The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s1.2

v1.c7.s1.2

THE early inhabitants of the Deccan had developed a distinct form of civilization long before they came into contact with the Āryans. At first the advent of the latter into the Deccan was perhaps peaceful. It was the work of the Vedic Rishis who in quest of peace and solitude ventured to enter the Daṇḍakāraṇya to establish hermitages on the banks of rivers in the thick of the forests. The local inhabitants, called ‘Asuras and Rākshasas’ by the Āryans, may have committed forays against their settlements, destroyed their sacrifices, and interrupted their penance. The memory of these episodes is preserved in the tradition regarding the advent of Agastya, or a namesake of his, into the south. It is told in the *Rāmāyaṇa* that Agastya met Rāma during his exile in the Daṇḍakāraṇya and narrated to him how he had reclaimed the forest regions; how the hermitages of Rishis had sprung up in the wake of his pioneering work; how the Rākshasas oppressed the Rishis; and how Rāma could help them by destroying the Rākshasas. The *Rāmāyaṇa*, when purged of all exaggerations, interpolations, and anachronisms, is evidence of the solid central fact that Rāma championed the cause of Āryan culture, that he fought against the Rākshasas, and that he gave an impetus to the spread of Āryan ideals and institutions in the Deccan. The different legends regarding the origin of the Andhras, Puṇḍras, Śabaras, Pulindas, and Mutibas, are not without significance. According to the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*, they were the descendants of the fifty sons of Viśvāmitra condemned by his curse to live on the borders of the Āryan settlements. The *Mahābhārata* regards them as created by Vasiṣṭha from his divine cow to be enemies and opponents of Viśvāmitra. *Śaṅkhāyana Śrauta-Sūtra* treats the Śabaras as degenerate people. Shorn of all myth, what lies behind the legends is probably the separation of a section of the Āryan community from the main stock and their fusion with the non-Āryans—the ‘Dasyus’.¹ Such a cleavage in Āryan society was not without precedent. In earlier ages the Iranians had followed a similar path of schism and had become the progenitors of the Persians. The Andhras, Śabaras, and Pulindas are known from the *Mahābhārata* and the *Purāṇas* to have been tribes of the Deccan. Typical among the Āryan tribes which for the first time conquered portions of the Deccan were the Ikṣvākus in Dakshiṇa Kosala, the Bhojas (Yādavas) in Vidarbha, and the Haihayas in Mahiṣmati. Vidarbha (or Western Berar) is mentioned in the *Jaiminīya Upaniṣad Brāhmaṇa*, and a Bhīma, prince of Vidarbha, in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*. From these references it may be inferred that the Āryans had during the Brāhmaṇa period pushed their conquests into the Deccan as far as Berar.¹ Pāṇini, who flourished about the seventh century B.C., makes mention of Aśmaka which was in the interior of the Deccan watered by the Godāvarī, that is, the south-east portion of the Hyderabad State. Kātyāyana’s explanations of the terms Pāṇḍya, Chola, and Kerala show that the Āryans had made contact with these peoples of Southern India during the period subsequent to Pāṇini. Tradition refers Kātyāyana to the time of the Nandas.