Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat # 3: The Saka/ Scythian Connection

There are a few events and stories in the MB which are not only not compatible with modern times, but are also not seen in India over the last 1,000 years. Commentators and polemicists tend to gloss over these events with a flippant explanation, but I am quite sure they are there due to an underlying connection with the ancient Scythian culture.

( what follows is a brief lesson in history)

The Scythians (known in India as the Saka) are on record from the 7^th century BCE . They were a warlike horse-mounted nomadic pastoralist group who lived in the Eurasian Steppe. Their principal occupation was rearing of cattle and horses and they used both the cattle and horses for food and for trade. They were expert in horse-mounted archery. The Scythians through their interaction with the Assyrians also acquired the use of war chariots. They were also known to be cruel in battle. A Scythian warrior would drink the blood of the first enemy he killed. The location  of the Scythians tribes  over the Eurasian steppes is shown in the map below. To be noted that 3 groups in the middle are called “Saka”.

 

One section (or a tribe within the larger Scythian community), migrated into India and established the Saka Kingdom/s (see map below) which were in control of the regions of present-day Pakistan, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and UP for 600 years from about about 150 BCE to 400 CE. Some historians have stated that the migrations also continued during this period around 600 years. Their first king was Moga (also known as Maues, Mava in other narrations) who ruled from Takshila. The image below shows a coin issued by Moga. He is riding on a chariot. At its peak the Saka kingdom was a confederation of Saka chieftains known as Kshatraps (English equiv Satrap). During their presence in India, the Saka initially followed Buddhism and later Hinduism. The Hindu calendar Saka Samvat is named after them,

Around 70 CE , the Saka kingdoms of the Takshila region  were displaced by the Kushana  kingdom/ dynasty (aka Yuezhi,  also a tribe from central Asia) whose most famous king Kanishka ruled from Peshawar and Mathura. However several Saka kingdoms in the West (Gujarat/MP ) and North (UP/ Bihar) continued as vassal states under Kushana rule. In Indian history they are known as Western and Northern Kshatraps/ Satraps.

 The MB itself has multiple references to the Saka and depicts them as the “bad guys”. In the Kuruskshetra war they fought on the side of the Kaurava.The MB describes the Saka as a “mleccha” people living the north-west who were  fierce warriors.

Here are the specific points of similarity of Saka with the warriors of the MB.

• Polyandry: Draupadi marries 5 Pandava Brother: There are multiple references from both the Mahabharat and Ramayana of kings having multiple wives but a woman having more than 1 living husband is not only rare , it is unique. This is sought to be explained away by saying Kunti (without realising the consequences) said “share among all 5”, but there is no shloka in the MB which supports this remark of Kunti. Polyandry was practiced  in Scythian culture.
•  Horse sacrifice: Ashwamedha Yagya (described in detail in the Ashwamedhika Parva) clearly mentions that those who participated in the Ashwamedha (royalty, noblemen, courtiers, officiating brahmin priests) ate the flesh of the sacrificed horse. Horse sacrifice was also practised by the Scythians. Interestingly, the Scythians did not slaughter the horse. They strangulated the horse for the sacrifice and this is also how the horse was killed in the Ashwamedha.
•  Cruelty in battle: It was a practice among Scythian warriors to drink the blood of the enemy killed. In the MB , Bheema kills Dushasana in a wrestling match and then drinks his blood.
•  One peculiar feature of  Scythian warriors was that they had very long arms and legs. The MB also describes warriors in a similar way. The Sanskrit word AAJANUBAHU is used. It means with arms reaching till thighs/  knees.
• Chariots, horses  and arrows. All the warriors in the MB are all shown as expert horse-riders and archers. This is common with the Scythians.
• Physique: The Scythians were known to be very tall and well built. The average height of warriors was around 6 ft. They were fair (not white) in complexion. Their eye colour was black/ grey/ amber and hair colour dark/ blonde.

So what we see in the MB is that while the Saka are the “bad guys” their characteristics (physique, battle prowess, marital customs, archery etc) are used in the story.

But there is an interesting twist. Present day Jats of Haryana/ UP/ Rajasthan (and to some extent related communities such as Gurjars and Rajputs) show remarkable similarities with the Saka: They are well-built with long arms. The Jats also follow a custom that when a woman is widowed , the deceased husband’s brother marries the widow. Indeed , a website run by the Jat community mentions their connection with the Sakas and historians are agreed that the Jats are the descendants of the Western and  Northern Satraps. The well-known Jat village council known as KHAP is actually derived from the word Kshatrap.

https://www.jatland.com/home/Scythian_Jats

Some scholars have even suggestd that the word  JAT is derived from the Saka  tribe MASSAGETAE . This is a Greek word pronounced as massa-jetay

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massagetae

 Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #2 >> Why are there no tribals in Punjab?

India has roughly 120 million ( 12 crore) tribal population. They form 8.4% of the population. Almost every state and Union territory has a significant tribal population. But Punjab and Haryana are exceptions. They have near ZERO tribal population. And further east along the Ganga, UP and Bihar have very low tribal population (less than 5%) , How did this happen? The answer, again, is in the MB.

In the previous tale we have seen how Khandava Prastha (and other forests) was set afire by the Pandava and the wildlife killed/ driven out eastwards. But what about the people who lived in those forests?

The MB mentions a forest dwelling beings called Naga. They are sometimes mentioned as serpents and sometimes as human. The MB also mentions one of the 4 wives of Arjun as Uloopi, a Naga princess, the daughter of the king Airavatha Kauravya. So, the Naga were definitely human. The MB also tells us that Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu / grandson of Arjun died of a Naga snake-bite. So Janmejaya (son of Parikshit) vowed to exterminate the Naga. This was to be accomplished through a yagya called the Naga Yagya or Snake Sacrifice (famously known as Janmejaya Ka Naga yagya). When the yagya was conducted, the magical powers of the yagya caused the Naga to fall into the yagya fire and die.

Adi Parva, Chapter 57 (Sarpa Sattra) records

Mahabharata Adi Parva Chapter 57

"Saunaka said, 'O son of a Suta, I desire to hear the names of all those snakes that fell into the fire of this snake-sacrifice!' "Sauti replied, 'Many thousands and tens of thousands and billions of snakes fell into the fire. O most excellent Brahmana, so great is the number that I am unable to count them all. So far, however, as I remember, hear the names I mention of the principal snakes cast into the fire. Hear first the names of the principal ones of Vasuki's race alone, of colour blue, red and white of terrible form and huge body and deadly poison. Helpless and miserable and afflicted with their mother's curse, they fell into the sacrificial fire like libations of butter.

"Kotisa, Manasa, Purna, Cala, Pala Halmaka, Pichchala, Kaunapa, Cakra, Kalavega, Prakalana, Hiranyavahu, Carana, Kakshaka, Kaladantaka—these snakes born of Vasuki, fell into the fire. And, O Brahmana, numerous other snakes well-born, and of terrible form and great strength, were burnt in the blazing fire. I shall now mention those born in the race of Takshaka. Hear thou their names. Puchchandaka, Mandalaka, Pindasektri, Ravenaka; Uchochikha, Carava, Bhangas, Vilwatejas, Virohana; Sili, Salakara, Muka, Sukumara, Pravepana, Mudgara and Sisuroman, Suroman and Mahahanu. These snakes born of Takshaka fell into the fire. And Paravata, Parijata, Pandara, Harina, Krisa, Vihanga, Sarabha, Meda, Pramoda, Sauhatapana—these born in the race of Airavata fell into the fire. Now hear, O best of Brahmanas, the names of the snakes I mention born in the race of Kauravya: Eraka, Kundala Veni, Veniskandha, Kumaraka, Vahuka, Sringavera, Dhurtaka, Pratara and Astaka. There born in the race of Kauravya fell into the fire. Now hear the names I mention, in order, of those snakes endued with the speed of the wind and with virulent poison, born in the race of Dhritarashtra: Sankukarna, Pitharaka, Kuthara, Sukhana, and Shechaka; Purnangada, Purnamukha, Prahasa, Sakuni, Dari, Amahatha, Kumathaka, Sushena, Vyaya, Bhairava, Mundavedanga, Pisanga, Udraparaka, Rishabha, Vegavat, Pindaraka; Raktanga, Sarvasaranga, Samriddha, Patha and Vasaka; Varahaka, Viranaka, Suchitra, Chitravegika, Parasara, Tarunaka, Maniskandha and Aruni.

"O Brahmana, thus I have recited the names of the principal snakes known widely for their achievements—I have not been able to name all, the number being countless. The sons of these snakes, the sons of those sons, that were burnt having fallen into the fire, I am unable to mention. They are so many! Some of three heads, some of seven, others of ten, of poison like unto the fire at the end of the yuga and terrible in form,—they were burnt by thousands!

So this was no ordinary battle. This was genocidal extermination which explains why there are no tribal communities in Punjab/ Haryana.

Interestingly this list mentions one tribal community that still exists in India of the present day: MUNDA. And more interestingly the word MUNDA in Punjabi means a boy which is exactly what it means in the Mundari language (spoken by the Munda tribe). But the Munda tribe today lives in Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal all of which are at least 2000 km away form Punjab. So, it turns out that the Naga yagya is an allegorical reference to the expulsion and extermination (by the Kuru Bharat dynasty) of tribals from the dense forests that once covered the Indo-Gangetic plains. The tribals, like the wildlife, were also driven eastwards where they live till today in a place called the Chhota Nagpur Plateau! Is that NAG in the Nagpur just a coincidence?

Another point to note. Sanskrit is one of the ancient Indo_european langauges. There are 2 popular words for sanke is Sanskrit: Sarpa and Naga. Surprisingly while other Indo-European languages have SERPENT (equiv to Sanskrit Sarpa), they do not have any word parallel to Naga. What this implies is that the Vedic Sanskrit speakers picked up this word as a result of their contact with the Indian tribal community. The tribals worshipped snakes (as they still do after 3000 years) .

Many other cultural remnants of the Naga are also seen even now. Snake worship by Hindus across the country. The association of snakes with Shiva. The Puranic enmity between snakes and Garuda (Vishnu’s mount), reflects the ideological conflict between Shaiv/ Tribal and Vaishnav sects. The name Naga as a prefix especially in Andhra (Nagarjuna, Nagalakshmi) and as a second name (Bengal, Rajasthan etc).

In forthcoming tales, you can look forward to the tale of dethronement of Indra by Vishnu.

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 Hidden Tales from the Mahabharat: #1 >> Where are the Rhinos of Sindh/Punjab?

The images below are seals from the Indus Valley Civilisation. According to archaeologists they may be from the period 3,000 to 2,500 BCE. That is about 4,500 to 5,000 years in the past from now. While more than 3,000 seals have been found, I have selected a few, all of which show various wild animals. Tiger, rhinoceros, elephant, deer (below the seated human figure), buffalo can all be seen. Of special interest is the rhinoceros because in the present day, the only rhino available in the Indian sub-continent is in Assam which is 2500 km from the Indus valley. So how did a rhino appear on an IVC seal? The answer lies in the Mahabharat (MB).

To get to the answer, we have to first understand the historical and cultural context of the MB. This is going to be a bit long, but here we go:

The orthodox Indian tradition recognises 3 scriptural pillars. The Veda (and associated Brahmana, Aranyak and Upanishad). Collectively they are called the Shruti (revealed). The second pillar is the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. These are called Itihaas (History). The third pillar are the Purana. The Veda are the oldest composition (2000-1000 BCE) followed by the epics (originally approx. 400 BCE but extended /expanded subsequently over a long period) and then the Purana (300 to 1,000 CE). So, there is about 800-1000 years between the Veda and Epics and another 800-1000 years between the Epics and Purana.

There are several facts about the MB which are not widely known.·

First the name. The Bharat in the name Mahabharat does not refer to a region or province. It refers to the Bharat (भारत) dynasty named after King Bharat (भरत), See note below) who is mentioned very briefly in the Rig Veda. But King Bharat posthumously becomes more well-know because of the exploits of his descendants, the Kuru-Bharat dynasty chronicled in the MB. Indeed, the exploits of the Kuru-Bharat dynasty were so highly admired by a section of Indians, that Bharat / भारत was adopted as a name for the country in the Constitution of India. ·

The MB is a fictional story woven around the Bharat-Kuru Vedic dynasty. It chronicles the rise of Vedic kingdoms in general (and the Kuru kingdom/ dynasty in particular) from Punjab and their eastward expansion into the Gangetic plain.·

The kernel of the Kurukshetra war scenario is the Battle of Ten Kings (aka BTK or Dasrajnya from Rig Veda Mandala 7) which has been dated to about 1200-800 BCE. In this battle, King Sudas (a descendant of King Bharat) defeated the combined forces of 9 Vedic tribes some of who were his own cousins and kinsmen. One can notice the similarity between BTK and MB here (one kingdom against many/ brother-against-brother). The genealogy is King Bharat --7 generations –King Sudas -several generations--King Kuru --several generations –MB era.·

The extant MB is a very large work, but it did not begin so. It was expanded in stages. The MB itself records that the original story was Jaya (Victory) of 8000 verses, expanded to Bharat with 24,000 verses and finally to the Mahabharat with 100,000 verses. So Mahabharat is the Great (Maha) story of the Bharat dynasty. ·

It is these expansions, which likely happened over a period of several hundred years, maybe even a 1000 years, that makes the MB a treasure trove of information on the social, cultural and political changes happening in India in those times. As incident upon incident was woven into the original, the authors (or editors), perhaps unintentionally, recorded contemporary history in a dramatic genre/style. So while the characters (Karna, Yudhishthira , Arjun etc) are fictional, the expanded MB is a very good record of the broad social and political trends in India over perhaps 800 to a 1,000 years. 

So, what about the rhino?

The MB mentions a forest by the name of Khandava Prastha located in present day Haryana. The clearing of the forests is specifically mentioned in the MB in the Adi Parva/ Khandava-Daha section incident which describes the burning of the Khandava Prastha forest by Krisha/ Arjun. This is an allegorical reference to the clearing of Gangetic plains lands (for farming/ agriculture) by the Vedic people and expulsion / displacement of wildlife that lived in the forest. Modern Khandava Prastha is identified as the town of Khanda (Dist. Hissar, Haryana) close to the river Yamuna and about 125 km to the east of Hastinapur.

The MB (Adi Parva / Khandava Daha ) says (from the transltion of the Mahabharata by KM Ganguli 18183-1896)

Vaisampayana said, 'Then those foremost of chariot-warriors (Krishna and Arjuna), riding in their chariots and placing themselves on opposite sides of that forest, began a great slaughter, on all sides, of the creatures dwelling in Khandava. At whatever point any of the creatures residing in Khandava could be seen attempting to escape, thither rushed those mighty heroes (to prevent its flight). Indeed, those two excellent chariots seemed to be but one, and the two warriors also therein but one individual. And while the forest was burning, hundreds and thousands of living creatures, uttering frightful yells, began to run about in all directions. Some had particular limbs burnt, some were scorched with excessive heat, and some came out, and some ran about from fear. And some clasping their children and some their parents and brothers, died calmly without, from excess of affection, being able to abandon these that were dear to them.>>

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Repeat this a few hundred times over a 1,000-year period and you can see why there is no wildlife (or forests) in the Gangetic plains. Also, by the 10th C BCE, the Vedic people were using iron weapons and implements. This made the task of clearing the forests easier. Thus, the rhinos were pushed eastwards to Assam.

But this story does not end here: It gets worse, much worse. Read about it in the next Hidden tale.

Note on Bharat / भरत (the king): The word derives from the Sanskrit root “bhar” which means to fill or to replenish. Bharat is someone who is responsible for replenishing the yagya fire. According to the rules of Sanskrit grammar the progeny of Bharat/ भरत are called Bhaarat/ भारत. The English word “bear” (as in to bear the burden/ responsibility) is a cognate of the same Sanskrit word “bhar”.

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Caste and Colour in India : A genomic pointer to the Aryan Invasion/ Migration Theory ??

Caste and Colour in India : A genomic pointer to the Aryan Invasion/ Migration Theory ??

(This post is under revision/ editing/ additions)

NB: I have referred to caste/ colour etc only for the purposes of identification.

In the last few years a number of genomic research projects have been carried out on South Asian populations. In my opinion, two of these stand out in explaining the extant population mix and caste-related physiognomy. The 2 are:

· Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India by Priya Moorjani,* Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Nick Patterson, Mark Lipson, Po-Ru Loh,,Periyasamy Govindaraj, Bonnie Berger, David Reich,and Lalji Singh Sept 2013. http://www.sciencedirect.com/sci...

· Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure by Analabha Basu, Neeta Sarkar-Roy, and Partha P. Majumder (NIBM and ISI Kolkata ) July 2015.http://www.pnas.org/content/113/...

What I am trying to do here is to present the findings from these 2 research studies in layman’s language (and considering that I am myself a layman in genomics, there could be some mistakes)

Before I get on to the findings of the research projects a little background information is in order. A majority of the world’s current population derives from 3 ancestral races/ lineages: Negroid (dark/ dark curly hair/ dark eyes), Mongoloid (pale/ straight dark hair/ slit eyes) and Caucasoid (white / eyes may be light or dark/ hair may be dark or light and straight or curly) . As the names suggest the three lineages have distinct physical features associated with them. I want to clarify that these are ancestral lineages. Existing population groups will exhibit features that may be a combination of the 3 types depending on the degree of historical mixing or isolation.

In addition there is one more lineage, the Australoid (dark/ dark curly hair) which is not very large but of interest to us in India.

The names of the specific genes applicable to the Indian population are Ancestral South Indian (ASI from Negroid)., Ancestral North Indian (ANI from Caucasoid), Ancestral Tibeto Burman (ATB from Mongoloid) and Ancestral Asia Australoid (AAA from Australoid)

Now the main finding of the 2 research studies are do with the admixture of the genes in the current population and the dates when the admixture started and ended.

1. · Existing population groups of India are a mixture of 2 or more of these 4 groups. (no group is 100% pure ie from a single lineage, though some groups have a very high percentage of a single lineage). A table with details is given in the appendix .
2. · There is a distinct pattern of gene admixture depending on caste / tribe and geography.
3. · ASI and ANI and combinations form the largest part of the non-tribal total population with higher castes showing more ANI and lower caste showing more ASI. This is true both for North India as well as South.
4. · There is a reduction of ANI as we move from North India to South India. And a corresponding increase in ASI as we move from North to South.
5. · The ASI/ANI admixture started only approx 4200 years ago. Before that time there was no ASI-ANI admixture.
6. · ASI is exclusive to South Asia, not found elsewhere. ANI is seen in Iran / Afghanistan/ Central Asia.
7. ·While ASI ANI admixture abruptly stopped about 1900 years ago all over India, the ANI-AAA admixture continued for some more time.
8. · AAA is mostly seen in high percentage in tribals of central and eastern India
9. · ATB is more pronounced in the North East.

Now if you put the points above together, you can see a distinct connection between lineage and caste/ tribal status.

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Appendix. (UC =Upper Caste, MC= Middle caste, TR=tribal)

Populations in bold letters are the ones that have a very high percentage of a single lineage...ie very little admixture.

Of Burqas and Turbans

From my childhood in 60’s and 70’s I remember several newspaper reports of the following type (name is fictitious):

Mr Kartar Singh, a Sikh Bus driver in with the Metropolitan Bus Service, London was denied the right to wear a turban (at work) by his employer. He appealed to the courts on the grounds that his religious beliefs required him to wear a turban The courts after hearing his case directed the employers that Mr Singh cannot be be forced to NOT wear a turban.

This news was reported as a triumph of an Indian against his former colonial masters. Indeed ,I agreed with this view of a triumph, as did, I am quite sure , the rest of India.

Only much later in life it struck me that it was as much as triumph for Mr Singh , as it was a triumph of the British judicial system and its principles of fairness which in turn came from the British democracy.

Could such a thing have happened in the 60’s in another country? Say Germany ? or USA ? or South Africa?

Fast-forward to 2016. I see a lot of criticism on the custom of Indian Muslim women wearing a Burqa. Though I am personally of the opinion that the Burqa is a relic of the middle ages, I think Muslim women should be the ones to decide for themselves if they wish to or do not wish to wear a Burqa

Fresh Paint Smell

Have you noticed freshly painted rooms and furniture have a distinctive smell that goes off after a few days ? Do you know why ?

Here is how it works. Paint as sold in shops has 3 main ingredients. A Binder, a solvent and a pigment. Out-of-the-can paint is usually very thick and difficult to apply to surfaces. So a liquid thinner is added to make the paint easier to spread (or less viscous , technically speaking)

The thinner (also commonly known as mineral turpentine) is usually a mixture of hydrocarbons such as Aliphatic and Alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons , toluene, benzene , ketones etc. These are derived from petroleum crude oil (in a way similar to petrol/ diesel production). Similar to petrol/ diesel , thinner is a volatile substance. Once the paint (with thinner) has been applied, the thinner slowly evaporates leaving behind only the paint. The evaporation may take from a few days to a month or more (depending on the specific ingredients of the thinner). The “fresh paint smell” is the smell of the evaporating thinner. Once the evaporation is complete , the paint film becomes dry and the process is complete, the smell also fades away.

Trivia

 Trivia

Linen iron: On most steam-irons (interestingly in South India they are often called Iron Boxes) there is a dial with which you set the temperature. Nylon, Wool, Cotton etc. Most of the time Linen is also one of the settings, and it is always the setting with the highest temperature. I had wondered for many years why Linen should find a place there because it was (and is) never a commonly used fabric. Then one day it struck me that the setting was not for a fabric but for a type of items , bed-linen: bedcovers , bed-sheets , pillow covers etc. Since traditionally these items are made from thicker material they require a higher temperature setting. Big revelation that !!

Victoria in Mumbai: In the 70 s there was a movie called Victoria Number 302. It was a mystery story set in Bombay around a horse-drawn carriage. I also knew that horse drawn carriages in Bombay were known as Victoria. These are 4 wheeled carriages usually pulled by a single horse but sometimes 2 horses are also used. They were a common sight in Bombay till the 70 s. But why these carriages were called Victoria in Bombay no one seemed to know. Then some years ago I went to London. The Central bus-station in London is called Victoria Coach Station, and before it became a bus-station it was a place where the horse carriages in London were to be found. Hence the name for carriages in Bombay came to be Victoria

Why Six plates (or Glasses or Cups) in a set ? Not so long ago, crockery (and cutlery) was sold only in sets, and specifically in sets of six. No one seemed to know why this was so. Why not 4 or 8? Does anyone have an answer ?