Battle of the Ten Kings
Battle of the Ten Kings | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Trtsu |
First Phase:
Second Phase: | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Vashishta |
First Phase:
Second Phase: |
The Battle of the Ten Kings (
Battle
Hanns-Peter Schmidt, whom Witzel deems to have produced the most "detailed, and ingenious reinterpretation" of the hymns, locates a unique poetic moment across the RV corpus, in their extraordinarily abundant usage of sarcastic allusions, similes and puns to mock the tribal alliance.[6][8][9] Some of those allusions seem to be heavily context-specific and (still) remain unrecognized; there exist considerable disputes about interpretations of particular words, in light of the employed figures of speech and other poetic devices.[8][2]
First phase
The first phase of the battle took place on the banks of the
Though seemingly an unequal battle, going by the numbers (this aspect is highlighted multiple times in the hymns), Sudas decisively won against the tribal alliance by strategic breaching of a dyke on the river thereby drowning most (?) of the opponents.[6][9] This sudden change in fortunes is attributed to the benevolence and strategizing of Indra, the patron-god of Bharatas, whose blessings were secured by Vasistha's poetics.[6][2]
Second phase
Thereafter, the battleground (probably) shifted to the banks of river Yamuna, wherein the local chieftain Bhida was defeated along with three other tribes — Ajas, Śighras, and the Yakṣus.[6][2]
Aftermath
The Battle of the Ten Kings led Bharatas to occupy the entire Puru territory of Western Punjab (then Panchanada) centered around Sarasvati River and complete their east-ward migration.[6] Sudas celebrated his victory with the Ashvamedha ritual to commemorate the establishment of a realm, free of enemies from the north, east, and west. He still had enemies in the Khāṇḍava Forest to the south, which was inhabited by the despised (unknown if Indo-Aryan or non-Indo-Aryan) Kikatas.[6]
A political realignment between Purus and Bharatas probably followed soon enough and might have included other factions of the tribal union as well; this is exhibited from how the core collection of RV prominently features clan-hymns of both the sides.[12][6]
The territory would eventually become the first South-Asian "state" under the Kuru tribe in post-RV span. It became the heart-land of Brahminical culture and purity, which eventually would influence and transform Indian culture,
Historicity
Numerous translators since the 1800s including K. F. Geldner have considered the battle as a historical event, based on the narration-characteristics of the verses.[8] Witzel dates the battle between approximately 1450 and 1300 BCE; he deems the concerned hymns to be late interpolations.[13] Stephanie W. Jamison warns against using it as a major source to reconstruct history since the description of the battle is "anything but clear."[2][10]
Both Witzel and Jamison find the very next hymn (7.19, verse 3) to show a striking shift of allegiance with Indra helping Sudas as well the Purus, who won land.[6][2]
Stephanie W. Jamison notes it to be the most famous historical conflict in RV—in that, it secured the dominance of Bharatas over Vedic tribes—as does Witzel.[2][9]
Possible prototype for the Kurukshetra War
Witzel notes this battle to be the probable archetype/prototype of the Kurukshetra War, narrated in the Mahabharata.[14] John Brockington takes a similar approach.[15] S. S. N. Murthy goes to the extent of proposing the battle as the very "nucleus" of the Kurukshetra War; Walter Ruben adopts a similar stance.[5][16] However, Witzel maintains the nucleus text of the Mahabharata to be in description of some event in the Late Vedic spans; it was since reshaped (and expanded) over centuries of transmission and recreation to (probably) reflect the Battle of the Ten Kings.[6] Alf Hiltebeitel rejects Witzel's and Brockington's arguments as "baffling fancy" and notes a complete lack of means to connect the battle with the "fratricidal struggle" of the Mahabharata.[17][15]
See also
- Kurukshetra War
- Mahabharata
- Historicity of the Mahabharata
Notes
- Vasistha, who replaced Vishwamitra. However, Jamison rejects that there exists any evidence of Vasistha-Vishwamitra feud in RV.[2]
- ^ Karl Friedrich Geldner deemed it to be Bheda, incorrectly. Witzel proposes Trasadasyu. Palihawadana proposes Purukutsa, Trasadasyu's father.[11]
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ ISBN 9780199370184.
- ^ Witzel, Michael (1997). "The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu" (PDF). Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora. 2: 264.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ ISSN 1084-7561. Archived from the originalon 26 January 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ^ from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ ISSN 0019-686X.
- ^ ISSN 1084-7561. Archived from the originalon 22 December 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9780190633363.
- ^ Palihawadana, Mahinda (2017). Mumm, Peter-Arnold; West, Tina (eds.). "The Indra Cult as Ideology A Clue to Power Struggle in an Ancient Society". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 24 (2): 51.
- ^ doi:10.11588/xarep.00000110 (inactive 25 April 2024). Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link - doi:10.11588/xarep.00000120. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2021.)
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: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help - ISBN 978-3-486-59435-5. Archivedfrom the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-34054-8.
- from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- S2CID 189772160.