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[[File:India 350 AD.jpg|thumb|275px|The Arjunayanas circa 350 CE, were located at the western edge of the [[Gupta Empire]].]]
[[File:Indian tribes between the Indus and the Ganges.jpg|thumb|275px|Location of the Arjunayanas relative to other groups: the [[Audumbaras]], the [[Kuninda]]s, the [[Vemaka]]s, the [[Vrishni]]s, the [[Yaudheya]]s, and the [[Paurava]]s.]]
'''Arjunayana, Arjunavana, Arjunavayana'''<ref>Journal of Ancient Indian History,1972, p 318, University of Calcutta. Dept. of Ancient Indian History and Culture, Editor D. C. Sircar.</ref><ref>For Arjunavana = Arjunayan, see: Ancient Indian folk cults, 1970, p 178, Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala.</ref> or '''Arjunayanaka''' was an ancient republican people located in Punjab or north-eastern Rajasthan. They emerged as a political power during the [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]] period ({{circa|185|73 BCE}}). In the [[Allahabad Pillar]] Inscription of [[Samudragupta]] ({{circa|335|380 CE}}), the Arjunayanas figure among the autonomous political communities bordering on the [[Gupta Empire]] who accepted the overlordship of Samudragupta. They are also mentioned in [[Bṛhat Saṃhitā]] of Varahamihira (6th century CE).<ref>VarAhamihira's Brhatsamhita, v 4.25ab; v 11.59cd; v 14.25ab; v 16.21cd; v 17.19cd.</ref><ref name="Ancient Punjab 1971, p 110">Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Punjab, 1971, p 110, Buddha Prakash.</ref> According to Dr Buddha Prakash, the Arjunayanas are mentioned as Prajjunakas in [[Chanakya|Kautiliya]]'s text [[Arthashastra]]<ref name="Ancient Punjab 1971, p 110" /> which also places them in the northern division of India.<ref>VarAhamihira's Brhatsamhita, v 14.24ab-14.25ab.</ref><ref>India as seen in the Brhat samhita of Varaha-Mihira, 1969, p 68, A. M. Shastri.</ref> [[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent Smith]] locates their republic in [[Alwar]] and [[Bharatpur, India|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 [[Pāṇini#Gaņapāțha|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 the Great|Alexander]] and were first attested by their coins belonging to 2nd or 1st century BCE.<ref>See: Ganapatha, 124, dhuma-aday-ah; Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, 1989, p 1294, Sumitra Mangesh Katre.</ref> Arjunavana is derived from Arjunava. Arjunayana is same as Arjunavana or Arjunavayana.<ref>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..</ref> Arjunavana is believed to be derived from Arjunava, a composite of [[Arjuna]] and [[wikt:नव#Sanskrit|nava]] (young, modern or descended from).

===Greek sources===
Greek chronicler [[Arrian]] attests one city which he calls Arigaeum or Arigaeon/Arigaion which commanded the road between [[Kunar Province|Kunar]] and [[Panjkora River|Panjkora]] valleys<ref>OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS, Arrian Anabasis Book 4b, ChXXIV.</ref> in north-eastern [[Afghanistan]]. It was in the [[Kambojas|Kamboja]] region and the habitat of the [[Aśvakas|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.<ref name="OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS 1893">OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS, Arrian Anabasis Book 4b, Ch XXIV, translated by E.J. Chinnock (1893).</ref> 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.<ref name="OPERATIONS AGAINST THE ASPASIANS 1893" /> 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 <ref>Aṣṭādhyāyī of Pāṇini, 1989, p 1294, Sumitra Mangesh Katre.</ref> as well as in the Kasika.<ref>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.</ref> 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. [[Chanakya|Kautiliya]]'s [[Arthashastra]] (c. 200 BCE to 300 CE) mentions and brackets a nation called Prajjunaka with [[Gandhara]]<ref>:KAZ03.18.08/ tena zruta.upavaado vaag.jiivanaanaaM, kaaru.kuziilavaanaaM vRtty.upavaadaH, praajjuuNaka.gaandhaara.aadiinaaM ca jana.pada.upavaadaa vyaakhyaataaH (Arthashastra 03-18-08).</ref> 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).<ref name="Ancient Punjab 1971, p 110" /><ref>Political and Social Movements in Ancient Punjab, 1964, p 93, Buddha Prakash.</ref><ref>Kautiliya's Arthashastra, 1997, p 247, R. P. Kangle.</ref> If this be correct, then the 4th-century BCE text on statecraft also attests the Arjunayanas (Arjunavanas) as close neighbors of the [[Gandhara]]s 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 [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] forces in 326 BCE, a section from the Arigaionians had left their old habitat between [[Swat District|Swat]] and [[Kunar Valley|Kunar]] valleys, crossed the Punjab rivers and moved to Punjab and beyond to avoid further persecution by Alexander. 3rd century [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] tantra text ''Mahamayuri'' attests one place name Arjunavana which is presided over by [[Yaksha]] [[Arjuna]]. The same text also says that [[Duryodhana]] was the tutelary Yaksha of [[Sugh Ancient Mound|Srughana]] (modern Sugh in ''Yamunanagar''). On the basis of the Mahamayuri, it has been speculated that the place name Arjunavana of the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] text may have been somewhere near to Srughana (Yamunanagar in Haryana). It has been located somewhere ''within'' the triangle formed by ''Delhi-Jaipur and Agra'' regions.<ref>Journal of the Oriental Institute, 1970, p 433, Oriental Institute (Vadodara, India)</ref><ref>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).</ref> It is possible that the splinter group from the Arigaion (Arjunava) had moved to and settled in [[South Haryana|south-east Punjab]] and Rajasthan under pressure from Alexander and they probably named the political headquarters of their new-found territory also as Arjunavana (from Arjunava) which name finds reference in the 4th century CE Buddhist tantra text [[Mahamayuri]]. Arjunayanas of the coins have been identified by [[John Faithfull Fleet|Fleet]] with the [[Kalachuri]]s who traces their descent from [[Kartavirya Arjuna]] of the [[Haihayas|Haihaya]] tribe of the antiquity. Some other scholars like Dr Buddha Prakash however like to connect Arjunayanas to [[Pandava]]-hero [[Arjuna]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

==Coins of Arjunayanas==
The findspot of Arjunayana [[coin]]s indicates that their territory lay within the triangle formed by Delhi-Jaipur-Agra.<ref>Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira, 1996, p 180, Varāhamihira, M.R. Bhat.</ref> The Arjunayana coins resemble those of the [[Yaudheya]] coins which show their contemporariness. They are several varieties. In one type, the obverse shows a bull and a standing goddess on the reverse. On another type, bull is standing before a tree in railing on the obverse and another bull facing a linga symbol and also carrying a legend ''Arjunayanajaya'' on the reverse. The third variety has a bull in the obverse and a swastika with taurine symbol at the end of arms and a branch or palm leaf and the legend ''Janayana'' on the reverse. These coins show that these people were [[worship|devotee]]s of the god [[Shiva]]. Now Shiva was the god of the North and also of the [[Aśvakas|Ashvaka]] land as is attested by [[Greeks|Greek]] chroniclers.<ref>The Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol 23-24, 1947-48, pp 290/291, N. Chaudhuri-India.</ref><ref>Indian [mythology], 1917, p 110, [[Arthur Berriedale Keith]], Albert Joseph Carnoy - Mythology, Hindu.</ref><ref>Cf: ''"There were Dionysiac festivals in honor of god Siva who belonged to [[Aśvakas|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)</ref> With the interpretation of Arrian's ''Arigaum/Arigaion'' with Sanskrit ''Arjunava'' as suggested by scholars, the possible origin and descent of Arjunayanas can possibly be traced to this Arigaion (Arjunava) of [[Swat, Pakistan|Swat]]/[[Kunar Valley|Kunar]] regions and possibly be connected with the ''Ashvakas'' of the Indian texts. Like Arjunayanas, the Ashvakas (Aspasioi and Assakenoi) were also a republican people as has been attested by Greek chroniclers.<ref>Alexander the Great, 2003, p 324, Dr W. W. Tarn. Also see p 45.</ref> The [[Aśvakas|Ashvakas]] are believed to be a section of the ancient [[Kambojas]]. They are mentioned as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayas by [[Pāṇini]].<ref>Ashtadhyayi Sutra IV.1.110; Ganapatha, Nadadigana IV.1.99.</ref> 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 [[Yona|Yavanas]], [[Saka]]s, [[The Pahlavas|Pahlavas]] and later the [[Kushan Empire|Kushana]]s. Thus, some people speculate that Arujayanas and Yaudheyas may have been allied or related tribes. The [[Adi Parva|Adiparva]] of [[Mahabharata]] references Yaudheya as the son of the [[Pandava]], [[Yudhishthira]].<ref>:Yudhishthiras.tu.go.vaasanasya.zaibyasya.devikaam.naama.kanyaam.svayam.vare.lebhe.|
:tasyaam.putram.janayaam.aasa.yaudheyam.naama.||
::(Critical Edition: Mahabharata 1.90.83).
</ref> Based on these references, these scholars have speculated that [[Yaudheya]]s had descended from, Yaudheya, son of Yudhishtra. And similarly, it has also been speculated that Arjunayanas had also probably descended from Pandava hero, [[Arjuna]]. This view is purely mythical and anachronistic. The Yaudheyas as a full-fledged tribe had participated in the [[Kurukshetra War|Kurukshetra war]] on the side of [[Kaurava]]s,<ref>Critical Edition: Mahabharata 7.180.16; Mahabharata 7.132.25; Mahabharata 7.136.05; Mahabharata 8.40.46.</ref> the enemies of Pandavas. Furthermore, prior to Kurukshetra war, the Yaudheyas, together with other [[Punjab region|Punjabi]] tribes like the Sibis, Trigartas, Rajanyas, [[Madra]]s, [[Kekaya]]s, Ambasthas, Kaukuras etc., had joined the [[Rajasuya]] ceremony of the Pandavas and had brought tributes to Yudhishtra.<ref>
:Sibi.tri.garta.yaudheyaa.raajanyaa.madra.kekayaah.||
:AmbaSThaah.kaukuraas.taarkSyaa.vastrapaah.pahlavaih.saha|
::(Critical Edition: Mahabharata 2.48.13-14).</ref> 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]],<ref>Ashtadhyayi V.3.114..</ref> the Arjunayanas don't find any reference as such. It may also be a mere speculation that the Prajjunakas of Kautiliya's Arthashastra <ref>Arthashastra 3.18.08.</ref> are same as Arjunayanas (or Arjunayanakas).<ref>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.</ref> 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|Gupta empire]]. They are recorded in the [[Allahabad Pillar]] inscription of [[Samudragupta]] ({{circa|335|380 CE}}) and are mentioned together with Malavas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Abhiras, Prarjunas, Sanakanikas, Kakas, Kharaparikas and other tribes.<ref>A History of Civilization in Ancient India, p 64-65, R. C. Dutt.</ref><ref>India's diplomatic relations with the East, 1960, p 105, Bhasker Anand Saletore.</ref> They are believed to have been vanquished by Samudragupta, around 335 CE and amalgamated into the Gupta empire.

{{quote|'''(Lines 22–23)''' ([[Samudragupta]], whose) formidable rule was propitiated with the payment of all tributes, execution of orders and visits (to his court) for obeisance by such frontier rulers as those of [[Samatata|Samataṭa]], [[Ḍavāka]], [[Kamarupa|Kāmarūpa]], [[Nepala|Nēpāla]], and [[Kartṛipura]], and, by the [[Malavas|Mālavas]], Ārjunāyanas, [[Yaudheyas|Yaudhēyas]], [[Mādrakas]], [[Abhiras|Ābhīras]], Prārjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas, Kharaparikas and other (''tribes'')."|[[Allahabad Pillar#Samudragupta inscription|Allahabad pillar of Samudragupta]]}}

==See also==
*[[Yaudheya]]s
*[[Madra]]kas
*[[Aśvakas|Ashvakas]]
*[[Kambojas]]
* [[Yadu]]
* [[Jat people|Jat]]

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

[[Category:Ancient empires and kingdoms of India]]
[[Category:History of Punjab]]

Arjunayanas - Revision history

>SdkbBot at 08:45, 29 June 2021