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The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s2: 2. The Tribes in the Ṛigveda

The History and Culture of the Indian People v1.c19.s2

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2. The Tribes in the Ṛigveda

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The whole of the territory known to the Vedic settlers was divided into a number of tribal principalities ruled normally by kings. The *Dāśarājña* or the battle of the ten kings is an important historical event alluded to in various hymns of the *Ṛigveda*, and as many of the important tribes and personalities figured in this famous battle, it is worth while outlining the conflict. Sudās was a Bharata king of the Tṛitsu family which was settled in the country which later came to be known as Brahmāvarta. At first Viśvāmitra, a scion of the Kuśika family of the Bharatas, was the priest of Sudās, and led him to victorious campaigns on the Vipāś and Śutudrī. Viśvāmitra, however, was dismissed later by Sudās, who appointed Vasishṭha as his priest, probably on account of the superior Brahmanical knowledge of the Vasishṭhas. Thereupon a long and bitter rivalry ensued between the two priests, and in revenge Viśvāmitra led a tribal confederacy of ten kings against the Bharatas, the federation consisting of the five well-known tribes Pūru, Yadu, Turvaśa, Anu, and Druhyu, along with five of little note. viz. Alina, Paktha, Bhalānas, Śiva, and Vishāṇin. In the bloody and decisive struggle on the Parushṇī, the Bharatas emerged victorious, utterly routing the confederacy, of whom the Anu and Druhyu kings were drowned, and Purukutsa of the Pūrus met his death. There was another battle that Sudās had to fight in which the three non-Aryan tribes, Ajas, Śigrus, and Yakshus had united under king Bheda; but these new assailants also met with the same fate and were defeated with great slaughter on the Jumna. The location of these tribes, along with their activities in the period of the *Ṛigveda*, will now be considered in the order of their importance as far as possible.

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The Bharatas, who gave their name to the whole country, are the most important of the Rigvedic tribes. They were settled, in the Rigvedic age, in the region between the Sarasvatī and Yamunā The Bharatas appear prominently in the *Ṛigveda* in relationship with Sudās and the Tṛitsus, and are enemies of the Pūrus. Their princes sacrificed on the Sarasvatī, Drishadvatī, and Āpayā, i.e. Kurukshetra of later times. Their military prowess in the Rigvedic age, displayed in their successful campaigns both against the Aryans on the west and the non-Aryans in the east, is matched by the superiority of their cult and ritual practices which seem to have attained prominence and supremacy in a later period. Viśvāmitra is referred to as a Bharatarshabha and a Kauśika, so that he belonged to the Kuśika family of the Bharatas.

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The exact relation of the Tṛitsus and Bharatas cannot be determined and there is a sharp difference of opinion among scholars on this subject. The Tṛitsus occupied the country to the east of the Parushṇī. Both being enemies of the Pūrus, Ludwig's identification of the Bharatas and Tṛitsus appears to be correct. Oldenberg, however, takes the Tṛitsus to be the priests of the Bharatas, thus identifying them with the Vasishṭhas, whereas according to Geldner, the Tṛitsus were the royal family of the Bharatas, which appears to be the most probable view. Zimmer's theory representing the Tṛitsus and Bharatas as enemies is clearly untenable. The Tṛitsus and their kinsfolk the Bharatas were at war with the various tribes on both sides of the Parushṇī and Yamunā, as already stated. In post-Rigvedic times, however, they coalesced with the Pūrus, their erstwhile enemies, to form the Kuru people of later times. The *Ṛigveda* refers to the Sṛiñjayas as being the allies of the Tṛitsus. The Tṛitsus apparently had hereditary kings to rule over them. One of them, Divodāsa, surnamed Atithigva, was a great conqueror, who successfully fought against the Pūrus, Yadus, and Turvaśas on the one hand, and against Śambara, the Dāsa king, the Paṇis, etc., on the other. Sudās, the son of Pijavana, was a descendant of Divodāsa; his exploits in the *Dāśarājña* and against Bheda have been referred to. He was not only a famous warrior, but also a great scholar and composer of hymns.

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The Pūrus have been mentioned in the *Ṛigveda* along with Anus, Druhyus, Turvaśas, and Yadus. Though defeated in the *Dāśarājña*, the Pūrus were a very important tribe in the days of the *Ṛigveda*. They were closely connected with the Tṛitsus and the Bharatas, and lived on either side of the Sarasvatī. The unusually large number of kings of the Pūrus suggests the importance of the tribe. The various names indicate the following genealogy of the Pūru kings: Durgaha—Girikshit—Purukutsa—Trasadasyu. Purukutsa is mentioned as a contemporary of Sudās and a conqueror of the Dāsas; a son Trasadasyu is said to have been born to Purukutsa at a time of great distress, probably indicating his death or capture in the famous *Dāśarājña*.¹⁴ The mention of Sudās or Divodāsa and Purukutsa or Trasadasyu in a friendly relation in some passages of the *Ṛigveda* suggests the union of the Tṛitsus, Bharatas, and Pūrus to form the Kurus. The name "Kuru" is not directly mentioned in the *Ṛigveda*, but the amalgamation of these rival tribes in later Vedic period under Kuru is implied by the name Kuruśravaṇa of a king of the Pūru line as shown by his patronymic Trāsadasyava (*RV*, X. 33.4).

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Connected with the Kurus were the Krivis, a comparatively unimportant tribe who possibly lived on the Sindhu (Indus) and the Asiknī (Chenāb), and later moved to the east across the Yamunā to the land later known as Pañchāla. The insignificance of the Krivis in later literature as compared with the importance of the Pañchālas is probably due to the fact that the later Kuru-Pañchāla alliance included not only the Bharatas and other tribes but Krivis also. The *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* asserts that Krivi was the older name of the Pañchālas (XIII. 5.4.7).

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Closely allied with the Tṛitsus was the tribe of the Sṛiñjayas who lived in their neighbourhood, probably in Pañchāla. Hillebrandt locates the Sṛiñjayas to the west of the Indus, and Zimmer, on the upper Indus. As their allies the Tṛitsus were in the Madhyadeśa, the authors of the Vedic *Index* rightly suggest that the Sṛiñjayas may well have been a good deal further east than the Indus. Daivavāta, a king of the Sṛiñjayas, is celebrated as victorious over the Turvaśas and the Vṛichīvants. Daivavāta's sacrificial fire is referred to, and Sāhadevya Somaka is mentioned in this connection. Prastoka, a Sṛiñjaya, has been lauded along with Divodāsa. Turvaśas were the common enemies of the Sṛiñjayas and Bharatas.

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The Anus, Druhyus, Yadus, and Turvaśas were the allies of the Pūrus against the Bharatas. These five, according to Zimmer, are the "five peoples" (*Pañchajanāḥ*) of the *Ṛigveda*. The expression "five peoples" occurs under various names in the *Ṛigveda* and later Vedic literature. Who exactly are indicated by the five is not quite certain.¹⁵

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Among the tribes who were hostile to Sudās, the Druhyus, Turvaśas, and Anus lived between the Asiknī and Parushṇī. The names Yadu and Turvaśa normally occur together in the *Ṛigveda*. These two closely allied tribes lived in the southern Punjab and probably further south. Hopkins regards Turvaśa as the name of the Yadu king;¹⁶ but the evidence for this is not conclusive. Zimmer identifies Turvaśas with Vṛichīvants, but the passages merely show that they were allies. The name Turvaśa disappears from later Vedic literature, possibly because they became merged in the Pañchāla people.

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The Matsyas in the epic age lived to the west of the Śūrasenas of Mathurā, i.e. in modern Alwar, Bharatpur, and Jaipur, which was probably their home also in the Rigvedic age.¹⁷

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The Ajas, Śigrus, and Yakshus were probably the eastern people. They are generally regarded as non-Aryan, though there is no definite information on this point.

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The Pakthas, Bhalānases, Vishāṇins, Alinas, and Śivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Krumu originates. Zimmer locates them in eastern Afghānistān, identifying them with the modern Pakthun. South of the Pakthas stretched the Bhalānases for whom Zimmer suggests east Kābulistān as original home. The Vishāṇins, so-called probably because their helmets were horn-shaped or ornamented with horns, were, like their allies, a tribe of the north-west, located farther down between the Krumu and the Gomatī. North-east of Kāfiristān has been suggested as the location of the Alinas, who were closely allied with the Pakthas, and were certainly the enemies of Sudās, and not his allies, as thought by Roth. The Śivas lay between the Sindhu and Vitastā in the Vedic period.¹⁸

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Now we turn to the other tribes which have not been directly mentioned as participants in the *Dāśarājña*, or in any of the wars waged by Sudās.

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The Chedis, who dwelt probably between the Yamunā and the Vindhyas, had a very powerful king named Kaśu who is said in a Dānastuti (VIII. 5.37-39) to have made a gift of ten kings as slaves to his priest. The Puranic literature represents the Chedis as an offshoot of the Yadus.

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The Uśīnaras are mentioned in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* as dwelling in the middle country along with the Vaśas and the Kuru-Pañchālas. There is nothing to support Zimmer's conjecture that the Uśīnaras in the Rigvedic times lived farther to the north-west, and it is reasonable to suppose that in the Rigvedic period also they lived in the middle country.

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The Gandhāris, one of the frontier peoples, lived to the extreme north-west of India. The good wool of the sheep of the Gandhāris has been referred to in the *Ṛigveda* (I. 126. 7). According to Zimmer they were settled in the Vedic times on the south bank of the Kubhā up to its junction with the Indus and for some distance down the east side of the Indus itself.

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Ludwig and Weber find in certain Rigvedic passages which mentioned *Pṛithu-Parśvaḥ* (*RV*, VII. 83. 1: meaning "with large ribs," or "with broad axes") a reference to the Pṛithus and Parśus, i.e. the Parthians and the Persians. The meaning and sense in the passages, however, require the word Parśu to be taken as "ribs." In a passage of the *Ṛigveda* (VIII. 6. 46) Yadu is brought into special connection with the Parśus. It cannot, however, be definitely stated that the Parśus were Persians.

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The Pārāvatas occurring in several passages of the *Ṛigveda* have been rightly taken as a people on the Yamunā on the strength of the mention of the Sarasvatī in their connection (*RV*, VI. 61. 2) as also of their location there in the *Pañchaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa*. Their location on the northern borders of Gedrosia, as proposed by Hillebrandt and Geldner, does not appear to be correct.

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The Kīkaṭas occur in the *Ṛigveda* (III. 53. 14) as a people under Pramaganda's leadership and hostile to the singer. Zimmer, on Yāska's authority, takes these people as non-Aryans and locates them in the country later known as Magadha. Weber accepts the location but takes them to be Aryans, though at variance with the other Aryan tribes.

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The Paṇis are often mentioned with the Dāsas and Dasyus as the enemies of the Aryans. Though opulent and rich, the Paṇis never worshipped the gods or rewarded the priests. They have been described as selfish, non-sacrificing, with hostile speech.

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greedy like the wolf, niggardly, of cruel speech, Dasyus, Dāsas of inferior status. They were cattle-owners and notorious cattle-lifters, and in some passages definitely figure as demons who withheld the cows or waters of the heavens. Vala, whom Indra pierced when he robbed Paṇi of his cows, appears to be their patron God. Bṛibu is mentioned as one of their kings. The question of the identity of the Paṇis has not yet been settled with any degree of certainty. The words Paṇik or Vaṇik, Paṇya, and Vipaṇi, found in Sanskrit, suggest that the Paṇis were merchants *par excellence* in the Rigvedic age. The Paṇis have been variously identified with an aboriginal non-Aryan people; with Babylonians (on the strength of the word Beka-nāṭa); with Parnians, the Dahae and other Irānian tribes; and with non-Aryan caravan traders. They might have been the Aryan sea-traders who spread the Aryan culture to the west.

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Derived from the same root (*das*, "lay waste" or "waste away") which originated the word Dasyu, the Dāsas have been described as the enemies of the Vedic people, sometimes of a demoniac character; but many passages speak of them as the human foes of the Aryans. They lived in fortified towns (*āyasīḥ puraḥ*) and were divided into clans (*viśaḥ*). Dāsavarṇa has been alluded to a number of times, and the Dāsas are said to be black-skinned (*krishṇatvach*), noseless or flat-nosed (*anās*) and evil-tongued (*mṛidhra-vāch*), some of these epithets being shared in common with Dasyus. In the *Ṛigveda*, Dāsa is not so reproachful a term as Dasyu. As Dāsa in later literature became a synonym for slave, it can plausibly be said that originally the term was applied to captives in war who were enslaved. Hillebrandt and others identify the Dāsas with the Dahae of Irān, as they place the scene of activity of the *Ṛigveda* in Arachosia, where they locate the Sarasvatī.

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The Dāsas owned considerable wealth, and Ilibiśa, Dhuni, Chumuri, Śambara, Varchin, Pipru, etc., have been mentioned as individual Dāsa kings, some of whom later received demoniac attributes, and were regarded as celestial foes of Indra and other gods. The Kirātas, Kīkaṭas, Chāṇḍālas, Parṇākas, Simyus, etc., were Dāsa tribes who mostly inhabited the Gangetic Valley and fought the Bharatas in their advance to the east and south-east.

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Though in many passages the term Dasyu is applied to super-natural enemies, there is no doubt that in several passages the term designates human foes. The main difference between the Dasyus and the Vedic Aryans appears to be religious. The Dasyus were rite-less (*a-karman*), indifferent to the gods (*a-devayu*), without devotion (*a-brahman*), not sacrificing (*a-yajvan*), lawless (*a-vrata*), following strange ordinances (*anyavrata*), reviling the gods (*deva-pīyu*), etc. Some of these epithets have been applied also to the Dāsas, as compared to whom they are less distinctively a people, as no clans (*viśaḥ*) of the Dasyus have been mentioned. Zimmer and Meyer think that the original meaning of the term Dasyu (and Dāsa) was "enemy," which later developed into "hostile country" with the Irānians, while the Indians extended the original signification of "enemy" to include demon foes. That to the Rigvedic bards there was not much difference between the Dāsas and Dasyus would be evident from their sharing some epithets in common, and also from some persons being described both as Dasyu and Dāsa, etc.

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The Asuras are generally referred to as enemies of Vedic people and of their gods, but some passages use the term in a good sense. One probable explanation of this has been hinted at before.¹⁹ Another, suggested by Bhandarkar, is that the hymns in which Vedic deities receive the appellation Asura were composed by seers of Asura stock who had embraced the Aryan religion, and the deprecatory passages were composed by Aryan seers antagonistic to the Asuras.²⁰ The enmity between Aryan and Asura increased in the post-Rigvedic period.

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It is indeed difficult to identify the Asuras with any of the ancient people. Sten Konow takes them to be non-human. Banerji Sastri considers the Asuras as immigrants from Assyria, the followers of the Asura cult who preceded the Aryans in India and were the authors of the Indus Valley civilization. Bhandarkar takes the Asuras to be the Assurs or Assyrians and suggests that the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* refers to the Asura settlements in Magadha or South Bihār.

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The Rakshas does not indicate any definite tribe; according to the authors of the *Vedic Index* it normally refers to demons in early Vedic literature, and is applied to human foes only metaphorically. The Piśāchas also likewise are not a tribe in Vedic literature though in later literature it is the designation of a tribe.

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As a result of the above survey we may briefly indicate the position and extent of the tribal settlements referred to in the *Ṛigveda*. Roughly speaking the extreme north-west was occupied by the Gandhāris, Pakthas, Alinas, Bhalānases, and Vishāṇins, some of whom probably contained non-Aryan elements. In Sind and the Punjab were settled the Śivas, Parśus, Kekayas, Vṛichīvants, Yadus, Anus, Turvaśas, and Druhyus. Further east towards the region of the Madhyadeśa were the settlements of the Tṛitsus, Bharatas, Pūrus, and Sṛiñjayas, the eastern-most part being in the occupation of the Kīkaṭas. The Matsyas and Chedis were settled to the south of the Punjab in the region of Rājputāna and Mālwa. It may thus be reasonably concluded that the Aryan settlements during the period of the *Ṛigveda* were practically co-terminous with the extent of the geographical knowledge of the period, as mentioned above.

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