List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes

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From the second or first millennium BCE, Indo-Aryan Vedic tribes turned into most of the population in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent – Indus Valley (roughly today's Pakistani Punjab and Sindh), Western India, Northern India, Central India, Eastern India and also in areas of the southern part like Sri Lanka and the Maldives through and after a complex process of migration, assimilation of other peoples and language shift.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn[1]

Ancestors

File:Indo-European Migrations. Source David Anthony (2007), The Horse, The Wheel and Language.jpg
Map 1: Indo-European migrations as described in The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. AnthonyTemplate:Sfn
File:Andronovo culture.png
Map 2: Sintashta-Petrovka culture (red), its expansion into the Andronovo culture (orange) during the 2nd millennium BC, showing the overlap with the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (chartreuse green) in the south and also with the Afanasievo culture in the east. The location of the earliest chariots is shown in magenta. Several scholars associate Proto-Indo-Iranians with Sintashta-Petrovka culture.Template:Sfn These scholars also may associate some mentions in the Avesta (sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism), like the Airyanəm Vaēǰō – "Aryans' Expanse", as distant memories that were retained by oral tradition of this old land of origin.Template:Sfn There are also mentions of Āryāvarta – "Aryans Abode" (in sacred Hindu scriptures such as Dharmashastras and Sutras), the Hindu counterpart of Airyanəm Vaēǰō, although it refers to Northern India and they are later.
File:BMAC.png
Map 3: The extent of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), according to the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. The BMAC culture and peoples influenced migrating Indo-Iranians that came from the north.
File:Late Vedic Culture (1100-500 BCE).png
Vedic India.
File:EpicIndia.jpg
Map 5: This detailed map shows the locations of kingdoms and republics mentioned in the Indian epics or Bharata Khanda.

Vedic tribes

Pancha Jana (Five tribes)

(पञ्च जना – Páñca Jánāḥ / Pancha-janah) The pancha Jana are five tribes inexplicitly listed together during the (Āryāvarta of this time, c. 1700–1500 BCE, roughly corresponds with the Punjab and closer regions) (see the map of Early Vedic Period)

Early Janapadas (c. 1700–1100 BCE)

File:Early Vedic Culture (1700-1100 BCE).png
Map 6: Early Vedic Culture (1700–1100 BCE) and location of early Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes

After roughly 1700 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes were swiftly expanding through ancient northern India, therefore the number of peoples, tribes and clans was increasing (as well as the number of Indo-Aryan language speakers) and Āryāvarta was becoming a very large area (see the map on the right side).

  • Aja – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Ambaśṭha – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Aṅga – Prachya Āryāvarta – Eastern Āryāvarta (Madhya-desha and Prachya Āryāvarta – Central and Eastern Āryāvarta in Vamana).
  • Anu – is a Vedic Sanskrit term for one of the 5 major tribes in the Rigveda, RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5 (both times listed together with the Druhyu) and, much later also in the Mahabharata.[5] In the late Vedic period, one of the Anu kings, King Anga, is mentioned as a "chakravartin" (AB 8.22). Ānava, the vrddhi derivation of Anu, is the name of a ruler in the Rigvedic account of the Battle of the Ten Kings (7.18.13) and at 8.4.1 with the Turvaśa (tribe). The meaning ánu "living, human" (Naighantu) cannot be substantiated for the Rigveda[6] and may have been derived from the tribal name. (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Āyu[7]
  • Bhajeratha[8]
  • Bhalana – The Bhalanas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in South Central and Western Pakistan, and that the Bolan Pass, around which live the Brahui people, are the Bhalana people and abode.[5]Template:Sfn (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Bharadvāja – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Bhrigus[9]
  • Bheda – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Bodha – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Druhyu – The Druhyu were a people of Vedic India. They are mentioned in the Rigveda,Template:Efn usually together with the Anu tribe.[10] Some early scholars have placed them in the northwestern region.Template:Sfn The later texts, the Epic and the Puranas, locate them in the "north", that is, in Gandhara, Aratta and Setu. (Vishnu Purana IV.17) The Druhyus were driven out of the land of the seven rivers, and their next king, Gandhara, settled in a north-western region which became known as Gandhāra. The sons of the later Druhyu king Pracetas too settle in the "northern" (udīcya) region (Bhagavata 9.23.15–16; Visnu 4.17.5; Vayu 99.11–12; Brahmanda 3.74.11–12 and Matsya 48.9.). The word Druid (Gallic Celtic druides), is partially derived from Proto-Indo-European vid "to see, to know'[11][12] It has also been alleged that the Rg Veda and the Puranas describe this tribe as migrating North.[13] However, there is nothing of this in the Rigveda and the Puranas merely mention that the Druhyu are "adjacent (āśrita) to the North". (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Gandharis[14] (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  1. Template:IAST[15]
  2. Template:IAST[16] (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)

Late Janapadas (c. 1100–500 BCE)

File:Late Vedic Culture (1100-500 BCE).png
Map 7: Late Vedic era map showing the boundaries of Āryāvarta with Janapadas in northern India. Beginning of Iron Age kingdoms in India— Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.

From roughly 1100 to 500 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes expanded even further throughout ancient northern India (see the map 6).

According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.[23]

Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE)

File:Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE).png
Map 8: Mahajanapadas roughly in 500 BCE.

महाजनपद – Mahajanapada Shodasa Mahajanapadas (Sixteen Mahajanapadas) The Mahajanapadas were sixteen great kingdoms and republics that emerged after the more powerful political entities (initially based on the territories of peoples and tribes) had conquered many others. According to the Anguttara Nikaya, Digha Nikaya, Chulla-Niddesa (Buddhist Canon)

According to the Vyākhyāprajñapti / Bhagavati Sutra (Jain text)

Mentions by Ancient Greek authors

File:The Atlas of Ancient and Classical Geography by Samuel Butler, Ernest Rhys, ed. (1907, 1908).jpg
Map 9: Ancient regions of Iranian Plateau and part of South Central Asia showing ancient Iranian peoples and tribes; this map also shows ancient peoples of the Indus Valley in Northwest Ancient India.

Northwest Ancient India – Indus River Basin

Other regions of Ancient India (India Intra Gangem)

Indo-Aryan or other tribes (possible)

  • Alina (RV 7.18.7) (RV = Rigveda) – They were one of the tribes defeated by Sudas of the Bharatas at the Dasarajna (Ten Kings Battle).Template:Sfn It is suggested that they lived to the north-east of the Kambojas (possible ancestors of the Nuristani that live in Nurestan) because in the 7th century CE, the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang.Template:Sfn It is possible that they are connected with the Alans or Alani people who are a nomadic Iranian tribe. Alans is a dialectal cognate of Aryāna, itself derived from the root arya-, meaning 'Aryan', the common self-designation of Indo-Iranian peoples. It probably came in use in the early history of the Alans for the purpose of uniting a heterogeneous group of tribes through the invocation of a common, ancestral 'Aryan' origin. The historian S. G. Talageri identifies them with the Greeks (Hellenes).[26] However, the dating of the Rigveda and the hypothetical historic time for the Dasarajna-yuddha (Battle of Ten Kings) occurred millennia before Hellenes were recorded in India.
  • Parsu (Parśu) – The Parsus have been connected with the Persians based on the evidence of an Assyrian inscription from 844 BC referring to the Persians as Parshu, and the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia referring to Parsa as the home of the Persians. Pârsâ, is the Old Persian name for the Persis region Pars province as well as the root for the term Persian.
  • Shakya – a clan of Iron Age India (1st millennium BCE), habitating an area in Greater Magadha, on the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. This is also the clan in which Siddhartha Gautama (also known as Buddha or Shakyamuni – Sage of the Shakyas) (Template:Circa to 4th centuries BCE) was born into, whose teachings became the foundation of Buddhism. According to Chandra Das, the name "Shakya" is derived from the Sanskrit word "śakya," which means "the one who is capable". Some scholars argue that the Shakya were of aboriginal Munda-origin[27] while others speculate on a Scythian (Saka) origin (part of the Iranian peoples) and assimilated into Indo-Aryan peoples.[28][29]

Hypothetical Indo-Aryans

See also

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Notes

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References

  1. ↑ Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press
  2. ↑ A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. Pearson Education(2008). ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0
  3. ↑ A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century{{#if:Singh|, Singh}. Pearson Education(2008). ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0
  4. ↑ The Strange World of Human Sacrifice{{#if:Bremmer|, Bremmer}. Peeters Publishers(2007). ISBN 978-90-429-1843-6
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Indo-Aryan controversy: Evidence and inference in Indian history{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Routledge(2005). ISBN 978-0-700-71463-6
  6. ↑ Template:Cite dictionary
  7. ↑ Bloomfield, M. (1899). "The Myth of Purūravas, Urvaçī, and Âyu". Journal of the American Oriental Society, 20, 180–183.
  8. ↑ Zimmer, S. (1986). "On a special meaning of jána- in the Rgveda". Indo-Iranian Journal, 29 (2), 109–115.
  9. ↑ Weller, H. (1937). "Who Were the Bhriguids?". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 18 (3), 296–302.
  10. ↑ Hopkins, E. W. (1893). "Problematic passages in the Rig-Veda". Journal of the American Oriental Society, 15, 252–283.
  11. ↑ Les Druides{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Ouest-France(1982)
  12. ↑ druid | Etymology, origin and meaning. Etymonline. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  13. ↑ Sanskrit in English. IndiaDivine.org(15 February 2006).
  14. ↑ Gandhara: An appraisal of its meanings and history. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan({Template:Date). PDF linkTemplate:Sndvia University of the Punjab.
  15. ↑ Grassmann, H. (Ed.). (1876). Rig-veda (Vol. 1). FA Brockhaus.
  16. ↑ The First Maṇḍala of the Ṛig-Veda. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society({Template:Date).
  17. ↑ Rig-veda Sanhitá: A collection of ancient Hindu hymns{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Trübner; W.H. Allen & Co.(1857)
  18. ↑ Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship as Contained in the Rig Veda{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Council of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States(1930) [Kessinger Publishing (reprint) 1992.]
  19. ↑ Perry, E. D. (1885). "Indra in the Rig-Veda". Journal of the American Oriental Society, 11, 117–208.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 The Rig-Veda{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}(1896)
  21. ↑ Muller, F. M. (1869). Rig-veda-sanhita (Vol. 1).
  22. ↑ Template:Cite conference
  23. ↑ Misra, Sudama (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Vārāṇasī: Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana. p. 78
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Ian Worthington 2014, p. 219.Template:Full short
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Peter Green 2013, p. 418.Template:Full short
  26. ↑ The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Aditya Prakashan(2000)
  27. ↑ Cultural Remnants of the Indigenous Peoples in the Buddhist Scriptures. Buddhist Studies Review({Template:Date).
  28. ↑ Possible Iranian Origins for the Śākyas and Aspects of Buddhism. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies({Template:Date).
  29. ↑ Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia{{#if:Beckwith|, Beckwith}. Princeton University Press(2016). ISBN 978-0691166445

Sources

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  • The Horse, the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Princeton University Press(2007). ISBN 978-0-691-14818-2
  • The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. De Gruyter(1995). ISBN 9783110144475
    • The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity{{#if:Witzel|, Witzel}. De Gruyter(1995). ISBN 9783110144475 Chapter link with alternative pagination: (pp. 85–290) – Via Wayback Machine.
    • The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity{{#if:Witzel|, Witzel}. De Gruyter(1995a). ISBN 9783110144475
  • The Rig Veda and the History of India: Rig Veda Bharata itihasa{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Aditya Prakashan(2001). ISBN 81-7742-039-9
  • The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(2014). ISBN 9780199370184
  • Vedic Index of Names and Subjects{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers(1995). ISBN 81-208-1332-4
  • Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Fitzroy Dearborn(1997). ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5
  • Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan: (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic).. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies({Template:Date).
  • Autochthonous Aryans?: The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts. Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies({Template:Date).

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Further reading

  • Pargiter, F. E. [1922] 1979. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. New Delhi: Cosmo.
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