Arjunayanas

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Arjunayanas
2nd century BCE–6th century
Pauravas
.
Governmentmonarchy
History 
• Established
2nd century BCE
• Disestablished
6th century
 Succeeded by
Gupta Empire
Today part ofIndia

Arjunayana, Arjunavana, Arjunavayana

Bharatpur states now in Rajasthan, a view which has been rejected by R. C. Majumdar
. They are mentioned in the literary sources in Afghanistan from 4th century BCE and after Alexander's invasions in 3rd century they have been mentioned in Agra, Mathura and Southern Haryana region till 4th century CE where their coins have been found too.

Origin

The origin of the Arjunayanas is shrouded in obscurity. In terms of literary evidence, Arjunava is mentioned as geographical term in Ganapatha (IV.2.127 dhuma-aday-ah) in Pāṇini (c. 600 BCE to 400 BCE). In terms of excavated archaeological evidence, they make their first appearance in history sometime after the invasion of Alexander and were first attested by their coins belonging to 2nd or 1st century BCE.[8] Arjunavana is derived from Arjunava. Arjunayana is same as Arjunavana or Arjunavayana.[9] Arjunavana is believed to be derived from Arjunava, a composite of Arjuna and nava (young, modern or descended from).

Greek sources

Greek chronicler

Aspasioi tribe (Aśvakas) whom Arrian calls Indian barbarians. These people had given a tough fight to Alexander in 327 BCE and when the defense of their citadel became difficult in view of the superior forces of Alexander, the inhabitants of Arigaeum/Arigaion had deserted the city, set it on fire and retreated to mountainous fastnesses. Alexander took his forces towards the mountainous fastness where most of the Arigaionians (inhabitants of Arigaion) were collected. A hard contest ensued with the Arigaionian Aspasians, both from the difficult nature of the ground and because the Aspasian Indians were not like the other barbarians of this district but were far stronger than their neighbors.[11] Ptolemy attests that Macedonian forces captured about 40,000, and that over 23,000 of which Alexander picked out the finest and sent them into Macedonia.[11] Scholars like Dr V. S. Agarwala have equated the Arigaeum or Arigaion of Arrian to Sanskrit name Arjunava which finds mention in Pāṇini's Ganapatha [12] as well as in the Kasika.[13]
If this interpretation of scholars like Dr V. S. Agarwala is correct and the "Arjunava" of the Kashika or Pāṇini's Ganapatha is indeed the "Arigaeum/Arigaion" of Arrian, then the probable origin of the Arjunayanas can possibly be speculated. The section of Aspasian people inhabiting the city of Arigaion (Arjunava) were probably known as Arjunavanas, Arjunavayanas or Arjunayanas (from Arjunava).

Indian sources

A variant of Sanskrit Arjunayana is attested as Arjunayanaka. Kautiliya's Arthashastra (c. 200 BCE to 300 CE) mentions and brackets a nation called Prajjunaka with Gandhara[14] and refers to their buffoons, Artisans and professional singers and actors. Since Gandhara was a great ancient cultural center, therefore, the Prajjunakas who are bracketed with the Gandharas and are attested to have Gandhara-like cultural characteristics, must also have laid close to Gandhara. The Prajjunakas of Arthashastra have been supposed by some scholars to be a variant of Sanskrit Arjunayanakas (Arjunayana).[5][15][16] If this be correct, then the 4th-century BCE text on statecraft also attests the Arjunayanas (Arjunavanas) as close neighbors of the Gandharas which fact possibly alludes to the inhabitants of Arigaion (Arjunava) of the Swat/Kunar valleys.

Dispersal and migration of the Arigaionians

It is conceivable to infer that after suffering serious defeat at the hands of Alexander's

Haihaya tribe of the antiquity. Some other scholars like Dr Buddha Prakash however like to connect Arjunayanas to Pandava-hero Arjuna.[citation needed
]

Coins of Arjunayanas

The findspot of Arjunayana

Ashvakas are believed to be a section of the ancient Kambojas. They are mentioned as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayas by Pāṇini.[24]
That the Arjunayanas were devotees of god Shiva also alludes to their possible connections with the Swat/Kunar valley, the land of the Ashvakas.

Arjunayanas and Arjuna

2nd-century coin evidence attests that the Arjunayanas and Yaudheyas were neighbourly tribes and had collaborated in their joint fight against the foreign invaders like the

Punjabi tribes like the Sibis, Trigartas, Rajanyas, Madras, Kekayas, Ambasthas, Kaukuras etc., had joined the Rajasuya ceremony of the Pandavas and had brought tributes to Yudhishtra.[27] Thus, the claim that Yaudheyas had descended from Yaudheya, son of Pandava Yudhishtra is utterly baseless. Similarly, there is no basis, whatsoever, in the speculation that Arjunayanas may have descended from the Pandava hero Arjuna. These seem to be merely fantastic myths invented at later time to connect the Yaudheyas as well as the Arjunayanas to the heroic Pandava lineage. The Arjunayanas are not mentioned in the Mahabharata, Ramayana or any Vedic texts. While Yaudheyas are mentioned in the list of Ayudhajivi Samghas of Pāṇini,[28] the Arjunayanas don't find any reference as such. It may also be a mere speculation that the Prajjunakas of Kautiliya's Arthashastra [29] are same as Arjunayanas (or Arjunayanakas).[30]
Thus, the Arjunayanas/Arjunavanas or Arjunayanakas are, in all probability, a post-Alexandrian phenomena and it is highly likely that this people had been fugitives from the Arigaion (Arjunava) region of the Kunar/Swat valleys.

Arjunayanas in Allahabad Pillar Inscription

The territory of the Arjunayanas bordered on the Gupta empire. They are recorded in the Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta (c. 335 – c. 380 CE) and are mentioned together with Malavas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Abhiras, Prarjunas, Sanakanikas, Kakas, Kharaparikas and other tribes.[31][32] They are believed to have been vanquished by Samudragupta, around 335 CE and amalgamated into the Gupta empire.

Allahabad Pillar inscription of Samudragupta.[33]

(Lines 22–23) (

Mādrakas, Ābhīras, Prārjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas, Kharaparikas and other (tribes)."

— Lines 22–23 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta (r.c.350-375 CE).[34]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 0226742210
    .
  2. ^ Journal of Ancient Indian History,1972, p 318, University of Calcutta. Dept. of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Editor D. C. Sircar.
  3. ^ For Arjunavana = Arjunayan, see: Ancient Indian folk cults, 1970, p 178, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala.
  4. ^ VarAhamihira's Brhatsamhita, v 4.25ab; v 11.59cd; v 14.25ab; v 16.21cd; v 17.19cd.
  5. ^ a b c Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Punjab, 1971, p 110, Buddha Prakash.
  6. ^ VarAhamihira's Brhatsamhita, v 14.24ab-14.25ab.
  7. ^ India as seen in the Brhat samhita of Varaha-Mihira, 1969, p 68, A. M. Shastri.
  8. ^ See: Ganapatha, 124, dhuma-aday-ah; Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, 1989, p 1294, Sumitra Mangesh Katre.
  9. ^ See: Journal of Ancient Indian History, 1972, p 318; University of Calcutta. Dept. of Ancient Indian History and Culture; and: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1989, p 211, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute - Indo-Aryan philology; Ancient Kurukṣetra: Studies in Historical & Cultural Geography, 1991, p 127, O. P. Bharadwaj.
  10. ^ OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS, Arrian Anabasis Book 4b, ChXXIV.
  11. ^ a b OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS, Arrian Anabasis Book 4b, Ch XXIV, translated by E.J. Chinnock (1893).
  12. ^ Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, 1989, p 1294, Sumitra Mangesh Katre.
  13. ^ Rijunavam nivaso desah (Kasika IV.2.69); India as known to Pāṇini: a study of the cultural material in the Ashṭādhyāyī, 1963, p 457, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala - Foreign Language Study.
  14. ^ :KAZ03.18.08/ tena zruta.upavaado vaag.jiivanaanaaM, kaaru.kuziilavaanaaM vRtty.upavaadaH, praajjuuNaka.gaandhaara.aadiinaaM ca jana.pada.upavaadaa vyaakhyaataaH (Arthashastra 03-18-08).
  15. ^ Political and Social Movements in Ancient Punjab, 1964, p 93, Buddha Prakash.
  16. ^ Kautiliya's Arthashastra, 1997, p 247, R. P. Kangle.
  17. ^ Journal of the Oriental Institute, 1970, p 433, Oriental Institute (Vadodara, India)
  18. ^ A tribal history of ancient India, 1974, pp 18-19, Kalyan Kumar Dasgupta; Journal of the Oriental Institute, 1970, p 433, Oriental Institute (Vadodara, India).
  19. ^ Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira, 1996, p 180, Varāhamihira, M.R. Bhat.
  20. ^ The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol 23-24, 1947-48, pp 290/291, N. Chaudhuri-India.
  21. ^ Indian [mythology], 1917, p 110, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Albert Joseph Carnoy - Mythology, Hindu.
  22. Asvaka
    district, north of Kabul river where flourished the vine-orchards" (See: Coins and Icons, A Study of Myth and Symbols in Indian Numistmatic Art, 1977, p 128, Bhaskar Chattopadhya)
  23. ^ Alexander the Great, 2003, p 324, Dr W. W. Tarn. Also see p 45.
  24. ^ Ashtadhyayi Sutra IV.1.110; Ganapatha, Nadadigana IV.1.99.
  25. ^ :Yudhishthiras.tu.go.vaasanasya.zaibyasya.devikaam.naama.kanyaam.svayam.vare.lebhe.|
    tasyaam.putram.janayaam.aasa.yaudheyam.naama.||
    (Critical Edition: Mahabharata 1.90.83).
  26. ^ Critical Edition: Mahabharata 7.180.16; Mahabharata 7.132.25; Mahabharata 7.136.05; Mahabharata 8.40.46.
  27. ^
    Sibi.tri.garta.yaudheyaa.raajanyaa.madra.kekayaah.||
    AmbaSThaah.kaukuraas.taarkSyaa.vastrapaah.pahlavaih.saha|
    (Critical Edition: Mahabharata 2.48.13-14).
  28. ^ Ashtadhyayi V.3.114.
  29. ^ Arthashastra 3.18.08.
  30. ^ Allahabad Pillar Inscription mentions both Arjunayanas as well as Prarjunas as the two distinct people. If the Prajjunakas of Kautiliya's Arthashastra are equivalent to Sanskrit Arjunayanas, then it probably follows that by the time Samudragupta (c. AD 335 – 380), there were known two branches of the Argaionians (Arjunavanas/Arjunayanas)----viz. the southern branch settled in south-east Punjab/Rajasthan came to be known as Arjunayanas while the original branch of the same people came to be known as Prarjunas i.e Pra-arjunas = Prajjunas (from Prakritic form Prarjjunakas as mentioned in Arthashastra ( 3.18.08), which may mean the furthest Arjunavanas.
  31. ^ A History of Civilization in Ancient India, p 64-65, R. C. Dutt.
  32. ^ India's diplomatic relations with the East, 1960, p 105, Bhasker Anand Saletore.
  33. ^ Fleet, John Faithfull (1888). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3. pp. 6–10.
  34. ^ Fleet, John Faithfull (1888). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3. pp. 6–10.
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