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Tribes in Ancient India c63: Chapter LX. The Avantis

Tribes in Ancient India c63

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Chapter LX. The Avantis

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In Vedic times, the Avantis do not emerge into importance as a ruling Kṣatriya tribe of ancient India. Their name is not found in the Vedic literature; but in the *Mahābhārata* they are found to be one of the most powerful of the Kṣatriya clans. Their dual monarchs, Vinda and Anuvinda, each led an akṣauhiṇī of troops to Duryodhana’s army, and thus the Avantis made up one-fifth of the entire Kuru host (V, 19, 24).¹ The two monarchs are designated ‘mahāratha’ (‘great warrior’), the highest title given to an epic warrior (VII, 5, 99),² and are spoken of as wielding powerful bows.³ The two Avanti princes figure very prominently in the battle, and many are the glorious and heroic deeds with which they are credited. They rendered useful service to the Kaurava cause by their individual prowess and generalship as well as by the large army consisting of forces of every description which they led to battle.⁴ They fought bravely in the field until they were slain,—by Arjuna, according to one account (VII, 99, 3691), and by Bhīma, according to another (XI, 22, 617). We read of the mighty hosts of the Avantis—Sainyam Āvantyānām—in the *Karṇaparvan* and elsewhere (VII, 113, 4408; VIII, 8, 235).

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¹ ‘Āvantyau ca mahīpālau mahāvalasamvṛtau pṛthagakṣuhiṇībhyām tāvabhiyātau suyodhanam.’

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² ‘Vindānuvindāvāvantyau rājaputrau mahārathau.’ See also Mbh., V, 166, 5753, Cal. Ed.; Bhīṣmaparvan, VI, 99, 4504; VI, 114, 5293, 5309.

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³ VI, 83, 3650; VI, 94, 4195.

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⁴ Mbh., VI, 16, 622; II, 17, 673, etc.; VI, 59, 2584; VI, 81, 3557; VI, 83, 3650-60; VI, 86, 3823; VI, 102, 4666; VI, 113, 5240; VII, 14, 542; 25, 1083; 32, 1410.

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The *Matsyapurāṇa* (Chap. 43) traces the origin of the Avantis to the Haihaya dynasty of which Kārttavīryārjuna was the most glorious ruler, and adds that Avanti was the name borne by one of the sons of this monarch. The *Liṅgapurāṇa* states that out of the hundred sons of Kārttavīryārjuna, five, namely Śūra, Śūrasena, Dṛṣṭa, Kṛṣṇa and Yayudhvaja, ruled Avanti and acquired great renown. The *Viṣṇu-Dharmottara Mahāpurāṇa* (Chap. IX) and the *Padmapurāṇa* (*Svarga Khaṇḍa*, Chap. III) speak of Avanti as one of the *mahājanapadas* or chief provinces of ancient India. The *Skandapurāṇa* has a whole section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, dealing with the sacred sites and places of pilgrimage in the country of the Avantis. It is stated (Chap. 43) that the god Mahādeva, after he had destroyed the demon Tripura, visited Avantipura, which came to be known as Ujjayinī in honour of his victory. This Purāṇa in the section of Ayodhyā-māhātmya (Chap. I) relates that saints of Ujjayinī, the Avanti capital, came to Kurukṣetra with their disciples to attend the sacrifice of Rāma.

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The Purāṇas also speak of intermarriages between the royal family of the Avantis and the ruling dynasty of the Yadus. Thus the Viṣṇupurāṇa (IV, 12) and Agnipurāṇa (Chap. 275) state that a Yadu princess called Rājyādhidevī was married to the king of Avanti. She was one of the five sisters of the Yadu monarch, Vasudeva, son of Śūra. The Viṣṇupurāṇa adds (IV, 14) that Rājyādhidevī bore two sons, Vinda and Upavinda, who are most probably to be identified with the Avanti princes, Vinda and Anuvinda of Epic fame.

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The grammarian Pāṇini refers to Avanti in one of his sūtras (IV, 1, 176).

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With regard to the location of Avanti, the sage Dhaumya (Vanaparvan, Mbh.), in enumerating the places of pilgrimage in W. India, refers to the country of the Avantis,¹ and speaks of the sacred river Narmadā as being situated therein. At the beginning of the Virāṭaparvan, Arjuna mentions Avanti along with other kingdoms in W. India, namely, Surāṣṭra and Kunti (IV, 1, 12). The geographical connection between the Avantis and the Kuntis is also shown in the description of ‘Bhāratavarṣa’ in the Bhīṣmaparvan (VI, 9, 350). A path leading to the city of Avanti is referred to in the Nalopākhyāna of the Vanaparvan (III, 61, 2317). Mrs. Rhys Davids notes² that Avanti lay north of the Vindhya mountains north-west of Bombay. It was one of the four chief monarchies in India when Buddhism arose, and was later absorbed into the Mauryan empire.

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¹ Mbh., Vanaparvan, III, 89, 8354; Avantiṣu Pratīcyām vai.

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² Psalms of the Brethren, p. 107, note i.

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Rhys Davids observes: ‘The country (Avanti), much of which is rich land, had been colonized or conquered by Aryan tribes who came down the Indus valley and turned west from the Gulf of Kutch. It was called Avanti at least as late as the second century A.D. (see Rudradāman’s Inscription at Junāgaḍh) but from the seventh or eighth century onwards, it was called Mālava’ (Buddhist India, p. 28).

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Ujjayinī, which was situated on the Siprā, a tributary of the Carmanvatī (Chambal), is the modern Ujjain in Gwalior, Central India. It was the capital of Avanti or Western Mālava, and the residence of the Viceroy of the western provinces both under the Maurya and the Gupta empires.³

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³ Rapson, Ancient India, p. 175, s.v. Ujjayinī.

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In the *Dīpavaṃsa*,¹ we read that Ujjenī (Ujjayinī) was built by Accutagāmī. Watters ² points out that the Avanti capital Ujayana mentioned by Hsüan Tsang is generally supposed to be the well-known Ujain or Ujjen (Ujjain). In some of the canonical scriptures, Ujain is located to the west of Kanoj, which lies between Ujain and Benares.

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¹ Oldenberg, p. 57, Text.

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² *On Yuan Chwang*, Vol. II, pp. 250-1.

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The Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang thus describes Ujjayinī, which name he gives to the whole country surrounding the capital—‘Ujjayinī is about 6,000 li in circuit; the capital is some 30 li round. The produce and manners of the people are like those of the country of Surāṣṭra. The population is dense and the establishments wealthy. There are several tens of convents, but they are mostly in ruins; some three or five are preserved. There are some 300 priests; they study the doctrines both of the Great and the Little Vehicle. There are several tens of Deva temples, occupied by sectaries of various kinds. The king belongs to the Brahman caste. He is well-versed in heretical books, and believes not in the true law. Not far from the city is a stūpa; this is the place where Aśoka-rājā made the hell (of punishment).’³

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³ *Buddhist Records of the Western World*, Vol. II, p. 270.

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Owing to its position, Avanti became a great commercial centre. Three trade-routes met here; from the western coast with its sea-ports, Śūrpāraka (Sopāra) and Bhṛgukaccha (Broach); from the Deccan; and from Śrāvastī in Kośala (Oudh). It was also a great centre of science and literature. Ujjayinī was one of the seven sacred cities of the Hindus, and astronomers reckoned their first meridian of longitude from there. The dramas of Kālidāsa were performed on the occasion of the Spring Festival before the viceregal court of Ujjayinī, *c.* 400 A.D.⁴

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⁴ Rapson, *Ancient India*, p. 175; and see McCrindle, *Ancient India as described by Ptolemy*, p. 154.

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An interesting notice of Ujjain is to be found in the *Periplus of the Erythraean Sea* (sec. 48) where we read: ‘Eastward from Barygaza (=Bhṛgukaccha) is a city called Ozene, formerly the capital where the king resided. From this place is brought down to Barygaza every commodity for local consumption or export to other parts of India, onyx-stones, porcelain, fine muslins, mallow-tinted cottons and the ordinary kinds in great quantities. It imports from the upper country through Proklais for transport to the coast, spikenard, kostos and bdellium.’ The ancient city no longer exists, but its ruins can be traced at a distance of a mile from its modern successor.⁵

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⁵ McCrindle, *Ancient India as described by Ptolemy*, p. 155.

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Avanti was one of the most flourishing kingdoms of ancient India, mentioned in the *Aṅguttara Nikāya* as one of the sixteen ‘mahājanapadas’ of Jambudvīpa.¹ From the first, Avanti became an important centre of the new doctrine which we now call Buddhism, and may have been the scene of elaboration of Pāli, the sacred language of the Buddhists.² Several of the most earnest adherents of the Dhamma were either born or resided there: Abhaya Kumāra,³ Isidāsī,⁴ Isidatta,⁵ Dhammapāla,⁶ Sona Kuṭikaṇṇa,⁷ and especially Mahākaccāyana.⁸

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¹ *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, Vol. IV, pp. 252, 256, 261.

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² Eliot, *Hinduism and Buddhism*, Vol. I, p. 282.

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³ *Theragāthā Commentary*, 39.

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⁴ *Therīgāthā Commentary*, 261-4.

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⁵ *Theragāthā*, 120.

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⁶ *Ibid.*, 204.

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⁷ *Vinaya Texts*, II, 32; *Theragāthā*, 369; *Udāna*, V, 6.

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⁸ *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, III, p. 9; IV, 117; *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, I, p. 23; V, 46; *Majjhima Nikāya*, III, 194, 223.

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Many are the stories that are told of Mahākaccāyana. He was born at Ujjayinī in the family of the chaplain of King Caṇḍapajjota. He learnt the three Vedas, and, on his father's death, succeeded him in the chaplainship. Subsequently, both Mahākaccāyana and the king his master were converted by the Buddha, and Mahākaccāyana devoted himself to furthering the Dhamma in his native province.⁹ One of his most celebrated converts was Sono Kuṭikaṇṇo (so called because he used to wear ear-jewellery worth a crore). Kuṭikaṇṇo, the son of a wealthy councillor of Avanti, became a land-owner, but asked Mahākaccāyana to ordain him, after hearing him preach.¹⁰ Isidatta was another of Mahākaccāyana’s converts. He was born at Veḷugāma as the son of a guide to caravans.¹¹

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⁹ *Psalms of the Brethren*, pp. 238-9; also (for further stories of Mahākaccāyana) *Aṅguttara Nikāya*, V, pp. 46-7; *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, III, pp. 9ff.; *ibid.*, Vol. IV, pp. 115-16; *Dhammapada Commentary*, Vol. II, pp. 176-7.

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¹⁰ *Dhammapada Commentary*, Vol. IV, p. 101; cf. also *Vinaya Texts*, S.B.E., Pt. II, pp. 32ff.; *Psalms of the Brethren*, pp. 202-3.

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¹¹ *Psalms of the Brethren*, p. 107; *Saṃyutta Nikāya*, IV, pp. 285-8.

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Dhammapāla, a Brahman’s son of the country of Avanti, was also one of the early converts to the new faith. When he was returning from the university of Takṣaśilā after completing his education, he met a thera, heard the Dhamma from him, left the world and acquired six-fold abhiññā.¹²

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¹² *Psalms of the Brethren*, p. 149.

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When the first Great Council of the disciples of the Buddha was held after his *parinibbāna*, to compile his teachings, Yasa sent messengers to the bhikkhus of Avanti inviting them to attend and help to perform the task.¹³ This shows that at that time (c. 480 B.C.) followers of the new faith in the western province of Avanti must have been numerous and influential.

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¹³ *Vinaya Texts*, Pt. III, p. 394; cf. Geiger, *Mahāvaṃsa*, Tr., p. 21.

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King Bimbisāra of Magadha had a son, Abhaya, by a courtesan of Ujjayinī named Padumavatī.¹

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¹ Therīgāthā Commentary, p. 39. For further references in Buddhist texts to Ujjain and Avanti, see, e.g. Therīgāthā Commentary, pp. 260-1, Vimānavatthu Commentary, pp. 137ff.

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The great propounder of the Jaina faith, Mahāvīra, is said to have performed some of his penances in the country of Avanti, especially in Ujjayinī.² Here, too, the temple of Mahākāla—one of the twelve most famous Śaiva temples in India—was built.³ One of the sacred places of the Liṅgāyat sect is situated at Ujjain. The Liṅgāyat itinerant ascetics wander over India, frequenting especially the five simhāsanas or Liṅgāyat sees.⁴

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² Mrs. S. Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism, p. 33.

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³ Ibid., p. 75.

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⁴ Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol. II, p. 227.

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With regard to the political history of Avanti, we have already referred to King Caṇḍa Pajjota or Pradyota, who was a contemporary of the Buddha, and under whom the new faith became the state religion of Avanti. The Pradyotas were kings of Avanti (Western Malwa), and their capital was Ujjayinī.⁵ There is a reference to King Caṇḍa Pajjota in the Chinese Buddhist legends collected by Beal.⁶ In Buddha's time, the king of Madhurā (Mathurā) was styled Avantiputta, showing that on his mother's side he was connected with the royal family of Ujjain.⁷

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⁵ Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, pp. 310-11.

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⁶ The Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha, S. Beal, p. 29.

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⁷ Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 53.

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The commentary on verses 21-3 of the Dhammapada gives a romantic story of the manner in which a matrimonial alliance was established between the royal families of Kauśāmbī and Avanti. One day, King Pajjota asked his courtiers whether there was any king more glorious than himself, and they told him that King Udena of Kosambī surpassed him. Angered, King Pajjota determined to attack Udena. He caused a wooden elephant to be made, and concealed sixty warriors in it. Knowing that Udena had a great liking for fine elephants, he had him informed by spies that a magnificent elephant was to be found in the frontier forest. King Udena came to the forest, and, in pursuit of the prize, became separated from his retinue and was taken prisoner. While a captive, he fell in love with Vāsuladattā, daughter of King Pajjota. One day, when Pajjota was away on a pleasure jaunt, Udena put Vāsuladattā on an elephant and eloped with her. On his return, King Pajjota sent a force in pursuit, but the wily Udena delayed his pursuers by scattering coins and gold-dust on the route, and reached his own territory in safety. Udena and Vāsuladattā entered the city in triumph, and with due pomp and ceremony the princess was anointed queen.¹

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¹ Rhys Davids, *Buddhist India*, pp. 4-7. The same story is related in another form by Bhāsa in his drama, *Svapnavāsavadattā*; Dham. Com., Vol. I, pp. 191-2.

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In the fourth century B.C., Ujjayinī became subject to Magadha. Later (early third century B.C.), Aśoka was stationed at Ujjayinī as Viceroy of the Avanti country, prior to his accession.² We read ³ that Aśoka’s son, Mahinda, was born while Aśoka was Viceroy in Ujjayinī, under his father Bindusāra. Aśoka’s grandson, Samprati, ruled in Ujjain and figured in Jaina legends.⁴ Vikramāditya, the celebrated king of Ujjain, who is usually identified with Candragupta II (c. 375 A.D.) is said to have expelled the Scythians and thereafter established his power over the greater part of India.

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² V. A. Smith, *Aśoka*, p. 235.

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³ Copleston, *Buddhism*, p. 181.

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⁴ Mrs. Stevenson, *Heart of Jainism*, p. 74.

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In later times some of the ruling families of Avanti made their mark on Indian history. The Paramāra dynasty of Malwa, anciently known as Avanti, is especially memorable by reason of its association with many eminent names in the history of later Sanskrit literature. The dynasty was founded early in the ninth century by a chief named Upendra or Kṛṣṇarāja. Upendra appears to have come from Candrāvatī and Achalgarh near Mount Abu, where his clan had been settled for a long time. The seventh rājā, named Muñja, was famous for his learning and eloquence, and was not only a patron of poets but himself a poet of no small reputation. About 1018 A.D., Muñja’s nephew, the famous Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dhārā, which was the capital of Malwa in those days, and reigned gloriously for more than forty years.⁵ About 1060 A.D., this prince succumbed to an attack by the confederate kings of Gujarat and Cedi; but his dynasty lasted as a purely local power until the beginning of the thirteenth century, when it was superseded by chiefs of the Tomara clan, who were followed in their turn by Chauhan rājās, from whom the crown passed to Muhammadan kings in 1401. The Emperor Akbar suppressed the local dynasty in 1569, and incorporated Malwa in the Mughal empire.⁶

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⁵ Smith, *Early History of India*, 4th Ed., p. 410.

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⁶ *Ibid.*, p. 411.

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There is generally one distinguishing mark of the coins current in Ujjain; but on some of the rare coins the word ‘Ujeniya’ is incised in Brāhmī characters of the second century B.C. Generally on one side is a man with a symbol of the Sun and on the other is seen the sign of Ujjain. On some coins, a bull within a fence, or the Bodhi-tree, or Sumeru hill, or the figure of the Goddess of Fortune, is seen on one side. Some coins of Ujjain are quadrangular while others are round.¹ The class of round coins found at Ujjain display a special symbol, the ‘cross and balls’, known from its almost universal occurrence on the coins of ancient Malwa as the Ujjain symbol.² Square copper Mughal coins were struck at Ujjain up to the time of Shah Jahan I.³ kingdoms of the Śibis, Vṛṣadarbhas, Madras, Kekayas and Sauvīras, thus occupying the whole of the Punjab except the north-western corner.¹ According to the *Agnipurāṇa* (Chap. 200), the river Devikā, but, according to the *Bhāgavatapurāṇa* (verse 10), the river Ikṣumatī flowed through Sauvīra.

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¹ R. D. Banerjee, *Prācīna Mudrā*, p. 108.

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² Brown, *Coins of India*, p. 20.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 87.

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¹ Pargiter, *A.I.H.T.*, pp. 109, 264; and Chap. on *Yaudheyas*.

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Other Epic references to the Sauvīras include the mention of a Sauvīra king Śatruñjaya, who received instruction from a priest named Bharadvāja (*Mbh.*, XII, Chap. 140, 5249-50), and of a Sauvīra princess who married Manasyu, the son of Pravīra by a Śaurasena princess, and grandson of Puru (*Mbh.*, *Ādiparvan*, Chap. 49, 3696-7). Sovīra or Sauvīra is also mentioned in early Buddhist literature. The *Mahāgovinda Suttanta*² refers to Sovīra whose king was Bharata; while the *Divyāvadāna* in relating a story (pp. 544-86) accounting for the name of Bharukaccha (Broach), refers to Rudrāyaṇa, king of Roruka in Sauvīra. The *Mahābhāṣya* of Patañjali and the *Vyākaraṇa* of Kramadeśvara mention a city named Dattāmitri in Sauvīra.³ In the *Milinda-Pañho*, Sovīra is described as a great sea-port (Trenckner Ed., p. 359); and it is not unlikely that the country is identical with the famous Sophir or Ophir of the Bible.⁴ Alberuni appears to identify Sauvīra with Multan and Jahrawar (*India*, Vol. I, pp. 300, 302); while, according to the *Haimakoṣa* (IV, 26), the Sauvīra country is identical with Kunālaka.

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² *Dīgha*, II, pp. 235-6.

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³ *Ind. Ant.*, 1911, *Foreign Elements in Hindu Population* (Bhandarkar); Bomb. Gaz., I, ii, 11; *Kramadiśvara*, p. 96.

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⁴ Cunningham, *A.G.I.*, pp. 569-71.

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Towards the middle of the second century A.D., the land of the Sindhus and the Sauvīras seems to have been administered by the Kṣatrapa rulers of W. India. The Junāgaḍh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman (c. 150 A.D.) refers to the Mahākṣatrapa's conquest of Sindhu-Sauvīra,⁵ along with E. and W. Ākara (= mod. Khandesh) and Avanti (Pūrvaparākarāvanti), Anupanivṛt (probably the Māndhātā region), Ānartta, Surāṣṭra, Śvabhra, Maru, Kaccha, Kukura, Aparānta and other countries. The Kṣatrapas seem, however, to have wrested the country from the Kuṣāṇas, probably from one of the successors of Kaniṣka. After the era of the Kṣatrapas, the region probably passed over to the Guptas, and later to the Maitrakas of Valabhi. The country of the Sindhus, i.e. Sind, was the first kingdom to feel the impact of the conquering raids of the Arabs. An eighth century copperplate grant of the Gujarat Cālukya Pulakeśirāja¹ refers to the Tājikas (i.e. Arabs), who are described as having defeated the Saindhavas and other tribes of W. India.

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⁵ *P.H.A.I.*, 4th Ed., p. 390. Sindhu is the inland portion lying to the west of the Indus (Watters, *On Yuan Chwang*, II, 252-3 read with 256). Sauvīra includes the inland portion lying to the east of the Indus as far as Multan (Alberuni, I, 302; *Ind. Ant.*, 7, 259). See also in this connection Appendix B of *P.H.A.I.*, 4th Ed., dealing with the Chronological relation of Kaniṣka and Rudradāman I (pp. 522-7).

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¹ Bom. Gaz., Vol. I, Pt. I, p. 109.

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