  of  the  ancient  Greek 

i  Phallism,  London  (1889)  p.  54 


XIII.l     VEDIC  AND  EGYPTIAN  MYTHOLOGIES.     281 

Mythologists  call  Osiris  Dionysus,  and  surname  him 
Sinus.  Some  likewise  set  him  forth  clothed  with  the  spotted 
skin  of  a  fawn  (called  Nebris)  from  the  variety  of  stars  that 
surround  him."  l  Our  readers  will  at  once  see  that  the  word 
Dionysus  corresponds  to  the  Sanskrit  word  Dinega  (the  sun) 
and  the  word  Sirius  to  Siirya.  They  will  also  understand 
why  Siva,  in  the  Hindu  Mythology,  has  a  spotted  leopard  skin 
round  his  loins,  which  merely  represents  the  starry  sky  that 
forms  the  robe  of  him  who  is  Digamvara  (or  nude).  It 
will  also  not  be  difficult  for  them  to  grasp  the  meaning  of  the 
description  of  Siva  as  Sa^imaull,  i.e.,  having  the  moon  on  his 
forehead,  because  the  moon  appears  just  as  the  sun  descends 
towards,  or  sinks  below  the  horizon ;  or  because,  as  the  Egyptian 
Mythology  says,  the  moon  (  Vrtra)  was  triumphant  over  Osiris 
(the  Sun  of  the  night,  or  Siva).  The  dark  portion  of  the  night 
(K&la-ratri  or  KdK)  is  one  of  the  consorts  of  Siva,  represented 
as  dancing  her  weird  dance  over  the  prostrate  body  of  her 
husband,  and  fighting  the  demons  or  Asuras,  who  a  re  the  enemies 
of  the  Devas,  i.e.  the  shining  ones,  congregated  on  the  heaven 
probably  in  the  shapes  of  stars  and  planels,  and  watching  the 
terrific  fight  below.  Isis  was  sometimes  identified  with  the 
moon  in  the  Egyptian  Mythology,  as  she  had  horns  on  her  head 
like  those  of  the  crescent  moon.  The  moon-lit  portion  of  the 
night  was  therefore  another  consort  of  Siva,  and  she  was 
called  Satl  in  the  Hindu  Mythology.  SatI  was  a  daughter  of 
Dakfa  PrajSpati  of  the  family  of  BrahmA,  the  Creator,  or  the 
morning  Sun,  who  invited  all  the  Devas  to  his  Yajna  or  sacrifice, 
excepting  Siva,  his  son-in-law,  apparently  for  no  other  reason 
than  because  Siva  being  the  Sun  of  the  night,  could  not  possi- 
bly be  invited  to  attend  a  sacrifice  held  in  the  morning  by  the 
Morning  Sun.  The  consort  of  Siva,  i.e.  Satl,  ( the  moon-lit  night, 
or  for  the  matter  of  that,  the  Moon),  however,  went  to  her  father's 
Yajna  uninvited,  though  Siva  repeatedly  and  emphatically  pro- 
tested against  her  attending  the  sacrifice  thus  unceremoniously, 

1  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World  Vol.  I.  p.  279. 
36 


BLGfteDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

and  the  result  was  disastrous.  The  glorious  Morning  Sun, 
holding  his  court  in  all  his  splender,  took  no  notice  of  the  poor 
daughter,  and  slighted,  nay,  insulted  her  ;  and  lo  !  SatI,  keenly 
feeling  the  sting  of  insult,  neglect  and  humiliation,  as  only  a 
loving  and  sensitive  daughter  could  feel,  paled  before  her  father 
and  suddenly  died.  Siva,  hearing  of  the  tragic  death  of  his 
beloved  wife,  became  furious,  destroyed  the  splendid  sacrifice 
of  Dak?a,  and  in  his  mighty  grief,  roamed  over  the  world, 
with  the  dead  body  of  SatI  flung  across  his  shoulders.1  The 
Devas  fled  in  all  directions,  and  in  their  distress,  sought  the 
help  and  advice  of  Vi$nu  or  the  Mid-day  Sun,  who  with  a  view 
to  avert  a  calamity,  cut  up  the  dead  body  of  SatI  with  his  Cakra  or 
disc  into  pieces  and  flung  them  about.  These  cut-up  pieces  were 
represented  in  the  different  phases  of  the  moon,  lighted  up 
by  the  solar  rays.  The  third  consort  of  Siva  was  HaimavatI 
Um£  or  Durga,  i.e.,  the  Golden  Dawn— another  form  of  Isis, 
called  Eos  in  Greek,  and  Usas  in  the  Veda— -who  with  her 
ten  outspread  arms  was  engaged  in  righting  and  routing  the 
demons  of  darkness.  Durga  is  represented  as  mounted  on 
a  lion,  the  most  ferocious  of  the  beasts  of  prey  that  prowl 
about  in  the  night.  The  lion  with  his  tawny  colour,  bushy 
manes,  strength  and  ferocity  is  sometimes  compared  to  the 
Sun  (Hari).  Durga,  Uma,  U?as,  or  the  Golden  Dawn  may 
be  said  to  ride  over  the  first  rays  of  the  Morning  Sun,  in  all 
the  splendours  of  her  beauty. 

The  description  of  Osiris  as  given  by  Diodorus  has  natur- 
ally led  me  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  corresponding  Hindu 
myth  about  Siva  and  his  consorts.  About  Isis  Diodorus  says 
that  the  word  "  being  interpreted,  signifies  Ancient,  the  name 
being  ascribed  to  the  moon  from  eternal  generations."  The 

1  The  Moon  on  the  fourteenth  night  of  the  dark  fortnight  rises  just  before 
tttnrise,  and  immediately  dies  away  On  the  Amdvasyd  day,  clouds  sometimes 
gather  in  the  morning,  darken  the  morning  sun  and  spread  gloom  all  around. 
This  looks  like  the  grief  of  Siva  on  the  death  of  his  beloved  consort  whose 
dead  body  he  flung  accross  his  shoulders  and  roamed  over  the  world,  Sati  was 
re-born  as  Uma,  or  Usas  (Dawn.) 


XIII.]  OSIRIS  AND  RIS.  283 

Greek  mythologists  "add  likewise  to  her  horns,  because  her 
aspect  is  such  in  her  increase  and  in  her  decrease,  represent- 
ing  a  sickle,  and  because  an  ox  among  the  Egyptians  is  offered 
to  her  in  sacrifice.  They  hold  that  these  gods  (Osiris  and 
Isis)  govern  the  whole  world,  cherishing  and  increasing  all 
things,  and  divide  the  year  into  three  parts  (that  is  to  say, 
spring,  summer  and  autumn)  by  an  invisible  motion,  perfecting 
their  constant  course  in  that  time.  And  though  they  are 
in  their  nature  very  differing  from  one  another,  yet  they  com- 
plete the  whole  year  with  a  most  excellent  harmony  and  con- 
sent. They  say  that  these  Gods  in  their  natures  do  contri- 
bute much  to  the  generation  of  all  things,  the  one  being  of  a  hot 
and  active  nature,  the  other  moist  and  cold,  but  both  having 
some  of  the  air,  and  that  by  these,  all  things  are  brought 
forth  and  nourished  ;  and  therefore  that  every  particular  being 
in  the  universe  is  perfected  and  completed  by  the  sun 
and  moon,  whose  qualities  as  before  declared  are  five : 
(i)  spirit  of  quickening  efficacy,  (2)  heat  or  fire,  (3)  dryness  or 
earth,  (4)  moisture  or  water  and  (5)  air,  of  which  the  world 
does  consist,  as  a  man  made  up  of  head,  hands,  feet  and 
other  parts.  These  five  they  reputed  for  gods,  and  the  people 
of  Egypt,  who  were  the  first  that  spoke  articulately,  gave 
names  proper  to  their  several  natures,  according  to  the  lang- 
uage they  then  spoke.  And  therefore  they  called  the  spirit 
Jupiter,  which  is  such  by  interpretation,  because  a  quickening 
influence  is  derived  from  this  into  all  living  creatures  as  from 
the  original  principle ;  and  upon  that  account,  he  is  esteemed 
the  common  parent  of  all  things"  J. 

The  above  extracts  at  once  recall  to  our  mind  some  of 
the  tenets  of  the  Hindu  Philosophy  which,  based  on  the  Rg- 
vedic  cosmogony,  admits  of  the  existence  of  two  principles 
in  the  universe,  the  Male  and  the  Female — the  Positive  and 
the  Negative— the  Active  and  the  Passive — the  Purusa  and  the 
Prakfti  as  they  are  called  by  the  Hindu  philosophers,  from 

*    ffist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  279 


284  R&EDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

whose  union  the  material  world  and  all  life  have  been  pro- 
duced. The  five  qualities  mentioned  by  Diodorous  are  the 
five  Tatvas  of  Hindu  Philosophy,  or  primordial  elements,  vie. 
Ksiti  (earth),  Ap  (water),  Tejas  (heat),  Marut  (air)  and 
Byom  (sky  or  ether),  from  a  combination  of  which  every 
thing  has  been  created.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  resem- 
blance between  the  Hindu  and  the  Egyptian  philosophies  is 
striking. 

Diodorus  further  says  :  "  Fire  they  (the  Egyptians)  called 
by  interpretation  Vulcan,  and  him  they  held  in  veneration 
as  a  great  god,  as  he  greatly  contributed  to  the  generation  and 
perfection  of  all  beings  whatsoever. 

"  The  Earth  as  the  common  womb  of  all  production  they 
called  Meter  a  (cf.  Sansk.  Mdtf]^  as  the  Greeks  in  process  of 
time  by  a  small  alteration  of  one  letter,  and  an  omission  of 
two  letters,  called  the  Earth  Demetra  which  was  anciently 
called  Gen  Metera,  or  the  Mother  Earth. 

"  Water  or  Moisture,  the  ancients  called  Oceanus,  which 
by  interpretation,  is  a  nourishing  mother  and  so  taken  by 
some  of  the  Grecians. 

"  To  the  Air  they  gave  the  name  of  Minerva,  signifying 
something  proper  to  the  nature  thereof,  and  called  her  the 
daughter  of  Jupiter,  and  counted  a  virgin,  because  the  air 
naturally  is  not  subject  to  corruption,  and  is  the  highest  part 
of  the  Universe  whence  rises  the  fable  that  she  was  the  issue 
of  Jupiter's  brain."  l 

11  And  these  are  the  stories  "  continues  Diodorus,  "  told 
by  the  Egyptians  of  the  heavenly  and  immortal  gods.  And 
besides  these,  they  sav,  there  are  others  that  are  terrestrial, 
which  were  begotton  of  these  former  gods,  and  were  originally 
mortal  men,  but  by  reason  of  their  wisdom  and  beneficence 
to  all  mankind  have  obtained  immortality,  of  which  some  have 
been  kings  of  Egypt,  some  of  whom  by  interpretation  have 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  p.  280. 


XIII.]  MENES  AND  *&NU.  285 

had  the  same  names  with  the  celestial  gods,  others  have   kept 
their  own  names."  l 

This  will  explain  why,  besides  the  gods  of  the  Egyptian 
hierarchy,  were  also  kings  and  queens  of  the  names  of  Osiris 
and  Isis  etc.  who  were  regarded  as  demi-gods,  and  afterwards 
identified  with  the  cosmic  deities  themselves.  It  is  not  at  all 
unnatural  for  a  people  who  had  left  their  ancestral  home  and 
settled  in  a  foreign  country,  to  set  up  a  new  hierarchy  after 
the  names  of  the  gods  of  the  motherland,  in  order  to  reconcile 
themselves  thoroughly  to  the  condition  of  the  country  of  their 
adoption.  It  was  probably  on  this  principle  that  their  first 
great  king  may  have  been  named  Menes  or  Mena  after  the 
great  Manu  of  their  motherland,  and  sometimes  identified 
with  Osiris  (the  sun)  himself,  as  Manu  of  India  was  regarded 
the  offspring  of  the  Sun  and  called  Vaivasvata.  In  this  con- 
nection, it  should  be  noted  here  that  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  also 
believed  that  some  of  their  gods  were  originally  men  who  on 
account  of  their  piety,  wisdom  and  beneficent  exploits,  were 
raised  to  the  status  of  gods.  For  example,  the  Rbhus,  (Rv. 
i.  no,  2.  3)  and  the  Maruts  (Rv.  x.  77,  2)  were  believed 
to  have  been  originally  men,  who  were  afterwards  transformed 
into  Devas  on  account  of  their  wonderful  exploits  and  valor- 
ous deeds.  This  belief  must  have  been  taken  to  Egypt  by 
the  immigrants  from  India. 

What  with  these  striking  resemblances  and  similarities  in 
social  customs  and  manners,  religious  dogmas  and  beliefs, 
and  political  life  and  institutions  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  and 
the  Indo-Aryans,  what  with  the  ancient  tradition  of  the 
Egyptians  themselves  that  their  forefathers  had  come  from  the 
Land  of  Punt,  "  the  dwelling  of  the  Gods/1  what  with  the 
anthropological  evidences,  as  adduced  by  Heeren  and  others, 
establishing  a  similarity  between  the  skulls  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  and  the  Indian  races,  what  with  the  fact  that  the 
ancient  names  of  the  country  and  the  great  river  that  flows 

i    Ibid,  Do.  Do. 


286  $G\*DIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

through  it,  as  well  as  the  names  of  the  principal  Egyptian 
deities  can  be  satisfactorily  traced  to  words  of  Sanskrit  origin 
only,  and  what  with  the  wonderful  coincidence  of  the  Egyp- 
tian with  the  Aryan  Mythology,  one  is  forced  to  the  irresist- 
ible conclusion  that  a  branch  or  branches  of  the  Indo-Aryan 
race,  or  aryanised  Dravidians,  probably  the  Pandyas,  must 
have  emigrated  from  India  to  Egypt  in  pre-historic  times  (as 
some  other  branches  of  the  same  race  or  races  did  to  some  of 
the  neighbouring  countries  viz.^  Phoenicia,  Chaldea  and  Elam 
&c.)  and  finding  the  valley  of  the  Nile  fertile,  secluded  (a- 
guptd))  and  secure  from  the  invasion  of  enemies,  settled  there 
and  founded  a  civilisation  which  was  essentially  Aryan,  though 
greatly  modified  by  surrounding  influences.  If  this  conjecture 
be  correct,  the  theories  about  the  age  of  the  Indo-Aryan  civili- 
sation, as  propounded  by  European  savants^  have  to  be 
reconsidered  and  recast  in  the  light  of  the  recent  discoveries 
made  in  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia,  and  the  revised  readings 
of  their  ancient  history.  Menes  was  the  first  king  to  have 
established  the  Dynastic  rule  in  Egypt  about  4,400  B.  C.  and 
to  have  united  under  one  rule  the  Red  and  White  crowns 
which  probably  represented  the  two  branches  of  the  Solar 
(Red)  Dynasty  and  the  Lunar  (White)  Dynasty  of  the  immi- 
grant Indo-Aryans,  constantly  at  war  with  one  another  and 
striving  for  supremacy  in  ancient  Egypt  as  in  ancient  India. 
The  emigrations  of  the  Indo-Aryans,  or  aryanised  Dravidians 
to  Egypt  must  therefore  have  taken  place  long  before  the 
establishment  of  Dynastic  rule  by  King  Menes,  that  is  to 
say,  in  the  Dvdpara  Yuga  of  the  Hindus,  and  long  before  the 
battle  of  Kurukgetra  was  fought  in  the  plains  of  the  Punjab. 
The  Kali  Yuga,  according  to  the  Hindus,  commenced  on  the 
20th  February  of  3,102  B.  C.  at  2  hours  27  minutes  and  30 
seconds,  and  the  battle  of  Kuruk?etra  was  fought  some  time 
after  this  date.  l  The  establishment  of  the  Dynastic  rule 

1  "  According  to  the  astronomical  calculations  of  the  Hindus,  the  present 
period  of  the  world,  Kfdi-Yuga,  commenced  3,102  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ  on  the  20th  February  at  a  hours  27  minutes  and  30  seconds.  They  say 


XIII.]  EGYPTIAN  CHRtf&OLOGY.  *87 

in  Egypt  by  King  Menes  had  therefore  been  effected  some 
1,300  years  before  the  Kali  Yuga  commenced  ;  but  even  long 
before  that  event,  the  Indo-Aryan  or  the  Dravidian   immigra- 
tion to  Egypt  had  taken  place.     It  is  indeed   extremely   diffi- 
cult to  ascertain   the  exact   period   of  time,   when  the   Indo- 
Aryans  or  the   Dravidians   first   immigrated    to   Egypt.     But 
Diodorus  says :     "  From  (King)  Osiris    and   (Queen)  Isis  to 
the  reign  of  Alexander  the  Great,  who   built  a    city  after  his 
own  name,  the  Egyptian  priests  reckon    above   ten  thousand 
years,  or  (as   some   write)    little  less  than   three -and- twenty 
thousand  years."  l      If   we  accept   the    first  of  these   two 
calculations,  the  first  immigration  of  the    Indo-Ajryans  or  the 
aryanised  Dravidians  to  Egypt  may  have    taken'  place  about 
10,000  B.C.,  a  supposition  which  would  not/seem   improbable 
when  we  take  into  our  consideration  the  fjct  that  the  sacrifice 
of  bulls  was  a  prevailing  custom   among  tipe  Egyptians,   who 
must  have  taken  it  with   them  from    Indi si  at  a  time  when  the 
custom   was   in   vogue     in     that     country;      We     find     the 
custom  discountenanced    in    the    Brahmufys  and,  therefore, 
may  conclude  that  the  immigration    had   tak^n    place   before 
these  works  came  to  be  written.     This  also  goi's  to  prove  the 
hoary  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  as  the  hymns   had   been  com- 
posed  long  before  any    land-communication  was   established, 
by  the  drying  up  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  and  the   formation  of 

that  a  conjunction  of  planets  then  took  place,  and  their  tables  show  this  con- 
junction  Bailly  states  that  Jupiter  and  Mercury  were  then  in  the  same  degree 
of  the  ecliptic,  Mars  at  a  distance  of  only  eight,  and  Saturn  of  seven  degrees; 
whence  it  follows  that  at  the  point  of  time  given  by  the  Brahmins  as  the  com- 
mencement  of  Kali  Yuga,  the  four  planets  above  mentioned  must  have  been 
successively  concealed  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun  (first,  Saturn,  then  Mars,  after- 
wards Jupiter,  and  lastly  Mercury).  These  then  showed  themselves  in  con- 
junction  ;  and  although  Venus  could  not  then  be  seen,  it  was  natural  to  say  that 
a  conjunction  of  the  planets  then  took  place.  The  calculation  of  the  Brahmins 
is  so  exactly  confirmed  by  our  own  astronomical  tables  that  nothing  but  an 
actual  observation  could  have  given  so  correspondent  a  result."  Tktogony  if 
the  Hindus^  Count  Bjornstjarna. 

*     Hist.  Hist,  of  tkt  World  Vol.  I.  p.  285, 


288  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

the  Gangetic  plains,  between  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  and  the 
Southern  Peninsula.  It  must  also  have  taken  thousands  of 
years  to  uplift  the  Dravidians  from  their  savage  condition, 
and  impart  to  them  the  elements  of  Aryan  civilisation,  even 
after  the  Aryans  founded  colonies  in  the  south.  The  tradi- 
tion current  among  the  Phoenicians  that  they  had  been  in 
Phoenicia  for  30,000  years  before  Alexander  the  Great 
invaded  their  country,  and  the  belief  of  the  Chaldean 
priests  (probably  Br£hmans)  that  their  civilisation  was 
nearly  five  hundred  thousad  years  old,  though  these  calcula- 
tions seem  to  be  highly  exorbitant  and  cannot  be  relied 
upon,  also  point,  as  we  have  already  said,  to  the  vast 
antiquity  of  Rgvedic  civilisation.  The  calculation  of  the 
age  of  Indo-Aryan  or  Dravidian  immigration  to  Egypt  is 
indeed  modest  beside  these  calculations,  and  can  be  taken  as 
probable.  My  surmise  is  that  the  first  people  to  immigrate 
to  Western  Asia  from  India  were  the  Panis,  the  ancestors  of 
the  Phoenicians,  then  the  Cholas  from  the  Coromondal  coast, 
and  afterwards,  the  Pandyas  from  the  Malabar  coast,  who 
however  instead  of  settling  in  Western  Asia,  or  on  the  coasts 
of  the  Persian  Gulf,  which  had  already  been  occupied  by  the 
Cholas,  immigrated  directly  to  Egypt  and  founded  a  flourish- 
ing colony  there. 

It  may  be  asked  that  if  the  Indo-Aryan  civilisation  was 
really  so  old,  how  is  it  that  we  cannot  go  back  beyond  at  most 
three  to  four  thousand  years  by  computing  the  reigns  of  the 
kings  whose  list  we  find  in  the  Purdnas  ?  The  answer  is  simple. 
There  having  been  no  art  of  writing  in  ancient  times,  no  chro- 
nicles were  kept  of  the  reigns  of  the  kings  who  had  flourished, 
and  the  names  of  such  kings  only  as  had  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  beneficent  rules  passed  on  from  generation 
to  generation  in  popular  tradition.  It  was  quite  natural  that 
people  did  not  care  to  remember  the  names  of  kings  whose 
reigns  were  not  distinguished  by  wars  or  conquests,  or  any  acts 
of  popular  good,  and  therefore  were  not  worth  remembering 


HINDU  CHRONOLOGY.  289 

at   all.     And   as   noble   and   great  king*  ne ver  fl  mrished  in 
quick  succession,  but  appeared  only  once  in  a  v\hile,  probably 
at  intervals  of    hundreds    of   years,    their   names   were   few 
and  far  between,  as  a  matter  or  course.     When  writing  came 
into  vague,  an  atempt  was  made  to    collect  and    arrange  the 
names  of  those  kings  who  figured  in  the    popular  tales,    and 
a  sort  of  connection  was  established  between    one   king  and 
another   as   father   and   son,    though    in    reality   they   were 
separated  from  each  other  by  a  gap    of   several   generations. 
The  compilers  themselves  felt  the   difficulty,    and    sought   to 
overcome   it  by  assigning  a  fabulous  number  of  years — some 
thousands  of  years,  to  each   reign,  which  simply    proved   the 
very  hopelessness  of  their  task.     The  fact  is    that    history  in 
the  truest  sense  of  the  word  is  a  com  par  itivelv  recent  product, 
and  cannot  be   older   than    seven    or    eight    thousand    years 
at   most,  and  is  probably  synchronous  with  die  invention    and 
development  of  the  art  of  writing.     So  farAs  ancient    Sapta 
Sindhu    was   concerned,    it    was    divided  wnto    a    number  of 
small  states,  in  which  the  kings    were  more  jfcike   leaders    and 
patriarchs  of  the  people  than  autocrats  bent  uteon  self-aggran- 
disement and  making  extensive  conquests.     TheLfive  tribes  had 
a  homogeneous  development,   and  lived    in    peacfc  and    amity 
among  themselves,  combining  together  only  on    occasions    of 
grave  common  dangers.     Though  they    sometimes    quarrelled 
among  themselves,  the  quarrel  never  ended  in   a   conquest^  or 
permanant  subjugation  of  one  tribe  by  another,  and  "  Live  and 
let  live  "  seemed  to  have  been  the  one  principle    that    guided 
them.  "  May  you  all  be  united  in  your  endeavours  ;  may  your 
hearts  beat  in  unison  ;  may  your  minds  not  pull  different  ways, 
but,  united,  act  in  harmony  "  'Rv.  x.  191,    4)— such    was    the 
inspiring  prayer  that  was  offered  by  a  Rst  who  saw   a    higher 
vision  of  the  purpose  of  life    that    the    Imlo-Aryan    race    was 
destined  to  fulfil  than  the  mere  establishment  of  a  mighty  empire 
by  physical  conquest    of    the    world      Their    wars   were  only 
directed  towards  the  eliminntion  of  the  discordant  elements  from 
their  community,  that  proved  to  be  veritable  clogs  in  the  wheel 

37 


ago  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

of  their  spiritual  progress,  and  stood  in  the  way  of  their  consum- 
mating the  summum  bonum  of  life.  As  soon  as  this  object  was 
accomplished,  they  plunged  again  into  contemplation,  and 
developed  such  a  civilisation,  based  on  satya  (truth)  and  rta 
(right),  as  has  survived  the  ravages  of  time  and  is  to  last  till  the 
end  of  the  world,  or  of  the  cycle  of  the  human  race.  This  was 
the  spirit  that  dominated  and  guided  the  whole  nation, — men, 
women  and  even  children.  There  were  of  course  occasional 
lapses  and  aberrations  which  are  bound  to  occur  in  the 
course  of  the  evolution  and  perfection  of  all  human  institutions, 
but  these  only  served  as  fresh  incentives  to  the  nation  to  apply 
to  the  noble  work  with  renewed  and  greater  zeal.  A  nation 
guided  by  such  noble  ideals  can  have  no  history  in  the  sense 
in  which  we  understand  the  word  ;  for  nobody  would  care  to 
record  the  ephemeral  achievements  or  glorious  conquests  of 
kings,  which  by  the  way  were  regarded  as  so  many  obstacles 
to  the  spiritual  evolution  of  the  race,  rather  than  things  to  be 
proud  of.  Hence  we  find  the  ancient  Aryan  kings,  not  in 
the  role  of  leaders  of  conquering  hordes,  but  as  fathers  of  the 
people,  protecting  them  from  outside  harm,  and  helping  them 
to  live  a  life  of  peace  and  contentment,  which  was  conducive 
to  their  spiritual  culture  and  the  practice  of  Dharma,  which 
literally  means  "  that  which  upholds."  And  the  Princes 
themselves  were  more  ascetics  than  gorgeous  personages 
rolling  in  luxury.  The  King  was  the  wielder  of  the  Danda— 
the  sceptre,— which  was  emblematic  of  Dharma,  keeping 
people  on  the  path  of  r*<*  («ght),  and  which  would 
destroy  even  the  wielder  himself,  if  he  strayed  out  of 
the  path.  The  history  of  the  ancient  Aryans  consists  of  an 
elaborate  account  of  ideal  kings  like  R&ma  and  Yudhi?thira, 
of  moral  and  spiritual  heroes  like  Bharata,  Lak^mana, 
Bhl?ma  and  Arjuna,  of  noble  and  ideal  Princesses  like  Sltft, 
Sivitrl,  DamayantI  and  Draupadl,  of  ascetic  kings  like  Manu 
and  Janaka,  of  sages  like  Vasiftha,  VigvlUnitra,  Bharadvija, 
Ydjnavalkya,  VyAsa  and  V&lmlki,  of  truthful  kings  like  Harig- 
candra  and  Da^aratha,  of  noble  spiritual  ladies  like  Maitreyl, 


XIII.]  HINDU  CHRONOLOGY. 


,  Lopamudri,  AnasQy4  and  Gindhftri,  and  of   noble 
and  virtuous  persons  of  even  low  birth  and  rank  like   Vidura, 
Ekalavya,  Dharmavy&dha  and  TulAdhAra.    The  names  of  all 
other  persons,  whether  kings  or  princes,   were   consigned  to 
the  limbo  of  oblivion,  as  quite  unnecessary,   and   unfit   to  b« 
remembered   or   chronicled.      If  history   merely   means   an 
account  of  kings  in  chronological   order,   and   of   their   wars 
and  conquests,  the  ancient  Aryans  have    no   history.     But   if 
it  means  an  account  of  the  people,  as  they  lived  and   thought, 
of  their  hopes,   aspirations  and   ideals,    of  an   evolution   of 
their  civilisation  working  up  to  those  ideals,   of  their   many. 
sided  activities  in  the    domains    of  ethics,    spiritual   culture, 
philosophy,     literature,    arts   and   sciences,    of   well-ordered 
social  and  political  institutions  making  for   the   evolution   of 
the  community  as  a  whole  as  well  as  of   the   individual,    of  a 
constant  struggle,  both  communal  and  individual,  to    live   up 
to  the  highest  ideal  of  true  manhood,  and  of  bold   and   deter- 
mined  efforts  to  solve  the  riddle   of  life   that   always    stares 
one  in  the  face  like  the  mysterious  Egyptian  Sphinx,  to  grasp 
the  destiny  of  humanity  as  a   whole,   and   to   realise   oneself 
as  a  drop  in   the   ocean   of  the   Universal   Ego,   permeating 
the  entire  creation,  physical   and   spiritual,  —  then,   certainly, 
the  Aryans  have   a   history,  —  a   history  which   is   unique   in 
the  world,  and  unsurpassed  by  that  of  any    people   that   ever 
flourished  on  our  globe.     The  great  Veda-Vyasa  in  the  early 
dawn  of  the  Kaliyuga,  some  5,000  years  ago,   compiled    such 
a   history   in   the    Mahdbharata,  the  greatest  work  after  the 
Four  Vedas,  which  is  aptly  called  the   Fifth  Veda  (Paftcama 
Veda)  and  Itihdsa  (history).     Other  sages  followed  him  in  his 
foot-  step,  and  compiled  the  various   Pur  anas  y  though  all   of 
them  are  fathered  on  Veda-Vydsa.     The  compilation  of  these 
works  was  undoubtedly  made  possible  only  by  the   invention 
and  development  of  the  Br&hml  script   which   is   the  parent 
of  the  modern  Sanskrit  script,  and   owes   its   origin   entirely 
to  the  genius  of  the  Aryan  race,  —  a  script  which  is  admittedly 
the  most  perfect  of  all  scripts  in  the  world, 


3892  fcCSVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

It  would   thus     appear     that   the   absence   of   succinct 
chronological    accounts    of     kings   and    their    reigns    in    the 
sacred  Scriptures  of  the  ancient    Aryans    does    not    disprove 
the  hoary  antiquity  of  their   civilisation.     The     Vlakdbhdrata 
contains   many   traditions   of   the   ancient    Indo- -\ryan    race 
which,  even   at   the   time   of   Veda-Vyasa,    passed   into   the 
realm   of   myths   and    legends.     Without    trying  to   explain 
them,  he  carefully  collected   all    the   legends    and  traditions 
current  in  his  time  and  preserved  them  in  his    great   Itihasa^ 
There  are  many  legends  in  the  Mahabharata  relating   to   the 
emigrations  made  into  foreign  countries  by  some  branches  of 
the   Indo-Aryan     people,    which    admirably   fit    in   with   the 
tradition   of   the   ancient   Egyptians    themselves    that    their 
forefathers  had   emigrated    from    the    Land   of   Punt.     It   is 
Recorded  in  the  Mahabharata  that  Garuda  led   the    N£gas   or 
serpents  fa  nomadic  Aryan  tribe)  out  of  India  into  a  beautiful 
island  where  the  latter  settled.      Garuda   himself   carried    on 
war  with  the  Devas,  and  aspired  to  be  their   lord,    but    Vignu 
brought  about    a   compromise    by    which    Garuda   submitted 
to  the  authority  of  the  Devas,  and  acknowledged  their   supre- 
macy, though  not  without  first  extorting  a  promise   from  Vi§nu 
that  he  (Garuda)  would  always  be  perched  over  Vi§uu's  head ! 
It  is  for  this   reason,    says    the   legend,    that  Garuda    always 
occupies  a  place  on  the  top  of  Visnu's  chariot  or  throne.     We 
find  that  the  Egyption  God  MRa,  the  Sun,  is  usually  represented 
as  a  hawk-headed  man,  occasionally  as  a  man,  in   both   cases 
generally  bearing  on  his  head  the  solar  disk... Horus  is  generally 
hawk-headed,  and  thus   a   solar   god   connected   with    Ra."J 
The  Assyrians  also,  as  we  have  seen,  had  gods  with  the  head 
and  wings  of  an  eagle.     These  facts   will  go  to   explain   to  a 
certain  extent  the  Garuda  myth  of  the    Aryans.     Besides   the 
Garudas  and  the  Sarpas  or  Ndgas,  there  were  other   nomadic 
Indo-Aryan  tribes  under  the  name  of   Ydydvaras.     (lit.  Wan- 
derers).    We  have  already  said  elsewhere   that  a  sage   of  the 

1     Bncy.  Brit.,  Vol.  VI/t  pp.  7/6-7/7.    (Ninth  Edition.) 


XIII.]  ARYANf  EMIGRATIONS.  293 

Y&y&varas  whose  name  was  Jaratkiru  married  the  beautiful 
sister  of  Vasuki,  the  king  of  th^  Nigas,  and  th^  issue  of  the 
union  was  the  great  sage  Astika  From  the  legends  to  be 
found  in  the  Mahdbhirata,  it  would  seem  that  there  were 
constant  feuds  between  the  nomadic  and  the  settled  tribes  of 
the  Indo-Aryan  race  and  that  these  feuds  were  continued  for 
a  long  time  and  only  put  an  end  to  by  effecting  a  compromise, 
or  by  the  nomadic  tribes  leaving  the  shores  of  India  for  good. 
It  is  also  on  record  in  the  MahabhArata  that  some  of  the  sons 
of  King  Yayati  were  banished  by  their  father  from  the  country 
on  account  of  their  disobedience  and  selfishness,  and  they 
became  lords  of  the  Yavanas,  Mlecchas  and  other  barbarian 
races.  All  these  legends  go  to  show  that  long  before  the 
Mahabhirata  was  composed,  branches  of  the  Indo-Aryan  race 
had  emigrated  from  India  and  settled  down  in  other  countries. 
We  have  seen  in  this  chapter  that  a  branch  of  this  race  or  the 
aryanised  Pdndyas  very  likely  emigrated  to  Egypt  and  founded 
a  flourishing  empire  which  gave  birth  to  the  modern  civilisa- 
tion of  Europe.  A  conjecture  like  this  can  only  explain  the 
striking  resemblances  in  physical  type,  manners,  social 
customs,  and  religious  beliefs  of  two  such  widely  separated 
peoples  as  the  ancient  Aryans  and  the  ancient  Egyptians. 

The  writer  of  the  History  of  Egypt  in  the  "  Historians' 
History  of  the  World  "  finds  great  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a 
satisfactory  conclusion  as  to  the  origin  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians, in  as  much  as  he  notices  their  striking  resemblances 
with  the  Indians  in  many  important  respects,  and  yet  cannot 
bring  himself  to  believe  that  they  originally  emigrated  from 
India.  His  observations  on  the  point  are  worth  quoting 
here  : — 

11  The  ancients,  beyond  vaguely  hinting  at  an  Ethiopian 
origin  of  the  Egyptians,  confessed  themselves  in  the  main 
totally  ignorant  of  the  subject.  And  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  patient  researches  of  modern  workers  have  not  sufficed 
fully  to  lift  the  veil  of  this  ignorance.  Theories  have  been 


ag4  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

propounded,  to  be  sure.  It  was  broadly  suggested  by  Heeren 
that  one  might  probably  look  to  India  as  the  original  cradle 
of  the  Egyptian  race.  Hebrew  scholars,  however,  naturally 
were  disposed  to  find  that  cradle  in  Mesopotamia,  and  some 
later  archaeologists,  among  them  so  great  an  authority  as 
Maspero,  believe  that  the  real  beginnings  of  Egyptian  history 
should  be  traced  to  equatorial  A  f rica.  But  there  are  no  sure 
data  at  hand  to  enable  us  to  judge  with  any  degree  of  certainty 
as  to  which  of  these  two  hypotheses,  if  any  one  of  them,  is 
true. 

"  The  whole  point  of  view  of  modern  thought  regarding 
this  subject  has  been  strangely  shifted  during  the  last  half 
century.  Up  to  that  time,  it  was  the  firm  conviction  of  the 
greater  number  of  scholars  that,  in  dealing  with  the  races  of 
antiquity,  we  had  but  to  recover  some  four  thousand  years 
before  the  Christian  Era.  Any  hypothesis  that  could  hope  to 
gain  credence  in  that  day  must  be  consistent  with  this  sup- 
position. But  the  anthropologists  of  the  past  two  generations 
have  quite  dispelled  that  long  current  illusion,  and  we  now 
think  of  the  history  of  man  as  stretching  back  tens,  or  per- 
haps hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  into  the  past. 

"  Applying  a  common-sense  view  to  the  history  of  ancient 
nations  from  this  modified  standpoint,  it  becomes  at  once  appa- 
rent how  very  easy  it  may  be  to  follow  up  false  clews  and 
arrive  at  false  conclusions.  Let  us  suppose,  for  example,  that, 
as  Heeren  believed  and  as  some  more  modern  investigators 
have  contended,  the  skulls  of  the  Egyptians  and  those  of  the 
Indian  races  of  antiquity,  as  preserved  in  the  tombs  of  the 
respective  countries,  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  one  another. 
What,  after  all,  does  this  prove  ?  Presumably  it  implies  that 
these  two  widely  separated  nations  have  perhaps  had  a 
common  origin.  But  it  might  mean  that  the  Egyptians  had 
one  day  been  emigrants  from  India,  or  conversely,  that  the 
Indians  had  migrated  from  Egypt,  or  yet  again,  that  the  forbears 
of  both  nations  had,  at  a  remote  epoch,  occupied  some  other 
region,  perhaps  in  an  utterly  different  part  of  the  globe  from 


XIII.]  CRADLE  OF  THE  EGYPTIANS.         295 

either  India  or  Egypt.  And  even  such  a  conclusion  as  this 
would  have  to  be  accepted  with  a  large  element  of  doubt. 
For  up  to  the  present  it  must  freely  be  admitted  that  the 
studies  of  the  anthropologists  have  by  no  means  fixed  the 
physical  characters  of  the  different  races  with  sufficient  clear- 
ness to  enable  us  to  predicate  actual  unity  of  race  or  unity  of 
origin  from  a  seeming  similarity  of  skulls  alone,  or  even 
through  more  comprehensive  comparison  of  physical  traits, 
were  these  available.  More  than  this,  any  such  comparison  as 
that  which  attempts  to  link  the  Egyptians  with  the  Indians  or 
Hebrews  or  Ethiopians  is,  after  all,  only  a  narrow  view  of  the 
subject  extending  over  a  comparatively  limited  period  of  time. 
If  it  were  shown  that  the  first  members  of  that  race  which 
came  to  be  known  as  Egyptians  came  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile 
from  India  or  Mesopotamia  or  Ethiopia,  the  fact  would  have 
undoubted  historic  interest,  but  it  would  after  all  only  take 
us  one  step  further  back  along  the  course  of  the  evolution  of 
that  ancient  civilisation,  and  the  question  would  still  remain 
an  open  one  as  to  what  was  the  real  cradle  of  the  race."  l 

The  real  cradle  of  the  race,  as  we  have  taken  pains  to 
point  out  and  prove  in  these  pages,  was  India,  and  that  of  its 
civilisation  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu.  Our  readers  have  seen 
that  I  hdve  not  depended  upon  the  evidence  of  a  seeming 
similarity  of  skulls  alone  as  established  by  Heeren  and  other 
scholars,  to  prove  the  common  origin  of,  or  a  close  connection 
between  the  ancient  Aryans,  or  aryanised  Dravidians,  and 
the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  manners,  social  customs  and 
institutions,  and  religious  beliefs  and  observances  of  these 
two  widely  separated  races  had  something  of  the  family  like- 
ness in  them  which  cannot  fail  to  strike  even  the  most  critical 
mind  as  very  remarkable.  Add  to  this  the  Sanskrit  origin  of 
the  names  of  the  land,  the  river,  and  the  gods,  and  the  tradition 
of  the  ancient  Egyptians  themselves  that  they  had  originally 
come  from  the  Land  of  Punt.  Taking  all  these  evidences  and 

>     Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  pp.  263-264- 


296  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

circumstances  into  one's  consideration,  one  cannot  help  fet- 
ing and  concluding  that  the  ancient  Egyptians  were  original 
immigrants  from  India  as  were  the  Chaldeans  of  Mesopota- 
mia and  the  Phoenicians  of  the  Syrian  coast.  We  have 
proved  the  hoary  antiquity  of  Rgvedie  civilisation,  which 
goes  back  to  geological  times,  at  any  rate,  to  the  time  when 
Sapta-Sindhu  was  entirely  cut  off  from  Southern  India  by  a 
long  stretch  of  sea  extending  from  Assam  to  the  coast  of 
modern  Gujrat,  and  when  the  entire  Peninsula  was  peopled 
by  wild  savages  little  removed  from  the  state  of  brutes.  The 
very  fact  that  the  first  Egyptain  king  Menes  established  the 
Dynastic  rule  about  4400  B.  C.,  from  which  Egyptian  history 
and  civilisation  really  began,  makes  it  absolutely  impossible 
that  the  Egyptians  could  have  emigrated  from  Egypt  to  India, 
and  imparted  their  civilisation  to  the  Aryans  whose  civilisation 
was  probably  several  thousands  of  ^ears  old.  Such  a 
supposition  would  be  absurd,  not  to  say,  ridiculous  on  the 
very  face  of  it.  The  real  fact  was  that  when  the  whole  world 
was  streped  in  utter  darkness,  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  on  the 
banks  of  the  sacred  Sarasvatl  and  the  Sindhu,  and  in  the 
beautiful  valley  of  Kashmir,  lighted  up  the  holy  Fire  of 
Civilisation  and  Spiritual  Culture  and  kept  it  burning  and 
glowing  for  thousands  of  years  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 
In  a  much  later  age,  a  few  faggots  were  taken  from  this 
sacred  and  burning  pile  to  other  countries  where  they  burned 
and  glowed  spasmodically  for  some  time  till  they  were  finally 
extinguished,  removed  as  they  were  from  their  original  source. 
The  ancient  civilisations  of  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phoenicia 
and  Egypt  are  now  mere  names,  and  things  of  the  past 
beyond  all  hopes  of  revival  or  resuscitation.  It  is  only  in 
India  that  the  Ancient  Fire  still  burns  and  glows  on,  and 
though  blasts  and  dusts  have  done  much  to  bedim  its  radiance, 
it  will  burn  and  glow  again  with  its  wonted  lustre,  if  properly 
fed  with  such  fuels  and  libations  as  are  eminently  fitted  to 
keep  it  up,  viz.  a  vivid  realisation  like  that  of  the  ancient 
Aryans  of  the  one  supreme  end  and  purpose  of  life,  the 


XIII.]  DESTINY  OF  THE  ARYANS.  297 

direction  of  all  thoughts,  energies  and  actions  towards  the 
consirnnUion  of  that  supreme  end,  the  simultaneous  culture 
of  the  b>  ly,  tninJ  4«id  $jui,  and  the?  subordination  of  material 
culture  to  spiruutl,  th*  culfcvrttkw  oi  catWUcily,  charity  and 
toleration,  the  subordination  of  the  self  to  higher  good,  the 
realisation  of  the  divinity  in  man,  irrespective  of  caste,  greed 
or  rank,  the  merging  of  the  individual  in  the  Universal  Eg$, 
the  cultivation  of  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  for  accomplishing 
communal  good,  and  the  development  of  that  beatific  vision 
that  sees  God  in  everything  and  everything  in  God— an  all- 
round  culture  which  is  the  special  heritage  of  the  Aryan  r^ce 
from  their  glorious  ancestors  who  occupied  the  position  of 
world-teachers,  and  vividly  realised  their  own  destiny.  It 
was  therefore  not  a  mere  vain  boast  that  the  great  M«tnu 
indulged  in,  when  he  inspiringly  declared  :  ''From  the  first* 
born  (the  Brahmans)  of  this  country  let  all  the  peoples  of  the 
Earth  learn  the  guiding  principles  of  their  life  and  con- 
duct0 1 — a  boast  which  was  partially  fulfilled  in  the  past,  and 
waits  to  be  completely  fulfilled  in  the  days  to  come. 

1  Manu,  Ch.  n,  20 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

INDO-ARYAN  INFLUENCE  IN  WESTERN  ASIA. 

We  have  traced  in  the  previous  chapters  the  unmi*takable 

stamp   of  Aryan  culture  and  civilisation  on  those  of  ancient 

Babylonia,   Assyria,    Phoenicia   and   Egypt.     We   have   also 

shown   that   branches   of   the    Iranians  emigrated  to  Europe, 

and  mixed  with  the  Slavs,  and  that  the  main  body  of  the  tribe 

settled  in  Iran,  Persia,  or   Parsua  as    it    used    to   be   called. 

The   Iranians   were  ''a  fine  vigorous  type  of  humanity,  living 

by  agriculture  and  cattle-rearing,  and  skilled  in  the  use  of  the 

spear   and   the  bow.     Horse-breeding,  on  which  the  tribes  of 

Iran  prided  themselves,  was  assiduously  pursued,  and   hunts 

in  the  mountains  offered  rich  gains,  and  hardened  the   «inews 

of  men  for  war.     Other  agricultural  tribes  \\ere  the  PctnthU- 

laeans  and  the  Darusiaeans,  who  probably  da  eh  fu'ther  to  the 

east,  and  the  Germanians  or  Karmanians  in  the  high-lands  of 

Karman.     The  wilder  parts  of  the  mountains  and  the  btrppes 

and  deserts  of  the  coasts  were  occupied  by  predatory  nomads, 

some  of  them  very  barbaric,  the  majority  of    whom    must    be 

ranked  under  the  head  of  Persians.     Such  were  the  Mardans, 

the  neighbours  of  the  Elymaeans  (Elamites),  Uxians    (Persian 

Uvadza,    now   Chuzistan)    and   the   Kossaeans  in  the  Zagros ; 

the  Sagartians  (Persian  Asagarta)  in  the  central   desert,   the 

Utians  (Persian  Jutija)  in  the  Karmanian  coast  districts,  and 

the  Dropicians ;  the  name  Dahae  or    'robbers'   is   also   found 

here,   as   in    the   Turanian    steppe.     These    tribes    no   more 

constituted  a  political  unity  than  did  those  of  Media  ;  divided 

among   various   districts,    the    peasants   lived   in  patriarchal 

conditions  under  hereditary  princes,  and  were  continually  at 

\var  with  the  robbers  and  nomads,  while  they  were    protected 

by    the    'household    gods'    \\lio   sheltered    from    sterility  and 

foes."1 

1  Hist.  Hist,  of  tht  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  569, 


XIV.]  DAH/E  AND  PERSIANS.  099 

These  Aryan  robbers  and  nomads,  some  of  whom  were 
known  as  Dahae  (Sansk.  Dasyus  or  robbers)  had  been,  it 
should  be  rernembere  1,  the  pests  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  before 
they  were  driven  out  by  the  Rgvedic  Aryans.  When  the 
Iranians  and  other  Aryan  tribes  emigrated  from  India,  and 
settled  in  Persia,  Media,  Elam  and  other  parts  of  Western 
Asia,  these  robbers  proved  as  much  pests  to  them  as  they 
had  proved  to  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  in  Sapta-Sindhu.  Tne 
civilised  Aryan  settlers,  however,  managed  to  keep  them 
away  from  their  territories,  and  probably  drove  most  of  them 
westward  until,  further  pressed  forward  by  other  civilised 
and  more  powerful  tribes,  they  were  compelled  to  pass  out  of 
Asia  into  Europe  through  the  isthmus  of  Bosphorus.  The 
route  of  march  of  th*»se  wild  Aryan  savages  must  have  been 
along  the  southern  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  through  the 
ancient  province  known  as  Pontus,  which  is  the  same  word 
as  the  Sanskrit  Panthd  meaning  "highway."  The  mountains 
and  forests  of  Media,  Armenia,  Pontus,  Cappadocia,  Galatia, 
Mysia  and  Lydia  must  have  afforded  them  sufficient  refuge 
and  facility  for  hunting  to  induce  them  to  hang  about  and 
tarry  in  those  regions  for  a  long  time,  until  they  were  ousted 
from  possession  and  pressed  forward  again  by  other  more 
powerful  tribes,  leaving  such  residues  in  all  the  regions  as 
chose  to  remain  by  adopting  more  civilised  and  peaceful 
ways  of  living.  As  the  Mediterranean  Sea  barred  their 
further  progress  westward,  they  naturally  turned  towards  the 
north  and  went  over  to  Europe,  scattering  themselves,  along 
with  other  Asiatic  nomads,  east,  west,  north  and  south. 

Of  all  the  Aryan  tribes  that  were  compelled  to  leave 
Sapta-Sindhu,  and  passed  westward,  "  the  Persians  were  the 
first  Aryans  to  achieve  a  great  world  empire  within  historic 
times.  With  them  the  Aryan  race  became  dominant  in  the 
Western  world,  and  it  has  so  continued  to  the  present  time. 
The  Persians  themselves  maintained  the  first  place  among 
the  nations  only  for  about  two  centuries,  or  from  the  time  of 


Cyrts  ttfitft  the  Asiatic  conquest  of  Alexatidtr  the  Great. 
And  the  sceptre  which  they  laid  down  was  taken  up  by 
Western  nations  akin  to  them  in  speech,  and  passed  on  from 
otte  to  another  people  of  the  same  great  Indo-Germanic  race 
the  two  and  a  half  millenniums  which  separate  the 


time  <rf  Cyrus  from  our  own.  Hut  it  is  not  only  because  of 
their  kinship  with  European  nations  that  the  Persians  are  of 
interest.  Their  history  has  intrinsic  importance.  Theirs 
was  unquestionably  the  mightiest  empire  the  world  had  seeti, 
siftce  secure  history  began.  It  extended  from  India  on  the 
efcftt  to  the  extreme  confines  of  Asia  in  the  west  and  the 
north-west,  and  beyond  them  to  include  Egypt.  It  even 
threatened  at  one  time,  through  the  subjugation  of  Greece, 
to  irtvade  Europe  as  well,  and  numberless  writers  have 
moralised  on  the  great  change  of  destiny  that  would  have 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  Western  civilisation,  had  their  threat  been 
made  effective.  All  such  moralising  of  course  is  but  guess- 
work, and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  most  of  it  has  any 
validity  whatever.  For  the  truih  seems  to  be  that  the  Persians 
were  much  more  nearly  akin  to  the  European  intellect  than  a 
study  of  their  descendants  of  recent  generations  would  lead 
one  to  suppose.  It  is  everywhere  conceded  that  they  sprang 
from  the  same  stock,  and  their  most  fundamental  traits  show 
many  points  of  close  resemblance."1 

It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  great  Persian 
Empire  flourished  after  the  kingdoms  of  Babylonia,  Assyria, 
Phoenicia  and  Egypt  had  declined.  It  would  therefore  be 
wrong  to  suppose  that  they  were  the  first  to  achieve  greatness 
in  the  line  of  building  empires  or  developing  a  world  civilisa- 
tion. But  it  mufct  be  conceded  that  the  extent  of  their  empire 
aad  jK>wer  was  greater  than  that  of  the  ancient  Babylonians, 
or  Egyptians,  and  that,  while  these  nations  were 
peoples,  the  -ancient  Persians  were  undoubtedly  of  pure 
Aryan  descent.  The  great  Eonperor  Darius  who  ascended 

>  ibid,  Vol.  II,  p.  565, 


XIV.]  MITAtfNIANS.     ! 

the  throne  of  Persia  about  521  B.  C.  described  himself  with 
pride  not  only  as  a  Persian  but  "an  Aryan  of  Aryan  race." 
Such,  at  any  rate,  is  the  inscription  on  his  tomb. 

But  more  than  1000  years  before  the  flourishing  of  the  Per- 
sian Empire,  othrr  powerful  and  enterprising  Aryan  tribes  had 
appeared  in  Western  Asia  from  Sapta-Sindhu  directly,  as 
is  evidenced  by  the  names  of  the  Gods  whom  they  worshipped 
and  invoked  and  who  were  the  identical  deities  worshipped 
by  the  Vedic  Aryans  themselves.  Such  Aryan  tribes  were  the 
Mitannians,  theKos*ae*n«,  the  Hittites  or  Khetas,  the  Phrygians 
and  others.  "  The  kingdom  of  Mitanni,"  says  Rogers,  "  must 
take  its  place  among  the  small  states  which  have  had  their 
share  in  influencing  the  progress  of  the  world>  but  whose  own 
history  we  are  unable  to  trace."  This  kingdom  was  situated 
to  the  north-west  of  the  kingdom  of  Babylonia  and  west  of 
Assyria,  between  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates  in  their  upper 
courses.  It  was  called  Niharain  by  the  Egyptians,  and  Ararn- 
Naharain  in  the  Bible.  Tehutimes  I  of  Egypt  reached  this 
kingdom  about  1580  B,  C.  during  his  Asiatic  campaign,  and 
in  a  battle  fought  on  the  borders,  the  king  of  Mitanni  was 
defeated.  Tehutimes  erected  a  stele  on  the  Euphrates  to 
mark  the  limits  of  his  dominion  or  rather  conquest,  and  then 
turned  back,  richly  laden,  to  Thebes.  From  this  time  forth, 
there  was  constant  intercourse  between  the  Nile  and  the 
Euphrates.  In  1522  B.  C.  Tehutimes  III  extended  his  conquest 
as  far  as  Mitanni  which  was  made  tributary  to  Egypt. 

From  the  Tel-el-Amarna  letters  we  know  that  between 
the  years  1470  B  C.  and  1400  B.  C.  there  reigned  in  Mitanni 
four  kings  whose  names  were  Artatana,  Artasuma,  Sutarna 
and  Dashiatta,  the  last  name  resembling  the  Sanskrit  word 
Dafaratha.  The  other  names  also  bear  a  close  resemblance 
to  Sanskrit.  Hugh  Winckler  discovered  in  1909  at  Boghar 
Keui,  situated  in  Cappadocia,  a  clay  tablet  containing  the 
terms  of  a  treaty  made  by  the  king  of  Mitanni,  in  which  the 
Vedic  Gods  Mitra-Varu&a,  Indra,  and  the  Nisatyas  (the  twin 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

)  were  invoked.1  Mitra-V.irutti  have  b^cn  mentioned 
together  in  tlie  clay  tablet,  as  in  the  RjveJa.  Indra,  as  our 
readers  know,  was  ihe  principal  Vedic  drily  \\lio,  however, 
was  discarded  by  the  Iranians.  The  word  Nfisatyas  used  to 
be  pronounced  by  the  Iranians  as  Nahatyas.  It  would,  there- 
fore, appear  that  the  Mitannians  were  a  branch  of  the  V^dic 
Aryans,  and  not  of  the  Iranians  and  they  must  have  emigrated 
to  Western  Asia  directly  fro  n  Sipta-Smdhu,  \\here  alone,  as 
is  admitted  by  all  scholars,  the  Vedtc  religion  had  its  birth. 
When  did  this  emigration  take  place,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
ascertain  ;  but  it  may  have  been  accomplished  long  before 
the  powerful  Assyrian  kingdom,  which  \va*  situated  just  to 
thr  east  of  Mitanni,  flourished.  It  is  admitted  by  archaeologists 
that  Nineveh,  the  capital  of  A^syrU,  was  in  existence  in 
3,000  B.  C,  and  the  early  rulers  appear  to  have  been  subject 
priest-princes  of  the  kings  of  Babylonia. 

The  Mitannians  made  alliances  with  the  Kossaeans  and 
the  Hittites  to  resist  the  invasion  of  the  Egyptian  kings  about 
1,400  B  C.  The  power  of  the  Hittites  at  this  time  became 
formidable.  They  threatened  the  Egvptian  provinces  in  Syria 
and  the  Mitannians  were  instrumental  in  driving  the  Egyptians 
from  the  land  of  the  Amorites. 

During  the  period  of  Egyptian  subjection  of  Mitanni,  its 
kings  gave  their  daughters  in  marriage  to  some  of  the  kings  of 
the  XVII Ith  Dynasty  of  Egypt.  Tihutimes  IV  married  a 
Mitannian  Princess.  His  successor  Amenhotep  III  married  a 
wife  of  foreign  origin  and  religion,  named  Thi.  He  also 
married  Gilukhipa  (or  Kirgipa),  daughter  of  the  king  of 
Mitanni.  It  was  Tihutimes  IV  who,  probably  under  the  in- 
fluence of  his  Mitannian  wife,  discarded  the  Great  Sphinx 
and  restored  the  old  cult  of  Horemkhu  ("  The  sun  in  the  two 
horizons").  His  successor,  Amenhotep  III,  who,  as  we  have 
said,  also  married  a  Mitannian  Princess,  brought  to  Thebes 
the  religion  of  Aten,  the  solar  disk,  an'!  in  the  tenth  year  of 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  No.  25  pp,  722-723  (1909). 


XIV.]  KOSS^EANS. 


303 


his  reign,  inaugurated  a  festival  at  Karnak  in  honour  of  the 
new  religion.  And  his  successor,  Amenhotep  IV,  to  free 
himself  from  the  power  of  the  high  priest  at  Thebes,  deter- 
mined to  have  a  new  capital  for  his  kingdom,  for  which  Aten 
should  be  the  supreme  God.  The  religion  of  Aten  was 
probably  the  most  ancient  form  of  the  religion  of  Ra.  The 
disk  before  which  protestations  were  made  was  not  only  the 
shining  and  visible  form  of  the  divinity,  it  was  the  God  himself. 
For  the  introduction  of  this  new  religion,  the  last  kings  of  this 
Dynasty  were  distinguished  by  the  name  of  "  Heretic  kings." 
It  is  believed  by  Rogers  that  this  change  of  religion  in  Thebes 
was  brought  about  by  the  influence  of  the  Mitannian  Princess- 
es.1 The  Mitannians  having  been  the  worshippers  of  Vedic 
Gods,  the  predilection  of  the  Princesses  for  the  worship  of 
th-*  Sun  and  the  establish  n^tit  of  a  pure  religion  would  be 
most  natural. 

Tne  K  >$-aeitn  or  K  is*»it  *s  K  ushu)  were  another  Aryan 
tribi  whi  inhibit  *tl  tie  mmitiin-i  of  Zagrosin  Elam,  which 
was  situUeJ  to  the  east  of  ancient  Babylonia  and  the  south  of 
Persia  or  Iran.  In  about  1800  B.  C.  the  last  Sumerian  king 
of  Babylonia  was  defeated,  and  Babylonia  conquered  by  the 
Kassites  or  Kossaeans  under  Kandish  (Gandis)  or  Gaddas, 
who  established  a  dynasty  which  lasted  for  576  years  and  nine 
months.  "Under  the  foreign  domination,  Babylonia  lost  its 
empire  over  Western  Asia.  Syria  and  Palestine  became 
in<lrpen<lent,  and  the  high  priests  of  Asshur  made  themselves 
kings  of  Assyria.  The  divine  attributes  \\ith  which  the 
Semite  kings  of  Babylonia  had  been  invested  disappeared  at 
the  same  time  ;  the  title  of  *  ^  od  '  is  never  given  to  a  Kassite 
sovereign.  Babylon,  however,  remained  the  capital  of  the 
king'lom,  and  the  holy  city  of  Western  Asia.  Like  the 
sovereigns  of  ihe  Holy  Roman  Empire,  it  \\as  necessary  for 
the  Prince  who  claimed  lule  in  Western  Asia  to  go  to  Babylon 
and  there  be  acknowledged  as  the  adopted  son  of  Bel  before 

»     R,  W.  Rogers'  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  Vol.  I,  p.  HO- 


3*  RGVftmC  ftfffiA. 

his  claim  to  legitimacy  could  be  admitted.  Babylon  became 
more  and  more  a  priestly  city,  living  on  its  ancient  prestige 
and  merging  its  ruler  into  a  p>ntiff.  Fron  henceforth  d  »\vn 
to  the  Persian  era,  it  was  thvi  religious  h^ad  of  the  civilised 
cast."! 

Some  later  K<>s«aem  kings  of  Babylonia,  viz  ,  Kadaslunan 
Bel  and  Burni-buriusli  1  corresponded  with  the  Kg\  ptian 
Pharaohs,  Amenhotep  III  and  A nenhot^p  IV  (1400  B.  C.), 
The  Assyrian  king,  Asshur-Uballit,  still  owned  allegiance  to 
his  Babylonian  suzerain,  and  intermarriages  took  place  between 
the  royal  families  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia.  The  latter, 
moreover,  still  sought  opp  ntunities  of  recovering  its  old 
supremacy  in  Palestine,  which  the  conquests  of  the  XVlIIth 
Dynasty  had  made  an  Egyptian  province,  and  along  with  the 
Mitannians  and  the  Htttites,  intrigued  against  the  Egyptian 
government  with  disaft^ctsd  conspiritors  in  the  west.  The 
Kossae  in  dynasty  came  to  an  end  in  £230  B.  C  ,  after  which 
the  Assyrian  kings  became  the  masters  of  Babylonia. 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  Kossaeans  played  a  great 
part  in  the  ancient  history  of  Western  Asia.  That  they  were 
pure  Aryans  from  Sapta-Sindnu  is  proved  by  the  names  of 
their  principal  deities,  Suryas  (the  Sun)  and  Mariettas 
(Afaruts,  or  the  winds).  Their  language  also  bore  a  strong 
resemblance  to  Sanskrit,  and  the  Kossaean  kings  described 
themselves  in  the  inscriptions  as  Kharis  or  Aryas. 

11  There  is  little  doubt  "  says  Mr,  H.  R  Hall  in  \\\sAncient 
History  of  the  Near  East  (p.  201)  "that  the  Kassites  (Kossaeansj 
were  Indo-Europeans,  and  spoke  an  Aryan  tongue.  Their 
chief  god  was  Suryash,  the  sun,  the  Indian  Surya  and  Greek 
Hyros  ;  their  word  for  '  god  '  was  bugash>  the  Slav  bogut  and 
Phrygian  bagaios.  The  termination  ash  which  regularly 
appears  at  the  end  of  their  names  is  a  nominative,  corres- 
ponding to  the  Greek— 0s  (cf.  Sansk.  as  or  su).  Such  a  name 


XIV.]  HITTITES. 


3<>5 


as  Indabugash  is  clearly  Aryan.  They  were  evidently  the 
advance-guard  of  the  Indo-European  southern  movement 
which  colonized  Iran  and  pushed  westward  to  the  borders  of 
Asia  \finor.  In  the  north  the  king  lorn  of  Mitanni  was  about 
this  time  established  between  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  by 
Aryans  who  must  hive  been  of  the  same  stock  as  the  Kassites 
who  conquered  Babylonia.  The  names  of  the  kings  of  Mitanni 
which  are  known  to  us  in  later  times  are  Aryan,  and  among 
the  gods  of  Mitanni  we  find  the  Indian  Varuna,  Indra,  and 
the  Nasatya  twins  (Afvins).*'  All  this  goes  clearly  to  show 
that  the  Kassites  as  well  as  the  Mitannians  were  direct 
immigrants  from  India  where  the  Vedic  gods  had  been 
worshipped  from  time  immemorial,  and  the  Vedic  hymns 
composed  in  a  far  earlier  age.  My  surmise  is  that  the  disper- 
sion of  these  Aryan  tribes  took  place  after  the  battle  of  Kuru- 
kfetra  that  had  been  fought  about  2,500  B.  C,  and  had  made 
the  K$atriya  race  nearly  extinct  in  India.  Those  that  sur- 
vived this  general  ruin  migrated  towards  the  west  and  settled 
in  various  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  founding  powerful  kingdoms, 
and  maintaining  their  national  and  tribal  characteristics  for 
a  long  time.  But  afterwards  they  were  gradually  absorbed 
by  the  Semites,  and  the  only  relics  of  their  once  having 
belonged  to  the  great  Aryan  race  are  now  to  be  found  in 
their  statues,  writings  on  bricks  and  engravings  on  stones 
and  monuments,  and  in  the  names  of  their  kings  and  gods. 

The  Hittites,  who  lived  in  a  region  to  the  north-west  of 
Mitanni,  and  the  north  of  Phoenicia,  were  probably  also  a 
branch  of  the  Aryan  race,  though  European  scholars  are  not 
agreed  as  to  who  they  were,  and  whence  they  came.  That 
they  were  a  non-Semitic  race  is,  however,  admitted  by  all. 

11  The  Peninsula  of  Asia  Minor  is  so  situated  geographi- 
cally that  it  is  the.  only  highway  between  Asia  and  Europe, 
much  as  Palestine  is  the  highway  between  Asia  and  Africa. 
The  peoples  which  inhabited  it  were  therefore  necessarily, 
in  some  sense,  a  buffer  between  the  great  nations  of  the  twe 

39 


3to6  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

cotttiftents.  For  the  most  part,  the  role  they  played,  at  any 
rfcte  in  later  history,  was  a  comparatively  insignificant  one. 
It  is  becoming  more  and  more  evident  that  there  was  a  time 
in  Mfciettt  hittcry— using  the  term  in  the  ordinary  or  relative 
sfcfisfc— when  the  people  who  inhabited  Asia  Minor,  took  a 
foremost  rank  among  the  nations  of  their  time  as  a  warlike 

aftd  conquering  race They  are   vaguely   referred   to   in 

the  Bible  records  as  descendants  of  Heth,  son  of  Canaan, 
thfe  son  of  Hern,  and  they  are  mentioned  as  one  of  the  seven 
Caabamte  tribes,  but  no  one  now-a-days  ascribes  great 
historical  importance  to  these  Hebrew  records."1 

It  appears  that  the  Hittites  were  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful and  warlike  of  ancient  nations.  The  Egyptians  called 
them  Khetas,  and  the  Assyrians  Khattis.  From  their  very 
warlike  character  and  their  name,  it  seems  to  me  that  they 
were  originally  an  Aryan  tribe,  belonging  to  the  caste  of 
Kfatriyas,  and  Khatti,  Kheta,  or  Hittite  were  meiely  corrupt* 
ed  forms  of  the  original  Sanskrit  word.  That  they  were  a 
very  powerful  people  would  appear  from  the  fact  that 
"  several  centuries  before  our  era,  the  Hittites  founded  a 
powerful  empire  in  Western  Asia,  probably  with  outlying 
provinces  in  Africa,  and  even  in  Europe  as  far  west  as  Italy. 
The  greatness  of  this  nation  we  are  able  to  conjecture  from 
the  numerous  references  made  to  it  in  the  Bible  and  Egyptian 
history,  and  from  the  mighty  monuments  of  its  power  that 
Still  exist.  The  carved  figures  on  these  monuments  and  the 
representations  given  by  the  Egyptians  prove  the  Hittites 
to  have  been  of  an  altogether  different  physical  type  from 
ikt  Semites,  and>  therefore,  of  a  different  race  \  but  their 
origin  has  not  been  clearly  determined. "2 

From  their  language  also  they  appear  to  have  been  a 
noa-Semitic  tribe.  It  is  held  by  scholars  that  their  language 
was  '*  characteristic  and  more  sharply  defined  from  any 

1  Hist.  Hist  of  the  World  Vol.  II,  p.  391. 
•  IU*<  p.  393 


ttrrrtTM. 

known  contemporary  tongue,  and  though  the  point  is  net 
yet  as  fully  established  as  might  fee  wished,  it  is  thought  that 
the  evidence  in  hand  justifies  the  conclusion  that  the  Hittitei 
were  not  a  Semitic  race.  It  has  been  even  suggested  that 
they  had  Mongoloid  affinities.  If  such  was  the  case,  the 
Hittites  were  related  rather  to  the  people  of  the  north 
and  north-east,— to  the  Scythians,  perhaps  even  to  the 
Chinese— than  to  their  neighbours  of  the  south.  But  all 
these  questions  must  await  the  results  of  future  investiga* 
tions.  For  the  moment,  the  Hittites  are  only  just  beginning 
to  be  revealed  to  us  as  a  great  conquering  nation  of  Western 
Asia,  who  at  one  time  rivalled  the  Egyptians  and  the 
Mesopotamians,  but  the  memory  of  whose  deeds  had  almost 
altogether  faded  from  the  minds  of  later  generations/'1 

The  figures  of  the  sculptures  left  by  the  Hittites  arc 
always  represented  as  wearing  a  peculiar  form  of  shoe  with 
upturned  toe,  a  form  which  appears  typical  of  India.  They 
are  also  credited  with  having  invented  a  hieroglyphic  script 
of  absolutely  independent  origin.  But  as  yet  very  little 
progress  has  been  made  towards  the  decipherment  of  this 
new  form  of  writing. 

The  Hittites  were  obstinate  fighters,  and  put  up  a  tough 
fight  against  Pharaoh  Tehutimes  III  and  Seti.  But  they  are 
memorable  in  Egyptian  history  because  of  the  great  battle  of 
Kadesh,  their  city  on  the  Orontes,  in  which  Ramses  II  so 
distinguishsd  himself.  The  feats  of  Ramses  are  described 
in  an  Egyptian  war-poem  which  is  stilt  extant  under  the 
name  of  "  The  war-poem  of  Pentaur."  A  treaty  of  peace, 
however,  was  concluded  by  Ramses  with  the  KhatU  King, 
Khatusil  (Sanskrit,  Ksatra*sri  ?)  or  Khatasar,  which  word 
may  be  a  corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Ksdtrtsvar&)  th« 
lord  of  t^e  Kfatftyas.  The  text  of  the  treaty  has  been 
discovered  in  an  inscription  on  the  temple  of  K*rnak»  in 
which  the  name  Sutekh,  the  supreme  god  of  the  Kheta, 

»  #fc*.  ffist.  of  the  World,  Vo1 !!.,  p.  397- 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

was  lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  has  been  mentioned.  Sutekh 
was  probably  a  corrupted  form  of  the  Sanskrit  word 
Odtakratu,  which  was  a  name  of  Indra. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  an  alliance  was  formed  by  the 
Hittites  with  the  Mitannians  and  the  Kossaeans  'against  the 
Egyptians.  This  alliance  was  made  by  these  peoples  pro- 
bably in  consequence  of  their  natural  affinity  in  race.  The 
Scythians  were  an  extremely  barbarous  and  cruel  people, 
mostly  addicted  to  a  nomadic  life.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  from 
the  advanced  state  of  the  civilisation  of  the  Hittites  that  they 
belonged  to  that  race.  The  figures  on  the  Hittite  sculptures 
also  do  not  resemble  the  Mongoloid  type  or  the  Chinese. 
The  probability,  therefore,  is  that  they  were  Aryans.  Further 
investigations  into  their  early  history  may  lead  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  truth  of  this  hypothesis. 

It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  the  Hittites  worshipped 
MA  (the  Universal  Mother)  and  Attis  (Vedic  Atri>  or  the 
Sun),  and  probably  also  Mithras  (Vedic  Afttra)>  and  M6n, 
the  moon  (Iranic  Mao).  All  these  gods  must  have  been 
introduced  from  India  or  Iran.  These  deities,  however,  are 
not  mentioned  in  the  list  of  the  Hittite  gods  in  the  Treaty 
of  Ramses  II  with  Khattusil  or  Khatasar.  On  the  rocks  of 
the  shrine  of  Yasili  Kaya  are  found  the  sculptured  figures  of 
"  a  goddess,  Cybele  or  MA,  standing  upon  a  lion  as  she  does 
on  the  coins  of  Greek  and  Roman  times,  and  wearing  upon 

her  head  a  turreted  head-dress Behind    her   is  a   youthful 

war-god,  armed  with  an  axe,  and  also  mounted  upon  a  lion, 
who  accompanies  her,  as  the  young  god  does  the  goddess 
on  Cretan  seals.  He  must  be  Attis."  At  Yasili  Ka\a  and 
at  Malatiya  (l  the  Hittite  deities  "  says  Mr.  H.  R.  Hall  in  his 
Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East  (p.  331)  "are  often 
accompanied  by  animals  in  quite  Indian  fashion,  and  some- 
times stand  upon  them.  This  was  a  peculiarity,  characteristic 
of  Anatolian  iconography  down  to  the  latest  times.  //  may 
be  thdt  it  was  a  feature  borrowed  from  Aryan  religion" 


XIV.]  PHRYGIANS.  309 

Mr.  Hall  would  have  been  more  correct  in  saying  that  it  was 
brought  by  the  Hittites  themselves  direct  from  Aryan 
India.  The  Hittites  had  a  male  god  in  the  form  of  a  bull, 
and  a  female  god  in  the  form  of  a  lioness,  and  the  deities 
were  sometimes  represented  as  riding  on  them.  In  an  old 
coin  of  Ancient  Syria  (which  belonged  to  the  Hittites)  are 
found  the  figures  of  a  goddess  mounted  on  a  lion,  and  of 
a  god  mounted  on  a  bull.  These  figures  undoubtedly 
resemble  those  of  the  god  Siva  and  the  goddess  Durgi  of 
the  Hindu  Pantheon  of  the  Paur&nic  age.  If  the  Hittites 
came  from  India,  they  must  have  done  so  at  an  age  when 
the  Vedic  religion  gave  away  to  the  Paurinic,  and  Siva  and 
Durgft  were  the  popular  deities  in  that  land.  The  first 
historical  mention  of  the  Hittites  or  the  Khatti  occurs  about 
1750  B.  C,  when  they  invaded  Babylon  in  the  reign  of  king 
Samsuditana,  and  the  Hittite  kingdom  lasted  till  noo  B.  C. 
If  this  was  the  Paurinic  age  in  India,  how  old  and  early 
must  have  been  the  Rgvedic  age,  and  how  absurd  would 
be  the  computation  of  that  age  by  European  and  American 
scholars,  who  have  put  it  down  at  1000  B.  C.,  or  at  most 
1500  B.  C.  ! 

The  Phrygians  who  lived  in  the  centre  of  Asia  Minor 
were  admittedly  an  Aryan  tribe.  Phrygia  is  a  country  of 
many  mountains  and  numerous  river  valleys.  The  fertility 
of  the  latter  was  always  remarkable,  and  in  the  northern 
boundaries,  at  the  sources  of  the  river  Sangarius,  wide 
stretches  of  pasture  land  afforded  nourishment  for  sheep. 
Grapes  also  were  extensively  cultivated. 

"  The  ancient  Phrygians  were  an  agricultural  people, 
and  the  strange  rites  of  their  religious  worship  all  had 
reference  to  the  renewal  and  decay  of  Nature.  The  4  Phrygian 
mother '  who  was  called  by  the  Greeks  Rhea  or  Cybele,  and 
whose  name  in  the  Phrygian  language  is  said  to  have  been 
AmmA,  had  her  temple  at  the  foot  of  mount  Agdus,  near 
Pessmus,  where  she  was  served  by  hosts  of  priests.  She  was 


jto  RGVfctHC  ffffclA. 

worshipped  in  the  temple  under  the  guise  of  a  formless  stone, 
slid  to  have  fallen  from  heaven,  and  was  contrived  of  as 
driving  over  the  mountains  in  a  chariot,  and  wearing  a  crown 
of  towers  over  her  head.  The  beloved  of  Cybele  was  Attys, 
and  the  festivals  of  his  birth  and  death  were  celebrated  with 
wild  grief  and  frantic  joy,  and  accompanied  by  barbarous 
and  unlovely  rites,  much  like  those  of  the  worship  of  Adonis 
at  Byblus.  Cybele  represents  nature,  or  nature  as  the 
producer  of  life,  and  the  birth  and  death  of  Attys  typify  the 
spring  and  autumn  of  the  years.01 

Now  it  would  appear  that  Ammd,  the  name  of  the 
14  Phrygian  mother/*  is  equivalent  to  the  Sanskrit  word  Ambd 
which  means  "  mother,"  Cybele  was  the  same  as  the  Vedic 
goddess  Prithivi  (Earth)  or  Cybebe  as  she  used  to  be  called 
by  the  Lydians,  another  ancient  Aryan  tribe  of  \sia  Minor. 
Attys  is  no  other  than  Atn  who  has  been  described  in  the 
Rgveda  (v.  40,  7)  as  a  friend  of  the  Sun  whom  he  released 
from  the  clutches  of  Svarbhanu  (Eclipse).  There  are  many 
legends  in  connection  with  Atri  in  the  Rgveda,  one  of  which 
is  that  the  Asuras  confined  him  in  a  torture-house  having 
one  hundred  doors  and  lighted  up  a  fire,  fed  and  kept  alive 
by  chaffs  of  corn  as  fuel,  with  the  object  of  torturing  him. 
It  was  the  A^vins,  however,  who  extinguished  the  fire  by 
pouring  water  upon  it,  and  released  Atri.  (Rv.  i.  100,  8). 
This  Atri  in  the  fiery  torture-house  was  undoubtedly  the 
summer-sun,  and  his  sufferings  during  the  three  hot  months 
only  came  to  an  end  when  the  rains  began  to  fall,  thereby 
cooling  the  atmosphere.  That  Cybele  or  Cybebe  was  Mother 
Earth  is  undoubted,  as  she  was  represented  by  a  shapless 
meteoric  stone  that  fell  from  heaven.  Cybele  was,  therefore, 
identified  with  the  sky  as  well  as  Terra  firma  or  hard  earth. 
We  have  a  whole  Sakta  in  the  Rgveda  (v.  84)  in  praise  of 
the  goddess  Pritkni  who  has  been  identified  both  with 
An  far  Ufa  the  sky)  as  well  as  the  Earth.  The  beloved  of 
1  Hist.  Hist,  oftht  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  414. 


XIV.]  PHRYGIANS  AND  LVDIANS.  3#j 

Cybele  i.e.,  Earth  or  Nature  was  Attys  or  the  Sun  in  the 
Phrygian  land.  When  winter  came,  and  the  power  of  the 
Sun  declined,  the  aspect  of  Nature  became  dejected 
and  mournful;  but  when  the  Sun  gained  power  again  in 
spring  and  summer,  Nature  became  enlivened  with  fresh 
foliage  and  flowers,  and  joyous  with  the  songs  of  birds. 
These  were  the  occasions  of  the  festivals  among  the  Phrygians 
—festivals  of  grief  and  joy  respectively. 

Bagaios  was  the  name  of  the  supreme  God  of  the 
Phrygians,  and  this  God  is  the  same  as  the  Vedic  God  Bhaga, 
and  the  Avestic  God  of  the  same  name.  In  the  Slavonic 
languages  also  Bogu  denotes  the  supreme  deity.  "  The 
Armenians,"  says  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor  "  are  believed  to  have 
been  an  eastern  extension  of  the  Phrygians,  who  themselves 
have  been  identified  with  the  Briges  of  Thrace.  Thus  of 
the  few  Phrygian  words  which  we  possess,  Bagaios,  the 
Phrygian  name  of  the  Supreme  God,  is  the  Iranian  Bhaga, 
and  the  Slavonic  Bogu.  Hence  we  may  conjecture  that 
Phrygian  and  Thracian  might  supply  some  of  the  missing 
links  between  Greek,  Armenian,  Slavonic  and  Iranian."1 

Herodotus  says  that  the  Egyptians  regarded  the 
Phrygians  to  be  the  oldest  people  in  the  world ;  but  the 
Greeks  thought  that  they  came  from  Thrace  and  were 
originally  called  Brigians.  The  Phrygians,  however,  while 
owning  the  relationship  to  the  Brigians  of  Thrace,  declared 
themselves  to  be  the  older  people.  And  probably  they  were 
right.  Modern  writers  are  disposed  to  attribute  an  Armenian 
origin  to  both  races.  But  whether  the  Phrygians  were  of 
Armenian  origin  or  not,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  had 
a  racial  affinity  with  them  as  with  the  Iranians  also.  This 
establishes  a  continuous  link  of  the  Aryan  race  along  the 
"  high  way "  between  Asia  and  Europe.  The  Phrygians 
must  have  been  a  branch  of  the  Bfjis  of  the  Rgveda.  some 
of  whom  probably  settled  in  Asia  Minor  as  Phrygians,  while 

1  Talyor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  p.  267. 


3*2  fcGVEDIC  INDIA. 

others  crossed  over  to  Europe  and  settled  in  Thrace  under 
the  name  of  Briges  "  There  are  indications  which  serve  to 
show  that  the  Phrygians  once  extended  tht-ir  rule  over  a 
much  wider  area  than  that  assigned  to  their  country  in  our 
maps  of  the  ancient  world;  that  they  held  command  of  the 
sea-board,  and  were  even  found  beyond  the  ,/Egean."1  This 
shows  Aryan  expansion  over  Europe.  The  Slavs,  as  we  have 
elsewhere  said,  were  probably  a  branch  of  the  Iranians  who, 
in  the  course  of  their  wanderings  westward  from  Airyana 
Vaejo  most  likely  under  the  leadership  of  Yima,  in  the  inter- 
glacial  epoch,  left  residues  on  the  line  of  their  march  through 
Armenia,  Phrygia,  Lydia,  and  other  provinces  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  through  Thrace  in  Europe,  till  they  settled  in  North 
Russia.  They  could  not  have  marched  through  the  steppes 
of  Central  Asia,  which  were  in  ancient  times  covered  by  a 
large  sea,  and  probably  did  not  exist  in  those  times. 

Another  Aryan  people  were  the  Lydians  who,  after  the 
disappearance  of  the  Hittites,  attained  a  degree  of  prominence 
that  makes  them  an  object  of  particular  interest  to  the 
present-day  student  of  ancient  history.  "  As  to  the  origin 
of  the  Lydians  and  their  early  history,  all  is  utterly  obscure. 
It  is  not  even  very  clearly  known  whether  they  are  to  be 
regarded  a  Semitic,  Aryan  or  Turanian  race ;  most  likely 
they  were  a  mixed  race,  and  owed  to  this  fact  the  relative 
power  which  they  attained/'2 

Tradition  ascribes  to  them  three  dynasties  of  kings, 
which  are  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  Attyadac,  Heraclidae 
and  the  Mermnadae.  The  first  of  these  dynasties  is  altogether 
mythical,  and  the  second  very  largely  so.  Under  the  Merm- 
nadae, Lydia  became  a  maritime  as  well  as  an  inland  power. 
They  conquered  some  of  the  Greek  cities,  and  the  coast  of 
Ionia  was  included  within  the  Lydian  kingdom.  Under  the 
great  Croesus,  the  Lydian  kingdom  became  a  Lydian  empire, 

»  Hist.  Hist,  ofth*  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  4'4- 
•  Hit*.  Hist,  oftk*  World,  Vol.  II  p.  4*1. 


XIV.]  LYDIANS.  313 

and  all  Asia  Minor  westward  of  the  Halys,  with  the  exception 
of  Lycia,  owned  the  supremacy  of  Sardis,  the  capital  of 
Lydia,  which  never  again  shrank  back  into  its  original 
dimensions. 

11  The  language,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  from  its  scanty 
remains,  was  Indo-European,  and  was  more  closely  related 
to  the  western  than  to  the  eastern  branch  of  the  family.  The 
race  was  probably  a  mixed  one  consisting  of  aborigines  and 
Aryan  immigrants.  It  was  characterised  by  industry  and  a 
commercial  spirit,  and  before  the  Persian  conquest,  by  bravery 
as  well."1 

"  The  religion  of  the  Lydians  resembled  that  of  the  other 
civilised  nations  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was  a  Nature- worship, 
which  at  times  became  wild  and  sensuous.  By  the  side  of 
the  supreme  god  Medeus  stood  the  sun-god  Attys,  as  in 
Phrygia,  the  chief  object  of  the  popular  cult.  He  was  at  once 
the  son  and  bridegroom  of  Cybele  or  Cybebe,  the  mother  of 
the  gods.... Like  the  Semitic  Tammuz  or  Adonis,  he  was  the 
beautiful  youth  who  had  mutilated  himself  in  a  moment  of 
frenzy  or  despair,  and  whose  temple  was  served  by  eunuch 
priests.  Or  again,  he  was  the  dying  snn-god,  slain  by  the 
winter,  and  mourned  by  Cybebe,  as  Adonis  was  by  Aphrodite 
in  the  old  myth  which  the  Greeks  had  borrowed  from 
Phoenicia."2 

Cybebe  became  "  the  mother  of  Asia,"  and  at  Ephesus, 
where  she  was  adored  under  the  form  of  a  meteoric  stone, 
was  identified  with  the  Greek  Artemis,  "  The  priestesses  by 
whom  she  was  served  were  depicted  in  early  art  as  armed  with 
the  double-headed  axe,  and  the  dances  they  performed  in  her 
honour  with  shield  and  bow  gave  rise  to  the  myths  which  saw 

in    them  the    Amazons,   a  nation  of  woman-warriors The 

prostitution  whereby  the  Lydian   girls   gained   their   dowries 

4  Ibid,  Vol.  II  p.  424- 
•  Ibid,  p.  424- 

40 


314  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

was  a  religious  exercise  as  among  the  Semites,  which  marked 
their  devotion  to  the  goddess  Cybele."1 

In  the  above  extracts,  we  can  easily  identify  Medeus,  the 
supreme  god  of  the  Lydians,  with  the  early  Vedic  god 
Mitra,  and  Attys,  the  Phrygian  and  Lydian  sun -god,  with 
Atri.  We  have  already  identified  Cybebe  with  Prithivi  or 
Nature,  and  Cybebe  was  both  the  mother  and  wife  of  AM9 
Attys  or  the  sun,  just  as  Surya  in  the  Rgveda  has  been 
described  as  both  the  husband  and  son  of  i/sas.  It  was  from 
primordial  Nature  that  the  sun  was  produced,  and  it  was 
through  the  power  of  the  sun  that  Nature  produced  flowers 
and  fruits,— in  other  words,  became  fruitful.  As  regards  the 
eunuch  priests  who  served  the  Lydian  god  Attys,  there  is  a 
strange  coincidence  of  this  story  with  a  Vedic  myth  which  is 
worth  mentioning  here.  In  Rv.  v.  78,  we  find  the  story  of  a 
Rsi  of  the  name  of  Sapta-Vadhri  (lit.  seven-eunuch)  who 
was  a  son  of  Atri  and  whose  brothers  used  to  lock  him  up  in 
a  wooden  chest  every  night,  thereby  preventing  him  from 
coming  in  contact  with  his  wife.  The  Rst,  on  account  of 
this  forced  separation  from  his  wife,  became  very  much 
dejected  and  care-worn,  and  prayed  to  the  ASvins,  the  divine 
physicians,  to  release  him  from  his  imprisonment.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  the  ASvins  did  listen  to  his  prayer  and 
release  him,  thereby  enabling  him  to  meet  his  wife. 

Now  it  is  perfectly  reasonable  to  call  the  sun  a  eunuch, 
when  he  loses  his  powers  in  winter.  As  Nature  wears  a 
dismal  look  in  this  season,  the  trees  being  stripped  of  foliage, 
flowers  and  fruits,  she  may  be  said  to  be  reduced  to  the  same 
condition  as  that  of  a  young  woman  who  is  separated  from 
her  beloved.  The  sun  in  winter  was  therefore  compared  to  a 
eunuch,  or  as  the  Lydians  thought,  was  served  by  eunuch 
priests  (Sapta-Vadhri).  Hence  arose  the  practice  of  employ- 
ing eunuchs  as  priests  in  the  temple  of  Attys.  Lucian  says : 
"The  priests  are  self-mutilated  men,  and  they  wear  women's 

f     lbidt  p.  434. 


XIV.]  LYDIANS.  315 

garments."  As  regard  Cybele  or  Cybebe,  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  guard  her  during  her  forced  separation  from  her 
husband,  not  by  man-warriors  but  by  female-warriors.  Hence 
probably  arose  the  necessity  of  having  her  served  by  priest- 
esses who  were  also  warriors.  This  practice  of  employing 
female  warriors  as  priestesses  in  the  temple  of  Cybebe  was 
the  origin  of  the  tribe  of  Amazons  of  angyptaigggnd.  As 
regards  the  religious  practice  of  the 
themselves  before  marriage,  it  wa 
Babylonian  custom  which  was 
Lydians. 


The  chief  town  of  Lydia  was 
ancient  times   as   the   principal 
west.    Sardis  in  Lydian  originally 
can  be   identified    with   the   Vedic 

means  "a  year."  The  Homeric  word  *T5'di!ITinay  be  a 
corruption  from  the  word  "Sardis."  There  was  a  town  in 
Lydia  called  "Asia,"  and  the  continent  of  Asia  took  its  name 
either  from  this  town  or  from  Asies,  a  Lydian  hero.  This 
legendary  hero  was  connected  with  Attys  by  some  sort  of 
relationship,  and  we  are  disposed  to  think  that  he  was  none 
other  than  the  Vedic  ASvins  who  released  S  ipta-Vadhri,  the 
son  of  Atri,  from  his  forced  confinement.  It  was  quite 
natural  for  the  Lydians  to  honour  this  legendary  hero  or  god, 
by  founding  a  town  in  his  name.  Strabo  reports  that  there 
was  shown  by  the  side  of  the  river  Cayster  on  the  route  from 
Ephesus  to  Sardis  a  building  dedicated  to  the  hero  Asies. 
This  was  probably  the  site  of  the  town  of  Asia,  from  which 
the  continent  took  its  name. 

"The  Lydian  Empire  may  be  described  as  the  industrial 
power  of  the  ancient  world.  The  Lydians  were  credited  with 
being  the  inventors,  not  only  of  the  games  such  as  dice, 
buckle-bones,  ball,  but  also  of  coined  money.  The  oldest 
known  coins  are  elect  rum  coins  of  the  earlier  Mermnads, 
stamped  on  one  side  with  a  lion's  head,  or  the  figure  of  a  king 


3U6  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

wj*  bow  and  quiver."1  It  should  be  noted  here  that  the 
'Vedic  Aryans  were  extremely  fond  of  the  game  of  dice, 
and  the  Lydians  only  brought  this  game  as  well  as  the 
art  of  coining  metals  from  India.  These  coins  were  of  a 
particular  measure,  and  called  minas  which,  as  we  have 
already  elsewhere  pointed  out,  was  a  corrupted  form  of  the 
Vedic  word  mand. 

The  Lydians  were  SiSnadevas  or  worshippers  of  lingam. 
"Phallic  emblems  for  averting  evil  were  plentiful  ;  even  the 
summit  of  the  tomb  of  Alyattes  is  crowned  with  an  enormous 
one  of  stone  about  9  ft.  in  diameter"52  It  is  still  a  custom 
with  the  Hindus  to  erect  a  lingam  over  the  ashes  of  a  disting- 
uished person,  covered  over  with  a  conical  temple. 

From  the  above  brief  account  of  the  ancient  Lydians,  it 
would  appear  that  they  were  originally  an  ancient  Aryan 
tribe  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  but  they  afterwards  commingled 
with  the  aborigines  and  the  Semitic  races,  which  helped  to 
destroy  the  purity  of  their  race  and  religious  faith. 

We  thus  see  that  the  influence  of  Aryan  culture  in 
Western  Asia  was  great,  and  that  many  Aryan  tribes  in  the 
different  stages  of  civilisation  emigrated  from  India  to 
Western  Asia  and  settled  down  in  various  regions,  establish- 
ing kingdoms  and  empires.  Those  that  were  in  a  savage 
state  were  pushed  forward  by  the  more  powerful  tribes 
following  them  until  they  were  compelled  to  disperse  over 
Europe.  We  shall  try  now  to  find  out  how  this  dispersion 
was  effected.  It  should,  however,  be  noted  here  that  the 
savage  Aryan  tribes  who  were  nomads  and  lived  by  the  chase 
were  the  first  to  wander  out  of  their  original  home  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu.  They  were  probably  in  a  rudimentary  stage  of 
development,  and  though  they  might  have  learnt  the  use  of 
metals  while  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  they  forgot  it  as  soon  as  they 
left  the  country,  not  having  learnt  the  process  of  manufac- 


p.  433. 


XIV.]  SAVAGE  ARYANS.  317 

turing  them  like  their  advanced  brethern.  They  had  pertain 
common  words  with  the  other  Aryan  tribes  to  express  family 
relationship  like  father,  mother,  brother  and  sister,  to  describe 
animals  like  the  ox,  the  cow,  the  dog,  the  sheep,  and  the  horse 
(Vedic  arusa),  and  natural  objects  like  the  sun,  the  sky,  the 
earth,  and  water  and  tree,  but  they  had  no  culture-words  like 
those  of  the  advanced  tribes  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  they  had  no  culture  to  speak  of.  With  this  scanty 
stock  of  words  and  a  rude  speech  to  express  their  thoughts 
and  primitive  culture,  they  roamed  about  for  centuries,  nay 
thousands  of  years  in  Western  Asia,  before  they  were 
compelled  to  scatter  themselves  over  Europe.  These  migra- 
tions must  have  taken  place  long  before  Babylonia  and  Egypt 
flourished  and  the  Semites  made  their  appearance  in  Western 
Asia,  so  that  when  the  highly  developed  Aryan  civilisation 
was  planted  in  Mesopotamia  and  Egypt,  the  Aryan  nomads 
who  had  passed  into  Europe  still  remained  in  their  primitive 
condition,  and  early  rude  stage  of  development.  We  shall 
now  write  about  the  spread  of  Aryan  civilisation  in  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XV- 

ARYAN  INFLUENCE  IN  PRE-BISTORIC  EUROPE. 

We  have  already  said  that  in  the  long  course  of  the  evo- 
lution and  purifying  process   of   the   Aryan    race   in    Sapta- 
Sindhu,  the  dross   was   purged   out,    which  constituted   the 
savage  Aryan  tribes  known  as  the  Disas,  Dasyus  and  R4k?a- 
sas,  and  that  these  were  gradually  driven  out  of  the  country  in 
order    to    create  a   peaceful   atmosphere,    and   enable    the 
advanced  Aryan  tribes  to  work  out  their   further   moral  and 
spiritual  evolution,  undisturbed.     It  can   therefore   be  easily 
inferred  that  these  savage  Aryan   tribes   were   not   all  in  the 
same  stage  of  development,   that   the   earliest   to   leave   the 
country  were  probably  in  the   neolithic  stage,   and   that   the 
dispersion  of  the  different  Aryan  tribes  did   not  take  place  at 
one  and  the  same  time,  but  at  long  intervals  and   in  different 
periods  according  to  the   progress    made   by  the   advancing 
Aryans  in  their  evolution.     The   migrations   of  the   savage 
Aryan  tribes  must,  therefore,  have  taken  place  in    successive 
waves,    one    following    the   other,   and   pushing  it   forward 
towards  the  west,  as  it  itself  was   pushed   forward   by  the 
succeeding  wave,  till    the  first  and  foremost  reached    the 
farthest  end  of  Europe.    These   wandering  Aryan   savages, 
however,  could  not  maintain  the  purity   of  their   blood,   and 
got  themselves  mixed  with  the  Turanian   or   Mongol   hordes 
in  a  similar  stage  of  development,  to  whom   they  gave  their 
speech  and  culture,  such  as  they  possessed.    These  successive 
migrations  continued  till  long  after  Rgvedic  times,  when   the 
worshippers  of  Ahura  Mazda  were  compelled  to  leave  Sapta- 
Sindhu  on  account  of  religious  dissensions,  and  settled  down 
in  Iran.    This  was  probably  the  last  migration  of  the  Aryans 
from  Sapta-Sindhu ;  but  by  this  time  the  greater   part  of 
Europe    was    overspread    by  savage  nomads  speaking    an 


XV.]  ARYAN  DISPERSION.  319 

Aryan  tongue,  and  in  various  stages  of  development  Those 
Aryan  tribes  that  were  more  advanced,  vis.,  the  Pelasgians, 
the  Hellenes,  the  Slavs  and  the  Lithuanians  necessarily  left 
Sapta-Sindhu  at  a  later  period,  and  occupied  regions  of 
Europe  that  were  contiguous  to  Asia,  and  therefore  nearer 
to  Sapta-Sindhu  than  the  farthest  parts  of  Europe,  which 
were  occupied  by  the  less  advanced  Aryan  tribes.  If  Western 
Asia  had  not  been  occupied  by  the  Semitic  and  the  Turanian 
races  in  a  later  age,  and  the  Aryan  tribes  that  had  settled 
there  absorbed  by  them,  we  should  have  found  relics  of  Aryan 
dispersion  and  settlements  in  a  continuous  chain  from  Sapta- 
Sindhu  to  the  farthest  ends  of  Northern  and  Western  Europe, 
the  remotest  Aryan  tribe  having  been  the  earliest  to  leave 
their  original  home  and  the  first  to  enter  Europe.  The 
different  stages  of  civilisation  also  would  have  been  found  in 
an  order  beginning  with  the  highest  in  Sapta-Sindhu  and 
ending  in  the  lowest  in  Europe.  In  other  words,  the  radiation 
of  the  light  of  Aryan  civilisation  from  the  central  source 
which  was  in  Sapta-Sindhu  proceeded  uninterruptedly  west- 
ward (having  been  checked  in  the  other  directions  by  the 
existence  of  seas),  till  it  became  fainter  and  fainter  as  it 
advanced  farther  and  farther  from  the  source.  It  is  customary 
with  modern  European  scholars  to  point  to  the  isolatipn  of 
two  branches  of  the  Aryan  race,  viz.,  the  Indo-Aryans  and 
the  Iranians  in  Asia  in  the  midst  of  the  Turanian,  Mongolian, 
and  Semitic  races,  and  to  the  presence  of  a  large  number  of 
peoples  in  Europe,  whose  language  is  of  Aryan  origin,  in 
order  to  prove  the  original  home  of  the  Aryans  in  Europe. 
But  in  arriving  at  this  conclusion,  they  forget  to  take  note  of 
the  fact  that  in  very  early  times  the  line  of  Aryan  immigra- 
tion from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  Europe  was  distinct,  long  and 
continuous,  and  that  it  was  only  in  comparatively  recent 
times  that  the  Semites,  the  Turanians,  and  the  Mogolians 
strode  across  it,  and  broke  its  uninterrupted  continuity  by 
interposing  themselves  in  Western  Asia.  These  received 
their  culture  from  the  Panis,  and  the  aryanised  Dravidians 


3ao  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

who    settled    in    Phoenicia,    Mesopotamia  and  Egypt,    and 
developed  a  civilisation   which   drew   its   vital  energy    from 
India,  but  to  which  was  given  the  stamp  of  their  own  peculiar 
genius.    The  savage  and  mixed  Aryan-speaking  peoples   that 
had  emigrated  to  Europe  were  thus  cut  off  from   the   parent 
Aryan  stock,  and  formed  isolated  groups   of   mixed    races,  in 
which  the  Aryan  language  only,  and  such  rude  Aryan  culture 
as  the  immigrants  were  capable  of  carrying   with   them  from 
Sapta-Sindhu,  predominated.     In  all  other  respects,  they  were 
entirely  different  peoples  from    the    Ar)ans   with    scarcely  a 
drop  of  Aryan  blood  left  in  their  veins.     These  savage  tribes, 
thus   entirely    isolated,   could   not    help   remaining   in    their 
'primitive  condition  down  to   comparatively    recent  times,  and 
depended  for  their  culture  and  progress  on  their  Semitic  and 
Turanian  neighbours   in    Western    Asia   and   Egypt,    whose 
civilisations,  as  we  have  seen,  had   been    influenced  by  Indo- 
Aryan  civilisation  that  remained  essentially    Aryan    in  India. 
This  will  explain  why  the  Indo-Aryans  and  the  Iranians  stand 
as  isolated  groups  in  Asia  in  modern  times  in  the  midst  of  the 
Semitic,  the  Mongolian  and  the  Turanian    races,  cut    off  from 
the  modern  European  nations,  speaking  languages   of  Aryan 
origin.     This  isolation,  however,  had  not    existed,  as  we  have 
already  said,  before  the  movements  of  the    Semitic   and   the 
other  races  took  place;  on  the  other  hand,    there    had  been  a 
continuous  chain  of  Aryan  tribes   linking   Europe   to    Sapta- 
Sindhu,  the  original  home  of  the  Aryans,  as   is   evidenced  by 
the  existence  of  such  Aryan  tribes  in  Western  Asia  in  ancient 
times  as  the  Iranians,  the  Kurds,  the  Kos^aeans,  the  Magis  of 
ancient  Media,  the  Armenians,  the    Phrygians,    the    Lydians, 
the  Mitannians,  the    Hittites,   and  the  Phoenicians.     Had  not 
most  of  these  tribes   been    absorbed   by   the   Semites,    there 
would  have  been  to-day  a  large  number  of  peoples   speaking 
Aryan  dialects  in  Asia,  as  there  is  in  Europe.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  in  their  eagerness  to  prove  the   original   Aryan   home  in 
Europe,  Western  scholars  forget  to  take   note  of  this  fact  as 
well  as  of  the  fact  that  in  India  alone,  which  is  regarded  as  a 


XV;]  PRE-HISTORIC  EUROPE. 

continent  by  itself,  the  number  of  Aryan  dialects  derived 
from  Sanskrit  exceeds  that  of  Europe.  From  the  standpoint 
and  test  of  language,  therefore,  it  cannot  be  proved  that 
Europe  was  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race.  Add  to  this  the 
fact  that  Sanskrit  is  admittedly  the  most  developed  of  all 
Aryan  languages,  and  the  most  archaic,  and  no  language  or 
civilisation  of  a  high  and  peculiar  stamp  could  be  developed 
in  a  country  which  was  not  peopled  by  the  highest  type  of 
the  race,  and  did  not  furnish  the  main-spring  of  all  their 
activities  from  hoary  times. 

I  will  now  give  a  brief  account  of  prehistoric  Europe, 
showing  its  physical  conditions  and  the  type  and  character  of 
the  early  inhabitants  who  are  now  admittedly  recognised  to 
be  the  ancestors  of  the  present  European  races. 

Charles  Lyell,  the  famous  English  Geologist,  working 
along  the  lines  first  suggested  by  another  great  Englishman, 
James  Hutton,  was  the  first  to  prove  that  "  the  successive 
populations  of  the  earth,  whose  remains  are  found  in  the 
fossil  beds,  had  lived  for  enormous  periods  of  time,  and  had 
supplanted  one  another  on  the  earth,  not  through  any  sudden 
catastrophe,  but  by  slow  process  of  the  natural  development 
and  decay  of  different  kinds  of  beings.  Following  the  demon- 
strations of  Lyell,  there  came  about  a  sudden  change  of 
belief  among  geologists  as  to  the  age  of  the  earth,  until,  in 
our  day,  the  period  during  which  the  earth  has  been  inhabited 
by  one  kind  of  creature  and  another  is  computed,  not  by 
specific  thousands,  but  by  vague  hundreds  of  thousands,  or 
even  millions  of  years... The  researches  of  Schmerling,  of 
Boucher  de  Perth,  of  Lyell  himself,  and  of  a  host  of  later 
workers  demonstrated  that  fossil  remains  of  man  were  found 
commingled  in  embedded  strata  and  in  cave  bottoms  under 
conditions  that  demonstrated  their  extreme  antiquity;  and  in 
the  course  of  the  quarter  century  after  1865,  in  which  year 
Lyell  had  published  his  epoch-making  work  on  the  antiquity 
of  man,  the  new  idea  had  made  a  complete  conquest,  until 

4' 


3M  ffiVEDIC  INDIA, 

no  o*e  any  more  thinks  of  disputing  the  extreme  anti* 
of  man  than  he  thinks  of  questioning  the  great  age  of 


U  is  believed  by  geologists  that  tfce  age  of  ipan  in  Europe 
if  abppt  4  million  years  and  *  b*Jf,  "  The  sciences  of  pre- 
ttetpric  Archaeology  aw)  Geology/1  says  Dr,  Isaac  Taylor, 
41  have  shown  that  in  Western  Europe  man  was  the  con* 
temporary  of  the  mammoth,  the  wooly  rhinoceros  and  other 
extinct  pachyderms,  and  have  brought  tp  light  from  the 
grayels^of  Abbeville  evidences  of  his  handiwork,  datjpg  from 
a.  period  when  the  Somme  flowed  three  hundred  feet  above 
its  present  level,  and  England  was  still  united  to  the  continent. 
Man  must  have  inhabited  France  and  Britain  at  the  close 
of  the  quaternary  period,  and  must  have  followed  the  retreat- 
ing ice  of  the  last  glacial  epoch,  to  the  close  of  which  Dr. 
GroH  and  Professor  Geikie  assign  on  astronomical  grounds 
an  antiquity  of  some  80,000  years."8 

Elsewhere  {P.  55),  he  sums  up  the  results  of  astronomical 
and  geological  calculations  as  follow  :  "  From  astronomical 
data  Or.  Croil  has  calculated  that  in  the  northern  hemisphere 
the  last  glacial  epoch  began  some  240,000  years  ago,  that 
it  la^od  with  akernatioo*  of  a  milder  and  even  tropical 
temperature  for  nearly  160,000  years,  aad  finally  terminated 
afbovt  80,000  years  ago.  With  these  calculations  Professor 
(fefke  esstntiattjr  agrees.8  He  believes  that  pateotitiiac  man 
omst  tore  occupied  parts  of  Western  Eurppe  shortly  after 
the  dfeappaanmce  of  die  great  tee-sheet,  and  that  there  *r* 
rta&nsfor  supposing  that  ke  mas  intcv-gladtl  4  like  the 
mammoth  and  the  H*ia»deer  whoae  ucmaias  exist  below  4he 


»    Gdke,  Th*  Gnat  /fMf»i  p.  i 

• 


XV.}  EARLY  MEN  OP  BOROPE.  393 

till  which   w*s  the  prodbtt  of  the  last  •(tension  of 


It  would  thus  appear  that  palaeolithic  man  is  believed  to 
have  existed  in  Europe  in  inter-glacial  epochs,  i.e.,  more  than 
80,000  years  ago.  It  is  also  believed  that  in  the  neolithic 
period  in  a  later  age,  "the  geological  and  climatic  conditions 
were  essentially  the  same  as  they  are  now  >f  in  Europe,  and 
it  has  been  found  that  throe,  if  not  four,  of  the  existing 
European  types  occupied  approximately  their  present  seats.2 
It  remains  however  to  be  seen  whether  the  neolithic  men  of 
Europe  were  the  direct  descendants  of  the  palaeolithic  men 
or  they  immigrated  to  Europe  from  other  countries  with  the 
disappearance  of  the  great  ice-sheet  at  the  end  of  the  glacial 
epbch. 

"  It  must  not  be  assumed,"  says  Mr.  H.  S.  Mackinder, 
"that  physical  and  geographical  conditions  have  remained  with- 
out change  during  the  human  epoch.  Nearly  the  whole  of  that 
epoch  is  probably  contained  in  the  geological  period  which 
may  be  described  as  the  Retreat  of  the  Ice-Age.  It  is 
probable  that  while  the  ice  slowly,  and  with  many  fluctuations, 
retired  northward  from  northern  Europe,  and  elsewhere, 
towards  the  mountain  summits,  drought  was  gradually  em- 
phasised in  the  region  where  is  now  the  Sahara.3  As  a  result, 
it  is  likely  that  while  man  advanced  northward  from  Africa 
and  southern  Europe  to  occupy  the  ground,  uncovered  by 
the  ice,  a  great  natural  void,  the  desert  belt  across  northern 


160. 

1    Taylor,  Origin  ofth*  Aryans,  pp.  55-56. 

*  "  If  the  Sahara  was  a  sea,  the  '  Fohn  '  instead  of  being  a  burning,  dry 
wind,  which  strips  the  snow  off  the  Alps,  both  by  melting  and  evaporation, 
would  be  a  moist,  ditnp  wind,  and  when  it  reached  the  mountains,  would 
produce  dfense  clouds  and  thick  fogs,  which  would  prevent  the  sva't  rays  fro* 
warming  the  earth  or  melting  the  glaciers.  So  that  to  the  barren  desert  of  tte 
Sahara  which  we  are  apt  to  look  upon  as  a  useless  waste,  we  are  in  reality  maofe 
indebted  for  the  fertility  and  civilisation  of  Kurort"  Lord  Anbury's 


334  ^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

Africa,  was  formed  in  their  midst.  Throughout  recorded 
history  this  has  divided  the  white  man  from  the  black,  for 
the  Sahara  rather  than  the  Mediterranean  constitutes  the 
true  southern  boundary  of  Europe.  The  whole  contrast  be- 
tween the  European  and  the  Negro  is  the  probable  measure 
of  the  significance  of  this  physical  change. 

"  Europe  is  at  present  broadly  attached  to  Asia,  but 
it  is  likely  that  this  is  one  of  the  more  recent  of  geographical 
features.  A  small  fluctuation  in  level  would  suffice  for  the 
flooding  of  western  Siberia  from  the  Arctic  as  far  as  the 
Caspian  Sea,  and  there  is  not  wanting  testimony  of  such  a 
change  in  the  relatively  recent  past. 

"  We  are  probably  justified  in  correlating  this  possibility 
with  another,  for  which  the  evidence  is  of  a  different  kind. 
Of  all  human  bodily  characteristics,  none  in  the  general  opinion 
of  anthropologists  i*  so  persistently  conveyed  by  heredity  as 
the  shape  of  the  skull.  The  primary  division  of  mankind  is 
therefore  based  on  the  relative  length  and  breadth  of  the  head. 
Speaking  very  generally  we  may  say  that  Africans  and 
Europeans  have  long  skulls,  and  Asiatics  have  broad  skulls, 
but  that  a  wedge  of  Asiatic  breadth  of  skull  is  thrust  westward 
through  the  centre  of  Europe  into  France.  From  a  European 
point  of  view  we  have  thus  a  broad-skulled  '  Alpine  '  race, 
intrusive  from  the  east,  between  the  blonde,  long-skulled 
Northerners  and  darker  but  equally  long-skulled  peoples  in 
the  west  and  south. 

"  May  not  the  earliest  human  events  have  thus  been  (i) 
a  physical  change  in  the  North  which  allowed  the  Africans 
to  push  northward  through  Europe,  (2)  a  contemporary  change 
in  the  Sahara  which  severed  the  migrants  from  what  was  to 
become  Negro  Africa,  and  (3)  a  subsequent  change  in  Western 
Siberia,  which  permitted  of  the  entry  of  the  Asiatics  into 
Europe?  And  may  it  not  be  that  the  blending  of  these  strains 
in  the  European  corner  of  the  world  has  enriched  the  initiative 


XV.]  PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS.  325 

of  the  race  in  that  part,  and  contributed  to  its  lead  in   subse- 
quent history  ?  " l 

These  are  questions  containing  pregnant  suggestions  of 
events  that  most  probably  took  place  in  the  dim  past,  making 
it  possible  for  savage  nomadic  tribes  to  emigrate  from  North 
Africa  and  Asia  to  Europe,  and  occupy  those  parts  at  first 
that  were  uncovered  by  the  ice.  But  before  we  deal  with  this 
subject  more  fully,  it  would  be  necessary  for  us  to  understand 
the  different  types  of  men  in  Europe,  with  broad  skulls,  long 
skulls,  and  skulls  intermediate  between  the  two. 

It  was  Broca  who  first  "  laid  down  the  axiom  that  the 
ethnic  characteristics  of  the  first  order  of  importance  are  not 
linguistic  but  physical.  As  to  the  nature  of  the  speech  of  the 
neolithic  peoples  of  Europe,  we  have  inferences  rather  than 
any  positive  facts  to  guide  us.  As  to  their  physical  charac- 
teristics, the  evidence  is  abundant  and  conclusive.  This 
evidence  consists  partly  of  the  statements  of  Greek  and 
Roman  writers,  but  is  derived  mainly  from  measurements  of 
skulls.  The  shape  of  the  skull  is  one  of  the  least  variable 
characteristics  of  race,  so  much  so  that  the  skulls  from  prehis- 
toric tombs  make  it  possible  to  prove  that  the  neolithic 
inhabitants  of  Europe  were  the  direct  ancestors  of  the  existing 
races.  The  skull  form  is  expressed  by  the  numerical  ratios 
of  certain  measurements,  which  are  called  indices.  Of  these 
the  most  important  are  the  latitudinal,  or,  as  it  is  commonly 
called,  the  cephalic  index,  which  gives  the  proportion  of  the 
extreme  breadth  to  the  extreme  length  of  the  cranium  ;  the 
altitudinal  or  vertical  index,  which  gives  the  proportion  of  the 
height  of  the  skull  to  the  length  ;  the  orbital  index,  which 
gives  the  proportion  of  the  height  of  the  eye  orbit  to  the 
breadth ;  the  facial  angle ;  the  nasal  index,  and  the  index 
of  prognothism,  by  which  we  estimate  the  shape  of  the  face. 
These  indices,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  shape  of  certain 

1    Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I,  pp.  43-44. 


3*6  ttOVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

ben**,  espedtetty  the  femur  and  the  tibia,  enable  us  to  deter- 
mine  with  considerable  certainty  the  ethnic  relationship  of 
pre-historic  to  existing  races. 

11  The  tetitudinal  or  '  cephalic '  index  is  thus  determined. 
Divide  the  extreme  breadth  of  the  skull  by  the  length  from 
front  to  back,  and  multiply  by  100.  Thus  if  the  breadth  is 
three4oiirths  of  the  length,  the  index  is  said  to  be  75.  Cephalic 
ihdfces  Tary  from  50  to  98. 

"  The  term  dolichocephalic,  or  long-headed  is  applied 
to  skulls  with  low  indices  ;  brachy-cephalic  or  broad-headed, 
to  those  with  high  indices  ;  and  ortho-cephalic,  to  the  inter- 
mediate class.  The  black  races  are  dolichocephalic,  the  white 
races  incline  to  ortho-cephalic,  and  the  yellow  races  to 
brachy-cephalic.. .The  Swedes  are  the  most  dolicho-cephalic 
race  in  Europe,  the  Lapps  the  most  brachy-cephalic,  the 
English  the  most  ortho-cephalic.  North  Germany  is  sub- 
dolicho-cephaKc ;  South  Germany  sub-brachy -cephalic."1 

Further  oh,  Dr.  Taylor  says  that  the  orbital  index  among 
flie  black  races  is  lowest,  varying  from  79-3  to  85-4,  and 
destehdhig  to  61  among  the  Tasmanians  ;  among  the  yellow 
rac£s  it  Is  high,  varying  from  82*2  to  95*4;  among  the  Europeans, 
it  is  usually  betwfeeh  83  and  85.  A  similar  test  applies  to 
tfce  section  of  ths  hair.  In  the  Mongolian  or  yeHow  race,  it 
is  drcufar  ;  in  Hie  black  or  African  race,  it  is  flat  or  ribbon- 
sllap^d ;  Sn  fte  white  or  European  race,  it  is  oval.  The  h£ir 
of  the  Motigofhm  is  straight,  that  of  the  African  frizzled  or 
tftoly,  alitt  that  '6f  the  European  is  inclined  to  curl. 

11  All  these  tests/'  says  the  same  writer,  "  agree  in  exhibit- 
ing two  extreme  types— the  African  with  long  heads,  long 
orbits,  and  flat  hair ;  and  the  Mongolian  with  round  heads, 
round  orbits,  and  round  hair.  The  European  type  is  inter- 
mediate—the head,  the  orbit,  and  the  hair  are  oval.  In  the 
east  of  Europe,  we  find  an  approximation  to  the  Asiatic  type  ; 


XV.]  MINGLING  OF  TYPES. 

in  the  south  of  Europe,  to  the  African.  The  neolithic  tomb* 
of  Europe  exhibit  notable  approximation  both  to  the  Afric^i) 
and  Asiatic  types/91 

11  Where,  it  has  been  asked >  did  the  human  race  originate  ? 
Darwin  inclines  to  Africa,  De  Quatrefagcs  to  Asia,  Wagner 
to  Europe  in  the  Miocene  epoch,  when  the  climate  was  sub- 
tropical. If  it  originated  in  Europe,  we  may  suppose  it  was 
differentiated  into  the  extreme  Asiatic  and  African  types ;  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  Europe  may  have  been  the  place  where  the 
African  and  Asiatic  types  met  and  miqgled.  Those  who  hold 
the  former  view  may  believe  with  Penka  that  the  Aryans 
represent  the  oldest  European  race  ;  those  who  hold  the  latter 
opinion  may  maintain  that  while  Aryan  speech  came  originally 
from  Asia,  it  was  subsequently  acquired  by  men  who  were 
largely  of  African  origin/'2 

From  the  evidence  about  the  hoary  antiquity  of  the  Aryans 
of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the  proofs  we  have  adduced  of  the 
savage  Aryan  tribes  having  gradually  migrated  westward 
through  western  Asia  to  Europe,  we  hold  the  opinion  that 
Aryan  speech  went  originally  from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  Europe, 
alorjg  with  the  savage  Aryan  nomads  wjio  got  raided  with  the 
Mongolian  savages  in  Western  Asia  and  imposed  their  speech 
upon  th^m,  and  that  these  savages  having  commingled  their 
bloo<J;  afterwards  came  in  contact  with  the  early  inhabitants 
of  Europe  who  had  immigrated  from  Africa  with  the  retreat 
of  the  great  ice -sheet  northward  at  the  end  of  the  Glacial 
epoch.  Our  opinion  will  be  more  clearly  established  as  we 
go  on  with  fuller  accounts  of  these  eaf ly  pro-historic  peoples 
of  Europe. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  pity  that  we  have  no  meajos  of  comparing 
the  skulls  of  tbe  ancient  Aryans  of   ladia— the  tljree 
caatefii  with  those  of  the  Mongolians,  the  Emppeane  aqd 
Africans,  and   are  consequently  not  in  a  position  to    say; 


328  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

whether  they  were  dolichocephalic,  brachy-cephalic  or  ortho- 
cephalic  in   ancient   times.     The   Aryans  of  India   had  the 
practice  of  cremating  their  dead,   and   therefore    no   ancient 
skulls  of  the  Indo-Aryans  have   been   available   anywhere   in 
India.  As  of  ail  castes,  certain  sections  of  the  Brahmans  have 
changed  the  least,  it  would  be   interesting   to   compare   their 
cephalic  and  orbital  indices  with  those  of  the    other    principal 
races  of  Asia,  Europe  and  Africa.     Whatever   the   indices   of 
the  other  races  may  be,  those  of  the  Brahmans  of  some  of  the 
principal  centres  of  religion  may  be  regarded  as  representing 
the  approximate  standard  of  the  true  Aryan    type.     But  even 
then,  we  cannot  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  there  were  in  post- 
Vedic  times  large   influxes   of   peoples,    other    than    Aryans, 
who  were  gradually  incorporated  into   Aryan    society,    distri- 
buting themselves  among  the  four  castes.    It  would,  therefore, 
be  extremely  difficult  to  discern  the   truly   Aryan    type    even 
from  among  the  Brahmans  of  modern  times. 

Mr.  Mackinder,  like  Dr.  Taylor,  has  said  that  the  black- 
races  are  generally  dolicho-cephalic.  How  is  it  then  that  the 
Swedes  and  the  Teutons  of  North  Germany,  who  are  white 
peoples,  dolicho-cephalic  ?  The  natural  inference  would  be  that 
they  had  originally  belonged  to  the  black  races  of  Africa  who 
afterwards  emigrated  to  the  north  of  Europe  in  inter-glacial 
periods,  and  survived  the  glacial  epoch.  Their  long  residence 
in  a  cold  climate  must  have  affected  and  transformed  the  colour 
of  their  skin.  For,  "  it  is  believed  that  under  certain  circums- 
tances, fair  races  may  become  dark,  and  dark  races  light,  the 
cuticle  however  being  affected  sooner  than  the  hair  or  the  iris 
of  eyes."1  If  this  be  scientifically  true,  then  it  would  be  easy 
to  understand  how  the  Swedes  and  the  Teutons,  though 
originally  belonging  to  the  black  races  of  Africa,  gradually 
became  white,  nay  whiter  than  the  southern  races  of  Europe, 
and  how  the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  though  originally  a  white 
people  as  some  of  their  descendants  still  are  in  Kashmir  and 

*    Ibid,  p.  100. 


XV.]          CLIMATE  AND  COLOUR  OF  SKIN.  329 

other  places,  gradually  became  brown  and  dark-complexioned 
through  a  gradual  change  of  climate  from  extreme  cold  to 
extreme  hot  in  consequence  of  the  disappearance  of  the  seas 
round  about  Sapta-Sindhu.  We  have  already  said  that  a  cold 
climate  prevailed  in  India  in  ancient  times,  and  the  year  was 
called  by  the  name  of  Hima  (winter)  in  the  Flgveda  in 
consequence  of  wintry  conditions  having  prevailed  in  the 
land  during  a  greater  part  of  the  year,  just  as  Sarad  (autumn) 
came  to  designate  the  year  when  the  climate  became 
temperate  and  less  severe.  The  very  fact  that  the  Indo- 
Aryans  have  changed  colour  proves  the  very  long  period  of 
time  during  which  they  have  been  the  inhabitants  of  Northern 
India.  This  marked  change  of  climate  was  also  noticed  in 
the  Zend-Avesta.  Even  in  Rgvedic  times  a  change  of 
colour  was  noticeable  among  the  Aryans  according  to  their 
occupations  and  modes  of  living.  Those  who  had  to  toil  in 
the  fields,  or  perform  outdoor  work,  or  were  engaged  in  trade  in 
the  country  and  foreign  lands,  and  in  warfare,  were  naturally 
more  swarthy  than  those  whose  occupations  compelled  them 
to  stay  at  home.  The  nomadic  Aryans  who  were  subjected 
to  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun  in  their  wanderings  became 
naturally  more  dark-complexioned ;  and  thus  we  find 
mention  made  in  the  Rgveda  of  peoples  who  were  dark- 
skinned  and  called  "  blacks."  Colour  or  Varna^  therefore, 
became  the  distinguishing  mark  of  men  engaged  in  the 
different  occupations.  The  Brahmans  who  generally  stayed 
at  home  performing  the  sacrifices  and  attending  to  spiritual 
culture  remained  naturally  white-complexioned ;  the  K?atriyas 
who  were  engaged  in  warfare  and  active  duties  in  connection 
with  the  government  of  the  country  became  naturally  a  shade 
darker  than  the  Brahmans  ;  the  VaiSyas  who  tilled  the  lands, 
pastured  and  reared  up  cattle,  and  were  engaged  in  trade 
and  manufacture,  were  of  a  still  darker  complexion  than  the 
Kjatriyas ;  and  the  Sddras  who  had  at  first  mostly  belonged 
to  the  nomadic  tribes,  without  settling  down  to  any  sort  of 
occupation  for  a  living  and  had  been  in  a  low  state  of 

42 


330  RGVEWC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

moral  development,  became  necessarily  darker  still  to  the 
verge  of  blackness.  Colour,  therefore,  became  the  index  of 
occupation,  caste  or  tribe,  and  the  word  varna  afterwards 
came  to  be  synonymous  with  caste.  It  is  however  a  remark- 
able fact  even  to  this  day  that  the  Aryan  women  of  the 
higher  castes,  who  have  seldom  to  do  any  out-door  work 
and  always  keep  themselves  within  the  precincts  of  the 
zenana,  are  usually  more  fair-complexioned  than  the  men  who 
have  to  spend  their  time  in  outdoor  work.  Colour,  therefore, 
cannot  be  an  in  fallible  criterion  of  race  or  type,  which  can 
only  be  determined  by  the  measurement  and  comparison  of 
craniums  which  are  least  liable  to  change.  (t  would 
undoubtedly  be  wrong  to  say,  as  Dr.  Taylor  has  done,  that 
the  influence  of  climate  has  exterminated  the  Aryan  race  in 
India,  Persia  and  other  places,  the  Aryan  speech  alone  being 
left  as  the  permanent  evidence  of  early  Aryan  settlement.1 
Though  the  Aryans  cannot  be  recognised  now  by  their  white 
skins,  the  Aryan  blood  still  runs  in  th-ir  veins,  and  the  type 
has  probably  regained  intact  in  India,  to  a  large  extent,  in 
consequence  of  their  conservative  instincts  and  extreme 
reluctance  to  freely  mix  with  peoples  of  other  races. 

As  the  Swedes  and  the  Teutons  have  been  found  to  be 
dolicho-cephalic,  they  must  have  been  the  direct  descendants 
of  the  pre-historic  dolicho-cephalic  people  (an  originally 
black  race  from  Africa),  whose  skulls  have  been  found  in 
the  graves  of  North  Germany  and  other  parts  of  North 
Europe.  They  have  been  designated  as  the  Canstadt  race 
"  by  De  Quatrefages  and  Hamy  from  a  skull  found  in  1700 
at  Canstadt  near  Stuttgart,  associated,  it  is  said,  with  bones 
of  the  mammoth.  A  similar  skull  was  discovered  in  1867 
together  wkh  remains  of  the  mammoth  at  Eguisheim,  near 
Colmar,  in  Alsace."2 

Another  specimen  of  this  type  is  the  celebrated  skull 
which  was  found  seventy  miles  south-west  of  the  Neanderthal 

i    Ibid,  P.  46. 

t  pp.  105-106. 


XV.]  THE  CANSTADT  RACE. 

in  a  cavern  at  Engis,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Mease,  eight 
miles  south-west  of  Leige.  It  was  embedded  in  a  breccia  with 
remains  of  the  mammoth,  the  rhinoceros,  and  the  reindeer.  It 
has  usually  been  referred  to  the  Quaternary  period.  Of  this 
Engis  skull  Virchow  writes  :  "  It  is  so  absolutely  dolicho- 
cephalic that  if  we  were  justified  in  constituting  our  ethnic 
groups  solely  with  reference  to  the  shape  of  the  skull,  the 
Engis  skull  would  without  hesitation  be  classed  as  belonging 
to  the  primitive  Teutonic  race,  and  we  should  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  a  Germanic  population  dwelt  on  the  banks  of 
the  Meuse  prior  to  the  earliest  irruption  of  a  Mongolic  race." 

"  In  the  oldest  skulls  of  the  Canstadt  race,1'  says  Dr. 
Taylor,  "  the  ridges  over  the  eyes  are  greatly  developed,  the 
cranial  vault  is  low,  the  forehead  is  retreating,  the  ^eye-orbits 
enormous,  the  nose  prominent,  but  the  upper  jaw  is  not  so 
prognathous  as  the  lower.  ThU  primitive  savage,  the  earliest 
inhabitant  of  Europe,1  \v<is  muscular  and  athletic,  and  of  great 
stature.  He  had  implements  of  flint,  but  not  of  bone,  and  was 
vain  of  his  personal  appearance,  as  is  proved  by  his  bracelets 
and  necklaces  of  shells.  He  was  a  nomad  hunter,  who  sheltered 

1  But  the  Canstadts  are  not  now  reg  irded  as  the  earliest  inhabitants  of 
Europe.  The  discovery  in  1907  of  a  hum  m  lowjr  jiur  in  the  base  of  the 
"  Matter  Sand*  "  is  one  of  the  oust  imp  »ruat  in  the  whole  history  of  anthro- 
pology. The  jaw  wi=»  that  of  A  hum  in  b«ing,  belonging  to  a  race,  designated 
as  the  Heidelberjs  '*the  first  huimn  race  recorded  in  Western  Europe." 
According  to  Mr.  H.  F.  Osborn,  'they  appeared  in  Southern  Germany  early  in 
the  second  Interglacial  times  in  the  mid-»t  of  a  most  imposing  mammalian  fauna 
of  northern  aspect  and  containing  many  forest-living  species,  such  as  bear, 
deer  and  moose ;  in  the  meadows  and  forests  browsed  the  giant  straight-tusked 
elephant  (S.  antiquus)  which  from  the  simple  structure  of  its  grinding  teeth 
is  regarded  as  similar  in  habit  to  the  African  elephant  now  inhabiting  the 
forests  of  Central  Africa.  The  presence  of  this  animal  indicates  a  relatively 
moist  climate  and  well-forested  country."  H.  F.  Osborn 's  Men  of  tkt  Old 
Stone  Ag ft  p.  96  (1918).  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  Heidelbergs 
were  the  ancestors  of  the  Teutons,  though  some  anthropologists  are  of  opinion 
that  the  Neanderthalers  were  of  the  same  race  as  the  Heidelbergs.  The 
Neanderthelew  were  afterwards  supplanted  by  the  Cro-Magnards  and  the 
Grimaldis. 


332  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

himself  in  caves,  but  was  without  fixed  abodes,  or  even  any 
sepulchres. 

41  The  chief  interest  that  attaches  to  these  repulsive  savages 
is  that  French  anthropologists  consider  them  to  be  the  direct 
ancestors  of  their  hereditary  enemies  the  Germans,  while 
German  anthropologists  assert  that  the  Teutons  are  the  only 

lineal  representatives  of  the  noble  Aryan  race That  the 

earliest  inhabitants  of  Europe  belonged  to  the  Canstadt  race 
may  probably  be  granted,  since  skull  of  this  type  have  been 
found  underlying  those  of  the  Iberian  and  Ligurian  races  in 
the  very  oldest  deposits  at  Grenelle  ;  while  in  many  cases 
there  are  indications,  more  or  less  trustworthy,  of  the  Canstadt 
race  having  been  contemporary  with  the  extinct  pachyderms. 
Its  chief  habitat  seems  to  have  been  the  valley  of  the  Rhine, 
but  it  extended  to  the  south  as  far  as  Wiirtemberg,  and  to  the 
east  as  far  as  Briix  in  Bohemia.  Only  at  a  later  time  when 
the  rein-deer  had  retreated  to  the  north,  it  reached  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic. 

11  Though  this  type  has  now  become  extinct  in  Germany, 
owing  to  the'prepotence  of  the  Celtic  or  Turanian  race,  and 
though  it  has  been  favourably  modified  by  civilisation  in 
Scandinavia,  yet  even  in  modern  times  we  find  curious 
instances  of  atavism  or  reversion  to  an  earlier  type.  These 
cases  are  found  chiefly  among  men  of  Norman  or  Scandina- 
vian ancestry.  Such  may  occasionally  be  noticed  in  the 
Scandinavian  districts  of  England.  The  skull  of  Robert  Bruce, 
who  was  of  pure  Norman  blood,  exibits  a  case  of  such 
reversion."  l 

Dr.  Taylor  further  says  that  there  is  a  superficial  resem- 
blance between  theTeutons  and  the  Celts,  but  they  are  radically 
distinguished  by  the  form  of  the  skull.  Both  races  were  tall, 
large-limbed  and  fair-haired.  De  Quatrefages  has  conjectured 
that  the  Canstadt  race  may  have  roamed  farther  to  the  East.  He 
thinks  that  the  type  may  be  recognised  in  the  Ainos  of  Japan 
and  Kamatshatka  and  in  the  Todas  of  the  Neilgherries,  who 

1     Ibid,  pp.  I06-I08. 


XV.]  THE  CANSTADT  RACE.  333 

bear  no  resemblance  to  any  of  the  contiguous  tribes.  Both 
the  Ainos  and  the  Todas  are  fully  dolicho-cephalic,  differing  in 
this  respect  from  the  Japanese  and  Dravidians,  who  are 
brachy-cephalic.  The  profile  is  of  the  European  type,  and 
instead  of  the  scanty  beard  of  the  Mongolians  and  the 
Dravidians,  they  are  as  amply  bearded  as  the  Scandinavians, 
and,  like  many  North  Europeans,  they  have  much  hair  on 
the  chest  and  other  parts  of  the  body. 

From  Scandinavia  to  Southern  India  and  Kamatshatka 
is  indeed  too  long  a  jump  for  Canstadt  savages  to  have 
performed  in  early  pre-historic  times,  especially  when  we 
remember  that  up  to  a  relatively  recent  period  there  was  a 
big  sea  extending  from  the  Caspian  to  the  Arctic  to  obstruct 
their  progress  towards  the  east,  and  vast  impassable 
mountains  and  seas  barred  their  way  to  Southern  India. 
If  there  is  a  racial  affinity  between  these  tribes  living  in 
far-off  corners  of  the  European  and  Asiatic  continents,  what 
probably  happened  was  this :  The  Canstadts  who  are 
undoubtedly  of  African  oiigin  must  have  emigrated  to  the 
North  when  Africa  was  connected  with  South-western  Europe 
and  to  the  East  when  it  was  connected  with  Southern  India 
by  the  Indo-Oceanic  continent,  now  lost.  The  ancestors  of 
the  Todas  must  have  found  their  way  to  Southern  India 
directly  from  Africa  at  that  time,  and  a  branch  which 
wandered  farther  east  to  the  Pacific  coast  must  have  migrated 
northward  to  Kamatshatka  and  Japan.  We  should  remember 
that  they  were  primitive  savages,  and  quite  incapable  of 
crossing  seas  and  oceans  by  crafts  which  they  did  not  know 
how  to  construct.  They  are  believed  to  have  been  in  the 
paleolithic  stage,  though  from  the  presence  of  rude  potteries 
in  the  caves  with  their  remains,  some  are  of  opinion  that 
they  were  in  the  neolithic  or  at  best  in  the  early  neolithic 
stage.  The  state  of  their  civilisation  has  been  gathered 
from  the  remains  in  the  kitchen-middens  or  shell-mounds  of 
Denmark.  The  stone  implements  found  therein  are  more 
archaic  in  character  than  those  found  near  the  Swiss  lake- 


33*  *GVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

dwellings.     "  The  people,11  says   Dr.   Taylor,   "  had   not  yet 
reached  the  agricultural   or   even   the  pastoral  stage, — they 
were  solely   fishermen   and   hunters,   the   only  domesticated 
animal  they  possessed  being  the    dog,  whereas  even  in  the 
oldest  of  the   Swiss  lake-dwellings   the   people,  though  still 
subsisting  largely  on   the   products  of  the  chase,  had  domes- 
Heated  the   ox,   if  not  also  the  sheep  and  the  goat."1     It   is 
believed  that  the  accumulation   of   these  kitchen-middens  or 
shell-mounds    occupied    an    enormous     period.       Professor 
Steenstrup,  the  highest  authority  on  the  subject,  is  of  opinion 
that  a  period  of   10,000  to  12,000  years  must  be  allowed  for 
the   accumulation   of   the    vast    mounds   of  refuse.     Some  of 
these  are  more  than  900  feet  long,  and  from    100   to  200  feet 
broad,   and   they  are   usually   from   three   to   five  feet,  but, 
occasionally  as  much  as  ten  feet  in  thickness. 

Such  then  were  the  Canstadts,  one  of  the  earliest  races 
of  North  Europe,  and  the  ancestors  of  the  Teutons.  This 
type  became  extinct  owing  to  the  infusion  of  Celtic  and 
Slavonic  blood.  They  were  conquered  and  aryanised  by  the 
Slavo-Celtic  races  from  whom  they  received  their  language, 
and  such  culture  as  they  possessed.  The  claim  of  the 
Teutons  to  be  the  original  Aryan  race  has  thus  no  firm  basis 
to  stand  upon.  Both  they  and  the  Scandinavians  were 
descended  from  dolicho-cephalic  savages  of  Africa  who  had 
immigrated  to  Europe  either  in  the  interglacial  or  post-glacial 
epoch  with  the  retreat  of  the  great  ice-sheet  northward. 

I  will  now  write  about  the  other  prehistoric  races  whose 
remains  have  been  found  in  the  neolithic  tombs  of  Europe. 
They  were  three  in  number,  one  of  which  is  supposed  to 
represent  the  primitive  Aryans,  the  other  two  along  with  the 
Canstadts  being  regarded  merely  Aryan  in  speech,  but 
non-Aryan  in  descent. 

In  the  early  neolithic  age,  Britain  seems  to  have  been 
inhabited  by  one  race  only  which  was  "  of  feeble  build,  short 
stature,  dark  complexion,  and  dolicho-cephalic  skull."*  They 

'    Ibid,  pp.  60-61.  *    MM  P.  67. 


XV.]  IBERIANS  AND  CELTS.  333 

buried  their  dead  in  sepulchral  caves,  and  when  these  were 
not  available,  in  long  barrows  provided  with  interior  chamber* 
and  passages.  This  race  is  identified  with  the  British  tribe 
of  the  Silures.  From  their  physical  characteristics  Tacitus 
concluded  that  they  belonged  to  the  Iberian  race  which  resem- 
bled the  Spanish  Basques.  The  same  type  is  found  in  some 
of  the  Hebrides,  in  Kerry,  and  also  west  of  the  Shannon,  in 
Donegal  and  Galway.  Skulls  of  this  type  have  also  been 
found  in  sepulchral  caves  in  Belgium,  France,  Spain,  Algeria 
and  Teneriffe.  The  Iberians  are  believed  to  be  a  North 
African  people  who  emigrated  to  Europe  and  passed  on  to 
Britain,  probably  when  the  latter  was  connected  with  the 
continent.  They  belonged  purely  to  the  Neolithic  age,  as  no 
trace  of  metal  is  found  in  any  of  the  long  barrows  of  England. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Neolithic  age,  or  probably  at 
the  beginning  of  the  Bronze  age,  Britain  was  invaded  by  a 
wholly  different  race,  "tall,  muscular,  brachy-cephalic,  and 
almost  certainly  with  xanthous  or  rufus  hair  and  florid 
complexion."1  They  buried  thc^ir  dead  in  round  barrows, 
and  "  to  them  in  all  probability  we  may  ascribe  the  erection 
of  Avebury  and  Stonehenge,  and  also  the  first  introduction 
into  Britain  of  Aryan  speech  and  of  implements  of  bronze. 
This  race  Dr.  Thurnam  identifies  with  the  Celts  and  he  calls 
the  type  the  '  Turanian  '  type,  believing  it  to  be  an  offshoot, 
through  the  Belgic  Gauls,  from  the  great  brachy-cephalic 
stock  of  Central  and  North-eastern  Europe  and  Asia.  It  is 
also  the  prevailing  type  among  the  Slavonic  races.  This 
1  Turanian  *  type  of  Dr.  Thurnam  is  the  '  type  Mongoloide  ' 
of  Priiner-Bey."* 

The  difference  of  stature  between  the  two  races,  the 
Iberians  and  the  Celts,  was  remarkable,  the  former  being 
shorter  than  the  latter.  The  stature  of  the  Celts  struck  the 
Romans  with  astonishment.  "  Caesar  speaks  of  their  minfica 


/bid,  p.  69. 
Ibid,  p.  70. 


336  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

corpora^  and  contrasts  the  short  stature  of  the  Romans  with 
the  magnitude  corporum  of  the  Gauls."  l  The  Iberian  race, 
as  we  have  already  said,  was  dark  in  complexion  with  black 
hair  and  eyes.  The  Celtic  race  was  fair,  with  red  or  yellow 
hair,  and  blue  or  blue-grey  eyes.  The  Belgic  Gauls  also 
belonged  to  this  race.  Western  scholars  believe  the  Iberians 
to  be  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Britain,  and  the  Celts  to  be 
later  invaders  who  were  not  only  a  more  powerful  race,  but 
possessed  a  higher  civilisation.  In  a  few  of  the  round  barrows 
of  the  Celts,  bronze  has  been  found.  The  Iberians  were 
originally  troglodytes,  but  the  Celts  probably  lived  in  huts  or 
pit  dwellings.  That  the  latter  spoke  an  Aryan  language  which 
was  Celtic  is  admitted,  though  Professor  Rollerton  has 
characterised  their  physical  type  as  "  Turanian,1*  and  Priiner- 
Bey  as  "  Mongoloide." 

The  Celtic  type  in  Europe  is  traced  eastward  to  the 
continent  of  Asia,  and  the  Iberian  type  southward  through 
France  and  Spain  to  Northern  Africa  There  can  be  no  doubt 
therefore,  that  the  Iberian*  came  from  Northern  Africa  and 
the  Celts  from  Asia  at  different  periods  of  prehistoric  times 
after  the  retreat  of  the  great  ic  »-sheet  towards  the  north  of 
Europe.  The  Canstatlts  who  were  in  the  palaeolithic  stage  of 
civilisation  had  undoubtedly  migrated  first  from  Africa,  and 
roamed  towards  the  north  with  the  rein-deer  up  to  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic.  They  were  followed  in  the  early  neolithic 
period  by  the  Iberians  from  North  Africa  ;  and  at  the  close 
of  the  neolithic  period,  the  Canstadts  and  the  Iberians  were 
conquered  by  the  Celts  from  Asia,  wlu  are  admitted  by 
anthropologists  to  be  of  Turanian  or  Mongoloid  type.  Our 
readers  should  remember  all  these  facts  in  order  to  under- 
stand the  gradual  expansion  of  the  Celts  in  Europe  from  Asia. 

The  Celts  appear  to  have  crossed  to  Britain  from  Belgic 
Gaul.  The  Celts  of  the  latter  place  appear  at  a  later  time  to 
have  advanced  southward  imposing  their  Celtic  speech  on 
the  earlier  race  of  Central  France.  The  Celts  may  also  be 

*     Ibid,  p.  76. 


XV.]  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  337 

traced  eastward  to  Denmark  where  the  brachy-cephalic  type 
has  been  singularly  persistent.  According  to  Dr.  Beddoe,  the 
modern  Danes  are  of  the  same  type  as  the  round-barrow 
people.  At  the  beginning  of  the  historic  period  the  valleys 
of  the  Main  and  the  Upper  Danube  were  occupied  by  Celtic 
tribes.  In  this  region  Celtic  names  abound.  The  ethnic 
frontier  between  Celts  and  Teutons  was  the  continuous 
mountain-barrier  formed  by  the  Teutoberger  Wald,  the 
Thuringer  Wald  and  the  Riesen  Gebirge.  North  of  this  line 
the  population  is  now  dolicho-cephalic,  while  to  the  south  of 
this  line  the  people  are  more  brachy-cephalic. 

The  people  of  the  modern  kingdom  of  Wiirtemberg  are 
also  brachy-cephalous.1  Holder  codsiders  the  type  to  be 
Turanian  or  Sarmatian.  Halle  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
northern  outpost  of  the  Celts  in  Germany,  since  beyond  the 
Teutoberger  Wald,  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  Halle, 
the  type  changes.  Southern  Germany  is  now  Teutonic  in 
speech,  the  local  names  and  the  persistent  ethnic  type  bear- 
ing witness  to  the  primitive  Celt  occupation.  Southern 
Germany  was  Teutonised  in  speech  by  German  invaders  in  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  In  Wiirtemberg  and 
Bavaria  a  number  of  pile  dwellings  of  the  neolithic  age 
have  been  discovered,  which  seem  to  be  prototypes  of  those 
which  are  so  numerous  in  the  Swiss  lakes.  The  Swiss 
craniologists,  His  and  Riitimeyer,  attribute  the  erection  of  the 
lake  dwellings  in  Switzerland  to  "  our  Celtic  ancestors," 
the  Helvetii.  The  Helvetian  skulls  resemble  the  round-barrow 
skulls.  The  Helvetii  appear  to  have  reached  a  comparatively 
high  state  of  civilisation. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  neolithic  age,  the  same  Aryan- 
speaking  race  which  constructed  the  Swiss  pile-dwellings 
seems  to  have  crossed  the  Alps,  erecting!  their  pile-dwellings 
in  the  Italian  lakes  and  in  the  marshes  of  the  valley  of  the 
Po.  They  have  been  identified  with  the  Umbrians.  This 

i     After  the  recent  great  European  war,  this  province  has  formed    part   of 
the  German  Republic. 

43 


338  SLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  close  connection  between  Celtic 
and  Italian  speech,  and  also  by  the  almost  identical  civilisation 
disclosed  by  the  pile-dwellings  of  Italy  and  those  of  Switzer- 
land. Further,  craniologists  have  proved  that  while  the  people 
of  Southern  Italy  are  dolichocephalic,  belonging  apparently 
to  the  Iberian  race,  they  become  more  and  more  brachy- 
cephalic  as  we  go  northward,  especially  in  the  district  between 
the  Apennines  and  the  Alps.  Latin  and  Umbrain  were  merely 
dialects  of  the  same  language,  but  in  Rome  there  was  a  large 
admixture  of  Etruscan  and  Campanian  blood.  Skulls  of  the 
pure  Latin  race  are  rare,  owing  to  the  prevalent  practice  of 
cremation  ;  but  there  is  a  very  marked  resemblance  in  the  out- 
lines of  the  Latin  and  Helvetian  skulls,  and  those  of  the  better 
olass  from  the  British  round  barrows.  They  exhibit  no  greater 
difference  than  the  refinement  of  type  due  to  the  progress 
from  neolithic  barbarism  to  the  high  civilisation  of  Rome.  The 
oldest  Umbrian  settlements  prove  that  the  Umbrians,  when 
they  arrived  in  Italy,  lived  chiefly  by  the  chase,  and  had 
domesticated  the  ox  and  the  sheep.  Agriculture  even  of  the 
rudest  description,  seems  to  have  been  unknown,  since  no 
cereals  were  found,  but  there  were  considerable  stores  of 
hazel-nuts,  of  water-chestnuts,  and  of  acorns,  some  of  which 
had  been  already  roasted  for  food.  Before  the  arrival  of  the 
Umbro-Latin  race,  Italy  was  inhabited  by  Iberian  and  Ligu- 
rian  tribes,  the  former  dolicho-cephalic,  and  the  latter  highly 
brachy-cephalic,  with  an  index  of  92.  The  round-barrow 
race,  which  we  have  traced  from  the  Tyne  to  the  Tiber, 
extended  eastward  down  the  Danube,  and  across  the  great 
plain  of  Russia.  All  the  nations  of  Slavic  speech  are  brachy- 
cephalic,  and  their  hair  and  eyes  are  mostly  light  in  colour. 
The  Great  Russians  are  brachy-cephalic ;  so  also  are  the 
Finno-Urgic  tribes  beyond  the  frontier  of  Aryan  speech.  The 
mean  cephalic  index  of  the  Mongols  is  8t,  which  is  precisely 
that  of  the  round -bar  row  people  whom  they  resemble  in  their 
prognathism,  their  high  cheek  bones,  and  the  squareness  of 
the  face, 


XV.]  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  339 

The  foregoing  investigation  which  has  been  condensed 
from  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor's  excellent  book,  the  Origin  of  tht 
Aryans  (81-91)  "  has  brought  us  to  the  conclusion  at  which 
Dr.  Thurnam  arrived  many  years  ago.  He  says  that  to  him  it 
appears  to  be  proved  that  the  type  of  the  Celtic  skull,  at  least 
that  of  the  dominant  race  in  the  bronze  period  in  Britain,  was 
of  the  brachy-cephalic  '  Turanian  type/  How  Celtic  be- 
came  the  language  of  a  people  witli  this  Turanian  skull- 
form,  and  how  this  Turanian  skull-form  became  the  skull- 
form  of  a  Celtic  and  so-called  Indo-European  people  are 
questions  which  he  thinks  are  yet  to  be  determined.  Mean- 
while,  he  continues,  the  idea  of  a  connection  between  the 
ancient  Celtic  brachy-cephalic  type  and  that  of  the  modern 
Mongolian  or  Turanian  peoples  of  Asia,  cannot  be  over- 
looked, and  remains  for  explanation."1  Whatever  may  be 
the  explanation  of  the  European  savants,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  some  of  the  chief  Aryan-speaking  races  —  the  Celts, 
the  Danes,  the  Umbrians,  the  Romans,  the  Greeks  and  the 
Slavs  —  belong  to  the  brachy-cephalic  type,  found  in  the 
neolithic  round  barrows  of  Britain.  We  have  seen  that  these 
races  stretch  in  a  broad  continuous  zone  across  Central  Europe 
into  Asia.  The  fact  that  they  are  of  the  Turanian  type  lends 
a  strong  colour  to  the  view  that  they  originally  came  from 
Asia  to  Europe  with  Aryan  speech.  How  could  the  Tura- 
nians acquire  this  speech  is  a  problem  which  has  perplexed 
those  European  scholars  who  are  unwilling  to  admit  that  the 
original  home  of  the  Aryans  was  in  Asia.  But  it  is  easily 
solved  if  we  look  for  this  home  not  in  Northern  Europe,  or 
the  Arctic  regions,  or  Central  Asia,  but  in  Sapta-Sindhu  in 
India  whence,  as  we  have  shown,  waves  after  waves  of  nomadic 
Aryans,  in  more  or  less  savage  conditions,  emigrated  or  were 
compelled  to  emigrate  towards  the  west.  It  is  extremely  likely 
that  they  met  the  Turanian  or  Mongolian  hordes  in  Western 
Asia,  and  having  been  more  civilised,  imposed  their  speech 


p.  Q2. 


340  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

and  culture  on  them,  which  they  carried  to  Europe  in  their 
onward  march  westward  through  the  central  regions  of  the 
continent  up  the  valley  of  the  Danube  till  they  reached  Britain, 
and  also  northward  through  the  steppes  and  fertile  plains  of 
Russia.  It  is  probable  that  an  amalgamation  of  the  Aryan 
and  Turanian  nomadic  tribes  had  taken  place  long  before  they 
entered  Europe,  and  as  the  latter  were  more  numerous  than 
the  Aryans,  the  dominant  type  of  the  amalgamated  product 
was  Mongolian  or  Turanian,  though  their  speech  and  culture 
were  Aryan.  As  Dr.  Taylor  says  :  "When  two  distinct  races 
are  in  contact,  they  may,  under  certain  circumstances,  mix 
their  blood,  but  the  tendency  as  a  rule  is  to  revert  to  the 
character  of  that  race  which  is  either  superior  in  numbers, 
prepotent  in  physical  energy,  or  which  conforms  best  to  the 
environment."3  Further  on  he  says  :  ''While  race  is  to  a 
great  extent  persistent,  language  is  extremely  mutable.  Many 
countries  have  repeatedly  changed  their  speech,  while  the 
race  has  remained  essentially  the  same.  Language  seems 
almost  independent  of  race.  Neo-Latin  languages  are  spoken 
in  Bucharest  and  Mexico,  Brussels  and  Palermo ;  Aryan 
languages  in  Stockholm  and  Bombay,  Dublin  and  Teheran, 
Moscow  and  Lisbon,  but  the  amount  of  common  blood  is 
infinitesimal  or  non-existent.'"2  In  illustration  of  his  point  he 
mentions  the  Spaniards  who  have  imposed  a  Latin  dialect  on 
a  large  portion  of  the  New  World,  and  asks  "Were  they 
Latins,  or  even  Aryans  in  blood  ?  Spain  was  originally  Iberian 
or  Berber.  In  prehistoric  times  the  Celts  wrested  a  large 
portion  of  the  peninsula  from  the  Iberians,  the  Phoenicians 
founded  populous  and  important  cities,  the  Vandals,  Goths 
and  Suevi  poured  in  from  the  north,  and  the  Moors  and  Arabs 
from  the  south.  The  speech,  and  very  little  more  than  the 
speech,  is  Latin  ;  the  Roman,  of  whose  blood  the  trace  must 
be  extremely  small,  have  imprinted  their  language  upon 

*    Ibid  p.  ao3, 
»    Ibid,  p.  204. 


XV.]  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  341 

Spain ;  and  the  Spaniards,  by  reason  of  their  speech,  are 
reckoned  among  the  Latin  races."1 

Similarly  the  Celts,  who  belonged  to  the  Turanian  type, 
are  wrongly  called  Aryans,  because  their  speech  was  Aryan. 
The  physical  type  of  the  Aryans  who  were  small  in  number 
was  absorbed  in  theirs,  and  the  only  relic  of  the  Aryans  that 
was  left  in  them  was  their  superior  speech  and  culture.  "In 
the  neolithic  period,"  says  Dr.  Taylor,  "Aryan  languages  can 
hardly  have  been  spoken  by  more  than  a  million  persons. 
At  the  present  time  they  are  spoken  probably  by  600  millions 
— half  the  population  of  the  globe."2  This  goes  to  show  that 
"Aryan  speech  specially  seems  to  possess  the  power  of 
exterminating  non-Aryan  dialects."  We  need  not  wonder 
therefore,  at  the  fact  that  while  the  Aryan  type  disappeared, 
the  Aryan  speech  remained  predominant  in  the  amalgamation 
that  had  been  formed  out  of  the  Aryan  and  Turanian  savages 
in  prehistoric  times  in  Europe.  The  Celts,  the  Slavs,  the 
Lithuanians,  the  Hellenes  and  the  Latins  were  Aryan  in 
speech  but  Turanian  or  Mongolian  in  physical  type.  The 
dolicho-cephalic  Teutons  were  the  descendants  of  the 
Canstadts,  a  north  African  race,  who  received  their  Aryan 
speech  and  culture  from  the  Celts,  Slavs  and  Lithuanians. 

This  seems  to  me  to  be  the  real  explanation  of  the  pro- 
blem with  which  Dr.  Thurnam  and  scholars  of  his  way  of 
thinking  were  confronted,  viz.)  how  and  why  did  Celtic 
become  the  language  of  a  people  with  Turanian  skull-form 
and  how  and  why  the  Turanian  skull-form  became  the  skull- 
form  of  a  Celtic  and  so  called  Indo-European  people.  This 
hypothesis  is  strongly  supported  by  the  hoary  antiquity  of 
Sapta-Sindhu  and  the  Rgveda,  about  which  I  have  already 
adduced  ample  evidence  in  the  previous  chapters,  and  by  the 
existence  of  many  Aryan  tribes  in  more  or  less  advanced 
states  of  civilisation  in  Western  Asia,  who  must  have  pushed 
forward  the  savage  Aryan  and  Mongolian  hordes  to  Europe. 

1    Ibid,  p.  206. 
»    Ibid,  p,  208. 


34*  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

As  after  the  post-glacial  epoch,  Central  and  Northern  Europe 
afforded  suitable  regions  for  wandering  or  settlement  to  the 
nomads,  they  must  have  readily  passed  into  Europe  through 
the  isthmus  of  Bosphorus,  just  as  the  Canstadts  had  in  an 
earlier  age  emigrated  to  North  Europe  from  Africa,  and  the 
Iberians  who  also  were  undoubtedly  a  North  African  and 
Atlantic  race,  had  followed  them  in  a  subsequent  age.  This 
in  our  humble  opinion,  would  also  clearly  explain  how  a 
people  with  Mongolian  or  Turanian  physical  characteristics 
and  Aryan  speech  occupied  a  large  portion  of  Europe,  and 
imposed  the  Aryan  speech,  and  such  Aryan  culture  as  they 
had  possessed  or  imbibed  on  the  dolicho-cephalic  prehistoric 
peoples  of  Europe,  vis.,  the  Canstadts  and  the  Iberians. 

We  have  given  a  sufficient  idea  of  the  state  of  civilisation 
of  the  last-named  two  peoples.  Of  the  Iberians  it  is  said  that 
they  were  troglodytes  and  cannibals.  "From  distant  parts 
of  Europe  where  the  remains  of  the  Iberian  race  are  found, 
there  is  evidence  that  they  were  occasionally  addicted  to  can- 
nibalism.  Such  evidence  is  supplied  by  human  bones  which 
have  been  broken  in  order  to  extract  the  marrow."1  The 
ethnology  of  Greece,  says  Dr.  Taylor,  is  obscure  ;  but  it  is 
probable  that  the  pre-Hellenic  autochthones  belonged  to  the 
Iberian  race,  and  that  the  Hellenic  invaders  were  of  the  same 
type  as  the  Umbrians  and  Romans. 

As  regards  the  Ligurians  who  were  called  "Celtae"  by 
Caesar  and  found  by  him  in  Gaul,  there  is  a  controversy  among 
European  savants  about  their  origin.  They  were  a  short, 
brachy-cephalic  race,  and  though  called  "Celtae"  by  Caesar 
were  not  as  tall  as  the  Celts  of  the  round  barrows.  Broca 
says  that  the  real  Celts  are  the  people  of  Central  France 
who  are  the  descendants  of  the  Celts  of  Caesar ;  and  that 
the  term  is  an  ethnological  misnomer,  if  applied  to  either  of 
tbe  two  British  races  by  whom  what  is  commonly  called 
"Celtic  speech"  is  spoken,  either  the  tall  red-haired  brachy- 
cephalic  Irishman  and  Scot,  or  the  short,  dark,  dolicho-cephalic 
1  Ibid,  pp.  100-101. 


XV.]  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  343 

race  of  Donegal,  Galway,  Kerry  and  South  Wales.  It  is  urged 
however  that  though  Caesar's  Celts  ( the  people  of  Central 
Gaul)  spoke  the  Celtic  language,  they  probably  acquired  it 
from  the  Belgic  Gauls  who  were  an  Aryan-speaking  people, 
and  imposed  their  culture  upon  them.  Many  English  writers, 
ignoring  Broca's  arguments,  identify  the  two  races,  the  short- 
statured  and  the  long-statured  Celts,  and  contend  that  the 
shorter  stature  and  the  darker  hair  of  the  race  of  Central 
France  arose  from  a  union  of  the  short,  dark,  dolicho-cephalic 
Iberians,  with  the  tall,  fair,  brachy-cephalic  people  of  the 
round  barrows.  Others  again  trace  their  origin  to  the  Fnrfooz 
race  whose  remains  have  been  found  in  the  valley  of  the 
Lessee,  a  small  river  which  joins  the  Meuse  near  Dinant  in 
Belgium.  "  They  seem  to  have  been  a  peaceful  people, 
possessing  no  bows  and  arrows  or  weapons  for  combat,  but 
merely  javelins  tipped  with  flint  or  rein-deer  horn,  with  which 
they  killed  wild  horses,  rein-deer,  wild  oxen,  boars,  goats, 
chamois  and  ibex,  as  well  as  squirrels,  lemmings,  and  birds, 
especially  the  ptarmigan... Their  clothing  consisted  of  skins 
sewn  together  with  bone-needles.  They  tattooed  or  painted 
themselves  with  red  oxide  and  iron,  and  wore  as  orna- 
ments shells,  plaques  of  ivory,  and  jet,  and  bits  of  fluor-spar."1 
It  has  been  found  that  the  skulls  of  the  Ligurians  resembled 
those  of  the  Lapps  and  Finns,  and  it  is  believed  that  the 
Celts  of  ethnology  and  the  Celts  of  philology,  the  two  brachy- 
cephalic  types,  may  have  been  remote  branches  of  the  same 
race  which  Dr.  Thurnam  has  called  Turanian.  It  is  in  the 
same  way  believed  that  the  two  dolicho-cephalic  races  of 
Europe,  iiz.,  the  tall  Canstadts  and  the  short  Iberians,  may 
have  been  descended,  at  some  very  remote  period,  from 
common  ancestors.  Whatever  may  be  the  probabilities,  it 
is  certain  that  the  dolicho-cephalic  races  came  from  Africa, 
and  the  brachy-cephalic  races  from  Asia.  Of  the  latter 
the  tall  Celts  spoke  the  Aryan  language,  and  imposed  it 
upon  the  ancient  peoples  of  Europe.  If  they  were  Turanians 

I  (bid  pp.  117-118. 


344  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

and  Mongols,  they  must  have  come  in   contact,  in  the  course 
of  their  wanderings,   with  some   Aryan  tribes   from   Sapta- 
Sindhu,  who  imposed  their  speech    upon    them.     The   amal- 
gamated race  who  are  known  as   Celts   brought   this   speech 
to  Europe,  and  imposed  it  again,    in  their  turn,  on  the   primi- 
tive rude  inhabitants  of  Europe,— the  Canstadts,  the  Iberians 
and  the  Ligurians,  the  last  probably  having  come   to   Europe 
from  Asia  with  a  non-Aryan  speech.     Those  of   the   Iberians 
who  did  not  come  in  contract  with   the   Celts   or  the   Celtae, 
like  the  Basques  of  Spain,  retained  their  original   non-Aryan 
dialects.     It  is  also  almost  certain  that  the   line   of   route   of 
the  Turanians  or   Celts   lay   through   Western    Asia   where 
they  had  an  opportunity  of  mixing   with   the    Aryan    nomads 
and  adopting  their   speech.     A  greater   portion   of   Central 
Asia  having  been  covered  by  seas,  it  was  not  at   all    possible 
for  primitive  savages  to  have  crossed  them   in   their   onward 
march  to  Europe.     It  was   only   when    the  shallow    beds    of 
the  seas  were  dried  up  and   converted   into  steppes   that    it 
was  possible  for  the  hordes  of  the   savage   Scythians,    Huns 
and  Goths  to  have  made  their  incursions   to   Europe    directly 
from     Central     Asia   across   the    plains.     But    these   events 
relate  to  comparatively  recent  and  historic  times. 

Says  Dr.  Taylor :  "  The  civilisation  which  we  find  in 
Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  historic  period  was  gradually 
evolved  during  a  vast  period  of  time,  and  was  not  introduced 
cataclysmically  by  the  immigration  of  a  new  race.  Just  as 
in  geological  speculation,  great  diluvial  catastrophes  have 
been  eliminated  and  replaced  by  the  action  of  existing  forces 
operating  during  enormous  periods  of  time,  so  the  prehistoric 
archaeologists  are  increasingly  disposed  to  substitute  slow 
progress  in  culture  for  the  older  theories  which  cut  every 
knot  by  theories  of  conquest  and  invasion  "*  It  is  believed 
that  the  neolithic  civilisation  commenced  in  Europe  more 
than  20,000  years  ago. 

*  ibid,  p.  132. 


XV.]         NEOLITHIC  CULTURE  IN  EUROPE.  945 

Dr.  Taylor  has  thus  summarised  the  state  of  neolithk 
culture  in  Europe  at  the  beginning  of  the  historic  period : 
"  It  is  believed  that  the  speakers  of  the  primitive  Aryan 
tongue  were  nomad  herdsmen  who  had  domesticated  the 
dog,  who  wandered  over  the  plains  of  Europe  in  waggons 
drawn  by  oxen,  who  fashioned  canoes  out  of  the  trunks  of 
trees,  but  were  ignorant  of  any  metal  with  the  possible  ex* 
ception  of  native  copper.  In  the  summer  they  lived  in  huts, 
built  of  branches  of  trees,  and  thatched  with  reeds ;  in  winter 
they  dwelt  in  circular  pits  dug  in  the  earth,  and  roofed  over 
with  poles,  covered  over  with  sods  of  turf,  or  plastered 
with  the  dung  of  cattle.  They  were  clad  in  skins  sewn 
together  with  bone  needles ;  they  were  acquainted  wftfc 
fire,  which  they  kindled  by  means  of  (ire-sticks  or  pyrites  ; 
and  they  were  able  to  count  up  to  a  hundred.  If  they 
practised  agriculture  which  is  doubtful,  it  must  have  been  of 
a  primitive  kind  ;  but  they  probably  collected  and  pounded 
in  stone  mortars  the  seeds  of  some  wild  cereals  either  spelt 
or  barley.  The  only  social  institution  was  marriage ;  but 
they  were  polygamists  and  practised  human  sacrifice.  Whether 
they  ate  the  bodies  of  enemies  slain  in  war  is  doubtful.  There 
were  no  enclosures,  and  property  consisted  in  cattle,  and  not 
in  land.  They  believed  in  a  future  life  ;  their  religion  was 
shamanistic ;  they  had  no  idols,  and  probably  no  gods  properly 
so-called  ;  they  reverenced  in  some  vague  way  the  powers 
of  nature."1 

The  above,  according  to  Dr.  Taylor,  is  "  a  general  picture 
of  primitive  Aryan  culture,"  But  from  the  results  of  ethno- 
logical investigations,  of  which  we  have  given  a  summary  in 
this  chapter,  our  readers  have  undoubtedly  been  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  there  was  absolutely  no  trace  of  the  Aryans, 
beyond  that  of  their  speech,  among  the  ancient  races  of 
Europe.  It  is  admitted  that  the  Celts  spoke  an  Aryan  tongue; 
but  they  have  been  found  to  belong  to  the  Turanian  or 
Mongolian  family,  and  European  scholars  are,  as  we  have 

1     /Wrf,  pp.  138-133. 

44 


346  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

said,  confronted  with  the  apparently  insoluble  problem   as   to 
how  Aryan  speech  was  propagated   in   Europe   by  a  people 
who  were  not  Aryans.    We  have  already  suggested  a  solution 
which  appears  to  us  to  be  the   only   solution    of   this   knotty 
problem.     The  Turanians,  in  the  course  of   their   journey  to 
Europe,  came  in  contact,  and  commingled  with  the  rude  Aryan 
tribes  who  had  been  driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  adopted 
their  speech  and  culture  which  they  took  with  them  to  Europe, 
and  imposed  upon  the  primitive  inhabitants  of  that  continent. 
The  Turanian  immigration  had  taken  place  long  long  before 
Babylonia  or  Egypt   flourished   under   the   influence   of  the 
aryanised   Dravidians   of   India.      The   neolithic  culture    of 
Europe  was  therefore  an   essentially  Turanian   culture,   and 
not  "  primitive  Aryan  culture,"  as  is  wrongly  supposed.     The 
original  habitat  or  cradle  of  the  Aryans  was  certainly  not   in 
Europe,  but  in   ancient    Sapta-Sindhu,   as   we    have   already 
proved  in  the  previous  chapters  ;   and  as  the    Rgvedic   civili- 
sation goes  back  to  later  geological  times,  probably  to  the  end 
of  the  Pleistocene  epoch,  it  would  be  as  impossible    to    draw 
a  picture  of  the  genuinely  primitive  culture   of   Sapta-Sindhu 
as  it  would  be  to  paint  a  landscape   in    utter   darkness.     But 
the  neolithic  culture  of  Europe  may  be  called  primitive  Aryan 
culture  in    this    sense   that    the    nomadic    Turanian    savages 
received  it  along  with  Aryan  speech  from  Aryan    tribes   who 
had  been,  like  themselves,  in  the  neolithic  stage  of  civilisation. 
This,  however,  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  Aryans  of 
Sapta-Sindhu  were  also  at  that  time   in   the   same   stage   of 
development  as  these  nomadic  Aryan    tribes    who   had   been 
the  dross  cast  out  of  the  genuine  race   in   the   course   of   its 
evolution  and  purification.     An  inference  like  this   would  be 
as  absurd  as  to  say  that  the  Dravidian  or  the    Kolarian    race 
is  still  in  the  neolithic  stage,  because,  forsooth,  the  Juangs  of 
Orissa  use  stone  implements  and  do    not   know   the   use   of 
metal  even  to  this  day.     Much   confusion    has   been    caused, 
and  many  insurmountable  difficulties   created   in   the   path 
pf  ascertaining  historical  truth  by  persistent  attempts  being 


XV.}  EUROPEAN  ETHNOLOGY.  347 

made  by  zealous  European  writers  to  connect  one  people 
with  another  from  mere  superficial  similarities  (for  instance, 
of  language),  and  to  read  the  history  of  one  race  in  the  light 
of  that  of  another.  It  is  because  the  Europeans  believe 
themselves  to  be  Aryans  on  account  of  their  languages  which 
are  undoubtedly  of  Aryan  origin  and  also  because  the  neolithic 
age  lasted  in  Europe  down  to  very  recent  times,  stone 
implements,  according  to  M.  Arcelin,  having  continued  to  be 
used  in  Central  Gaul  as  late  as  1150  B.  C,  that  they  cannot 
conceive  that  a  branch  of  their  race,  as  they  believe  the 
Indo-Aryans  to  be,  could  possess  a  civilisation  older  than 
3000  B.  C.,  at  most.  They  picture  the  Indo-Aryans  to  have 
passed  through  the  same  stages  of  civilisation  during  the 
same  period  of  time  as  their  own  ancestors.  But  the 
results  of  ethonological  investigations  clearly  demonstrate 
that  their  ancestors  were  no  others  than  the  dolicho-cephalic 
Canstadts  and  Iberians  who  had  been  the  original  inhabitants 
of  Africa,  and  the  brachy-cephalic  Turanians  or  Celts 
who  had  brought  the  Aryan  speech  with  them  from  Asia. 
In  spite  of  this  indubitable  fact  and  the  dictum  laid  down 
by  Cuno  that  race  is  not  co-extensive  with  language — a 
dictum  which  is  now  looked  upon  as  an  axiom  in  ethnology, 
European  scholars  are  eager  to  call  the  European  races 
Aryans.  Posche  urged,  as  Broca  had  done  before,  that 
while  there  may  be  Aryan  languages,  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  an  Aryan  race,  and  language  is  only  one,  and  that  the 
least  important  factor  in  the  enquiry.  The  first  part  of  his 
assertion  would  be  true,  if  it  were  applied  to  Europe  only  ; 
for  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  Aryan  race  in  that  continent. 
The  Aryans  who  immigrated  there  with  the  Turanians  had 
been  so  completely  amalgamated  by  them  as  to  make  the 
Turanian  type  dominant  in  the  resultant  product.  It  is 
possible,  however,  that  in  later  times  more  advanced  Aryan 
tribes  from  Iran  and  the  precincts  of  Sapta-Sindhu  emigrated 
to  Europe,  as  there  is  evidence  of  their  having  done  so  in 
the  Zend-Avesta,  and  marching  through  the  southern  plains 


340  fGVEWC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  Russia  settled  down  in  the  north  and  the  north-east  of 
that  country  as  Slavs  and   Lithuanians.     Among  existing 
languages  of  Europe,   Lithuanian,   like   Sanskrit,  preserves 
the  primitive  forms  of  Aryan  speech.     The  Slavonic  language 
shares  certain  peculiarities   with   Iranian,   just  as  Greek  is 
more  closely   related    to    Sanskrit    than     Latin.     Schmidt 
showed  that  the  more  geographically  remote   were   any   two 
of  the   Aryan   languages,    the  fewer   were   the   peculiarities 
they  possessed  in  common.     "  Thus,   while   there  are   fifty- 
nine    words     and   roots   peculiar  to   Slavo-Lithuanian    and 
Teutonic,  and  sixty-one  to  Salvo- Lithuanian  and  Indo-Iranian, 
only  thirteen   are   peculiar    to    Indo-Iranian    and   Teutonic. 
Again,  while  one  hundred   and   thirty-two   words   and   roots 
are  peculiar  to  Latin  and   Greek,   and  ninety-nine   to  Greek 
and  Indo-Iranian,  only  twenty   are   peculiar   to    Indo-Iranian 
and  Latin.     Hence   Slavonic   forms    the   transition   between 
Teutonic  and   Iranian,   and   Greek    the  transition   between 
Latin  and  Sanskrit.1'1  This,  in  our  opinion,  goes  to  show  that 
Slavo-Lithuanian  drew  its  supply   of   vocabulary   from  Indo- 
Iranian,   and   the   Teutonic   from    Slavo-Lithuanian.     If   the 
Aryan  tongue  had  been  originally  developed   in   Europe,   the 
number   of  words  and    roots   peculiar   to   Slavo-Lithuanian 
and  Teutonic  would  have  been  far  larger  on  account  of  their 
close  proximity  to  one  another  than  that  of  words   and   roots 
peculiar   to   Slavo-Lithuanian   and    Indo-Iranian.     The   fact 
that  there  are   only   thirteen   words   and   roots   peculiar  to 
Indo-Iranian   and   Teutonic,     and   only   twenty  peculiar  to 
Indo-Iranian  and  Latin   is  explained  by  the  remoteness  of 
Teutonic  and   Latin   from    the  central   source,   viz.,    Indo- 
Iranian.     This  would  also  explain  why  Greek  is  more  closely 
related  to   Indo-Iranian   or   Sanskrit  than   Latin   or  Slavo- 
Lithuanian.     The  remoter  you  go  from   the  central   source, 
the  less  becomes  the  number  of  the  common  words  and  roots 
peculiar  to  two    languages.     It  should   be   remembered  in 
this  connection  that  the  Greek  and   Roman  civilisations  are 

i  ibid,  pp.  35-36. 


XV.J     THEORY  OP  ARYAN  CRADLE.      349 

comparatively  of  recent  date  ;  and  the  neolithic  civilisation 
of  Europe  as  possessed  by  the  lake-dwellers  of  Switzerland 
continued  to  a  time  when  the  highly  developed  civilisations 
of  Babylonia  and  Egypt  had  commenced  to  decline.  We 
have  shown  in  the  previous  chapters  that  these  civilisations 
drew  their  main  inspiration  from  Indo-Aryan  civilisation, 
and  that  while  Hommel  has  discovered  six  culture- words  in 
the  Semitic  language,  which  are  Aryan,  Delitzsch  claims 
to  have  identified  one  hundred  Semitic  roots  with  Aryan 
roots.  This  goes  to  show  that  the  cradles  of  these  two  races 
were  situated  in  contiguous  regions,  and  Europe  could  not 
have  been  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race. 

Dr.  Schrader  is  a  stout  champion  of  the  European  cradle 
of  the  Aryans.  He  thinks  that  not  a  particle  of  evidence  has 
been  adduced  in  favour  of  Aryan  migration  from  the  East 
But  we  have  shown  that  various  Aryan  tribes  migrated  from 
India  towards  the  west  in  very  ancient  times,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  emigration  of  such  races  as  the  Iranians,  the 
Kurds,  the  Kossaeans,  the  Mitannians,  the  Hittites,  the 
Phrygians,  the  Lydians,  the  Armenians,  and  the  Phoenicians! 
all  of  whom  spoke  Aryan  dialects  in  ancient  times, 
and  some  of  whom  do  so  even  to  the  present  day.  The 
Egyptian  and  the  Babylonian  civilisations  which  date 
from  7,000  or  10,000  B.  C.  owed  their  origins,  as  we  have 
already  shown,  to  Indo-Aryan  civilisation.  Dr.  Schrader 
thinks  that  the  Phrygians  came  to  Asia  from  Europe,  probably 
from  the  fact  that  the  Briges  of  Thrace  were  closely  related 
to  the  Phrygians ;  but  the  latter  believed  that  they  were  the 
older  people,  and  that  the  Briges  emigrated  from  Asia  to 
Europe.  These  Briges  or  Phrygians  were,  as  we  have  already 
pointed,  probably  a  branch  of  the  Brjis  mentioned  in  the  Rg- 
veda.  As  for  the  Armenians,  they  were  only  an  extension 
of  the  Phrygians  and  cannot  be  said  to  have  come  from 
Europe  to  Asia.  Dr.  Schrader  admits  that  certain  races  and 
languages  of  Europe  are  more  closely  connected  with  those 
of  Asia  than  the  rest,  and  notes  the  close  relations  between 


350  BLGVEDIC  INDIA. 

the  Indo-Aryans  and  the  Greeks,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  names 
of  weapons  and  of  words  referring  to  agriculture  and  religion. 
Yet  he  cannot  bring  himself  to  believe  that  the  Greeks  were 
the  descendants  of  Aryan  immigrant  tribes  from  India.  Ethno- 
logists have  proved  that  they  were  the  mixed  products  of  the 
brachy-cephalic  Turanian  race  speaking  Aryan  tongue,  and 
the  primitive  Iberians.  The  origin  of  the  Celts,  Slavs  and 
Lithuanians  has  also  been  traced  to  the  amalgamated  Tura- 
nians and  Aryans.  The  former  are  undoubtedly  an  Asiatic 
people,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  Turanian  type  in  almost 
all  the  principal  European  races,  with  the  excep  ion  of  the 
Teutons  and  the  Swedes,  unmistakably  points  to  an  early 
immigration  of  an  Asiatic  people  to  Europe  in  prehistoric 
times.  The  very  fact  that  they  spoke  an  Aryan  language 
shows  that  it  was  imposed  on  them  by  Aryan  tribes  that  had 
been  amalgamated  with  them.  None  can  certainly  overlook 
this  stern  fact  before  trying  to  establish  the  hypothesis  of  the 
early  cradle  of  the  Aryans  in  Europe.  Schrader  admits  that 
the  Indo-Iranian  speech  is  more  developed  and  refined  than 
the  European  ;  but  he  says  that  the  greater  rudeness  of  the 
European  languages  is  itself  the  sign  of  a  more  primitive 
condition  than  the  literary  culture  exibited  by  Zend  and 
Sanskrit.  This  may  be  true  to  a  certain  extent,  but  he  seems 
to  have  overlooked  the  possibility  of  these  rude  Aryan 
languages  having  been  taken  to  Europe  by  rude  Aryan 
tribes  amalgamated  with  the  Turanians  in  prehistoric  times, 
and  also  the  fact  that  as  they  were  cut  off  from  the 
parent  stock  in  Asia,  their  language  remained  in  its  primitive 
condition,  while  the  original  language  went  on  growing  and 
developing  in  the  land  of  its  birth,  till  it  blossomed  forth  into 
Sanskrit  and  Zend.  The  reason  of  the  close  relation  between 
the  Indo-Aryans  and  the  Greeks  wa<>  probably  no  other  than 
the  fact  that  Greece  was,  as  it  were,  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween Asia  and  Europe,  and  served  as  a  dumping  ground  of 
the  Aryan  immigrants  to  Europe,  whence  they  dispersed 
either  westward  or  northward.  As  I  have  already  said,  the 


XV.]          ARYAN  CRADLE  NOT  IN  EUROPE.  351 

close  connection  of  Lithuanian  with  Iranian  is  accounted  for 
by  an  Iranian  immigration  to  the  north  of  Europe  in  prehistorio 
times,  under  the  leadership  of  Yima,  when  Airyana  Vaejo  was 
destroyed  by  the  invasion  of  ice. 

It  is  useless  further  to  discuss  the  hypothesis  of  Aryan 
home  in  Europe.  The  attempts  of  European  scholars  to  prove 
it  have  failed,  and  I  should  say,  signally  failed,  from  their 
utter  inability  to  explain  the  existence  of  a  Turanian  type 
with  Aryan  speech  in  some  of  the  principal  modern  races  of 
Europe.  The  attempt  to  prove  that  the  Teutons  and  the 
Swedes  represented  the  true  Aryan  type  has  also  failed  from 
ethnical  and  linguistic  points  of  view.  As  Dr.  Taylor  says  : 
"It  is  not  probable  that  the  dolicho-cephalic  savages  of  the 
kitchen-middens,  or  the  dolicho-cephalic  cannibals  who 
buried  in  the  caves  of  Southern  and  Western  Europe  could 
have  aryanised  Europe.  It  is  far  more  likely  that  it  was  the 
people  of  the  round  barrows,  the  race  which  erected 
Stonehenge  and  Avebury,  the  people  who  constructed  the 
pile-dwellings  in  Germany,  Switzerland  and  Italy,  the  brachy- 
cephalic  ancestors  of  the  Umbrians,  the  Celts  and  the  Latins, 
who  uere  those  who  introduced  the  neolithic  culture,  and 
imposed  their  own  Aryan  speech  on  the  ruder  tribes  which 
they  subdued.'*1  Elsewhere  he  says  :  "  It  is  an  easier  hypo- 
thesis to  suppose  that  the  dolicho-cephalic  savages  of  the  Baltic 
coast  acquired  Aryan  speech  from  their  brachy -cephalic  neigh- 
bours, the  Lithuanians,  than  to  suppose  with  Penka  that  they 
succeeded  in  some  remote  age  in  aryanising  the  Hindus,  the 
Romans  and  the  Greeks.1'-  M.  Chavee  also  says  that  of  the 
dolicho-cephalic  and  brachy-cephalic  races  in  Europe,  the 
intellectual  superiority  lies  with  the  latter.  Look,  he  says, 
at  the  beautifully  formed  head  of  the  Iranians  and  the  Hindus 
so  intelligent,  and  so  well  developed.  Look  at  the  perfection 
of  those  admirable  languages,  the  Sanskrit  and  the  Zend. 
The  Germans  have  merely  defaced  and  spoilt  the  beautitul 

1  Ibidt  pp.  212-213. 

•    Ibid,  p.  243. 


35*  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

structure  of  the  primitive  Aryan  speech.  Ujfalvy  says  :  "  If 
superiority  consists  merely  in  physical  energy,  enterprise, 
invasion,  conquest,  then  the  fair  dolicho-cephalic  race  may 
claim  to  be  the  leading  race  in  the  world ;  but  if  we  consider 
mental  qualities,  the  artistic  and  the  intellectual  faculties,  then 
the  superiority  lies  with  the  brachy-cephalic  race."  De 
Mortillet  is  also  of  opinion  that  the  civilisation  of  Europe  is 
due  to  the  brachy-cephalic  race.  We  may,  therefore,  dismiss 
the  claims  of  the  Teutons  and  the  Swedes  to  be  the  original 
Aryan  race.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  seen  that  the 
majority  of  the  European  races  are  a  mixed  product  of 
African  and  Asiatic  races  ;  and  the  dolicho-cephalic  races  of 
the  North,  who  are  of  a  pronounced  African  type,  are  only 
entitled  to  be  called  Aryans  on  account  of  their  speech  which 
they  received  from  their  brachy-cephalic  neighbours.  We 
can,  therefore,  say  with  Pdsche  and  Broca  that  while  there 
may  be  Aryan  languages,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  Aryan 
race  in  Europe.1 

1  It  has  already  been  pointed  out  in  Chap.  VIII  that  recent  discoveries 
in  Europe  have  somewhat  modified  the  viewes  of  Ethnologists  regarding  the 
early  inhabitants  of  Europe.  The  Hei  del  bergs  were  the  earliest  known  peoples 
of  Europe,  who  were  followed  by  the  Neanderthalers  probably  belonging  to  the 
same  nee.  The  Canstadts  may  have  belonged  to  this  race.  Next  appeared 
on  the  scene,  the  Cro-Magnards,  probably  an  Asiatic  people  with  Mongolian 
characteristics,  and  the  Grimaldis,  who  were  an  African  people.  These  two 
racea  nearly  extirpated  the  Neanderthalers,  and  represented  the  first  true  men 
(B*mo  Sapient).  These  two  races  were  afterwards  superseded  by  a  Neolithic 
race  with  superior  culture  and  probably  Aryan  speech,  who  had  come  from 
South-Western  Asia,  probably  Northern  India  and  Persia,  and  been  amal- 
gamated with  the  Cro-Magnards  and  the  Grimadis.  This  race  was  the  ancestors 
of  most  of  the  modern  European  nations.  (Vide  Das'  1-tgvedic  Culture,  Ckmp.  /.) 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  THEORY  OF  THB  ARYAN  CRADLE  IN  CENTRAL  ASIA. 

4<  Sir  William  Jones  made  his  memorable  declaration  in 
1786  that  Sanskrit,  Greek,  Latin,  German  and  Celtic  belonged 
to  one  family  of  speech,  and  that  these  had  a  common  origin. 
Hegel  regarded  this  discovery  as  the  discovery  of  a  new 
world."  From  that  time  the  new  science  of  Comparative 
Philology  came  into  being.  Bopp  published  his  Comparative 
Grammar  in  1833-35,  and  placed  Comparative  Philology  on 
a  scientific  footing  by  discovering  the  method  of  the  com- 
parison of  gramatical  forms.  He  also  showed  that  Zend  and 
Slavonic  as  well  as  Albanian  and  Armenian  must  be  included 
in  what  he  called  the  Indo-Germanic  family.  "  The  great 
linguistic  family,"  says  Dr.  Taylor,  "  whose  existence  was 
thus  established,  embraces  seven  European  groups  of 
languages — the  Hellenic,  Italic,  Celtic,  Teutonic,  Slavonic, 
Lithuanic  or  Lettic,  and  Albanian  ;  in  fact  all  the  existing 
language  of  Europe 'except  Basque,  Finnic,  Magyar  and 
Turkish.  There  are  also  three  closely  related  Asiatic  groups  ; 
lir*t,  the  Indie,  containing  fourteen  Indian  languages  derived 
from  Sanskrit ;  secondly,  the  Iranic  group,  comprising  Zend, 
Persian,  Pushtu  or  Afghan,  Baluchi,  Kurdish  and  Ossetic ; 
and  thirdly,  the  Armenian,  which  is  intermediate  between 
Greek  and  Iranian.*'1 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  Aryan  languages  extend 
from  India  to  the  extreme  west  and  north  of  Europe  almost 
uninterruptedly,  barring  only  parts  of  Western  Asia  occupied 
by  the  Semitic  races,  Turkey  in  Europe,  and  a  few  other 
regions  of  the  continent.  Had  not  the  Semitic  and  Turanian 
races  interposed  themselves  in  a  later  age  between  Indo- 
Irania  and  Europe,  and  absorbed  into  their  families  many 
Aryan  tribes  of  Western  Asia,  who  spoke  Aryan  dialects, 


Taytar,  Origimtf  tH*  Aryans^  p.  3. 
45 


354  RGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

the  continuity  of  the  Aryan  languages  would   have   remained 
unbroken  from  India  to  the  farthest  ends  of  Europe. 

\Ve  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  Sanskrit 
and  Zend  are  the  oldest  and  most  developed  forms  of  the 
Aryan  tongue,  uith  literatures  that  date  from  hoary  antiquity  ; 
and  though  Lithuanian  bears  many  archaic  forms  similar  to 
those  of  Sanskrit  and  Zend,  it  possesses  no  ancient  literature, 
and  has  practically  remained  in  the  same  condition  in  which 
probably  it  was  taken  to  Europe  by  migrant  tribes  from 
Iran  or  India  in  some  by-gone  times.  The  very  fact  that 
Greek  also  is  closely  allied  to  Sanskrit  points  to  the  later 
migration  of  the  Hellenes  to  Europe.  The  spread  of  the 
Aryan  language  over  Europe  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
effected  by  a  Turanian  race  who  are  known  in  history  as 
the  Celts.  This  fact  stands  undoubted  and  unchallenged, 
whatever  may  be  the  contentions  of  German  and  French 
scholars  as  regards  their  respective  claims  to  be  the  original 
Aryan  people.  The  Canstadts  the  Iberians  and  probably 
the  Ligurians  had  already  been  in  Europe  when  these 
aryanised  Turanians  madr  their  appearance  as  intruders  or 
conquerors  and  imposed  their  speech  and  neolithic  culture 
on  the  aborigines  There  was,  therefore,  no  direct  immigra- 
tion of  Aryans  to  Europe,  but  of  Turanians  with  whom  the 
rude  Aryan  tribes  had  been  amalgamated.  This  mixed 
people  were  the  ancestors  of  most  of  the  modern  nations  of 
Europe,  who  are  Aryans  in  speech  but  not  in  blood.  The 
dolicho-cephalic  Teutons  and  Swedes,  though  not  Aryan  in 
blood,  are  Aryan  in  speech  which  they  imbibed  from  their 
aryanised  neighbours. 

If  these  premises  be  correct,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  pure  Aryans,  as  represented  by  the  Hindus  and  the 
Iranians,  did  not  emigrate  to  Europe  in  a  body  or  in  tribes. 
It  was  the  mixed  Turanians  who  emigrated  to  Europe,  with 
Aryan  tongue  and  neolithic  culture,  in  waves  after  waves,  from 
Central  and  Western  Asia,  the  more  advanced  tribes  driving 
before  them  those  that  were  less  advanced.  And  if  any 


XVI.]    THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE.     355 

Aryan  tribes  at  all  immigrated  later  on  to  Europe,  they  also 
got  themselves  mixed  up  with  the  then  existing  races.  There 
is  indeed  some  evidence  in  the  Zend-Avesta  of  at  least  one 
Iranian  tribe  having  gone  to  the  drcumpolar  regions  under 
the  leadership  of  Yima,  when  their  Paradise  or  settlement 
in  Airyana  Vaejo  was  destroyed  by  ice.  But  this  immigration 
probably  took  place  in  a  later  age.  It  is  most  likely  that 
they  settled  in  North  Russia,  in  as  much  as  we  find  a  close 
resemblance  between  Lithuanian  and  Iranian,  and  afterwards 
became  amalgamated  with  the  indigenous  peoples. 

The  resemblance  of  Zend  and  Sanskrit  to  the  principal 
languages  of  Europe  led  some  eminent  scholars  of  the  last 
century  to  broach  the  hypothesis  that  the  ancestors  of  the 
Europeans,  and  the  Hindus  and  Iranians  must  have  originally 
lived  in  some  place  of  Central  Asia  close  to  Iran  or  Bactria, 
from  which,  guided  by  "  an  irresistible  impulse,11  many  tribes 
marched  towards  the  west,  and  settled  in  different  parts  of 
Europe.  Those  that  did  not  migrate  to  Europe  marched 
southwards,  and  while  one  branch  settled  in  Iran,  the  other 
crossed  the  Himalaya,  and  settled  in  the  land  of  the  Five 
Rivers.  What  this  "  irresistible  impulse"  was  due  to,  and 
why  the  original  home  was  abandoned  by  all  the  Aryan 
tribes  has  not  been  made  clear. 

Professor  Max  Muller  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Science  of 
Language,  delivered  in  1861,  said  that  there  was  a  time 
11  when  the  first  ancestors  of  the  Indians,  the  Persians,  the 
Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Slavs,  the  Celts  and  the  Germans 
were  living  together  within  the  same  enclosures,  nay  under 
the  same  roof."  He  further  argues  that  because  the  same 
forms  of  speech  are  "  preserved  by  all  the  members  of  the 
Aryan  family,  it  follows  that  before  the  ancestors  of  the 
Indians  and  Persians  started  for  the  south,  and  the  leaders 
of  the  Greek,  Roman,  Celtic,  Teutonic  and  Slavonic  colonies 
marched  towards  the  shores  of  Europe,  there  was  a  small 
clan  of  Aryans,  settled  probably  on  the  highest  elevation  of 


^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Central  Asia  speaking  a  language  not  yet  Sanskrit   or  Greek 
or  German,  1*it  corrtainmg  the  dialectical  germs  of  all.  " 

The  above  observation  was  based  on  philological  grounds 
only.  But  the  assumption  of  identity  of  race  from  identity  of 
speech  made  by  philologists  has  been  decisively  disproved 
amd  -rejected  by  anthropologists.  The  French  anthropologists, 
and  more  especially  Broca,  first  raised  the  needful  protest.  He 
dbserve-s  that  "races  have  frequently  within  the  historic  period 
Cbatiged  their  language  without  having  apparently  changed 
the  race  or  type.  The  Belgians,  for  instance,  speak  a  neo- 
Latin  language,  but  of  all  the  races  who  have  mingled  their 
blood  with  that  of  the  autochthones  of  Belgium,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  one  which  has  left  less  trace  than  the  people 
of  Rome."  Hence  he  says  that  '  the  ethnological  value  of 
comparative  philology  is  extremely  small.  Indeed,  it  is  apt 
to  be  misleading  rather  than  otherwise.  But  philological 
facts  and  deductions  are  more  striking  than  minute  measure- 
ments  of  skulls,  and  therefore  the  conclusions  of  philologists 
have  received  more  attention. ;> 

Topinard,  a  distinguished  follower  of  Broca,  also  remarks 
that  it  has  been  proved  that  the  anthropological  types  in 
Europe  havn  b<>en  cotinuous,  and  if  the  Aryans  came  from 
Asia,  they  can  have  brought  with  them  nothing  but  their  lang- 
uages, their  civilisation,  and  a  knowledge  of  metals.  Their 
blood  has  disappeared. 

In  spite  of  the  anthropological  evidences  disproving  the 
common  origin  of  the  Aryan-speaking  races  of  Europe  and  Asi.i, 
fche  philologists  continued  to  believe  in  it,  the  theory  having 
apparently  captured  their  imagination.  They  were  agreed 
that  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race  must  be  sought  in  Central 
Asia  on  the  upper  water  of  the  Oxus.  But  the  Central  Asian 
theory  had  first  been  propounded  in  1820  by  J.  G.  Rhode. 
His  .argument  was  based  on  the  geographical  indications 
ectttkained  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Vcndidad,  which  pointed 
<te>  fiactria  as  the  earlier  home  of  the  Iranians.  But  even 
tong  after  Rhode,  in  1876  Mommjen  declared  that  the  -valley 


THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE.     357 

of  the  Euphrates  was  the  primitive  seat  of  the  Fttdo-Germanic 
race,  and  as  late  as  1888,  Dr.  Hale  advocated  the  theory  in  a 
paper  read  before  the  Anthropological  Section  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  for  the  Advancement  ot  Science. 

Rhode's  hypothesis,  however,  found  adherents  in  Schlegel 
and  Pott.  The  latter  based  his  argument  on  the  aphorism 
ex  oriente  lux.  Ths  path  of  the  sun  must  be  the  path  of  cul- 
ture. In  Asia,  he  declares,  or  nowhere,  was  the  school-house 
where  the  families  of  mankind  were  trained.  He  fixes  on  the 
region  watered  by  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes,  north  of  the 
Himalaya,  and  east  of  the  Caspian,  as  the  true  cradle  of  the 
Indo-European  race.  In  1847  Las  sen  declared  his  adherence 
to  the  view  of  Pott  on  the  ground  that  the*  Sanskrit  people 
must  have  penetrated  into  the  Punjab  from  the  north-west 
through  Cabul,  and  that  the  traditions  of  the  Avesta  point  to 
the  slopes  of  the  Belurtag  and  the  M  us  tag  as  the  place  of 
th^ir  earlier  sojourn.  In  1848,  this  opinion  received  the 
powerful  support  of  Jacob  Grimm  who  lays  it  down  as  an  ac- 
cepted conclusion  of  science  that  "  all  the  nations  of  Europe 
migrated  anciently  from  Asia ;  in  the  vanguard  those  related 
races  whose  destiny  it  was  through  the  moil  and  peril  to 
struggle  onwards,  their  forward  march  from  east  to  west 
being  prompted  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  whose  precise 
cause  is  hidden  in  obscurity.  The  farther  to  the  Tvest  any 
race  has  penetrated,  so  much  the  earlier  it  must  have  started 
on  its  pilgrimage,  and  so  much  the  more  profound  will  be  the 
footprints  which  it  impressed  upon  its  track." 

Professor  Max  Miiller  adopted  Grimm's  theory  in  1859 
in  his  History  of  Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature.  "  The  main 
stream  of  the  Aryan  nations,"  he  says,  "  has  always  flowed 
towards  the  north-west.  No  historian  can  tell  us  by  what 
impulse  those  adventurous  nomads  were  driven  on  through 
Asia  towards  the  isles  and  shores  of  Europe  ..But  whatever 
it  was,  the  impulse  was  as  irresistible  as  the  spell  which  in 
our  own  times  sends  the  Celtic  tribes  towards  the  prairies,  or 
the  region >  of  goM  across  the  Atlantic,  ft  requires  a  strong 


358  ILGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

will,  or  a  great  amount  of  inertness,  to  be  able  to 
withstand  such  national  or  ethnical  movements.  Few  will 
stay  behind  when  all  are  going.  But  to  let  one's  friends 
depart,  and  then  to  set  out  ourselves — to  take  a  road  which 
lead  where  it  may,  can  never  lead  us  to  join  those  again 
who  speak  our  language  and  worship  our  gods — is  a 
course  which  only  men  of  strong  individuality  and  great 
self-dependence  are  capable  of  pursuing.  It  was  the  course 
adopted  by  the  southern  branch  of  the  Aryan  family— the 
Brahmanic  Aryans  of  India,  and  the  Zoroastrians  of  Iran.'1 

The  above  picturesque  account  is  only  partially  true  in 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  Brahmanic  Aryans  and  the  Zoro- 
astrians who  are  regarded  by  him  as  autochthones  of  Central 
Asia,  which,  however,  they  were  not,  as  we  have  proved  in 
the  preceding  chapters  that  the  original  home  of  the  Aryan 
race  could  only  have  been  in  Sapta-Sindhu.  Adelung,  the 
father  of  Comparative  Philology,  who  died  in  1806,  came 
near  the  truth  when  he  placed  the  cradle  of  mankind  in  the 
valley  of  Kashmir,  which  he  identified  with  Paradise.  He 
would  have  been  absolutely  correct  if  he  had  said  that  the 
valley  of  Kashmir  and  the  plains  of  Sapta-Sindhu  were  the 
cradle,  not  of  mankind,  but  of  the  Aryan  race.  It  was  aUo 
Adelung  who  was  the  first  to  observe  that  since  the  human 
race  originated  in  the  East,  the  most  westerly  nations,  the 
Iberians  and  the  Celts,  must  have  been  the  first  to  leave  the 
parent  hive.  We  have  seen,  however,  that  the  Iberians  went 
to  Europe  from  Northern  Africa,  and  the  Celts  from  Central 
and  Western  Asia,  and  that  they  belonged  to  two  distinct 
races  of  mankind,  none  of  which  could  be  identified  with 
the  Aryans. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Central  Asian  theory  so  much 
captivated  the  imagination  of  the  European  scholars  of  the 
last  century  that  "  Pictet  in  his  Origines  Indo-Europiennes 
of  which  the  first  volume  was  published  in  1859,  constructed 
an  elaborate  theory  of  the  successive  Aryan  migrations  from 
Central  Asia.  He  brought  the  Hellenes  and  Italians  by  a 


XVL]     THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE.     359 

route  south  of  the  Caspian  through  Asia  Minor  to  Greece 
and  Italy,  and  the  Celts  south  of  the  Caspian  through  the 
Caucasus  to  the  north  of  th«  Black  St-a,  and  thence  up  the 
Danube  to  the  extreme  we*t  of  Europe,  the  Slavs  and 
Teutons  marching  north  of  the  Caspian  through  the  Russian 
steppes.  Pictet's  argument,  derived  mainly  from  philological 
considerations  as  to  the  animals  and  plants  with  which  he 
supposed  the  various  races  to  have  been  acquainted,  vanish 
on  examination.111 

It  has  been  said  above  that  the  Hellenes,  Romans,  Celts 
and  Slavs  were  all  men  of  the  Turanian  family  with  an  Aryan 
speech  and  were  not  genuine  Aryans  but  a  mixed  race. 
Pictet  was  therefore  wrong  in  supposing  that  they  were  all 
Aryan  tribes  who  dispersed  to  Europe  through  different 
routes.  The  only  route  of  march  or  pantha  (preserved  in 
the  name  of  the  province  named  Pontus  in  Asia  Minor)  lay 
to  the  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  through  Asia  Minor,  by 
which  the  Turanians  advanced  to  Europe  over  the  isthmus 
of  Bosphorus,  one  branch  marching  towards  the  west  through 
Central  Europe  up  the  Danube,  and  another  towards  the 
north  through  the  steppes  of  Russia.  The  greater  part  of 
Central  Asia  and  North  Siberia  was  at  the  time  of  the 
dispersion  probably  covered  by  the  sea  extending  from  the 
Black  Sra  to  the  Sea  of  Aral,  and  a^  far  north  as  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  which  was  impossible  fo/  nomadic  ravages  lo  cross. 
They  had  therefore  to  pick  thrir  way  through  B.tCtna,  Pcibia 
and  Asia  Minor  which,  having  been  peopled  by  Aivan 
nomads,  made  it  possible  for  the  Turanian  savages  to  mix 
with  them  and  adopt  their  language  and  culture  which  were 
ultimately  taken  to  Europe  by  the  mixed  races.  The  theories 
of  the  different  routes  of  march,  as  propounded  by  Pictet 
and  the  great  scholar  Schleicher,  are  therefore  more  fanciful 
than  real. 

Professor  Sayce  thus  wrote  in  1874  :  "When  the  Aryan 
languages  first  make  their  appearance,  it  is  in  the  highlands 

1     Taylor,  Origin  of  tht  Aryans,  p.  ia. 


3fio  ^GVEDIC  INDIA. 

of  Middles  Asia,  between  the  sources  of  the  Oxus  and  the 
Jaxartes."1  He  abided  by  the  current  opinion  which  placed 
the  primeval  Aryan  community  in  Bactriana  on  the  western 
slopes  of  the  Belurtag  and  the  Mustag  and  near  the  sources 
of  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes.2  He  argues  that  "Compara- 
tive Philology  itself  supplies  us  with  a  proof  of  the 
Asiatic  cradle  of  the  Aryan  tongue."  The  proof 
consists  in  the  allegation  that  "  of  all  the  Aryan 
dialects,  Sanskrit  and  Zend  may,  on  the  whole,  be  con- 
sidered to  have  changed  the  least ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
Keltic  in  the  extreme  west  has  changed  the  most  "  Hence  it 
would  appear  that  the  region  now  occupied  by  Sanskrit  and 
Zend  must  be  the  nearest  to  the  primitive  centre  of  dispersion. 
This  conclusion,  he  adds,  is  confirmed  by  the  assertion  in  the 
Avesta  that  the  first  creation  of  mankind  by  Ahunnazda 
(Qrmuzd)  took  place  in  the  Bactrian  region  He  admits  that 
"this  legend  is  at  most  a  late  tradition,  and  applies  only  to 
the  Zoroastrian  Persians,"  but  he  thinks  it  agrees  with  the 
conclusions  of  Comparative  Philology,  which  teach  us  that 
the  early  Aryan  home  was  a  cold  region  '  since  the  only  two 
trees  whose  names  agree  in  Eastern  and  Western  Aryan  are 
the  birch  and  the  pine,  while  winter  was  familiar  with  sno»v 
and  ice  "  We  have  already  said  in  a  previous  chapter  that 
the  followers  of  Ahurmazda,  after  their  expulsion  from  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  had  roamed  about  in  different  countries  till  they 
settled  down  in  Bactriana  which  they  called  their  original 
home,  as  distinguished  from  Sapta-Sindhu  which  they  had 
been  compelled  to  leave,  and  for  which  they  dad  no  longer 
entertained  any  love  or  patriotic  sentiments,  and  that  the 
original  climate  of  Sapta-Sindhu  was  cold,  with  snow  and  ice 
in- winter,  which  afterwards  changed  into  temperate  verging 
upon  hot,  in  consequence  of  the  disappearance  of  the  seas 
that  had  in  former  times  girt  the  country  about.  Sayce's 
conclusion,  therefore,  was  as  much  true  about  Sapta-Sindhu 

i    Sayce,  Principles  of  Philology,  p.  101. 

*    Sayce,  Science  of  Language,  Vol.  II,  p.  133. 


XVI.]     THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE.     361 

as  about  Bactriana.  It  should  also  be  remembered  that  the 
the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  believed  themselves  to  be 
autochthones  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  there  i-  absolutely  no 
tradition  in  their  literature  of  their  having  come  from  any 
country. 

Against  the  argument  that  the  cradle  of  the  Indo-Iranians 
must  be  the  cradle  of  the  Aryan  rao-  because  Sanskrit  and 
Zend  are  the  most  archaic  of  the  Aryin  languages,  it  is  urg'-d 
that  Lithuanian  is  also  archaic  in  its  character,  and  therefore 
the  region  where  this  Ungu  tg  •  is  ^poke  i  ?n  ly  also  br  re^ard-^1 
as  the  Aryan  cradle.  But  it  is  overlosk  *d  thit  Lithuanian  does 
not  possess  any  literature  that  can  b<i  cornpired  with  the  Did 
Sanskrit  and  Z-.jnd  literatures,  shoeing  thrreby  that  the 
langu  «ge,  in  its  archaic  form,  was  taken  to  Europe  by  an 
unprogressive  race  and  has  re  mine  I  i  i  its  primitive  condition, 
while  Sanskrit  and  Z^nd,  in  their  n  itive  home  and  congenial 
environments,  fl  >urished  lu\u.iantly,  an  1  proJjced  literature-* 
that  still  command  the  admiration  of  tlx*  \\orld  IL  would 
not  help  us  in  any  way  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  original 
Ar\an  cradle  "  if  we  cj.ifinv*  our  atteati'ri  to  co.itemp'irarv 
farin^  of  speech,  and  co  npari»,  for  in-  an  :e  mo  lei  u  Litiiui- 
nian  with  any  of  the  vernaculir  dial«  cts  of  India  \\hich  have 
descended  from  Sanskrit  ",  and  thereb)  "  find  that  the 
Lithuanian  is  immeasurably  the  more  archaic  in  its  character  " 
This,  as  we  have  said,  only  proves  the  un progressive  genius 
of  the  people  who  took  the  language  to  Europe.  Progress 
and  change  connote  an  inexhaustible*  fund  oi  hfr  and  en<  rgv, 
while  stagnation  means  death,  o^  at  an\  rate,  a  lack  of  vitality  ; 
and  this  clearly  shows  why  Ltthuanim  still  retains  s^m  •  of 
the  archaif  forms  of  Aryan  speech,  and  the  modern  vrrna 
culars  of  India,  derived  from  Saiiskiit,  have  developed  and 
advanced  by  leaps  and  bounds 

It  was  Cuno  "  who  contended  that  tlu*  undivided  Ar)ans, 
instead  of  being  a  small  clan,  must  have  been  a  numerous 
nomad  pastoral  people,  inhabitin^  an  exlfisive  territory. 
A  long  period — several  thousand  years — he  considered,  must 


362  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

have  been  occupied  in  the  evolution  of  the  elaborate  gram- 
matical system  of  the  primitive  speech,  while  the  dialectic 
varieties  out  of  which  the  Aryan  languages  were  ultimately 
evolved  could  not  have  arisen  except  through  geographical 
severance.  The  necessary  geographical  conditions  were,  he 
thought,  a  va^t  plain,  undivided  by  lofty  mountain  barriers,  by 
desert  tracts  or  impassable  forests,  together  with  a  temperate 
climate,  tolerably  uniform  in  character,  where  a  numerous 
people  could  have  expanded,  and  then,  in  different  portions 
of  the  territory,  could  have  evolved  those  dialectic  differences 
which  afterwards  developed  into  the  several  Aryan  languages. 
There  is  only  one  region,  he  contends,  on  the  whole  surface 
of  the  globe  which  presents  the  necessary  condition  of  uniform- 
ity of  climate  and  geogiaphical  extension.  This  is  the 
great  plain  of  Northern  Europe,  stretching  from  the  Ural 
mountains  over  Northern  Germany  and  the  north  of  France 
as  far  as  the  Atlantic.  In  this  region,  he  thinks,  and  no 
other,  the  conditions  of  life  are  not  too  easy,  or  the  struggle 
for  existence  too  hard,  to  make  po^ible  the  development  of 
a  grvat  energetic  r.ice  such  as  th  Aryan*.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  historic  pt  iiod  we  find  this  region  oc<  upied  by  the 
Celtic,  Teutonic,  Lithuania  and  Slaxonir  races,  whom  hi 
regards  as  autochthonous.  At  so'ne  earlier  time  he  considers 
that  the  Italic  and  Hellenic  races  had  extended  themselves  to 
the  south  across  the  mountain  chain  of  Central  Europe,  and 
had  wandered  with  their  herds  further  to  the  east,  subduing 
and  incorporating  non- Aryan  races  "] 

The  above    summary    of    Cuno's    opinion  has  been  made 

by  Dr.  Taylor    who,    however,    says :  u  To   this    it  might  be 

replied  that  the  steppes  of  Central  Asia,  extending   eastward 

of  the  Caspian    for   more  than  a  thousand  miles  beyond  Lake 

Balkash,  also  offer  the  necessary    conditions,    and    that    here 

the  great    Turko-Tartaric   race    has  grown  up,  presenting  an 

actual  picture  of  what  the  Aryan  race  must  have   been  in  the 

early  nomad  stage  of  its  existence.     But  it  must  be  concedec 

1     Taylor,  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  pp.  30-31. 


XVI.]     THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE. '   363 

to  Cuno  that  the  conditions  of  climate,  of  soil,  of  greater 
geographical  extension  and  of  proximity  to  the  regions  now 
occupied  by  the  Aryans,  are  arguments  for  selecting  the 
European  rather  than  the  Asiatic  plain  as  the  probable  cradle 
of  the  Aryan  race.1'1 

But  if  the  plains  of  Europe  be  the  probable-    cradle  of  the 
Aryan  race,    how    would    the    fact    of  nearly  all  the  principal 
Aryan-speaking  races  being  of  the    brachy-ce phaiic  Turanian 
family  of   Asia   be  explained  ?  Dr     Taylor  has  himself  shown 
that    the    dolicho-cephalic    savages    of    the    kitchen-middens 
or  the  dolicho-cephalic  Iberian  cannibals  of  Southern  Europe 
could    not    have    been    the    ancestors    of  the  Aryans.-     The 
original  home  of  the  Aryans  must  tht  refore  be    sought  not  in 
Europe,  but    in    Asia    whence  the   Turanians  admittedly  went 
to  Europe  with    Aryan    speech,    and    the    Aryans    must  have 
been  some    other    race    in   Asia,  fro.n  \\hom  the  Turanians  in 
the  course    of    their    wanderings    borrowed    their  speech  and 
culture.     There  is    no    other    alternative    than    to    make  this 
admission,    if    we    want    avoiding    arguing    in  a  circle      It  is 
extremely   probable,  however,  that  the  gi». at    European  plain, 
referred    to  by  Cuno,  afforded  tacihtie>  to  the  Ann-Turanian 
nomads    to    develop    the    differ  nces    of   their    dialects    and 
culture,  which  we  notice  at    the    beginning    of    thr    historical 
epoch    in     Europe      Though    Prof*  ssor    Sayce    subsequently 
announced  a  change  of  his  opinion    about    the    original  home 
of  the  Aryans  being  in  Asia,3   European  scholars  like  Ujfalvy, 
Hommel,  Fessl,  Professor  Max  Muller,  and  American  writers 
like  Messrs.  Hale  and  Morris  advocate    various    forms  of  the 
Asiatic    hypothesis.       Processor    Max    Muller    gave    a    final 
pronouncement  on  the  subject  in  iSSy,  \v!i -n    he    wrote  .   M  If 
an  answer    must    be    given    as  to  the  place  where  our  Arvan 
ancestors   dwelt   before  their    separation,   I    .should    still  say, 

1    Ibid  p.  31 

•  Ibid,  pp.  222-323 

•  In  the  Academy^  Dec.  8th,  1883,  and  in  his  Introduction   to  tht  Scimci 
•f  Language,  third  edition,  1885. 


364  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

as  I  said  forty  years  ago,  '  somewhere  in  Asia,'  and  no  more."1 
And  the  Professor  wis  undoubtedly  right.  This  "  somewhere 
in  Asia  "  is,  as  we  have  pointed  out,  no  other  country  than 
Sapta-Sindhu  with  the  outlying  adjacent  territories  of 
Gandhara  and  Bactriana.  We  have  shown  how  the  nomadic 
Aryan  savages,  driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  spread  westward 
in  waves  after  waves  That  they  were  primitive  savages  in 
the  hunting  stage,  and  n  >t  even  in  the  stage  of  wandering 
cattle-keepers,  can  easily  be  surmised  from  the  state  of 
neolithic  culture  in  Europe,  of  which  we  have  already  given 
some  glimpses.  Tiu^e  wandering  savages  readily  mixed 
with  the  nomadic  Turanian  hordes  from  Central  and  Eastern 
Asia,  on  whom  they  impo>ed  their  language,  though,  having 
been  comparatively  snvill  in  number,  they  were  subsequently 
absorbed  b\  the  Turanians  These  overspread  Europe,  but 
they  were  followed  by  other  Aryan  tribes,  more  advanced 
in  culture  than  then  pn  dece^sors,  as  they  marched  with  their 
cattle,  and  in  rude  c<rts  drawn  by  oxen.  They  also  subse- 
quently intermingled  with  the  h>brid  population  of  Europe, 
and  settled  in  variou^  parts,  sonrit;  in  the  north  becoming  the 
ancestors  ol  the  Lithu  ima-ii  an  1  the  Slavs,  and  others  in  the 
south  and  west,  beco'nm<y  the  ancestors  of  the  Hellenes,  the 
Latins  and  the  O  Its.  The  retreat  of  the  great  ice-sheet 
towards  the  north  of  Eur-»pe  after  the,  post-Glacial  epoch 
laid  bare  the  vast  plains  of  Central  and  Northern  Europe 
and  made  the  influx  of  the  Asiatic  hordes  to  that  continent 
possible.  This  must  have  lurnished  "  the  irresistible  impulse  " 
for  migration,  spoken  of  by  Grimm  and  Max  Miiller.  The 
greater  part  of  Europe  w.is  thus  floo  led  in  a  remote  age  by 
these  surging  hordes  of  mixed  Asiatic  savages  who  were, 
however,  more  advanced  in  culture  and  richer  in  speech  than 
the  dolicho-cephahc  savages  and  cannibals  whom  they  found 
already  settled  in  the  north,  south  and  west  of  Europe,  and 
J[on  whom  they  imposed  their  culture  and  language.  The 
subsequent  development  of  the  dialectic  varieties  must  have 

1     Goofoordt,  Aug.  1887,  reprinted  in  "  Biographies  ol  Words." 


XVI.]    THEORY  OF  CENTRAL  ASIAN  CRADLE.     365 

been  favoured  by  the  nature  of  the  countries  in  which  the 
various  settlements  took  place  and  the  character  of  the 
neighbouring  tribes.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  hypo- 
thesis of  the  European  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race  can  by  no 
means  be  satisfactorily  maintained,  and  there  is  no  other 
alternative  than  to  fall  back  on  the  Asiatic  hypothesis. 
Central  and  Eastern  Asia  can,  with  some  show  of  reason, 
be  pointed  out  as  the  original  home  of  the  brachy-cephalic 
and  ortho-cephalic  European  races,  as  they  are  admittedly 
the  descendants  of  the  Turanians  of  Asia,  but  not  certainly 
of  the  pure  Aryans  whom  we  have  shown  to  be  autochthonous 
in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  appears  to  us  to  be  the  real 
cradle  of  the  race. 

The  Rgveda  is  admittedly  the  oldest  work  extant  of 
the  Aryans,  and  European  scholars  are  unanimously  agreed 
that  most  of  the  Rgvedic  hymns  were  composed  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  on  the  banks  of  the  Indus  and  its  tributaries,  and 
of  the  S,irasvatl  and  the  Dr§advatl.  In  these  hymns  we  do 
not  find  any  mention  or  evidence  of  the  ancient  Aryans 
having  ever  lived  in  any  other  country,  or  immigrated  thence 
to  Sapta-Smdhu  Some  scholars,  both  Indian  and  European, 
however,  have,  in  their  eagerne^s  to  establish  the  Aryan 
cradle  in  C«  ntral  Asia,  trk-d  to  interpret  certain  hymns  in  a 
manner  that  would  support  their  theory ;  but  so  far  their 
efforts  do  not  appear  to  have  been  attended  with  any  degree 
of  success.  For  example,  Pandit  Ramanatha  SarasvatI  in 
his  Bengali  translation  of  the  Rgveda  interprets  Rv.  i.  *2, 
16  &  17  to  mean  that  the  ancient  Aryans  had  been  divided 
into  seven  clans  (saptv  dhdmavih}  and  had  lived  in  seven 
regions  of  an  unknown  territory  somewhere ;  whence  under 
the  leadership  of  Vijnu,  their  tutelary  deity,  they  immigrated 
to  Sapta-Sindhu  after  halting  in  three  different  places.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  this  interpretation  is  absurd  on  the  very 
face  of  it.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  mention  in  the 
Rgveda  that  the  Vedic  Aryans  were  divided  into  seven 
clans  or  tribes  ;  on  the  other  hand,  we  find  frequent  mention 


366  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  Paftcajan&h  or  the  Five  Tribes  only.  Secondly,  the  word 
does  not  mean  seven  tribes  or  seven  places,  but  the  seven 
rays  of  the  Sun  who  is  identified  with  Vi?nu.  Thirdly,  the 
three  steps  of  Vi?nu  or  the  Sun  were  not  the  three  halting 
places  of  the  Aryan  immigrants,  hut  the  three  strides  that 
the  Sun  or  Vijnu  \\as  first  observed  by  the  primitive  Aryans 
to  take,  viz.,  the  first  step  in  the  morning  when  he  rises, 
the  second  step  in  the  midday  when  he  ascends  the  zenith 
of  the  sky,  and  the  third  step  in  the  evening  when  he  goes 
down  to  rest.  All  the  ancient  Vedic  commentators  from 
Yiska,  SAkapuni,  Ournabh&va  and  Durgicirya,  down  to 
S&yana  have  unanimously  adopted  this  interpretation  which 
seems  to  us  to  be  the  most  natural,  and  the  only  rational 
interpretation  of  the  verges.  Thus  verse  16  simply  means: 
11  May  the  Devas  protect  us  from  the  region  from  which 
Vi?nu  or  the  Sun  with  his  seven  rays  or  metres  started  on 
his  peregrination."  There  is  not  here  even  the  shadow  of  a 
mention  of  an  Arjan  immigration  to  Sapta-Sindhu  from 
another  country.  The  Devas  evidently  dwell  in  the  region 
from  which  Vi$nu  or  the  Sun  starts  on  his  journey  and  it 
could  not  have  been  any  other  than  Heaven  itself,  the  abode 
of  the  Gods,  from  which  they  come  down  to  the  earth,  when 
invoked  by  their  votaries.  This  celestial  region  has  been  called 
Pratnoka,  or  ancient  abode,  in  the  Rgveda.  In  Rv  i.  30.9 
we  read  "  Indra  goeth  to  many  people  (i.e.,  responds  to  their 
invocations,.  I  invoke  him  to  come  from  the  ancient  abode. 
My  father  also  invoked  him  before."  Skyana  interprets 
Pratnasyekasah  in  the  above  hymn  as  follows  .—Pratnasya 
pur&tanasya  Okasah  sthdnasya  Svargarupasya  sakdfdt) 
which  means  "  from  the  am  ient  abode,  or  heaven."  The 
dwelling  place  of  the  Gods,  or  heaven,  is  ralle<i  "  the  ancient 
abode/'  because  the  Devas  being  as  ancient  as  the  creation 
of  the  Universe  itself,  the  region  where  they  dwell,  which  is 
one  and  the  same  from  eternity,  is  also  like  them  ancient 
and  unchangeable.  Hence  the  epithet  of  their  abode  is 
''ancient."  The  word  certainly  does  not  mean  any  ancient 


XVI.]  WRONG  INTERPRETATIONS.  367 

home  of  the  Aryans,  abandoned  by  them  before  coming  to 
Sapta-Sindhu.  It  simply  means  "  the  ancient  or  primeval 
and  ettrnal  home  of  the  Devas,"  i.e  ,  Heaven  itself.  But  it 
is  argued  that  there  is  a  place  named  Indrdlaya  (abode  of 
Indra  on  the  north  of  the  Hindu  Kush,  which  has  been 
mentioned  in  the  AmarukoSa  and  Sabdaratndvafi^  and  this 
might  have  been  the  ancient  abode  of  the  Vedic  Aryans  who 
worshipped  Indra  as  their  supreme  deity,  and  probably  named 
the  region  after  him  The  theory  is  undoubtedly  very 
ingenious  ;  but  there  is  no  mention  in  the  Rgveda  of  any 
place  named  Indrdlaya.  It  is  just  possible,  however,  that, 
Indra's  birth-place  having  been  described  to  be  the  peak  of  the 
Mujavat  mountain  in  the  Himalayan  Range,  where  the  Soma 
plant  grew,  a  place  over  this  range  or  on  the  north  of  the 
Hindu  Kush  was  located  in  a  later  age  as  the  abode  of  Indra, 
or  IndrAlaya.  Similarly  at  the  present  day,  the  KailAsa 
mountain  near  Lake  Mansarobar  on  the  Tibetan  side  of  the 
Himalaya  is  pointed  out  as  the  abode  of  Siva,  and  another 
loftv  snotty  peak  of  the  Himalaya  as  the  abode  of  the 
-.upeihum.m  king  ot  that  name,  \\here  Uma  or  Durg&  was 
horn.  A  Himalayan  Hindu  traveller1  who  passed  below 
this  snowy  piak  in  his  journey  to  Tibet  was  astonished  at 
the  sight  ot  the  semblance  of  a  beautiful  palace  of  snow  with 
domes  and  turrets  over  this  peak,  \\hkh  \vas  pointed  out  to 
him  by  his  guide  as  the  abode  of  the  celestial  Mountain-king 
wno  was  the  father  of  the  Goddess  Durg4.  We  need  not, 
therefore,  wonder  that  a  place  north  of  the  Hindu  Kush  was 
nannd  in  some  later  age  as  Indrdlaya  or  the  abode  of  Indra. 
But  this  does  not  in  an\  way  prove  that  it  was  the  original 
home  of  the  ancient  Aryans. 

We  have  seen  that  "  the  ancient  abode7'  mentioned  in 
the  Rgveda  does  not  mean  the  original  cradle  of  the  Arvans, 
hut  onl>  Heaver,  or  the  abode  of  the  Gods  ;  that  the  immigra- 
tion of  the  Vedic  Aryans  under  the  leadership  of  Vi^nu  from 
that  ancient  home  is  a  pure  myth  which  has  no  basis  to 
*  *  Svami  Akhandananda  of  the  Ramkrishna  Mission. 


368  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

stand  upon  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  three  steps  taken  by  Vi?nu 
or  the  Sun  do  not  mean  the  three  halting  places  where  the 
immigrant  Aryans  stopped,  but  only  the  three  strides  that 
the  Sun  daily  takes  in  his  journey  from  the  east  towards 
the  west.  Even  if  it  be  admitted  for  the  sake  of  argument 
that  the  Aryans  in  the  course  of  their  immigration  to  Sapta- 
Sindhu  really  halted  in  three  different  places  for  a  long  time, 
no  body  has  so  far  been  able  to  identify  them  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  supposed  that  the  Aryans  did  emigrate  to 
Sapta-Sindhu  at  one  stretch,  halting  only  at  three  places 
during  their  march,  then  their  origin.il  home  would  be  situated 
at  a  very  short  dUUnce,  say  50  miles,  from  Sapta-Sindhu, 
which  could  be  covered  by  a  journey  of  only  three  days.  This 
would  be  tantamount  to  a  confession  that  the  cradle  was, 
as  it  were,  within  the  ambit  of  Sapta-Sindhu  itself.  We 
have  shown  th  U  though  the  Aryans  originally  belonged  to 
Sapta-Sindhu,  they  expanded  in  the  direction  of  Gandh&raand 
Bactriana,  both  of  which  were  peopled  by  their  own  kith  and 
kin.  We  further  know  that  the  rivers  of  Afghanistan  that 
are  tributaiy  to  the  Indus  have  been  mentioned  in  th<-  R^- 
veda  at  the  sune  tim  •  as  th-  tributaries  tnat  fl:>w  through  the 
Punjab,  together  with  the  Sir<isvdtl,  the  Djr?advatl,  the 
Apaya  and  other  independent  rivers.  Though  all  these 
rivers  as  well  as  the  Ganga*  and  the  Yamuni  have  been 
mentioned,  the  Rgvedic  bards  are  eloquent  in  thdr 
description  of  the  Indus  and  the  Sarasvati  only,  and  relate 
with  pride  how  all  their  sacrifices  were  performed  and  all 
knowledge,  sacred  and  secular,  wa*>  acquired  on  their 
hallowed  banks.  They  have  also  called  the  Sarasvati  <4  the 
best  of  mothers  "  and  "  the  best  of  rivers,"  thereby  implying 
that  they  looked  upon  the  region  watered  by  the  sacred 
stream  as  their  original  cradle.  The  ancient  Aryan  world, 
therefore,  included  not  only  Sapta-Sindhu  proper,  but  also 
GandhAra  and  Bactriana;  and  we  should  not  be  at  all 
surprised  if  we  come  across  a  verse  that  mentions,  among 
other  places,  one  named  Yakfu  (Rv.  vii.  28,  29).  Even  if  this 


XVI.]  WRONG  INFERPRETATIONS.  369 

Yakju  be  identified  with  the  river  Oxus,  it  does  not  mean  that 
the  original  home  of  the  Aryans  was  near  the  upper  sources 
of  the  Oxus  and  the  Jaxartes.  It  simply  means  that  they 
knew  this  river,  or  the  region  watered  by  it,  merely  as 
colonists,  sojourners  or  invaders.  The  verse  says  that  Indra 
fought  a  battle  in  which  he  killed  Bheda  (probably  the  ruler 
of  the  country),  and  Yamuna*  pleased  him  and  the  three 
countries  named  Aja,  Sighru  and  Yak?u  offered  him  the  head 
of  a  horse.  This  evidently  means  that  Indra,  or  for  the 
matter  of  that,  his  votaries,  embarked  on  a  war  of  conquest 
on  the  frontiers,  beginning  from  the  banks  of  the  Yamuna*  in 
Sapta-Sindhu,  and  ending  in  the  northern-most  region  of  the 
then  known  Aryan  world,  which  was  watered  by  the  Oxus, 
and  that  this  victory  was  celebrated  by  the  performance  of  a 
horse-sacrifice  in  honour  of  Indra,  in  which  the  vanquished 
peoples  also  took  a  prominent  part.  The  mention  of  the 
Rugamas  in  Rv.  v.  30,  12-15  has  led  certain  scholars  to 
identify  them  with  the  ancestors  of  the  Russians,  and  their 
country  with  Russia  !  The  sage  Bnbhru,  while  praising  Agni, 
mentions  in  the  above  verses  that  Rnancaya,  the  leader  of 
the  Ru^amas,  gave  him  four  thousand  heads  of  cattle,  one 
golden  bucket,  and  a  house  to  live  in.  The  Rucamas  were 
therefore  undoubtedly  Vedic  sacrifices,  and  must  have  lived 
in  Sapta-Sindhu.  Whether  thev  afterwards  emigrated  to 
Russia  and  gave  their  name  to  the  country  is  more  than  what 
we  know  or  can  say.  It  would,  however,  meiely  suffice  to 
say  here  that  they  were  an  Aryan  tribe  living  either  in 
Sapta-Sindhu  or  its  neighbourhood,  and  not  in  Russia. 
Another  similarity  in  name  has  led  some  scholars  to  indulge 
in  another  wild  guess.  The  word  ffariyupla  occurs  in  a 
Rgvedic  ver^c  (Rv.  vi.  27,5),  which  is  identified  with 
Europe.  But  it  is  probably  the  name  of  a  river  or  town,  as 
Siyaaa  says  ;  and  it  is  related  that  Indra  killed  the  sons  of 
Vjrcivana  (who  was  himself  the  son  of  Vara&ikha),  who  were 
encamped  on  the  eastern  side  of  Hariyupla,  aad  thai' 
Vfcivana's  eldest  son,  who  was  encamped  on  the  western 

47 


370  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

side,  seeing  his  brothers  killed,  died  through  fear.  This 
expedition  therefore  was  also  a  war  of  conquest,  and 
Hariyupla  does  not  seem  to  us  to  be  the  name  of  the  continent 
of  Europe.  But  even  if  it  was,  it  only  goes  to  show  that 
the  ancient  Aryans  of  Rgvedk*  times  advanced  from  Sapta- 
Sindhu  as  far  as  Europe  in  their  warlike  expeditions. 

Another  argument  in  favour  of  tht*  Central  Asian  cradle 
of  the  Aryans  is  b^sed  on  the  fact  that  the  word  hima  was 
equivalent  for  the  year,  thereby  indicating  that  the  climate 
of  the  place  where  they  dwelt  was  cold  and  wintry  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  not  hot  like  that  of  the 
Punjab.  In  Rv.  i.  64,14,  ii.  i,  n,  33,2,  v.  54,15,  vi.  10,7 
and  vi.  48,8,  we  come  across  the  word  hima  to  mean  the 
year.  This  does  not  imply  that  the  Aryans  had  lived  in  a 
cold  country  before  they  immigrated  to  the  Punjab ;  but 
that  the  climate  of  Sapta-Sindhu  it-elf,  as  geologists  have 
proved,  had  been  cold  in  ancient  times  in  consequence  of 
the  existence  of  seas  round  about  the  country,  which  after- 
wards changed  into  hot  with  the  disappearance  of  the  seas. 
The  year,  therefore,  was  naturally  designated  by  the  word 
hima\  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  existence  of  this 
word  in  the  verses  proves  their  hoary  antiquity  and  takes  us 
back  to  geological  times.  When  the  climate  changed  from 
cold  to  temperate,  the  word  hima  was  naturally  substituted 
by  the  word  Sarad  (autumn)  to  mean  the  year  and 
indicate  the  prevailing  climate.  A  disregard  of  this  fact 
has  led  scholars  to  surmise  that  the  Aryans  at  first  lived 
in  a  cold  climate!  and  that  their  original  home  was  situated 
on  the  high  table-land  of  Central  Asia  where  wintry 
conditions  prevail  even  to  this  day.  This  surmise,  however, 
has  no  firm  basis  to  stand  upon.  It  is  Sapta-Sindhu  which 
was,  as  we  have  repeatedly  shown  in  the  previous  chapters 
by  adducing  various  proofs,  the  real  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race, 
and  included  not  only  Sapta-Sindhu  proper,  but  also 
Gaiidh&ra,  or  Afghanistan,  th<-  beautiful  valley  of  Kashmir, 
the  high  plateau  situated  to  the  north  of  it,  Bactriana  and 


XVI.]        ARYAN  CRADLE  IN  SAPTA-SJNDHU.         371 

Airyana  Vaejo.  But  the  five  tribes  that  constituted  the  Vedic 
Aryans,  performing  the  Vedic  rites,  worshipping  the  Vedic 
Gods,  and  having  a  homogeneous  civilisation,  confined  them* 
selves  to  the  plains  and  the  beautiful  valley  of  Kashmir  only. 
Those  of  the  Aryans  that  lived  outside  the  territory  were 
regarded  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  as  non-sacrificers,  Ddsas 
DasyuS)  barbarians  and  Mlecchas}  i.e.,  people  who  could  not 
pronounce  words  properly.  Religious  schisms  and  intolerance 
went  a  great  way  to  estrange  their  own  kith  and  kin  from 
them,  and  this  estrangement  gradually  developed  into  an 
implacable  enmity,  which  ultimately  completed  their  separa- 
tion. 

It  would  thus  appear  that  Central   Asia  could   not   have 
been,  and  never  was  the  original  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race.  If 
it  is  to  be  located  anywhere  with  any  show  of  reason,  it  must 
be  in  Sapta-Sindhu  or  nowhere. 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

THE  HYPOTHESIS  OF  THE  ARCTIC  HOME  OF  THE  ARYANS. 

Besides  the  hypothesis  of  Aryan  home  in  Northern 
Europe  and  Central  Asia,  there  is  yet  another  which  seeks 
to  prove  that  the  original  Aryan  cradle  was  situated  some- 
where in  the  Arctic  region  This  theory  would,  at  first 
sight,  appear  startling  and  incredible,  in  as  much  as  these 
regions  are  covered  by  ice,  at  places  hundreds  of  feet  deep, 
and  are  not  at  all  calculated  to  favour  the  growth  and 
development  of  any  large  family  of  human  beings  The 
circum-polar  regions  are  very  sparsely  populated,  and  the 
nearer  one  approches  the  North  Pole,  the  more  desolate 
does  the  scene  appear  till  every  vestige  of  human  habitation 
and  even  of  life  and  vegetation  in  any  shape  or  form  disap- 
pears, and  the  vast  panorama  consists  of  nothing  but  an 
awfully  still  and  strange,  bleak  and  cold,  and  white  and  weird 
expanse  of  ice,  in  whichever  direction  one  may  turn  one's  eyes. 
In  fact,  King  Ice  reigns  there  supreme  and  undisputed  in  his 
solemn  grandeur  and  appalling  loneliness,  plunged  for  six 
months  into  the  various  shades  of  darkness  which  is  only 
occasionally  relieved  by  the  resplendent  flashes  of  the  Aurora 
Borealis,  or  the  moon-light,  and  lit  up  for  the  remaining  six 
months  by  the  rays  of  the  Sun  who  wheels  round  and  round 
the  horizon  in  concentric  circles,  like  a  strange  and  shy  creature, 
or  an  unwilling  exile,  eager  for  an  escape  from  this  dismal 
and  inhospitable  region,  but  finding  no  way  out, — making 
"  the  day-light  sick  "  as  it  by  his  own  chilling  and  creeping 
sensation  of  fear,— never  venturing  to  mount  high  up  the 
heavens,  and  feeling  as  it  were  only  too  glad  to  retrace  his 
steps,  and  disappear  below  the  horizon,  leaving  King  Ice  again 
to  dismal  darkness  and  his  dreary  dreams.  Such  then  is  the 
Polar  region  which  can  only  be  fit  for  the  habitation  of  beings 
other  than  human — probably  of  the  Devas  or  the  Gods, 


XVIL]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  373 

as  the  ancient  Hindus  who  came  to  be  acquainted  with 
it  in  an  age  later  than  the  Rgvedic  believed  it  to  be.  The 
very  appalling  loneliness  and  desolation  of  the  region  cannot 
but  be  associated  with  the  haunts  of  unearthly  beings,  if  such 
really  exist,  with  v\hom  solitude  probably  is  the  very  essence 
and  condition  of  their  existence. 

Such  a  region  as  the  Polar  nobody  would  ever  believe 
to  have  been  inhabited  by  human  beings  at  any  stage  of  the 
Earth's  evolution,  for  ordinarily  we  are  accustomed  to  think 
of  it  as  having  existed  in  its  present  condition  from  the  very 
beginning  of  creation.  But  Geologists  have  proved  from  the 
remains  of  plants  and  animals  embedded  in  the  ice  that  in 
the  Arctic  circle  theie  prevailed  in  a  remote  period  a 
congenial  climate  verging  upon  "  perpetual  spring,"  which 
favoured  the  growth  of  vegetation,  and  the  multiplication  of 
animals,  and  probably  also  of  human  beings,  though  ordinarily 
it  is  difficult  for  men  of  the  tropics  who  are  accustomed  to 
live  in  bright  sunshine  every  day  of  their  life  to  understand 
why,  granting  that  the  more  southern  latitudes  possessed  an 
equally  congenial  and  equable  climate,  people  should  prefer 
to  live  in  a  region  which  is  covered  by  darkness  for  six 
months,  or  even  a  lesser  period.  But,  strange  as  it  may 
appear,  even  to  this  day,  the  circumpolar  regions  are  tenanted 
by  human  tribes  like  the  Esquimaux,  who  prefer  to  live  there 
as  much  as  people  do  in  the  swelteringly  hot  and  enervating 
climate  of  the  tropics.  There  is  a  wonderful  power  in  man 
to  get  himself  acclimatized  and  adapt  himself  to  his  environ- 
ments, however  unfavourable  they  may  be  at  first  sight,  as 
he  is  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  conservatism,  which  makes  him 
unwilling  to  change  his  habitat,  however  unsuitable  it  may 
appear  to  others,  for  another  in  a  strange  though  more 
suitable  land,  unless  he  is  absolutely  compelled  by  circums- 
tances to  do  so.  And  thus  we  find  Iceland,  Greenland,  and 
the  northernmost  parts  of  Scandinavia  and  Russia  still 
inhabited  by  human  beings  who  are  quite  as  much  at  home 
ia  those  inhospitable  regions,  as  we  are  in  ours.  It  is 


374  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

therefore  exceedingly  probable  that,  a  more  equable  and 
congenial  climate  having  prevailed  in  the  Arctic  region  in 
some  by-gone  geological  epoch,  it  was  tenanted  by  human 
beings  whose  origin  is  traced  back  by  scientists  to  the 
Pleistocene  epoch,  and  even  to  the  Miocene  epoch  of  the 
Tertiary  Era. 

We  have  already  saiil  that  Dr.  Croll  has  calculated  from 
astronomical  data  that  in  the  northern  hemisphere  the  last 
Glacial  epoch  began  some  240,000  years  ago  and  that  it 
lasted  with  alternations  of  a  milder  and  even  tropical 
temperature  for  nearly  160,000  years,  and  finally  terminated 
about  80,000  years  ago,  from  which  time  the  modern  climatic 
conditions  have  prevailed.  Professor  Geikie  essentially 
agrees  with  these  calculations  an<l  believes  that  palaeolithic 
man  must  have  occupied  parts  of  Western  Europe,  shortly 
after  the  disappearance  of  the  great  ice-sheet,  and  that  he 
was  also  probably  interglacial.  "  During  the  interglacial 
period "  he  observes  "  the  climate  was  characterised  by 
clement  winters  and  cool  summers,  so  that  the  tropical  plants 
and  animals,  like  elephant-,  rhinoceroses  and  hippopota- 
muses ranged  over  the  whole  of  the  Arctic  region,  and  in 
spite  of  many  fierce  carnivora,  the  Palaeolithic  man  had  no 
unpleasant  habitation."1  We  aie  not  here  concerned  with 
the  causes  that  produced  these  climatic  changes  in  the  Arctic 
region,  it  will  suffice  for  our  purpose  to  admit  that  these 
changes  did  actually  take  place  in  geological  times,  and  that 
palaeolithic  man  most  likely  inhabited  this  region  in  the 
interglaciai  epoch,  the  dolicho-cephalic  savages  of  Northern 
Europe  having  probably  been  the  survivors  of  the  cataclysm 
that  made  the  Arctic  circle  uninhabitable  by  the  invasion  of 
ice  and  snow.  As  these  savages  have  been  declared  by 
anthropologists  to  have  btnen  originally  an  African  race,  it 
follows  that  they  must  have  emigrated  to  the  Polar  region 
in  some  interglacial  epoch,  when  the  climatic  conditions 
-were  favourable.  We  are  also  not  much  concerned  here 
1  GtMe'B  Fragments  of  Barth  Lore,  p.  266.  ~~" 


XVII.]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  375 

with  the  controversy  among  European  and  American  scien- 
tists as  regards  the  period  of  time  when  the  Glacial  epoch, 
ended,  and  the  post-Glacial  epoch  commenced  in  the  northern 
hemisphere,  as  there  is  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion  between 
them,  the  English  Geologists  holding  that  the  event  must  have 
taken  place  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  thousand  years  ago,  while 
the  American  Scientists  asserting  that  it  could  not  be  earlier 
than  7000  or  8000  thousand  years  at  most  in  North  America. 
It  is  just  possible  that  owing  to  local  causes,  the  post-Glacial 
epoch  in  the  two  countries  may  have  commenced  in  different 
periods  of  time  and  that  the  calculations  of  the  European  and 
the  American  scientists  are  correct  so  far  as  their  respective 
countries  are  concerned.  It  is  an  admitted  fact  that  while  all 
the  evidence  regarding  the  existence  of  the  Glacial  epoch 
comes  from  the  north  of  Europe  and  America,  no  traces  of 
glaciation  have  so  far  been  discovered  in  Northern  Asia  or 
North  Alaska.  We  may  therefore  take  it  that  different 
conditions  of  climate  prevailed  in  different  periods  of  time 
in  different  countries  owing  to  the  existence  of  different 
causes,  and  that  the  calculations  of  the  European  Geologists 
are  correct  so  far  as  North  Europe  is  concerned. 

We  have  also  seen  that  the  neolithic  civilisation  of 
Europe  was  brought  there  with  Aryan  speech  by  a  brachy- 
cephalic  people,  whom  anthropologists  have  identified  with 
the  Mongolian  or  Turanian  race  of  Asia.  There  is  no  evidence 
to  show  that  they  came  from  the  Arctic  region,  for  the  earliest 
lake-dv\ellings  of  Europe  have  betn  ascertained  to  be  not 
older  than  8,000  B.C.,  and  the  commencement  of  the  Neolithic 
age  in  Europe  not  earlier  than  20,000  B.C.,  while  the  Arctic 
regions  had  become  unfit  for  human  habitation  more  than 
50,000  years  ago  when  the  present  inclement  climate  com- 
menced there  owing  to  the  invasion  of  ice.  If,  therefore,  the 
progenitors  of  the  Aryan  race  ever  had  their  original  home  in 
the  Arctic  region,  it  must  have  been  in  some  interglacial 
epoch  long  before  the  commencement  of  the  post-Glacial  . 
epoch  in  Europe,  and  they  must  have  emigrated  southward 


yfi  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

alter  the  destruction  of  their  original  home  not  certainly  to 
Europe  but  to  Asia,  whence  in  neolithic  times  the  Turanians, 
having  been  aryanised  in  speech  and  culture,  went  to  Europe 
about  20,000  years  ago. 

Among  the  scholars  who  have  propounded  the  hypothesis 
of  the  original  Arctic  home  of  man,  the  name  of  Dr.  Warren, 
President  of  the  Boston  University,  stands  foremost.  His 
work,  the  Paradise  Found  or  the  Cradle  of  the  Human  Race 
at  the  North  Pole  has  opened  up  a  new  vista  of  speculation 
and  research.  M.  de  Saporta,  a  distinguished  French  savant, 
ihas  also  propounded  a  theory  to  the  effect  "  that  the  entire 
human  race  originated  on  the  shores  of  the  Polar  sea  at  a 
time  when  the  rest  of  the  northern  hemisphere  was  too  hot 
to  be  inhabited  by  man."1  We  do  not  dispute  the  fact  that 
the  Polar  region  was  habitable  in  interglacial  epochs,  but 
whether  the  shores  of  the  Polar  sea  constituted  the  original 
cradle  of  the  human  race  is  quite  another  matter,  with  which 
we  are  not  here  concerned.  Professor  Rhys  also  after  a 
careful  examination  of  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic  myths,  and 
comparing  them  with  similar  Greek  traditions,  has  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  original  home  of  the  Aryans  was  in 
Northern  Europe,  somewhere  "  between  Germany  and  Scandi- 
navia, especially  the  south  of  Sweden.  This  last  would 
probably  do  well  enough  as  the  country  in  which  the  Aryans 
may  have  consolidated  and  organized  themselves  before 
beginning  to  send  forth  their  excess  of  population  to  conquer 
the  other  lands  now  possessed  by  nations  speaking  Aryan 
languages."  He  goes  further  to  say  that  the  mythological 
indications  "  point  to  some  spot  within  the  Arctic  circle, 
sttoh,  for  example,  as  the  region  where  Norse  legend  placed 
the  Land  of  Immortality,  somewhere  in  the  north  of  Finland 
and  the  neighbourhood  of  the  White  Sea.  There  would, 
perhaps,  be  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  supposing  them  to  have 
thence  in"  jdue  time  descended  into  Scandinavia,  settling, 
amoag  other  places,  at  Upsaia,  which  has  all  the  appearance 
*  Rfeys'  Hibbert  'Lectures,  -p.  637. 


XVII.]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  377 

of  being  a  most  ancient  site,  lying  as  it  does  on  a  plain  dotted 
with  innumerable  burial  mounds  of  unknown  antiquity.    This, 
you  will  bear  in  mind,  has  to  do  only  with  the  origin  of  the 
early  Aryans,  and  not  with  that  of  the  human  race  generally ; 
but  it  would  be  no  fatal  objection  to  the  view  here  suggested, 
if  it  should  be  urged  that  the  mythology  of  nations  beside  the 
Aryans   such   as   that  of  the  Paphlagonians,  in  case  of  their 
not  being  Aryan,  point  likewise  to   the   north,    for  it   is  not 
contended  that  the    Aryans    may   be   the    only   people   of 
northern  origin."1 

Professor  Rhys  says  that  the  old  views  of   mythologists 
and  philologists  regarding  the   primeval  home  of  the  Aryan 
race  have  been  modified  by  the  recent  researches  in  Geology, 
Archaeology  and   Craniology,   and   the  site  of  that  home  has 
been  shifted  from  the  plains  of  Central  Asia  to   the   northern 
parts   of   Germany  or    even   to    Scandinavia    not   only   on 
ethnological  but  also  on  philological  grounds.     A  comparison 
of  the  Celtic,   Teutonic,   and   Greek  myths  als6  brings  him  to 
the   same   conclusion,    as    we    have    already   said.     But    his 
arguments  seem  to  overlook  the  fact   that   language,  and  for 
the   matter  of    that,    mythology    which    is    transmitted    by 
language,  are  no  criteria  of  race.     "  Ideas,"  says  Dr.  Taylor, 
"  may  be   the   same  and   language  may  be  identical,  but  we 
cannot  affirm  that  the  undivided  Aryans  were   in   possession 
of  a  common    mythology.     It   is   more    probable  that  out  of 
the  same   common   words   and  the  same  thoughts,  the  Aryan 
nations,  after  their  separation,    constructed    separate    mythic 
tales,   whose   resemblances   are   apparent   rather   than    real. 
Another  factor  has  also  to  be   taken   into  account      Much  of 
the  culture  formerly  attributed   to  the   undivided  Aryans  is 
due  merely  to  borrowing,  and  so  also  it  is  probable  that  there 
has  been  an  extensive  migration  of  myths  from   tribe  to  tribe. 
In  many  oases   this  has  been   proved  to.beljhe  Case.     We 
know  that  a  large  portion  of  the  Greek  mythic  taW^f  wereUn 

ibid,  pp.  $36-37. 


3y8  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

reality  ,  derived  from  Semitic  sources, J  and  that  the  Latin 
poets  transferred  Greek  myths  to  unrelated  Italic  deities, 
that  the  Teutons  appropriated  Celtic  deities,  while  even  the 
mythology  of  the  Edda  turns  out  to  be  largely  infected  with 
ideas  which  carf  be  traced  to  Christian  sources,  and  supposed 
Hottentot  traditions  of  a  universal  deluge  prove  to  have 
been  obtained  from  the  dimly  remembered  teaching  of 
Christian  missionaries.  Religious  myths,  like  folk-tales  and 
popular  fables,  have  an  astonishing  faculty  for  migration. 
Sacred  legends  of  the  Buddhistic  priests  found  their  way 
from  India  to  Bagdad,  from  Bagdad  to  Cairo,  from  Cairo  to 
Cordova,  and  are  now  enshrined  in  the  pages  of  La  Fontaine, 
having  been  translated  by  wandering  professional  story-tellers 
from  Pali  into  Pehlevi,  from  Pehlevi  into  Arabic,  from  Arabic 
into  Spanish,  from  Spanish  into  French  and  English.  It  is  more 
probable  that  any  divine  myths  which  may  ultimately  be  identi- 
fied in  the  Aryan  languages  may  have  thus  migrated  at  some 
early  time,  than  that,  as  the  comparative  mythologists  assume, 
they  formed  part  of  the  common  Aryan  heritage  in  the 
barbarous  and  immensely  remote  period  before  the  linguistic 
separation.1'2  It  will  thus  appear  that  on  linguistic  and 
mythological  grounds,  no  identity  of  race  can  be  established. 
Craniology  also  proves  that  the  Celts  and  the  Teutons  do  not 
belong  to  the  same  branch  of  the  human  race.  The  dolicho- 
cephalic Teutons  were  admittedly  in  the  palaeolithic  stage 
when  the  neolithic  Celts  and  the  Slavs  came  in  contact  with 
and  itoposed  their  language  and  culture  on  them.  It  is  not 
unlikely,  as  asserted  by  Dr.  Taylor,  that  the  Celtic  deities 
and  myths  found  their  way  among  the  Teutons  who  adopted 
arid  modified  them  to  suit  their  own  way  of  thinking.  When 
the  dolicho-cephalic  Teutons  do  not  admittedly  belong  to 
the  original  Aryan  race,  it  would  be  idle  and  futile  to  call 
their  old  cradle'  in  Europe  as  the  early  cradle  of  the  Aryans. 

*  We  byre  shown  however  in  a  previous  chapter  that  the  Semites  derived 
much  of  their  culture  from  India, 

•  Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans,  pp.  330.332. 


XVII.]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE. 

The  theory  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans  should,  thcrefbtt, 
fail  on  this  very  ground.  Add  to  this  the  vast  difference  in 
culture  of  the  Teutons  and  the  Celts  as  exhibited  in  the 
remains  of  the  kitchen-middens  of  the  former,  and  the 
lake-dwellings  of  the  latter.  The  Teutons  having  been  vastly 
inferior  to  the  Celts,  it  is  certain  that  the  culture  went  from 
the  south  to  the  north,  thus  pointing  to  the  probability  that 
the  centre  of  Aryan  culture  was  in  a  place  other  than 
North  Europe  or  the  Arctic  Circle.  There  is  also 
another  factor  which  has  to  be  reckoned  with.  The  Arctic 
region  became  uninhabitable  more  than  50,000  years 
ago,  when  the  present  inclement  climate  commenced  there. 
Where  did  the  Aryans  go  after  the  destruction  of  their  home 
in  the  Arctic  circle  ?  As  the  dolicho-cephalic  Canstadts  or 
Teutons  were  not  Aryans,  nor  were  the  Iberians  and  the 
Ligurians,  it  is  probable  that  the  Celts  belonged  to  the  Aryan 
race.  But  how  is  it  that  they  exhibit  a  Turanian  type,  with 
an  Aryan  speech?  These  are  questions  which  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  answered  by  assuming  a  North  European  or 
Arctic  cradle  of  the  Aryans.  That  cradle  must  have  been  in 
Asia,  and,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  in  Sapta-Sindhu. 

In  India,  Mr.  Balgangadhar  Tilak  has  attempted  to  prove 
from  internal  evidences  of  the  Rgveda  and  the  Zend-Avesta 
that  the  Arctic  region  was  the  original  cradle  of  the  Aryans. 
It  will  be  our  humble  endeavour  in  this  and  the  following 
chapters  to  examine  how  far  the  evidences  gathered  and 
marshalled  by  him  can  be  relied  upon  to  support  his 
hypothesis.  But  we  must  candidly  say  at  the  very  outset 
that  Western  Vedic  scholars  have  admitted  that  there  is 
absolutely  no  evidence  in  the  Rgveda  of  the  Aryans  having 
ever  immigrated  to  Sapta-Sindhu  from  any  country  in  any 
ancient  epoch,  or  of  their  original  home  having  been 
destroyed  by  the  invasion  of  ice  and  snow.  Mr.  Tilak  also 
holds  the  same  view  with  these  Western  scholars,  but  he 
persuades  himself  to  believe  that  the  legend  of  Manu's  Flood, 
as  told  not  certainly  in  the  Rgveda,  but  in  the  Satapatha 


38o  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Br&hroa^a  which  is  a  much  later  work,  is  identical  with 
the  story  of  the  Ice-deluge  as  related  in  the  Zend-Avesta, 
which  is  said  to  have  destroyed  Airyana  Vaejo,  or  the  Aryan 
Paradise.  He  thinks  that  this  Paradise  was  situated  within 
the  Arctic  Circle,  and  that  the  Ice-deluge  referred  to  in  the 
Avesta  was  no  other  than  the  glaciation  that  made  this  Circle 
uninhabitable. 

There  is,  however,  a  vast  difference  between  the  accounts 
of  Manu's  Flood,  and  the  Ice-deluge  as  mentioned  in  the 
Avesta.  Manu's  deluge  was  one  of  water,  while  the  Avestic 
deluge  was  purely  one  of  snow  and  ice.  Mr.  Tilak  also  has 
noticed  this  difference.  u  Nevertheless,"  says  he,  "it  seems 
that  the  Indian  story  of  the  deluge  refers  to  the  same 
catastrophe  as  is  described  in  the  Avesta,  and  not  to  any 
local  deluge  of  water  or  rain.  For  though  the  Satapatha 
Br&hmai^a  mentions  a  flood  (aughah),  the  word  prdleya 
which  P£$ini  (vii.  3.  2)  derives  from  pral&ya  (a  deluge) 
signifies  'snow,'  *  frost, '  or  *  ice  '  in  the  later  Sanskrit 
literature.  This  indicates  that  the  connection  of  ice  with  the 
deluge  was  not  originally  unknown  to  the  Indians,  though 
in  later  times  it  seems  to  have  been  entirely  overlooked. 
Geology  informs  u<*  that  every  Glacial  epoch  is  characterised 
by  extensive  inundation  of  the  land  with  waters  brought 
down  by  great  rivers  flowing  from  the  glaciated  districts, 
and  carrying  an  amount  of  sand  or  mud  with  them.  The 
word  aughah  or  flood  in  the  Satapatha  Brihmana  may, 
therefore,  be  taken  to  refer  to  such  sweeping  floods  flowing 
from  the  glaciated  districts,  and  we  may  suppose  Manu  to 
have  been  carried  along  one  of  these  in  a  ship  guided  by  the 
fish  to  the  sides  of  the  Himalaya  mountain.  In  short,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  hold  that  the  account  in  the  Satapatha 
Br&hma&a  refers  to  the  water  deluge,  pure  and  simple, 
whatever  the  later  Pur&Qas  may  say ;  and  if  so,  we  can 
regard  the  Brahmanic  account  of  deluge  as  but  a  different 
version  of  the  Avestic  deluge  of  ice.  It  was  once  suggested 
that  the  idea  of  deluge  may  have  been  introduced  into  India 


XVIL]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  381 

from  an  exclusively  Semitic  source ;  but  this  theory  is  long 
abandoned  by  scholars,  as  the  story  of  the  deluge  is  found  in 
suoh  an  ancient  book  as  the  Satapatha  BrAhma^a,  the  date 
of  which  has  now  been  ascertained  to  be  not  later  than 
2500  B.C.  from  the  fact  that  it  expressly  assigns  to  the 
Kfttikds  or  the  Pleiades  a  position  in  the  due  east.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  the  story  of  the  deluge  is  Aryan  in 
origin,  and  in  that  case  the  Avestic  and  the  Vedic  account 
of  the  deluge  must  be  traced  to  the  same  source."1 

We  agree  with  Mr.  Tilak  in  his  last  conclusion  that  the 
story  of  the  deluge  is  Aryan  in  origin,  but  not  in  any  of  the 
other  inferences  drawn  by  htm.  In  the  first  place,  we  do  not 
admit  that  the  deluge  of  water  and  the  deluge  of  ice  were  iden- 
tical and  traceable  to  the  same  cause.  We  have  already 
discussed  this  subject  in  extenso  in  a  previous  chapter,  conclud- 
ing that  the  deluge  of  water  occurred  in  Sapta-Sindhu  probably 
as  the  result  of  the  sudden  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  RljputAnA 
Sea;  that  Manu's  ship  floated  with  the  inrushing flood  towards 
the  Himalaya  which  has  been  described  in  the  Satapatha 
BrAhmaaa  as  "  the  Northern  Mountain  "  (Uttaragiri)  ;  that 
this  mountain  could  not  have  been  described  as  northern 
(Uttara)  unless  Manu  had  lived  to  the  south  of  it  in  a  region 
where  the  flood  occurred ;  and  that  the  deluge  of  ice  men- 
tioned in  the  Avesta,  which  destroyed  Airyana  Vaejo,  was 
probably  caused  by  the  vast  volumes  of  vapours,  released 
from  the  flood-water,  having  been  precipitated  as  snow  on 
the  lofty  peaks  of  the  Himalaya  and  in  Airyana  Vaejo  which 
was  not  situated  in  the  Arctic  Circle  but  on  the  tableland  of 
Bactriana.  If  our  conclusions  be  correct,  the  Ice-deluge  was 
not  at  all  connected  with  the  advent  of  the  Ice  Age  in  the 
Arctic  region  at  the  close  of  the  Glacial  epoch,  which  made 
it  uninhabitable.  The  Ice-deluge  mentioned  in  the  Avesta 
and  the  flood  related  in  the  Satapatha  Brihma^a  were 
undoubtedly  local  events  due  to  local  causes,  and  were  not 
at  all  connected  with  the  widespread  changes  brought  about 

"   *    Tilak's  Arctic  Horn*  in  ike  Vedms>  p.  387- 


383  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

by  the  natural  forces  at  work  daring  the  Glacial  and  Inter- 
glacial  epochs.  In  the  second  place,  instead  of  the  Arctic 
Circle  having  been  made  uninhabitable  by  the  deluge  of  ice 
that  destroyed  Airyana  Vaejo,  we  find  Yima  emigrating  to  a 
region  within  that  very  circle,  where  the  year  consisted  of 
"one  long  day  and  one  long  night,"  thereby  proving  that  it 
was  situated  within  that  circle,  and  habitable,  and  that  Yima 
must  have  led  his  colony  to  that  region  in  an  Inter-glacial 
period.  This  also  goes  to  show  that  the  deluge  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  had  occurred  long  before  the  Arctic  region  was 
destroyed  and  made  uninhabitable  by  ice,  and  that  the  Indo- 
Iranians  had  already  been  in  Sapta-Sindhu  and  Bactriana 
before  the  immigration  of  the  dolichocephalic  savages  of 
Northern  Europe  took  place  from  the  Arctic  Circle,  if  they 
had  at  all  lived  there  in  any  Inter-glacial  epoch.  In  the  third 
place,  the  immigration  of  the  Aryans  from  the  Arctic  Circle 
to  Southern  Asia  is  more  fanciful  than  real.  Manu,  at  any 
rate,  did  not  come  in  his  ship  from  the  north  to  the  side  of 
the  "  Northern  Mountain  "  which  is  interpreted  to  be  the 
Himalaya.  Taking  all  these  circustances  into  our  considera- 
tion, we  cannot  hold  with  Mr.  Tilak  that  the  Indo-lranians 
had  their  cradle  in  the  Arctic  region,  and  that  there  is  any 
evidence  in  the  Avesta  or  the  Rgveda  of  the  destruction  of 
that  cradle  or  Paradise  by  the  invasion  of  ice. 

Then  again,  even  if  we  admit  for  the  sake  of  argument 
that  the  Aryan  cradle  was  situated  within  the  Arctic  Circle, 
and  that  Manu,  on  the  advent  of  the  Ice-age  immigrated  to 
the  side  of  the  Himalaya  in  his  ship  which  started  from  that 
cradle,  and  glided  along  a  great  river  flooded  by  water  from 
the  melting  ice  of  the  glaciated  districts,  though,  by  the  way, 
the  existence  of  such  a  great  river  is  nowhere  traceable,  the 
fact  remains  undoubted  that  the  Aryans  of  the  Arctic 
cradle  were  a  highly  civilised  race  even  in  that  remote  age, 
in  as  much  as  they  could  construct  a  ship  capable  of 
making  such  a  long  voyage,  without  meeting  with  any 
mishap.  How  is  it,  then,  that  such  a  great  event  was  not 


XVII.j  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE. 

mentioned    in    the    Rgveda,    the    oldest    <J5ruti,   which  was 
admittedly  composed  in  Sapta-Sindu,  and   according   to    Mr.  *• 
Tilak's  view,  composed  after  the  immigration  of  the  Aryans 
from  the  Polar  region  under  the    leadership    of   Maim  ?    And 
how  is  it  again  that  the  other  Aryans   who   dispersed   to  the 
northern  and   southern   regions   of   Europe   from   this  same 
cradle  remained  in  a  savage  condition    as    primitive   hunters, 
shell-eaters,  and  even  cannibals,  living  in  caves,  clad  in  skins 
sewn  with  bone-needles,  unacquainted  with    the   use    of  any 
metal,  placed  in    the   palaeolithic   stage   of  civilisation,  and 
divided  into  two  distinct  branches  of  the  human   family,  one 
dolicho-cephalic  and  the   other   brachy-cephalic  ?     To   some 
of  these  questions  Mr.  Tilak  has  attempted  an  answer  which, 
for  ingenuity,  absurdity  and  desperateness,    is   hard   to  beat, 
and  well  worth  quoting  here     "  The  destruction  of  the  ancient 
Aryan    home   by   glaciation   and    deluge/'   says   he,    "intro- 
duces a  new  factor  in  the  history  of   the    Aryan   civilisation  ; 
and  any  shortcoming  or   defects   in    the   civilisation    of  the 
Aryan  races  that  are  found  to  have    inhabited  the   northern 
parts  of  Europe  in   the   beginning   of   the    Neolithic  age  as 
distinguished  from  the  civilisation  of  the  Asiatic  Aryan  races 
must  now  be  accounted  for  as  the  result  of  a  natural   relapse 
into  barbarism  after  the  great  catastrophe.     It   is   true   that 
ordinarily  we  cannot  conceive  a  race  that   has  once  launched 
on  a  career  of  progress  and  civilisation  suddenly  retrograding 
or  relapsing  into  barbarism.     But  the   same    rule   cannot  be 
applied  to  the  case  of  the  continuation    of   the   ante-diluvian 
into  post-diluvian  times.     In  the  first   place,  very  few  people 
would  have  survived  a  cataclysm  of   such   magnitude   as  the 
deluge  of  snow  and  ice,  and  those  that  survived  could  hardly 
be  expected  to  have  carried  with  them  all   the   civilisation  of 
the  original   home,   and   introduced   it   intact   in   their  new 
settlements  under  adverse   circumstances,   among  the   non- 
Aryan  tribes  in  the  north   of  Europe,   or  on   the   plains  of 
Central  Asia.    We  must  also  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  th* 
climate  of  northern  Europe  and   Asia,   though   temperate   at 


384  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

present,  must  have  been  very  much  colder  after  the  great 
deluge,  and  the  descendants  of  those  who  had  to  migrate  to 
those  countries  from  the  Polar  regions,  born  only  to  a  savage 
or  nomadic  life,  could  have,  at  best,  preserved  only  frag- 
mentary reminiscences  of  the  ante-diluvian  culture  and 
civilisation  of  their  forefathers  living  in  the  once  happy 
Arctic  home.  Under  the  circumstances  we  need  not  be 
surprised  if  the  European  Aryans  are  found  to  be  in  an 
inferior  state  of  civilisation  at  the  beginning  of  the  Neolithic 
age.  On  the  contrary,  the  wonder  is  that  so  much  of  the 
ante-diluvian  religion  or  culture  should  have  been  preserved 
from  the  general  wreck  caused  by  the  last  Glacial  epoch,  by 
the  religious  zeal  and  industry  of  the  bards  or  priests  of  the 
Iranian  or  the  Indian  Aryans.  It  is  true  that  they  looked 
upon  these  relics  of  the  ancient  civilisation  as  a  sacred 
treasure  entrusted  to  them  to  be  scrupulously  guarded  and 
transmitted  to  future  generations ;  yet  considering  the  difficul- 
ties with  which  they  had  to  contend,  we  cannot  but  wonder 
how  so  much  of  the  ante-diluvian  civilisation,  religion,  or 
worship  was  preserved  in  the  Veda  or  the  Avesta.  If  the 
other  Aryan  races  have  failed  to  preserve  these  ancient 
traditions  so  well,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  argue  there- 
from that  the  civilisation  or  the  culture  of  these  races  was 
developed  after  the  separation  of  the  common  stock.1'1 

There  are  so  many  absurd  elements  in  the  above 
answer  that  we  cannot  do  better  than  pick  out  a  few  promi- 
nent ones  and  deal  with  them  one  by  one.  In  the  first  place, 
if  very  few  of  the  Aryans,  who  had  be*in  settled  in  the  Arctic 
Circle,  survived  the  cataclysm  of  ice  and  snow,  and  such  as 
survived  and  migrated  south  to  Scandinavia  and  other  parts 
of  North  Europe  relapsed  into  barbarism,  it  is  tantamount  to 
an  admission  that  there  is  no  Aryan  element  to  speak  of  in 
the  population  of  Europe.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  incon- 
ceivable that  the  survivors  of  a  tribe  which  has,  by  a  natural 
process  of  evolution,  reached  a  certain  stage  of  civilisation, 
»  Tilak's  Arctic  Horn*  in  tht  Vitas,  pp.  434-435. 


XVII.]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  385 

would  retrograde  or  relapse  into  barbarism   in  consequence 
of  a  catastrophe  that  destroys  their  home,  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  make  them  forget  the  use   and    manufacture   of  metals, 
or  to  adopt  palaeolithic  implements  for  neolithic  ones.     This 
may  be  conceivable  and  possible  in  the  case   of  an   isolated 
individual,  but  never  in  the  case  of  a  tribe.     Even  a  Robinson 
Crusoe,  cast  away  in  a  lonely  island,  would   be   able   single- 
handed  with  the  assistance  of  such  meagre  instruments  as  he 
could  lay  his  hands  on,  to  conform    himself   to   the   require- 
ments of  a  semi-civilised  life.     In  the  third  place,  it    may  be 
reasonably  assumed  that  the  Glacial  epoch  did  not  appear  all 
at  once,  in  a  single  day,  in  the   Arctic   region,    without  any 
previous  warning,  and  destroy   all  life.     Its   appearance  was 
undoubtedly  gradual,    giving  sufficient   forewarnings   to   the 
creatures  that  lived  there,    so   that    they   could   instinctively 
take  themselves  to  places  of  safety.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
number    of     survivors,    to    whichever   race    they    may   have 
belonged,  and  even  if  they  were  Aryans,    as   is    supposed  by 
Mr.   Tilak,  was  large  enough  to  have  overspread   a  large  part 
of  Europe,  and  also  parts  of  Asia.     Now  a  tribe  that  survives 
a  catastrophe,  and  .shares  the  general  culture    of   the    race  to 
which  it  belongs,  cannot  conceivably  relapse    into   barbarism 
as  soon  as  it  is  removed  from  its  original  home    and  environ- 
ments.    The  physical  home  may    have    been    destroyed,    but 
the  tribal  mind  was    there,    with    all    the    inheritance    of   its 
culture,  and  mind,  as  we  all  know,  is  a  principal  factor  in  the 
evolution  of  civilisation,  with  the  help  of  which  a  tribe  is  able 
to  overcome  many   difficulties,  and    remove    many    obstacles, 
even  in  unfavourable  environments.  These  may  retard  further 
progress,  but  certainly  cannot  destroy,    root   and  branch,  the 
culture  inherited  from  time  immemorial,  unless,  of  course,  we 
suppose  that  the  dispersion  took  place   in   groups    of  two  or 
three  individuals  only,  completely  cut  off  from  one  another — 
a  supposition  which  seems  absurd  on  the  very  face  of  it.     In 
the   next    place,    it   should    be   considered   that   though   the 
northern  regions  of  Europe  may  have  been    uncongenial  and 

49 


386  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

unfavourable  to  the  growth  and  development  of  civilisation, 
the  southern  regions  were  not.  How  is  it  then  that  both  the 
Northerners  and  the  Southerners  remained  in  the  same  stage 
of  development  for  thousands  of  years?  And  how  is  it  again 
that  the  Aryan  tribes  who  wandered  south  to  Asia  from  the 
'same  cradle  after  the  catastrophe,  not  only  retained  a  large 
part  of  their  original  culture  but  also  made  rapid  strides 
towards  progress?  These  are  questions  which  cannot  be 
satisfactorily  answered  by  the  explanation  that  Mr.  Tilak  has 
offered.  Either  it  must  be  supposed  that  the  ancestors  of  the 
Indo-Iranians,  who  are  alleged  to  have  lived  in  the  Arctic 
region,  formed  a  people  by  themselves,  with  a  superior 
culture  and  homogeneous  civilisation  which  were  not  shared 
by  the  savage  ancestors  of  the  European  nations  who  formed 
a  separate  group  of  people,  unconnected  with  the  Aryans ; 
or,  the  hypothesis  of  a  common  Aryan  cradle  in  the  Arctic 
Circle,  from  which  the  common  ancestors  of  the  Europeans 
and  I  ndo-Iranians  are  said  to  have  dispersed,  must  be  given 
up  as  untenable.  There  is  no  way  out  of  this  dilemma.  If 
the  Indo-Iranians  were  a  separate  people  in  the  Arctic  Circle, 
then  the  ancestors  of  the  European  nations  were  undoubtedly 
not  Aryans.  The  question,  however,  remains  to  be  answered, 
if  they  were  not  Aryans,  how  rouM  they  imbibe  the  Aryan 
speech  ?  One  plausible  answer  may  be  that  they  must  have 
come  in  contact  with  the  Aryans  in  the  Arctic  Circle,  and 
adopted  their  language,  though  not  their  culture,  which 
however,  seems  improbable.  But  even  then  another  question 
would  stare  us  in  the  face :  How  is  it  that  the  majority  of  the 
Aryan-speaking  people  of  Europe  are  distinctly  of  a  Turanian 
or  Asiatic  type,  and  the  Teutons  of  an  African  type  ?  The 
hypothesis  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans  cannot  explain 
this  point,  or  answer  this  question.  The  only  other  alternative 
left  to  us  is  to  fall  back  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  Aryans 
had  no  cradle  in  the  Arctic  region,  and  that  their  original 
home  was  in  Asia,  and  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  whence  savage 
Aryan  tribes  in  the  primitive  stages  of  civilisation  went  out 


XVII.]  THEORY  OF  ARCTIC  CRADLE.  387 

towards  the  west,  and  getting  themselves  mixed   with   the 
Turanian  savages  on   whom   they  imposed  their  language, 
overspread  Europe.     This  hypothesis,  so  far  as  our   present 
knowledge  goes,  most   satisfactorily  explains  everything,  as 
we  have  shown  in  the  previous  chapters.     But  Mr.  Tilak*says 
that  there  are  internal    evidences   in   the   Rgveda   and   the 
Avesta  to   prove   the  original   Aryan   cradle   in   the  Arctic 
Circle.     Even  if,  after  a  close  and  careful  examination  of  these 
evidences,  we  find  them  to  be  true  or  reliable,  they  would  only 
go  to  prove  that  the  ancestors  of  the  Indo-Iranians  had  lived 
in  some  early  remote  age  in  the  Arctic   region,    developing  a 
civilisation  of  their    own,    whence   they   emigrated   south   to 
Bactriana    and    Sapta-Sindhu    in    an    age,    still     so     early 
and    remote,    that    their   descendants   forgot  all    traditions 
of    this    early    immigration,    and    regarded    themselves     as 
autochthones   of   SapU-Sindhu.     If   Manu's    Flood   and   the 
Ice-deluge    in    the    Arctic    region    were    identical     events, 
then     the     civilisation     of     the     early     Aryan     immigrants 
must  have   been    in    such   an    advanced   stage   as   to    make 
the  building  of  sea-going  ships   possible,    which  connotes   an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the   use   and    manufacture   of   metals. 
This  involves  the  further  question  :  How  is  then  the  existence 
of   savage   Aryan    nomads    in    the    neolithic   stage  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  to  be  accounted  for  ?     For,  unless   they   had    existed 
there,   and    wandered   away   to  the  west,  with  the  Turanian 
savages  in  a   similar   .stage   of   development,   the   import   of 
Aryan  speech  with  neolithic  culture  into  Europe  by  a    people 
of   the   Turanian    type    would    not   be   at  all  possible.     The 
Aryan   immigrants   to    Sapta-Sindhu    having    been     highly 
civilised,   we  cannot  imagine  that  they  were  accompanied  in 
their  journey  by  Aryan  savages  in  the  neolithic   stage,    in   as 
much  as  the  co-existence  of  two  such  widely  divergent  stages 
of  civilisation   in   the   same  community  is    not    ordinarily 
possible,  without  the  higher  civilisation  effecting  an  improve- 
ment in  the   lower.     But   it   may  be  argued  that  the  two 
branches   of   the   Aryan   race   probably  started  from    their 


388  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

original  cradle  in  the  Arctic  region  separately  and  by  different 
routes,  one  branch  settling  in  Sapta-Sindhu  and  Bactriana, 
and  the  other  in  Central  Asia  where  they  mixed  with  the 
Turanians,  and  wherefrom  they  afterwards  immigrated  to 
Europe.  This  may  indeed  have  been  possible.  But  we  have 
to  take  into  our  consideration  the  fact  that  the  gi  eater  part 
of  Central  and  Northern  Asia  was  covered  by  seas  in  ancient 
time,  which  would  be  impassable  to  savage  nomads  in  the 
neolithic  stage  of  civilisation,  and  a  route  beset  with  such 
difficulties  and  obstacles  would  be  instinctively  avoided  by 
them.  Besides,  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  of  Aryan 
settlement  or  migration  in  North  Asia.  There  is  indeed 
some  evidence  of  this  in  Central  and  Western  Asia.  But 
this  is  accounted  for  by  the  Aryan  nomadic  sa\ag<-s  having 
migrated  in  those  directions  from  th^  central  hive  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  and  Bactriana,  from  which  they  had  been  eliminated 
and  ejected  by  the  more  advanced  tribe-*  in  the  natural 
course  of  their  evolution.  Considered  from  all  these  points 
of  view,  Mr.  Tildk's  hypothesis  of  the  Aryan  cradle  in  the 
Arctic  region  seems  to  us  to  be  untenable.  It  now  only 
remains  for  us  to  examine  the  Veclic  and  Avestic  evidences 
adduced  by  him  in  support  of  his  hypothesis,  which  we 
propose  to  do  in  the  following  chapters. 


CHAPTER  XVIII- 

EXAMINATION  OF  MR.  TIUK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC 
CRADLE  OF  THE  ARYANS. 

THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS. 

The  North  Pole  is  merely  a  point  and  the  Arctic  region 
comprises  the  tract  between  the  North  Pole  and  the  Arctic 
Circle.  It  is  also  called  the  circum-polar  region.  The 
Polar  chaiacteristics  have  thus  been  summed  up  by  Mr.  Tilak: 

(i)  The  sun  rises  in  the  south.  (2^  The  stars  do  not 
rise*  and  set,  but  revolve  or  spin  round  and  round  in  horizon- 
tal planes  completing  one  round  in  24  hours.  The  northern 
celestial  hemisphere  is  alone  overhead  and  visible  during  the 
year  ,  and  the  southern  or  lower  celestial  world  in  always 
invisible.  (3)  The  year  consists  only  of  one  long  day  and  one 
long  night  of  six  months  each.  (4)  There  is  only  one  morn- 
ing and  one  evening,  or  the  Sun  rises  and  sets  only  once  a 
)^ar,  But  th«-  twilight,  whether  of  the  morning  or  of  the 
evening,  lasts  continuously  for  about  two  months  or  60 
period-,  of  24  hours  each.  The  luddy  light  of  the  morn,  or 
the  evening  twilight,  is  not  again  confined  to  a  particular 
pait  of  the  horizon  (eastward  or  westward)  as  with  us,  but 
moves  like  the  stars*  at  the  place,  round  and  round  along  the 
hoiizon,  like  a  potter's  wheel,  completing  one  round  in  every 
24  hours.  These  rounds  of  the  morning  light  continue  to 
take  place  until  the  orb  of  the  sun  comes  above  the  horizon  ; 
and  then  the  sun  follows  the  same  course  for  six  months, 
that  is,  moves  without  setting  round  and  round  the  observer, 
completing  one  round  every  24  hours.1 

These  are  the  characteristics  of  the  North  Pole,  the  point 
whtre  the  axis  of  the  earth  terminates  in  the  North.  But  they 
are  not  the  same  as  those  of  the  circum-polar  region  which 
are  somewhat  different  and  as  follow:  (i)  In  this  region, 

'^  Article  H\>mt  in  the  Vedas,  p.  58. 


390  SLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  sun    will    always  be   to  the   south  of  the  zenith  of  the 
observer.  (2)  A  large  number  of  stars  are  circumpolar,  that 
is,  they  are  above  the  horizon  during  the  entire  period  of  their 
revolution,   and   hence    always  visible.     The  remaining  stars 
rise  and  set,  as  in  the  temperate  zone,   but   revolve   in   more 
oblique  circles.  (3)  The  year  is  made  up  of  three  parts :  (i) 
long  continuous  night  occurring  at   the   time   of  the   winter 
solstice,  and   lasting   for  a  period,  greater  than  24  hours  and 
less  than  six  months,  according  to  the  latitude   of  the  place  ; 
(«')  one  long  continuous  day  to  match,  occurring  at  the  time 
of  the  summer   solstice,   and   (Hi)   a  succession  of  ordinary 
days  and  nights  during  the  rest  of  the  year,   a   nycthemeron, 
or  a  day  and   a   night   together  never  exceeding  a  period  of 
24  hours.      The  day  after  the  long  continuous  night  is  at  first 
shorter   than   the    night,    but   it  goes   on   increasing  until  it 
develops  into  the  long  continuous   day.     At   the   end   of  the 
long  day,    the   night  is  at  first  shorter  than  the  day,  and  goes 
on  increasing  in   duration    until   the   commencement   of   the 
long  continuous  night,  with   which    the   year   ends.     (4)  The 
dawn  at  the   close   of   the   long  continuous  night  lasts  for 
several   days,    but   its   duration   and  magnificence  is  propor- 
tionately  less    than   at   the   North    Pole,   according   to   the 
latitude   of   the   place.     For   places   within  a  few  degrees  of 
the  North  Pole,  the  phenomenon  of   revolving   morning  light 
will  still  be  observable  during  the  greater  part  of  the  duration 
of  the  dawn.     The  other  dawns,  vis.,  those   between  ordinary 
days  and   nights    will,   like  the  dawns  in  the  temperate  zone, 
only  last  for  a  few  hours.     The   sun,   when   he   is  above  the 
horizon   during  the   continuous   day,   will  be  seen  revolving, 
without  setting,  round  the  observer,   as   at   the   Pole,   but  in 
oblique  and  not  horizontal  circles  and  during  the  long  night, 
he  will  be  entirely  below  the  horizon  ;  while   during  the  rest 
of  the  year,  he  will  rise  and  set,   remaining  above  the  horizon 
for  a  part  of  24  hours  varying  according  to  the  position  of 
the  sun  in  the  ecliptic.1 
1    Ibid,  pp,  59-60. 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  391 

The  above  summary  of  the  Polar  and  circumpolar  charac- 
teristics, made  by  Mr.  Tilak,  is  accepted  as  correct.  "  If  a 
Vedic  description  or  tradition,"  says  he,  u  discloses  any  of 
the  characteristics  mentioned  above,  we  may  safely  infer  that 
the  tradition  is  Polar  or  circumpolar  in  origin  and  the 
phenomenon,  if  not  actually  witnessed  by  the  poet,  was  at 
least  known  to  him  by  tradition  faithfully  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  Fortunately,  there  are  many  such 
passages  or  references  in  the  Vedic  literature,  and  for  con- 
venience, these  may  be  divided  into  two  parts :  the  first 
comprising  those  passages  which  directly  describe  or  refer 
to  the  long  night,  or  the  long  dawn,  and  the  second  consisting 
of  myths  and  legends  which  corroborate  or  indirectly  support 
the  first. "l  Let  us  first  see  how  he  has  treated  the  direct 
evidences. 

We  admit  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Tilak's  view  that  the 
Rgveda  was  not  composed  in  any  particular  period  but  at 
different  periods,  and  that  many  old  traditions  and  myths  are 
mixed  up  with  hymns  composed  at  a  later  period,  though  it 
is  veiy  difficult  to  separate  and  classify  them.  He  says  that 
the  spinning  round  of  the  heavenly  dome  over  the  head,  which 
i«  one  of  the  special  characteristics  of  the  North  Pole,  is  dis- 
tinctly traceable  in  Rgvedic  passages  "  which  compare  the 
motion  of  the  heavens  to  that  of  a  wheel."  For  instance,  he 
quotes  Rv.  x.  89,  4,  in  which  Indra  is  said  separately  to 
uphold  by  his  power  heaven  and  earth,  as  the  two  wheels  of  a 
chariot  are  held  by  the  axle.  Now,  in  the  passage  we  find 
both  the  sky  and  the  earth  described  as  a  pair  of  wheels, 
because  they  appear  circular  in  the  distant  horizon,  and  look 
like  two  gigantic  wheels.  This,  however,  is  no  peculiar 
characteristic  of  the  North  Pole,  but  of  every  region 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  We  do  not  find  here  any  mention 
of  the  two  wheels  turning  round  and  round  horizontally 
like  a  potter's  wheel,  or  vertically  like  those  of  a  chariot. 
In  fact,  there  is  no  mention  at  all  of  any  motion  of 

Ibid  p,  160. 


392  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAp. 

the  wheels.  The  earth  and  the  sky  simply  appear  to  the 
bard  to  be  round  like  two  wheels,  one  placed  below 
and  the  other  above,  and  both  joined  by  an  invisible  axle 
which  seems  to  him  to  represent,  as  it  were,  the  power  of 
Indra.  In  Rv.  ii.  15,  2  and  iv.  5,  6  Indra  is  said  to  be 
supporting  the  sky  even  without  a  pole.  These  verses,  there- 
fore, do  not  prove  any  polar  characteristics.  But  Mr.  Tilak 
says  that  the  spinning  of  the  sky  as  a  potter's  wheel  is  proved 
by  Rv.  x.  89,  2  where  Indra  is  identified  with  SQrya  (or  the 
Sun)  and  described  as  (( turning  the  widest  expanse  like  the 
wheels  of  a  chariot."  Mr.  Tilak  says  :  "  The  word  for 
1  expanse '  is  •varamsi  which  Sayana  understands  to  mean 
'  lights  '  or  *  stars.'  But  whichever  meaning  we  adopt,  it  is 
clear  that  the  verse  in  question  refers  to  the  revolution  of  the 
sky  and  compares  it  to  the  motion  of  a  chariot-wheel" 
(pp.  65-66).  Now  the  revolution  of  the  widest  expanse,  or 
of  the  lights  and  stars,  which  is  compared  to  the  motion  of  a 
chariot-wheel  should  have  at  once  convinced  Mr.  Tilak  that 
the  poet  means  that  the  heavens  move  from  ea^t  to  west,  and 
back  again  to  east  vetticallyi  and  not  horizontally  like  a 
potter's  wheel.  But  he  "  combines  the  two  statements  that 
the  heavens  are  supported  as  on  a  pole,  and  that  they  move 
like  a  wheel"  and  infers  therefrom  **  that  the  motion  referred 
to  is  such  a  motion  of  the  celestial  hemisphere  as  can  be 
witnessed  only  by  an  observer  at  the  Noith  Pole."  This 
inference  however  is  quite  unwarranted,  as  the  two  statements 
are  distinct,  giving  separate  ideas  of  the  h<jav^ns,  the  one 
being  that  they  are  supported  by  Indra  even  without  the 
assistance  of  a  pole,  and  the  other  being  that  the  lights  or 
stars  of  the  sky  turn  in  the  same  way  as  the  wheel  of  a 
chariot  does.  Where,  then,  is  the  horizontal  movement  of 
the  sky  or  the  stars  indicated  ?  This  evidence  adduced  by 
Mr.  Tilak  does  not,  therefore,  support  or  prove  his  point. 
His  interpretation  is  forced  and  cannot  be  relied  upon. 

He  next  quotes  Rv.  i.  24,  10  to  prove  the  Polar  character 
of  the  heavens.     This  hymn   translated  into    English   stands 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  393 

thus :  "  Those  riks&h  (that  are)  placed   high  and  visible   in 
the  night,  where  do   they  go   during  the   day-time?1'     The 
commentator,  SAyana,  says  that  the  word  riks&h   may   mean 
either  the   Sapta-^sis,  i.e.,   the   seven   stars   that   form   the 
constellation  of  Ursa  Major,    or   stars   generally.     Mr.  Tilak 
says  that  it  refers  only  to  the   constellation   of  Ursa    Major, 
and  as  the  stars  are  said  to   be   placed    "  high  "  (ucc&h),  "  it 
follows  that  it  (the  constellation)  must  then   have   been   over 
the  head  of  the  observer,  which  is  possible  only  in  the  circum- 
polar  region.     Even  if  Mr.  Tilak's   interpretation  of  the  word 
be  accepted  as  correct,  his  inference    would   seem   to  be  far- 
fetched.     The  word  ucc&h  (high)  is  a  relative  term,  and  does 
not  necessarily   mean    "  overhead "  (urddhva).      It   simply 
means  that  the  object  spoken  of  is  higher  than  the  surround- 
ing  objects.     By  applying   the  epithet  ucc&h  to  the  constella- 
tion of  Ursa  Major,  the  poet,   therefore,   simply   means   that 
this  prominent  constellation  is  placed  high  above  the  horizon. 
It  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  it  was  seen  overhead^ the 
bard.    Professor  Max  Muller  says  in  his  Science  of  Language : 
11  Riksa  in  the  sense  of  bright  has  become    the   name   of   the 
bear,  so  called  either  from  his  bright  eyes,  or  from  his  bright 
tawny  fur.     The  same  name  ii)  the  sense  of  the  bright  ones 
had  been  applied  by  the  Vedic  poets  to   the  stars  in  general^ 
and  more  particularly  to  that  constellation  which  in  northern 
parts  of  India  was  the  most  prominent."1    If  the  word  refers 
to  stars  in  general,  they  may  be  called  ucc&h   or   placed  high 
above  the  horizon,  whether  over  the  head  of   the    observer  or 
not.     On  the  other  hand,  if  it   refers   to   the   constellation  of 
Ursa  Major  which  is  the   most  prominent  in   the   northern 
parts  of  India t  and  particularly  in  the    high   tableland  north 
of   Kashmir   and   the  peaks   of  the    Himalaya   from    which 
the  Vedic  bard  may  have   made   his   observations,    it   is  not 
unnatural  for  him  to  describe   it   as   placed   high   above   the 
horizon.     At    all   events,   the    hymn   quoted   by    Mr.   Tilak 
does  not  conclusively  prove   any   polar    characteristic.     The 
1     Science  of  Language t  Vol.  II,  p.  395. 
50 


394  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

evidences  of  those  characteristics  in  the  Rgveda  are  so 
few  and  far  between  that  he  himself  is  compelled  to  observe  : 
"  Unfortunately  there  are  few  other  passages  in  the  Rg- 
veda which  describe  the  motion  of  the  celestial  hemisphere 
or  of  the  stars  therein. "  l  He  therefore  leaves  the  point, 
and  goes  to  take  up  another  characteristic  of  the  polar 
regions,  viz.)  "  a  day  and  a  night  of  six  months  each." 

He- admits,  however,  that  there  is  absolutely  no  reference 
to  this  polar  characteristic  in  the  Rgveda,  and  therefore 
falls  back  on  such  later  Sanskrit  works  as  the  Taittirlya 
Br&hmana,  the  Mah&bh&rata,  the  Manu  Samhita,  the  Purdnas, 
and  even  such  a  recent  work  as  the  Sdrya-Siddh&nta  for 
references  to  it.  But  he  forgets  that  all  these  references 
may  have  been  due  to  knowledge  subsequently  acquired 
either  from  hearsay,  or  the  personal  observation  of  some 
adventurous  traveller,  and  cannot  certainly  prove  his 
hypothesis  of  the  original  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans.  If  the 
Aryan  cradle  was  in  the  Arctic  region,  there  would  undoubt- 
edly have  been  some  reference  at  least  to  this  extraordinary 
characteristic  of  a  day  and  a  night,  each  of  six  months1 
duration,  in  the  oldest  work  extant  of  the  Aryans,  vt&.t  the 
Rgveda.  The  total  absence  of  any  such  reference  to  this 
characteristic  in  this  Veda  takes  away  much  of  the  force  and 
value  of  Mr.  Tilak's  arguments,  however  much  he  may  try 
to  bolster  up  his  theory  by  evidences  culled  from  later 
Sanskrit  works  and  interpret  some  Vcdic  hymns  in  his  own 
way  to  support  it.  It  would  therefore  be  perfectly  useless 
to  plod  with  him  through  evidences  collected  by  him  from 
these  later  works.  It  would  only  suffice,  however,  to  observe 
here  that  all  these  evidences  go  to  show  that  at  a  later  period 
when  the  Aryans  became  acquainted  with  the  Polar  regions, 
they  believed  them  to  be  tenanted  not  by  ordinary  men  of 
flesh  and  blood,  but  by  Devas  and  other  superhuman  beings 
who  had  a  day  and  a  night,  each  of  six  months'  duration. 
This  further  goes  to  prove  that  the  acquaintance  of  their 

*     Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p  66. 


XVIII.]  TAE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  395 

authors  with  the  Polar  regions  dated  after  they  had  become 
uninhabitable  by  the  invasion  of  ice  and  snow  at  the  end  of 
the  Glacial  epoch. 

The  Sdrya-Siddh£nta  of  Bhiskaricarya  says  (xii.  67) : 
"  At  Meru  the  Gods  behold  the  sun  after  but  a  single  rising 
during  the  half  of  his  revolution  beginning  with  Aries."  Manu 
in  his  Samhita  (i.  67)  says :  "  A  (human)  year  is  a  day  and 
night  of  the  Gods ;  thus  are  the  two  divided,  the  northern 
passage  of  the  Sun  is  the  day  and  the  southern  the  night." 
In  Chapters  163  and  164  of  the  Vana  Parva  of  the 
Mahibh&rata,  there  is  mention  of  Mount  Meru  which  Mr. 
Tilak  identifies  with  the  North  Pole,  and  round  which  the 
Sun,  the  Moon  and  other  luminaries  are  said  to  be  constantly 
moving  from  left  to  right.  1  he  translation  of  verses  27  and 
28  of  Chapter  163  is  as  follows:  "O  descendant  of  Kuru, 
the  Sun  and  Moon,  through  eternity,  make  their  tour  around 
this  Meru  every  day.  O  pure  one,  O  great  king,  all  the 
luminaries  too  turn  round  this  prince  of  mountains  in  the 
self-same  way."  ]  The  main  idea  of  the  passages  is  the  daily 
rotation  of  the  Sun  and  Moon  round  Mount  Meru,  either 
causing  a  long  continuous  day  throughout  the  year  and 
through  eternity,  or  a  simple  nycthemeron.  But  the  night 
also  was  illumined  by  the  splendour  of  the  mountain  and 
the  brilliancy  of  luminous  herbs,  so  that  it  was  not  dark,  and 
there  was  DO  difference  between  day  and  night.  The 
translation  of  verse  8  of  Chapter  164  is  as  follows  :  "O  great 
hero,  by  reason  of  the  splendour  of  this  excellent  mountain 
itself  and  of  the  brilliancy  of  the  annual  herbs,  there  was  no 
difference  between  day  and  night."  2  Mr.  Tilak  identifies 
this  splendour  of  the  mountain  with  the  appearance  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis.  But  the  radiance  of  the  Aurora  lasts  only 
for  a  short  while,  plunging  the  greater  part  of  the  night  into 
darkness  again.  How  can  it  then  be  said  that  the  appearance 
of  the  Aurora  Borealis  made  the  whole  night  look  like  day  ? 

1     Rid,  p,  66. 

-  •     M .  N.  Dutt's  English  Translation  of  the  Mahdbhdrata. 


396  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Mr.  Tilak  then  goes  on  to  say :  "  A  few  verses  further,  and 
we  find,  the  day  and  the  night  are  together  equal  to  a  year 
to  the  residents  of  the  place."  Unfortunately,  we  have 
not  come  across  the  identical  idea  in  verse  13  Chapter 
164  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  quoted.  The  translation  of 
this  verse  is  as  follows :  "  In  spite  of  beholding  many 
romantic  forests  on  the  mountain,  as  they  could  not 
help  constantly  thinking  of  Arjuna,  every  day  and  night 
appeared  to  them  (long)  as  a  year."1  This  is  the  correct 
meaning  of  the  verse  :  The  four  brothers  of  Arjuna  who  had 
gone  to  the  abode  of  Indra  were  so  eager  to  meet  him 
that  they  considered  a  day  to  be  as  long  as  a  year.  They 
tried  to  while  away  their  time  by  beholding  the  beauties  of 
romantic  forests  and  keeping  their  minds  otherwise  engaged, 
but  without  much  success.  They  felt  the  tedium  of  waiting, 
and  each  moment  seemed  to  move  so  slowly  as  to  make 
a  day  appear  like  a  year.  There  is  absolutely  no  sugges- 
tion in  the  verse  of  the  polar  characteristic  of  the  year 
being  equal  to  a  long  day  and  a  long  night,  as  Mr.  Tilak 
thinks  there  is.  But  from  the  description  of  Mount  Meru 
given  in  the  Mdhabharata,  it  seems  that  the  writer  had  an 
idea,  though  vague  and  confused,  of  the  Arctic  region,  which 
he  believed  to  be  tenanted  by  the  Gods,— Brahma,  Vi^u, 
the  Sun,  the  Moon,  etc.t  and  where  no  ordinary  mortals  could 
go.  This  shows  that  at  the  time  of  the  composition  of  the 
Mah&bh&rata,  the  Arctic  region  had  become  quite  unfit  for 
human  habitation.  In  the  Taittiriya  Ar  an  yak  a  (i.  7.  i), 
which  forms  part  of  what  is  known  as  Vedic  Literature,  we 
find  Mount  Meru  described  as  the  seat  of  the  seven  Adityas, 
while  the  eighth  Aditya  called  KftSyapa  is  said  never  to  leave 
the  great  Meru  or  Mahdmeru,  and  in  the  Taittiriya 
Brahmana  (iii  9.  22.  i)  we  come  across  a  passage  which 
clearly  says  :  "  That  which  is  a  year  is  but  a  single  day  of 
the  Gods/1  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  references  to 
a  long  day  and  a  long  night,  constituting  a  human  year, 

i     M.  N.  Dutt's  English  Translation  of  the  Mahtikdrata, 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  397 

point  to  a  knowledge,  either  direct  or  derived,  of  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  Polar  region,  on  the  part  of  the  authors 
who  believed  it  to  be  the  abode  not  of  men  but  of  the 
celestial  hierarchy.  This  knowledge,  therefore,  dated  after 
the  Arctic  region  had  become  uninhabitable.  As  we  have 
already  said,  it  is  extremely  strange  that  there  is  absolutely 
no  mention  in  the  Rgveda,  the  oldest  work,  of  any  of  those 
Polar  characteristics,  specially  of  the  long  day  and  the  long 
night,  each  of  six  months'  duration.  We  cannot,  therefore, 
help  concluding  that  in  Rgvedic  times,  the  Indo-Aryans  had 
no  knowledge  of  the  Polar  region,  which  appears  to  have 
been  acquired  in  a  subsequent  age.  The  Br&hmanas,  though 
regarded  as  forming  parts  of  the  Vedic  Literature,  were 
composed  long  after  the  Rgveda,  in  order  to  explain  the 
meaning  of  many  intricate  Vedic  rituals  which  people  came 
to  forget  in  course  of  time.  Any  reference  to  the  Polar 
characteristics  in  the  Brahmanas,  therefore,  does  not  prove 
that  the  Rgvedic  bards  had  any  knowledge  of  the  Polar 
region  or  that  their  ancestors  ever  lived  there. 

But  Mr.  Tilak  says  that  in  several  hymns  of  the  Rgveda 
occurs  the  mention  of  Devaydna  and  Pitryana  which  he 
says,  u  originally  corresponded  with  the  Uttardyana  and  the 
Daksindyana,  or  the  day  and  the  night  of  the  Gods."  The 
word  Devaydna  literally  means  "  the  path  of  the  Gods,"  and 
Pitjyana  means  "  the  path  of  the  Pitrs,"  or  the  dead  human 
ancestors.  In  other  words,  the  path  by  which  the  Devas  travel 
is  Devaydna,  and  the  path  by  which  the  Pitrs  or  dead  human 
ancestors  travel  is  Pitj-yina.  The  Devas  are  bright  divinities 
and  the  producers  of  light,  not  only  in  a  physical  but  also  in 
a  moral  and  spiritual  sense,  and  light  is  only  another  name 
of  life.  Therefore,  Devay&na  is  the  best  and  most  covetable 
path.  The  path,  on  which  light  fades  into  darkness  and  life 
into  death,  is  the  path  of  the  Pitrs  or  the  dead  ancestors. 
These  paths,  therefore,  in  their  original  significance  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Uttar&yana  and  Daksindyana}  or  the 
periodical  northward  and  southward  movements  of  the  Sun. 


398  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

The  Vedic  bards  understood  them  simply  to  mean  the  Path  of 
Light  and  Life,  and  the  Path  of  Darkness  and  Death  respect- 
ively.  Agni  has  been  described  in  the  Rgveda  as  the  Priest 
of  the  Sacrifice  and  it  is  one  of  his  functions  to  carry  to  the 
Devas  the  offerings  that  are  made  through  him.  It  is,  therefore, 
essential  that  he  should  know  their  paths  and  whereabouts. 
This  idea  has  been  expressed  in  Rv.  i.  12,  7,  where  it  is  said 
that  Agni  knows  the  path  of  the  Devas,  situated  midway 
between  heaven  and  earth,  and  diligently  carries  to  them  all 
offerings  made  through  him.  The  Devay&na,  therefore,  is  an 
invisible  path  located  in  mid-sky,  which  only  becomes  visible 
when  the  Gods  of  light  travel  by  it.  Now  of  these  Gods,  the 
ASvins  are  the  first  to  make  their  appearance.  They  are  the 
predecessors  of  the  Dawn  or  Usas,  and  are  seen  in  the 
eastern  horizon  as  patches  of  butterlike  condensed  lights. 
The  night  sacrifices  had  to  be  commenced  from  the  very 
appearance  of  the  ASvins,  and  the  sacrificers  had  to  keep  a 
patient  and  tiresome  vigil,  waiting  for  their  appearance. 
When  they  did  appear  at  last,  the  sacrificers  felt  a  relief,  as 
their  appearance  marked  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  the 
dark  and  oppressive  night.  This  idea  has  been  expressed 
in  Rv.  i.  183,  6  and  184,  6,  where  the  sacrificers  address  the 
ASvins  saying  that  it  is  through  their  kindness  that  they  are 
able  to  cross  the  borders  of  darkness,  and  they,  therefore, 
invoke  them  to  come  along  the  path  of  the  Devas,  The  same 
sentiment  has  been  differently  expressed  in  Rv.  vii.  76,  2, 
where  the  Vedic  bard  says  :  "  The  Devay&na  path  has  been 

visible  to  me The  banner  of  the  Dawn    has   appeared   in 

the  East."  Mr.  Tilak,  however,  says  that  all  these  evidences 
point  to  Arctic  conditions  and  to  Uttar&yana  when  the  Sun 
moves  to  the  Northern  hemisphere,  and  the  Dawn  is  visible  in 
the  horizon  after  the  end  of  the  long  night.  But  as  there  is 
no  referrence  in  the  Rgveda  to  the  long  night,  it  is  begging 
the  whole  question,  and  is  undoubtedly  a  gratuitous 
assumption.  Moreover,  the  rise  of  the  Dawn  in  the  east  is 
entirely  inconsistent  with  Arctic  conditions  in  as  much  as 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  399 

neither  the  Dawn  nor  the  Sun,  according  to  Mr.  Tilak's  own 
showing,  ever  rises  in  the  east  in  the  Arctic  region,  but  they 
make  their  first  appearance  in  the  south.  This  should  have 
convinced  him  that  the  bard  was  describing  only  the 
phenomena  that  are  visible  in  the  Tropics,  and  that  these 
descriptions  are  applicable  only  to  ordinary  days  and  nights. 

Mr.  Tilak  says  that  the  path  of  the  Pitrs  or  Pitryana  is 
described  in  Rv.  x.  18,  i,  as  the  reverse  of  Devayana  or  the 
path  of  Death.  In  Rv.  x.  88,  15,  the  poet  says  that  he  has 
"heard"  only  of  "  two  roads,  one  of  the  Devas,  and  the 
other  of  the  Piers. "  We  do  not  question  the  genuineness 
of  these  statements,  but  only  the  inference  drawn  by  Mr. 
Tilak  from  them.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  the  Devayana  commenced 
with  the  Dawn,  we  must  suppose  that  the  Pitfydna  commenced 
with  the  advent  of  darkness.  Sayana  is  therefore  correct  in 
interpreting  Rv.  v.  77,  2  as  stating  that  '  the  evening  is  not 
for  the  Gods'  (Devyah).  Now  if  the  Devayana  and  the 
Pitryana  were  only  synonymous  with  ordinary  day  and 
night,  there  was  obviously  no  propriety  in  stating  that 
these  were  the  only  two  paths  or  roads  known  to  the 
ancient  R?is,  and  they  could  not  have  been  described  as 
consisting  of  three  seasons  each,  beginning  with  the  spring 
(Sat.  Brah.  ii.  i.  3.  1-3).  It  seems,  therefore,  very  probable 
that  the  Devayana  and  the  Pitjryana  originally  represented 
a  two-fold  division  of  the  year,  one  of  continuous  light  and 
the  other  of  continuous  darkness  as  at  the  North  Pole."1 

If  the  Aryans  really  lived  in  the  Arctic  region,  the 
conclusion  drawn  by  Mr.  Tilak  would  be  correct.  The 
Devayana  in  that  region  would  commence  from  the  advent  of 
the  Arctic  Dawn,  and  last  for  six  months  with  the  long  day, 
and  the  Pitj-yana  would  commence  from  the  disappearance  of 
the  Sun  and  last  for  the  remaining  six  months  with  the  long 
night.  But  where  is  the  Rgvedic  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  a  long  day  and  a  long  night  ?  The  assumption,  as  we 
have  said,  is  gratuitous.  The  evidences,  cited  by  Mr.  Titak, 

*~  Tilak's  Arctic  Horn*  in  the  Vedas,  p.  74. 


400  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

would  as  much  apply  to  a  long  day  and  a  long  night   of   the 

Arctic  region,  as  to  ordinary  days  and  nights  of  the  Tropics, 

the  underlying  principle  being  that  light  is  identical  with   the 

Devas,  and  darkness  with  the  Pitrs.     And  this   principle   has 

been  clearly   enunciated   in   the   passage  of  the   Satapatha 

Br&hmana,  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  only   partially   quoted.     We 

will  give  here  for  the  sake  of  clearness  a  full  translation   of  it 

which  is  as  follows  :  "  Spring,  Summer  and  the  Rainy  season 

(varsd)  are  Devas,  and    Autumn,  Hemanta   and   Winter   are 

Pitrs.  The  growing  fortnight  (during  which  the  moon  develops 

into  full  size)  is  Devas,  and  the    decaying   fortnight    (during 

which  the    moon   wanes    or    decays)    is   Pitrs.     The   day   is 

Devas,  and  the  night  Pitrs  ;  (similarly)  the  forenoon  is  Devas 

and  the  afternoon  Pitrs."     These  illustrations  clearly  explain 

what    we    should    understand    by    Devas    and    Pitrs,    and 

Devay&na  and  Pitry&na.      The  power  of  the  Sun  grows  from 

Spring  to  the  Rainy  season ;  hence  these   months  are  rightly 

called  Devas.      As  it  declines  from  Autumn  to  Winter,  these 

months   are   called    Pitrs.     Similarly    the    fortnight    during 

which  the    Moon    grows    or   becomes   gradually  full  is  called 

Devas,  and  the  fortnight  during   which  she   wanes   is   called 

Pitrs.     On   the   very    same    principle,    the    days  are  Devas, 

and  the  nights  Pitrs,  and  the  first  part  of   the    day    when  the 

Sun  grows  in   power   is  Devas,  and  the  latter  part  of  the  day 

when  the  solar  power  declines  is  Pitrs.      Every  Hindu  knows 

that  the   worship   of  the   Devas   has  to  be  performed  during 

the  forenoon,  and  the  Sraddha  of  his  ancestors  after  mid-day, 

from   which   begins   the  time  of  the  Pitrs.     We  do  not  know 

whether  Mr.  Tilak    has    intentionally   omitted    to   quote  the 

last  portion   of  the   passage  of  the  Satapatha  Brihmaija  and 

quoted  only  such  portion  of  it   as    would   support    his  theory 

that  the   DevayAna  and   the   Pit  ry  in  a  consisted   of  a  long 

day  and   a  long  night,   each  of  six  months9  duration.     If  he 

has  really  done  this — which,   by   the   way,   we   cannot  bring 

ourselves  to  believe,  his  arguments  would  savour  of  advocacy 

of  a   questionable   order,   that   seeks   to  suppress   the  truth 


XVIIL]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  401 

with  a  view  to  mislead  and  befog  the  mind.  As  Professor 
Max  Miiller  has  said  :  "  All  truth  is  safe,  and  nothing  else 
is  safe."  And  we  have  no  doubt  that  if  Mr.  Tilak  only 
cared  to  read  the  entire  passage  of  the  Satapatha  Brahmana, 
he  would  at  once  have  seen  the  truth  and  come  to  an 
altogether  different  conclusion  in  the  matter. 

It  would  be  fair  to    state    here   that    though   the    words 
Uttardyana   and   Dak$in£yana  do  not  occur  in    the   Rgveda, 
the  Satapatha  Br&hmana    suggests    them,    as    would    appear 
from  the  following  extracts    (ii,  3.  3) :  "  When  that  (the  Sun) 
moves  towards  the  north,  then  he  comes  and    stays    near  the 
Gods.     And   when    he    moves   towards    the  south,  he  comes 
and   stays   near   the    Pitrs."     The    northward    movement  of 
the  Sun  increases  his  power,  and  this  increase    is    attributed 
to  the  Devas  who  are  the  Gods  of  light.     Hence  it  is  believed 
that  the  Gods  dwell  in  the  north.     The    southern    movement 
of   the    Sun    decreases    his    power,    and    this    decrease   is 
attributed    to    the    Pitrs    who  dwell  in  darkness.     Hence  the 
southern    direction    is    generally   believed  to  be  the  abode  of 
Yama  (the  Lord    of    Death)   and    ths    dwelling   place    of  the 
Pitys  or  the  dead  ancestors  of  men.     This  passage,    however, 
does  not   prove    any    Polar  characteristic,  but  only  indicates 
how  the  ancient  Aryans    who    lived    in    the    Tropical    or  the 
Temperate    Zone    looked    upon    these  two  movements  of  the 
Sun  and  interpreted  them.     If    they    had    any    knowledge  of 
the    South    Pole    or    the    Antarctic    region,   they  would  have 
found  an  equally  long  day  there   as    at    the    North    Pole    for 
six  months,    and   assigned    that  region  to  the  Devas,  and  the 
Arctic  region  to  the  Pitrs  for    that    period.     The    view-point 
was   assuredly    that    of   men    living    in    the    Tropics    or  the 
Temperate  zone,  without  any  direct  knowledge    of  the  Arctic 
and  Antarctic  characteristics. 

Having  discussed  the  evidences  culled  from  Vedic  and 
post-Vedic  Literatures,  Mr.  Tilak  next  proceeds  to  deal 
with  the  Avestic  evidences  of  the  original  Arctic  home  of 
the  Aryans,  and  quotes  from  the  Vendidad,  Fargard  II,  the 

5« 


402  RGVED1C  INDIA. 

conversation  held  between  Ahura  Mazda  and  Yima  regarding 
the  threatened  destruction  of  Airyana  Varjo  or  the  Iranian 
Paradise  by  the  invasion  of  ice  and  snow.  We  have  already 
discussed  this  subject  in  previous  chapters  and  shown  that 
Airyana  Vaejo  was  not  situated  in  the  Arctic  region  but 
probably  in  Bactriana,  which  having  been  threatened  to  be 
destroyed  by  snow,  Yima  acting  on  the  advice  of  Ahura 
Mazda  migrated  with  his  followers  to  a  place  in  the  Arctic 
region  which  was  then  habitable.  The  interpretation,  put  on 
the  conversation  by  Mr.  Tilak,  has  been  shown  to  be  incorrect. 
(Vide  ante^  Ch.  X.)  This  evidence,  however,  does  not  prove 
the  original  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans,  but  merely  their 
acquaintance  with  it  in  a  subsequent  age.  Probably  some  of 
the  Indo-Aryans  also  followed  the  Iranians  to  this  region  in  a 
later  age  when  it  became  uninhabitable,  and  got  a  knowledge 
of  the  Polar  characteristics,  of  which  we  find  mention  in 
some  of  the  later  Vedic  and  post-Vedic  works.  The  reference 
made  in  the  Farvardin  Yasht,  paragraphs  56  and  57,  to  the 
Sun  and  the  Moon  having  "  stood  for  a  lung  time  in  the 
same  place,  without  moving  forwards  through  the  oppression 
of  the  Daevas  (Vedic  Asuras  or  the  demons  of  daikness) " 
also  points,  according  to  Mr.  Tilak,  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
Arctic  characteristics,  obtained  by  the  Iranians.  But  this 
passage  has  an  altogether  different  explanation  of  which  we 
shall  speak  later  on  (vide  infra}  Chapter  XXI 11). 

Mr.  Tilak  compares  the  belirf  oi  the  Indo-Aryans  with 
that  of  the  Iranians  or  Parsis  regarding  the  unmeritorious 
character  of  death  taking  place  during  the  period  of  Pitrydna 
which  he  identifies  with  Dak^in&yana.  We  admit  that  there 
was  and  still  is  a  popular  prejudice  among  the  Indo-Aryans 
against  such  an  occurrence,  but  this  is  due  to  the  belief  that 
death  during  the  Pitry£nic  period  takes  the  soul  to  the  Pitrs, 
and  not  to  the  Devas,  whereas  a  man  dying  during  the 
Devay^nic  period  is  at  once  taken  to  the  company  of  the 
Gods,  and  the  soul  enjoys  heavenly  bliss.  A  belief  like  this 
is  natural  and  consistent.  The  Parsis  also  have  a  similar 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  403 

belief  which  is  based  on  more  cogent  and  practical  reasons. 
Th>*y  do  not  bury  or  burn  the  dead  body,  but  expose  it  on 
the  grated  roof  of  a  Silent  Tower  with  the  face  and  the  eyes 
of  the  corpse  turned  towards  the  Sun,  Vultures  and  other 
bitds  of  prey  soon  gather  round  the  corpse  and  make  short 
work  of  it.  This  is  the  Parsi  mode  of  the  disposal  of  a 
dead  body.  The  corpse  of  a  man  dying  during  the  night 
cannot  be  take  i  out  to  be  exposed  to  the  Sun  and  devoured 
by  the  birds  of  prey.  The  relatives  have,  therefore,  to  wait 
till  daytime.  Should  the  sky  be  overcast  with  clouds,  and 
the  Sun  be  invisible  in  consequence  for  days  together,  the 
difficulty  in  disposing  of  the  corpse  becomes  equally  great. 
Death,  therefore,  during  the  night,  or  at  a  time  when  the  Sun 
remains  hidden  behind  clouds  for  days  together,  or  when  it 
rains  or  snows,  and  birds  do  not  venture  out  of  their  roosts, 
is  regarded  as  unmeritorious  and  inauspicious  for  the 
departed  soul.  Mr.  Tilak  quotes  the  Vendidad,  Fargard 
v.  10  and  viii.  4,  to  show  how  the  worshippers  of  Ahura 
Mazda  should  act,  when  a  death  takes  place  in  a  house  when 
summer  has  passed  and  winter  ha*  come.  To  a  question 
on  this  subject  put  to  A'^ura  Mazda,  he  answers  :  "  In  such 
case  a  Kata  (dirch)  should  be  made  in  every  house  and 
there  the  lifeless  body  should  be  allowed  to  lie  for  two  nights 
or  for  three  nights,  or  x  month  long,  until  the  birds  b*gin  to 
fly,  the  plants  to  giow,  the  floods  to  flow,  and  the  wind  to 
dry  up  the  water  from  off  the  earth.'1  Mr.  Tilak  makes  the 
following  observations  on  this  passage:  "  Considering  the 
fact  that  the  dead  body  of  a  worshipper  of  Mazda  is  required 
to  be  exposed  to  the  Sun  before  it  is  consigned  to  birds,  the 
only  reason  for  keeping  the  dead  body  in  the  house  for  one 
month  seems  to  be  that  it  was  a  month  of  darkness.  The 
description  of  birds  beginning  to  fly,  and  the  floods  to  flow, 
etc.,  reminds  one  of  the  description  of  the  Dawn  in  the 
Rgveda,  and  it  is  quite  probable  that  the  expressions  here 
denote  the  same  phnomenon  as  in  the  Rgveda.  In  fact, 
they  indicate  .a  wioter  of  total  darkness  dwrin^jaduch  Jthe 


404  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

corpse  is  directed  to  be  kept  in  the  house,  to    be    exposed  to 
the  Sun   on   the   first  breaking   of   the  Dawn  after  the  long 
night." l     The   explanation   seems   plausible   at   first    sight, 
but  Mr.     Tilak    omits   to   take    note  of  the  fact  that  the  Sun 
in  the   Tropics   remains   hidden    behind   clouds    during    the 
rainy  season   for    days   together,    and    even  for  a  month  at  a 
stretch,   and   that   during    this    period,    birds   are   in    great 
distress,    seldom    stirring   out   of  their  roosts,  and  managing 
to  eke  out  a  miserable  existence  by  feeding   on   such    things 
only  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood    as  may  serve  as  their 
food.     The  disappearance  of  the  Sun  in   the    first    place,  and 
the  absence   of   the   birds   of   prey   in    the    second,  for  days 
together  during  the  rains,  would  prevent   the    worshippers  of 
Ahura    Mazda   from    disposing   of  the    dead   body   as    much 
in      the      Tropics    as    in    the      Arctic    region      where    the 
Sun  disappears  for   months  together.     The   aforesaid    direc- 
tion   of    Ahura     Mazda,     therefore,      does    not    necessarily 
imply    that    his      followers    lived    in    the      Arctic     region. 
If   the   passage   be    carefully   read,    it    will   be     found   that 
Ahura  Mazda   had   in    his    mind   rather   a   contingency  like 
boisterous  rainy  weather    lasting   for    days    at  a   time,    when 
he  said  that  the  dead  body  should  be    kept   in  a    Kata    until 
"  the  birds  begin  to  fly,  the  plants  to  grow,  the  flood  to  flow, 
and  the  wind  to  dry  up  the  water  from  off  the   earth  "  than 
a  Polar  night  lasting  for  several  days  and  even  months.     The 
birds  begin  to  fly  as  soon  as  the  rains  hold  off   intermittently, 
the  plants  begin  to  grow  by  being  saturated  with    rain-water, 
and  the  rivers  are  in  flood  as  soon  as  the  rain-water  is  drained 
off  from  their  basins  into  the  channels.     The  very  mention  of 
the  wind  drying  up  the  water  from  off  the  earth  unmistakably 
points  to  rainfall   and    rainy   weather.     But   Mr.    Tilak   says 
that  this  description  reminds  him  of   the    description   of  the 
Dawn  in  the  Rgveda.     Even  admitting  for  the  sake   of  argu- 
ment that  the  release  of  the  aerial  waters  from   the   clasp   of 
Vftra  enables  the  Dawn,  the    Sun,  and   the    other   deities    to 

1    Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  th§  Veda*t  p.  77, 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  405 

glide  along  the  sky  in  their  golden  boats,  it  does  not  seem 
to  us  very  clear  as  to  how  these  waters,  which  were  more  a 
creation  of  the  fancy  of  the  Vedic  bards  than  a  reality,  would 
wet  the  ground,  unless  we  assume  tlMt  it  was  a  real  shower 
of  rain  that  drenched  the  earth.  This  would  be  tantamount 
to  an  admission  that  Ahura  Mazda  had  the  conditions  of  the 
rainy  season  in  his  mind  when  he  gave  the  aforesaid  direc- 
tions. It  should  also  be  remembered  in  this  connection  that 
the  appearance  of  the  Dawn,  which  must  be  a  long  Dawn  at 
the  end  of  the  long  night,  would  not  help  the  worshippers  of 
Mazda  to  dispose  of  the  dead  body  immediately,  in  as  much 
as  it  is  necessary  to  expose  the  body  to  the  Sun.  In  these 
circumstances,  we  cannot  accept  Mr.  Tilak's  interpretation 
of  the  passage  as  indicating  a  Polar  night.  In  this  connec- 
tion it  should  further  be  mentioned  here  that  birds  do  not 
hibernate  in  the  Arctic  region,  but  they  fly  out  of  their  roosts 
as  soon  as  there  is  sufficient  light,  either  of  the  Moon  or  ot 
the  Aurora  Borealis,  to  enable  them  to  see  their  environments 
and  seek  their  food.  It  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that  they 
hibernate  for  a  month  or  two  months  at  a  time  without  any 
food.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  most  natural  to 
suppose  that  they  migrate  to  sunny  regions  on  the  advent 
of  the  long  night  and  winter,  and  such  as  choose  to  remain 
stir  out  of  their  roosts,  like  men  or  other  animals,  in  search 
of  food  with  the  help  of  the  moon-light  or  of  the  Aurora 
Borealis.  We  cannot,  therefore,  connect  the  flying  of  the 
birds  with  the  appearance  of  the  Polar  Dawn  at  the  end  of 
the  lon^  night.1  It  remains,  however,  for  us  to  explain  the 
words  "  two  nights  "  or  "  three  nights  M  mentioned  by  Ahura 
Mazda.  The  question  is,  do  the  words  literally  mean 
"  nights  "  or  only  "  days/'  just  as  the  word  "  fortnight  "  is 
used  in  English  to  denote  "  fourteen  days  ?  J>  My  answer  is 
that  the  words  were  used  in  the  latter  sense,  as  it  was  also 
customary  with  the  Indo-Aryans,  the  neighbours  of  the  Parsis, 
to  use  words  like  Paftcaratra  and  Navardtra  to  mean  five 

i     Vid*  also  Chap,  XXIII.  " " 


4o6  fcGVEDIC  INDU. 


and  nine  days  respectively.1  Mr.  Tilak  seems  to  have  set 
great  store  by  the  word  "  nights  "  in  order  to  prove  his 
Arctic  theory  ;  but  his  interpretation  is  evidently  wrong. 
He  also  seems  to  lay  some  stress  on  the  existence  of  two 
seasons  only,  mz,%  summer  and  winter,  in  the  region  in 
which  Ahura  Mazda  spoke  to  his  followers,  and  thinks  that 
this  description  answers  that  of  the  Polar  region,  where  the 
long  night  comes  in  winter.  But  in  Airyana  Vaejo  situated 
in*  Baclriana,  there  were  also  two  seasons,  summer  and 
winter,  lasting  for  seven  and  five  months  respectively.  The 
Vendidad  Sadah  says:  "  It  is  known  that  (in  the  ordinary 
course  of  nature-)  there  are  ^even  months  of  summer  and 
five  of  winter."  (Darmesteter.)  After  the  region  was 
destroyed  by  the  Ice-'Jeluge,  the  duration  of  the  two  season*. 
was  altered.  Tho  Vendidad,  Fargard  i.  4  says:  "Ten 
months  of  winter  are  there,  two  months  of  summer."  (Haug 
and  Bunsen.)  The  prevalence  of  wintry  conditions  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  in  Sapta-Sindhu  in  ancient  times, 
which  made  the  Aryans  call  the  year  by  the  name  of  Hima 
(winter),  has  already  been  referred  to  and  discussed  in  a 
previous  chapter.  We  should  not,  therefore,  be  surprised 
that  the  same  wintry  conditions  also  prevailed  in  Airyana 
Vaejo,  situated  in  a  region  adjacent  to  Sapta-Sindhu,  and 
that  there  were  only  two  principal  seasons  in  that  region, 
u>.,  summer  and  winter.  As  the  other  seasons  have  not 
been  mentioned,  we  may  take  it  that  they  were  too  short- 
lived to  have  separate  designations,  and  that  the  rains  fell 
there  in  summer  as  well  as  winter.  The  disappearance  of 
the  Sun  behind  clouds  for  days  together  either  in  summer  or 
winter  would  not,  therefore,  necessarily  indicate  a  long  Polar 
night  as  Mr.  Tilak  seems  to  think,  Hence  Mr.  Tilak's  inter- 
pretation  of  the  direction  of  Ahura  Mazda  with  regard  to  the 
disposal  of  corpses  in  certain  contingencies  does  not  appear 
to  us  to  be  correct. 

*    Tor  further  elucidation  off  the  word  ~  wi^hC  cead  Chap.  XXHI. 


XVIII.]  THE  NIGHT  OF  THE  GODS.  407 

And  even  if  it  be  taken  as  correct,  what  does  it  prove 
after  all  ?  It  simply  proves  that  the  Parsis,  or  a  branch  of 
them  once  iinmigiated  to  the  Arctic  region  from  their  original 
home  in  Bactriana  after  it  had  been  made  uninhabitable  by 
the  invasion  of  ice  and  snow,  and  that  Ahura  Mazda's 
directions  applied  to  the  novel  conditions  of  this  new  colony. 
It  ceitainly  does  not  pro\e  that  the  Aryans  had  their  original 
home  in  the  Arctic  region.  The  total  absence  of  any  men- 
tion of  a  long  Polar  day,  and  a  long  Polar  night  in  the 
Rgveda,  the  oldest  work  of  the  Aryans,  is  extremely  signi- 
ficant. We  cannot,  therefore,  help  thinking  that  Mr.  Tilak 
has  failed  to  prove,  from  so-called  evidences  of  and  references 
to  long  Polar  night  in  Vedic  and  pobt-Vt- die  literatures  and 
in  the  P.irM  scriptures,  that  the  Aryans  had  their  original 
home  in  the  Arctic  region. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

EXAMINATION  OF  Mr.  TILAK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLE  OF 
THE  ARYANS  (contdj 

THE  VEDIC  DAWNS. 

Mr.  Tilak  says   that  "  the    Rgveda does    not  contain 

distinct  references  to  a  day  and  a  night  of  six  months'    dura- 
tion, though  the  deficiency  is  more  than  made  up  by   parallel 
passages  from  the   Iranian    Scriptures "    which,    as    we    have 
just  seen,  is  extremely  doubtful.     "  But    in    the    case    of    the 
Dawn,"  he  continues,  "the  long  continuous    Dawn    with    the 
revolving  splendours,  which  is  a  special    characteristic  of   the 
North  Pole,  there  is  fortunately  no    such  difficulty.     U?as,    or 
the  Goddess  of  Dawn,  is  an    important   and    favourite    Vedic 
deity,  and  is  celebrated  in  about  twenty  hymns  of  the  Rgveda, 
and  mentioned  more   than    three    hundred    times,    sometimes 
in  the  singular,  and  .sometimes  in  the  plural.     These    hymns, 
according  to  Muir,    are    amongst    the    most   beautiful — if  not 
the  most  beautiful — in  the  entire  collection  ;  and  the  deity  to 
which  they  are  addressed,  is  considered  by    Macdonell    to  be 
"  the  most  graceful  creation  of  Vedic  poetry,  there   being    no 
more  charming  figure    in  the    descriptive    religious    lyrics    of 
any  other  literature."     All  these  remarks  are  perfectly    true 
to   which    we    readily    subscribe    ourselves.     But    Mr.    Tilak 
says  that  if  this  Dawn  were  short-lived    and    evanescent    like 
the  Dawn  of  the  Tropical  or  the   Temperate  Zone,    the  Vedic 
bards  would  not    have    gone    into    raptures   over   her.     It  is, 
however,  a  fact  that  poets  living  in  the    Tropics  go  even  now 
into  raptures  over  the  Dawn,  however  short-lived  she  may  be  ; 
and  the  very   fact   that    she   is    short-lived    and   evanescent 
probably  adds  a   peculiar   zest    to    the    mind    and    makes    it 
lingeringly  and  lovingly  contemplate  on  her  divine  grace  and 
beauty.     Though  this   statement   may   seem    paradoxical    at 
first   sight,   it   is     nevertheless     psychologically   true.     The 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  409 

mind  naturally  hankers  after  beauty  of  which  it  merely 
catches  a  glimpse ;  but  this  very  beauty  tends  to  become 
inane,  and  devoid  of  the  power  of  evoking  a  response,  when 
the  mind  gets  familiar  with  it  by  long  and  constant  associa- 
tion. The  splendours  of  a  Dawn  lasting  for  forty  days  would 
become  dull,  jejune  and  monotonous,  and  the  first  rapturous 
effusions  of  the  mind  would  soon  degenerate  into  a  feeling 
of  oppressive  boredom.  From  this  point  of  view  the  raptures 
that  the  Vedic  poets  felt  over  the  beauties  of  the  Dawn 
would  not  be  inconsistent  with  her  tropical  evanescent 
character,  though  we  admit  that  the  splendours  of  a  long 
revolving  Polar  Dawn  are  far  more  varied  and  magnificent 
than  those  of  a  Tropical  Dawn.  In  this  connection,  it  may 
be  stated  here  that  though  the  splendours  of  the  long  Polar 
Evening  are  equally  magnificent  and  lasting,  it  is  curious 
that  the  Vedic  poets,  if  they  at  all  lived  in  the  Arctic  region, 
never  felt  any  raptures  over  them.  A  beautiful  evening  that 
lasted  for  several  days  should  have  made  as  deep  an 
impression  on  their  mind  as  the  Dawn  herself.  This  omis- 
sion is  indeed  very  remarkable. 

However  this  may  be,  Mr.  Tilak  thinks  that  "  the  first 
hint  regarding  the  long  duration  of  the  Vedic  Dawn  is 
obtained  from  the  Aitareya  Brihmana,  iv.  7.  Before  com- 
mencing the  Gavdmayana  sacrifice,  there  is  a  long  recitation 
of  not  less  than  a  thousand  verses,  to  be  recited  by  the  Hotr 
priest.  This  A&vina  Sastra,  as  it  is  called,  is  addressed  to 
Agni,  U$as  and  Agvins,  which  deities  rule  at  the  end  of  the 
night  and  the  commencement  of  the  day.  It  is  the  longest 
recitation,  to  be  recited  by  the  Hotr  and  the  time  for  recit- 
ing it  is  after  midnight  when  '  the  darkness  of  the  night  is 
about  to  be  relieved  by  the  light  of  the  Dawn '  (Nir.  xii.  I  ; 
ASv.  Sr.  Sotra  vi.  5.  8).  The  same  period  of  time  is  referred 
to  also  in  the  BLgveda,  vii.  67,  2  &  3.  The  Sastra  is  so 
long,  that  the  Hotr,  who  has  to  recite  it,  is  directed  to 
refresh  himself  by  drinking  beforehand  melted  butter  after 
sacrificing  thrice  a  little  of  it  (Ait.  Brtlh.  iv.  7 ;  Agv.  Sr.  vi. 

5* 


410  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

5,3).    'He    ought  to    eat    ghee/    observes    the    Aitareya 
Brihma^a,  '  before  he  commences  repeating.     Just   as  in  this 
world,  a  cart  or  a  carriage  goes   well   if   smeared    (with  oil), 
this  his  repeating  proceeds  well,  if  he  be  smeared  with  ghee 
(by  eating  it).1     It  is  evident  that  if  such  a   repetition  has  to 
be  finished  before  the  rising  of  the  Sun,  either  the  Hotr  must 
commence  his  task  soon  after  midnight   when  it   is   dark,   or 
the  duration  of  the  Dawn    must   then   have   been  sufficiently 
long  to  enable  the  priest  to  finish  the  recitation  in   time  after 
commencing  to  recite  it  on  the  first   appearance  of   light   on 
the  horizon   as   directed.     The    first   supposition   is   out    of 
question,  as  it  is  expressly  laid  down    that  the  Sastra  is   not 
to  be  recited  until  the  darkness  of  the    night   is    relieved   by 
light.    So  between  the  first  appearance  of   light  and  the  rise 
of  the  Sun,  there  must  have  been  in    those  days   time  enough 
to  recite  the  long  laudatory  song  of  not  less  than  a  thousand 
verses.     Nay,  in  the  Taittirlya  Samhitd  the  recitation   of  the 
Sastra,  though  commenced  at  the    proper   time,   ended   long 
before  sunrise  ;   and  in  that  case,  the  Samhitt  requires   that  a 
certain  animal   sacrifice   should  be   performed.     A£val£yana 
directs  that  in  such  a  case,  the  recitation  should  be  continued 
up  to  sunrise  by  reciting  other  hymns   (ASv.  Sr.  So.,  vi.  5.8.), 
while  Apastamba  (S.  S.  xiv.  i.    &  32)   after    mentioning  the 
sacrifice  referred  to  in  the   Taittirlya   Samhita  adds   that  all 
the  ten  Ma^dalas  of  the  Rgveda  may   be  recited,  if  necessary, 
in  such  case.     It  is  evident  from  this   that  the  actual  rising  of 
the  Sun  above  the  horizon  was  often  delayed  beyond  expecta- 
tion, in  those  days ;  and  in  several   places   in   the   Taittirlya 
Saqihitd    (ii.   1.2.4),   we   are  told   that    the   Devas    had   to 
perform  a  praya&citta>   because   the   Sun    did   not  shine  as 
expected.*'1 

The  above  extracts  require   some   critical   examination. 
The  Gavdmayanam  is  the  name  of  the  yearly  session  of  sacri- 
fices, and  commenced  from  the  second  day  of  the  new  year,  the 
first  day  having  been   devoted   to  the    performance  of  the 
*    Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  th*  Vedas,  pp.  82-84. 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  ,411 

Atirdtra  sacrifice  which  was  so  called  because  a  whole  night 
session  was  held  for  it.  The  night  was  divided  into  three 
parts  (parydyas)  the  first,  the  middle,  and  the  last.  Twelve 
stotras  had  to  be  recited  during  the  whole  night,  i .*.,  four 
stotras  in  each  parydya.  Besides  reciting  the  four  stotras, 
four  oblations  of  Soma  had  to  be  offered  to  Agni,  and  fastras 
had  to  be  recited,  whose  number  could  exceed  the  number 
of  verses  in  the  stotras.  The  ASvina-Sastra  consisted  of  not 
less  than  one  thousand  verses,  and  these  had  to  be  recited 
by  the  Hotj*  who  strengthened  himself  by  eating  ghrta 
These  verses  were  called  ASvina-Sastra,  because  the  A&vins 
are  said  to  have  won  a  race  run  by  the  Devas,  w'*.,  Agni, 
U?as,  Indra  and  the  ASvins  with  the  object  of  appropriating 
them.  The  limit  of  their  race  was  from  Grhapati  Agni  (the 
sacred  Fire  presiding  over  the  household)  up  to  Aditya  or 
the  sun.  As  the  sacred  Fire  was  kindled  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  sacrifice  in  the  evening,  we  may  take  it  that  the 
race  was  run  from  the  evening  up  to  the  rise  of  the  Sun  in 
the  morning.  This  probably  also  indicates  the  period  of 
time  during  which  the  one  thousand  verses  had  to  be  recited. 
These  verses  undoubtedly  included  the  Sastras  or  verses  that 
were  recited  in  each  parydya  of  the  night,  whose  number 
was  for  this  reason  not  limited.  Unless  and  until  one 
thousand  such  verses  or  mantras  were  recited,  the  oastra 
was  not  entitled  to  be  called  Afvina,  and  so  the  reciter  went 
on  reciting  them  till  he  reached  and  finished  that  number. 
Even  if,  after  the  completion  of  the  requisite  number,  the 
Sun  did  not  rise,  the  direction  was  either  to  hold  an  animal 
sacrifice,  or  to  recite  even  the  Ten  Maadalas  of  the  Rgveda, 
if  necessary.  The  duration  of  the  time  occupied  for  the 
recitation  of  the  one  thousand  verses  entirely  depended  on 
the  dexterous  practice  and  ability  acquired  for  the  purpose 
by  the  reciter.  If  he  was  well-practised,  the  recitation  could 
be  finished  long  before  sun-rise,  in  which  event,  the  interval 
had  to  be  employed  by  further  recitation  of  verses,  or  the 
performance  of  an  animal  sacrifice.  This  appears  to  us  to  be 


4ii  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHM>. 

the  correct  interpretation  of  the  AtirAtra  sacrifice,  and  of 
the  recitation  of  the  ASvina  Sastra,  as  expounded  in  the 
Aitareya  Brfthma^a  (IV.  Chapters  16  and  17).  There  is  no 
mention  in  the  Brihma^a  that  the  recitation  should  be 
commenced  after  midnight  when  "  the  darkness  of  the  night 
is  about  to  be  relieved  by  the  light  of  the  dawn,"  as  Mr. 
Tilak  says.  It  is  true  that  YAska  in  his  Nirukta  (xii.  i) 
says  that  the  time  of  the  ASvins  begins  soon  after  midnight 
(tayork&la  urdhvam  ardhva-rdtrdt),  but  this  does  not  imply 
that  the  recitation  of  the  ASvina-Sastra  had  to  be  commenced 
from  that  time.  "  Of  the  heavenly  deities,"  says  Y4ska, 
"the  ASvins  are  the  first  to  appear"  (Tdsdm  Asvinau 
prathamagdminou  bhavatah].  This  clearly  explains  why 
they  have  been  described  in  the  Aitareya  Brahmana  as 
winning  the  celestial  race.  First  appear  the  Agvins,  then 
follows  Ufas,  and  lastly  Indra  or  the  Sun.  Though  the 
ASvins  won  the  race,  and  the  Sastras  were  called  after  their 
name,  they  are  really  verses  addressed  to  Agni,  U?as,  Indra 
as  well  as  to  them,  and  they  all  had  a  share  in  them  by 
compact.  There  was,  therefore,  no  special  appropriateness 
for  beginning  the  recitation  of  the  verses  from  the  time  the 
ASvins  first  appeared.  Mr.  Tilak's  assumption  that  the 
recitation  was  not  commenced  until  the  darkness  of  the  night 
was  relieved  by  light  seems  to  us  to  be  gratuitous.  And 
even  if  we  admit  that  this  was  the  real  direction,  and  the 
Sastra  had  to  be  recited  from  the  very  appearance  of  the 
ASvins  in  the  horizon  in  the  shape  of  patches  of  faint  light 
struggling  with  darkness  soon  after  midnight,  the  time  was 
sufficiently  long— about  six  hours — for  one  thousand  verses 
or  more  to  be  recited  by  a  practised  reciter.  At  all  events, 
the  recitation  of  the  ASvina-Sastra  does  not  prove  the 
existence  of  a  long  Polar  night.  Neither  do  verses  2  and  3 
of  Rv.  vii.  67,  referred  to  by  Mr.  Tilak,  prove  Polar  charac- 
teristics. They  are  addressed  to  the  ASvins  only,  and  the 
poet  says  that  "the  inner  recesses  of  darkness  are  being 
visible,"  meaning  probably  that  the  ASvins  have  appeared, 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  413 

and  he  invokes  them  to  oome  by  "the  eastern  path  "  (purvi- 
bhih  pathydbkih).  This  very  reference  to  the  eastern  direc- 
tion in  which  the  Agvins  first  appear  should  have  at  once 
convinced  Mr,  Tilak  of  the  untenability  of  his  proposition, 
for  the  first  streak  of  light  after  the  long  night  is  visible  in 
the  Polar  region  on  the  south. 

Next,  Mr.  Tilak  turns  to  another  indication   of  the  long 
duration  of  the  Dawn,  furnished   by   the   Taittirlya   Samhitd 
vii.  2.  20.    Seven  oblations  are  here  mentioned,  one  to  Usas, 
one  to  Vyusti,  one  to  Udesyat,  one  to    Udyat,  one  to  Udita, 
one  to  Suvarga  and  one  to  Loka.     "  Five  of  these,"  says  Mr. 
Tilak, (<  are  evidently  intended  for  the  Dawn  in  its  five  forms. 
The  Taittirlya  Br&hmaaa  explains  the  first   two,   viz.,    Usas* 
and  Vyusfi  as  referring  to  Dawn  and   sunrise,   or   rather  to 
night  and  day,  for  according  to  the  Br&hma^a,  '  U?as  is  night, 
and  Vyusti  day.*     But  even  though  we   may   accept   this  as 
correct,  and  take  Usas  and  Vyusfi  to  be  the   representatives 
of  night  and  day,  because  the   former  signalises   the   end  of 
the  night,  and  the  latter  the  beginning  of  day,   still  we  have 
to  account  for  these  oblations,  vis.,  one  to  the  Dawn  about  to 
rise  (Udesyat),  one  to  the  rising  Dawn  (Udyat)y  and   one    to 
the  Dawn  that  has  risen  (Udita),  the  first  two   of   which  are, 
according  to  the  Taittirlya  Brahmana,  to   be    offered   before 
the  rising  of  the  Sun.     Now  the  Dawn  in   the  Tropical  Zone 
is  so  short  that  the  threefold  distinction    between   the   Dawn 
that  is  about  to  rise,  the  Dawn  that  is  rising,  and  the   Dawn 
that  has  risen  or  that  is  full-blown  (Vi-usfi)  is  a  distinction 
without   a   difference.     We   must,   therefore,    hold   that   the 
Dawn  which  admitted  such  manifold  division  for  the  practical 
purposes  of  sacrifice,  was  a  long  Dawn."  (p.  84.) 

We  have  no  doubt  that  if  Mr.  Tilak's  mind  had  not  been 
pre-occupied  or  biassed  by  the  Polar  theory,  he  would  have 
clearly  understood  the  plain  •  and  simple  meaning  of  the 
seven  oblations  mentioned  in  the  Taittirlya  Samhita,  and  the 
interpretations  put  upon  the  ceremony  by  the  author  of  the 
Taittirlya  BrfLhma^a,  which,  however,  he  has  the  temerity 


414  fLGVfeDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

to  question  or  ignore.     The  first  two  oblations   were   really 
offered  to  the  Dawn — the   Dawn   when   she  first   made   her 
appearance  on  the  horizon  (U$as),  and  the  Dawn   when   she 
was  full-blown  (  Vyu$t%).   These  two  respectively  represented 
the  night  and  the  day,   as  the   Taittirlya   Br4hman.a   has   ex- 
plained, "because"  (to  quote  Mr.  Tilak's   words),  "the  former 
signalises  the  end  of  the  night,  and  the  latter   the   beginning 
of  the  day.1'     As  Vyustl  (or  full-blown  Dawn)  represents  the 
beginning  of  the  day,  the  oblations   offered   to    Udesyat  and 
Udyat  were  certainly  not  meant  for  l/sas,  but  for  the  Lord  of 
the  day  or  the   Sun   who   was    still   below   the   horizon   and 
invisible,  but  gave  clear  indications,  by  the  gradually  glowing 
red  of  the  light,  first   of   the   fact   that   he   would  rise}   and 
secondly  that  he  was   about   to   rise.     Hence   the    Taittirlya 
Brihma^a  rightly  says  that  these  two  oblations  ( Udesyat  and 
Udyat)  "are  to  be  offered  before  the  rising   of  the   Sun."     It 
is  simply  absurd  to  refer  them,  as  Mr.  Tilak  has  done,  to  the 
Dawn  who  had  already  risen,  and  become  Vyustl  or  full-blown, 
and  to  whom  the  first  two  oblations  had  already  been  offered. 
The  two  oblations  to  Udesyat  and  Udyat  were  clearly  intend- 
ed for  the  Sun  that  had  at  first  given  promise  of   rising,   and 
was  now  about  to   rise.     The   fifth   oblation   was  offered   to 
Udita  or  the  Sun  that  had  just  risen  above   the   horizon    and 
was  visible.     The  sixth  oblation  was  offered  to   Suvarga   or 
the  Sun  when  he  was  divested  of   all  back-ground   setting  in 
the  shape  of  the  ruddy  light  of  the  Dawn,  and  was  illuminated 
by  his  own  bright  rays  as  a  distinct  Deva  by  himself.     Lastly 
the  seventh  oblation  was  offered  to  Loka^  which  I  understand 
to  mean  the  three  Lokas  or   worlds,  viz.,  Bhur,  Bhubah  and 
Svar  which  were  revealed  by  his  rays.    This  explanation  is 
most  simple  and  natural,  supported  as  it  is  by  the   author   of 
the  Taittirlya  Br&hmana,  who  must  be  credited  with  a  sounder 
and  more  precise  knowledge  of  the  Vedic  rituals,  as  practised 
and  performed  in  those  ancient   days   than    Mr.   Tilak   who 
seems  to  follow  the  ignis  fatuus  of  the  Arctic  cradle   of  the 
Aryans  and  twists  and  obscures  the  true  meanings  of  passages 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS,  415 

in  order  to  establish  his  theory.  As  we  have  seen,  the  pas- 
sages quoted  by  him  cannot  and  do  not  prove  the  aspect  of 
a  long  Dawn  as  witnessed  in  the  Polar  or  circumpolar  regions. 

Mr.  Tilak,  having  wrongly  interpreted  Udesyat,  Udyat 
and  Udita  as  referring  to  the  Dawn,  naturally,  though  incor- 
rectly, identifies  with  them  her  "threefold  division  "  mentioned 
in  Rv.  viii,  41,  3.  This  verse  says  that  Varu^a  embraces 
Night  and  his  dear  ones  prosper  the  three  Dawns  for  him.  It 
has  been  related  in  Rv.  i.  123,  8,  that  U?as  tarried  in  Varurja's 
abode  for  sometime  without  any  blame  attaching  to  her 
character.  As  Varuna  is  the  Lord  of  Night,  and  as  Night 
has  been  described  as  sister  of  U?as,  she  naturally  assumed 
a  dark  form  while  resting  there.  She  changed  her  dark 
form  into  a  bright  one,  when  she  proceeded  on  her  journey 
and  appeared  on  the  horizon  as  Usas.1  Lastly,  when  her 
light  became  full-blown,  she  became  Vyustl.  These  then  are 
the  three  forms  of  U$as,  which  are  called  the  three  Dawns, 
prospered  in  the  abode  of  Varuna.  In  other  words,  the 
Dawn  assumes  three  forms  in  the  night,  first  dark,  then 
bright,  and  lastly  resplendent  or  "  full-blown."  These  forms 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  three  stages  of  the  Sun,  ms.} 
Udesyat,  Udyat  and  Udita. 

Mr.  Tilak  says  :  "  There  are  other  passages  in  the  Rg- 
veda  where  the  Dawn  is  asked  not  to  delay  or  tarry  long, 
lest  it  might  be  scorched  like  a  thief  by  the  Sun  (v.  79,9), 
and  in  ii.  15,6  the  steeds  of  the  Dawn  are  said  to  be  '  slow  ' 
(ajai&saK)  showing  that  people  were  sometimes  tired  to  see 
the  Dawn  lingering  long  in  the  horizon,"2 

The  translation  of  Rv.  v.  79,9  is  as  follows :  "  Daughter 
of  heaven,  flash  forth  or  be  dawning  ;  do  not  tarry  long  ;  let 
not  the  Sun  scorch  thee  with  his  rays  as  (a  king  punishes)  a 
thief  or  (subdues  his)  enemy,  etc."  This  evidently  refers  to 

i  "  The  divine  Usas  lights  up  with  her  beams  the  quarters  of  the  heavens. 
She  has  thrown  up  her  gloomy  form,  and,  awaking  (those  who  sleep),  comes  in 
her  car,  drawn  by  purple  steeds."  Rv.  i.  113,  14. 

'»    Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p.  85. 


*GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP., 

the  vigil  that  the  worshippers  kept  while  watching  the  first 
appearance  of  the  Dawn  in  order  to  begin  their  sacrifice. 
They  were  certainly  not  "  tired  to  see  the  Dawn  lingering 
long  in  the  horizon  "  as  Mr.  Tilak  has  wrongly  interpreted, 
for  the  Dawn  had  not  as  yet  made  her  appearance,  but  they 
simply  expressed  feelings  of  impatience,  because  she  did  not 
appear^  or  delayed  her  appearance.  As  the  Sun  closely 
follows  her  heels,  the  poet  apprehends  or  says  humorously 
that  if  she  tarries  long,  or  does  not  appear,  she  may  be 
trodden  on  her  heels  by  the  Sun  and  scorched  by  his  burning 
rays.  There  is  absolutely  no  suggestion  in  the  verse  that 
the  Dawn  lingered  long  in  the  horizon,  or  that  she  had  any 
Polar  characteristic.  She  must  have  been  called  "  slow"  for 
the  very  same  reason  in  Rv.  ii.  15,6,  because  Indra  or  the 
Sun  is  said  to  have  actually  overtaken  her  in  the  long  run, 
and  broken  her  chariot,  which  is  another  way  of  saying  that 
she  disappeared  on  the  rise  of  the  Sun.  Mr.  Tilak,  however, 
thinks  that  the  long  duration  of  the  Dawn  is  clearly  proved 
by  Rv.  i.  113,  13  where  the  poet  says  that  "  the  Goddess 
U?as  dawned  continually  or  perpetually  (SaSvat)  in  former 
days  (Purti)"  Now  the  translation  of  this  hymn  is  as 
follows :  "  The  Goddess  U?as  repeatedly  or  regularly 
dawned  in  the  past ;  and  she,  the  source  of  wealth,  has  been 
even  to-day  ridding  the  world  of  darkness ;  and  she  will 
dawn  daily,  or  day  after  day  (anudyun),  in  the  future  ;  (for) 
ever-youthful  and  immortal  (that  she  is),  she  moves  on  in 
her  own  splendour."  The  word  SaSvat  literally  means  "  going 
by  regular  leaps  like  a  hare  ;  "  hence  it  means  "  regularly," 
"  invariably "  or  "  repeatedly  "  and  not  perpetually  which 
means  "  continuing  for  ever  and  for  an  unlimited  time."  To 
say  that  the  Dawn  rises  perpetually  in  the  Polar  region  would 
be  absurd,  as  she  appears  for  only  two  months  in  the  year ; 
but  to  say  that  she  appears  repeatedly  at  regular  intervals 
would  be  more  appropriate  and  correct.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  rising  of  the  Dawn  is  repeated  every  day,  as  the  poet 
clearly  expresses  by  the  use  of  the  words  anudyun  in  the 


XIX]  THE  VEDIC  &AWNS.  4*7 

same  passage,  which  mean  "  day  after  day,"  The  poet  is 
evidently  impressed  by  the  perpetual  youth  and  immortality 
of  the  Goddess,  because,  in  the  past  or  days  gone  by  (purd), 
she  used  to  flash  forth  every  day  regularly,  as  she  has  flashed 
forth  even  on  the  very  day  the  poet  observes  her  ;  and  from 
this  regular  flashing  forth  in  the  past  and  the  present,  the  poet 
rightly  infers  or  predicts  that  she  would  flash  forth  daily  in 
future,  because  she  is  not  only  ever-youthful,  but  also  immor- 
tal. This  appears  to  us  to  be  the  simple  and  plain  meaning 
of  the  verse,  and  we  are  sure  that  no  manner  of  twisting  it 
would  yield  a  significance  to  denote  her  long  duration  as  in 
the  Polar  region. 

But  Mr.  Tilak  thinks  that  there  are  "more  explicit 
passages  in  the  hymns"  to  denote  the  long  duration  of  the 
Vedic  Dawn,  and  in  support  of  his  contention,  he  quotes 
Rv.  i.  113,  10  which  is  as  follows  : — 

Kiyati  a  yat  sa  may  a  bhavdti 
yd  vyusur  ydg  ca  nunam  vyucchdn, 
Anu  purvdh  kripate  vdvaSand 
pradidhydndjosam  anydbhir  eti."1 

There  are  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of 
the  words  Kiyati  d  yat  samayd  bhavdti.  S&yana  understands 
Samayd  to  mean  "near."  Profesbor  Max  Miiller  translates 
Samayd  (Gk.  Omos  Lat.  Simul)  by  "together"  ;  while  Roth, 
Grassmann  and  Aufrecht  take  Samayd  bhavdti  as  one  expres- 
sion, meaning  "that  which  intervenes  between  the  two.11 

Wilson  translates  the  verse  as  follows  :  "For  how  long  a 
period  is  it  that  the  dawns  have  arisen  ?  For  how  long  a 
period  will  they  rise  ?  Still  desirous  to  bring  us  light,  U?as 
pursues  the  functions  of  those  that  have  gone  before,  and 
shining  brightly,  proceeds  with  the  others  (that  are  to  follow)." 

Griffith,  following  Max  Miiller,  translates  it  thus  :  "How 
long  a  time  and  they  shall  be  together, — Dawns  that  have 

i.    RT.  i.  133,  10:    ftrqiqT  WW    VtffH  3T 


4i8  BLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

shone  and  Dawns  to  shine  hereafter  ?  She  yearns  for  former 
Dawns  with  eager  longing,  and  goes  forth  gladly  shining 
with  the  others." 

Muir,  following  Aufrecht,  translates  it  thus  :  "  How  great 
is  the  interval  that  lies  between  the  Dawns  which  have  arisen 
and  those  which  are  yet  to  rise  ?  Usas  yearns  longingly 
after  the  former  Dawns,  and  gladly  goes  on  shining  with  the 
others  (that  are  to  come)." 

Mr.  Tilak  draws  the  following  inference  from  the  above 
interpretations  :  ''There  are  two  sets  of  Dawns,  one  of  those 
that  have  past,  and  the  other  of  those  that  are  yet  to  shine. 
If  we  adopt  Wilson's  and  Griffith's  translations,  the  meaning 
is  that  these  two  classes  of  Dawns,  taken  together,  occupy 
such  a  long  period  of  time  as  to  raise  the  question — How 
long  they  will  be  together  ?  In  other  words,  the  two  classes 
of  Dawns,  taken  together,  were  of  such  a  long  duration  that 
men  began  to  question  as  to  when  they  would  terminate  or 
pass  away.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  adopt  Aufrecht's 
translation,  a  long  period  appears  to  have  intervened  between 
the  past  and  the  coming  dawns  ;  or  in  other  words,  there  was 
a  long  break  or  hiatus  in  the  regular  sequence  of  these  Dawns. 
In  the  first  case,  the  description  is  only  possible  if  we  suppose 
that  the  duration  of  the  Dawns  was  very  long,  much  longer 
than  what  we  see  in  the  temperate  or  the  tropical  zone ;  while 
in  the  second,  a  long  interval  between  the  past  and  the 
present  Dawns  must  be  taken  to  refer  to  a  long  pause,  or 
night,  occurring  immediately  before  the  second  set  of  Dawns 
commenced  their  new  course — a  phenomenon  which  is  pos- 
sible only  in  the  Arctic  regions.  Thus,  whichever  interpre- 
tation we  adopt— a  long  Dawn,  or  a  long  night  between  the 
two  sets  of  Dawns,— the  description  is  intelligible  only  if  we 
take  it  to  refer  to  the  Polar  conditions  previously  mentioned. 
The  Vedio  passages,  discussed  hereafter,  seem,  however  to 
support  Siyana's  or  Max  M  tiller's  view.  A  number  of  Dawns 
is  spoken  of,  some  past,  and  some  yet  to  come  and  the  two 


XIX,]  THE  VED1C  DAWNS.  419 

groups  are  said  to  occupy  a  very  'long  interval.'     That  seems 
to  be  the  real  meaning  of  the  verse."1 

We  admit  that  two  sets  of  Dawns, — one  that  has  past,  and 
the  other  that  is  to  come,  have  been  indicated   in   the  verse, 
Wilson's  translation  seems  to  imply  a  feeling  of   wonderment 
in  the  mind  of  the  bard  who  cannot  guess  for  how  long  a  period 
the  Dawns  have  been  regularly  rising,  and   for   how  long  a 
period  they  will  continue  to  rise.     Understood  in  this  sense, 
the  verse  does  not  admit  of  the  meaning  assigned  to  it  by  Mr. 
Tilak,  vis.}  "  the  two  classes  of  Dawns,  taken  together,  were 
of  such   a   long   duration   that   men  began  to  question  as  to 
when  they  would  terminate,  or  pass   away."     This  implies  a 
feeling  of   weariness   at  the  sight  of  long  continuous  Dawns  ; 
but  there  is  absolutely  no  indication    of   such   feeling  in  the 
entire   hymn.     On   the   other   hand,    we   notice  in  the  same 
hymn  a  feeling  of  relief  and  joy  at  the  sight  of  the   Dawn,  as 
she  has  dissipated  the  darkness  of  night   (Rv.  i.  113,  7),    and 
has  roused   men    from    their  death-like  sleep  (Rv.  i.  113,  8.). 
There  is  also  evident  a  feeling   of   gratitude    towards   her  in 
the  next    verse,   because   her  appearance  has  been  the  signal 
for  kindling  the  sacrificial  fire,  and  for  the  rising   of  the  Sun, 
and   because    she   has   freed   the   sacrificers   from   darkness. 
In  Rv.  i.  113,  16  the  poet  calls  men,  in  clear   terms,    to   rise 
from  their  sleep,  as  their  life  has  returned  to  them,  and  light 
has  come   and   darkness  gone.     All  these  verses,  taken  from 
the  same  Sukta  from  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  selected  the  hymn 
under  discussion,  do  not  point  to  any  feeling  of   weariness  in 
the  mind  of  the  bard  at  the  long  monotonous  duration  of   the 
Dawn.      His   interpretation,    therefore,    is    far-fetched    and 
quite   untenable.     If   we   accept   Max  Miiller's  and  Griffith's 
interpretation,  the  idea  the  Vedic  bard  would  seem  to  convey 
is  quite  different.     The  poet  in  verse    8    has   distinctly  men- 
tioned  of   Dawns   that   are   past,    the  Dawn  that  is  present, 
and  Dawns  that  are  to  come,  and  in  verse  10    (the  one  under 
discussion)  he  wonders  :     u  How  long  a  time   and   they  shall 

*  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  8;-98 


ILGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

be  together — Dawns  that  have  shone,  and  Dawns  that  are  to 
shine  hereafter?  She  yearns  for  former  Dawns  with  eager 
longing,  and  goes  forth  gladly  shining  with  the  others." 
The  poet  thinks  that  the  present  Dawn  is  yearning  to  be  in 
the  company  of  the  Dawns  that  have  gone,  and  with  that 
object  in  view,  she  is  pursuing  them,  followed  by  the  Dawns 
that  are  to  come.  But  he  asks  "  How  long  a  time  and  they 
shall  be  together— Dawns  that  have  shone,  and  Dawns  that 
will  shine  hereafter  ?  "  He  revolves  the  question  in  his  mind, 
but  finds  no  satisfactory  solution.  This  interpretation  also 
would  be  perfectly  rational,  and  does  not  betoken  any  long 
duration  of  the  Dawn.  And  lastly,  even  if  we  accept  Muir's 
and  Aufrecht's  interpretation,  it  would  not  lead  us  to  conclude 
that  the  Dawn  was  Polar.  "  The  interval  that  lies  between 
the  Dawns  which  have  arisen  and  those  which  are  yet  to 
rise  "  is  long.  But  is  not  a  period  of  22  hours  a  sufficiently 
long  interval?  Where  is  the  justification  to  measure  this 
interval  by  months,  as  in  the  Polar  region  ?  We  have  shown 
above  that  there  is  distinct  mention  in  verse  13  'just  two 
verses  below)  of  the  Dawn  shining  day  after  day  (anu  dyun)^ 
which  at  once  militates  against  Mr.  Tilak's  theory.  Taking 
all  these  facts  and  circumstances  into  our  consideration,  we 
cannot  hold  with  Mr.  Tilak  that  Rv.  i.  113,  10  discloses  any 
Polar  characteristics  of  the  Dawn.  The  Dawn  mentioned 
in  the  verse  is  clearly  a  Dawn  of  the  Temperate  Zone, 
whichever  interpretation  of  it  we  may  accept. 

As  we  have  already  said,  it  is  only  necessary  to  go  through 
all  the  verses  of  Rv.  i.  1 13  in  order  to  be  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  poet  does  not  describe  a  Polar  Dawn.  A  single 
solitary  verse,  read  and  discussed  without  its  context,  is  surely 
to  mislead.  I  have  therefore  taken  pains  to  refer  to  the 
preceding  and  the  following  verses  of  mantra  \o  to  prove  that 
the  Dawn  mentioned  therein  is  only  a  Dawn  of  the  Temperate 
Zone.  Two  more  references  will  go  to  strengthen  our  con- 
tention.  In  verse  5,  it  has  been  said  that  the  Dawn  has  roused 
all  persons  who  were  sleeping  in  crooked  postures  to  enable 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  4*1 

them  to  perform  their  respective  duties.  In  verse  6  it  has  been 
said  that  the  Dawn  has  roused  some  for  earning  wealth,  some 
for  procuring  food,  some  for  performing  sacrifices,  and  others 
for  attaining  their  desired  objects.  If  the  Dawn  first  appeared 
after  the  end  of  the  long  Polar  night,  no  mention  would 
have  been  made  about  rousing  men  from  their  sleep}  or  sending 
them  about  their  business,  as  it  would  presuppose  hibernation 
on  the  part  of  men,  which  is  absurd.  Nor  can  it  be  supposed 
that  during  the  period  of  the  long  night,  men  did  not  perform 
their  ordinary  vocations.  The  real  fact  is  that  the  Dawn 
described  is  a  Dawn  of  the  Temperate  or  Tropical  Zone,  and 
not  a  Dawn  of  the  Polar  region,  and  that  she  made  her 
appearance  daily  at  the  eml  of  night,  rousing  men  and 
animals  from  their  sleep.  In  our  opinion,  Mr.  Tilak's 
attempt  to  prove  Polar  characteristics  from  the  verse  dis- 
cussed above  has  failed. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  quotes  Rv.  vii.  76,  3  to  prove  the  Polar 
origin  of  the  Dawn  mentioned  therein  by  putting  a  forced 
construction  on  certain  words  of  the  verse.  But  if  he  only 
cared  to  read  the  preceding  verse,  viz.,  vii.  76,  2  in  connec- 
tion therewith,  he  would  certainly  have  come  to  a  different 
conclusion.  That  verse  has  been  rendered  into  English  as 

follows:  "The  Devayana  path  has  been  visible  to  me The 

banner  of  the  D.iwn  has  appeared  in  the  east"  As  the  Polar 
Dawn  first  appears  in  the  south,  according  to  Mr.  Tilak's 
own  showing,  this  Dawn  whose  banner  has  appeared  in  the 
east  is  certainly  not  Polar,  but  belongs  to  the  Temperate  or 
Tropical  Zone.  This  alone  should  have  at  once  convinced 
Mr.  Tilak  of  her  non-Polar  character,  and  dissuaded  him 
from  interpreting  the  next  verse  in  his  own  way  with  a  view 
to  establish  his  pet  theory.  The^e  is  a  word  ahdni  in  the 
verse  which  Mr.  Tilak  interprets  to  mean  "  days";  while 
Sayana  interprets  it  to  mean  "  lights  or  splendours."  It 
would  be  futile  and  extremely  tedious  to  repeat  here  the 
hair-splitting  arguments  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  put  forward 
in  support  of  his  contention  ;  and  I  would  leave  my  readers 


$GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

to  go   through   them   in    order  to   be    convinced    of    their 
absurdity.     The  verse,  according  to  Siyana's   interpretation, 
would    mean:  "Verily    manifold    were    those    splendours  or 
lights  that  were  aforetime  of  the  rising  of  the  Sun,  by  which, 
O  Dawn,  thou    wast   beheld  as  moving  towards  (or  after)  thy 
lover    (the  Sun),    and   not    like    a   woman  who  forsakes  (her 
lover)."1     The   meaning   is   clear   and    simple.     There   is  a 
quick  succession  of  lights  from  a  faint  glimmer   to  a   glowing 
red  at  dawn-time,  which  makes  the  Dawn    look  like  a  woman 
approaching  her  lover  nearer  and  nearer,    and    revealing  her 
beauties—  and    not    like    a   woman  who  feels  a  repulsion  and 
repugnance  for  him,  and  gradually  recedes  far  and    far  away. 
Mr.  Tilak   says   that   the   word    Ahan    "  is  derived  from  the 
root  ah    (or   philologically   dah)    (  to   burn  '    or    '  shine/  and 
Ahand   meaning   Dawn   is    derived    from    the    same    root. 
Etymologically    ahani   may,    therefore,    mean    splendours."2 
The  word   ahah    meaning    "  day  "    is  derived  from  the  same 
root,    and   is    so   called    because   it  is  bright  with   sun-shine, 
though  the  word  has    sometimes  been    used    in    the   Rgveda 
to  denote   the    "  dark"    portion  also  of  the  day,  viz.,  night.3 
But  this  usage  was  not  justified  by  the  etymology  of  the  word, 
and  came    only   in    vogue,  because  by  the  word  ''day"  were 
understood  both  day  and  night  in   ordinary   parlance.     How- 
ever this  may   be,    when    Mr.  Tilak  admits  that  ahdni  means 
"splendours  or  lights,"  what  objection  can  there   possibly  be 
against  interpreting  the  word  in  the  same  way  as  S£yana  has 
done?     And  why  interpret  it  by  "  days  "  in  order  to    support 
a  theory  which  proves  its  very    untenability  by  the  banner  of 
the  Dawn  being  described  in  the  previous  verse  as  appearing 
"in    the   east"?   If   the    Dawn    appears   in    the  east,    it   is 
admittedly  not  a  Polar  Dawn.     But  Mr.    Tilak  has  omitted  to 
refer  to  this  matter  altogether,  and  translated  Rv.    vii.  76,    3 


1     Rv.  vii.  76,  3  : 


»     Tilak»s  Arctic  Home  in  the  Yedas,  pp.  90-91. 
»     Rv.  vi.  9>  I  i  TO*  ft 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  433 

as  follows :  "  Verily  many  were  those  days  which  were  afore- 
time at  the  uprising  of  the  Sun,  and  about  which,  0  Dawn, 
thou  wast  seen  moving  on,  as  towards  a  lover,  and  not  like 
one  (woman)  who  forsakes."  Mr.  Tilak's  object  is  clear.  He 
wants  to  prove  by  this  interpretation  that  many  days  elapsed 
before  the  rising  of  the  Sun,  during  which  the  Dawn  moved 
towards  him,  as  a  woman  moves  towards  her  lover.  This 
interpretation  is  very  ingenious,  no  doubt.  But  what  about 
the  reference  to  the  rising  of  the  Dawn  in  the  east,  only  in 
the  previous  verse  ?  Mr.  Tilak  is  silent  on  the  point.  Thus, 
though  we  may  admire  his  skill  in  interpreting  isolated  verses 
in  support  of  his  own  view,  his  interpretation,  when  examined 
in  the  light  of  the  context,  becomes  quite  untenable,  and 
leaves  us  as  unconvinced  as  ever.  Mr.  Tilak  says :  "  Pro- 
fessor Ludwig  materially  adopts  SAyana's  view,  and  interprets 
the  verse  to  mean  that  the  splendours  of  the  Dawn  were 
numerous,  and  that  they  appear  either  before  sunrise,  or  if 
fracinam  be  differently  interpreted,  '  in  the  east,'  at  the 
rising  of  the  sun.  Roth  and  Grassmann  seem  to  interpret 
praclnam  in  the  same  way."1  It  is  needless  to  say  here  that 
this  meaning  of  praclnam  is  quite  consistent  with  that  of  the 
preceding  verse  where  it  has  been  said  "the  banner  of  the 
Dawn  has  appeared  in  the  east." 

Mr.  Tilak  next  quotes  Rv.  ii.  28,  9  which  he  translates 
af  follows  :  "  Remove  far  the  debts  (sins)  incurred  by  me. 
May  I  not,  O  King  !  be  affected  by  others  '  doings.  Verily, 
many  Dawns  (have)  not  fully  (vi)  flashed  forth.  O  Varu^a! 
direct  that  we  may  be  alive  during  them."2  From  the 
description  "  many  Dawns  have  not  fully  flashed  forth,"  Mr 
Tilak  infers  that  the  dawns  mentioned  here  are  a  long  conti- 
nuous Polar  Dawn.  This  interpretation,  however,  seems  to 
us  to  be  quite  forced,  firstly  because  there  is  only  one  conti- 
nuous dawn  in  the  Polar  region  which  becomes  "  full-blown  " 

*  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p.  91. 

•  $g.  ii.  28.  9;  ^  W  STfkW  *omft  IT*  \I«1I«|*<1«1 


424  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [ClUF, 

( Vyusta)  before  sunrise.  If  we  assign  24  hours  to  each 
Dawn,  it  does  not  become  full-blown  (vyusta)  at  the  end  of 
this  period,  but  its  glow  increases  little  by  little  every  day 
until  it  becomes  vyusta  or  full-blown  before  sun-rise  at  the 
end  of  two  months  at  the  North  Pole,  or  a  lesser  period  in 
the  circumpolarr  egions.  So  it  cannot  be  said  that  some 
Dawns  have  already  been  full-blown ,  and  many  yet  remain  to 
be  so.  In  the  second  place,  a  prayer  to  Varuna  that  "  we 
may  be  alive  during  the  Dawns  that  have  not  yet  been  full- 
blown/' i.e.,  for  only  a  few  days  more,  or  at  best,  a  month, 
would  be  utterly  meaningless.  The  bard  really  prays  that 
he  may  be  alive  for  many  many  days  to  come.  The  word 
Usas  stands  here  for  days,  and  we  have  many  instances  in 
the  Rgveda  of  the  application  of  the  word  to  days,  for 
instance,  Usasa-nakta  (Rv.  i.  122,  2),  Nakto-sasa  (Rv.  i. 
142,  7)  and  Usasau  (Rv.  i,  188,  6)  all  meaning  a  couple 
of  day  and  night,  i.e.,  one  ordinary  day.  And  S&yana  also 
says :  "  The  word  day  (ahah)  is  used  only  to  denote  such  a 
period  of  time  as  is  invested  with  the  light  of  the  Dawn,"1 
which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that  the  day  begins  with  the 
appearance  of  the  dawn.  Hence  the  word  Usas  stands  for 
day  and  the  meaning  of  the  verse  is  that  the  poet  prays  for 
life  during  the  days  that  have  not  yet  dawned. 

Next,  Mr.  Tilak  refers  to  the  fact  that  the  Dawn  has  not 
been  unfrequently  addressed  in  the  plural  number  in  the 
Rgveda,  and  accounts  for  it  by  suggesting  that  as  the  Dawn 
lasted  for  several  days  in  the  Arctic  region,  it  was  quite 
natural  for  the  Vedic  bards  to  address  her  in  the  plural 
number.  Subsequently  when  the  Aryans  emigrated  from  the 
Arctic  region,  and  noticed  only  one  Dawn  in  the  Temperate 
Zone,  they  addressed  her  in  the  singular,  though  the  custom 
of  addressing  the  Arctic  Dawn  in  the  plural  number  stilt 
survived.  Mr.  Tilak  says :  "  Yaska  explains  the  plural 
number  Usasah  by  considering  it  to  be  used  only  honorifically 
(Nirukta,  xii.  7) ;  while  S&yana  interprets  it  as  referring  to 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  435 

the    number   of   divinities   that  preside  over  the  morn.     The 
western  scholars  have  not  made  any   improvement    on    these 
explanations ;  and  Prof.   Max  M tiller  is    simply   content  with 
observing    that    the    Vedic    bards,     when    speaking    of   the 
Dawn,     did     sometime      use    the     plural,    just    as    we     use 
the     singular     number!"1      All     these     explanations,     how- 
ever,   do     not    appear    satisfactory    to    Mr.    Tilak.     "  If  the 
plural  is  honorific  "  he  asks  pertinently,    "  why    is  it  changed 
into  singular  only  a  few  lines  after,  in  the  same  hymn  ?  Surely 
the  poet  does  not    mean    to    address   the    Dawn   respectfully 
only  at  the  outset,  and  then  change    his    manner    of   address 
and  assume  a  familiar  tone.     This  is   not,  however,    the    only 
objection  to  Y&ska's  explanation.     Various  similes    are    used 
by  the  Vedic  pcr>ts  to  de-scribe  the  appearance  of  the    Dawns 
on    the  horizon,    an<l    an    examination    of    these  similes  will 
convince  any  one  that  the  plural    number,    used  in    reference 
to  the  Dawn,  cannot  be  merely  honorific.    Thus  in  the  second 
line  of  i.  92,  i    the    Dawns    are    compared    to    a    number  of 
'warriors'  (dhrisnava),  and  in  the    third    verse    of    the    same 
hymn,  they  are  likened    to    'women    (narili)    active  in    their 
occupations.'     They  are  said  to  appear  on    the    horizon    like 
'waves  of  waters'  (apam  na    urm<ivah}  in  vi.    64,  i  ;    or    like 
'pillars  planted  at  a    sacrifice'    (adhvaresu    svaravah)    in   iv. 
51,  2.     We  are  again  told  that  they  work  like  '  men  arrayed  ' 
(vi§ah  na  yuktdh]  or  advance  like  'troops   of    cattle'    (gavdm 
na  sargah)  in    vii    79,   2    and  iv.    51,    8    respectively.     They 
are  described  as  all  'alike'  (saetr&h),  and  are    said   to    be  of 
'one  mind'  (safijdnati)  or    'acting    harmoniously  in  iv.  51,  6 
and  vii.  76,  5.     In  the    last    verse    the    poet    again    informs 
us  that  they  'do   not    strive    against   each   other'  (mithah  na 
yatante],    though    they    are     jointly   in    the    same    enclosure 
(samdne  urve).     Finally  in  x.  88,  18  the  poet  distinctly  asks 
the  question  '  How  many   fires,  how  many    Suns,    how   many 
Dawns  (Usasah)  are  there  ?'     If  the  Dawn  were  addressed  in 
plural  simply  out  of  respect    for   the    deity,   where   was  the 

1     Tilak 's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  95-96. 

54 


426  EGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

necessity  of  informing  us  that  they  do  not  quarrel,  though 
collected  in  the  same  place  ?  The  expressions  'waves  of 
water'  or  'men  arrayed/  etc.,  are  again  too  definite  to  be 
explained  away  as  honorific.  Siyana  seem*  to  have  perceived 
this  difficulty,  and  has,  probably  for  the  same  reason,  pro- 
posed an  explanation  slightly  different  from  that  of  Y&ska. 
But  unfortunately  Sayana's  explanation  does  not  solve  the 
difficulty,  as  the  question  still  remains,  why  the  deities  presid- 
ing over  the  Dawn  should  be  more  than  one  in  number  ?  The 
only  other  explanation  put  forward,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  that 
the  plural  number  refers  to  the  Dawns  on  successive  days 
during  the  year,  as  we  perceive  them  in  the  Temperate  or 
the  Tropical  Zone.  On  this  theory,  there  would  be  360 
Dawns  in  a  year,  each  followed  by  the  rising  of  the  Sun  every 
day.  This  explanation  may  appear  plausible  at  first  sight, 
but  on  a  closer  examination  it  will  be  found  that  the  expres- 
sions used  in  the  hymn  cannot  be  made  to  reconcile  with  this 
theory.  For,  if  360  Dawns,  all  separated  by  intervals  of  24 
hours,  were  intended  by  the  plural  number  used  in  the  Vedic 
verses,  no  poet  with  any  propriety  would  speak  of  them  as 
he  does  in  i.  92,  i  by  using  the  double  pronouns  etah  and 
tyah}  as  if  he  was  pointing  out  to  a  physical  phenomenon 
before  him.  Nor  can  we  understand  how  360  Dawns,  spread 
over  the  whole  year,  can  be  described  as  advancing  like 
'men  arrayed'  for  batttle.  It  is  again  absurd  to  describe  the 
360  Dawns  of  the  year  as  being  collected  in  the  'same 
enclosure'  and  4not  striving  against  or  quarrelling  with  each 
other.'  We  are  thus  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Rg- 
veda  speaks  of  a  team,  or  a  group  of  Dawns,  unbroken  or 
uninterrupted  by  sunlight,  so  that  if  we  be  so  minded,  we 
can  regard  them  as  constituting  a  single  long  continuous 
Dawn.... The  fact  is  that  the  Vedic  Dawn  represents  one  long 
physical  phenomenon  which  can  be  spoken  of  in  plural  by 
supposing  it  to  be  split  up  into  smaller  day-long  portions. 
It  is  thus  that  we  find  U?as  addressed  sometimes  in  the 
plural,  and  sometimes  in  the  singular  number.  There  is  no 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  427 

other  explanation  on  which  we  can  account  for  and  explain 
the  various  descriptions  of  the  Dawn  found  in  the  different 
hymns."1 

I  have  quoted  in  extenso  Mr.  Tilak's  arguments  as  well 
as  the  Rgvedic  evidences  cited  by  him  in  support  of  his  pro- 
position that  the  Dawns  mentioned  in  the  several  hymns  are 
Polar  Dawns.  His  arguments  and  evidences,  however,  require 
very  careful  examination.  He  says  that  in  Rv.  i.  92,  i  the 
Dawns  are  compared  to  a  number  of  "  warriors/'  and  in  the 
third  verse  of  the  same  hymn,  they  are  likened  to  ''women 
active  in  their  occupation."  His  idea  is  that  these  Dawns 
represent  one  long  continuous  Polar  or  Arctic  Dawn,  cons- 
tituting "one  long  physical  phenomenon  which  can  be  spoken 
of  in  plural  by  supposing  it  to  be  split  up  into  smaller  day- 
long portions."  Even  if  we  admit  that  this  accounts  for  the 
reason  for  addressing  them  in  the  plural  number,  how  does  it 
explain  the  existence  of  a  group  of  Dawns  advancing 
together  like  warriors,  or  huddled  together  like  cattle  in  a 
pen,  or  like  women  active  in  their  occupation  ?  To  be  able  to 
conceive  the  idea  of  a  group,  we  must  have  before  our  mind's 
eye  a  limited  space  in  which  the  units  constituting  the  group 
assemble  together,  or  a  limited  time  during  which  the  units 
pass  in  such  rapid  succession  as  to  give  us  the  impression 
of  a  united  band  pursuing  the  same  object.  The  Arctic 
Dawn,  though  long  and  continuous,  and  extending  in  one 
unbroken  existence  over  several  days,  does  not  give  us 
the  idea  of  a  group  or  band,  though  it  may  be  artificially 
split  up  into  day-long  units.  Whenever  we  may  look  at  the 
horizon  we  can  see  only  one  Dawn,  whichever  direction  of 
the  sky  it  may  occupy  in  its  revolving  course.  It  is  the  same 
one  Dawn  that  is  circling  round,  and  not  a  group  of  Dawns. 
The  ascribing  of  the  Arctic  character  to  the  Vedic  Dawn, 
therefore,  does  not  explain  the  group  of  Dawns  mentioned 
in  the  verse  quoted  by  Mr.  Tilak.  We  do  not,  however, 
dispute  the  correctness  of  the  similes  or  descriptions.  All 

Kid,  pp.  95-98. 


4*8  SGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

we  say  is  that  the  interpretation  put  upon  them  by  Mr.  Tilak 
seems  to  us  to  be  wrong. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  verse    (Rv.    i.    92,    i)    quoted    by 

Mr.  Tilak,  it  has  been  clearly  stated  that  the  Usas  or  Dawns 

have  lighted  up  the  eastern  sky.  l    But  he  is  discreetly  silent 

on  this  point,  probably  because  it  militates  against   his  theory 

of  the  Arctic  Dawn  who  makes  her    first   appearance    in    the 

south.     Nor  is  there  any  evidence  in  the  verse  of  the    Dawn 

revolving  round  the  horizon  as  she  does  in  the  Arctic  region. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  verse  9   of   the    same    hymn    there    is 

distinct  mention  that  the  Dawn,  after    illumining    the    world, 

is    extending    her    li^ht    and   glow  towards  the  west.  2     The 

motion    of   the    Dawn  is,  therefore,  undoubtedly  from  east  to 

west)  and    not  circular.     In  verse  10  of  the  same  hymn,   U?as 

has  been  described  as  being  born  daily  ^  and  thus    has    not    a 

prolonged  and  continuous  existence   like    that    of    the    Polar 

Dawn.     Mr.    Tilak    next  says    that    the    Dawns    have     been 

described  in  Rv.    vi.   64,    i    to    appear    on    the   horizon    like 

"  waves  of  waters."      But  in  verse  4  of  the    same    hymn,    she 

has  been  described  as  crossing  the  sky,  and  in  verse  6  we  are 

told  that  on  her  appearance,  the  birds  leave  their    roosts    and 

men  are  roused  from  their    sle^p,    showing    thereby    that    the 

Dawn  spoken  of  is  an  ordinary  Dawn  of  the  Temperate  or  the 

Tropical    Zone,    where    only  her  crossing  the  sky  is  possible. 

The   very   fact   that   the  Dawns  are  compared  to  "  waves  of 

waters  "  suggests  that  the    poet    saw    them    rise,    one   after 

another,    in    quick   succession  ;     and    the    same    idea    is  also 

conveyed  by  their  being  compared    to    "  pillars  planted    at  a 

sacrifice  "  which    are   contiguous    to   one    another.       In    the 

Polar  regions,  there  is  only   one  Dawn   illumining   a    part    of 

the  horizon,  and  continuously  moving  round   it.     There   are 

no  other  Dawns  that  are  seen  to  follow   her  heels  like  "waves 


RV.  L  92,  i  :  i&n  ^  air 

Rv  i.  92,  9  :   RHnfi  tft  Vqgrifa^qUI          ^fr  ^*ft3T  ft  *nfa  I    ft*' 

ftro 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  429 

of  waters  "  or  that  look  like  "  pillars  "  planted  and  juxtaposed 
at  a  sacrifice.     The  Arctic   Diwns   (assigning   24    hours    to 
each)  are  also  not    "all   alike  "  (sactrfih),  the  Dawn  of     one 
day  not  resembling  that  of  another,  as  the  one  following  gets 
brighter  and  brighter  than  the  one  preceding.  Nor  do  the  de- 
scriptions that  they  work  "  like  men  arrayed  "   (Rv.  vii.  99,  2) 
or  advance  like  "  troops  of    cattle  lf  (Rv.    iv.  51,  8)    help  Mr. 
Tilak  in    proving    that    they  are  the  Arctic  Dawn  ;  for,  as  we 
have   just  said,  there  is  only  one    long   continuous   Dawn  in 
the     Arctic    region,    which    changes    her    appearance    every 
moment  of  her  existence.     We    cannot,    therefore,   concieve 
of  the  existence  of  more  Dawns  than  one  in  the  Arctic  region, 
which  can    suggest    the   idea  of    "  men    arrayed "    for    work, 
or    of   "  troops    of    cattle "  advancing    together,    or    living 
in  the  same  enclosure  without  "  striving  against  each  other  " 
(R?.  vii.  75,  5),  as  cattle  do,    when  they  are    shut   up    in  the 
same  pen.     In  the  verse  preceding  that    in  which  the  Dawns 
have  been  compared  to  "  men  arrayed,'1    the    poet    mentions 
of  the  Sun  rising,  and  filling  the  sky  and    the    earth    with  his 
rays  (Rv.  vii.  79,  i),  which  shows  that  the    interval    between 
the  appearance  of  rhe  Dawns  and    sunrise  was   not  long.     In 
verse  3  of  the   preceding    hymn,    the    same    poet    (Vasisfcha) 
says  that  the  resplendent    Dawns    that    usher    in    the  bright 
morning  have  been  visible    in   the   east    (Rv.  vii.  78.  3).     In 
the  face    of   all    th^se    clear    indications    about    the    tropical 
character  of  th»i  Dawns  described   in    the    verses*    quoted    by 
Mr.  Tilak,  it  seems  exceedingly  strange  that   he    should  have 
attempted  to  invest  them  with  a  Polar  character.     There  can 
be  no  doubt  whatever    that    these    Dawns    belonged   to    the 
Temperate  or  the  Tropical  Zone. 

But  if  that  be  so,  the  question  still  remains  to  be 
answered,  why  are  the  Dawns  addressed  in  the  plural  number  ? 
Like  Mr.  Tilak,  we  also  do  not  accept  the  explanations 
offered  by  Yaska,  SAyana,  and  Prof.  Max  Muller  about  the 
use  of  the  word  in  the  plural  number.  What  can,  then,  be 
the  real  explanation  ?  We  think  that  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 


430  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Taittirlya  SamhitA,  Kinda  iv,  Propithaka  3,  Anuvtka  n, 
of  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  given  a  summary,  though  he  has 
understood  and  interpreted  the  mantras  in  a  different  way. 
The  summary  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  Taittirlya  Samhitd,  iv.  3.  n,  expressly  states  that 
the  Dawns  are  thirty  sisters,  or  in  other  words,  they  are 
thirty  in  number,  and  that  they  go  round  and  round  in  five 
groups,  reaching  the  same  appointed  place,  and  having  the 
the  same  banner  for  all.  The  whole  of  this  Anuvdka  may 
be  said  practically  to  be  a  Dawn-hymn  of  15  verses  which 
are  used  as  mantras  for  the  laying  down  of  certain  emblem- 
atical bricks,  called  '  the  dawn-bricks  '  on  the  sacrificial 
altar.  There  are  sixteen  such  bricks  to  be  placed  on  the 
altar,  and  the  Anuvdka  in  question  gives  15  mantras  or 
verses,  to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  the  i6th  being  recorded 

elsewhere The  first  verse  of   the    section    or    Anuvdka  is 

used  for  laying  down  the  first  dawn-brick,  and  it  speaks  only 
of  a  single  Dawn  first  appearing  on  the  horizon.  In  the 
second  verse  we  have,  however,  a  couple  of  Dawns,  men- 
tioned as  '  dwelling  in  the  same  abode.'  A  third  Dawn  is 
spoken  in  the  third  verse,  followed  by  the  fourth  and  the 
fifth  Dawn.  The  five  Dawns  are  th^n  said  to  have  five  sisters 
each,  exclusive  of  themselves,  thus  raising  the  total  number 
of  Dawns  to  thirty.  These  '  thirty  sisters  '  (trinSat  svas&rah) 
are  then  described  as  *  going  round  '  (pari  yanti)  in  groups 
of  six  each,  keeping  up  to  the  same  goal  (niskritam).  Two 
verses  later  on,  the  worshipper  asks  that  he  and  his  followers 
should  be  blessed  with  the  same  concord  as  is  observed 
among  these  Dawns.  We  are  then  told  that  one  of  these  five 
principal  Dawns  is  the  child  of  Rta,  the  second  upholds  the 
greatness  of  waters,  the  third  moves  in  the  region  of  SGrya, 
the  fourth  in  that  of  Fire  or  Gharma,  and  the  fifth  is  ruled  by 
Savitjr,  evidently  showing  that  the  Dawns  are  not  the  Dawns 
of  consecutive  days.  The  last  verse  of  the  Anuv&ka  sums  up 
the  description  by  stating  that  the  Dawn,  though  it  shines 
forth  in  various  forms,  is  but  one  in  reality.  Throughout  the 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  431 

whole  Anuv£ka  there  is  no  mention  of  the  rising  of  the  Sun, 
or  the  appearance  of  sunlight,  and  the  Brahmana  makes  the 
point  clear  by  stating  :  '  There  was  a  time  when  all  this  was 
neither  day  nor  night,  being  in  an  undi&tinguishable  state. 
It  was  then  that  the  Gods  perceived  these  Dawns,  and  laid 
them  down;  then  there  was  light;  therefore,  it  brightens  to 
him  and  destroys  his  darkness,  for  whom  these  (dawn-bricks) 
are  placed/  The  object  of  this  passage  is  to  explain  how 
and  why  the  dawn-bricks  came  to  be  laid  down  with  these 
Mantras,  and  it  gives  the  ancient  story  of  thirty  Dawns  being 
perceived  by  the  Gods  not  on  consecutive  days,  but  during 
the  period  ot  time  when  it  was  neither  night  nor  day.  This, 
joined  with  the  express  statement  at  the  end  of  the  Anuv&ka 
that  in  reality  it  is  but  one  Dawn^  is  sufficient  to  prove  that 
the  thirty  Dawns  mentioned  in  the  Anuvaka  were  continuous 
and  not  consecutive.  If  a  still  more  explicit  authority  be 
needed,  it  will  be  found  in  the  Taittirlya  Brahmana  ii  5.  6.  5. 
It  (the  mantra)  is  addressed  to  \he  Dawns  and  means : 
'  These  very  Dawns  are  those  thai  first  shone  forth,  the 
Goddesses  make  five  forms ;  eternal  ($<ifvati)t  they  are  not 
separated  (na  avapriyanti),  nor  do  they  terminate  (na 
gamanti  an  tarn).'  "} 

But  do  not  the  Arctic  Dawns,  lasting  only  for  30  days  in 
the  region  where  the  Aryans  were  supposed  by  Mr.  Tilak  to 
have  theu  original  home,  terminate  in  the  long  run  ?  After 
30  days  of  continuous  Dawn,  there  is  long  continuous  sun- 
shine for  several  days,  nay,  tor  months,  followed  by  long 
continuous  darkness  extending  over  the  same  period.  The 
Arctic  Dawns  may,  therefore,  be  said  to  terminate  after  one 
month,  and  cannot  be  described  as  u  eternal  n  {$d£vati).  In 
these  circumstances,  the  description  of  the  Dawn  in  the 
Mantra  quoted  from  the  Taittirlya  Brahmaua  cannot  be 
reconciled  with  that  of  the  Arctic  Dawn,  but  it  very  well 
applies  to  the  Dawn  of  the  Tropical  or  the  Temperate  Zone ; 
for,  she  rises  in  the  east  every  day,  goes  towards  the  west, 
1  Tilak's  Arctic  Homt  in  the  Vidas,  pp.  99-100. 


*GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

an4   reappears    in    the   east    the    very   next    morning,   thus 
showing  that  she  has  not  reached  her   destination,  or  the  end 
of  her  journey.     Thus  does  she  travel    on    through    eternity, 
and  is  aptly  described  as  u  eternal  "    being   born    again    and 
again.     But,  we  ask  again,  if  the    Dawn    is    really ,  Tropical, 
why  is  she  addressed  in  the  plural  number?  There  is  only  one 
Dawn  every  day  in  the  Tropics,     and    not    thirty    continuous 
Dawns  for  thirty  days  as  in    the    Arctic    region.     The  inter- 
pretation put  upon  the  Dawn-hymn  by  Mr.  Tilak  must,  there- 
fore, be  evidently  wrong  as  it  does  not   satisfactorily  explain 
either  the  Arctic  Dawn  or  the  Tropical   Dawn    as   we  under- 
stand it.     The  interpretation  must  consequently  be  something 
different,    \\hich    seems    to    be    as    follows: — The  Taittinya 
Samhitd  does  not  really  mean  the  thirty  Dawns   to  be    Arctic 
but  only  an  ordinary  Dawn  of  the  Tropics,  which  is  made  up 
of  thirty  Dawns,  or  five  groups  of  six  Dawns  each,   all  com- 
bined together   like   sisters   into   one  refulgent  Dawn,   and 
moving  like  warriors  under  the  same   banner,   or   working  in 
concert  like  women,  or  living    like   cattle   in    the   same    en- 
closure without    striving   against    each    other,    or    appearing 
like  waves  of  water,  and    all    having   one  mind,    and   acting 
harmoniously.     Their    appearance    in    the    eastern    horizon 
"like  waves  of  waters  "  (apam  na  urmayah)  has   been   most 
aptly  described    in    Rv.    vi.  64,  i       The    light    of   the    Dawn 
really  appears  in  waves,  one  following  another,  and    pushing 
it  forward  till    there    is    a   general   bright    glow   in    the   sky 
presaging  the  rise   of   the    Sun.     The    Vedic   bards    divided 
these    waves    into    five    main    wavrs,    each    simultaneously 
accompanied  by  five  other  similar  waves.  These  thirty  waves, 
mingling  together,  formed  one  huge  wave  of  light  which  was 
called  the  Dawn,  or  more  appropriately,  the  Dawns.    Though 
thirty  in  number,  they  appear  like    one,    advancing    together 
like   warriors    under   one    banner,    and    wending   their   way 
towards  the  same  goal,  but  never   reaching   it,    as    they  are 
seen  moving  round  and  round  their  course    through  eternity. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that   the    Dawn    has    been    described  as 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  433 

having  the  same  appearance    to-day   as   yesterday,    (sadrfth 
adya  sadrftridusvak)  ;  and  the  poet  says   that   after   resting 
for  a  while  in  the  abode  of  Varuna  without  any  blame  attach- | 
ing  to  her  character,  she  travels  thirty  yojanas  again.    (Rv.  i. 
123,  8).     As  we  have  already  said,  the  Arctic  Dawn    has  not 
the  same  appearance  for  two  consecutive    days,  but   changes 
it  every  hour  of  her  existence.     The  Dawn  mentioned  in  the 
verse  cannot,  therefore,  be    an    Arctic  Dawn.     These   thirty 
yojanas  are  identified  with  the    thirty  steps   that    the    Dawn 
is  said  to  take  in    thirty    moments.     (Rv.  vi.    59,  6).     These 
thirty  steps  are  undoubtedly  the  thirty    waves    of    light    that 
follow  one  another  in  five  groups   of   six    each,    representing 
the  thirty  Dawns  who  are  like  sisters  united  for  one  purpose. 
"Their  five  courses  (kratavah)  "  says  the  Taittirlya  Samhita 
(iv.  3.  n.  5)  "assuming  various  forms   move    on  in  combina- 
tion."    The  next  verse  says  :  "  The  thirty  sisters,  bearing  the 
same  banner,  move  on  to  their  appointed  place...... Refulgent, 

knowing  (their    way),    they   go    round    (pari  yanti)    amidst 
songs/' 

The  1 2th  verse  says:  "  The  first  Dawn  is  the  child  of 
Rta,  one  upholds  the  greatness  of  the  waters,  one  moves  in 
the  regions  of  Sarya,  one  (in  those)  of  Ghanna  (Fire),  and 
Savitr  rules  one."  Rta  is  the  Immutable  Order  of  the 
Universe,  and  by  calling  the  First  Dawn  as  the  child  of  Rta, 
the  poet  probably  means  that  the  Dawn  regularly  appears  in 
obedience  to  the  unchangeable  law  of  the  Universe,  just  as 
the  Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the  stars  do.  The  waters  mentioned 
in  the  above  verse  are  undoubtedly  aerial  waters  which  were 
supposed  to  bring  to  our  view  the  Dawn  and  the  heavenly 
bodies  in  aerial  boats  floating  on  it.  The  others,  described 
as  moving  in  the  regions  of  the  Sun,  the  Fire  and  the  Savitr, 
undoubtedly  refer  to  the  gradually  glowing  and  bright  light 
of  the  Dawns.  These  Dawns,  though  they  are  many  and 
assume  various  forms  according  to  the  order  of  their  appear- 
ance, are  looked  upon  as  "  one."  Hence  in  the  I4th  verse, 
the  poet  says  :  "The  chief  of  the  bright,  the  omniform,  the 

55 


434  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

brindled,  the  fire-bannered  has  come  with  light  in  the  sky, 
working  well  towards  a  common  goal,  bearing  (signs)  of 
old  age,  (yet)  O  Unwasting,  O  Dawn,  thou  hast  come." 
It  would  thus  appear  that  the  same  Dawn  is  described  as 
bright,  omniform,  and  brindled,  as  she  really  is  according  to 
her  proximity  to  or  distance  from  the  Sun  about  to  rise. 
There  is  absolutely  no  suggestion  here  of  30  different  day- 
long Dawns. 

The  8th  verse  of  the  above-mentioned  Dawn-hymn  says : 
"The  Ekagtaka,  glowing  with  fervour,  gave  birth  to  a  child, 
the  great  Indra.  Through  him,  the  Gods  have  subdued  their 
enemies  ;  by  his  powers  (he)  has  become  the  slayer  of 
Asura."  Now  Eki?taka  was  the  first  day,  or  the  consort  of 
the  year,  and  the  annual  sattras  were  commenced  from  that 
day.  The  birth  of  Indra  was  really  the  birth  of  the  Sun  on 
New  year's  day;  and  the  Dawn-hymn  of  15  verses  was 
recited  with  a  view  to  lay  down  certain  emblematical  bricks, 
called  the  "Dawn-bricks"  on  the  sacrificial  alter.  The 
recitation  of  each  verse  was  accompanied  hy  the  laying  of  a 
brick,  and  for  the  i6th  brick  a  ver^e  was  recited  from  else- 
where, which  runs  as  follows :  "It  was  undistinguished, 
neither  day  nor  night.  The  Gods  perceived  those  dawn- 
bricks.  They  laid  them.  Then  it  shone  forth.  Therefore, 
for  whom  these  are  laid,  it  shines  forth  to  him  and  destroys 
his  darkness."  Now  as  these  verses  of  the  Dawn-hymn  were 
recited  on  the  Eka?taka  day  to  herald  the  rise  of  the  new 
Sun  of  the  New  Year,  it  cannot  be  said  that  they  were 
continuously  recited  for  30  days  during  which  the  Arctic 
Dawn  lasted.  The  verses  were  recited  only  on  the  Ekdgtaka 
day,  when  the  rise  of  the  Dawn  marked  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Year.  The  thirty  Dawns,  therefore,  cannot  but  be  the 
component  parts  of  the  same  Dawn,  or  as  fie  poet  has  said, 
the  thirty  sisters  united  as  one.  The  Atharva-veda  (vii. 
22,2)  also  says  "  The  Bright  One  has  sent  forth  the  Dawns,  a 
closely  gathered  band,  immaculate,  unanimous,  brightly 
refulgent  in  their  homes'1  (Griffith).  We  do  not  therefore, 


XIX-]  THE  VtfDIC  DAWNS.  435* 

see  any  indication  of  the  Arctic  Dawn  in  the  verses  of  the 
Dawn-hymn  referred  to  above.  The  time  taken  up  for  the 
recitation  of  the  verses,  and  the  laying  down  of  the  emblem- 
atical bricks  on  the  sacrificial  altar  really  marked  the 
period,  or  measure  of  the  Dawn's  duration.  Even  after  all 
the  bricks  had  been  truly  laid,  it  was  neither  day  nor  night, 
after  which  the  Sun  appeared  on  the  horizon. 

It  has  been  said  above  that  these  Dawns  travel  30 
yojanas  in  the  sky.  Mr  TiUk  interprets  the  word  yojandni 
occuring  in  Rv.  i.  123,  8  to  mean  "  daily  course,"  or  "  daily 
rounds  as  at  the  North  Pole."  But  he  omits  to  take  note 
of  the  fact  that  the  same  verse  mentions  the  Dawns  to  be 
"alike  to-day,  and  alike  to-morrow."  Are  the  Polar  Dawns 
lasting  for  30  days  all  alike  ?  Let  me  here  quote  the  des- 
cription of  the  long  Polar  Dawn  from  Dr.  Warren's  Paradise 
Found  (p.  69,  loth  Ed.)  :  " First  of  all  appears  low  in  the 
horizon  of  the  night-sky  a  scarcely  visible  flush  of  light 
At  first,  it  only  makes  a  few  stars'  light  seem  a  trifle  fainter, 
but  after  a  little  it  is  seen  to  be  increasing,  and  to  be  moving 
laterally  along  the  yet  dark  horizon.  Twenty-four  hours 
later  it  has  made  a  complete  circuit  around  the  observer, 
and  is  causing  a  large  number  of  stars  to  pale.  Soon  the 
widening  light  glows  with  the  lustre  of  'orient  pearl.' 
Onward  it  moves  in  its  stately  rounds,  until  the  pearly 
whiteness  burns  into  ruddy  rose-light,  fringed  with  purple  and 
gold.  Day  after  day,  as  we  measure  days,  this  splendid 
panorama  circles  on,  and,  according  as  atmospheric  condi- 
tions and  clouds  present  more  or  less  favourable  conditions 
of  reflection,  kindles  and  fades,  kindles  and  fades — fades 
only  to  kindle  next  time  yet  more  brightly  as  the  still  hidden 
sun  comes  nearer  and  nearer  his  point  of  emergence.  At 
length,  when  for  two  long  months  such  prophetic  displays 
have  been  filling  the  whole  heavens  with  these  increscent  and 
revolving  splendours,  the  Sun  begins  to  emerge  from  his  long 
retirement,  and  to  display  himself  once  more  to  human 
vision."  With  the  above  description  of  the  characteristics 


436  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  the  Polar  Dawn,  how  would  Mr.  Tilak  reconcile  the  Vedio 
description  "alike  to-day,  alike  to-morrow/'  and  how  would 
he  interpret  yojanAni  as  "  daily  rounds  "  or  "  circuits  of  the 
revolving  Polar  Dawn  ?"  The  very  meaning  and  context  of 
the  verse  indicate  the  Tropical  character  of  the  Dawn,  and 
yojan&ni  in  the  passage  does  not  mean  "  rounds,"  but  a 
measure  of  distance  up  the  sky  which  the  Dawn  is  seen  to 
travel  before  the  Sun  rises.  Nor  does  the  description  of  the 
Dawn  "turning  on  like  a  wheel"  betoken  its  circular  motion 
round  the  horizon.  Rv.  Hi.  61,  3  says  that  the  Dawn  is  like 
the  banner  of  the  immortal  Sun,  and  advancing  towards  the 
three  worlds,  appear  high  (iirdhva)  in  the  heavens.  The 
second  part  of  the  verse  has  been  translated  by  Mr.  Tilak  as 
follows :  "Wending  towards  the  same  goal  (sam&nam 
artham),  O  newly-born  Dawn  (Navyasi\  turn  on  like  a 
wheel."  The  word  navyasi  does  not  mean  "ever  new"  or 
"becoming  new  every  day"  as  Mr.  Tilak  interprets  it,  but  it 
simply  means  "newly-born"  or  "just  risen."  How  can  the 
newly-born  Polar  Dawn  be  urdhva  or  "  placed  high  up  in 
the  heaven"?  When  she  does  appear  high  up  in  the  sky 
in  the  Polar  region,  she  must  be  more  that  a  month  old,  or 
must  have  passed  half  the  period  of  her  allotted  span  of 
existence.  The  high-placed  Dawn  in  the  Polar  region  can- 
not therefore  be  called  "newly-born."  But  the  newly-born 
Dawn  in  the  Tropics  becomes  iirdhva  in  a  few  moments; 
and  the  description  in  the  above  verse  more  aptly  applies  to 
the  Tropical  than  to  the  Polar  Dawn.  The  words  cakram 
iva  dvavritsva  also  do  not  mean  "turn  on  like  a  wheel,"  but 
"come  back  again  by  turning  on  like  a  wheel."  This  wheel- 
like  motion  is  not  lateral  like  that  of  a  potter's  wheel,  but 
vertical  like  that  of  a  chariot-wheel.  The  half-round  of 
this  wheel  is  made  from  east  to  west,  and  the  other  half  from 
west  to  east  during  the  night,  thus  completing  one  full 
round.  This  appears  to  us  to  be  the  clear  and  correct  inter- 
pretation of  the  verse.  It  is  true  that  the  Dawn  is  not  seen 
to  travel  over  the  head  in  the  Tropical  region  ;  but  her  steps 


XIX.]  THE  VEDIC  DAWNS.  437 

are  measured  by  30  yojanas  only,  after  which  the  Sun  rises. 
The  sun-light  makes  her  invisible,  but  she  is  visible  in 
regions  where  the  Sun  has  not  as  yet  appeared.  The  fact 
of  her  invisibility,  therefore,  does  not  in  any  way  militate 
against  her  wheel-like  motion  from  east  to  west,  and  back 
again  from  west  to  east.  This  idea  has  been  elaborated  by 
the  poet  in  verse  7  of  the  same  hymn,  which  says  that 
Aditya  (the  Sun),  after  sending  the  Dawn  at  the  beginning 
of  the  day,  enters  into  the  region  between  heaven  and  earth. 
The  wide  Dawn  then  constituting  the  light  of  Mitra  and 
Varuna  shows  her  splendours  in  various  regions.  Mitra,  as 
our  readers  know,  is  the  Lord  of  Day,  and  Varnna  the  Lord 
of  Night.  The  verse,  therefore,  means  that  the  Dawn 
continuously  travels  in  the  day  time  as  well  as  in  the  night, 
till  she  reappears  in  the  eastern  horizon.  This  clearly 
explains  how  she  completes  her  circular  movement. 

These,  then,  are  some  of  the  principal  evidences  that  Mr. 
Tilak  has  discussed  to  prove  thjfU:  at  least  some  of  the  Dawns 
described  in  the  Rgveda,  the  Taittirlya  Samhita,  and  the 
Atharva-veda  bear  Arctic  characteristics,  or  at  any  rate, 
reminiscences  of  the  Arctic  regions.  But  we  have  carefully 
examined  them,  and  found  that  his  hypothesis  is  quite  unten- 
able. The  Dawns  mentioned  in  the  Vedas  are  not  at  all 
Polar  in  origin  or  character,  but  they  are  Dawns  either  of 
the  Tropical  or  the  Temperate  Zone. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EXAMINATION  OF  Mr,  TILAK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLE  OF  THE 

ARYANS  (contd.) 

LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT 

The  word  tamas  stands  for  darkness,  and  has  been  used 
in  the  Vedas  both  in  a  literal  and  figurative  sense.  Darkness 
is  the  absence  of  light,  and  light  emanates  from  the  Sun, 
the  Moon,  the  Dawn  and  the  Fire.  The  light  of  the  first 
three  is  widespread;  but  that  of  the  last  is  local,  and  con- 
fined only  to  the  place  where  it  burns.  Universal  darkness 
is  caused  when  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the  Dawn  are  non- 
existent in  the  sky,  or  if  existent,  arc  hidden  from  view  by 
obstructions,  like  clouds.  The  resplendent  Dawn  presages 
the  day,  and  the  Sun  is  the  Lord  of  Day.  Night  is  dark, 
and  the  Moon  is  the  Lord  of  Night.  The  Moon  has,  therefore 
been  sometimes  identified  in  the  Brihmanas  with  Vrtra, 
the  demon  of  darkness  (Sath.  BrSh.  r.  5.  3.  18),  who  is  also 
rightly  described  by  the  epithet  Deva  or  bright,  on  account 
of  his  shining  light  (Rv.  i  32,  12).  The  powers  of  darkness 
(Asuras)  are  as  strong  as  the  powers  of  light  (Devas)  and 
there  is  a  constant  struggle  going  on  between  them.  Vrtra 
overpowers  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  and  confines  them  and 
their  lights  in  his  dark  cavern  at  night.  The  benevolent 
deities,  headed  by  Indra,  release  them  from  the  clutches  of 
the  malevolent  Vftra  at  the  end  of  every  night,  and  thus  free 
the  world  from  darkness,  thereby  enabling  all  living  creatures 
to  move  about  in  quest  of  food  and  to  perform  their  ordinary 
avocations,  and  helping  the  plants  to  grow  and  the  corn  to 
ripen.  Indra  has  thus  to  enter  into  a  deadly  conflict  with 
V|rtra,  and  vanquish  him  every  night,  with  the  object  of 
releasing  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  from  his  dark  prison.  The 
ancient  Aryans  thought  that  Indra  and  his  colleagues  required 
to  be  strengthened  in  their  struggle  by  the  chanting  of 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  439 

specially  composed  hymns,  and  the  performance  of  sacrifice* 
The  invigorating  drink  of  Soma  was  offered  as  oblation  to 
Fire  who,  as  the  priest  of  the  sacrifice,  carried  it  to  those 
deities  for  whom  they  were  intended.  The  performance  of 
sacrifice,  therefore,  came  to  be  regarded  as  an  imperative 
religious  duty,  and  Fire  became  the  House-hold  Deity 
(Grhapati  Agni]  who  was  worshipped  daily  with  oblations 
by  every  householder,  and  through  whom  all  the  other  Gods 
could  be  approached.  • 

The  struggle  of  the  Devas  with  Vrtra,  the  demon  of 
darkness,  was  thus  one  of  daily  occurrence  ;  but  there  was 
another  great  struggle  which  was  seasonal  and  lasted  for 
months  when  Vrtra  who  could  assume  various  forms  (mdydbi) 
absorbed  the  life-giving  waters  and  the  solar  rays  in  his 
cloud-body,  and  oppressed  all  living  creatures  and  plants  by 
causing  drought,  and  obstructing  the  li^ht  of  the  Dawn  and 
the  Sun  for  days  and  months  together.  To  make  Indra 
victorious  in  this  great  struggle  a  long  sattra  or  sacrifice 
lasting  for  ten  months,  nay,  a  whole  year,  and  a  special 
sattro  called  Ratrisattra  or  night-sacrifice,  lasting  for 
three  months,  had  to  be  performed  Vrtra,  therefore,  appear- 
ed not  only  in  the  shape  of  nightly  darkness,  but  also  in 
i  he  shape  of  dark  clouds,  and  all  hi*  activities  resulted  in 
the  creation  of  tamas  or  darkness,  which  the  Gods  did  their 
best  to  overcome. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  here  that  the  ancient  Aryans 
were  par  excellence  the  worshippers  of  li^ht.  Every  phase  of 
the  light  of  the  sky  was  supposed  to  be  presided  over  by  a 
distinct  deity.  First  in  order  was  the  light  of  the  A^vins, 
then  that  of  the  Dawn  (U$as)  in  her  three  forms,  viz.,  (i) 
the  dark  form  changing  into  blight,  (2)  the  bright  (Usas)  and 
(3)  the  resplendent  (  Vyusta)  ;  and  lastly  came  the  light  of 
the  Sun  who  also  had  five  phases,  viz.,  (i)  Udesyat,  (2) 
Udyat,  (3)  Udiia,  (4)  Suvarga  and  (5)  Loka.  The  Morning 
Sun  again  was  Kumara  or  Bramhd}  the  Mid-day  Sun  was 
Visnu,  the  Sun  soon  after  mid-day  was  Rudra,  and  the 


440  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

Evening  Sun,  or  the  Sun  of  the  night  was  A-surya  (not-Sun) 
or  Siva  as  called   in    post-Vedic    literature.     Indra   assumed 
the  form  of  the  Sun  occasionally,  and  was   the   leader   of   all 
the  Gods  or  Devas.     Besides   the   lights   of  these   heavenly 
deities,  there  were  the  lights  of  Mitra,  the  Lord   of   day-light 
and  Deity  presiding  over  the  Sun,  and  of  Varuija,   the    Lord 
of  Night,  who  was  sometimes   identified    with   the    Moon    or 
the   Sun,    being   an    Aditya.     Lastly   was   the   light   of  the 
Household   Fire   which    was   kept   burning   day   and   night, 
and  specially  kindled  for  the  performance  of  a  special    sacri- 
fice.    Light,  therefore,  was  the  very  essence  of  the   religious 
life  of  the   ancient   Aryans.      The   time   for   performing  a 
special  sacrifice  was  regulated  and  fixed   by   the   appearance 
of  the  particular  deity  in  the  sky.     Hence  a  regular  vigil  had 
to  be  kept  at  night  to    watch    the  appearance   of   light   in 
the  eastern  horizon,  first  of  the  AMns,    then    of    Usas}    and 
lastly  of  the  Sun.     Sometimes  the  worshippers  woke  up  from 
their  sleep  long   before    the   appointed   time,    miscalculating 
the  pary&yas  or  praharas  of  the  night,  and  in  all  such  cases 
the  watching  for  the  first  appearance  of  the  light   was   neces- 
sarily long  and  tedious.     But  night-time    was   also   not   safe 
for  the  sacrificers  to  perform  their  sacrifices   in    the   open,  as 
thieves  loitered  and  wild  animals  prowled  about  in  the   dark- 
ness.    They,   therefore,    earnestly   prayed   that   they   might 
safely  tide  over  the    precincts   of   the    dark   night,   and   be 
brought  to  the  borders  of  daylight. 

It  is  necessary  to  remember  all  these  facts  and  the 
foregoing  description  of  Vftra  in  order  to  be  able  to  under- 
stand our  criticism  of  Mr.  Tilak's  arguments  in  favour  of 
14  a  long  day  and  long  night  "  which  he  seeks  to  prove  from 
Vedic  passages  to  be  the  long  day  and  the  long  night  of  the 
Polar  regions.  To  begin  with,  he  says  :  "  When  a  long 
continuous  dawn  of  thirty  days  or  a  closely  gathered  band  of 
thirty  dawns  is  shown  to  have  been  expressly  referred  to  in 
the  Vedio  literature,  the  long  night  preceding  such  a  dawn 
follows  as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  when  a  long  night  prevails. 


XX]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  441 

it  must  have  a  long  day  to  match  it  during  the  year..* 
Therefore,  if  the  long  duration  of  the  Vedic  Dawn  is  once 
demonstrated,  it  is,  astronomically  speaking,  unnecessary  to 
search  for  further  evidence  regxrding  the  existence  of  long 
days  and  nights  in  the  Rgveda."1  The  foregoing  observa- 
tion is  true,  so  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  has  Mr.  Tilak  been  really 
able,  after  all,  to  prove  the  long  duration  of  the  Vedic  Dawn  ? 
We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  he  has  not 
succeeded  in  proving  it.  Therefore,  if  his  premises  are 
found  to  be  wrong,  it  follows  that  his  conclusion  also  would 
be  wrong.  Mr.  Tilak,  however,  thinks  that  there  is  evi- 
dence in  the  Vedic  literature  about  the  long  day  and  the 
long  night  of  the  Polar  regions,  which  we  now  proceed  to 
examine. 

11  There  are  many  passages  in  the  Rgveda,"  says  Mr. 
Tilak,  "that  speak  of  long  and  ghastly  darkness,  in  one  form 
or  another^  which  sheltered  the  enemies  of  Indra,  and  to 
destroy  which  Indra  had  to  fight  with  the  demons,  or  the 
Ddsas,  whose  strongholds  are  all  said  to  be  concealed  in  the 
darkness.  Thus  in  i.  32,  10  Vrtra,  the  traditional  enemy  of 
Indra,  is  said  to  be  engulfed  in  long  darkness  (dirgham  tamah 
dfayad  Indra^atruh)^  and  in  v.  32,  5  Indra  is  described  as 
having  placed  Su?aa  who  was  anxious  to  fight,  4n  the  dark- 
ness of  the  pit1  (tamasi  karmye),  while  the  next  verse  speaks 
of  a-surye  tamasi  (lit.  sun-less  darkness)  which  Max  M tiller 
renders  by  'ghastly  darkness.'  In  spite  of  these  passages, 
the  fight  between  Indra  and  Vjtra  is  considered  to  be  a  daily 
and  not  a  yearly  struggle/12 

At  the  very  outset,  we  have  said  that  the  struggle  be- 
tween Indra  and  Vrtra  was  both  daily,  and  seasonal  or 
yearly.  The  passages  quoted  by  Mr.  Tilak  undoubtedly 
prove  the  yearly  struggle  ;  but  there  are  also  proofs  of  the 
daily  struggle,  as  we  shall  see  later  on.  The  struggle,  indeed, 

1     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  123-24, 
*     Ibid,  p.  125. 


443  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

was  two-fold.     The  daily  struggle  required   the  performance 
of  d lily  sacrifice,  and  the   yearly   or   seasonal   sacrifice   was 
performed  for  ten  or  twelve  months  in    order   to    strengthen 
Indra  and  his  colleagues  to  Right  with  Vrtra  when  the   latter 
concealed   the   Diwn   and    the    Sun    in    his   cloud-body   for 
several  days  and    months,   and   withal   imprisoned  the   life- 
giving     waters,     causing    a    distressing     drought.       These 
waters    had   to   be    released    for   the   benefit   of   the    vege- 
table   and    the   animal    kingdons,    and   the    thunderbolt   of 
Indra  was  kept  active    during   this    period    which    was    none 
other  than  the  rainy  season.     It  was  during  this    struggle   in 
the  rainy  season  that  InJra   laid   Vjtra    low    by    hitting   him 
with  his  bolt.     A  graphic  account  of  this   struggle   has   been 
given  in  Rv.  i.    32,    from   which    Mr.   Tilak    has    quoted  the 
tenth  verse  only  to  prove  that  Vftra    was  "  engulfed    in    long 
darkness."     Now  this  "  long  darkness"    (dirgham  tamah]    is 
clearly  not  used  in    the    ordinary    physical    sense,    but    in    a 
metaphorical  sense   to    denote    death,    or   a  long  period  of 
inactivity,    which    is    generally     associated     with    darkness. 
Indra's  struggle  with  Vrtra  really  ended  when  the  latter    was 
vanquished  and  laid  low,  and  the  ceaselessly   moving    waters 
flowed  over  his  body,  and  he  "  slept  in  long   darkness  "  (Rv. 
1.32,    10).     That   this    "long   darkness"    was    not    physical 
darkness  is  proved  by  verse  4  of  the  same  hymn,  which    says 
that  after  the  first-born  Ahi  (Vrtra)  had  been  killed,    and   his 
delusions  or  charms  dissipated,  the  Dawn,  the    Sun   and    the 
Sky  were  all  revealed.     The  death  of  Vrtra    or   his    entering 
into  long  darkness,  therefore,  coincides  with  the   appearance 
of  the  Dawn,  the  Sun  and  the  blue  sky,   i.e.}    of    bright    day- 
light, and  not  darkness,  whether  long  or  short.     Hence  it   is 
evident  that  Tilak's  interpretation  of   dirgham   tamas   (long 
darkness)  in  the  above  verse,  and  his  identification  of  it   with 
a  long  Polar  night  are  palpably  wrong.     Neither  is  he  correct 
in  his  interpretation  of  Rv.  v.  32,  5  wherein,  says  he,  "  Indra 
is  described  as  having  placed  5u?na  who  was  anxious  to  fight 
in  the  darkness  of  the  pit."    The  real  meaning  of  the  verse 


XX.]       LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT. 

is  as  follows  :  "  Thou  hast  discovered,  ladra,  by  his  acts  the 
secret  vital  part  of  him  who  thought  himself  invulnerable, 
when,  powerful  Indra,  in  the  exhilaration  of  the  Soma,  thou 
hast  detected  him  preparing  for  the  combat  in  his  dark 
abode."1  The  meaning  is  diametrically  opposed  to  the 
interpretation  put  upon  the  verse  by  Mr.  Tilak.  Indra 
detected  Su?na  (Drought)  preparing  for  the  combat  in  his 
dark  abode,  which  was  none  other  than  the  clouds,  and 
uplifting  his  thunderbolt  struck  and  slew  him,  "  enjoying  the 
dews  of  the  firmament,  sleeping  (amidst  the  waters)  and 
thriving  in  the  sunless  darkness."  t^Rv.  v.  32.  6;.  Now  this 
Susna  was  the  "  wrath-born  son  "  of  the  powerful  Vftra  whom 
Indra  had  slain  after  rending  the  clouds  asunder,  throwing 
open  the  flood-gates  and  liberating  the  obstructed  streams. 
(Rv.  v.  32,  i).  The  meaning  seems  to  be  that  after  the 
rains,  there  was  a  long  spell  of  drought,  during  which  the 
sky  remained  continuously  covered  viith  dark  clouds  which 
did  not  give  any  rains,  and  behind  which  the  Sun  lay  bidden 
for  days  together.  The  dim  light  or  gloom  of  these  cloudy 
days  has  been  described  by  the  poet  as  "  sunless  darkness," 
i.e.,  darkness  caused  by  the  Sun  remaining  hidden  behind 
the  clouds.  This  appears  to  be  the  simple  meaning  of  the 
verses  of  the  hymn  referred  to  by  Mr.  Tilak,  and  there  is  not 
in  them  even  the  shadow  of  the  long  Arctic  night.  As  Wilson 
observes  :  "  From  the  body  of  Vjtra,  it  is  said,  sprang  the 
more  powerful  Asura,  §u?na,  that  is,  allegorically,  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  clouds  was  followed  by  a  drought  which 
Indra  as  the  atmosphere  had  then  to  remedy."  And  Indra 
caused  the  drought  to  disippear  by  rending  open  the  clouds 
which  seemed  to  have  imprisoned  the  waters.  In  other  words, 
there  was  at  first  rain,  which  was  followed  by  a  period  of 
drought,  with  clouds  overhanging  the  sky,  but  not  giving  a 
drop  of  rain.  Then  Indra  broke  open  the  clouds  with  his 
thunderbolt  and  liberated  the  imprisoned  waters.  Besides 

»    M.  N.  Dutt's  English  Translation  of  th*  &«frfa,  p.  889. 


444  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [Our. 

the  usual  form  of  darkness  of  the  night,  there  was  another 
form  of  it  in  overhanging  clouds,  and  Vrtra,  the  M&ydvt 
(or  wily)  Asura,  or  Susna  assumed  these  forms  to  torment 
mankind. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  turns  to  Rv.  ii.  27,  14  to  prove  the 
familiarity  of  the  ancient  Aryans  with  "long  darkness1' 
(dirghah  tamisrah).  Max  Muller  has  rendered  the  hymn 
thus:  "  Aditi,  Mitra,  and  also  Varuna,  forgive  if  we  have 
committed  any  sin  against  you  !  May  we  obtain  the  wide 
fearless  light,  O  Indra  '  May  not  the  long  darkness  come 
over  us."  Mr.  Tilak  comments  on  this  as  follows :  "The 
anxiety  here  manifested  for  the  disappearance  of  the  long 
darkness  is  unmeaning,  if  the  darkness  never  lasted  for  more 
than  twenty-four  hours."  But  was  it  really  the  physical 
darkness  of  the  long  night  that  the  poet  was  anxious  to 
avoid  ?  We  do  not  think  so.  If  the  poet  was  really  an 
inhabitant  of  the  Arctic  region,  he  knew,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  the  long  night  was  bound  to  follow  the  long  day, 
as  surely  as  death  follows  life,  and  that  no  amount  of  praying 
to  the  Gods  would  avert  or  postpone  the  approach  of  the 
long  darkness  in  due  course  of  time.  It  would  further  be 
futile,  ray  pueiile,  on  the  part  of  the  sage-poet  to  have  the 
physical  orders  of  the  Universe  altered  by  prayer,  as  it  would 
be  for  a  child  to  cry  for  the  moon.  It  is  not  the  long 
physical  darkness  that  the  poet  is  dreading,  but  the  dreary 
darkness  of  sin  which,  he  prays,  may  never  come  upon  him. 
The  entire  drift  of  the  hymn  points  to  an  eager  desire  on  his 
part  to  be  beyond  the  clutches  of  sin,  with  the  gracious  help 
of  the  y*dityas,  as  the  following  translation  of  some  of  the 
verses  in  the  same  hymn  will  prove  : 

"  5.  May  I  be  conscious,  Adityas,  of  this  your  protec- 
tion, the  cause  of  happiness  (and  security)  in  danger ; 
Aryaman,  Mitra  and  Varuaa,  may  I,  through  your  guidance, 
escape  the  sins  which  are  like  pitfalls  (in  my  path). 

"  6.  Aryaman,  Mitra  and  Varuaa,  easy  is  the  path  (you 
show  us),  and  free  from  thorns  and  pleasant;  therefore, 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  445 

Adityas,  (lead  us)  by  (it) :  speak  to  us  favourably,  and   grant 
us  happiness,  difficult  to  be  disturbed. 

"  7.  May  Aditi,  the  mother  of  royal  sons,  place  us 
beyond  the  malice  (of  our  enemies).  May  Aryaman  lead  us 
by  easy  paths,  and  may  we,  blessed  with  many  descendants, 
and  safe  from  harm,  attain  the  great  happiness  of  Mitra  and 
Varu^a. 

A 

"  9.  The  Adityas,  decorated  with  golden  ornaments, 
brilliant,  purified  by  showers,  who  never  slumber,  nor  close 
their  eye-lids,  who  are  unassailable,  and  praised  by  many, 
uphold  the  three  bright  heavenly  regions  for  the  sake  of  the 
upright  man. 

l(  ii.  Neither  is  the  right  hand  known  to  us,  Adityas, 
nor  is  the  left ;  neither  is  that  which  is  in  front,  nor  that 
which  is  behind  (discerned  by  me).  Givers  of  dwellings,  may 
I  who  am  immature  (in  knowledge)  and  timid  (in  spirit) 
obtain,  when  guided  by  you,  the  light  that  is  free  from  fear. 

"  14.  Aditi,  Mitra,  Varuna,  have  pity  upon  us,  even 
though  we  may  have  committed  some  offence  against  you. 
May  I  obtain,  Indra,  that  great  light  which  is  free  from 
peril,  let  not  the  protracted  gloom  envelop  us. 

.A 

"  16.  Adorable  Adityas,  may  I  pass  (safe)  in  your  car 
from  the  illusions  which  (you  desire)  for  the  malignant,  the 
snares  which  are  spread  for  our  foe,  (in  like  manner)  as  a 
horse-man  (passes  over  a  road)  ;  and  thus  may  we  abide 
secure  in  infinite  felicity.1'  ! 

Where  is  the  room  for  long  physical  darkness  in  the 
above  beautiful  verses  which  embody  in  them  an  earnest  and 
pathetic  prayer  of  the  soul  in  its  helpless  struggle  to  be 
free  from  the  meshes  and  snares,  and  the  blinding  gloom  of 
sin,  and  which  breathe  an  irrepressible  hankering  after  the 
"  wide  fearless  light "  of  righteousness  and  virtue,  that 
is  in  the  gift  of  the  Gods  ?  The  same  poet,  still  in  the  same 

1     M.  N.  Dutt's  Translation  oftki  ffvtda,  pp,  543-545. 


446  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAt. 

mood  of  mind,  thus  continues   his  prayers   in  the  next  hymn 
(ii.  28)  : 

"  5.  Cast  off  from  me  sin,  Varuaa,  as  if  it  were  a  rope. 
May  we  obtain  from  thee  a  channel  .filled)  with  water.  Cut 
not  the  thread  of  me  (engaged  in)  weaving  pious  works  ; 
blight  not  the  elements  of  holy  rites  before  the  season  (of 
their  maturity.) 

"  6.  Keep  off  all  danger  from  me,  Varuna,  supreme 
monarch,  endowed  with  truth,  bestow  thy  favour  upon  me. 
Cast  off  (from  me)  sin  like  a  tether  from  a  calf.  No  one 
rules  for  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  apart  from  thee. 

"  7.  Harm  us  not,  Varuna,  with  those  destructive 
(weapons)  which,  repeller  (of  foes),  demolish  him  who  does 
evil  at  thy  sacrifice.  Let  us  not  depart  (before  our  time)  from 
the  regions  of  light.  Scatter  the  malevolent  that  we  may  live." 

The  poet  goes  on  in  the  same  strain  in  the  next  hymn 
also  (ii.  29) : 

i.  "  Adityas,  upholders  of  pious  works,  who  are  to  be 
sought  by  all,  remove  sin  from  me,  like  a  woman  delivered 
in  secret.  5.  Alone  among  you,  I  have  committed  many 
offences,  (the  which  correct)  as  a  father  corrects  a  naughty 
(son).  Far  from  me,  Gods,  be  bonds  ;  far  from  me  be  sins, 
seize  not  upon  me,  (your)  son,  as  (a  fowler)  catches  a  bird." 

The  above  extracts  clearly  prove  the  penitent  spirit 
which  makes  the  poet  confess  his  sins  and  lay  bare  his  heart 
to  the  Gods.  The  "  long  darkness "  is  undoubtedly  the 
darkness  of  sin  that  blinds  our  moral  vision,  and  does  not 
show  us  the  right  path,  and  "  the  wide  fearless  light  "  is  the 
light  of  righteousness,  and  holy  doing  and  holy  thinking. 
This  long  darkness,  therefore,  cannot  be  the  darkness  of  the 
long  Arctic  night.  The  well-known  prayer  in  a  Upanisad 
must  be  familiar  to  our  readers :  "  Oh,  lead  me  from  the 
unreal  (not-good)  to  the  real  (good) ;  from  darkness  to  light 
(tamaso  mA  jyotir  gam  ay  a) ;  from  death  to  life."  Sin  or  Evil 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  447 

is  here  compared  to  darkness  and  death.  Heaven  has  been 
described  in  Rv.  ix.  113,  7  as  a  region  filled  with  perpetual 
light,  free  from  the  shadow  of  death  or  destruction,  where  the 
blessed  covet  to  go.  Conversely,  hell  is  a  region  of  perpetual 
darkness,  begot  of  sinfulness,  to  which  the  sinful  are  doomed. 
This  state  or  region  is  one  over  which  long  fearful  darkness 
holds  sway.  The  poet,  when  praying  for  deliverance  from 
long  darkness,  had  undoubtedly  the  long  darkness  of  sinful- 
ne«*s  in  his  mind  rather  than  any  physical  darkness. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  picks  out  Rv.  vii.  67,  2  to  prove  "  long 
darkness. "  The  verse  has  been  thus  rendered  :  "  The  fire  has 
commenced  to  burn,  the  ends  of  darkness  (tamasah  antah) 
have  been  seen,  and  the  banner  of  the  Dawn  has  appeared 
in  the  east"  The  words  tamasah  antah  have  been  interpreted 
by  some  to  mean  u  the  inner  recesses  of  darkness,1'  which 
become  visible  when  fire  burns  and  radiates  its  light  around. 
But  even  if  we  take  them  to  mean  "  the  ends  of  darkness," 
they  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  this  darkness  was  long  like 
that  of  the  Arctic  night.  The  words  simply  mean  that  the 
Dawn  having  appeared,  the  darkness  of  night  is  about  to  dis- 
appear. It  seems  also  really  very  strange  that  it  did  not 
strike  Mr.  Tilak  that  the  appearance  of  the  Dawn  in  the  east 
could  not  give  any  suggestion  of  the  Arctic  night. 

Next,  in  support  of  his  contention,  Mr.  Tilak  quotes 
Rv.  x.  124,  wherein  Agni  (Fire)  is  told  that  he  "  has  slept 
too  long  in  the  long  darkness."  The  "  long  darkness  "  may 
not  necessarily  be  that  of  the  long  Arctic  night,  but  only  of 
an  ordinary  wintry  night  of  the  Tropical  regions,  which  is 
generally  long.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  after  the  last 
oblation  of  the  evening  had  been  offered  to  Fire,  it  was 
allowed  to  lie  dormant  or  go  out,  and  was  only  re-kindled 
when  the  Dawn  appeared.  It  is  therefore  not  unnatural  for 
the  poet  to  say  that  the  sacrificial  Fire  has  slept  "  too  long  in 
the  long  darkness."  In  the  very  next  verse,  Agni  himself 
says  that  when  the  Gods  want  him,  he  appears  with  his 


448  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

radiant  lustre  from  a  lustreless  state  of  invisibility,  and  that 
when  the  sacrifice  is  ended,  he  leaves  it  and  becomes  invisible 
again.  This  clearly  explains  what  is  meant  by  Fire  sleeping 
too  long  in  the  long  darkness.  It  cannot  be  reasonably 
assumed  that  even  if  the  early  Aryans  lived  in  the  Arctic 
region,  they  allowed  the  sacrificial  Fire  to  remain  extinguished 
during  the  entire  period  of  the  long  night,  and  rekindled  it 
only  with  the  appearance  of  the  Polar  Dawn.  The  necessity 
for  keeping  the  sacrificial  Fire  burning  during  that  time 
would  be  all  the  greater  for  dissipating  the  darkness,  and  in 
view  of  the  great  fight  going  on  between  Indra  and  Vjtra,  in 
which  Indra  stood  in  need  of  being  strengthened  by  oblations 
of  Soma  and  the  chanting  of  Mantras. 

Next,  Mr.  Tilak  quotes  Rv.  x.  127,  6  in  which  the 
sage-poet  addresses  Night,  and  prays  that  she  may  "  become 
easily  fordable  "  to  the  worshippers  fnah  sutard  bhava).  The 
word  sutar&  has  been  rendered  by  some  as  "  favourable  or 
auspicious."  But  even  if  we  adopt  the  meaning  of  "  easily 
fordable/'  it  does  not  imply  that  the  night  was  long.  The  first 
part  of  the  verse  contains  a  prayer  to  Night  to  keep  off  the 
he-wolf,  the  she-wolf  and  the  thief  from  the  doors  of  the 
worshippers.  These  prowl  about  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  causing  terror  to  all.  It  is,  therefore,  quite  natural 
for  men  engaged  in  night-sacrifice  to  pray  for  themselves  as 
well  as  for  those  who  are  asleep  that  the  night  may  be  easily 
fordable,  i.e.,  may  pass  away  without  causing  any  mishap. 
There  is  no  indication  here  of  the  long  night  of  the  Arctic 
region.  The  following  beautiful  translation  of  this  verse, 
and  of  the  previous  verse,  made  by  Professor  Macdonell,  is 
worth  quoting  here  : 

"The  villagers  have  gone  to  rest, 

Beasts,  too,  with  feet,  and  birds  with  wings, 

The  hungry  hawk  himself  is  still 

Ward  off  the  she-wolf  and  the  wolf, 

Ward  off  the  robber,  Goddess  Night, 

And  take  us  safe  accross  the  gloom.'91 

1  Macdon«U'§  Hist,  of  Santk.  Liter a.tur*,  p.  104. 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  449 

The  description  is  that  of  an  ordinary  Tropical  night, 
and  not  of  Arctic  night.  Men,  beasts  and  birds  do  not  go  to 
sleep  for  six  months  in  the  Arctic  region,  or  even  for  days 
together  during  which  the  long  night  lasts  in  the  circum-polar 
region. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  quotes  the  4th  verse  of  the  Parifista 
that  follows  the  above  hymn  and  is  called  the  R&tri-sukta  or 
Durga-stava  to  prove  his  contention.  The  worshipper  asks 
the  Night  to  be  favourable  to  him,  exclaiming  "May  we  reach 
the  other  side  in  safety.  May  we  reach  the  other  side  in 
safety."1  What  does  this  prayer  mean  ?  It  means  nothing 
but  an  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  worshipper  to  pass  the 
night  (so  full  of  dangers)  peacefully  and  without  any  mishap. 
Mr.  Tilak  quotes  a  similar  verse  from  the  Atharva-veda 
(xix.  47,  2)  which  is  interpreted  as  follows  :  "Each  moving 
thing  finds  rest  in  her  (Night),  whose  yonder  boundary  is 
not  seen,  nor  that  which  keeps  her  separate.  O  spacious 
darksome  Night,  may  we,  uninjured,  reach  the  end  of  thee, 
reach,  O  thou  blessed  one,  thine  end.1'2  This  verse  also 
does  not  help  Mr.  Tilak  in  any  way,  in  as  much  as  all 
moving  creatures  are  said  to  have  found  rest  in  Night  — 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  condition  of  the  long  Arctic 
Night.  The  description  that  the  yonder  boundary  of  night 
is  not  seen  is  as  much  applicable  to  Arctic  as  to  an  ordinary 
wintry  night  of  the  Tropics,  for  the  "yonder  boundary"  of 
both  is  not  visible,  not  "that  which  keeps  her  separate." 
Mr.  Tilak  himself  is  conscious  that  it  admits  of  an  explana- 
tion like  this,  and  hence  falls  back  on  a  passage  of  the  Taitti- 
r%ya  Samhit&}  which,  he  thinks,  supports  his  view.  In  this 
Samhita  (I.  5-  5-  4)  there  is  a  similar  mantra  or  prayer 
addressed  to  Night,  which  is  translated  as  follows  :  "O 

»     The  4th  Verse  of  the  Rdtrl-Sukta  is  as  follows  : 


•     A.  V.  xix,  47,2  . 

3ft  cpusfci  Tlfr  HI^4(rflMf^  Kflf 

57 


450  RGVEDIC  iN7D!A.  [CHAP. 

Chitr&vasu,  let  me  safely   reach   thy   end."     A  little   further 
(I.  5«  7-  5  »  the  Samhita  itself  explains  this  mantra  or   prayer 
thus  :  "Chitr£vasu  is  (means)  the  Night ;  in  old  times  (purd)} 
the  Br&hmans  (priests)  were  afraid  that  it  (Night)  would   not 
dawn."1     Mr.  Tilak  makes  the   following  comment   on    this 
interpretation  :    ''Here  we  have  an  express  Vedic   statement 
that  in  old  times  the  priests  or    the  people  felt   apprehension 
regarding  the  time  when  the  night  would    end."     But  we  beg 
to  differ  from  this  vir w  of  Mr.  Tilak.     It  was  not  the  people^ 
but  only  the  Br£hmans  or  priest*  v\ho  felt  this   apprehension. 
And  this  makes  a  world  of  difference.    The  word  BrAhmandh, 
in  the  Vedic  sense,  means  the  priests    who    recite    stotras   or 
hymns  at  the  performance  of  sacrifices.     These    priests    who 
presided  at  the  night-sacrifices    had    to   keep    up    the    whole 
night,  and  felt  so  much  fagged  and  worn-out  in    consequence 
of  the  vigil  that  the  hours  seemed  to  them    to    stand    still    or 
move  at  a  snail's  pace,  and  a  ft  cling  came   over   them    a*    if 
the  night  would  never  terminate.     The  watching  for   the  first 
streak  of  the  Dawn,  when  the  saciifices  had  to  be    punctually 
commenced,  was  a  terrible  strain    on    their    nerves,    and    we 
need  not  wonder  if,  broken  down  by  fatigue  and  want  of  sleep, 
they  sometimes  gav-?  vent  to  the  apprehension  that    the  night 
would  not  end.     Even  to    this    day,    do    not   those    who    are 
compelled  to  keep  up  night,  watching   or  attending   the  sick, 
and  pass  their  time  in  awful  suspense,    sometimes    think    the 
night  to  be  too  long  ?     And  are  they  not  occasionally    seized 
by  a  feeling  bordering  upon  an  apprehension  that  the   dreary 
night  would  never    end  ?     A    feeling    like   this   would    be   as 
much  natural  in  the  olden  days,  as    it   is    to-day.     But    what 
does  the  author  of  the  Samhita  mean  that  in  the    olden    days 

1    Taitt.  Sam.  i.  5.  5  4  :— fo*rWt  ^fftf  %  *mjnfH  n     Taitt.    Sam.  i    5. 

7-  5 s— fiwrqfrft  gfa  fr  qiMjtftemi  i    ^rfiriftTOs  T«rr$ 

n      Sayaljui  thus  explains  the  passage  — 


XX.]      LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT. 

(purf)  the  Br£hmans  felt  this  apprehension  ?  This  probably 
signifies  that  when  the  Saijihita  was  composed,  the  practice 
of  keeping  night-vigils  for  the  performance  of  sacrifices  was 
discontinued,  or  considerably  modified.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  laiitiilya  Samhita  was  composed  long  long 
after  tin  Rgveda  (the  date  ci-mputtd  by  Mr.  Tilak  being 
about  2,500  B.  C ),  and  during  this  long  interval,  many 
practices  had  undergone  complete  change  or  material  modi- 
fication. We  have  got  clear  evidence  of  this  in  some  of  the 
Brdhmanas.  There  is  a  discussion  in  the  Satapatha  Brdhmana 
(II  i.  4.  8  &  9)  as  to  whether  the  sacrificial  Fire  should  be 
kindled  and  the  Homa  performed  before  or  after  sunrise. 
The  author  concludes  in  favour  of  the  former  and  praises 
the  performance  of  Homa  before  sunrise.  The  Aitareya 
Brdhmana  V.  5.  4.  6),  on  the  other  hand,  advocates  the  per- 
formance of  Homa  after  sunrise.  The  Taittirlya  Bra^hinana 
too  at  first  praises  its  performance  after  sunrise  but  con- 
demns it  later  on  (II.  j.  2.  7  &  II.  i  2.  12.).  It  would  thus 
appear  that  there  was  a  gradual  change  in  some  of  the  old 
religious  practices,  and  night-sacrifices  having  probably  been 
discontinued  at  the  time  of  the  com  portion  of  some  of  the 
Brahmanas  and  Samhitas,  it  was  quite  consistent  and  appro- 
priate to  rrftr  to  the  practice  of  night-watching  as  belonging 
to  the  olden  days  (fufd).  But  Mr.  Tilak  thinks  that  the 
word  (purd]  refers  to  those  days  of  yore  when  the  Aryans 
had  their  home  in  the  Arctic  region,  where:  the  night  was  so 
long  as  to  make  the  prints  apprehend  that  it  would  not 
terminate.  But  did  the  priests  keep  a  continuous  night  vigil 
for  months  or  days  together  ?  A  supposition  like  this 
would  be  absurd  on  the  very  face  of  it.  Then,  again,  why 
should  the  priests  apprehend  that  the  long  night  would  not 
terminate,  when,  as  inhabitants  of  the  Arctic  region,  they 
knew  from  personal  experience  that  it  must  end  in  the  long 
ran  ?  Their  apprehension,  therefore,  would  be  entirely 
groundless  and  childish.  The  real  fact  of  the  matter  is  that 
the  poet  speaks  only  of  an  ordinary  Tropical  night,  or  a  bog 


45*  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [C»AP. 

wintry  night,  as  Siyaiia  has  explained,  and  refers  to  the 
awful  sense  of  weariness  which  night-keeping  usually  pro- 
duced on  the  priests  in  the  olden  days. 

Mr.  Tilak  adduces  another  proof  in  support  of  his 
contention  from  Rv.  iii.  55,  1  1  which  is  as  follows  :— 

N&na  cakr&te  yamy&  vapumsi 
tayor  any  ad  rocate  krsnam  any  at 
§yav%  ca  yad  arusl  ca  svasarau 
mahad  devdndm  asuratvam  ekam.1 

The  deity  of  the  verse  is  Ahoratra  (Day  and  Night), 
who  are  described  here  as  twin  sisters  (yamya).  The  verse 
is  ordinarily  translated  as  follows  :  — 

"The  twin  pair  (Day  and  Night)  adopt  various  forms  : 
one  of  them  shines  brightly,  the  other  is  black  ;  twin  sisters 
are  they,  one  black,  and  the  other  white  ;  great  and  un- 
equalled is  the  might  of  the  Gods." 

Mr.  Tilak  says  that  if  the  above  translation  be  accepted 
as  correct,  and  the  description  be  applied  to  a  couple  of 
ordinary  Day  and  Night,  and  "the  twins,"  and  "the  two 
sisters"  in  the  veise  be  taken  as  identical,  then  there  would 
be  an  unnecessary  repetition  of  the  same  idea.  He  therefore 
thinks  that  the  twins  (yamyd)  and  the  two  sisters  (svasdrau) 
are  two  different  deities  or  manifestations  of  Nature,  the 
first  being  a  couple  of  ordinary  Day  and  Night,  and  the  second 
a  couple  of  Long  Day  and  Long  Night.  He  refers  to  the 
use  of  the  words  UsdsA-naktd  (Rv.  i.  122,  2),  Naktosdsa 
(Rv.  i.  142,  7)  and  Usasau  (Rv.  i.  188,  6)  as  meaning  a 
couple  of  day  and  night,  and  quotes  Rv  iv.  55,  3  to  prove 
that  Ahani  (Night  and  Day)  and  Usdsd-naktA  (Day  and 
Night)  in  the  verse  2  refer  to  two  separate  couples  of  Day 
and  Night  which  are  different  in  form,  length  and  character, 


Rig.  ill.  55-  1  1  -irwr  *?fim  TOT  WH  f*  tiiiK«sH8 
«*nft  i 

iv.  55,  3  : 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  453 

one  being  identical  with  a  couple  of  ordinary  day  and  night 
of  24  hours'  duration,  and  the  other  with  a  couple  of  long  day 
and  long  night  as  in  the  Arctic  region.  The  verse,  however, 
admits  of  the  following  interpretation  :  (l  (I  praise  you)  both 
Night  and  Day  that  you  may  protect  us  unimpeded ;  Night  and 
Dawn  do  (what  we  desire)."  Here  ahani  simply  means  Day 
and  Night,  and  Us&sd-naktd  Dawn  and  Night.  Day  and 
Night  form  one  couple,  representing  one  deity ;  and  Dawn 
and  Night  another  couple,  representing  another  deity.  The 
twin,  Night  and  Dawn,  represents  the  deity  of  that  portion 
of  the  night  when  darkness  is  penetrated  by  the  light  of 
Dawn,  in  other  words,  when  light  struggles  with  darkness. 
This  deity  is,  as  it  were,  the  embryo  of  the  other  deity,  Ahani 
(Day  and  Night)  in  a  state  of  development.  Though  the 
word  Usdsd-naktd  also  stands  for  Day  and  Night,  the  latter 
are  quite  different  in  character  from  Dawn  and  Night,  or  the 
period  when  it  is  neither  day  nor  night.  It  is,  therefore, 
quite  unnecessary  to  attribute  to  Ahani  the  meaning  of  a  long 
Arctic  Day  and  a  long  Arctic  Night.  Considered  from  this 
view-point  and  analogy,  "  the  twin  pair  "  (yamyd)  and  "  the 
two  sisters'*  (svasdrau)  in  Rv.  iii.  55,  n  may  also  respec- 
tively mean  Night  and  Dawn,  and  Day  and  Night,  or  simply 
Day  and  Night  (Ahordtre).  There  would  be  no  repetition  of 
the  same  idea  in  the  verse,  to  which  Mr.  Tilak  refers,  if  it  is 
explained  in  the  following  simple  way  :  — 

44  N&n£  (various)  cakr&te  (make)  yamyd  ^the  twin)  vapurji?! 
(forms)  ;  tayor  (of  the  two)  anyat  (one)  rocate  (shines) 
kr$nam  (dark)  anyat  (the  other),  byavl  (black)  ca  (conjuction 
connecting  the  second  anyat)  yat  (wherefore)  aru?i  (bright 
or  white)  ca  (conjunction  connecting  the  first  anyat)  svascirau 
(the  two  sisters)  "  etc. 

The  meaning  in  plain  English  would  be  this  :  4(  The  twin 
(sisters)  make  or  assume  various  forms ;  of  the  two,  one 
shines,  and  the  other  is  dark ;  wherefore  the  two  sisters  are 
(one)  black  and  (the  other)  bright  or  white."  There  is  no 


4S4  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

repetition  here  of  the  same  idea  in  the  verse  ;  but  the  first 
part,  containing  the  primitive  characteristics  of  the  twin, 
only  furnishes  a  reason  for  their  description  in  the  second  ; 
in  other  words,  the  reason  why  one  of  the  twin  sisters  is 
bright  or  white,  and  the  other  black  is  explained  by  their 
natural  characteristics,  #**.,  one  shines  brightly,  while  the 
other  does  not.  Our  readers  will  thus  find  this  interpretation 
to  be  quite  natural  and  consistent  and  Mr.  Tilak's  interpreta- 
tion to  be  strained  and  far-fetched.  The  verse  certainly  does 
not  contain  any  reference  to  or  suggestion  of  long  night  and 
long  day  of  the  Arctic  region.  We  may  therefore  dismiss 
Mr.  Tilak's  proof  as  unconvincing,  though  we  must  admit 
that  he  has  taken  great  pains  and  shown  much  ingenuity  in 
interpreting  the  verse  to  suit  his  own  view.  ] 

Mr.  Tilak  next  qoutes  the  Taittirlya  Aranyaka  (i.  2.  3) 
in  support  of  his  point.  Referring  to  the  year,  it  says  that  the 
year  has  one  head  and  two  different  mouths,  and  then  remarks 
that  all  this  is  season-characteristic,  which  the  commentator 
explains  by  stating  that  the  Year-God  is  said  to  have  two 
mouths,  because  it  has  two  ayanas}  the  northern  and  the 
southern,  which  include  the  seasons.2  "  But  the  statement 
important  for  our  purpose, "  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "is  the  one 
which  follows  next.  The  Araynaka  continues:  'To  the 
right  and  the  left  side  of  the  Year-God  (are)  the  bright  and 
the  dark  (days)  and  the  following  verse  refers  to  it : — Thy 
one  (form)  is  bright,  thy  another  sacrificial  (dark),  two  ahans 
of  different  forms,  thou  art  like  Dyau.  Thou,  O  self-depen- 
dent, protectest  all  magic  powers ;  O  Pagan,  let  thy  bounty 

1  The  word  vapumfi  in  the  above  verse  has  also  been  interpreted  to 
mean  "  colours,"  as  there  are  various  shades  of  colours  of  Ahordtri  from  early 
dawn  till  night-fall.  If  we  take  it  to  mean  "  forms,"  the  verse  would  mean 
that  day  and  night  sometimes  become  equal  in  duration,  and  sometimes  long 
and  short,  according  to  the  movements  of  the  sun  northward  and  southward. 
For  example,  the  wintry  nights  are  long  and  the  days  short,  and  the  summer 
days  long  and  the  nights  short.  There  are  also  equal  days  and  nights  over 
the  equatorial  region. 

ft  I 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  455 

be  here  auspicious."'  l  Mr.  Tilak  comments  on  this  as 
follows;  "The  verse  or  the  mantra  here  referred  to  is 
Rv.  vi.  58,  i,  Pa$an  is  there  compared  to  Dyau  and  is  said 
to  have  two  forms,  dark  and  bright,  like  Ahani.  These  dark 
and  bright  forms  of  Ahani  are  said  to  constitute  the  right 
and  the  left  sides  of  the  personified  year.  In  other  words, 
the  passage  clearly  states  that  the  dark  and  the  bright  parts 
of  Ahani  do  not  follow  each  other  closely,  but  are  situated. 
on  i  he  diametrically  opposite  sides  of  the  year.  This  can 
onl)  be  the  case,  it  the  couple  of  Day  and  Night,  represented 
by  Ahani,  be  taken  to  denote  the  long  night  and  the  long 
day  in  the  Arctic  region.  There  the  long  night  is  matched 
by  the  long  day,  and  while  the  one  occurs  when  the  Sun 
is  at  the  winter  solstice,  the  other  occurs  when  he  is  at  the 
summer  solstice.  The  two  parts  of  Ahani  are,  therefore, 
very  correctly  represented  as  forming  the  right  and  the  left 
sides  of  the  Year-God  in  the  Aranyaka,  and  the  passage 
thus  materially  supports  the  view  about  the  nature  of  Ahani 
mentioned  above."  2 

We  think  that  the  inference  of  the  long  night  and  the 
long  day  of  the  Arctic  region  drawn  by  Mr.  Tilak  from  the 
extracts  of  the  Taittirlya  Aranyaka  is  wrong.  The  author  of 
the  Aranyaka  has  made  his  meaning  clear  by  referring  to 
Rv.  vi.  58,  i  in  which  Pu?an,  the  Sun-God,  is  said  to  have 
two  forms,  one  bright  and  another  dark,  consistently  with 
the  colours  of  a  day  and  a  night.  The  bright  and  dark  forms 
of  Ahan  constitute,  as  it  were,  the  unit  of  the  bright  and 
and  dark  forms  of  all  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  days  that 
make  up  the  year.  If  one  Ahan  has  a  dark  and  a  bright 
side,  then  360  ahans  taken  together  would  considerably  add 


Trfitt.Aran   I.  2  4  —  jflj}  TOf  **VG?t  I  *ftr*  JTOfr 

i  TO*  ft  *wiini  TOftwrt  ^roft  ^fttrftr  i    fart  f%  *rrar 
*TST  ft  ^fftn  TTfot^r  i    wr  m*  i    »r    ^  «r  TO*:  I 
firing 


'    Tilak's  Arctic  Homt  in  ike  Vcdas  (pp.  138-139) 


456  %GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

to  the  bright  and  dark  sides  of  the  year.  In  other  words 
the  sum  total  of  the  bright  and  the  dark  forms  of  all  the 
days  of  the  year  would  constitute  its  bright  and  dark  sides 
respectively.  Hence  the  Aranyaka  says  :  "  To  the  right  and 
the  left  side  of  the  Year-God  are  the  bright  and  the  dark 
(days),"  each  day  contributing  to  the  bright  and  each  night 
to  the  dark  side.  The  distinct  reference  to  Pa?an  and  to 
Ahan  in  the  above  passage  clearly  shows  that  the  author 
intends  an  ordinary  day  with  a  bright  and  a  dark  side  to  be 
taken  as  a  unit  of  all  the  days  that  constitute  a  year  which, 
like  a  day,  has  consequently  a  bright  and  a  dark  side,  by  the 
sum  total  of  the  bright  and  dark  forms  of  all  the  days.  This 
appears  to  us  to  be  a  rational  interpretation  of  the  passages, 
and  Mr.  Tilak's  arguments  do  not  seem  to  us  to  be  at  all 
convincing.  If  the  passages  implied  a  long  day  and  a  long 
night,  each  of  six  months1  duration,  there  would  have  been  no 
room  nor  necessity  for  referring  to  Po?an  or  Ahan,  *.*.,  an 
ordinary  day  and  night, 

But  the  passages  of  the  Taittirya  Aranyaka  still  admit 
of  another  interpretation.  The  first  passage  means  that  "  the 
year  has  one  head,  and  two  different  mouths  ;  and  all  this 
is  season-characteristic  "  ;  and  the  second  passage  means  that 
11  the  year  has  a  bright  and  a  dark  (side)  ;  one  on  the  right, 
and  the  other  on  the  left.  The  following  verse  refers  to  it  : 
'Thy  one  (form)  is  bright,  thy  another  sacrificial  (dark)  ;  two 
ahans  of  different  forms ;  thou  art  like  Dyau.'"  From  the 
above,  it  appears  that  the  two  different  mouths  of  the 
Year-God  caused  the  different  seasons,  the  one  mouth  or  side 
being  bright,  and  the  other  dark.  It  will  be  shown  later  on  l 
that  the  Vedic  year  commenced  from  autumn,  and  the  half 
year  commencing  from  this  season,  and  lasting  through  winter 
and  spring  was  bright,  as  the  rains  held  off,  and  the  sky 
remained  clear  and  free  from  clouds.  The  other  half  of  the 
year  commencing  from  summer  and  lasting  till  autumn  was 

'     Vide  Chapters  XXI  &  XXII  (Infra  > 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  457 

dark,  as  there  were  thunderstorms  in  summer,  and  clouds  and 
rains  in  Var?£  or  the  rainy  season.  This  is  clearly  explained 
by  the  passage  Krtsnam  tadrtulaksanam,  i.e.,  "  all  this  is 
season-characteristic."  The  "  dark"  side  referred  to  in  Rv. 
vi.  58,  i  has  been  called  "  sacrificial "  (yajatam)}  because 
sacrifices  were  generally  commenced  at  night,  and  a  sacrifice, 
known  as  Rdtri  sattra  and  lasting  for  nearly  three  months, 
was  performed  during  the  rainy  season.  This  interpretation 
put  upon  the  passages  of  the  Aranyaka  also  explains  the 
meaning  clearly.  Mr.  Tilak  need^ot,  therefore,  have  fallen 
back  on  his  pet  Arctic  theory  to  Explain  it. 

Lastly,    Mr.    Tilak    quotes  L    verse    from  the    Rgveda 
(*•  138,  3)  to  prove  his  point.     T\he  verse  is  as  follows : — 

Vi  sdryo  madhye  amttfat  rathandiro 

vidad  ddsdya  pratimdnam  dry  ah 
Didahani  Pipror  asurasya  mdyinah 
Indra  vv&syac  cakrivdm  Rji&vand. 

Mr.    Tilak     translate,    the    verse    as  fibllows  •   "  The  Sun 

i  ft 

unyoked    his    car    in    the  midst  of  heaven  j;  the  *\rya  found  a 

counter-measure  (pratimdnam)  for  the  Detsa.  Indra,  acting 
with  RjUvan,  overthrew  the  solid  forts  of  Pipru,  the  conjuring 
Asura."  The  translation  of  the  first  part  of  the  verse  is  not 
according  to  the  interpretation  put  upon  the  words  vi  amucat 
by  Sciyana.  The  sentence,  suryo  rat  ham  vi  amucat  madhye 
divah,  has  been  interpreted  by  the  famous  commentator  to 
mean  "  the  Sun  loosened  (vi-amucat)  his  carriage,  i.e.,  set 
it  free  to  travel  towards  the  middle  (madhye)  of  heaven 
(ratham  prasth&n&ya  vimuktaidn)."  This  interpretation, 
however,  is  diametrically  opposed  to  that  of  Mr.  Tilak  who 
says  that  the  passage  means  :  •'  The  Sun  unyoked  his  carriage 
in  the  middle  of  heaven/1  thereby  implying  that  the  Sun 
stopped  his  course  in  mid-heaven,  as  he  seems  to  do  in  the 
Polar  region  before  retracing  his  steps  backward  to  the 
south.  But  the  Sun  really  never  stops  his  course  from  the 
time  of  his  appearance  on  the  Arctic  horizon  till  he  sinks 

58 


458  ^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

below  it ;  but  he  wheels  round  and  round,  gradually  ascending 

the   sky   up    to   a    certain   point  in    mid-heaven,    and    then 

similarly    retraces    his    steps   backward    till    he    sinks    down 

below  the  horizon.     Thus  he  ib  up  in  the  sky  for  six    months, 

but  he  never  stops  anywhere  either  near   the    horizon    or   in 

the  middle  of  the    sky,    justifying   the    expression    that   M  he 

unyoked  his  carriage  "  and  rented  for  some  time.     Mr.  Tilak's 

interpretation,    therefore,    is    evidently    wrong.      He    says, 

however,    that    "  the    verb    vi  muc   is    used  in  about  a  dozen 

places  in  the  Rgveda  in  relation  to  horses,  and    every    where 

it  means  to  '  unharness  '  *  unyoke  '    or   '  separate   the    horses 

from  the  carriage  to  rest/  and  even    S£yana    has   interpreted 

it  in  the  same  way.     This  vi-mucya  is  explained   by   him   as 

rathdt   vislisya  in  i.  104,  i,    and  rat  hat  wnucya  in  iii.  32,  r, 

and  rathdt  visfjya  in  x.  160,    i.     (Also  compare    i.    171,    i  ; 

i.    177,   4;  vi.   40,    i).     The    most    natural    meaning   of   the 

present  verse  \\ould,  therefore,  be  that  *  the  sun  unyoked    his 

carriage/  "     We  admit  the  correctness  of   the    interpretation 

put    by   Seiyana    upon    the    word    vi-mucya    in    the  different 

verses  referred  to  above,    but    we    challenge    the    correctness 

of    the    inference    drawn    therefrom    by  Mr.  Tilak.     We  can 

easily  understand  the  unyoking  of  a  horse,    i.e.,  separating  it 

from  a  carriage  ;  but  we  cannot  conceive  the  idea  of  unyoking 

a  carriage  winch  is  not  a  living  and  self-moving  thing    like    a 

horse.     The  yoking  of  a  horse  implies  that  it  is  harnessed  and 

attached  to  a  carriage,  in  other    words,    that    its  free    motion 

is   restrained  ;  and  unyoking  it    means    that   its   restraint   is 

taken  away,  that  it  is  separated  from  tru    carriage,  and   that 

its  free  motion  is  restored.  Similarly,  on  this  analogy,  rat  ham 

vi-amucat   would    imply    the    removal   of  the   restraint  put 

upon  the  free  motion  of  the  carriage  and  restoring  its  usual 

motion.     When  Sdyana  said  that  vi-mucya  meant  "to  loosen, 

or  set  free  for  travel/'  he  undoubtedly    had   in   his   mind  the 

idea  that  the  chariot  was  stopped  or  obstructed  in  its  motion 

by  something,  and  that  the  obstruction  having  been  removed, 

it  was  set  free  to  travel  in  the  middle  of  the  sky.      Mr.  Tilak 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  459 

objects  to  Sdyaga's  translation  of  madhye  as  "  towards  the 
middle  of  heaven/'  and  says  that  it  should  be  u  in  the  midst 
of  the  sky."  Even  if  we  admit  Tilak's*  interpretation  of  the 
word,  the  idea  would  be  that  the  chariot,  whose  motion  had 
been  obstructed  in  the  midst  of  the  sky,  was  set  free  to  travel 
as  soon  as  that  obstruction  was  removed.  Now  let  us  see 
whether  there  \s  mention  of  any  obstruction  in  the  two 
verses  immediately  preceding  the  one  quoted  by  Mr.  Tilak. 

The  first  verse  of  the  hymn  (x.  138,  r)  says  that  Indra 
rent  Vala  (i.e.,  clouds),  brought  the  morning  light  to  Kutsa, 
set  free  the  imprisoned  waters  and  thereby  destroyed  all  the 
tactics  of  Vj-tra.  The  second  verse  says  that  Indra  set  free 
the  rain-water,  caused  the  clouds  (parvata)  to  move,  drove 
away  the  cows  (water-laden  clouds),  drank  sweet  honey, 
and  refreshed  the  trees  by  pouring  down  rain-water  on  them. 
Then  Indra,  praised  in  hymns,  caused  the  Sun  to  shine. 
Next  follows  verse  3,  which  says  that  the  Sun  loosened  his 
carriage,  setting  it  free  to  travel,  and  that  the  Arya  found  a 
counter-poise  for  the  D£sa,  etc.  The  above  description 
clearly  betokens  an  obstruction  of  the  Sun  by  clouds  in  the 
morning.  Griffith  says  that  this  is  perhaps  an  allusion  to 
an  eclipse,  or  to  the  detention  of  the  Sun  to  enable  the 
Aryans  to  complete  the  overthrow  of  the  enemies.  But  this 
surmise  is  clearly  incorrect.  The  description  undoubtedly 
refers  to  morning  clouds  that  obstructed  the  Sun  from  view, 
and  when  that  obstruction  was  removed  by  Indra,  the  Sun's 
chariot  was  set  free,  as  it  were,  to  move  in  the  midst  of  the 
sky.  This  is  what  is  understood  by  the  Sun  setting  free  the 
chariot  (rat ham  vi-amucat).  The  passage  does  not  mean 
that  the  Sun  unyoked  the  horses  from  the  chariot  and  rested 
awhile  in  mid-heaven,  as  Mr.  Tilak  would  have  us  believe. 
From.the  words  divo  madhye  (in  the  midst  of  the  sky),  it  is 
clear  that  when  the  Sun's  chariot  was  set  free  from  the 
obstruction  of  the  clouds,  the  morning  had  advanced  into 
noon  or  forenoon,  after  which  the  Sun's  progress  was 
unimpeded. 


460  £GV£D1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

As  regards  the  second  part  of  the  verse,  it  should  be 
stated  here  that  the  word  D&sa  does  not  apply  to  the 
non-Aryan  race,  as  some  European  scholars  seem  to  think, 
but  to  the  enemies  of  Indra,  some  of  whom  like  Samvara 
(iv.  30,  14),  Pipru  (viii.  32,  2),  and  Namuci  (v.  30,  7)  have 
been  designated  by  that  name.  Mr.  Tilak  observes:  "The 
exploits  described  are  all  heavenly,  and  it  jars  with  the 
context  to  take  a  single  sentence  in  the  whole  hymn  as 
referring  to  the  victory  of  the  Aryan  over  the  non-Aryan 
race.  There  is  again  the  word  pratim&na  (lit.  counter-mea- 
sure) which  denotes  that  what  has  been  done  is  by  way  of 
retaliation,  a  sort  of  counter-poise  or  counter-blast,  with  a 
view  to  avenge  the  mischief  done  by  the  D£sa.  A  battle  be- 
tween the  Aryans  and  the  non-Aryans  cannot  be  so  described 
unless  a  previous  defeat  of  the  Aryans  is  first  alluded  to.  The 
plain  meaning  of  the  verse,  therefore,  is  that  the  Sun  was 
made  to  halt  in  the  midst  of  the  sky,  producing  a  long  day, 
and  Indra  thus  found  a  counter-poise  for  the  D&sa,  his 
enemy,  for  we  know  that  darknes.s  is  brought  on  by  the 
DAsa,  and  it  is  he  who  brings  on  the  long  night,  but  if  the 
Disa  made  the  night  long,  Indra  retaliated  or  counter-acted 
by  making  the  day  as  long  as  the  night  of  the  Dasa."  l 

As  our  readers  will  now  be  able  to  judge,  this  interpreta- 
tion put  upon  the  passage  by  Mr.  Tilak  is  entirely  wrong. 
There  is  no  question  here  of  the  long  day  and  the  long  night, 
and  of  counterpoising  the  former  against  the  latter.  If  there 
is  any  sense  of  counterpoising,  it  will  be  found  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  Sun's  chariot  being  set  free  to  move  in  the  midst 
of  the  sky,  after  it  was  obstructed  by  the  Disa,  represented  by 
rain-clouds.  As  the  D£sa  obstructed  the  progress  of  the  Sun's 
chariot,  so  the  Sun  was  enabled  to  set  it  free,  i.  <?.,  to 
move  on  in  the  sky.  This  is  what  is  understood  by  the 
word  pratim&na.  It  does  not  and  cannot  mean  that  the  long 
Polar  day  followed  the  long  Polar  night.  Mr.  Tilak's 

»     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Veda*  p.  143. 


XX.]  LONG  DAY  AND  LONG  NIGHT.  461 

interpretation,  though  highly  ingenious,  is  not  at  all  borne 
out  by  the  context,  and  he  fails  to  prove  that  the  Vedic  bard 
had  in  his  mind  the  idea  of  a  long  day  as  against  a  long  night. 

These  are  the  principal  proofs  that  Mr.  Tilak  has  adduced 
to  show  that  the  Vedas  contain  references  to  a  long  day  and 
a  long  night  of  the  Arctic  region.  But  we  have  carefully 
weighed  them  in  the  balance,  and  found  them  wanting. 


CHAPTER  XXI- 

EXAMINATION  OF  MR.  TILAK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLE 
OF  THE  ARYANS  (contd.) 

THE  MONTHS  AND  THE  SEASONS. 

Mr.  Tilak,  believing  as  he  does,  that  he  has  discovered 
proofs  of  a  long  Arctic  dawn,  and  a  long  day  and  a  long  night 
of  the  Arctic  region  in  the  Vedic  literature,  which,  however, 
we  have  found  on  critical  examin  ition  to  be  unreliable  and 
unconvincing,  pursues  his  investigation  in  other  directions 
with  a  view  to  collect  further  proofs  in  support  of  this  theory. 
He  argues  that  if  the  Aryans  really  lived  in  the  Arctic  region, 
there  would  be  found  distinct  mention  of  six,  seven,  eight  or 
more  Suns  corresponding  to  the  months  of  sunshine  in  the 
latitudes  where  they  lived,  and  he  thinks  that  he  has  found 
such  unmistakable  proofs  in  the  Rgveda.  Let  us  now  proceed 
to  examine  them. 

"We  refer  first/'  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  to  the  legend  of 
Aditi,  or  the  seven  A^dityas  (Suns),  which  is  obviously  based 
on  some  natural  phenomenon  This  legend  expressly  tells  us 
that  the  oldest  number  of  Adityas  or  Suns  was  seven,  and  the 
same  idea  is  independently  found  in  many  other  places  of  the 
Rgveda.  Thus  in  ix.  144,  3  seven  Adityas  and  seven  priests 
are  mentioned  together,  though  the  names  of  the  different 
Suns  are  not  given  therein.  In  ii  27,  i  Mitra,  Aryaman, 
Bhaga,  Varuna,  Dak?a  and  A  me.  a  are  mentioned  by  name  as 
so  many  different  Adityas,  but  the  seventh  is  not  named.  This 
omission  does  not,  however,  mean  much,  as  the  septenary 
character  of  the  Sun  is  quite  patent  from  the  fact  that  he  is 
called  Saptd&va  (seven-horsed)  in  v.  45,  9,  and  his  '  seven- 
wheeled  '  chariot  is  said  to  be  drawn  bv  *  seven  bay  steeds  ' 
(i.  50,  8),  or  by  a  single  horse  'with  seven  names'  in  i  164, 
2.  The  Atharva-veda  also  speaks  of  '  the  seven  bright  rays 
of  the  Sun'  '  (vii.  107,  i)  ;  and  the  epithet  Aditya,  as  applied 


XXLJ  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  463 

to  the  Sun  in  the  Rgveda,  is  rendered  more  clearly  by 
Aditeh  putrdh  (Aditi's  sons)  in  A  V  xiii.  2,  9.  ScLyana, 
following  Ydska,  derives  this  seven-fold  character  of  the  Sun 
from  his  seven  rays  ;  but  why  solar  rays  were  taken  to  be 
seven  still  remains  unexplained,  unless  we  hold  that  the 
Vedic  bards  had  anticipated  the  discovery  of  seven  prismatic 
rays  or  colours  which  were  unknown  even  to  Y£ska  or 
S£yana.  Again  though  the  existence  of  seven  Suns  may  be 
explained  on  this  hypothesis,  yet  it  fails  to  account  for  the 
death  of  the  eighth  Sun  ;  for  the  legend  of  Aditi,  (Rv.  x. 
72,  2.  3)  tells  us  '  of  the  eight  sons  of  Aditi,  who  were 
born  from  her  body,  she  approached  the  Gods  with  seven, 
and  cast  out  Mirtinda.  With  seven  sons,  Aditi  approached 
(the  Gods)  in  the  former  age  (purvyam  yugam) ;  she  brought 
thither  M£rt£nda  again  for  birth  and  death.'  "* 

Mr.  Tilak  refers  to  this  legend  of  Aditi  to  prove  that 
there  were  only  sevt-n  months  of  sunshine,  each  month 
having  been  allotted  to  a  particular  Sun,  and  that  from  the 
eighth  month  there  was  no  sunshine,  or  the  long  Arctic  night 
commenced,  an  idea  which,  he  thinks,  was  expressed  by 
Aditi  having  produced  her  eighth  son,  named  Mdrt&nda}  who 
was  cast  out,  or  \\ho  was  brought  by  her  for  birth  and  death 
This  explanation  apparently  proves  an  Arctic  characteristic  ; 
but  let  us  critically  examine  it. 

A. 

In  Rv.  ii.  27,  i  only  six  Adityas  have  been  mentioned. 
But  were  all  these  Adityas  the  Suns  of  the  six  different 
months,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  the  same  Sun  with  a 
different  characteristic  in  each  month  according  to  the  differ- 
ent region  of  the  sky  he  occupied  or  traversed  in  the  course  of 
his  motion  ?  We  do  not  think  so  They  are  not  mentioned 
as  the  givers  of  material  light,  but  as  divinities  who  are 
"mighty,  profound,  unsubdued,  subduing,  many-eyed,  who 
behold  the  innermost  (thoughts  of  men),  whether  wicked  or 

i  TiUk's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vtdas  pp.  152-153 


464  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

virtuous,  whether  far  from  or  nigh  to  those  royal  (deities)." 
(Rv.  ii.  27,  3).  The  next  verse  says  that  "the  divine  Adityas 
are  the  upholders  (of  all  things)  movable  or  immovable ; 
the  protectors  of  the  universe,  the  provident  in  acts ;  the 
collectors  of  rain  ;  the  possessors  of  veracity  ;  the  acquitters 
of  our  debts.11  The  8th  verse  says  :  "They  uphold  the  three 
worlds,  three  heavens,  and  in  their  sacrifices,  three  cere^ 
monies  (are  comprised)  ;  by  truth,  Adityas,  has  your  great 
might  been  produced,  such  as  is  most  excellent,  Aryaman, 
Mitra,  and  Varuna."  By  the  "  three  worlds  "  in  the  above 
verse,  Siyana  understands  the  earth,  the  firmanent  (antariksa^, 
and  the  sky,  *".*.,  the  upper  and  higher  region  of  antariksa  ; 
and  by  the  "  three  heavens  "  (dyun)  he  understands 
the  three  Lokas,  viz.,  Mahah,  Janah  and  Satyam.  These, 
then,  are  the  three  worlds  and  the  three  heavens,  making  up 
in  all  the  six  Lotas,  over  each  of  which,  one  of  the  six 
Adityas  mentioned  in  the  first  verse  presided.  In  this  verse 
another  Loka  has  not  been  taken  into  account,  vis.}  Tapak 
which,  with  the  six,  made  up  in  a  later  age  the  seven  Lokas, 
viz.}  Bhu1i<  Bhuvah,  Svah,  Mahah^  Janah^  Tapah  and 
Satyam.  The  first  Loka  was  undoubtedly  presided  over  by 
Mitra,  but  he  was  not  the  Sun  or  SHrya}  as  this  luminary 
derived  his  light  and  power  from  him,  and  the  other  Adityas. 
As  Ragozin  says,  "Mitra  represents  sometimes  the  Sun  itself, 
and  sometimes  light  generally,  or  again  the  power  who  rules 
the  Sun  and  brings  him  forth  to  shine  on  the  world  at  the 
proper  time."1  In  Rv.  i.  115,  i  the  Sun  has  been  described 
as  "  the  eye  of  Mitra,  Varuna,  and  Agni,"  and  in  verse  5  of 
of  the  same  hymn,  it  is  said  that  "as  the  sight  of  Mitra  and 
Varurja,  he  displays  his  form  (of  brightness)  in  the  middle 
of  the  heavens."  In  Rv.  vii.  60,  i  Surya  (the  Sun)  has  been 
invoked  by  the  bard  "to  report  us  truly  sinless  to  Mitra  and 
Varuna"  and  in  verse  4  of  the  same  hymn,  it  has  been  stated 
that  "  Mitra,  Varuna,  Aryaman  and  the  other  Adityas,  cherish- 

*  Ragoxin's  Vcdic  India,  p.  140. 


XXI,]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  465 

ing  equal  love,  prepare  the  path  for  the  Sun  (to  travel)."1 
The  Sun,  therefore,  is  a  deity  subordinate  to  Mitra,  Varuna 
and  the  other  Adityas.  As  Ragozin  rightly  says,  "  SQrya  is, 
in  the  Rgveda,  the  material  visible  luminary,  '  created'  by  the 
Gods  (or  even  some  particular  God),  and  obedient  to  their 
bidding.  But  Sarya  is  not  only  the  Sun,  he  is  also  the  Sun- 
god,  powerful,  independent,  subject  only  to  the  ordinances 
of  the  great  Adityas,  themselves  governed  by  Rta,  the 
supreme  Cosmic  and  Moral  Law."2  The  Zoroastrian  system 
also  "  admits  a  Sun-god,  Mithra,  who  is  the  Creator  of  the 
God  of  Light,  Ormuzd,  and  of  the  God  of  Darkness, 
Ahriman,"3  a  belief  similar,  in  some  respects,  to  that  of  thr 
Vedic  Aryans  who  thought  that  the  Sun  derived  his  light 
from  the  Gods  who  revealed  him.  Rv.  x.  72,  7  says  :  "The 
Gods  overspread  the  world  like  clouds.  SQrya  (the  Sun)  lay 
hidden  in  the  ocean-like  sky,  and  the  Gods  revealed  him." 
Verse  5  of  the  same  hymn  clearly  says  who  these  Gods 
were  :  "Aditi  was  born,  O  Dakfa,  and  she  was  thy  daughter. 
The  benevolent  and  immortal  Gods  were  born  after  her." 

A 

So  the  Gods  were  the  sons  of  Aciiti,  or  Adityas.  The  word 
Dakga  in  this  verse  stands  for  the  Creator  himself  ;  but 
among  the  Adityas,  there  is  also  a  Daksa  (also  called  DhAtr)J 
and  the  Vedic  bard,  availing  himself  of  the  use  of  the  word 
in  two  different  senses,  indulges  in  a  conundrum,  saying  that 
"Aditi  was  born  of  Daksa,  and  Daksa  was  born  of  Aditi." 
Be  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Adityas 
were  the  Cosmic  Gods  who,  among  other  acts,  revealed  the 
Sun  that  lay  hidden  in  the  sky,  in  other  words,  helped  the 
Sun  to  shine,  by  each  giving  him  a  portion  of  his  light.  It 
would  thus  appear  that  they  were  not  the  Suns  of  so  many 
months,  but  divinities  born  of  Aditi,  the  One  and  the  Infinite. 
Verse  8  of  the  same  hymn  says  that  eight  sons  were  born  of 
Aditi,  but  she  took  with  her  only  the  first  seven  to  the  Gods, 


i  RV.  vii.  60,  4  .—  jfm  *nft*tr  w*t  T<?*ft  fltft  ^fernr  w 

•  Ragorin's  Vtdic  India,  pp.  215-216. 

•  Hist.  Hist  of  the  World,  Vol.  II,  p.  586. 

59 


466  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

and  cast  away  the  eighth,  named  Mdrtdnda   (lit.,   the  mortal 
egg).    These  seven  immortal  sons  of  Aditi  were  called  Devdh 
Aditydh  or  the   Divine   Adityas,   while   the   eighth   Aditya, 
called  MArtdnda,  was  produced  by  her  "for  birth  and  death.1' 
Hence,  being  mortal  (mdrta),   he  had   no   place   among   the 
Immortals.  He  is  identified  with  our  terrestrial  Sun  or  Suryat 
who  is  really  subject  to  "birth  and  death, "  as  he  is  born  every 
morning  and  dies  in  the  evening.     The  seven    Adityas,    who 
revealed  him  by  each  giving  him  a  portion  of  his    light,    were 
not,  like  him,  subject  to  "birth  and  death/'  and    were   there- 
fore immortal  or  Dev&h.     Their  function  was  to   uphold   the 
Universe,  a  work  far   more   important   than   that  of   merely 
lighting  the  earth  (Rv.  i.  72,  9  and  ii.  27,  4).     They  were  not 
the  seven  Suns  of  the  seven  months,  during   which   there   is 
continuous  day-light   as    in   the    Arctic   region,    but    mighty 
divinities    who   created,    protected    and    upheld    everything, 
movable   and   immovable,  in   the   Universe.      This    appears 
to  us  to  be  the  real  import  of  the  legend  of  the  seven    Dei  ah 
Adityah    (Divine     Adityas}   and    of   JMdrtanda,    the    eighth 
Aditya  or  Sarya,  who  was  produced  by  Aditi    "for   birth    and 
death. "     If  we  bear  this  in  our  mind,  and  also    the   fact   that 
the  seven  Divine  Adityas  revealed  the    Sun   by   each   giving 
him  a  portion  of  his  light,  it  will  not  at  all  be  difficult    for   us 
to  understand  why    he    (the   Sun)    was   called   Sapt&fva    or 
"seven-horsed"  (Rv.  v.  45,  9),  and  his  chariot  "seven-wheeled" 
which  was  drawn  by  l 'seven  bay  steeds"    (Rv.    i.  164,    2),    or 
why  again  he   had   "seven   bright   rays"    (A.   V.  vii.  107,  i.) 
Mr.  Tilak  is  unwilling  to  concede  that   the   Rgvedic   Aryans 
discovered   or   were   even    aware   of   the   existence   of   the 
seven  prismatic  rays  of  the  Sun,  as  if  this   discovery  required 
any  extraordinary  scientific  knowledge.     Every  playful   child 
knows,  when  blowing  out    water   in    minute   particles    from 
his  mouth  against  the  Sun,  that  his   rays   are   multi-coloured 
and  create  miniature  rainbows.     The  rays  of  the  Sun  are  also 
found   to  be  refracted  in  beautiful  colours  from  the  drooping 
lashes  of  the  eye,   acting  as  so  many  prisms  and  produce 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  467 

a  sight  worthy  of  fairy-land.  The  multi-coloured  solar  rays 
are  also  seen  through  natural  crystals  which  are  abundant 
in  the  Himalaya  and  other  places.  It  is  further  most  likely 
that  the  colours  of  the  rain-bow  were  attributed  by  the  Vedic 
bards  to  the  refraction  of  the  solar  rays  through  minute  watery 
globules,  of  which  clouds  are  formed.  Hence  it  would  not  be 
unnatural  for  them  to  infer  that  the  solar  ray  consisted  of  the 

J  A 

combined  seven  different  rays  of  the  seven  Deva  Adityas  who 
revealed  ^the  Sun.  As  we  have  already  said,  these  seven 
Divine  Adityas  were  quite  distinct  from  Mbrt&nda,  or  the 
Sun.  Rv.  ix.  114,  3  says:  "  The  sky  regions  are  seven,  with 
seven  different  Suns  (Nana  Suryhh]  ;  the  sacrificing  priests 
are  seven  ;  and  Devbh  Adityah  are  seven  ;  O  Soma,  protect 
us  with  them."1  In  this  verse  the  "  different  Suns  "  and  the 
"  Devah  Adityah  "  have  been  separately  mentioned,  thereby 
showing  that  the  two  sets  (Nhna  Sury&h  and  Devcth 
Adityah}  are  distinct  from  one  another.  But  as  there  is  only 
one  Sun,  how  is  it  that  different  or  seven  Suns  have  been 
mentioned  ?  The  answer  to  this  question  is  simple.  When 
the  Sun,  in  the  course  of  his  motion  in  the  sky,  occupies  a 
particular  region,  he  comes  under  the  direct  influence  ot  a 
particular  Deva  Aditya  presiding  over  that  region  or  sphere, 
and  assumes  a  distinct  aspect.  Hence  he  becomes  nhnb^  or 
speaking  more  correctly,  seven  in  number,  according  to  his 
coming  under  the  influence  of  a  particular  Deva  Aditya.  As 
the  Taittirlya  Aranyaka  explains  :  "  Resorting  to  or  shining 
in  different  regions,  (the  Suns)  make  the  seasons.  "  2  S£yana 
observes  in  his  commentary  :  "  The  different  features  of  the 
different  seasons  cannot  be  accounted  for,  except  by  supposing 


«t  *H  Mr.  *W*K*  n:  n 

»    Taitt.  A'ral^  i.  7  :-f|p«n*l  ^flJJ  qrttffl  I      SiyaUa  comments   on   this 
as  follows  : 

I 


468  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

them  to  have  been  caused  by  different  Suns ;  therefore, 
different  Suns  must  exist  in  different  regions/'  It  may  be 
argued,  however,  that  if  the  different  seasons  are  produced 
by  the  Sun  coming  under  the  influence  of  the  seven  Deva 
Adityas  in  the  different  periods  of  the  year,  the  seasons  should 
have  beens  even,  and  not  six,  in  number,  as  they  are  ordinarily 
computed.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  number  of  seasons  has 
been  mentioned  to  be  seven  in  the  Rgveda  (i.  164,  15).  The 
translation  of  this  verse  is  as  follows  :  "  Of  these  that  are 
born  together,  sages  have  called  the  seventh  the  single-born, 
for  six  are  twins  and  are  movable  and  are  born  of  the  Gods  ; 
their  desirable  (properties)  placed  severally  in  their  proper 
abode  are  various  (also)  in  form,  and  revolve  for  the  benefit 
of  that  which  is  stationary/  These  twins  have  been 
interpreted  to  be  the  six  reasons,  each,  made  up  of  two 
months  ,  the  seventh  is  the  intercalary  month  which  has  no 
fellow  Though  there  is  a  Devi  Aditya  to  preside  over  it, 
it  is  not  considered  to  be  divine  like  the  rest,  because  it  is 
single. born.  Thus  we  find  mention  made  in  the  Rgveda  of 
the  seventh  season  al^o.  The  explanation  of  the  seven  Suns 
and  the  seven  Deva  Adityas  that  we  have,  given  above  is, 
therefore,  correct.  The  Satapatha  Br^hmana  (iii.  i.  3.  3) 
explains  the  legend  of  Aditi  somewhat  on  the  same  lines. 
It  says  that  seven  alone  of  Aditi's  sons  are  styled  Devah 

Adityah  by  men.  and  that  the  eighth,    Mbrtbnda,    was    born 

* 

undeveloped,  whereupon  the  Aditya  Gods  created  men  and 
other  animals  out  of  him.  This  probably  is  a  faint  echo,  or  a 
vague  and  indistinct  realisation  of  the  scientific  truth  that 
the  earth  was  created  out  of  the  Sun,  along  with  the  other 
planets  of  aur  solar  system,  and  that  when  the  earth  became 
fit  for  the  evolution  and  support  of  life,  men  and  animals 
were  created  on  it. 

From  the  above  discussion,  it  is  clear  that  the  seven 
Adityas  are  not  the  seven  Suns  of  the  seven  months,  during 
which  the  long  day  prevails  in  the  Arctic  region,  nor  does 
the  eighth  Aditya,  who  was  cast  away  by  Aditi  for  birth  and 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  469 

death,  signify  the  advent^  of  the  long  Arctic  night,  The  birth 
and  death  of  the  eighth  Aditya  clearly  proves  his  daily  rising 
and  setting.  It  is  also  evident  that  the  seven  Deva  Adityas 
who  went  to  the  abode  of  the  Gods  with  Aditi  are  the  seven 
luminaries  who  are  supposed  to  light  up  the  seven  sky-regions 
or  Lokas}  and  to  lend  their  rays  to  the  eighth  to  enable  him 
to  shine  over  the  terrestrial  region.  This  appears  to  us  to 
be  the  only  correct  interpretation  of  the  Vedic  passage 
quoted  and  discussed  above. 

It  may  be  urged,  however,  that  there  is  distinct  mention 
of  twelve  Adityas  in  the  Br^hmanas,  each  assigned  to  one 
month.  The  Satapatha  Br&hmana  (xi.  6.  3.  8)  asks  :  "  How 
many  Adityas  are  there  ?"  The  answer  is  as  follows  :  "  There 
are  twelve  months  of  the  year.  Hence  the  number  of 
Adityas  is  twelve."1 

/s 

The  Upanisads  also  mention  twelve  Adityas  (Bf.  Ara. 
Up.  III.  9.  5),  and  in  the  post-Vedic  literature  they  are 
everywhere  said  to  be  tweUe  in  number,  corresponding  to 
the  twelve  months  of  the  year  How  is  the  discrepancy  to  be 
explained  ?  It  is  easily  explained,  if  we  remember  the  original 
distinction  between  the  Devah  Adityah^  and  the  Aditya  who 
is  mortal  (Martanda}.  The  twelve  Adityas,  mentioned  in 
the  Satapatha  Brdhmana  and  the  post-Vedic  literature,  are  the 
different  forms  that  Martanda  (the  Sun)  assumes  in  the 
different  months.  The  nana  buryah  of  Rv.  ix.  114,  3  refers 
to  the  seven  Suns  of  the  seven  seasons,  one  of  which  is 
discarded  because  it  is  single-born.  These  seven  Suns  mark 
the  change  of  the  seasons.  The  twelve  Suns  (Adityas) 
belong  to  the  twelve  months  (each  being  assigned  to  one 
month),  and  as  such,  are  the  creators  or  inaugurators  of  the 
months.  The  Rgvedic  idea  of  the  seven  Devah  Adityah} 
and  seven  Suns,  who  inaugurated  the  different  seasons  by 
being  located  in  particular  regions  of  the  sky,  each  presided 

i     Sata.  Brah  ,  (xi.  6.  3.  8) :    ^fH*  Wlfw  ffif  I 


470  ^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 


over  by  a  particular  Deva  Aditya,  was  only  elaborated  in  a 
later  age  by  harmonizing  the  number  of  the  Suns  (Adityas) 
with  the  number  of  the  months  of  the  year;  but  these 
Adityas  were  only  the  different  forms  of  the  M&rthnda,  and 
not  the  Devah  Adit  yah  who  presided  over  the  seven  Lokas  and 
whose  number  remained  fixed  as  seven.  The  Taittirlya 
Aranyaka  (I.  13.  2-3)  mentions  the  names  of  the  eight  sons  of 
Aditi,  which  are  as  follow  :  —  Mitra,  Varuna,  Dha*tr,  Aryaman, 
Am9a,  Bhaga,  Indra  and  Vivasvat.  The  first  seven  are  the 
seven  Devah  Adit  yah  who  preside  over  the  seven  Lokas  ',  and 
the  last  (Vivasvat)  is  the  Mhrthnda,  the  Sun  who  illumines 
the  terrestrial  sphere,  and  is  subject  to  birth  and  death.  He 
assumes  seven  different  forms  when  creating  the  seasons, 
and  twelve  different  forms  when  creating  the  months.  It 
would  thus  appear  that  the  mention  of  seven  Devah  Adityhh 
in  the  Rgveda,  and  of  twelve  Adityas  in  the  later  Vedic 
literature  does  not  prove  that  the  Aryans  knew  only  of  seven 
Suns  and  seven  months  of  daylight  while  living  in  the  Arctic 
region  and  that  this  number  was  increased  to  twelve  when 
tbey  came  to  live  in  the  Tropics.  The  interpretation  put 
upon  the  passages  by  Mr.  Tilak  and  the  inference  drawn 
therefrom  are  clearly  wrong. 

We  will  now  turn  to  another  evidence  tendered  by 
Mr.  Tilak  to  prove  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the 
Aryans.  This  is  a  reference  in  the  Rgveda  to  nine  or  ten 
months  of  sun-shine  during  which  the  annual  sattra  or 
sacrifice  was  performed. 

The  institution  of  sacrifice  is  as  old  as  the  Indo-Aryan 
civilisation.  "  The  Rgveda,"  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  mentions  a 
number  of  ancient  sacrificers,  styled  '  our  fathers  '  (ii.  33,  13  ; 
vi.  22,  2)  who  initiated  the  sacrifice  in  ancient  times,  and 
laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  man  the  path  which  he  should, 
in  future,  follow.  Then  the  sacrifice  offered  by  Manu  is  taken 
as  the  type,  and  other  sacrifices  are  compared  with  it  in  i.  76,  5. 
But  Manu  was  not  alone  to  offer  this  sacrifice  to  the  Gods. 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  471 

In  x.  63,  7,  he  is  said  to  have  made  the  first  offerings  to  the 
Gods  along  with  the  seven  Hotjrs  ;  while  Angiras  and  Yayiti 
are  mentioned  with  him  as  ancient  sacrificers  in  i.  31,  17, 
Bhrgu  and  Angiras  in  viii.  43,  13,  Atharvan  and  Dadhyanc  in 
i.  80,  1 6,  and  Dadhyanc,  Angiras,  Atri  and  Kanva  in  i.  139, 
9.  Atharvan  by  his  sacrifices  is  elsewhere  described  as  having 
first  extended  the  paths,  whereupon  the  Sun  was  born  (i.  83, 
5),  and  the  Atharvans,  in  the  plural,  are  styled  '  our  fathers  ' 
(nah  pitarah)  along  with  Angirases,  Navagvas  and  Bhrgus  in 
x.  14,  6.  In  ii.  44,  12  the  DaSagvas  are  said  to  have  been 
the  first  to  offer  a  sacrifice  ;  while  in  x.  92,  10  Atharvan  is 
spoken  of  as  having  established  order  by  sacrifices,  when  the 
Bhrgus  showed  themselves  a?  Gods  by  their  skill... Now  so  far 
as  my  researches  go,  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  Vedic 
evidence  regarding  the  duration  of  the  sacrifices  performed  by 
Manu,  Atharvan,  Bhrgu  or  any  other  ancient  sacrificers,  except 
the  Angirases.  There  is  an  annual  sattra,  described  in  the 
Srauta  Sdtras,  which  is  called  the  Angirasam-ayanam,  and  is 
said  to  be  a  modification  of  the  Gav&m-ayanam,  the  type  of  all 
yearly  sattras.  But  we  do  not  find  therein  any  mention  of  the 
duration  of  the  sattra  of  the  Angirases.  The  duration  of  the 
Gavam-ayanam  is,  however,  given  in  the  Taittiriya  Samhit&, 
...There  are  two  chief  species  of  Angirases  (Angiras-tama) 
called  the  Navagvas  and  the  Da9agvas,  mentioned  in  the 
Rgveda  (x.  62,  5  and  6).  These  two  classes  of  ancient 
sacrificers  are  generally  mentioned  together,  and  the  facts 
attributed  to  the  Angirases  are  also  attributed  to  them.  Thus 
the  Navagvas  are  spoken  of  as  'our  ancient  fathers'  in  vi.  22, 
2  and  *  our  fathers'  along  with  Angirases  and  Bhrgus  in  x. 
14,  6.  Like  the  Angirases,  the  Navagvas  are  also  connected 
with  the  myth  of  Indra  over-throwing  Vala,  and  of  Sarami 
and  Panis  (i.  62,  3  and  4 ;  v.  29,  12;  v.  45,  7  ;  x,  102,  8).  In 
one  of  these,  Indra  is  described  as  having  taken  their  assist- 
ance when  he  rent  the  rock  and  Vala  (i.  62,  4) ;  and  in  v. 
29,  12  the  Navagvas  are  said  to  have  praised  Indra  with 
songs  and  broken  open  the  firmly  closed  stall  of  the  cows 


47*  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

But  there  are  only  two  verses  in  which  the  duration    of   their 
saciificial  session  is  mentioned.     Thus  v.  45,  7  says  :    *  Here, 
urged  by  hands,  hath  loudly  rung  the  press-stone,  with  which 
the  Navagvas  sang  (sacrificed)  for    ten    months'   and   in    the 
eleventh  verse  of  the  same  hymn    the    poet   says  :     *  I    place 
upon  (offer  to)  the  waters  your  light-winning  prayers    where- 
with the  Navagvas  completed  their  ten    months.'     In    ii.    34, 
12   we   again    read :     '  They,    the     Da^agvas,    brought    out 
(offered)  sacrifice  first  of  all.       May    they    favour    us   at    the 
flashing  forth  of  the  Dawn'  ;    while  in  iv.    51,    4   the   Dawns 
are  said  ( to  have    dawned    richly   on    the  Navagva  Anginas, 
and    on   the   seven-mouthed  Da^agva/1     evidently    showing 
that  their  sacrifice  was  connected  with  thr*';reak  of  the  Dawn 
and  lasted  only  for  ten  months.     What  the^7avagvas  or    the 
Da^agvas  accomplished  by  means  of  'uheir  sacrifices  is  further 
described  in  v.  29,  <  2  which  says  :     '  The  Navagvas    and    the 
Da-agvns,  who  had  offered  libations  of   Soma,    praised   Indra 
with  songs;    labouring  (at  it)  the  men  laid  open  the    stall    of 
kine,  though  firmly    closed';    while   in    iii.    39,    5    we   read: 
'Where     the    friend     (Indra),    with    the     friendly    energetic 
Navagvas,  followed  up  the  cows  on    the    knees,    there    verily 
with  ten  Da^agvas  did  Indra  find  the  Sun    dwelling    in    dark- 
ness (tamasi  ksiyantam). '     In  x.  62,  2  and  3,  the    Angirases, 
of  whom  the  Da^agvas  and  the  Navagvas  were  the    principal 
species  (Angiras-tama  x.  62, 6),    are   however   said   to    have 
themselves  performed  the  feat  of  vanquishing   Vala,    rescuing 
the  cows  and  bringing  out  the  Sun,  at   the    end    of   the    year 
(fari  vatsare    Valam   abhindari)  ;    but    it    obviously   means 
that  they  helped  Indra  in  achieving  it  at  the  end  of  the    year. 
Combining  all    these   statements    we   can    easily    deduce  (i) 
that  the  Navagvas  and  the  DaSagvas    completed    their   sacri- 
fices in  ten  months  ;    (2)  that  these  sacrifices  were  connected 
with  the  early  flush  of   the   Dawn  ;    (3)    that    the   sacrifioers 
helped  Indra  in  the  rescue  of  the  cows  from   Vala    at  the  end 

1  The  Dafagvas  were  called  "  seven-mouthed  "   because  the  sacrifice  was 
conducted  by  seven  priests  chanting  hymns. 


XXI.]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  473 

of  the  year  ;  and  (4)  that  at  the  place  where  fndra  went  in 
search  for  the  cows,  he  discovered  the  sun  *  dwelling  in 
darkness."1 

The  etymological  significance  of  the  words  Navagvas  and 
Da9agvas  has  been  thus  explained  by  Sivana:  "  The  Angirases 
are  of  two  kinds,  the  Navagvas  or  those  who  rose  after  com- 
pleting the  sattra  in  nine  months,  and  the  Da^agvas,  or  those 
who  rose  after  finishingthesacrifice  in  ten  months."2  Originally 
the  Navagvas  must  have  received  their  name  by  completing 
their  sacrifice  in  nine  months  only;  but,  as  has  been  seen  in 
Rv.  v.  45,  7  and  n,  they  like  the  Da^agvas  completed  the 
sacrifice  in  ten  months  It  is,  therefore,  admitted  that  the 
sattra  or  sacrifice  usually  lasted  for  ten  months,  though  there 
is  evidence  to  show  that  there  were  Angirases  'Bfhaspati,  son 
of  Angiras)  who  probably  performed  the  sacrifice  in  seven 
months  (Rv.  x.  47,  6),  and  others  who  were  called  Virtfpas 
(Rv.  x,  62,  5  and  6)  who  performed  it  variously.  But  of  all 
these  various  species  of  Angirases,  the  Navagvas  and  the 
DaSagvas  were  admittedly  the  best,  who  performed  it  in  ten 
months.  So  far  Mr.  Tilak's  first  deduction  is  correct. 

With  regard  to  the  second  deduction  that  "these  sacri- 
fices were  connected  with  the  early  flush  of  the  Dawn,"  all 
we  can  say  is  that  Rv.  n.  34,  f2,  quoted  bv  him  in  support  of 
it,  does  not  prove  that  th^re  was  a  long  night  for  two  months 
after  ten  months  of  sunshine,  at  the  e  nd  of  which  the  Dawn 
flashed  forth  and  the  sacrifice  commenced.  The  translation 
of  the  verse  is  as  follows  "May  they  who,  the  first  celebra- 
tors  of  the  ten  months'  rite,  accomplished  this  sacrifice, 
re-animate  us  at  the  rising  Dawn  ;  for  as  the  Dawn  with  purple 
rays  drives  away  the  night,  so  (do  they  scatter  the  darkness) 
with  great  and  pure  and  mist-dispelling  radiance/'-0'  The 

1  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Veda*,  pp.  160-163 

*   Vide  Sdyal^a's  commentary  on  Rv.  i  62,  4  and  x  62  6. 

»  Rv.  ii.   34.  ii- 


60 


474  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

verse  is  addressed  to  the  Maruts  (Winds),  who  are  identified 
here  with  the  Da£agvas,  and  the  poet  invokes  their  aid  at 
the  end  of  the  performance  of  ten  months'  sacrifice  to  animate 
them  at  the  rising  of  the  Dawn  by  scattering  the  darkness 
with  their  mist-dispelling  radiance,  just  as  the  Dawn  herself 
drives  away  the  night  with  her  purple  rays.  From  the  simile 
of  the  driving  away  of  the  night,  it  is  clear  that  the  darkness 
which  the  Maruts  are  invoked  to  dispel  is  not  the  darkness  of 
night,  either  long  or  short,  but  another  form  of  darkness 
which  makes  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  invisible  for  months,  and 
is  caused  by  clouds  overspreading  the  sky  like  a  thick 
sombre  pall  during  the  rainy  season.  The  phrase  "mist-dis- 
pelling radiance"  lends  a  strong  colour  to  this  view,  for 
clouds  are  merely  mists  formed  high  up  the  sky.  It  is  the 
Maruts  or  Winds  that  drive  away  the  clouds  from  the  sky  and 
usher  in,  at  the  end  of  the  rainy  season,  bright  dawns  and 
days,  when  the  sattra  is  commenced  again.  The  idea  has 
been  more  elaborated  in  the  next  verse  which  is  as  follows  * 
"They,  the  Rndras,  equipped  \\ith  melodious  flute,  and 
decorated  with  purple  ornaments,  exalt  in  the  dwelling  of  the 
waters,  and  scattering  the  clouds  with  rapid  vigour,  they  are 
endowed  with  delightful  and  beautiful  forms."  Here  the 
Maruts  are  identified  with  the  Rudras,  and  the  meaning  of 
the  phrase  "mist-dispelling  radiance"  in  the  preceding  verse 
is  now  made  qnite  clear,  because  they  are  said  to  exalt  in 
the  dwelling  of  waters  and  to  scatter  the  clouds  with  rapid 
vigour.  Thus  it  was  not  the  darkness  of  the  long  Arctic 
night  that  the  poet  had  in  his  mind,  but  such  gloom  as  is 
caused  by  clouds  overspreading  the  sk\  for  days  and  months 
together  in  the  rainy  season  Mr  Tilak's  inference,  there- 
fore, that  the  darkness  refers  to  the  darkness  of  the  long 
Arctic  night  is  clearly  wrong. 

We    will    now   examine     the    correctness    of    his    third 
inference,  vis.,  "that  the  sacrificers  helped  Indra  in  the  rescue 

i  Rv.ii.  34-  13=—*  ^ftfir  T^fiMfafl  TO 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  475 

of  the  cows  from  Vala  at  the  end  of  the  year  "  Let  us  first  see 
who  this  Vala  was.  Rv  i.  n,  5  says  :  "Thou,  O  Wielder 
of  the  thunderbolt,  didst  break  open  the  cave  of  Vala  where 
he  kept  the  kine  (of  the  celestials  concealed)  ;  the  deities 
oppressed  (by  Vala)  no  longer  fear  him,  having  obtained 
thee  as  their  protector."  Rv.  iv.  50,  5  says  :  "(Aided)  by  the 
praised  and  brilliant  troop  (of  the  Angirases),  he  destroyed 
with  sound  the  mischievous  Vala.  Brhaspati,  shouting  aloud, 
set  free  the  boon-bestowing  oblation-supplying  kine."  Now 
Brhaspati  literally  means  the  Lord  of  the  Devas  (Brhatdm 
dev&nam  pati}  and  is  sometimes  identified  with  Indra.  At 
any  rate,  he  was  the  principal  co-adjutor  of  Indra  in  releasing 
the  confined  kine,  and  is  jointly  praised  with  him  (vide  verse 
10  and  ii  of  the  above  hymn;  also  hymn  49  of  the  same 
Mandala). 

The  kine  in  the  Rgveda  are  sometimes  used  as  a  simile 
for  the  solar  rays,  and  sometimes  for  the  rain-clouds  which 
resemble  them  not  only  in  their  variegated  colours,  vis.}  dark, 
white,  red,  and  black,  but  also  in  the  supply  of  milk  in  the 
shape  of  rain.  As  milk  and  its  preparations  are  necessary  for 
the  performance  of  sacrifice,  so  is  rain-water  essentially 
necessary  for  the  growth  and  production  of  corn  and  fruits 
which  are  used  in  sacrifice  as  oblations  or  offerings.  Hence 
the  clouds  are  desciibed  as  "oblation-supplying  kine."  Now, 
Vala,  the  enemy  of  the  Gods  and  of  mankind,  used  to  steal 
away  these  cows  and  keep  them  concealed  in  his  cave  ;  in 
other  words,  he  caused  drought  by  withholding  the  rains. 
Though  the  sky  remained  overcast  by  clouds  concealing  the 
the  Dawn,  the  Sun  anil  the  solar  rays,  there  was  sometimes 
very  little  rain  ;  and  it  was,  therefore,  the  duty  of  the  Gods 
to  release  them  as  well  as  the  rain-water  from  their  confine- 
ment in  Vala's  cave.  This  Vala  was  the  same  as  Vrtra  and 
Su?na,  and  the  killing  of  the  demon  resulted  in  the  pouring 
down  of  copious  rain  and  the  release  of  the  Dawn,  the  Sun 
and  solar  rays  which  also  were  called  cows  in  Vedic  parlance. 
This,  in  plain  language,  means  that  after  abundant  rain-fall 


£GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHA*. 

in  the  rainy  season,  the  clouds  disappeared,  the   sky  became 

clear,  and  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  shone  as  brightly    as    ever. 

This  is  what  is  understood  by  the  creation  of  the   Dawn    and 

the  Sun  by  Indra.     As  we  have  already  said,    Bfhaspati   was 

regarded  as  the  principal  co-adjutor  of  Indra  in   this   terrible 

conflict  with  the  demon,  in  as  much    as   he  was   the    lord   of 

V£c  or  the  mantras  that    were  chanted   at   the   performance 

of  the  sacrifices,  and  no  sacrifice  could  be  efficacious   without 

the  proper  recitation    of   the    mantras.     The  connection    of 

rain-fall  with  the  regular  performance   of   sacrifices   was   ac- 

knowledged even  in  a  much  later  age,  which   is  comparatively 

recent,  when  Lord  Kffaa  who  did  not    seem    to   countenance 

much  the  performance   of   Vedic    sacrifices,    could    not    help 

saying  in  the  Bhagavad-geeta  as  follows  .  "Rain  is  caused  by 

the  performance  of  sacrifice,  and  annam  or  food  is   produced 

by  rain."1     Hence  Bfhaspati  has  been    described   in    Rv.  iv. 

50,  5  as  having  destroyed  Vala,  the  demon  of  drought,  with  the 

help  of  the  brilliant  troop  of   Angirases    who   performed   the 

sattra  or  annual  sacrifice  for  ten  months,   to    the    accompani- 

ment of  the  loud    chanting    of   the   Vedic    mantras^    and    as 

having  released  the  pent-up  kine  by   shouting  aloud.     If   we 

bear  these  facts  in  our  mind,  it  will  b**  easy  for  us    to    under- 

stand why  Sarasvati,  the  Goddess  of  Speech,  or  of   mantras, 

or  the  sacrificial  Fire  of  that  designation  for  that  matter,    was 

called    Vrtraghn\i  or   the   killer   of   Vjtra.     It   will    also   be 

possible  for  us  to  realise  the  meaning  of  Rv.  x.    62,    2    and  3 

which  say  that  the  Angirases  after  performing    their   sacrifice 

for  one  year  were  able  at  the  end  of  it   to   kill   Vala,   and 

rescue  the  kine,  and  make  the  Sun  visible    in    the    sky.     The 

end  of  the  year,  therefore,  corresponded    to   the   end   of   the 

rainy  season,  which  also  marked   the  beginning   of  the   New 

Year,  and  as  it   began    from   the   end   of    Var$&   (the    rainy 

season),  the  year  also  probably  came   to   be   designated   as 

Varsa.     That  the  object  of  the   sacrifice    performed   by   the 


i  Bhagavad-Geeta  III.  14  : 


XXI.]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  477 

Navagvas  and  the  Da§agvas  for  ten  months  was  the  pouring 
of  timely  rain  will  appear  from  Rv.  v.  45,  1  1  which  says  : 
"I  offer  to  you  (Gods),  /or  the  sake  of  water,  an  all-bestowing 
sacrifice  whereby  the  Navagvas  (the  nine  months'  ministrants) 
have  completed  the  ten  months'  rite.  May  we,  by  the  sacri- 
fices, be  the  protected  of  the  Gods  ;  may  we,  by  this  sacrifice, 
cross  over  the  boundaries  of  sin.J>1 

It  would  thus  appear  that  the  main  object  of  the 
sattras  or  sacrifices  was  water  or  the  precipitation  of  timely 
rain,  and  that  the  ten  months1  sacrifice  performed  by  the 
Navagvas  and  the  Da£agvas  does  not  at  all  signify  ten  months 
of  sunshine,  and  two  months  of  darkness,  or  long  night  with 
Arctic  characteristics.  The  Angirases  performed  this  sacrifice 
for  ten  months  during  which,  they  thought,  Indra  and  his 
allie^  had  been  sufficiently  strengthened  by  mantras,  the  offer 
of  the  Soma  juice  and  oblations  to  wage  on  war  with  Vala 
or  Vftia  tor  the  remaining  two  months  ;  but  there  were 
other  sacrificers,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  who  performed 
the  sattra  for  full  twelve  months,  because  they  believed  that 
Indra  and  his  allies  needed  their  help  all  the  more  during 
the  period  when  they  were  in  the  thick  of  the  fight.  That 
thib  fighting  took  place  in  the  rain)  season  would  further 
appear  from  the  following  beautiful  description  of  nature  in 
hymn  45  of  the  Fifth  Mandala  after  the  rains  held  off:  — 

"  I.  Indra  recovered  (the  hiden  cattle),  hurling  his 
thunderbolt  fiom  heaven  at  the  prayers  of  the  Angirases  ; 
the  rays  of  the  approaching  Dawn  are  spread  around  ;  the 
divine  Sun,  scattering  the  clustered  gloom,  has  risen  and 
set  open  the  doors  ot  (the  habitations  of)  men.  2.  The  Sun 
distributes  his  radiance  as  if  it  was  a  substance  ;  the  parent 
of  the  rayb  of  light  (the  Dawn),  knowing  his  approach,  comes 
from  the  spacious  (firmament)  ;  the  rivers  with  running 
waters  flow,  breaking  down  their  banks  ;  the  heaven  is  stable 


RV.  v  4S»  i  *  »—  fotf  ft  *re  *Wt  ^rit  nuiflwi  ''ret  TWT:  I 

'M  VII  Wl?  {jq«tmi"rv«  V 


478  JjLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

like  a  constructed  pillar.  3.  To  me,  when  offering  praise, 
as  to  an  ancient  author  of  sacred  songs,  the  burthen  of  the 
cloud  (descends)  ;  the  cloud  parts  (with  its  burthen) ;  the 
sky  performs  (its  office)  ;  th*  assiduously  worshipping 
Angirases  are  exhausted  by  much  (adoration).11 

It  would  appear  from  the  above  description  that  Indra 
has  already  recovered  the  hidden  cows  and  has  caused 
rains  to  fall,  and  the  rainy  season  is  just  over.  The  sky  is 
clear,  and  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  have  begun  to  shine  a^ain 
with  their  wonted  lustre.  The  rivers,  after  the  rains,  are 
in  high  flood,  breaking  down  their  banks,  and  the  sky  looks 
stable  like  a  pillar.  Occasionally,  however,  there  are  pass- 
ing clouds  as  in  autumn,  from  which  rain  falls  ;  and  even  as  the 
R?i  is  offering  his  prayers,  rain  descends  on  him  from  a 
passing  cloud  ;  but  that  cloud  soon  disappears  again.  These 
are  the  well  known  characteristics  of  autumn  in  India 

The  hymn  further  goes  on  :  "  5.  Come  to-day  quickly  ; 
let  us  be  engaged  in  pious  acts  ;  let  us  entirely  annihilate 
the  hostile  ;  let  us  keep  off  all  secret  enemies  ,  let  us  hasten 
to  the  initiator  of  the  rite  6.  Come,  friends,  let  us  celebrate 
that  solemn  rite  which  was  effertual  in  setting  open  the 
(secret)  stalls  of  the  (stolen)  cattle,  by  which  Manu  overcame 
VKi£ipra,  by  which  the  merchant  going  to  the  wood  (for  it) 
obtained  the  water.  7.  At  this  sacrifice,  the  stone  (set  in 
motion)  by  the  hands  (of  the  priests)  make  a  noise,  whereby 
the  Navagvas  and  the  Dasagvas  offered  worship,  when 
Saramd  going1  to  the  ceremony  discovered  the  cattle  and 
Angiras  rendered  all  the  rites  effective.  8.  When  all  the 
Angirases,  on  the  opening  of  this  adorable  Dawn,  came  in 
contact  with  the  (discovered)  cattle,  then  milk  and  the  rest 
were  offered  in  the  august  assembly  ;  for  Sarama*  had  found 
the  cows  by  the  path  of  truth.  9.  May  SQrya,  lord  of  seven 
steeds,  arrive,  for  he  has  a  distant  goal  (to  reach)  by  a  tedi- 
ous route.  Fleet  as  a  hawk,  he  pounces  upon  the  offered 
(sacrificial)  food  ;  ever  young,  and  far-seeing,  he  shines, 
moving  amidst  rays  of  light,  10.  Sflrya  has  ascended  above 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS  479 

the  glistening  water.  As  soon  as  he  has  mounted  on  his 
bright-backed  steeds,  sage  (worshippers)  have  drawn  him 
like  a  ship,  across  the  sea ;  the  waters,  hearing  his  com- 
mands, have  come  down.  n.  I  offer  to  you  (Gods),  for  the 
sake  of  water^  an  all-bestowing  sacrifice  whereby  the 
Navagvas  have  completed  the  ten  months'  rite.  May  we, 
by  this  sacrifice,  be  the  protected  of  the  Gods.  May  we, 
by  this  sacrifice,  cross  over  the  boundaries  of  sin."  1 

From  the  translation  of  these  verses  it  is  evident  that 
the  poet  refers  to  the  ten  months'  sacrifice  that  was  over 
and  became  effective  in  so  far  as  the  imprisoned  kine  had 
been  set  free  and  rain  had  fallen,  and  that  the  Dawn  and 
the  Sun  having  been  visible  again  after  two  months  of 
continuous  downpour,  a  new  session  of  the  same  sacrifice 
has  just  be^n  commenced  "  for  the  sake  of  water/'  or 
rain,  which  would  fall  again  after  ten  months.  Hence  the 
poet  says  that  the  Sun  "  has  a  distant  goal  to  reach  by  a 
tedious  route. "  It  may  also  be  noted  en  passant  that  the 
Sun  is  said  to  have  risen  above  the  "glistening  water,"  which 
probably  was  the  sea  that  washed  the  ea.stern  shores  of  Sapta- 
Sindhu  in  those  days,  and  to  have  been  drawn  like  a  ship 
across  the  sea.  It  is  also  quite  clear  that  the  two  months 
during  which  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  remained  hidden  were 
not  the  months  of  "  th^  long  night,"  but  only  rainy  months 
during  which  the  sky  remained  overcast,  causing  gloomy 
days,  and  gloomier  nights  that  only  ended  with  the  cessation 
of  the  rains,  and  the  disappearance  of  the  clouds  in  autumn, 
when  the  sacrificial  session  commenced  again,  and  the  New 
Year  began.  We  shall  revert  to  this  subject  later  on. 

It  will  not  now  be  difficult  for  our  readers  to  understand 
the  import  of  the  verse  ( Rv.  iii.  39,  5)  which  says  that 
"Indra,  with  the  friendly  energetic  Navagvas,  followed  up 
the  cows  on  his  knees  and  with  the  ten  Dagagvas  found  the 
Sun  dwelling  in  darkness"  which  is  as  much  as  to  say  that 

1     M.  N.  Dutt's  Translation  of  th*  $fi»d+. 


480  ^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [Of*?. 

after  the  ten  months'  sacrifice  had  been  performed,  Indra 
caused  the  rains  to  fall,  and  discovered  the  Sun  hidden 
behind  the  clouds  and  dwelling  in  darkness,  as  it  were.  We 
will  presently  see  that  the  subdued  gloomy  light  of  the 
sunless  cloudy  days  of  the  rainy  season  has  been  compared 
with  darkness  in  the  Rgveda. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  sees  the  indications  of  a  long  night  in 
the  story  of  Dlrghatama\  about  which  we  will  now  write. 
DlrghatamS.  is  the  name  of  a  Rgvedic  Rei  who  composed 
some  hymns.  He  was  the  son  of  Ucatthya  and  Mamata" 
The  following  verses  of  the  Rgveda  (i.  158,  4.  5.  6)  give 
a  brief  description  of  him  : — 

*  4.  Mav  the  praise  addressed  to  you,  ASvins,  preserve 
the  son  of  Ucatthya.  Let  not  these  revolving  (days  and 
nights),  exhaust  me.  Let  not  the  ten  times  kindled  fire 
consume  me.  Let  it  not  be  that  one  who  is  your  (dependent) 
bound  (with  bonds)  should  of  himself  bite  the  earth.  5.  Let 
not  the  maternal  waters  swallow  me,  since  the  slaves  hurled 
down  this  decrepit  (old  man)  in  the  manner  as  Traitana 
wounded  his  head,  so  has  the  slave  wounded  his  own,  and 
struck  his  breast  and  shoulder.  6,  Dlrghatamas,  the  son 
of  Mamatci,  has  grown  old  after  the  tenth  yuga  has  passed  ; 
he  is  the  Brahma*  of  those  who  seek  to  obtain  the  object  of 
their  (pious)  work  ;  he  is  their  charioteer." 

The  last  verse  has  been  translated  otherwise  as  follows : 
"  Dlrghatamas,  the  son  of  MamatA,  having  grown  decrepit 
in  the  tenth  yuga,  becomes  a  Brahman  charioteer  of  the 
waters  wending  to  their  goal."  Mr.  Tilak  adopts  this 
meaning,  and  interprets  yuga  to  mean  "  a  month."  He 
says  that  Dlrghatamas  is  here  identified  with  the  Sun  who,  after 
running  a  course  for  ten  months,  rides  on  the  waters  and 
goes  floating  in  darkness.  These  waters,  says  Mr.  Tilak, 
"are  in  fact,  the  same  over  which  the  King  Varu^a  is  said 
to  rule,  or  which  flow  by  his  commands,  or  for  which  he  is 
said  to  have  dug  out  a  channel  (Rv.  ii.  28,  4;  vii.  49,  1-4; 


XXI.]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  4*1 

vii.  87,  i),  and  so  cut  out  a  path  for  Sarya,  and  which,  being 
released  by  Indra  from  the  grasp  of  Vrtra,  bring  out  the  Sun." 
But  why  strain  the  meaning  of  the  verse,  and  not  admit  at 
once  that  after  shining  for  ten  months,  the  Sun  enters  into 
the  clouds,— the  home  of  the  waters  in  the  rainy  season  ? 
And  even  if  the  waters  be  those  over  which  Varuaa  rules, 
they  must  refer  as  much  to  the  waters  of  the  ocean  below  as 
to  those  of  the  clouds  above,  for  Varima,  as  we  have  seen 
elsewhere,  rules  over  both.  In  Rv.  i.  147,  3  and  iv.  4,  13 
it  has  been  related  that  Dlrghatamas  became  blind,  and  it 
was  Agni  who  cured  him  of  his  blindness.  This  blindness 
refers  to  the  eye  of  the  Sun  being  covered  up  by  mists  or 
clouds  (Rv.  i.  164,  14),  and  it  was  Sacrifice,  or  Agni  to 
whom  oblations  are  offered,  that  cured  him.  This  story  of 
Dlrghatamas  was  developed  in  a  later  age  in  the  Mahi- 
bharata  (i.  104)  into  a  piteous  tale  in  which  the  poor  old 
Rgi  who  was  born  blind,  is  said  to  have  been  put  on  a  raft 
by  his  wite  and  sons,  and  floated  down  the  Ganges,  thus 
abandoned  to  his  own  fate.  But  tins  story  has  not  the 
significance  of  the  solar  myth,  which  is  traceable  in  the 
Rgvedic  version. 

A  word  about  Traitana  in  Rv.  i.  *  58,  5,  with  whom  Dlrgha- 
tamas has  been  compared,  will  not  be  out  of  place  here.  This 
word  occurs  only  once  in  the  Rgveda,  but  the  word  Trita  does 
in  several  verses,  and  it  *»eems  that  the  two  words  are  iden- 
tical and  refer  to  the  same  deity.  In  the  Zendavesta  we 
come  across  Thraetaona  who  is  described  as  Ajihanta  like 
Indra  who,  in  the  Rgveda,  is  called  Ahihanta.  Both  Trita 
and  Thraetaona  are  called  Aptya  i.e  ,  born  of,  or  residing  in 
waters.  Sayana,  in  his  gloss  on  Rv.  i.  52,  5  relates  a  siory 
mentioned  in  the  Taittirlya  Saqahita,  which  says  that  Agni 
created  three  deities  from  the  waters,  whose  names  are 
Ekata,  Dvita  and  Trita  with  the  object  of  wiping  off  all 
marks  of  the  offerings  (habya]  made  at  the  time  of  sacrifice. 
Trita,  while  drinking  water,  fell  or  was  thrown  into  a  well. 
The  Asuras,  finding  him  in  this  sorry  plight,  covered  up  the 
61 


4*2  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

month  of  the  well  to  keep  him  down,  confined  therein.  But 
Trita  succeeded  at  last  in  forcing  open  the  obstruction. 
Rv.  i.  105,  9  says  that  Aptya  Trita  knows  that  the  seven 
rays  of  the  Sun  have  fallen  into  the  well,  and  prays  that  they 
may  help  him  to  be  rescued  from  his  watery  confinement. 
The  falling  of  the  seven  rays  of  the  Sun  means  the  sinking 
of  the  Sun  himself  into  the  water  Thus  we  see  that  the 

A 

stories  of  Dlrghatamas  and  Aptya  Trita  are  analogous. 
What  I  understand  by  Fire  creating  Ekata,  Dvtta  and  Irita 
is  that  they  all  refer  to  the  Suns  of  the  three  months  of  the 
rainy  season,  Ekata  being  the  Sun  of  the  first  month, 
Dvita  the  Sun  of  the  second  month,  and  Trita  the  Sun  of  the 
third  month,  when  the  Rainy  season  was  in  its  full  swin^, 
and  Trita  or  the  Sun  was  completely  lost  to  view,  or  to 
describe  in  the  language  of  the  Rgveda,  fell  into  the  well, 
and  became  blind.  Though  the  Asuras  tried  to  hold  him 
down  by  covering  up  the  mouth  of  the  well,  he  forced  it 
open  ;  in  other  words,  the  Sun  broke  through  the  clouds,  and 
became  visible  again  In  Rv.  x.  8,  8  it  is  said  that  Trita, 
the  son  of  Apta  (waters  ,  being  commissioned  by  Indra,  took 
up  his  father's  weapons,  and  killed  the  three-headed  monster 
of  the  seven-rays  (Sapta-raSmt)  and  forcibly  took  away  his 
cows.  In  the  next  verse,  Indra  is  said  to  have  killed  the 
three-headed  son  of  Tvastf,  whose  name  was  Vi$varupa, 
while  calling  back  the  stolen  cows  Now  the  epithet  of 
Sapta-ra&mi  (seven-rayed)  applied  to  Vrtra  can  only  mean 
that  he  was  so  described,  because  he  had  stolen  the  seven 
rays  of  the  Sun,  and  he  was  "three-headed  "  because  of  the 
three  months  during  which  he  flourished.  From  the  story  of 
Aptya  Trita  it  would  appear  that  he  was  a  solar  deity,  and 
like  Indra,  was  engaged  in  rescuing  the  Sun  from  the  clutches 
of  Vftra  during  the  rainy  se-ason.  Thr  story  of  Dlrghatamas 
also  points  to  the  same  conclusion.  He  was  the  Sun  himself 
who,  after  shining  for  ten  months,  became  blind,  and  floated 
down  the  waters  for  two  months  till  his  eyesight  was  restored 
by  Agni  or  the  A^vins.  In  other  words,  the  Sun  became 


XXL)  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  483 

invisible  behind  the  clouds  during  the  rains,  and  only  became 
visible  after  the  rains  had  been  over. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  if  Dlrghatamas  is  really  the  Sun 
who  lost  hi<*  pye  -sight  during  the  nins,  why  is  he  called 
Dlrghatamas  or  one  residing  in  long  darknessl  Does  not  his 
very  name  imply  that  he  was  the  Arctic  Sun  ?  The  answer 
to  this  question  is  that  clouds  have  been  identified  with 
darkness  in  many  verses  of  the  Rgveda,  some  of  which  are 
quoted  bolow  : 

"  When  the  waters  descended  not  upon  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  and  overspread  not  that  giver  of  affluence  with  its 
production,  then  Indra,  the  showervr,  grasped  his  bolt,  and 
with  its  brightness  milked  out  the  waters  from  the  darkness 
(clouds)  "  (tamaso  ga  aduksat]  (Rv.  i.  33,  10  ).  In  this  verse 
the  clouds  have  been  distinctly  identified  with  darkness.1 

In  the  following  verses  Vytra  has  been  compared  with 
darkness,  and  darkness  with  clouds  (Rv.  i.  56.  4  5.  6)  :— 

4.  "  Divine  strength  waits,  like  the  Sun  upon  the  Dawn, 
upon  that  Indra  who  is  nude  more  powerful  for  protection  by 
thee  (his  worshipper),  —  who  with  resolute  vigour  resists  the 
gloom  (  Vrtra),  and  inflicts  severe  castigation  upon  his  enemies 
making  them  cry  aloud  'with  pain',.  5.  When  thou,  destroying 
Indra,  didst  distribute  th  ;  (Vrtra)-lndden,  life-sustaining, 
undecaying  waters  through  the  different  quarters  of  the  heaven, 
then,  animated  (by  the  Y0/»a-  juice),  thou  didst  engage  in 
battle,  and,  with  exulting  (prowess,,  slewest  Vrtra  and  didst 
send  down  an  ocean  of  waters.  6.  Thou,  mighty  Indra, 
sendest  down  from  heaven,  by  thy  power,  upon  the  realms 
of  earth,  the  (world).  sustaining  rain  Exhilarated  (by  the 
S0/rti-juice),  thou  ha^t  expelled  t  fa  waters  (from  the  clouds]^ 
and  hast  crushed  Vrtra  by  a  solid  rock."  In  this  connection 
we  may  also  quote  Rv.  i.  57,  6  which  is  as  follows:  "Thou, 


33. 

flfafffiw 


484  ILGVEDIC  INDIA. 

the  wielder  of  the  thunderbolt,  hast  shattered  with  thy  bolt, 
the  broad  and  massive  cloud  into  fragments,  and  hast  sent 
down  the  waters  that  were  confined  in  it,  to  flow  (at  will); 
verily  thou  alone  possessest  all  power/' 

Rv.  i.  54,  10  also  connects  daikness  with  clouds,  as  will 
appear  from  the  following  translation  :  — 

"  The  darkness  (tamas)  obstructed  the  current  of  the 
waters  ;  the  cloud  was  within  the  belly  of  Vrtra  ;  but  Indra 
precipitated  all  the  waters  which  the  obstructor  had  con- 
cealed in  succession,  down  to  the  hollows  of  the  earth"1 
Here  darkness  is  identified  with  Vrtra  who  concealed  the 
clouds  in  his  belly,  from  which  rain  was  precipitated  on  the 
earth  below. 

Rv.  i.  38,  9  says:  "They  (the  Maruts)  spread  darkness 
over  the  day  by  a  water-bearing  cloud  (parjanya),  and  thence 
inundate  the  earth."2  Here  it  has  been  clearly  stated  that 
the  days  of  the  rainy  season  are  dark  or  gloomy. 

Some  verses  of  hymn  32  of  the  Fifth  Mandala  will  help 
us  more  clearly  to  understand  what  the  Rgvedic  bard  meant 
by  "darkness**  in  which  Vftra  revHled.  Their  translation 
is  given  below  :  — 

44  i.  Thou,  Indra,  hast  rent  the  cloud  asunder,  thou  hast 
bet  open  the  flood-gates,  thou  hast  liberated  the  obstructed 
streams;  thou  hast  opened  the  vast  cloud,  and  hast  given 
vent  to  the  shower,  having  slain  the  Ddna^a  (Vjtra\  2. 
Thou,  Thunderer,  (hast  set  free)  the  obstructed  clouds  in 
their  season  (the  rainy  season)  ;  thou  hast  invigorated  the 
strength  of  the  cloud.  Fierce  Indra,  destroying  the  mighty 
Ahi  when  slumbering  (in  the  waters),  thou  hast  established 
the  reputation  of  thy  prowess.  3.  Indra,  by  his  prowess, 
has  annihilated  the  weapon  of  that  mighty  beast,  from  whom 


Rv.  i.    54,     lOi-.^qtHfiUTflffw*'     flifts^l'TO     9&R* 

fi  *finnT  ffirr  fro 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  485 

another  more  powerful,  considering  himself  one  and 
unmatched,  was  generated.  4.  The  wielder  of  the  thunder- 
bolt, the  render  of  the  rain-cloud,  has  destroyed  with  his  bolt 
the  mighty  Su?na,  the  wrath-born  (son)  of  the  Dinava,  the 
walker  in  darkness,  the  protector  of  the  showering  cloud, 
exhilarating  himself  with  the  food  of  these  (living  creatures). 
5.  Thou  hast  discovered,  Indra,  by  his  acts  the  secret  vital 
part  of  him  who  thought  himself  invulnerable,  when,  power- 
ful Indra,  in  the  exhilaration  of  the  Soma,  thou  hast  detected 
him  preparing  for  combat  in  the  dark  abode.  6.  Indra,  the 
showerer  (of  benefits),  exhilarated  by  the  effused  juices, 
uplifting  (his  thunderbolt)  has  slain  him  enjoying  the  dews 
of  the  firmament,  sleeping  amidst  the  waters  and  thriving 
in  sunless  darkness  (asurye  tamasi)" 

These  verses  clearly  show  (i)  that  Indra  rent  open  the 
clouds  with  his  thunderbolt  and  caused  rains  to  fall ;  (2) 
that  Vftra  lay  slumbering  on  the  waters  which  he  had 
obstructed  ;  (3)  that  a  drought  (Su?na)  was  produced  in 
consequence  of  this  obstruction ;  (4)  that  Su?na  resided  in 
darkness,  and  appropriated  to  himself  the  food  of  all  living 
creatures ;  in  other  words,  the  absence  of  rain  caused  all 
vegetable  and  corn  to  wither ;  (5)  and  that  Indra  who  made 
a  search  for  Vftra  and  found  him  slumbering  in  profound 
darkness  *md  thriving  on  the  dews  of  heaven  killed  him,  and 
caused  showers  of  rain  to  fall  The  clouds  of  the  rainy 
season  are  thus  associated  with  sunless  or  profound  darkness. 
There  are  many  other  verses  bearing  on  the  pjint  (e.g.,  Rv. 
viii.  6,  16  17,  etc.),  but  it  is  useless  to  further  dilate  on 
the  subject.  The  above  proofs  are  sufficient  to  establish  the 
fact  that  the  darkness  in  which  the  Sun  dwelt  for  two  or  three 
months,  was  not  the  darkness  of  the  long  Arctic  night,  but  of 
the  rainy  season  lasting  for  that  period,  during  which  the 
Sun  remained  hidden  behind  the  clouds,  producing  gloomy 
days  and  nights.  If  Mr.  Tilak  had  carefully  taken  all  these 
facts  into  his  consideration,  he  would  assuredly  have  oome 


?GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

to  a  different  conclusion  as  regards   the   darkness,    in  which 
the  Sun  is  said  to  have  dwelt  for  two  months. 

Mr.  Tilak  next  turns  to  another  evidence  to    prove    his 
theory  of  the  Arctic  hotne   of   the    Aryans.     In  Rv.  i.  124,  2 
occurs  the  phrase  praminati  manusya  yugdni,  which  literally 
means    "  wearing   out   the    human  yugas."     Now    the    word 
yugdni  has  been  variously  translated  by  various  Vedic  scholars 
as  "ages,"  "generations"  and  "tribes,"  but  Mr.  Tilak,  with 
great  skill,  interprets  it  to    mean    "  periods    of    time,"  and  in 
the  above  verse,   "  months."     The   translation    of    the    verse 
would  accordingly   be  thus  :     "  Without   obstructing    divine 
rites,  although  wearing  out  the  months   (lit.  human  ages),  the 
Dawn  shines  simitar  to  those  that    have    passed,    and   is   the 
first  of  those  that  are  to  come  and  shine  at  regular  intervals." 
Mr.  Tilak  surmises  that  the    Dawn,    after   shining   everyday 
for  ten  months,  disappeared  for  two    months  i.e.)    during  the 
period  of  the  long  night,  and    reappeared    again      Thus  was 
this  new  born  Dawn  "  the  first  "  of  those    that  were  to  come. 
He  says  that  "  the  first  of  the  Dawns  was  no    other    than  the 
first  of  a  set  or  group  of  Dawns  that  appeared   at  the  close  of 
the  long  night,  and  commenced  the  year  f>     In    other    words, 
he  takes  her  to   be    the    Arctic    Dawn.     But    the    very    next 
verse  (i.  124,  3)  says.  "This  U?as  is   the    daughter    of   the 
celestial  region  ;  clothed  in  light,  she  is    seen    in    the  east"1 
and  in  verse  5  of  the  same  hymn,  she    is    described  as  "  born 
in  the  eastern  quarter   of   the   spacious    firmament."2     It  is 
needless  to  say  that  a  description  like  this  would  be  inconsist- 
ent with  her  Arctic  character.     Mr.  Tilak's    interpretation  is, 
therefore,  clearly  wrong.     \Ve  concede,  however,    that   he  is 
right  in  so  far  as  he  infers  that   her   appearance    marked  the 
commencement  of  the  year.     But  what  makes  her  "  the  first  " 


1  Rv.  i.  124,3  :— 


flurrfn  u 


.  104,5  f- 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  487 

of  the  Dawns  that  are  to  come?  This  is   easily   explained,  if 
we  remember  that  she    makes    her   first   appearance    on   the 
horizon  at  the  close  of  the  rainy   season,   during   which  both 
she  and  the  Sun  lay  hidden  behind  the  clouds,   and  were  not 
visible.     Her  first  appearance,  therefore,    marked    the  begin- 
ning  of    the    new   sacrificial   year    which   commenced    from 
Autumn,  as  we    shall    see   later   on.     The   principal    reason 
why  the  year  took  its    name   from    Autumn    (Sarad)    in   the 
Rgveda  may  be  explained  by  the  fact    that    the   year    in  the 
Vetlic  Calendar  began  from  this  season,     It  has  been  said  in 
Rv.    vii.  66,    1  1    that   Varuna,  Mitra   and    Aryaman    created 
Sarad  (meaning  the    year),    months,    days,    nights,    sacrifice, 
and  the  mantras,  and   in  verse  16  of    the    same    hymn    there 
is  a  prayer  of  the  bard  to  the  effect    that    he   and    his  people 
may  see  and  live  for  a    hundred  Sarads.1     The   Dawn   never 
looks  so  beautiful,  and  the  Sun  and  the    Moon  never  shine  so 
brightly  as  in  autumn  when    the    sky    is    clear  and  blue,    the 
atmosphere  free  from  dust,  and  Nature  with  her  rich  verdure, 
wealth  of  floweis  ami  vellow  corn   is  in    her  glory.     The  cool 
crisp  air  of  the   autumn    momings    and    evenings,    presaging 
the  advent  of  the  cold  weather,  is  refreshing  to  a  degree,  and 
no  other  season   i^    moie    enjoyable   and    more   welcome   to 
men  and  beasts  than  Sarad  or  Autumn,  after  the  long  spell  of 
gloomy  days  and  gloomier  nights,    with    inky   clouds    always 
dripping    rains,     murky    weather,    damp    atmosphere,     dirty 
water,  and  a  sky  dawnless  and   sunless  by  day,  and  moonless 
and  starless  by  night,  causing  a  general  depression   of  spirit 
and  awakening  only  sad  and  gloomy    thoughts.     The  change 
from  the  Rainy    season    to    Autumn    is    as    sudden    as   it   is 
agreeable,  and  an  outburst  of  joy  greets  the    ear    from    every 
side.     A    season    like    this    fittingly    marks   a    new    epoch 
for    men    to    renew    their    activities   and    commence    their 
journey    of    life    afresh,    with    redoubled    zeal   and   vigour. 
And  as  a  .natter  of  fact,  Sarad  or  autumn  marked    the   begin- 


Rv.vii.66, 


488  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

ning  of  the  New  Year  and  the  year-long  sattras  or  sacrifices 
in  ancient  India.  Rv.  x.  190,  2  says  :  "  The  year  was  born 
of  the  ocean  full  of  water."  The  ocean  was  the  watery 
firmament  of  the  rainy  season,  from  which  the  New  Year 
sprang  into  existence.  In  other  words,  it  commenced  soon 
after  Varsd  from  which  also  it  obtained  its  appellation  of 
Varsa.  Hemanta  (another  name  of  autumn)  also  came  in 
this  way,  to  mean  <(  the  year "  in  the  Rgveda.  It  is  mere 
gratuitous  assumption  on  Mr.  Tilak's  part  to  synchronise  the 
beginning  of  the  year  with  the  winter  solstice.  The  reason 
why  the  year  was  sometimes  called  Hima  ^Winter)  may  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  cold-weather  conditions  prevailed 
in  very  early  times  in  ancient  India  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  year,  of  which  we  have  undoubted  geological  evidence. 
With  the  change  of  climate  in  consequence  of  a  wide-spread 
change  in  the  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  Sapta-Sindhu, 
the  year  (which  was  originally  called  Hima)  probably  first 
came  to  be  called  Hemanta,  and  afterwards  Sarad,  the  last 
marking  the  commencement  of  fair  cold  weather,  and  of  the 
New  Year  very  soon  after  the  summer  rains. 

Lastly,  from  the  mention  of  five  and  six  seasons  in  the 
Rgveda,  Mr.  Tilak  infers  that  when  the  Aryans  lived  in  the 
Arctic  region,  the  seasons  were  fiv«  in  number;  but  this 
number  was  afterwards  increased  to  six,  when  they  emigrated 
to  Sapta-Sindhu.  "  A  period  of  sunshine  of  ten  months/9 
says  he,  "  followed  by  a  long  night  of  two  months  can  well 
be  described  as  five  seasons  of  two  months  each,  followed  by 
the  sinking  of  the  Sun  into  the  waters  below  the  horizon." 
Even  if  we  admit  that  the  Sun  sank  below  the  horizon  for 
two  months,  what  was  the  objection  against  counting  them 
as  forming  a  separate  season  ?  Mr.  Tilak  would  certainly 
not  have  us  believe  that  the  people  during  the  two  months 
of  darkness  hibernated,  quite  unconscious  of  their  environ- 
ments, and  not  knowing  whether  the  period  was  hot,  cold  or 
rainy.  They  were  as  much  alert  in  this  period,  as  in  the 
the  period  of  the  long  sun-shine.  It,  therefore,  stands  to 


XXI.]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS,  489 

reason   that  they    would   count    the  two  months  of  darkness 
also  in  their  enumeration  of  the    season    which    would,  there- 
fore,  be   six   instead   of   five.     The   reason  why  the  seasons 
have  sometimes  been  counted    as    five    is   explained   by   the 
Aitareya   Brahmana    (i.  i)    and    the  Taittirlya  Samhiti  (i.  6. 
2.  3)  which   say    that   the   two    seasons  Hemanta  and  SiSira 
together  made  a  joint  season,  thereby  reducing    the   number 
of  seasons   from    six   to   five.     But   th^  Satapatha  Brahmana 
(xiii.  6.  i.  10)  says  that    Varsa  and   oar  ad    are   compounded 
for  this  purpose  instead  of  Hemanta  and  Sisira.   Though  there 
is  thus  a  difference  of  opinion  in  the  matter,  there   can  be  no 
doubt  that    each    opinion    is  justified  by  the  characteristics  of 
each  couple.     The  conditions  of  the  rainv  season    sometimes 
extend  to  autumn,  and  Hemanta  and  SiSira  are  so  alike  that  the 
two  may  conveniently  be  coupled  into  one  season.  My  opinion 
is  that  Hemanta  and  Si^ira,  having  b£en  regarded  as  one  sea- 
son, the  seasons  were  sometimes  computed  as  five  instead  of  six. 
There  is  also  another  reason  why  the  seasons  were  regarded  as 
five,  though  they  were  really  six.  We  have  seen  above  that  the 
sacrificial    year    ordinarily   lasted   for  ten  months,  and  as  the 
Rtviks  or  sacrifices  were  so  called  because    they    performed 
their  sacrifice    in    each    rtu  or  season,  the  number  of  seasons 
that    were   conterminous    with    the    period    of   sacrifice  were 
naturally   put   down    as   five.     There    were  some  sacrificers, 
however  (as  we  shall  see  later  on),  who  performed  the  sacrifice 
for  full  twelve  monthsv  and  thus  computc-d    the    seasons  to  be 
six.     These  six  or  five  seasons  were  divided  into    two  halves, 
one  half    (Daksindyana\    commencing    from    the  3Oth  day  of 
A$a<Jha    (about    the    middle    of  July)  and  lasting  till  the  3oth 
day  of  Pausa    (the    middle    of   January),   and    the  other  half 
(Uttardyana)    commencing    from  this  day  and  lasting  till  the 
3Oth  day  of  A?adha.   Rv.  i    164,  12  says  :  "  They  say  that  the 
five-footed    father    of   twelve    forms  is  full  of  watery  vapours 
(furistpam)  in  the  further  half  (pare1  ardht)  of   the   heaven  ; 
and    others   say  that   he,    the    far-seeing  (Vicaksafam),  is 
placed  on  the  six-poked  and  seven-wheeled   car  in  the  nearer 

6J 


490  $GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

half  (apart  ardht)  of  the  heaven."1  The  words  "  five-footed  " 
and  "  six-poked  "  in  the  above  verse  refer  to  the  five  and  six 
seasons  respectively  of  which  mention  has  been  made  before, 
and  the  twelve  forms  arje  the  twelve  months,  in  the  further 
half  of  which  the  Sun  is  called  Purisin  (full  of  watery  vapours 
or  waters),  because  he  remains  hidden  behind  clouds  which 
pour  down  rain  in  the  rainy  season,  and  in  the  nearer  half 
of  which,  he  is  called  Vicaksanah,  or  far-seeing,  because  in 
that  period,  there  are  seldom  any  clouds  or  mists  to  obstruct 
his  vision.2  Thus  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  further 
half  of  the  year  in  the  above  verse  includes  the  rainy  season^ 
and  not  any  long  period  of  darkness  as  of  night,  as  Mr.  Tilak 
wrongly  supposes.  This  inference  is  further  strengthened 
by  verse  14  of  the  same  hymn  which  is  as  follows :  "The 
even-fellied,  undecaying  wheel  repeatedly  revolves;  ten, 
united  on  the  upper  surface,  bear  (the-  uorld  ;  the  eve  of 
the  Sun  becomes  covered  with  water,  and  in  it  are  all  beings 
deposited  "'*  The  wheel  in  this  verse  is  the  wheel  of  the 
year  and  the  ten  are  probably  the  ten  months,  during  which 
the  sacrifice  is  performed  for  the  good  of  the  world,  after 
which  period,  the  eye  of  the  sun  becomes  covered  with  water, 
meaning  thereby  that  .after  ten  months  of  bright  sunshine, 
the  Sun  is  hidden  behind  clouds  or  watery  vapours.  If  this 


1      Rv.  i.  164,  12  :  — 


11 

8  The  nearer  half  of  the  twelve  months  means  the  first  six  months  of  the 
year  which  began  trom  autumn  during  which  period  there  was  generally  no 
rain  ;  and  the  further  half  included  the  remaining  six  months  beginning 
from  summer  or  more  correctly  speaking  spring  and  ending  in  Varsa, 
during  which  period,  there  were  thunder-storms  and  rains  that  obscured 
the  Sun. 

*     Rv.  i.  164,  14:— 


XXL]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS. 


49J 


interpretation   be  correct,   then   this  also  batokens   the  rainy 
season,  and  not  the  darkness  of  the  long  night. 

We   have   a   confirmation   of  this    view  in  the  Paurftnic 

legend,    according    to    which    it   is  believed   that  it  is  during 

VarsA  that    Lord    Hari    or    the  Sun  sleeps  on  the  ocean,  and 

this  sleep  of  Hari  has  probably  been  suggested  by  this  epithet 

of  Purisin  (full  of  watery  vapours)    and    by   the    description 

of  the  solar    eye   being  covered  up  by  them.     The  story  that 

he  sleeps   over   the    body    of   the  serpent  known  as  Sefa  has 

probably  also  been  suggested    by   the    comparison    of    Vrtra 

with  Ahi  or  the  serpent,  as  the  cloud  is  called  in  the  R^veda. 

The  custom  which  prevails  down  to  this  day  of  not  reciting  the 

Vedic  verses    or    performing   any  Vedic  rites  during  Varsd  is 

probably  a  relic  of  the    custom    that    prevailed    in    the   olden 

days   among    a    certain   school   of   sacrificers,  the  Navagvas 

and   the    DaSagvas,    who   discontinued    the   performance    of 

Vedic    sacrifice    or   sattra   for   two    or   three  months  during 

which    the    rains    lasted.     These    months    were  therefore  not 

the  months  of  darkness  caused  by  the  long    Arctic    night,  but 

rainy  months   during    which   the    Dawn,    the  Sun,  the  Moon 

and  the  stars  lay  hidden  behind  the  clouds 

From    the    above    discussion    regarding  the  Adityas,  the 
months  and  the  seasons,  of  which  mention  has  been  made  in  the 
Rgveda,  we  come  to  the    following    conclusions:  (i)  that  the 
seven  Adityas  are  not  the    seven    Suns    of  the  seven  months, 
during   which    the    Arctic  Sun  continually  remains  above  the 
horizon;  but  they  are  the  seven    Divme    Beings    who  preside 
over   the    seven    Lokas   or  sky-regions;  (2)    that   the  eighth 
Aditya,    called    MArtAnda   (Sun)   was    terrestrial  and    mortal 
in  the  sense  that  he  is  subject  to  birth  and    death    like  mortal 
beings   which   is   another    way    of   saying   that   he  rises  and 
sets   every   day ;  (3)    that   the    seven  rays  of  MArtft$da  were 
derived   from    the    seven    Divine    Adityas  who  revealed  him, 
and  the  changes  in  the  different   seasons  were  caused  by  this 
luminary   coming   under   the   influence   of  a  particular  Deva 
Aditya  in  the  course  of  his  movement  in  the  different  regions  of 


49*  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

the  sky ;  (4)  that  the  seasons  are  logically   seven,    but  one  is 
left  out  because  the  intercalary  month  has  no   fellow  to  make 
a  complete  season  ;     5)    that  the  number  of  Adityas,  who  are 
the  different   forms   of    MArtAnda,    has  been  computed  to  be 
seven  in  relation  to  the  creation  of  the  seasons ;  but   in  later 
Vedic   literature,    it    was    raised    to  twelve  in  relation  to  the 
creation  of  the  months  of  the  year  ;  (6)    that  this  increase  in 
their   number    was    not    at    all  connected  with  any  supposed 
migration  of  the  early  Aryans  from  the  Arctic  to  the  Tropical 
region  ;  (7)  that  the  annual  Vedic  sacrifices,  called  Aditydnam- 
ayanam,    Angirasdm-ayanam   and  Gavdm-ayanam  lasted  for 
nine  or   ten    months,   i  e.}    as  long  as  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun 
shone   brightly   in    a    clear    and   cloudless    sky ;  (8)  that  the 
sacrifices  were  discontinued  by  a  certain    school  of  sacrificers 
for  the  remaining  two  or    three  months  during  which  the  Sun 
remained  hidden  behind  the  clouds  ;  (9)    that  the  clouds  were 
identified  with    Vttra    or   Sujna  who  tried  his  best  to  conceal 
the  solar    rays    and    with-hold    the   rains;   (10)  that  the  rains 
and   the   solar   rays    being   essential    to    the  cultivation  and 
growth  of  corn    and    vegetables    that    supplied    food    to  men 
and   animals,    Indra,    assisted    by    the   other  great  Devas, 
waged  a  sanguinary  conflict  with  the  arch-enemy  of  mankind 
and  in    fact    of   all  living  creatures,  whom  he  found  revelling 
in  darkness  behind  the  clouds  and    killed    at    the    end    of  the 
year;  (11)    that   the    Devas    released   the    cows   (rain-water 
or  solar  rays)  and  caused  rains  to  fall    as   soon  as   Vjrtra  had 
been   killed   or   laid    low;    (12)    that  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun, 
released  from  the  grasp  of  Vftra,  shone   brightly   again  after 
the  rains  had  been  over  ;  (13)  that  the  New  Year  commenced 
with  the  reappearance  of  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun    in    Autumn 
at  the   end   of   the   rainy   season,  and  the  annual  sattras   or 
sacrifices  were  begun  again  with  the    main    object   of  having 
timely   rains   at   the   end  of  the  sacrificial  session ;  (14)  that 
the  darkness  in  which   the   Sun    was   said   to   dwell    was  the 
darkness   of  clouds   and   not   of  the  long  Arctic  night ;  (15) 
that  the   seasons   were   really   six,  though   some  computed 


XXI.]  MONTHS  AND  SEASONS.  493 

them  to  be  five  by  coupling  two  of  the  analogous  seasons 
into  one  ;  (16)  that  the  year  was  probably  called  Sarad  as 
the  New  Year  commenced  from  Autumn  ;  (17)  that  the  names 
Hemanta  (Rv.  vi.  48,  8)  and  Hima  which  the  year  bore  had 
probably  hem  given  to  it  in  far  earlier  times  when  a  cold 
climate  had  prevailed  in  the  country  for  a  good  part  of  the 
year,  due  to  a  different  distribution  of  land  and  water,  and 
commenced  from  Autumn  ;  and  (18)  that  absolutely  no 
inference  can  be  drawn  from  the  Rgvedic  verses  quoted  by 
Mr.  Tilak  that  the  nights  had  Arctic  characteristics  and  the 
Aryans  had  once  lived  in  the  Arctic  region. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

EX4MINAT10N  OF  Mr.  TILAK'S  THEORY  OP  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLE 
OF  THE  ARYANS 

(Continued.) 

GAVA'M-AYANAM  OR  THE  Cows'  WALK. 

Mr.  Tilak  has  brought  another  Rgvedic  evidence  to  bear 
on  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans.  The 
Aitareya  Br&hmana  (i.  18-22)  mentions  what  is  known  as  the 
Pravargya  ceremony  which  "lasts  for  three  days  and 
precedes  the  animal  and  the  Soma  sacrifice,  as  no  one  is 
allowed  to  take  part  in  the  Soma  feast  without  having 
undergone  this  ceremony.  The  whole  ceremony  symbolises 
the  revival  of  the  Sun,  or  the  sacrificial  ceremony  (yajna) 
which  for  the  time  being  is  preserved  as  seed  in  order  that 
it  may  grow  again  in  due  time  (Ait.  Br£h  i  18)  M1  The 
verse  or  Mantra  which  is  recited  on  the  occasion  is  taken 
from  the  Rgveda  (viii.  72,  8)  and  has  been  translated  by 
Mr.  Tilak  as  follows  :  "  With  the  ten  of  Vivasvat,  Indra,  by 
his  three-fold  hammer,  caused  the  heaven's  bucket  to  drop 
down."  This  verse  has  been  otherwise  translated  as  follows  : 
"  Indra,  being  solicited  by  the  ten  fingers  engaged  in  his 
service,  caused  showers  to  fall  down  from  the  clouds  of 
heaven,  with  the  help  of  his  threefold  rays."2  Though  the 
two  interpretations  are  different,  they  agree  in  one  thing,  war,, 
Indra  caused  rains  to  fall.  The  dropping  down  of  the 
heaven's  bucket  conveys  this  meaning.  Mr.  Tilak  has  trans- 
lated  the  word  Kota  by  "  bucket,"  but  in  the  Rgveda  it  is 
really  a  synonym  for  "  cloud "  (Yaska's  Nighantu  i.  10.). 
The  verse,  according  to  Mr.  Tilak,  implies  that  "  with  the 
ten  of  Vivasvat,  or  with  the  lapse  of  ten  months,  Indra,  with 
his  three-fold  hammer,  shook  down  the  heavenly  jar.  This 

*  Tilak'i  Arctic  Horn*  in  the  Vedaspp.  189-190. 
»  RY.  viii.  7a,  8  :-^r 


XXII.]  GAViMAYANAM.  495 

means  that  the  three  storing  places  of  the  aerial  -waters 
(vii.  101,  4)  were  all  emptied  into  the  ocean  at  this  time, 
and  along  with  it,  the  Sun  also  went  to  the  lower  world." 
Mr.  Tilak  means  to  say  that  the  Rgvedic  bards  cenceived 
the  firmanent  to  be  covered  with  aerial  water  which  was,  of 
course,  not  real  water,  and  over  which  the  Sun  was  supposed 
to  glide  like  a  golden  boat.  When  Indra,  \\ith  his  three-fold 
hammer,  shook  down  this  heavenly  jar,  *'.£.,  sent  down 
the  aerial  water,  the  Sun  also  went  down  with  it.  This 
occurred  after  the  ten  Vivasvats,  or  the  Suns  of  the  ten 
months  had  run  their  course.  In  other  words,  after  ten 
months  of  sunshine,  the  Sun  went  down,  and  remained 
below  the  horizon  for  two  months,  causing  a  long  night. 

Let  us    critically   examine    Mr.   Tilak's   conclusion.     He 

refers  to  Rv.  vii.  101,  4  to  show  that  there  were  three  storing 

places   of   the    aerial    waters.     The    verse  in  question,  when 

translated,  stands  thus:  "  He  {Parjanya  or   God    of  rain),  in 

whom  the    whole    universe    subsists,    from    whom  the  waters 

flow  out    in    three-fold    ways,  and  round  whom  the  three-fold 

dripping  clouds  shower  sweet  water."     We  do    not    find  here 

any  suggestion    of   unreal    aerial  water  ;    but  the  water  is  the 

rain-water  which  falls    down    from    clouds   and   causes   corn 

and    vegetables    to   grow.     The    next  verse  makes  the  point 

clearer  :  "  May  propitious  rains  fall  for  us    (our  benefit),  and 

may    the    herbs   which    Parjanya   protects   or   preserves  be 

fruitful."      The   water   was    therefore   not    imaginary   aerial 

'  water,  over  which  the  Sun  glides,  and  with  the    fall  of   which 

he  also    goes  down.     The    verses    relate   an  account   of  real 

rain-fall    from    the    clouds,    and  when  it  is  said  that  after  ten 

months  Indra  dropped  the    heavenly   jar,    what    is    evidently 

•meant  is  that  after  ten  months,  the  rainy  season  came  and  rain 

fell  from    the    clouds    which    Indra  shook  down  and  emptied. 

The     "  three-fold    hammer"    of    Indra    (mentioned    in    Rv. 

viii.  72,  8)  and  "  the  three-fold   dripping  clouds  "   (mentioned 

in  Rv.  vii.  101,  4)  probably  refer  to  the  three   months  during 

which  the  rainy  season  lasted.  No  inference  of  the  long  Arctic 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

night,  ^therefore,  can  at  all  be  drawn  from  this  account,  and 
Mr.  Tilak  himself  admits,  that  "  the  mantras  used  in  the 
Pravargya  are  not  so  explicit  as  one  might  expect  suoh  kind 
of  evidence  to  be."1 

Mr.  Tilak  next  turns  to  the  annual  sattra,  known  as  the 
Gavdm-ayanam^  which  was  the  type  of  similar  sattras  known 
as  the  Adityanam-ayunam,  Angirasdm-ayanam  &c.  which,  as 
Dr.  Haug  observes,  seem  to  have  been  established  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Sun's  yearly  course.  They  are  the  oldest  of  the 
Vedic  sacrifices,  and  their  duration  and  other  details  have 
been  all  very  minutely  and  carefully  noted  down  in  the 
sacrificial  works.  As  the  Aitareya  Brdhmana  (iv.  17)  says: 
11  They  hold  the  Gavam-ayanam,  that  is,  the  sacrificial  session 
called  '  the  cows '  walk'  The  cows  are  the  Adityas  (Gods 
of  the  months).  By  holding  the  session  called  'the  cows' 
walk',  they  also  hold  the  Adityanam-ayanam  ''the  walk  of  the 
Adityas)."  The  ceremony  has  been  described  once  in  the 
Aitareya  Brahmana,  and  twic^  in  the  Taittirlya  Saijihita. 
The  former  describes  the  origin  and  duration  of  the  sattra 
as  follows  : 

"  The  cows  being  desirous  of  obtaining  hoofs  and  horns 
held  (once)  a  sacrificial  session.  In  the  tenth  month  ^of  their 
sacrifice)  they  obtained  hoofs  and  horns.  They  said,  we  have 
obtained  fulfilment  of  that  wish,  for  which  we  underwent  the 
initiation  into  the  sacrificial  rites.  Let  us  rise  (the  sacrifice 
being  finished).  Those  that  rose  are  those  who  have  horns. 
Of  those  who,  however,  sat  (continued  the  session),  saying 
(  Let  us  finish  the  year/  the  horns  went  off  on  account  of  their 
distrust.  It  is  they  who  are  hornless  (tdpardh}.  They  (con- 
tinuing their  sacrificial  session)  produced  vigour  (urjam). 
Thence  after  (having  been  sacrificing  for  twelve  months  and) 
having  secured  all  the  seasons,  they  rose  (again)  at  the  end, 
for  they  had  produced  the  vigour  (to  reproduce  horns,  hoofs 
&c,  when  decaying).  Thus  the  cows  made  themselves 

TiUk'f  Arctic  Horn*  intk*  Vida*  p.  122. 


XXIL]  GAVAMAYANAM.  497 

beloved  by  all  (the  whole  world),  and  are  beautified  (decorat- 
ed) by  all."  i 

From  the  above  extracts  it  appears  that  there  were  two 
schools  of  anoient  sacrificers,— one  performing  the  sacrifice 
for  ten  months,  and  the  other  for  twelve  months.  The  main 
object  of  the  sacrifice  was  '•  water,"  i.e.,  the  fall  of  timely 
rains  in  the  rainy  season,  which  was  essentially  necessary 
for  the  cultivation  and  growth  of  crops.  Our  readers  will 
doubtless  recall  to  mind  the  Rgvedic  verse  (v.  45,  1 1)  which 
says  "  I  offer  to  you  (Gods),  for  the  sake  of  water}  an 
all-bestowing  sacrifice,  whereby  the  Navagvas  have  completed 
the  ten  months'  rite."  As  the  ancient  Aryans  were  par 
excellence  agriculturists,  and  mainly  depended  for  their  crops 
on  rainwater,  whose  fall  was  not  uniform  and  equally 
distributed  every  year  on  account  of  intermittent  spells  of 
drought,  their  one  main  and  all-absorbing  anxiety  was  to 
secure  the  fall  of  timely  rain,  without  which  crops  would 
not  grow.  With  this  object  in  view  they  instituted  the 
annual  sattras,  as  they  believed  that  Indra,  the  chief  benevo- 
lent and  powerful  deity,  would  thereby  be  sufficiently  streng- 
thened to  fight  the  terrible  Demon  of  Drought  who  was 
supposed  to  imprison  the  rain-water  in  his  capacious 
cloud-body,  and  to  overwhelm  and  kill  him.  They  observed 
this  fight  to  occur  every  year,  which  invariably  resulted  in 
the  defeat  of  Vftra  or  Su$na,  and  the  release  of  the  impri- 
soned waters,  the  solar  rays,  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun— to  the 
great  delight  of  all  living  creatures.  Those  sacrificers  who 
believed  that  their  work  was  accomplished  as  soon  as  clouds 
(horns)  appeared  in  the  sky,  betokening  the  advent  of  the 
rainy  season  at  the  end  of  ten  months'  rites,  rose  from  the 
sacrificial  session,  and  were  compared  to  cows  who  had 
horns,  i.*.,  who  had  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  their  rites  and 
believed  that  since  the  clouds  had  appeared,  rain  was 
sure  fc>  fall. 

*     Dr.  Haug's  Ait.  Brah  Trans.  Vol.  II.  p.  207. 


49«  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

But  there  was  another  class  of  sacrificers  who  distrusted 
the  efficacy  of  their  rites,  inasmuch  as  they  feared  that  the  rains 
might  hold  off  intermittently,  causing  a  general  drought,  if 
they  did  not  continue  the  sacrifice  for  full  twelve  months.  These 
were,  therefore,  compared  to  cows  whose  horns  went  off  on 
account  of  their  distrust.  Though  they  became  hornless,  they 
gained  in  vigour,  because  of  the  performance  of  the  sacrifice 
for  full  twelve  months.  This  is  what  we  understand  by  the 
queer  allegorical  description  of  the  cows  holding  their  sacri- 
ficial session  for  ten  and  twelve  months  respectively.  The 
description  does  not  suggest  that  the  Aryans  held  their 
sacrifices  for  ten  months,  while  in  the  Arctic  region,  and  for 
twelve  months  when  they  emigrated  to  the  Temperate  or 
the  Tropical  Zone.  As  we  have  just  said,  it  refers  to  two 
schools  of  sacrificers,  one  of  which  thought  that  the  perform- 
ance of  ten  months'  sacrifice  was  sufficient ;  while  the 
other  thought  that  the  sacrifice  should  be  performed  for  full 
twelve  months  to  thr  end  of  the  year.  The  allegory  does 
not  seem  to  mean  anything  mote  than  this. 

There  is  a  similar  account  in  the  Taittirlya  Samhita  (vii. 
5.  1-2),  which  is  given  bellow  : 

"The  cows  held  this  sacrificial  session  desiring  that 
'being  hornless,  let  horns  grow  unto  us.'  Their  session  lasted 
(for;  ten  months.  Then  when  the  horns  grew  (up),  they  rose 
saying  (we  have  gained.1  But  those  whose  (horns)  were  not 
grown,  rose  after  completing  the  year,  saying  'we  have 
gained.'  Those  that  had  their  horns  grown,  and  those  that 
had  not,  both  rose  saying  We  have  gamed.1  Cows1  session  is 
thus  the  year  (year-session).  Those  who  know  this  reach  the 
year  and  prosper  verily.  Therefore,  the  hornless  (cow)  moves 
(grazes)  pleased,  during  the  two  rainy  months.  This  is  what 
the  sattra  has  achieved  for  her.  Therefore  whatever  is  done 
in  the  house  of  one  performing  the  yearly  sattra  is  success- 
fully, timely,  and  properly  done.'1 

In  this  account  we  find  it  distinctly  mentioned  that  the 
hornless  oow  performing  the  sacrifice  for  twelve  months 


XXII.]  GAVAMAYANAM. 


499 


grazes  pleased,  during  the  two  rainy  months  (V&rsikl-mdsau) 
There  is  absolutely  no  mention  here  of  a  long  night  lasting 
for  two  months.  The  inference,  therefore,  is  clear  that  the 
last  two  months'  session  was  held  during  the  rainy  season. 

In  the  next  Anuvaka  (vii  5.2,1-2)  the  Samhita  further 
describes  the  Cows'  session  as  follows  : 

"The  cows  held  this  sacrificial  session,  being  hornless 
(and)  desiring  to  obtain  horns.  Their  session  lasted  (for)  ten 
months  ;  then  when  the  horns  grew  (up)  they  said  :  'We  have 
gained,  let  us  rest ;  we  have  obtained  the  desire  for  which 
we  sat  (commenced  the  session)/  Halt,  or  as  many  of  them, 
said  'we  shall  certainly  sit  for  the  two  twelfth  (two  last) 
months,  and  rise  after  completing  the  year.'  (Some)  of  them 
had  horns  in  the  twelfth  month  by  trust,  (while)  by  distrust, 
those  that  (are  seen)  hornless  (remained  so).  Both,  that  is, 
those  who  got  horns,  and  those  who  obtained  vigour  (urjam) 
thus  attained  their  object.  One  who  knows  this  prospers, 
whether  rising  (from  the  sacrifice)  in  the  tenth  month,  or  in 
the  twelfth.  They,  indeed,  go  by  the  path  (padend) ;  he 
going  by  the  paths,  indeed,  attains,  (the  end).  This  is  that 
successful  ayanam  (session).  Therefore  it  is  go-sani  (beneficial 
to  the  cows.)" 

The  above  description,  besides  agreeing  generally  with 
the  previous  two  descriptions,  gives  us  a  sure  indication  as 
to  when  the  ancient  sacrificial  year  ended.  The  "two  rainy 
months"  (V&rsiti  mdsait)  were  undoubtedly  the  last  two 
months  or  "the  two  twelfth  months"  of  the  year,  as  the 
SamhZtji  distinctly  says  The  year,  therefore,  ended  with 
Varsa  or  the  rainy  season,  and  the  New  Year  commenced 
from  Autumn,  when  the  sattras  were  recommenced. 

Cows  have  been  variously  compared  in  the  Rgveda  to 
the  rays  of  the  Sun,  to  Dawns  and  to  rain-laden  clouds  re- 
spectively.  In  the  above  allegorical  account,  Mr.  Tilak  thinks 
with  Prof.  Max  Muller,  from  a  reference  to  the  Greek  mytho- 
logy of  Helio's  oxen  numbering  350,  that  they  were  the 


5oo  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

dawns  or  the  days  of  the  year.  "It  is  not  difficult  to  see", 
says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  that  underneath  this  strange  story  of  cows 
holding  a  sacrificial  session  for  getting  horns,  there  lies  con- 
cealed the  remarkable  phenomenon  that,  released  from  the 
clutches  of  Pani,  these  cows  of  days  and  nights  walked  on 
for  ten  months,  the  oldest  duration  of  the  session  known  as 
'Cows'  Walk/  In  plain  language  this  means,  if  it  means  any- 
thing, that  the  oldest  Aryan  year  was  one  of  ten  months, 
followed  by  the  long  night,  during  which  the  Cows  were  again 
carried  away  by  the  powers  of  darkness."  We  do  not  agree, 
for  reasons  already  stated,  with  the  latter  part  of  Mr.  Tilak's 
conclusion.  Where  is  the  indication  of  a  long  night  in  the 
above  extracts  ?  If  all  the  cows  were  carried  away  by  the 
powers  of  darkne  ss,  how  was  it  possible  for  some  of  them  to 
hold  the  session  for  full  twelve  months  ?  The  real  meaning 
of  the  allegory  would  be  that  after  the  performance  of  ten 
months'  rites,  clouds  appeared  on  the  horizon,  which  were 
compared  to  the  horns  of  "the  cows  of  days  and  nights." 
Seeing  the  advent  of  the  rainy  season  for  which  the  sacrificial 
session  had  been  held,  some  of  the  sacrificers  rose ;  but 
others,  fearing  that  the  rains  might  be  delayed  in  coming  for 
sometime,  thought  it  prudent  and  reasonable  to  hold  on  the 
session  for  two  months  more  till  the  end  of  the  year.1  These 
have  been  compared  to  hornless  cows,  or  cows  who  lost  their 
horns  through  distrust.  But  whether  with  or  without  horns, 
the  cows  gained  their  main  object  In  other  words,  there 
was  plenty  of  rain  ;  and  as  the  hornless  cows,  i.e ,  the 
distrustful  sacrificers  continued  their  session  during  the 
rainy  season,  they  are  said  to  have  grazed  freely  all  the  time. 
There  is  not  the  ghost  of  the  mention  of  the  long  night  in 
this  account ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Mr.  Tilak's 
interpretation  is  fanciful  and  palpably  erroneous. 

1  These  days  of  the  two  months  had  their  horns  cast  off,  *'*.,  the  pointed 
and  rugged  ends  of  the  early  clouds  disappeared  and  the  whole  sky  was 
overspread  by  one  broad  sheet  of  clouds. 


XXIL]  GAVAMAYANAM.  5*1 

We  come  to  the  same  concluson,  if  we  take  the  meaning 
of  "  cows "  to  be  Adityas,  i.e.,  Suns  or  month-gods,  as 
explained  in  the  Aitareya  Brahmana.  After  ten  months' 
sacrifice,  the  cows  had  horns,  i.e.,  rugged  clouds  appeared  on 
the  horizon,  looking  like  horns  of  the  months.  Those  sacri- 
ficers  who  did  not  rise  from  the  sacrifice  at  the  end  of  the 
ten  months,  but  continued  it  for  two  months  more,  lost  their 
horns,  though  they  gained  in  strength  and  attained  their 
object.  In  other  words,  the  rugged  look  of  the  first  clouds 
disappeared,  and  the  entire  sky  was  covered  by  a  thick  and 
broad  sheet  of  clouds  during  the  rainy  months,  pouring  down 
copious  rains.  This  was  what  was  meant  by  the  falling  off 
of  the  horns.  We  are  thus  able  to  understand  how  both  the 
horned  and  the  hornless  cows  gained  their  object.  This 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  plain  meaning  of  the  above 
allegorical  story. 

Mr.  Tilak  says  that  the  year  was  in  ancient  times  made 
up  of  ten  months  only,  instead  of  twelve  as  at  present,  and  in 
support  of  his  contention,  refers  to  the  twelfth  month  of  the 
European  solar  year  which  is  called  December,  literally  mean- 
ing the  tenth  month.  This,  however,  does  not  conclusively 
prove  that  the  tenth  month  was  recognised  as  the  last  month 
of  the  solar  year.  As  the  sacrificial  year  in  ancient  India 
usually  ended  in  the  tenth  month,  the  Aryan  immigrants  to 
Europe  may  have  carried  the  tradition  with  them,  and  adapted 
the  counting  of  the  months  to  the  different  circumstances  of  the 
land  of  their  sojourn.  The  tenth  month  in  ancient  India  was 
the  month  just  before  the  rains  commenced  to  fall.  Naturally 
the  immigrants  to  Europe  placed  it  before  the  period  of  time 
when  rain  andsnow  fell,  i.e.,  before  winter  set  in.  The  two 
winter  months,  therefore,  really  formed  the  last  two  months 
of  the  year  which  commenced  from  spring  in  March,  when 
Nature  was  rejuvenated  and  obtained  a  fresh  lease  of  life, 
as  it  were.  The  mythical  significance  of  the  sacrificial  year, 
as  understood  in  ancient  Vedic  India,  was  absent  in  Europe, 
as  the  immigrants  were  not  saorificers  in  the  same  sense  as 


^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  ancient  In  do- Aryans  were.  They  simply  counted  the 
year  from  the  time  when  Nature  that  had  become  dead  in  winter 
showed  signs  of  life  in  a  bright  Sun,  and  a  clear  sky  and 
in  warm  days,  helping  the  trees  to  sprout,  the  flowers  to  bloom, 
and  the  birds  to  sing.  The  month  of  March  is  called  in  Latin 
Marttus  Mensis,  from  Martius,  belonging  to  Mars,  the  God 
of  war.  But  Martius  was  also  a  surname  of  Jupiter  in  Attica, 
expressive  of  his  power  and  valour.  (Paus.  5.  C.  14.)  As 
Jupiter  held  the  same  position  in  the  Roman  mythology  as 
Indra  in  the  Vedic,  and  as  Indra  is  identified  with  Surya  or  the 
Sun,  this  Martius  or  Mars,  the  God  of  war,  may  be  identified 
with  the  Sun  The  word  March  is  also  derived  from  A,S, 
mtarCy  mark,  O.H.  Ger.  marka,  march,  M.H.  Ger.  mark, 
marke,  marche,  N.H.  Ger.  mark,  O.  Fr.  marche,  allied  to  Lat. 
margO)  edge,  border,  margin — showing  that  the  month  formed 
the  border  of  the  year,  from  which  the  months  advanced. 
Counting  the  months  of  the  year  from  March,  we  come  to  the 
seventh  month  (September],  the  eighth  month  (October},  the 
ninth  month  (November)  and  the  tenth  month  (December}. 
But  December  was  not  the  last  month  of  the  year,  as  there 
were  two  more  months  to  complete  it,  viz.,  the  two  winter 
months  of  cloud,  rain,  snow  and  ice,  which  were  left  out  of 
reckoning  like  the  two  rainy  months  in  ancient  India.  Sub- 
sequently, in  the  reign  of  Numa,  a  change  was  made  in  the 
Calendar.  Some  say  that  Numa  added  two  months  to  the 
ancient  Roman  year  of  ten  months  ;  but  Plutarch  in  his  life 
of  Numa  records  another  version  of  the  story,  which  says 
that  he  simply  transferred  them  from  the  end  to  the  begin- 
ning  of  the  year.  And  this  seems  to  be  the  most  probable 
explanation.  The  present  Indian  Calendar,  based  on  astrono- 
mical observations,  and  beginning  from  the  summer  solstice 
or  from  the  next  day  of  the  Mahdvisuva  SamkrAnti  is  also 
different  from  the  Vedic  Calendar  which  had  a  sacrificial  basis 
to  go  upon.  The  Vedic  year  commenced  from  a  certain  day 
when  it  was  necessary  to  begin  the  annual  sattra  or  the 
sacrificial  session  after  the  rains  were  over,  and  the  days  of 


XXII.J  GAVAMAYANAM.  503 

the  year  were  counted  not  by  weeks  or  months  as  at  present, 
but  by  a  series  of  sacrifices  standing  isolated  or  in  groups, 
that  had  to  be  performed  in  a  certain  well-defined  order,  of 
which  we  shall  speak  later  on.  Though  the  Roman  Calendar 
was  not  based  on  sacrifices,  it  had  nevertheless  a  method  of 
its  own,  as  the  year  commenced  from  spring  when  Nature 
was  reborn  and  rejuvenated.  The  change  effected  by  Numa 
in  the  Roman  Calendar  by  transferring  the  last  two  months 
of  the  year  to  its  beginning  seems  to  us  to  be  less  scientific 
than  the  old  Calendar.  And  thus  December,  the  tenth 
month,  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  last  month  of  the  year 
in  later  times. 

Mr.  Tilak  then  proceeds  to  deal  with  the  Soma  sacrifice 
in  order  to  cull  points  from  it  in  support  of  his  theory.  The 
Soma  sacrifice  is  distinguished  from  the  other  sacrifices  by  a 
chief  characteristic  which  is  the  extraction  of  the  Soma  juice 
and  the  offering  thereof  to  the  Gods,  before  drinking.  Three 
libations  of  Soma  are  offered  in  a  day,  one  in  the  morning, 
one  at  mid-day  and  the  last  in  the  evening,  all  of  which  are 
accompanied  by  the  chanting  of  hymns.  "  These  Soma 
sacrifices,"  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  if  classified  according  to  their 
duration,  fall  under  three  heads: — ,'i)  those  that  were 
performed  in  a  single  da) ,  called  Ekdhas ;  (2)  those  that  are 
performed  in  more  than  one  and  less  than  thirteen  days,  called 
Ahinas ;  and  (3)  those  that  take  thirteen  or  more  than 
thirteen  days,  and  may  last  even  for  one  thousand  years, 
called  Sattras.  Under  the  first  head,  we  have  the  Agni^toma, 
fully  described  in  the  Aitareya  Br&hmana  (iii.  39-44),  as  the 
key  or  the  type  of  all  the  sacrifices  that  fall  under  this 
class... Of  the  second  class  of  Soma  sacrifices,  the  Dv&da££ha 
or  twelve  days'  sacrifice  is  celebrated  both  as  Ahina  and 
Sattra}  and  is  considered  to  be  very  important.  It  is  made 
up  of  three  tryahas  (or  three  days'  performances,  called 
respectively  Jyotis}  Go  and  Ayus),  the  tenth  day  and  the  two 
Atir&tras  (Ait.  Bra.  iv.  23.  14).  The  nine  days'  performance 
(three  tryahas}  is  called  the  A'ava-rdtra.  Side  by  side  with 


5o4  * GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP, 

this  there  are,  under  this  head,  a  number  of  Soma  sacrifices 
extending  over  two  nights,  three  nights,  four  nights,  called 
dvi-rdtra^  tri-r&tra  and  so  on  (Tait.  Saiji.  vii.  i.  4;  vii.  3,  2  ; 
A6v.  Sr.  Sot.  x  &  xii ;  Tan.  Bra.  20.  11—24.  19).  In  the  third 
class,  we  have  the  annual  Sattras^  and  of  these  the  Gavdm- 
ayanam  is  the  type... The  annual  Sattras  are  the  only 
important  Sattras  ot  this  class,  and  to  understand  their  nature, 
we  must  understand  what  &.§alaha  means.  The  word  literally 
denotes  a  group  of  six  days  (Sat  ahan),  and  is  used  to  denote 
six  days'  performance  in  the  'sacrificial  literature.  It  is 
employed  as  a  unit  to  measure  a  month  in  the  same  way  as 
we  now  use  a  week,  a  month  being  made  up  of  five 
^alahas.  The  §alaha}  in  its  turn,  consists  of  the  daily 
sacrifices  called  Jyotis^  Go}  Ayus  and  the  same  three  taken 
in  the  reverse  order  as  Ayus,  Go,  and  Jyotis.  Every  Salaha, 
therefore,  begins  and  ends  with  a  Jyotistoma  (Ait.  Bra.  iv  15) 
The  Salaha  is  further  distinguished  into  Abhiplava  and 
Pfsthya*  according  to  the  arrangement  of  the  Stomas  or 
songs  sung  at  the  Soma  libations.  An  annual  Sattra  is,  in 
the  mainj  made  up  of  a  number  of  Salahas  joined  with  certain 
special  rites  at  the  beginning,  the  middle  and  the  close  of  the 
Sattra.  The  central  day  of  the  Sattra  is  called  Visuvan, 
and  stands  by  itself,  dividing  the  Sattra  into  two  equal  halves 
like  the  wings  of  a  house  (Tait  Br.  i.  2.  3.  i.) ;  and  the  rites 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  session  or  after  the  Visuvan  day  are 
performed  in  an  order  which  is  the  reverse  of  that  followed  in 
performing  the  ceremonies  in  the  first  half  of  the  sacrifice. 
The  model  annual  Sattra  (the  Gav&m-Ayanam)  thus  consists 
of  the  following  parts  : — 

Parts.  Days. 

1.  The  introductory  Atiratra  i 

2.  The  Caturvim^a  day,  otherwise   called  the   Aram- 

bhanlya  (Ait.  Br.  iv.  12)  or  the  Priyanlya  (Tand. 

Br.  iv.  2),  the  real  beginnining  of  the  Sattra  i 

3.  Four  Abhiplava,  followed  by  one   Pfjthya  $alaha, 

each  month ;  continued  in  this  way  for  five  months.    150 


XXII.]  GAVAMAYANAM.  305 

Parts.  Days. 

4.  Three  Abhiplava  and  one  Prigthya  jalaha  24 

5.  The  Abhijit  day  I 

6.  The  three  Svara-Saman  days  3 

7.  The  Visuvan  or  the  central  day    which  stands  by 

itself,  /.*.,  not  counted  in  the  total  of   the    Sattra 
days 

8.  The  three  Svara-S&man  days.  3 

9.  The  ViSvajit  day  I 

10.  One  Pj*?thya  and  three  Abhiplava  Salahas  24 

11.  One  Pfsthya    and    four    Abhiplava    §alahas   each 

month  ;  continued  in  this  way  for  four  months  120 

12.  Three  Abhiplava  Salahas,  one  Go-$toma,  oneAyu- 

Stoma   and    one     Da&ar&tra   ^the   ten     days    of 
Dvada£iha),  making  up  one  month  30 

13.  The  Mah&vrata  day,  corresponding   to   the    Catur- 

vim^a  day  at  the  beginning  I 

14.  The  concluding  AtirAtra  i 

Tolal  days       360" 

We  have  quoted  h«*re  in  extenso  the  excellent  summary 
of  the  annual  Sattrj  ^iven  by  Mr.  Tilak,  as  it  would  enable 
our  readers  to  underbuild  how  and  when  the  Sattra  com- 
menced. i'hos>e  w.i  3  performed  the  Sattra  for  full  twelve 
months  followed  the  above  sacrificial  procedure  ;  but  those 
who  performed  it  for  ten  months  struck  out  five  Salahas 
from  each  of  the  parts  m  irked  3  and  1 1  in  the  above  scheme. 
If  we  take  the  Visuvan  or  the  central  day  of  the  year  to  be 
the  Mah&visuva  Samkranti  or  the  3oth  day  of  Chaitra, 
the  ordinary  year  really  began  from  the  first  day  of  the  solar 
month  of  Kartika,  which  is  the  middle  of  Sarad  and  marks 
the  beginning  ot  Hemanta.  Hence  it  would  be  natural  for 
the  Vedic  Aryans  to  call  the  year  by  the  name  of  Sarad  or 
Hemanta,  as  they  used  to  do.  But  those  who  performed  the 
Sattra  for  ten  months  only  had  their  session  ended  in  Srava^a 
which  is  in  the  very  middle  of  Varsa  or  the  rainy  ^season. 

64 


566  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

As  the  Navagvas  originally  performed  their  sacrifice  tor    nine 
months,  their  session  ended  in  Asadha,    i.e.,  in  the  beginning 
of  Varsa^    and   hence    the   year    would    naturally   be   called 
Varsa.     The  Navagvas  discontinued  the  Sattra  for  the    next 
three  months,  and  the  Dasagvas    for   the    next    two    months, 
which  were  however  occupied  by  the    performance    of    R&tn- 
Sattras  or  Night-sacrifices,    so   called   becau.se   the    days   of 
the  rainy  season  were  like    nights,    the    Sun   and    the    Dawn 
having  been  hidden  away  behind  the   clouds.     But   the    ordi- 
nary year  consisted  of  12  months,  and  began    from    Sarad    or 
the  solar  month  of  Kartika,  about  \\hen  the  sacrificial  session 
also  commenced.    Let  us  try  to  fix  the  date  of  the  Vedic  New 
Year.     We  have  seen  in  the  above    scheme    that    the   Mahd- 
vrata  day  was  the  last  day  but  one  of  the  }cai,    and    as    Mr. 
Tilak    has  rightly  observed,  "it  was   a    sort    of  link    between 
the  dying  and  the  coming  year,  and  appropi lately    concluded 
the  annual  battra"     Before  the    Mah&vrata,    the  l>a$ardtia 
(the  ten  days'  ceremony  of  Dvada-4ha)  had  be  the  performed. 
The  Da^aritra  began  with  an    AtirAtra\    then    followed    the 
nine  days'  ceremony,  making  up  in  all  t>  n  days.   WV    have    a 
relic  of  this  nine  days'  ceremony  in  our  present  Navar&trikam 
Vratam  or  Navardtram^  which  begins  from    the  fust   day    of 
the  bright  portion  of  the  lunar  month  of  A^vina,  and  ends    in 
Mah&navanA.     This  ten  days'  ceremony  was  followed  by  the 
Mah&vrata  day  which,  therefore,    correspond-   to  our    Mah&- 
da&am\  or  Mah&vijaya  or  Vijaya,  as  it    is    popularly    called. 
This  was  followed  by  the  concluding    Atirdtra    that   biought 
the  year  to    its   close.     The    year,    therefore,    ended    on    the 
Ek&dafl  day  of  the  growing  moon  of  the    month    of    A^vina, 
and  began  again  from  the  Dv&da^l  or  twelfth  day  of  the  grow- 
ing moon.     The  Sattra  of   the    New   Year,    however,    really 
commenced  from  the  next  day  which  was    Travodafi   or   the 
I3th  day  of  the  growing  moon    of    A^vina.     Here,    then,    we 
have  got  an  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  beginning  and    end 
of  the  Vedic  year,  and  can  now  clearly  understand  why  it  was 
called  Sarad. 


XXII.]  GAViMAYANAM.  507 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  refer  here  to  later   PaurAnic 
myths  which  will  throw  an  additional  light  on  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Vedic  year.     It  is  related  in  some  of   the    PurAijas 
that  R&ma,  the  greatest  king  of  the  Solar  Dynasty,  who    was 
himself  an  incarnation  of   Vi^nu    or   the    Sun,    defeated    and 
killed  R4vana,  the  ten-headed  monster,  on  the    tenth    day   of 
the  growing  moon  of  the  month  of  Asvina,  which  is  called  the 
VijayA    day    (Victory    day).     The     clay   corresponds   to    the 
Mahavrata  day  of  the  Vedic  Sattra,  the  last  but  one  day,  or  if 
we  take  the  Visuvan  diy  into  our  account,  the  last   day  of  the 
year.     On  that  day,  Ska,  the  beloved  wife  of  R3/na,    wno  had 
been  stealthily  and    forcibly    carried    away    by    RcLvana,    was 
released ;  and  this  tage-id  agrees    with    the    Vedic    legend    of 
the  release  of  lisas  (Dawn)  from    the    clutches    of   Vjtra    by 
Indra,  or  the  Sun,  on  that  very  day.     The  U?as    or    Dawn    is 
identical    with    the    Vedic    and     Pauranic     "Golden     Um£" 
(Haimavatl  Uma]  or    Durga,    who  had    ten    arms,  probably 
from  the  analogy  ot  hie  ten  monihs  during  which  she    flashed 
forth  daily,  or  because  she  diffused  her  light  in  the  ten   direc- 
tions.    During  the  remaining  two  months  of    the    year    when 
she    became    invisible    rind    lay    hidden    behind    the     clouds, 
Indra  wag-id  on  \v.r  wh  Vrtra  for  her  release,  and  when  this 
was  effected  after  tin:  '1  'siructi  m   of  the    demon,    she    flashed 
forth  again  in    all    her    refulgent    splendour.       This    incident 
probably  goes  to  >he  root  of  the  great  modern  festival  connect- 
ed with  Durga  PujA.  in  autumn.     This  festival    (which  is   also 
•called   Navaratra]    is    really   the    festival   to   celebrate    the 
release  of  the  Da\vn  an.i  the   Sun    from    the    clutches    of   the 
clouds,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  New  Year,    after  the  rains 
were  over,  by  commencing  the  annual  Sattra. 

We  have  already  referred  in  the  last  chapter  to  the  sleep 
of  Hari  or  the  Sun-God  on  the  celestial  ocean  known  as 
Kslroda  over  the  bxlv  of  the  serpent,  called  Se$a,  and  point- 
ed out  that  the  ocean  r^pr«^ented  rain-water,  and  the  serpent 
the  clouds,  with  a  thousand  heads.  This  sleep  of  Hari 
(Hartriayanam)  commences  on  the  nth  day  of  the  growing 


5o8  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

moon  of  the  month  of  A?£dha,  which  exactly  coincides  with 
the  day  on  which  the  nine  months'  session  of  the  annual 
Sattra  performed  by  the  Navagvas  originally  terminated.  As 
the  rainy  season  virtually  commenced  from  that  day,  the 
Navagvas  rose  from  the  sacrifice.  But  as  the  rains  sometimes 
became  late  in  coming,  the  Sattra  was  continued  by  the 
Da£agvas  for  one  month  more.  This  practice  was  afterwards 
adopted  by  the  Navagvas  also,  and  both  they  and  the 
DaSagvas  performed  the  Sattra  for  ten  months.  Though 
they  discontinued  it  for  the  remaining  two  months  of  the 
year,  they  took  it  up  again  from  the  beginning  of  the 
New  Year  which  ccmmenced  in  autumn.  It  will  thus  ap- 
pear that  their  discontinuance  of  the  Sattra  tor  two  months 
was  not  due  to  the  advent  of  long  night  as  in  th^  Arctic  region, 
but  to  the  advent  of  the  rainy  season,  which  made  the  days 
dark,  and  the  nights  gloomy. 

But  it  mav  be  argued  that  as-  tht  skv  does  not  remain 
continuously  overcast  throughout  the  r.uny  season,  and  there 
are  also  bright  intervals  of  sunshine,  all  the  days  of  the 
Reason  cannot  reasonably  be  described  as  dark  and  compared 
with  nights.  This  argument  is  rasilv  m^wered  by  the  iden- 
tification of  In  dra  with  the  Sun  in  th"  Rgveda.  •  v.  18,  3; 
vi.  47,  31  ;  vii.  93,  i)  When  there  -ire  bright  spells  of  sun- 
shine during  the  rainy  season,  it  is  not  really  the  Sun  that 
shines,  but  the  mighty  Indra,  the  victorious,  who  a-summs?  the 
form  of  the  Sun,  darts  down  his  rays  f  >r  the  benefit  of  the 
world  and  brings  on  the  revolving  davs  and  nights.  Rv.  v 
48,  3  says  :  "(Animated)  by  the  libations  offered  by  day  and 
night,  (Indra)  sharpens  his  vast  thunderbolt  against  the  be- 
guiler  (Vftra) ;  he  whose  hundred  (rays)  attend  him  in  his 
own  abode,  sending  away,  and  bringing  back  (revolving! days. " 
The  rays  of  Indra  (or  the  Sun),  intercepted  by  clouds,  have 
been  numbered  "hundred,"  because  truiy  are  not  sufficiently 
bright  and  strong  during  the  rains  ;  and  it  is  Indra  who  sends 
away  and  brings  back  the  revolving  days,  as  tlu*  Sun,  having 
been  imprisoned  by  V|tra,  is  unable  to  perform  his  functions. 


XXII.]  GAVlMAYANAM.  509 

These  occasional  periods  of  sunshine  during  the  rainy  season 
are  like  brief  respites  obtained  by  Indra  after  gaining  a  tem- 
porary victory  over  Vrtra  who,  however,  soon  rallies  round 
his  forces  to  continue  the  struggle.  The  complete  victory 
comes  when  Vrtra  is  finally  vanquished  and  slain  at  the  end 
of  the  rainy  season.  It  is  then  that  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun 
are  released  from  their  prison  and  freed  to  pursue  their 
annual  course  unimpeded  until  they  are  again  confined  by 
the  resuscitated  and  beguiling  Vrtra1 

Mr.  Tilak  having  dealt  with  the  annual  Sattra  of  Gav&m- 
ayanam  to  prove  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  has  failed  to  do,  proceeds  to  discuss 
what  are  known  as  Ratri-sattras  or  hatri-kratus,  i.e.,  Night- 
sacrifices,  numbering  one  hundred.  These  sacrifices  are 
quite  distinct  from  the  annual  Sattras  and  stand  as  a  separate 
group  by  themselves.  Mr.  Tilak  wonders  why  this  should 
have  been  so,  and  explains  their  isolation  in  his  own  way  by 
saying  that  they  were  really  performed  during  the  period  of 
the  long  Arctic  night  ^which  must  have  given  them  their 
name),  extending  for  more  than  three  months.  Let  us  here 
quote  his  own  words  :  "Now  an  important  question  in  con- 
nection with  these  Sattras  is  why  they  alone  should  be 
designated  wzg^-sacnfices  (rdtri-kratus)  or  wzg^- sessions 
(rdtri-sattras]  ?  an<)  uhy  their  number  should  be  hundred  ? 
or  in  other  words,  why  are  there  no  «/^/z/-sattras  of  longer 
duration  than  one  hundred  nights  ?  The  Mim&msakas  answer 
the  first  part  of  the  question  by  asking  us  to  believe  that  the 
word  'night'  (r&trih)  is  really  used  to  denote  'a  day'  in  the 
denomination  of  sacrifices.  (Sabara  on  Jaimini  viii.  i,  17). 
The  word  Dvi-rdtra>  according  to  the  theory,  means  two 

1  In  a  later  age  the  sleep  of  Hari  or  the  Sun  was  extended  from  two  and 
three  to  four  months,  ending  on  the  nth  day  of  growing  moon  of  the  month 
of  Kftrtika,  when  he  is  said  to  awake  from  his  sleep.  This  extension  was 
logically  made  to  cover  the  late  extension  of  the  autumn  rains  till  the  month 
of  Kirtika,  after  which  there  is  settled  fair  weather.  This  period  is  known 
as  Cdturmdsya. 


510  EGVEDIC  INDIA,  [CHAP. 

days'  sacrifice,  and  Sata-rAtra,  a  hundred  days'  sacrifice. 
This  explanation  appears  very  good  at  first  sight,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  has  been  accepted  by  all  writers  on  the 
sacrificial  ceremonies.  In  support  of  it,  we  may  also  cite  the 
fact  that  as  the  moon  was  the  measurer  of  time  in  ancient 
days,  the  night  was  then  naturally  more  marked  than  the  day, 
and  instead  of  saying  *?o  many  (iay^,/  men  often  spoke  of  4so 
many  nights'  much  in  the  same  way  as  we  now  use  the  word 
'fort-night. '  This  is  no  doubt  good  so  far  as  it  goes  ;  but  the 
question  is  why  should  there  be  no  Soma-sacrifices  of  a  longer 
duration  than  'one  hundred  nights,1  and  why  a  gap,  a  serious 
gap,  is  left  in  the  series  of  Soma-sacrifices  after  one  hundred 
nights'  Sattra  until  we  come  to  the  annual  Sattra  of  360  days. 
Admitting  that  'night'  means  'day/  we  have  some  sacrifices 
lasting  from  i  to  100  days,  and  if  so,  where  was  the  harm  to 
complete  the  series  until  the  yearly  Sattra  of  360  days  was 
reached?  So  far  as  I  know,  no  writer  on  sacrificial  ceremonies 
has  attempted  to  answer  this  question  satisfactorily.  Of 
course,  adopting  the  speculative  manner  of  the  Brihmanas, 
we  might  say  that  there  are  no  Soma-sacrifices  of  longer  than 
one  hundred  nights'  duration,  because  the  life  of  a  man  cannot 
extend  beyond  a  hundred  year  (Tait.  Bra  ,  iii.  8.  16.  2).  But 
such  an  explanation  can  never  be  regarded  as  satisfactory, 
and  the  Mimamsakas  who  got  over  one  difficulty  by  interpret- 
ing (  night'  into  '  day/  have  practically  left  this  latter  question 
untouched,  and,  therefore  unsolved.  In  short,  the  case  stands 
thus:  the  sacrificial  literature  mentions  a  series  of  99,  or 
practically  oiid  hundred  Soma-sacrifices  called  *  the  night- 
sacrifices/  but  these  do  not  form  a  part  of  any  annual  Sattra, 
like  the  Gavjim-ayanam,  nor  is  any  reason  assigned  for  their 
separate  existence,  nor  is  their  duration  which  never  exceeds 
a  hundred  nights  accounted  for  Neither  the  authors  of  the 
BrAhmanas,  nor  those  of  the  Srauta  SQtras,  much  less  Siya^a 
and  YAska  give  us  any  clue  to  the  solution  of  the  question  ; 
and  the  Mim&ipsakas,  after  explaining  the  word  '  night/ 
occurring  in  the  names  of  these  sacrifices  as  equal  to  '  day/ 


XXII.]  GAVAMAYANAM.  511 

have  allowed  these  night-sacrifices  to  remain  as  an  isolated 
group  in  the  organized  system  of  Soma-sacrifices.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  would,  no  doubt,  appear  presumptuous 
for  any  one  to  suggest  an  explanation,  so  many  centuries  after 
what  may  be  called  the  age  of  Sattras.  But  I  feel  that  the 

Arctic     theory not     only    explains,    but   appropriately 

accounts  for  the  original  existence  of  this  isolated  series  of  a 
hundred  Soma-sacrifices."1 

For  my  part,  I  would  not  venture  to  offer,  like  Mr.  Tilak, 
a  new  theory  to  explain  the  apparently  insoluble  problem  ; 
but  we  shall  try  to  understand  from  the  very  scheme  of  the 
Sattras  in  ancient  India  why  the  night-sacrifices  extended  to 
100  days.  We  have  seen  that  the  Navagvas  originally 
performed  the  Sattras  of  Gav&m-ayanam  for  nine  months  till 
the  advent  of  the  rainy  season,  when  its  session  closed. 
Three  months  and  a  few  days  more  intervened  between  the 
close  of  this  Sattra  and  the  day  from  which  it  was  commenced 
again.  The  interval,  therefore,  roughly  consisted  of  99  or 
100  days.  Though  the  Gav&m-ayanam  came  to  a  close,  the 
sacrificers  felt  the  necessity  for  performing  another  sacrifice, 
known  as  the  Rdtri-Sattra  which  was  purely  a  Soma-sacrifice, 
with  a  view  to  strengthen  Indra  at  a  time  when  he  was  in  the 
very  thick  of  the  fight  with  Vala  or  Vftra,  and,  therefore,  most 
needed  the  help  of  Mantras  and  Soma  libations.  As  Mr. 
Tilak  has  himself  observed  :  They  "  (the  sacrifices)  performed 
their  sacrifices  for  ten  months  with  a  view  to  help  Indra  in 
his  war  with  Vala  ;  and  just  at  the  time  when  Indra  most 
needed  the  help  of  invigorating  songs  and  Soma  libations, 
are  we  to  suppose  that  these  sacrificers  sat  idle,  gave  up  thf 
sacrifices,  and  left  Indra  to  fight  with  Vala  alone  and  single- 
handed  as  best  as  he  could  ?  The  whole  theory  of  sacrifices 
negatives  suci\  a  supposition  "*2  We  are  in  perfect  accord 
with  these  observations  of  Mr.  Tilak.  The  sacrificers  having 

£     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  211-212. 
•     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p.  215. 


RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

performed  the  Gavim-ayanam  which  helped  Indra  to  overcome 
Vala  every  night,  thought  it  necessary  to  perform,  for  three 
months,  another  sacrifice  with  the  libations  of  the  Soma  juice, — 
the  invigorating  drink  that  Indra  was  extremely  fond  of — in 
order  to  help  him  to  successfully  fight  the  great  battle  with 
Vala  or  Vrtra,  which  lasted  continuously  for  three  months 
more  or  less,  and  on  the  momentous  issue  of  which  depended, 
as  it  were,  the  very  existence  of  the  world,  For,  Vrtra  had 
imprisoned  the  waters  in  his  capacious  cloud-body,  along  with 
the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  and  it  was  necessary  to  release  them 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  nay,  of  all  living  creatures.  The»e 
Sattras  theicforr,  formed  a  class  by  themselves,  and  were 
performed  solely  with  the  object  of  strengthening  Indra  in 
his  deadly  conflict  \ith  Vrtra.  The  Soma  plant,  moreover, 
grew  and  throve  during  the  rainy  season,  and  was  available 
in  large  quantities  for  the  performance  of  this  special  sacrific  - 
for  Indra.  Rv.  ii.  .'3,  i  says  :  "The  season  (of  the  rains)  is 
the  parent  (of  the  Soma  plant),  which  as  soon  as  born  of  her, 
enters  into  the  waters  in  which  it  grows  ;  thence  it  is  fit  for 
expression,  as  concentrating  (the  essence  of  the  water) ;  and 
the  juice  of  the  ^oma  is  especially  to  be  praised  (as  the 
libation  proper  for  Indra.)"  We  thus  see  why  and  when  were 
these  special  sacrifices  performed.  These  were  known  as 
Night-sacrifices  (  Vftn-kratus  or  Sattras)  because  the  days 
of  the  rainy  season  were  dark  and  were  like  nights.1  But 
these  special  sacrifices  were  probably  performed  both  in  the 
day  time  and  in  the  night  as  the  following  verse  (Rv.  v.  48,  3) 
will  go  to  show :  "  (Animated)  by  the  libations  offered  by  day 
and  night,  'Indra)  sharpens  his  vast  thunderbolt  against  the 
beguiler  (Vrtra); — he  whose  hundred  (rays)  attend  him  in 
his  own  abode  sending  away  and  bringing  back  (revolving) 
days."  Here  we  find  that  the  libations  are  offered  both  by 
day  and  night ;  and  Indra  who  appears  in  the  garb  of  the 
Sun  whose  rays,  in  consequence  of  the  obstruction  of  clouds, 
are  numbered  one  hundred,  instead  of  one  thousnd,  as  they 

*     Vide  Chapter  XXI  (ante). 


XXIL]  GAVAMAYANAM.  513 

are  not   strong— is   described   as   sending  away  and  bringing 
back  the  revolving  days,    which  clearly  proves  that  the  period 
of  Indra's  fight  with  Vytra  was  not  a  continuously  long  Arctic 
night,    but   consisted    of   ordinary   revolving   dark    days  and 
nights.     This    So  ma-sacrifice    may    also    have    been    called 
Rdtri-Sattra  for  another  reason.     "The  Aitareya    Br^hmana 
(iv.  5),    in    explaining   the    origin  of  this  sacrifice,  tells  us  that 
the  Asuras  had  taken  shelter  in    Night,    and    the    Devas,  who 
had  taken  shelter  in    Day,    wanted    to    expel    them    from  the 
dark  region.     But    among    the    Devas,  Indra  alone  was  found 
ready  and  willing  to  undertake    this   task  ;  and    entering  into 
darkness,    he,    with    the    assistance    of    metres,     turned    the 
Asuras    out    of    the    first    part    of  the  night  by  the  first  Soma 
libation,  while    by    means    of   the    middle    turn    (parydya)  of 
passing   the    Soma-cup,    the    Asuras    were    turned   out  of  the 
middle  part,  and  by  the  third  turn  out  of  the  third    or  the  last 
part  of  the  night.     The  threi*  Soma  libations,  here   spoken  of. 
are  all    made    during    the    night,    and    the    Br&hmana  further 
observes    that    there   is    no    other  deity  saveilndra  and\  the 
Metres    to    whom    they    are    offered     (Cf.    Apas.    Sr.     SQ., 
xiv.    3.    12).       The    next    section    of    the    Brcihmaaa    (iv.    6) 
distinctly    raises    the    question :  *  How    are    the    Pavamina 
Stotras  (to  be  chanted  for  the  purification  of    the  Soma  juice) 
provided    for   the    night,    whereas    such  Stotras  refer  only  to 
the  day,  but  not  to    the    night?'  and   answers   it   by   stating 
that  the  Stotras   are   the  same  for  the  day  and  the  night"*1 
The  above  account  applies  to  the  Atirdtra    sacrifice,  and  may 
be  said  to  apply  also  to  the  't&tri-Sattra.     In    that   case,  the 
Ratri-  $attra    was    performed    in    every   night    of  the  period 
during  which  the  rainy  season  lasted  in    order    to    strengthen 
Indra  in  his  fight  with  Vftra.       But  as  we  have  seen  in  Rv.  v. 
48,  3,    the   libations   of   the    Soma  juice  were  offered  both  by 
day  and  by  night  and  the  Aitareva  Brfthmana  (iv.  4)  says  that 
he  who   performs    the    Atirdtra  sacrifice,  does  so  for  both  day 
and  night.     We  may,  therefore,  take  it  that  the  R&tri-Sattras 

1     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  p.  213. 

65 


514  ROVED  1C  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

were  performed  by  d  iy  as  well  as  by  night  ;  and  we  shall 
easily  undei stand  the  necessity  for  this  d  >uble  performance 
every  day,  \\hen  we  rr member  that  Indra  was  in  the  thick  of 
the  fight  during  the  rainy  season,  and  the  stake  on  his  victory 
was  very  great,  which  necessitated  all  the  help  that  the  sacri- 
ficcrs  could  give  him.  Those  sacnficers,  however,  who 
performed  the  Gavam-ayanam  for  full  twelve  months, 
performed  this  special  ^dtri-  Sattra  at  night-time  only,  which 
must  have  been  the  origin  of  its  designation  We  thus  see 
that  the  performance  of  the  R&tri-^attra  had  nothing  to  do 
with  an  Aictic  nighi  There  is  only  one  long  night  for  three 
months  .somewhere  in  the  Arctic  region,  and  thr  counting  of 
one  kundtred  nights  w  uld  be  an  absurdity  unless  there  were 
corresponding  da\s  to  distinguish  them.  It  Satai&ua  is 
understood  in  the  same  s<-nse  as  we  understand  a  "  fortnight," 
it  would  imply  the  existence  of  a  hundred  couplrs  of  days 
and  mghts. 

The>e  "  hundred  nights  "  or  d  »y«  of  the  rainy  season  were 
looked  upon  as  the  hundred  forts  or  citadels  (f>urah)  of  Vftra  or 
oamvara,  which  Indra  broke  down  with  his  thunderbolt  (Rv. 
ii.  14,6;  ii.  19,6;  vi.  31,4;  viii  93,  2,  etc.)  The  word 
Samvara  (£amsBv\ater  +  vara=roncealer)  means  "one  who 
conceals  water/1  and  is  the  same  as  Vrtra  or  "the  em-eloper 
(of  wate*)"  Rv.  i  130,  7  sa\s  :  ''For  Puru,  the  giv^r  of 
offerings,  for  the  powerful  Divodftsa,  th  >u  Indra,  the  dancer 
(with  delight  in  battle  ,  hast  dr-stro\ed  ninety  cities',  dancer 
(in  battle-,  thou  ha^t  destroyed  them  for  tn<  giver  of  offerings. 
For  Atithigva,  the  dreadful  Indra  hurled  Samvara  from  off 
the  mountain,  bestowing  (upon  the  prince)  imrm  nse  treasure 
(acquired)  by  (his)  prowess;  all  kind-  of  wealth  (.icqnin  d) 
by  his  prowess."  Here  we  hav  mention  of  ninety  cities 
which  exactly  tally  \vith  tue  ninety  cloudy  days  that  inter- 
vened between  the  co  npletion  of  the  nine  months'  Sattra^ 
and  the  beginning  of  the  sacrifice  on  New  Year's  day.  Indra 
is  also  said  to  have  hurled  down  Samvara  from  the  mountain 
(girth).  Now  as  this  word  giri  or  far  vat  a,  is  synonymous 


XXII.]  GAVAMAYANAM.  5*3 

with  megha  or  cloud  (Y&ska's  NighunU,  i.  10),  the  hurling 
down  of  Samvara  fr>m  th«-  gift  means  that  he  was  thrown 
down  from  the  clouds,  and  the  rain-watrr  which  he  had 
imprisoned  v\as  s^t  free.  Samvara  was  therefore  killed 
during  the  rain\  season.  The  'Immense  treasure"  or  wealth 
that  was  bestowed  by  Indra  on  Atit  ngva  undoub.edly  refers 
to  the  bumper  crops  that  were  produced  in  consequence  of 
the  timely  fall  of  rains. 

The  last  portion  of  verse  3  of  the  same  hymn  has  bren 
translated  as  follows  :  *'H'  (In  ra)  opened  'he  doors  of  the 
waters,  the  sources  of  food,  when  shut  up  (in  the  clouds)  ; 
(the  sources  of)  food  that  were  spread  ^over  the  earth).11 

Wilson  comments  on  this  passage  as  follows  :  "fsaA 
parwrtak  is  the  reite'at  d  phras<-,  alluding  in  the  first  place, 
according  to  Sayana,  to  th<-  rains  shut  up  in  the  clouds,  and 
in  the  second,  to  the  see<U  shut  up  in  the  earth,  germinating 
on  the  tall  of  the  ram,  and  affording,  in  eith  -r  case,  kfood." 

In  verse  8  of  the  same  hymn,  it  is  related  that  Indra 
"tore  off  the  black  skin  (of  thr  aggressor/'  w  .ich  undoubtedly 
refers  to  black  clouds  In  Rv.  i.  129,  3  v\e  read  "Thou,  the 
destroyer  of  t-nerries),  piercr  st  every  run-confining  skin; 
thou  oveitakest,  hero,  every  flying  (mortal  cloud),  and  aban- 
donest  (it)  when  exhausted  (of  its  wat^r).1'  Here,  then,  is  a 
clear  explanation  of  what  is  understood  by  *'black  skin" 
which  is  nothing  but  ram-Confining  cloud.  Rv.  li.  -20,  7  also 
contains  the  same  idt-a  :  ''Indra,  the  shyer  of  Vftra,  the 
destroyer  of  cities,  has  scattered  the  bla.-k-sprung  servile 
(hosts)/1  meaning  the  clouds.  Elsr where,  the  clouds  have 
been  described  as  "the  pregnant  (rain-l  «denj  wives  of  Kf^na." 

In  Rv  ii.  19,  6  we  read  :  "  The  radiant  Indra  subjected 
to  Kutsa,  his  charioteer,  (the  Asuras)  Su^na,  A-u$a,  and 
Kuyaya,  and  for  the  sake  of  Divodisa,  demolished  the  ninety 
and  nine  cities  of  Samvara." 

In  verses  2  and  3  of  the  same  Sukta  we  read  :  "Exhi- 
larated by  the  b'oma  juice,  Indra,  armed  with  the  thunderbolt, 
severed  the  rain-confining  cloud,  where  up  oa  the  currents  of 


Si6  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

the  rivers  proceeded  (towards  the  ocean)  like  birds  to  their 
own  nests. 

"The  adorable  Indra,  the  slayer  of  Ahi,  sent  the  current 
of  the  waters  towards  the  ocean  ;  he  generated  the  Sun  ;  he 
discovered  the  cattle ;  he  effected  the  manifestation  of  the 
days  of  light." 

The  meaning  of  the  above  verses  is  clear.  The  clouds 
are  rent  asunder  by  Indra.  and  the  rains  fall  down  on  the 
earth,  swelling  the  rivers  which  carry  the  waters  to  the  ocean. 
After  the  clouds  are  dispersed,  the  cows  or  the  solar  rays  are 
discovered,  the  Sun  appears  in  the  sky,  and  bright  days 
follow.  These  are  the  feats  of  Indra,  and  he  performed  them 
by  demolishing  the  ninety-nine  cities  or  citadels  of  Samvara 
or  in  other  words,  by  overcoming  the  ninety  or  ninety-nine 
days  that  constituted  the  rainy  season. 

The  above  extracts  will  suffice  for  our  purpose,  as  they 
unmistakably  prove  that  the  great  conflict  between  Indra  and 
Vftra  or  Samvara  took  place  in  the  rainy  season,  and  not 
during  the  long  Arctic  night. 

Mr.  Tilak  says  that  this  conflict  took  place  in  the  nether 
world,  i.e.,  below  the  earth  or  on  the  other  side  of  it,  where 
Vftra  is  said  to  haveconfined  the  Sun,  the  Dawn  and  the  waters, 
i.e.,  the  invisible  aerial  waters,  with  whose  movement  was  inti- 
mately connected  the  movement  of  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn. 
But  the  following  verses  do  not  support  such  a  supposition.  In 
Rv.  i.  52,  6  we  read :  "  When,  Indra,  thou  hadst  smitten  with 
thy  thunderbolt  the  cheeks  of  the  wide-extended  Vftra  who, 
having  obstructed  the  waters,  reposed  in  the  region  above  the 
firmament^  thy  lustre,  destructive  of  enemies,  extended  and 
thy  strength  became  effulgent."  Again,  in  Rv.  i.  80,  4  we 
read  :  "  Thou  hadst  struck  Vjtra  from  off  the  earth  and 
from  heaven  \  (now)  let  loose  the  wind-bound  life-sustaining 
rain,  manifesting  thine  own  sovereignty."  The  meaning  is 
that  Vjtra,  in  the  shape  of  dark  mists  near  the  earth,  and  of 
clouds  high  up  in  the  sky,  has  been  killed  by  Indra.  In  Rv. 
ii.  30,  3  again,  we  read  :  "  In  as  much  as  he  ( Vrtra)  had 


XXII.]  GAVAMAYANAM.  517 

spread  aloft  above  the  firmament,  Indra  hurled  against  him 
his  destructive  (thunderbolt).  Enveloped  in  a  cloud,  he 
rushed  upon  Indra,  but  the  wielder  of  the  sharp-edged  weapon 
triumphed  over  his  foe."  Rv.  ii.  n,  5  says:  "Indra,  here, 
thou  hadst  slain,  by  thy  powers,  the  glorified  Ahi,  hidden 
privily  in  a  cave,  lurking  in  concealment,  covered  by  the 
waters  in  which  he  was  abiding,  and  arresting  the  rains  in 
the  sky"  From  the  above  quotations  it  would  be  quite  clear 
to  our  readers  that  the  fight  between  Indra  and  Vjtra  took 
place  in  antar%ksa  or  the  sky,  and  not  in  the  nether 
regions. 

Indra  was  called  Satakratu,  2'.*.,  one  in  whose  honour  one 
hundred  sacrifices  had  been  specially  performed.  These 
sacrifices  were  as  we  have  seen,  the  Ratri-Sattras  or  night- 
sacrifices  which  were  specially  performed  with  a  view  to 
strengthen  Indra  in  his  fight  with  Vjtra,  either  in  the  nights 
of  the  rainy  season,  or  both  in  the  nights  and  days  of  that 
season  which  was  compared  to  rdtrih  or  night  on  account 
of  the  concealment  of  the  Sun  behind  the  clouds.  We  have 
also  seen  that  Indra  demolished  90,  99  or  100  cities  or  fort- 
resses of  Vftra  which  we  have  identified  with  the  cloudy 
days  of  the  rainy  season,  Mr.  Tilak  says  that  as  the  word 
deva-purah  which  means  "  the  fortresses  of  the  Gods  "  has 
been  interpreted  to  mean  "  days "  in  the  description  of 
the  Da$a-ratra  sacrifice  in  the  Taittrlya  Samhitci  (vii.  2. 
5.  3-4),  the  purah  (cities  or  fortresses)  of  Samvara  or  Vftra, 
may  well  be  taken  to  mean  "  nights."  We  have  no  objection 
to  take  this  view,  as  the  days  of  the  rainy  season  were 
compared  to  darkness  and  nights.  That  these  99  days  were 
rainy  days  would  appear  from  their  comparison  with  streams 
which  Indra  "  traversed  like  a  swift  hawk"  (Rv.  i  3^,  4). 
The  verse  immediately  preceding  it  clearly  indicates  that 
the  fighting  took  place  in  the  rainy  season :  4<  Neither  the 
lightning,  nor  the  thunder,  nor  the  rain  which  he  showered, 
nor  the  thunderbolt  harmed  Indra  when  he  and  Ahi  fought, 
and  Maghavat  (Indra)  triumphed  also  over  other  attacks," 


5*8  *GVED1C  INDIA.  [CHAT* 

The  rainy  days,  however,  did  not  constitute  one  long  Arctic 
night,  but  thry  were  ordinary  revolving  days  and  nights  as 
we  have  se^n  in  Rv  v.  48,  3  From  these  eviil  nces  it  is 
clear  that  the  l\&tri-\attraSi  performed  during  the  rainy 
season,  were  so  called,  because  the  days  were  dark  like 
nights,  or  because  a  special  sessi  m  of  night-sacrifices  was 
held  during  this  season  to  make  Ind™  strong  and  victorious 
over  the  Asuras.  The  performance  of  these  sacrifices  does 
not,  in  any  way,  indicate  that  the  Arvans  once  lived  in  the 
Arctic  region  where  the  night  was  three  months  I  >ng. 

Mr.  Tilak  lastly  refers  to  the  Av^stic  legend  of  the  fight 
between  Tistrya,  the  star  of  r-*in,  and  Apaoja,  demon  of 
drought,  which  is  an  exact  parallel  of  the  Vedir  legend  of  the 
fight  between  Indra  and  Vjrtra.  "  In  the  RgveHa,"  says 
Mr.  Tilak,  "the  fight  of  Ind™  with  Vrtra  (Vrtra-turya)  is 
often  represented  as  a  s-ruggle  for  waters  (dp-turya)  or 
as  'the  striving  for  cows'  (go~isti)  or  *  the  striving  for  day* 
(dtV'isti),  and  Indra  is  said  to  have  released  the  cows  or 
waters  and  brought  on  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  by  killing 
Vrtra  (Rv.  i  51,  4  and  ii.  19,  3).  Now  Indra  as  Vrtrahan 
appears  as  Veret*aghna  in  the  Avesta ;  but  the  fight  for 
waters  is  therein  ascribed  not  to  Veretraghna  but  to  Tistrya, 
the  star  of  rain.  It  is  he  who  knocks  down  Ai>ao?a  and 
liberates  the  wate»s  for  the  bent-fit  of  man  '  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  \\inds,  and  the  light  that  dwells  in  the 
waters.'  In  short  Ti^trya's  conquest  over  Apao^a  is  an 
exact  parallel  of  Indra's  conquest  over  Vrtra  as  described  in 
the  Rgveda  ;  and,  as  the  legends  are  int*  rpreted  at  present, 
they  are  said  to  refer  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  clouds,  <ind 
the  bringing  on  of  the  rains  on  the  earth,  Ti?trya  being 
supposed  to  be  the  star  of  r.iin.  Biu  this  theory  fails  to 
account  for  the  fact  how  the  rrcovrrv  of  the  Dawn  and  the 
rising  of  the  Sun,  or  the  bringing  on  of  light,  were  included 
amongst  the  effects  of  Indra*s  victory  over  Vftra."  We  do 
not  see  how  and  why  the  theory  fails  in  this  respect.  When 
or  Apaofa  is  vanquished,  the  waters  are  set  free  from 


XXIf.]  GAVAMAYANAM.  519 

the  clouds  and  with  the  disappearance  of  the  clouds  in 
autumn,  the  Dawn  am)  the  Sun  are  also  released,  and  they 
shine  as  hrightly  a*  they  did  before  thernns  We  have 
already  quoted  enough  evidence  from  the  Rgvvda  to  prove 
these  facts.  As  in  the  case  of  Indra,  so  in  that  of  Tijtrya 
also,  the  Haoma  was  periornud  u  for  one  night,  or  two  nights, 
or  fifty  or  hundred  nights"  Yt.  viii  1 1),  when  he  appeared 
and  fought  with  Apao9a.1  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  fight 
brtwren  Tist»ya  and  Apaoja  took  place,  like  the  fight  between 
Indra  and  Vrna,  in  ihr  iainy  season,  and  not  during  the  long 
Arctic  night,  for  "one  nLht"  as  mentioned  in  the  Parsi 
Scripture  do^s  not  nrcr^sarily  mean  a  night  of  24  hours' 
duration  It  is  probable  that  the  sacrifice  performed  in 
honour  of  Ti?tr\a  was  held  in  the  nigH,  a-*  it  was  done  by  the 
Vedic  Aryans,  and  hence  'mght^'  instead  of  Mays'  has  been 
mentioned.  Ii  is  r^maikable  that  the  Avesta  does  not  men- 
tion  the  retrace  of  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  as  probably  the 
rainy  s-eason  was  not  *o  continuous  in  Airyana  Vaejo  as  it 
was  in  Sr»pta-Sindhu  which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  girded 
about  by  oreans,  and  therefore  had  a  more  copious  rainfall, 
and  a  longer  duration  of  rlouds  than  the  home  of  the  Iranians. 
This  may  also  account  for  the  fact  that  the  Haoma  sacrifice 
was  performed  by  the  followers  of  Zoroaster  "for  one  night, 
two  nights,  fifty  or  hundred  nights,"  according  to  the  scanty 
or  the  copious  nature  of  the  rainfall  in  Airyana  Varjo.  It  is 
not  at  all  conceivable  thai  within  the  same  province  and 
latitude,  the  Arctic  night  would  extend  from  one  night  to 
hundred  nights  The  very  fact  that  the  Soma  sacrifice  was 
performed  both  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  and  the  Zoroastrians 
and  that  the  Soma  plant  grr\\  now!. ere  rUe  excrpnn^  on  the 
H  malaya  and  in  Sapu-Smdhu  should  have  convinced  Mr. 
Tilak  of  the  absurdity  of  lu>  \rrtic  theor\. 


1  As  both  the  Vedic  Aryans  and  the  Iranians  performed  the  Soma 
sacrifice  and  as  the  Soma  plant  was  indigenous  only  to  the  Himalaya  and 
Sapta-Sindhu,  they  could  not  have  lived  in  the  Arctic  region. 


520  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Now  to  sum  up:  It  has  been  shown  that  (i)  the  dropping 
down  of  the  heavenly  jar  or  clouds  by  Indra  means  the  fall  of 
rain,  or  the  advent  of  the  rainy  season  after  ten  months  of 
drought ;  (2)  that  it  does  not  betoken  the  approach  of  the 
long  Arctic  night ;  (3)  that  the  Navagvas  and  the  Da£agvas 
were  two  classes  of  sacrificers  who  originally  performed  the 
Sattra  or  annual  sacrifice  for  nine  or  ten  months  respectively, 
but  afterwards  both  performed  it  for  ten  months ;  (4)  that 
they  rose  from  the  sacrifice  as  soon  as  the  cows  which  were 
no  other  than  the  months  or  the  days  of  the  year  had  grown 
horns  on  their  hrads,  i.e  ,  as  soon  as  clouds,  presaging  the 
approach  of  the  rainy  season,  appeared  on  the  horizon ; 
(5)  that  there  were  some  sacrificers  who,  instead  of  rising  at 
the  end  of  ten  months,  went  on  performing  the  sacrifice  for 
full  twelve  months  ;  (6)  that  the  object  of  the  sacrifice  was 
"water"  or  rains  which  were  supposed  to  have  been  imprison- 
ed by  Vftra  or  Susna,  and  to  release  which  was  invoked  the 
aid  of  the  powerful  Indra  by  mantras  and  the  performance  of 
the  Soma  sacrifice  ;  (7)  that  these  clouds  were  compared  to 
darkness  on  account  of  their  black  colour,  and  the  cloudy 
days  to  nights,  because  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  lay  hidden 
behind  the  clouds ;  (8)  that  as  the  Asuras  became  powerful  at 
night  and  as  the  rainy  days  were  compared  to  nights,  a  special 
Soma  sacrifice,  called  R&tri-Sattra  or  night-sacrifice,  was  per- 
formed, probably  both  by  day  and  by  night,  for  ninety  to  one 
hundred  days,  with  a  view  to  strengthen  Indra  in  his  fight  with 
Vjrtra  who  had  imprisoned  in  his  cloud-body  the  waters,  the 
solar  rays,  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  himself ;  (9)  that  this  fight 
was  undertaken  by  Indra  to  release  them  from  the  clutches 
of  Vrtra  for  the  benefit  of  all  living  creatures;  (10)  that  the 
annual  Sattras  known  as  Givam-ayanam,  AngirasAm-ayanam, 
Adityftnlm-ayanam,  etc.,  were  commenced  soon  after  the 
cessation  of  rains  in  autumn  from  the  thirteenth  day  of  the 
bright  portion  of  the  lunar  month  of  Af  vina,  and  completed 
by  the  Navagvas  on  the  i  ith  day  of  the  bright  portion  of  the 
lunar  month  of  Asddha,  i.e.,  the  day  on  which  Hari,  according 


XXIL]  GAVAMAYANAM.  531 

to  later  Pauranic  legend,  goes  to  his  sleep  for  four  months 
on  the  back  of  the  Se?a  serpent  in  the  Ksiroda-Samudray 
and  by  the  Dagagvas  op  the  nth  day  of  the  bright  portion 
of  the  lunar  month  of  Sravaaa  j  ( 1 1)  that  the  year  in  ancient 
India  was  computed  not  by  months  and  weeks,  as  at  present, 
but  by  a  set  scheme  or  arrangement  of  the  annual  Sattra  ; 
(12)  that  the  present  Navar&tra  Vrata  or  the  Durga  Ptfj£ 
festival  marked  the  end  of  the  old  and  the  beginning  of  the 
new  year  in  ancient  Rgvedic  India,  and  are  merely  the  relic? 
of  the  Dafardtra  and  the  Mah&vrata  ceremonies  qf  the 
Gavam-ayanam  ;  (13)  that  the  90  or  100  Rdtri-Sattras  cor- 
responded to  the  same  number  of  the  rainy  days  which  were 
regarded  as  so  many  fortresses  of  Vrtra,  that  Indra  broke 
down  with  his  thunderbolt;  (14)  that  Indra  derived  his 
epithet  of  Sata-kratu  from  the  fact  that  the  hundred  Soma- 
sacrifices  known  as  Katri-Sattras  were  performed  solely  in 
his  honour  with  a  view  to  strengthen  him  in  his  fight  with 
Vjtra;  (15)  that  these  sacrifices  were  distinct  and  separate 
from  the  annual  Sattras  performed  either  for  ten  or  twelve 
months ;  (16)  that  the  year  of  the  Vedic  or  the  Roman  Calendar 
never  consisted  of  ten  months,  as  wrongly  supposed  by 
Mr.  Tilak,  but  of  twelve  months  ;  and  as  the  two  months  of 
the  rainy  season  were  left  out  of  reckoning  in  ancient  India 
so  far  as  the  annual  Sattra  performed  by  certain  sacrificers 
was  concerned,  so  did  the  old  Romans  also  leave  out  of 
reckoning  the  two  winter  months  of  snow,  ice,  and  rain, 
although  they  were  not  sacrificers  in  the  strictest  sense  of 
the  term;  (17)  that  the  Avestic  legend  of  the  fight  between 
Ti?trya,  the  star  of  rain,  and  Apaofa,  the  demon  of  drought, 
is  an  exact  parallel  of  the  Vedic  legend  of  the  fight  between 
Indra  and  Vrtra  ;  (18)  that  both  the  legends  refer  lo  the  rainy 
season,  and  not  to  a  long  Arctic  night;  (19)  tb.it  as  both  the 
Vedic  and  Avestio  sacrifices  were  accompanied  by  the  Somaar 
the  Haoma  sacrifice,  and  as  the  Soma  plant  was  indigenous 
to  the  Himalaya  and  Sapta-Sindhu  only,  the  ancient  Aryan* 
could  not  have  lived  in  the  Arctic  region ;  and  lastly  (20) 
that  Mr,  Tilak's  attempt  to  prove  the  Arctic  home  of  the 
ancient  Aryans  from  these  evidences  has  failed. 

66 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

EXAMINATION  OF  Mr.  TILAK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLE  OF 
THE  ARYANS  (continued). 

VEDIC  MYTHS— THE  CAPTIVE  WATERS. 

In  the  previous  chapters  we  have  examined  what  Mr. 
Tilak  has  termed  the  direct  Vedic  evidences  which  in  their 
cumulative  effect  go  to  prove,  in  his  opinion,  the  Arctic  home 
of  the  ancient  Aryans.  But  we  have  seen  that  they  prove 
any  thing  but  an  Arctic  home.  The  night,  the  day,  the  Dawn, 
the  Sun,  the  months  and  the  seasons  have  not  in  any  of  them 
the  Polar  or  Circum-polar  characteristics.  Nor  do  the  annual 
SattraSt  and  the  Rdtn-Sattras  prove  the  existence  of  a  long 
Arctic  night  extending  from  two  to  three  months.  We  have 
setn  that  what  Mr.  Tilak  calls  a  lon^  night  was  nothing  but 
the  rainy  season,  during  which  the  long  fight  between  Indra 
and  Vftra  took  place.  It  would,  indeed,  be  futile  to  pursue 
any  further  Mr.  Tilak's  arguments  in  support  of  his  pet 
theory;  but  as  he  thinks  that  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
Vedic  myths  in  the  light  of  his  theory  would  be  found  a 
strong  corroborative  evidence  in  support  of  it,  we  propose 
to  follow  him  up  to  the  end.  This  process,  though  somewhat 
tedious  and  trying  to  our  readers,  would  nevertheless  help 
them  to  obtain  a  clear  insight  into  the  real  import  of  the 
Vedic  myths,  and  a  glimpse  of  the  mentality  that  tried  to 
grasp  and  explain  the  surrounding  phenomena. 

It  is  customary  with  many  Indians, — even  men  of  light 
and  education  among  them — to  think  that  it  is  the  European 
scholars  who,  with  the  deliberate  object  of  detracting  from 
the  value  of  the  Vedas  as  a  holy  and  highly  spiritual  Scripture, 
first  broached  the  Dawn  or  the  Solar  theory  and  the  Storm 
theory  to  explain  many  a  Vedic  myth.  But  it  will  be  a 
disagreeable  surprise  to  them  to  learn  that  these  theories  and 
others  had  actually  been  propounded  in  India  several 


XXIII.]  VEDIC  MYTHS. 


5*3 


centuries   before   the  Christian  era,    by  Indian  thinkers  and 
philosophers   themselves,    who    made  such  bold  speculations, 
and   showed   such    a   freedom    of   thought   as   would  not  be 
ordinarily  suspected,  and  that  the  European    scholars,  follow- 
ing  in    their    footsteps,    only   adopted   and   elaborated  them. 
For   example,    there    was   a   school    of    thinkers    called    the 
Aitthdsikas   who    believed   that    "  many    of    the  deities  were 
real  historical  personages   who   were   apotheosised    for  their 
supernatural  virtues   or   exploits.     Other    theologians  divide 
the  deities  into  Karma-devatds}  or  those  that-  have  been  raised 
to  the  divine  rank  by  their  own  deeds,  and  Ajana-devatas,  or 
those  that  were  divine  by  birth  ;  while  the  Nairuktas  (or  the 
Etymologists)  maintain  that  the  Vedic  deities  represent  certain 
cosmical  and  physical  phenomena,  such  as  the  appearance  of 
the  dawn,  or  the  breaking  up  of  the   storm-clouds  by    lightn- 
ing.    The    AdhyatnikiiS)    on    the    other  hand,  try  to  explain 
certain  Vedic  passages  in  their  own  philosophical   ways;  and 
there  are   others    who    endeavour   to  explain  Vedic  myths  in 
different    ways."1     We    are    not    here    concerned    with    the 
relative  merits  of  th^  theories  of  the  different  schools,  but  we 
will  confine  ourselves  to  the  theorv  of  the    Nairuktas,  headed 
by    Y&ska,    who    have    tiied    to    rxplain    the  Vedic  myths  by 
saying  that  "  they  represent  either  tlie    diily  triumph  of  light 
over  darkness,  or    the   conquest   of   the  Storm-God  oyt-r  the 
dark  clouds  that  imprison  the  fertilizing  waters    and  the  light 
of  the  Sun."     The  struggle  between  Light  and  Darkness  is  a 
daily   occurrence,    and    Light    triumphs  over  Darkness  every 
morning,  as  it  is  itself,  in    turn,    overwhelmed   by    the    latter 
every  night.     Light  is  represented  by  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun, 
and    darkness    by    Vftra    who     encompasses     them    every 
night   with   his    dark    expansive    body.      Indra,    the   A-vins 
and  Fire   help   to   release   them    from  the  clutches  of  Vftra ; 
hence  it  is  necessary  to  stren^tlu-n  them  in  their  work  by  the 
daily  performance  of  Yajna  or  *-acrific<j,  which  formed  a  part  or 
unit  of  the   annual   Sattras   lasting    for    nine,  ten  or  twelve 
1    Tiltk'i  Arctic  ft*m*  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  237*238. 


534  l&VfeDIC  INEIA. 

months.  But  there  was  a  special  season  when  Vjrtra,  under  the 
name  of  Sujna,  Samvara,  etc.,  became  very  powerful  and  impri- 
soned the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  the  solar  rays  and  the  waters  for 
days  and  mouths  together,  causing  great  distress  to  all 
living  creatures,  and  Jndra  and  his  helpers  had  to  carry  on  a 
hard  and  arduous  struggle  with  Vftra  in  order  to  release 
them  from  his  grasp  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  Hence  arose 
the  necessity  for  performing  a  spfecial  Snttra,  called  Rdtri- 
Sattra,  with  a  view  to  strengthen  Indra  in  his  fight.  This 
struggle  is  explained  by  what  is  known  as  the  Storm 
Theory  ;  but  it  would  have  been  better  if  it  were  designated 
as  the  "  Rainy  Season  Theory.  "  Yaska  in  his  Nirukta  (ii.  16) 
asks  :  "Who  was  Vjtra  ?  -A  cloud,"  say  the  Nairuktas;  "an 
Asura,  son  of  Tvastf,"  say  the  Aitihdsikas.  "The  fall  of  rain 
arises  from  the  mingling  of  the  waters  and  of  light.  This  is 
figuratively  depicted  as  a  conflict.  The  hymns  and  the 
Brihmanas  describe  Vftra  as  a  serpfent.  By  the  expansion 
of  his  body,  he  blocked  up  the  streams.  When  he  was  de- 
stroyed, the  waters  flowed  fort^i  )l]  This  two-fold  character 
of  the  struggle,  viz  ,  the  ciailv  and  periodical,  is  well  explain- 
ed by  the  Dawn  or  the  Solar  theory,  and  the  Storm  or  the 
Rainy  Season  theory,  both  of  which  have  been  adopted 
almost  without  reservation  by  all  Western  scholars.  In  the 
hands  of  German  Mythologians,  the  Storm-theory  became 
almost  a  rival  to  the  Dawn-theory.  "Clouds,  storms,  rains, 
lightning  and  thunder,"  observes  Professor  Kuhn,  "were  the 
spectacles  that  above  all  others  impressed  the  imagination  of 
the  early  Aryans  and  busied  it  most  in  finding  terrestrial 
objects  to  compare  with  their  ever-varying  aspects.  The  be- 
holders  Were  at  home  on  the  earth,  and  the  things  on  the 
earth  were  comparatively  familiar  to  them  ;  even  the  Comiflg 
and  going  of  the  celestial  luminaries  might  often  be  regarded 

1   Mr,  ^aigamakandam,  II.  16  .—          jft    ^    ^f    ff?f 


ifWIfti 


VfefclC  MffHfc. 

by  them  with  more  composure  because  of  their  regularity  ; 
but  they  could  never  surcease  to  feel  the  liveliest  interest  to 
these  meteoric  changes,  so  lawless  and  mysterious  in  thiir 
visitations,  which  wrought  such  immediate  and  palpable 
effects  for  good  or  ill  upon  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the 
beholders."1  Hence  was  the  necessity  for  performing  tB6 
special  sacrifice,  known  as  Rdtri-Sattra. 

There  is  another  theory,  propounded  by  European 
bcholarb,  which  is  called  the  Spring  or  Vernal  theory,  by 
which  they  seek  to  explain  some  Vedic  myths.  But  this  theory 
was  not  put  forward  by  Yaska  and  other  Indian  Nairuktas 
probably  because  "the  contrast  between  spring  and  winter 
was  not  so  marked  as  in  the  countries  still  further  north." 
These  myths,  however,  can  also  be  well  explained  by  the 
Storm  or  Rainy  Season  theory,  as  we  shall  show  later  on. 

"The  struggle  between  Indra  and  Vftra,"  says  Mr.  Tilak 
"is  represented  in  the  Vedas  as  four-fold  in  character.  First ^ 
it  is  struggle  between  Indra  and  Vrtra,  the  latter  of  whom 
appears  also  under  the  names  of  Namuci,  Sujna,  Samrara, 
Vala,  Pipru,  Kuyava  and  others.  This  is  Vrtra-turya  or 
the  fight  cr  struggle  with  Vrtra.  Secondly,  it  is  fight  for  the 
waters,  which,  either  in  the  form  of  Sindhus  (rivers)  or  as 
dpah  (simple  floods),  are  often  described  as  released  or 
liberated  by  the  slaughter  of  Vftra.  This  is  Apa-turya,  or 
the  struggle  for  waters ;  and  Indra  is  called  Apsu/it  or 
conquering  in  the  waters,  while  Vrtra  is  described  as  en  com- 
passing  them  (dpah  pari&ayanam).  Thirdly,  it  is  a  struggle 
to  regain  the  cows  (go-isti]  ;  and  there  are  several  passages 
in  the  Rgveda  where  the  cows  are  said  to  have  been  released 
by  Indra  after  having  overthrown  Vrtra.  Fourthly,  it  is  a 
fight  to  regain  the  day-light  or  heaven  called  div-isti,  or  the 
striving  of  day ;  and  in  many  places,  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn 
are  said  to  be  brought  out  by  Indra  after  killing  Vftra."2 

*   Max  Miiller's  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language^  Vol.  II,  p.  566. 
»   Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas,  pp.  347-48. 


526  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Elsewhere  he  says  :  "  There  are  four  simultaneous  effects 
said  to  have  been  produced  by   the   conquest   of    Indra    over 
Vftra,  namely  (a)  the  release  of  the  cows,  (£)  the  release  of  the 
waters,  (c)  the  production  ot  the  Dawn  and    (d)    the   produc- 
tion of  the  Sun.  Let  us  now    see    whether    the    Storm-theory 
satisfactorily  explains  the  simultaneous    production    ot    ttie=>e 
results  from  the  destruction  of   Vrtra.     Vjrtra   is    a   cloud,    ,i 
storm-cloud,  or  a  rain-cloud,    hovering    in    the    sky,    and    by 
smiting  it  with  his  thunderbolt  Indra  may  well    be    described 
as  releasing  the  waters  imprisoned   therein.     But    where   are 
the   cows   which    are    said    to   be    released    along    with    the 
waters?     The  Nairuktas    interpret    cow<?    to    mean    waters; 
but,  in  that  case,  the  release  of  the    waters,    and    the    release 
of  the  cows  cannot  be  regarded  as  two  distinct    effects.     The 
recovery  of  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun,    along    with    the    release 
of  waters,  is,  however,  still  more  difficult    to    explain   by   the 
storm-theory,  or  we  might  even    say    that   it    cannot    be    ex- 
plained at  all.       Rain-clouds    may    temporarily    obscure    the 
Sun,  but  the  phenomenon  is  not  one   which   occurs    regularly 
and  it  is  not  possible  to  speak  of  the  production  of  the  light  of 
the  Sun  as  resulting  from  the  breaking  up  of  the  clouds  which 
may  only  occasionally  obscure  the  Sun.     The  recovery  of  the 
Dawn,  as  a  prize  of  the    conflict    between    Indra    and    Vftra, 
simultaneously  with  the  release  of  waters  is,    similarly,    quite 
inexplicable  by  the   Storm-theory.     The   rain-clouds    usually 
move  in  the  heavens,  and  though   we    may   occasionally    find 
them  on  the  horizon,  it  is  absurd  to  say  that    by   striking   the 
clouds  Indra  brought  out  the  Dawn.     I  know  of    no    attempt 
made  by  any  scholar  to  explain  the  four  simultaneous   effects 
of  Indra's  fight  with  Vftra  by  any  other  theory  "  l 

As  I  have  already  said,  it  is  a  misnomer  to  call  the  Ap- 
turya  the  Storm-theory.  It  would  be  more  appropriate  to 
call  it  the  "  Rainy  Season  theory,"  by  which  alone  the  four 
simultaneous  effects  of  Indra's  conquest  over  Vftra  can  be 
explained.  Thunderstorms  are  occasional  and  do  not  occur 


250. 


XXHI.]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  5*7 

regularly.  Though  Vjtra  is  undoubtedly  the  cloud,  and  Indra 
releases  the  waters  by  striking  it  with  his  thunderbolt,  these 
occasional  clouds  only  indicate  the  gradual  gathering  of 
his  forces  by  Vjtra,  and  the  thunder-storms  the  fighting  of 
mere  skirmishes  on  the  borders,  before  the  real  battle  begins. 
When  Vftra  becomes  sufficiently  strong  and  powerful  and 
his  forces  (which  are  called  Vjrtrih  in  the  plural)  l  are  mar- 
shalled, he  expands  his  body  till  he  covers  up  the  entire  sky, 
and  envelops  the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  the  solar  rays,  and  the 
waters  in  one  dark  pall.  It  is,  then,  that  he  is  called  Vifva- 
rufa  (another  name  of  Vftra),  which  literally  means  Omni- 
form,  because  there  is  only  one  cloudy  form  over  the 
extensive  heavens  in  whichever  direction  we  may  turn  our 
eyes.  Even  in  these  days  of  scanty  rainfall,  and  recurring 
droughts,  the  sky  remains  overcast  with  clouds  for  days, 
weeks,  nay  months  together,  during  the  rainy  season,  without 
revealing  either  the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  or  the  solar  rays.  We  have 
already  shown  thai  the  four  seas  girding  about  Sapta-Sindhu 
in  ancient  times,  dense  and  large  masses  of  dark  clouds  hung 
about  or  covered  up  the  entire  sky  for  a  longer  period  than 
at  present.  The  rainfall  also  was  more  copious,  continuous 
and  lasting  than  it  is  now.  While  in  the  Rgvedic  times, 
the  Sarasvati  was  a  mighty  stream,  it  has  shrunk  into  an 
insignificant  rivulet  in  modern  times,  showing  that  rainfall 
has  gradually  become  scanty  in  the  Punjab  with  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  seas.  2  As  we  have  proved  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  the  real  rainy  season  lasted  in  ancient  Sapta- 
Sindhu  for  three  months  with  scarcely  an  interval  of  fair 
weatlier  or  a  bright  day,  when  the  days  looked  like  nights, 
and  the  nights  were  darker  still.  It  was  during  this  season 
that  Indra  fought  his  terrible  battles  with  Vjrtra,  and  after 
a  long  and  arduous  struggle,  succeeded  in  vanquishing  him 
and  laying  him  low.  With  the  defeat  of  Vjrtra,  the  imprisoned 
waters  were  released  from  his  cloud-body,  along  with  the. 

»  Kv  vii.  19,8 ;  vii.  83,9  ;  ix.  88,4 ;  x  83,  7. 

»  Kncy.  Brit.,  Vol.  II.  p.  688  (Ninth  Edition).  •    •     c     r.  a    u 


»SVi»ie  INPIA. 

captjye  Sun,  the  Dawn  and  the  solar  rays  (cows  or 
The  cows  were  not  the  waters  in  the  present  case,  as  Mr. 
Tilak  thinks  them  to  be,  but  solar  rays  (rafmayah)  as  the 
Nairuktas  have  explained  (Nir.  i.  5).  If  we  remember  these 
things,  it  will  not  at  all  be  difficult  for  us  to  understand 
how  the  fpur  simultaneous  effects  were  produced  by  Indra 
vanquishing  Vjtra.  With  the  defeat  of  Vytra,  the  confined 
waters  were  released  from  the  clouds,  the  clouds  disappeared, 
the  blue  sky  was  revealed,  and  the  beautiful  Dawn  and  the 
bright  Sun  reappeared.  It  is  only  by  identifying  Vjtra  with 
an  {isolated  cloud  which  Indra  disperses  in  a  season  other 
than  rainy  that  Mr.  Tilak  seems  to  have  got  his  ideas  confused. 
It  has  been  related  in  Rv  i.  32,  4  that  Indra,  by  killing  the 
first-born  of  the  clouds,  destroyed  the  delusion  of  the  deluders, 
and  then  creating  the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  and  t\\t  firmament,  had 
no  enemy  to  oppose  him.  This  "creating  of  the  firmanent" 
refers  to  the  revealing  of  the  bright  blue  sky  after  the  rains. 
A  similar  sentiment  has  also  been  expressed  in  Rv.  vi.  30,  5. 
AH  these  refer  to  the  long-protracted  and  dreadful  fight 
between  Indra  and  Vftra  during  the  rainy  season.  But  Indra 
has  also  to  fight  a  daily  fight  with  Vftra  for  overcoming  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  releasing  the  solar  rays  (cows), 
the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  from  the  demon's  grasp.1  As  Pro- 
fe$sor  Macdonell  says  in  his  Vedic  Mythology  "the  cows  (or 
the  solar  rays;  are  also  mentioned  along  with  the  Sun  and  the 
D^\vn  (i.  6,  5;  ii.  12,  7  ;  vi.  17,  5),  or  with  the  Sun  alone 
0-  7>  3  i*  »•  !9»  3?  x-  !38»  2)  as  being  found,  delivered,  or 
won  by  Indra."  This  was  the  result  of  his  daily  fight  with 
Vjtra  every  night  in  all  seasons  other  than  the  rainy.  The 
releasing  or  the  winning  of  the  waters  only  took  place  in  the 
rainy  season  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  rains  were  over,  the  Dawn, 
the  Sun,  and  the  solar  rays  were  revealed  or,  as  has  been 
said,  "  created "  by  Indra.  Thus  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  aforesaid  four  simultaneous  results  of  the 
long  and  arduous  struggle  between  Indra  and  Vftra. 

*   In   Rv.  vi.  30,  3  it  has  teen  said  that   Indra  daily  visits  tha  Sun, 
by  Vftn, 


XXIII.]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  5*9 

We  have  already  said  that  this  fight  took  place  in  Varsd 
(rainy-season),  and  as  Va*'S&  merged  into  Strad  (autumn), 
Vftra's  forts  were  called  S&radih  or  autumnal.  Moreover  as 
Vala  or  Vftra  was  killed  at  the  end  of  the  year  (f>ari*  atsare]^ 
the  year  really  ended  in  an«l  began  from  Sir.id  We  have 
shown  by  our  interpretation  of  thr  scheme  of  the  annual 
Sattra,  known  as  Gavdm-ayanam,  that  th«r  Vedic  sacrificial 
year  actually  began  on  and  from  the  twelfth,  or  the  thirteenth 
day  of  the  bright  portion  of  the  lunar  month  of  ASvina,  which 
was  in  the  heart  of  autumn.  The  year  too  was  called  Sarad, 
because  it  commenced  from  autumn,  and  was  said  to  have 
been  born  of  the  "  watery  ocean,"  probably  meaning  thereby 
the  rainy  season  (Rv,  x.  190,  2). 

But  Mr.  Tilak,  in  spite  of  evidences  to  the  contrary, 
examined  in  the  previous  chapters,  does  not  take  the  released 
waters  to  mean  the  real  w*ter^  that  we  see  and  use,  but 
imaginary  aerial  waters  over  which  the  Sun,  thf  Dawn,  and 
the  solar  rays  glided  like  boats.  With  the  sinking  of  these 
waters  below  the  horizon,  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  also  sank 
down.  It  was  then  th.it  Vrtra  encompassed  the  waters,  and 
with  them,  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  also.  Vrtra,  therefore, 
lived  below  the  horizon,  in  the  nether  region,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  tight  between  him  and  Indra 
took  place  in  that  region.  When  Vjrtra  was  killed,  the  aerial 
waters  were  set  free,  which  flowed  upwards,  through  the 
rocky  apertures  or  caves  broken  open  by  Indra  with  his 
thunderbolt,  and  with  the  appearance  of  these  waters  above 
the  horizon,  the  Sun,  the  Dawn,  and  the  light  also  became 
visible.  As  this  struggle  lasted  for  three  months,  Mr.  Tilak 
thinks  that  these  three  months  were  the  months  of  long  and 
uninterrupted  darkness  on  the  earth,  and  as  long  nights  occur 
nowhere  except  in  the  Arctic  region,  the  original  home  of 
the  Aryans  must  have  been  in  that  region,  This  interpreta- 
tion offered  by  Mr.  Tilak  appears  very  ingenious  at  first 
sight,  but  let  us  see  how  far  it  is  justified  by  the  evidences  put 
forward  by  him. 


530  * GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

In  the  first  place,  it  occurs  to  us  that  if  the  Sun  and  the 
Da^n  glided  over  the  aerial  wat<  rs,  the  obstruction  of  which 
b\  \ftra  caused  thtm  to  he  imprisoned  in  the  nether  regions, 
until  the  w.iters  uer^  SM  free  a^am  by  Indra,  the  same  thing 
would  happen  in  the  ca.se  of  ilu-  Moon,  the  stars  and  t^>e  other 
heavenly  bodies  also,  all  of  which  glided  over  the  aerial 
waters  like  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  and  rose  and  set  with  the 
rising  and  sinking  of  these  waters.  When  the  Sun  and  the 
Dawn  sink  below  the  horizon  for  months  in  the  Arctic  region, 
the  aerial  waters  also  sink  down  for  that  period,  and  are  kept 
imprisoned  by  Vjtra.  But  during  the  long  Arctic  night,  the 
Moon  and  the  stars  rise  and  set,  which  implies  the  existence 
of  the  flow  of  aerial  waters,  without  which  it  would  be 
impossible  for  them  to  rise  and  set.  Rv.  i.  105,  i  says  that 
the  Moon,  with  her  golden  rays,  has  been  gliding  along  the 
watery  firmament.  The  aerial  water,  therefore,  is  there,  and 
has  not  been  encompassed  by  Vrtra  in  the  nether  regions  on 
the  other  side  of  the  earth.  The  imprisonment  of  the  aerial 
waters  in  the  nether  regions  by  Vrtra  for  months  together 
would,  therefore,  be  a  mere  fiction,  unjustifiable  either  by 
reason  or  evidence.  We  admit,  no  doubt,  that  there  is 
mention  in  the  Rgveda  of  celestial  or  aerial  waters  (divy&h 
Apak)  as  well  as  of  terrestrial  waters  (Rv.  vii.  49,  2),  but  it 
is  the  celestial  waters  that  fall  down  on  the  earth  as  rain, 
and  are  released  by  Indra  (Rv.  vii.  49,  i)  from  the  clutches 
of  Vrtra  We  have  also  shown  thnt  Vftra  resided  in 
antar\k$a  or  the  «*ky  (Rv.  i.  52,  6);  and  he,  therefore, 
imprisoned  the  celrstial  wattrs  in  the  sky  with  his  expanded 
cloud-body.  There  is  absolutely  no  mention  of  the  nether 
regions  here.  Wallis  in  his  Cosmology  of  the  Rgveda  (p.  1 15) 
says  that  the  Vedic  bards  were  not  acquainted  with  the 
.  regions  below  the  earth,  and  that  everyting  which  is  described 
in  the  Vedas  as  occurring  in  the  atmosphere,  including  the 
movement  of  the  Sun  during  night  and  day,  must  be  placed 
in  the  regions  of  the  sky,  which  were  over  the  head  of  these 
bards.  Macdonell  also  has  adopted  this  view  in  his  Vtdic 


XXUi.]  VEOIC  MYTHS.  531 

Mythology.  But  Professor  Zimtner  refers  to  three  passages 
(Rv.  vi.  9,  i  ;  vii.  80,  I ;  v  81,  4)  to  prove  that  a  rajas  or 
region  beneath  the  earth  was  knov/n  to  the  V^dic  people. 
The  first  of  these  passages  says :  "  The  bright  day  and  the 
dark  day  (night)  roll  the  two  rajas  (regions)  by  the  well- 
known  paths "  These  rajas  were  not  necessarily  situated 
on  the  two  opposite  sides  of  the  earth  ;  but  one  was  placed 
above  the  other,  "  like  two  arched  curves  over  one's  head." 
The  Sun,  rising  in  the  east,  moves  on  the  rajas  near  to  the 
earth  towards  the  west,  and  reaching  the  westernmost  point, 
turns  back  along  the  other  rajas  which  is  dark  (krsna]  and 
placed  far  above  the  first  rajas,  till  he  reaches  the  eastern- 
most point  wherr  the  two  rajas  meet.  The  lower  rajas  is 
compared  to  the  biiglit  ocean,  travelling  along  which  the  Sun 
brings  day-light  In  Rv.  v.  45,  10  we  real:  ''The  Sun  has 
ascended  above  the  glistening  (bright)  witer;  as  soon  as  he 
has  mounted  his  bright-backed  steed,  sage  (worshippers)  have 
drawn  him,  like  a  ship,  across  the  sea."  This  may  refer 
either  to  the  bright  rajas^  or  to  the  Eastern  Sea  bordering  on 
Sapta-Sindhu,  from  which  the  Sun  was  been  to  rise  in  ancient 
times.  The  dark  rajas  has  been  mentioned  in  Rv  i  35,  2 
which  is  as  follows  :  "  Traversing  again  and  again  the  dark 
firmament  (Krs$enar<i/asd)<a.ro\i*\r\g  mortal  and  immortal,  the 
divine  Savitr  travels  in  his  golden  chariot  seeing  the  world." 
The  translation  of  the  next  verse  is  as  lollows  :  "  The  divine 
Savitr  travels  by  an  upward  (upper)  and  a  downward  (lower) 
path  ;  worthy  of  adoration,  he  travels  with  two  white  steeds  ; 
he  comes  from  a  distance,  destroying  all  sins,"  The  upward 
or  upper  path  in  the  above  verse  must  be  identified  with 
parAvata  (distant  region)  or  the  dark  rajas.  In  verse  9  of 
the  same  hymn  we  read:  "The  golden-handed  Savitjr,  the 
beholder  of  various  objects,  travels  between  the  two  regions 
of  kiave*  and  earth,  removes  diseases,  approaches  the  Sun, 
and  coders  the  skv  alternately  w*th  darkn?s*-and  light  "* 


33*  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [ClUF 

As  Savitf  is  said  to  travel  only  between  heaven  and  earth, 
anJ  covers  the  sky  alternately  with  light  and  darkness,  the 
two  rajas,  through  which  he  travels,  must  be  between  heaven 
and  earth,  the  one  above  the  other.  There  is  no  suggestion 
of  the  nether  regions  in  the  above  verses. 

In  ve  rse  7  of  the  same  In  mn,  the  poet  asks  :  u  Where  now  is 
the  Sun  ?  Who  knows  which  celestial  region  (katamo  dy&m)  his 
rays  now  illumine  ?  "  This,  of  course,  refers  to  the  Sun  of 
the  night  when  he  is  not  visible.  The  very  fact  that  the 
poet  supposes  him  to  illumine  some  celestial  region  proves 
that  the  dark  rajas  was  placed  high  up  in  the  heaven  and  not 
in  the  nether  region. 

In  verse  6  of  the  same  hymn  we  read :  kl  There  are  three 
heavenly  regions  (d)Avah);  two  are  near  the  Sun,  and  one 
leadb  to  the  dwelling  of  Yama."  The  dwelling  of  Yama  is  the 
place  where  men  go  after  death.  It  is,  therefore,  not  situated 
in  the  nether  region,  but  in  antatlksa  or  the  firmament. 

That  the  fight  between  Indra  and  Vftra  did  not  take 
place  in  the  nether  region,  but  in  the  firmament  (antarlksa) 
between  earth  and  heaven  has  been  amply  proved  in  the 
previous  chapters  (vide  discussion  on  Rv.  i.  52,  6.,  i.  80,  4, 
i-  56,  5.  6  &c).  It  is,  therefore,  quite  unnecessary  here  to 
repeat  and  discuss  the  Vedic  passages  bearing  on  the  subject. 
But  as  Mr.  Tilak  argues  from  other  evidences  that  the  fight 
did  take  place  in  the  nether  region,  it  will  be  very  interesting 
to  examine  the  correctness  of  his  arguments. 

In  Rv.  vii  104,  n  the  bard  prays  for  the  destruction  of 
his  enemy  and  says  :  (t  Let  him  (the  enemy),  bereft  of  body 
and  sons,  go  down  below  the  thiee  earths  "  (tisrah  pjthivlh 
adhah].  It  may  be  asked  what  is  meant  by  "  the  three 
earths  "  ?  We  have  an  answer  to  this  query  in  Rv  i.  108,  3 
\vhichisrenderedasfollous: — "Whether,  Indra  and  Agni, 
you  are  in  the  upper,  ce*t*al  and  lower  region  of  the  earth, 
come,  shoxverers  of  benefits,  hither  from  wherever  you  may 
be,  and  drink  of  the  offered  libations  "  The  upper  region  of 
the  earth  is  the  sky,  the  central  region  is,  the  Antarihsaor  mid- 


VEDIC  MYTHS.  535 

heaven,  and  the  lower  region  is  the  terra  firma  itself.  To  send 
one  down  4<  below  the  three  earths  "  does  not,  therefore,  neces- 
sarily mean  "to  send  one  to  the  other  (opposite)  side   of  the 
earth,"  but  it  may  as  well  mean  "  to  send   one   down    under- 
neath the  surface  of  the  earth,  as  into  a  deep    pit   or   cavern, 
full    of   darkness."      In    Rv.    x.    153,   4   we  read :  "  Let  him 
.  who  injures  us  be  sent    to    the    nether    darkness"  (adharam 
tamah),  and  in  Rv.  iii.  53,  a  we  have  :  "  Let  him   who  hates 
us  fall  downwards  "  (adhara A).     This   falling   downwards  is 
like  falling  into  a  deep  pit  or  well,  and   as   the   Vedic   bards 
were  well  acquanited  with  the  darkness  of  deep  pits  and  wells, 
jt  was  natural  for  them  to  curse    their   enemies,    saying   that 
they    might    go   down    into   the    inter-terranean    darkness. 
Mr.    Tilak    says   that   like   the  phrase  tisra  pfithivih  adkah, 
occurs  the  phrase  tisra  piithivlh    upari  in    the   $gveda,   as 
in  i.  34,  8,  where  we  are  told  that  "  the  A£vins,  moving  above 
the  three  earths,  protect  the    vault    or   top    of   heaven    (divo 
ndkam)  tktough  days  and  nights"  (dyuviraktuvih)  and    the 
Afvins  are  said  to  have   come   in    their   car   from    a    distant 
region  (pardvat)  in  the  preceding  verse  of   the   same  hymn. 
As    darkness  is   caused    by  a   luminary   sinking  below   the 
horizon,   and    as   the    A^vins   protect   the   vault   of    heaven 
through  days  and  nights^  they  remain  in  the    highest   heaven 
even  at  night,  and  the  distant   region    from    which   they   are 
said  to  come,  must  be  overhead  in  the  sky,    and   not   on   the 
other  side  of  the  earth  or  the  nether  region.    The  vault  of  the 
heaven    was   the    upper   region   of   the  three  earths  and  the 
inter-terranean  region,  as    revealed   in    pits   and    wells,   was 
Us  adhah,  which  does  not  imply  the  nether  region  on  the  other 
side  of  the  earth. 

Mr.  Wallis  says  that  since  rajas  is  said  to  be  divided 
three-fold  like  the  earth,  and  since  the  highest  rajas  is  men- 
tioned as  the  seat  of  waters,  there  is  no  scope  in  the  Vedic 
division  of  rajas  for  a  region  beneath  the  earth  ;  for  these 
rajas  are  exhausted  by  taking  them  as^he  rajas  of  the  earth' 
(pirthivam),  the  rajas  of  the  sky  (divo  rajas),  and  the 


highest  (paramam  rajas),  the  seat  of  waters.  "  But,"  says 
Mr.  Tilak,  "this  objection  is  quite  untenable,  in  as  much  as 
six  different  rajas  axe  also  mentioned  in  the  BLgveda  (i.  164,  6.) 
We  can,  therefore,  suppose  that  there  were  three  rajas  above 
the  earth,  and  three  below  it,  and  so  meet  the  apparent 
difficulty  pointed  out  by  Wall  is  "  Let  us  see  what  Rv.  i.  64,  6. 
says.  We  read:  "Ignorant  1  enquire  of  the  sages  (who  know 
the  truth),  not  as  one  knowing  (do  1  enquire),  for  the  sake  of 
(gaining)  knowledge :  What  is  that  One  alone  who  has  upheld 
these  six  spheres  (or  regions)  in  the  form  of  the  Unborn  ?  "  l 
How  does  Mr.  Tilak  infer  from  this  that  there  were  three  rajas 
above  the  earth  and  three  below  it  is  more  than  what  we  can 
understand.  In  Rv.  ii,  27,  8  we  read  :  "  They  (the  A'lityas) 
uphold  the  three  earths  (tisra  bhumih)  and  the  three  heavens'9 
(trih  dyim).  "  The  three  earths  "  have  been  explained  in 
Rv.  i.  108,  3  as  the  earth  (terra  firma),  the  antarlksn,  and 
the  upper  region  of  the  sky.  Above  these  are  the  three 
heavens  which,  with  the  first  three,  constitute  the  six  regions 
or  sat  rajamsi)  mentioned  in  Rv.  i.  164,  6.  These  were 
the  six  Lokas  on  and  above  the  earth,  viz  Bhuh  Bhuvah  Svah, 
Mahah)  Janah,  and  Tapah.  There  is,  therefore,  absolutely 
no  reference  to  any  regions  below  the  earth  The  use  of 
the  word  "  ascend"  (ud-ayan  or  ud-acarat)  in  Rv.  i.  163.  i 
and  vii.  55,7  to  describe  the  rise  of  the  Sun  in  the  morning 
from  the  ocean  does  not  signify  that  "  the  ocean  is  really 
an  ocean  undernsath  the  earth."  This  ocean  was  really 
the  ocean  to  the  east  of  Sapta-Sihdhu,  from  Which  the  Sun 
the  Dawn,  and  the  Moon  were  seen  to  rise,  as  there  was 
also  a  sea  to  the  west,  up  the  present  lower  valley  of  the 
Indus,  into  which  tliey  weie  seen  to  set.  These  deities  came 
from  the  distant  upper  region  by  the  dark  path,  and  dipping 
as  it  were,  into  the  Eastern  Sea,  ascended  the  lower  bright 
rajas  to  shed  their  light  on  the  earth  This  is  the  meaning 
of  "  ascending  "  referred  to  in  the  above  two  verses. 

1   RV.  i.  64,6    f^  ^*  fvtm  w«5  wr  Tntf%  ^wwr  ^%  ft^tftr 


XJHIL]  VECHC  MYTHS.  $3j 

We  have  seen  in  Rv.  i.  32, 6  that  there  are  three  heaven* 
ly  regions  (dydvah)  one  of  which  leads  to  the  dwelling  of 
Ytima.  The  region  where  Yama  ( Vatvasvata )  lives  is  a 
region  full  of  light  and  bliss  (Kv  ix.  113,  7  &  8).  But  the 
path  that  leads  to  it  is  dark,  and  lies  through  one  of  the  three 
celestial  regions,  which  must  also  be  necessarily  dark.  This 
is,  therefore,  the  Kr$$a  rajas  or  Nir-rti,  The  last  word  is 
a  compound  (Nir,  against  or  contrary  to,  and  rti,  right  or 
straight)  and  means  that  which  is  contrary  to  the  right  or 
straight  path  Prof.  Max  Miiller  explains  it  thus:  "  Nir-fti 
was  conceived,  it  would  seem,  as  going  away  from  the  path 
of  right,  the  German  Vergehen"  In  Rv.  i.  117,  5  the  Sun 
is  described  as  "  sleeping  in  the  lap  of  Nir-iti"  and  "dwell- 
ing in  darkness."  Nir-fti  was,  therefore,  dark.  In  Rv.  x. 
95,  14  occurs  the  follow  ing  :  "  May  he  sleep  in  the  lap  of 
Nir-fii,"  whii  h  means  that  he  may  die.  Thus  Nir-fti  was 
the  region  of  death  ;  and  in  Rv.  x.  161,  2  Nir-fti  has  been 
clearly  described  as  the  presiding  deity  of  death.  Henoe 
anybody  who  goes  to  Nir-fti  becomes  dead.  The  Sun, 
sleeping  in  the  lap  of  Nir-fti,  becomes  lustreless  and  almost 
dead,  because  he  goes  away  from  the  straight  path.  The  path 
of  Nir-fti,  therefore,  was  contrary  to  the  path  of  fta.  The 
Sun,  travelling  by  the  latter  path,  illumined  the  earth,  2U*d 
travelling  by  the  contrary  path,  became  lustreless  and,  dead. 

In  the  Aitareya  Biihmana  (iii.  14,6)  occurs  a  passage 
which  has  been  referred  to  by  Wallis  as  illustrating  how  the 
Sun  moves,  causing  alternately  day  and  night.  It  says  that 
the  ^un  nrver  sets  nor  rises  ;  but  when  we  think  that  he 
has  set,  he  simply  turns  himself  backward  along  the  upper 
region  (  par  as  t  At),  causing  night  in  the  lower  (abast&t]  and 
vice-versa.  Muir  has  translated  the  words  parastdt  and 
abast&t  by  "  upper  "  and  "  lower  "  respectively ;  but  Dr. 
Haug  understands  parast&t  to  mean  "  what  is  on  the  other 
side."  It  is  extremely  doubtful,  however,  as  we  have  seen, 
whether  the  Vedic  Aryans  had  any  conception  of  the  other 
side  of  the  earth. 


536  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Let  us  now  see  what  is  meant  by  "  the  celestial 
waters/'  (divydh  Apak)  mentioned  in  Rv.  vii.  49,  2.  In  that 
verse  is  also  mentioned  what  is  known  as  Khanitnmdh  dpah 
i.e.,  waters  that  flow  through  channels  of  the  earth,  either 
natural  or  artificial,  and  S^ayanjdh  dp  ih  or  self-generated 
waters,  t  *.,  waters  that  ooze  out  from  the  fountains  of  the 
earth.  The  last  two  are  terrestrial  waters,  while  the  first  are 
celestial.  The  celestial  waters  are  nothing  but  the  watery 
vapours  that  float  in  the  sky.  The  third  verse  of  the  same 
hymn  says  that  Varuna,  the  lord  of  waters,  residing  in  them, 
bears  witness  to  truth  and  untruth,  and  goes  to  antarlksa  or  the 
middle  region  of  the  sky.  This  means  that  the  watery  vapours 
are  collected  in  the  firmament,  rising  from  the  ocean  in  which 
Varuna  ordinarily  dwells,  (vii.  49,  4).  Rv.  vii.  87,  i  says  that 
the  divine  Varu^a  has  made  a  path  for  the  Sun  to  travel,  supplied 
the  rivers  with  waters  falling  down  from  the  firmammt,  and 
separated  the  nights  from  the  days.  Verse  2  of  th^  same 
hymn  says  that  Varuija's  wind  is  the  very  soul  of  the  universe, 
which  sends  the  waters  («*.,  the  watery  vapours)  to  all  the 
directions,  and  the  intervening  region  between  the  earth  and 
heaven,  occupied  by  him,  is  thr  most  favourite  place  of  all ; 
and  in  verse  5,  Varuna  is  said  to  have  created  the  Sun  like  a 
golden  cradle^  swinging  in  the  firmament,  and  the  three 
celestial  regions  are  centred  in  him.  From  the  description  of 
Varuna  it  appears  that,  though  he  ordinarily  dwells  in  the  ocean, 
he  also  loves  to  dwell  in  the  firmament  in  the  shape  of  the 
watery  vapours  which,  with  the  help  of  the  winds,  he  scatters 
around.  But  what  is  most  important  for  our  purpose  is  that 
Varuna  rocks  the  Sun,  like  a  golden  cradle,  in  the  middle  of 
the  sky  or  the  firmament.  The  rocking  or  swinging  of  a 
cradle  conveys  the  idea  of  its  moving  from  one  side  to  another, 
and  back  again  to  the  first  side, — which  is  the  same  as  the 
idea  of  the  Sun  going  from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  turning 
himself  back  again  to  the  east  through  the  upper  region.  As 
Mitra  was  the  lord  of  the  day,  so  Varuna  was  the  lord  of  the 
night.1  When  Varupa  made  a  path  for  the  Sun,  he  must 

W'$'l*fto**^^ 


XXIII.]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  537 

have  done  it  for  the  Sun  of  the  night,  and  this,  through 
antartksa,  or  the  firmament  which  also  was  his  favourite  place 
of  dwelling.  Rv.  i.  24,  8  says :  "  The  royal  Varuna  has, 
indeed,  made  wide  the  path  of  the  Sun  (by  which)  to  travel 
on  his  daily  course — a  path  to  course  on  in  pathless 
(firmament)."  As  Mitra  was  the  lord  of  the  day,  he  too, 
took  oare  to  make  the  path  of  the  Sun  for  his  daily  course 
in  the  day-time,  as  Varuj^a  did  for  him  in  the  night.  Verse  7 
of  the  same  hymn  says :  "  The  royal  Varuna  of  pure  strength, 
(residing)  in  the  baseless  firmament,  sustains  on  high  a  heap 
of  light,  the  rays  (whereof)  come  downwards,  while  their  base 
is  above."  This  probably  refers  to  Varuna's  Tree  which 
has  its  roots  above,  and  the  branches  downwards,  containing 
the  seeds  of  all  herbs  of  plants,  which  falling  on  the  earth 
with  rain-water  cover  it  with  vegetation  ;  or  it  may  refer  to 
the  Moon  who  is  called  Osadhin&tha,  or  the  lord  of  herbs. 
The  next  verse  says  :  "  Thine,  O  King,  are  a  hundred  and 
thousand  medicaments ;  may  thy  favour  be  extensive  and 
deep  ;  keep,  at  a  distance  from  us,  Nir-rtiy  with  his  face 
turned  back,  and  free  us  from  whatsoever  sin  we  may  have 
committed."  As  Varuna,  having  his  abode  in  antarlksa,  is 
asked  to  keep  Nir-jrti  at  a  distance,  with  his  face  turned  back, 
the  latter  also  was  in  antartksa,  and  not  below  the  earth, 
as  surmised  by  Mr.  Tilak.  It  is  thus  clear  that  the  Rgveda 
does  not  prove  the  existence  of  the  nether  regions ;  that  the 
Sun  and  the  Dawn  did  not  go  below  the  earth  with  the  aerial 
or  celestial  waters ;  and  that  Vftra  never  encompassed  the 
aerial  waters,  and  with  them,  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn,  in  the 
nether  world,  causing  a  long  night  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  The  watery  vapours  which  rose  from  the  ocean  of 
Varun,a  were  gathered  in  the  firmament,  and  it  was  there 
that  Vftra  encompassed  them  which  were  released  by  Indra 
during  the  rainy  season.  The  fall  of  the  rains  has  been 
described  as  the  winning  of  the  waters  by  Indra  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.  As  the  waters  were  enveleped  in  dark 
clouds  representing  Vftra,  the  dispersion  of  the  clouds  was 

68 


538  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

described  as  the  killing  of  Vrtra.  With  the  defeat  of  Vrtra,  the 
Sun  and  the  Dawn  and  the  bright  solar  rays  were  released. 
AH  these  feats  of  Indra  took  place  in  Varsa  and  the  begin- 
ning of  autumn  in  the  sky  overhead,  and  not  in  the  nether 
world. 

There  is  a  verse  in  the  Rgveda  (ii,  12,  u)  which  seems 
clearly  to  prove  the  exact  date  on  which  Indra  came  face  to 
face  with  Samvara  or  Vrtra,  and  killed  him  in  battle.  The 
verse  may  be  rendered  as  follows:  "  Indra  found  Samvara 
dwelling  on  the  mountains  (in)  Catv4rim£yam  Saradi."  Now 
the  last  two  words  have  been  translated  by  Sayana  and  others  as 
"  in  the  fortieth  year,"  by  making  the  first  an  adjective  to  the 
second.  But  this  is  quite  meaningless,  as  Indra  fights  his 
battle  with  Vrtra  or  Samvara  and  kills  him  at  the  end  of  every 
year.  Mr.  Tilak  has,  with  considerable  skill  and  cogent  argu- 
ments, interpreted  the  words  to  mean  "  on  the  fortieth  day  of 
autumn  or  Sarad,"  and  it  seems  to  me  that  his  inter- 
pretation is  correct.  The  fortieth  day  of  autumn  (Sarad) 
corresponds  to  the  tenth  day  of  the  bright  portion  of  the 
lunar  month  of  ASvina  (on  the  basis  of  calculating  a  lunar 
month  from  the  new  moon),  or  the  Vijaya  da$ami  day,  the 
day  which  is  still  celebrated  throughout  the  Hindu  world  in 
India  as  the  anniversary  of  the  victory  that  Rama  achieved 
over  Ravaaa.  But  Mr.  Tilak  is  clearly  wrong  when  he  says 
that  "  the  Vedic  bards  have  recorded  in  this  passage  the 
exact  date  of  commencement  of  Indrtfs  fight  with  Samvara." 
It  was  certainly  not  the  commencement  but  the  end  of  the 
fight,  when  Indra  came  face  to  face  with  Samvara  and  killed 
him.  The  battle  had  begun  three  months  ago  with  the  advent 
of  the  rainy  season.  Each  rainy  or  cloudy  day  was  like  a 
fort  of  Vrtra  or  Samvara,  which  Indra  had  demolished  in 
succession.  And  when  all  the  forts,  numbering  about  100, 
had  been  demolished,  Samvara  had  no  other  fort  or  stronghold 
to  hide  himself  in,  and  he  was,  therefore,  compelled  to  come 
out  into  the  open,  and  face  his  dreaded  enemy,  Indra,  who 
saw  him,  swiftly  engaged  him  in  a  face-to-face  combat,  and 


XXIIL]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  539 

killed  him  without  further  ado.  That  positively  marked  the 
termination  of  the  fight,  which  occured  on  the  fortieth  day  of 
Sarad,  at  the  end  of  the  year  (parivatsare).  The  Old  Year 
practically  closed  on  that  day,  and  the  New  year  commenced, 
after  some  preliminary  ceremonies,  two  days  later,  from 
which  the  annual  sacrifices  were  again  begun.  Mr.  Tilak  says 
that  Sarad  has  been  compared  in  the  Brahmanas  with  evening 
or  the  end  of  the*  dav  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  the  end  of 
the  Old  Year,  and  the  beginning  of  the  New.  It  is  said  that 
Indra  killed  Vrtra  with  hima  or  ice.  But  the  word  stands  as 
much  for  ice  as  for  dews,  and  the  copious  fall  of  dews 
decisively  marks  the  end  of  the  rainy  season,  and  is  only 
possible  when  there  are  no  clouds  in  the  sky.  Hence  it  is 
not  unreasonable  to  say  that  Indra  killed  Vrtra  with  hima}  i.e., 
as  soon  as  autumn  was  nearly  over,  and  Hemanta  or  the 
Dewy  season  made  its  appearance.  By  translating  the  word 
hima  into  "  ice/'  Mr.  Tilak  has  attempted  to  prove  that  Vrtra 
was  killed  in  winter  in  the  fight  which  had  begun  from 
autumn,  and  that  this  period  corresponded  to  that  during 
which  the  long  Arctic  night  brooded  over  the  land.  But  our 
readers  have  undoubtedly  been  convinced  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  Rgveda  to  suggest,  far  less  to  prove  this  theory.  The 
fight  actually  began  from  Varsd,  and  lasted  till  Autumn,  and 
this  period  was  called  dark,  because  the  Sun  all  this  time 
lay  hidden  behind  the  clouds,  thereby  proving  that  the  Rainy 
Season  in  the  Rgvedic  times  was  long  and  continuous,  with 
copious  downpourings  of  rain,  which  were  only  made  possible 
by  the  existence  of  large  seas  near  Sapta-Sindhu. 

With  regard  to  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Tilak  that  the  Sun 
and  the  Dawn,  etc.,  moved  in  the  sky  along  with  the 
movement  of  divydh  dpah  or  celestial  waters,  it  should  be 
observed  here  that  it  is  entirely  the  creation  of  his  fancy,  and 
is  not  supported  by  any  direct  Rgvedic  evidence.  "  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind,1'  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  that  the  correlation 
between  the  flow  of  water  and  the  rising  of  the  Dawn  and  the 
Sun,  here  described,  is  not  speculative.  If  the  Vedic  works  do 


540  SGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

not  express  it  in  unambiguous  terms,  the  deficiency  is  fully 
made  up  by  the  Par  si  Scripture"1  Though  this  admission 
is  extremely  damaging  to  his  theory,  let  us  see  what  the  Parsi 
Scripture  has  got  to  say.  In  the  Khorshed  Yasht  (vi.  2  &  3) 
we  are  told  that  "when  the  Sun  rises  up,  then  the  earth 
becomes  clean,  the  running  waters  become  clean... Should  the 
Sun  not  rise  up,  then  the  Daevas  would  destroy  all  the 
things  that  are  in  the  seven  Karshvares."  What  does  this 
extract  mean?  It  simply  means  that  theSun,  having  purifying 
attributes,  purifies  the  earth  and  the  running  waters.  It  does 
not  mean  anything  more  than  that,  nor  does  it  establish  any 
correlation  between  the  flow  ol  waters  and  the  rising  of  the 
Sun.  It  first  proclaims  the  Sun's  attributes,  and  then 
says  that  if  the  Sun  did  not  rise,  the  Daevas  or  the 
demons  would  destroy  everything.  But  Mr.  Tilak  says 
that  "  the  passages  in  the  Farvardin  Yasht  are  still  more 
explicit.  This  Yasht  is  devoted  to  the  praise  of  Fravashis 
who  correspond  to  the  Pitrs  of  the  Rgveda.  The  ancient 
fathers  are  often  described,  even  in  the  $>gveda,  as  taking 
part  along  with  the  Gods,  in  the  production  of  the  cosmical 
phenomena.3... The  Fravashis  in  the  Parsi  Scriptures  are  said 
to  have  achieved  the  same  or  similar  exploits.  They  are  de- 
scribed (Yt.  xiii.  53  &  54)  as  having  '  shown  the  beautiful 
paths  to  the  waters  which  had  stood  before  for  a  long  time 
in  the  same  place,  without  flowing '  ;  and  the  waters  are  then 
said  to  have  commenced  to  flow  along  the  path  made  by 
Mazda,  along  the  way  made  by  the  Gods,  the  watery  way 

appointed  to  them.  Immediately  after  (Yt.  xiii.  57)  the 
Fravashis  are  said  to  have  similarly  showed  '  the  paths  to 

the  stars,  the  Moon,  the  Sun,  and  the  endless  lights,  that  had 
stood  before,  for  a  long  time,  in  the  same  place,  without 
moving  forward,  through  the  oppression  of  the  Daevas  and 

1     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vcdas,  p.  270. 

*  In  the  Rgveda  the  Pitrs  are  said  to  have  adorned  the  sky  with  stars, 
and  placed  darkness  in  the  night  and  light  in  the  day  (x.  68,  n),  or  to  have 
found  the  hidden  light,  and  generated  the  dawn.  (vli.  76, 4 ;  *.  107,  J ). 


XXHI.]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  541 

the  assaults  of  the  Daevas.'  Here  we  have  the  correlation 
between  the  flowing  of  waters,  and  the  moving  forward  of 
the  Sun  distinctly  enunciated*  It  was  the  Fravashis  who 
caused  to  move  onwards  the  waters  and  the  Sun,  both  of 
which  '  had  stood  still  for  a  long  time  in  the  same  place  V'1 

Let  us  first  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  Pitrs 
adorning  the  sky  with  stars,  placing  darkness  in  the  night 
and  light  in  the  day,  or  finding  the  hidden  light  and  generat- 
ing the  Dawn,  as  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda  (x.  68,  n  ;  vii  76, 
4;  x.  107,  i).  These  Pitrs  were  certainly  not  the  Creators, 
nor  did  they  perform  any  of  the  functions  of  the  Creator. 
These  exploits,  therefore,  must  be  ascribed  to  them  at  a  time 
which  was  specially  consecrated  to  them  and  their  worship, 
and  when  the  sky  became  first  adorned  with  bright  stars, 
the  resplendent  Dawn  and  the  glorious  Sun  after  a  period 
which  had  made  their  appearance  impossible.  Rv.  x.  68  is 
devoted  to  the  praise  of  Bfhaspati  who  released  the  cows 
(the  solar  rays)  from  the  hidden  caves  of  Vala,  by  breaking 
open  the  parvatus  (clouds),  and  reunited  them  with  the 
Sun.  The  time,  therefore,  was  the  end  of  the  rainy  season. 
The  feats  ascribed  to  Bfhaspati  are  here  ascribed  to  the 
Pitrs  (Rv.  x.  68.  n),  because,  in  the  first  place,  they  as  the 
progenitors  and  well-wishers  of  the  human  race,  were  supposed 
to  have  helped  the  Gods  in  their  fight  for  the  release  of  the 
Sun  and  Dawn,  the  solar  rays,  and  the  confined  waters  for 
the  benefit  of  their  descendants  and  the  good  of  the  world, 
and  in  the  second  place,  the  period  when  the  victory  over 
Vala  or  Vjrtra  was  achieved  by  the  Gods  exactly  coincided 
with  that  which  was  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  the  Pitrs. 
This  period  corresponds  to  what  is  known  in  modern  times 
as  the  Pitrpaksa,  the  fortnight  that  immediately  precedes 
the  DeApaksa,  or  the  bright  portion  of  the  lunar  month  of 
Afvina  that  sees  the  termination  of  the  Old  Year  and  the 
inauguration  of  the  New.  The  worship  of  the  Pitrs  was  a 

Titok's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedos  pp.  370  371. 


54*  ILGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

prelude  to  the  worship  of  the  Devas,  and  no  auspicious 
ceremony,  nay,  even  marraige,  is  performed  even  to  this 
day  without  first  worshipping  the  Pitrs,  i.e.,  the  ancestors, 
to  whom  we  all  owe  our  existence.  In  the  Pitrpaksa,  the 
Hindus  offer  oblations  of  waters  to  the  manes  of  the  Pitfs 
as  well  as  to  the  Gods,  out  of  gratitude  to  them  for  releasing 
for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  not  only  the  "  waters  of  life," 
but  also  the  Dawn,  the  Sun,  and  the  solar  rays  from  the 
prison-house  of  the  clouds.  If  we  bear  in  mind  these  facts, 
we  shall  be  able  to  understand  what  the  Parsi  Scriptures 
mean  by  the  Fravashis  showing  "  the  beautiful  paths  to  the 
waters  which  had  stood  before  for  a  long  time  in  the  same 
place  without  flowing,11  and  "  to  the  stars,  the  Moon,  the 
Sun  and  the  endless  lights  that  had  stood  before,  for  a  long 
time,  in  the  same  place,  without  moving  forward,  through 
the  oppression  of  the  Daevas  and  the  assaults  of  the  Daevas." 
These  Daevas  of  the  Parsis  are  equivalent  to  the  Asuras 
or  demons  (Vftra,  Vala,  Samvara,  etc.)  of  the  Vcdic  Aryans 
It  was  these  demons  that  confined  or  kept  standing  still 
the  waters,  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  stars  and  the  endless 
lights  Did  the  demons  represent  a  long  dark  night  such  as 
occurs  in  the  Arctic  region  ?  No  ;  for  though  thd  Sun  and  the 
Dawn  are  absent  there,  during  the  long  period  of  darkness,, 
the  Moon  and  the  stars  are  not ;  and  they  regularly  appear 
in  the  firmament  during  the  Arctic  night.  Therefore  the 
Daevas  that  kept  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  stars  and  the  waters 
standing  still  must  represent  anything  hut  darkness  or  long 
night,  and  the  only  thing  that  closely  resembles  them  is  a 
thick  pall  of  dark  clouds,  confining  the  rain-water  in  their 
bosom,  and  making  the  appearance  of  the  heavenly  luminaries 
in  the  sky  impossible,  which  are,  therefore,  described  as 
standing  still  for  a  long  time,  without  moving  forward:  It 
was,  however,  the  Fravashis  (the  Pitrs)  that  showed  them  the 
path  to  advance ;  and  the  waters  flowed  on,  and  the  Sun,  the 
Moon  and  the  stars  also  appeared  and  moved  on  in  their 
appointed  paths.  Thus  there  is  absolutely  no  correlation 


XXIIL]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  543 

between  the  flow  of  the  waters,  and  the  movements  of  the 
heavenly  luminaries,  as  Mr.  Tilak  has  wrongly  surmised. 
The  mention  of  the  "  waters  "  clearly  indicates  the  fall  of 
rains  from  the  clouds,  and  after  the  clouds  had  been  exhausted 
and  dispersed  from  the  sky,  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the 
stars  appeared.  We  thus  see  that  Mr.  Tilak's  theory  of  the 
aerial  waters,  and  the  correlation  of  their  flow  with  the  rise 
of  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  have  no  basis  to  stand  upon,  and 
his  interpretation  of  the  existence  of  a  long  Arctic  night  either 
from  Rgvedic  or  Avestic  evidence  at  once  falls  to  the  ground. 
He  next  proceeds  to  cull  another  evidence  from  the  Vendidad 
which  we  have  already  once  examined,  and  will  examine 
again.  Prof.  Darmesteter  says  that  the  waters  cease  to 
flow  in  wint-r.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  in  ancient  Airyana  Vaejo  there  were  only  two 
seasons,  vis.,  summer  and  winter,  the  former  lasting  for  two 
months,  and  the  latter  for  ten  months  (Vend.  Farg.  i.  4\  The 
long  winter,  therefore,  included  the  rainy  season  also,  which 
followed  summer.  There  was  a  custom  among  the  followers 
of  Ahura  Mazda  not  to  dispose  of  a  corpse  during  the  night, 
or  when  the  Sun  was  not  visible  on  the  sky  in  consequence 
of  clouds  over-spreading  it,  because  they  believed  that  the 
corpse  needed  to  be  purified  by  its  exposure  to  the  Sun 
before  being  finally  disposed  of.  There  is  a  passage  in 
Fargard  v.  10.  (34)  where  Ahura  Mazda  is  asked  :  "  If  the 
summer  is  passed  and  the  winter  has  come,  what  shall  the 
worshippers  of  Mazda  do?*'  To  which  Ahura  Mazda 
answers  :  "  In  every  house,  in  every  borough,  they  shall  raise 
three  Katas  for  the  dead,  large  enough  not  to  strike  the  skull 

or  the  feet  or  the  hands  of  the  man and    they  shall  let  the 

lifeless  body  lie  there  for  two  nights,  three  nights  or  a 
month  long,  until  the  birds  begin  to  fly,  the  plants  to  grow, 
the  floods  to  flow,  and  the  wind  to  dry  up  the  waters  from 
off  the  earth  \  then  the  worshippers  of  Mazda  shall  lay  down 
the  dead  (on  the  Dakhma),  his  eyes  towards  the  Sun." 
From  this  Mr.  Tilak  draws  two  inferences :  (i)  that  the  move- 


544  RGVED1C  INDIA.  [CH*r. 

ment  of  the  Sun  was  correlated  with  the  flow  of  aerial  waters 
and  (2)  that  the  Sun  not  being  visible  for  two  nights,  three 
nights,  or  even  a  month,  there  was  long  continuous  night  for 
those  periods,  indicating  Arctic  characteristics.  I  have  said 
above  that  summer  was  followed  by  winter  in  Airyana  Vaejo, 
as  there  were  only  two  marked  seasons  in  the  land;  but  the 
first  part  of  winter,  which  followed  the  hot  days  of  summer 
was  probably  rainy ;  and  if  there  was  a  spell  of  rainy  weather 
for  two  nights  (days),  three  nights  (days),  or  a  month,  the  Sun 
remained  hidden  behind  clouds.  Against  the  occurrence  of 
such  a  contigency,  Ahura  Mazda  advised  his  worshippers  to 
raise  a  Kata,  and  deposit  the  dead  body  there,  till  the  vultures 
and  other  birds  of  prey  that  feasted  on  the  corpse  began  to 
fly,  the  plants  to  grow  by  drawing  fresh  sap  from  the  ground, 
saturated  with  rain-waters,  and  the  rain-waters,  collec- 
ted in  the  channels  leading  to  the  rivers,  caused  a  flood 
therein,  and  the  wind  "dried  up  the  waters  from  off 
the  earth"  These  waters,  therefore,  were  not  aerial  waters, 
but  liquid  waters  as  we  see  and  ordinarily  use. 
The  mention  of  waters  and  floods  unmistakably  points 
to  the  existence  of  rain-clouds  that  obstructed  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Sun  in  the  sky.  Mr.  Filak  admits  that  "  the 
passage  from  Fargard  v.  quoted  above  makes  no  mention  of 
darkness ;  but  he  infers  it  "  from  the  statement  that 
the  body  is  at  last  to  be  taken  out  and  laid  down  on  the 
Dakhma  with  its  eyes  towards  the  Sun,  evidently  meaning 
that  the  ceremony  was  impossible  to  be  performed  during  the 
time  the  dead  body  was  kept  up  in  the  house."  The 
contingency  of  clouds  concealing  the  Sun  for  these  days  does 
not  seem  to  have  struck  Mr.  Tilak  at  all. 

He  next  quotes  another  passage  from  Fargard  viii.  4  (ii) 
to  prove  his  point,  wherein  Ahura  Mazda  is  asked :  "  If  in 
the  house  of  the  worshipper  of  Mazda  a  dog  or  a  man  happens 
to  die,  and  it  is  raining  or  snowing  or  blowing  or  the 
darkness  is  coming  on,  when  the  flocks  and  the  men  lose  their 
way,  what  shall  the  worshipper  of  Mazda  do  ?  "  To  this  Ahura 


XXIII.J  VEDIC  MYTHS.  545 

Mazda  gives  the  same  reply  as  in  Fargard  v.  10  to  the 
question  asked  him.  "  Here/1  says  Mr.  Tilak,  "  darkness  is 
distinctly  mentioned  along  with  snowing  and  blowing,"  and 
also  "  raining  "  which  he  omits  to  mention.  But  what  does 
this  mean  after  all ?  It  simply  means  that  the  "  darkness'1 
was  caused  by  the  sky  being  covered  up  with  clouds,  behind 
which  the  Sun  lay  hidden  in  the  day-time,  and  the  Moon  and 
the  stars  in  the  night,  causing  the  men  and  the  flocks  to  lose 
their  way, — all  the  time  the  rain  or  the  snow  falling,  and  the 
weather  being  boisterous  with  high  winds  blowing,  and 
driving  the  clouds  before  them.  Such  spells  of  bad  weather 
are  common  in  the  high  mountainous  regions,  and  come 
suddenly  without  any  warning  &t  all.  The  "  darkness " 
mentioned  in  the  above  passage  does  not,  therefore,  mean 
the  darkness  of  the  !ong  Arctic  ni^ht,  but  such  darkness  as 
is  caused  by  snow-storms,  or  clouds  concealing  the  Sun  in 
the  day,  and  the  Moon  and  the  stars  at  night.  We  have  also 
seen  in  the  Tir  Yasht  that  the  appointed  time  for  the  appear- 
ance of  Ti?trya  after  conquering  Apoaga  in  the  watery 
regions,  or  the  rainy  months,  has  been  described  as  after 
one  night,  two  nights,  fifty  or  hundred  nights  (vide 
Chapter  XXII).  These  quotations,  therefore,  do  not  support 
Mr.  Tilak's  view  of  a  long  Arctic  night,  nor  establish  any 
connection  between  the  movement  of  the  aerial  waters  and 
the  rise  of  the  Sun. 

Lastly,  to  prove  that  the  Dawn  and  the  Sun  ascend  the 
sky  with  the  released  aerial  waters  which  move  upwards  from 
the  nether  regions,  Mr.  Tilak  quotes  Rv.  ii.  15,  6  which  he 
translates  in  a  way  that  suits  his  purpose  admirably.  The 
verse  simply  says  :  "  By  his  great  power,  In^ra  turned  the 
Sindhu  towards  the  north  (udancam)"  But  by  "  Sindhu," 
Mr.  Tilak  understands  (( the  aerial  waters,"  and  by  udancam 
"  upwards."  Siyana  says  that  the  passage  simply  means  that 
the  river  Sindhu  which  flows  from  an  easterly  direction  was 
turned  northwards  by  Indra,  and  this  really  is  the  present 
course  of  the  river.  It  first  flows  from  the  east  along  the  foot 

69 


546  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

of  the  northern  Himalaya,  and  then  turns  towards  the    north- 
west   and    the    north    above    Kashmir.     Lastly,  after  a   long 
detour  it  turns  towards  the  south.  S&yana  is,  therefore,  correct 
in  interpreting  the  passage  to  mean  that  Indra,  by    his    great 
power,  turned  the  westerly  course  of  the  river  Smdhu    north- 
ward.    The  word  Sindhu  in  the  Rgveda    means    (a)  the  river 
of  that  name,  (6)   the   country    watered    by   it,    (c)    rivers   in 
general,  when  used  in  the  plural,  and  (d)   the    sea   or   ocean. 
The  word   occuring   in    the    verse    in    the    singular    must, 
therefore,  mean  either  the  great  river    of   that   name  or   the 
ocean.     I    am    inclined   to    think    that    it    means    the   river 
Sindhu,  because  in  the  preceding  verse   the   river    Dhuni   or 
Parusnl  (IrSivatl)  has  been  mentioned,  thus  showing  that    the 
poet  had  these  rivers  in  his  mind  when  composing  the  verse. 
If    we    accept    the    meaning    of   the    word    udancam   to  be 
"  upwards,"  the  passage  would  mean   that   the    river    instead 
of  flowing  downwards    into    the    sea,    also    flowed   upwards 
towards  its  source.     This,  at  first,  would  appear  to  be  absurd, 
but  it  would  not  do  so,  if  we    consider    the  fact  that  the  waters 
of  the  river  really  move  upward  when  the  tide  rushes  in   from 
the  sea.     This  phenomenon  must  have  struck  the  imagination 
of  the  poet,  who  ascribed  it  to  the  power  of  Indra.  Whether  we 
take  the  passage  to  mean  that  the  upper  course   of  the   river 
was  sharply  turned  towards  the  north  in  northern  Kashmir,  or 
to  indicate  the  inrushing  of  the  tide  up  the  river  from  the  sea, 
it  does  not  certainly  admit  of  the  meaning  ascribed   to    it   by 
Mr.  Tilak.     Lastly,  if  we  take  the  word  Sindhu  to    mean    the 
"  ocean,  "  the  turning  of  its  waters  upward    by    Indra   would 
mean  the  swelling  of  the  tide  or    the    raising   of    the    watery 
vapours  to  the  sky  by    the    action    of    solar   heat,   as    Indra 
has  often  been  identified  with  the    Sun      At    all    events,    the 
passage  does  not  mean  the  flowing  upwards   of   the   released 
aerial  waters  from  the  nether  regions. 

The  seven  rivers,  or  the  Sapta-Sindhavah  have  been 
identified  by  Mr.  Tilak  with  seven  aerial  streams  and  not 
with  the  same  ancient  rivers  as  gave  the  country  its  name. 


XXIII.]  VEDIC  MYTHS.  547 

He  says  that  the  rivers  of  the  Punjab  were,  as  they  now  are, 
only  five  in  number,  not  taking  into  account  the  Indus  and 
the  SarasvatI,  which  last-named  river  was  a  large  flowing 
river  in  ancient  times  and  not  the  insignificant  stream  it  is 
at  present,  and  probably  ignoring  the  fact  that  the  country 
was  called  Hapta-Hendu  in  the  Avesta,  and  Sapta-Sindhavah 
in  the  Rgveda.  Professor  Macdonell  says  :  "  Mention  is 
often  made  in  the  Rgveda  of  the  Sapta-Sindhavah  or 

I  Seven  Rivers  '  which,  in  one  passage  at  least,    is    synonym- 
ous with   the   country    inhabited    by    the    Aryan    Hindus."  1 
Ragozin  also  s?ys  :     "  There    is    a    name    under   which    the 
land  we  know  as  the  Punjab  was  even  more  widely  designated 
both  in  the  early  or   Vedic   and    the    later    so    called    classic 
periods  ;    it  is  Sapta-Sindhavah — •'  the   Seven    Rivers.1     This 
is  the  Hapta  Hendu   of  the   Eranians,    the    land    mentioned 
in  the  famous  geographical  chapter  of  the  Avesta  among   the 
earliest  creations  of  Ahura  Mazda,  and  in  the  rock  inscription 
of  the  tomb  of  Darieos  I  in  the  list  of   the    Persian    Empire's 
tributary     provinces.     It    is,    indeed,    a   far    more    correctly 
descriptive  name,  as  it  takes   due    count   of    the    Indus— the 
Sindhu  of  Indian  antiquity, — and  includes  a  seventh  river,  of 
high  and  even  sacre<l  legendary  fame,    the    SarasvatI,    which 
may  be  described  da  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  first    Aryan 
dominion  in    India/'  -     It    is,    therefore,    extremely    strange 
that  Mr.  Tilak,  in  his  zeal    to    prove    the   celestial    character 
of  the  seven  rivers,  does  not  take    note    of    the    obvious    fact 
that  there  were  actually  seven  terrestrial  rivers  in  the  Punjab 
to  justify  its  ancient    name    of    Sapta-Sindhu.    He    says    that 
the  seven  celestial  rivers  have    actually    been    mentioned    in 
the   Rgveda  (ix.   54,    2).      But   the    passage    simply    means, 

II  The  Soma  encompasses  (all  the    regions)    from    the    Seven 
(rivers)  10  Heaven,"  *  which   is   tantamount   to   saying   that 
its  mfluenc-  is    extended  from  the  Land  of  the  Seven   Rivers 

>     MacdonelPs  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,  p.  141. 
8     Ragozin's  Vedic  India,  pp.  107-108. 
3     Rv,  ix,  54i  2- 


548  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

up  to  Heaven.  We  do  not  find  any  mention  here  of  the 
seven  celestial  rivers.  If  they  at  all  had  any  conception  of 
these  rivers,  they  must  have  derived  it  from  the  seven 
terrestrial  originals,  with  which  they  were  familiar.  The  story 
of  Indra's  causing  the  seven  rivers  to  flow  refers  to  the  fact 
that  by  pouring  down  copious  rains,  he  caused  the  seven 
terrestrial  rivers,  whose  dimensions  had  been  considerably 
reduced  in  summer,  to  be  flooded.  This  meaning  is  simple 
and  clear,  and  not  so  far-fetched,  as  Mr.  Tilak  makes  it  in 
proving  his  theory  of  the  circulation  of  aerial  waters  round 
the  earth,  their  capture,  and  with  them  the  capture  of  the 
Dawn  and  the  Sun  by  Vftra  in  the  nether  regions,  and  their 
ultimate  liberation  by  Indra,  when  the  aerial  waters  flowed 
upwards,  bringing  up  along  with  them  the  Dawn  and  the 
Sun.  This  theory  is  not  supported  either  by  the  Rgveda 
or  the  Avesta  on  which  Mr.  Tilak  relics  so  much.  The  captive 
waters  were  really  the  waters  imprisoned  in  the  clouds,  which 
Indra  rent  open  with  his  thunderbolt,  and  from  which  he 
caused  the  waters  to  fall  down.  The  imprisonment  of  the 
Dawn  and  the  Sun  refers  to  their  being  covered  up  by  clouds, 
and  they  were  only  released  when  the  rains  were  exhausted, 
and  the  clouds  dispersed  from  the  sky  in  autumn.  This 
appears  to  me  to  be  the  long  and  short  of  the  myth  regarding 
the  captive  waters  in  the  Rgveda. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

EXAMINATION  OF  MR.  TILAK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CRADLB  OF 
THE  ARYAHS.-(w»tf.). 

THE  MATUTINAL  DEITIES. 
The  ASvins. 

The  A£vins  are  the  twin-gods  who  stand  generally  in  the 
character  of  divine  physcians,  curing  the  lame,  restoring  sight 
to  the  blind,  rejuvenating  the  old  and  decrepit,  and  rescuing 
men  from  distress.  They  occupy  a  high  place  in  the  hierarchy 
of  the  Veciic  Gods,  and  are  praised  in  many  a  hymn  for  their 
valorous  deeds  and  many  beneficent  acts.  They  were  also 
co-adjutors  with  the  great  Indra  in  his  fight  with  Vjtra,  and 
shared  with  him  the  title  of  Vrtrahan  and  Satakratu  (Rv.  i. 
H2,  23  and  viii.  8,  22).  In  Rv,  i.  182.  2  they  are  said  to  possess 
strongly  the  qualities  of  Indra  (Indra-tama).  In  the  Aitareya 
Br&hmana  (iv.  7-9)  they  are  described  as  having  run  a  race 
with  Agni,  U?as  and  Indra,  and  won  it,  which  entitled  them 
to  the  Castra  known  by  their  name  as  the  A^vina-gastra^  of 
which  mention  has  been  made  before  in  a  previous  chapter. 
It  would  thus  appear  that  the  A^vins  were  high  and  important 
deities  in  the  Rgveda. 

The  question  now  arises,  who  were  these  twin  Gods  ? 
Y&ska  says  in  his  Nirukta  (xii.  i)  that  some  declare  them  as* 
representing  Heaven  and  Earth,  others  as  Day  and  Night, 
and  others  again  as  the  Sun  and  Moon.  The  Aitih4sikas  take 
them  to  be  ancient  kings  who,  by  the  performance  of  holy 
acts,  were  transformed  into  Devas.  But  the  Nairuktas  who 
represented  the  naturalistic  school  believe  them  to  be  either  the 
Morning  Star  or  the  two  stars  in  the  constellation  of  Gemini, 
They  represent,  however,  anything  but  stars.  The  time 
when  they  are  first  observed  and  invoked  has  been  described 
in  Rv.  x.  61,  4  to  be  the  time  when  "  the  black  cows  mingle 
with  the  red.11  These  blaok  and  red  cows  undoubtedly  mean 


55®  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

"  darkness  "  and  "  the  first  streaks  of  red  light "  respectively, 
and  the  A£vins  represent  the  first  faint  glimmer  of  light  in 
the  eastern  horizon— the  product  of  the  first  commingling  of 
Light  and  Darkness,  which  accounts  for  their  twin  character. 
The  phenomenon  that  becomes  visible  is  neither  pure  light, 
nor  pure  darkness,  but  a  combination  of  both  and  cannot  be 
distinctively  called  by  either  name.  This  phenomenon  then 
is  the  A^vins,  the  harbingers  of  Dawn  or  U?as  who  has  a 
distinguishing  individuality  of  her  own, — pure,  bright,  and 
beautiful  like  a  fresh-blown  lotus,  or  a  lovely  maiden.  The 
ASvins  having  been  first  visible  in  the  east,  where  existed  in 
those  early  days  the  Eastern  Sea  occupying  the  Gangetic 
trough,  and  washing  the  eastern  coasts  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  were 
properly  called  Sindhu-matarah^  or  those  whose  mother  was 
the  ocean  (Rv.  i.  46,  21),  and  their  car  described  as  turning 
up  from  the  ocean.  (Rv.  iv.  43,  5).  In  Rv.  i.  46,  8  they  are 
said  to  come  to  Sapta-Sindhu,  after  leaving  their  boats 
moored  in  the  harbour,  or  near  the  landing  on  the  sea-beach. 
However  this  may  be,  their  first  appearance  on  the  east 
marked,  as  it  were,  the  very  beginning  of  life  and  activity,  as 
they  were  soon  followed  by  the  bright  and  beautiful  U?ab, 
and  later  on,  by  the  glorious  and  resplendent  Sun,  both  of 
whom,  together  with  all  living  creatures,  seemed  to  be  ushered 
into  life,  after  a  brief  spell  of  death,  or  disease  which  was 
like  death  in  life,  and  rejuvenated.  Hence  it  was  quite  in  the 
fitness  of  things  to  ascribe  to  them  the  character  of  divine 
physicians  who  cured  not  only  men,  when  supplicated,  but 
also  Gods  of  their  incurable  and  loathsome  diseases  that 
either  bedimmed  their  lustre,  or  made  them  all  but  dead.  The 
bright  and  blazing  Sun  had  become  lustreless  and  dead,  and 
the  bright  colour  of  the  resplendent  Dawn  had  turned  into 
.black  at  night,  but  it  was  the  A^vins,  the  divine  physicians, 
that  cured  them  of  their  disease,  brought  them  to  life  again, 
and  restored  them  to  their  original  strength  and  vig  mr.  The 
ASvins,  therefore,  helped  the  great  Indra  in  rescuing  the  Sun 
and  the  Dawn  from  the  clutches  of  Vrtra,  the  demon  of  dark- 


XXIV.]  ASVINS.  551 

ness,  and  were  rightly  entitled  to  share  with  him  the  glory 
of  the  appellation  of  Vrtrahan.  They  helped  Indra  not  only 
in  his  daily  but  also  in  his  annual  fight  with  Vftra,  when  the 
latter  imprisoned  the  Sun  and  the  Dawn  in  his  dark  cloud- 
body  for  months  together  in  the  rainy  season.  And  when 
that  fight  ended  in  victory  for  Indra,  as  the  result  of  the 
performance  of  the  hundred  special  sacrifices,  known  as  the 
hdtri-kratus,  the  A^vins  who  had  helped  Indra  in  the  fight 
were  also  equally  entitled  with  him  to  be  called  Satakratu 
(Rv.  i.  112,  23)  and  described  as  Indratama  (Rv.  i.  182,  2). 

A  number  of  myths,  describing  the  many  valorous  and 
beneficent  deeds  of  the  Asvins,  has  been  mentioned  in  the 
Rgveda,  some  of  which  Mr.  Tilak  has  described  in  a  way 
that  would  support  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  cradle  of  the 
Aryans.  We  propose  to  examine  them  in  this  chapter,  and 
see  whether  his  interpretation  is  correct.  The  following  are 
some  of  the  achievements  of  the  A^vins,  as  summed  up  by 
Macdonell  in  his  Vedic  Mythology  (§)  21)  : 

"  The  sage  Cyavana,  grown  old  and  deserted,  they 
released  from  his  decrepit  body ;  they  prolonged  his  life, 
restoring  him  to  youth,  rendered  him  desirable  to  his  wife 
and  made  him  the  husband  of  maidens  (i.  116,  10  &c).  They 
also  renewed  the  youth  of  the  aged  Kali,  and  befriended  him 
when  he  had  taken  a  wife  (x.  39,  8;  i.  112,  15).  They 
brought,  on  a  car,  to  the  youthful  Vimada,  wives  or  a  wife 
named  Kamadvu  (X.  65,  12),  who  seems  to  have  been  the 
beautiful  spouse  of  Purumitra  (i.  117,20).  They  restored 
Visnilpu,  like  a  lost  animal,  to  the  sight  of  their  worshipper, 
Vi^vak^ya,  son  of  Kfsna  (i.  116,23;  x.  65,  12).  But  the 
story  most  often  referred  to  is  that  of  the  rescue  of  Bhujyu, 
son  of  Tugra,  who  was  abandoned  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean 
(Samudre),  or  in  the  water-clouds  (Udmeghe),  and  who,* 
tossed  about  in  darkness,  invoked  the  aid  of  the  youthful 
heroes.  In  the  ocean  which  is  without  support  (anarambhane\ 
they  took  him  home  in  a  hundred-oared  (Sat&ritram)  ship  (i. 
,  5).  They  rescued  him  with  animated  water-tight  ships, 


552  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

which  traversed  the  air  (antariksd),  with  four   ships,  with  an 
animated   winged   boat,    with    three    flying    cars    having  a 
hundred   feet  and   six    horses.     In    one   passage    Bhujyu  is 
described  as  clinging  to  a  log  in  the  midst  of   water    (arnaso 
madhye  i.  182,  7).     The  sage  Rebha,  stabbed,   bound,  hidden 
by  the   malignant,    over-whelmed   in    waters   for   ten  nights 
and  nine  days,  abandoned  as  dead,  was  by  the  ASvins  revived 
and   drawn    out,    as    Soma    juice    is    raised    with   a   ladle 
(i.  116,24;  i.  112,    5).     They    delivered    Vandana   from    his 
calamity  and  restored  him  to  the  light  of  the  Sun.  In  i.  117,  5 
they  are   also   said   to  have  dug  up  for  Vandana  some  bright 
buried  gold  of  new  splendour  l  like  one  asleep   in    the    lap  of 
Nir-fti,'   or    like    '  the  Sun  dwelling  in  darkness/     They  suc- 
coured  the   sage   Atri    Sapta-Vadhri,    who  was  plunged  in  a 
burning  pit  by  the  wiles  of  a  demon,  and    delivered  him  from 
darkness    (i.    116,    8;  vi.    50,    10).     They   rescued   from  the 
jaws   of   a   wolf  a   quail    (vartikd),    who   invoked   their  aid 
(i.  112.  8).     To  Rjrigva,  who  had  been   blinded   by  his  cruel 
father  for  killing   one    hundred    and    one    sheep   and   giving 
them  to  a  she-wolf  to  devour,  they    restored    his   eye-sight  at 
the  prayer  of  the  she-wolf  (i.  116,  16;  i.  117,  17),   and  cured 
PadLvrij    of    blindness    and    lameness    (i.    112,    8).     When 
ViSpal&'s  leg  had  been  cut  off  in  the  battle   like   the   wing  of 
a  bird,    the    ASvins   gave    her  an  iron  one  instead  (i.  116,  5). 
They  befriended  Gho?4   when    she   was   growing   old   in  her 
father's   house   by   giving  her  a  husband  (i.  117,  7  ;  x.  39,  3). 
To  the  wife  of  a  eunuch  (VadhrimatI)    they  gave  a  son  called 
Hira^ya-hasta  (i.  116,  3  ;  vi.  62,  7).     The  cow  of  Sayu  which 
had  left   off   bearing   they    caused    to  give  milk  (i.  116,  22); 
and  to  Pedu  they  gave  a   strong   swift    dragon-slaying  steed 
impelled    by     Indra,    which    won    him     unbounded    spoils 
(i.  n6,6).» 

Professor  Max  Miiller  and  some  other  scholars  have  dis- 
covered in  all  these  myths  the  decaying  power  of  the  Sun  in 
winter,  and  his  growing  power  in  spring  or  summer.  "  Thus 
Professor  Max  Muller  tells  us  that  Cyavana  is  nothing  but 


XXIV.]  ASVINS. 


5S3 


the  falling  Sun  (cyu,  to   fall),   of   which   it   might   well    be 
said  that  he  had    sunk    in    the    fiery    or    dark  abyss,   from 
which    the    Asvins    are    themselves    said    to    come    up    in 
i»-  39>  3-  !     The  Vedic  Rsis  are  again  said  to   have   betrayed 
the  secret  of  the  myth  of  Vandana  by  comparing  the  treasure 
dug  for  him  by  the  Asvins  to  the  Sun  *  dwelling  in  darkness.1 
Kali  is  similarly  taken  to  represent   the   waning   moon,   and 
Vicpal&'s  iron-leg,  we  are  told,  is  the  first  quarter  or  pada  of 
the  new  Moon,  called  ( iron/  on  account  of   his   darkness  as 
compared  with  the  golden   colour   of  the   full   Moon.      The 
blindness  of  Rjri^va  is  explained  on  this  theory   as    meaning 
the  blindness  of  night  or  winter ;    and   the   blind   and   lame 
Parftvrij  is  taken  to  be   the    Sun   after   sunset,   or   near   the 
winter  solstic.     The  setting  Sun  thrown  out   of  a   boat   into 
waters,  is  similarly  understood  to  be  the  basis  of   the    legend 
of  Bhujyu  or  Rebha.     Vadhrimatl,  the  wife  of   the  eunuch,  to 
whom  Hiraijya-hasta  or  the  Gold-hand  is  said  to  be    restored, 
is,  we  are  further  told,  nothing  but  the  Dawn  under  a  different 
name.     She  is  called  the  wife  of  the  eunuch,  because  she  was 
separated  from  the  Sun  during  the  night.     In  short,  cacn  and 
every  legend  is  said  to  be  a  story  of  the  Sun  or  the    Moon    in 
distress.     The  Asvins  were  the  saviours  or  the  inoininsj    light 
or  of  the  annual  Sun  in  his  exile  and  distress  at   the  time    of 
the  winter-solstice  ;  and  when  the  Sun    becomes   bright    and 
brisk  in  the  morning  every  day,  or  vigorous   and    triumphant 
in  the  spring,  the  miracle,  we  are  told,  was  naturally  attribut- 
ed to  the  physicians  of  the  Gods."  2 

Professor  Max  M filler  would  undoubtedly  have  arrived 
at  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  myths,  if,  instead  of  referring* 
to  the  decaying  powers  of  the  Sun  in  winter,  he  had  taken 

*    The  translation  of  this  verse  is  as  follows  :  "  The  patent   of   twins   has 
brought  forth  the  twin  (Asvins)  on  this  occasion,  (in  the  praise  of  whom/  the 
tip  of  my  tongue  remains  tremulous     They  two,  the  dispensers  of  darkness, 
combine!  assuming  bodies  as  a  pair  (of  twins)  at  the  oiigin  of  day."    There 
is  no  mention  here  of  the  Ac,  vins  coming  up  from  the  dark  or  fiery  abyss, 
a    Tiiak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vcdas,  pp.  363-364- 
70 


554  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

into  account  the  conditions  of  the  rainy  season  when  the  Sun 
remained  hidden  behind  the  clouds  and  thereby  lost  his  lustre 
and  powers.  Mr.  Tilak  rightly  observes  that  all  the  facts  and 
incidents  in  these  legends  are  not  explained  by  the  Vernal 
theory  as  it  is  now  understood.  "  Thus,"  says  he,  4I  we  cannot 
explain  why  the  proteges  of  the  A^vins  are  described  as  being 
deliveredy>0;#  darkness  on  the  theory  that  every  affliction  or 
distress  mentioned  in  the  legend  refers  to  mere  decrease  of 
the  power  of  the  Sun  in  winter.  Darkness  is  distinctly  referred 
to  when  the  treasure  dug  up  for  Vandana  is  compared  to  '  the 
Sun  dwelling  in  darkness  '  (i.  117*  5.),  or  when  Bhujvu  is 
said  to  have  been  plung^  d  in  waters  and  sunk  in  bottomless 
darkness  andrambhane  tamasi  ,  or  wh^n  Atri  is  said  to  have 
been  delivered  from  darkness  (tamas^  in  vi,  50,  10.  The 
powers  of  the  Sun  no  doubt  decayed  in  winter,  and  one  can 
easily  understand  why  the  Sun  in  winter  should  be  called 
lame,  old  or  distressed.  But  blindness  naturally  means 
darkness  or  tamas  (i.  117,  17)  ;  and  when  express  references 
to  tlarkness  (tatnas*  uie  round  in  several  passages,  we  cannot 
legitimately  hold  that  the  story  of  curing  the  blind  refers  to 
the  decayed  powers  of  the  winter  Sun.  The  darkness  referred 
to  is  obviously  the  real  darkness  of  the  night  ;  and  on  the 
theory  of  the  daily  struggle  between  light  and  darkness,  we 
ishall  have  to  suppose  that  these  wonders  were  achieved  every 
day.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  not  said  to  be 
performed  every  day,  and  Vedic  scholars  have,  therefore, 
tried  to  rxpl'iiu  the  legends  on  the  theory  of  the  yearly 
exile  of  the  Sun  in  winter.  But  we  now  see  in  the  latter 
case,  reference  i  o  blindness  or  darkness  remains  unintelligible, 
and  as  the  darkness  is  often  said  to  be  of  several  days1 
duration,  we  are  obliged  to  infer  that  the  legends  refer  to  the 
long  yearly  darkness,  or  in  other  words,  they  have  for  their 
physical  basis  the  disappearance  of  the  Sun  below  the  horizon 
during  the  long  night  of  the  Arctic  region."  l 


id)  pp,  364*365. 


XXIV.]  ASVINS.  555 

In  this  way  Mr.  TiUk  tries  to  establish  his  pet  Arctic  theory, 
quite  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  the  blindness  or  darkness  can 
be  more  easily  and  rationally  explained  by  taking  into 
account  the  conditions  of  the  rainy  season,  when  the  solar 
eye  is  blinded  by  clouds  or  watery  vapours  for  days,  nay 
months  together.  Let  us  explain  our  meaning  more  clearly 
by  considering  some  of  the  legends  independently. 

First  of  all,  let  us  take  up  the  myth  of   Rebha   who   was 
overwhelmed  in  waters,  and   remained  there   for   ten   nights 
and  nine  days.     Incessant  rain   for  such  a   long   period   was 
uncommon  even  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  which  usually   had  a  heavy 
rain-fall   in   ancient   times,    and   this   remarkable   fact   was 
recorded  by  the  Wdic  bard  in  the  legeml  of  Rebha    who  was 
undoubtedly  the  Sun.     Then,    again,    Bhujyu,    another    wor- 
shipper of  the  A$vin>,   is   described  as   having   been    saved 
from  drowning  in  the  bottomless  sea  or   darkness,    where    he 
lay  for  three  days  and  three  nights  (Rv.  i.  1 16,  4).  This  legend 
also  means  that  the  Sun  remained   invisible   in   consequence 
of  the  fall  of  incessant  rains  for  three  days  and  nights,  during 
which  period  the   A^vins   also   remained  in   the  pardvat  or 
distant  region  (Rv.  viii.  5,8.),  as  they  were  not  at  all  visible  on 
account  of  the  presence  of  dripping  clouds  in  the   sky.     The 
ASvins  rescued  Bhujyu  from  his  perilous  position  an4  brought 
him  home  in  a  hundred-oared  ship,  the  hundred  oars  probably 
representing  the  hundred  days  or  three  months  during  which 
the  rains  lasted.     The  same  sentiment  is   probably  also  more 
elaborately  expressed  in  the  verses  which  say  that  the  ASvins 
rescued   Bhujyu  "  with   animated    water-tight   ships,   which 
traversed  the  air   (antariksa} ;   with   four    ships,    with  an 
animated   winged    boat ;  with    three    flying    cars    having  a 
hundred  feet,  and  six  horses."     Now,   these   ships   or   flying 
cars,  either  three  or  four  in    number,  approximately  repre- 
sented the  three  or  four  months,  the  hundred  feet  represented 
the  hundred  days,  and  the  six  horses  probably   the   six   fort- 
nights during  which   the   rainy    season   lasted.     Across   this 
season,  Bhujyu  (the  Sun)  was  safely  piloted   home  by  the 


556  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Agvins  in  their  ships  or  flying  cars.  The  log  or  tree  to  which 
the  ship-wrecked  Prince  clung  in  the  midst  of  water  (arnaso 
madhye  Rv.  i.  182,  7)  was  no  other  than  the  famous  mythical 
tree  known  as  Varuaa's  tree  which  had  its  base  upward,  and 
branches  downwards,  from  which  the  seeds  of  all  plants  and 
vegetation  were  said  to  be  washed  down  and  brought  to  the 
earth  by  rain  water.1  Mr.  Tilak  has  given  two  coloured 
sketches  in  his  book  to  show  that  this  tree  of  Varuna  was  in 
the  nether  region,  with  its  base  or  trunk  firmly  planted  on 
the  other  side  of  the  earth,  and  its  branches  spreading  down- 
wards hito  the  nether  waters  for  which,  however,  he  has  no 
justification.  In  Rv.  i.  164,22,  the  orb  or  the  region  of  the 
Sun  IM-,  l,i  ^n  comprmAd  to  a  tree,  into  which  the  water-lifting 
ra)  b  enter,  and  from  which  they  again  bring  forth  light  to 
all.-  Rv  i.  24,7  says  •  "  The  royal  Varuna  of  pure  strength, 
tesidinsj  in  the  baseless  firmament,  sustains  on  high 
(itrdhvam)  a.  heap  of  light  (vanasya  stupam],  the  rays  where- 
of come  downwards,  while  their  base  is  above.''3  The  heap 
of  light  5s  undoubtedly  the  Sun  who  wan  situated  on  high 
(nrdkvam]  in  the  firmament,  from  whom  the  rays  came 
clownwardc.  A  R?i  has  asked  f<  What  was  this  tree  ?  !J  We 
find  a  ready  answer  to  this  question  in  the  above  interpreta- 
tion: The  tree  is  the  Sun  himself,  situated  in  the  bottomless 
region  (ahudhna),  in  as-  much  as  antariksa  or  the  firmament, 
Where  Varuna's  ocean  of  watery  vapours  is  located,  is  really 
bottomless,  and  the  vapours  float  there  without  any  support. 
Bhujyu,  who  represented  the  Sun,  clung  to  this  tree  when 
ship-wrecked,  i  e.}  when  the  Sun  was  covered  up  by  clouds, 


\ 

(Eng.  Trans)  —  "  What  was  the  tree  that  was  stationed   in  the  midst  of  the 
ocean,  to  which  the  supplicating  son  of  Tugra  clung  P  " 

«   RV.  1.  164,  22  : 


XXIV.]  ASVINS.  557 

and  was  consequently  plunged  into  darkness  which  was 
bottomless  and  without  any  support  (Rv.  i.  182,6).  In  this 
connection  it  should  be  recalled  to  mind  that  it  was  through 
antariksa  that  the  A£vins  brought  Bhujyu  in  their  ships. 
Hence  the  metaphorical  ship-wreck  was  conceived  to  have 
occurred  in  mid-heaven,  and  not  in  the  nether  regions,  and 
Mr.  Tilak's  conception  of  the  nether  regions,  borrowed  from 
Greek  and  Egyptian  legends,  where  everything  is  said  to  be 
turned  upside  down,  is  quite  baseless,  and,  as  we  have  already 
discussed  in  a  previous  chapter,  not  at  all  supported  by  Rg- 
vedic  evidence.  The  bottomless  darkness  into  which  Bhujyu 
(the  Sun)  was  plunged  was  the  darkness  of  the  clouds,  and 
the  water  was  the  rain-water  (udmegha).  This  darkness, 
therefore,  had  nothing  to  do  with  that  of  an  Arctic  night 

Next,  with  regard  to  the  legend  of  Gotama,  we  find  it 
mentioned  in  Rv  i.  116,9  that  the  ASvins  lifted  up  a  well 
"  with  bottom  up,  and  opening  (or  mouth)  in  the  side  or 
dow.iwards  ''  (jimbhabaram)  to  assuage  his  thirst.  In  Rv.  i. 
80, 1 1  also,  it  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Maruts  brought 
the  crooked  (i.e.,  obliquely  lying)  well  to  the  place  (where 
thirsty  Gotama  was)  and  sprinkled  the  water  upon  him  to 
relieve  his  thirst.  In  the  previous  verse  it  has  been  related 
that  "by  their  power,  they  (the  Mantis)  bore  the  well  aloft 
(urdhvam  nanudre],  and  clove  asunder  the  mountain  that 
obstructed  their  path."  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  feat 
ascribed  to  the  A£vins  is  also  ascribed  to  the  Maruts,  who 
carried  the  well  aloft,  and  turning  it  upside  down,  or  making 
it  oblique,  poured  down  the  water  on  the  thirsty  Gotama. 
This  Gotama  (Go— light  and  tama  used  in  the  superlative  or 
approximative  sense)  is  none  other  than  the  Sun  himself. 
As  the  Sun,  who  was  in  the  sky,  was  thirsty,  a  well  full  of 
water  had  to  be  lifted  up  by  the  ASvins  and  the  Maruts,  and 
emptied  obliquely  on  him.  This  certainly  does  not  refer  to 
the  nether  regions,  but  to  the  sky  above,  where  the  well  had 
to  be  lifted  up.  The  real  purport  is  that  there  having  been 
no  rain,  the  Maruts  or  the  winds  carried  up  the  watery 


558  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

vapours,  by  piercing  through  the  mountains  or  the  clouds, 
and  these  vapours  were  ultimately  condensed  into  rain  which 
was  precipitated  and  sprinkled  on  Gotama. 

N'-xt  we  turn  to  the  legend  of  Atri,  who,  as  our  readers 
will  recollect,  is  identified  with  the  Sun.  It  is  related  in  Rv. 
i.  1 16,8  that  the  Asvins  ''quenched  with  cold  water  the 
blazing  flames  (that  encompassed  Atri),  and  supplied  him 
with  food-supported  strength. M  They  also  "  extricated  him 
from  the  dark  (cavern)  into  which  he  had  been  thrown  head- 
long, and  restored  him  to  every  kind  of  welfare."  S&yaaa 
says  that  the  Asuras  had  thrown  him  into  a  torture-house, 
furnished  with  a  hundred  doors^  and  tormented  him  with  a 
burning  fire  made  of  chaff,  which  surrounded  it.  Atri  having 
invoked  the  aid  of  the  Aivins,  they  rescued  him  from  the 
torture-house  by  extinguishing  the  fire  with  cold  water.  The 
evident  meaning  of  this  allegorical  account  is  that  clouds 
covered  up  the  Sun  ;  but  as  there  was  no  rain,  the  solar  heat 
in  summer  became  extremely  sultry  and  unbearable  like  fire 
made  of  chaff  [tusa]  which,  though  not  sending  up  flames, 
yet  burns  with  a  fierce  intensity.  The  hot  rays  of  the  summer 
Sun,  struggling  through  thin  rainless  clouds,  are  aptly  com- 
pared to  fire  made  of  chaff,  as  both  are  unbearable.  The 
hundred  doors  of  the  torture-house  are  the  hundred  days  of 
the  rainy  season,  and  the  Asvins  are  said  to  have  quenched 
the  fire  with  cold  water,  i.e.,  by  pouring  down  rain.  The 
dark  cavern  or  torture-house  is  certainly  not  the  long  night 
of  the  Arctic  region,  but  only  clouds  that  envelop  the  Sun 
in  the  rainy  season.  We  have  discussed  in  some  of  the 
previous  chapters  many  references  to  the  dark  cavern  of 
Vftra,  meaning  the  rain-cloud,  in  which  he  was  supposed  to 
have  imprisoned  the  cows  or  solar  rays. 

Let  us  now  understand  the  story  of  Vadhrimatl  who  was 
given  a  son  named  Hiranya-hasta,  although  her  husband 
was  Vadhri  or  a  eunuch.  This  fact  has  been  described  in 
Rv.  i.  116,13  and  i.  117,24.  Siyana  says  that  a  certain 
ascetic  king  (R  6 jar  si]  had  a  daughter  whose  husband  was  a 


XXIV.]  ASVINS. 


559 


eunuch.  The  ASvins,  having  been  invoked  by  her  in  prayer, 
gave  her  a  son  named  Hiranya-hasta  or  Gold-handed.  Now 
this  Vadhrimati  is  none  other  than  Usas  or  the  Dawn  who 
could  not  come  into  contact  with  her  husband,  the  Sun,  who 
had  become  powrrless  like  a  Vadhri  or  eunuch  at  night,  or  in 
the  rainy  season,  when  the  solar  rays  became  weak  in  conse- 
quence of  their  having  been  covered  up  by  clouds.  The 
A^vins,  however,  gave  U$as  a  son,  called  Hiranya-hasta 
which  is  another  name  of  Savit?  or  the  Sun  (Cf.  Hiranya- 
pdni  Rv.  vi.  50,  8.)  The  plain  meaning  is  that  at  the  end 
of  the  rainy  season,  or  of  the  night,  the  golden  Sun,  with 
refulgent  rays,  issued  from  the  clouds  or  darkness  as  the  new- 
born bon  of  U?as — the  gift  of  the  A<  vins,  though  she  could 
not  know  her  husband  at  night  or  during  the  rains  on  account 
of  his  having  become  a  eunuch,  or  powerless.  This  Hiranya- 
hista  or  Hiranyafani  is  probably  the  origin  of  the  later 
Pauranic  Itgend  of  the  birth  of  Gane&a,  a  solar  god  with  the 
h*  ad  of  a  hastl  or  elephant,  which  resembles  the  orb  as  it 
begins  to  emerge  from  the  horizon, — Gane'a,  the  son  of  Um£ 
or  Duiga  who  is  identified  with  U§as. 

Next  let  us  turn  to  the  story  of  Atri  Sapta-Vadhri,  as 
related  in  Rv.  v.  78.  Sapta-Vadhri,  being  shut  up  in  a 
wooden  case  every  night,  is  kept  separated  from  his  wife.  He 
is,  therefore,  like  a  eunuch  in  the  night,  and  only  becomes 
the  husband  of  his  wife  in  the  day-time.  This  undoubtedly 
refers  to  the  Sun  ot  the  ni^ht.  But  if  he  is  at  all  the  eunuch 
Sun  of  the  night,  the  question  still  remains  to  be  answered, 
why  is  he  called  ^aptd- Vadhri,  or  sevr-n-eunurh  ?  Mr.  TibJe 
says  that  no  satisfactory  answer  to  thi*  question  has  been 
vouchsafed  by  any  Vodic  scholar.  But  we  humbly  venture 
to  suggest  that  the  Sun,  being  called  "  seven. rayed  " 
(Sapta-ra§mi)  when  he  is  visible  and  shines  brightly  in  the 
sky,  is  rightly  designated  "  Sapta-Vadhri  "  or  seven-eunuch, 
when  his  rays  lose  lustre  and  become  powerless  at  night. 
Mr.  Tilak  says  :  "  In  the  Atharva-veda,  xi.  5.  i,  the  Sun  as  a 
Brahmach&rin  is  said  to  move  between  heaven  and  earth,  and 


560  ^GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

in  the  I2th  verse  of  the  same  hymn,  we  are  told  that '  shouting 
forth,  thundering,  red,  white,  he  carries  a  great  penis 
(Bfhac-chepas)  along  the  earth.'  If  the  Sun  moving  between 
heaven  and  earth  is  called  Brhac-chepas,  h<^  may  well  be 
called  Vadhri  (eunuch)  when  sunk  into  the  land  of  Nir-iti" 
This  Nir-rti,  as  we  have  seen  bifore,  is  the  contrary  patli 
by  which  the  Sun  returns  at  night  to  the  place  of  rising.  The 
word  Sapta-Vadhri  is  thus  clearly  explained.  But  Mr.  Tilak 
indulges  in  a  far-fetched  interpretation  of  it  by  referring 
to  the  last  three  verses  of  Rv.  v.  78,  which  contain  a  liturgy 
of  child-birth.  From  the  prayer  contained  therein  that  the 
embryo  may  move  and  come  out  "  alive  and  unhurt  "  from 
the  mother's  womb  after  being  developed  for  ten  months, 
Mr.  Tilak  infers  that  it  refers  to  the  Sun  moving  between 
heaven  and  earth  as  in  a  mother's  womb  for  ten  months,  and 
then  coming  out — that  is  disappearing  from  view,  unlike  a 
child  who  becomes  visible  to  all  as  soon  as  it  comes  out  of 
the  mother's  womb.  This  disappearance  of  the  Sun  is 
identified  by  him  with  two  months'  darkness  when  he  goes 
below  the  horizon  in  a  part  of  the  Arctic  region.  But  this 
interpretation,  if  at  all  to  be  accepted,  may  as  well  apply  to 
the  two  rainy  months  during  which  the  Sun  becomes  invisible 
behind  clouds.  He  is  visible  for  ten  months  every  day, 
even  in  the  Tropics,  though  not  as  continuously  as  in  the 
Arctic  region,  where,  by  the  way,  the  day  is  certainly  not 
ten  months  long,  but  is  divided  into  a  long  day  for  a  few 
months  and  nycthemerons  during  the  rest  of  the  period.  So 
this  interpretation  does  not  hold  good  consistently  with  the 
actual  conditions  in  the  Arctic  region.  If  the  Sun  is  Divas- 
putra,  or  the  son  of  Dyu  or  heaven  (Rv.  x.  97.  i,),  and  the 
earth  the  parent  mother  (Rv.  i.  164.  33),  and  the  two  bowls, 
heaven  and  earth,  form  the  womb,  containing  the  embryo 
(the  Sun),  then  he  is  already  visible  to  both,  even  in  the 
period  of  gestation,  and  no  prayer  need  be  offered  to  any 
God  for  his  safe  delivery  from  the  mother's  womb ;  for  a 
prayer,  like  this,  would  be  absurd  and  unnecessary.  In 


xxiv.j 

Rv.  i.  164,  32,  the  Sun  is  described  as  being  invisible  to   one 
who  made  him,  "  evidently  meaning  his  mother,"  as  Mr.  Tilak 
says.     If  that  be  so,  the  riddle  can  only  mean  that   when   the 
Sun  travels  by  the   path   of   Nir-rti  at   night,    he   becomes 
invisible  to  the  mother  or  the  earth,  though   he   is   visible   to 
the  father,  the  Dyu  or  heaven,  because  the  path  lies   high  up 
in  the  distant  region  (par&vat}.     Another  riddle  contained  in 
Rv.  i   164,  17  probably    means    the   same  thing,  for  it  runs  as 
follows  :  "  The  cow  holding  her  calf  underneath  with  her  fore 
feet,  and  then  above  with  her  hind  feet,  has  risen  up.  Whither 
is  she  gone?  To  whom  has  she  turned  back    when   halfway? 
Where  does  she  bear  her  young  ?  It  is  not  amidst  theherd."  This 
may  mean  that  the  calf  or  the  Sun  is  taken  up  by  the  cow   or 
the  earth  at  night  to  a  place  which  nobody  knows,  and  then  comes 
back    without   the   calf   from   half  thi  wiy      Nobody  knows 
where  she  brings  forth  her  young  (or  the  Sun).     It  is  certain 
that  she  does  nit  do  so  in  the  midst  of  the  herd,  i.e.f  in    any 
spot  on  the  earth.   In  other  words,  she  temporarily  disappears 
with  her  calf  at  ni^ht,  and  the  calf  (the  San)  is  reborn  in    the 
morning,  ho\v  and  where,    nobody    know*.       This    temporary 
disappearance  of  the  Sun  at  night,  or   the    fact    of    his    being 
invisible    I  >    the    mother,    does    not  imply  the  existence  of  a 
long  Arctic   night,    but    only   of  an    ordinary   night   of   the 
Tropics.      Try   lio»vever     Mr    Tilak   may    to   explain    these 
riddles  in  his  own  fashion,  we  are  not  at  all  convinced   by  his 
arguments  that  the  myth  of  Atri  Sapta-Vadhri    refers   to   the 
darkness    of   a   long   Arctic   night.     Hymn    78  of   the  Fifth 
Ma^dala  is  really  a  simple  liturgy  of  cliild-birth,   as-  Siyaaa 
has  explained,  and  the   prayer    contained    in   the   l^st   three 
verses  for  the  safe  delivery  of  a  child  from  its  mother's  womb 
was  simply  suggested  by   the   legend   of   Sapta-Vadhri    who 
was  rescued  by  the  ASvins  from  the   wooden   case   in    which 
he   had   been    imprisoned,   as   a   child   is   delivered  from  its 
confinement  in  its  mother's  womb.     This,  in  our    opinion,    is 
the  simple  interpretation  of  the  hymn. 

Lastly,  we  will  try  to  understand  the  legend   of   ^Ljrasva 
who  is  described  as  the  son  of  Br?igirL     It    is   said   that   he 

7* 


S6*  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  fCHAP. 

killed  and  cut  up  101  sheep  belonging  to  the  citizens  and 
gave  them  to  a  she^-wslf  to  eat,  for  which  offence  he  was 
made  blind  by  his  father.  The  ASvins,  having  been  invoked 
by  him  in  prayer,  restored  his  sight.  (SAya^a's  commentary 
on  Rv.  i.  116,  16).  The  word  Jljrd&va  literally  means 
''a  red  horse/'  or  the  Sun,  who  is  frequently  compared  to  a 
horse.  The  101  .sheep  which  he  killed  and  gave  to  the  she- 
wolf  to  eat  are  undoubtedly  the  hundred  and  one  bright 
days  (mish)  to  glow  or  shine)  which  were  darkened  by  Ihe 
overhanging  cloud^  concealing  the  Sun  who  thus  became 
blind.  Rv.  i.  164,  14  distinctly  says  thit  the  solar  eye 
becomes  covered  with  watery  mists,  which  undoubtedly  refers 
to  his  blindness  due  to  rains. 

It  is  useless  further  to  pursue  th«  interpretations  of  the 
various  myths  which  certainly  do  not  prove,  or  even  suggest 
any  reference  to  the  long  Arctic  night.  The  business  of  the 
Sun,  and  the  darkness  produced  in  consequence,  when  it  is 
not  the  darkness  of  an  ordinary  Tropical  night,  are  well 
explained  by  the  theory  of  the  Rainy  season. 

Surya's  \7heeL 

The  Rgveda  variously  mentions  the  wheel  of  Sdrya's  car 
to  be  one,  two  or  seven  in  number.  Rv.  i.  164,  2  says  :  "  They 
yoke  the  seven  horses  to  the  one-wheeled  car.  One  horse, 
named  seven,  bears  it  alone."  It  would  thus  appear  that  the 
wheel  of  Sdrya's  car  is  only  one,  and  it  is  drawn  by  only  one 
horse— though  this  one  horse  stands  for  the  seven  horses 
that  were  given  him  by  the  seven  Deva-Adityas.  Similarly, 
the  one  wheel  also  represents  the  seven  wheels  that  the 
Adityas  gave  him.  The  next  verse  is  as  follows  :  "  The 
seven  who  preside  over  the  seven-wheeled  chariot  are  the 
seven  horses  who  draw  it.  Seven  sisters  ride  in  it  together, 
and  in  it  are  deposited  the  seven  cows.  (Gavdm  sap  to}" 
The  seven  who  preside  over  this  chariot  are  said  to  be  the 
seven  horses  who  represent  the  seven  divine  Adityas  *who, 
by  lending  their  rays  and  horses  to  the  Sun  or  Mdrtdnda, 


XXIVO  SORYA'S  WHEEL.  #3 

have  made  it  possible  for  him  to  shine  and  move.  Hence  it 
has  been  said  that  the  seven  draw  the  Sun's  car,  though  they 
preside  over  it.  The  seven  sisters  an*  the  seven  seasons 
who  ride  in  the  car  together.  It  will  be  in  the  recollection 
of  our  readers  that,  besides  the  twelve  lunar  months,  there 
is  an  intercalary  month  to  which  is  assigned  one  season  which, 
however,  is  not  counted,  as  it  is  without  a  couple  or  fellow. 
The  seven  cows  (Gavdm  saptd]  have  been  variously  inter* 
preted,  some  identifying  them  with  the  seven  notes  of 
music  as  employed  in  chanting  the  praises  of  the  Sun,  while 
others  identifying  them  with  the  seven  divine  rivers.  But 
these  interpretations  seem  to  be  far-fetched.  One  meaning  of 
go  is  rafmi  or  solar  ray ;  and  here  Gavdm  sapta  undoubtedly 
means  the  seven  rays  of  the  Sun,  that  were  lent  him  by  the 
seven  \dityas.  Thus  we  clearly  understand  why  the  one- 
wheeled  and  one-horsed  car  of  Sflrya  is  called  seven-wheeled 
and  seven-horsed. 

But  Sarya's  car  is  sometimes  conceived  to  be  two-wheeled 
also  like  an  ordinary  car.  Rv.  i.  175,  4  is  as  follows  :  "  Sage 
Indra,  \vfio  art  the  lord,  thou  hast  carried  off  by  thy  strength 
om-  whorl  of  (the  chariot  of)  the  Sun.  Take  up  thy  bolt  for 
the  <K*ath  of  Stisai,  and  proceed  with  thy  horses,  swift  as  the 
wind,  to  Kutsa."  Indra,  in  this  verse,  has  been  described  as 
having  carried  off  not  the  one  wheel,  but  simply  one  wheel  of 
SQrya's  chariot  which  must,  therefore,  have  possessed  more 
wheels  than  one— either  two  or  seven.  S&yaqta  is  inclined 
to  put  down  the  number  ->f  wheels  of  this  :ir  to  two.  As  the 
stealing  of  one  of  Sfl-y.41*  wheels  by  Indra 
object  of  crippli  i  /  hi*  nilion  or  duablir 
of  one  wheel  out  of  sew*n  wjul  1  n  >th 
effect  as  the  removal  of  one  wheel 
disposed  to  accept  Siya^a's  interpre 
Rv.  v.  31,  n  is  as  follows  :  "  He| 
in  battle  the  rapid  chariot  of  the 
wheel  for  Etasa,  and  with  it  Indra 
he,  giving  us  precedence,  be 


564  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Sun's  chariot  was  furnished  with  two  wheels,  the  canying 
away  of  one  would  impede  its  progress;  and  if  the  wheel 
was  only  one,  the  loss  of  it  would  bring  the  car  to  a  d^nd 
halt  at  once.  Any  way,  the  carrying  away  of  one  wheel  by 
Indra  made  the  Sun's  progress  extremely  slow  and  halting. 
But  what  is  really  meant  by  Indra  tnking  off  one  wheel  from 
the  Sun's  car  and  making  its  progress  slow  ?  Almost  all  the 
feats  for  which  he  was  famous  were  mainly  directed  towards 
helping  the  progress  of  the  Sun  and  releasing  him  from  the 
clutches  of  Vftra.  How  is  it,  then,  that  Indra  acted  on  this 
occasion  in  opposition  to  Sarya,  and  impeded  his  progress 
by  carrying  away  a  wheel  of  his  car  ?  Mr.  Tilak  identifies  the 
wheel  (cakram)  with  the  Sun  him^K,  and  siys  that  it  was 
he  whom  Indra  carried  a\vav,  thereby  ushering  in  a  period  of 
darkness  over  the  earth.  TiiU  da  k-ie^s  he  believes  to  b^  that 
of  a  long  Arctic  night ;  but  for  aught  \\e  kno\\f,  it  may  as  well 
be  the  darkness  of  an  ordinary  niohfc  of  the  Tropics,  the  idea 
being  that  Indra  removed  the  wheel  of  the  Sun's  chariot  in 
the  evening  and  foug'it  with  the  demois  of  darkness  with  its 
help.  But  the  fact  of  carrying  off  and  capturing  the  *>un  is 
usually  attributed  to  Vftra,  and  not  to  Indra  who  wages  a 
war  with  the  demon  for  his  release.  A  deed  like  this, 
performed  by  Indra,  would,  therefore,  be  quite  contrary  to  the 
usual  tenor  of  his  actions,  unless  we  attach  an  altogether 
different  interpretation  to  it.  Verses  3  to  7  of  the  3oth  hymn 
of  Mandala  IV  seem  to  furnish  a  cluv  and  are  as  follow  : 

"  3.  Verily  all  the  Gods,  with  thee  (for)  their  strength 
have  warred  (with  the  Asuras),  wherefore  thou  hast  destroyed 
them  by  day  and  by  night.  4.  In  which  contests),  for  the 
sake  of  Kutsa  and  his  allies,  thou  hast  stolen,  Indra,  the  vvhrel 
of  the  c^r  of  the  Sun.  5.  In  which  (contests),  thou  singly 
indeed  hast  warred  with  all  those  opposing  the  Gods.  Thou, 
Indra,  hast  slain  the  malignant.  6,  In  which  (contests), 
Indra,  thou  hast  for  the  sake  of  a  mortal,  discomfited  the  Sun, 
and  hast  protected  Etasa  by  thine  exploits.  7.  Wherefore, 
slayer  of  Vftra,,  opulent  Indra,  hast  thou,  thereupon,  become 


XXIV.]  SORYA'S  WHEEL.  565 

most  incensed,  and,  in  consequence,    hast  slain   the   son   of 
Danu  (Vjtra)  in  this  firmament." 

It  will  appear  from  the  above  account  that  Indra  be- 
friended  Kutsa  and  his  allies  and,  for  their  sake,  carried  away 
the  wheel  of  the  Sun's  car.  Rv.  vi.  31,  3  says  that  Indra 
helped  Kutsa  in  lighting  against  the  powerful  Su$na. 
Rv.  i.  175,  4  also  mentions,  as  we  have  seen,  the  fact  of 
Indra's  carrying  away  the  xvhe^l  of  the  Sun's  car  for  the 
sake  of  KuUa  with  a  view  to  accomplish  the  defeat  of  the 
demon,  Suaaa,  who  has  elsewhere  been  described  as  "the 
wrath-born  son  of  Vftra."  Now  this  Sujna,  as  we  kno\v, 
is  the  demon  of  drought,  who  causes  great  distress  to  men 
and  all  living  creatures  by  withholding  rain.  During  a 
period  of  drought  clouds  are  absent  from  the  sky,  and  the 
Sun,  with  his  fierce  burning  rays,  considerably  adds  to 
their  distress  instead  of  alleviating  it,  as  he  ought  to  do 
as  a  Deva.  Indra,  therefore,  with  a  benevolent  desire  to 
accomplish  the  good  of  all  living  creatures,  thinks  it  necessary 
first  of  all  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  Sun  and  discomfit  him 
by  taking  off  a  wheel  from  his  cir  Tue  wheel  being  stolen, 
his  power  is  diminished,  [n  olhei  word*,  Indra  causes  clouds 
to  appear  in  the  sky,  which  cover  up  the  Sun,  and  make  his 
rays  less  fierce  an4  unbearable  F  us  done,  Indra  fights 
against  Smna  who  hides  hirnsolf  in  the  dark  caverns  of  the 
clouds,  from  which,  however,  Indra  hunts  him  and  Vftra  out, 
;md  kil's  them  both  in  battle.  After  this,  thenins  are  released 
un  I  I. ill  lo\vn  in  ibu  i  lance.  ThU  see<ns  to  be  the  real 
import  of  the  legend  reg.vding  the  canying  away  of  the 
wheel  of  the  Sun's  chariot  by  Indra.  The  defeat  or  discom- 
fiture of  the  Sun  in  the  hands  of  Indra  is  clearly  referred  to 
in  Rv.  x.  43,  5  which  says  that  Indra  defeated  the  rain* 
obstructing  Sun  in  the  same  way  as  a  gambler  seeks  out  his 
winner  and  defeats  him.1  The  defeat  or  weakening  of 
Sdrya  is  synchronous  with  the  advent  of  the  rainy  season. 


566  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Mr.  Tilak's  surmise,  therefore,  that  this  discomfiture  of  Sflrya 
betokens  the  advent  of  a  long  night  is  clearly  wrong. 

Mr,  Tilajt  next  quotes  Rv.  vi,  31.  3  to  prove  his  point 
by  interpreting  the  pharse  "  DaSa  prapitve  "  in  a  very 
ingenious  way  to  mean  "  at  the  end  of  ten  (months)."1  Even 
admitting  for  the  sake  of  argument  that  his  interpretation  is 
correct,  the  verse  would  mean  as  follows  :  "  O  Indra,  in  the 
striving  for  cows  do  thou,  with  Kutsa,  fight  against  Su?^a, 
the  ASusa  (the  voracious),  and  Kuyava  ("  the  bane  of  the 
crops"  Wilson).  On  the  decline  or  completion  of  the  ten 
(months),  thou  stolest  the  wheel  of  SQrya  and  didst  destroy 
calamities."  This  implies  that  after  ten  rainless  months  during 
which  5u?na  or  the  drought  ate  up  the  fo  »d  (or  crops)  of  m  n 
voraciously,  in  other  words,  destroyed  the  >i  »*y  causing  them 
to  wither,  Indra  stole  a  wheel  of  the  Sun's  car,  and  thus 
weakened  his  fierce  rays  by  causing  clouds  to  gather,  from 
which  rain  was  precipitated,  marking  the  end  of  sunshine  or 
drought.  This  meaning  is  as  simple  and  cl«a-  as  it  is  rational. 
Mr.  Tilak's  attempt,  therefore,  to  interp-et  if  as  indicating 
the  advent  of  the  long  Arctic  night  is  \\rui  g. 

It  should  further  be  noticed  here  thai  Suvua  is  described 
-is  a  devourer  and  bane  of  crops.  Does  Mi.  Tilak  mean  to 
v>ay  that  a  ten  mouths'  long  sunshine  in  the  Arctic  region  v\as 
uncongenial  to  the  growth  of  crops,  and  that  they  throve  \\ell 
in  darkness?  And  was  it,  therefore,  necessary  for  Indra  to 
remove  the  Sun  for  two  months  in  order  to  make  the  corn 
grow  ?  A  supposition  like  this  would  be  absurd  on  the  very 
face  of  it.  Rain  is  essential  to  the  growth  of  com  as  weii  ;*s 
sunshine,  and  what  Indra  really  did  was  to  weakt  n  the  power 
of  the  Sun  first  of  all,  by  causing  clouds  to  gather  in  the  sky, 
and  then  to  precipitate  rains  from  them.  This  legemi  too, 
therefore,  does  not  suggest  a  long  Arctic  night,  as  wrongly 
inferred  by  Mr.  Tilak;  but  it  clearly  betokens  the  advent  of 
the  rainy  season  after  a  long  period  of  drought. 


RV.  vi.  31,  3  : 


XXIV.]  Vl$NU'S  THREE  STRIDES.  567 


s  Three  Strides. 

From  the  three  strides  of  Vi$tiu,  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  Rgveda  (i.  22,  17-18;  i.  154,  2j,  Mr.  Tilak  has  tried  to 
prove  his  theory  of  the  Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans.  Let  us 
now  examine  his  arguments.  Verses  17  and  18  of  Rv.  i.  22 
are  as  follows  :— 

"  17.  Vi$nu  traversed  this  (world);  three  times  he  planted 
his  foot,  and  the  Universe  was  enveloped  by  his  foot  covered 
with  dust.  1  8.  Vi?nu,  the  preserver,  the  uninjurable,  stepped 
three  steps,  upholding  righteousness/' 

Commentators  disagree  about  the  meaning  of  the  sentence 
tridhA    nidadhe   padam}  i.e.,    thrice    he    planted   his    step. 
According  to  SikapQni,  it  was  on  earth,  in  the  fumament  and  in 
heaven  ;  and,  according  to  Ourijavabha,  it  was  on  Samirohana, 
or  the  eastern  mountain,  on    Visnupada,    the   meridian   sky, 
and  Gayafiras*   the  western   mountain.  l    Durgdcdrya   also 
identifies   Vijrm    with   the   Sun  and  his  three  paces  with  the 
risr*,  culmination  a  vl  setting  of  the   luminary.     Allusion    is 
further  made  to  tlio  three  paces  of  Vi?nu   in    the   Vijasaneyl 
Saiahita  of  the  Yipr  Veda,  and  the   scholiast   there    explains 
th"-n  to  imply  th  •  presence  of  Vi^au  hi  the   three    regions    of 
thi-  earth,  air,  an  i  'isaven,  in  tiie  lonns  respectively  of    Agni, 
Viyu,  and  Sarya  (Fire,  Wind,  and  the  Sun).     Vi§nu    is   thus 
admittedly  ident'ied  with  the  Sun,  though  in  the  Rgveda    we 
find  him  helping  I'i  KM  in  rescuing  the   Sun,   the  Dawn,  the 
solar  rays    and    tlu    waters    imprisoned   by   Vrtra,  thereby 
showing  that    lie    possessed   a    distinct   individuality    of  his 
own.  He  may  not  be  the  Sun  himself,  but  he  was  undoubtedly 
the  deity  presiding  over  the  luminary. 

Mr.  Tilak  says  that  the  motion  of  the  Sun  as  indicated 
by  the  three  steps  of  Vi?riu  was  not  diurnal  but  annual,  and 
quotes  Rv.  i.  155,  6  in  support  of  his  view.  The  verse  says 
that  Viflju  set  in  motion  like  a  revolving  wheel  his  ninety 


i 


568  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

steeds  with  their  four  name**,  evidently  referring  to  360  days 
divided  into  four  groups  of  seasons.  "  This,"  says  Mr.  Tilak, 
"  is  good  evi  bnce  t  >  h  jkl  t'ut  tlii  v^  my  cj  irv»  of  the  Sun 
must  be  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  exploits  of  Vi$nu.  The 
Rgveda  further  tells  us  that  Viaau  was  tht  inti'niti;  friend 
of  Indra  (yujyah  sukhb  \  2j,  19),  aivl  that  he  assisted  ludra 
in  his  tight  with  Vrtri.  Fhus  in  iv.  iS  i  ws  a<-e  toKl  that 
Indra  about  to  kill  Vftra  said  '  O  frien  1  Vijau,  stride*  vastly  ' 
(also  cf.  viii.  12,  ^7),  an  1  i<i  i.  15"),  4  Vi*nu  ts  said  to  have 
•penei  the  cows'  stible  with  the  as-,istince  of  his  friend, 
while  both  Inlri  an  1  Vi^nu  ir-t  described  as  hiving  together 
vanquished  Sa-nvara,  co  )q-a»r^J  t'u;  h^st  of  V.ircins  and 
produced  the  Sun,  Dawn,  a  id  the  Fire  in  vii.  99,  4.  5.  It 
is  evident  from  thes'-j  pissa^^s  that  Vi^uu  was  the  associate 
of  Indra  in  his  fight  with  Vftra  (cf.  vii.  63,  9),  and  if  so,  one 
of  the  three  steps  must  be  placed  in  regions  where  this 
fight  was  fought,  that  is  in  the  nether  world  We  can  now 
understand  why  in  i.  155,  5  it  is  said  that  two  of  the  three 
steps  of  Vi^nu  are  visible  to  many,  but  the  ihird  is  beyond 
the  reach  of  birds  or  mortals  (aUo  cf  vii,  <jtj,  i).  When  the 
third  step  of  Vi§nu  is  located  in  the  nethei  world,  it  can  well 
be  said  to  be  invisible,  or  beyond  the  reach  of  mortals.'"1 

Yes ;  but  what  is  meant  by  its  being  bsyond  the  reach  of 
birds?  If  the  region  was  really  in  th<j,  nether  world,  the 
Vedic  bard  would  certainly  not  have  brought  in  birds  to 
describe  its  inaccessibility.  As  bird-*  flv  in  the  sky,  the  region 
where  Vi?cui  locates  his  third  step  must  also  be  in  the  sky, 
but  so  high  that  neither  men  nor  bird-»  ci«i  reach  it.  This  is 
the  simple  idea  that  the  Vedic  bard  seems  to  convey.  It  is  a 
distortion  of  the  plain  meaning  of  the  verse  to  locate  Vi^au's 
third  step  in  the  nether  region.  Besides,  it  should  be  recalled 
to  rnind  that  we  have  proved  from  several  verses  of  the 
^Lgveda  that  the  tight  of  Indra  with  Vftra  did  not  take  place 
in  the  nether  region,  but  in  the  firmament.  Mr.  Tilak's 

i     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vcda*t  p  338. 


XXIV.]  VI§NU'S  THREE  STRIDES.         .        569 

assumption  that  the  fight  took  place  in  the  nether  region  is, 
therefore,  utterly  baseless,  and  his  conclusion  about  the 
location  of  the  third  step  of  Vi?nu,  which  he  has  based  on  that 
assumption,  at  once  falls  to  the  ground. 

The  three  steps  of  Vi?au  can  well  be  explained  by  a 
consideration  of  bo'h  the  diurnal  aud  the  annual  motions  of 
the  Sun.  He  takes  the  first  step  in  the  morning  at  the  time 
of  rising,  the  second  step  in  the  meridian  sky  at  mid-day,  and 
the  third  step  in  the  evening  when  he  sets,  which  therefore 
becomes  invisible.  By  the  third  step  or  stride,  he  does  the 
whole  distance,  covered  by  the  path  of  Nir-rti,  or  the  contrary 
path  which,  as  we  have  shown,  is  situated  high  up  in  the 
heavens,  beyond  the  reach  of  mortals  or  birds.  When  we 
consider  the  annual  motion  of  the  Sun,  Vijnu  covers  two-thirds 
of  the  year  or  eight  months  by  his  two  strides,  and  the 
remaining  one-third  or  four  months  by  his  third  stride. 
Counting  the  year  from  Sarad  or  autumn  which  was  its 
beginning,  we  come  to  the  rainy  season  when  he  takes  his 
third  step  which  becomes  invisible  in  consequence  of  the  sky 
being  covered  up  with  clouds,  in  other  words,  when  Indra's 
great  fight  with  Vftra  or  Samvara  commences.  Though  the 
Sun  is  then  imprisoned  by  Vftra,  along  with  the  Dawn,  the 
solar  rays  and  waters,  the  presiding  deity  of  the  Sun,  i.e., 
VUmi,  helps  Indra  in  rescuing  them.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
Vi?nu  helps  Indra  both  in  his  daily  and  annual  fights  with 
Vftra.  This  meaning  is  plain  and  simple,  and  most  satisfactorily 
explains  the  three  strides  of  Viguu.  The  later  Pauranic 
legend  of  VI?QU  placing  his  third  step  on  the  head  of  Vali, 
the  Asura  king,  and  sending  him  downwards,  is  only  an 
expansion  of  the  Vedic  legend  of  Indra  and  Vijau  vanquishing 
Vftra,  and  laying  him  low.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Mr 
Tilak's  interpretation  of  the  myth  to  prove  a  long  Arctic 
night  fails. 

Next  Mr.  Tilak   refers   to  the   appellation   of   Vi^u   as 
§tpivi$ta  (Rv.  vii   100,  6),  which,  according  to   Aupamanyava 
has  a  bad  sense    (Kutsitarthivam}      Y&ska,    in   his    Nirukta 

73 


S?o  iLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

(v-  79)»  explains  the  word  to  mean  fepa  iva  nirvestitah,  or 
"  enveloped  like  the  private  parts,"  or  with  rays  obscured 
(apratipannara$mi).  Though  an  attempt  has  been  made  by 
Yiska  himself,  and  the  author  of  the  Taittirlya  Samhiti 
(i.  2.  12.  4.  &  5)  to  explain  the  word  as  a  laudatory  appel- 
lation of  Visnu,  its  opprobrious  meaning  is  to  be  found  even 
in  later  Sanskrit  literature.  Now  what  can  be  the  meaning 
of  this  opprobrious  appellation  as  applied  to  Vijnu  ?  It  means 
that  there  is  a  season  or  time  when  the  Sun's  rays  are 
obscured,  which  may  be  either  night,  or  the  rainy  season. 
When  the  Sun  shines  brightly  and  his  rays  are  powerful,  he 
is  called  Brhac-ckepas ;  conversely  when  his  rays  are  obscured, 
he  is  called  Sipiviata.  This  is  the  simple  meaning  of  the  word. 
It  does  not  prove,  as  inferred  by  Mr.  Tilak,  that  the  Sun  was 
in  the  nether  regions  in  the  clutches  of  the  demon  Vftra. 
Tlieie  can  be  no  question  of  the  nether  regions  so  far  as 
Indra's  fight  with  Vjrtra  is  concerned,  The  Sun's  rays  are 
obscured  or  darkened  at  night  and  in  the  rainy  season,  an<i 
Vienu's  appellation  of  Sipivijta  as  much  applies  to  the  one  a* 
to  the  other. 

It  would  be  quite  useless  here  to  discuss  again  the  myth 
of  Trita  Aptya,  which  we  have  dealt  with  in  a  previous 
chapter,  and  proved  to  indicate  the  Rainy  Season.  The 
principal  myths,  referred  to  by  Mr.  Tilak  as  proving  a  long 
Arctic  night,  have  been  found  to  mean  either  the  short  night 
of  the  Tropics  or  the  Rainy  Season,  during  which  the  Sun's 
power  declines,  or  the  &oUr  orb  becomes  dark  and  invisible. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

EXAMINATION  OF  MR,  TIUK'S  THEORY  OF  THE  ARCTIC  CR4DLE 
OF  THE  MMMS-fconcludedJ 

THE  AVESTIC  EVIDENCE. 

As  we  have  seen  before,  Mr.  Tilak  has  laid  great  stress  on 
some  evidences  in  the  Zend-Avesta  to  prove  his  theory  of  the 
Arctic  home  of  the  Aryans.    He  admits  that  there  is  no  direct 
evidence  in  the  Rgveda  to  prove  his  Arctic  theory,    and   has, 
therefore,  tried  his  best  to  gather  indirect  evidence   from    an 
isolated  verse  here,  and  an  isolated  verse  there,  which  he  has 
interpreted  in  his  own  way   to   suit   his   purpose      We    have 
examined  his  main  arguments  at  length  in    these    pages,    but 
we  have  found  most  of  them  to  be  far-fetched,    unconvincing, 
inconsistent,   and    at   places    utterly    hollow.     The    Rgveda 
certainly  does  not  contain  any  reliable  indication  to  show  that 
the  Aryans  had  once  lived  in  the    Arctic    regions,    and    tame 
thence  as  immigrants  to  Sapta-Sindhu  or    the    Punjab.     But 
Mr.   Filak  seems  to  have  been  greatly  struck  by    the    account 
in  the  Zend-Avesta  of  the  destruction   of   Airyana  Va«-jo  by  a 
deluge  of  ice,  and  connecting    this    event    with  the    climatic 
changes  brought   about  in  a  remote  age  in   the    Arctic    region 
by   glaciation    which    rendered    it    uninhabitable,    naturally 
concludes  that  the  Aryans   had   their   original   h  ome   in   the 
Arctic  region  whence    they    dispersed    south-ward— some   to 
northern  and  southern    Europe,   and   others   to   central   and 
southern    Asia.      The    latter,    it    is    said,    consisted   of   two 
branches,  one   representing   the    forefathers   of  the    modern 
Hindus,  and  the  other  of  the  modern  Parsis,  who  settled  down 
respectively  in  the  plains  of  the  Punjab,   and   the   region   to 
the  north  of   the  Hindukush    mountain.     Those    who   settled 
down  in  the  last-named  region  called  their   country   Airyana 
Vaejo,  i.e.,  the  Paradise  or  original  happy  home  of  the  Aryans, 
after  the  name  of  the  original  country   in  the    Arctic  region 


57'  $uVEDlt  INDIA.  [CHAP 

which  had  been  destroyed  by  ice.  This  theory  seems  very 
ingenious  and  plausible  at  first  sight,  but  we  have  seen  that 
it  does  not  stand  the  test  of  criticism.  The  evidence  quoted 
by  Mr.  Tilak  from  the  second  Fargard  ot  the  Vedidad  in 
support  of  his  theory  is  not  at  all  convincing.  It  is  related 
there  that  Ahura  Mazda  called  a  meeting  of  the  celestial  Gods, 
which  "  the  fair  Yima,  the  good  shepherd  of  high  renown  in 
Airyana  Vaejo"  also  attended  with  all  his  excellent  mortals, 
and  at  which  Ahura  Mazda  distinctly  warned  Yima  that  fatal 
winters  were  going  to  tall  on  the  happy  land  and  destroy 
every  thing  therein.  Accordingly  Yima  was  advised  to  make 
a  VAra  or  enclosure,  and  remove  there  the  seeds  of  every 
kind  of  animals  and  plants  for  preservation.  Yima,  not 
knowing  anything  about  the  nature  and  physical  conditions 
of  this  new  country  where  he  was  advised  to  go,  naturally 
asked  Ahura  Mazda  about  the  lights,  both  created  and 
uncreated,  that  were  to  be  found  there.  To  this  query,  the 
latter  replied  that  in  the  V£ra,  the  «un,  the  moon,  and  thr 
stars  **  rose  but  once  a  year  "  and  that  "  a  year  seemed  only 
as  a  day "  to  the  inhabitants  thereof.  From  the  tenor  of 
Mazda's  reply,  it  is  evident  that  these  physical  conditions  of 
the  V4ra  were  quite  unlike  those  of  Airyana  Vaejo,  which 
made  it  necessary  for  him  to  describe  them  in  extenso.  The 
Vara,  therefore,  may  have  been  situated  in  the  Arctic  region, 
but  Airyana  Vaejo  was  certainly  not.  Hence  it  follows  (i) 
that  Airyana  Vaejo  which  was  destroyed  by  ice  was  situated 
in  any  place  other  than  the  Arctic  region  ;  (2)  that  when  it  was 
destroyed,  the  Arctic  region  was  habitable,  which  made  it 
possible  for  Yima  to  remove  there  with  the  seeds  of  all  animals 
and  plants ;  (3)  that  the  deluge  of  ice  that  destroyed  Airyana 
Vaejo  was  not  synchronous  with  the  great  invasion  of  ice  in  the 
beginning  of  ihe  Post-glacial  epoch  that  rendered  the  Arctic 
region  uninhabitable ;  (4)  that  Yima's  removal  to  the  V£ra  un- 
doubtedly took  place  in  an  Inter-glacial  period  when  the  climate 
of  the  Arctic  region  was  congenial,  and  that  Airyana  Vaejo  was 
destroyed  by  ice  through  local  causes  in  that  period  ;  and  (5) 


XXVO  AVESTIC  EVIDENCE.  573 

that  Yima's  V£ra  could  not  have  been  situated,  as  stated  in  the 
Mainyo-i-khard,  within  Airyana  Vaejo  which  was  destroyed  by 
ice,  as  a  mere  enclosure  (V&ra)  would  not  be  sufficient  to 
keep  back  the  invasion  of  ice  from  the  place,  though  it  might 
protect  the  inhabitants  thereof  from  the  attacks  of  savage 
men  and  wild  animals.  These  conclusions,  as  our  readers 
will  see,  are  irresistable  and  incontrovertible,  and  from  these 
we  infer  that  Airyana  Vaejo  was  situated  to  the  north  of  the 
Hindukush  on  a  high  tableland,  on  which  its  location  is 
pointed  out  at  present,  and  that  this  region,  having  been 
invaded  by  ice,  a  branch  of  the  Iranians  or  Parsis,  under  the 
leadership  ot  Yima,  moved  to  the  Arctic  region  and  settled 
there  in  an  Inter-glacial  period,  when  the  Arctic  climate  was 
congenial  and  agreeable,  verging  upon  "  perpetual  spring." 
We  have  tried  to  connect  the  ice-deluge  of  Airyana  Vaejo 
with  Manu's  Flood,  both  ot  which  were  probably  synchronous. 
As  this  Flood  is  supposed  to  have  been  caused  by  the  up- 
heaval of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputan£  Sea,  and  as  there  is  no 
mention  of  it  in  the  Rgveda,  \vc  are  naturally  led  to  conclude* 
that  the  event  took  place  long  after  Rgvedic  times  when 
Sapta-Sindhu  had  a  *ea  to  the  south,  and  was  quite  uncon- 
nected with  the  Deccan,  and  another  sea  to  the  east  extending 
probably  from  modern  Delhi  to  A^sam.  If  these  premises  be 
correct,  the  age  of  the  Rgveda  must  go  back  to  some  Inter- 
glacial  period  of  Northern  Europe,  corresponding  at  any  rate 
to  the  Pleistocene  or  the  Post-Pleistocene  Epoch.  As 
Mr.  Tilak  is  not  willing  to  ascribe  such  an  old  age  to  the 
Rgveda,  he  naturally  falls  in  with  the  opinion  of  American 
Geologists  who,  considering  the  evidence  mainly  found  in 
their  country,  have  held  that  th«m  Post-glacial  epoch  com- 
menced some  ten  thousand  year*  ago,  and  rejects  the  opinion 
of  Dr.  Croll  who  sets  it  uown  at  about  80,000  years  ago,  so 
far  at  least  as  Northern  Europe  was  concerned.  It  should  be 
temembered  in  this  connection  that  "  all  the  evidence  regard- 
ing the  existence  of  the  Glacial  period  comes  from  the  north 
of  Europe  and  America  but  no  traces  of  glaciation  have  been 


574  HGVED1C  INDIA  [CHAP 

yet  discovered  in  Northern  Asia  or  North  Alaska/'  l  which 
suggests  the  inference  that  the  Glacial  period  was  not  the 
one  and  the  same  throughout  the  Northern  part  of  the  Globe, 
and  may  have  occured  in  different  times  in  different  places 
through  different  causes,  and  that  the  calculations  of  the 
European  and  American  Geologists  may  be  correct  so  far  as 
their  respective  countries  are  concerned.  It  may,  therefore, 
be  misleading  to  apply  the  calculations  as  regards  the  Glacial 
period  of  one  country  to  those  of  another.  But  even  if  we 
accept  for  the  sake  of  argument  the  calculation  of  American 
Geohgists,  accepted  by  Mr.  Tilak,  that  the  Glacial  period  in 
Northern  Europe  occured  some  ten  thousand  years  ago,  the 
age  of  the  Rgveda  must  be  older  than  that ;  and  this  takes 
us  back  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  birth  of  the  Babylonian 
and  Egyptian  civilisations,  and  establishes  the  undoubtedly 
hoary  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda,  and  of  the  Land  of  the  Seven 
Rivera  where  the  sacred  hymns  of  this  most  ancient  Scripture 
in  the  world  were  admittedly  first  composed  and  sung. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  Zend-Avesta 
does  not  prove  that  the  original  cradle  of  the  Aryans  was 
situated  in  the  Arctic  region.  If  it  proves  anything,  it  proves 
that  a  branch  of  the  Aryan  race  emigrated  to  that  region  in 
an  early  age,  probably  in  an  Inter-glacial  period  to  escape  a 
calamity  caused  by  local  physical  conditions.  The  early 
cradle  of  the  Aryans,  so  far  as  we  can  gather  from  the  earliest 
record  available,  was  in  Sapta-Siridhu,  the  Land  of  Seven 
Rivers,  as  the  Punjab  used  to  be  called  in  ancient  times,  and 
the  countries  immediately  surrounding  it,  which  probably 
included  Airyana  Vat-jo  also  in  their  ambit,  We  have  in  this 
and  some  of  the  previous  chapters,  examined  all  the  principal 
evidences  put  forward  by  Mr.  Tilak  from  the  Zend-Avesta  to 
prove  his  Arctic  theory,  but  we  have  found  that  they  do  not, 
by  any  means,  support  it. 

I     Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedast  p.  14. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

I  have  at  last  come  to  the  end  of  my  labours,  and  it  now 
only  remains  for  me  to  give  a  resume  of  the  several  conclu- 
sions I  have  arrived  at  in  this  book.  As  regards  the  original 
home  of  a  people,  it  would  be  extremely  rash  to  say  that  a 
people,  however  ancient,  and  however  old  their  traditions,  have 
been  living  in  the.  same  country  from  the  very  time  of  their 
creation  ;  for  primitive  men,  like  animals,  were  migratory  and 
moved  from  place  to  place,  impelled  by  the  exigencies  of 
climate,  food,  shelter,  and  sudden  physical  changes.  The 
wide  earth  was  their  home,  and  they  conveniently  moved  up 
or  down  to  new  places  either  far  or  near,  that  afforded  them 
sufficient  food  and  shelter.  The  extensive  physical  and 
climatic  changes  that  took  place  in  the  Glacial,  Inter-glacial, 
and  Post-glacial  epochs,  caused  a  general  movement  of  men, 
animals  and  even  plants  from  one  part  of  the  Globe  to  an- 
other, and  it  would,  therefore,  be  difficult  to  ascertain  when 
and  where  a  particular  tribe  or  people  had  their  first  origin. 
It  is  only  when  we  come  down  to  the  earliest  period  of  the 
present  epoch,  when  the  distribution  of  land  and  water  be- 
came practically  the  same  as  we  find  it  now,  that  it  becomes 
possible  for  us  to  locate,  with  some  Certainty,  ihe  place 
where  a  particular  people  had  once  lived  before  they  emigrat- 
ed to,  or  were  isolated  in  some  other  land.  Beyond  this,  it 
is  impossible  for  us,  with  our  present  limited  know  ledge,  to 
come  to  any  definite  conclusion  regarding  the  place  of  origin, 
or  the  original  home  of  a  people, 

Considered  from  this  point  of  view,  the  original  cradle  of 
the  Aryans  must  remain  undetermined,  though,  so  far,  the 
evidences  point  to  its  situation  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  or  the 
Punjab.  We  are  not  concerned  with  that  stage  of  the  Aryans 
•when  they  were  just  emerging  into  the  human  estate.  But 
we  come  down  to  the  early  dawn  of  Aryan  Jaistorjv  >yhich  is 


576  £GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

synchronous  with  the  mental  awakening  of  the  Aryans  making 
intelligent  self-realisation  possible,  in  relation  to  their  physi- 
cal environments,  and  impelling  them  to  overcome  obstacles 
and  subordinate  them  to  their  tribal  welfare.  This  mental 
development  must  have  been  at  first  extremely  slow  and  gradual, 
and  probably  occupied  thousands  of  years  before  the  primitive 
Aryan  savages  were  able  to  take  a  farther  step  onward.1  These 
savages,  subsisting  on  roots  and  fruits,  and  instinctively  roaming 
about  in  search  of  food  and  shelter,  gradually  developed  into 
hunters,  with  their  rude  primitive  weapons,  consistingof  either 
small  branches  of  trees,  bones,  or  stones  found  in  their  natural 
conditions,  that  came  in  handy  for  the  purposes  of  offence  and 
defence.  Afterwards,  they  learnt  how  to  polish  these  rude  stone 
weapons  and  give  them  particular  shapes.  But  this  also  took 
a  long  age  to  be  accomplish^ d.  Gradually  they  learnt  to  trap 
and  tame  wild  animals  like  goats,  sheep  and  cattle,  which 
they  killed  for  food  in  times  of  necessity.  The  duty  of  keep- 

1  Vedic  cosmology  postulates  the  creation  of  certain  divine  and  semi- 
divine  beings  called  Devcu  and  Devarsts,  who  preside  over  the  destinies  of 
mankind  and  guide  them  in  their  gradual  evolution  towards  progress  and 
perfection.  They  btand  in  the  role  of  instructors  and  masters  who  select  their 
apt  pupils  from  a  particular  race,  and  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  culture 
and  civilised  life.  So  far  as  the  Aryan  race  was  concerned,  the  semi-divine 
Ijlftis  were  the  prototypes  of  the  race,  and  gradually  initiated  the  people  in  the 
use  of  fire  and  metals  and  the  mysteries  of  sacrifice,  and  taught  them  the 
fundamental  principles  of  art  and  agriculture.  The  inapt  pupils  were  rejected 
and  cast  adrift  in  the  world  as  waifs  and  strays, — savage  or  semi-savage  nomads 
— who  have  scarcely  made  any  progress  during  these  long  centuries.  The 
progress  made  by  the  '*  select, "  however,  was  necessarily  slow,  and  only 
commensurate  with  their  gradual  mental  development,  even  like  that  made  by 
children,  though  under  the  guidance  and  control  of  veteran  teachers.  The  race 
had  to  pass  through  all  the  different  stages  of  mental,  moral  and  spiritual 
development  during  a  long  period  measured  by  thousands,  nay,  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  years,  before  it  could  emerge  as  a  civilised  people,  as  we  find 
them  depicted  in  the  Rgveda.  This  course  of  training  was  necessary  to  all 
people,  Aryan  or  non- Aryan,  as  it  is  necessary  even  to  the  most  wonderful 
prodigy  of  a  child  who  has  to  learn  the  alphabets  and  go  through  a  course  of 
training  before  he  can  emerge  as  a  full-fledged  genius.  Evolution  is  the  baaii 
of  all  progress,  and  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Aryan  race  had  not  to 
go  through  this  long  and  tedious  process. 


XXVL]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  577 

ing  and  tending  these  animals  put  a  burden  on  their 
shoulders,  which  necessarily  curbed  their  free  roving  propen- 
sities except  for  the  purpose  of  pasturing  them.  This  stage 
also  continued  for  several  thousand  years,  until  they  learnt 
the  rudiments  of  agriculture,  when  they  were  compelled  to 
curb  their  roving  propensities  still  further  in  order  to  be  able 
to  grow  corn  and  harvest  it  when  ripe.  The  carrying  on  of 
agricultural  work  implied  a  knowledge  of  the  use  of  metals, 
especially  iron,  though  it  was  not  absolutely  necessary  ;  and 
settlement  in  rude  homesteads  near  the  cornfields  with  a 
view  to  watch  the  growth  of  corn,  and  protect  it  from  the 
attacks  of  birds,  beasts  and  men,  soon  became  a  necessity. 
The  reaching  of  this  stage  also  took  several  thousand  years 
more,  during  which  the  Aryan  nomads  gradually  changed 
their  nomadic  life  for  the  life  of  settled  agriculturists.  As 
they  now  learnt  to  depend  mainly  upon  agriculture  for  a  liv- 
ing, they  had  to  look  for  the  fall  of  timely  rains  in  order  to 
be  able  to  reap  an  abundant  harvest.  But  as  the  rains  were 
never  regular  in  coming,  they  thought  that  their  regularity 
could  only  be  ensured  with  the  help  of  the  mysterious  divine 
powers  that  were  supposed  to  control  them,  and  in  fact,  all 
natural  phenomena.  This  led  to  the  discovery,  specialisa- 
tion, and  individualteation  of  the  various  Gods,  in  whose 
praise  they  composed  and  sang  hymns  with  the  object  of 
propitiating  them  and  winning  their  favour.1  But  the  mere 
chanting  of  hymns  or  incantations  (mantras)  was  not  con- 
sidered  sufficient,  unless  it  was  accompanied  by  some  sacri- 
fice to  the  Gods— sacrifice  of  something  valuable  in  their 
possession.  As  Pa$u,  or  domesticated  animals  constituted 
wealth  in  ancient  times,2  the  sacrifice  of  a  fafu  or  cattle  was 

1  Even  in  modern  times,  the  Rain-maker  is  the  most  important  person 
among  savage  tribes.  He  pronounces  incantations  and  performs  mysterious 
rites  with  the  object  of  bringing  down  rains  from  heaven.  He  is  the  priest  in 
embryo,  and  wields  great  influence  in  savage  society. 

•  Pafu  is  equivalent  to  Lat.  Pecus,  meaning  cattle.  As  cattle  consti- 
tuted wealth  in  primitive  society,  ^«ms  came  to  mean  wealth  or  money,  cf. 
Pecuniary. 

71 


578  £GVED1C  INDIA.  [CH*P. 

thought  necessary  along  with  the  chanting  of  hymns,  and  the 
severed  limbs  of  the  victim  were  consigned  to  Fire,  especially 
kindled  for  the  purpose, — Firo,  the  bright  and  beautiful,  who 
was  the  priest  of  the  sacrifice  and  conveyed  to  the  Gods  all 
the  oblations  offered  through  him.  This  gave  rise  to  rituals 
which  became  more  and  more  intricate  in  course  of  time,  and 
led  to  the  formation  of  a  class  of  priest  who  could  properly 
perform  them.  The  juice  of  the  Soma  plant  which  was 
indigenous  to  Sapta-Sindhu,  possessing  as  it  did  a  cheering 
and  invigorating  effect  on  the  consumers,  was  also  offered  to 
the  Gods,  but  as  the  plant  grew  and  was  abundantly  available 
during  the  rainy  season  only,  and  as  Indra  was  the  i.rincipal 
God  who  was  supposed  to  wage  war  with  Vftra  and  Su?na 
(Drought)  during  this  season,  the  Soma  drink  came  to  be 
specially  appropriated  to  him.1  We  find  tin*  Aryans  reaching 
this  stage  of  development  when  ^omc*  of  the  anrient  hymns  of 
Rgveda  were  composed.  It  must  have  taken  them  thousands 
and  thousands  of  years  to  reirh  this  stage  from  their  primi- 
tive state  of  nomadir  savages,  Mibsisi-inrr  on  roots  and  fruits, 
and  living  by  the  chase. 

As  some  of  the  ancient  hymns  of  the  Rgveda  contain 
evidence  and  indications  of  a  different  distribution  of  land 
and  water  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  we  are  compelled  to  go  back  to 
that  ancient  time  wh^n  such  a  distribution  actually  existed. 
The  results  of  Geological  investigations  go  to  show  that 
modern  Rajputana  was  a  sea  in  the  Tertiary  Era,  and 
parts  of  it  subject  to  "  marine  transgressions  "  converting 
them  into  epi-continental  seas  even  in  comparatively  recent 

1  The  Soma  drink  had  been  in  vogue  in  primitive  Aryan  society  before 
;ndra  was  born,  in  other  words,  before  the  God  was  discovered  and  acknow- 
ledged as  the  Supreme  Deity.  Hence  it  is  called pratna  (ancient)  and  Yajnasya 
punah  (older  than  the  institution  of  sacrifice).  It  has  been  related  in  the 
Rgveda  that  Indra  developed  an  inordinate  desire  for  the  Soma  drink,  before 
he  even  thought  of  sucking  his  mother's  breast.  Indra  is  one  of  the  oldest 
Gods  in  the  Vedtc  hierarchy,  but  Soma  is  older  still.  As  this  plant  grew  no- 
where dKctpt  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  this  proves  the  hoary  antiquity  of  the  country 
and  tr  e  Aryans. 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  579 

times,  and  the  Gangetic  trough  to  the  east  of  the  Punjab 
was  also  a  sea  down  to  the  end  of  the  Pleistocene 
epoch.  As  there  are  distinct  references  to  these  seas  in  some 
hymns  of  the  Rgveda,  we  cannot  help  assigning  their  age  to 
the  time  when  such  a  distribution  of  land  and  water  actually 
existed.  There  is  aUo  undouted  evidence  to  show  that  man 
flourished  on  the  Globe  and  in  India  in  the  Pleistocene  epoch. 
Hence  there  can  be  no  improbability  in  the  fact  that  the 
primitive  Aryans  lived  in  that  epoch  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  devep- 
loping  the  rudiments  of  civilisation.  The  account  of  the 
immigration  of  Yima  and  his  followers  to  the  Arctic  region 
in  an  Inter-glacial  epoch  when  that  region  was  habitable,  as 
mentioned  in  the  second  Fargarcl  of  the  Vendidad,  reference 
to  which  has  been  made  in  the  preceding  chapter,  also 
supports  the  Rgveclic  evidence  as  to  the  vast  antiquity  of 
Sapta-Sindhu  and  its  early  inhabitants,  the  Aryans.  We  do 
not  say  that  all  the  hymns  of  the  Rgveda  are  as  old  as  some 
of  these  ancient  hymns ;  but  the  very  fact  that  the  latter 
refer  to  a  different  distribution  of  land  and  water  in  the 
Punjab  as  it  existed  in  the  Pleistocene  epoch  and  later  at 
once  takes  back  Arvan  civilisation,  at  all  events  the  very 
beginnings  of  it,  to  that  epoch.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  Rgvedic  hymn*  were  composed  during  a  very  long 
period,  as  there  is  distinct  reference  in  the  sacred  Scripture 
to  hymns  that  had  been  composed  in  the  early  and  the  middle 
ages  and  to  hymns  that  were  composed  in  the  later  age  of 
Rgvedic  times  (Rv.  Hi.  32,  13).  The  language  of  the  ancient 
hymns  also  undenvent  a  thorough  change,  and  had  to  be 
recast  in  the  more  refined  dialect  of  the  later  age.  In  fact, 
the  old  hymns  came  down  to  the  Aryans  of  the  later  age  in 
11  new  graceful  robes,"  as  a  Rsi  has  felicitously  expressed  the 
idea.  All  the  hymns  that  we  find  in  the  Rgveda  were 
collected  and  redacted  in  comparatively  recent  times,  not 
certainly  according  to  their  sequence  and  dates  of  composi- 
tion, but  according  to  their  happening  to  fall  in  with  certain 
groups,  and  we  need  not,  therefore,  be  surprised,  if  we 


5so  SLGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

occasionally  come  across  certain  hymns  that  bear  in  them 
the  stamp  of  modernity  along  with  hymns  that  are  admittedly 
more  ancient.  But  this  does  not  prove  that  all  of  them  were 
composed  in  the  later  age  of  Rgvedic  times.  As  we  have 
said,  the  Rgvedic  civilisation  extended  over  a  very  long 
period,  and  the  different  strata  that  composed  it  are  clearly 
discernible  to  the  patient  and  careful  researcher,  as  they 
undoubtedly  contain  fossils  of  a  by-gone  age  and  by-gone 
civilisation.  It  is  these  fossils  that  have  helped  us  in  reading 
aright  the  history  of  the  ancient  Aryans,  and  in  tracing  it 
back  to  hoary  antiquity.  This  goes  to  confirm  the  popular 
belief  that  the  Vedas  are  eternal,  and  not  ascribable  to  any 
human  agency  (apaurnseya),  and  that  they  emanated  from 
Brahma,  the  Creator  himself.1 

Having  discussed  the  antiquity  of  the  Rgveda  and  of 
Sapta-Sindhu,  we  will  now  give  a  brief  bummary  of  the 
several  conclusions  we  have  arrived  at  in  this  book  from  a 
study  of  the  Rgveda,  the  Brahmanas,  the  Zend-Avesta,  the 
results  of  geological  and  ethnological  investigations,  and  the 
ancient  civilisations  of  Iran,  Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  Phoenicia, 
Asia-Minor,  and  Prehistoric  Europe,  which  is  as  follows  :— 

(i;  Down  to  the  Pleistocene  epoch  and  even  later,  Sapta- 
Sindhu,  as  the  ancient  Punjab  used  to  be  called,  was  entirely 
cut  off  from  Southern  India  by  a  sea  which  covered  modern 
Rajputana,  and  extended  as  far  east  as  Assam  An  arm  of  this 
sea  ran  up  the  present  lower  valley  of  the  Indus  to  the  point 
where  she  wab  joined  by  her  tributaries.  Thus  there  were 
three  seas  on  the  three  sides  of  Sapta-Sindhu.  There  was 
another  sea  towards  the  north,  below  the  confines  of  modern 
Turkestan,  extending  as  far  north  as  the  Arctic  ocean,  and  as 
far  west  as  the  Black  Sea,  which  disappeared  in  comparatively 
recent  times,  leaving  the  Black  Sea,  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  Sea 
of  Aral  and  Lake  Balkash  as  its  remnants,  and  converting  its 
shallow  beds  into  steppes.  There  was  another  Asiatic 

1     These  fossils  have  been  mentioned  and   discussed  in  my  book  Rgvedic 
Culture  Ch  II.  and  III. 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  581 

Mediterranean  to  the  east  of  Turkestan,  which  also  disappeared 
in  comparatively  recent  times,  leaving  Lake  Lobnor  as  its 
remnant.  These  four  scab  round  about  ancient  Sapta-Stndhu 
have  been  distinctly  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  thereby  proving 
its  hoary  antiquity  which  goes  back  to  the  Pleistocene  or 
post-Pleistocene  epoch. 

(2)  In  that  epoch,    Southern    India    probably   formed   a 
part  of  a  vast  continent  which   extended    from    Burma  to  the 
coasts  of  Eastern  Africa  and  probably  as  far  south  as  Australia. 
In  an  age  later  than  that  of  the  Rgveda,   the    greater   part   of 
this  continent  was  submerged  through  seismic  disturbances  of 
a  gigantic  character,  leaving  remnants   of    it   in   the   Deccan, 
Burma,  the  islands  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  some  islands  in 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  Australia,  and  the    string   of   islands,    and 
Coral  rccfb  in  the  In  dun  ocean  in  the  direction  of  Madagascar. 
The  same  seismic  forces  that  dibmembered  this  vast  Southern 
Continent,  called  "  the  Indo-Oceanic  continent "  by  Blanford, 
probably  also  caused  the  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana 
Sea,  and  a  depression  of  the  Aravalli  mountains,  which    made 
it  possible  for  the  Aryans  of  Sapta-Sindhu  to    migrate   south- 
wards  and  settle  in  the    different    parts    of   the   Deccan   in  a 
later  age.     The  Pauranic  legend  of    Agastya   sipping   up  the 
ocean  dry,  and  depressing  the  high  peak   of    the  Vindhya   to 
enable  him  to  go  to  the  Southern  Peninsula  strongly  supports 
and  corroborates  this  view.     There  can  be  no  doubt  that   the 
RajputanaSea,  or  a  "  marine  transgression  "  existed  in  Rgvedic 
times,  barring  the  progress  of  the  Aryans  southwards 

(3)  Sapta-Sindhu  has  been  admitted  by   Geologists    to 
be  the  earliest  life-producing  region  in    the    whole   of   India, 
where  the  evolution  of  animal  life  took   place    in    continuous 
succesbion,  until  man  was  created.  As  the  region  was  peopled 
by  the  Aryans  from  time  immemorial,  they  came  to   regard  it 
as  their  original  cradle.  The  Southern  Continent  was  peopled 
by  a  different  family  of  human  beings,  of  which  the  Kolarians 
and  the  Dravidians  are  the  remnants.    The  other  branches  of 
this  family  were  scattered  over   the   different   islands   of  the 


582  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

Indian  Archipelago  and  Australia,  all  bearing  a  family  likeness, 
though  their  physical  features  and  languages  have  undergone 
considerable  modifications  in  consequence  of  different  envi- 
ronments, climates  and  circumstances,  and  the  very  long 
period  of  their  reparation  from  one  another.  It  is  really 
wonderful,  however,  that  even  after  this  long  separation,  they 
still  retain  some  signs  of  linguistic  and  ethnic  affinity.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  Kolarian?  and  the  Dravidians 
had  come  from  Central  Asia  and  at  first  settled  in  the  Punjab, 
whence  they  were  driven  southward  by  their  more  powerful 
adversaries,  the  Aryans.  The  existence  of  laree  seas  in 
Central  Asia,  and  to  the  south  and  east  of  the  Punjab  in 
ancient  times,  and  of  impassable  mountains  at  once  precludes 
the  possibility  of  such  immigration  on  a  large  scale  by 
nomadic  savages  in  the  very  primitive  condition  of  develop- 
ment. The  immigration  of  the  Aryans  also  from  Central 
Asia,  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  Northern  Europe  or  the  Arctic 
region  is  equally  a  pure  myth.  They  were  very  probably 
autochthonous  in  the  Punjab  or  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  the 
Kolarians  and  the  Dravidians  were  autochthonous  in  the 
Southern  Continent,  and  they  ha<l  no  mutual  communication 
or  intercourse  during  Rgvedic  tiine^.  Sapta-Sindhu  was 
girded  about  by  seas  on  all  sides  excepting  on  the  north-west 
in  the  direction  of  Gandhara  or  modern  Afghanistan,  which 
was  directly  connected  with  Western  Asia  and  Asia  minor. 

(4)  The  upheaval  of  the  bed  of  the  Rajputana  Sea  and 
the  submergence  of  th«  Southern  Continent  in  post-Rgvedic 
times  probably  caused  a  heavy  flood  in  Sapta-Sindhu  by  the 
displacement  of  the  vabt  volumes  of  its  water*,  which  it, 
known  as  Manu's  Flood.  The  stupendous  mass  of  vapours 
generated  by  the  drying  up  of  the  Flood-water  was  probably 
carried  northward  and  precipitated  over  the  Himalaya  and 
Airyana  Vaejo  as  snow  which  destroyed  the  latter  region  ami 
compelled  Yima  and  his  people  to  migrate  northwards  and 
settle  down  in  the  Arctic  region  which,  in  the  Inter-glacial 
period,  possessed  a  congenial  climate  and  was  tenanted  by 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  583 

human  beings.  This  migration  of  a  branch  of  the  Aryans  to 
the  Arctic  region  in  a  remote  age  which  was,  however,  subse- 
quent to  Rorvcdic  times,  indirectly  proves  the  hoary  antiquity 
of  the  race.  The  Rgve>lir  Aryans  never  emigrated  to,  nor 
came  from  the  Arctic  region,  as  there  is  not  even  the  shadow 
of  a  mention  of  such  immigration  in  the  Rgveda. 

(5)  The  climate  of  Sapta-Sindhu  had  originally  been  cold, 
which  in  a  later  age  was  changed  into  temperate  and  hot  in 
consequence  of  the  disappearance  of  the  Rajputana  Sea,  and 
the  creation  of  a  vast  tract  of  arid  desert  in  its  place  The 
rhange,  however,  was  probably  gradual.  The  year  i^  first 
called  ffima,  then  Hemanta  and  lastly  Sarad  in  the  Rgveda  on 
account  of  the  prevalenceof  a  coldand  temperate  climate  in  the 
different  ages,  or  areas,  marking  its  gradual  change.  The  total 
disappearance  of  this  sea  as  well  as  the  sea  over  the  Gangetic 
trough  made  the  climate  hot,  diminished  the  quantity  of 
rainfall  in  the  Punj  ib,  thereby  causing  the  glaciers  in  the 
lower  ranges  of  the  Himalaya  to  disappear,  and  attenuated 
the  SarasvatI  and  the  Drisadvatl  into  straggling  and  insigni- 
ficant streams  as  they  are  at  present.  The  SarasvatI,  however 
was  a  mighty  river  in  ancient  Sapta-Sincihu,  flooding  her 
valley  in  the  rainy  season,  and  had  a  perennial  flow  of  water 
in  her  bed,  probably  fed  by  the  glaciers  at  her  source.  The 
rainy-season  in  ancient  Sapta-Sindhu  lasted  from  three  to 
four  months,  during  which  the  sky  remained  continuously 
covered  with  clouds,  making  the  appearance  of  the  Sun  and 
the  Dawn  impossible,  and  occasionally  withholding  the  rains. 
(6)  There  is  no  mention  in  the  Rgveda  of  the  Deccan, 
or  any  of  its  mountains  or  famous  rivers,  because  the  Rg- 
vedic  Aryans  could  not  and  did  not  go  to  that  country, 
having  been  cut  off  by  the  Rajputana  Sea,  or  of  any  province 
like  Pancftla,  Kosala,  Magadha,  Videha,  Anga  and  Vanga 
towards  the  east  of  Sapta  Sindhu,  because  they  formed  parts 
of  the  Eastern  Sea  covering  the  present  Gangetic  trough^ 
and  were  not  in  existence  in  Rgvedic  times.  The  mention 
of  Kikata  in  the  Rgveda  does  not  absolutely  prove  the 


584  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

acquaintance  of  the  Rgvedic  Aryans  with  South  Behar. 
The  word  probably  refers  to  some  barren  hilly  region  in 
Sapta-Sindhu  itself,  as  guessed  by  Professor  Hillebrandt, 
where  the  Soma  plant  grew.  Or,  if  it  be  really  identified  with 
South  Behar  which  formed  part  of  the  Southern  Continent,  it 
is  just  possible  that  the  sea-going  Aryan  merchants  touched 
tliat  portion  only  of  the  continent  in  their  voyages  eastward, 
and  brought  accounts  of  the  inferior  breed  of  cattle  in  that 
region,  where  people  never  offered  the  Soma  juice  to  the 
Gods  by  mixing  it  with  milk.  But  the  mention  of  the  Soma- 
piant  precludes  the  posibility  of  its  having  been  South  Behar,  as 
it  grew  only  on  the  Himalaya  and  Sapta-Sindhu.1  The  word 
Kikata  has  thus  no  geographical  and  historical  value,  and  does 
not  prove  that  the  Gangetic  trough  was  firm  land  in  Rgvedic 
times,  making  it  possible  for  Aryan  or  non-Aryan  tribes  to 
settle  there.  The  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  sea  to  the 
east  of  the  Punjab  in  Rgvedic  times  is  overwhelming,  as  we 
have  shown  in  the  early  chapters  of  this  book. 

(7)  The  dark-skinned  Da*sas  and  Dasyus,  mentioned  in 
the  Rgvecla,  were  not  the  people  of  the  Kolarian  and  Dravi- 
dian  races,  but  they  were  either  the  dark  nomadic  Aryan 
savages,  the  remnants  of  the  race  in  its  onward  march 
towards  progress,  or  the  non-sacrificing  Aryan  tribes  who 
did  not  subscribe  to  the  orthodox  Vedic  faith,  and  accept  the 
Vedic  Gods,  and  hence  were  put  down  as  "blacks  "  to  depict 
their  character.  The  analogy  of  the  black-skin  was  also 
drawn  from  the  myth  of  Vftra  who  represented  the  black 
clouds,  and  caused  a  dire  distress  among  the  people  by  with- 
holding the  rains  and  concealing  the  Sun,  the  Dawn  and  the 
solar  rays  (cows)  in  his  cloud-body,  just  as  the  Aryan  robbers 
And  savages  stole  the  cows  from  the  Aryan  settlements,  and 
thereby  harassed  the  owners  thereof. 

(8}  As  the  Aryans  were  autochthonous  in   Sapta-Sindhu, 
their  gradual  evolution  as  a  race  took   place  in   that   region. 

1     For  a  fuller  discussions  on  the  situation  of  Kikata  read  chap.  Ill   of 
Qgvedic  culture. 


XXVL]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  585 

But  there  were  some  tribes  who  could   not   keep   pace   with 
their  advanced  brethren,  and  remained  in  the  state  of  nomadic 
savages,  stealing  the  cows  of  the  neighbouring  Aryan   tribes, 
either  nomadic  cattle-keepers   or  settled   agriculturists,   and 
harassing   them    in    various    ways.     The    nomadic    cattle- 
keepers     could     freely   and   readily   move     away    to    other 
places   of   safety,   but   the    settlers   and  agriculturists   could 
not   do   so.      Hence   they   thought    it    necessary   to    purge 
these   pests   out    of  the   country.     And  with    this  object  in 
view  they   waged   a  long  and    continuous   war   with   them, 
succeeding  in  the  long  run   in    driving  them   out   of   Sapta- 
Sindhu.  This  purging  of  the  dross  of  the  population  had  been 
commenced  from  the  earliest  neolithic  times,  and  was  continu- 
ed through  long  ages  till  a  later  period  when  the  Iranians,  the 
ancestors  of  the  modern  Parsis,  who  were  called  Asuras,  were 
driven  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu  for  other   reasons  commensurate 
with  the  high  culture  and  development  of  the  race,  w*.f  differ- 
ence in  religious  opinions  and  practice.     The  neolithic  Aryan 
savages    who    had    been    compelled    to   leave  the  land    of 
their  birth  in  very  early  times  dispersed   themselves  towards 
the  west  beyond  the  precincts  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  as  they  could 
not  go  either  towards  the    east,    the   south,  or  the   north  on 
account  of  the  existence  of  impassable  seas  in  these  directions, 
and  after  commingling  their  blood  with  that  of   the   neolithic 
Turanian  savages  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  in  Western 
Asia,  and  to  whom  they  gave  their   Aryan    speech   and   such 
little  culture  as  they  possessed,  passed  on  to  Europe  over  the 
isthmus  of  Bosphorus  which  was  not  then  a  strait.     As   these 
savages    were   the   first    to   leave   Sapta-Sindhu,   they  were 
undoubtedly  the  first   to   enter   Europe,    because    they    \\ere 
pushed  forward  by  other  more  advanced    Aryan   tribes   who 
also   were   compelled    to    leave  Sapta-Sindhu.     Thus    waves 
after  waves  of  Aryan   immigration   from    Sapta-Sindhu   con- 
tinued, the  first  and  the  earliest  wave   reaching  the  western- 
most  parts  of  Europe,   and   the  last  settling  and  stagnating 
near  Sapta-Sindhu  in  Iran,  the  intervening  space  having  been 

74 


586  *GVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

occupied  by  Aryan  tribes,  either  pure  or  mixed,  in  the 
different  stages  of  civilisation,  from  the  highest  in  Iran  to  the 
lowest  in  westernmost  Europe.  Sapta-Sindhu  was  really  the 
original  hive,  from  which  these  immigrations  proceeded  from 
the  very  earliest  times  concievable. 

(9)  There  was  an  Aryan    tribe   in   Sapta-Sindhu,  called 
the  Panis,  who  were  merchants,  and  traded  both  on  land  and 
by  sea.     They  constructed  ships  for  their  sea-voyages,  having 
been  master-carpenters,  and  were  excellent  mariners,  probably 
the  earliest  that  history  knows  of.     But  they   were  a  greedy 
and  avaricious  people,  bent  only   upon   amassing   wealth   by 
means,  fair  or  foul.  Having  been  money-lenders,  they  exacted 
interest    from    the   borrowers   with   the  cruel   severity  of  a 
Shylock.  Clans  of  this  tribe  who  traded  on  land,  accompanied 
by  their  herds  and  dogs,  like  the   modern    wandering   Iranis, 
sometimes  stole  the  cattle  of   the    settled   agriculturists,   and 
mixing  them  with  their  own    herds,    swiftly   moved   away   to 
other  settlements.     Sometimes  the    outraged   villagers   hotly 
pursued  them,  with  their  chariots  and  dogs,    and   there   were 
pitched  battles  in  which  either  the  pursuers   or   the   pursued 
got   the    worst.     The   Rgveda    mentions   accounts   of   these 
frequent  encounters,  which  reveal  a  condition  of  society  other 
than   peaceful.      This   abominable   character   of    the  Panis, 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  they  did  not  subscribe  to  the  Vedic 
faith,  and  worship  the  principal  Vedic  Gods   or   perform  the 
Vedic  sacrifices,  made  them  highly  unpopular   and   despised. 
Some  of  them  were  so  fiercely  persecuted  by  the  combined 
Vedic  Aryan  clans  that  they  were  compelled  to  leave   Sapta- 
Sindhu  in  their  ships  for  other  countries   where   they   settled 
as  traders  and  mariners.  Others  accepted  the  Vedic  faith,  and 
lived   in  Sapta-Sindhu.     The   upheaval   of  the  bed  of  the 
Rajputana  Sea,  and  the  gradual  appearance  of  land   in   the 
Gangetic  trough   must   have   determined  the   rest  to   leave 
the  country  for  good,  as  they  had  not  much  facility  for  making 
voyages  from  the  shores  of  Sapta-Sindhu.    They  must  have 
settled  first  on  the  coasts  of  modern  Gujarat,  and  afterwards 
on  the  Malabar  and  the  Coromondal  coasts  of  the  Southern 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  587 

Peninsula,  in  as  much  as  they  afforded  excellent  timber,  the 
Indian  teak,  for  shipbuilding.  Probably  they  were  the  first 
Aryans  to  have  come  in  contact  with  the  inhabitants  on  the 
sea-boards  of  this  Peninsula — the  Pacidyas  and  the  Cholas, 
who  were  thus  the  first  to  receive  Aryan  culture.  From  these 
coasts  some  of  the  Panis,  accompanied  by  the  aryanised 
Cholas,  settled  in  Chaldea,  probably  so  named  after  the 
Cholas,  who  established  a  flourishing  colony  in  Mesopotamia 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  great  Babylonian  Empire. 
Others,  accompanied  by  the  aryanised  Pandyas,  voyaged 
along  the  coasts  of  Persia  and  Arabia,  and  settled  in  Egypt. 
But  as  the  Pattis  had  an  irrepressible  sea-roving  propensity, 
they  ultimately  settled  in  Syria  on  the  eastern  coasts  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  and  founded  a  flourishing  colony  named 
Phoenicia.  The  Panis,  or  Phoenicians  as  they  came  to  be 
called,  became  worse  pests  to  the  inhabitants  of  Southern 
Europe,  Northern  Africa,  and  Asia  Minor  than  they  had  been 
in  Sapta-Sindhu,  in  as  much  as  they  carried  off  helpless  men, 
women  and  children,  and  traded  in  them  as  slaves.  These 
Palais  or  Phoenicians  are  known  in  history  as  the  Punic  race, 
who  establibhed  colonies  in  Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  Phoenicia 
and  Northern  Africa,  and  even  Norway,  and  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  early  history  of  Europe. 

(10)  The  savage  Aryan  tribes  who  had  commingled  their 
blood  with  that  of  the  Turanians  had  dispersed  to  Europe 
long  before  the  Panis  left  Sapta-Sindhu  and  established 
colonies  in  Western  Asia  and  Egypt.  These  savage  tribes 
were  followed  by  others  more  civilised  who  settled  in  the 
wild  regions  of  the  Caucasius  mountain*,  in  Armenia,  Cappa- 
docia,  Lydia,  Phrygia,  Pontu*  and  the  neighbouring  provinces. 
The  province,  known  as  Pontu*  (Sanskrit  Pantha),  marked 
the  high  way  for  going  from  Asia  to  Europe  over  the  isthmus 
of  Bosphorus.  Central  Asia  having  been  covered  by  a  wide 
stretch  of  sea  in  those  days,  which  nomadic  savages  found 
difficult  to  cross,  the  only  way  to  go  to  Europe  lay  through 
thib  province  in  Asia  Minor..  Subsequent  to  the  Panis,  other 


588  EGVEDIC  1NP1A.  [CHAP. 

Aryan  tribes,  the  Kossaans,  the  Hittites  and  the  Mittanians 
went  out  of  Sapta-Sindhu  and  settled  down  in  the  various 
parts  of  Asia  Minor.  All  these  Aryan  tribes,  including  the 
Chaldeans  who  were  a  Dravidian  race,  were  afterwards  absorb- 
ed by  the  Semites,  though  they  left  the  stamp  of  Aryan 
culture  on  the  Semitic  civilisation. 

(n)  The  Iranians,  the  ancestors  of  the  Par  sis,  wt-repuru 
Arxans  and  originally  inhabited  Sapta-Sindhu.  They  shared 
all  the  material  culture  of  the  Vedic  Aryans  and  were,  like 
them,  highly  civilised,  speaking  the  same  language,  worship- 
ping many  of  the  Gods  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  specially 
Fire,  and  the  Sun  under  the  name  of  Mithra,  performing  the 
Soma  sacrifice  and  observing  many  social  customs  that  were 
followed  by  the  Vedic  Aryans  also.  But  they  had  somt* 
difference  of  opinion  in  religious  matters,  as  they  abhorred 
animal  sacrifices,  did  not  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
Indra,  exposed  their  dead  to  be  devoured  by  \ultures  and 
kites  instead  of  cremating  them,  as>  Fire  was  considered  too 
sacred  to  be  polluted  by  dead  bodies  being  consigned  to  it, 
and  observed  other  customs  disagreeable  to  the  Vedic  Aryans. 
These  differences  of  opinion  in  matters  social  and  religious 
created  a  division  among  them  which  gradually  widened,  and 
ultimately  separated  the  two  clans  But  this  separation  took 
place  after  much  bloodshed  in  a  war  which  lasted  for  a  long 
time,  and  is  known  in  later  Vedic  and  Pauranic  literature  a* 
the  Dev&sura-Samgrdmai  the  Devas  representing  the  Vedic 
Aryans,  and  the  Asuras  the  Iranians.  They  were  the  last  to 
be  expelled  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  after  roaming  about  in 
various  districts  outside  Sapta-Sindhu,  at  last  settled  down 
in  Bactriaua  and  Airyana  Vaejo.  In  a  much  later  age,  they 
founded  the  great  Persian  Empire  which  at  one  time  extended 
as  far  as  Europe  and  threatened  the  independence  of  Greece, 
iinu  with  it,  the  early  civilisation  of  Europe.  As  we  have  said 
before,  an  early  branch  of  the  Iranians  under  the  leadership 
of  Yima  emigrated  to  the  Arctic  region  when  it  was  habitable 
in  an  Inter-glacial  epoch,  after  Airyana  Vaejo  had  been  des- 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  589- 

troyed  by  ice.  This  branch  must  have  again  moved  southward 
and  settled  in  North-Western  Russia  after  the  Arctic  region 
had  become  uninhabitable  at  the  commencement  of  the  Post- 
glacial epoch,  and  were  probably  the  ancestors  of  the 
Lithuanians  and  the  Slavs. 

(12)  The  early  inhabitants  of  Europe  were  the  Heidel- 
bergs  and  the  Neanderthalers  who  were  probably  the  aoces* 
tors  of  the  Iberians,  a  small  dolicho-cephalic  race,  who  had 
been  the  original  inhabitants  of  North  Africa,  and  the  Cans- 
tadts,  a  tall  dolicho-cephalic  race  from  the  same  country,  who 
were  probably  the  ancestors  of  the  Teutons  and  moved  into 
Europe  with  the  disappearance  of  the  great  ice-sheets  that 
had  covered  the  greater  part  of  Europe  in  the  Glacial  epoch. 
The  Neanderthalers  were  succeeded  by  the  Cro-magnards 
(probably  an  Asiatic  race)  and  the  Grimaldis  (an  African 
•  race)  who  were  more  civilised  than  their  predecessors.  The 
Cro-Magnards  were  a  brachy-cephalic  race,  with  Turanian 
type  but  Aryan  speech^  wliu  entered  pre-historic  Europe  from 
the  east,  and  freely  mixing  with  the  early  inhabitants  gave 
them  the  Aryan  speech  and  such  culture  as  they  possessed. 
They  were  in  the  neolithic  stage  of  development,  and  must 
have  been  the  products  of  the  early  Aryan  savages  who  had 
been  expelled  from  Sapta-Sindhu,  and  the  Turanian  savages 
of  Asia  with  whom  they  had  commingled  their  blood.  The 
Turanians  having  been  more  numerous  than  the  Aryans,  the 
resultant  type  was  Turanian,  though  the  speech  and  culture 
remained  Aryan.  There  was  another  Asiatic  type  in  Europe 
in  the  Ligurians  who  were  a  short-statured  brachy-cephalic 
race,  without  the  Aryan  speech.  The  tall  brachy-cephalic 
Turanian*  were  called  Celts,  who  spread  through  Central 
Europe  up  the  Danube  to  the  farthest  west,  as  they  were  also 
found  in  Great  Britain  which  was  probably  connected  with 
the  continent  in  those  days.  The  Celts  of  Britain,  however, 
were  ortho-cepnalic,  having  probably  commingled  their 
blood  with  the  dolicho-cephalic  Iberians.  The  descendants 
of  the  neolithic  Celts  are  found  in  Greece,  Northern  Italy, 


590  RGVEDIC  INDIA.  [CHAP. 

Central  Europe.  France,  Denmark  and  Great  Britain,  while 
those  of  the  pare  Iberians  are  found  in  Southern  Italy,  Spain, 
Wales  and  other  regions,  where  the  race  could  remain  seclud- 
ed. Some  of  the  descendants  of  the  Canstadts  are  found  in 
Northern  Europe  among  the  Germans  and  the  Swedes  and 
of  the  Ligurians  in  parts  of  Russia  and  Northern  Europe. 
In  this  way,  the  greater  part  of  this  continent  was  aryanised 
in  pre-historic  times.1 

(13)  It  would  thus  appear  that  Europe  was  not  the 
original  cradle  of  the  Aryan  race,  nor  was  the  Arctic  region, 
when  it  was  habitable  and  possessed  a  congenial  climate, 
verging  upon  perpetual  spring  in  an  Inter-glacial  epoch. 
That  cradle  was  in  Sapta-Sindhu  and  nowhere  else.  Mr. 
Tilak  thinks  that  there  are  internal  evidence  in  the  Rgveda, 
which  go  to  prove  an  Arctic  cradle  of  the  Aryans ;  but  I  have 
examined  his  arguments  at  length  and  found  them  uncon- 
vincing. The  evidence  to  be  found  in  the  Zend-Avesta  of 
an  Aryan  immigration  to  the  Arctic  region  in  early  times 
does  not  prove  that  this  region  was  their  original  cradle,  or 
that  Airyana  Vaejo  was  situated  therein.  This  immigration 
took  place  long  after  Rgvedic  times  in  an  Inter-glacial  epoch, 
when  the  Arctic  region  was  habitable. 

These  are  some  of  the  main  conclusions  I  have  arrived 
at  in  this  work,  and  I  hope  that  they  will  be  found  to  be 
generally  correct.  As  regards  my  calculation  of  the  age  of 
some  of  the  oldest  hymns  of  the  ILgveda  which  I  have  set 
down  to  the  Pleistocene,  or  at  any  rate  to  the  Post-Pleistocene 
epoch,  I  am  afraid  that  Vedic  scholars  will  accuse  me  of 
romancing  wildly.  But  if  the  Geological  deductions  are 
found  to  be  correct,  my  calculations  which  are  based  on 
them  cannot  be  wrong.  They  will  either  stand  or  fall  with 
them.  The  fgvedic  civilisation  had  its  beginnings  in  Sapta- 
Sindhu  about  25,000  years  ago,  and  was  at  its  height  prob- 

1    For  a  further  treatment  of  the  subject,  read  Ifgvedic  Culture  Ch.  I  an* 
WeB'3  tiutlins  of  History. 


XXVI.]  CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  591 

ably  in  the  Seventh  Millennium  B.C.,  when  most  of  the  hymns 
were  composed  and  when  there  still  existed  a  sea  or  an  arm 
of  the  Arabian  Sea  in  Rajputana,  and  the  greater  part  of 
Northern  India  to  the  east  of  modern  Delhi  formed  the  bed 
of  the  sea  covering  the  Gangetic  trough,  and  was  gradually 
emerging  from  it,  the  bed  being  filled  up  by  the  alluvium 
brought  down  by  the  Himalayan  rivers. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
CHAPTER  f. 

Rgveda    Samhita*    Historians  '    History   of   the   World 

Vol  I  (Prof.  Adolf  Erman's  paper  on    Egypt.)     Keller's   Lake 

Dwellings.  Dr.  Isaac  Taylor's  Origin  of  the   Aryans.     Prof. 

A.  A.  Macdonell's   History  of  Sanskrit   Literature.    Z.    A. 

Ragozin's  Vedte  India.    Imperial   Gazetteer  of  the   Indian 

Empire   Vol.    J  (1907).    Encyclopedia  Britannica  (Eleventh 

Edition)  Vol.  XXII  ;    (Ninth    Edition)    Vol.    II.    Prof.    H.    H. 

-Wilson's   English  Translation   of   the    Rgveda.     Manual  of 

the  Geology  of  India.     Quarterly  Journal  of  the   Geological 

Society  Vol.  XXXI  (1875;.    Prof.  Weber's  History  of  Indian 

Literature,  Wadia's  Geology  of  India.     H.  G.  Wells'  Outline 

of  History. 

CHAPIFK  I/ 

Memoirs  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  India  Vol.  XL1I. 
Oldham,  On  the  Structure  of  the  Himalaya  ;  On  the  Origin 
of  the  Himalaya  Mountain.  (Survey  of  India  Prof.  Paper 
No.  12,  1912).  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society 
Vol.  XXXI.  (1875).  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  the  Indian  Empire 
:Vol.  I.  Ency.  Brit.  (Ninth  Edition)  Vols.  II,  V,  XII,  and 
'XXIII.  Agassiz's  Principles  of  Zoology.  Student's  Lyell,  Ed. 
by  J.  W.  Judd.  Manual  of  the  Geology  of  India  Vol.  I. 
""Das'  Rgvedic  Culture.  Edward  Clodd's  Story  of  Primitive 

Man  ;  Pavgee's  Ary&vartic  Home.  Records  of  the  Geo.  Surv. 
*f  India.  XXVII  (Dr.  Noetling's  Paper).  Keith's  Antiquity 
if  Man.  Z.  A.  Ragozin's  Vedic  India.  Journal  of  the 

ftoyal  Society  of  Bengal  1867.  Lassen's  Indische  Alterthums 

Kunda.    Wadia's  Geology  of  India.     H.  G.  Wells1    Outline 

*f  History. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  593 

CHAPTER  III. 

Jjlgveda  Samhita.  Atharvaveda  Samhita.  Prof. 
Macdonell's  Hist,  of  Sansk.  Lit.  Yftska's  Nighunta.  Wilson's 
Rgveda.  Manu  Samhita.  Qatapatha  Brahmana  Gil  game sh 
Epic  of  Babylonia.  The  Old  Testament.  Lempriere's  Classi- 
cal Dictionary.  Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans.  Ency.  Brit. 
(Ninth  Edition)  Vol.  XII.  Prof.  E.  A.  Hopkin's  Religions 
of  India.  Pavgee's  Arydvartic  Home.  Memoirs  of  the 
Geological  Survey  of  India  Vol.  XII f.  Manual  of  the 
Geology  of  India.  Das'  Rgvedic  Culture. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Rgveda  Samhita.  B.  G.  TiUk's  Orion.  Taittiriya  Brdh- 
mana.  Muir's  Original  Sanskrit  'lexts  Vol.  II.  Taylor's 
Origin  of  the  Aryans.  Dr.  Martin  Haug's  Essays  on  the 
Religion  of  the  Parsees  (1861).  Whitney's  Dissertations  of 
the  Soma  worship  of  the  Arians.  The  Journal  of  the 
American  Oriental  Sociely  Vol.  HI.  Ragozin's  Vedic  India. 
Tilak's,  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas.  Mahabharata.  Yaska's 
Nirukta.  Pdvgee's  Aryavartic  Home.  Prof.  Bloom  fields 
Address  on  th»*  ocva^ion  of  the  Eighteenth  Anniversary  of 
John  Hopkin's  University.  Journal  of  the  Department  of 
Science  Vol.  VI.  (Calcutta  University.) 

CHAPTER  V. 

Rgveda  Samhita.  Sdyapa's  Commentary  of  the  Rg- 
veda  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World  VoLs.  I  and  II.  Max-muller's 
Eng.  Trans,  of  the  Rgveda.  Ragozin's  Vedic  India. 
Aitareya  Brahmana.  Bhavabhuti's  Uttara  R&ma-Charitam. 
Mahdtfra-charitam.  The  Hindoo  Theatre.  Y&fnyavalka 
Samhita.  MahdbhArata  (Vana-Prava;.  M.  N.  Dutt's  Eng. 
Trans,  of  the  Mahabh&rata.  Dr.  R.  L,  Mitra's  Indo-Aryans 
Vol.  I.  Macdonell's  Hist,  of  Sansk.  Lit.  Ency*  Brit.  (Ninth 
Edition)  Vol.  XII.  Harivamgam.  Satapatha  Brdhmana. 
A/anu  Samhita  Ch.  II.  Writings  ofjTheophristus  and  Ctesias, 

75 


594  ^GVEDIC  INDIA. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

ftgveda  Samhita.  Alfred  Russel   Wallace's   Geographi- 
cal Distribution  of  Animals  with  a  study  of  the  relations  of 
living  and  extinct  Faunas  as  elucidating  the  past  changes  of 
the  Earth's  surface.    Vol.  1  (1870).     H.   F.   Blanford  "  On 
the  Age  and  Correlations  of  the  Plant-bearing  Series  of  India, 
and  the  former  existence  of  an    Indo-Occanic   continent  "  in 
the  Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society  Vol.  XXXI. 
(1875)     Ernst  Haeckel's  History  of  Creation  Vol.  I  and  II. 
Ency  Brit.  Vol.  XII.  (Ninth  Edition)   Col.  Dalton's  Descrip- 
tive Ethnology  of  Bengal.  R.   Chanda's    The  Mo-Aryan 
Races.  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  1888  and  1889. 
Aitareya  Brdhmana.    Sir  R.  G.  Bhandarkir's  Early  History 
oftheDeccan.    Sir  Herbert  Risley's    The   People  of  Ind«. 
H  R  Hall's  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East.     Prof.  D.  R. 
Bhandarkar's  Carmichacl  Uctures  (1918.)     W.  Scott-Elliot's 
The  Lost  Lemur  fa.     Dr.   Keith's    The  Antiquity  of  Man. 
Lord  Avebury's  Prehistoric  Times.    Clodd's  Story  of  Primi- 
tive Man 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Havc'la  Samhita.     Sayana's  Commentary  of  the  Rgveda. 
Yfiska's    Nirukta.     Taitthtya   SamhitA      Ragozin's      Vedic 
India.     Eney.   Brit.     Dr.    Haug's     Essays  on   the   Sacred 
Language,  Writings  and  Religion  of  the    Par  sees.    (1862.) 
G&tha  Ushtanvaiti.   Muir's  Original  Sanskrit  Texts,  Vol.  II. 
Roth's  Si.  Petersburg   Dictionary.    Nesfield's  Brief  View  of 
the  caste-system  of  the  North- Western  Provinces  and  Oudh. 
P&vgee's  Ary&vartic  Home. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Rgveda  SamhitA.  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World.  Vol.  II. 
Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  Ill  (9*-  Ed.)  Harivamfam.  Manu 
SamhitA. 


Rgeeda    Samhita.     Satapatha    Brahma»a.     Aitarey* 
Brahmana.  Taittiriya  Samhita.  Taittiriya  Brahmana.  Ztnd 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  595 

Avesta.  Hist,  f/ist.  of  the  World.  Vol.  II.  Pivgee's  Aryd- 
vartic  Home.  Herodotus.  Prof.  Moulton's  Early  Zoro- 
astrianism.  Prof.  A.  B.  Keith's  The  Religion  and  Philoso- 
phy of  the  Veda  and  Upanisads. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Prof.  Max-Mullet's  Science  of  Language,  Vol.  II,  and 
Chips  from  a  German  Workshop.  Dr.  Haug's  Introduction 
to  the  Aitareya  Brahmana,  and  Religion  of  the  Parsees. 
G*tha  Ushtanvaiti.  Muir's  Original  Sanskrit  Texts,  Vol.  II. 
Ency  Brit,  Vol.  XXI  (nth  Edition).  Spiegel's  Introduction 
to  the  Avesta.  Gdtha  Ahunavaiti.  Gdthd  Spenta  Mainyus. 
Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans.  Tilak's  Artie  Htme  in  the 
Vedas.  Satapatka  Brdhmana.  Tacitus'  Germania.  Pavgee's 
Arydvartic  Home  and  reference  to  the  writings  of  Bunsen, 
Dartnesteter,  Grassmann,  Benfy,  Sonne,  Kern,  Schmidt, 
Ascoli,  Leskian,  Miklosich  and  otheis. 

CHAPTER.  XI. 

Rgveda  Samhita.  Rdja-Nirghanta.  Ragozin's  Vedic 
India.  Krishnasv4mi  Aiyangar'*  Ancient  India.  Hist.  Hist, 
of  the  World,  Vols.  I  and  11.  Loul  Avcbury's  Prehistoric 
1  imes,  and  references  to  and  cxti acts  Uom  the  writings  of 
Herodotus,  Julius  Africanus,  Prof.  Nilv*on  diid  others. 

CHAPTER  Xll. 

Rgveda  SamhitA.  Aitareya  BrdhniMa.  Mahdbhdrata. 
Bhdgavafa  Purdna.  Matsya  Purdna.  Satapatha  Brdhmana. 
Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I.  H.  R.  Hall's  Ancient  His- 
tory of  the  Near  East.  Ragozin's  Vedic  India.  Sayce's 
Hibbert  Lectures  for  1887.  .  Wilson's  Translation  of  the 
Jlgveda.  Max  Miiller's  Science  of  Language.  Dr.  Caldvvell's 
Introduction  to  the  Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Dravidian 
Languages.  The  Old  Testament.  L.  W.  King's  translation 
of  the  Seven  Tablets  of  Cra*ftW,tMax'  Muller's  Trans,  of 


596  RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

thcRgveda.  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  Vol.  IX 
(1848).  Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans.  Booth's  Translation 
of  the  Writings  of  Diodorus  (1700)  as  quoted  in  the  Hist. 
Hist,  of  the  World.  Macdonell's  Hist,  of  Sanskrit  Liter- 
ature. Atharva-veda. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Rgveda  Samhitd.  Manu  Samhitd.  Mah&bhdrata. 
Rdmdyana.  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vols.  I  and  II.  Ency. 
Brit.,  Vol.  VII.  (gth  Ed.)  Taittiriya  Upanisad.  Bhrigu 
Samhitd.  Modern  Review  (Calcutta),  Vol.  II  ("Limited 
Monarchy  in  Ancient  India  ")  Richard  Cough's  Comparative 
View  of  the  Ancient  Monuments  of  India  (London,  1785). 
Phallism  (London,  1889).  Count  Bjornstjarna's  Theogony 
of  the  Hindus.  References  to  the  writings  of  Heeren,  Petrie, 
Diodorus,  Herodotus,  etc.  as  found  in  Hist.  Hist,  of  the 
World  and  other  works. 

CHAPI'liR   XIV. 

Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vols.  I  and  II.  Journal  of  the 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  No.  25  (1909).  R.  W.  Roger's  History 
of  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  H.  R.  Hall's  Ancient  History  of 
the  Near  East.  Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World,  Vol.  I.  Taylor's  Origin  of 
the  Aryans.  Geikie's  The  Great  Ice  Age.  Avebury's  Pre- 
historic Times.  H.  F.  Osborn's  Men  of  the  Old  Stone  Age 
(1918)  Extracts  from  and  references  to  the  writings  of  Prof. 
Rollerton,  Pruner  Bey,  Dr.  Thurnam,  His,  Rutimeyer,  Holder, 
De  Quatrefages,  Virchow,  H.  S.  Mackinder,  Dr.  Croll,  Charles 
Lyell,  James  Hutton,  Schmerling,  Poucher  de  Perth,  Delitzch, 
Dr.  Schrader,  Posche,  Broca,  Ujfclvy,  De  Mortillet,  M. 
Chavee,  Darwin,  Penka,  Wagner  &c.,  as  found  in  Taylors 
Origin  of  the  Aryans,  Hist.  Hist  of  the  World, 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  597 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

v 

Bopp's  Comparative  Grammar.  Taylor'*  Origin  of  the 
Aryans.  Max  Muller's  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language, 
History  of  Sanskrit  Literature  and  Biography  of  words. 
Pictet's  Origines  Indo-Europeenees.  Prof.  Sayce's  Prin- 
ciples of  Philology  and  Science  of  Language  Vol.  II ;  Intro- 
duction to  the  Science  of  Language  3rd  Ed.  1885.  Academy 
Dec.  8,  1883.  Goodward  Aug.  1887.  R.  N.  Sarasvati's 
Bengali  Translation  of  the  Rgveda.  SAyana's  Commentary 
of  the  Rgveda.  Amara-Ko$a  £avda-ratnavall.  References 
to  and  extracts  from  the  writings  of  Morris,  Hale,  Fessl, 
Ujfalvy,  Hommel,  Cuno,  Adelung,  Jacob  Grimm,  Lassen 
Hegel,  Sir  William  Jones  &c.,  as  found  in  Taylor's  Origin  of 
the  Aryans. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Geikie's  Fragments  of  the  Earth-Lore.  Rhys'  Hibbert 
Lectures.  Taylor's  Origin  of  the  Aryans.  Tilak's  Arctic 
Home  in  the  Vedas.  Satapatha  Br&hmana.  Pdnini's 
Grammar.  Dr.  Warren's  Paradise  Found,  or  the  Cradle  of 
the  Human  Race  at  the  North  Pole. 
CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Rgveda  Satnhitd.  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas. 
Max  Muller's  Science  of  Language  Vol.  II.  Bhaskaracharya's 
Surya-Siddhdnta.  Taittir$ya  SamhitA.  Taittirlya  BrdA. 
ina$a.  Satapatha  Brdhmafa.  Manu  Sawhitd.  MahA- 
bhdrata.  M.  N.  Dutt's  Eng.  Trans,  of  the  Mahdbhdrata. 
Vendidad  Far  gar  d  II,  V,  VII.  References  to  and  extracts 
from  the  writings  of  Darmesteter,  Haug,  Bunsen,  &c. 
CHAPTER  XIX. 

Rgveda  Samhitd.  Atharva-Veda  Satnhitd.  Ait.  Brdh. 
Nirukta.  AfV.  ^r.  Sutra.  Apastambha.  Taitt.  Sam. 
Taitt.  Brdh.  Griffith's  Translation  of  the  Rgveda.  Muir's 
Translation  of  the  Rgveda.  Max  Mutler's  Translation  of 
the  ftgveda.  Aufrecht's  Translation  of  the  Rgveda. 
Skya^a's  Commentary  of  the  Jlgveda.  Tilak's  Arctic  Home 
in  the  Vedas,  Dr.  Warren's  Paradise  Found, 


RGVEDIC  INDIA. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Rgvcda  Samhitd.    Atharva-Veda  SamhitA.  Sat.   Br&h. 

Taitt.  Sam.    Taitt.  Br&h.     Taitt.  Aran.     Siya^a's   Com- 

.  mentary  of  the  Rgveda.     M.  N.  Dutt's   English    Translation 

of  the  Rgveda.    Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the    Vedas.  Mac- 

doneirs  Hist.  of  Sansk.  Lit. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Rgveda  Samhitd.  A.  V.  Samhitd.  Taitt.  Aran.  Taitt. 
Sam.  Ait.  Br&h.  Sat.  Br&h.  Brh.  Aran.  If  pa.  Siyaija's 
Commentary  of  R.  V.  Bhagazad-dta.  Ragozin's  Vedic 
India.  Hist.  Hist,  of  the  World  Vol.  II.  Tilak's  Arctic 
Home  in  the  Vedas.  M.  N.  Dutt's  English  Translation  of 
the  Rgveda.  Mahdbhdrata. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Rgveda  Samhita.  Ait.  Brah.  Yiska's  Nighantu.  Taitt. 
Sam.  AfV.  £r.  Sitt.  Tandya  Brdhmana.  Taitt.  Brah.  ^avara 
on  Jaimini.  Apa.  Qr.  Sut.  Tilak's  Arctic  Home  in  the  Vedas. 
Dr.  Haug's  Trans,  of  the  Ait.  Brah.  vol.  II.  Wilson's 
Trans,  of  the  Rgveda. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ftgveda  Samhitd.  Nirukta.  Ait.  Brdh.  Sdya^a's  Com* 
mentary  of  the  ftgveda  Khorshed  Yasht.  Vendidad.  Max- 
Miille r's  Lecture  on  the  Science  of  Language.  Ency.  Brit^ 
Vol.  II  (gth  Ed.)  Macdonell's  Vedic  Mythology.  Wallis' 
Cosmology  of  the  tyrveda.  Macdonell's  Hist  of  Sans.  Lit. 
Ragozin's  Vedic  Inda.  References  to  the  writings  of  Prof. 
Zimmer  and  others. 

CHAPFERS  XXIV,  XXV  AND  XXVI. 

ftgveda    Samhitd.    Atharva-Veda  Samhitd.     Nirukta. 

Macdoneirs  Vedic  Mythology.     Max   MuHer's    Biography  of 

Words.    Tilak's    Arctic    Home   in    the   Vedas.      Sdyapa's 

Commentary  of  the  Rgveda,  Zend-Avesta.  Mainyo-i-Khard. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Abbeville,  322. 

Abhijit,  505. 

Abhiplava,  504. 

Abors,  in 

Acacia  Suma,  90. 

A9valiyana,  410. 

Asvattha,  90. 

A9vath£ma,  267. 

A9vina  Castra,  409  4' '  549^ 

A9vins,  12,  34,  3$,  82,  86, 305,  398. 
S49»  55° i  their  achievements,  551 

A9usa,  515,  566. 

Adas  Bank,  98. 

Adelung,  59,  358. 

A-Devam,  135. 

Adhmy&tikas,  523. 

Adina,  72. 

Aditi,  444.  445,  4&»,  4^5 

Aditya,  82,  202. 

Adityas,  243,  396,  440,  445,   446,  4^2, 
463,    491  ,  not    givers    of    material 
light,  463  ;  Divine,  464.  4°"6 
Twelve,— create  the  months,  409 
Seven  create  the  season^,  467   469 

Adityar.anuydnam.  492,  496 

Adolf  Ernaan,  3,  250. 

Adonis,  310,313- 

Aerial  waters,  404-  53°.  tlieir  imPrl~ 
sonment  by  Vrtra  a  fiction,  539 

Africanus,  Julius",  iox>,  248. 

Agastya,  103,  104,  112,  114,  140, 
sipping  up  of  the  ocean  by  103,  220, 
581 ;  immigration  of  Aryan  tribe*  to 
the  Deccan  under— 226. 

Agni,  33,  79.  '33- 

Agnidhra,  163. 

Agnisatvas,  142. 

Agnistoma,  503. 

Agupta,  252- 

Ahan,  422. 

Ahana,  422. 

Ahani,42',453.455-  . 

AW,  52,  53,  "56,  224,228,  4*4 \\ l  the 
first  born  53.  54 ;  worship  of  Ah.  or 
the  Serpent  indigenous  to  bapta- 
Sindhu,  225  ;  the  same  as  the  Sume- 
rian  Ea,  225. 

Ahi-Budhna,  224,  228. 

Ahi-han,  228. 

Ahi-hanta48i. 

Ahina,  503* 

Ahoratra,  164,  452- 

*     76 


Ahnman,  169,  170,  465. 

Ahura,  160. 

Ahuramazda,   161,    162,  168,  170,  174, 

175,   176,    181,    183,  318,   360,402, 

404,  405.  543,  544,  572. 
Aiguptas,  252,  253. 
Ainos,  333. 
Airy  an  a,  168. 
Airyana    V>jo,  40,  i6H,  172,  175,  178; 

182,  183, 184,  187,  312,  351,  355,  380, 

5'9>  573-  0     0 

Attareyd,  Brahmana,  80,  83,  113,  140, 

148,  156,    163,    165,   170,   224,  409* 

412,  451,  494-  496»  &  5OI»  503i  5'3» 

535 

Aitihasikas,  523,  549 
Aiyanger,  Krishoasvami,  190. 
Aid,  369. 
Aji,  82. 

Ajana.Dcvatfi.sa3- 
Ajihanta,  481. 
Akas,  in. 
Alaska,  375 
Albanian,  353. 
Alia,  231 
Alla-bund,  48, 
Alpine-race,  324. 
Alyattes,  316. 

Alexander,  148,  193,  247,  28b,  300. 
Amatya,  268. 
Amazons,  313. 
Am9a,  462. 
Amen,  258,261. 
Amenhotep,  III,  301 ,  3°4- 
IV,  303*  304. 
Amma,  309,  310. 
Amorites,  302 
Amshaspands,  170,  171 
Amsumati,  133. 
Amu,  234. 
Ana,  231. 

Anamalai  Hill,  105,  113* 
Anasa,  159. 
Anasuya,  291. 
Anatolian,  308. 

Ancient  Aryan  world,  308,  309. 
Andaman  islanders,  104,  105. 
Andhras,  1 13,  140. 
Anga,  9. 

Angiras&mayanam,  471,  492- 
Angirases,  63,  142,  47»»  47«' 
Angra  Mainyu,  14, 15i  «8 
Anjasi,  72. 


6oo 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Anki^a,  86. 
Anshar,  234. 
Antariksa,  45,  153,  163,  224,  3»0,  4^4, 

53«. 

Antarctic  region,  401. 
Antilope  Bezartica,  87. 
Ana,  231. 
Anus,  69,  122. 
Apa,   253. 
ApaUa,  189,  238 
Apaosa,  518,  545. 
Apastambha,  410. 
Apauruseya,  23. 
Apaya,47,  58,  59,  71. 
Aphrodite,  313. 
Apis,  275. 
Apri-Devat£,  166. 
Apsu,  234,  235,  238. 
Apsujit,  525. 
Ap-turya,  518,  525- 
Aptya  Trita,  482. 
Arachosia,  46,  78,  173. 
Aral  Sea,  13,  27,  29. 
Aralo-Caspian  Sea,  28,  29,  39. 
Arambhaniya,  504. 
Aram-Naharain,  301. 
Aranyani,  87. 

Aravallis,  7,  8, 27, 40;  depression  of  103. 
Arrelin  M.  4. 

Arctic  Home  of  the  Aryans  372. 
Arjikia,  70,  71 
Arjuna,  84,  290. 
Aries,  395. 
An«tobulus,  193 
Aristotle,  172. 
Armenians,  311,  353. 
Arna,  136. 
Artasuma,  301. 
Artatana,  301. 
Artemis,  313. 

Arurmaghas,  166,  170,  174. 
Arusa,  317. 
Arvuda,  148 

Arya,  1141  131.  W,  '33,  *34»  '36.  '8°* 

459. 

Aryaman,  444,  445-  4^2  464,  487- 
Aryans— the  palaeolithic  and  neolithic 

stages  of,  126,  143. 
Aryan  enemies,  157. 
Aryans  and  Turanians  amalgamated, 

34°- 

Aryan  women,  272 
Aryavarta,  58,  88. 
Arya-Veeja,  172. 
Asagarta,  298. 
Asana,  (tree),  106. 
Ascoli,  185. 
Asia,  3 15. 

Asiatic  Mediterranean,  13,  98,  29,  67. 
Asies,  315. 


Asikni,  70. 

Assam  Range,  10. 

Asshur,  231,  240,  303. 

Asshurbanapal,  King,  5. 

Asshur  Ubalit,  304. 

Assyria,  2,  74 

Assyrian  Cosmogony,  237. 

Assyriologists,  5,  17. 

Astika,293 

A&ura,  60,    129,    141,  157.    160,  161  ; 

change  of   etymological  sense  152, 

153  ;  Asuras,  assuming  the  forms  of 

Brihmans,  165. 
Asura  kings,  158. 
Asura  Maghava,  168,  170. 
Asurya  (not-sun) — sun  of   night,   261, 

440. 

Arta-Xerxes,  172. 
Artemis,  313. 
Aten,  302,  303. 
Atharva-Veda,  33,  38.  42,  66. 
Atharvans,  63,  142,  177,  47»- 
Atiratra,  411,  503,  504,  505,  5*3' 
Atithigva,  5*4,  5>5- 
Atka,  131. 
Atma,  74. 

Atri,  308,  310,471,554.557. 
,  Atri  Sapta-Vadhri,  552,  557,  561. 
Attis,  308 
Attyadae,  312. 
Attys,  310,  314,  315 
Aufretcht,  417. 
Aum,  263,  265. 
Aupamanyava,  569. 

Aur,  253» 

Aurora  borealis,  372,  395 

Australia,  97. 

Australian,  2. 

A ustro- Asiatic  Race  no. 

Avanti,  114. 

Avebur)  ,  Lord,  1 19,  206. 

A  vesta,  14,  61,  62,  183,  186 

Avestic  Evidence,  571. 

Ayas  (an  Aryan  King),  158. 

Ayur-Veda,  84. 

Ayus,  503 

Ayuftoma,  505. 

Azoff,  27. 

B 

Baa),  200,  201,  2O2,  206,  231,  279. 

Babhru,  369. 

Babylon,  193. 

Babylonia,  3,3.4,74. 

Babylonian  and  Assyrian   Gods,  form, 

of,  joined  with  those  of  animalp,  237 
Babylonian  Creation,  237. 
Babylonian  custom,  revolting,  242. 
Babylonians  and  Dravidiani,  connec 

tion  between,  223. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


6oi 


Babylonian   and   Vedic  Cosmogonies 

compared,  239* 
Bacchus,  258,  2651  279. 
3actria,  9,  175. 

3actriana,  31,  40,  96,  144,  172. 
3agais,  304,311. 
Jagdanoff  29. 
3agu,  1 86. 
3akhdid,  175. 
3aladeva,  84. 
Balder,  206. 
3alders-baal,  207 
Baleshaugen,  207. 
Balestranden,  207. 
3alkash  Lake,  13. 
Baltic,  207. 

Narrows  long  335,  round,  336 
iastar   (a   Fendatory   State  in  India), 

105. 

Beas,  38. 

Beaufort  group,  98. 
Beddoe,  Dr,  337. 
Bedouin,  212. 

Beef-eating,  custom  of,  79,  80,  81 . 
Beef  offered  to  Indra,  79. 
Being  and  not- Being,  236 
Bel,  231,234,303. 
Belgic  Gauls,  335,  336 
Belt,  Great  and  Little,  207. 
Belte- Verger,  207. 
Belurtag,  357 
Benfy,  185. 

Berossus,  38,  40,  197,  226,  242. 
Bes,  258. 

Bhaga,  1 86,  311,  462 
Bhaga-Bhaganam,  186 
Bhdgavat-Geeta,  476 
Bha£avat-PuraUrf,  227. 
Bhandarkar,  i>ir    K.   G.  113,  114.  "5 ; 

O.  R.  Bhandarkar,  Prof,  nti,  121 
Bharadvaja,  80,  139,  142,  290. 
Bharatas,      57        tg,      122;    Bharata  | 

(brother  ot  Kama),  267,  290 
BharaU-VarBa,  57 
Bharati,  57,  69. 
Bhargava,  267. 
Bhaskaracharya,  395. 
Bheda.369- 
Bhisrna,  290. 
Bhrater,  160. 

Bhfgu,  63,267,  471,  Bhfgus,  142,  471- 
Bhrgu-Samhita,  271. 
Bhuh,  464 

Bhuiyu,  36,  55 1 1  55*.  553.  553 
Bhuloka,  163. 
Bhuvah,  464. 
Biblical  account  of  Creation  compared, 

Biblical  account  of  the  Flood,  394 
Bin,  232. 


Bipa9,  38. 

Bi-pani,  189. 

Black,    127,    158,    Black-skinned,  127, 

132.  Black  Sea,  13. 
Blagden,  no. 

Blanford  H.  F.  14  97,  98.  101,  in. 
Bloomfield  Prof  51. 
Boar,  the  incarnation  of  Visnu  233. 
Boer,  2 

Boghaz  Keui,  2,  301. 
Bogu,  186,  304,  311. 
Bombax  Mal&barica  (^imul),  91. 
Boomerang,  109. 
Bopp.  353 
Bosphorus,  Isthmub  of,    13,   28,  29,  41, 

14.5 

Boucher  de  Perth,  321. 
Bourgeois,  119,  120. 
Brachy-cephalic,  326. 
Brader,  160, 
Brahma,  58, 262 ;— Nirguna  262 ;  Sagu- 

Oa,  263. 
Brahma,   23,   58,    168    280,  [480  ;  the 

morning  Sun,  439 ;  the  Creator,  580. 
Brahmacharin,  559. 
Brahmana,  124,  148, 151,  159,  160  165, 

329 

Brahmanaspati,  134 
Brahmdvarta,  58 
Brahmi  Script,  291. 
Brbu,  139  200 
Briges,  311,  312,  349. 
Brihach-chepas,  560,  570. 
Brhadratha,  132,  158. 
Brijis,  311    349 
Bj-haspati,  51,  135,  166,473,475   476, 

54i 

Brsa  gin,  561. 
Broca,  325,  342,  347,  756. 
Bronze  Age  206,  207,  335. 
Bruce,  Robert,  332. 
Brux,  332. 
Buck,  black  (Krishna-Sara  Mrgaj,  87, 

88. 

Buddha,  1 14,  276,  277. 
Buffalo  meat  partaken  of  by  the  Vedic 

Aryans,    84 ,  and    beef    offered    to 

Indra,  79. 
Bugash,  304. 
Burner,  Dr.  51. 

Bull-sacrifice,  79,  80,  273,  274 
Bunsen,  175,  176. 
Burna-Buriash  I,  304. 
Burrard,  Sir  Sidney,  18. 
Bushman,  254. 

Butea  Frondosa,  (Pald^a),  90. 
Byoma,  284 

C 
auli,  281. 

afvat,  4i6cacvati,  431- 


• 


602 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Cainozoic  Era,  23. 

Cakapuni,  567 

Cakti,  280. 

Cambara,  514,  5 15,  538. 

Cambrian  age,  22,  48  System.  23. 

Canaanites,  194,  195,  279. 

Canadian,  2. 

Canstadts,  145,  '46,  187,  330,  332,  333, 

334- 

Capellini  M  ,  120 
Captive  waters,  522 
fcarad,   315,   370,    487,    488,    538,  539 

marked  the  beginning   of   the  Vedic 

year,  487,  506 
Varyanavat,  Lake,  62. 
Ca9imauli,  281. 

Caste,  determined  by  colour,  330 
Castra,409,  410,  411. 
fatakratu,  517,  549. 

£atapatha  Brahmana,  38,  39,  41,  59, 
I56»  159,  183,  2*23,  226,  227,  276, 
400,451,468. 

Cataratra,  509,  510,  514. 

Vayu»  552. 

Celebes,  97. 

Celestial  waters,  536,  540. 

Celts,  of  the  Turanian  type,  335  336 

Celts,    189,   336,   340,  341  ;  Caesar's— 

34^* 

Celtae,  342. 
Central  Asiatic  Home  of  the    Aryans, 

.    .  ,491.507 
;hagos  group,  98 

Chakmas,  HI. 

Chakra,  175,282. 

Chaldea,3,  151,  197.  209. 

Chaldeans,  a  mixed  race  sprung  from 
the  Paflis  and  the  Dravidians,  225, 
as  builders,  245. 

Chaldean  Priests,  240,  241  ;— Astro- 
nomy, 243, — Art,  245, 

Chaldean  religion  influenced  by  Vedic 
religon,  230,231. 

ChandrabhagA,  70. 

Chatur-masya,  509. 

Chaturvim9a  day,  504. 

Chatvarlm9yam  9aradi,  the  date  on 
which  Vftra  was  killed,  corespond- 
ing  to  the  Vijaya  Da9ami,  538,  539. 

Chyavana  551 

Chavee  M  351. 

Chedis  69,  140. 

Chenub,  70 

Chera,  190. 

Cheralas,  109, 

Chettis,  245 

Chiniot  Hills,  20. 

Chitrakuta  Hills,  113. 

Chitraratha,  136. 


Chitrivasu.  450. 

Chitung,  71. 

Cholas,    109,    116,    117,    148,  151,  190, 

19^245,255.308- 
Cholade9a,  200. 
i9nadevaJ  278,  316. 
72. 

typivista,  569,  570. 

Circum-  Polar    regions,  characteristics 
of  the,  389,  390 

8iva,  280,  281,  309. 
louds  compared  with  darkness,  483. 
Gobi,  92,  93. 

Colour  of  skin  changed,  328,  329 
Comoro,  99 
Coptos,  255 

Coromonda!  coast,  150,  190. 
Cosmic  struggle,  157,  161. 
Cosmoledo,  99 

I  ows  identified  with  Adityas,  496 
Cows'    session    described,    496,   498  , 
lasting  through  the  two  rainy  months 
498,  which  were  the  last  two  months 
of  the  year,  499 
Cows'  walk,  494,  496,  500 
£rauta  ^utras,  471,  510. 
Creationist  School,  24. 
$resthis,  245 

Cretaceous  fossils,  98,^  rocks,  100. 
Croll,  Dr   322,  374. 
Cro-magnards,  146,  »47<33'»352- 
Croesus,  312. 
Crustacea,  23 
£rutarvd,  158. 
Ctesias,  92 
Cuneiform    writing   originated    by  the 

.-•umerUns,  217. 
Cuno,  346,  361,  362. 
Cutadri,  38,  47- 


Cutch,  Rann  of, 


443t   475'   485.  497. 


515,  525.  S°5- 
Cvetaw<ivari,  72. 
fveti,  70 
Cyavana   551 
Cyena  65  90.  «49- 
Cybebe,  3*°,  3«3.3«5« 
Cybele,  308,  309,  310,  313,  314- 
Cyrus  300, 

Da9agva,    471,     Seven-mouthed,    472 
491,  also,  473.  477,  479- 


a,  506 
Dadhikra.  83. 
Dadhyanch,  471. 
Daevas,  60,  177,  540,  541,  542. 
Daganu,  232. 
Dahana,  232. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


603 


Dahae  147*  !48» 

Dakaina  pada,  118. 

DakailJLapatha  ,  118 

Dmkhma,  543,  544- 

Dakaa,  57,  282,  462.  465. 

Dakaa  Prajapati,  58,  66,  281. 

Dakainayana,  244,  397,  401,  407     4»9- 

Daltoii  Col.  106. 

Damayanti,  290. 

Danavas,  152,  156)  484 

Danda,  269,  290 

Danu,  son  of  565. 

Darius,  300  546. 

Darkness,   identified   with  clouds,  48j, 

484,485-     n    e 
Darmesteter  Prof    175,  543 
Darusiaeans,  298 
Darvas,  148. 
Darwin,  24,98,  327. 
Dasas,    122,   123,   125,    127,    128,  132, 

134,  135,  '4',  »47i3|8i44'.457 
Dasa  and  Dasyu,  distinction  between, 

132,  133- 

Dafaratra,  505,  517- 
Dasratta,  301. 
Dasyus,  113,  122,   123,   125,  127,  128, 

131,  «33.  "34,  I3S,  «4i»  '47.  »5o,  3»8 
Dawns,  Three  41  5  ;  Thirty,  430. 
Dawn    made     up    of    Thirty    Sisters 

(dawns)  430,  the  first  of  the  Dawns, 

486. 

Dawn-bricks  430,  434. 
Dawn's  chariot  broken  by  Indra,  410. 
Dawn  man,  121. 

Dawn  theory,  524  ,  a 

Deccan,  9,  87,  9<5,   account   of—  104  ft. 

December8,    not   the   end    of   the  year, 

501,502. 

Delannay,  M.  120. 
Pelitzch,  238,  349 
Deluge,  3»;—  in  Babylonia,  40,—  m 

Egypt.  40  ;  —  in  Greece,  40. 
Desnoyers,  M  ,  119 
Deucalion,  28,  40,41-  . 

Deva,  135,  136,  '52,153   157   i<>2>  263. 
Devadasis,  242. 
Devakrta  Yoni,  37,  56- 
Devamrmita  desa,  37,  3B»  5° 
Deva-purah,  5«7-    f     f 
Devah  Adityah,  466,  467 

oo;  dweller,  of  the  north 


156,  war 


Devas    and    Asuras,      i 

between,  156. 
Devasura-Samgrama,  1381  >5O. 
Devayana,  397,  398,  400,  402,  421 
DevUpakaa,  54  «• 
Dh8lnya,9i. 


Dharma,  269,  290. 
Dharma-vy&dha,  291. 
Dhatri,  465. 

Dhuni  (River  Parufi^iJ,  546. 
Dianisu,  232 

Dice,  g«une  of,  315.316. 

Digamvara,  281. 
Dinec^i,  232. 

Diodorus,  240,  241,  243,  247,  276,  280, 
287. 

Dionysus,  232,  258,  281. 

Dirghatama,  480,  481,  482,  483. 

Dirghah  Tarr.israh  explained,  444- 

Dirgham  tamas  explained,  442,  443- 

Divasputra,  560 

Divine  Fish,  226 

Divisti,  518,  525- 

Divodiba,  158,  514,  515. 

Divyah  Apah,  530,  536,  539- 

Doab,  6y. 

Dog.  as  beast  of  burden,  85. 

Doganu,  232 

Dolichocephalic,  326 

Dolmens,  105 

Draupdi   290 

Dravidians,  3,  26,  104,  no,  »i6,  117, 
221  ,  connection  between — and  Baby- 
lonians, 223. 

Dr^dvati,  15,  38.  46,  58,  59,  7Oi  7*- 

Drsat-upala,  26 

Drona,  267. 
I   Dropicians,  298 
!   Druhyus  69,  122 
I  Dubois  Dr.,  120. 
.   Durgk,  282,  309   367,  507,  559. 
|   Dnrg^carya,  366,  567 
i   Uurg&  St^va,  449 
!  DvA.da9A.ha,  503,  505,  506. 
I  Dvdpara  Yuga,  286. 

Dvipas,  36,  37   220. 
Dvir&tra,  504,  509 

Dvita,  481,  482 
Dyau,  454. 
Dyivd-fnthivi,  167 

Dyuloka,  163 

E 

Ea,  197 ;  223,  225,  228,  234. 

Eagle-man,  God,  233 

Ea-han,  228 

Early  age  of  the  Rgveda,  142. 

Eastern  Sea,  li,45  7O. 

Eastern  Turkestan,  30,  31. 

Edda,  Mythology  of  the— 378. 

Eguisheim,  330. 

Egypt,  Ancient,  2,  3,  4,  I5lf 

Egyptian  Civilisation,  age  of,  287. 

Egyptologist,  17 

Ekana  5°3« 

Ekalavya,  291. 


604 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Ek&staka,  434. 

Ekata,  481,  482. 

Elam,  198,  216 

Elamites,  216,  298. 

Elephant  85 ;  catching  of— 86. 

Elymxans,  298. 

Engis  skull,  331. 

Eolithic,  25. 

Eocene  beds  44. — period,  100 

Epic   of  the   Anklet,    191  —of   Gilga- 

mesh,  39. 
Eridhu,  223. 
Erman,  Adolf,  3,  250. 
Erythraean  Sea,  97,  192    197,  198,  259 
Esquimaux,  85. 
Etasa,  563,  564- 
Ethiopia,  222,  260. 
Etruscan,  338. 
Eumaeus.  202. 
Eunuch  priests  i  313,  314. 
Euphrates,  4,  150,  209. 


Fargard,  175,  178,  184,  401,  544 

Farvardm  Yasht,  402,  540. 

Fauna  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  79—90 

Ficus  Indicus,  90. 

Ficus  Religiosa,  90. 

Finno-Urgic  race,  338, 

Fire  (Sacrificial),  63,  first  produced  by 
Atharvan  142;  first  worshipped  by 
Angirases  142,  152,  153;  identified 
with  the  Sun  and  lightning,  154, 

157- 

Firmament,  creation  of  the  528. 

Fish  in  the  Rgveda,  89. 

Fish-God,  199,  208,  228 ;  becomes 
incarnation  of  Visi^u,  233 

Fish  man,  197. 

Five  Tribes,  122 

Flood,  Manu's,  39,  187,  226,  229,  230 

Flood-legend,  220,  227,  288;  it 
travelled  from  Sapta-Sindhu  to  the 
Deccan,  and  thence  to  Mesopotamia 
and  Egypt  229.  Flood-legend  carried 
away  by  Israelites  from  Ur,  229. 

Flora  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  90,  9 . . 

Fohn.  323. 

Fontaine  La,  378. 

Four  Samudras,  12,  13,  34 

Fourfold  character  of  Indra  and  Vr- 
tra's  struggle.  525,  526. 

Fmvashis  (Pitris),  540,  541,  542- 

Furfooz  race,  343. 

G 

Gaddas,  393. 
Galatia,  299 

Gandhlra,  9,  31,  67  ;  sheep  of,  84,  96. 


Gandhari,  291. 

Ganga,  9,  n,  31,  68,  70,  72,  iai,  13* 

Gangetic  trough,  20,  21. 

Garufla,   65,    149,  233,   292,  vies  with 

Visnu  for  supremacy,  233.  292. 
Garudas,  the  148,  149,  292. 
Gath£,    176   Ahunavaiti,  1 78— Spenta, 

Mainyus,  •  76—  Ushtanvaiti,  127,  175. 
Gaura  Mrga,  88,  89 
Gauls,  4  "336. 
Gavamayanam,  409,  4'O,  4711  472>  494* 

521. 

Gabhi  Devata,  79. 
Gedrosia,  149 
Geikie  Prof   322,  374. 
Geldner,  176. 
Geneva,  Lake,  30. 
Gemini,  549. 
Germama   185. 
Germanians,  294 
Ghaggar,  71, 
Ghosha  552 
Ghrta,  79,  155. 
Gilgamesh  Epic,  39,  40. 
Gilukhipa,  302. 
Girayah,  43. 
Glacial  Age,  16. 
Go,  503. 
Godavari,  96. 
Go-isti,  518,  525. 
Golden  Um£,  507. 
Gomal,  70. 
Gomati,  70 
Gonds,  1 06,  223. 
Good,  Powers  of   156. 
Good  and  Evil,  dualism  of,  156,  157 
GopikAs,  265. 
Go  sani,  499 
Go-stoma,  505. 
Gotama,  557,  558 
Goths,  340. 
Gough  R.,  278. 
Grassmann,  185,  417,  423 
Great  Flood,  39 
Crenelle,  332. 
Gressia,  149 
Grdhra,  90. 
G? lesbach,  98 
Griffith,  417. 
Grhapati  Agni,  411,439 
Gnmaldi  men,  147,  31 1,  352. 
Grimm,  Jacob,  145,  357. 
Gudea,  211,  212. 
Guidi,  Ign,  2(2. 
Gujrat,  88,  116.  139,  189. 


Hadja  Silsili,  280. 
Haeckel  Ernst,  102. 
Haetumant,  175. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Haimavati  Uma,  282,  507. 

Hale  Dr,  357,  363 

Halfevy,  Prof   210 

Hall,  H.R.,  118.216 

Hamsa,  90. 

Hamy,  120,  330. 

Haoma,  519,  6n. 

Hapi,  253.  256. 

Hapta  Hendu,    14,    15,  160,    175,  176, 

178,  446. 
Haq  258. 
Har,  264 
Kara,  263,  280. 
Harahvaiti,  46,  175. 
Harappa,  175,  249. 
Harayu,  3,  49 
Han's  sleep,  491,  507,  509. 
Hanschandra,  290. 
Harivamsam,  84,  148. 
Hariyupia,  369. 
Hartit,  175. 
Hasisadra,  227,  229 
Hasti,  85. 
Hath  or,  258,  265. 

Haug,  Dr.,  61,  173,  177  | 

Havirdhan,  163 

Havyas,  165.  ' 

Havis,  167. 
Hazard,  160 
Heaven  described,  447 
Heeren,  256,  259,  266,  294 
Hegel,  353- 

Heidelberg  men,  146,  331,  352. 
Hello's  oxen,  499 
Hell,  447 

Hellenes,  319,  341,35* 
Helmend    175. 
Helvetii,  337. 
Hem,  3o<\ 

Hemanta,  (year),  14,  15,  488,  505,  539. 
Heraclidae,  312 
Herodotus,    171,    192,    193,   270,  272, 

273.  3« ' 
Hertel,  172. 
Hes,  264. 
Hesiri,  264. 
Heth,  306. 

Hewett,  J.  P.,  in,  1 18. 
Hieroglyphic,  4,  5,  15. 
Hillebrandt,  9. 

Hima  (year),  14,  15,  59,  329,  370,  488. 
Himalaya,  10  Upheaval    of  the  Middle 

and  Northern,  18,  78. 
Himalo-Ckinese  fauna,  97. 
Hindukush,  70. 
Hindu  Trinity,  280. 
Hinks,  Edward,  238. 
Hirapyahasta,  552,  553- 
Hiranyapani,  559. 
His,  337- 


History  of  Ancient  India,  its  absence 
explained,  288,  289,  290,  291. 

Hittites,  301,  302,  305,  306,  307. 

Hoama,  162 

Holder,  337. 

Homa,  160. 

Homer,  201. 

Hommel,  212,  238,  349,  363. 

Homo  Sapiens,  146 

Hopkins   E.  W.,  45. 

Hor  258. 

Horemkhu   ^02. 

Horse,  as  a  riding  and  draught  ani- 
mal, 81,  82. 

Horse-flesh  partaken  of  by  the  Aryans, 

83 

Horseman,  82. 
Horse-Sacrifice,  80. 
Horus,  258,  261,  264. 
Hota,  167. 
Hotri,  409,  410,  471. 
Hultzsch  Dr.,  190. 
Hunter,  Sir  W.,  118. 
Hutton,  James,  320. 
Huxley,  99. 
Hyde  3-5. 

I 

Ibenans,  ^5,  332,  335,  342;  as  canni- 
bals, 328, 

Ibha,  (elephant-,  85. 

Ice-age,  145  ,  Fourth,  21. 

Ice-deluge,  3*0,  382. 

l9Varaputra,  132. 

Iksu  (sugarcane),  91. 

Ha,  57,  59.  66,  69 ;  name  of  Agni,   57. 

Ilapatt  Parjanya  231. 

Ilu,  231  compared  with  Brahma,  231. 

Imu,  261 

Inda-bugash,  305. 

India,   one   of  the   earliest   centres  of 

human  civilisation,  217. 

Indian  Panchets,  98. 

Indian  teak,  116,  219. 

I ndo- Aryans,  5,  6. 

Indo-Iranian,  185,  Ig6,  382,  384. 

Indo-Germanic  Family,  3,  300. 

I  ndo- Oceanic  continent,  99,  ioo,  IOI, 
no,  118,  189. 

Indologist,  17. 

Indra,  43,  42,  43-  44,  52,  55i  S^,  79.  «8. 
122,  130,  152,  305,  &c,  birth  of  Indra 
434;  I ndra's  existence  doubted,  135, 
the  glorious  deeds  of  Indra,  55,  131  ; 
Indre  compared  with  the  bull,  233 ; 
Indra  identified  with  Suryaorthe 
Sun,  392,  440,  508,  512;  Indra,  first 
and  foremost  deity  56,  153  three 
visible  bodies  of  Indra,  153,  154,  153, 
as  Samrftt  and  greater  than  Vantf  a 


6o6 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


154  Indra  kills  Brahmana  167 ; 
Indra  stealing  the  wheel  of 'the  Sun, 
564;  Indra-cult  overthrown.  288, 
the  first  valorous  deed  of  Indra 
performed  in  Sapta-Sindhu,  53  ; 
Indra  hated  by  the  Iranians  or  Parsis, 
60,  grand  Vedic  conception  of  Indra, 
154,  « 55.  Indra's  feats,  44,  53.  H* 

Indr&laya,  367. 

Indratama,  549. 

Indus  trough,  20 

Io,  274. 

Iranians,  126,  127,  137,  160. 

Iranians  and  Slavs,  185. 

Iravati,  70,  175,  446 

Iron,  92 

Iron  forts,  92. 

Ishtar,  232. 

Isis,  261.  275,  278,  283. 

Israelites  carried  Sumerian  religious 
traditions  from  the  city  of  Ur,  214, 
224. 

Isvaraputra,  132. 

Itihasa,  291,  292. 

I 

|acobi,  Hermann,  47. 
James  E.  O.,  25. 
Jambudvipa,  8. 
[anah,  464. 
[anaka,  29 ~>. 
[anasthana,  116,  149* 
aratkaru,  148,  29.3. 
arat  Tvastri,  168,  170,  174. 
atayus,  149,  234. 
'axartes,  175 
helum,  70 

1  ones.  Sir  William,  353. 
uangs,  106  107, 109, 113, 143.  !9°.  346. 
Jupiter,  5,  284. 
urassic,  98,  too. 
[utija,  298. 
jyotis,  503- 
[yotijtoma,  504. 


Kabul  river,  70. 
Kaccha,  114. 
Kadashman  Bel,  304. 
Kadesh,  307. 
Kadirs,  no. 
Kadus,  105. 
Kailasa,  69,  367. 
Kali,  55  1  .  553 
Kalingjt,  114- 
Kali-  Yuga,  286,  291. 
Kalpa,  59. 


Kali,  264.  281. 


K&mady  11,551. 

Kamatshatka,  332,  333 

Kambojans  ut,  148. 

Kamit,  252,  253,  256. 

Kandatur,  190. 

Kandhs,  107. 

Kandish,  303. 

Kangra  valley,  44. 

Kanva,  471. 

Kapi,  87,  222. 

Kapinjala,  90 

Karakoram,  70. 

Karma  Devatas,  523. 

Karmanians,  298. 

Karnak,  302,  307 

Karni  (a  deadly  weapon),  269. 

Karbhvares,  540. 

Karsma,  82 

Kashmir,  20,  59,  70  . 

Karusa,  114. 

Kasshu,  303 

Kassites,  303,  305. 

Kasyapa,  396. 

Kata,  403,  543i  544- 

Kathmis,  98. 

Katyayana,  121. 

Kavi,  m,  158. 

Keith  Dr.   25,    119  Prof.   A.  B.  Keith, 

49 

Kern,  185. 

Ketkar,  V.  B.,  8,  51,  250. 
Kern,  252. 
Kengi,  247 

Keralas,  109,  148,  190. 
Khodira,  90. 
Khanitrimah  A  pah,  536. 
Kharis,  304. 
Khasi,  no. 
Khatasar,  307, 
Khattis,  306,  309. 
Khatusil,  30 j. 
K  betas,  301,  306. 
Khnenta,  175 
Kh  or  shed  Vast,  540. 
Kikata,  9,  583. 
Kine  as  clouds,  475* 
King,  defined  by  Manu,  26. 
Kirgipa,  302 
Kishar,  234 
Kiskindhya,  in,  116. 
Kistvaens,  105. 
Kitchen-Midden,  5,  146,  333. 
Koca,  (cloud),  404- 
Kolarians,  26,  104,  II O,  112,  117. 
Kolis,  148. 
Kophen  70 

Kosala,  9,  10,  112,  1 14,  149. 
Kossaeans,  298,  301, 302,  303.  304,  320. 
Kremer,  A  Von,  212,  238. 
Krpa,  267. 


GENERAL 


607 


KfWa  (Dasyu),  133,  158  ;  (a  cloud), 
133.  515  »  Lord— 84,  aa8,  365,  47^. 

KfW»  cakuna,  90 

Kf  ?nasara,  87 

Kfftpa  Yoni,  133. 

Kr?tayah,  127. 

KritamalA  (river  ,  227. 

Krittika,  381. 

Krumu,  7- . 

Ksatra-Sri,  307, 

K§atriya,  148  329. 

Ksiroda  Samudra,  507,  521 

K$iti,  284. 

Kubba,  70. 

Ku9a,  91. 

Ku9a-dvipa,  198. 

Kuhn,  Prof,  524 

Kuli9i,  72. 

Kumara,  263,  439- 

Kurds,  320. 

Kurkis,  112. 

Kurukgetra,  62,  286,  305. 

Kurum,  70. 

Kurumbhas,  no. 

Kush,  198. 

Kutsa,  131,  138,  140,  158,  459.515. 
564. 

Kuyava,  515,  525,  S^S- 

L 

Laccadives,  98 

hake-dwellings,  Swiss,  337,  338,  375. 

Lakhamu,  234 

Lakhmu  234. 

I  ak  small  a,  267,  290. 

Land  of  Immortality,  376. 

Land  of  Punt   256,  257,  25*,  277 

Lapps  326 

Lassen,  31,357- 
Latham,  Dr   185 
Latin  race,  341. 
Leaf -wearers,  106. 
Lemuria,  102,  i  10 
Lemuroid  animals,  97. 
Lenarmont,  Fran90is,  218. 
Leskian,  185 
Ligurian,  332,  338  342. 
Lingam,  278. 

Lion,  87   catching  of,   87 ;  an    incar- 
nation of  Visnu,  233. 
Lithuanian.  185,  186,  319 
Lob-Nor,  13,  30. 
Loka,  153.  4i3.  464- 
Long  Day,  4^8. 

Long  Darkness  explained,  447. 
Long  Night,  438. 
Lopamudra,  291. 
Lotus,  white,  9 r. 
Louvre  2li 
Ludwig  Prof. i  423. 

77 


Lucian,  314. 

Lunar  months,  243,  244. 

Lydia,  299. 

Lydians,  310,  3*2,313,  315. 

Lyell,  Charles,  321. 

M 

Ma,  308, 

Macdonell,  A.  A.  Prof  ,  32,  37,  81,  85. 
Mackinder  H.  S  ;  323,  328, 
Mada,  86. 

Madagascar,  98,  99. 
Madar,  160 
Magadha,  9,  IO. 
Maghavan,  137,  168,  170,517. 
Maghas,  170,  171. 
Magi,  170,  171. 
Magyar,  353. 
Mahabh^rata,  38,  81,  84,  148,  149  224, 

267,  291,  292,  394,  396,  481  ;  as  an 
Itih&sa,  201,  292,  293. 

M  ah  id  393  mi,  506 

Mahah,  464. 

Mahamina,  89 

MahS-navami,  506. 

Mdhantas  241. 

Maha-Vijay4,  506 

Mahaviracharitam,  81. 

Maha-Vi?uva-Samkranti,  502.  505. 

Mahftvrata  505,506 

Mahenjo  Daro,  3,  49,  249 

Mahisakas,  148 

Mahts  ur,  219 

Mainyo.i-Khard,  573. 

Maitrcyi,  290. 

Makran,  148,  209. 

Malabar  Toast,  95,  115,  150,  189,  260 

Malatia,  30$ 

Malaya,  97,  227. 

Malayans,  roo. 

Maldives,  98. 

Malimlucha,  244, 

MamatA,  480. 

Mana  218,  219,  315. 

Mangodjar  Hills,  27. 

Manoravataranam,  40 

Mantri,  268. 

Manu,  38,  53,  59    142,    150.    ^3,  ^25, 

268,  270,  285,  290,  297,  470  478. 
Manu  claimed  as   a   Dravidian  King, 

227. 
Mann's  Flood,    39,  59,  103,  229,   249, 

379,  380;    rational   explanation  or, 

229,  239. 

Manu  Sana  hit*  229,  236,  394 
Manytsch,  Lake,  27,  30. 
Manyu,  136 
March,  meaning  "  border   of  the  year," 

502. 
Mardans,  298 


6o8 


GENERAL  INDfiX. 


Mardak,  234,  237. 

Mardika,  235 ;  opposed  to  Indra,  235  ; 

kills  Indra's  father  Dyav&,  235, 
Marduk,    234 ;     kills     Tiamat     234 ; 

creates  man  from  his  flesh  and  bones 

234- 

Marias,  106. 

Marine  transgression,  8. 
Maris,  106. 
Markanda,  71. 
Marriage-hymn,  52. 
Mars,  232 

Marshall  Sir  ]ohn,  3,  49. 
MArtinda,  463,  466,    467,  492 :    men 

and  animals  created  from,  468  ,  birth 

and  death  explained,  466. 
Martius,  the  name  of  Jupiter  in  Attica, 

502. 

Martius  Mensis,  502. 
Martu,  232,  234. 
Maru,  1 1 8. 
Maruts,  82,  86,  142,  152,  234,  284,  3O4» 

474,  557- 

Marut-vrdha,  70,  71. 
Maruttas,  %"  04. 
Maspero,  291. 
Masr,  253, 
Matar,  160. 
Matsya,  32. 
Matsya.de9»,  89. 
Matsy«-Puranaf  227. 
Matu,  232  234. 
Matutinal  Deities,  549. 
Maujavata,  63. 
Mauritius,  98. 
Maner  Sands,  33'. 
Max  Muller  Prof.  41,    145,    173,   221, 

236.  355.  393»  417.  425»552. 
Mayura,  222. 
Mazda,  519,  522,  529. 
Mazdaysna,  178. 
Medeus,  313,  314. 
Mediaeval  age  of  the  $gveda,  142. 
Media,  298. 
Mediterranean  Sea,  13. 
Medlicott,  14. 
Mehtnu,  70. 
Memphis,  254. 
Men  (moon),  308. 
Mena,  284. 
Menes,  284,  286,  296, 
Mermnadae,  312,  315. 
Mero,  175 
Mem,  395,  396. 

Mesopotamia,  4. 5*  85»  n6,  *5<>. 
Mesozoic  era,  23,  99, 
Metals,  92 
Metera,  284 
Meyer,  Ed,  212 
Miklosich,  185 


Mimlmsakas,  509,  510 

Mimosa  Catechu,  90 

Min  Sculptures,  255 

Mina,  218,  315 

Minerals  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  9*,  92,  93 

Minerva,  284 

Miocene,  97,  99,  120,  327 

Miocene  man,  103,  119 

Mior,  252 

Mishmis,  in 

Mitanni,  301,  302,305 

Mi*annians  301,  302 

Mithra,    168,  169,  180,  186,  308,  465 

Mithuna,  244 

Mitra,  152,  153,  232,  314,  444,  462 

Mitra-VaruUa,  301 

Mizraine,  252 

Mlechchha,  129,  150,  271,  371 

Mlechchha-deca,  88 

Mommsen,  356 

Mongolian,  iut  144,  145 

Mongoloid  type,  307,  308,  335,  336 

Mongodjar  Hills,  27,  30 

Mon-Khmer,  no 

Moon,  identified  with  Vrtra.  438 

Morgiana,  175 

Morris,  363 

Mortillet  De,  352 

Moses,  260 

Mot,  200 

Moulton,  171 

Mouru,  175 

Mousterian  age  25 

Mrdhra-V£chah,  159 

Mrga,5if  85 

Mrgaya,  158 

Mudgala  and  MudgaUni,  131 

Mugheir,  219 

Muir,  66,  128,  129,  418 

MuJHvat  Mountain,  62,  78,  91,  149 

Mukta,  222 

Mult  not  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  83 

Munda,  no 

Mundrivers,  105,  113,  143,  190 

Muni)  n 

Musr  252,  253 

Musarus  Cannes,  197,  208 

Mustagh,  70,  357 

Mut,  265 

Mutibhas,  113,  140 

Muttu   222 

Mycenaens  217 

N 

N£gas,  » I  f ,  292 

Naharain    301 

Nahatyas,  302 

N ah Ufa  76 

Nairs,  105 

Nairuktas,  523,  524,  549 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


609 


Nakta,  263 

Nakto-sasa,  424,  452 

Nakula,  87 

Namuchi,  460,  525 

Naramsin  inscription,  210 

Narmada,  96,  108 

Nasatyas,  302,  305 

Navagvas,  142,  471,  472,  473>  477.  479. 

491 

Navagva  Angiras,  472 
Navagva  Saptarsis,  142 
Navardtra,  405,  503,  506 
Navaratrikam  Vratam,  506 
Nava-VAstva,  "31,  158 
Navigation  of  Seas,  35 
Navyasi,  436 

Neanderthal,  25,  146,  147,  187,  336 
Neanderthaler,  21,  331,  352 
Negroid  race,  104,  147,  254 
Neilos,  253 
Nema  (Rsi),  136 
Neolithic  Age  in  Europe,  375  ; — culture 

345,  34$ 
Nephthys,  264 
Nesfield,  141 
Nether  region  or  world,  516,  530,   531, 

537- 
New   year,   beginning  of   Vedic,  479, 

499*  539 
Nikobar,  no 
Nila,  253 
Nilghau,  257 

Nilsson    Prof.   205,  206,  207 
Ninety  cities  stand   for   ninety   cloudy 

days,   514 

Ninety  and  nine  cities,  515 

Nineveh,  3,  5,  231,  233,  302 

Nippur,  247 

Nirguna  Brahman,  262 

Nir-riti,  535,  537,  5&>,  561, 

Nirukta,  132,  524,  528 

Nisaya,  175 

Nismes,  279 

Noah.  39,  229 

Noah's  Flood,  39.  40  42,  226 

Noetling  Or.    120 

Norse-legend,  376 

Northern   Europe,   Theory    of   Aryan, 

cradle  in,   349,    350,  351,   361,    362, 

376,  377- 

Northern  Mountain,  39,  183,  226 
Nri-Simka,  233 
Nubian,  254 
Numa  transferred  the  last  two  months 

to  the  beginning  of  the  year,  502 

Nummilitic  100,  101 
Nut,  264 
Nyagrodha,  90 


Cannes,  197,  208,  228 

Odyssey,  252 

Old  year,  *nd  of  Vedic,  539 

Oldham,  R.  IX,  19  22  67 

Olenellus,  23 

Olympus  41 

Ophir  257.  260 

Orion,  51 

Ormuzd,  168,  169,  170,  465 

Ormuzdians,  170,  178 

Ortho-cephalic  326 

Osborn,  H.  F.,  331 

Osadhinatha,  537 

Osiris    261,  264,  275,  278,  283,  284 

Ossa,  41 

Ossetic,  353 

Ouranus,  200,  202 

Ournabhava,  ^65,  567 

Oxus,  148,  175 


Pa§u,  124 

Pahnavas,  148 

Paja"  1 60 

Pakht,  265 

Palasa,  90 

Pallas,  27 

Palong  wa,  no 

Palaeolithic  man,  323,  324, 

Palaeozoic  Era,  17,21,  22,    23,  24,25, 

41,  99,  100,  143 
Palestine,  151,  194 
Pan,  279 
Panca,   160 
Pancanada,  7 

Pancajandh,  69,  122,  137,  3^6 
Pancakrstis,  122 
Pdncala*/9 
Pancama  Veda,  291 
Panca-ratra,  405 
Panchets  98 
Paodi,  121 
Pandu, 121 
Pandyas,  109,116,  117,    12 1,    151,  190, 

250,  293.  358 

Panikas,  188,  189 

Panini,  114,  183. 

Papis,  96,  115,  116,  117,  121  138,  139, 
1*50,  160,  188,  189,  ipi,  196,  197, 
198,  208 ;  a  summary  of  their  history, 
204,;  defeat  of  the  Pan  is  in  Sant.  . 
Sindhu,  135,  160;  th'e  ancesto«-  of 
the  Phcenicans.  117,  139,  196,  198; 
identified  with  the  Punic  race,  139, 

205, 

Pamyans,   no, 
PanthJ,    221,  299 
Panthialaeans,  298 


6io 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Panyas,    189 

Paphtagonians,  377 

Paradas,  148 

Paradise,  181 

Param§tm|,   74 

Paravrii,  55?,  ^53 

Parjanya,  495 

Paricusta,  440 

Parsi  60,  137 

Parsi  method  of  disposing  of  the   dead, 

403 

ParufUi,  69.  70  446 
Parvata,  43,  459 
Paryiya,  440 
Patesi,  040,  241,  242 
Path  of  Light  and  Life  397  ;  of   Death 

and  Darkness,  397 
Patuas  106 
Pauranic  legend    about    Hari's  sleep, 

491 

Pavamina  stotra,  513 
Pavgee,  141 
Pe<*u,  552 
Pehlevi,  378 
Pelasgians,  319 
Peneus,  40 
Penka,  327  ,351 
Pentaur,  war-poem  of,  307 
Permian  14,  97 
Petrie,  Flinders  256,  259 
Phallus,  279 

Pnallic  worship,  278,  279 
Pharaoh,  259,  268 
Phoenicia,  151,  193,  194, 
Phoinicians,     117,     192,    193,    340,  as 
-kidnappers  of  Greek  boys  and  girls 

201;     human    sacrifice  by  the -203 
Phoenician  cosmogony  200  ;— religion 

200,    202— influence    on   Prehistoric 

Europe,  205,  206 
Phrygia,  309 

Phrygians,  186,  187,  301,  309 
Phrygian  Mother ,  309 
Pictet,  358,  359 
Pile-dwellings,  337 
Piltdown,  121 
Pindftraka,  84 
Pipru,  158,460,  525 
Pitris  142,  399,  400,  540,  541  ;  dwellers 

of  the  south,  401 
Pitripaksa,  541,  542 
Pitriylna  397,  399,  400,  402 
Plato,  172 
Pleiades,  381 
Pleistoscene  10,  15,  2i,  24,   95,  34,  44, 

49.ii9.593 
Pliny  148. 

Pliocene  bed,  44, 119,  120— mat)  loa,  119! 
Plutarch,  502 


Points  of  agreement  between  Vec|*c  and 
Asura  religions  !<x><;  potato  of 
difference,  161 

Points  of  resemblance  between  Vedic 
and  Chaldean  civilisations,  259. 

Polar  characteristics,  389 

Polar  Dawn  described  by   Dr.  Warren 

435 
Polar  region  habitable  in  ancient  times, 

374 

Pontus,  221,  299,  359 
Pdsche,  347 

Post.  Pliocene,  14, 15,  30,  31,  101 
Post- Pleistocene,  573 
Pott,  357 

Prajipati,  124,  157,  162,  227 
Prakriti,  283 
Pralaya,  183,  &o 
Prileya,  183,  380 
Pratnoka,  366 
Pravargya,  494,  49°" 
Prayiga,  113 
Priyaniya,  504 

Precious  stones  of  Sapta-Sindhu,  92 
Prest  St   119 
priapus,  279 
Pfsthya,  504 
Pfthivi,  310 
Proto-Aryans,  62,  221 
Pruner  Bey,  335,  336 
Puliers,  105,  105,  113,  143,  190 
Pulindas,ii3,  140 
Pundras,    113,  140 
Punic  race,  139,  255 
Punites,  259 

Punjab,  the  land  of  five  rivers,  71 
Punt,  255,  256,  257,  258 
Puranas,  38,  103,  149,  394 
Purisin,  489,  49A  49 f 
Purohita,  79.  155,  240 
Purus,  69,  122,  140;  (singular)  514 
Puru-Kutsa.    See  Kutsa. 
Puru-mitra,  551 
Puruaa,  230,  283 
Pusan  75,  454 
Pushtu.  353 

Q 

Quails,  90 

Quaternary  Era,  30,  42,  331 

Quatrefage  De,  327,  330,  332 


R  a  26 1 1  262,  292,  303 

Race  run  by  the  Devas  41 1 

Ragha,  175 

Ragozin  Z,  A.  7,  26.  6f,  63,  122,  218, 

219,  222,  223,  236 
Rainy -season  theory  524,  525 
Rijanya  1241  «39 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


611 


Rajas,  531,;  Krs^a,  531,  535;  par- 
thivatn,  Divas  and  Para  mam,  533 

RajputiniSea  7,  it,  26,  35,  40,  42,  67, 
68,88,96,  103,  Ti5,  118 

Rftkaasas,  113,  125,  129,  270 

R4ma,  1 12,  1 14,  267,  507,  538 

RgmSyaJla    112   149  234,  267 

Ramorino,  120 

Ramses  II,  307 

Rantideva,  81 

Rangha,  176 

Ras§,  70 

Rfttri-Kratu.  509 

R§tri-SattMS,  439,  457,  506,  509,   511, 

5i3»  5i8,  525 
R&tri-Sukta,  449 
RftvalJ*,  507,  538 
R§vi    70 

Rebha,  552,553,555 
Red  Crown,   286 
Reptiles  of  Sapta.Sindhu  89 
Reschuf,  200 

Revolting  Babylonian  custom,  242 
Rhea,  309 
Rhode  J.  G.  356 
Rhys  Prof.  375,  376 
Riang,   no 
Ribhus,  142,  200,  285, 
Rice,  91 
Rgveda  Samhita,   (three  ages)   5,   5  , 

142 

Rgvedic  civilization,  age  of,  22 
Rijicvan,  158 

Riiracva  552,  553,  561,  562 
Rik,  87 

RikSdh,  369,  302, 
Rinanchaya,  369 
R?is,  23,  57,  65,  75,  13 i  »  Ancient  and 

modern  143  ; 

R§i-rulers,  367  ;   Seven  Rsis  393 
Risley  Sir  H    1 18 
Rta,  236,  290,  43°.  465,  535 
Rtviks,  268,  489 
kobinson  Crusoe,  385 
Rogers  R.  W  301,  303 
Rollerton  Prof.  336 
Rosetta  Stone,  5 
Roth,  128,  417,423 
Rouge  M.  De,  262 
RuSamas,  369 
Rudra  152,  233,  439,   4741   compared 

with  the  boar  233 
Rutimeyer,  119,  337 


gabaras,  113,  140 
Sacrifice  Egyptian  Bull,  273 
Sadas,  163 
Sagara  (king),  148 


Sagartians,  298 

SaguQ.a  Brahman,  155,  263 

Sahara,  323 

Sahyidri  Range,  99 

Salts,  245 

Sakais,  no 

Sakas,  148 

Sakapuni,  366 

gala,  91 

falaha,  504 
almali,  90 

Salt  not  mentioned  in  the  Rgveda,  93 

Salt  Range,  10,  20,  23,  78,  93,  101 

Sama,  87 

Samarohana,  567 

Sa-maru,247 

Si  mash,  232 

Sambhar,  lake  27,  (deer)  257 

Sambara  (Asura  king),  158,  460 

Sami,  90 

Sampati.  149,  234 

Samra't,  154 

Samsuditana,  309 

Samudra  (ocean)  7,  32,  33,  34,  35,  321 
Four — 12,34,  distinction  between 
Samudra  and  Sindhu  34 ;  Purva 
Samudra  (Eastern  Sea)  n,  33  ;  Apara 
(western)  Sea  it ,  33 

Sanakas,  139,  140 

Sandal  wood,  222,  257 

Sankh-Ka-Ka,  259 

Santals,  107,  109,  112 

Saporta,  M .  de  376 

Saptacva,  462 

Sapta-ra§mi,  482 

Sapta-Rsis,  142,  393 

Sapta-Sindhava  (the  Land  of  the  Seven 

Rivers)  9,  ai,  71,  44^' 447 
SapU-Smdhu  (Zend  Hapta-Hendu  the 
Land  of  Seven  Rivers),  9,  10,  12,  14, 

15,  17.  3',  35.  4».  5'.  52,  53)  5°",  59* 
1 15,  160,  193  ;  the  oldest  lite-pro- 
ducing region  in  India  25  ;  its  bound* 
aries,  57 

Sapta-Vadhri  314,  315,  559 

Sarad,  14 

Saram£,  138,  201,  471,  47s 

Sarapara  (tribe),  148 

Sarasin  no 

Sarasvati  6,  7,  8,  15,  20,  35,  37,  38,  43, 
56,  59>  ^8,  6?,  7*.  139  5  praised  in 
hymns  as  a  mighty  river,  74,  75,  76, 
77  ;  as  Agni  (or  sacrificial  Fire)  57  ; 
called  Vrtraghni  57,  476 

Sarawan,  148 

Sarayu  (river   in   Afghanistan),   9,   7?, 

x  76,  136 

Sarad,  329 

Sardis,  312,  315 

Sargon,  210 


6l2 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Sagartians,  298 
Sarraathian  30,337 
Sarpas,  148,  149,  224,  292 
Sarpa-Ragni  (Earth),  223,  224,  232 
Satadru,  38,  42,  70,  71 
gatapatha  Brahmani  38,  39,  42. 
Satgrivi,  158 
Sati,  281,  282 

Sattra,  156,  439»47O,47',  476,  477.  5°3, 
508,  509,  annual—  496,  497  504 

Satya,  239,  290, 

Satyam  (loka),  464 

Satya-vrata.  227 

Saurastra,  1  16 

Savitr,    152,  164,531,532,539 

Savitri,  290,  430, 

Savya,  158 

Sayana,  36,   132,   153,   159,  200,  417, 

424,  457,  458,  463 
Sayce,  219,  359.  36o,  363 
Saya-de-Mulha,  98. 
Schichor,  253 
Schlegel,  357. 
Schmerling,  321. 
Schmidt,  no,  185,  346. 
Schrader  Dr.,  349. 
Scythians,  307,  308. 
Seasons  m  ancient    India   462  :  five  in 

number  488  ;  six  and  seven  in  number 

460,  470 

Seb,  264. 

Secondary  Age,  24. 

Sekhet,  265. 

Semangs,  I  to. 

Semitic,  6,  117,  1  18,  145. 

Semitic  race,  145,  196. 

Semitic  roots  identified    with    Aryan 

roots,  238,  239 

Serpent,  the  emblem  of  the  Earth,  223. 
Serpent-God  Ea,  225 

geaa.49'.    ^ 

Seth,  262,  264. 

Seths,  245. 

Seti,3q7. 

Seven  Adityas  explained  468. 

Seven  rays  of  the  Sun,  462,  466. 

Seven  $?is,  393- 

Seven  rivers  (celestial),  546,  547. 

Seven  Suns,  46?. 

Seven   Tablets  of  creation  (  Assyrian), 

234- 

Seychelles,  98. 
Shalaha,  504 
Shayu,  552. 
Shinar,  209. 
Shumiro-Accads,  223. 

ighru,369- 


Silures,  335. 


gimbula,9o. 
gim§apft,  go. 
gimyus,  135. 
Sin,  232 

Sindhu,  9,  34,  37,  70,  72 ;  hymn  to 
Sindhu,  72,  73,  74,  represents 
wealth,  74. 

Sindhu  (muslin),  73,  220,  221. 
Sindhu-matarah,  12,  34,  550. 
Sindhu-Sagara,  20. 
Sirgulla,  223. 
Sirmur,  71. 
Sirius,  261,  281. 
Sirperra,  148. 
Sisisthrus.  227. 
gi&ira,  4*9. 
giSnadva,  278 
Sita,  149.  290,  507. 
Siwalik  Range,  19,  beds,  38. 
Skeat,  up. 

Slaughtering  place  of  cows,  81 . 
Slavs,  185,  1 86,  298,319. 
Slavonic,  31,  185. 
Slavo-Lithuanian,  185. 
Slavo-Lettic,  186. 
*>madiva,  131,  158. 
gmasana,  158. 
Smith  G.,  214 
Snake,  89. 
Sogdiana,  175. 
Solar  months,  243. 
Solar  theory,  524. 
Solomon  King,  267,  222. 
Soma,  55,  5?,  60,  63,64,  123,  130,  156. 
160 ;  as  king  163  ;   plant,  60,  61,  64, 
78  90 ;  thriving  in  the  rainy  season 
512;    Sacrifice    26,    55,    123     511; 
divided   into  three  classes  viz     d) 
Ekaha  (2)  Ahina  and  (3)  Sattra  503  ; 
I  ndra  deprived   of — 166;  the   oldest 
sacrifice,  and  anterior  to  all  sacri- 
fices 62,  63,  64, ;  Soma,  the  father 
of  Indra  and  of  all  the    gods  63 ; 
Soma  how  bartered  64;  how  pre- 
pared 62  ;  how  and  by  whom  imported 
&4,   65;  where  it  grew  64;  legend 
of  Garuda  and  the  Sarpas  in  con- 
nection  with    the    Soma   plant  ex- 
plained  65;  Soma    drink    replaced 
by  the  Parsis  by  another  drink,  61, 
Somahland,  257,  258,  259. 
Sonne,  185. 
Soshyantas,  177. 
Southern  continent,  97. 
Sphinx,  291,302. 
Spiegel,  175,  176. 
Spitoma,  177. 
Sprenger  212. 

Spring  or  Vernal  theory,  525. 
grutarva,  158 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


613 


Steenstrup  Prof.,  334. 

Stoliezka,  98 

Stone  Age,  26,  107,  108. 

Stonehenge,  335. 

Storm  theory,  524 

Stotra,  411. 

Strabo,  28,315 

Sfruggle  between  Indra  and  Vrtra 
both  daily  and  seasonal  or  yearly 
439,  441,  442. 

Stuttgart,  330. 

Sudra,  124,  14  i  i  239,  329. 

Suess,  Edward,  18. 

Suevi,  340 

Sugadha,  175. 

Sugar-cane   (Ik$u,)96* 

Sulaiman  Range    10,  20,  67. 

Sumer,  209. 

Sumerian  3,  209,  210,  251. 

Sumerians,  decidedly  Indian  in  type 
216;  not  autochthonus  in  Baby- 
lonia 209  ;  origin  of  214,  215,  a  non- 
Semitic  people,  210,  213,  214. 

Sumerian  speech,  showing  influence 
of  Aryan  speech,  239. 

Sun,  as  eye  of  Mitra,  Varuna  and 
Agni  464  .  like  a  golden  cradle, 
swinging  in  the  firmament  536 
dwelling  in  darkness  479;—  of  the 
night  280  ;  sun,  compared  with  the 
horse  and  the  eagle,  233 

Sun's  path  prepared  by  Mitra,  Varuna 
and  Aryaman,  465. 

Sunda  Islands,  102. 

Suparna,  65. 

Siirya    13,    258,   261,   304,   314,    464; 
Surya  and  Devah  AdityA   distingut- 
7;  Surya's  wheel,  562 


Surya-Siddhanta,  394,  395- 
Susartu  (river),  70. 
Susiana,  2  16 
gu$ria,  131,  !58-  497 
Suborn^  (river),  70  71 
Sutarna,  301. 
gutudri,  38,  45. 
Sutlej.  38. 
Sutekh,  307,  308. 
Suvarga,  413,  4»4- 
Svah,  464.  534 
Svara-saman,  505. 
Svarat,  154 
Svarbhatiu,  310. 
Svayanjdh  Apah,  53°- 
Sveti,  70. 
Svetayavari,  72. 
Swedes,  326,  328,  330. 
Syena,  65,  149- 
Syria,  116,  193- 


Tacitus,  185,  335- 

Taittiriya  Ara^yaka,    396,  454.  455, 

456 
Taittiriya  Brahmana,  42,  51,    166,  396, 

^4«3,43',45'-.^      ^ 

Taittmya  Samhit^,   167,  170,  410,  413, 

430,  449.  496,  498. 
Tamas,  238,  438. 
Tamaja,  232. 
Tammuz,  232,  313 
Ta-naterf  258. 
Tanmatra,  238 
Tapah,  464. 
Tardy.  M.,  I2O. 
Tasmanians,  326 
Tatvas,  284. 
Taylor,  Isaac,  4,  41. 

322,  326,  328. 
Teak,  Indian,  u6,  219. 
Tejas,  153,  284. 
Teleeu,  113. 
Tel-el-Amarna,  301. 
Telloh,  210,  211. 
Tell-loh,  215. 
Tern,  38. 

Tertiary  7,  24,  29,  97.  99- 
Teutons  328,  330,  332,  350. 
Teutonic,  31,  185 
Teuto-berger  wald,  337. 
Thebes,  301. 

Theobold,  100 

Theophristus.  92. 

Thi,  302. 

Thirty  Sisters  (Dawnb)  ,432 

Thraetaoni,  48 ». 

Three  earths,  532,  533.  534 

Three  heavens,  464,  532. 

Three  worlds,  464. 

Thuringer  wald,  337. 

Thurnam,  Dr .  335,  339. 

Ihurston.  no. 

Tiamat,  234,  235,  237,  238. 

Tianshan,  30. 

Tiger,  (VyAghra) — no  mention   in  the 
Rgveda,  87. 

Tigris,  150.  209. 

Tihutimesl,30if— HI,  301,  307— IV, 
302. 

Tilak,  B.C.,  51,  62,  182,  379. 

Tir  yasht,  545. 

Ti§ya,5i. 

Tishtrya,  the  star  of  rain,  518, 519. 545- 

Todas,  332,  333. 

Tokai,  222 

Topinard,  356. 

Torrid  zone,  119. 

Toulouse,  279. 

Traitana,  481. 


6*4 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Trasa-dasyu,  140,  158. 

Triassic  23,  98. 

Trilobites,  23. 

Tri-ratra,  504. 

Trita,  481,  482 

Tritana,  480,  481. 

Trinity  of  Fire,  Sun  and  Mithra,  168 

Trtsus,  69,  122,  242. 

Tropics,  IIQ. 

Tr^tama,  70. 

Tryaha,  503 

Tugra,  36  131,  158,55'. 

Tukiyim.  222 

Tuladhara,  291. 

Turanian  race  335  ;    civilisation,  6. 

Turbas  36,  60,  122,  132 

TurkesUn,  9,  13,  144. 

Tvasta,   139,    167;  as  Creator  167,  as 

Firegod  168  ;  forged  thunderbolt  for 

1 68. 
Tva§tr,  (Firegod)  130,     165,   166,  167, 

482,*   preceptor  of  men,  168 
Type  Mongoloide,  335 

u 

Uchatthya,  480. 

Udesyat,  413.  4»4- 

Udita,  413,  414. 

Udyat,  413,  414 

Ujfalvy,  352,  363. 

Uluka,  QO. 

Uma,  264,  282,  367,  507,  559. 

Umbrians,  337,  338. 

Umbra-Latin  race,  338. 

Upanah*,  93. 

Upanisads,  469. 

Upasat.  164 

Upsala,  376 

Ur,  209,  214,  219 

Ur-ea,  219. 

Ur-hagash,  219. 

Urgo-Altic,  209 

Urgo- Finnish,  209 

Ursa  major,  393. 

Urva,  175 

U$as,  261,  314,  413,  Three  U$as 
415  Dark  form  of  Usas  415 
Ufas  identified  with  Durga  507 ,  lists, 
why  addressed  in  the  plural,  424,  432 

Ufasa-nakta,  424,  452 

U$asau,  424,  452 

Ust-urt,  27,  30 

Utamfuni,  98 

Utenhige  group,  08 

Utensils  made  of  cowhide,  80 

Utians  298 

Uttarayana,  397,  399»  4<>ij  489 

Uttaragiri  (the  Himalaya),  39,  381 

Uttara-Rama-Charita,  80 

Uvadza,  208 


Uxians,  298 
Uzboi,  30 


Va9'ishtha  36,  63  69,  77,  142,  148,  24', 
266,  290,   Va9ishtha's  sea-voyage  36 
Vadhri,  558 
Vadhrimati    (applied    to    Usas),   552, 

553.  558.  559 
Vaekareta,  175 
Vai9ya,  124,  188,  239,  329 
Vai9vanara,  133 
Vailasthanam  158 
Vaivasvata,  285,  535 
Vajra,  25,  143 
Vach,  476 
Vala,  138,  150,  200,  459,  471,   472,  475 

5«i.  512, 

Valmiki,  112,  1 13,  267,  290 
Vanara,  113 
Vanaspati,  90 
Vandals,  340 
Vandana  552,  553. 
Vanik,  96,  1 15.  150,  188 
Vara,  182,  184,  185,  187.  572,  573 
Varabd,  incarnation  of  Visnu,  233 
Varci,  158 
Vara9ikha,  369 
Varamsi,  392 
Varana,  85 
Varena,  175 
Varna  (colour,    distinguishing  caste  , 

329 
VarsS.  (  Rainy  Season)    marks   the   end 

of  the  year,  476  488,  491 
Varsa  year)  476  488,  406 
Vartika,  90 
VaruOa,  36,  72,  152,  153,  202,  444.  445, 

446,  462,  536 
VaruOa,  identified   with  the   moon    or 

the'sun,  440 
Varuna's  Tree,  537,  556 
Vasuki,  148,  224,  293 
Vata  (tree)  not  mentioned  in  the  Rg- 

veda,  90 
Vayu,  1 1 

Vedi-Vyasa,  291,  292 
Veddas,  no 
Vedic  Calendar,  487 
Vedic  Cosmogony,  235,  237 
Vedic  Creation  of  man,  239 
Vedic  Dawns  408 
Vedic  year,  time  when   it   commenced, 

499,   506,     did     not  consist  of  ten 

months  500 ;   but  of  12  months,  501 
Vehat,  79,  80 
Vehrkena,  175 
Vena,  232,  compared  with  the  vulture, 

333 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


615 


Vendidad,    175,  176,  176,  fii,  184,  401, 

542.  57> 

Vendidad  Sadah,  406 
Venus,  243.  279 
Vergehen,  535 
Vernal  theory,  525 
Veretragtraft,  51* 
Vetasu  131 
Vtchafcfafa,  489,  490 
Vifah  (settlers;  men),  127 
Vi9i9ipra,  478 
Vi9pala,  s$»,  553 
Vi9v«jit,  505 
Vi9vakaya,  551 
Vi9varupa,  1651  166,  167,  462,  5*7  ;   as 

priest  of  the  Devas  167  ;  throe-mouthed 

167; 


Vi9vamitra,  69,  113,  115,  140,  226,  241 

266,290 
Vidura,  291 


Vila,  158 

Vimada,  551 

Vindhya,  9,  96,  97*  ««9 

Vipas  ,  70,  71 

Virapatni  (river)  72 

Virchow,  331 

Virupas,  473 

Vis^apu,  551 

Visnu,  227,  265,  280,  365,  —the  mid- 
day  Sun  439,  as  Indra's  friend,  567, 
helping  Indra  in  his  daily  and  anaual 
fight  with  Vrtra,  568 

Vi?nu's  three  strides,  366,  567  ex- 
plained,  both  by  the  diurnal  and 
annual  motions  of  die  sun  567-  568, 

569 

Vismi's  third  step  invisible,  568  ; 
located  high  up  in  the  sky  in  the 
path  of  Nir-  riti  569  or  covered  by 
clouds  in  the  rainy  reason,  569 

Viai^upada,  567 

Vi&^uvan  504,  5°S 

Visvajit  day  505 

Vitastd,  70 

Vivasvat,  227,  470.4*4.  495 

Volga,  30 

Voltaire,  279 

Vrichivana,  369 

Vrtakapi  hymn  52 

Vfka.  87 

Vfaadhvaja,  279 

Vraaya,  75 

Vrtra,  52,  60,  66,  133,  156,  201,  262  ; 
as  cloud,  128,  130;  as  Deva,  5?»  234 
as  Brahman  166;  as  Ahi  52,  224  ;  as 
moon,  224,  263,  438;  as  darkaess 


Vrtra  worship  equivalent  to  moon- 
worship  224  j  diree.headed  482 

Vftrdh  (in  the  pluml)  527 

Vrtraghna,  162,  181 

Vftraghni,  57 ;  epithet  of  Sarasvati, 
476 

Vrtrahan,  55.  13«,  X33.  a«8.  5i«,  549 
55i 

Vrtra-turya,  518,  525 

Vulcan,  284 

Vulture-Stele,  211 

Vyaghra  (not  mentioned  in  the  $g* 
veda),87 

Vyasa,  290 

Vyusti,  413,  414 

Vyusta,  424 

w 

Wadia  8,  16,  21,  48 

Wagner,  327 

Wallace,  Robert,  97,  100 

Wallis,  530,  533,  535 

Walls  of  iron,  silver  and  gold,  163 

War    between    the    Devas  and    the 

Asuras,  160 
War  of  Principles,  160 
Warren  Dr.,  376, 435 
Water,  the  main  object  of  performing 

Sacrifice  or  Sattra,  477,  479 
Wells  H.  G.  it,  21 
Western  Ghat,  189 
Western  Samudra,  45,  46 
Western  Sea,  1 1,  32, 
White  Crown,  286 
Whitney,  61 

Wilson  Prof.,  37,  So,  1*8,  159,  220 
Winckler  Hugh,  245^301 
Windeschmann  Dr.  61 
Worlds,  three,  464 
Wurfrenberg,  332,  337 


Xanthos,i72,  248 
Xenophon,  40 
Xerxes,  172,248 
Xisuthrus,  227 


Yadu,  36,  132 
Vadus,  69,  122,  139 


Yajna,  276 
Yainiya  desa  88 
Yamavalkya,  80,  \ 
Yajur-veda,  32, 
Yajus,  87 
Yaksu.  368 
Yama,  111,401 


6i6 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Yama's  dwelling,  situated  in  Antari- 

*f«i  53«  Ml  of  llght  and  bUss»  535 
Yamuna,  9,  n,  22,  31,  70,  71,  72, 121. 
Yasili  kayd,  308 
Yaska,  71,  129,  132,366,  424,  463,  523. 

524,549. 
Yasna,  178. 
Yatis,  165,  166, 171. 
Yava,  91. 
Yavanas,  148. 
Yaxu  369. 
Yayati,  293,  47  «• 
Yayavaras,  292  293. 
Year  of  the  Gods,  395. 
Year-God,  454,  455-  45$, 
Yima,  61,  172, 178,  182  184,  185,  248, 

3I2«  35 «»  355»382,  402,  572. 
Yogi,  155- 

Yojanani,  433,  435,  436. 
Yoni,  37,  278. 


Yudhiathira,  290. 
Yuga,  480,  486. 
Yupa,  165. 


Zagros,298,  303. 

Zarathusthra,  6l,  127,  168,  I74»  177, 
>7Q»  185,  corrupted  from  Sanskrit 
Jarat  Tvashtri,  168;  ancient  Fire- 
God,  168 

Zarpanit,  232. 

Zend  A  vesta,  169,  173,    178,    181, 153, 

57»,  574. 
Zeus,  233. 
Zimmer,  Prof.,  531. 
Zodiac,  243,  244. 
Zoroaster,    168,    169,     170,   519 ,  the 

Prophet,    169,    172;  incarnation  of 

Jarat-Tvashtri,  169. 
Zoroastrian,  169,  172. 


CORRIGENDA. 


Page. 

25 
29 

45 

45 
•34 
172 
.78 

248 
289 

3<>9 
372 
424 
429 
434 
449 
474 


541 
542 

563 


Line. 

33 
'3 
30 
35 
3i 
25 

5 
14 

5 

12 
10 

6 
n 
18 
26 
'9 
25 
»9 
18 

30 


For. 


Read. 


Indra  ajra 
Bogdanoff 
Sutudari 

Indra's  vajra. 
Bagdanoff. 
Sutudri, 

couse 

course. 

them 

it 

Artaxerxes 

Xanthos 

denote 

denote. 

Katkar 

Ketkar. 

atempt 

attempt. 

gave  away 
approches 
circutnpolarr 

gave  way. 
approaches, 
circumpolar. 

concieve 

conceive. 

alter 

altar. 

not 

nor. 

Radras 

Rudras. 

Taittriya 
parvatus 
Vcdic 

Taittirlya. 
parvatas. 
Vedic 

noth 

not 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Rgvedic  Culture. 

(A  Book  of  Arresting  Interest  and  great  Historical  value). 

Demy  8vo.  S7S  Pa&s>  Cloth,  Guilt.     Price  Rs.  10/-  net. 

OPINIONS. 

Prof.  A.  Hillebrandt  of  Breslau  University :— '  Your  valuable  work 
on  Rgvedic  Culture.  I  hive  murh  pleasure  in  reading  it,  and  I  am  full  of 
admiration  of  your  knowledge  of  the  subject  which  is  an  unusually  difficult 
one.., I  think  that  you  have  earned  high  merit  by  the  detailed  and  well-founded 
description  of  the  life  of  the  early  Indians,  and  by  the  interpretation  of  many 
passages  hitherto  understood  in  a  different  way.  I  only  wish,  you  would  have 
added  a  list  of  the  verses  commented  upon  by  you  in  an  independent 
manner." 

Prof*  Dr.  A.  B.  Keith  :~"  I  have  read  it  (Rgvedic  Culture)  with  care,  and 
I  think  in  its  greater  objectivity  it  marks  a  distinct  advance  on  your  Rgiedic 
India.  There  is  much  that  is  interesting  and  vivacity  lends  attraction  to  the 
presentation  ..  I  again  thank  you  for  your  interesting  and  instructive  work 
which  is  provocative  of  thought.  " 

Prof*  Dr.  Sten  Kpnow  of  Christiana  University : — I  like  Indians  to 
stand  up  for  their  glorious  ancient  civilisation,  and  you  have  certainly  done 
so  with  great  learning  and  thorough  conviction  ;  and  I  cordially  join  with  you 
in  admiring  the  achievements  of  the  ancient  Aryans,  and  also  I  think,  in  the 
belief  that  Aryan  ideals  also  will  be  a  priceless  asset  in  future/' 

Prof.  Dr.  M.  Winter  niti  of  Prague  University  :— "  It  is  full  of  informa- 
tion about  early  Vedic  Culture,  and  the  result  of  a  great  deal  of  research. 

Prof.  G.  Sergi  of  Rome  University  :— Your  book  Rgvedic  Culture  is 
very  valuable  in  describing  fully  the  life  and  customs  of  the  Vedic  Aryans 
It  is  a  very  valuable  book  of  Ethnography  and  Sociology  of  the  ancient 
Aryans,  and  from  this  aspect  it  will  remain  interesting." 

Prof  E.  W.  Hopkins  •  "  Since  Zimmer's  Altindisches  Leben,  there  has 
been  no  adequate  survey  of  Vedic  Culture  and  I,  therefore!  welcome  your  book 
on  this  subject,  which  seems  to  have  gone  over  the  ground  very  completely." 

ffl«hamahop&dhyay*  Dr.  Ganganath  Jha  M.  A.  D.  Litt.  Vice-Chan- 
cellor,  Allahabad  university  — "  I  am  glad  that  the  book  has  taken  a  new 
line.  I  myself  with  my  limited  knowledge  of  the  subject  have  never  been  able 
to  reconcile  myself  to  the  idea  that  the  cradle  of  our  race  lay  outside  the 
boundaries  of  our  own  country.  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  find  that  these  preju- 
dices of  mine  have  after  all  some  scientific  basis  I  value  your  work  specially 
on  this  account " 

The  Asiatic  Review  (April  1926)  -"Supplemented  as  it  is  with  an  ex- 
cellent  bibliography  and  copious  index,  Rgvedic  Culture  should  prove  of 
great  interest  to  the  Vedic  student  on  account  of  its  attempted  reconstruction 
of  the  life  actually  lived  in  Rgvedic  times.  Mr.  Das,  as  lecturer  on  Ancient 
Indian  History  and  Culture,  is  to  be  congratulated  on  his  zeal,  industry  and 
learning." 

The  Vedic  Magazine  (March  1926).— "  Our  learned  friend  has  brought 
deep  scholarship  and  profound  erudition  to  bear  upon  the  writing  of  the  book. 
Every  page  bears  marks  of  extensive  study  and  wide  reading.  The  informa- 
tion condensed  about  the  various  aspects  of  Vedic  culture  is  encyclopoedic. 
There  is  hardly  any  department  of  individual  or  corporate  activity  with  which 
the  author  has  not  dealt  exhaustively.  The  work  is  invaluable  not  only  for 
scholars  but  also  for  all  Indians  who  would  like  to  be  afforded  glimpses  of  the 
teachings  of  the  ancient- most  scriptures  of  the  human  race,  which  Indian 
philosophers  dating  from  the  dawn  of  culture  have  always  regarded  beginning- 
less  records  embodying  and  preserving  eternal  truths  and  imperishable  prin- 

•    •         f  -•  -      t_i  __  j  Tir^  i» 


(       2       ) 

The  Pioneer  (Fefe,  a&  1926;  .— -  This  book  is  a  critical  and  exhaustive 
contribution  to  the  aayftaat  Ifigvedic  Culture  of  India.  Admittedly  this  is  the 
result  of  wide  research  and  judicious  use  of  all  available  historical  informations 
..  In  short  this  hooH  4*pfets  a  vivid  picture  of  the  $gv*d<c  Culture  of  ancient 
India.  There  is  fQfdfc  in  the  book  to  recomnxand  it  to  those  interested  in 
ancient  India  It  Is  a  useful  supplement  to  Rgvedic  Indie  published  in 
January  1921.'' 

The  Forward  (17-1-261  .— «'  Dr  Abinas  Chandra  Das. ..has  done  a  valuable 
service  to  India  by  bringing  out  a  handy  volume  on  Rgvedic  Culture  His 
book  bears  distinct  traces  of  his  patriotic  spirit  which  inspired  his  labours." 

The  Hindu  (3.  4*26)  — "  This  is»  a  volume  of  outstanding  eminence,  and 
is  like  the  author's  earlier  volume  Rgvedic  India  a  very  valuable  contribution 
towards  the  building  up  of  the  grand  palace  of  ancient  Indian  history  ...The 
volume  in  thus  one  of  arresting  interest  and  displays  erudition  and  acumen  of 
a  remarkable  type,  and  we  hope  that  the  public  will  appraise  it  at  its  real  worth 
and  realise  that  it  marks  a  new  stage  of  achievement  by  modern  Scholership  " 

The  Statesman  <  16-5- 261  —"Of  the  few  books  on  early  India  that  have 
accumulated  on  my  shelf,  I  select  this  as  eminently  worth  notice.  Mr.  Das  .. 
has  previously  attracted  attention  by  his  Rgvedic  India.  His  basic  view  could 
not  but  attract  attention.  He  is  of  those  who  ascribe  to  Indian  Culture  a  very 
great  antiquity... European  scholarship  tries  to  get  light  from  every  source 
Mr.  Das  follows  the  European  method  and  he  has  given  us  a  detailed  picture 
of  Vedic  life  ..What  Veoic  men  thought  is  of  importance,  but  history  wants 
to  know  also  what  they  did.  Mr.  Das  sets  out  with  ample  learning  the  organi- 
zation of  their  society,  their  ways  of  living,  their  agricultural  practices,  sports, 
war,  and  all  else  that  may  be  looked  upon  in  a  treatise  on  antiquities.  He  has 
drawn  on  many  sources  for  his  material,  and  has  rendered  a  service  to  history 
and  Sanskrit  scholars. 

The  Amrita  Bacar  Patfik*  '27-1^-25) :—"  Dr.  Das.  has  rendered  a  great 
and  distinct  service  to  the  reconstruction  of  the  earliest  chapters  of  Ancient 
Indian  History  and  also  to  the  Hindus  of  the  present  day  by  unravelling  before 
them  the  rich  wealth  and  mysteries  confined  in  the  pages  of  their  most  ancient 
sacred  Scripture,  which  unfortunately  is  a  sealed  book  to  most  of  them,  and 
by  taking  them  to  the  very  fountain-head  of  Aryan  Culture.  We  do  not 
remember  having  recently  read  such  a  valuable  and  fascinating  work  as  Rtjvedic 
Culture,  and  we  thankjjthe  Publishers  heartily  for  bringing  it  out.  No  cultur- 
ed Indian  home  and  no  private  or  public  library  should  be  without 
a  copy  of  it,  and  every  lover  of  Ancient  India  and  every  social,  religious  or 
political  reformer  should  make  it  a  p  >int  to  read  it  .  Dr.  Das  hah  shed  a  light 
on  the  name  of  the  University  he  serves  Rgvedic  Culture  stands,  head  and 
shoulder,  above  similar  works  in  the  field,  and  is  destined  to  remain  a  lasting 
monument  to  the  author's  name  and  fame." 

The  Times  of  India-  (27-1-27) : — (After  giving  a  summary  of  the  contents 
of  the  work,  the  reviewer  writes  :)  'The  above  is  only  a  smattering  of  the 
encyclopaedic  information  which  i&  displayed  in  this  book.  Its  pages  are 
not  dull  by  any  means;  and  though  the  frequent  reference  to  matters  of 
present-day  controversy  may  take  away  from  the  scientific  form  of  the  work, 
they  add  not  a  little  to  its  interest. " 

The  EttglisJuoAn  (29-3-26) : — "The  author  of  this  interesting  volume... 
has  made  an  intensive  study  of  Ancient  Indian  History  and  Culture,  and  the 
result  announced  in  1921  was  a  sumptuous  volume,  the  Rgmrdic  Mia  The 
present  volume  on  Rgvedic  Culture  is  the  second  instalment  of  his  laborious 
studies  on  the  Rgvoda  Dr.  Das  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  Aryan  problem, 
and  locates  the  original  Aryan  home  in  the  ancient  Sapta-Sintfhava  or  the 
Punjab,  which  comprised  Gandhara  in  the  west.  Kashmir  and  Bactria  in  the 
north  ..It  was  here  that  they  developed  a  culture  and  civilization  which  became 
widespread.  Dr.  Das  has  thus  penetrated  into  the  pro- Aryan  Culture  drawing 
Bis  materials  from  the  Rgveda  alone.  This  necessitated  him  to  give  a  far 
greater  antiquity  to  the  Veda  itself  Here  he  has  jhown  a  great  deal  of 
orteiixaftty  and  thought,  and  in  bis  data,  he  is  backed  UP  by  many  Indian  and 
European  scholars  and  scientists....  All  students  ol  Ancient  Indian  History  and 
Culture  and  of  Social  Anthropology  are  indebted  to  the  scholar  for  this 


A  FEW  OPINIONS  ON 

RQVEDIC  INDIA 


(An  outline  of  the  Early  History  of  India  as  depicted  in  the  Rgveda, 
examined  in  the  light  of  the  results  of  modern  Geological,  Archaeological  and 
Ethnological  investigations,  and  drawn  from  a  comparative  study  of  the 
civilisations  of  the  Deccan,  ancient  Airyana,  Babylonia  Assyria,  Phoenicia, 
Asia  Minor  and  Pre-historic  Europe). 

Prof  A*  V.  William  Jackson  of  Columbia  University  t— "  There  is 
much  in  the  volume  to  engage  special  study  by  one  interested  in  the  early 
history  of  India  and  of  Iran/' 

Prof.  V.  Giuffrida-Ruggeri  of  Naples  University  $— I  beg  you  to 
accept  my  compliments  for  this  original  and  daring  work." 

Prof*  G.  Sergi  of  Rome  University :  — "  I  have  read  your  book  with 
great  pleasure,  and  many  things  I  have  learned  because  of  the  great  richness 
of  facts  and  doctrine  about  the  social  conditions  of  the  Aryan  peoples  of 
India  at  the  time  of  the  Rgveda." 

Dr.  lames  Lindsay  in   the  J.  R.  A*   S.for  Oct.  1921  r— "  This  is  an 

interesting  work  by  one  who  is  well  versed  in  Vedic  lore The  work  in 

whole  affords  ample  proof  of  the  author's  learning  and  industry  as  a  Rgveda 
scholar/1 

The  Time's  Literary  Supplement  (May  12,  1921):— "In  his  striking 
Birdwood  Memorial  Lecture  last  month,  Sir  Edward  Grigg  said  that  in  all 
forms  of  research  the  patience  and  peculiar  subtlety  of  the  Indian  intellect 
promise  great  results.  These  qualities  are  well  displayed  by  the  Lecturer 
in  Ancient  Indian  History  and  Culture  to  the  Calcutta  Uuiversity  in  this 
further  volume. 

The  Madras  Mail  (5th  August  1921)  :— '  He  nas  written  a  substantial 
tome  of  600  pages'  which  is  a  solid  contribution  to  the  literature  bearing  on 
this  branch  of  research  .....No  review  of  Mr.  Das's  book  can  conclude  without 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  learning,  the  powers  of  original  thinking,  and  the 
acute  critical  skill  that  he  has  displayed  in  writing  a  work  of  such  vast  import* 
ance  to  scholars  and  students  interested  in  antiquarian  historical  research." 

The  New  India  (I2th  March  1921)  t— "  The  book  bears  evidence  of  wide 
research  and  a  judicious  use  of  the  resultant  materials/' 


C    a    J 

The  BottfMty  Chronicle  (8th  May  ig*l)*— "If  Mr.  Tilth's  work 
ctaMttaited  a  landmark  in  the  history  of  Indian  scholarship,  a  like  compliment 
may  fee  paid  to  the  author  of  "  $gvedic  India,"  and  if  future  volumes  will  be 
as  replete  with  information,  as  the  one  under  review,  their  value  to  the  student 
of  the  early  history  of  the  Aryans  will  be  unsurpassed." 

The  Vedlc  Magazine  (April  1921).-—"  Every  lover  of  India  who  reads 
this  scholarly  work  will  find  his  pride  in  her  past  stimulated  and  his  faith  in 
bar  future  rejuvenated  and  revitalised  " 

The  Man  of  December  1921  (London).—'  We  must  recognize  that  Das 
has  done  a  food  service  to  British  Anthropology." 

Price  Rs.  10/-  net. 

R.  CAMBRAY  &  Co., 

BOOKSELLERS  &  PUBLISHERS, 
75*,  College  Square,  Calcutta. 


BENGALI  WORKS  BT  THE  SAME  AUTHOR, 

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