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Tribes in Ancient India c70: Chapter LXVIII. The Matsyas

Tribes in Ancient India c70

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Chapter LXVIII. The Matsyas

c70.2

The Matsyas appear to have been one of the prominent Kṣatriya tribes that made up the Vedic Aryan people in the earliest period of their residence in India. We read in a hymn of the *Ṛgveda* (VII, 18, 6) that the Matsyas were attacked by Turvaśa, a famous king, in order to extract from them the wealth which he required for the performance of a sacrifice. We observe that the Matsyas were regarded as a wealthy people, their riches most probably consisting of cows which were much in demand for the performance of lengthy and elaborate sacrifices. It is well known that in Epic times the Matsyas were very rich in this wealth of cows, for which the Trigarttas and the Kurus led predatory expeditions against them. In the Rigvedic passage referred to above, the word ‘Matsya’ in the text has been taken by some scholars to mean ‘fish’ (its original meaning). Sāyaṇa gives both meanings, and the authors of the *Vedic Index* (Vol. II, p. 121) also think both possible. From the context, however, Matsya clearly refers to the people. There is, moreover, no doubt that cattle made up the wealth here intended, for the verse following the one in question states clearly that Indra recovered the cows (*gavyā*) from the Tritsu plunderers (just as Indra’s son, Arjuna, recovered the cattle plundered by the Kurus as described in the *Mahābhārata*). Further, other tribes of Western India, e.g. the Druhyus and the Bhṛgus, are mentioned in the verse (VII, 18, 7) side by side with the Matsyas. So it is evident that the latter is here also a tribal name.

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The question arises whether the name Matsya has anything to do with totemism, as suggested by Prof. Macdonell in his *Vedic Mythology*. He says: ‘There are possibly in the *Ṛgveda* some survivals of totemism, or the belief in the descent of the human race or of individual tribes or families from animals or plants’, and he refers to the Matsyas as an illustration of his statement (*Vedic Mythology*, p. 153). But, as Prof. A. Berriedale Keith points out, ‘mere animal names prove little as to totemism, which is not demonstrated for any Aryan stock’.¹ The myth about the birth of a king called Matsya from the womb of a fish along with Matsyagandhā Satyavatī, as related in the *Mahābhārata* (*Ādiparvan*, Chap. 63)¹ cannot be proved to have any connection with the Matsya people. Nor is there anything in the account of the Matsyas to show that the fish was an object of worship among them, or was ever regarded with any special veneration. The fish incarnation of Viṣṇu has nothing specifically to do with the Matsya people. There is, in fact, no valid reason for thinking that such Indo-Aryan tribal names as *Matsya* (fish), *Aja* (goat), and *Vatsa* (calf) have anything to do with totemism.

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¹ *Aitareya Āraṇyaka* (Anecdota Oxoniensia), p. 200, f.n., a.

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¹ The Vāyupurāṇa (Chap. 99) also refers to this King Matsya born of Uparicara Vasu and a fish.

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Coming down to the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*,² we find that a Matsya king, Dhvasan Dvaitavana, is mentioned among the great monarchs of ancient times who acquired renown among the Vedic Aryan people owing to their performance of the horse sacrifice. We shall have occasion to mention this king again in connection with the lake to which he gave his name.

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² Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, XIII, 5, 4, 9; S.B.E., Vol. XI,IV, p. 398.

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In the *Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad*,³ the Matsyas are mentioned along with other tribes, viz. the Uśīnaras, Kuru-Pañcālas, and Kāśī-Videhas. In the *Gopatha Brāhmaṇa*, they are connected with the Śālvas, a Kṣatriya tribe in their neighbourhood, and mentioned along with other well-known Kṣatriya tribes of the Vedic period, such as the Kuru-Pañcālas, Aṅga-Magadhas, Kāśī-Kośalas and Vaśa-Uśīnaras.⁴ The relation of the Matsyas with the Śālvas is also attested by the *Mahābhārata*. King Suśarmā of the Trigarttas, addressing Duryodhana, says: ‘We have been defeated more than once by the Matsyas and Śālvas (*Matsya-Śālveyakaiḥ*).’⁵ Evidently the Śālvas were neighbours of the Matsyas and their allies in Vedic and Epic times. In the *Padmapurāṇa* (Chap. 3) and the *Viṣṇudharmottara Mahāpurāṇa* (Chap. 9), Matsya is mentioned as one of the *Janapadas* of Bhāratavarṣa.

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³ Kauṣītaki Up., IV, I. Trsl. by Max Müller, S.B.E., Vol. I, p. 300.

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⁴ Gopatha Brāhmaṇa, I, 2, 9; Bibliotheca Indica Series, ed. Dr. R. L. Mitra, p. 30.

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⁵ Mbh., Virāṭaparvan, Chap. 30, pp. 1-2.

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In later times, we find the Matsyas associated with the Cedis and the Śūrasenas. Among the kings who brought about the ruin of their own tribes and families, the *Mahābhārata* (Vol. 74, 16) mentions a King Sahaja who was instrumental in causing the destruction of the Cedi-Matsyas. In the Paurāṇic age the Matsyas are spoken of along with the Śūrasenas and the *Cambridge History of India*⁶ observes that the two peoples are constantly associated, and may possibly have been united under one king. In the *Bhīṣmaparvan* of the *Mahābhārata*, the Cedi-Matsya-Karūṣas are grouped together in one passage, the Cedi-Matsyas in another, and the Cedi- Matsya-Karūṣas in another.¹ Elsewhere in the *Mahābhārata*, in the description of the Kurukṣetra battle, the Cedi-Pañcāla-Karūṣa-Matsyas,² Matsya-Pañcāla-Cedis,³ Cedi-Karūṣa-Matsyas,⁴ and Cedi-Matsyas⁵ respectively are grouped together.

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⁶ Vol. I, p. 316.

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¹ See Bhīṣmaparvan, Chap. 9; Chap. 52, 9; Chap. 54, 8.

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² Mbh., Vaṅgavāsī Eḍn., 59, 129.

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³ Ibid., 118, 52-3.

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⁴ Ibid., VIII, 30, 27, 29.

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⁵ Ibid., VIII, 78, 25.

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In the *Manu-saṃhitā* we read: ‘The plains of the Kurus, the (country of the) Matsyas, Pañcālas and Śūrasenakas, these (form) indeed, the country of the Brahmarshis (Brahman sages) which ranks immediately after Brahmāvarta. From a Brāhman born in that country let all men on earth learn their several usages.’⁶ From this passage it appears that the Matsyas were regarded by the Indians as belonging to the most orthodox followers of Brahmanism in ancient times. Manu also prescribes, when laying down rules for the marshalling of troops on the battle-field, that ‘(Men born in) Kurukṣetra, Matsyas, Pañcālas, and those born in Śūrasena, let him (i.e. the king or leader) cause to fight in the van of the battle, as well as (others who are) tall and light.’⁷ Apparently the Matsyas occupied a pre-eminent position both because of the purity of their conduct and customs, and through their bravery and prowess on the field of battle.

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⁶ Manu-saṃhitā, II, 19-20; S.B.E., Vol. XXV, pp. 32-3.

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⁷ Ibid., VII, 193; S.B.E., Vol. XXV, p. 247.

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In the *Kiṣkindhyā Kāṇḍa* of the *Rāmāyaṇa*, we read that when Sugrīva sent his monkey host to search for Sītā, those under Aṅgada made their enquiries throughout the countries of the Matsyas and the Kaliṅgas, two peoples situated ‘at the two extremities of India’. When speaking⁸ about the country of the Śūrasenas and the Kurus and Bharatas who were the immediate neighbours of the Matsyas, Sugrīva does not refer to the Matsyas at all, although as we have seen, the Śūrasenas and Matsyas were constantly associated in the Paurāṇic age. This omission suggests that at the time of the *Rāmāyaṇa* the Matsyas were not regarded as an important people: perhaps they had lost the importance which they had acquired in the Vedic age.

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⁸ Kiṣkindhyā Kāṇḍa, 43, 11.

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Among references to Matsya in the Buddhist literature, we may mention *Aṅguttara Nikāya* (I, p. 213; IV, pp. 252, 256, 260), where Matsya is named as one of the *Mahājanapadas* of India. There is a reference to the Matsyas or Macchas (together with the Kāsīs and Śūrasenas) in the *Janavasabha Suttanta* of the *Dīgha Nikāya* in connection with the account of the Buddha’s stay in Nāḍika.⁹ In the *Vidhurapaṇḍita Jātaka* we read that the Macchas witnessed the dice-play of the king of the Kurus with the Yakkha Puṇṇaka.¹⁰

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⁹ Dīgha Nikāya, Vol. II, p. 200.

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¹⁰ Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. VI, pp. 280 foll.

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The *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* contains a reference to a Matsya king, Dhvasan Dvaitavana, who appears to have given his name to a lake, Dvaitavana. In the *Mahābhārata*, we find mention of an extensive forest named Dvaitavana where the Pāṇḍavas passed a large portion of their exile. In the *Virāṭaparvan* (IV, 5, 4-5), we are told that the Pāṇḍavas went to the Matsya capital (Virāṭa) from lake Dvaitavana, leaving the Daśārṇas to the South and the Pañcālas to the North, passing through the country of the Yakṛllomas and Śūrasenas, and entering the Matsya dominion from the forest. Elsewhere in the same *Parvan* (III, 24), a lake Dvaitavana is mentioned as existing in the Dvaitavana forest (which was supposed to be situated around the Sarasvatī), and this lake appears to have been close to the Sarasvatī (III, 177). Evidently both the lake and the forest were named after Dhvasan Dvaitavana, and were included in the Matsya dominions in early times. From the *Mahābhārata* account, it appears that the forest was outside the Matsya country, though not very far from it.

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We have seen that according to Manu the Matsya country formed a part of the Brahmarṣi-deśa, the country of the holy sages which, as Rapson¹ points out, included the eastern half of the State of Patiala and of the Delhi division of the Punjab, the Alwar State and adjacent territory in Rajputana, the region which lies between the Ganges and the Jumna, and the Muttra District in the United Provinces. In this land of the Brahmarṣis, as Cunningham shows, ‘In ancient times the whole of the country lying between the Arabali hills of Alwar and the river Jumna was divided between Matsya on the W. and Śūrasena on the E., with Daśārṇa on the S. and S.E. border. Matsya then included the whole of the present Alwar territory, with portions of Jaypur and Bharatpur. Vairāṭ and Māchārī were both in Matsya-deśa . . . To the E. were the Pañcālas . . .’²

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¹ Ancient India, pp. 50-1.

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² Cunningham’s Report, Archaeological Survey of India, Vol. 20, p. 2.

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In later times the Matsya country appears to have been known also as Virāṭa or Vairāṭa. Hsüan Tsang speaks of it as Vairāṭa, and Cunningham points out on his authority that in the seventh century A.D. the kingdom of Vairāṭa was 3,000 li or 500 miles in circuit. It was famous for its sheep and oxen, but produced few fruits or flowers. This is still the case with Jaypur to the S. of Vairāṭa, which furnishes most of the sheep required for the cities of Delhi and Agra, and their English garrisons. Vairāṭa, therefore, may have included the greater part of the present State of Jaypur. Its precise boundaries cannot be determined; but they may be fixed approximately as extending on the north from Jhunjun to Kot Kāsim, 70 miles; on the west from Jhunjun to Ajmer, 120 miles;

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on the south from Ajmer to the junction of the Banās and Chambal, 150 miles; and on the east from the junction to Kot Kāsim, 150 miles; or altogether 490 miles.¹

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¹ Cunningham, Ancient Geography, pp. 344-5.

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The capital of the country is generally called Virāṭanagara in the Virāṭaparvan and elsewhere in the *Mahābhārata*²; but occasionally it is called Matsyanagara,³ and also sometimes Matsyasyanagara.⁴ Evidently it was this Virāṭanagara which afterwards became known as Vairāṭ. This city was the royal seat of the Epic king Virāṭa, the friend of the Pāṇḍavas. The fourth book of the *Mahābhārata* refers to an attempt made by the Trigarttas to plunder the cows of Virāṭa. Virāṭa heard that the Trigarttas were taking away thousands of his kine. He thereupon collected his army; kings and princes put on their armour. Dreadful, infuriated elephants appeared like rain-bearing clouds, and were driven to battle by trained and skilled heroes. The leading heroes of Matsya, who followed their king, had 8,000 chariots, 1,000 elephants, and 60,000 horses. Nevertheless King Virāṭa was taken captive by the Trigarttas, but was rescued by Bhīma, the second Pāṇḍava.⁵ The period of exile of the Pāṇḍava brothers concluded with a year's living incognito in the kingdom of Matsya. They then disclosed their identity, and a marriage between Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, and Uttarā, daughter of King Virāṭa, was arranged and celebrated with great pomp.⁶

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² Mbh., IV, 6, 35; IV, 13, 3.

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³ Ibid., IV, 13, 1.

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⁴ Ibid., IV, 14, 1.

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⁵ M. N. Dutt, Mahābhārata, Virāṭaparvan, Chap. XXXI; also Chap. X, and Chap. XXII.

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⁶ Ibid., Chap. LXXII.

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So much for the traditional history of Virāṭa and his capital. The earliest historical mention of Vairāṭ is that of the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang, in 634 A.D. According to him, the capital was 14 or 15 li, or 2½ miles, in circuit, corresponding almost exactly with the size of the ancient mound on which the present town is built. The people were brave and bold and their king, who was of the race of Fei-she (either a Vaiśya or a Bais Rajput), was famous for his courage and skill in war.⁷

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⁷ Cunningham, Ancient Geography, p. 343.

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We next hear of Vairāṭ during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, who invaded the country in A.D. 1009. The Matsya king submitted to Mahmud, but his country was again invaded in A.D. 1014, and Vairāṭ taken and plundered by Amir Ali who found an ancient stone inscription at Nārāyaṇ, which was said to record that the temple of Nārāyaṇ had been built 40,000 years previously. As this inscription is also mentioned by the contemporary historian Otbi, we may accept the fact of the discovery of a stone record in characters so ancient that the Brahmins of that day were unable to read them.

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Cunningham thought it highly probable that this was the famous inscription of Aśoka that was afterwards discovered by Major Burt on the top of a hill at Vairāṭ.¹

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¹ Cunningham, *Ancient Geography*, pp. 343-4.

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The present town of Vairāṭ is situated in the midst of a circular valley surrounded by low bare bed hills, which have all along been famous for their copper mines. It is 105 miles to the south-west of Delhi, and 41 miles to the north of Jaypur. The soil is generally good, and the trees, especially the tamarinds, are very fine and abundant. Vairāṭ is situated on a mound of ruins, about one mile in length by half a mile in breadth, or upwards of 2½ miles in circuit, of which the present town does not occupy more than one-fourth. The old city Vairāṭnagara is said to have been quite deserted for several centuries until it was repeopled about 350 years ago, most probably during the reign of Akbar. The town was certainly in existence in Akbar's time, as it is mentioned by Abul Fazl in the *Ayin-i-Akbari* as possessing very profitable copper mines.²

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² Ibid., p. 342.

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Another city of King Virāṭa's kingdom was Upaplavya, whither, according to the *Mahābhārata* account, the Pāṇḍavas transferred themselves (from Virāṭa) on completion of their exile.³ This city of Upaplavya is also mentioned in other places. It was hither that Sañjaya, the messenger of the Kurus, was sent by Dhṛtarāṣṭra (*Mbh.*, V, 22, 1). Upaplavya does not appear to have been a capital of the Matsyas as asserted in the *Cambridge History of India* (p. 316), but only one of the towns in the Matsya country. The commentator on the *Mahābhārata*, Nīlakaṇṭha, explains that Upaplavya was the name of 'another (or some) city near Virāṭanagara'⁴; but its exact site is uncertain.

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³ *Tatastrayodaśe varṣe nivṛtte pañcapāṇḍavāḥ Upaplavyam Virāṭasya samapadyanta sarvaśaḥ* (*Mbh.*, IV, 72, 14).

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⁴ Nīlakaṇṭha on the *Mbh.*, IV, 72, 14: '*Upalavyam Virāṭanagarasamīpasthanagarāntaram*'.

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Dr. Ray Chaudhuri points out that Matsya is not mentioned by Kauṭilya as a state having the *saṃgha* form of government. Therefore the probability is that the monarchical constitution lasted throughout the period of Matsya's independence. The kingdom was probably annexed at one time by the neighbouring kingdom of Cedi, and finally absorbed into the Magadhan empire.⁵

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⁵ H. C. Ray Chaudhuri, *Political History of Ancient India*, 4th Ed., p. 116. For further references to Matsya, see, e.g. Smith's *Early History of India*, 4th Ed., p. 413 and R. D. Banerjee, *Vāngālār Itihāsa*, p. 158.

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