A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c9.5

c9.5

The Vindhya range was the recognized southern limit of the Aryan land. Manu states distinctly that the country between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas and between the eastern and western oceans comprised Āryāvarta, the abode of the Aryas. ‘The name Pāriyātra’, says Bhandarkar, ‘was given to the more northern and western portion of the (Vindhya) range from which the rivers Chambal and Betva take their rise, probably because it was situated on the boundary of their yātrā or range of communication.’ A comparatively late hymn of the Rig-Veda mentions that one expelled from the Aryan fold betook himself to the South and turned his feet in that direction (dakshiṇāpada). The Aitareya Brāhmaṇa mentions the kingdom of Vidarbha (Berar) and its king Bhima. The same Brāhmaṇa and the Śānkhāyana Śrautasūtra state that the sage Viśvāmitra condemned his fifty sons who were jealous of Sunahśepha Devarāta to live on the borders of Āryāvarta, and that their descendants were the Dasyus, like the Andhras, Pundras, Śabaras, Pulindas and Mūtibas. Clearly, in the period of these books, while the aryanization of Northern India had become complete, little progress had been made beyond the Vindhyas; only one settled Aryan kingdom was known, Vidarbha, and the rest of the South was dominated by pre-Aryan inhabitants. Possibly some of the more enterprising Aryans ventured into their midst, married their women and raised families of mixed descent who were looked down upon by the ‘purer’ Aryans of the north, as may be inferred from the story of the sons of Viśvāmitra. It is difficult to fix any definite date for this stage of affairs, but round about 1000 B.C. may well be suggested.