Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahabharata: Upayana Parva c5.99

c5.99

Lastly there is another list (M.B., II, 47, 19) in which the names of the Cīnas, Hūṇas, Śakas and Oḍras appear in a descending order. The appearance of the Hūṇas may at once make us jump to the conclusion that the text must be of the 5th century or later when the Indians to their cost came to know of the Hūṇas. But these are not the Hūṇas of the 5th century and neither their presence within the boundaries of India should be sought for. They probably represent the Hiung-nu settled on the borders of China, who drove away the Yüe-Chï and whose depredations caused the Han kings to build the Great Wall as a protection against their inroads. The order in which the tribes are mentioned here is quite appropriate. First come the great Chinese people then the Hūṇas or Hiung-nu from the Mongolian side, then the Saka tribes settled near Issyk-kul in the beginning of the second century B.C.⁶⁴ and then finally the Oḍras or the inhabitants of Swat about whom we shall have to say something later on. The mention of the Oḍras immediately after the Śakas probably points to the route which a section of the Śakas took after their defeat by the Yüe-Chï which landed them in Swat and thence to Ki-pin. In this list the author of the *Sabhāparva* seems to emphasise the ethnic importance of the races in their proper order.