A STUDY OF ATTITUDES

TOWARDS MLECCHAS AND OTHER OUTSIDERS

IN NORTHERN INDIA ( — c. A.D.600 )

ALOKA PARASHER
The School of Oriental and African Studies

Thesis subm itted to the U niversity of London

fo r the d eg re e of D o ctor of Philosophy

January* 1 97 8
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 (i)

ABSTRACT

This study attempts to elucidate the meaning of the word .

mlecoha in its comprehensive sense and examine how it was applied

as a designation for outsiders in the period "before _c, A.D. 600

in northern India*

The first chapter discusses early Indian society and some of

the concepts on which it was founded. The notion of the mleccha

was part of the moral and social framework of this society which

believed in its inherent cultural superiority. We further discuss

the various source materials that have been utilized as far as

they bear on our study.

The first outstanding problem, studied in the second chapter,

is the origin of the Sanskrit term mleccha and its relation with

the Pali variant milakkha. This chapter is largely concerned with

the varied implications of the theories on the etymology of these

terms# The theories advocating either an Indo-European or a non-

Indo-European origin of mleccha/milakkha produce inconclusive results

which prevents us from placing our ideas on the concept of the

mleccha on a firm linguistic basis.

The reasons why mleccha first oooured in the context of speech

are presented in Chapter III. Both in this chapter and in the next

we are concerned with the distinction on the basis of speech and the

area of habitation which set the mlecohas apart. The Buddhist,

Brahmanic and Jaina texts all emphasize these differences. At the

same time we are able to show that there were changes in the attitudes

towards mlecchas. We are, however, unable to define speech or area

of habitation as the ultimate reasons for the separate existence

mlecchas in ancient Indian society.

 (ii)

In the first half of Chapter V, we discuss the reasons why

the mlecchas and outside groups were tolerated on a political

level despite the fact that Indian monarchs worked within the

brahmanical system. In the second half of the same chapter we

consider the pejorative implications of the cultural discrimination

of the mlecchas. However, the basic prejudice against the mlecchas

had to be modified in the face of historical changes.

Finally, in Chapters VI and VII, we examine the flexibility

in the treatment and categorization of the various outside groups.

In Chapter VI the focus is on tribes and indigenous peoples

designated as mlecchas. The comparison of the term mleccha with

dasyu and with the names of individual tribes such as Kirata,

Nisada, and Pulinda, which are often used to denote less developed

tribes, is undertaken here. The subsequent chapter surveys the

foreigners associated with ancient India as conquerors and rulers

and the manner in which the brahmana literary writers viewed such

invasions. The ambiguity in the use of the term mleccha in

brahmajjioal writing has to be explained in the light of the political

and economic status acquired by certain outside groups.

 CONTENTS

page

Abstract .*............................ i-i

Acknowledgments • iv-v

Table of Transliteration •••••••• vi

Abbreviations •«*••••• vii-x

List of Maps and Tables ••«••••» xi-xii

Chapter X

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND AND SOURCES 1-59

Chapter II

THE TERM MLECCHA 60-92

Chapter III

THE BASIS OF DISTINCTION : SPEECH 93-126

Chapter IV

THE BASIS OP DISTINCTION' : AREA OP HABITATION

ARYAVARTA AS OPPOSEDTO MLECCHADESA 127-170

Chapter V

POLITICAL AND CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION OP THE

MLECCHA 171-216

Chapter VI

TRIBES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DESIGNATED BY

THE TERM MLECCHA 217-271

Chapter VII

FOREIGNERS DESIGNATED BYTHE TERM MLECCHA 272-325

Conclusion ............................ 326-333

Bibliography .......................... 334-375

Addenda 375
.

Addendum

There is no page 309* Page 310 follows page 308,

 (iv)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Dr. J. G. de Casparis for valuable

comments and criticism and for the painstaking care and patience

with which he read every chapter of my thesis. X am sincerely

grateful to him for his guidance and constant encouragement

throughout the period of my work under his supervision.

I have also to express my warm gratitude to Dr. W. D, O'Flaherty

for inspiring me to undertake this research and for giving initial

direction and support to my work,

I have to acknowledge my thanks to Dr. S. R. Banerjee for

helpful suggestions he made to resolve certain phonetic and linguistic

doubts and to Professor Liyanagamage for his assistance in explaining

the implications of some Pali passages, X have to mention that I

derived much benefit from discussions with Dr. M. G. S. Narayanan

when he was in London during the early stages of my writing. I also

greatly profited from the advice and comments of Dr. R. Thapar and

Dr. K. Meenakshi at the Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi and

useful suggestions from Dr. V. N, Jha at the Indian Council of

Historical Research New Delhi.

I should like to record my appreciation of the financial grant

given to me by the British Council which enabled me to continue my

research at the School. I have also to acknowledge my thanks to the

Sir Ernest Cassel Educational Trust and the Convocation Trust Fund

for their contributions to meet the expenses for getting the thesis

typed. I am grateful to the Northbrook Society for their financial

aid to enable me to complete the thesis at the final stage.

 (v)

I thank the staff at the India Office Library and at the

Oriental Students Room in the British Museum for the facilities

afforded to me. On a personal level it gives me pleasure to

thank all the members of the Library staff at the School of Oriental

and African Studies for their assistance.

I owe sincere expression of my gratitude to Professor K, A.

Ballhatchet and to Dr. A. M. Piatigorsky for generously giving

me encouragement and useful advice.

I am indebted to all my friends for help and co-operation

which they offered to me in various ways. I should like in particular

to thank Heidi Rashid for helping me with some tedious German

translations and Maura Corcoran whom I cannot thank enough for

her unstinted support during the final stages of my work.

Finally, it is not possible to express in words my feelings

of sincere gratitude to Shobha and Shyam who made it possible for

me to accord single-minded attention to my research.

 (vi)

TABLE OF TRANSLITERATION

Arranged in order of Nagarl Alphabet

3f- a; 3TT“ a» 1[- jt; iS *5 - 3iS ■Si- I;

e; V - ai; 3^- o; ^ , - au; — - A; “t;~ :

3i~ M s kha; ga; ST- ffha; *5 *- /ia;

M A#
^cf- ca; HE?- oha; v3T" jja; ,ihas oT- na;

S'- ta; 3"- tha; S - da; S - dha; "°T- na;

•— 7
cf- ta; "Sf- tha; Ms *£J“- dha; ^T- na;

j>a; th- Pha;. def- La; >T- hha; TT-, ma;

ST- ■^- ra; crT- la; of— va;

 (vii )

ABBREVIATIONS

Ait. Araqyaka : Aitareya Aranyaka

Ait. Br. s Aitareya Brahmana

ABORI i Annals of the Bhandarlcar Oriental

Research Institute

AGI : The Ancient Geography of India by

A. Cunningham

AI s Ancient India. Bulletin of the Archaeological

Survey of India

A1HT : Ancient Indian Historical Traditionj

by P. E, Pargiter

Ayodh, K. Ayodhya Kanda

Aftg. N. A&guttara Nikaya

Apastamba Dhs* Apastamba Dharmasutra

A.S. Kautilya's Arthagastra

Agni P. Agni Purana

ASIR Archeological Survey of India Review

ASS AnandaSrama Sanskrit Series

AV Atharva Veda ■

Baudh. Dhs. Baudhayana Dharmasutra

Bh£g. P. Bhagavata Purana

Bib. Ind. Bibliotheca Indica

Br. Brahmana
ii i»■....

Brhat. Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira

Brahmanda P. Brahmanda Purana

Br. Up. Brhadaranyaka Upanisad

BORI Bhandarlcar Oriental Research Institute

BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and

African Studies

BSS : Bombay Sanskrit Series

 (viii

C.A.G.I. : Cunningham^ AncientGeography of India

Chandogya Up. : Chandogya Upanisad

CHI : Cambridge History of India

C*I#I, : Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum

Crt. Ed. s Critical edition

CSSH : Comparative Studies in Societyand History

DED ! Dravidian Etymological Dictionary

DKA : The Purana Text of the Dynasties of the

Kali Age by P. E. Pargiter

DIgha«N* s DIgha Nllcava

Dhatup. : Dhatupatha

EC' : Epigraphica Carnatica

El : Epigraphica Indica

Gautama Dhs* : Gautama Dharmasutra

GOS s Gaekwad Oriental Series

Garuda P. : Garuda Purana

HD : History of Pharma£antra by P. V. Kane

HIL : History of Indian Literature by

M« Wintemitz

HOS ; Harvard Oriental Series

IA : The Indian Antiquary

ICHR : Indian Council for Historical Research

IHQ : Indian Historical Quarterly

IHR : Indian Historical Review

Indian Society : (Ed.) R, S. Sharma and V, N. Jha,

Indian Society: Historical Probings -

In memory of D. D. Kosambi, ICHR,

New Delhi, 1R74.

IP :: Indogermanisohe Porsohugen

JA : Journal Asiatique
 (ix)

JAIH i Journal of Ancient Indian History

JAOS : Journal of the American Oriental Society

JASB : Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal

JASBO s Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay.

formerly JBBRAS

JBBRAS : Journal of the Bombay branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society, from Vol. 30

(1955) known as JASBO

JB(o)RS or JBORS : Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research

Society

JBRS . • Journal of the Bihar Research S.ooiety

JESHO : Journal of the Economic and Social History

of the Orient

JXH ; Journal of Indian History

JRAS s Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

JUPHS : Journal of the Uttar Pradesh Historical

Society

Ka^haJca Sam. : Kathaka Sajfihita

KausStaki Br, : Kausitaki Brahmana

KSS : Ka£i Sanskrit Series

Latayayana S. S, t Latayayana Srauta Sutra

Mait. Sam. s . Maitrayani Saifihita

Maj, N. s Ma.i.ihima Nikaya

Manu 5 Manava Dharmagastra (Manu Smrti)

MSrk. P. s Markandeya Purana

Matsya P. : Matsya Purana

Mbh* ! Mahabharata (Critical Ed.)

Mudrar. : Mudraraksasa

01 ' * Oriental Institute, Baroda

Pane. Br. : Pancavimga Brahmana

 w

PO t P. C. RoyTs -translation of the

Mahabharata

PHAI s Political History of Ancient India

by H. C. Raychaudhary

PTS t Pali Text Society

Ram. : Ramayana

R.E. : Rock Edict

V* : Rg Veda

Sat* Br* s Satapatha Brahmana

Sankh, S. S* : SaAkhayana Srauta Sutra

SBE : Sacred Books of the East

Sel. Inscr. (insorip*) a Select Inscriptions by D« C, Sircar

SBH s Sacred Books of the Hindus

SBB s Sacred Books of the Buddhists

Tait. Br. : Taitti'riya Brahmana

Tait. Sam. s Taittirlya Samhita

TSS , t Trivandrum Sanskrit Series

Visnu : Visnu Smrti

Visnu P. : Visnu Purana

Vasi§$haDhs. : Vasigtha Dharmasutra

Yamana P, s Vamana Purina

Vaj, Sam, i Va.jaseniya Saifihita

Vayu P. : Vayu Purana

VI s Vedic Index

Yaj * : Ya.jnavalkya Smrti

Yuga P. - Yuga Purana

ZBMGr j Zeitschrift der Beutschen Morgenlandischen

Gesellschraft
 (xi)

LIST OF MAPS AMD TABLES

page

Map Ho. I

The Indian subcontinent — map showing the approximate 81

position of the various Dravidian languages.

Map Ho. II

The Indian subcontinent — map showing the approxi- 85

mate positions of the non-Indo-Aryan languages —
1) various groups of the Tibeto-Burman sub-family
2) the Munda family.

Map Mo. Ill

The Indian subcontinent — showing idle spread of 100

the Indo-Aryan languages.

Map No. IV

The Divisions of Bharatavarsa — map showing 135

Eryavarta and MadhyadeSa as depicted in
Brahmanical texts.

Map No. V

Map showing the area of Majjhimadesa as 144

depicted in early Buddhist and Jaina texts.

Map No. VI

The Puranic Dwipas — map showing a reconstruction 160

of their possible locations.

Map No. VII

AiSoka's Empire - 250 B.C. — - map showing its 186

probable boundaries.

Map No. VIII

Map showing the Gupta Empire under 193

Candragupta II _c. 500 A.D,

Map Mo. IX
Map showing the distribution of some of the Painted 220
Grey Ware, the Ochre Coloured Pottery and the
•Copper Hoards' in Northern India.
 (xli)

Map No. X page

Map showing some of the tribes and peoples known 253

to literary writers in Ancient India.

Map No. XI

The Indian subcontinent in relation to West Asia 272

and South-East Asia — some important trade
trade routes.

Map No. XII

India £. 150 A.D. — map showing the probable 297

boundaries of the Kushan empire, the Western
Satraps and Andhra kingdoms.

(Aok.: Maps I, II, III based on data in G. A. Grierson,

Linguistic Survey of India. Yol. I, facing pp. 55* 55* 81*
and 119«
Map 71 from M. R. Singh, Geogrphical Lata in the Early
Puranas. 1972.
■Maps VII, VIII, XII from C. Colllin Davies, An Historical
Atlas of the Indian Peninsula. 19.59* PP* 13* 15 and 19-
Map IX based on data in B. B. Lai, AI, Vol. VII, p. 21 and
Vols, X-XII, p. 4 .)

TABLES
page
Table No. I

Divisions of Bharatavar§a in the Puranas* 154

(Ack.: S. B. Chaudhuri, Ethnic Settlements in Ancient

India. 1955*)
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND AND SOURCES

The question of the status of aliens or outsiders in any society

has raised problems in all ages. The subject is of great contemporary

interest as well.

People on lower or, in many cases, simply different levels of

social, economic and cultural development are viewed by the so-called

'civilized man* almost invariably with condescension. All over the

world and during all ages it is the 'civilized' who set the norms of

conduct to distinguish themselves from the others and consequently

determine the criteria of accepting or rejecting outsiders.

The image of the 'barbarian' in the history of Europe has been

studied at length and with great erudition by Western scholars. The

way the antithesis between the 'civilized' and the 'barbarian' in

western society was resolved during the ages is a matter of interest

"I
to modern thinking. Among the early Greeks the word barbarian

OS was used for all foreigners and was later adopted by the

Romans for all peoples other than those under Graeco-Roman influence

and domination. It was also associated with the vices of people, their

savage nature, their cruel deeds, their uncouth behaviour and above
2
all, their rude and unintelligible language. This term was bequeathed

to and developed in all subsequent European literatures. A similar

problem of the 'barbarian' arose for the Middle Kingdom in China.

Here, a tribe called the Hsiung-Nu, who 'knew nothing of propriety

and righteousness', troubled the peace of the kingdom.

1. W. R. Jones, 'The Image of the Barbarian inMedieval Europe',

CSSH. Vol. XIII, 1971 > PP. 5 7 M 0 7 .

2* Ibid.. pp. 579-580.

5* B. Watson, (Trans.) Records of the Grand Historianof China translated

from Shih Chi of Ssu-ma Chi'ien. New York, 1961 - 6 5 , V0 I.JI, p. 155*
 2
A situation of this type existed in India as well.. However,

the methods employed hy hoth the Greeks and the Chinese to meet this

problem do not appear to be appropriate to understand the manner in

which the ancient Indians tackled the question of the outsider and

the ’barbarian' (mleccha). The present thesis is a study of this

subject in the history of India, in particular an attempt to determine

how attitudes towards the outsiders evolved from Vedic times to about

the sixth century A.D. The scope of the enquiry is limited to northern

India. Originally, the ideas and concepts of the ancient Indian

peoples evolved in this part of the subcontinent with the Indo-

Gangetic plains as its nucleus. However, marked regional variations

were clearly distinct in the extreme east and the extreme west. These

ideas are studied from seminal beginnings of the $g Vedic period to

later developments, including the crystallization of those ideas in

the Gupta period. Against this background of general development the

attitudes towards mlecchas and other outsiders held by the largely

brahmanical sections of the Indian society, were determined.

This subject has drawn the interest of many scholars, but it has

been dealt with in a perfunctory manner and has not been treated in

its totality.^ In most texts on Indian history, mleccha has been

5
translated as either a foreigner or a barbarian. Vincent Smith, in

his Oxford History of India, has noted: 'everybody else who disregards

Hindu dharma is an "outer barbarian" (mlechchha) no matter how exalted

his worldly rank or how vast his wealth may be.' This statement

4. The views of scholars on mlecchas are normally expressed in a few

lines in the general books on Indian history. Studies on tribes
in ancient India and similarly, on the political, social and
economic exploits of foreign rulers beginning with the Greeks in
second century B.C. to the Hunas in the sixth century A.D. are,
however, detailed and scholarly.

5* V, A. Smith, Oxford History of India. 1919, p. 55*

implies that even with a high political and economic status it was

essential to accept the varna&ramadharma in order not to he called

a mleccha. Smith, however, does not specify what kind of peoples

were meant by the expression "outer barbarian," A. L, Basham

explains the word mleccha as one which is commonly used for outer
7
barbarians of any race and colour. Elsewhere he suggests that

mlecchas were a class of untouchables and it was conduct, not blood,

8
that gave them this status. In another definition mlecchas are

said to be barbarians but Aryan speakers who employed a Prakrit

form of s p e e c h . ' T h e M§adas (were) also known as mlecchas....'^

11
According to Burrow mleccha was a designation for non-Aryan tribes
12
and according to Derrett 'uninstructed nations' were mleccha.

Modern scholars are unanimous in assigning such foreigners as

the Yavanas, Sakas, Pahlavas, Kusanas, HHnas and later the Muslims to

the status of mlecchas. Foreigners were regarded as impure (mlecchas)

and therefore even travelling to distant lands had to be avoided as

14
this meant mixing with mleccha and non-caste people; In another

context Romila Thapar writes; 'the Yedic tradition of Aryan culture

had to be preserved from too much contamination with mlechchhas —

15
Shakas, Kuslianas and later the Huns.' Kern is of the opinion that

6 . A. L. Basham, The Wonder that was India. 19^7» P» 145*

7, Ibid., Preface p. vii. He even somewhat jokingly describes himself

as a mleccha.

8 . Ibid., p. 146.

9, R. C. Majumdar, (Ed,), The Yedic Age, Vol. I, pp. 260-61.

10 * Ibid., p* 314* •

11, A. L. Bashain, (Ed.), Cultural History of India. 1975* T. Burrow,

Chapter III, p. 20.

12, Ibid., J. D. M. Derrett, Chapter XI, p.l27, ■

15* R, Thapar.A History of India. 19&9» P* 60. 14* Ibid.. p. 150

 4

'the Yavanas were the foremost, the most dreaded, of the Mlechas,
16
so that Yavana and Mlecha became synonymous.' According to D. G.

Sircar also, 'the word Yavana was used in medieval Indian literature
17
as a synonym of mlechchha and indicated any foreigner.* 1

Speaking of Hindu scholarship during the Vaka^aka-Gupta age,

A. S. Altekar opines: 'Hindu scholars were keen to ascertain and

study the advances made hy the savants of other countries. Greeks

were no doubt regarded as Mlechchhas but were nevertheless respected

18
as highly as ancient sages for their proficiency in astronomy.'

Majumdar, on the other hand, quotes Alberuni to express the narrow

exclusiveness of the Hindus 'All the fanaticism of the Hindus is

directed against those who do not belong to them, against all foreigners.

They call them Mlechchhas i.*e_. impure and forbid having any connection

with them, be it by intermarriage or any other relationship, or by

sitting, eating or drinking with them, because thereby they think they
19
would be polluted. . . . 1

An article by R. Sengupta is unique in that it propounds the

identification of the mlecchas. It gives the impression that mleccha

was the Sanskrit name of the Phoenicians who,it is explained, were

20
connected with India in various ways. In our opinion, the term

mleccha cannot be understood as the designation of one particular

16. H. Kern, Brhatsamhita. 1865, Introduction, p. 32, footnote.

R. Thapar,t*The Image of the Barbarian in Early India', OSSH. Vol.
XIII, 1971» P» 418 writes; 'Por the Indians, the Greeks on every
count were mlecchas....' It must, however, be noted that the
Greeks also regarded all non-Greeks as barbarians.

17* R. G. Majumdar, (Ed.), The Age of Imperial Unity. 1951» R* C. Sircar,

Chapter VIl, 'The Yavanas', p. 101.
The Age of Imperial Kanau.i. Vol. IV, p. 19 — The Gwalior Inscription
of Uagabhata describes the king as having crushed the armies of
I**10 mlecchas — in this case the Arabs; pp. 114; 107* 127 — Mleccha
lords who settled on the banks of the river Chambal.
>-4"*
18. Majumdar and Altekar, The Valca^aka-Gupta Age. 1954* P* 385*

19. R. G, Majumdar, Ancient India. 1952, pp. 499-500.

20. R. Sengupta, 'Qn the identity of the "Mlechchas"', K.A.N. Sastri;

' 1971. pp . iso-186.
 5

people and further, it must he taken in a wider cultural context.

(Though mleccha is today often used and readily accepted as the Hindu
21
appellation for foreigners in general, it must be underlined that

its use in ancient India was far from confined to the description

of foreigners only.

There is one aspect of this subject, namely the etymology of the

^erin mleccha. that has been discussed in depth. Various theories are

put forward in a series of articles by linguists and other scholars.

They suggest varied and interesting propositions for the origin of

mleooha/milakkha. though their arguments are inconclusive. The

earlier researches (mainly during the period between 1914 - 1938 ) by

linguists like I. Scheftelowitz, V. Pisani, B. Liebich, M. Mayrhofer

and others have concentrated on approximating the term mleccha to

hypothetical equivalents in Indo-European languages. More recent

enquiries (from the 1960's) led by the Finnish scholars P. Aalto and

A. Farpola envisage the probability of a non-Indo-Aryan origin of the

^erms mleccha and milakkha. These terms are related to the Sumerian
22
name Mel-luh-ha through proto-Bravidian linguistics. These are,

however, inadequate because they deal with only part of the whole

study. They moreover, project and emphasize only the linguistic view

of the problem.

The only work that gives an overall picture, in some perspective,

is a paper published recently on 'The Image of the Barbarian in Early

23
India' by Romila Thapar. ^ It deals briefly with most aspects of the

mlecchas. their relationship with the established society and presents

21. Kinian Smart, 'Where a Professor's Death means freedom for a Day1,
The Times Higher Education Supplement. Feb. 25th, 1975♦ P« 11,
column 1; A. L. Basham, The Wonder that was India. 19&7, P* vii.

22. Oitations and views discussed in Chapter II*.

25. R. Thapar, 'The image of the Barbarian in Early India*, CSSH. Vol.
XIII, 1971, pp. 408-436.
 6

a connected account of the notion of the barbarian in India

up to the twelfth century A,P.

In our study it has for the first, time been attempted to give a

total and detailed survey of the relationship of the mlecchas with

other outsiders and the attitudes of the established society towards

them. In this task we have given keen attention to an interpretative

analysis of the individual features involved.

Mleochas as a reference group comprised not only foreigners

from outside the geographical area of the Indian subcontinent but

also included any outsiders who did not conform to the values and

ideas and, consequently, to the norms of the society accepted by the

24.
&lite groups. The variations and the different perspectives in

which they are viewed in the original source material do not help

us to present a homogeneous picture of the stages in the development

of their status in Indian society. An analysis of the subject,

however, reveals that the ideological background against which they

were viewed and distinguished from the establishment, though not

always in a derogatory manner, remained constant through the ages.

We shall subsequently discuss in detail the basic tenets of

the so-called Establishment1 but two fundamental pre-suppositions

have to be accepted and need to be emphasized here. Firstly, the

whole system of ancient Indian thought and the society based on it

were sustained by the acceptance of the idea of Pharma without which

it would undoubtedly have collapsed. The permanence of this idea gave

significance to the perpetual existence of mlecchas during this phase

of Indian history and after, despite the fact that the early rules

24* The attitude of the Buddhists and Jainas towards milakkhas was
not essentially different from that of the Brahma^as but its
application for outside groups varied considerably, particularly
in the case of the Buddhists.
concerning them in the Gastric texts had outgrown their need and

circumstance. Secondly, the ideological background, with its notably •

theoretical features, is a dominant factor for the study of attitudes

towards them as we are essentially concerned with the criteria by

which groups were judged as mlecchas and outsiders in the literary

sources. These theories made the acceptance of the varnasramadharma

a crucial factor in determining whether or not groups of the population

were mlecchas. and without its understanding we cannot fully appreciate

the attitudes towards mlecchas.

BACKGROUND:

It is now necessary to deliberate upon the conscious principles

that motivated the attitudes of people in ancient India within their

cultural, temporal and geographical context. This is essential in

order that we shall not impose foreign or modern criteria for

evaluating their views so that we can understand ancient Indian

attitudes towards outsiders and mlecchas from their own angle.

In this regard there is one clear principle running through the

different stages of the formation of these views into a well defined

pattern of thought. A survey of its origins and initial development

will be related. Subsequently, its chief principles will be described.

Lastly, the reasons for the varied levels of the established system

will be considered.

Both the concept of the mleccha and the word itself occur in the
25
literature of the Indo-Aryan speaking culture. It arises out of the

25. The term Irido-Aryan is used instead of Aryan to differentiate

the branch that came to India from the Irano-Aryans. And further,
it refers to people speaking a language of the Indo-European
group and to the literature they produced and does not suggest,
in any instance, an ethnically pure Aryan raoe. Discussed at length
by R. Thapar, The Past and Prejudice. Sardar Patel Memorial Lectures,
1972, Lecture, II.
 8

peculiar situation created by the arrival of these erstwhile nomads

into northern. India* They came into contact with the indigenous

population of the subcontinent, possibly, initialy with the

remaining inhabitants of the Indus cities (3000 B.C.-1700 B.C.) and

later, with the authors of the Ochre-Coloured Pottery and Copper Hoard

cultures (1400 B.C.-1200 B.C.). It is interesting to note that

Piggott regards the arrival of the Aryans in India as ’the arrival

of barbarians into a region highly organized into an empire based

26
on a long-established tradition of literate urban culture.'

On the other hand, judging from the evidence of the Eg Veda

alone, there are indications that the Indo-Aryans had to contend with

local barbaric tribes they called Dasa and Dasyu* The impression

given by the hymn writers is that these enemies had to be subdued

because they knew no rites or sacrifices, were indifferent to the gods,

had no proper laws and so on. These people with their alien culture

were thus set apart and the motivation to succeed against them was

almost obsessional.

Prom our point of view, in this context, it must be asserted

that the peoples who designated themselves by the term arya were not

an ethnically and politically a homogeneous group. There are accounts

of hostility among the various Indo-Aryan tribes themselves in the

27
Eg Veda. These occur in different books of the text but the most
■“ 28
significant is the Dasarajna battle. Apart from this, more importantly,

there are indications that the Indo-Aryan society right from the

beginning was a society composed of different elements. This became

26. S. Piggott, Prehistoric India.1950* PP* 257-58*

2 7 . Ss JL m vi» 33, 3; VII, 85, 1; X, 6 9 , 6 etc.

28. Battle de scrib e d -in •ftg V . VII, 33, 2-5* It is considered an

early event in the collection of £g Vedic hymns Vedic Index. I,
556, ft. nt. 4*
 9

a characteristic feature of Brahmanism throughout its history#

In the earlier period, i*e. the Hg Vedic and Atharva Vedic

period, it is imperative to emphasize this point as the dominance of

the victor, both on the battlefield and in the sooio-economic field,

led to the initiation of new laws. Kane has discussed and quoted

passages that refer to the Sryas as well as the Dasyus as violators

29
of vratas established by the gods. ' Therefore, war songs were

addressed to Manyu to invoke his help against two kinds of enemies —

Sryas and Dasas.^ Indra as 'protector of the good' is also asked

31
to fight against both of them. The compilers of the hymns were most

probably supporters of those among the early Indo-Aryan settlers

who were ultimately successful in establishing their dominant control

over the others. In one instance there is a hint that Indra reconciles
32
the Dasa and Arya enemies to his ways. In the Atharva Veda one

reads the verse: 'Hot a Dasa, not an Arya, by his might may damage
33
the course I shall establish.' Whether this means the domination

of one tribe over several others, one sees in the period of the Vedas

and the Samhitas. the emergence of a homogeneous society not united

by an organized church or by an ethnic similarity, but by the common

factor of language.

The outstanding Indo-European features in Eg Vedic belief

34
cannot be ignored. At the same time we cannot accept the

29. P. V. Kane, HD, Vol# V, pt. i, pp. 1-21 on the word vrata in
the Bg Veda.

50* BgV.. X, 83, 1; x, 102, 3; Atharva V .. IV, 32, 1.

31. Eg V ..VII, 83, 1 — 'Oh Indra andVarunai youkilled dasa foes

and also arya foes and helped Sudas with your protection.' Also
BgJT., VI, 60, 5-6; X, 38, 3.

32. Bg V.. VI, 22, 10.

35* Atharva V .. V, 11, 3 — na me daso naryo mahitva vratam mimaya yad

aham dharisye// 3//

34* E. J. Rapson, CHI, Vol. I, 1922, p. 103*

 10

statement: 'as a result of the conquest of the Boab, the Aryan

35
settled down as masters of the non-Aryans.'^ On the basis of

linguistic evidence it has been suggested that the movements

of people into India was a continuous process for nearly a millennium

after 2000 B . C . ^ The contention put forth by Pargiter^ that

Brahmanism was a pre-Aryan institution also cannot be fully accepted#

There was a skilful, though initially difficult synthesis of the

Aryan and pre-Aryan elements. Among the latter were people of the

highly sophisticated civilization of the Indus valley and the

comparatively simple cultures of the Copper Hoard settlements. It

has been ascertained that among the Harappans at least, there existed
38
class divisions. Hence, in writing about the early development of

caste in India Kosambi has stated: ’though the brahmana as such

was an Indo-European institution, the priestly class of the Aryan

39
conquerors may have been largely recruited from the conquered.'^ It

is not the intention here to prove that such a process actually took

place# It cannot, however, be overlooked that the intermixture at

the level of high oastes during the Vedic age is a topic of major

importance and has been a matter of great discussion in recent years.

In putting forward the thesis that the lower orders, particularly

35* W# Ruben, 'Outline of the Structure of Ancient Indian Society',

in Indian Society# 1974* P* 67*

36. T# Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1972, p. 31.

37. E. E. Pargiter, AIHT, pp. 306 -3 O8 .

38. M. Wheeler, The Indus Civilization and Beyond#1966,p.94*

39* B# B. Kosambi, 'Early Stages in the Caste Systemin Northern

India,' JBBRAS. Vol. XXII, 1945 , p. 35 .

40# M. B. Emeneau, 'Linguistic History of India*, Collected Papers. 1967 .

p. 155£C-
 11

the sudravarna, was also composed of both Aryan and non-Aryan

elements during this period (later Vedic period), R. S. Sharma

has aptly observed* lI'rom the very beginning the slowly emerging

groups of warriors and priests co-operated in leading the vis in

their fight against the Aryan and non-Aryan peoples. As time passed,

the warriors bestowed on the priests generous gifts, and the

religious rituals much elaborated, so that the power of the priests

who performed them and of the warriors who patronized them was
41
much strengthened as against that of the common people.

Thus, there solved the firm control of a single powerful group

which by a two-way process of the acceptance of new ideas and a re-

evaluation of their old ones in the spheres of religion, language

and ideology permeated and influenced all ancient Indian thought

and moulded social attitudes in general. This system that resulted

took shape on Indian soil and reflected a distinctive way of life.

It spread into the western Gangetic plain during the period of the

BrShmanas. Its socio-economic structure regulated the division of

labour and products and perpetuated a mechanism of the exploitation

of the lower orders. Basic values about worship, norms of behaviour

and a distinct cosmic view became the cardinal points of a pattern

of existence that was to dominate the major part of northern India;

signs of which were, in the main discernible by the spread of the

Indo-Aryan language.

Such a process developed over several centuries. The individual

interpretations of the Veda ultimately led to numerous philosophical

schools but all within the major premises of agreement which gave

validation to the system of varna and jati and above all, to the

41. R. S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958* P« 36.

 12

position of the brahmanas. It would he no exaggeration to state

that it was brahmana teaching that penetrated downward through

the multifarious peoples of India, establishing a consistent

pattern of their domination in most parts of the country from which

it became difficult to escape. But, on the whole, large groups of

people continued to remain outside their system and lived beyond

42
the borders* Territorially, Vedic immigrants had continued to

expand, principally east, in the Ganges valley and it is possible

for us to speculate that people previously inhabiting this area were

pushed into regions still unexplored by the Indo-Aryans. The fact

that there still existed people who were a potential threat to the

arya value system may be one of the reasons that made traditional

writers formalize the concept of the mleccha during the period of

the Brahmanas

In this complex situation neither ethnic origins nor religious

beliefs and rites mattered as reasons for distinguishing, and then

discriminating against, those who persisted not to accept the

superiority of the dominant culture. In the beginning it was the

mispronunciation of words in the performance of rituals, in other

words, a linguistic disparity, that called for a basis of distinction.

In the period of the Bharmasutras and early Smrtis. we have the

particular, but definite evolution of the notion that aryas must

make conscious efforts to avoid contact with all aspects of the

mleochas because of the latter's non-acceptance of the varnasramadharma

and non-performance of certain important brahmanic rituals. Finally,

from the early centuries A.B. the undermining of the spiritual

42* Ait. Br.. VII, 18.

 13

authority of the brahmanas largely determined, the discriminatory

statements about the mleochas. These were never made in opposition

to the above mentioned linguistic and cultural reasons* Therefore,

under no oircumstanoes and during no period were ethnicity or

religion factors which determined the existence of mleochas and

outsiders in Indian society*

There was no common 'law' in the modern sense that enforced

the rejection of outsiders and mleochas. The term arya came to mean,

'a person who was accepted as a better class, follower of the Dharma

of varaa and asrama.... ' ^ The society with its diverse ethnic,

religious elements and within it a structure of strong hierarchical

groupings, found unity in the idea of Dharma. An evaluation of

this notion, which became the most important and central concept of

the brahmanic society, must now be undertaken.

The philosophical beliefs and the entire social framework had

been structured upon the realization of dharma. It is important to

emphasize here that the realization and practice of it, rather than

mere belief in the idea is an outstanding feature of utmost

significance. As in any other system its concrete shape and form

stemmed from the realization of those people to whom the system

belonged. In this way the observed features of the brahmanic society

were related to that revealed knowledge of the Supreme Reality in

the Veda. It was believed that the core of this highest experience

was implied in the formulations of the practioal application of

dharma.

The term dharma therefore acquired an omnibus meaning in the

course of it being particularized to the specific needs of ritual,

44* A, L. Basham, Studies in Indian History and Culture. 19&4» P* 20

The Buddhists emphasized a wider connotation of the use of this
term in the moral and ethical context and it was generally
accepted to mean 'noble1, 'excellent'.
 14

duties, precepts, injunctions and customs. It manifested itself

in philosophy, social law, economic ethic and polity. P. V. Kane

45
in the History of the Dharma&astra has described the successive

phases in which its meaning was expanded and developed to represent

ideas of the established society. Its root is stated as dhr. 'to

uphold* and that signifies such actions as 'preserving', 'sustaining'

or 'supporting*. In this sense as 'upholder', 'sustainer', it

occurs in the Rg Veda.^* The firm, durable and stable character of

dharma is revealed in this meaning. However, in the Veda there

was another term rta that stood for 'order' i , e , the regulating

principle which ran through the whole realm of creation of both

gods and men.^'

But dhaTma eventually came to express the natural order of things.

conformity with which became the highest duty of all men. It

involved man's relationship with man and with the Universe. Xpastamba

one of the, early sutrakaras rightly points out that it is best to

gather itB import from practice as it is difficult to do so otherwise -

'dharma and adharma do not wander about saying "here we are"; nor

do the gods nor the manes or the gandharvas declare "this is dharma.
48
this is adharma" . 1 Nevertheless, with dharma. almost naturally

developed the concomitant of its moral import. It seems there was

no difficulty in defining this aspect — 'dharma is the mainstay of

45. P. V. Kane, HD, Vol. I, pp. 1-4*

46. Rg V.. I, 187, 1.

47. Hg V .. I, 65, 2; IV, 5, 9-12; IV, 10, 2; Va.i, Sam.. XXXII, 12.

48. Xpastarnba Bhs.. I, 20, 6 — na dharmadharmau carata "avam sva" itl

na devagandharva na pitara ity acaksate " 'yaift dharmo 'yarn
adharma~iti"//
 15

the entire moving world. In the world people approach the most

ardent follower of dharma. They shake off sin by dharma. Everything

49
is established in dharma. Hence they say dharma is supreme.

Dharma as the supreme, the. eternal i.e. sanatana was perpetuated

in the Indian mind and popularized through the Mahabharata in

several passages. One such description which sums up simply the

subtleness of this key concept is as follows — 1dharma is so

called because it protects (dharanat) everything; dharma maintains

everything that has been created. Dharma is thus the very principle
50
which can maintain the universe.* The concept of dharma thus

widened to envelope the moral and physical world and was indeed meant
51
to be ‘created for the well-being of all creation.*^

This supernatural basis of man*s earthly life was defined in

relation to his need for the realization of the Supreme Reality. In

other words, there was an obligation on his part to submit himself

to the laws of the Universe. Dharma in this sense constituted *a

duty'. For ordinary people in their everyday existence

this was regulated by the division of the society as a whole into

varnas and each individual*s life into asramas. Men born as members

of the brahmapical order, except sannyasins. could not escape from

the obligations of being born in a certain varna or class that was

divinely ordained. Correct performance of their respective svadharmas

had bearing on their karma or actions which in turn bore fruit in

49* Mahanarayanopani?ad. 22, 1 — dharmo visvasya .jagatah pratigtha

loke dharmistham pra.ia upasarpanti/ dharmena papara apanudanti
dharme sarvam pratisthitam/tasmad dharmam paramam vadanti77
Translated by P. H. Prabhu, Hindu Social Organization. 1958* P* 73*

50. Mbh.. XII, 109, 59 *~* dharanad dharma ityahur dharmo dharayate
pra.iah/ yas syad dharapasamyuktas sa dharma iti niscaya.ti//

51. Mbh.. VIII, 6 9 , 57 *—"•prabhavartham oa bhutanam dharmapravacanani

krtam/
 16

the next life.

The aim of all schools of philosophical thought in India was

to try and escape from the karmic cycle of Time, But since everybody

was not suitably qualified to take to sannyasa or renouncement they

had to resort to the path of family life. In this case the purpose

of life was the balanced enjoyment of artha (material gains), kama

rp
(sensual pleasures) and dharma. which, if properly followed, could

lead to moksa or release from life* With the pre-supposition that

each individuals life emanated from the creative force, the scope

and content of the Dharmasastra can be understood. They set out to

teach the dharmas of the varnas and asramas.

The smrti 1tradition*, however, found its sanction from the

revealed texts, the sruti. An early elucidation of the respective

dharmas of asramas is found in the Chandogya Unanisad. It says:

1there are three branches of dharma. one is (constituted by)

sacrifice, study and charity - (i.e. the stage of the householder);

the second (is constituted by) austerities (i.e. the stage of

being a hermit); and the third is the brahmacarin dwelling in

the house of his teacher till the last; all these attain to worlds

meritorious men; one who abides firmly in brahman to attain

53
immortality. 1 To these three stages of life, brahmacarya. grhastha,

vanaurastha was added the fourth, that of the sannyasin and each
54-
stage or asrama was essential as a path towards the region of Brahma. ^

More important was the discipline of society as a whole. The

52, These three are the natural forces of human nature - Manu, II, 224
The Smrti also provides that (IV, 3; 15) a person should accumulate
wealth only for his need and by action proper for his y a r n a or class.

53. P. V. Kane, HD, Yol. I, p. 2. (Trans.) Chandogya Up.. II, 23, 1 —

trayo dharmaskandha ya.ino 'dhyayanam danam iti prathamas tapa eva
dvitlyo brahmacaryacaryakulvasi tritlyo *tyantam atmanam acarya-
kule 'vasadayan sarva ete uupyaloka bhavanti brahmasamstho .'mytatvam eti//

54. Mbh** XI1* 242-245.

 17

various occupational propensities and natural tendencies of wan

were revealed to be channeled into activating all sections of society

in the Bg Veda* Prajapati, the creator brought forth from his limbs

the brahmana. ksatriya. vaiSya and Sudra in order, to protect the

55
whole Universe. The whole sukta is with reference to Puru§a, the

cosmic energy which is itself described as 'this whole universe,

56
whatever has been and whatever shall be . 1 With this sanction a

great deal of theorizing about the duties and tasks of the four varnas

became an inseparable part of the Uharmasastra literature and

constantly emphasized the naturally ordained division of society.^

By the very nature of their creation therefore, the brahmanas were

assigned as controllers of the religious rites and practices, to the

teaching of dharma. the kgatriyas as protectors of the realm, administrators

of law, the vaisyas and sudras had to perform the duties of engaging

in trade and business and acting as agricultural labourers respectively.

The intellectual leadership presented to us in the brahmanic

texts was ostensibly concerned to ensure the stability and strength

of both the individual and society as a whole. Ideally the intention

was to enlighten the individual, whatever his social status, with

the inherent law of his nature i.e. his svadharma. The Bhagavad Gita

is most emphatic about the righteousness of pursuing one's own dharma

58
or vocation in life. The famous dialogue between Lord Kp§$a and

55. Bg V «. X, 90» 12 — brahmano *sya mukham asid bahu .ra.1an.vah krtah/

uru tad asya yad vais.vah padbhyam Sudro ajayataTZ The original
hymn was amplified and developed in later Vedic passages as well
Va.i. Sam.. XXXI, 11; Tait. Sam.. VII, 1, 4 - 6 ; Pane. Br.. VI, 1, 6-11.

56. S&V., X, 9 0 , 2 — puru^a evedam sarvaih yad bhutam yac ca bhavyam/

57* Manu. I, 315 87; Ya.i.. I, 10; Ba/udhayana Dhs.. I, 8 , 165

Vasistha Dhs.. II, 1-2.

58. Bhagavad Gita. XVII, 41-44 — on the four duties of caste which ore
delineated according to the nature of one's being.
 18

and Arjuna discusses the importance of realizing oneself through the

59
performance of svadharma. however abhorrent it may seem* But the

values of the few were so constituted, and society so graded, that

the ascendancy of the brahmana was not jeopardized# This was done

in the name of the integrity of the social structure as well as the

desire to prevent the spiritual basis of Dharma from flagging.

To sum up, the esoteric aspect of dharma as a deeply felt

and realized experience of the Highest Reality was its true substance*

All phenomenal existence was subject to and conditioned by an endless

causal part, the dharma of the Universe. The ultimate significance

came to the term dharma when it involved the description of the

privileges, duties and obligations of an individual# His standard of

conduct was judged as that of a person in a particular stage of life

and as a member of a particular caste# Both sanatana and svadharmas

were expected to work in unison#

We cannot fully understand the entire implications of the working

60
dharma unless we briefly review the role of the brahmanas and

k^atrivas in its formulations. Their rationalizations often impeded

its practice# Reinforced with religious and moral sanctions, the

social order was visualized as one with the 'natural order' and

therefore conformity with it was unavoidable. But the exploitation

inherent in this pattern throughout the social, political and economic

development of ancient India was maintained by the physical power

of the ksatriya and the theory of the brahmana's immunities and

privileges. The mutual alliance between these two groups strengthened

59. Ibid.. Ill, 35 *— sreyan svadharmo vigunah paramadharmat svanustl tat/

svadharme nidhanait sreyah paradharmo bhaySvahah// ’Better a man ' 3
duty though ill done, than another's duty well performed; better it is
to die in one's own duty - another's duty is fraught with dread#'

60# Detailed debate on the true meaning of Dharma in the MlmaAsa sutras
has been summarized by G. N# Jha, Slokavartbika. 1900, pp# v-xviii
Is it in sense perception (of the brahmana) or in action (shown by the
brahmana) that the true meaning of dharma lies?
 19

their positions, and they sought a right to this supremacy in

Divine Will and Creation* Brahma and ksatra* the spiritual and

temporal powers respectively were bracketed together as the two

dominant forces in the social and political order from Vedic times*

It is lengthy and complicated to review in detail the development of

these ideas* We can only try to present a summary of these ideas to

elucidate the character and doctrine of the upper classes.

In the Bg Veda brahma and ksatra occur in the same verse where
61
they probably mean grayer* and 1valour* respectively. In later

Vedic literature brahma and ksatra were collectively supposed to

62
stand for the brahmanas and ksatriyas. though it has been rightly

pointed out: fit is not the class to which a person belongs that

determines the category of his *strength*, rather it is the other way

about.,..the same person, whether brahmana or ksatriya may acquire both

63
moral and physical strength.1 ' An oft-quoted passage in the
_ fcA
Brhadaranvaka Upanisad rationalizes how these two powers both on the

conceptual and practical levels crowned the social structure. But

ultimately it adds that it is the moral sense of dharma which is

established above ksatra — 1...dharma is the ksatra of the ksatra:

therefore there is nothing higher then dharma: thenceforth even a

weak man rules the strong with the help of dharma as with the help

of a king...* The brahma and ksatra elements were, however, firmly

61• Rg V .. I, 157, 2 — asmakam ksatram ..brahma oan also mean 'our power..
devotion.1 Athrava V .. XV, 10, 3*“4» II, 15» 4 — brahma (sacrement)
and ksatra (dominion) do not entertain fear.

62* Tait. Br.. Ill, 9* 14; II* 7* 18* Kafrhopaniffad. I, 2, 25*

63* D* Devahuti, Harsha A Political Study. 1970, p. 115* Here the cases .
of the brahmana like Parsurama who became a kgatriya and kgatrlyas
like Janaka and Visvamitra who became brahmanas are noted.

64* Brhadaranvaka Up.. I, 4 * 11-15*

65 * B* N# Ghoshal, Indian Political Ideas* 1959* P« 23*

 20

established upon the vis - used in its broad sense for people

V, n 66
as a whole*

From the period of the Brahmanas the role of the ksatriyas

and their relationship with the brahmanas becomes more precisely

67
defined. The ra.ianya. ,jL*e. the ksatriya, was seen as the visible
68
representative of Prajapati, the creator. Further, a king who is

humble before the brahmanas. it is stated, becomes more powerful

than his foes.^ It is implied in another passage of the gatapatha

Brahmana that the brahmana can do without the ksatriya but not vice

versa. It is apparent in these texts that sacrifice was all important

for worldly gain and therefore for the performance of sacrifice the

priest was indispensable to the saorificer, often a ksatriya who

70
could afford it. However, more often it is the mutual relationship

of the two groups that is stressed. The combination of the brahmana

‘k*10 ra.ianya is said to be most desirable as it was conducive to

71
the pre-eminence of both.' The king was proclaimed the protector
72
brahma and the protector of dharma. Above all there was a definite

movement to claim for the brahmana and the ksatriya power, distinguishing

66. Sat. Br.. XI, 2, 7, 14-16.

67 . U. N. Ghoshal, Hindu Public Life. Vol. I, 1966 , pp. 73-80 gives

a number of examples to show their mutual antagonism and
political alliance.

6 8 * Sat. Br.. V, 4 , 4 , 5.

69 * Ibid.. V, 4 , 4 , 15 —». .vai ra.ia brahmanad aballyan amitrebhyo

vai sa ballyan bhavati...

70. gat. Br.. IV, 1, 4, 6; V, 3, 5-6.

71* Tait. Br.. V, 1, 10, 3 .

72. Ait. Br.. VIII, 3 t 12.

 21

x 73
them from the vaisya and the sudra, J In concrete terms these

ideas were translated by the writers of the sutras and smrtis for

society to respect.

All brahmapical literature propagated the virtues of dharma.

But of prime importance is to note that brahmapical logic naturally

viewed adharma as a ’fall* from ’proper status1. It had been made

apparent, 'that all the panoply of social life can be traced out,

regulated, explained as if the Hindu ways were the only natural ones,

stemming from the Creator.’*^ If we accept this premise it makes

it easier to understand why those people naturally born outside

the pale of these ideas were considered 'unfortunate* because their

ways went against the stream of natural existence. To this category

were said to belong all outsiders, foreigners, mlecchas. This rather

simple division of the differences among people as naturally ordained

was, needless to add, only a theoretical and idealistic principle

and it was never easy to translate it into practice. It was no doubt

an instrument used by brahmana writers to perpetuate notions of their

superiority and ascendancy. Linked with the issue of discriminating

against outsiders and mlecchas was the activity of all individuals

who indulged in anti-brahmapical propaganda. This was the second

type of adharma and people who indulged in it were sometimes called

vr^alas. Manu describes divine dharma as a bull (v£§a) and those who
•7c
did not follow it (alam) were designated by the Gods as vrsala. He

also declares: 'destroyed, dharma destroys; protected he protects' —

73* Prayers for their protection are found in the Sarnhitas andBralmuinas
Va.i. Sam.. XVIII, 38-44? Sat. Br.. Ill, 5, 2, 11; etc.

74* J* M. Derrett,History of Indian Law (Bharmasastra). 1973* P* 20#

75. Manu. VIII, 16 .

 22

76
dharma
"1..—— eva
■ hato11
"Hi'1 hantii dharmo..raksati
...... ..... raksitah/
According to Sharma the term vrsala was applied indiscriminately

by brahmanas to anybody who went against them and in later times to

— 77
sudraB who were depicted as anti-brSChmanical.'

The existence of a threat to the brahmanical pattern of authority

from various quarters within the country is undeniable. In the traditional

writing itself we see this fear expressed in the increasing stress

laid on the claim to brahmana ascendancy often in exaggerated and

unrealistic terms. Brahmanas were fortunate to be able to propogate

their cause as they were considered the gistaoaraa. ’the learned', in

7ft
society# The qualities of the J»is$as were explained at length in

the Dharmasutras and these included Vedic learning, saintliness and

pure birth# Where no clear rule about dharma was available their
79
practice and precepts were to be followed." Manu elucidates this

point in the words:'If it is to be asked how it should be with respect

to (points) of dharma which have not been clearly stated, the

answer is that what brahmanas. who are also gistas propound should

clearly have force. Those brahmanas are deemed 6 istas who, in

accordance with dharma have studied the Vedas with their appendages,

who perceive by the senses the revealed texts as reason for

distinguishing right and wrong. ' 80

Since the determination of dharma lay in the hands of the

brahmana authors it was constantly growing to encompass the various

76. Manu# VIII, 15*

77* R* S# Sharma, §udras in Ancient India. 1958» PP. 37? 78? 171? 199?
215? 253.

78. K, A. Eangaswami Aiyangar, Rg.iadharma. 1941» PP* 156-157.

79* Baudh. Dhs.. I, 1, 4-6; Vasistha Dhs.. I, 4-7? Mahabhasya# VI, 3f 109*

80. Manu. XII, 108-109.

 25

deeds of man. As the fortunes of Brahmanism oscillated, particularly

during the period from 200 B.C. to A.D, 200, it was deployed by

them to suit their needs and position. For the upper limit of this

phase we have the Dharmasutra of Vasistha which formulates in

simple terms the features of the dharma common to all people. These

include ideas of truthfulness, freedom from anger, perpetuation of

81
family etc. The Visnu Smrti which is usually assigned to the lower

limit of this period adds to the number of things that bind people
82
to dharma. They are obedience to gods and brShmanas etc.

These small changes in what the standard of 'good conduct* or

*righteousness1 should be are accompanied by a notable increase in

passages advocating a high eulogy of brahmanas — 'Gods are invisible

deities, brahmanas are visible deities; the worlds are supported by

brahmanas; the gods stay in heaven by favour of brahmanas; words

- 03
spoken by brahmanas never come to be untrue.* In the Manavadharma-

sastra there is maximum magnification of the brahmana . ^ Manu true

to his style makes extreme statements — 'whatever wealth exists

on this earth - all that belongs to the brahmana ; the brahmana deserves

everything on account of his superiority due to his descent (from the

mouth of the Creator).'®-'* The smrti portions of the Mahabharata

without alterations voice the same notions - 'In this world the
06
brahmana is the highest being.'

The brahmanas thus saw several reasons to justify their claim

81. Vasistha
■ M Dhs.*
lp ■■ ' IV,
9 4.
82• Vignu., II, 16-17 — ahimsa gurususrusa tlrthanusaranam daya//16
ar.iavam lobhaaunyatvani devabrahmanapujanam? Znabhyasuya ca
tatha dharmah 3amanva uoyate7/l7

85. Visnu,, XIX, 20-22.

84. Manu. IV, 59; 52; 58; 155-156; 142; 162 etc.

85* Ibid*» 1$ 92-96; 100 . 8 6 . Mbh., XII, 5 6 , 2 2 .

 24

to moral ascendancy and thereby to formulate the notions and norms

of conduct for society as a whole. P. V. Kane writes: 'It should

not be supposed that the brahmanas inserted these eulogies solely

for the purpose of increasing their importance and tightening their

fi7
hold on the other classes.1 His arguments being that 1) other

classes readily accepted these ideas (about the rightful superiority

of the brahmanas) as force was not used to persuade people, 2) there

was no military power behind them and 5) in most societies it is only

88
a few who guide the destinies of others.

Firstly, it is wrong to presume that people of the lower orders

in ancient India willingly, happily and readily accepted the sometimes

very absolute statements, of the brahmanas as we do not have any

evidence of their views on their plight from their own writings.

More importantly, as the influence and power of the brahmanas grew

over a period of centuries, simultaneously the imposition of

disabilities on the vai&yas. and significantly those on the sudras.

successively increased. R. S. Sharma in his book on the position

of sudras in ancient India has traced the development of their

economic, politico-legal, social and religious disabilities from the

establishment of the varna society between c. 600 B.C. to c, 300 B.C.

to the period of the Guptas in c* 500 A ,1), These were greater

than any policy of forced military persuasion which would probably

have been half as successful, and definitely not permanent. Once

the people had been indoctrinated to maintain the essentials of .the

varna system, largely through the theory of karma, it became difficult

87. P. V. Kane, HD, Vol. II, pt. i, p. 1$6.

8 8 . Ibid.. pp. 136-138.

 25

to alter this pattern. For those who desired, irrespective of

class, to use it, enhance or maintain their position in society, to

89
change such an exploitative machinery was a disadvantage. ' For

some of the upper classes, namely the ksatriyas and the rich and

prosperous vaisyas, to denounce the brahmana and the varna6ramadharma

would have been against their own interest.

Finally, the third point made by Kane that in most societies

a minority lead the others is true. However, it is also true that

these §lite groups encounter threats to their positions and prestige

in the form of internal and external pressures; they compromise by

reacting and counteracting to it from their own narrow angle and

perspective and, therefore, project attitudes with their own bias.

This point is important as later in the thesis it bears upon our basic

search for the reasons to explain the varied approaches to the

treatment of mlecchas.

Even within brahraanical thinking the ideal state of the

varna§ramadharma never existed, though it was constantly emphasized

and propagated. The theory of the four yugas of the universe, for

instance, was an excuse for inability to observe and conform to dharma

in its entirety. Another theory which allowed for deviations

from the norm of the sastras was the theory of anad-dharma: this

allowed for occupations and behaviour not normally permitted to a

varna in times of distress. The most important theory of varnasamkara

which allowed for mixture of castes, though one of the main duties

of a king was to prevent this happening to an excessive degree.

Gautama, the earliest sutrakara. establishes: 'on the two (brahmana

89# R# S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958, pp. 282-284 *—

• for reasons why there were no Lucira revolts in ancient India,
 26

and king) depends the prosperity (of men), protection, the prevention

of mixture (of varnas) and observance of dharma#'^ This pre-supposes

that mixture of varnas had taken place and was continuing to increase*

'Theoretically* the castes or .iatis were meant to be divisions of

the four varnas though modern writings on the history and development

of the caste system have shown that the origins of the individual

castes were diverse and organic in their growth. We do not intend

to discuss the caste system in detail but to simply relate its

salient features since any outside or mleccha group had to relate to

these, both at the level of distinction and discrimination and later

at the level of assimilation.

Dumont has defined caste in the following way with three main

characteristics: 'separation in matters of marriage and contact,

whether direct or indirect (food); division of labour, each group

having, in theory or by tradition, a profession from which their

members can depart only within certain limits; and finally hierarchy.

which ranks the groups as relatively superior or inferior to one

91
another.1y Throughout Indian history each of these aspects remained

important though there was social and economic mobility within this

structure, determined largely by geographical location, economic

pressure and foreign stimulus. Both at the higher and lower level

of the hierarchy, the actual functioning of the caste system allowed

for outside and mleccha elements to be incorporated. From the Sastra

point of view 'the varnasamkara theory provides an example of the

brahmana*s capacity to create categories and carry things to their

logical conclusion. The theory flourished on congenial soil. It

90. Gautama Dhs.. VIII, 1-3 —— prasfltiraksanam samkaro dharmah/5

91. L. Dumont, Homo Hierarchicus. (English Translation), 1970, p. 21*

 27

helped to further the accommodation of exterior groups into the

Aryan order of society, promoted the formation of new castes and was
92
adopted and expanded hy future lawgivers.'' The dharma. which had

ideally suited the brahmanas and ksatriyas so well, had to be

constantly defended and protected by them to maintain their

stronghold on society; in their anxiety they frequently had to amend

it and add to it.

The notion of dharma. the supreme character of the brahmana-

ksatriya ascendancy and the .iati (caste)-oriented society can be

seen as the three most important features of early Brahmanism. They

were inter-related in such a way so as to be inseparable from one

the other. They lent a solid framework against which changes that

the system underwent during the history of northern India before

A.D. 600 can be understood. Owing to such extraneous circumstances

as the increase in the importance of trade, the rise of commercial

and land-owning classes, the growth of urban centres, migrations to

and from the country etc., new ways of social thought were introduced

Simultaneously, an atmosphere of varied behaviour followed and this

gave rise to intellectual leadership at various levels. This applies

not only to the views of different types of brahmanical writers but

also those of the Buddhists and Jainas.

Religious movements in India were always a threat to one or the

other group of brahmana priests. During the largely pastoral

and agricultural society of pre-Buddhist times, the study of the Veda

and the performance of sacrifice had made indispensable religious

duties of the intellectual class of the brahmanas and those who were

92, V. N. Jha, 1Varpasamkara in the Dharmasutras, Theory and Practice

JESHO. Vol. XIII, pt. iii, 1970, pp. 287-288
 28

professional priests acquired 'a virtual monopoly over all

93
ritual,* The religion of the people at large had become worldly,

highly ritualistic and formalistic to the extreme in the period

of the Brahmanas. A growing divergence of ideas about values of

life arose among thinkers of the Upani§adic period. The asceticism

of the Upanisads and the esoteric direction of their speculation was

a violent reaction to the cult of sacrifice. Such tendencies

emphasizing the individuals role in seeking salvation on the one

hand, and the; materialistic philosophies of the Carvakas on the other,

existed side by side. Religious beliefs on the popular level were

also incorporated into the mainstream of brahmanic thought but blurred

to the advantage of the latter. Here, Pande in fact sees two distinct

religious and cultural trends in the Vedic period, 'the strictly

orthodox and Aryan tradition of the brahmanas. and on the fringes of

their society, the struggling culture of the munis and flrainanaa. most
94
probably going back to pre-Vedic and pre-Aryan origins.1

The internal pressure on Brahmanism from new philosophical

speculation arising from time to time, was resolved by an inherent

power of adaptation and flexibility as long as the -rejection of the Veda

and the caste system was not advocated. This open-minded quality

allowed people to pay allegiance to the Veda and yet assign it different

levels of authority* In addition, the cultural environment was

such that diverse religious ideas could exist simultaneously with no

great difficulty. This development crystallized in the growth of

sectarian worship in the PurEnas and the Puranic brahmanas established

parallel levels of authority. There were advantages to remain

within the overall picture of Brahmanism, to be able to continue the

95* D, D. Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, p. 94*

94# Or* C. Pande, Studies in the Origins of Buddhism. 19.74» (rpt,), p. 261.
 29

idea of brahmana superiority and thus be the articulate voice

of the majority of people.

There were further those movements like Buddhism, Jainism,

AjTvakism that rejected Brahmanism completely. They created their

own social norms and standards of behaviour and began by questioning

the validity of the varnasramadharma and did without the authority

of the Veda. Buddhism and Jainism arose in the sixth century B.C.

in those parts of north-eastern India where the emergent urban

economy had created new groups of Slite that could not claim social

supremacy. A dominant feature of these religious movements was

asceticism, but more particularly non-brahmana asceticism. They

vehemently attacked sacrificial practices which directly meant a

threat to the position of the brahmanas. In early Buddhist writing

the claim of the brahmana to social supremacy is also denied

several times. However, the Buddha at one point argues that, as

95
regards descent, the ksatriyas are higher than the brahmanas.

These two, together with the gahauati (vaisya) are regarded superior

to the Cabalas, Nesadas, Ve$as, Pukkusas and others on the basis of

96
occupation. Society as a whole continued to cling to the notions

of caste. On the other hand, for members of the monastic order, it

97
was endeavoured to remove caste feeling completely. The Jainas,

too, did not, in practice, do away with caste for society as a

whole•^

The Buddhist and Jaina ideas on polity, on ethics or their

religious upheaval, as Ghoshal has pointed out, was not powerful

enough to really disrupt the entire concept of social order so

95. Dlgha M ., I. 91-99? I» 1J1* Buddha himself is described of pure

lineage up to seven generations. Also Ma.i. M .. II, 128,

96. Ma.i. N .. II, 84; III, 169; 177. 97- Cullavagga. IX, 1 , 4 .

98. Pannavana. I, 57*

 50

99
entrenched on the Indian scene, This is important from our context

as the Buddhists did not change the attitude towards mlecchas

hut they presented a different perspective to the whole issue

of foreigners and outsiders in India, The prejudices of the Jainas

about outsiders and mlecchas . however, remained, almost identical

with those found in brahmanical texts.

Politically, the imperial control of the Maurya period indirectly

favoured the brahma$ical society# There was a sense of complete law

and order and this exercised an efficient administrative control

over all sections of population for the benifit of the State# Though

Asoka patronized Buddhism he did not destroy the institutions of their

social system. His Edicts, as much as the ArthaSastra of Kautiliya,

projected their own stand point as to method on policy without

openly coming into conflict with the Brahmanic values.

The most important phase, from our point of view, which brought

about a distinct change in the development of ideas in regard to

mlecchas. was the period between c,20Q B.C* to c.A.D, 200. There

was far greater pressure on the social order, accompanied as it was

by the domination of foreign rulers, rise of sectarian religious

movements, all of which had an effect on Smrti. Purana and Epic

writings# This foreign stimulus worked in several ways and both

directly aiid indirectly loosened up the shackles of the varna system.

The physical impact of these invasions — those of the Indo-Greeks,

the Sakas and the Ku^a^ias — * clearly had an effect on parts of

northern and western India. A similar impact of the HBna invasions

took place later in the fifth century A#D. This obviously brought

about changes at the level of elite groups, and directly impinged on

the political privileges of the indigenous kings. This fact also

99* N* Grhoshal, Political Ideas in Ancient India# 1959* P* 157*

 51

had deeper repercussions in the traditional ancient Indian context,

since status according to Brahmanic view was evaluated in ritual

terms as enunciated in religious treatises. Actual status on hoth

the political and economic levels stood in direct opposition to

the above view. In theory, this was resolved by grudgingly conferring

on the foreign rulers the status of 1fallen ksatrivas1. In practice

the picture of such social stratification could not easily be

explained away.^0

Foreign incursions did not only upset the social hierarchy

at the top, but in more ways than one disrupted the functioning

of the lower orders, as envisaged by the brahmanas. In the light

of the severe punishments that Manu has prescribed for the sHdras.

and the descriptions of the Kali Age in the Puranas, R* S. Sharma

argues that a problem of socio-economic crisis existed during the

post-Mauryan period and this was aggravated by foreign invasions.

In his view this resulted in the weakening of the old order of the

established society.^

Hazra has pointed out that political supremacy of the Sudras,

of the casteless foreign races and the followers of the heresies

102
was detrimental to the interests of the priestly Brahmans.1 He

further describes how brahmanas had a personal interest in the

recovery of their economic and social positions in order to continue

their privileges and authority and this was achieved by introducing

103
new and complicated rites and customs. In our opinion it would

100. R. Thapar, 'Social Mobility in Ancient India with special reference

to 6lite groups', in Indian Society, 1974, PP* 95-106 — has
discussed at length these two levels of status and that the
separation between these two levels was clearly maintained.

101. R, S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958, PP* 176-198, PP* 211-18,

102. R. C. Hazra, Studies in Purgnic Records. 1936, P* 245*

103# R* C# Hazra, Op. Cit.. pp. 241-259*

 32

be pertinent to add that in a similar way the different groups

of brahmanas determined and changed their notions and opinions

of mlecchas. and foreigners in general. On the other hand, Aiyangar

is of the opinion that, ’the influence and prestige of this body

(brahmanas) was increased, rather than diminished, after every addition

of a foreign element to the Indian population, every such foreign

race soon proving anxious to obtain the recognition implied by its

admission into the Hindu fold through the co-operation of the

members of this class. Its influence waxed rather than waned with

the rise of non-Hindu or non-Kgatriya rulers and dynasties. And,

the high watermark of its power was — paradoxical as it may appear

to say — usually reached after a period of foreign immigration,

inroad or conquest.... *^ ^

It is true that the brahmanas were under pressure during this

period in various ways. It is not unlikely that each different

group of brahmanas. whether a ritual priest or a purohita at the

royal court or a learned smrti writer, had to adopt various approaches

in order to meet the situation of sustaining themselves, and at

the same time, remain within the model provided by the tradition as

laid down in the Hharmasastra. In a situation where there was no

organized church and in view of the vastness of the country, deviations

and variations were allowed to exist side by side and were tolerated.

This open-mindedness was not too big a price to pay to maintain

outwardly a sort of homogeneity and to avoid violent clashes of

opinion on the subject of the designation of the term mleccha for

foreigners. This was a particularly important consideration in view

of the continuation of foreign invasions and migrations to India,

Therefore, when statements about mlecchas in literary texts are

104* K. V* Rangaswami Aiyangar, Considerations on Some Aspects of

Indian Polity, 1935* P» 55*
 55

evaluated the different levels of established opinion has to be

taken into account*

The flexibility of usage, and more importantly of practice,

that was adopted under socio-economic and political pressures in

early Indian tradition, made it possible for ancient law writers

to lay down absolute rules of differentiation between mlecchas

and non-mlecohas * This flexibility remained a characteristic feature

of classifying foreigners and outsiders as mlecchas.

There were perceptible changes on the philosophical level

within the literary treatises, as well as economic and political

changes in ancient India. But for the purpose of our research, we

have delineated two broad phases where emphatic change in the attitude

towards mlecchas is apparent. It has been attempted to emphasize

these phases in the individual aspects of the study, in the different

chapters of the thesis. In the first phase, which roughly covers

the period from the Rg Veda to the beginning of a series of foreign

invasions in the second century B.C., all forms of internal influences

and pressures to the basic tenets of the brahmanic system did not

produce distinct contradictions or challenge the stei’eo"*typed ideas

about mlecchas. It must also be emphasized that there is a striking

sparseness of references to the term mleccha during this period. In

the second phase, from the beginning of the Christian era to the

sixth century A.D., political events and external influence in all

spheres'of activity particularly during the initial stages, brought

about a process of'immediate change and disrupted old-established

positions of authority. In this period also the changes did not

directly refute the theoretical principles of Brahmanic thought,

but attitudes towards mlecchas began to be viewed on different levels.

The historical study of the problem of the attitudes towards

mlecchas and outsiders may at first glance appear to be a mass of

 54

confused and self-contradictory material. But it has to be recognized

that the nature of dharma gives it a stable perspective. As a firm,

durable principle the applicability of dharma throughout ancient

Indian thought, has given an overall umbrella-cover to all fresh

formulations, innovations and adjustments. Since the main concern

of the Brahmanic writers was about the meticulous maintainance of

their own system in its essence, the idea of the mleccha was

interwoven into this pattern.

We have in the presentation of this thesis attempted to bring

forth the basic features of this problem of the mlecchas and

outsiders as it had confronted the social system of early Indian

society and tried to understand it from the point of view of the

ancient Indians, in particular the brahmanas.

SOURCES:

It has been shown that as early as the beginning of the first

millennium B.C. various Indo-Aryan tribes, with some of the indigenous

inhabitants may have united into a large cultural and economic force

that was successful in superimposing itself over the mass of Indian

peoples* Their views and attitudes are available to us mainly from

literary sources. In an attempt to present a connected account

of their attitudes towards mleccha3 one is largely dependent on this

type of source material. It has significant limitations and, if

blindly followed, hampers the presentation of a proper perspective

in the various stages of the development of these ideas.

In studying attitudes, especially those during an ancient period

in history, it is unfortunate that we often have at our disposal only

the writings of the group in society, whether brahmanas or kings,

which do not necessarily represent the views of all Indians. This

 55

is a major problem with the sources for our study and applies

to both literature and inscriptions. The literary sources, mainly

religious in character, Brahmanic, Buddhist and Jaina, reflect their

own value system. They seek to establish the supremacy of the brahmana

or of the ksatriya and never give the views of the mlecchas or

outsiders or indeed, the views of other classes of society. Inscriptions,

too, portray the views of a particular king's court and the

brahmanas he employed. This presumption is implicit in all the

sources that have been consulted.

Attitudes reflected in the majority of these ancient works

regarding outside groups were broadly consistent, with variations

only in detail. But the views in theory, held in most of the

Dharmasastra works that the religious brahmanical literature tries

to conform to, have to be balanced with non-brahmanical sources, both

literary and non-literary. The use of inscriptional materials,

archaeology, and accounts of foreign visitors have been used

essentially to give important impressions that ancient Indian society

did not function in strict accordance to the rules laid down in

the sastra or,, that the views represented in the literature of that

period were unanimously accepted.

Since we are largely concerned with literary sources there are

considerations of dating texts, or parts of them, of their

geographical location and their authorship that require attention.

These will be subsequently be examined in brief detail where the

views of specialists on the subject will be related. Such an analysis

of the source material is of paramount significance as often texts,

though they belong to different periods, repeat the same ideas and

terminologies which give the impression that there were no changes

in the social and moral attitudes of the ancient Indians.

 36

VEDIC TEXTS:

Vedic texts are the backbone of the early history of the

ideas of the brahmapical £lite. These consist of four main

collections of liturgical texts! the Rg Veda. the Sama Veda, the

Ya.iur Veda and the Atharva Veda. The last is datable considerably

later than the first three. Their importance to all authors of

Indian tradition is undeniable as they were considered revealed

texts, the Jruti, and the basis of dharma is traced back to the

Veda as the ultimate authority.

Though there are no references to the mlecchas in them, the two

large collections of the Rg Veda and the Atharva Veda have been used

to reconstruct the differentiation that existed in early India

between those that were represented as members of the 'official'

society and those that remained outside it.

The collection of Ijlg Vedic hymns contains the oldest form of

Indian literature and describes conditions of the Punjab. Its

compilation is generally considered to have begun around c. 1200 B.C.

This date cannot be accepted as absolute for the whole, as the work

consists of older and later elements. This is particularly so in

the case of books I and especially X which are definitely treated

105
as late ones. The Atharva Veda Samhita. as a whole, is undoubtedly
106
later than the collection of the Rg Veda and was compiled in the

land east of the Punjab. In this case, too, because it was compiled

over a considerable time it reflects conditions of a number of

centuries.

The Samhitas were part of sruti. and to each Samhita was atto,ched

105* M. Bloomfield, 'On the Relative Chronology of the Vedic hymns',

JAPS. Vol. XXI, pt. ii, pp. 42-49.

106. ii. Winternitz, HIL, Vol. I, 1971 , p. 127.

 31

a particular school of interpretation. In part, they were guides

intended to explain to the brahmana authorized to officiate, the

prescriptions of the ritual act to he performed and its relation

to the hymn or formulae that was recited. Their importance for

our purposes lies in the fact that practices described here were

often invoked as precedents to support some rule in the later

Sastras. It cannot be overlooked that the entire basis of

discrimination against the mlecchas. in Brahmanic tradition was

based on the fact that the initial differentiation was recorded

in the Satapatha Brahmana,

Besides, the Samhitas. the Brahmanas. the Xranyakas and the

Upanlsads are stores of information about the early legends and

speculations that reflect the life and prejudices of the ancient

Indian people. The region that is indicated in the Samhita and

Brahmana texts is the land of the Kurus and the Pancalas, the region

east and north of Delhi, This as well as the Gaiiga-Yamuna Doab came

to be regarded as the home of brahraanical culture. The period that

is generally assigned to this entire literature is from c. 1000 B.C. to

c, 600 B.C. but here again, one has to be careful to stratify

various phases of social development according to one particular

text and also in relation to its co-existence with other texts.

With the Santhitas we have to differentiate between those that

belonged to the Black Ya.iur Yeda and those of the White Ya.jur Veda.

The Kathaka. Maitrayani and Taittirlya Samhitas. among others

belong to the former and are considered earlier than the latter to
107
which belongs the Va.iasaneyl Samhita:. The Samhitas usually

overlapp with the early Brahmanas.

107, R, S. Sharraa, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958, P* 42.

M. Winternitz, HIL, Vol. I, 1971, P. 170.
 58

108
The Brahmanas are all considered pre-Buddhist. Among them

the Pancavimsa and the TaittirTya are said be be the oldest,

followed by the Satapatha and Aitareya^ a n d finally, the Jaiminlya

and Kausltaki are considered relatively late.

Most of the early ffranyakas and the TJpanisads form component

parts of the Brahmana literature. The most important and greater

TJpanisads — the Aitareya* Brhadaranyaka. Chandogya. Taittirlya.

Kausltaki and Kena — 'undoubtedly represent the earliest stage

110
of development in the literature of the TJpanisads. We are mainly

concerned with these. However, the number of TJpanisads exceeds 200,

some of them are pre-Buddhistic but the majority were written after

the Buddha.

Max Mftller accepted the traditional date of the Buddha's

nirvana in 543 B.C., and from this traced back the entire Vedic

literature with a span of 200 years for each phase of development.

The period between c. 800 B.C. to £. 600 B.C. is assigned to the late
112
Brahmanas and early TJpanisads. The period between c. 1000 B.C. to

£. 800 B.C. is fixed for the early Brahmanas and finally, the period

between c* 1200 B*0. to c, 1000 B.C. is considered suitable for

113
the Vedic hymns to have been compiled. ' There has been much

discussion on the earlier limits of the Rg Veda leading to dates

from c. 1000 B.C. to 2500 B.C. and even as early as c. JOOO B.C.

Winternitz criticized Muller's estimate of 200 years for each

108. A. A. Macdonell, A History of Sanskrit Literature. 1900, pp.202-3

109. A. B. Keith, The Rg Veda Brahmanas.«. 1971» P« 42ff. points out

that the Aitareya and the ICaugitaki are pre-Panini and pre-Yaska.

110. Winternitz, HIL. Vol. I, p. 256.

111. M. Muller, The History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature. 1859» P* 35

112. M. Muller, The Rg Veda Samhita. Vol. IV, pp. viiff.

113* M.Muller, Op. Pit.. 1859, p. 572.

 59

literary epoch as arbitrary; he referred the Vedic poetry

to a very great antiquity and suggested that its beginning may

have been c. 2000 B.C. or even c. 2500 B.C.”* ^

However, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary

we must accept Muller's date of o » 1200 B.C. for the beginning of

the Vedic literary tradition, as has been done by most modern

scholars. Weber has rightly pointed out that it is futile to attempt

115
to fix any exact date for the Vedic period. y A characteristic

feature of all these texts is that they do not represent one definite

period. We can, however, SU-^cje^t that one phase pre-supposes

another and presents the perspective view of the different areas

of the Ghngetic plains where most of this literature was written.

SUTRA AM)
. SMRTI LITERAQJUEE:
............. .......... n , „

Max Muller has assigned the next important phase of brahma$ical

literature .i.e. the sutras to the period between c . 600 B.C. to

116
c_. 200 B.C. The epoch of these sutras Srauta. Grhya. Kalpa

and Bharma — in the post-Vedic period sees a definite affirmation

of the supremacy of the brahmana class who composed these manuals

for the performance of domestic rituals and public ones. Of these

the Bharmasutras detail the general rules of behaviour and are most

useful to us, as for the first time we have information about the

mlecchas at some length. The principal among these have been ascribed

to the period between c.. 600 B.C. to c,. 500 B.C. by Itane.^^ In these

lay the foundation for the growth of the science of the Bharmasaatra

114. M. Winternitz, HIL. Vol. I, pp. 290-510*

115* A. Weber, A History of Indian Literature. 1914, P* 2.

116. M. Muller, Op. Cit.. 1859, PP. 244-45*

117'. P. V. Kane, KD, Vol. II, pt. i, p. xi.

 40

and. here oan "be located the notion of smrti or Remembered

tradtion* as opposed to sruti or 'revealed knowledge'. The former,

nevertheless, give constant references to its dependence on the

latter.

Bharmasutra period begins one or two centuries before

the rise of Buddhism and is considered to end with the rise of the

Dharroa&astra literature, the didactic treatises of the Mahabharata

and the early Puranas. roughly around the first few centuries A.B.

Within this large time span the chronology of the important

118
Bharmasutras has been stratified# Gautama is considered unanimously

the first sutrakara followed by Baudhayana, Epastamba and Vasig'fcha.^^

120
Xpastamba is sometimes regarded as younger than BaudhSyana. The

sHtrakSras almost exclusively refer to Xryavarta and their rules of

Bharma were meant to apply to this region. There are suggestions,

however, which point out that Baudhayana and more so Xpastamba,

121
probably belonged to the south and that the school of Vasistha
122
flourished in the north-west of India.

The institutes of Vi§#u which are often referred to as part

of the sutra literature, are essentially outside this category,

Vi§£U has several characteristics of the Smrti style and is placed

by both Kane and Jolly as late as the third and fourth century

118. Ram Gopal, India of the Yedic Kalpasutras. 1959, pp. 90-100.
Excluding the Visnu Bharmasutra (usuallyknown as a Smrti), he
places the sutra literature, as a whole between £♦ 800 B.C. to
500 B.C. (pp, 84 -9 0 ).

119« S# C# Banerji, Bharmasutras A Study in their Origin and Development,

1962, pp. 17-28. He does not make any new assertions about the
general time span of the stttras. Ram Gopal, Op. Cit.. pp. 82-85.

120. G, Biihler, SBE, Vol. II, p. xxiiff,

121. P. V. Kane, HD, Yol. I, p. 44; Buhler, SBE. Vol. XI, p. xxxff. and
Vol. XIV, p. xlii,

122* E. J* Rapson, CHI. Vol. I, pp. 246-50.

 41

123 124
A.3). ^ They both disagree on the source of Visnu which Kane ^

rightly stresses is probably Manu as it has several slokas from

it. Jolly believes that both these writers belonged to a common

school of thought.

The differences between the bharmasutras and bharmasastra need

125
not be emphasized here J as both these type of works agree on

their main motive i.e. the elucidation of bharma.

The Manusmrti or the Manavadharmasastra is the most celebrated

work of the bharmalastras. It is generally ascribed to the period

126
between <3. '200 B.C. and c. A.b. 200. The influence of thiswork

which was known to almost all lawgivers, was wide-spread. The

brahmanical view of the social and political order presented by

Manu were generally accepted and quoted as the official point of

view. On the whole it tends to portray an idealized picture of

Society in theoretical terms. One can even detect a slight

fanaticism in his writing; all indicative of an intention to maintain

the privileges of the superior members of the society. The other

law books ascribed to the period between £* A.b. 200 to c , A.b. 500

are: the Ya.inavalkva Smrti (c. 100-300 A.b.) which arranges the

material from Manu in a concise manner, the Narada Smrti (£, 100-400

A.b.), the Brhaspati Smrti (£. 300-500 A.b.) and the Katyayana

Smrti (£. 400-600 A.b.).12? Material on the mlecchas follows the

123* P. V. Kane, IIP. Vol. II, pt. i, p. xi places it between £. 100-

300 A.b. J. Jolly, SBE, Vol. VXI, p. xxxii.

124* Kane, HD, Vol. pp. 52 -5 6 ; Jolly, SBE. Vol. VII, pp. xxii-xxvii.

125* There are technical differences in the style of writing and

emphasis on the different aspects in both these works which have
been discussed by R. Lingat, The Classical Law of India,. (Tr.
J. b. M. berrett, 1973)» pp. 73“77* He concludes, ’The bharmaSastra
literature which commences after the era of the sutras, and
came to an end around the ninth century A.b. around which time
the earliest surviving commentators probably appeared.'

126. G. Biihler, SBE, Vol. XXV, pp. cxiv-cxviii; K, P. Jayswal, Manu

and Ya.inavalkva. 1930* PP* 25-32* Kane, HD, Vol. II, p. xi.

187* tale| ffl, Vol. II* p. xi*

 42

pattern of the sutras which is often reproduced and only sometimes

expanded upon# The commentaries on these works do add fresh

material hut in using them one has to he aware that they were

written, at the earliest, after the tenth century A.B,

The SukranXti has been used and quoted in a few instances (only

in chapter V) because it contains certain refreshingly interesting

information on the mlecohas# This may be due to the fact that it

is a late text# Most scholars use this text for the early Medieval
128
period# Lallanji Gopal has given strong evidence showing that
129
it is a nineteenth century composition. y

THE INDIAN EPICS — R%MAYAHA AND MAHABHARATA:

The Mahabharata is a much larger epic than the Ramayan.a and

definitely less homogeneous# Being veiry popular, both these epics,

during their existence over several centuries, have been redacted

a number of times, which has inevitably given rise to various versions

of the same text. Eor our purpose we have used the Critical Editions
130
of the Mahabharata and Ramayana J as these have collated some of

the important versions.

At the outset we have to bear in mind that the Mahabharata is

distinguished by its allusion to historical and political events in

ancient India. On the other hand, the Ramayana depicts a highly

idealized society with a view to inculcate ideal virtues among the

people# They are both equally popular in all regions of India and

Outside it, and among all classes of people# But from the Mahabharata

we can glean far more information, both of a religious and of a secular

nature.

128# Kane, KD, Vol.I, p# 116; Vol# III, p. 121, ft. nt# 162,

129# L. Gopal, 'The Sukraniti - A nineteenth century text1, BSOAS. Vol.

XXV, pt. iii, pp. 524-556#

150# The Mahabharata published by BORI, in 19 volumes, Poona, 1933-66,

The Ramayana published by 01, in 6 volumes, Baroda, 1960-71
 43

"The Mahabharata describes the family feud between the

Pap^avas and the Kauravas to establish the rightful supremacy

of the former over the latter. In the process of describing this

narrative, the compilers and redactors of this text have supplied

information on the ethnography and geography of ancient India.

It is often difficult to identify the locations and authenticity

of the numerous peoples and places mentioned. Some of these lists

must be treated as late interpolations. The didactic portions of

the Mahabharata contained in the Santi and Anusasana Parvans are

similar to the material contained in the Smytis. Hence, besides the

actual narrative, we have lengthy descriptions on a diverse range

of topics. It is for this reason that R. S. Sharma writes: fit is

difficult to use the material drawn from the Mahabharata for one

particular period, for its narrative portion looks back to as early

as the tenth century B.C. and the didactic and descriptive portions
131
belong to as late as the fourth century A.D.'

A detailed stratification of the various portions of the

Mahabharata is a difficult problem. Unfortunately this has not

132
even been attempted fully in the Critical edition. x It is made

impossible to reconstruct the chronological development of ideas in

the Epic as a whole because of the various layers of interpolations

at every stage. Portions of the Mahabharata have, however, been

taken separately and dated accordingly. The most important is the

didactic matter, which corroborates, but also gives variants, to

the Smyti literature. This Hopkins considers to have been introduced

131. R. S, Sharma, Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions

in Ancient India. 1968, p. 17*

132. P. Edgerton, The Mahabharata. Crt. Ed., Vol. II, pp. xxvii~xxvi.il,
'kk® SabhS Parvan is the only one dated and it is considered to
be not before the first century B.C..
 44

into the Epic between £. 200 B.C. to b. A.D. 200.^^ There are

several sections of the Anusasana and tlanti Parvans which Hopkins

assigns to a still later period; between c , A.D. 200 to o . A.D. 400.

Winternitz has put arguments that show that the Mahabharata as a whole

did not exist before the fourth century B.C. 'Between the fourth

century B.C. and the fourth century A.D. the transformation of the

enic Mahabharata into our present compilation took plaoe, probably

gradually.1^ (p. 475)

The Valmiki Ramayana. on the other hand, is considered to have

been compiled definitely in the early centuries A.D.1^ With the help

of archaeological material, H.D. Sankalia has tried to show that a

Ramayana existed in India from £. 1000 B.C. to c. 800 B.C. The

interpolations, in his view took place between the sixth century B.C.

to the third century A.D. and which continued even later. These

made the Ramayana fictional rather than factual in character.

However, the dating of the bulk of the text, aB we have it now, is

probably first to second century A.D.

The excavations of the sites mentioned in both the Epics in

recent years has presented fresh data for their chronological

stratification. The sites like Kuruk§etra, Hastinapura, Ahiochatrn

of the Mahabharata contain levels that have been described as the

Painted Grey Ware. These date as far back as the eleventh century

B.C. The association of the original Ramayana. reaffirmed by local

tradition, is with the Copper Hoard Cultures and their lowest limit

133* W. Hopkins, The Great Epic of India. 1920, pp. 397”98.

134. W. Hopkins, CHI, Vol. I, p. 258.

135. M. Winternitz, HIL. Vol. I, pp. 454-475. 136. Ibid.. p. 516.

137* H. D. Sankalia, Ramayana Myth and Reality. 1973» PP. 62-64

 45

is ascribed to the first half of the second millenium B.C. ’This

suggests the antiquity only of the plot of the Ramayana over that of

the Mahabharata but more excavations have to be carried out to

138
fix any of these dates definitely, y

The dating of material from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata

can, in the present circumstance, only be tentative. But we cannot

ignore the geographical, ethnological and sociological and moral

milieu in which they were written. To a certain extent they reflect

the conditions of the time they came into being. However, because

of the varied authorship of these texts over a great period of

time we have to be careful in placing too much reliance on their

statements.

THE P U R A M Si

® 10 Puranas contain valuable information on all aspects of

Hinduism and from the point of view of the history of religion help

us to delineate various phases of its development. We have to be very

cautious when they are used to reconstruct historical events. For

all intensive purposes, in such cases we cannot solely rely on

the information thus available.

All the Puranas are sectarian in character and present in

detail the mythology, the types of worship, the ceremonies, the festivals,

the spirit of bhakti or devotion to God and the philosophy and ethics
139
of the particular sect they support. Their sectarian nature

becomes more clearly defined in the later Mahapuranas and

Upapuranas, some of the latter were written as recent as the eighteenth

138. Summarized from B. B. Lai, *Archaeology and the two Indian

Epics*, ABORI. Vol. LIV, pt. i, 1973, pp. 1-8*

139* J. Farquhar, An Outline of the Religious Literature of

India. 1920, has dated the religious literature, the Puranaa
included, according to the development of theism.
 46

and nineteenth centuries The problem of dating these texts

is complicated and difficult especially as parts of them were not

■written or compiled at one given period. Neither was their

writing confined to one part of the subcontinent. Most of them

had a particular locale for their compilation but different versions

spread over all parts of the country with interpolations added all

the time. This feature is clearly apparent in the different MSS

of one particular Purana when it is being edited.

Therefore, it is wrong to view the Puranas as written according

to a unified and systematic pattern. The fact that the word Purana

is mentioned in early BrShmanic texts and that the eighteen Puranas

141
are known in the Mahabharata can lead one to believe that they were

of early origin. The Mahabharata itself was not a homogeneously

conceived and written text and further it must be accepted: 'the

composition of the Puranas is spread over a long time covering

several centuries from the epoch of the Brahmanas and the Upanisads
142
to the age of the Guptas and after.*

Accepting the premise that the kernel of each Purana may have

existed in relatively early times and its contents amplified in

the course of centuries, Dikshitar has classified the dates of the

143
five Puranas he has studied solely according to their contents.

140. For the study of Indian mythology the Puranas are indispensable
and for this purpose it is possible to postulate several broad
divisions of early, late and middle PurSnas: Between £* JOQ B.C. to
c_. A.D. 500 are placed the Brahmanda. Markandeya. Hatsya, Vayu,
and Visnu Puranas as early ones. Among the middle Puranas, placed
between jo. A.D. 500 to £. 1000 A.D., are listed the Karma. LiU'j,a
Vamana. Varaha, Agni. Bhagavata. Brahmavaivarta. Saura. Skanda
and Devi Purgnas W, D. 0 'Flaherty, Asceticism and Eroticism in
the Mythology of Siva, 1975* P* 14*
141. B. C. Hazra, Puranic Records on Hindu Bite3and Customs. 194^, PP* 1
142. V. R. R. Dikshitar, The Purana Index. 1951» Vol. I, p. xvi.
143• Ibid.. pp. xvi-xxx, They are the Vayu. the Brahmanda. the Matsya
the Visnu and the Bhagavata Puranas.
 47

Since the Vayu Purana ia not purely sectarian as some of

its religious and philosophical features show, its original

is dated in the fifth century B.C. But since, at the same time,

it includes the HSnas in the list of Kali Age dynasties and has

certain features on par with the Ya.inavalkya Smrti. it is said

to have Been enlarged gradually till the fifth century A.D.^^ That

there are several parts common to the Brahmanda and Vayu Puranas can

he explained by the fact that the former borrowed from the latter*

Its original compilation is assigned roughly to the fourth century

145
B.C. though a positive date for its present form cannot be deduced.

There is also difficulty for the determination of the upper limit

for the compilation of the Matsya Purana. As regards this point

Dikshitar concludes that it must undoubtedly be post-Paninian and

its development spread over the centuries till £. 220 A.D,^^ The

Visnu Purana. is often considered the work of a single hand and

tradition is keen to assign a very high antiquity to it. According

to Dikshitar its early composition should be extended from the

seventh to the fourth century B.C. and on the basis of Tamil evidence

he affirms its antiquity to be higher than at least the second century

A.D. The Bhggavata Purana which follows the Visnu in major details
147
is assigned to the third century A.D.

In the above account there is undue emphasis on the early compilation

of these Purgnas. Por us it is more important to view their age

from their present form. An important fact that Dikshitar has not

144* Dikshitar, Op. Cit.. pp. xix-xx. Astronomical data planes

it between c* 204 D.C. to £* A.D. 44*

145* Ibid.. p. xxii.

146. Ibid.. p. xxiii,

147* Ibid.. p. xxvii; p. xxix. As the Visnu Purana mentions the

early Guptas, its date in more or less complete form cannot
be earlier than c. A.D. 320,
 48

pointed out in his analysis is that there are certain features

in all Puranas that seem to have been copied by one Purana from

another, with only a few changes. These are such features as the

geographical lists of rivers, mountains, peoples etc., the chapters

on the Kali Age. and so on. Therefore, there is a need to date

specific portions of the Purana accounts together, rather than

try and prove the precedence of one Purana over the other. The

stratification and consequent dating of the Puranas in this way has •

been attempted by scholars.

Hazra has adopted the stratification of the content of all

Puranas on the basis of rites and c u s t o m s . ^ 8 Those that he entitles

Ma.ior Puranas. the Markandeva Purana. the Vayu Purana. the Brahmanda

Purana. the Visnu Purana. the Matsya Purana and the Bhagavata Purana

are in the main, the ones we have largely used. The Smrti contents

of none of these Puranas can be dated before the Christian era.

The chapters dealing with the duties of varnas and asramas in the

Markanfteya. Visnu. Bhagavata and Bhavisya have been assigned roughly

150
to the Gupta period, between c. 300 to £ • 4°0 A.B. ^ On the other

hand, data on the Kali Age, which is more fully described in the
151
Vayu. Brahmanda and Matsya Puranas have been dated differently.

They probably allude to the age between £• 200 B.C. to c. A.B. 200

when the division of varnas in brahmanical society was undermined by

152
foreign incursions.

P. E. Pargiter has critically analyzed the so-called historical

148. Hazra, On. Cit'.. pp. 8-189.

149. Ibid.. p. 5. 150. Ibid.. pp. 174; 175; 177; 188.

151. They also occur in the Visnu. Bhagavata. Garuda and Kvirma
Puranas but these, it is generally accepted, were later than
those of the above mentioned.

152. Hazra, On. Cit.. pp. 208-210,

 49

153
sections i.e. the lists of the Kali Age dynasties in the Puranas.

In these lists of kings there are some that are well known in

history — the Nandas, the Mauryas, the Sungas, the Andhras and the

Guptas. Towards the end of each list is ennumerated a series of

dynasties of low and mlecoha descent. Here are mentioned the Abhiras,

the Gardabhas, the Sakas, the Yavanas, the Tusaras, the Hunas etc.

Finally, after these accounts, the description of the Kali Age in

general is given. One has to exert great caution in using these

lists as purely historical sources.

The origin and development of these lists, as viewed "by Pargiter,

can he summarized as follows: the Matsya. Vayu. and Brahmanda Puranas

got their accounts from the Bhavisya Purana. though they existed

before it. Pargiter has assumed that the accounts of the north

Indian dynasties were, in the course of time, composed in literary

154
Prakrit Slokaa and recited by bards. In about the seventh century

B.C. they were written down in or near Magadha. The Bhavisya rendered

this account into Sanskrit in the form of a prophecy. The account

of the Andhras was composed in north India, originally in IQiarosthI

script, around the third century A.D.

Revisions of the text were constantly taking place. The Matsya

borrowed from the Bhavisya in the last quarter of the third century

A.D. One manuscript of the Vayu represents a revision of this text

in the first quarter of the fourth century A.D. but was again revised

during the second quarter of the fourth century A.D. in the same

Purana and was also copied by the Brahmanda Purana. A little latex',

around the end of the fourth century A.D., the Visnu Purana condensed

this text into Sanskrit prose. Finally, the Bhagavata got its

153* F. E. Pargiter, PICA. 1912* 19&2), Preface.

154* Ibid.. pp. xxvi-xxviii.

 50

account from the Visnu and Brahmanda ones around the eighth or the
155
ninth century A.D.

Keith has contested the views of Pargiter, especially concerning

the duration of each of the dynasties* The theory that the original
156
of these accounts was written in Prakrit has also Been contested.

About the latter point Winternitz; writes* 'Pargiter gives good-

reasons for the hypothesis that these sources were written in Prakrit;

but we should not therefore jump to the conclusion that the Puranas
157
as a whole were translated from Prakrit.' D. C. Sircar is

inclined to accept the theory of the Prakrit originals as he points

out that the geographical sections of the Puranas also exhibit Prakrit
158
influences in names like Bharukaccha, Vedabha etc. Sircar,

however, does not agree with Pargiter in that the account of the

Andhras of the Deccan should have been written in Kharog^hi as that

159
dynasty had nothing to do with north-west India.

The dates that Pargiter has proposed for the lists of Kali Age

kings for the various Puranas have to be largely accepted though

they are only tentative*

Hazra has dated the Yuga dharma (this includes the chapter on

the Kali Yuga dharma) chapters of the Puranas as follows; The Vayu

and Brahmanda versions are the earliest namely between c, A.D. 200 to

£. A.D* 275* Yi^nu Purana incorporated it in the last quarter

of the third century or the first quarter of the fourth century A.D.
*i£*c\
and the Kurina Purana did the same between c_* A.D. 'JOO and c.. A.D. 000.

155* Pargiter, Op. Cit.. pp. v-ix.

156, A. B* Keith, 'The Age of the Purapas', JRAS. pt. ii, 1914» P* 1021ff.;
'Dynasties of the Kali Age', JRAS, pt. i, 1915» P* 528ff.

157* Winternitz, HIL, Vol. I, p. 524» ft. nt. 2.

158. D. C, Sircar, Geography of Ancient and Medieval India. 1971» P* 19*
159* Ibid*, p* 19.
160. Hazra, O p . Cit*. pp. 174-175? 178*
 51

One last' topic that is included in all Puranas and has been

stratified and dated concerns the chapters on the geography of

Bharatavarga. M. R. Singh has attempted to establish the relative

chronology of the Puranic accounts on the geography of Bharatavar§a.

He works on the assumption that the dates assigned to different

Puranas do not imply that the geographical accounts of Bharatavarsa

should also be assigned similar dates. His conclusions are as

follows: The Markanfleya. Vayu. Brahmanda and Vamana follow the

original draft which seems to have been first compiled in the Matsya

Purana. This original draft belongs to the second century B.C. The

version in the Visnu, Kurma and Brahma Puranas is similar and belongs

to the fifth century A.B. The Kurma Hive £a section of the Markandeya

Purana cannot be assigned to a date earlier than the fourth century

A.D. ((3. A.D. 400 to c,. A.D. 600).. The same is true of the geographical
162
section of the Bhisma Parvan in the Mahabharata.

We thus spe t^at it is impossible to fix one absolute date for

all the Purapas and it is even difficult to fix one date for the

whole extant text of one particular Purana. One can generalize that

most sections of the Vayu. Brahmanda and Matsya Puranas were completed

and revised at a certain given period, between the second and

fifth centuries A.D. but this cannot be done with all the Puranas.

Above all, it has always to be borne in mind that each Purana does

not necessarily purport the conditions during which it was written.

The date of the Yuga Purana has not been discussed so for. It

is different from the others in that it features only one aspect

which the other Puranas also dwell on, namely, the condition of men

during the four Yugas — Kyta, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. It is, however,

161. M. R. Singh, *The Relative Chronology of the Janapada lists of

the Puranas*, Purana. Vol. X, 19^7» P» 264

162. Ibid.. pp. 2?1ff.

 52

the earliest among the exbant works of the Furana type, Kern

assigns to the text a date of c. 50 B.C. and considers it contemporaneous

165
with certain portions of the Mahabharata. ^ Jayaswal has also

dated it in the same century but in the latter half of the first
1
century. ^ The problem about dating this text is to decide whether

it could refer to an earlier period even if it was not composed

earlier than the first century B.C.

OTHER SANSKRIT LITERATURE;

For most studies on ancient India the Arthasastra is an

important source. Since 190$, when the existence of this text first

came to be known, there has been no agreement on its precise date or

authorship. Scholars have tried to date it from the time of Candragupta

Maurya to the fourth century A.B. The text is attributed variously

to the names Kautilya, Canakya or Visnugupta, R. P. Kangle in a

detailed analysis of the work has convincingly ascribed the authorship

165
to Kautilya. As to its date, after a critical analysis of what

other scholars have written on the subject, he concluded that the

text must be assigned to an early period, between £. 250 B.C. to

c. A.D. 150.166

Kane has fixed the date at 500 B.C.^^ T, R. Trautinann^^ 011

the basis of a statistical analysis of the work has argued that the

165 . H, Kern, The Brhatsamhita. Introduction, pp. 59-40.

164 . K. P. Jayaswal, 1Historical data in the G-arga Samhita and the

Brahmin Empire', JB0R5. Yol. XIY, 1928, p. 599*

165. R. P. Kangle, The Kautillya Arthasastra. 1965* pt. Ill, p. 106™

166. Ibid.. p. 99*

167* P. V. Kane, HD, Vol. II, pt. ii, p. xi.

168. T* R. Trautmann, Kautilya and the Artha§astra. 1971 •

 53

169
text has no unity of authorship. While Kangle x also argues

that the Arthasastra evolved over a period of time, Trautmann*s

analysis suggests that there was not one author but several which
170
means that there are as many dates as authors of the text. ‘ Since

the authors cannot be identified or named he has found it impossible

171
to conclude on one date. ' But on its authorship there is one

definite conclusion: ’Kautilya cannot have been the author of the

Arthasastra as a whole; but whether he wrote a part, and if so, which

part, we cannot decide without appeal to evidence outside the statistical

172
study.’ Therefore, it is important to reoonsider and not advocate

absolute dates for the ArthasSstra. either of its complete writing

ih the Maurya period or in the Gupta period.

Among the works on grammar, the Astadhvavl of Panini is the

oldest and most important of the kind. Panini was a resident of

Salatura near Taxila in northwest India. He is said to pre-suppose

other works on grammar which are now lost. Much has been written

about fixing the date of the Astadliyavi ranging from the eighth
173
century B.C. to c. 350 B.C. In Renou's opinion Papini belonged
174
to the fourth century B.C. ' Agrawala concludes that he lived
175
during the fifth century B.C. ' Several varttikas have been written

169* R. P* Kangle, Op. Cit.. p. 10

170. T. R. Trautmann, Op. Cit.. p. 174*

171* A provisional date of £. 250 A.B. has been accepted for the
compilation of the text and this is tested against the evidence
available from within the text (Trautmann, pp. 176-187).

172. Ibid.. p. 175.

173* Winternitz, HIL. Yol. Ill, pt. ii, pp. 423~424*

174. L. Renou, L ’Inde Classique. Tome II, 1520.

175* V. S. Agcawal.iIndia as known to Panini. 1953» P» 475*

 54

to explain the grammatical rules in this work. The most famous

is the Mahabhas.va by Patanjali, who has taken into account the

Vn.r+r+f‘ika- of Katyayana in order to explain the sutras of Papini. There

is considerable unanimity in regarding that Patanjali lived in the

second century B.C., datable around 150 B.C. There is no positive

evidence to confirm this date and Winternitz writes, fin case we

assign Panini to the fifth, Katyayana to the third and Patanjali

to the second century B.C., we have nothing but a "working

hypothesis", ‘^ 6

Among the works on lexicography the Nirukta of Yaska is the

earliest and is placed between c,. 700 B.C. to £. 500 B.C.^^ Another

important work of the kind written very much later is the

Namalinganusasana of Amarasimha, better known as the Amarakoga. It

is useful for the definition of words and is assignable to the

sixth century A.D.^^

The Brhatsamhita by Varahamihira is far moi'e important for the

geography of Bharatavar§a than the Epic and Puranic tradition. This

is because its information is assignable to a known period, namely

179
the first half of the sixth century A.D.

The Natyasastra of Bharatarauni must definitely be placed before

180
the seventh century A.D. M.N. Ghosh, in editing and translating

the text, concludes that it iB necessary to consider its lower limit

to be £. A.D. 300 or at least c. A.D, 400. As far as its upper limit

is concerned the date suggested is c_. A.D. 200, though tradition and

176. Winternitz, HID. Vol. Ill, pt. ii, p. 450.

177• 1*. Sarup, Nighantu and Nirukta. 1920, p. 54*

178. Winternitz, Op. Cit.. p. 456.
179. H. Kern, The Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira, 1865, p. 20. The
commentary of Bhatta Utpala on this text is datable in the tenth
century A.D. — Winternitz, HID, Vol. Ill, pt. ii, p. 659
180. P. V* Kane, BD, Vol. II, pt. ii, p. xi
 55

181
language take it back to c, 100 B.C.

Among Classical waiters, the works of K&lid&sa are outstanding.

182
Keith suggests that he definitely lived before A.B. 472» though

he can broadly be placed between the second and sixth century A.B.
183 ^
according to Basgupta. ^ Regarding the MudrSEralcsasa of Visakbadatta,

there is considerable controversy. Basgupta places him between

the fifth and ninth century A.B.^8^ The Mudraraksasa has been used

extensively by us and the views of other scholars on its date

have been noted in chapter V. Finally, the Kathasaritsagara of

Somadeva and the Ra.iataranginl of Kalhana can more precisely be dated.

The former is assigned to between 1063-1081 A.B.^8^ and latter to

1148-1149 A.B.186

BUBBHIST AKD JAINA LITERATURE:

The greater authenticity of Buddhist literature as compared

with Brahmanic literature, especially of the pre-Mauryan period,

is emphasized by several scholars with good reason. Both are in the

main religious in nature but the Buddhist ones present a more realistic

picture and it is this reason that they have been accepted as more

reliable. Another significant fact is that the Pali Canon is more

easily datable.

The Pali Canon is traditionally associated with the Buddhist

Councils at Rajagaha, held immediately after the Hirvapa of the Buddha^

181• M. Ghosh, ’The Bate of the Bharata Ratyasastra*, Journal ofthe

Bepartment of Letters. University of Calcutta. Yol. XXV, 1954*
pp. 50-52.

182. A. B, Keith, History of Sanskrit Literature. 1928, p. 82,

183* S. N. Basgupta and S. K. Be, A History of Sanskrit Literature,

Vol. II, p. 124.

Ibid.. pp. 262 - 264 .

185• A, B* Keith, Op. Cit.. p. 281*

186. M. A. Stein, Kalhana1s Ra.iataranginI . 1900, Vol. I, p. 6.

 56

and at Yesail, held a hundered years later and an important one

that was held at Pataliputra -under Asoka. Tradition also has

it that it was under king Vaj^agaraapi of Sri Lanka that it was

187
committed to writing around 100 B.C. It was written in Pali,

though it is thought that it was compiled by the monks at Pataliputra

in an ancient MagadhI dialect. However, the Tripijaka in its present

form is in Pali.

The Vinaya Pitaka which contains rules for the monastic

community, together with the Suttauitaka which is a collection

of dialogues to eluoidate the points of dhamma. have to be described

as pre-Mauryan texts. They belong to the same chronological strata

because of the internal unity of the books apparent in the material

188
they provide. G. C. Pande has stratified the Dlgha. Ma.i.ihlma.

Saiiyutta and Aftguttara Nikayas according to their contents and

189
distinguishes in them early and later portions. He views their

growth to reflect conditions between £. 500 B.C. to 500 B,C.^°

Positive corroboration for the existence of an early Buddhist Canon

in the third century B.C. is given in the inscriptions of Asoka. The

inscriptions on the stupas of Bharut and Sanchi ascribed to the

second and first centuries B.C. also testify abundantly to the

191
Buddha legends as found in the Pali Suttas. y The Abhldhamyna Pitaka

187* E. W. Adilcaram, Early Historyof Buddhism in Ceylon. 1955> PP» 73~79•

188. Rhys Davids, CHI. Vol. I, pp. 192-197? B.C. Law, History of Pali
Literature. i, pp. 50-55*

189. G. C. Pande, Studies in the Origins of Buddhism, (rpt.), 1974*

Part I.

190* Ibid.. p. 16

191• Winternitz, HIL. Vol. II, pp.16-18. In the edict of Bairat

(Bhabru) of the year 249 B.C. the king recommends seven texts
for the study of monks from Magadha.
 57

presupposes the other Pitakas and is therefore considered the

latest of the Tripitaka*

Heferenoe to parts of the Tripitaka is found in the

Milindapaftha. a work whose authentic portion "belongs to the first

192
century A.D,. Among the non-canonical works, the DTpavamaa and

I%diavamsa occupy an important place. The former is placed between

the beginning of the fourth and the first third of the fifth century
193
A.D. The Mahavaifisa is considered somewhat later, a work of the

last quarter of the fifth century A.D* or the sixth century A.D.^^

The commentaries on early Pali Suttas by the celebrated writer

193
Buddhaghosa are said to belong to the fifth century A.D.

.There are greater chronological uncertainties in the case

of the Jaina sources as compared to the Buddhist ones. The Jaina

Siddhanta is said to have been written down by Devarddigapi in about

196
the fifth or the sixth century A.D. The entire Jaina literature

is said to date back to Mahavlra, and more definitely to the period

of Candragupta Maurya by tradition. It, however, underwent considerable

change and collectively cannot be said to belong to one particular

period*

It is held that the Canonical works of the Jainas were first

compiled somewhere towards the end of the fourth or the beginning

192, T. W. Rhys Davids, The Questions of King Milinda. SBE, Yol. XXV,
pt* i, Introduction; Winternitz, HIL, Yol, II, p. 175*

193* H* Oldenberg, The Drpavamsa. 1879* PP. 8-9*

194* W* Geiger, The Mahavamsa. 1912, Introduction, p. xii.

195* Winternitz, HIL. Yol, II, pp. 190-92.

196. A. Weber, ’Ueber die Leiligen Schriften der Jaina’, Indische

Studien. Vol. XVI, 1883, p. 2 36 .
J* C* Jain, Life Depicted in the Jaina Canons. 1947* P* 38.
 58

197
of the third century B.C. The language used in the early Jaina

works is Prakrit - Ardha Magadhi - and it is only in works written

after the sixth century A.B, that Sanskrit is adopted.

The oldest part of the Siddhanta, from the literary and

linguistic points of view are considered the Ac aran/m. SHtrakrtanga

198
and U11 argdhyayana Sutras. 7 Of these the Acaranga is considered
199
the earliest of the three, though within the text it has an

earlier archaic portion and a very late one.*^ All three Sutras.. are

however, considered later than the Buddhist Tripitaka. Charpentier

agrees in the main with Jacohi that Hhe oldest portions of the

Siddhanta must he fixed during.a period lying between the settling

201
of the Tripitaka and our era, roughly between 300 B.C. - 200 B.C.'

The Fannavana (Prainapana) is the fourth upanga and is important

from our point of view as it lists ariya and milakkha peoples. It

is the only up5n/?a to be ascribed to a relatively early period,

202
between c. 200 B.C. to £• A.B. 200. The list of foreign and

tribal peoples also occurs in other an^as and unangas — — In the

Bhagavatl. the Jambudvlpaprainapti. and the PraanavyakaranHni. These

lists are said to have been borrowed from brahmanical literature,

Weber has used them to arrive at the date of the redacted Canon which
203
he fixes between the second and the fifth century A.B." y

197* Jacobi, Gaina Sutras. SBE, Vol. XXII, Introduction p. xli.ii.

198. J. C. Jain, Qp. Cit.. p. 34*

199. J* Charpentier, The Uttaradhyayanaautra. 1922, p. 23#

200. Winternitz, HIL. Vol. II, pp. 435-36.

201. J. Charpentier, Op. Cit.. p. 26.

202. J, C, Jain, Qp. Cit.. p. 38*

203. A. Weber, Qp. Cit.. Vol. XVI, p. 236ff.

 59

There is ultimately no doubt that the foi’m of the Jaina

Siddhanta as we have it today dates from 526 A.D. when Devarddigapi

wrote it down.^^ At this time many interpolations were introduced

into the earlier texts discussed above* The commentaries — the Mr.yuktis

and Curnis — on the Jaina texts cannot be dated earlier than the

eleventh century A.b.

The lack of definite dates for all literary sources in ancient

India is a significant problem but from the review of the subject

above we have been able to determine broad phases of the early and

late texts.

With the background and sources discussed we now proceed to

analyze the different aspects of our study.

204.J. Charpentier, Op. Cit.. p. 16.

 60
Chapter II

OHS TERM MLECCHA

Barbarians in ancient India were called mleooha. The notion

of being a mleccha was introduced in northern India in the literature

of the Indo-Aryan speaking tribes when they encountered people

having different cultural attributes and values. Hie foremost

aspect of our study is on the word mleccha itself as its ooourrence

in Sanskrit is not clearly explicable.

Was mleccha originally a Sanskrit word? In the literary source

material available to us it first occurs in the Sanskrit language and

t *1
in a context which denotes their linguistic peculiarity. In Pali
2
and Prakrit its form is milakkha and milakkhu respectively. As

milakkhuka it is first attested in the Pitaka literature ofthe

Buddhists though not in the context of their speech. In both these

cases, as well as in other middle and m o dem Indo-Aryan languages, there

exist variations of the word that are explained by linguists with

respective etymological rules. These forms have been noted later

in the chapter. It is significant to point out right from the beginning

the fact that the use of mleccha is first available to us in a

Sanskrit text is of no sufficient indication to trace its origin

in Yedic and Sanskrit only.

However, irrespective of form, the word is generally translated

into English from all languages to mean a barbarian, a foreigner,

Sr.. Ill, 2, 1, 24 — mleooha in Sanskrit.

2. Samyutta Nikaya, Y, 466 — milakkha in Pali;

Acaranga Sutra. II, 3, 8 — milakkhu in Ardha-Magadhi

5 . Yinaya Pitaka. III, 20,

 61
a non-Aryan etc. The latter two are generally regarded as

secondary meanings#^ The meaning of this word can, however, he

truly ascertained hy drawing upon some of the important references

and citations to it in the original texts,

From the Satapatha Brahmana we get the first impression of

hrahmanical writers about mlecchas and more specifically about

their speech. It is described to be similar to that of the Asuras

(in this context they are the enemies of the Devas), and must be
5
avoided as it causes the defeat of a person. The avoidance of
c
.mleccha speech was particularly stressed for the benefit of snatakas
7
and all brahmanas.
1 • In the former instance because it was an

impure act and in the latter case beoause mleccha words impair

the study of grammar. The differentiation of aryas and the mlecchas

on the basis of speech remained an important point of separation

though it was not necessarily the basis of discrimination as is

8
shown by a passage from the Manava Dharmasastra. Manu emphasises

4* 0, Bothlingk and R, Roth, Sanskrit Dictionary, (German), 1855,

Yol. Y, p. 934.
M. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, 1899* P* 837.
R. C, Childers, Pali Dictionary. 1875, P. 247*
T. W. Rhys Davids and W. Stede, Pali English Dictionary. PTS,
1925, P. 157.
Yachaspatyam. Sanskrit Dictionary. 1962, Yol, VI, p. 4767.
Hindi Sabda Sagara, 1963, Yol. Ill, p. 2857*
Shabda Kalpadrum. CSS, 1967 , Yol. Ill, pp. 791-92.
5. Sat. Dr.. Ill, 2, 1, 24 — upa.jigyasyarfr sa mlecchastasman na
brahmano mlecched. asurya haisa vag evam.../ 'he (who speaks thus)
is a mleccha, hence let no brahmana speak barbarous language.1
Gautama Dhs.. I, 9, 17 — na mlecoha&ucyadharmikais saha sambhaseta//
'(the snataka) shall not converse with mlecchas, impure and
wicked men.*
7* Mahabhasya. I, 1, 1 — tasmad brahmanena na mleochitavai
napabhasitavai/ •,. mleccha ma bhumety adhyeyam vyakaranam//
'hence no mleccha word is to be pronounced by a brahmana as it is
a corrupt word. In order that we may not become mlecchas grammar
is to be studied.'

8, Manu. X, 45 — mukhabahurupa.i.janaiTi'va lolce .iatyo bahi/mlecchavacas

caryavacah sarvetedasyavahsmrtkh// 'All those tribes in this
world whioh are excluded from those b o m from the mouth, the arms,
the thighB and the feet (of Brahma) are called Dasyus, whether they
speak the language of the mleoohas or that of the aryas.1
 62
that all tribes, irrespective of whether they spoke arya or mleooha

languages, but since they were not members of the four varnas. were

dasyus. However, the country of the mlecchas is described as

one where the system of four varnas is not established, in the

9 10
Vlsnusmrti and one where sacrifice is not performed in the Manusmrti.

In the Arthasastra the term mleccha is used frequently to

11
describe forest tribes. There are passages where they are
12
referred oollectively as mleccha.iatis. The Amarako£a defines
_ 13
mleccha.iatis as the She das, Kiratas, Sabaras and Pulindas, In the

Mudrarakgasa. Malayaketu is called a mleccha king. His allies are

14
also referred to as mleccha princes. ^ Thus we see that there

was a varied use of the term mlecoha. Its meaning developed over

9. Visiyusmrti. IiXXXIV, 4 — oaturvarnyavyavasthanam yasmin de£e na,

vidyate sa mlecchadeso vi.ifteya.../'those countries where the
four varnas are not known is mleochade&a..•1

10. Manu, II, 23 — sa .ineyo ya.jniyo dego mlecchade&as tv atah -pareh/

!(the land) fit for the performance of sacrifice is different
from the country of the mlecchas which is beyond (this land),!

11. A.£., VII, 10, 16 — mlecchatavibhir;

XII, 4* 23 — ...mlecchatavika.

12. A.>3.. VII,'14, 27 — * ...coraganatavikamlec cha;iatlnam...;

XIII, 5, 15 — ooraprakrtlnam mlecoha.iatlnam.„.; etc.
Passages from the Arthasastra discussed in chapter V*

13* Amarakosa. II, 10, 20 — bhedab. kirata£abarapulinda mleccha,jatayah//

14. Mudrar. ., 1, 20 — upalabdhavan asmi pranidhibhyo yatha tasva

mlecchara.ialokasya madhyat pradhanatamah pa&ca ra.janah,.. (Canakya
speaks)'...I am informed by spies that five kings among the
friends of the mleccha king (Malayaketu) are following him with
great courage...1 If the allusion in this play is to actual events,
the mleccha princes were indigenous rulers who were called mleccha
because they ruled over kingdoms on the border — Kuluta, Parsika,
Ka&mir, Saindhava. (Discussed in chapter V).
Mlecoha was also a term used to describe foreigners like the
Yavanas, Brhatsamhita, II, 15 — mleccha hi yavanas tegu.».
 63
a period of time but the brahmanical writers were always definite

to identify them as people who did not follow a ‘civilized way of

life1 according to their point of view*

The meaning of milakkha in Buddhist and Jaina texts is similar.

In this case the milakkhas followed ways that were not conducive

to the attainment of nirvana (Enlightenment). In the Buddhist Nikayas

they are said to live in border (paccantima) areas and are

■jr ^/
considered unintelligent and ignorant. ^ In the Vinaya Pi taka

the ariya can disavow his training in the presence of a milakkha.

The commentary on this passage explains that the milakkha in this

case is the term for non-Aryan ( anariya) people, the Andha Damila eto,^

In Buddhaghosa‘s commentary on a passage from the Afigattara Eikaya.

18
the Damila, Kirata, Yavana languages are listed as milakkha bhasas.

In theSutrakrtafiga of theJainas theignorance of the milakkhus

is similar to that of theheretics who both repeatwhat the ariyas

19 _ 20
say without understanding its meaning. The Acaranga Sutra

fort>ic|S monks and nuns to visit . border areas or cross areas where

milakkhus♦ robbers and anariya peoples live. The Pannavana, the

fourth upanga states in the first book, in the section on Man, that
- 21
there are two groups of peoples, the ariya and the milakkha.~

15* Ang. Nikaya. I, 35; Samyutta CTikaya, V, 4^6; etc, — -

ye pacoantimesu .ianapadesu paca.jayanti avinnataresu milakkhesu/

Vinaya Pi^aka, III, 28.

17# Samantapasadika. Vol. I, 255 milakkhakam nama yo koci

anariyako Andha Damiladi/

18, Man orathapuranl . Vol. II, 289 — Damilakiratayavanadi

milakkhanam bhasa,.•

19* Sutralertafiga. I, 1, 2, 15-16,

20, Aoaraftga Sutra, II, 3» 8-9*

21. Pannavana. I, 37*

 64

Drawing upon -the Pannavana and other Jaina texts, the

compilers of the Prakrit Proper Names dictionary, have given

the meaning of Milakkhu under the heading Anariyo: *Anariyo —

one of two kinds of people viz, Aryan and non-Aryan. They are
22
also called milakku.1 This gives the impression that in the

Prakrit language at least, the two terms anariyo and milakkhu

were interchangeable which in fact was not the case. This was not

so in Sanskrit or Pali either and therefore the two words must be

understood as separate ones. There further developed other meanings

for the terms mlecoha/milakkha which apparently have no connexion

with the meanings that we have discussed above. Prom unpublished

texts Monier-Williams extracts such meanings as Ta person who lives

by agriculture *, *copper', 'verrail.Lon1, etc.^

The Abhidhana Chintamani of Hemachandra gives us mleccha and

2a
mlecchamukha as two of the twelve names for copper — .tamram, It

is difficult to trace how such a meaning developed for the word

mleccha. The copper coloured complexion of a certain people

described as mlecchas could have led to the use of mlecchamukha

as one of the synonyms for tamram (copper). The former was by no

means the only alternative name, and probably not a very popular one.

The Nighantugesa by the same author lists six alternatives by which

Or
lasuna (garlic) is known. One of them is mleochakanda. The

22. M, L. Mehta and K, R* Chandra, Prakrit Proper Names.

1972, pt. I, p. 36.

23* M, Monier-Williams, Op. Cit., 1899» P. 837•

24* Abhidhana Chintamani. IV, 105-106 — tamram mlecchamukham sitlvam

rakttam dvastamudumbaram/ / 1 05 mleccha&avarabhe dEkhyam markatasyaih
kaniyasam/ brahmavarddhanam varigtham slsantu slsapatrakam77l06

25. Mghantu&esa, IV, 338. The same also occurs in the Abhidhana
Chintamani, IV. 252 — rasono la£uno mleochakando’risto
mahausadham mahakandah//358
 65
commentary explains that because this root is dear to the mlecchas
26
it is called mlecchakanda (mleccha root)•1 In the Paia-Sadda-

Mahapnavo« micoha (a Prakrit form of mleccha). is stated to mean

27
*garlic1, and Unions’, ' This dictionary draws upon texts in the

various Prakrit dialects, particularly Ardha Magadhi, The meaning

of milakkha as copper also occurs in Pali. The Theragatha has the

reference to a banner which was dyed the colour of copper —

28
milakkhura.1 anam.

The original meaning of mleccha/milakkha. however, emerges in

the sense of ’uncivilized1, 'barbaric1, or 'uncultured*. This

could refer to vac (speech), bhaga (language), desa (country) or

.1ati (community). The designation of particular peoples as mleccha

changed over the centuries. In this sense its use was not static and

varied according to time and place. Mleccha and Milakkha became

integral parts of the Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabularies but their

etymological origins in these languages is difficult to explain.

The first occurrence of mleccha is in the Satapatha Brahmana

where the asura language is attributed to them — whether it is an

ill-pronounced language or a foreign one, is a question to be

29
discussed at length later. Besides this one occuirenDe of the word,

the Brahmanas do not discuss its etymology though they use the word,

Nirukta o f Yaska, which is earlier (500 B.C.-700 B.C.)^ does not

26, Vacanacarya Sri Srlvallabhagani's commentary on the Nighantu|eqg,,

IY, 350» Ahmedabad, i960 — mlecchanaifi priyah kando mlecohakandah/
27# Sheth, Paia-Sadda-Mahannavo, (Hindi), 1963* 'miccha', p. 689* The
different forms of mleccha in Ardha Magadhi are discussed below,
28. The Thera and Therigatha, PTS, 1930, verse 965 — milafckhura.ja n a m
rattam garahanta sakam dha.jam/ tithiyanam dha.jam keci dharescanty
avadatakam// K. R. Norman, (Tr,T, Theragatha, PTS, 19^9 ■— 'Finding
fault with their own banner which is dyed the colour of copper,
some will wear the white banner of the sectarians•'
29# Sat. Br.. Ill, 2, 1, 24* Discussed fully in chapter III.
30* L. Sarup, N ighantu and N iru k ta . 1920, p. 54*
 66
the word, either.

To Yaska and other successive Sanskrit grammarians it was

an avowed aim to trace every word to an original verbal base,

irrespective of the fact that there was no resemblance between the

word and its original form. The Paninlya Bhatupatha, which is the

oldest of all Bhatupathas extant, contains the verbal base of

51 52
mlecoha as mlech — ’to speak indistinctly1. As the meanings of

certain nouns are derived from prominent actions connected with them,

therefore mlecchas were people who spoke an indistinct speech or

foreign language. It has been noticed that the linguistic disparity

between the mlecchas and aryas is greatly emphasized more clearly in

the earlier literary references than the later ones.

The derivation of mleccha from a dhatu (root) is of no help in

any attempt to determine the origin of the word. In his work on

The Sanskrit Dhatupathas. G. B, Palsule has remarked; ’The concept

of dhatu (for Hindu grammarians) had only a practical use in explaining

the language through its analysis without thereby implying that

55
the dhatu afforded the ultimate explanation.*''^ The late appearance

of the word mleccha in Vedic literature with no precedent of a likely

similar form, and, at a later stage the appearance of the verbal base
54-
in Fanini is an apt example of the above statement.

The past participle passive mllsta together with mlecchita. both

meaning 'spoken indistinctly or barbarously’, are also attributed to ■

31• 0. Bohtlingk, Papini Grammatik. 1887, Bhatup.. I, 220; X, 121.

32. M. Monier-Williams, Op. Git., 1899, P* 057

33. G* B. Palsule, The Sanskrit Dhatupathas. 1961, p# ix.

34. The verbal forms of mleccha are not attested in Sanskrit texts other
than grammatical works. The most common form used in all types of
Sanskrit literature is mleccha.
 67
35 _
Parjdni. Patafijali in his Mahabhasya gives us the infinitive
_ 36
form mleoohltavai side "by side with apabhasitavai.^ Likewise

the Bhatupatha of Hemachandra lists the participle mllsta and

the dhatu mlech, but interestingly gives the forms — mimleooha.

37
memle^ti, .memlegvah, memle&mah. memleochavah etc. The Madhaviya

Phatuvrttl of Sayana (a 15th century7 A,3). text) alBo states the

intensive forms memle§mi. memlismas, memle^tl etc,, but in explaining

38
how the dhatu was formed puts mleksi as a possible derivative.

I. Scheftelowitz quotes these forms and uses the evidence of Sayeqjia

to shed light on the hypothetical Old Indian (Vedic) forms of

39
mleccha.

In Pali milakkha. milakkhu. milakkhuka. are forms which appear

consistently in Buddhist literature. In the Jatakas and the PIgha

Nikaya there occurs the word milaca meaning 1forest dweller1 which

according to Geiger and Kern is the original variant of milakkha.^0

The Prakrit forms are more variable. In the Jaina texts, the Older

Ardha Magadhi has milakkhu, milikkha, milikkhu, miliccha, milecoha.

miocha while Mahara^trl has the participle militiha. The most common

form, one which is found in the poetry of nearly all the Prakrit

languages — Ardha Magadhi, Mahara§^ri, Jaina Mharastri, Saurasenx,

ApabhramSa — is meccha. The diverse spellings are explained by the

variations and exchange of certain consonantal groups or vowel

relationships in the different dialects.

36. Subrahmanya Sastri, Patan.1aliTs Mahabhasya, Vol. I, 1944, P» 25? I, 1,

37* J. Kirste, The Bhatupatha of Hemaohandra, 1901, I, 119-
38, The Madhaviya Phatuvyttl of Sayanacharya, KSS, 1 934^ I* 203*
39* I* Scheftelowitz, *Kleine Mitteilungen1, ZBMG, Vol. 72, 191B , p. 243
40. Jataka, XXV, 486 j XVII, 524 .
41• R» Pischel, Comparative Grammar of Prakrit Languages, 1965, para 17«
 68
R. L, Turner in the Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan

Languages has given the mo dem Indo-Aryan forms of the word mleccha — -

Ka^rairi mich for 1a non-Hindu', Bengali mech for 'a Tibeto-Burman

tribe', Panjabi milech for 'Muslim' , 'unclean', 'outoaste', 'wretch',

Pahari m!»l^ch for 'dirty* and Sinhalese malak. maladu, milidu,

42
miliridu for 'wild savage'. The existence of such varied forms

in Old, Middle and M o d e m Indo-Aryan languages does not in any

way imply a constant change of the meaning of mlecoha; though the

context in which they were used raises interesting problems.

It is necessary at this point to examine the etymology of the word

mleccha, A number of views have been put forward; in fact most of

the research carried out on the subject of mlecchas concerns the

etymology of the word. Well-known scholars in the field of Indo-

European, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian linguistics have made these

suggestions and their views cannot be ignored. However, in

accepting them one has to be cautious and consider them in the light

of corroborative evidence and in the general context. It must be

stated at the outset that the nature of the investigation is such

that it is doubtful whether any full satisfactory conclusion can be

drawn,

'Etymology is a science and should be studied for its own

sake... says Yaska. The Sanskrit grammarians do not fully stand

by this maxim as far as the etymology of the word mleccha is concerned.

They give its root and its meaning but give no hint of its etymon.

This leaves ground for the possibility that it was a borrowed word

especially as it .appears so late in the Yedic literature. Besides

the fact that the Dravidian and Mug^a families of languages from

42, R, L. Turner, Comparative Dictionary of Indo-Aryan Languages. 1966,

10398.

43* Nirukta, I, 15-17.

 69

which words could be borrowed,*^ flourished on the subcontinent

before the Aryans came to India, and there must also have been

much interchange and borrowing among the various dialects of

the Indo-Aryan languages themselves. As Louis Renou has remarked:

'Tout corame le Sanskrit V6dique, la langue classique a subi des

influences-populaires....Le vocabulaire ancien s'est enriohi

oonstamment en puissant aux couches sociales infdrieures, cela

en depit d Tobjections enventuelles des grammarians et des poeticiens.'^

It cannot be overlooked that as early as the 5bh century B.C., Yaska

observed the dialectical differences in the spoken language of

46
his time#

There can be no doubt that the etymology of the Sanskrit word

mlecoha must be considered in conjunction with the corresponding

forms of the word in Prakrit and Pali, such as milakkha. This

complicates matters considerably: must one look for a separate

etymon for milakkha or derive it directly from the Sanskrit mleccha

in accordance with the method usually followed by Indian grammarians.

It may be preferable to look for a separate etymology of milakkha

as there are strong reasons to doubt that Sanskrit was always the

source of the different Prakrits.

By the term Prakrit the Indian grammarians comprehended a

multitude of literary languages which were all based on Sanskrit.

It is common to have explanations like: prakrtifo samskrtam/ tatra

bhavajfi tata agataifi va prakrtam/ 'Sanskrit is the natural condition,

47
what is derived from it is called Prakrit.' Regarding the subject

44. T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1972, pp. 373~374*

45* Wackemagel, Altindische Grammatik, 1957, Introduction generate
par Louis Renou, p. 29.
46. Nirukta, II, 2.
47. Hemachandra, I, 1. A. C, Woolner, Introduction to Prakrit, 1928,
p. 3 considers this explanation as 'perfectly intelligible even
if it be not historically correct.'
 70

objectively and purely from the linguistic point of view, it is the

contention of most modern scholars that Prakrit dialects go hack

to the popular spoken dialects which were never superseded by

Sanskrit, It seems quite plausible that the natural development

of popular languages was simultaneous and parallel with the development

AQ
of Sanskrit, It is interesting to note that Indian inscriptions

before the Gupta period use Prakrit in preference to Sanskrit,

though the rise of Prakrit as a literary language is later, A

suggestion by Pischel is worth noting here — fall the Prakrit

languages have a series of common grammatical and lexical characteristics

with the Vedio language and such are significantly missing from

Sanskrit,1 y Above all prakrti means ’natural condition1,

M m * so that its

derivation prakpta should mean 'natural language', while samskrta

literally means 'polished', 'made perfect'. This would suggest that

the above statement that Sanskrit is the source of Prakrit must

be regarded with serious doubt, Por this reason it is possible to

postulate an independent origin for Prakrit milakkha which could,

as will be seen below, have been transformed in Sanskrit to mleccha.

Geiger gives a short and seemingly viable proposition of milaca

50
being a variant of milakkha and derived through mllacca ) milaocha.
51
Kern fully agrees with this theory. The word milaca occurs in

the Jataka stories and its meaning given in the Pali Text Society
52
Dictionary is 'a wild man of the woods' or 'forest dweller'. The

48. A, G, Woolner, Op, Cit., p, 3 points out that sometimes an 'Old

Indo-Aryan form required to explain a Prakrit word is not found
in Sanskrit at all or only in a late, work and obviously borrowed
from Prakrit.'

49* 2, Pischel, Op. Git., para 6, p. 4»

50, W. Geiger,. Pali Literature and Language, (Tr. B.K„Ghosh), 1956, p. 104.
51, H. Kern Toevoegsolen op't Woordenboek Van Childers, (W.R, XVI, Wo. 5)»
pt. ii, p, 165•
52* Rhys Davids, Pali English Dictionary. PTS, 1925» P* 157*
 71

w°rd mleocha is also often used in Sanskrit literature as

53
alluding to trikes living in the forests or mountains. Geiger

gives no reasons, however, for the change of -q~ to -cca- and then
54.
to -ccha-, According to Wackernagel Pali -kkha- is secondary to
55
-ccha- while Pischel states that variations between -kkha- and

are quite frequent. If milaccha (there exists a miliccha in Ardha

Magadhi) is the prototype of milakkha. it also explains the so far

unclarified dichotomy between 'Sanskrit mleccha and Pali milakkha.

I, Scheftelowitz3 strongly advocates the complete separation of

Pali milakkha from Sanskrit mleccha, which he attributes to two different

but Indo-Aryan word families. Milakkha is related to Old Indian

murkha meaning 'fool'. Besides Yedic murkha. it is also related

to such Indo-European forms as Luthvenian mulkis 'fool*, mlooati

•silent1, Slavonic m.jelcas fto be silent*, Polish milozec *silent*

and so on. f
Phe phonological links of milakkha with' these Indo-
57
European forms and even with Vedic murkha are complicated, Liebiclr '

in his article firmly criticizes this theory. According to him it is

rash to dispute the close relationship of these two words (mleccha and

milakkha) as they are used in exactly the same sense in literature;

in addition experts like Kuhn, Franke, Stede, Pischel, following

the ancient Indian grammarians, have held fast to this belief.

58
Vittore Pisani in the Indo-Germanishe Forschungen finds the

view of Scheftelowitz, who connected milakkha with murkha almost

53. Mbh., II, 47, 19-20; II, 48, 7-8; etc.

54* A, Wackernagel, Op. Cit., Vol. I, p. 157*

55* R*Pischel, Op. Cit., para 316-17? para 321.

56. I. Scheftelowitz, *Kleine Mitteilungen*, ZDMG. Vol. 72, 1918,

pp. 243-244*
57* R*liebioh, 'Nochmals mleccha', BSOAS, Vol. 8, 1936, p. 626.
58, V.Pisani, 'KLeinere Beitrage', IF, Vol. 57, 1938-40, pp. 56-58*
 72

■unbelievable, though he admits that his suggestions for the

separation of mleocha and milakkha cannot easily be dismissed,

59
Both Pisani and Scheftelowitz trace the origin of mleocha

back to the same Indo-European root blaesus and Cymric bloesg;

both the words meaning 1stuttering*, 'stammering1, or ’lisping*.

That the Latin blaesus is borrowed from the Greek blax meaning

'feet bent outward’, is almost certain according to Pisani while

Scheftelowitz rejects this altogether as the meanings of the two

are very different.

60 On the other hand, he himself takes the stand

that the present palatal pronunciation of mlecoha must go back

to an earlier dental one and through a very intricate phonetic

change could be derived from Indo-European *mlais-sko; this

formation being, a precursor of both Latin blaesus and Cymric bloesg,

•
*Mlaig-sko is a reconstruction, not available in any recorded text

and above all scarcely a pronouncable word. However, in •^mlais-sko

we see the phonetic change to mleocha more closely linked than

between milakkha and murkha, Pisani retains his views of comparing

blaesus and mleocha and then relates them to the Slovenian words

mlaskati and mleskati.

Whatever the etymological links between mleccha/milakkha-and

blaesus/bloesg. one cannot ignore the striking similarity in the

meaning of the four above terms. They are all related to the

stotter, stammer, mispronunciation, lisp, etc. of speech.

There is a solid bloc of opinion supported among others by well

known scholars like R, Pischel and Sir Harold Bailey that both mleccha

and milakkha draw their forms from a common Indo-Aryan original.

Pischelfs theory is that all the Prakrit; Pali and Sanskrit representations

Of the word, both in poetry and prose, are derived from a common

59* Pisani, Op. Cit.. p. 56ff.; Scheftelowitz, Op. Cit.. p. 243ff.

60. There is a difference of opinion among several Indo-European

linguists on this subject.
 73

basic jL.e, *mlaska.

61 In reconstructing this hypothetical form he

did not explain the process of phonetical change that would have

occured. In another context, however, he has stated that -ska~

and -skha- become -kkha^- in Magadhi, Ardhamagadhl and Jaina

MSharastrl. This view is apparently based on the statements of

(52
ancient Indian grammarians on the subject. The relationship between

-kkha- and -cchar- is discussed below.

63
The starting point of Sir Harold Bailey's ^ thesis is the form

*mleks or *mlikg. He explains that there is a variation in the Ye da

between -cch- (-ch-) and -k§- (e.g. Atharva Ye da pariksit and variant

paricchit). 'Hence' he concludes 'Satapatha Brahmana mlecoha may be

traced to older *mleksa. The ~ks~ was replaced by -kkh- or by

retroflex -ch- or by palatalised -cch- in different dialects.^ He

does not fail to add that the Vedic sounds -k£a-.~k §a~, -khya- go

back to Avestan -xsa-. -k§- and can also be expressed in Arabic

by the sound -kh-; thus this could prove that mleccha is a.foreign

word borrowed by Sanskrit.

65
S, M. Katre, in explaining the sound -k§-, has also taken

the examples of milakkha and mlecoha. He has used the Sanskrit word

mrksayati or mraksayati (from mrksati. meaning 'to speak indistinctly'

or 'incorrectly') as the original forms. With dialectic variations

these change to mlksati. mlksayati: -1- reduces to -li“ in Ardha

Magadhi! mlioh. and -ks- to -cch-* or -kkh- in Pali milakkha (through

mlaksa)• In agreement with the views of Pischel and Wackernagel

61. R, Pischel, Op. Cit.. para 253*

62. R. Pischel, Op. Git., para 306. (Vararuci, 3, 29, 51; Canda, 3, 3;
Hemachandra, 2, 4, 90). The examples given are skandha> khanflha,
maskaraV makkhara among many others.
6 3 . Sir Harold Bailey, 'Appendix of A Periplus of Magan.and Meluhlja',
BSOAS. Yol. 36, 1973, Appendix, p. 584*
6 4 * Ibid.t p. 584,
6 5 * S. M. Katre, 'Sanskrit 'k§' in Pali', JBORS. Vol. 23, 1937* PP. 82-86.
 74

he comments that the sounds -kha- and -cha- alternate in the

various Prakrit dialects.

It is essential here to discuss the transition from ~ks a~>

-kkha-) -ccha- which has been used so often to explain the relationship
66
between mleccha and milakkha. Interestingly Dr, S. R. Banerjee

has written an article on the etymology of the Prakrit words rukkha

011(1 vac cha and with the explanations given therein a parallel

could be drawn with the etymology of milakkha and mleccha. A

significant point of dissimilarity occurs in drawing such a parallel

i.e. ruksa from which rukkha is derived occurs in the Rg Veda (vi, iii,
67
7) and is not a hypothetical reconstruction. On the other hand,

Sir Harold Bailey’s reconstruction *mleksa does not occur in the Yedas.

Vedic Sanskrit -k§-, it is explained has an equivalent in Indo-

68
European *-ks~ and *-qs-. The two sounds are retained as distinct ones

in Avestan and Old Persian but become one in Sanskrit and again
68 cf
diverge in Middle Indo-Aryan languages. *

Could milakkha (Pali) then have had quite an independent

development? It need not necessarily have any connection with

milicoha, miccha. meccha (Prakrit) and mlecoha (Sanskrit). This would

probably explain the late appearance of the word mleccha in the

Satapatha Brahmana as Sanskrit phonetics was now consciously or un­

consciously being influenced by Middle Indo-Aryan languages. ’The

6 6 , S. R, Banerjee, ’On the Etymology of Prakrit Rukkha and Vac cha

meaning Tree', Bulletin of the Philological Society of Calcutta,
Vol. Ill, pt. i, 1962 , pp. 13-1 £7

6 7 , Ibid., p. 14*

6 8 , Reproduced from S, R, Banerjee, Op. Cit., p. 14

IE Sans. MIA AV OP
*ks ks cch £ £
*qs ks kkh x£ x£
 75

influence of the east is seen in the words of the Ya.jur, Atharva

69
Vedas and Brahmanas.* S# K. Chatterjee includes mleocha. a
70
corrupt of mlaiksa. in his list of debased words. Even in

the original sources best speech among men is assigned to people

71
coming from the North, which is contrasted with debased speech

of the Vratyas. The asuraya or vratya speech according to Weber^

probably refers to 'Prakritic dialectic differences, assimilation of

groups of consonants, and similar changes peculiar to Prakrit

vernaculars.1 There are, however no reasons to believe that Prakrit

dialects developed only in eastern India* Their development in western

73
India is also plausible.

Liebich^ has pointed out another equivalent term for mleccha

in the £g Yeda which completely disappears later — mydhravac. The

meaning given for it is 'whose speech is defective or faulty',

75
Monier-Williams'^ gives the meaning as 'speaking injuriously or

contumeliously'. This makes it easier to accept the idea that mleccha

had strong Prakrit influences.

The sole emphasis in the preceding few paragraphs has been to

establish an Indo-Aryan etymon for the word mleccha and milakkha.

Several well known scholars have given separate etymologies for the

two words but when the question of connecting them etymologically

arises, the usual explanation of milakkha being a variant of mleccha

is given.

Much ink has flown on the highly controversial subject of the

69. S, K, Chatterjee, The Origin and Bevelo.pment of the Bengali

Yol. I, 1926, p. 44.
70. Ibid.. p. 44.
71. Kausitaki Br.. VII, 6; 5at. Br.. Ill, 2, 3? 15.
72. A. Weber, The history of Indian Literature. 1914? PP. 6 7 -6 8 .
73- The association of the origin of Prakrit milakkha with a Dravidian
substratum is in western India — Biscussed below,
74. B. Liebich, Op. Cit. BSOAS. Vol. 8, p. 624 .
75. Monier-Williams, Op. Cit., 1899, p. 831.
 76

origin of Prakrit dialects and their relationship to Sanskrit and

it .seems -unnecessary to plunge into that controversy here*

Attention can, however, he drawn to the fact that it is more likely

that mleccha is a variant of milakkha. hr. Banerjee's explanation^'

shows that change of Indo-European sounds -*-ks~ and ^“CjSg in India,

from which one can conclude that -cch- in mleccha and -kkh- in

milakkha are sounds akin more to Middle Indo-Aryan than to Vedio or

Sanskrit, Moreover, he says, 'the development of Indo-European

*-gs- y Sanskrit -ks- ^ Middle Indo-Aryan -kkh- is due to the

77
orthoe-py of this sound on Indian soil.*''

The development of Sanskrit has to he seen in connection with

that of the various Prakrit dialects. It is unfortunate that the

Buddhist writings of Hinayana Canon and the ASokau inscriptions are

the earliest extant evidence of the latter, This, however, does

not rule out the possibility that Sanskrit writings earlier than

these texts were influenced hy Prakrit and mleccha may he just one of

those words to prove this*

More recently, however, attempts have heen made hy scholars to

draw a connection between the Sumerian (?) word Meluhha

v*-' and the

Sanskrit word mleocha. Accepting mleccha to he etymologically

derivative from meluhha (how it is not stated), the Finnish study on the

'Decipherment of the Proto-Indian Inscriptions of the Indus Civilization1

points out a closer connection between meluhjia and Pali milakkha if

the Sumerian cuneiform characters are read with an alternative

78
phonetic value — me-lak-ha instead of me-lulyha* Nonetheless,

76, S, R. Banerjee, Op. Cit,* p. 14> footnote 11

77, It is impossible to envisage that there was a linguistic vacuum

in northern India when the Indo-Aryan language system was
introduced. The possibility that the sound -lckha- in MIA could
have heen influenced hy proto-Dravidian languages cannot he avoided.
78, Parpola et al., Decipherment of the Proto-Dravidian Inscription
of the Indus Valley. No. 1, 1969> P* 50. Discussed below.
 77

any sort of connection between meluhha and mleccha is based on

V I ■

the assumption that the former was a place name identified with

northwestern or western India, Further, the identification of

meluhha with India, or the similarity of form between the words

meluhha and mleocha or milakkha are two. subjects of Btudy where no

evidence has proved conclusive,

Meluhha as a place name is attested in the Sumerian and Old

Akkadian texts. It is almost always mentioned in connection with

Mesopotamian trade, The three countries Tilmun, Magan and Meluhha

are as a rule cited in this order, pointing to the fact that Meluhha

was the most distant of the three, The articles imported from Meluhha

were copper, gold, ivory birds, usu wood identified with ebony

and another wood that has been translated as ’sea wood’ *— its

description Hansman fits with the mangrove wood found on the coasts of
79
Sind and eastern Baluchistan, y The problems of identification of this

place are numerous and particularly confused as the various occurrences

of Meluhha seem to indicate different areas at different periods.

We are here concerned with the early Sumerian cuneiform references of

the Old Babylonian period as these are the ones that apparently

point to western India as Meluhha#

Geographically the Indus Valley civilization was the closest to

that of Sumer and thus it would be logical for it to have contact

with the latter. Here, more direct archaeological evidence has

revealed contact between the two areas via the Persian Gulf. Cultural

relations and even an appreciable commerce was postulated between the

two civilizations when Indus type seals were found at Ur, Kish, Tell
80
Asmar and other Mesopotamian sites. Later, a new dimension was

79* J* Hansam, 'A. Periplus of Magan and Meluhha1, BSOAS, Vol. 3 6 ,

pt. iii, 1973, P* 560.

80, Sir Mortimer V/heeler, The Indus Valley Civilization and Beyond.
1966, pp, 63-66,
added, to the trade relations between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley

when a similar type of steatite circular seals were found at Lothal and around
R1
the Persian Gulf. With this evidence several scholars of early

Middle Eastern Studies agree to regard Meluhha as one area of the

Indus civilization but disagree on which part of it should be

82
identified with that name.

Besides the commodities (listed above) which were exported from

Meluhha and also proved to be found in northwestern and western India,

the Ur texts specifically mention the 1seafaring country of Meluhha1.

Leemans takes up this last point to prove his thesis of Meluhha

being the west coast (modem state of Gujarat) of India.®^ The

excavations at Lothal he says, have shown 'that the people of the

Indus (Harappan) civilization were sea-faring.' Further, 'Carbon

dating 14 determinations have shown that the dockyard at Lothal has

fallen into disuse by c_, 1800 B.C. This date agrees with the end

of the south Mesopotamian Meluhha trade about the time,'^ Gujarat

was perhaps the last bulwark of the Indus civilization. The late

appearence. of the word mleccha in Sanskrit is linked up with J. C.

Gaddfs assertion that mleccha is of non-Indo-Aryan origin.

The association of meluhha with mleccha is technically not

indicative of the foreign origin of the word mleccha itself* A mere

hint of the similarity of form of the two words proveB nothing. It

is also difficult to state whether the first occurrence of mlecchas

81. W. P. Leemans, Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period, 1960;

'Trade Relations of Babylonia', JESHO, Vol. Ilf, 1960, p. JOff,;
'Old Babylonian Letters and Economic History', JESHO. Vol XI,
1968, pp. 215-226 (Meluhha as western India); J, Hansam, Pjr^Ult,,
pp. 554-583 (eastern Baluchistan as Meluhha).
82. Recent archaeological excavations have shown a wide extent of the
Indus Valley civilization. M. Wheeler, Op. Cit., 19 66 , pp. 62--63.
83* Biscussed at length by W. F. Leemans, Op. Cit., JESHO, Vol XI, 1968
pp. 215-226*
in the Satapatha Brahmana referred to the people of Gujarat, In

fact, in the same text (Sat, Br,, XIII, 8 , 15) the easterners are

described as asurya and it is asura speech (Sat. Br,, III, 2, 1, 24)

which the mlecchas are supposed to use.

Comparatively more persuasive is Pentti Aalto's suggestion

of connecting milakkha with meluhha. The Finnish team, however,

worked on three very general hypotheses by stating! 1 ) 'the identification

of meluhha with India is well-established and is corroborated by its

etymological derivative in Sanskrit mleccha..* 2) the bearers of the

Indus Valley civilization were most probably Dravidian and that

there existed a substratum of proto-Dravidian languages and 3 ) the

cuneiform characters me-luh-ha should be read with an alternative

■■■■ » . ,.W s* «m»

88
phonetic value me-lah-ha. The 'so-called' variants of Sanskrit mlecoha

are the Prakrit forms mllicoha. meccha, mlccha and Pali ones

milakkha, milakkhu, milukkha. According to these scholars '-kkh-

86
cannot be a derivation from -cch- but must have a different origin,'

The 'different origin' is sought in the Dravidian languages.

With the help of the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary (PED)8^ the

first half of the original reconstruction attempted for both

meluhha and milakkha is DED 4173 *me« mel, melu, me la, meli, melukku

which all generally mean 'that which is above, high, superior, good,
88
excellent, fine, western.' For the second half of the two names the

reconstruction DED 8 akam is sought. This means 'house, home, inside,

89
agricultural tract.' ^ Akam is also attached to the name of the

85* Parpola et al., Op. Cit., No. 3» 1970# P« 37* The me-lah-ha are a
clan from a Dravidian Sindhi tribe known as Mohana.
86. Ibid., No, 2, 1969 , p. 38.

8 7 . T. Burrow and M. B. Emeneau, Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, 1961*

88. Parpola et al., Op. Cit.. No. 2, 19^9» p. 38.

 80

ancient country of the Tamils.

90
I. Mahadevan has also tried to draw Dravidian parallels in

the interpretation of the proto-Indian script of the Indus Valley

civilization. Regarding the term mleocha he draws attention to the

decipherment of the symbol*^^ as ^mil-ey. Through this transition

of sounds —- ^mil-ey *m l - e c mlecoha — he concludes: 'It now

appears from the decipherment of these symbols that mlecoha of the

Rg Veda were chieftains of the proto-Indian civilization

who called themselves ^mi^-ey (literally ’resplendent1) and whose names

91
occupy the bulk of the seal texts,'
92
In a recent article Romila Thapar has tried to add linguistic

evidence to the identification of the Sumerian place names. Meluhha

is identified with Gujarat, Makan with Sind and Baluchistan and

Dilmun as also part of western India. Our concern here is only with

the name Meluhha. Her views also point to a probable proto-Dravidian

original for it in the form %ielukku (DED 4173)* 'Ihe root formation

is the same as before -mel but the latter half of the word is suggested

to be *ukku indicating direction as in the terms •Hen-ukku 'south'

(DED 2839) and- vat-a-kku 'north' (DED 4267 ). In Sumerian the sound

-kk- could have been transliterated into -hh-, as in her opinion the

word Meluhha having no recognizable equivalent meaning in the above

93
language is therefore, non-Sumerian. x Consequently the connection

with mleccha or milakkha follows — 'If Meluhha was derived from

melukku...it would be interesting to speculate whether this might

not also provide the clue to the origin of the word mleccha... In

90. I, Mahadevan, 'Dravidian parallels in Proto-Indian script', Journal

of Tamil Studies. Vol. II, pt. i, 1970, pp. 157“276, ..........
91. Ibid.. p. 184.

92. R, Thapar, 'A possible identification of Meluhha, Dilmun and Makan',

JESHO, Vol XVIII, pp. 1-42. It is pointed out that this article
is 'in the nature of a tentative hypothesis and does not yet permit
generalizations on a wider scale...'p. 42.
93. Ibid.. p. 5 a»d. P« 10.
 81

/o '

M A P NO. I
THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Showing the approximate position of the
various Dravidian languages.

□ Modern Cities.

5 Karachi

C alcu tt
rnar

id -

Bombay

BAY
ARABIAI OF
SEA BENGAL

a /M a d ra s

-~kS

Ta 200 400
Kilometres 0= — n— —n
Miles ip

O 100 200 300 400

 82

the relationship of milakkha to mleccha the occurrence of -kkha-

is unexplained in most lexicons* Vinaya Pitaka associates milakkha

with Andhras and Tamils* Could the original mleocha then have

“been the proto-Dravidian speakers of Melukku/western India who

were either mis-pronouncing Sanskrit or were continuing to speak

94
their own language?1^ In making these assertions Dr, Thapar

helieves that there must have originally existed a Dravidian language

in India and at the time of the Indo-Aryan expansions there was a

period of bilingualism.
95
T. Burrow has at length discussed the evidence for non-Aryan

influences on Sanskrit. There must undoubtedly have been such

influences as a number of features are peculiar to Indo-Aryan and

absent in other Indo-European languages. There is evidence for

96
Dravidian language specimens in northern India today, which

suggests a larger area covered by these languages in ancient India.

The gradual development of Sanskrit must have been in contact with such

languages. Thus he wrote: !..,and when Sanskrit artificially

established by the grammarians, this process was continued in the

popular speech to produce first the Middle Indo-Aryan languages

97
and finally the M o d e m Indo-Aryan ones.' ' Such broad generalisations

about the history of languages can be made and accepted as a

probability as when it comes to specific words more concrete references

are necessary. Words without an Indo-European etymology found in

Sanskrit vocabulary and also in Dravidian literature can be used as

94* Ibid** p, 10, footnote 34*

95• T, Burrow, The Sanskrit Language* 1972, chapter VIII, p. 37411'-

96. G, A. Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India. Volume on Dravidian

and Munda Languages* Brahui in north west India, Malto in the
Rajmall hills of the Santhal Parganas (p. 427) end Kurukh in the
Chota Nagpur plateau (p. 407)* See also maps attached,

97* T./Burrow, On. Cit*. p. 373*

 65

M A P NO. I I

THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

Showing the approximate positions of the N o n -In d o -A ry a n languages
1.Various groups of the Tibeto-Burm an s u b -family.
2.The MundS family. 7

.Tibetan group
Himalyan group
.Naga group
Bara group
Kuki - Chin group
Burma group
North Assam
Munda
M odern cities

1^ vS

K ****£ £

Bombay
G oOAVa *

BAY
ARABIAN | of|
■s e a ! BENGAL

*<4i'at,

_ 0 200 400
Kilometres I- * J
Miles r 1
0 100 200 300 400
 04

examples to explain the above point. But etymological reconstructions

by Pentti Aalto — meluhha > melahha ^ melahha D *mel-akam ^ milakkha

/ »•'* 1 1 " " 4 / ^ * * r i“ t i n i r * r '* n W «■■■■«_■ » ■ i m p > « »•

and. by Br. Thapar — - *meluidm ^ meluhha J *meluklcu Y milakkha — —

cannot be regarded as final. (Perhaps they were not intended to be

final). The intermediate forms have not been recorded in any texts.

They are theoretical reconstructions from m o d e m Bravidian languages

on the assumption that there existed before c. 2000 B.C. a proto-

Bravidian language. Even if one accepts their derivation of milakkha.

their theory does not explain the etymology of the word mleccha

and above all what is the relationship between milakkha and mleccha?

It must not be forgotten that if the Bravidian group of languages had

spread all over India, there could also have existed other non-Aryan

linguistic groups which are now totally extinguished by the gradual

Indo-Aryan incursions. Could mleccha and milakkha have been related

to similar words in those languages?

The later use of mleccha for some non-Aryan tribes in brahmanical

literature has perhaps proved to be a strong basis for scholars to look

for a non-Indo-Aryan etymology for the word mleccha. One such

98
attempt has been made by Robert Shafer who derives mleocha from

proto-Bodish (proto-Tibetan) *mltSe meaning 'tongue1 and ICukish mlei.

Without knowing the ’

phonology of Tibeto-Burman languages and

their relationship to Sanskrit, it is impossible to totally discredit

this derivation. This theory also assumed contact between the Indo-

Aryans and Tibetans at a very early stage. But to associate this

with the early application of mlecoha to non-Aryan tribes of the

Assam Hills is working in isolation. Such tribes who lived in the

Vindhyas, the Teria region of the Himalayas, on the sea-coasts of

Western India were also referred to by mleocha at various places in

98. R* Shafer, Ethnography of Ancient India. 1954» P* 2J.

 05

the Mahabharata and the Puranas. Also, the application of the term

mleccha from the early centuries A.D. was on a broad socio-cultural scale

irrespective of linguistic and ethnic barriers.

A similar attempt, but in this case the identification of mlecchas

with a particular group of foreigners, the Phoenicians, has been

99
made by R. Sengupta. He derives mlecoha from Molech or Molooh,

a god of the sea-farers, Molech (or Molek) was a fierce, self

satisfied masculine god who was opposed to human society and its

refinements. His temple was away from the city or village where a

sacrifice called molk waB performed and the first b o m child was

burnt alive. 1People who worshipped him were called Mlechcha

and the word in a course of time became synonymous with barbarians.1

He relates this to the Indian context by pointing out that the

the Phoenicians came to India. He admits (p. 183) that no

historical records prove the exodus of the Phoenicians to India,

as they do in North Africa after the Assyrian attacks, but still

states; 'Phoenicians are known to have established contacts with India

in the beginning of the first millenium B.C.' (p. 182), The reasons

he gives for the contaots between the Phoenician traders and the

trading ports of India are far-fetched, Por example, he assumes that

the fame of the Phoenicians as ivory workers in the ancient world.should

101
necessarily be associated with the ivory work done in ancient India.

He, however, insists; 'The Satavahanas, being overlords of western coastal

regions, were acquainted with the craftsmanship of the mleccha and

yavana ivory carvers. So it was natural for them to rely on the

ivory carvers of Vidisa rather than the stone carvers, who had no

99. R, Sengupta, 'On the identity of the "Mlechohas"1, K.A.N. Sastri

Felicitation Volume. 1971» PP* 180-186.

100. Ibid.. p. 181•

101. Ibid.. pp. 182-184*

 86

*ino
such experience^.. .* He ends thus, 'So the people of Phoenician
103
were called the Mlechcha.' ^

The arguments presented by Sengupta cannot be fully accepted.

The significant question here is: Did the term mleccha first apply

to the Phoenicians and later to all foreigners, just as the term

Yavana first applied to the Greeks but from the eleventh century

A.D. to Muslims? As to the Greeks we have historical evidence

of their coming to India. For the Phoenicians there is no such

evidence. Therefore, his identification of.the Phoenicians with

mlecchas is unconvincing. The Mahabharata. which he also quotes, gives

no hint that the mlecchas of the western sea-coast were foreigners;

they could well have been local indigenous tribes. It must be granted,

however, that there is some phonetic similarity between the Molech

mleccha but this is insufficient reason for assuming an etymological

connection.

K. P. Jayaswal echoes the same theory that mlecchas originally

applied to a specific group of foreigners — 'Like Yavana, mleccha

is a foreign word, and like Yavana it originally meant a specific

foreign p e o p l e , H i s reasons for such a statement are that 1) mleccha

is the Sanskrit representation of Hebrew melekh meaning 'king' and

2) the utterance he lavahj he 1availI in the Satapatha Brahmana is a

specimen of mleocha language. The cry he lavah is also linked by him

to Hebrew el3ah (plural elohim) meaning 'God1. His final conclusion

is that: 'The foreign nation intended by the term Mlechchha was thus

102, Ibid., p. 185. He supports this statement by epigraphic evidence

from I. Buhler, El, 1£flL.II,1892, p. 92 which cannot be traced to this
reference given by him.

Ibid,, p. 186.

104. K. P, Jayaswal, 'Kleine Mitteilungen', ZDMG, Yol 68, 1914, pp. 719-
720 .
 87

105
anyhow connected, with the Hebrew#T

Jayaswal has centered his arguments around the hymn of the

Satapatha Brahmana which means that if we apply the meaning of

melekh (king) to this passage, it would he inconsistent in the context#

Should mleccha etymologically he a representation of melekh when

the meanings of the two words are so different? This reference to

mleccha occurs in connection with the struggle between the devas

asmas (gods and demons) when the latter were overpowered by the

former. Asura is used for gods in the Bg Veda and earlier Brahmanas

and thus related to Persian ahura (god)# If there was any connection

with foreigners in this case it was with the Persians and not

with one of the Semitic peoples#

On the view that he lavah should have been a specimen of 1mleccha

106
language1, Liebich gives convincing criticism. He draws attention

to the Mahabhasya variation helayo helayo. where the commentator

o p i n e . t h a t the cry is a deformed form of he1rayo he *rayo (0 enemies!

0 enemies!). K. C, Chatterjee,^^ in his translation of the

Mahabhasya. explains that the mlecchatva of the asuras consists in

their not being able to pronounce -r- and -y- and further adds:

'the change of -r- to - jL- and -y- to -v- is not infrequent in Prakrit
108
and Pali.' This would indicate that he lavah he lavah is not.

as Jayaswal said a specimen of 'mleccha language1, but a mispronunciation#

3Por this reason PataSgali enjoins brahmanas to learn grammar and

109
thus avoid becoming mleccha.

Ibid., p. 719 — He further points out that his 'explanation gobs

historical support by the discovery of the Boghazkoi inscription
which establishes the fact of contact between the Hindu and Semitic
civilizations.' Any contact suggested by this inscription should
be with ancient Persian civilization rather than the Semitic one.
106. B. Liebich, ZDMG, Vol. 72, 1918, p# 286.
107# K# C. Chatterjee, Patan.jali's Mahabhagya. 1957, P* 10# This point
is discussed further in chapter III.
108. Ibid. pp. 10-11.
^ 9 * Mahabhagya, I, 1, 1.
 88

Liebich's
110 own opinion is the identification of mleccha

with Mech, a non-Aryan people still living in the Terai region

partly in Bengal and partly in Bihar, His explanation being that

since the word does not occur in the early Vedic literature, one

must look for the origin of the name in the east. The form mech is

retained in ^auraseril, is me coha or mecha in other Prakrits and

mleccha in Sanskrit, He feels that he can reinforce his theory

by mentioning that similar tribes the Bhilla and Kirata of the

old authors exist today by the same names — the Bhil of the Vindhya

and the Kiranti of the Himalaya, The Mech probably got their name

from the simplification of the word mleccha which generally

applied to all non-Aryan tribes.

111
Quite distinct from the other theories is one by Alfred Masters,

He suggests the possibility that mleccha is derived from ~:fmalepsu

meaning 'devotee of darkness', 'obscurity', but does not clarify to

which language the word belongs. It could be a Sanskrit compound

of mala meaning 'dirt' and Ipsu meaning 'desirous o f which when

joined according to the rules of sandhi becomes malepsu. However,

this meaning 'desirous of dirt' does not agree with what Masters has

given for the word. Also this compound does not occur in any

m o d e m Sanskrit dictionary. Interesting though this suggestion is,

it is even less convincing than the others and cannot therefore be

accepted as the original of mleccha.

The original forms of the words mleccha/milakkha cannot be

conclusively deduced and therefore it is inappropriate to end the

subject on a note of finality. A critical appraisal of some of the

above-mentioned views is, however, necessary.

110. B. Liebich, 'Nochmals mleccha', BSOAS, Vol. VII!, 1956, pp. 623-26*
ZDMG-. Vol. 1918, pp. 286-87.

111. A, Masters, 'The Mysterious Pai6aci', JRAS. 1943* p. 34.

 09

Although Sanskrit is in its origin an Indo-European language,

this does not necessarily imply that every word in its vocabulary

must have an Indo-European etymon. In its evolution on the Indian

soil it was influenced by other Indo-Aryan dialects and also by non-

Aryan ones which all helped in changing its phonetics and grammar,

and modifying its vocabulary,

German philologists like V, Pisani and I, Scheftelowitz have

tried etymologically to link mleccha/milakkha with Latin blaesus

and Cymric bloesg, V/hat is important here is not how accurate the

etymological connection is, (sometimes this is very far-fetched), but

it is the similarity of meaning of the two set of words: mleccha/milakkha

and blaesus/bloesg. They all refer to incoherent speech irrespective

of whether it was a *stotter* or 'stammer* or merely *indistint1

speech. Besides the work of German philologists, an Indo-European

origin of mleccha/milakkha has been postulated by many other philologists

it is needless to add that these attempts were part of the general

emphasis laid on Comparative Indo-European philology in the nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries, Indo-European etymologies for a

majority of Sanskrit words was possible but not for all of them and

mleccha was one of these words, The attempted fanciful etymologies

for it seem like phonological exercises and are often difficult to

accept.

Apparently, mleccha seems to have emerged suddenly in early

brahmanioal literature without even the slightest hint of a similar

112
form in Vedic Sanskrit, This ambiguity is left unexplained, and.

mleccha is always given as the seminal form from which other forme

were supposed to have been derived. On the contrary, it seems more

plausible that mleccha in Sanskrit was adopted from Prakrit either as

mleccha itself or derived from meccha or milakkha as -och- and -lckh-

112, The use of the word mrdhravac for *hostile speech* (V, 29* 10)
and *unintelligible speech* (I, 174* 2) is attested in the Eg Veda
 90

interchangeable sounds in Kiddle Indo-Aryan.

According to Dr, Banerjee (cf. above p. 74), -cch- and -kkh- are

characteristic of Prakrit rather than of Sanskrit, and in the latter

are supposed to exist as the sound -ki=s-. Sir Harold Bailey has also

shown -cch- (*»ch-) as the variant of -k§« in Sanskrit when he gives

the hypothetical etymon of mleccha as *mleksa. Hie transition of

-k§- y -cch" y -kkh- has been widely explained by ancient Indian

grammarians and taken up by m o d e m linguistic and philology experts

(Pischel, Wackemagel, Katre etc,). However, what needs to be

further looked into, in this context, is to find when the variant -cch-

(and not -kkh-) became more common and replaced -k§- in Sanskrit?

Historically Prakrit and Pali came to the forefront with the

rise of Buddhism and Jainism around the sixth century B.C. They

gained the status of being written languages only around the first and

second centuries A.D, The existence of Prakrit in the form of

A^okan inscriptions is, however, earlier, in the third century B.C.

This should not minimize the influence they most probably exerted on the

Sanskrit language which is not clearly seen only because the ancient

writers of Sanskrit grammar chose to ignore it and thereby not record

it. However, more important are certain peculiar characteristics which

are only present in Kiddle Indo-Aryan dialects and not available in

Sanskrit, T, Burrow has pointed out thats 'a fair amount of

material exists (in KIA) which cannot be explained out of Sanskrit,

Vedic or Classical but only out of equally ancient, but different; form
113
of Indo-Aryan,..*

Can one then conclude that mleccha of the Satapatha Brahinana.

instead of being transformed to f*mleksa t or any other hypothetical

form through a set pattern of phonological rules, was retained in its

Prakrit form and continued to be used in this manner by successive

115* T. Burrow, The Sanskrit language. 1972, p« 45*

 91

Sanskrit writers? The contradiction "between -cch- in mleccha

(Sanskrit) and -kkh- in milakkha (Pali) does not remain unexplained,

if the theory that "both were originally Prakrit forms of the same

word, is accepted. Besides, it may not be a coincidence that the

utterance of the asuras (he lavah he lavah) in the same verse of

the Satapatha Brahmana (ill, 2, 1, 24) is a mispronunciation of Sanskrit

he1rayo he'rayo (K. C, Chatterjoe*s view discussed above). Perhaps

it is for this reason that it is dubbed as *mleccha1 and must be

114
avoided by speakers of 'right speech1•

The non-Aryan etymological origin of mleccha, particularly the

Dravidian hypothesis, is based on the actual existence of a proto-

Dravidian language, M, B. Emeneau is of the opinion thats 'the

Dravidian substratum is easily accessible in its doaen or more living

11 *5
languages and in that a Proto-Dravidian can be worked out...' ^ If one

accepts this and thereby the technical aspects (i*®., change of sounds

etc.) of a proto-Dravidian etymology for mleccha through milakkha,

this hypothesis still leaves important questions unanswered.

If these words had been borrowed from a proto-Dravidian language,

whom did they apply to in that language? Did they retain the same

meaning after having been adopted- by the Aryan speaking peoples?

The connection of the hypothetical proto-Dravidian reconstruction

is made with the place name Meluhha as it occurs in the Sumerian

cuneiform records. Further, the argument rests on the presumption that

Meluhha was Western India. Milakkha which is derived from Meluhha

W
is said to^the name of the people from this part of the country.

The form mleccha which is first recorded in the Satapatha- Brahmana

114* Mleccha speech is a subject for chapter III.

115* M. B. Emeneau, Collected Papers. 1967, P* 160

 92

(ill, 2, 1, 24) and. the form milakkha first attested in the

Vinaya Pitaka (ill, 28) do not indicate the geographical locations

of the people alluded to by these names. Therefore there is no

direct evidence to suggest that the mleoohas and milakkhas were

originally people of Western India, There is also no evidence of

any similar word in form or meaning in m o dem Dravidian vocabulary.

One cannot, however, totally dismiss the suggestion brought

forth by this hypothesis that the influence of proto-Dravidian sounds

into Indo-Aryan took.place through Prakrit,

Mleccha and Milakkha were used in all successive Sanskrit and

Prakrit literature in these forms and became an integeral part of

their vocabularies.
 95

Chapter XIX

THE BASIS OF DISTINCTION ; SPEECH

The term mleccha and its Pali equivalent milakkha. were initially

used by the ancient Indians, not as designations for any particular

groups of outsiders, hut simply to indicate a large reference group

identifiable because it did not conform with the *traditional value

system1. It is rather difficult to define the phrase traditional

value system* but essentially it was the official pattern of social

behaviour and its cultural norms that mleccha groups did not abide by.

For the majority of ancient Indians these standards were set by the

brShmanical 6lite who were ultimately in a position to judge when

©•
a person or group ceased to be mleccha.

However the Brahmanic, Buddhist and Jaina views as represented

in their mainly religious literature, all show a vehement belief in their

own superiority in relation to the mlecchas/mi 1aldchas. This broad

assumption is maintained throughout and is a presupposition which

cannot be ignored from the point of view of our thesis. To suggest

that social standards and values did not Ghange in ancient India is

undoubtedly wrong. For, on the contrary, the different levels of

variations on the basis of which distinction was made between a mleccha

and a non-mlecoha clearly reflect these changes. This distinction,

broadly speaJcing, was held on three factors: speech, area of habitation

1
and cultural behaviour. Whether these in reality were the main

1. The religious and ethnic attributes of a particular people are

rarely stated as the reason for describing them as mlecchas.
 94

reasons for such discrimination, and how far they applied in the

case of both foreigners and indigenous peoples, will be the subjeot

for the following two chapters*

A formal classification of mleccha groups stating their

hierarchical status and function is absent in both brahmaijical and

non-brahmanical writing. This partly accounts for the ambiguity in

the use of mleccha as a designation for particular groups discussed

in the two chapters* Theoretically, however, there was

a clear awareness in the same writing that differences in language,

area of habitation and general behaviour constituted the criteria

in identifying mleoohas* The distinction was never solely manifested

in any of these three factors at a given period of time. It can

here be oversimplified and suggested that the concept of mleccha was

formulated as such that it was meant to admit within the sphere of its

use many degrees of variation. In other words, that there was a

deliberate policy, particularly by brahmiijica! writers, to use mleccha

in a vague and general fashion.. This is too convenient a solution and

not the right one.

The brahmanas in defining their own system were very accurate

and definite. In fact, it seems as though they spent all their time

ostensibly perfecting the rules by which sooiety ought to function and

writing about them. The Dharmagastra literature available to us is

evidence for this. The same was not done concerning groups they

called mleochas but at the same time, it cannot be said that there

was total ignorance about the different cultural attributes of people

that existed outside their official system. It was not only

brahmanical jurisprudence, but that of the Buddhists and Jains as well

 95

which excluded from its purview the laws and social codes prevalent
2
in mleccha society. Therefore all information about mleccha speech,

habitation and behaviour that is available to us is pejorative. We

have to consider this material in the light of other information

from non-literary and secular literary sources which sets the historical

context. Ultimately, the theoretical lines of demarcation between 'Us1

and "Them* in the Bharma&astra were in fact confused and blurred by

the role of external factors like the acquisition of political and

economic power by certain groups, the technological advancement of

certain tribes and this in turn led to actual status being opposed

to the ritual status. Thus, the apparent ambiguity in the use of the

term mleccha can more positively be explained in the light of the

changing circumstances in ancient India against which all religious

and non-religious literature was compiled.

The earliest distinction made by the Indo-Aryan upholders of the

brahmanical system was a linguistic one. This is recorded in the

^atapatha Brahmana.^ The distinction based on speech continues to

be stressed in later brahmanical and Jaina works, but significantly,

this emphasis is greater in Buddhist writing. However, on the whole

it must be remembered that the designation of tribes as mleccha carries

a cultural connotation and is not merely based on language,

2. When one speaks of 'mleccha society' it is not with reference to

one large homogeneous system. People who were designated as mleccha.
came from totally different cultural backgrounds. Some like the
Yavanas from highly formalized social systems, and others like the
$abaras, Pulindas who belonged to tribal societies. The only common
factor of suph diverse groups was their passive existence outside,
and sometimes their potential opposition to, the socio-economic
power structure of the brahmanical filite.

3* 5at». Br.T III, 2, 1, 25-24. The £atapatha is considered one of the

latest Brahmanas (M. Winternitz, HIL, 1971» PP#192-193, ft, 4) It
can*therefore*be placed between 900-600 B.C.
 %

Hie knowledge of correct speech was crucial to the performance

of sacrifice and ritual in the religion of the Brahmanas. The ^atapatha.

like the other Brahmanas, is a text on the liturgy of sacrifice

1 " " •11
and is written in Sanskrit, The striking importance which is

ascribed to sacrifice cannot he missed in these texts, especially

as it becomes the highest aim of existence during this period, Prajapati,

the creator, is the sacrifice,^ which therefore literally pervades the

universe. Consequently, every single sacrificial act is treated with

the greatest precision. Included in these was the proper articulation

of words and this was as crucial as the right mantras to be recited

for the performance of a particular sacrifice. The best experts of

the sacrificial art were undoubtedly the various families of brahmanas

who, placed in a hierarchy within the Indo-Aryan social system, became

the upholders of pure and best speech. As we shall subsequently see

there is consistent concern about the speech of the brahmanag and when

we come across an example of barbarian or mleccha speech, it is he who

is instructed specifically to avoid it.

But first, it is imperative to have some idea of the importance

attached to speeoh/vao in Vedic speculation generally. Vac is

represented as the prototype of women and forms the subject of many

narratives. The making of articulate speech is ascribed to Indra in

the SaiTihitas. Categories of speech, in a wholly mythological context,

7
are demarcated both in the Brahmanas and the Samhitas. The four

4. Sat. Br.. XIV. 5. 2. V; III, 6, 5, 1. ™ ~ ™

5, The brahmanas are even considered Gods - Taittiriya Sam.. I, 7? 1*
The latter'must b.g. pleased with saorificial gifts and the former with
dak sing, (presents), £at. Br.. II, 2, 2, 6; IV, J, 4> 4.

6* Taittiriya Sam.. VI, 4» 7» 3» Maitrayanl Sam., IV, 5»

7 • Kathaka Sam., XIV, 5 5 Maitrayanl Sam., 1 , 11, 5 •
~gat. Br.. IV, 1, 5, 16.
 97

kinds of speech in the ^atapatha Brahmana. for instance, were those

of men, of animals, of hirds and of small creeping things

(ksudram srlsrpa&) and only the one fourth part of speech which men
8
speak is intelligible.

The best speech among men is attributed to the Kuru-PaHcHas

of Panjab and Uttara Pradesh and they are renowned for it

ttarahi vag vadati kurupahcalatra/ *9

This has been translated by Eggeling as 1speech sounds higher here

v, 10
among the Kuru-Pancalas1 and since Pathya Svasti is in reality speech,

through her they recognised the northern region. Elsewhere in the

Brahmanas the speech of the northern country is considered to be pure

11
and men go there to study language. The northern region, often

called Uttarakuru in later brahmanical literature, is described, as an

ideal place, a type of utopia where people observe all the required
12
ritual and speak the purest language. The Buddhist literature echoes

the same description where everything is plentiful and where there is

13
no private property. Here the point is clearly that men ought to

make the effort to learn correct speech and language, though it is

doubtful whether people actually went north to study.

There is further the indication that attempts were made by early

8 * &it. Br.. IV, 1, 3, 16.

9* Sat. Br .. Ill, 2, 3, 15• The ICapva recension has kurupanoa'lesu.

10. Roth & Bothlingk, SanskritDictionary, St. Petersburg, 1055» P*894.

Instead of 'higher1 for uttarahi here it is taken as'in the north1*

11. ICausTtaki Br., VII, 6 — pathya svastih tasmad udTcyafi dig!

pra.jnatatara vagudyata udanoa u eva yanti vac am siksitruit ya
va tata agacohati tasya va susruganta/
Alt. Br., VIII, 14, 23.

12. .Brgfananda P., II, 19, 24; III, 59, 46; Vayu P., 91, 7;
Matsya P .. 83, 34; 105, 26.

13* IMia.Jjkaya, Atanatiya gutta, III, p. 199ff, In the Buddhist texts,

however, Uttarabnru is a mythical region, situated to the north of
Jambudvlpa, and itself also surrounded by oceans. See the refs, in
G.P. Malalasekara, Dictionary of Pall Proper Names, s.v,,I, pp. 355
 98

Vedic writers to categorize the various types of speech or language

■spoken among men, Daivl was divine speech and manusX that of human

beings,^ Characteristically the brahmana is said to have known both

of them, Sayana in his commentary on this passage in the Satapatha

16
Brahmana explains that speech connected with the devas (devasambandhi)

is Sanskrit and that which is connected with men (manusyasambandhi)

17
is Bhasa. Bhasa 1 literally means speech but in this context it seems

to be the common or vernacular languages as opposed to Sanskrit, The five

Prakrit dialects of Maharastri, Sauraseni, Magadhi, Pracya and Avanti

18
are laid down as the five-fold Bhasas by Monier-Williams• According

to Eggeling Sayana suggests a distinction between Sanskrit and

19
ApabhraASa, 7 In Keith* s opinion it is simply divine speech in opposition
20
to *ordinary conversation*,
21
In the Aitareya Ar anyaka the discrimination between divine and

human speech is made with the utterance of the word *him*» This word

is earlier in the same passage identified with the brahmana and it is

also stated that whatever is desired can be obtained by its utterance.

But a clear reference to brahmana speech is noted later in the same

22
text. Sayana Interprets this passage as speech associated with the
*

14. §at. Br., VI, 3, 1, 3 4 i Ait. Br.. VII, 18, 13;

Ait. Xranyaka. 1 , 3 * 1•

^5* ICathaka Sam.. XIV, Maitrayanl Sam.. I, 11, 5

16. Sayana on §at. Br.. VI, 3» 1» 34 — *daivam* devasambandhi

vakyam saAskrtam *manusaA ca* manusyasambandhi bhasamayan ca vakyam/

17* The term ApabhraASa for Bhasa, is also used. According to Pischel,
Comparative Grammar of Prakrit Languages, 1957> Introduction, p.2, --
it seems that Apabhraifi^a is used, to denote popular languages, both
Aryan and non-Aryan,

18. M. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Bictionapy. 1889, p-75%

19. J* Eggeling, Satapatha Brahmana. SBE,Vol. 41» p.200, ft.nt. 4»

20. A.B. Keith, Aitareya Xranyaka,Oxford, 1909>P*179» Tt. nt. 5.

21. Ait. Xranyaka, I, 3, 1*

22. Ait. Xr anyaka, I, 5» 2,
 9?
23
Vedas. Another passage which can he quoted from both the Aitareya

and the Sa&diayana Aranyakas is one which indicates that there was

a limited area where arya vac (Aryan speech) was spoken.^ Here

again Sayana renders this speech as associated with the Vedas. Keith

disagrees with this interpretation and points outs ’this expression

(aryavacah) may be cited as an early piece of evidence for the

existence of several dialects of the early Indian language, which

25
we know must have existed* *' He considers that the brahmana speech
-T
in the Aitareya Aranyaka. I, 5, 2 must stand in contrast to non-

Aryan languages since at that early date (cj,. 800-700 B.C.) the

development of Prakritic forms was not ’so distinct as to render

26
contrast with them natural.’

Two points must be discussed here. 1) Firstly, there is no

doubt that other languages and forms of speech existed simultaneously

with Sanskrit; the latter in the form'of Vedic Sanskrit is the first

language used in early brahmanical literature, 2) Secondly, there

is no definite evidence to show that all ancient Indians before 500 B.C.,
27
or even later, spoke or had some knowledge of Sanskrit,

Regarding the first point recent researches in both Indo-Aryan

and non-Indo-Aryan philology have shown that: a) There is positive

linguistic evidence to clarify the fact that Indo-Aryan migrations

23* Sayana on Ait, Aranyaka. I, 5* 2.

24* Ait. Aranyaka. Ill, 2, 5*— bhumlprasyaklrtir bhavati
yatra kva oarya vaco bhagante vidur enam tatra7
Sankh. Aran.yaka. VIII, 9* yatra '’rya vac ait vadantl
vidur enam iatra/

25* A.B. Keith, Aiteraya Ar anyaka. 1909* P* 255, ft. nt. 5*

Keith rightly points this out and arya vacahi is. a
reference to Aryan forms of speech or dialects.

-26# Ibid. p.196, ft, nt. 19*

27. The knowledge of Sanskrit was not confined tomembers of

the 'Aryan race* only.
 100

170 l75- so*

M A P NO. I l l
THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Showing the spread of the Indo-A ryan languages.

PaMuV / <*''

e* e

'C a lf u t t

Bombay

ARABIAN
BENGAL

Madras

400
Kilometres
Miles
XX) 200 300 400

7o' 73 ' «5'

 101

took place in successive phases and not in one simultaneous movement.

This means that the Aryans came not with a single uniform or standar­

dised speech hut rather with a group or groups of dialects spoken

28
hy the various ♦Aryan* tribes. Only one of these dialectB or

dialect groups is represented in the language of the Veda* b) There

was a substratum of Munda and Dravidian languages in northern India

before and after the Indo-Aryans migrated. These indigenous languages

of the subcontinent did not only exist but influenced Vedic in a

restricted sense and later Classical literature to a larger extent.^

In the second instance, if Sanskrit was not spoken or known by

all, we must identify the group or groups that were familiar with its

use. Panini in the fifth century B.C. codified the Sanskrit language..

His ideas and rules were based on the spoken usage of the educated

brahmanas of his day. Louis Renou basing his statement on Patanjali

asserts that brahmanas. provided they were cultured, were considered

30
custodians of the correct language. Winternitz, whose authority

was also Patanjali, agrees with this but, using the same source in

another instance, adds: 'the sphere of people speaking Sanskrit

31
extended much further — — to all "educated people"..*

The passages from the Satfihitas and the Brahmana,s discussed

above, however, leave us in no doubt that their respective authors

established for themselves the due superiority of Sanskrit over

other forms of speech. With the very early standardization of

Sanskrit by the organizers of the Brahmanio civilization, as compared

with middle Indo-Aryan dialects, began the process by which one had

28. S.K. Chatter;)ee, The Origin and Development of the Bengali

language. 1926, p.20; T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1972
p.32*
29. P.C. Bagchi, Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India, 1929}
J. Bloch, Ch.II, p.58; T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1972,
P*35.

30* Wackemagel, Altindishe Grammatik. 1954* L* Renou, Introduction

ggngrale. p. 19.
31. Wintemitz, HIL. Vol. I, 1970, p. 43*
to rely on the educated, brahmana to acquire its knowledge, They

were the select group in society who knew both Sanskrit and Bhasa.

Against this background it will thus be possible to evaluate

mleccha or barbarian speech could have meant in the early period.

There are three possibilities: 1) a language which was not necessarily

alien, but the speech of the person or persons was improper because

it was either hostile or vulgar; 2) a language, and here most

probably Sanskrit, that was mispronounced and thereby incomprehensible:

3) finally, any foreign tongue which was naturally incomprehensible

because it was unintelligible to those who did not understand a

particular language.

An example of the first possibility is the use of the word

mrdhravak. deployed in connexion with hostile speech in the fig Veda.

32
There are six occurrences of this word. The characteristic feature

of its meaning in the different verses and contexts that it occurs

is that it was always used by the aryas to describe the speech of

their enemies.
33
Mrdhravac qualifies the Dasyus in two places as hostile speakers.

On account of their hostility to the aryas, the Purus are called

34
mrdhravacah^ Further, it is also rendered as injurious speech
7r
which wicked people use and similarly Vrtra, the demon, is ascribed
36
with evil speech. Finally, Indra humbled tribes whose speech was

32. RgJVeda, I, 174, 2; V, 29, 10; 32, 8; VII, 6, 3* 18, 13? X, 23, 5.

33. Ibid.. V, 29, 10; VII, 6, 3.

34. Ibid.,VII, 18, 13.

35. Ibid.. X, 23, 5. These wicked people speak in a varied manner
with contemptuous cries.

36. Ibid.. V, 32, 8, The demon Vrtra is always portrayed in the

■ Rg Veda as the arch enemy of Indra, the God who in the Saifihitas
is known to make articulate speech.
 105

37
unintelligible or hostile. This is the only case where one can

render mrdhravac as 1unintelligible1 speech but Sayana in his

■*■*•' 1 "[ •
38
commentary of the same explains it as ‘hostile* speech. R.S. Sharma

rightly points out ’unless the term mrdhravacah is taken in the

sense of "unintelligible speech", it does not give any evidence

of linguistic difference between the Dasyus and Aryans, but only shows

that the former hurt the sentiments of the latter by their improper
39
speech* The enemies of the aryas could have been both the Indo-

Aryan speaking peoples and the indigenous tribes of the subcontinent,

perhaps the inhabitants of the urban civilization of the Indus.

Though mrdhravac can more positively be taken to mean hostile

speech, the same cannot be said of mleccha speech. The latter is

usually translated as barbarian speech but this explains little.

The first reference where this speech is indicated as a component

in distinguishing the Arya from the ’others* is given in the

Satapatha Brahmana. Mleccha speech is synonymous with that of the

Asuras and reads as follows:^

te ’sura attavaoaso he’Iavo he’lava iti vadantafr

par^babM vuh /257 ~

He’Iavo he’lava is the only specimen of Asura/mleccha speech available.

The reason given for the utterance of such unintelligible words by the

Asuras is their defeat against their enemies, the Devas. Further, the

cause of their defeat in this long drawn out struggle with the Devas

is that they lost the possession of vac (speech). The Devas, on the

other hand, being more clever and powerful took the possession of vac

by offering her an anustubh Verse.

57. Rg Veda. I. 174. T . — - - .

38. Sayana on Rg Veda. I, 174* 2.

39, R.S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958»-"P«13»

40* Sat. Br.* III, 2, 1, 23*

 10/1

The following verse^ is of greater significance in our context,

1) It specifies that the words uttered! by the Asuras are those spoken

"by a mleccha and 2) it instructs brahmanas to avoid mleccha language

because when the Asuras used it they were destroyed,

tatraitam api vac am uduh/ upa.jigyasyaifi sa mlecchas tasman

na brahmano mlecched asurya haisa vag evara evaisa dvisata
sapatnaham adatte vacam te *syatta vacasah parabhavanti
ya evam etad veda//24// 41a

Consequently, the issues that must be considered regarding this

passage are first, whether the Deva-Asura struggle can be identified

with the actual conflict of the Aryas and their enemies and, more

importantly, how far the specimen of mleccha speech can be identified ’

with a particular dialect or language of that time.

The Aryans of the Rg Veda period occasionally portrayed the

42
Asuras aB opponents of the Gods but. their equals in strength.

It appears also as the epithet of the god Varuna and eventually

«
43
exclusively has the meaning of 'demon', Banerji-Sastri in a sexrLes

of articles has tried to establish the historicity of the Asuras, a

maritime people,, as one of the two forces in the Rg Veda with whom

41# Sat, Br,. Ill, 2, 1, 24,

41a, Ibid, III, 2, 1, 24 — 'Such was the -unintelligible speech

they uttered, — and he (who speaks thus) is a'Mleccha,
Hence let no brahmana speak barbarous language, since
such is the speech of the Asuras. Thus alone he deprives
his spiteful enemies of speech; and whosoever knows this, his
enemies., being deprived of speech, is undone,1

42, M, Monier-Williams, The Sanskrit English Dictionary, 1889, p. 12! — *

Asura is derived from the root Asu literally meaning 'spiritual*,
'incorporeal', 'divine'. In the Rg Veda Asura sometimes occurs
with the old meaning of 'possessed of wonderful power' or 'god'
which the corresponding word Ahura has in the Avesta, (v/internitsi,
HIL. Vol.I, 1971, P.78)..

43, Rg Veda. II, 30, 4 1 VII, 99, 5 Asura, chief of evil spirits,
cLemon, VIII, 9&» 9? I, 130, 8 — - Asuras as opponents of Gods,
This meaning continues in later Sanskrit. The Asuras are
incorporated in Puranic mythology as sons of Diti by Kafiyapa.
 105

the Aryans had to struggle for power.^ He begins his investigation

by linking Asura with Assyrian Ashur, meaning 'the people of Assyria',

♦their city1, *their country* and finally * a god whom the Assyrians

rallied around'• The association of the Asuras with India recedes

back to pre-history when they were settled in the Mohenjo-Daro and

45
Harappa region. Their expansion into India was by sea and even later,
46
in the Rg Veda, they were associated with waterways. On the Indian

subcontinent they would have spread from the north of the Indus and

the extreme west to Magadha and further east to Assam, mingled with

the non-Aryans of the south and reached Ceylon.^ Finally, A.

Banerji-Sastri identifies some of the Asuras as those tribes under

the Furu-Bhrgu group who were led by Visvamitra and who fought the
*
AO
Aryans under Sudas and Vasistha. The former were distinguishable'

from the Vedic Aryans by (i) their possession of a respected name,

(ii) control of waterways and (iii) by the unintelligibility of

their speech,^

One cannot accept some of the arbitrary conclusions made by

Banerji-Sastri or be diverted by them to disprove these points,

especially his identification of Asura tribes. The nature of evidence

prevents us from arriving at such positive conclusions about the

historicity of the Asuras, Besides, in our passage no localisation

44* A. Banerji-Sastri, 'The Asuras in Indo-Iranian Literature',

pp.110-139? 'Asura Expansion in India', pp. 243-2B5; 'Asura
Expansion by Sea', pp.334-56; 'Asura Institutions', pp.503~539
all in JB(0)R3. XII, 1926,

45. A, Banerji-Sastri, 'The Asuras in Indo-Iranian Literature’, J.0(0)r S.

XII, 1926, pp. 111-116, The Persians also not only succeeded to
the empire of Ashur, but absorbed and cherished it,(p. 116).

4 6 .' Ibid., pp. 334-36; p.248,

47* Ibid.,pp.246ff. p,245> Some of the Asura merges and disappears
in the Dasa.

49. Ibid..p.248. D.D. Kosambi, Introduction to the Study of Indian

History. 1956, p . 9 0 the
Aryan as any other. Even though the Purus are said to have the
hostile speech of enemies (mrdhravaoah. Rg Veda, VII, 18, 13 ) sand are
elsewhere (Sat. Br., VI, 8, t, 14)”described as Asuras, there is
no indication of their non-Aryan status.
49. A. Banerji-Sastri, JB(Q)r s , XII, 1926, p.127*
 106
of the Asura-Deva conflict is given and therefore one must he led to

conclude that, apparently at least, it is a mythical allusion. Further,

taking it in the context of other similar passages where the Devas

and Asuras exert themselves to surpass each other by means of sacri­

fice, it becomes clear that the aim of the author of the Oatapatha

Brahmana was also to highlight the importance of sacrifice through

the possession of an important requirement — right speech.

The Asuras are not called mlecchas but utter words that are

spoken by such people. The verse itself does not indicate even

vaguely what kind of mlecchas were alluded to and therefore there

are no positive grounds to believe that they were persons of non-

Indo-Aryan speech. Like, mrdhravac, it could mean hostile speech

50
since it was uttered by enemies. However, there is the possibility

that it may have referred to a mispronunciation of proper speech*^

which then became barbaric.

This plausibility arises out of Sayanacarya's explanation of the

specimen of Asura/mleocha speech he1lavot he'lava^? which, he suggests

stands for he 'rayo, he 'raya. meaning '0 the (spiteful) enemies.

Sayana also states that the Mahabhasya reading of these words is

54
he 'layo. he 'laya. The emphasis here is on the failure to pro­

nounce the sounds -r- and -y~ on the part of the mleccha. T. Burrow

has pointed out that there are dialectical differences between the

50. A. Hillebrandt, Vedische Mythologie. 1927 - 2 9 , I, 89, 90,

51* 'proper speech* was the Sanskrit of the gatapatha Brahmana and
similar texts.

52. The Madhyandina recension of the gat, Br.. (Ajmere, 19°2), III,
2, 1, 23, has this reading but the Ka$va recension (Ed. V.S. Gauda
and C v Sharma), III, 2, 1, 23 has hallo haila.
53* Sayana on Sat. Br.. Ill, 2, 1, 23.

54* Ibid.j see also Mahabhasya, I, 1, 1, (Kielhorn's Ed.)

Patanjali's passage discussed below.
 107

Vedic language of the north-west and the later Classical language of

madhyade£a, 'The most striking1 he states 'is that Vedic language

turns -L- to -r- whereas the Classical languages, to a large extent

preserve the distinction between -r- and - jL - '*^ However, the

change of -r- into and to -v- is not infrequent in the

Prakrit dialects of Eastern India. This is attested by the inscriptions

56
of ASoka. According to Geiger this is very common in many Prakrits
57
and is the rule in MagadhI.

This explanation has been criticized by some scholars who

suggested that it could be a distinct language which the Vedic Aryans

did not understand* Since Patanjali's variation he 'layo* he 'laya

is the basis for the theory that mleccha speech was a mispronunciation

of Sanskrit, and consequently, also the chief cause for its criticism,

we must first discuss this passage more closely,

PataHjali sets out to explain te'surah and in so doing the

passage of the Satapatha Brahmana — - *

te* surah te'sura he'layo he jlaya iti ku rv a n ta h parababhuvuh

tasmad brahmanena na mleochitavai na apabhasitavat inleccho
ha va esa yad apa&ahdah/ mleccha ma bhumety adlieyam
yyakaranam te''surlh/ / 5 8

Patafljali1s main concern is with the study of grammar which he says is

55* T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1972, p*;52.

56# J. Bloch, Les, Inscriptions d'Agoka, p.112.

57. W* Geiger, Pali Literature and Language* Calcutta, 1956, para /]/].,
p.88.
E. Pischel, Comparative Grammar of Prakrit Languages* D e lh i, 1957,
para 2 56 , p*182,

58* Mahabhasya, I, 1, 1. 'Those asuras pronouncing he 'layah he 'layah

were baffled in their attempt. Hence no mleccha word is to be
pronounced by a brahmana; jL*e, no word not sanctioned by grammar#
In order that we may not become mlecchas (the users of corrupt
words) grammar is to be studied,*
 1U l.
59
essential in order to avoid the usage of mleooha phrases. The mleooha

phrase he 1layo he 'laya, he explains is a corrupt expression — —

60
apagabda. He repeats the statement of the Satapatha Brahmana that the

utterance of he !layo he ’laya caused the defeat of the Asuras and

that brahmanas should not pronounce mleccha words. His reason for the

latter injunction is that suoh words are not sanctioned by grammar.

In other words, he used th<e original passage to express his own ideas.

Thus Bauerji-Sastri observes that Patanjali simply seeks to

61
establish the superiority of Sanskrit over an alien language,

Danielssan opines that Patanjali failed to understand the Satapatha

62
Brahmana passage he quoted and Jayaswal asserts that he evidently
63
lost the tradition and invented a meaning, Jayaswal*s own opinion

is that he*lavo he *lava is a specific language of the mlecchas. He,

however, works on a completely different assumption: 'Like Yavana,

Mleccha is a foreign word, and like Yavana it originally meant a

foreign people,' The cry he *lavo is the Hebrew representation of

eloah meaning 'god* and mleccha is Sanskrit for melekh, the Hebrew
^A
|

for 'king', ^ Jayaswal's ideas are too far-fetched and the meanings

he derives for he'lavo and mleccha cannot be applicable in the context

of the whole passage,

59*' Subrahmanya Sastri, Lectures on Patah.jali* s Mahabhasya,

Armamalainagar, 1944, I, iv, Mlecchas are users of corrupt words.

60, Mlecchitavai is synonymous with Apabhagitavaiin this passage.

61, A. Banerji-Sastri, *The Asuras in Indo-Iranian Literature',

JB(Q)RS, XII, 1926, P.126,

62, O.A. Danielsson,'Die Einleitung des Mahabhashya', ZDMG.

Vol. 37, 1883, P.23.

63, K.P. Jayaswal, ZDMG. Vol.68, 1914, P.719.

64, Ibid.. pp.719-720

 109
In the Satapatha Brahmana.which has the original verse, it is

probable that mleccha-vac could have been a Prakrit d i a l e c t P a r i n g

the period of the Brahmanas it had not yet acquired the status of a

literary language. More important, it was a form of speech which

could not be used for ritual purposes and it cannot be overlooked that

the emphasis on speech was crucial for the efficiency of ritual hymns.

This was the simple reason why the Brahmanic Aryans who had settled

down in the middle Ganges Valley not only noticed the different form

of speech of some of the inhabitants but recorded and examined a few

words. They did not do the same concerning the appearance and beha­

viour of the mlecchas. which obviously was not relevant for the

sacrificial preparations. The same conclusions cannot, however, be

drawn regarding Patanjali’s use of the same passage. Patanjali wrote

many centuries later} therefore, we must first examine the references

speech during the intervening period to assess the conditions

and background in which .he wrote. Changes in the socio-religious

sphere and the political set-up gave perspective to the concept of

mleccha speech and, above all, the status of a mleccha emerges more

as a cultural feature rather than a linguistic fact.

There is no further discussion in the Saihhitas -or the Brahmanas

on mleccha vac or mleccha bhasa.

■— We must then consider the brahmanical
.
literature of the post-Vedic period before the canonization of Sanskrit
66
grammar by Fanini. The Dharmasutras. on the whole, instruct that the

speech of the mlecchas and speaking to mlecchas must be avoided. These

65. A Weber, The History of Indian Literature. London, 1914, pp.67-68

In his opinion 'asuraya1 speech probably refers to 'Prakritic
dialectic differences, assimilation of groups of consonants and
similar changes peculiar to Prakrit vernaculars.1

66, P.V. Kane, History of Dharmasastra. II, i, p.xi, has assigned

the principal Dharmasutras to the period between 600-300 B.C.
A.B. Keith, CHI. I, 1922, p.1J2. The subras show a grammatical
freedom otherwise unattested after the period of Panini.
(fifth century B.C. according to Agrawala, p.475).
 no

injunctions are later repeated in some of the Smrtisi. Gautama,

considered the earliest Pharmasutra writer, made it a rule for all

67
sriatakas to avoid conversing with mlecchas. impure and wicked men. '

His commentator Haradatta explains that only a proper conversation

with mlecchas is forbidden hut enquiries about roads, routes and

similar information can be made from them.^. If, however, one has

already committed the error, then Gautama recommends meditation on

_ 69
virtuous men or, easier still, speaking to a brahmana. x One presumes

that these measures eradicated the bad or evil influence of the mleccha

and his speech.

In another context the Vasistha Dharmasutra prohibits the study

of a mleccha dialect. Vasi§J;ha is said to have written after

Gautama, Ipastamba and Baudhayana and is placed between c. ^OO-IOO

B.C. Hot learning a language of the mlecchas is a duty and occurs in

his chapter on Rules of Conduct. Nothing can save the vile who has
70
strayed from the path of duty. Both the rules re g a rd in g the

avoidance and study of mleccha speech, emphasised in the D harm asutras.

indirectly indicate that people were in fact acting to the c o n tr a ry .

Therefore the Brahmana authors of these texts needed to reiterate the

importance of the purity of speech and the inherent s u p e r io r it y o f

the Sanskrit language.

One of the sources for Parjlni writing his grammar around th e f i f t h

century B.C., was the language and usage of this brahmanical e l i t e .

67. Gautama Dhs.. I, 9 ,17 (SBE, 16), —

na mlecchaSucyadharmikais saha sambhaseta//17

68. Haradatta Mitaksara

.
vrtti, I. 9. 1 7 .
S .
sa,m£abdauravoend
—1^ 1 . 1 nn p n »i I I H w 4 »i ■IIIJ iiin p LHw

eva siddhe sahagrahanam taih sahaikakarya bhutva

safibhasetety evam artham/ tena margapra^nadau na dosah// 17

69. Gautama Dhs.. I, 9» 18-19

70* Vasistha Dhms.. VI,41 “— na mle0 cha-bhasajfi ^ikset /41 /

 111

Pahinifs Astadhyayl has the oldest extant Bhatupatha that gives the root
71
inlech, *to speak indistinctly*, for the noun mleccha. Thence he

formulates the past participle passive mlista. mlecchita,1spoken

72
indistinctly1* Before and during his lifetime, it seems that the

most prominent activity connected with mleochas was their indistinct

speech. This original meaning of the word mleccha always remained

and further, the verbal forms of mlech introduced by Pacini were

73
accepted unaltered by all later grammarians#

There is so far no indication what the specific character of

’tik® n&Qccha language during that period might have been. But the

theory that mleccha vac continued to mean simply a mispronunciation of

*right speech* cannot be wholly true. Patanjali, thus wrote with

this tradition behind him. For anyone to acquire the proper knowledge

of Sanskrit the study of elaborate grammatical rules became essential

and as noted above, it was amidst this concern that he warns brahmanas

to be aware of. mleccha or corrupt expressions.

Besides the brahmanical tradition, there were other significant

developments in the sphere of ideas, literature and language before

the beginning of the Christian era which are reflected in the Buddhist

and Jaina traditions.

The founders of Buddhism and Jainism in the sixth century B.C.

used local dialects of eastern India as vehicles for the propagation

of their respective faiths. The existing role of Sanskrit as the

language of elite groups continued but, it was Prakrit that first

became the language of administration. In the third century B.C.

A&oka had his inscriptions engraved in various local Prakrit dialects

71. 0. Bohtlingk, Fanini Grammatik. 1887* Bhatupatha,I. 220; X, 121.

72. Astadhyayl. VII, 2, 18.

73. Bhatupatha of Hemachandra. I, 119.

 112
74
and apparently ignored Sanskrit* This epigraphical tradition set

hy him continued for some centuries. The Satavahana kings used

71'
Prakrit in their inscriptions right up to the third century A.D.

The rise of Middle Indo-Aryan dialects for literary and inscriptional

purposes was largely due to the success of Buddhism and Jainism. Their

ideas were essentially a threat to the existence of the old brahmanical

order. However, except for a change in perspective, there was no

drastic reversal in their attitudes towards mleochas.

First we consider the Buddhist attitudes towards milakkha speech.

The language of the Theravada Canon, which according to the Sinhalese

tradition was written down between the third and the first century B.C.,
76
is Pali,' As a literary language it developed from a mixture of
77
dialects,' possibly also old Magadhl. Since the Buddha first

preached in the vicinity of Magadha he probably used the Magadhl

dialect. We can therefore hardly acoept the Pali term milakkha to be

used for people of this region in Buddhist sources.

The first occurrence of milakkha is in the Suttavibhaflga of the

78
Yinaya Pitaka. The passage itself does not tell us much about the

term. It states that if an ariya (ariyaka) disavows the training in

the presence of a milakkha and the latter does not recognise it then

74» B.C. Sircar, Sel. Xnscr.. I, 1942, ’Inscriptions of the Mauryas1,

pp. 16-79.

75* Ibid., ’Inscriptions of the Satavahanas’, pp.183-205..

76. Winternita, HIL, Vol. II, 1971, P»8. It is certain that the
Canon was not compiled at once but had a background of several
meetings amongst the monks, the most important of which was the
Council at Fataliputra,

17* S.It. Chatterjee, The Origin and Development of the Bengali

' Language. 1926, p,55ff*

78* Yinaya P ., I. 8, 4, "Vol. Ill, 27-28 --- ... ariyakena milak.ldnik.assa

santike sikkham paocakkhati soca na patlvi.janati
 79
it is not disavowed. The implication, however, is that the milakkha

cannot understand the language of the ariya. This is explained by

Buddhaghosa in his commentary Samantapasadlka when he elucidates that

the term ariyakam is — nama ariyavoharo magadhabhasa the 'proper*

mode of speech,the language of Magadha. Milakkha in his opinion is

the term for un-Ariyan people, the Andha, Damila etc, * milakkhakam
80
nama yo koci anariyako Andha^bamiladi. In another commentary, the
81
Sammohavlnodani on the Vibhafiga of the Abhidhamma Pi taka, he

establishes the superiority of Magadhabhasa over the language of the

Andhakas, Kiratas, Yonakas, Damilas etc. He further advocates, in the

same context, that Magadhabhasa is the language of the Buddha vac ana

and therefore also the language of the oivilized (ariya). Irrespective

of parenthood (mata Damili. pita A n d h a k o he adds one should

strive to learn Magadhabhasa,

Buddhaghosa, a well known commentator on nearly all the early

no
canonical texts, is said to have written in the fifth century A.D. "

There is, however, a difference of opinion as to how far he is reliable

83
in his commentaries as an expounder of the canonical texts. y His

statements on the '-superiority of Magadhabhasa seem in conflict with

ideas on the use of language in the Hlkayas and other early canonical texts.

Lord Buddha has clearly explained that he did not care for mere words
84
as only the meaning was important. As the Buddhism spread the monies

were allowed to learn the doctrine in a version adapted to their own

79* I«B, Homer, The Book of the Discipline. London, 1938, Vol. I,
p.47- milakkhuka. a term for the aboriginal inhabitants of India.

80. Samantapasadika. I, 8, 4, Vol. I,-255»

81• Sammohavinodani, Vibha&gatthakatha. 3B8.

82. Wintemitz, HID. Vol., II, p. 190

83. Ibid., pp.204-205; B.C. Law, The Life and Work of Buddhaghosa.
. 1923; SBE, Vol. 10, i, pp. xii-xxiv.

®4* Ma.i.ihima N .. II, 240*

 114
8C
5
language, they preaohed in the various local dialects* J In another

text, the Mguttara Nikaya. when the eight types of assemblies were

being discussed, the Buddha said: 'And before even X had seated myself

among them, or spoken to them, or had engaged them in conversation -

whatever their colour, that I became, whatever their language, that

became mine

The implication in the Yinaya Pitaka passage (I, 8 , 4 ) that the

milakkhas did not understand the language of the ariya is all we have

on the speech differentiation in the early canonical texts. In the

87
Ma.i.ihima Nikaya there is a reference to babbhara which can be translated

as people of an unknown tongue or those who mumble in their speech

i.e. are not distinct. Yet, when we turn to the ManorathaouranI .

Buddhaghosa*s commentary on the Mguttara Nikaya. the Damila, Kirata,

_ go
Yavana languages are listed as milakkha bhasas. Clearly, language

in Buddhist thought never became an important criterion of differentia-

tion since neither birth nor ritual impurity or the area of habitation

ever became items of such discrimination. Thus, though the superiority

of Magadhabhasa over milakkha bhasa was duly established and

acknowledged, discrimination was not severe. As we see from the

A&guttara Nikaya passage (IV, 307), Lord Buddha addressed Kiratas etc.

in their own language; a characteristic of most missionary religions.

There are no injunctions for monks and nuns to avoid milakkha speech

or to preach amongst them. This can be contrasted with brahmanicnl

*
Dharmasutra injunctions discussed above and also with similar

instructions in the Jaina sutras« In this sense there is a basic

difference between the Brahmin and Buddhist attitudes,

Majjhima H.. III, 236;Cullavagga, Y, 33,

8 6 . Anguttara N .. IY, 3 ^ 7 ---yadisako tesam van.
no hoti, tadlsxko
mayham vanno hoti. yadisako tesam saro hoti tadisako mayhem
saro fioti.VviIL vii, 69. Woodward*& Hare (Tr7J~PTS, Yol/IV,* p. 205.

87. Majjhima H .« I, 128.

8 8 . Man orathapuranl . II, 289*— • PamilakiratayavanadiHnilakkhanam bhasa.,.
 115

The Jaina canonical writings and the-^ early commentaries were

written in Prakrit Ardha-Magadhi and Jaina Mahara§tri — apparently

a clear sign that they took deliberate care to make their writings

accessible to a considerable number of people. The problem about

Jaina writing is that even though its tradition goes back to the sixth

century B.C., its compilation and redaction dates much later than that

of the Buddhists, Devarddigapin, who is responsible for having put

the Jaina Canon to a written form is placed around the fifth century

A.D. The earliest redaction of these texts according to tradition is

ascribed to the rei^i of Chandragupta Maurya (fourth century B.C.).

Hermann Jacobi on the basis of his extensive research on Jaina

literature established that the' oldest portion of the Siddhanta must

be fixed during the period between the compilation of the Tripitaka

and the early centuries A.D. i.e. between 300 B.C.-200 A.D.^

Mahavira preached his religion in Ardha Magadhl and. according to

the Samavayafiga it was understood by all alike without any distinction

90 -
whatsoever. The fourth upafiga. the Pannavana (Pra.jnapana) begins
91
with the section on Man in the first book. The two distinct groups

of people mentioned in this section are the ariya and the milakkha.

Among the former there are six types of ariyas. those mentioned by

khetta or region, .jati or caste, lcula or family, kamma or trade,

bhasa or language and sippa or handicraft. The bhasariyas are those

92
who speak Ardha Magadhl and know the Brahmi script* The names of

the milakkha peoples are listed but not the language they spoke,

89. H. Jacobi, The Gaina Sutras. SBE, Vol. 22 & 45» Introduction,
J. Charpentier, The IIttaradhyayanasutra, 1922, p.26. The
importance of the Mathura inscription of the reign of ICaniska
which confirms the existence of a strong Svetambara community
in the first century A.B. (ASIR, Vol. Ill, plates XIII~XV).
90. SamavayaAga. Ahmedabad, Vikram 1994* P*57*

91 • Pra.jnapana, Agamodya Samiti, Bombay 1918-19* sutras 36-37*

pp.54-55

92* se ki& taifi bhasariya? ,je naifl addha magahae bhasae bhaseifrti
.jattha ya naia bhambhl livi — Ibid., 37•
 116

However, it is not surprising that elsewhere the milakkhas are

represented as not understanding the language of the ariyas. The

Sutrakrtanga (Suyagada ) ^ points this out. It is essentially meant

to explain to young monks the failure and hopelessness of heretical

doctrines and reminds them of their duty. In the process the ignorance

of the milakkhas is compared with that of the heretics and it is stated

that just as the former repeats what an ariya says but does not under­

stand the meaning, so also the heretic pretends to possess knowledge

94.
■but does not know the truth.^ There is nevertheless the hint here

that a milakkha could be instructed in the ariya languages. On the

other hand, the XcaraAga sutra. a strict oode on the acara of the

monks forbids a monk and a nun to visit places where sounds that

cause temptation can be heard; places where there are milakkhas or

95
where borderers meet. ^

The distinction between ariya 'civilized* and an-arlya

'uncivilized* In Buddhist and Jaina writing is thus quite apparent.

As far as the difference of speech was concerned, the turning point

from the brahmanical view was that Magadhl and ArdhaMagadhi became

the language of the 'civilized*.

The brahmanical literature after the beginning of the Christian

era continues to note the difference in mleccha speech but the

emphasis on it is considerably less pronounced. The Mnnusmrti,ccm-

piled in the north and completed around the second century A.D.,

marks the culmination of all the strands in earlier legal literature.

Generally, Manu's formulations are more rigid with an accent on being

93. J.C. Jain, Life Depicted in the Jain Canons. 1947* P«34—
AcaraAga, SutrakrtaAga and the IJttaradhvavana contain the oldest part
of the Canon from the literary and linguistic point of view.
94. SntrakptSnga. I, 1, 2, 15-16. milakkhu amllakkhussa jaha vot, bauubhasae
na heuifi se vi.janai bhasiam tadanubhasae/15/

95. AcaraAga Sutra. II, 11, 17. ... bahumi 1akkhuni va bahu paccamtani.»
 117.

theoretical. Regardless of this he becomes the chief authority of

later smrtikHras, Maim maintains the difference between arya vac and
' ''•

mleccha vac but adds a new dimension to this distinction. He clearly

states that all those tribes whose origin is other than that described

in the purusasukta, irrespective of whether they speak the arya or

the mleccha language, axe to be considered dasyus

imikhabahurupa.i ,ja n M ya loke jat.yo bahi/

mlecchavacas ca aryavacah sarve te dasyavahsmrtah//45//

This suggests that speech no longer remained a crucial factor in

determining attitudes or conferring status; to belong to the

varnasramadharma became of greater significance.

Commenting on the above passage, Medhatithi defines a language

as mleccha which consists of words that either have no meaning or

have a wrong meaning or are wrong in form and to this class belong

languages of the Sabaras, Kiratas and so forth ^

asad avidyamanarthasadhu-£abdataya yak mleccha ueyate

yatha gabaranam kiratanam anyesam va antyanam,,

He further proceeds to explain that aryavac is refined speech and

the language of the inhabitants of TIryavarta, but only of those who

belong to the four varnas. The others are called Dasyus,^8 In

conclusion he explicitly states that neither habitation or mleccha

speech is the ground for regarding groups as dasyus. but it is

because of their particular names Barbara etc, that they are so

regarded.

96* Manu, X, 45 - *A11 those tribes in this world which are excluded
from those born from the mouth, the arms, the thighs and the feet
(of Brahma) are called Dasyus, whether they speak the language' o f
mlecchas 0r that of the aryas,1-

97* Medhatithi on Manu, X, 45 —- 'Language is called mleccha

(barbaric) because it consists of words that ha.ve no meaning
or have the wrong meaning or are wrong in form. To t h is elsas
belong the languages of such low-born t r ib e s as the Sahara,
Kirata and so forth,,,'
98. Ibid,. — aryavaca aryavartanivasinas te oaturvornyad
anya.iatiyatvena prasiddhas tada dasyava ucyante/™* 'Arya (refined)
language is the language of the inhabitants of Sryavarta* Those
persons being other than the four varnas are called Dasyus,' Nandana,
on Manu, X, 45* defines aryavac ashdmskytavao,
 118

The V ig nu S m rti, a lg o pla ce d in the e a r ly c e n tu rie s A eh.,

re p e a ts Gautama co n ce rn in g mleccha speech i.e ., snatakas must n o t

99
speak to m lecohas. H aving spoken to one, which i s an impure a c t,

one must s ip w a te r. The same i s to "be done i f one has spoken to a

C andala]00 I t i s needless to add here th a t the r i g i d i t y o f the caste

system and in cre a se d emphasis on im p u r ity began to become apparent in

in ju n c tio n s re g a rd in g mlecohas as w e ll. I t was n o t uncommon f o r s m rti

w r it e r s to f a l l back on the e a r li e r t r a d it io n o f th e s u tra s and some­

tim es re p e a t statem ents w ith o u t changing them. The B a la k r id a o f

101
V isva ru p a on Y a jn a va lkya quotes Bharadvaja to the e f f e c t th a t one

should n o t stu d y the language o f the mleochas f o r i t i s d e cla re d in

the Brahmana th a t mleccha i s a c o rru p t w ord. T h is i s ag a in in connexion

w ith in s tr u c t io n s to I n i t i a t e d stu d e n ts who must speak the t r u t h and

use th e r i g h t w ords.

Such verses from the Pharm asastra, in t h is case co n ce rn in g mleccha

speech, g iv e a s t a t i c p ic tu r e re g a rd in g brahm anical a t t it u d e s . I t is

f o r t h is reason th a t we cannot s o le ly depend on t h e i r in fo rm a tio n .

Secondly, i t i s d o u b tfu l w hether these s t r i c t r u le s were always fo llo w e d .

I n the Hahabharata th e s e c re t escape o f the Pandava b ro th e rs from

the la c-h o u se i s discussed by

v
Y u d h is
••
th ira and h is u n c le V id u ra in
102
a mleccha ja rg o n so as to be u n i n t e l l i g i b l e to o th e rs . Besides

the doubt th a t everybody, e s p e c ia lly p o l i t i c a l sp ie s and merchants,, d id

n o t a c t u a lly speak to mlecohas o r le a rn t h e ir language, th e re is

in fo rm a tio n a v a ila b le from non-Dharmasas t r a brahm anical l i t e r a t u r e

w hich shows th a t th e re was n o t o n ly keen awareness among w r it e r s in

g e n e ra l, about d if f e r e n t languages spoken among the people o f the

s u b c o n tin e n t, b u t a ls o a d is c u s s io n o f t h e ir a u th o r ity and usages,

99, Visnusmrti, LXXI, 59. 100. Ibid.. XXII. 76,

. — " , ■

101. B a la k rid a o f V isva ru p a , I I , 15*

102. Mbh.r I, 155, 5-6*
 119

The Sanskrit language had to a considerable extent become

standardized in the Astadhyayi. There was a constant widening of the

gap between C la s s ic a l S a n s k rit and the v e rn a c u la r P r a k r it s down to

the Gupta p e rio d * I n the process a slow b u t g ra d u a l in flu e n c e o f

103
o th e r languages on them cannot a lto g e th e r be d is m is s e d . The r is e

o f S a n s k rit o ve r the v a rio u s P r a k r it s , which had a ls o become sta n d a r­

d iz e d , i n the use o f l i t e r a t u r e and in s c r ip t io n s i s marked in the

e a r ly c e n tu rie s However, i t i s the r e la t io n between S a n s k rit

and P r a k r it i n Drama which i s s e l f in d io a tiv e o f the s u p e r io r it y o f

the fo rm e r. The N atya& astra in i t s c h a p te r on the use o f language in

drama la y s down th e h ie ra rc h y o f languages. I t s id eas on the s u b je c t

are n o t e s s e n t ia lly d if f e r e n t from th e e a r li e r ones. There are fo u r

types o f la n g u a g e s"*^ — a tib h a ga. aryabhas a . ^ ^ .ja tib h a sa and

y o n y a n ta tlb h a sa. The f i r s t tw o, which have been tr a n s la te d as

superhuman and n o b le languages, are a s c rib e d to the Gods and k in g s

r e s p e c tiv e ly . They'have q u a lit ie s o f re fin e m e n t ( saifiska ra ) and are

c u r re n t in the seven d iv is io n s o f the w o rld . Hie l a s t k in d i s the

language o f c re a tu re s such as anim als e tc . I t i s the p a tib h a s a ,

spoken o n ly in B h a ra ta va rsa , w h ich is noted f o r i t s v a rio u s form s and

it i s a ls o known to c o n ta in many words o f mleccha o r ig in s

d v iv id h a .ja tib h a s a ca prayoge samudahrt a / ^^
mlecchasabdopacara ca bharataift v a r sam a l r i t a / /

103. S.K, Chatterjee, Origin and Development of the Bengali Language,

p.52; T, Burrow, The Sanskrit Language, p.43>
104. S ir c a r , S e l. I n s c r iu . , 1Junagaph Hock I n s c r ip t io n o f RudxadUman I *
p p .169-174* E a r lie r Saka in s c r ip t io n s o f W estern India were w r it t e n
i n P r a k r it , The Mahayana B u d d h ists (Asvaghosa, _c_*'IOO A.B.) a ls o
began u s in g S a n s k rit f o r the p ro p a g a tio n o f t h e i r f a i t h .

105. Hatyasastra, (GOS series), XVII,’26-30

106. A b h in a v a b h a ra tl. commentary o f Abhinavaguptacarya on the
H a ty a s a s tra X V II, 27s- aryabhaga means a language in w hich
Vedic words are dominant, vaidikasabdabahulyad ar.yabhagato
vilaksanatvam asya iti aneye/
107. Natv a d a s tra . X V II, 29-30. ’ The .ja tib h a s a (common la n g u a g e ),
p re s c rib e d f o r use (on the sta g e ) has v a rio u s fo rm s . I t c o n ta in s
words o f m leccha o r ig in and i s spoken i n B h a ra ta va rsa o n ly . 1
The distinction here is between the speech of ordinary people and
109
that of the nobility and priests, Sanskrit as the name of a

language is absent in these passages and further, there is no indi­

cation for the suggestion that 'the atibhasa and aryabhasa are
109
possibly dialects of pure Indo-Aryan speech,' Similarly the names

of mleccha languages from which words were borrowed by the .jatibhasa

are not listed. According to S.K. Chatterjee, 'these words seem to

have been none other than vocables of the Dravidian and Austric
110
languages. They entered Indo-Aryan pretty early in its history.'

The various Prakrit dialects are, however, listed. Seven of them

111
called Bhasa are considered important and the others are called
112
Vibhasas and are less important. These could all be used in Drama,

The only native languages not to be assigned to tribes were those of

115
the Barbaras, Kiratas, Andhras and Dramidas* hone of these dialects

are in fact designated as mleccha.

That words of mleccha origin were used in common speech is not

only evident from the hatya^astra. but also from the Sabarabhasya on

the PurvamimaJisa sutras of Jaimini, The sutra itself states that

11-1
the usage of words current among Mlecohas is also authoritative.

108. It is later stated that the recitation of common language relates

to the four castes. XVII, 32.
109. M.N. Ghosh, The Natyagastra. Calcutta, 1950, XVIII, 27, ft.nt. 1.

110. S,K. Chat ter;)ee, Op. Cit.. 1926, p.42, p.178. It is difficult
to ascertain how and when this occured.

111. Natyalastra. XVTI, 49 - Magadhl, Avanti, Pracya, 6>auraseni,

Ardhamagadhl, Bahlika and Dak^inatya.
112. Ibid., XVII, 58 “ The Vibhasa dialects are the speeches of the
Sahara, Abhiras, Candidas, Sabaras, Drami da.s, Odras and the
speech of foresters *(hinl vanecaranlm).
113* Ibid., XVTI, 46 - na barbarakiratlndhra-dramiladyasu
.jatisu/ natyaprayoge lcartavyam patyam bhasasa.masrani//
114* J a im in i, I , 3 , 6 , 10, Scholars suggest different dates for the
Purva Mimamsa Sutra of Jaimini - Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy,
II, p. 376 considers the fourth century B.C. as the earliest date;
Keith, History of Indian Literature, assigns it to a period not
later than 200 A.D.; P,V. Kane, 'Gleanings from the Bhagya of
vSabaras', JBBRAS. Vol. XXV], pp.8-3-89 - between £.300 B.C. - £..100 A.
 121
115
Sahara's Bhasya on this sutra gives the impression that the

commentator was conversant with the life and language of the mlecchas.

His main concern is to explain the use of words if people, as the aryas

do, take their stand on the scripture. The source of Pharma in the

Furvamimai&sa is the eternal, infallible and self-evident Ye da. Hence,

gabda or 'word' in the form of a Vedic injunction is alone reliable.

In order to justify this he enters into elaborate arguments. He thus

gives the example of four words -— pika, nema, sata, tamarasa —

which are not used by the aryas but are used by the mlecchas and occur

in the Veda, In the conclusion of the sutra, Sahara gives the meaning

of these words according to the usage of the mlecchas. They are as

follows: pika is 'cuckoo', nema is 'half', tamarasa is 'lotus' and

sata is 'wooden vessel , round in shape with hundred holes'.

The question is raised whether their meaning should be deduced

116
from their etymology, commentaries and roots with the help of

grammar and lexicons or whether the meaning should be accepted in

the sense that they are used by the Mlecchas? The latter possibility

is refuted by the Purvapakga which states that only the usage of the

cultured people is valid and not the memory (smrti) of uncultured

(agista) people, because they are not careful with their meanings.

Therefore, mleccha words should be understood with the help of grammar,

etymology eto. The arguments put forward by the Purvapaksins are

a

115. Shabara Bhaaya. Tr. G.K Jha. Vol.I . 1. 6~7~10

116. Pika, nema, sata and tamarasa are all attested in Sanskrit poetry
literature. It is, however, difficult to trace their etymologies,
M. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary, 1099r suggests
possible derivations for the words nema and tama.rasa, For the
former (p.569) the etymology na + ima? is very doubtful and explains
little. There are several meanings to the word nema that nr;., listed
here. To mean 'half' it occurs in the Nirnkta, III, 20. Tyme.rasa
on the other hand, is said to be derived from (p,442) the rnoi
tarn. Its meaning as 'day-lotus* is again one of many and in this
sense it occurs in texts like the Mahabharata. Elimoyana, and
Harivajtisa. An important meaning of this term is 'copper1.No
etymological derivations have been suggested for the words jrj.ka
and sata. Pika to mean 'cuckoo' (p,624) is said to occur in the
Va.jasaneyl Sam, and the Gita Gqvinda, 11, Sata (p* 1137) is described
as a 'kind.of sacrificial vessel' and is said to occur in the Va.j,
Sam. and the Sat, Br,
 122
contended and argued and the Siddhanta ruling that follows is that the

four words mentioned above must be understood according to the usage

of the mlecchas. The conclusion is arrived at on account of three

reasons: 1) Any word that is not incompatible with any authority and

comprehensible should be accepted, 2) the mlecchas are more oareful

and reliable in certain fields of activity. For instance, In the

catching and rearing of birds, and 5) where there is no usage of

mlecchas or otherwise no guide to the deduction of a meaning, only

then should the use of grammar etc. be resorted to. Further, to

deduce words from their etymology eto. means that there always remains

a certain degree of uncertainty.

This discussion does not show where the mleccha words were used

and, since mleccha speaking tribes cannot be confined to any particular

region of the subcontinent, we do not know the name of the language

from which they were borrowed. Sahara himself was familiar with the
117
whole of India as is evident from his own statements. Professor

Burrow in his researches on loan-.words in Sanskrit shows that the only

tangible loans from non-Indo-Aryan that can be taken into account are

those from the Munda and Pravidian languages. Pie further adds that

this influence took place in the. north, in the central Gangetic plains

and was concentrated at a particular historical period between the late

118
Vedic and the formation of the Classical language. It is not

the contention here to suggest that the Pravidian languages were con­

sidered to be mleccha in the fifth century A.P.

Sahara himself points out that the words pika, nema, sata and

tamarasa occur in the Veda. This is true but since it is difficult

117* Sahara Bhasya, VIII, 3> 22 — He was a resident of Vahllkuy

I, 3* 18-19 speaks of the southerners as Palesinatyas; IX, 3? 3 —
refers to Andhras who apply the title rajan to*a ksatrlya;
IX, 3* 32 — explicitly states that the word pati Is usecl to
indicate 'ownership' throughout the country from the Himalayas
to Gape Comorin.

118* T. Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. p*386.

 ■123

to trace their etymologies it is only possible to suggests 1) that

these words were originally borrowed from a non^Indo-Aryan tongue#

Its existences during Sahara's days is.difficult to establish# He

refers to the usage of words among mlecchas but not to the rules of

grammar and etymology in that particular language. It is most

likely that writers of Indo-Aryan languages chose not to study any

mleccha language, as it meant mixing among mlecchas and were therefore

unfamiliar with the grammar of those, languages, 2) That these words

were in fact Indo-Aryan in origin but because they were used by

mlecchas. and not by the aryas. as Sahara has pointed out, their

meaning had become distorted. It is perhaps because of this that

Sahara was keen to use his own grammatical rules and lexicons to

derive their meaning, rather than, adopt the meaning that the mlecchas

use.

We must conclude that the identification of the mleccha words

in the above case with a particular language is impossible. We need to turn

to Kumarila Bhatta's commentary on; Sahara to be able to identify the

possible mleccha tongues and also discuss his criticism of the Bhasya.

Generally, in the development of the FurvamXmatnsa system

Kumarila Bhatta is the next important figure after Sahara. Sahara

wrote between the second and fifth centuries A.B. while his commentator
119
is said to have flourished about 750 A.D, Several other commentaries

were written on the Sahara Bhasya but Kumarila is considered the most

independent and critical of all. From our point of view his Tantra^

varttika contains passages which disagree and question Sahara's views

120
on the usage of mleccha,-words. In the Furvapaksa Kumarila points

out that etymological and grammatical bases have more authority than

the usage of mlecchas for their words. The former1 method is well

119. V.S. Garge, Citations in the Sahara Bhasya. 1952, p.2 6 ; p.9*

120* Tantravarttika. Commentary on Sahara’s Bhasya, edited by

M.N. Jha, 1924,-1, iii, 6 (10)* *
 124

established even though the meaning that the word gets is new, while

the second option gives you the old meaning but its origins are faulty.

Above all, fhow could words occurring in the Veda be taken in the same

sense that is recognised only among Mlecchas? especially when the very

sight of a mleccha makes us stop recitation of the Veda. Nor is it

allowable for the people of Sryavarta to have a conversation or con­

sultation with the mleccha; and hence how could we ever come to know

the sense in which any word may be current among them? And then

too, the countries inhabited by mlecchas being innumerable how could

one succeed in getting at all their usages?' The second great criticism

about the use of words among mlecchas is that they distort the meanings

of words they borrow from Sanskrit. This is partly, he says, due to

the fact that the mlecchas are found to have no regard for Pharma.

Kumarila then takes the example of words from a Bravida language which

the aryas read as their own words with a different meaning and this
121
causes confusion. 'Thus then, when the arya stands in need of such

groundless assumptions, even in the case of the words current among

Bravidas how could we ever reasonably deduce Sanskrit words from those

current among such distant peoples as the Parsis, the Barbaras, the

Yavanas, the Raumakas and the like*' The conclusion of the Pu:rvap,nksa

is that 'those words of the mlecchas that are accepted (or used) by the

aryas can never fully be trusted in the ascertainment of words or their

meanings.'

The Siddhanta reply to this is similar to that of Sahara.

Basically those mleccha words whose interpretation is not against the

authority of the Veda with regard to Pharma can be accepted. Con­

cerning distorted forms it says that one can hardly discern the r^al

121. The words he has noted are as follows; The Bravidas call rice
cor, the aryas read it as cora and comprehend it as thief.
Similarly, atar (road) is understood as atarah (uncrossable),
vair (stomachy^as vaira (enemy) and pap (snake) as papa (evil).
 125
from the unreal in the various dialects. Another important point

is that if they did not accept the meaning of mlecchas about physical

objects they would be going against their own theory, that is, ' the

eternal signification of eternal words can be ascertained by means of

the usages of men* and the mlecchas are also men. This would specially

apply to words such as patrorna. ' a silken or jute fabric1, varavana,

'armour1 as these articles are produced only in the mleccha countries.

And, if the mlecohas did not point out what they meant, one could not

comprehend these words. These two are, however, Sanskrit words and are
122 t
used and understood in the same sense as above. Finally, the

controversy is of the comparative strength of mleccha and arya usages

is settled thus:' the superior authority of the aryas has been laid down

only in matters relating to Pharma directly; as for the ordinary

wordly things, such as agriculture and the like all usages are equally

authoritative. Consequently, in matters relating to menial service,

house building and the like, we can freely admit the superior authority

of the mlecchas.'

Neither Sahara or Kumarila expressly state the mleccha languages but

their arguments imply that any language other than that of the aryas

should be placed in that category. But the controversy is not regarding

mleccha languages themselves but in connexion with the Sanskritiaed

versions of the words borrowed from these languages. In the process

Kumarila even indicates that the same problem arises when the aryas

borrow words from the Bravida language of the Yavanas, H-aumakas etc.

The fact was that Sanskrit during its development before the Classical

period did borrow from other languages, among which were those

designated as mleccha. .In a narrow sense, the concern was mainly with

122. M. Monier-Willliams, Op. Cit.. 1899, P*581 cites pattro.rna as

the name of a people and also to mean silk or a silk garment
as it occurs in the Mahabharata. Varabana (p*943) is cited
to mean armour, mail as it occurs in the Raghuvamga.
 126

those words, whether purely mlecoho, or Sanskritized versions of mleccha

words, that expressed ideas against Dharma, and could not he accepted

by the authors of the Sahara Bhasya and the Tantravarttika.

Essentially, therefore, except for an explicit and often lengthy

statement on the use of mleccha words, ultimately ideas on the subject

were quite in keeping with the earlier tradition which began with the

Satapatha Brahmana. Irrespective of how important the bad or good

influence of mleccha languages was, the distinction between aryavac

mlecchavac was always maintained. It would not be unlikely to

suggest that in the Vedic period speech differentiation began to

express the Incomprehension of the language concerned which may have

sounded Bimply a babble of words and therefore was barbaric. But the

phrase mleccha-vac no longer retained this connotation. From a

designation for unknown speech it became the term used to indicate

any form of speech not like the standard form of speech. This is not

only true of the Brahmanical view but also of the Buddhists and

Jainas who used mi 1akkha-bhasa as opposed to Magadha-Jbha,sa. Conse­

quently, depending on one's point of view, the use of mleccha

expressions were 'incorrect* (apasabda); expressions at variance with

'ordinary expre ssions•'

The prohibition in the Dharmasastra to avoid mleocha languages

have to be considered in the light of other similar instructions

against mleccha food, habits and country which will be discussed in

the following chapter. The Dharmasastra shows a rigid and fixed

opinion and set standards which were not necessarily followed at

large.
 127

Chapter IV

HIIHE BASIS OP DISTINCTION ; AREA OF HABITATION

AKIAVARTA AS OPPOSED TO KthECCHADE^A^

The identification of mleccha groups as marginal components of

society as a whole on the basis of the area they inhabited, is the

next- main topic to be discussed. Differences in habitat set the

mlecohas apart, and in the following pages we shall examine in detail

this aspect# The injunctions.of the law writers for Hindus to avoid

mleccha territory and contact with people of mleccha behaviour were

essentially pejorative. In this manner we may be able to understand

some of the factors which determine the attitudes towards the mleccha

in ancient India.

Unlike the emphasis on speech distinction, the emphasis on the

area of habitation as a discriminatory factor, has to be considered

in connexion with the behaviour and the social status of the mleccha.

In the rare cases where and when assimilation was possible, the mleccha

had theoretically at least, to respond to three facets of the caste

system — varna. jati and geographical location. In highlighting the

differences of habitation and behaviour, it will be possible to show how

the discrimination against the mleccha ultimately developed into a

cultural criterion.

The definition of mleochadega naturally reflected the changing

ideas about Aryavarta so that the definition of which were arya and

which mleccha lands was never permanent. This is also indirectly due

to the fact that discrimination oh the basis of habitation was not

absolute. The only consistent factor in the definition of particular

areas as mleccha countries was with regard to regions inhabited by

those primitive tribes which over a long period of time did not come

under the sway of Brahmanical, Buddhist or Jaina influence.

 128

Texts like the Puranas or the Brhatsamhita from which much

geographical information can he deduced, do not discuss the geography

of the Indian subcontinent from the point of mleccha lands as

opposed to arya lands. However, it is first of all essential to

have some idea of the traditional definition of Aryavarta, It must

be emphasised from the outset that this was not meant to be the land

that was inhabited by the ethnically pure Aryans. Further, its

geographical boundaries changed with the expansion of the culture with

which the authors of ancient texts identified themselves; Therefore,

since the boundaries of the lands inhabited by the aryas were not

static, it is not possible to give a definition that is valid for the

whole of ancient Indian history.

The concept of Aryavarta evolved over the- centuries beginning

with the early Vedic period. One basic presumption that was always

attached to this notion was its purity. As Vedic literature refers

only to places and areas with which its ..authors were familiar, these

territories were eventually included in Aryavarta, The Dharmasutra

literature defined its limits and all later texts made further additions.

Geographical sections of the ParaSara Tantra. the Brhatsainhita, the

Puranas. the Ramayana, the Mahabharata. the Kavya Mmam s a and other

texts do not solely dwell on defining Aryavarta but deal with

Bharatavarsa as a whole, roughly equivalent to the Indian subcontinent.

The movements of the Indo-Aryan immigrants into India was from

the north-west. In the Rg Veda the geographical focus was the sapta

sindhu. the land of the seven rivers , more or less corresponding to the
1 m
Panjab. This is generally considered the centre of activity of the

1. Vedic Index. I, 468 — It is here pointed out that the researches

of Hopkins, Pischel and Geldner diminish the importance of the
Panjab as the home of the gg Veda and suggests land farther east
where most df the hymns must have been composed.
 129

Vedic Aryans mainly ‘

because the text itself only mentions the rivers
2
from the Kabul (Kubha) to the Yamuna and the Ganga. They described

it as sapta sindhava. sometimes to denote a country but usually the

3
seven rivers. However, a few centuries later, at the time when the

older Brahmanas were composed, there is no doubt that the Gaiiga -

Yamuna, Poab comes into prominence and is the focus of Indo-Aryan

activity.

The gradual spread southwards and eastwards is firmly reflected

in the Saifihitas and the Brahmanas when they refer to peoples of the

Kuru-Pancala region. Even before that, in the Atharva Veda, a wider

geographical outlook is noticeable. In this text there is a reference

to such border countries as the Aftga and Magadha in the east,^ However,

2, Rg Veda.V, 53, 9» (Kubha, Sindhu); VI, 45> 31 (Gaftga,); X, 75» 5-6 —

fthe famous river hymn clearly points to the geographical area which
embraced the Panjab and the country extending soutlieastwards to the
Ganges, It reads as follows: imam me gange yamune sarasvati sutudri
stomam sacata purusnya asiktaya marudvrdhe vitastaya arjikiye spnuhya
susomaya/5/ trstamaya prathamam yatave"sajuh susartva rasaya
§vetya tya tvaA sindho kubhaya gomatliit krumuni mehatnva sarathaii
yabhir iyase/6/ This hymn states that the rivers whom the hymn
writers ask favour of are the GaAga, Yamuna Sutudri, Parusni,
Sarasvati, Asikini, Vitasta, Marudvrddha, Arjlklya,SusomaJ*Trstama,
Rasa, Susartu, Svetya, Kubha, Sindhu, Mehatnu, ICrumu and Gomati,
The identification of some of the lesser known rivers in: R.T. II,
Griffith, The Hymns of the Rig Veda. Benaras, 1892, Vol.4, pp.251-252
footnotes 5 and 6. But the GaAga and Yamuna are only rarely
mentioned in what are usually considered late hymns.

5* Vedic Index, II, 424. Sapta Sindhaval} occurs only once as the
designation of a definite country in the Rg Veda. It also occurs
much later in the Meharauli inscription of King Candra — perhaps to be
identified with Candragupta II - Sircar, Sel. Inscr., p. 276,

4* Atharva Veda, V,22, 14. Book V, adhyaya 22, solely deals with the
types of fever (takman). It originates among the Mujavants,
Balhikas among whom it is asked to persist (verses 5> 7? 8). It
is also asked to afflict the wanton sudra woman (verse 7)» foreign
people (amum aranam janam verse 12), and finally the Gandharis, the
Mjavants, the Angas and the Hagadhas.
gandharibhyo mujavadbhyo !Agebhyo magadhebhyah/
praisyan janam iva sevadhiA talcmanam pari dadmasi//14//
 150

the greatest attention is given to the central areas of the Gaftga-

Yamuna Doab, it becomes apparent that the other areas were viewed

with this region as the basis. The Kathaka Samhita speaks of the

Kuru-Parlcalas • Their country and that of the Kodalas, Videhas is

mentioned in different contexts in the Satapatha Brahmana. Besides

mentioning that the speech of the Kuru Pancalas was the best,^

preference is given to a certain sacrificial practice that was

7
approved among them. The Videha country was the easternmost land

that was considered pure by the aryas. The story of the eastern

boundary of Aryan control is related in the same Brahmana. King

Videgha Mathava carried the sacred fire (Agni) across the Ganges

Valley as far as theriver Sadariira. Here he paused as the land east

of the river had not been sanctified by Agni and established the
8
Videha people on the other bank. In the KausTtaki Brahmana Upanisad,

Gargya the renowned reader of the Veda, travelled only among the Usinaras,

the Matsyas, the Kurus, the Pancalas, the Kasis and the Videhas,
g
giving the impression that these were centres of intellectual activity,'
10
The Aitareya Brahmana first contemplates a division of the

country according to the people that inhabited particular areas. Here

Indra is inaugurated by the deities of the various directions to

become Universal ruler. The kings of the western direction (pratlcyam

digi), of the southern direction (daksinayaifi di^j1

), of the eastern

direction (pracya& dili) are first referred to but the names of people

5* Kathaka Sam.. X, 6.
^* Sat. Br., III, 2, 3» 15*

7# Ibid., I, 7* 2, 8. Eggeling (SBE, Vol. 12, pt. I, p. xlii) is of

the opinion that Part of the text was redacted among the Kuru Pancalas.

Br., I, 4, 1, 10ff,

9* Kausitaki Br. Up., IV, 1. - .. so 'vasad u&maresu savasan

matsyesu kurupancalesu ka^ividesv iti.../

10* Ait. Br.. VIII, 14.

 15)

who inhabit these areas is omitted. Then follows the description of the

inauguration of Indra in the northern direction beyond the Himalayas,

which includes the countries of the TJttara Kurus and TJttara Madras —

udicyaA di£i ye ke ca parena himavantafr ,1anapada uttarakurava

uttaramadra iti vaira.jiyayaiva te

Finally, the middle region inhabited by the kings of the Kuru Pancalas

Yasas, and MTnaras anointed the king —

tasmad asyam dhruvayM madhyamaya^i^prati sthayaifi disi ye

ke ca kurupancalin'aA rajanah sava'sosInaranlm.../

Except for the middle and northern regions, the people of the other

three regions are not listed. This may indicate ignorance about those

areas during this period. It is essential to emphasize that with the

exception of the Eg Ye da. all literature of this early period projected

the views of the brahmanas of madhyadega. The conception of this

region expanded gradually and as will consequently be described, became

the nucleus of brahmana activity in the Gangetio plain. The territories

of the Kurus, Pancalas, Kaiis, Yidehas always remained part of this

area. However, broadly speaking, during this period of the Yedas and

Brahmanas, the Gaftga-Yamuna Doab and the plain of Kuruksetra to the

north of Delhi, would roughly correspond to Aryavarta in its strict

sense. It must be added that this was not a political unit, neither

was it an ethnic or religious one. But culturally, it can be considered

a whole and this aspect becomes more striking when the Dharmasutras

define the limits of Aryavarta.

11. Martin Haug, The Aitareya Brahmanam of the Kig Veda, Allahabad,
1922, p. 556 considers vaira.jyam to mean without king especially
when the term .ianapada is used instead of rajanah which is used
in all other passages of this chapter. A.B, Keith, Big Yeda
Brahmanas : The Aitareya and Kausitaki, 1920, p.551? ft*ntc,
however, considers this wholly inconceivable.
12. Keith, Op. Cit., p.551 translates this as ’in this firm middle
established quarter...*
 152
The sacerdotal conception of Aryavarta cannot be lost sight of in

the Dharma literature since it is constantly emphasised. These writers

show only a slight divergence of opinion amongst themselves. The

standard and often repeated description of Aryavarta is that this

country lies to the east of the region where the river Sarasvati

disappears, to the west of the Black forest (Kalakavana), to the north

_ 15
of the Pariyatra mountains and to the south of the Himalayas. In the

Baudhayana Dharmasutra the rules of conduct that are authoritative in

this area prevail e l s e w h e r e V a s i s t

•9h a has almost the same definition
but further adds that acts of spiritual merit and customs that are

approved of in this country must be acknowledged everywhere as

authoritative, and above all, laws that oppose those of Aryavarta must

not prevail anywhere. Patanjali echoes the same description of

Aryavarta where he points out that the Sakas and Yavanas are people who
16
do not belong to this area. Manu’s definition of Aryavarta is

different and will be subsequently discussed in detail, but the

15* Cunningham’s Ancient Geography of India. Calcutta, 1924, p.xli,

ft.nt, 1. The identification of Kalakavana, the eastern boundary
given in the sutras, is at Prayaga, which is also the eastern
boundary of Madhyade&a as given by Manu, The Pariyatra mountains
are the western part of the Vindhyas.

14. Baudhayana Dhs„ I, 1, 2, 9 — prag adarsanat pratyak

kalakad variad dalesinena himavantam udak pariyatram etad
ar.yavartam tasmin'ya acarah sa pramanam/9/

15. Vasistha Dhs., I, 8-11 — aryavartah prag adarsat pratyak

kalakavanad udak pariya.trad dalesinena himavatali/Q/
uttarena ca vindhyasya/9/ tasmin*dese ye dharma. ye
cacaras *te sarvatra pratyetavyah/167 na tv anye pratilomakadharmanam/11/

16. Mahabhasya. II, 4, 10 on Panini's sutra: sudrariam

aniravasi tanam.
 133

M A P NO. IV
DIVISIONS OF BHARATAVARSA
Mo.d ky ajdc4a «.«,
d c fi.'A e .d by

KURU*-
ETRA
ft- (2. UattkLtya,
t>
*' (> »
3 A.»
\S9'4\ \ 11
'*•' * * * VO rN-c^3' ^ ^
sGrASENAV£5> Yq *
MMTsy ^

A'
'* v I MA&.»\jntR pt
*l M A D H Y A D E S A

ra^tra
.^ s u k t im a t

\ Mts-
v’*4»

APARA PURVA
SAMUDRA SAMUDRA

O 200 400
Kilometres W— .n. ji
Miles — u--- u n—
O 100 200 300 400
 154

■boundaries that the sutras assign to it are identical to the ones he

17
assigns to Madhyade&a.

Thus the territory so far designated as aryavarta can be

identified as follows; The region where the river Sarasvati disappears

is the Patiala district in the Panjab. The Pariyatra mountains belong

to the Vindhya range, probably the hills of Malwa. The Kalakavana

18
is identified with a tract somewhere near Prayaga. This definition

not only excludes present-day Bengal but also Bihar; the latter in

ancient times included the entire Magadha country. It also exoluded

the major portion of the land of the Rg Vedic Aryans.

These areas of exclusion were significant from the brahmanical

point of view. The question much canvassed in their works was not

simply the territory that should be called Aryavarta but to consider

how far that was a fit habitation for those who followed the Vedic

religion and observed the rules and regulations of the caste oriented

society. Both Baudhayana and Vasistha also give other views that were

prevalent at the time about the country that should be described as

Aryavarta. Some declare that it is just the country between the Gajfiga
19
and Yamuna rivers or* on the other extreme, that it lies to the south

of the Himalaya and north of the Vindhya, being limited east and west
20
by the two oceans. Most important of all they quote a tradition

contained in the Brahmana of the Bhallavins, a school of the Sarna Veda.

According to this tradition, Aryavarta is demarcated by the areas where

the blaok antelope grazes. Its wanderings in the west are limited by

the Indus (Sindhu) and in the east by the region where the sun rises

17* Manu, II, 21 — Himavadvindhyayor madhya.it yat prag

vinaianad api pratyag eva praylgac ca maflhyadesah..../ (discussed below)
18. The Sacred Laws of the Iryas. SBE, Bombay, 1883, pp.2-4, ft.nt. 8,
19. Baudhayana Bhs.. I, 1, 2, 10; Vasigtha Bhs.., I, 12.
20. Vasistha
—— — ,» . Bhs.. I. 9.
 135

21
(survodavana). Spiritual pre-eminence prevails in this entire area.

Manu declares that the areas where the black antelope naturally

roams must be considered fit for the performance of sacrifice, whereas

any areas different from the above comprise the country of the mlecchas.
23 —
The Smrti of Yajnavalkya has the same verse and commentator Visvarupa

quotes the following passage of the Sveta&vataras to explain its -

Sacrifice became a black antelope and wandered over the earth,

dharma followed in its w a n d e r i n g s 24

This view of the limits of Eryavarta was maintained by several late

smrtikaras as well whose authorities were undoubtedly the Manava

Tr •'- ^
_ 25
Dharmasastra and the earlier tradition of the sutras in general*

These definitions of Aryavarta are so vague that no definite

conclusion can be drawn regarding the limits of the sacred land from

these references. For instance, the point where the sun rises was a

matter of guess and varied according to the geographical outlook of the

writers, which in turn was conditioned by the area of the country

explored. It has been suggested tha.t the black antelope selects for

21* Baudhayana Dhs*, I, 1, 2, 11-12— athapy atra bhallavino

gatham udaharanti/ palcat sindhur vidharani suryasy oday anam
purah/ yavat krsna vidhavanti tavad dhi brahmavarcasam itiT"
Vasistha Dhs., I, 14-15 ” athapi bhallavino nidane gatham
ud.aharanti/1'pa§oat sindhur vidharani suryasyodayanem purah/
yavat krsno [Hbhidhavati tavad vai brahmavarcasam iti7 *

22# Manu. II, 23. (Discussed below).

25* Ya.j. Smrti. I, 2 — yasmin dese mrgah krsnas tasmin dharman

nibodha-fca that is, 'In the country where ^here is the black
antelope, know the dharmas relating to that.'

24. Vi&varupa on Ya.jnavalkya, I, 2, Significance of the black antelope

first explained in the Taittirlya Saifihita. V, 4» 4» 4.

25. The question of the varnasramadharma and where it must or must

not prevail is deeply interwoven with the idea of Aryavarta as
opposed to Mlecchadesa. It is striking that elaborate rules of
exclusion of the aryas from mleccha areas occur more frequently
in later smrtis. specifically those written after the Manu Smrti.
A detailed study of this point will be given below in the chapter
on behaviour— Chapter V
 its home only well-cultivated rich plains of India and excludes sandy,

mountainous and forested areas and the latter were commonly inhabited
26
by the aboriginal tribes* Taken strictly from the Gastric point of

view the black antelope must have personified sacrifice which had to

be performed on pure land only* This was not the sole criterion that

cordoned off mleccha country, but was probably the first one.

Conscious concern about the purity of land is also apparent in'

early sutra writing when it refers to people of mixed origin

(sajffkirnayoni) * In the section on the rules and customs of different

countries Baudhayana considers the inhabitants of AvantI, Aftga,

Magadha, Surastra, Daksiyapatha, IJpavrt, Sindhu Sauvira to be of

26a
mixed origin. As for those people who have visited the countries

of the Aratjas, Karaskaras, Pundras, Sauvlras, VaAgas, KaliAgas,

Pranunas, he states that they should offer a 3rautasutra sacrifice

27
called Punahstoma or a Sarvaprsthi*

Taking both these verses together one observes that the lands

Baudhayana excludes from Aryavarta are the Panjab, Magadha, Aftga,

VaAga, Gujarat, Sindh, the lands south of the Vindhyas as well as

Rajputana and Malwa* These countries are listed in the eastern,

western and southern quarters of Bharatavarsa

^
in texts like the Puranas. r------------ ----

There is, however, no reference here to these areas as mleccha lands,

which is significant. Moreover, the verses occur in a context where

the aim of the author was to clarify and strengthen the authority of

26# A.A* Fiihrer, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas* SBE, Bombay 1883, p. 3*
ft.nt. 13.
K,V. Rangaswami Aiyangar, Rajadharma* 1914* P* 161 ~ suggests
that the area where barley and ku£a grass grow is the habitat of
the black antelope,

26a# Baudhayana Bhs*. I, 1, 2, 13 — avantayo [*1 Agamagadhah

surastra daks inapathah/ upavrt sindhusauvira ete
•■•■MPHJI ' *** I f T~1--T--- r T l t r " 'I II .IMiTTIIIT ...... I III

saAkirnayonayah/13/

27. Ibid., I, 1, 2, 14 — * arattan karaskaran pundran sauvlran

vaAgakaliAgan pranunan iti ca gatva punastomena ya.j'eta
sarvaprsthaya va/l4/
 157

his own rules and popularize the customs of Xryavarta. Probably with

this consideration in mind, this adhyaya begins by pointing out that

there is a dispute regarding five practices in the north and the south,

among which a few are peculiar to the north and a few to the south.

Though Baudhayana allows in the above case, the custom or rule of a

certain country to be authoritative in that area only, he forbids these

28
customs to prevail in any other country. Gautama, on the other hand,

observes that only those laws of countries, castes and families that
29
did not oppose the smrti laws were'valid. Apastamba holds the same
30
view. He, however, does not give us any information on the

boundaries of Xryavarta or on the impure lands that must not be visited.

As part of the rules for the snatakas he simply advises that they
31
should not visit inferior men nor the countries inhabited by them.

On the whole, in the early Yedic and Bharmasutra literature the

main concern of the texts was on defining the area of habitation of the

Aryas with all its concomitants. There is no single reference to

mleccha country or behaviour. In the smyti literature of the early

centuries A.D. there is a significant change in attitudes regarding

both these aspects. However, before we continue with brahmanical

point of view, we must divert and evaluate the Buddhist and other

non»brShmanical material. The basic line of enquiry will remain, „;L.,e,

an attempt will be made to find out whether discrimination of mlecchas

on account of their area of habitation existed in such works as well.

28. Baudhayana Dhs.. I, 1, 2, 1-8

29* Gautama Dhs., XI, 19-20.

30# Apastamba Dhs.. II, 6, 15, 1#

51* Ibid., I, 11, 32, 18 — kgudran ksudracaritan desan seveta.,/

 150
According to the Buddhists the most important division of
32
Jambudipa was Majjhimadesa. Its definition was not identical with

that of Aryavarta known to the Dhaymasutra writers, nor was it exactly

what the Purana writers understood hy MadhyadeSa. The Yinaya and

Sutta Pitakas supply considerable information concerning the Buddhist

ideas about Majjhimadesa though there are no lengthy geographical

lists in them*

®tle Vinaya Pi taka in the Mahavagga. which lays down rules in the

border country, also mentions the limits of the area called Majjhimadesa.

Beyond the towns of Kajaftgala and Mahasala in the east, the river

Salalavati in the south-east,7 the town of Setakannika

* *
in the south,*

the Brahma^a village of Thuna in the west and the mountain range

called Usiraddhaja in the north, are the territories which are called

border countries. The term used to denote these areas beyond

33
Majjhimadesa was paccantima .janapada. ' The reference is in context

of the explanation of a rule, the upasampada or full ordination

ceremony which allows the reception of a new member into the Order to

take place in border countries before a meeting of four monks and a

34
Chairman who must be a Vinayadhara* . The explanation is as follows:'

52, To the Jaina and Brahmin writers Jambudvipa (jambudipa) was counted
as one of the seven dvlpas of which the earth was thought to consist;
Bharatavarsa (Bharahavasa) was one of the nine or seven countries
on this mythical continent (Mateya Purana* 114, 85, etc.; JambudTva
Pannatti * which is a whole work dealing with a description of
Jambudvipa.) The Buddhist conception of Jambudipa was narrower
and agreed largely with Jaina and Brahmanic ideas of Bharatavar§a
(Law, India as described in early Buddhist and Jaina texts, 1941, P*1)

33, Yinaya P., Mahavagga. V, 13, 12; Vol.I, p .197'

34* Ibid*, (Tr.) II, 38,. ---- 'I*1this (rule) the following are the
border countries: To the east is the town called KajaAgala,.beyond
that is Mahasala, Beyond that are the border countries; on this
side of it is in the middle (country). To the south-east is the
river Salalavati. Beyond that are border.,... To the south is the
town Setakannika. Beyond that,,. To the west is the brahmana
village called Thuna, Beyond that ••• To the north is the
mountain called UsTraddhaja. Beyond that
 1.39

Tatrfime -paccantima janapada: puratthimaya disaya kaja&galan

nama nigamo. tassa parena mahasala, tato para paccantima
.janapada, orato ma.j,jhe.
Puratthimadakhinaya disaya salalavati nama nadl. tato para
paccantima .janapada, orato ma.j.jhe#
Dakkhinaya disaya setakarmikam nama nigamo, tato para
paccantima .janapada, orato ma.j.jhe.
Pacchimaya disaya thunan nama brahmanagamo . tato para'
paccantima janapada, orato majjhe.
Uttaraya disaya usiraddhajo nama pabbato, ta.to para
paccantima .janapada, orato ma.j,jhe,
Anujahaifl bhikkhave evarupesu paccantimesu janapadesu
vinayadhara paflcamena ganena upasampadam/12/
35
Oldenberg^ in hie introduction assigns this text to about

400 B.C. which may not he accepted as absolute, but the above

explanation about the majjhima and paccantima janapadas became part

36
tradition and was handed down to different Buddhist schools#

The Mguttara Nikaya mentions the following sixteen Mahajanapadas

among the countries of Jambudipa: KasT, Kosala, Aftga, Magadha, Vajjl,

Malla, CetX,. Va&sa, Kuru, Pancala, Maccha, Surasena, Ass aka, AvantI,
37
Gandhara and Kamboja. Malalasekera has observed that the first

fourteen can be included in Majjhimadesa and the last two in

38 _
Uttarapatha./ However, the Dlgha Nikaya lists only twelve of the

Mahajanapadas and categorically omits the last four — — Assaka, AvantI,

39s
GandhSra and Kamboja. Most scholars rightly reject the idea that

these were political divisions# According to Raychaudhuri they could

be regarded as socio-cultural regions, while Rhys Davids states that

the main idea in the mind of those who drew up or used the above list

35* H#. Oldenberg, The Vinaya Pitakam, London 1879* Vol. I, p.xxxix,

36. An almost identical description occurs in - Jataka. I, 49* it

occurs even in commentaries «— umaflgalavil asini. II, 429*

37* Aflguttara Hikaya. Ill, 70, 17* Vol. I, p.213* Also Vol. IV,
pp. 252 ; 2 56 ; 260 .

38. G#P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Hames. II, p . 49

In the Purahic divisions of Bharatavarsa Assaka, Kamboja, Gandhara
are included In Uttarapatha and Saurasena and AvantI In Aparanta —
Markandeya P.# Chp*LVII.

39. Piffha Hikaya. II, 200.

 140

was still 1tribal and not geographical’.^0 The definition of

Majjhimadesa, discussed above, also carries the implication that

it was more or less a culturally homogeneous region vis-ar-vis the

others. This is clear especially as it is always contrasted with

paccantima .janapada.

f^le Dharmasutra texts had described the eastern boundary of

MadhyadeSa or Aryavarta, excluding Bengal and Bihar. The last mentioned

areas were, however, of the greatest importance to the Buddhists

during the early days of their preachings. The Buddhist writers

therefore naturally extended the boundary of Majjhimadesa in the east

41
to include AAga and Magadha. The Dlvyavadana. a collection of

legends preserved in Buddhist Sanskrit, extends it further eastwards

so as to include Pundavardhana (north Bengal). The pratyanta or border

42
lands are considered to be situated beyond this area.r Apart from

this difference, the passage is almost identical with that occuring in

45
’k*16 Vinaya Pi taka and runs as follows: '

Purvenopali pun davardhanam nama nagaran tasya purvena

pundakakso nama parvatah %atah parena pratyantah•44 *
Da&linena saravatl nama nagari. tasyah parena saravatl
nama nadl. so’ntah tatah parena pratyantah,*
Pasclmena sthunopasthunakau brahmanagramakau so’ntah

Uttarena usiragirih sofntah tatah parena pratyantah/

40. Raychaudhuri, PHAI, p.95ff.

Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p.23*

41. B.C. Law, India as described in early Texts of Buddhism and Jainism.
1941» P*20, ft. nt, 6 - The town of Kajafigala is identical with
Ka - Chu - Wen - Kilo of Yuan Chwang which lay at a distance of
about 400 hi east of CaApa. J.C. Jain, Life in the Jain Canons,
1947, p. 295 ~ KajaAgala is identified with Kankajol in Santhal
Pargana in Bihar.

42. The word pratyanta could be taken as border areas of eastern India
as much as it could of western India.

43. Prvyavadana. I, 21-22. (Cowell’s Ed., 197^)

44. Rhys Davids, ’Note on the Middle Country of Ancient India1, JRAS.
1904, p.8 6 , (Tr,) — ’To the east, TJpali, is the town called
Pundavardhana and. to the east of that mountain called Pun^akaksha,
beyond that is beyond the border.*
 141

The Pali list of the six principal cities in the Mahaparinibbana

45 _
Suttanta of Cartpa, Rajagaha, SavatthT, Saketa, Kosambl and. Kasi

confirms the importance given to the eastern region, J...e.* present

Uttara Pradesh and Bihar as centres of Buddhist activity.

The unfamiliarity of the Buddhists, however, is clearly apparent

with regard to the western and southern regions. The example of

Avantl-dakkhinapatha is discussed at length in the Vinaya Pi taka.

The monk Mahakaccana, a resident of AvantI, desired a change in the

Vinaya law because of the particular physical condition of Avantl-

dakkhinapatha. The soil in this country was black on the surface, rough

and trampled by the feet of cattle The Buddha then contrasts the

ma.i.jhima janapada with the paccantima .janapada and the .latter apparently

included the region known as a v a n t l - d a k k h i n a p a t h a Finally, however,

the Vinaya rule concerning footwear was relaxed for the border

countries, where shoes with thick lining could be used,^°

In another context we are told about a custom obs.erved by the

dakkhina .janapada called dhovana which the Buddha called vulgar and

anariya. The dhovana was an ablution which the commentary explains

to be a bone-washing ceremony, The dead were buried and afterwards

49
the bones were dug up, dried and washed with ceremonies of lamentation.

The Buddha explains that since this ceremony involved eating, drinking,

dancing, singing, playing musical instruments etc., it was not

50
conducive to the attainment of nibbana. The passage is as follows:

45* DIgha Nikaya. II, 147* Most of the important preachings of the
Buddha also took place in these towns.

46* Vinaya P .. Mahavagga. V, 13, 4-7J Vol. I, pp. 195-197*

47. Ibid;. V, 13, 11-12. 48. Ibid.. V, 13, 15.

49. Manorathapurani. CVTI, I, Aftg. N.. V, p.216.

50. Aflguttara Nikaya. CVTI, 1, Vol. Y, p.216 — (Tr.)F.L. Woodward,
The Book of Gradual Sayings. Vol. V, 1936, p. 152 - ’Monies,in the
southern district there is an ablution. On that occasion there are
food and drink, food soft and hard, syrupB and drinks^ dancing and
singing and music of instruments. But, monks, this is just a wiping,
not a wiping out, I declare. For that ablution is low, common, vulgar,
unariyan, not bringing profit; it conduces not to ... nibbana.’
 Atthi bhikkhave dakkhinesu .janapadesu dhovanam nama.
Tattha hoti annam pi panam pi kha.j.iam pi bho.i.jam pi
leyyam pi peyyam pi naccam pi grtam pi vaditam pi.
Atth'etam bhikkhave dhovanam n ’etam natthl ti vadami.
............... Ml .1 11
H -.p f W I I !■'«> II ■ !■■■ I ■■ ■■■ III. ■■ I . ■■■I Ml—

Tahca kho etam bhikkhave hlnam gammam pothu.i.ianikam

unariyam anatthasamhitam na nibbidaya na viragaya na
nirodhaya na upasamaya na abhifthaya na sambodhaya na
nibbanaya saiTivattati.

Broad regional differences, as manifested in social organisation,

are also pointed out; they are not criticised but simply commented

upon. In reply to Assalayana’s remark that the brahmapas regard

themselves as superior in birth and status, the Buddha denies this

claim and tells him of how in the Yona, Kamboja and other outlying

regions — yona-kambo.1esu annesu ca paccantimesu. .janapadesu —

there are only two vannas. the master and the slave. Here it is

possible for the- master to become a slave or the slave to become a

51
master. *

While in some cases, such as in that mentioned above, there is

some indication as to what paccanta or outlying region meant; in the

majority of passages only the contrast between the ma.jjhima janapada

and the paccantima .janapada is emphasised and the ignorance of the

people living in the outlying regions is the only additional information

available. To be b o m outside Majjhiraadesa is a great disadvantage

since then you are not fortunate enough to be able to hear the teachings

of the Buddha and even if there is a possibility, the chances are remote.

On the other hand, it is also mentioned that very few beings are reborn

in the ma.j.1hima-.ianapadas as compared to the paccanta-.ianapadas. which

abound in unintelligent milakkhas.

51. Ma.ijhima Nikaya. Assalayana Suttam. Vol. I, p.149*

52. Bhammapadatiphakatha. Vol. Ill, 248, 489*

 143
evam eva kho bhikkhave appaka te satta ye ma.jjhimesu
janapadesu paccajayanti, atha kho ete va satta bahutara „
ye paocantimesu .janapadesu pacST.jeiyanti avihhat aresu milakkhesu/

In another context an almost similar passage defines the two

.1anapadas but in this case the nuns and monks, lay disciples male and

female, are not allowed to visit the paccantima janapada that is the

habitation of unintelligent milakkhas — — -

paccantimesu .janapadesu pacca.jato hoti avinnataresu

mllakkhesu yatha natthi gati bhikkhunam bhikkhuninam
upasakanam upasikanam.... 54 *

The PapancasudanI. commentary on the Ma.j.jhima Nikaya further informs

us that the Buddha never spent a night in the Paccanta .janapada. ^

Lord Buddha travelled in part of the same area which the Brahmins

defined as Aryavarta and held in special esteem. They, however, differed

in their definition of middle country or Majjhiraadesa and included

in it all those realms that the Buddha visited. The paccantima ;|anapadah

where the milakkhas lived, probably tribal areas such as the forested

regions of the Vindhya, across parts of which Buddhist monks later had

to travel. The monks were forbidden to mix with them a,s these tribes­

men followed often a primitive means of livelihood incompatible with

the basic Buddhist principles. Buddhism, however, spread among peoples

of various cultures; so that it would be wrong to suggest that they

regarded all people outside the geographical area of its origin as

milakkhas.

The importance of eastern India and the glorification of its

53* Anguttara Nikaya. I, xix, 1-4, Vol. I,p. 35» the same passage occurs
again in the SaAyutta Nikaya. 62, 4, Vol. V, p.4 6 6 ,
(Tr.) - P. L. Woodward and Mrs. Rhys Bavids, The Book of Hindered
Sayings. Vol. V, p. 391, fJust so, monks, few are those beings
that are reborn in the middle districts; more numerous are they
that are reborn in the outlying districts, among the unreasoning
barbarians•’

54* Aflguttara Nikaya. VIII, iii, 29, 3, Vol. IV, p.226.

Digha Nikaya. Ill, 264«

55. Papahcasudanl. (2 Vols., Colombo), II, 982.

 144

7o * 73' s,s * ?o'

M A P NO. V
MAJJHIMADESA IN
Buddhist and Jaina Texts

U^ASENA m

VIDEHA
a
Ka»u^amb» *ANGA

BHANGI
T<5»nolitt

VlOA^BkHA

ASMARA
riA^AHAT

APARA PURVA
SAMUDRA SAMUDRA

J |k « n c ." p u n c *
‘> I

O 200 300
5IHALA Kilometres --- n
Miles It— ■ u V If - D
0 100 200 300 400

70* 7tD~ do* To'

 145
towns, parks and groves is apparent in early Jaina agamas as well.

The Bhagavatl Sutra. also called the Vyakhyapra.jnaptigives a

somewhat different list of the sixteen Mahaj anapadas, These are

Aftga, Baftga, Magadha, Malaya, Malva, Accha, Taccha, ICoccha, Padha,

Ladha, BajjT, Moli, KasT, Kosala, Avaha and Samhhuttara, Some of

*
57
the names are difficult to identify. It has heen observed by

Raychaudhuri that besides Aftga, Magadha, Vatsa, Vajji, Kasi and

Kosala common to both Buddhist and Jain lists and Malva of the Bha­

gavatl which is probably identical with AvantI, the other: states are

new and indicate *a knowledge of the far east and far south of India,

His explanation for this difference is that the Jaina list is later

than the Buddhist one. Though one cannot rule out this suggestion,

there is also the possibility that the Jainas included in their

ennumeration only those areas with which they were familiar. The striking

omission of Gandhara and Kamboja shows that the association of the

Jainas with the extreme north-western parts of India was totally absent,

ladha or Radha, the easternmost .janapada according to the Jainas, was

a country through which Mahavira travelled, but he encountered numerous

difficulties here# Cilaya, a mleccha king of Kodivafisa, situated in

Ladha country, joined the Jaina order under Mahavira in Saketa.

60
In the Brhatkalpa Sutra Mahavira is quoted to have declared

that the monks and nuns may wander towards the east as far as AAga

Magadha, towards the south as far as Kosambl, towards the west as far
goa
as Thuna (west of Saketa) and towards the north as far as Kunala

(Savatthl), This, roughly speaking, coincides with that tract of land

560 Vyakhyapra.j nap 11. 15#

57* BaAga (VaAga), Vaccha (Vatsa). Padha (Pandya or Paundra), Ladha
(Lata or Radha), Bajji (Vajji),
• •
58. Raychaudhuri, PI-IAI, p.96.
59* J#C, Jain, Life as Depicted in the Jain Canons, p.256,
60, Brhatkalpa Sutra. I, 50.
60a. J,C, Jain, Op. Cit,, p.343 - It is identified with Thaneshwar
(from C.A.G.I, p.xliii, ft, nt. 2),
 146
which includes m o d e m Bihar, eastern Uttara Pradesh and a portion of

western Uttara Pradesh. This simply indicated the period of the earliest

stage in the propagation of Jainism. The text itself is not one of the

oldest Aflgas.

There is. no doubt that the geographical knowledge of the Jaina

monks and traders gradually increased, which was an important factor

for the spread of their faith. The Kcaranga Sutra, one of the oldest

aAgas. warns monks and-nuns that, when on pilgrimage they should avoid

roads that cross areas belonging to border peoples, robbers, milakkhas

and anariya people --

se bhikkhu va bhikkhunl gamanugamam duijjamane amtara

se viruvaruvani paccamtikani *dasugayatanani milakkhuni
anariyani dussamappanl....\ f

Such people, the' passage continues to elaborate, are half-civilised,

61
unconverted people who rise or eat at improper times. However, the

main reason why monks and nuns should avoid these areas is that they

are unsafe. The Kevalin points out that the ignorant populace might

beat, harass, rob them under the impression that .they were spies from

hostile villages. The concern is also expressed in the following

verse that mendicants should likewise not travel through a country

not properly governed or where there is a war, as in such areas, too,

62 63
they can be maltreated. The commentary establishes for us the

localisation of milaklcha country in this particular context. It is

the country inhabited by the Varvara, Sahara, Pulinda etc. tribes.

The commentary was definitely written after the fifth century A.3).

and the Jaina faith had by then spread beyond the north eastern
6a
original home of its inception. ^ Their contact with the forest tribes

61. AcaraAga Sutra. II, 3* 8* 62* Ibid., II, 3* 9*

63* Acarangasutram with Sanskrit Chaya and Commentary by Atmaraniaji
Maharaja, 2 Vols., Ludhiana, 1963 - 6 4 , II, 3, 8*

64* J. Charpentier, The Tittaradhyayanasutra, 1922 , p. 13 — •** A famine

broke out during the reign of Candragupta Maurya in Magadha
which forced a section of the Jaina community to emigrate to the
Karnata country.
 147

of the Vindhya was natural., and their designation as milakkhas was

the typical attitude of people from the plains with their norms of

settled agricultural and urban life styles.

According to Jaina tradition it was quite late in its history

that king Sampal (Samprati), a great patron of Jaina religion, made

other countries, besides the sixteen Mahajanapadas mentioned above,

suitable for the movement of Jaina monks. The Pannavana (Prajnapana)

consequently listed^twenty-five and a half countries as those inha-

bited by the Arya, with their important cities, and fifty-three countries
66
of the milakkhas. The ariyas who were noted by the country they

resided in — — the khettariyas — partly inhabited the territories

of the sixteen Mahajanapadas and partly the new countries that were
67
now declared Ariyan. The addition of Surastra (Kathiawar) and

Sindhu Sovlra as suitable lands for the preachings of Jaina monks

is significant. The former was a centre of trade and commerce,

frequented by merchants; a section of the community to whom Jainism

appealed most strongly. This area today also is a major centre of the

Jainas. The inclusion of Sindhu Sovlra is not so clearly explicable

and J.C. Jain quotes SiddhSnta texts to the contrary which still forbid
68
monks not to frequent Sindhu territory. Weber considers these names

66. Pra.jnapana. I, 36-37» PP*54~55* The list of milakkha people appears

first followed by that of the ariyas who are divided into six
groups based on khetta (country), .jati (caste), bhasa (language),
kula (family), kamma (trade) and sippa (handieraft)•

67. The twenty-five and a half Ariyan countries ore: Magadha., Anga, Vanga,
ICaliAga, Kasi, Kosala, Kuru, ICusatta, Pancala, JaAgala, Skira^tha
Videha, Yaccha, Sandilla, Malaya, Varana, Pass anna., Ced.1, Sindhu
Sovlra, Surasena, MaAgi, Purivatta,.Kunala, Lacla, and half of
Kegaiaddha (Kekeya). (Cf. Jain, Jain Canon. 1947 Brhatkalpa
Bhasya, I, 3263ff. - These countries were called Ariyan because
great men are said to have attained omniscience and by attending
their preaching several more people were enlightened and took to
ascetic life.).

68. J.C. Jain, Life as depicted in the Jain Canon. 1947# P*335.
 148
69
to represent a later stage "but to date back to an earlier period.

The upaflga itself, like most of the Jaina Siddhanta, was redacted

and put to writing after the fifth century and therefore, whatever

period of Jaina history it tried to represent, it was undoubtedly

70
influenced by the circumstances of the day.’ Essentially the Jainas,

like the Buddhists, gradually incorporated into their lists of ariya

countries areas outside the traditional home of their origin, where

they could move without any prerequisites of purification. Above all

the universal nature of both these religious systems did not bind them

to preach their respective faiths in any limited area. In the case of

Jainism this was only true to a limited extent as Jaina ideas in this

respect were greatly influenced by the Brahmins.

In returning to consider the Brahmanical view on the territories

that were to be considered arya and mleccha after Buddhism and Jainism

had appeared on the north Indian scene, we have to divide our inves­

tigation into two broad sections. First, there is our dependence on

^astra and smrti literature, which in a way represent the continuation

of the Dharmasutra ideas on the subject, but with significant additions.

They largely represent the official and theoretical' point of view.

Second, geographical divisions of the Indian subcontinent in texts

such as the Paras ara Tantra. Brhatsainhita. Pur anas, Ramayana. Hahabharata.

Kavya MImamsa» Amarakosa etc., give a different perspective to the

idea of mleccha areas. The demarcation of mleccha and arya territory

was not at all rigid and ultimately was not an important criterion for

discrimination.
71
The Manava Dharma^astra presents a summary of the earlier ideas

about Aryavarta, in which there is dearly defined as the country bet­

ween the Himal&lya and Vindhya mountains with the eastern and western

69, A. Weber, 'Ueber die heiligen Schriften der Jaina', Indischo

Studien, Vol. XVI, 1883, p.399. (Tr.) — H.W. Smyth, j.A, Vol.XIX, p.375)

70. The geographical data and the list of milakkha peoples, in the Jaina
is almost identical to similar lists in the Puranas. '^hey will
be discussed together consequently.
71-» Manu. II, 17-24 - See map no. IV above — p. 133#
oceans on either side. Within Aryavarta the work distinguishes between

various degrees of pure land. The truly pure - sadacara - country,

called Brahmavarta was that between the holy rivers Sarasvatl and

Drsadvati
•m —

sarasvatidrsadvatyor devanadyor yad antaram/

tani devanirmitarfi del am brahmSvart tam pracaksate/17/

It is assigned the absolutely pure status since in this country the

separation of the four varnas in due order has been handed down since
72
time immemorial. Slightly less faultless was BrahmarsideSa which

comprised the countries of ICuruksetra, Matsya, Pancala and Surasena —

kuruksetraifi ca matsyas ca panealah surasenakah/

esa brahmarsideso vai brahmavartad anantarab/ 9/

Brahmanas b o m in this country and their usages set the standards

73
for all m e n . " Next there follows the definition of MadhyadeSa, This

is almost identical with what the early brahmanical writers regarded as

Eryavarta and agrees with part of what the Buddhists considered

Majjhimadesa. It was the country situated between the Himalaya and the

VIndhyas, in the west limited by the VinaSana and in the east by Prayaga

himavadvindhyayor madhyaifi yat prag vinaganad api/

pratyag eva prayagac ca madhyadesah prakirtitah/21/-

Finally, the last and ostensibly, in comparison, the most inferior

was the division called Iryavarta which was generally all the land

between the two mountain ranges of the Himalaya and Vindhya and the

eastern and western oceans on either side — -

a samudrat tu vai purvad a samudrat tu pascimat/

tayor evantaram giryor aryavartam vidur budhlh/22/

Manu does not end here but for the first time, in the following

verse, is defined the country of the mlecchas - Mlec'chadesa in

Bharmasastra writing. No specification or precise locations of this

country is, however, given. Though the definition is vague, it contains

72. Manu. II, 18. Verse 17 hints at its purity by stating that this
land was created by the gods.
 150

important implications. The passage reads as follows:

krsnasaras tu carati mrgo yatra svabhavatah/

sa jne;yo ya.jniyo deso mlecchadesas tv atah parah/ 25/

,That land where the ‘black antelope naturally roams, one must know

to be fit for the performance of sacrifice; (the tract) different from

that (is) the country of the Mlekkhas (barbarians). The

Dharmasutras had resorted to a similar reference to the black antelope

but only to define the region they called Iryavarta. In the Manava

Dharmasastra Mlecchadesa is contrasted with the Iryavarta. The under­

lying idea is that the border between mleccha and arya lands is not

a permanent one. In other words, mleccha lands in the past and in the

future had been and could be made fit for habitation as long as dharma

or sacrifice, symbolised by the black antelope, purified those areas,

This becomes a recurring theme in the Smrti writing of the post-Manu

period.

The Visnu Smrti thus states in a positive manner that the mleccha

country is one where the system of four varnas is not established.

75
Iryavarta is beyond this country --

caturvarnyavyavasthanaffi yasmin dege na vidyate

sa mleoohade&o vi.jneya aryavartas tatah parah/4/

That Iryavarta should have the adjustment of the four varnas is the

import here. Commenting on Gautama’s injunction about avoiding speech

with mlecchas, Haradatta also makes the point that countries

74* Manu. II, 23 — (Tr.) G. Buhler, Laws of Manu. SBB, Oxford 1086,
P-33 .

74a. ‘
Visvarupa on Yaj.. I, 2 explains that sacrifice becomes a black
antelope (krsnasara) and only then can dharma be established in
any country!**The significance of the black antelope was simply
meant to advocate the performance of sacrifice, which in turn
purified land and people. Discussed above p. 135*

75- Visnu Smrti. LXXXIV,4

 15-1
7C
without the varnasramadharma were inhabited, by mlecchas; — '

varnasramadharmarahite de£e sinhaladvipad.au ye vasanti

"te
1 mlecchkh ,./
'
It became difficult for later commentators to maintain these

definitions about Iryavarta and MlecchadeSa as expediency demanded

that l) justifications be sought to explain the old ideas about mleccha

countries in changed political circumstances and 2) concessions be

made concerning travel to these areas. Thus on Manu, Medhatithi

comments that *Aryavarta is so called because aryas again and again

spring up there and even if the: mlecchas overrun it from time to time
77
they do not abide there for long1 —

aryavartante tatra punah punar udbhavanty akramyakrauxvapi

na cirajft tatra mlecchah *sihataro bhavanti/
MIBI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... " " mmvmwm...p.— >• — I H . . # m li ■> i .......... I f

This partially contradicts Manu's original explanation that mlecchas

only reside outside Iryavarta. However, concerning those mlecchas

that do live outside, Medhatithi observes that a ksatriya king of

excellent conduct, if he conquers mlecchas. should establish the four

varnas among them and assign them a similar position as that of c.-mdalas

in Sryavarta, He continues that this country would then be fit for

the performance of sacrifice because the earth is not by itself

78
impure but becomes so through contact of impure things or persons.

There is no doubt that ultimately the discrimination against

76. Haradatta on Gautama. I, 9. 17# *Those who live in an area, such

as the island of Sri LaAka, where varna£ramadharrna is not observed
are mlecchas•1

77- Medhatithi on Manu. II, 22.

78. Ibid.. II, 23 — - ...tatha yadi ka£cit ksatriyadl jatlyo

ra.ja sadhvavarano mlecchan para.jayeta caturvarnyam
vasayet mlecchams oaryavarta iva candalan
so *pi syad yajniyah/ yato na b'humih svato dusta
saitsargad dhi sadusyaty amedhyopaha^eva/
‘^ ie raleoolia was his inherent impurity and not the area of land he

inhabited which, as Medhatithi has indicated, could be purified. At

the same time the law books contain deliberate concessions to allow

residence in mleccha countries, Aparaka, in discussing what Manu and

Visnu had to say about Iryavarta and Mlecchadesa, first agrees with

with them — MlecchadeSa is where the system of four varnas and the

black deer are not found whereas, the remaining area is DharmadeSa —

tatas ca yatra caturvarnyavyavastha krsnamrgaS ca riasti

sa mlecchade&ah/ tadanyo&armade^ah/

But he goes on to add that, ideally, one who desires to practise

Vedic religion should live in one of the four countries, that is

80
Brahmavarta and others. If that is not possible then in a country

where there the four varnas are established and where the black

■antelope roams about naturally. However, if both of these conditions

cannot be satisfied one should dwell in a country where at least one

of the two is fulfilled:^

...tatas ca brahmavartadi desacatustaya labhe yatra

caturvarnyaiTi yyavatisthate kpsnamrgas ca vicarati tatra
dharmeccliubhih sthatvyam/ tadasambhave oaturvarnyavyava""
sthavati krsnamrgayukte vaTde^e/ *

It cannot be ignored that, on the whole, the main concern of the

smrti writers was restricted to the well-being of their own system and

of ways and means by which it could be promoted. Demarcation with

regard to territory, especially as a basis for distinction between

a mleccha and an arya, was only peripheral.

The marginal role that the area of habitation played in the

identification of mlecchas can be further inferred from non-

Dharmasastra brahmanical literature and inscriptions. Here we read

79. Aparaka on the Ya.jnavalkya Smrti. ASS, 1903* P»5*

80, The four countries mentioned by Manu: Brahmavarta, Brahmarside^a,

Madhyadela, and Aryavarta.
 153

of Bharatavarsa as a whole and its various divisions, none of which are

indiscriminately called mleccha country# The name Bharatavarsa in

the form Bharadhavasa first occurs in the Hathlgumpha inscription

of Kharavela (probably first century B.C.)# According to Jayaswal

82
here it is used to indicate the plains of northern India.
83
The Puranas. however, show a familiarity with the whole of

the Indian subcontinent# In a general description of Bharatavarsa .

that occurs at the beginning of their chapters on geography, the

Mrkandeya Purana states that it has the ocean on the east, south

and west, and the Himalaya on the north —

etat tu bharatam varsafli catuhsamsthanasaAsthitaA/58/

daksinaparato hy asya purvvena ca mahodadhih/
himavan uttarenasya karmmukasya yatha gunah/59/ 84

It is doubtful whether political and ethnic unity ever underlay this

definition of Bharatavarsa. Sahara who is placed not later than

the fifth century A.B«, in his bhasya on Jaimini points out that

there was a unity of language and culture from the Himalaya down to
85
Cape Comorin# The PurSnas also systematically divide the whole

82. K#P# Jayaswal, 'The Hathiguilipha Inscription of Kharavela1,

El, XX, 1912, p#79, line 10s
bharadavasa-pathgf ? )nam mah(l) ,ianayam (?).,.
karapayati #

83• The geographical tradition that originated from the Vayu Parana
and that which is represented in the Brhatsamhita are not
sharply distinguished, though there are differences between the
two versions. The Vayu and the Brahmanda Puranas are considered
the oldest and it is essentially information from the Vayu that
has filtered through to the other Puranas.

Mirk# P ., LVII, 58-59 — 'Such is this countiqr Bharata with

the fourfold conformation. On its south and west is the great
ocean; the Himavat range stretches along on its north, like
the string of a bow.1 /59/ (Tr« Pargiter).

85. dabarabhasya. XI, 35; 42.

 154

the Uorth-
O CO O CO OW
O CD O CD O <D O CD O CD
*H 'H 'H
CM U CM H NA FH

and not Aparanta.

t~ -p v~4-* i— P
-P

—
O CO OW O CO
O 0 O 0 O0 O0

division
•H •H
o u O (4 O f4 O U
ca CM -P CM -P CM -P CM+3

o w O CO
a 0

of the TJttaranascima
O0 O0
*H *H •H
C 14 CD H 0> F4
V“ *P T" *P

as Fagcima
•P
O to O CO
O CO O0 O 0 O0 O0
•H •H
CO F4 CD F4 C"-F4
CO FH CM-P CM 4° CM-P
CM -P

O 0 O0 4^>
this division
O CO
O *H O -H
CO F4
t- 4^ twenty-two names

+3 OW
O 0 O0
•H
O U f-t
KVP LTVP
(B) The Vaxnana designates

O CO O0
O -H *H
CO *H Fh
O t~ FH CO 4J T“ *P O -P
±L
(C) This includes

in
 155

86
of Bharatavarsa into seven areas* These divisions are listed as

follows: Ma'dhyadeSa, Udlcya, Pracya, Baksinapatha, Aparanta, Vindhyavasins

and Parvatasrayins.*^

The custom of naming peoples according to the area they inhabited

88
is regularly followed in the Brhatsamhita as well. In the commentary

of Bhattotpala on the same text, verses from Parasara concerning the

geographical divisions of Bharatavarsa are cited, which according to

89
Kern must be considered an original chapter of the Parasara Tantra.

The Jambukhandavinirmananarvan in the Bhisma Parvan of the Mahabharata^

gives the same information about the countries of Bharatavarsa and

SaSjaya, who describes them to the blind king Bhptarastra, begins by

stating how the aryas and mlecchas alike and other races mixed of the

two elements drink the waters of the various rivers that flow through
91 -
the country. The Ramayana. too, does not add anything new to the

above pattern of dividing the country though, like the other texts,
92
it contains variations of particular names. Indeed so firm was the

idea of these geographical and cultural divisions of Bharatavarsa

that late Sanskrit texts like the Kavyamimafosa repeated the material

86. Vayu P.. 33* 61 — tair idam bharatam varsaili saptakhandam krtam
pura repeated identically in the Brahmanda P., 34» 6 4 . This"was
the original division of Bharatavarsa; later other descriptions
were adopted.

87. Vayu P .. 45» 78-137; Brahmanda P.. II, 16, 8-68; Mateya P ..
114, 7-57; Markandeya P .. 571*5-57; Visnu P.. II, 3, 6-19.
There are variations in these Purana lists concerning the number
of countries that should be assigned to each division,(Table attached).

88* Brhatsaifihita. XIV, 1-33; XVI, 1-42.

89. H. Kern. The
__..r Brhat
^ Safihita
... . of Varahamihira.
. Calcutta. 1865. P.32,

90. Mbh., VI, 10, 11-74.

91. Ibid., VI, 10, 12-13 — anye tato fpari.1nata hrasva

hrasvopa.jiyinah arya mlecchas ca kauravya tair misrah
purusa vlbho/nadlh pibanti bahula gaflgafli sindhum sarasvatlm.../

92. Ramayana. Kiskindhakanda. Chp, 40.

 156
93
u n c h a n g e d , T o this list of works must he added the Jaina idea of

ancient geography, planned on the Purana pattern and contained in the

94
sixth upa&ga.

Though the above scheme was the most common way of defining

Bharatavarsa, there were other less popular and. often unusual

descriptions of the same. In the Markandeya Purana. for example, an

analogy is drawn with the body of a tortoise facing eastwards.^ In

all the various descriptions of Bharatavarsa the boundaries of the

seven geographical divisions are not stated. It is only from the

names of the .1anapadas that are listed under the respective headings

of Madhyadesa, Udlcya, Pracya, Aparanta, Baksipapatha and others that

one can determine their location. But the overall impression that

emerges from these chapters on the so-called geography of ancient

India is that this definition of Bharatavarsa developed over a period

of time. It is further striking to note that ultimately it over­

shadowed the earlier ideas of Eryavarta, Brahmavarta etc. and to a

lesser extent Madhyadesa, as the only centres of importance and

brahmanical activity. This may to a large extent be attributed to the

gradual increase of the knowledge of different parts of the subcontinent.

As S,B, Chaudhuri has observed — — fInto the territorial area of the

different regions, other small and minor ancient and sacred territorial

units coalesced and as such ceased to be termed as separate units. Thus

BrahmSvarta and Brahmarsidesa lost their identity in the Madhyadesa, and

93* KavyamlmaAsa of Ra.jaselchara. (GOS), Chp, 17.

94» The Jambuddivapannatti, For divisions of Bharatavarsa - cf. map IV, p. 133.

95, Mark. P., IiVIII, 4 - 5 -- pran mukho bhagavan devahkurmnarupl

vyavasthitah/ akramya bharataifi varsam navabhedam imam dvina/4/
B.C. Law,•Historical Geography of Incient India. 1954* P«2,
ft. nt, 1, considers this description to fit well with the present
knowledge of the topography of India, Pargiter (Tr. Mark, P .), .
on the other hand, finds such an explanation 1absurd fancy. *
 157

this combined with Pracya, Pratlcya and TJdTcya (UttarFipatha)

96
hecome the equivalent of Eryavarta.T Simultaneously, it can he

pointed out that this new outlook also determined the designation

of areas or divisions such as Mlecchadesd, There was not one

particular large area that thus designated in a general manner, hut,

on the other hand, it seems that only some of the territories that

were inhabited by mleccha peoples were still considered impure*

The next point, therefore, will be to find out, from the same

source material, which areas were impure or thought to be impure

because they were inhabited by mlecchas, Most of these are general

references where identification of the particular group of mlecchas

is impossible. Although these seem rather vague indications they

suggest that people thus designated were concentrated in certain

geographical areas.

In at least three early Puranas, the Brahmanda, Vayu and Matsya,

97
the mlecchas are regarded as residents of the outskirts of Bharatavarsa.

This is followed by the information that the Kiratas and the Yavanas

inhabit the eastern and western borders respectively, and that in the

centre live the brahmanas, ksatriyas, vai§yas and &udras, each

98
performing their respective duties,

ayatas tu kumarlto gadgayah pravahavadhih tiryag urdlivam

tu vistirnah sahasrani dasaiva" tu'/io'/ dvIpcTliy upanivisto
*ya& mlecchair antesu sarvasah/ yavanas ca kiratas ca
tasyante purvapagoi^e/11/ brahnanah ksatriya vai&ya madhye
Sudras oa bhagasah.,,/

96, S.B. Chaudhuri, Ethnic Settlements in Ancient India. 1955* P«8*

97* Brahmanda P ,« II, 16, 11-12? Vayu P,, 48,81««»82; Matsya P ., 114* 10-11,

98, The version of the Matsya Purana, 114 * 10-12. The Brahmanda, IX,
11-13 and Vayu. 48* 81-83, largely agree with this. The
Markandeya. LVTI, 7-8 and the Visnu Puranas, II, 3* 8, have slightly
different versions as they do not mention the mlecchas as
inhabitants of the border areas.
 158

This verse may seem to contradict other statements both in the Puranas

and Epics where the mlecchas are indicated as being dispersed over

nearly all directions of Bharatavarsa. However, before one examines the

«

survey of such material, it is worth mentioning that the term mleccha

• was not used for one homogeneous group of people. Therefore, the

geographical location of the various mleccha groups has to be understood

with this basic presupposition.

One may begin with the statement in the Mahabharata that the

aryas and mlecchas alike drink water from the various rivers of
99
Bharatavarsa. These rivers in fact cover the whole of the Indian sub­

continent and among the important ones mentioned are the Gaftga, Yamuna,

Sindhu, SarasvatT, Godavari, Narmada, Krsnavena, Iravati, Kaverl among

others.^ 00 This passage would imply that mlecchas were found all over

the subcontinent and may perhaps also suggest a period in the history

of ancient India when foreign immigration of both rulers and traders'

was not uncommon. The Matsya Purana. in a prophecy concerning the

Kali age, also remarks that the mlecchas and aryas will dwell mingled

,iv\ all .ianauadas.

bhavisyantiha yavana dharmatah kamato ’rthatah/

tair vimisra janapada arya mlecchas ca sarvasah../

This verse is immediately preceded by a list of foreign kings in the

Kali age and the reference to mlecchas in all ,janapadas is probably

also to foreigners,

99« Mbh. VI, 10, 12-15, Op. Cit.. noted.above - p. 1 55 ,

100, I b i d . , VI, 10, 15; 14? 15; 19; e tc . Some o f the names of these
r iv e r s are d i f f i c u l t , to id e n t i f y ,

101, Matsya P ., 273* 25* 1There will be Yavanas here for the sake of
dharma or pleasure or profit. The Kryas and the Mlecchas will
live mixed'up L v\ all the .ianapadas j fwo v iv\c g,^ ^.>
 159

Another enumeration of mleccha countries in the Puranas is

different from those discussed above, as it refers to territory out­

side India* Seven rivers considered holy since they trace their origin

from Bindu Sarovara, having pierced through the Himalaya, flow into

the Daksina Samudra after crossing the mleccha countries of the

• • -
mountains, viz. Kukur, Handhra, Barbara, Yavana, Khasa, Pulika,

Kulattha and Afigalokya --

prasutah sapta nadyastah subha, bindusarad bhavaiTi ^

nanadeian plavayantyo mlecchaprayaiiis tu sarvasah /48/

The Matsya has a fuller version and it continues as follows:

sa&ailan kukuran raudhran barbaran yavanan khasan pulikam^

ca kulatthams ca a^igalokyah varamet ca yan krtva dvidha himavantaA
pravista daksinodadhim /44/ 105
V ' ' • “***•" 1 111

The seven rivers that flow through mleccha country in both the Puranas

are Nalini, Hladini, and PavanI which flow in the east and Sita, Sindhu

and Chaksu which flow in the west. The seventh is the Bhagirathi which

flows through to the southern w a t e r s . S . M . Ali in describing the

river system of the Puranas identifies the three rivers that flow to

the east as the Yangtse, Mekong and Salween and those to the west as

Indus, Shyok and the Yarkand, This whole scene he places north of mount
105
Kailasa* With this explanation in mind, the mleccha countries of

of the mountains Kukur, Randhra, Barbara, Yavana, Khasa, Pulika, Kulattha

106
and Aftgalokya must also be placed north of the Himalaya range.

102* Brahmanda P.. II, 18, 43* 103* MatsyaP.. 121, 44,

104, Matsya P ., 121, 40-41 — nalini hladini caiva pavani caiva

pracyaga/ sita caksus ca sindhus ca tisras ta vai praticyagah/
saptami tv anuga tis'aA daksinena bhaglr~atham7

105, S.M. Ali , The Geography of the Puranas, 19^6, pp. 67, 6 9 ,
Pootnotes to ch. IV, p.201, n.1, n.iC.

106, A portion of Jambudvipa, known as Angadvipa was inhabited by

mlecchas — Vayu P ,, 4 8 * 14-15* At the same time it mentions
five other dvipas, Varaha, KuSa, &ankha, Malaya and Yama also
peopled by mlecchas. Ibid. II, 48, 14 if*
 160

MAP N O . V I

THE PURANIC DWIPAS

SHOWING A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE

PO SSIBLE LOCATIONS.
90

KRAI

W
 161

So far we have "been able to identify mleccha country with three

completely different geographical locations. 1) As border areas of

Bharatavarsa, 2) As inhabitants of Bharatavarsa in certain areas.

• •
5) As the region north of Bharatavarsa, but as part of Jambudvipa

(map attached).

It is important in the present context to concentrate on

defining mleccha areas within Bharatavarsa. The mleccha country is

often depicted as situated in mountainous and forested lands. ’Thus

we see in the following passages, that in the Mahabharata. in particular,

■k*10 mlecchas are also several times said to inhabit marshy lands on the

sea coast.

While repeating the Bhlsma Parvan statement that both the mlecchas

and aryas drink water from the great rivers of Bharatavarsa, the

Markandeya Purana adds that mlecchas and aryas reside in all the lesser
107
and greater mountain ranges of India. The seven important mountain

ranges are the Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, !§uktimat, Rksa, Vindhya and

Paripatra. The last two are well known while the others have been

identified by Pargiter as follows: Mahendra as the mountain range in

north Orissa, Malaya as the southern portion of the western Ghats,

Sahya as the northern portion of the western Ghats and Rlcsa

• •
mountains

as those between the Narmada and Mahahadi rivers. The names of hills

listed in the same passage also belong to the Vindhya and adjoining ranges
10fi
as well as those situated south of the Vindhya. *By them the people,

both mlecchas and aryas are mingled together according to their divisions'—

tair vimisra janapada mlecchag caryas ca bhagasah/ 15 /1 0 9

107. Mark. P.. LVII, 10—16, mahendro malayah sahyah suktiraan

rksaparwatah//10 vindhya^ ca paripatras ca saptaivatra knld.cala.li/
•le^aii sahasrasa£ canye bhhdhara ye samipage h/71177" 'The seven
mountain ranges in it are the Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, iSuktimat,
the Eksa mountains and Vindhya and Paripatra. And there are other
hills 'Besides them. Their summits are broad and lofty and are
delightful and spacious.'

108, P.M. Pargiter, The Markandeya Purana. 1904# pp .284-290. Of. map p. 153•
109- Mark. P .. LVII, 15,
The mlecchas were therefore various Central Indian tribes whose natural

habitat were those areas where they could continue their primitive way

of life. A Mahabharata passage, in which the mythical origin of the

Nisadas is told together with that of the wicked tribes that have hills

and forests as their abodes and hundreds and thousands of those called

mlecchas. also indicates that they live in the Vindhya mountains:—

tasman nisadah saifibhuta krurah sail avanasrayah/ -|«|q

ye canye vind&yanilaya mleochih §atasahasrasah //103//

There are, however, in the same text other references to mlecchas

that come from the high distant mountains of the Himalaya* Here the
111
only information given about them is simply the adjective 1sinful* •

Elsewhere, the mleocha tribes who allied themselves with the Pandavas

dwelt on hills and inaccessible fastnesses but no indication is given

112
in which part of the country they were. In the Matsya Pur ana a

mountain is equated to a lotus flower. The ores in it are the interior

of the lotus, the mleccha countries in the impassable mountains are

its petals (te durgamah gailacita mlecchadesa vilcalpitah) and the

lowest portion of the lotus are the habitation of the demons, serpents
113
and birds. In a similar way forests are commonly regarded as the

habitat of mlecchas. In the description of the DamayantI lost in the

forest it is said that forests are swarming with birds of various

species and infested by thieves and mleccha tribes (nanapaksiganakimaft

mlecchataskarasevitam)1^

110, Mbh.. XII, 5 9 , 103*

111, Mbh.. VII, 87, 37* mlecchanajli papakartrnaili hima.vaddurgavas.1riTxm/

112, Mbh., V, 22, 21 — giryasraya durganivasinas ca yodhah

prthivyaifi kulana viluddhah/ miecchHs ca nanayudhaviryavantah
samagatah pandavarthe nivis tah//21

^5* Matsya P.. 16 9 , 10-12.

 The main theme o f th e M ahabharata. however, i s th e s to r y o f the

g re a t war between th e Fandavas and ICauravas f o r th e c o n tr o l o f

••

B h a ra ta v a rs a . The mlecchas who were a ls o i t s in h a b ita n ts p a r t ic ip a t e d

in th e b a t t le and were a l l i e s o f b o th p a r t ie s . The M i Parvan s t a r t s

w ith th e g re a tn e ss o f the B h a ra ta race and speaks o f how the k in g 's

a u t h o r it y extended o ver the fo u r q u a rte rs o f the w o rld and a ls o over

-j-ir
th e la n d s o f th e m leccha
1— •
and a ta v ik a t r ib e s ( a m 1le c c h a ta v ik M s a r v a n ..) *
■ » “ — 1 ...... N ■" — i... i. '

T h is sta te m e n t i s d o u b tle s s exaggerated b u t th ro u g h o u t the E p ic a

common e x p la n a tio n o f th e gre a tn e ss o f the Fag^ava heroes i s th e d e p ic tio n

o f their strength in their conquest o f large territories. Among the

c h ie f o f t h e i r e x p lo its was th e s u b ju g a tio n o f m leccha t r i b e s ,

I n t h e i r campaigns Sahadeva and N akula d e fe a te d m lecchas who

116
re s id e d on th e sea c o a s t. A t th e Rajasuya ceremony o f Y u d h is th ira ,
• »

th e g re a t w a r r io r Bhagadatta o f P r a g jy o tis a was accompanied by m leccha

t r ib e s in h a b it in g marshy re g io n s o f the sea co a st —

prag.jyotisa§ ca nrpatir bhagadatto mahayaSah/ ^ „

saha sarvais tatha mlecchaih sagaran upavasibhih//

B oth these c it a t io n s are c le a r ly n o t r e f e r r in g to th e same sea c o a s t,

as th e l a t t e r c le a r ly a p p lie s to e a s te rn I n d ia . There i s h a r d ly any

d e f in it e in fo r m a tio n about these mleccha t r ib e s t h a t came from the

marshy re g io n s o f th e sea coast# From the t r ib u t e th a t some o f these

mleccha k in g s p a id i n th e form o f sandalwood, a lo e , c lo t h , gems, p e a rls ,

b la n k e ts , g o ld , s i l v e r and v a lu a b le c o r a ls , one g e ts th e im p re ssio n th a t

115. Mbh. . I , 62, 5 -5 . T h is t r a d i t i o n o f B h a ra ta occurs in v e ry e a r ly

te x ts ( S a t. B r . , X I I I , 5* 4 , 11-13) and i s re p e a te d elsewhere
( Vayu P. , 45, 76; V ls nu P. . I I , 3 , 1 ) . M edieval In d ia n r u le r s
had c o u r t brahmanas as the a u th o rs o f th e r o y a l p r a s a s tis whose
s t y le was s im ila r and tended to exaggerate th e achievem ents o f
t h e i r p a tro n s .

116 # Mbh.. II, 28, 44; II, 29, 15 — tatah sagarakulcg is than
mlecchan param adarunan/ pahlavan ba rb arams caiv a ta n
paramadarur
isam//
sarvan anayad vasamy
despite their military defeat they enjoyed fairly stable economic
118
conditions and were not simply primitive tribes* Mleccha was

often used in such a general manner that it also included those

mleccha participants at the Rajasuya celebrations that were inhabitants

119
of frontier and forested areas. x

The localization of mlecoha tribes or kings in the Mahabharata

is, on the whole, quite imprecise. Resides the type of references

discussed above, there are others where only the direction from which

they came is indicated. Mleccha kings from the north and east of

Bharata, with preceptors and kings of many countries of the south

120
attended the celebrations at the Kalifiga capital with Duryodhana.
121
In the east, while proceeding towards Lohitya, BhTmasena had

conquered several mlecoha tribes who showered him with wealth of

122
different kinds. Nakula, on the other hand, is said to have van­

quished the western world teeming with mlecchas:

yah praticiifi di&aifi oalcre vase mlecchaganayutam/ ^

sa*tatra nakulo yoddha citrayodhl vyavasthitah//

118, Mbh., II, 27* 25-27 — sa sarvan mlecchanrpatxn sagara-

dvipavasinah/ karam aharayamasa ratnani vividliani o d ’ JJ?}}
oandanaguruvastrani manimuktam anuttamam/
kahcaflaifi ra.iatam va.jraA vidrumaifi ca mahadhanam//26

119* Mbh., III, 48, 19 - sagaranupagaM caiva ye ca pat tana/-

vasinah/ siitihalan barbaran mlecchan ye ca .jafigalavasinah//

120, Mbh.. XII, 4* 8 — ete canye ca bahavo daksinsnfi disam

asritah/ mlecchacaryas ca ra.janah pracyodicyas ca bharata//

121, N.L.Dey, Geographical Dictionary, p.115 ~ Lohitya, the area

around the river Brahmaputra.

122, Mbh., II, 27, 25-24 - suhmanam adhipam caiva ye ca

sagaravasinah/ sarvan mls cchaganaiiis caiva vi.jigye
bharatarsabhah//23//
evaA bahu vicUian desan vi.iitya pavanatma.jah/
vasu tebhya upadaya lauhityam agad ballT/Zl//
 165

To get an idea of the actual identification of mleccha areas

one has to examine lists of peoples that were either associated with
124-
or designated as mleochas. In the Bhlsma Parvan certain mleccha-

.iatis are said to have dwelt in the Yavana, Kamboja, Daruna countries -

*..uttara& oapare mleccha .jana bharatasattama/

yavank£ ca gakkmbo.il daxuna mleccha.iatayah//

— and these mlecchas are listed with several otherpeople of the

125
northern and north-western parts of India* In the Ramayana, too,

mlecchas are associated with the north but hereMleccha is perhaps

the name of a particular tribe. Sugriva and his forces are asked to

search for SXta in the eastern, western, southern and northern regions*

In the north, lands of the Mlecchas, Pulindas, Surasenas, Prasthalas,

Bhlratas, Kurus, Madrakas, Kambojas and Yavanas were to be searched

and from there the Himavat was to be explored —

tatra mlecchan pulindams surasenafis tathaiva caj 1

prasthalah bharatarns caiva kuruA6 ca saha madraih//10//

In the HarivaMa the mlecchas are situated in the Himalaya region

and listed with the following people of north and north-west Indias

the Yavanas, 3akas, Daradas, Paradas, Tusaras, Khasas and Pahlavas

sa vivrddho yada ra.ja yavananam mahabalah/ tata enam nrpa

mlecchkh samsrityanuyayu's" tadk//l 8/ T
sakas tusara daradah paradas taAganah khasah pahlavah
Isatasag canye mlecc&a haimavatas tatlm'//1 9/7127

124* The designation mlecoha for tribes is discussed in a separate

chapter.

125. Mbh., VI, 10, 65-66*

126* Ramayana. IV, 42, 10.

127* HarivaAsa. 8 5 , 18-19. A similar list of people associated with

mlecchas in the north-west is in the Matsya P.. 144* 51-50.
The Puranas explain that Praceta was the father of a hundred
sons, all of whom ruled as sovereigns in the mleccha country
lying in the north — Matsya P *. 148 , 8-9; Bhagavata P*. IX, 25, 16.
 166

In a completely different type of source it is worth mentioning

that Hiuan-tsang noted that all places north of the Lamgham district

(north hank of river Kabul, near Peshawar) were described as Mi - li - ku,

1OP
.i.e. frontier or mleccha lands.

The emphasis on n o rth e rn and n o rth -w e s te rn In d ia as mleccha

country was stronger than on other directions. This can perhaps be

explained by the fact that foreign invaders, who penetrated into India

in different periods, initially settled down in this area. The

Ra.iataraflginl refers to mlecchas who came from the valley adjoining the
129
Himalaya* However, other western, eastern and southern areas were

also classified as mleccha areas. The BrhatsaAhita. for instance, giveB

two references to the word mlecoha. The first is with reference to

certain lawless mlecchas who had their home in the west:

nirmaryada mleccha ye pasoimadiksthitas te ca//21//*

131
Elsewhere, ' another group of mlecchas is mentioned, supposedly from

central India. There mleccha occurs between the place names ICantipur

and Saftkarajah, The former Cunningham identifies with ICotwal, a place

north of Gwalior and the latter he associates with a river called Sank

In the Chota Nagpur area. Here mleccha undoubtedly alludes to one of

the many primitive tribes that resided in the Vindhyas, In one passage
— 135
in the Kathasaritsagara. mlecchas are connected with Sind.

At this stage it is important to investigate the use of the term

pratyanta and its association with mlecoha country. Pratyanta

13/1
literally means ♦bordering on1, 'adjacent1, or 'contiguous1.

128* S. Beal, The Life of Hiuen-Tslana P*57» Pey*

Dictionary, p.113* identifies Lamghan (Lampaka) to be 20
miles north-west of Jalalabad.

129. Raj ataraftgini. VIII, 2762 - 2764 .

130, Brhat., XIV, 21 131. Brhat*. XVI, 11.

132. N .L . Bey, G eograph ical D ic tio n a r y , p . 89; p . 177.

133* Kathasarit sagara. (Tawney), I, p. 151.

134# M. M o n ie r-W illia m s , S a n s k rit E n g lis h D ic tio n a r y , p . 664*

 167

Geographical position apart, pratyanta is treated altogether on a

different footing from Eryavarta in socio-cultural matters in texts

belonging to the period after the early centuries A.D. In the Amarakosa

which gives the Dictionary meaning of the word, it is described as

mlecoha countrys

pratyanto mlecohadesah syat/135

Sarbananda's commentary on this, the Tlkasarvasva. explains that

mlecchadesa indicates those countries without proper conduct like

Kamarupa etc.:

bharatavarsasyantadesah sistaoararahitah
kamarupadih mle cchade sah/ 136

Bhaskaravarman, king of Kamarupa, a contemporary of Har§avardhana

was supplanted by another dynasty found by Salastambha. He was known

137
as a mleccha overlord. The association of the eastern extremity

of India with mlecchas must also be accepted. The views of Amarasiiliha

were endorsed by many late works* One such is the Buddhist chronicle

Erya Man.jusri Mula ICalpa, which interestingly associates pratyanta

with mleccha-de&a but in western India:~

paScimam dlsim*asrtya ra.jano mriyate tada/

ye 'pi pratyantavasinyo* mlecchataskara.jivinah// 138

Amarakosa* II., Bhumivarga - 6.

136. Namal iflganusasana. with commentary TIkasarvasva of Sarvananda

(Ed. Ganapati' Sastri), 1914* XI* Bhuvarga '-'67'""'He also quotes
Manu to the effect that where the four varnas are not established
that country is mlecchadesa.

137. S.K. Chattdrjee, Kir ata-.jana-krti. p. 52,

138* Erya Man.jusri Mula Kalpa. Ed. Ganapati Sastri, 1922, II, p„274*
(Tr.)— — *Then (under a certain astrological combination) the
Kings who g> to the west die; also inhabitants of pratyanta live
like the mlecchas and taskaran.'

*In the text the form disim for 'direction1 is used instead of
the more common form disam. The use of vasinyo rather than
vasino would appear to be an error in the text*
 168

The use of terms paScima (western), pratioya (eastern), udlcya

(northern) and daksina (southern) in all Sanskrit literary sources

raises certain problems. In the first place, mlecchas that were said

to reside in any of these directions were, in most cases, not identified

by their particular names. Even in cases where mleccha groups were

listed with people known to belong to certain definite areas, the Epic

and Puranic writers viewed the direction from their own geographical

or regional locations, often producing contradictory statements. The

use of such general and sometimes vague terminology in such texts

causes confusion which then hinders the designation of any particular

territory as permanently mleccha. Here, however, a basic question

arises: Was any area, however small, forever bound to remain mleccha?

The brief answer to this is in the negative, Mlecchadesa is a

phrase often but not always applied to certain areas. Moreover, it is

never used to indicate one large political or even a cultural entity.

The opposite of Eryavarta, Mlecchadesa. occurs particularly in the

Dharma£astras but, as TSryavarta did not indicate one and the same area

through the ages, the concept of Mlecchadesa was also subject to change.

In the Epics and Puranas mlecchas are said to live in or inhabit (vasanti)

certain areas. The definition of these areas differs not only from

text to text but even within the same text, and does not strictly

conform to the definition of mlecchadesa as found in the gas tras.

The non-Dharmasastra texts constantly emphasize the forest and

mountain habitat of these people. From the point of view of the

Central Gangetic plains two broad areas would answer these conditions.

The Himalayan region, stretching all along the north, had mleccha

tribes both in its north-eastern and in its north-western ends alike.

Besides being a border area, more importantly, it was originally, and

 169’

still is to a large extent, inhabited by Tibeto-Mongoloid peoples

whose dissimilarity of language and culture was itself indicative of

a difference which set them apart. The other mountainous region was

the Vindhyan complex of Central India. Its characteristic was not

high mountains but thick forests and also river valleys that gradually

opened into the plains. The Chota Nagpur plateau in the east afforded,

and still does, an idealsetting for tribal peoples. In the west the

Narmada and Chambal valleys were important openings to the west coast.

Migrations to and from the plains was always talcing place. This, on

the one hand, pushed the tribal societies further inland into their

natural habitat and, on the other, opened these areas to outside

influence.

There is no doubt that certain parts of the subcontinent had been

culturally different from what the brahmanas envisaged in their texts, but

there are no grounds to accept the suggestion that such areas could

not have been politically conscious or economically powerful. This will

become apparent when we discuss the attitude of ancient Indian rulers

to mleccha areas. On the other hand, it was only after the sixth

century A.D, that tribal kings from both these regions began to parti­

cipate in the politics of northern and southern India.

Ultimately, the discrimination against the mleccha on the area

which he inhabited rested solely with the DharmaSastra writers. This

is evident from the elaborate rules they prescribed for people who

desired to visit areas which they had dubbed, for their own reasons

as mleccha. As we shall see in the following chapter, there was a

significant change in their attitudes towards mlecchas in general

after the beginning of the Christian era, which is reflected in the

manner in which arya and mleccha areas are separated. The most
 170

important question, however, is to find, out how far these injunctions

were really applied and limited the movements of the highly conscious

aryas who wished to abide by the rules of vamagramadharma» The next

chapter will discuss this point, also to see whether there was any

political, social and religious discrimination against the mleccha.

 171

Chapter V

POLITICAL AND CULTURAL DISCRIMINATION OF THE MLECCHAS

The distinction on the basis of speech and territorial habitation

has been discussed so far, and it has been pointed out that these factors

did not ultimately discriminate against the mleccha. nevertheless, the

distinction between aryabhasa and mlecchabhasa, cannot be ignored or

overlooked in a study of the attitudes towards the mlecchas* Though

both these distinctions were never rigid or permanent, they were

intrinsically related to the brahmanic ideal to regulate one’s life

according to the vamasramadharma. The great emphasis laid on this

• -1-1 ij-"
aspect is evident from the fact that all £astra and smrti literature

with its commentaries restricts itself to describe only the well-being

of the four varnas. Ostensibly, the concern was to maintain the purity

of their system. The customs and behaviour of the mlecchas* who

remained outside their pattern, were invariably looked upon with distaste.

In this chapter we may discuss the actual nature of the discri­

mination against the mleccha. In theory, drawing upon data from the

gastras. it is simple to ascribe this differentiation due to cultural

reasons as mlecchas were not encompassed in the varnasrainaAharma, In

the latter half of the chapter it is the intention to put forth the

thesis that discrimination against the mlecchas was ultimately both

cultural and socio-economic. However, firstly, it will be attempted

to refute any idea that it was a result of a politically motivated

policy initiated by ancient Indian rulers.

The brahmana advisers who were closely allied with the ksatriyas*

and who were basically responsible for the formulation of the Pharma-

£astrio injunctions concerning the avoidance of mlecchas in general,

do not, in their treatises on Rajadharma or RSjanTti, advise kings on

 172

the subject of politically discriminating against mlecchas or their

territory* On the contrary, we have information from texts such as

the Arthasastra. the Mahabharata. and the Mudraraksasa that mlecchas

were sometimes readily accepted as political allies and their abilities

similarly exploited* The Dharmasastras and Arthasastra also advise

the king to accept as valid those customs and usages of tribes,

families and organisations that do not challenge the smrti but, in

this case, only the brahmanas could judge the validity of such customs.

It may be appropriate at this stage to mention that most ancient Indian

kings were actuated by the ideal of the Cakravartin and with that they

also applied political expediency which ultimately determined any

policy of conquest, pacification or total avoidance of mleccha areas.

The evaluation of these policies must therefore be studied partly,

though not totally, in a manner independent of the hharmasastra rules

for society as a whole to avoid mlecoha areas of habitation.

The Cakravartin has been defined as a paramount ruler over a

vast territory, who did not owe allegiance to any overlord. In the

Arthasastra. Kautilya defines the Cakravarti-kgetra or the sphere of

influence of the Cakravartin as the land which extends north to south

p
from the Himalaya to the seas and measures a thousand yojanas.“ This

sphere of influence in Puranic terms corresponds to the whole of

_ 3
Bharatavarga i,ji. the Indian subcontinent. That the territories

beyond 'the borders of India were not Included in the Cakrava.rti-ksetra

1. B.C. Sircar, The Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, I960, p.4*
vrH-
2. AjjS., IX, 1, 17-r18. deSah prthivx/17 tasyarn himavatsamudran baram
udlclnaifi yo.janasahasraparimanam tiryak cakra.vartiksetram/ / ) 8
*The country (of the conqueror)' is the" earth * The field thereof
for the/'Cakravartin emperor (stretches) from the Himalayas down
to the sea, a thousand yojanas from corner to corner, ’ *<’

3* H.C. Rayohaudhuri, Studies in Indian Antiquities, 195$» PP*75*~8.

Mark. P .. LVIl, 59; Vayu P ., XlV, 75-76* These verses have been
discussed Chapter IV, pp. 153-155#
 173

may "be due to the fact that the conqueror, according to the Jastra,

was expected to establish varria.grama in the new territory.^ ’The

establishment of such a social order outside India was perhaps con­

sidered impracticable and even undesirable.*^ The Greek historian,

Arrian has observed: ’On the other hand, a sense of justice, they

say, prevented any Indian king from attempting conquest beyond the

limits of India.*^ Neither the keenness to follow the sastra nor the

sense of justice always prevented Indian kings from attacking areas

beyond the borders of India, We have evidence for the eleventh century

A.D. when a Hindu king of South India, namely Rajendra Chola, carried
7
out ambitious overseas campaigns in South East Asia.'

There is no doubt that the Cakravarti ideal reflected conventional

ideas about an Indian ruler’s sphere of influence and, in pert it was

an ideal that was never achieved, except perhaps by Agolca. On the

other hand, the aspiration of universal conquest is reflected in

exaggerated terms in both literary and epigraphical sources. The

8
tradition of Bharata as the conqueror of ’the whole earth’ appears in
g
Vedio literature and is again represented in Puranic legends. In the

Epic story of the Mahabharata, the Pandava brothers are similarly said
10
to have conquered the ’whole earth’. Claims such as these in literary

4* A.5.. XIII, 4, 62. Discussed below.

5. R.P. Kangle, The Kautiliya Arthasastra. Part III, 1%5» p.3.

6. J.W. McCrindle, India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian,
1926, p.209,
K.P. Jayaswal, Hindu Polity. Vol. II, 1924, p.190-191.

7. R.C, Majumdar, (ed) The Struggle for Empire. Ch. X, The Cholas, p.239-

8. The rulership of ’the earth’ prtlivl that is always contemplated

does not imply in any case the’conquest of the whole wox\Ld.

9. gat. Br.. XIII, 5, 4, 11-13; Vayu P.. XL?, 76; Visnu P., II, 3, 1.

10. Mbh.. II, 26, 32,

 174
11
stories, enhancing the fame of the heroes are common.

Poets and brahmanas at the courts of Indian rulers also often

exaggerated the achievements and status of their patrons. In referring

to the activities of the Phamma-Mahamatras in the Phauli version of

the Fifth Rock-Edict, the emperor Asoka claims to have employed them
12
throughout the earth — — sava puthaviyam. In the fourth and fifth

centuries A.P. the Gupta emperors held sway over the major part of

northern India and both the important and lesser kings of this dynasty

claim to have either conquered or ruled over 'the whole earth1.

_ •]x
Samudragupta is mentioned as sarvaprEhtvLvijayajanitodaya. The

minister of Candragupta II, Saba Virasena, who accompanied the king

on the campaign against the Sakas of Malwa according to one of the

14
TJdayagiri inscriptions , is described as 'seeking to conquer the
1R
whole world' (krtsnaprthvi.jayartthena) . The later Gupta emperors
16
desired the same and used similar epithets to describe themselves.

Within Bharatavarsa the constant aim of ancient rulers was to

#

claim suzerainty over the whole country, though actually they ruled

only part of it. Even so, as P.O. Sircar has aptly summarizeds

^ • Raghuvaifiga. Canto IV.

12, E. Hultzsch, C.I.I.. Vol. I, 'Fifth Rock-Edict: Bhauli', p. 87

text line 7* Other versions of the same Edict read sarvatra
vi.jite to indicate 'everywhere within the dominions of Asoka’.
P.O. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Fifth Rock-Edict: Mansehra version’,
pp.23-25, text line 7# IC.A.E. Sastri (ed.) The Maury as and Sat a- ■
vahanas, 1957, PP.40-41* Here ASoka is described as a Cakrava^ti,
ruler of the earth, not by physical might but by moral and spiri­
tual power.

13* H.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Allahabad Stone Pillar Inscription of

Samudragupta', text line 29, p.259*

14* Ibid.. 'Udayagiri Gave Inscription of Chandragupta II', ft.nt.5, p.272.

15* J.F, Ktteet, Q.I.I.. Vcjl.III, 'Udayagiri Cave Inscription of

Chandragupta II', text line 7, P«35*

16, B.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Junagarh Rock Inscription of Slcandagupta',

text para. 7 — evaifi sa .jitva prthvim samagrajfi ..., p. 301 .
'Sarnath Buddhist Image Inscription of Buddha Gupta', line 1,
p.523 — Buddhagupta represented as ruler of the earth.
 175

'All kings, independent or subordinate, were represented as lords

of the "soil” also indicating "the earth". But independent monarchs

were sometimes represented as the ruler or conqueror of "the whole

earth" meaning the conventional Chakravarti-ksetra bounded by the

Himalayas and the three seas ........... Thiskind of representation

of a king as the ruler or conqueror of Chakravarti-ksetra is conven-

17
tional and should not be regarded as historical.1 1

Nevertheless, the significant point here is that attempts were

always made to carry the idea of universal power into practice and the

political aspiration, of all rulers was never limited by the Bfahmanic

or Buddhist definitions of Aryavarta or MadhyadeSa, which, inhabited

by themselves, were therefore, 'the only pure lands.' Attempts were

also made to conquer frontier peoples and forest tribes even though

some of these areas were considered mleccha areas in certain brahmanical

18
texts. Though the ideal of a Cakravartin among ancient Indian rulers

tended to disregard the mleccha consciousness mainly owing to personal

ambition, these rulers nevertheless, did not overlook the basic difference

between the various tribal groups, frontier peoples and the rest of the

kingdom.

Before a detailed analysis of this topic it may be proper to

note the undercurrents in political thought and the fundamental bases

of ancient Indian polity which motivated most ancient Indian monarchs.

The Smrti and Sastra literature written before the Gupta period on

the subject reflect the main concepts and the different political,

economic and social changes during the various periods, and show

changes of emphasis rather than a shift in values.

The Dharmasastra was not known only to the brahmanas but, in its

17* B.C. Sircar, Indian Epigraphy. Delhi, 1965» P«551»

18. As seen in Chapter IV the mleccha areas were usually the habitat
of tribes and border areas.
 176

comprehensive sense, it became the law of the country and. ultimately,

it was the responsibility of the king or the State to enforce its

rules. Briefly, as part of Kajadharma, the king was expected to apply

the principle of dharma in all matters of public administration like

war, defence or taxation, as it applied to the private life of each

individual. The secular and religious aspects of the brahmanic life

and activity were inextricably interwoven and therefore, in this

sense, ancient Hindu rulers worked within the official brahmanic system.

We are concerned witty discussing in detail only two injunctions

in the Dharma£astra and the Arthasastra which pertain to the duties of

kings and have relevance to their application to determine the

relationship of their subjects with outsiders and mlecchas. The first

is that he is constantly advised to maintain the vama^ramadharma and

. r - ---------------- - ..

the second is his duty to accept as valid the local customs and usages

of tribes, castes and independent corporations.

Kautilya is most emphatic about the king's basic responsibility

to protect the welfare of his subjects, ^..e, protect them against

enemies and calamities, help the minors, the aged and persons in
19
distress etc. But, in particular, it was the duty of the king to

protect by force of law the social order founded on the system of

20
*3*nd- asramas. Though the Arthasastra is often characterised,

described as a text with a secular and realistic outlook, it urges the

king to maintain the brahmanical system of social order prevalent during

19. A*S.» IV, 3, 43; II, 16 , 4 - 6 j II, 1 , 2 6 .

2°. A.3., I, 4 , 16.

caturvarnasramo loko ra.ina dapdena pal itab/
svadharmakarmabhirato vartate svesu vartmasu//l6
In this verse the people (l~okaV with their four varnas and four
asramas if properly governed by the king will adhere-"to their
respective dharmas. In another context (i, 3 , 16-17 , Tr* ICangle)
it is stated: 'The king shall never allow people to swerve from
their appointed duties (Dharma): for, whoever upholds his own
duty and follows the duties of the castes and order’s (varnasrama—
dharma) will attain happiness in this world and as well as in the
next.'
 177

his time. Furthermore, after conquering the earth, the conqueror is

advised to enjoy it by maintaining the social order in conformity with

— 21
the varnasramadharma. Manu characteristically adds that after a

victory gained "by the king he should honour righteous brahmanas and
22
and grant them exemptions. There is also evidence that brahmanas

were encouraged to settle in new territories and they in turn would

25
become instruments in the spread of the varnasrama system.

This aspect of the king's duty was unquestioned by all smrtikaras

and the later IJXti^astra continues to echo the same ideas. It is

interesting also to mention Sukra's views, as not only his Nitisara is

2A
a late one but he often holds views at variance with those held by

the gastras■ He reiterates that the king is the 'guardian of good

21• A.S.. XIII, 4, 62.

jitva ca prthiviiTi vibhaktavamasr aman svadharmena bhunjati/
'Having conquered the earth he should enjoy it by maintaining the
varnas and asramas as his duty.'

22• Manu. VII, 201 — jitva sampujayed devan brahmanans caiva

dharmikan/ pradadyat pariharans ca khyapyed abhyani oa/7
'When he has gained victory, let him duly worship the gods and
honour righteous brahmanas, he should grant them immunities
and proclaim promises of safety.1

25* There are numerous examples of land grants to brahmanas especially

in the Gupta and post-Gupta periods. These were mainly concerned
with cultivated lands, though. D.D. Kosambi, An Introduction to
the Study of Indian History, (rpt.), 1975* P*315* PP* 519-20,
discusses the role of the brahmanas as pioneers in the settlement
of new territory and addss 'The systematic use of brahmins as
stabilising factor of the village economy meant the preservation
and development of some ritual, which was more imposing for being
chanted in Sanskrit, with all the weight of antiquity.' p.279*

24* The date and origin of the Sukramtisara is problematic. It is

usually assigned to the thirteenth century A.D. But according to
K.V, Rangaswami Aiyangar, Rajadharma, 1941» P*56, its composite
character has a mixture of archaism in diction and doctrine and it
also has relatively modern views, lallanji Gopal, BSOAS, 'The
Sukranlti - a nineteenth century text} Vol. XXV, pt. iii, pp„524-
556 has convincingly argued that this is a text that should be
assigned to the second half of the nineteenth century.
 178
25
conduct1 and indeed 'the maker of the age1# Further he writes:

'Through fear of punishment meted out by the king, each man gets into
26
the habit of following his own dharma,1 However, Sukra also adds

that the brahmanas # ksatriyas, vainlyas, sudras and mlecchas are

separated by work and virtue and not by birth:

na .jatya brahmanas catra ksatriyo vaisya eva na/

na §udro na ca vai mleccho bhedita gunakarmabhih/ /2 7

He further suggests elsewhere that soldiers and commanders in the army

need not necessarily belong to the k satriya caste and could be recruited
28
from among the mlecchas as well#

Undoubtedly, there was no single age when the ideals of the

varnasramadharma were fully enforced. It was paticularly difficult

29
to do so in times of stress such as during foreign occupations, ' wars

and conquests and when new settlements, especially in tribal areas, took

place. But, the total disregard for this order, says Kautilya, was not

to be tolerated as that would lead to varnasamkara which might result

50
in the destruction of society and, by implication, of the State itself.

25. Sukraniti, I, 22.

aoaraprerako ra.ja hy etat lcalasya karanam/
yadi kalah pramanaiTi hi kasmad dharmo 1sti kartrsu//22
(Tr,B, n ! Sarkar) - ’The king is the guardian of conduct, the
maker of the a$e. If the age or time were the cause (of usages
and activities) there could be no virtue in the actors,'

Sukranlti, I, 25 — ra.jadandabhayal lokah sva svadharmaparo bhavet/

27* Snkraniti, I, 58.

28* aukraniti, II, 159—140•

sudra va ksatriya vaisya mlecchah sarMtarasambhavah/
senadhipah" sainikas ca karya rCjna" ,1ayarthina// 140

29, For such times as these the sutras and smrtis have sections on
apad dharma, which basically were ways and means by which people,
particularly•brahmanas, could perform penance (prayagcitta),
Gautama Bhs,, VIII,*1-26; Vaslstha Uhs.. II, 22-29; llanu, IV,
81-104; Yaji#, III, 55"44 etc, **
Part II of chapter VIII discusses the brahmanic reaction to
foreign kings as rulers of northern India between the first century
B.G, and the second century A„D.

50, A .S . , I ,
5, 14*15* svadharmah svargayanantyaya c a / 14
tasyatikrame lokah samkarad uochidyeta/15
’The observance of one’s duty leads one to Svarga and infinite Bliss
(anantya), When it is violated the world will come to an end
owing to confusion of castes and duties.’
 179

Manu describes the destroyer of dharma, in general, as a vrsala.

31
If dharma is violated then that destroys Man* Dharma is described

as a bull (vrsa) and the man who violates it (kurute'lam), the gods
#*■" 1 11-r ■,j■
consider a vrsala — -

vrso hi bhagavan dharmas tasya yah kurute hy 'lam/

vrsalaA tam vidur devas tasmad dharmam na lopayet//52

Significantly Manu uses the term vrsala for certain peoples like the

Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas, Paradas, Pahlavas, CXnas, Khasas, Kiratas,

Dravidas etc* Though they had originally been kgatriyas, they had

become vrsalas because they had neglected the sacred rites and had
33
shown disrespect to the brahmanas. It would seem that anyone, foreign

or indigenous, who was against dharma could be designated a vrsala,

There is no underestimating the fact that in brahmanic opinion, if the

✓ 34
varnasramadharma fell apart, anarchy was said to prevail.

As early as the time of the Dharmasutras it was laid down that

the customs and usages of other countries, families and castes could

be followed, but only if they did not oppose the teaching of the Veda

and the Smrti. According to Gautama the king was to ensure that the

31. Manu, VIII, 15.

32. Manu, VIII, 16* (ir, SBE) — - fEor divine justice (is said to
be")""a bull (vrisha); that (man) who violates it (kurute ’lam) the
gods consider to be (a man despicable like) a Sudra ( vrishala);
let him, therefore, beware of violating justice.1

33. Manu. X, 43 sanakais tu kriyalopad imah ksatriyajata.yah/

v r salatvaifL gata loke brahmana5.ar6anena ca//43

34. Most Puranas in their section on the Kali Age describe this
anarchy, but in a prophetic vein, as they bewail about the
collapse of varnasramadharma,

35* Apastamba Dhs*. II, 6, 15, 1; Baudhayarm Dhs*. I, 1, 2, 1-8

A particular custom should be practised only in the country for
which* it is meant. Baudhayana, however, in the same chapter condemns
the peoples of Avanti, Aftga, Magadha, Sura§$ra, Dekkhan, Upavrb,
Sindh and Sauvrra as those of mixed origin (verse 13 ) and
recommends to those aryas who have visited the countries of Irattas,
Karaskaras, Pundras, Sauviras, Vaftgas, Kalingas, to perform
certain sacrifices on return (verse 14 ).
 180

56
laws of countries under-his control did not oppose sacred authority.

In the Arthasastra the State is likewise required to maintain as valid

57
every local usage of country, tribe, guild or village. Inthe same

spirit the smrtis of Manu and Yajnavalkya also point out that local
_ 58
custom can he adopted when it does not go against the sastra. Again

it may he noted that it is in the ^'ukranitis ara where we find a varia­

tion of this rule in so far as the king is enjoined to accept the local

usages and customs as valid even though they are repugnant to him.

First he repeats that the king should perform his duty ( dharma) in

accordance with the sas tra and hy heing conversant with the local
✓ 59
customs of particular countries, .Tatis. srenis. janapadas and families.

He next lists certain customs such as the following: — in southern

countries brahmanas marry their maternal uncle’s daughters, in madhya-

de&a the artists and artisans eat cow’s flesh, in the northern countries

women drink wine etc.^ And concludes with the statement: "These people
4-1
do not deserve penance and punishment "because of these actions.’

Since the iSukranTti^ is a source that lies outside theperiod of our

study, we need not go into details about these observations. We can

only infer from them that the rules of the srorti were in a gradual state

of evolution on account of changes in social and territorial environments,

Kautilyaj Manu and £ukra, however, all agree in recommending to

56. Gautama Dhs. XI, 20 desajatikuladharmas camvayair aviruddhah pramanam/

’The laws of countries, castes and families which are not opposed
to (sacred) records (have) also authority,*

37. A.S.. 1 1 ^ 7^ 40
desasya jatyah sarnghasya dharmo gramasya va’pi yah/
ucitas tasya -fcenaiva dayadharmam prakalpayet//40
58. Manu, VII, 205; VIII* 41-46; Yaj.. I, 542.

59. £ukranrti. IV, v, 45-

40. Ibid.. IV, v, 47-49.

41. Ibid.. IV, v, 49# anena karmananaite prayagoittadamarhakah/

42. For date of the Sukraniti see note 24 above.

 181

th e conqueror the m aintenance o f the laws and customs o f the conquered

s t a te . These in ju n c tio n s , th a t have been d iscussed above, o n ly

in d ic a te the problem o f r e g io n a l d iffe r e n c e s th a t fa c e d a n c ie n t In d ia n

monarchs. There are no such statem ents in g e n e ra l w hich a d vise the

k in g as to w hether he should accept the usages and customs o f peoples

th a t were dubbed m lecchas. I n the absence o f any e x p l i c i t fo rm u la tio n

o f p o lic y i n t h is re g a rd by the brahmanas. we have now to tu r n to

m a te r ia l t h a t e lu c id a te s p o l i t i c a l s o lu tio n s to the problem- o f m lecchas.

B ut b e fo re we proceed to c o n tin u e t h is d is c u s s io n i t i s o f

im portance to n o te t h a t the a u t h o r ity o f the brahmanas and the power

o f th e k in g were in te n d e d to w ork i n u n is o n . K aufcilya rem arks: 'K s a tra ,

r o y a l power, p ro sp e rs o n ly i f supp orted by the power o f the brahmanas

G e n e ra lly , th e re was an a llia n c e and an interdependence between these

two 6 lite ..g r o u p s . F o r in s ta n c e , the e d u ca tio n o f p rin c e s o f the r o y a l

house was e n tru s te d t o the care o f the brahmanas who were d u ly p a tro n iz e d

and h e ld a p o s itio n i n the c o u r t. B u t w ith the fo r e ig n in v a s io n s the

r e la t io n s h ip between th e k s a t r iy a and the brahmana to o k a new tu r n .

F u r th e r , i t c o u ld n o t be expected th a t a l l fo r e ig n monarchs would

guarantee th e m aintenance o f th e varnagramadharma. ^

H ere, we are n o t concerned w ith the problem o f w hether fo r e ig n

o r in d ig e n o u s k in g s p ro te c te d the s o c ia l o rd e r o f varnas and a s ramas.

On the p o l i t i c a l scene, th e y a l l r e li e d on expediency as a means to deal

w ith new s it u a t io n s th a t arose co n ce rn in g a l l m a tte rs o f s t a te . T his

was a ls o tr u e i n t h e i r r e la t io n s h ip w ith m lecchas.

T h is has le d us to examine the' p o l i t i c a l a t titu d e s towards th e

mleccha groups i n a n c ie n t I n d ia a t the tim e o f th e r is e o f Magadhn under

the Mauryan r u le r s i n the f o u r t h c e n tu ry B.C. and in th e Gupta p e rio d

45• A . 5 . , I , 9 i 11. brahman enaidhitam k satram mantrimantrabhimnntritam/

44* We have evidence o n ly f o r the..case o f the Saka k in g Rudradaman who

i s known t o have u ph eld the vam airam adharm a. — E l , , V I I I , N o.6
1Junagadha I n s c r ip t io n o f Rudra&aman * , p p .56-49*
 182
during the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. for two reasons. Firstly,

this is because the imperial idea saw its initial expression during

the reign of Candragupta Maurya (c* 324-300 DC.), Secondly, the, same idea

again sees a manifestation in the Gupta age but under different circum­

stances, It is important to contrast how a centralized imperial

structure dealt with mleccha groups during these stages of historical

development and ohange#

As a result of the exploits of Candragupta, Magadha became the

nucleus of the Mauryan empire, expanded under Bindusara and finally

under A6ol<a it embraced almost the entire subcontinent as is shown by

45
the situation of his edicts.^ The imperial government therefore

controlled a large territory that was inhabited by peoples of diverse

elements who were socially, economically and religiously at various

stages of development.

Traditionally, Kautilya, the author of the Arthasastra which is

the earliest treatise on government and economics, is supposed to have

been the advisor of Candragupta Maurya. Not all scholars agree to

assign to the text a date of around c.. 300 B.C,^ However, from

the point of view of what the state policy towards mlecchas may have

45* N* Thapar, Asoka and the D e c lin e o f the M auryas. 1961, Appendix,
pp. 228-38.

46 . P .V . Kane, H is to r y o f the Dharm asastra. V o l . I I , p . x i assigns the

date 300 B.C.
R.P. K angle, The A r th a s a s tra , F t . I l l , 1965 , Ctp. IV , p . 5 9 f f . ,
re vie w s the problem o f the date a t le n g th . He co n s id e rs th a t i t
is im p o rta n t (p .1 0 ) to n o te th a t the t e x t marks a c u lm in a tio n o f
a lo n g p e rio d o f s p e c u la tio n on the m a tte r which form s the s u b je c t
o f t h is £a s t r a .
A»B. Keith, History of Sanskrit Literature. 1940, PP* 459-461, Is
typical of the view that proposes .the work to be a product ob c.
A.D. 300 chiefly because the accounts of the Mauryan state as
given by Megasthenes in his Indika and by Kautilya in the
Arthasastra do not coincide.
D.D. Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study o f Indian History. 1975
(rpt,), p . 210-212, disagrees with Keith's views firstly by showing
that the accounts of Megasthenes and Kautilya do tally and
secondly, by detailing reasons how society depicted in the
Arthasastra could not exist in the India of c. A.D. 300*
 185

been, this is the first text we must turn to.

Though Kautilya conforms to certain brahmanical ideas, he is unique

• *

in that he pronounces for the first time the legitimacy of the State

to aggrandize almost anything concentrating on military, political

and economic means of aggression. Therefore as far as he was concer­

ned every means to maintain the absolute power and strength of a king

was regarded as proper. It is from the sixth book onwards that the

writer concentrates on military and political methods of aggression

which rests on the grounds of expediency alone with no thought given

to respect for morality or political ethics.

The king was warned that border areas of the kingdom, where mlecoha

forest tribes together with bands of robbers were found, were to be

that of enemies.^

yasya hi bhumer bahudurgas ooraganair mlecohatavXbhir ya

nityavirahitah pratyantah sa nityamitra viparyaye tv
anityamitrk//46//"4Q *

Here it is specifically indicated that the reference is to land on the

frontier ( pratyanta) where there are many forts (baliu-durgah).

This can be interpreted as, firstly, that these forts gave shelter to
49
bands or groups of thieves and mleccha forest tribes or, secondly,

that the territory concerned was reputed to be infested with gangs of

thieves and mlecoha forest tribes and, therefore, forts were built on

the border to defend the land. According to the latter interpretation

47* Nitya can be taken to mean ’constant’ or ’certain’ though

ICangle suggests ’permanent' below. In the Rg Veda it meant
'continual', ’perpetual’, 'eternal' — M. Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.547*..

48• A.S.. T O , 10, 16. This passage has been translated by Kangle
Y'PtV II) as follows: 'The land, whose frontiers have many forts
(beyond them) are never devoid of robber bands or mleccha forest
tribes, is one of permanent enemies; in the reverse case, it is
not without permanent enemies,’

49# R* Sham asastry, A rth a s a s tra . 1915* P#361, i n h is t r a n s la t io n o f

the same passage, p o in ts t h is o u t.
there is a certain degree of permanency implied in the habitat of

mleccha tribes, though hands of thieves did and could, operate else­

where, We cannot have a full explanation here, hut must understand

this passage in the light of other measures given hy Kautilya for the

settlement and pacification of conquered territory.

As part of this policy for the defence and settlement of the

countryside, Kautilya gives a suggestion that does not completely

nullify the second alternative mentioned ahove. He points out that

the king should erect fortresses on the frontiers of his kingdom

50
under the command of frontier chiefs. The territory between the

frontier and the fortresses was to be guarded hy trappers (vagurikas),

Sabaras, Pulindas, Candalas and forest-dwellers (aranyaoareQ — —

tesam antarani vagurika saharapulindacandalaranyacara rakseyuh//6//

The term aranyacara for forest-dwellers is not qualified by the design

52
nation mleccha as the term atavi is in the earlier passage. Even if

aranyacara is translated as 'and (other) forest tribes'^a the fact

remains that they have not been described as mlecchas in this passage.

The contrast between aranyacara in whatever sense we understand the term

and the wild and savage forest tribes, (atavika) well entrenched in

jungle fastnesses, who were ostensibly a nuisance to the State, was

definite and clear from the political angle. The former were not called

mlecchas and as it has been suggested in this verse, could be trusted

and allowed to guard the frontier of a particular kingdom,

50. A.g,, IX, 1, 5.

51. Ibid,, II, 1, 6, 'Trappers, Sabaras, Pulindas, Candalas and

f o r e s s h o u l d guard the intervening regions between them.'
The Sabaras and Pulindas can be taken as names of specific tribes
but in this case could mean hunters.

52. R.P. Kangle, Op. Cit.. pt, II, considers mleccha is an adjective
to atavl. not an independent substantive in VII, 10, 16.

52a. Though adi is not used.

 185

As far as "the AtavT or X^avika tribes are concerned, Kautilya

• •

elsewhere points out that they could be a source of danger to the State*

They are said to be well organised and brave, practically autonomous

and without scruples in matters of looting and killing*^ This may

be one of the reasons why mlecohatavl tribes (VII, 10, 16) were declared

to be no less serious than enemies of the State. In a completely

different context a forest chieftain is often mentioned as one of those

54
capable of seizing the throne from the ruler. It is quite clear that

the separateness of forest tribes from civilized society is regarded

as fundamental. The problem of atavika or forest tribes occurs again

in the Gupta period and will again be discussed.

The term mleccha covers partly these forest tribes though there

were mlecoha.jatis (communities) of various kinds.^ As a solution to

the threat that mleccha communities or forest tribes created around

frontier areas, Kautilya advocates that, in conquered territory,

the king should cause a change of residence of professional thieves,

56
of mleccha^.jatis and of chiefs of forts, country and army. It was

part of a wider policy of settlement and pacification of the new

territory so that the ultimate control lay in the hands of the king*

In discussing the technique of breaking the samghas in Book XI of the

Arthasastra. D.D. Kosambi observes:1*••. tribal life and production -

whether Aryan or not - were systematically converted into a caste-

55. Aj£*, V I I I , 4, 45.

54. Ail., If 10* 3; XII, 5, 17.

■55. Ail.f I* 12, 21;,...III, 15, 5; XIII, 5, 1 5 . All these passages

refer to the term mleccha.jati instead of simply mlecchas or
mleochatavi.

56* A.g*. XIII, 5, 15. coraprakrtlnam mleccha.j atinain ca sthane.'v i paryas£

anekastham karayet durgarastradandamukhyariaffi o o jj v ^ f j
*And he should cause a change of residence not in one place, of
those in the habit of robbing and mleccha communities and of
chiefs of forts, country and army.1
 186

MAP N O .V II

ASOKAN EMPIRE 250 B.C

A Rock Edicts

1 Pillar Edicts

A □ Modern C ities
Mansera
— Probable Boundary

Topra
Delhi
Indraprastha

M a th u ra .^ <
4. \\ i \J RanVpurwa
ocjiimjui wd

A ^ RiVimmdkA Lauriyfa Nandangarh

\ ^ Ix ^ > x L a u r iy a 'A r a r a j^ r__.
Bairat
^ Karachi Kas i ^ x J \ Pataliputra
P r a y a g ^ W ^ AGAD*
H £-Vcfcampa
^Rupnath
a Sanchi
C alcutta/n
ctfL / V m ,3lffl*da *ahan* Ta
vGirnary V ——r' \>y \qj. s'
PULINDAS
Sopara Dhauli
Bombay t5) ■■'-vjMTINIK A JaugadaA
33
>
(/)
Xv ANDHRA

• APARA \fc M a s k iA PURVA

SAMUDRA SAMUDRA
SA m y APU w '^
r/ M adras

CHOLAS

Kilometres
Miles
XX) 200 300 400
 187

ridden peasantry conditioned not to "bear arms, nor to unite in opposition

57
to the state,1 As far as mleocha.jatis other than forest tribes

were concerned, they were also a potential threat to the existing

social order outside the control of the brahmanas and ksatriyas. This

becomes more clearly apparent when we discuss the social discrimination

of the mleccha,

Kautilya's policy towards mlecchas was not followed by all ancient

kings. Thus, A^oka makes a clear distinction between the foreign peoples

on his border and the tribes in the interior on the one hand, and his

(other) subjects on the other. In Rock-Edict XIII there is a list of

the Yonas, Kambojas, Nabhakas, Bhojas, Pitinikas, Andhras and Falidas,

58
who are considered as border people but within the imperial territories.

Normally Asoka uses vi.jita, which literally means 'a conquered (territory)',
59
to represent his dominions. Only once, in referring to the above people
60
is the term raj a-visaya or 'royal territory' used. There can be no

doubt that they were included in his empire, Raychaudhuri considers

the above peoples to have enjoyed a status midway between the provinces
61
and the unsubdued borderers,

Asoka, however, evidently draws a further distinction between

the peoples who lived around his frontiers and the forest tribes

atavl. As part of a policy to conciliate them, in the same edict a

57* Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History,

1975 (rpt.)» P.215.

58, J, Bloch, hes Inscriptions d'A^oka, 1950, 'Treizieme Edit sur

Rocher', text line 50, p,150 and text line 5f p*151*

59* E. Hultzsch, C.I.I., Vol.I, 'Rock Edict II: Kalsi version', text
line 4 — savata vijitasi. ' R, Basak, Asokan inscriptions, 1951
p,7 - sanskritized reading of the same sarvatra vi.jite,

60, J, Bloch, p.130, rajavisayamhi (Gimar); R, Basak, 0p,iPit,, p, 71

rajavisaye (Kalsi).

61, H, Raychaudhuri, H-IAI, 1953» P»311*

 188

warning ia given to these tribes that even after the remorse suffered
62
from the KaliAga war, the king is still powerful. Since these lines

occur after the description of the suffering experienced at KaliAga,

it appears that A&oka did not want to subdue these forest tribes by

force and with bloodshed, but wanted to be firm with them all the same.

Similar tribes were mentioned by ICautilya enemies of the State and

were designated as mlecchas (VII, 10, 16 ),

In the Second Separate Edict A&oka makes an appeal to all

unconquered peoples on his borders not to fear him and to follow the
63
Dhamma initiated by him, ^ In the same edict the Dhamma Mahamatras

are advised to inspire confidence among the borderers and also induce

them to practise the principles of morality laid down in his policy

of Dhamma. The edict itself was written and erected to remind the
64
officials of the State of their duty, ^ It would seem that these

peoples did not come under the direct administration of the empire as

they had not been conquered. They therefore remained distinct and

not easy to conform to the manner in which the emperor* wished them

to behave.

Here we can determine three levels of differentiation. The

conquered dominions which included certain frontier peoples, the at-avl

or forest tribes who were difficult to reconcile and administer and the

unconquered borderers. For all these people A&oka's aim was to win

over their confidence and spread among them the principles of his

Dhamma,

62, J, Bloch, Les inscriptions d’A^oka. ’Treizieme Edit sur Rocher',

t e x t lines 5 -1 0» P#129 — ya c a p i at a v iy o devanampiy a ssa v l . j i t c ho t i . . .
(Gimar version),
D.C, Sircar, Sel. Inscr., ’Thirteenth Rock-Edict; Shahbazgarhi1,
p*3 7 * text line 7 ya pi ca atavi devana&priyasa vi.jite bhoil ta
? ! a n u n e tl a ^ rn il.-ja p e ti.

65* E# Hultzsch, Vol.I, ’Second Separate Rock Edict: Jaugada', text

lines 4 -5 ; PP*116-117 - siya aAtanaifi (a)vi,1ita.

64 . Ibid,, t e x t lin e s 13-14*

There is no reference to either the unconquered borders or the

atavl (forest) inhabitants as mlecchas. ASoka took no direct steps

to antagonize the brahmanas in any respect* On the other hand, in one

6*5
of the edicts he proclaims that they should be held in respect. But

in his task to govern an empire with diverse elements he did not have

to conform to the traditional society's norms about mlecchas. The word

mleccha never appears on any of his edicts and tribes are always

mentioned by their names.

The administration of the State, Kautilya continually emphasizes,

must be controlled with an efficient and centralized machinery. The

espionage system occupied an important place as one of the means to

achieve this. Kautilya based his advice on the brahmanical system but

saw no harm in using the various types of mlecchas for political

purposes. He recognised, however, the political advantage to be gained

from keeping tribes in general contented. They could be used effectively

in campaigns and deployed in such a way that would prevent them

from resorting to plunder and arson. Secondly, they could be used

as spies against the enemy.

The atavlbala or troops from forest tribes form one of the six

kinds of troops at the disposal of the ruler. Such troops were under

the command of their own chieftains and it is recognised that they

are likely to be more interested in plunder than fighting. It is

further stated that alien troops commanded by an arya are better than
66
forest troops. And, if on the path of a particular king's army

there was an army of wild tribes then, he should use only his army
67
of wild tribes against them. .....

65# D.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Fourth Eoclc Edict: Girnar Version',
text line 6, p.22 — brahmanasramananani sarfvpratipat tih/
 190

While it is admitted that a whole army of forest tribes could

pose a threat at times, the king is openly advised to secure the

help of certain mlecchas for his own personal needs. In cases where

the king has become weak, he should, reinforce his troops to secure

the services of heroic men from bands, robber groups, mleocha

atavilca.iatis and secret agents. Their services were to be deployed

in inflicting harm upon the enemy — •

utsahahlnah &renxpravirapurusanaih coraganatavikajnleccha-

.jatinM parapakarinatfi gudhapurusanajfi ca yathalabham
upaoayaift kurvita//27// 68 * ’

In another context, on assassinating a weak king it is mlecchas who

must carry out the killing. Leaders of mleccha forest troops should

take cover in places, ambush and kill the king —

sarvato va prayatam enaiii mlecchatavikadandacarinah

sattrapagrayah stambhavatapasraya va hanyuh772?/7 69

There are other instances where mlecchas should effectively be

used as spies. In one case, in the section on the use of secret

practices, the destruction of the enemy troops is justified by the

statement that it is *for the sake of protecting the four varnas ...
70
against the unrighteous,1' One of the secret methods is that

1approved men and women of mleccha communities, disguised as humpbacks,

dwarfs, kiratas. dumb or deaf persons, idiots or blind persons, in an

appearance credible as to country, dress, profession, language and birth1

68. A.£., VII, 14, 27 fIf weak in energy, he should secure the
services, as they may be available, of heroic men from bands
(guilds), robber groups, atavika-mleccha-.jatis and of secret
agents capable of doing harm to enemies.1

69. AgS.# XII, 4 , 2 3 .

70* A.8.. XIV, 1 , 1 — caturvarnyaraksartharn aupanisadikam

adharmisthesu prayun.jlta/
 191
71
should introduce poison into articles used by the enemy. The ability

of the mlecchas to perform such duties was perhaps well known and.

accepted by the people at large, Ideocha-.jatis were also trus.ted

as spies inside the palace of the king — —

antargrhacaras tesam kubjavamanapand a k a h Sllpavatyah

striyo*muka§ citris ca mleccha;) atayah77£77 72

The reason that members of the mleccha communities were trusted

was perhaps due to their political neutrality. One cannot be totally

certain of this. On the other hand, they could have been the only

sections of the society willing to do unscrupulous Jobs of spying and

killing, which often involved impure tasks that members of the caste

groups would not perform. It is difficult to verify whether the

methods of espionage laid down in the Arthasastra were carried out

by ancient Indian rulers. All the same the use of such groups was

recommended by Kautilya and went totally against Dharmasastra injunctions

to avoid mlecchas. their speech and areas of habitation and above all,

mixing with them. It seems that for political expediency these

rules were ignored which gives us a different perspective to the problem

of mlecchas and attitudes towards them.

The end of Maury an rule and the subsequent fragmentation of the

subcontinent was complete around 185 B.C. From the second century B.C.

different foreign invaders conquered and ruled parts of northern

India except Bengal. The Deccan and southern India remained, however,

under control of Indian rulers. In the north, political rule was largely

connected with events outside India, which meant that till at least the

third century A.D. there was no one centralized power that ruled India

71. A.£., XIY, 1, 2.lcalakutadir visavargah sraddheyadesaves

■ siIpabhas ablii,janapade saih kub Javnmanakiratamukab adhiraJ a^.a'"
ndhacchacbnabhir mlecchajatlyair abhipretalh stribhih
puifibhis ca parasarlropahhogesv avadhat avya.h/7277

72* A.!^.,, I, 12, 21. 'The humpbacks, dwarfs, eunuchs, women of

accomplishments, the dumb, the various mleccha Jatis shall be
spies in the house (of the king),*
 192

like the Mauryas had done* However, this period is important as .it saw

the introduction in northern India of new elements with hoth immediate

and lasting effects. Foreign migration in the wake of these invasions

greatly increased, while foreign trade reached a climax during this

phase of ancient Indian history. On the political scene, though,

foreign rulers held Bway in several parts of the area. In the second

and third centuries we witness the rise of indigenous rule under the

Yaudheyas, Kunindas, Kulutas, Madrakas, Erjunayas, Malavas, etc.

mainly in the region of Punjab and eastern Rajasthan, between the

73
rivers Indus and Ganges, On their coins they are shown to use

tribal epithets, sometimes written in Sanskrit.

The political changes in India during this period made it more

difficult for the Gupta kings to establish a centralized administration

than it had been for the Mauryas. The Allahabad Stone Pillar inscription

gives information as to how the tribes and kings of northern and southern

India around the middle of the fourth century A.D, were dealt with by

Samudragupta. They had all to be defeated or subdued but in different

ways. 75

75. K.A.N. Sastri (ed.) The Comprehensive History of India. Vol.II,

The Satavahanas and Mauryas, pp.255-262.

74. J* Allan, B.M. Catalogue of Indian Goins. 1936, Part V, Tribal

Goins, p.117ff.
It is of interest to note that among these the JCulutas are frequently
referred to as mlecchas in brahmanical texts - K.K. Dasgupta,
A Tribal History of Ancient Indial 1974, pp.86-87, A whole chapter
in book eight of the Mahabbflarata is devoted to deploring the bad
habits and behaviour of the people of Punjab, particularly those
of the Madrakas (VIII, 30 ).

75* J.F, Fleet, C.I.I.,Vol.111, 1888, 'Allahabad Posthumous 8tone Pillar

Inscription of Samudragupta1, text lines 19 - 24, p.6ff.
Among his exploits related in this prasasti are : 1; he captured and
liberated kings of the south — sarwadaksinapatha raj o.~nrahan a-
moltsanugraha-,janita-pratapa. 1ine 2 0 2 ) he violently extorm.iMated
at least nine kings of Aryavarta — anekaryyavartta-ra.ja— prasabh-
oddharano dvr11a-prabhava., line 21; 3T JlSSffe....and tribute in the "
form of all"kinds of taxes was paid to him by various frontier
kings — pratyanta nrpatibhir .. line 22 and finally 4) foreign
kings such as the Daivaputra-Shahi-Shahanushahi, the 3akas, the
Murundas and the king of Ceylon also paid tribute - line 2 %
 193

;s' 7a * afc c?o«

MAP NO, V I I ]

THE GUPTA EMPIRE C.500A.D

3*>"
KASHMIR
— Probable boundary
under Chandragupta. E
□ M odern C itie s .

&
7 K ARTRIPURA TIBET
-S c *
DEYAS
<,1 •i * *
4 >i >i \) Delhiol ' <
^ IndraprasthaA ,
* ^ v v V i / V v 1

" * * ^ " ARJUNAYANAS ' ^ana

" " , < < , V V y v V M , '
* j * y, ^ ^ v)'V V arsali ,
l£5* r ' >i v * g * o ^ \L^&» K a s ix M ' « v * „
rachi ' ' % • ^ . ■ , P r a y a g j' . * l , Pataliputra
M AUAV a s V J * ' '« * ’ 'C h a m p a * ' «
•> J >4. . - • '‘■ u l'1' ! >' >• Eran * v ^ v i .
U jja m .V g )«/c . * * Jg S0
ii, ^ A ^ L / #Sanchi MATATA
Calcutta
SURASHT
■ramr^iipti
V a l a b h i V / u V V * ™ ^ ^ 3 M AHAKOSALA
-io*
S u rp a ra k a - «0
Bombay

_ /£>
APARA PURVA
SAMUDRA SAMUORA
PALLAVAS
0 a/M adras
anhci

.10

200 400
Kilometres u=
Miles U---------U....... -u~ u
O 100 200 300 400

To* 7d5° s>o'

 The problem of the atavika tribes remained during the Gupta

period. In the above inscription Samudragupta is said to have had the

kings of the forest countries submit to him *—

Here there is a reference to the kings of the atavilca3 who, contrary

to what we see in the Arthasastra. are not qualified as mleccha.

D.D. ICosambi has rightly pointed out that the 'food-gathering territory1

of the atavika savages 'shrank under the plough' as 'their chiefs ...

turned into kings and began to promote village settlement with plough
77
cultivation and regular taxes.' Such a process must have taken

place among certain tribes, while others were pushed still further

into the fastnesses of the Himalaya or the Vindhya regions as a result

of the increased area of the food-producing economy of the plains.

The inscription itself gives no hint as to the identification of

7R
the atavika kingdoms. Fleet has pointed out that the Khoh Copper Plate

of Maharaja Saftksobha refers to his ancestor as ruling over his heredi­

tary kingdom of Dabhala together with eighteen Atavika.ra.iyas. This

territory must probably be identified with present Bundelkhand and

79
adjoining areas.'* This gives us some indication that certain forest

tribes had created small pockets of political power in the Vindhyan

76 . Ibid., text line 21. He literally made them his servants

77* P.P. ICosambi, An Introduction to the

p.241 .

78. D.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr., 'Khoh Copper Plate Inscription of

Safiksbobha', text line 8 — sata vijaylnah sastadasatavo
ra.iyabhyantaram'dabhala rajya manvayagatani samadi.*,»"
J.F. Fleet. Vol.. III. 'Khoh Conner—Plate Tnsnr.irti on of
Maharaja-SaiTlcshobha', lines 7-8, p .116 ( T x - . ) ^ 0. who v s
v$h tori bus in mahy hundreds of battles, who^spiight to’ '"govern
projperly '.the kihgdom of p'abhala which had collie (to him) ^hy
inheritance, together with (all the country).-included in the
eighteen forest kingdoms;

f9. J.F. Fleet, C.lli.. Vol. Ill, p.13, foot note 4*

 195

region. After the sixth century A.D. it is this region which played

a major role in the politics of Central India.

It is doubtful whether the methods of dealing with tribes as laid

down in the Arthasastra suited all times. ICautilya1s main aim had been

to break up the tribal system and thereby lessen their threat. By the

Gupta period this threat was replaced by the creation of small tribal

kingdoms. A change in the emphasis of attitudes towards them is re­

flected in the fact that they were now not necessarily called mlecchas.

It is, however, well known that forest tribes, some of them savage,

have continued their separate existence in India throughout the centuries

right down to modern times.

Hone of the other Gupta emperors refers to the conquest and

reconciliation of atavika kingdoms in their inscriptions. But the use

of mleccha to describe a country occurs in the Junagarh inscription

of Skandagupta. The term mleochadeSegu is mentioned with reference to

the glory of this king, which spread in the countries of the mlecchas
80
as well. It is difficult to know what is meant by these mlecchas.

Perhaps it included the country of the Hunas outside India proper.

It is inappropriate to conclude with the impression that mleccha

was used as a designation only for the uncontrollable wild tribes.

Further, it is necessary to eradicate the notion that only foreign

81
peoples were known as mlecchas. In the Mudraraksasa,
1 ■ - ■■■—
a play dealing
4

80. D.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Junagadh hock Inscription of

Skandagupta'• text line 4 — yasya ripavo (pi) amulabhagnadarpa
ni .. (nirvacanaV mlecchadesesu/

81, Due to the mention of the £>akas and Hunas in this play, it is
dated by scholars during the reign of -the Gupta emperor Candra-
gupta II rather than in that of Candragupta Maurya. — -» K.A.N.
S.astri, (ed) The Comprehensive History, of India, Vol. II, The
Satavahahas and'Mauryas, p.4; C.R. Devadhar and V.M. Badekara,
Hudraraksas am of Visakadatta. 1948, p-5 ? G.V. Devaathali,
Introduction to the Study of the Mudraraksasa. 1948, p.159»
 196

with political conspiracy there are a whole series of references to

the mleccha allies of Malayaketu who are described as regional kings

within the geographical boundaries of India. In Act I Canakya relates

how Malayaketu has been angered by the death of his father and to avenge

his death and also incited by the offer of the kingdom of the Nandas,

he is assisted by a large force of mleccha princes to prepare an attack

82
against Candragupta. In Act three he repeats this assertion and adds

that the enemy is ready for attack on the advice of Raksasa —

raksasopade^apravano mahlyasa mlecchabalena parivrtah R,

pitrvadhamarsl parvatakaputro malayaketur asman abhiyoktum udyatah/

In the recounting the details of Malayaketu* s strength and his

allies Canakya in one passage also calls this king a mleccha. He then

goes on to narrate that on being informed by spies, he has information

on the names of the five kings that will aid him with great courage —

upalabdhavan asmi pranidhibhyo yatha tasya mlecchara.jalokasya

madhyat pradhanatamah panca rajanah ... 84

The names of these five kings are as follows: Citravaxma, king of

Kuluta, Siifihananda, king of Malaya, Puskaraksa

• •
of Kasmxr, Sindhusena
m *
of

Saindhava and Megha of the ParsTkas — —

te yatha — kaulutas citravarma malayanarapatlh. slinhanado

kasmirah puskaraksah ksataripumahima saindhavafi, sindhusena.li/
meghakhyah paficamo ^smin prthuturagabalah parslkadhira,^ o I.„ 85

82. Mudraraksasa. I, 11 — — parvatakaputrena malayaketuna saha sam-

ghaya tadupagrhltena ca mahata mahata mlecchara.jabalena .•.
(Raksasa) 77"Having allied with Malayaketu, the son~l)f~Parvataka
and assisted by a large force of mleccha princes ...

83. Mudrar,, III, 25 — (Canakya speaks) *. .P.ollowing the advice of

Raksasa, Malayaketu, the son of Parvataka, being angry by the
murder of his father, is ready to attack us with a large force
of mlecchas.*

84* Mudran. I, 20 — (Canakya speaks) *... I am informed by spies that

'five kings among the"friends of the mleccha king (Malayaketu).
are following him with great courage,.*

85# Ibid., I, 20. R.D, Karmarkar, Mudraraksasa. of Vifeakadatta, Poona-

1940, I, 20, identifies Kuluta as modern1,'Kulu district in Punjab
(now Himacala Pradesh), south-east of Kashmere and Farslka as the
Persians on the borders of India and Afghanistan.
 197

Even though in this context these kings are not called, .mleccha, else­

where the reference to the mleccha allies of Malayaketu must also

allude to these kings# That these were not the only kings who fought

on the side of Malayaketu is known from the description of how the armies
86
should march given by Raksasa. Here, there is reference to the

Gandharas and the Yavana chiefs who should be in the central division,

the J$aka kings, the CInas and Hunas who should be at the rear and the

king of Kuluta and others who should guard the Prince on the march.

The importance given to the five kings mentioned above as guards of the

Prince himself cannot be overrated.

While not once in the play the side of Candragupta is supported

87
by the mlecchas. the impression is given that his enemy acquired his

strength solely from his alliance with mleccha kings and their armies.

Clearly this is due to the prejudice of the author which comes to the

forefront at the end of the play where Visnu is said to have taken

the form of Candragupta to grant protection to the earth that was

88
troubled by the mlecchas. With source material such as that of a

literary play, it is difficult to relate its contents, particularly in

the field of political activities, to actual events that may or may not

have taken place. However, the views of the playwright must, to a

certain extent, have portrayed the current opinion about securing

political alliances with mlecchas. In thus evaluating, it is outstanding

8 6 . Mudrar., V, 11 — sainyair gandharair madhyayane sayavanapatihhih

samvidheyah prayatnah/

page at tisthantu virah sakanarapatavah s.amih'cthn

cinahunai3i*kaulutadyas ca sistab. path! partvunuyad
ra.jal okah *kumarain//

87o ,The forces of Candragupta were, however, supported by such

outside elements as the Sakas, Yavanas, KirStas, Kambojas,
Parsikas, Valhikas and others who guarded the city of Kusuimapura -
Mudrar.. II,.13-

8 8 * Mudrar.. VII, 19#

 198

that in practice no taboos or restrictions seem to have been attached

to soliciting help from or concluding alliances with mleccha kings*

If ViSakhadatta was concerned about not associating his hero with

mleccha alliances, the authors of the Mahabharata were not. In several

instances in that text it is recognised that mleccha soldiers and

kings fought under the banner of both the Pandavas and Kauravas in

the Great War. ♦Many warriors dwelling in inaccessible hills, several

warriors high in lineage and many mleccha peoples wielding weapons of

various kinds and showing oourage were assembled devoted to the cause
- 89
of the Faxj^avas • 1 Again, this time the Papdava army was protected
90
by Mlecchas among many other peoples. They fought on the side of the
91
Kauravas as well. Their numbers were great and their support loyal,
92
but they were all killed. Elsewhere, the Suta laments the misfortune

of the Kauravas with the question — 'When the Warayanas have been

killed, as also the Gopalas, those troops that were invincible in

battle, and many thousands of mlecchas. what can it be but Destiny?'^

A notable feature in the Mahabharata with reference to the con­

centration of mleccha troops at the battle of Kuruksetra is that the

contingent of the mlecchas is always represented as a very large one

and often, it seems that the numerical superiority is exaggerated only

to enhance the bravery and excellent fighting ability of the heroes

the Pandavas.^

89. Mbh., V, 22, 21 giryasraya durganivasinas ^ca

mlecchas ca nanayudhavlryava.ntah*
samagatah pandavarthe nivig^fh/ / 21

90. Mbh., V, 158, 20. The Kambojas, Sakas, Khasas, Salwas, Ma.tsy'»s,
Kurus, Mlecchas, Pulindas, Dravidas, Andhras end Kahehis supported
them.

91. Mbh., IX, 1, 26. 92. Mbh., IX, 2, 18,

93 . Mbh., IX ,5 2, 36 — * narayana hata yatra go pal a, yuddhaduimiadah/

1rnleoQhag ca bahusahasrah kirn anyad bhagadheyatah/ / 3 6

94. Mbh., VII, 69, 30 ; Mbh., VII, 95, 36.

 199

The tradition of accepting mlecchas as political allies and

mercenary soldiers therefore existed in ancient India. But it is

only Sukra, possibly a nineteenth century smrti writer, who acknowledged

that the qualities of a soldier are many though his desoent has no
95
importance whatever and even mlecchas are qualified for the job* It

cannot be ignored that political attitudes towards the mlecchas were

only partly determined by the brahmanical attitudes on the subject.

96
The Buddhist and' Brahmanio texts agree on consistently regarding

only those areas as mlecchadesa or inhabited by mlecchas which

geographically were non-agricultural lands, .i.e.* lands where the

primitive occupations of hunting and food-gathering were prevalent.

To this extent political theorists like Kautilya expressed similar

ideas. The Buddhist texts also considered the regions defined as

majjhimadesa most conducive to following *a proper way of life1. The

Brahmanic texts were particularly concerned about the purity of the

people who visited mleccha areas. Here, kings, political opportunists

and their advisers seemed to ignore the injunctions of the 3)hannasastras.

Firstly, there were no restrictions to the area a monarch might want

to conquer except his own limitation. Secondly, the employment of

mlecchas as spies in the imperial court or on the battle field meant

contact with their speech, behaviour and habits. There was political

exploitation of certain mleccha communities, especially those in a less

advanced state of development, and therefore, no discrimination as was

advocated by the brahmanaa in the sastras.

95*. Sukraniti. II, 138-140.

<
96. Conclusions based on evidence related in Chapter IV*

V "
 200

I n the l i g h t o f the above p o l i t i c a l a t t it u d e s , we can now, by way

o f c o n tr a s t, 'tu rn to the view s h e ld by the brahmanas as p o rtra y e d in

the s m r ti, it ih a s a and purana l i t e r a t u r e on mleccha custom s, b e h a vio u r

and e t h ic s . T h is w i l l add to th e reasons f o r the d i f f e r e n t ia t io n

between th e aryas and th e mlecchas and u lt im a t e ly in d ic a te th a t the

d is c r im in a tio n a g a in s t the l a t t e r was, on the w hole, a c u l t u r a l pheno­

menon .

The i n t r i c a t e r u le s o f p u r it y and im p u r ity , laws o f b e h a v io u r,

r it u a l .and customs were p a in s ta k in g ly n a rra te d i n the g a s tra b u t o n ly

fo r. th e w e lfa re o f th e members o f the fo u r v a rn a s , I n th e S u k ra n itis a r a

an e x c e p tio n t o t h is i s no te d where i t i s s ta te d th a t th e *dharma o f the

§a s tra s b in d s even th e m lecchas. 1 T h is s ta te m e n t, however, occurs in

the g a s tra i n the c o n te x t o f a passage on the sources o f income w h ich,

because th e y d i f f e r a cc o rd in g to ca ste have been f ix e d by p re v io u s

acaryas f o r th e p re s e rv a tio n o f s o c ie ty . The passage reads o.s f o llo w s :

v i d i t a 1rthagamah g a s tre ta th a v a rn ah p rth a k p rth a k /

S a s ti ta c chastradharmaifi yan mlecchananTapi t a t sada / / 295
p u rv a c a ry a is tu kathitaifo lokanaiii s t h it ih e t a v e /

I t i s most l i k e l y t h a t i t was o n ly whenever mlecchas were in v o lv e d

in d is p u te s c o n ce rn in g money and income th a t th e s a s tra lav/ a p p lie d

to them, as th e p r o p e rty , income e t c , o f the a rya was a ls o a t s ta k e .

On the w h ole , th e DharmaSastra, A rth a S a s tra and brahm anical j u r i s -

1 ' 1 - -nnr T i l #

prudence in g e n e ra l, excluded the mlecchas from i t s scope. They a ls o

do n o t b o th e r to n o te the law s and s o c ia l codes p re v a le n t in m leccha

s o c ie ty o r compare them w ith t h e i r own. A l l in fo r m a tio n about the

c u lt u r a l b e h a vio u r o f the m lecchas, t h e i r s o c ia l customs o r t h e ir

economic s ta tu s i s th e re fo re p e jo r a t iv e . There i s g e n e ra l u n a n im ity

i n a s s o c ia tin g mlecchas w ith bad con d u ct, f i l t h y h a b its and peou.l i a r

97* S u k r a n it i. IV , v , 295-94* ’ I n the S a stra the sources o f income

a c c o rd in g to the varnas are known to b e .v a rio u s and th a t Dharma
o f th e s in t r a s ""always b in d s even the m lecchas. These have been
f ix e d by p re v io u s acaryas f o r the p re s e rv a tio n o f s o c ie t y . *
 201

customs# A description of the mlecchas in the Mahabharata sums up,

though only apparently, the characteristic apathy and opprobrious

attitude of brahmana writers towards mlecchas; — — "The mlecchas are

the dirt of mankind; .•.r —

manusanaA malam mleccha ,*

r~— i , - — tt'-L -t-ti- .. -i.

Further in the same chapter it is observed:

mlecchah svasaiS.iYianiyata nanukta itaro .janah —

"The mlecchas are wedded to the creations of their own fancy other
99
people cannot understand#1

For members of the brahmanical society there was only one aim:

*To live according to the rule of conduct (as laid down in the smrti)

is doubtlessly the highest duty of all men.'^^ Since the inherent sense

of superiority and firm belief in their own social laws was the

keynote of all b astras it was essential to further and strengthen these

codes. There was the need to do so, if only to maintain the position

of the most exclusive group in society: the brahmanas» Thus it was

made known that *These religious acts which men, deeply versed in the

knowledge of the three Vedas and acquainted with the sacred law, declare
101
to be lawful (are efficient) for purifying oneself and others* 1

These two tenets were supposed to be acknowledged by all brahinanic

followers and were particularly impressed upon members of the lower

orders of society* However, conditions by which mlecchas could be

102
accepted into the brahmanical society are not specified at all,

98* Mbh*. VIII, 50, 70.

99* Hbh., VIII, 50, 80. (Translation P.C.Roy),

100* Vasistha Dhs.. VI, 1-2,

101 • Vasistha Dhs..I,- 16, traividyavrddha yam biniyur dharmaiti dhnrmavido

* * I'nnSh/ "

pavane pavane caiva sa dharmo riatpa soAsaya

iti/ 7 16

102. This does not mean that mlecchas were never assimilated in
brahmanical society.
 202
In all circumstances the mleccha is considered a separate

entity. Even in cases where reference is made to the people as a

whole, the two groups mentioned distinctly are the aryas on the one
103
hand, and the mlecchas on the other, The emphatic rejection of

the mlecchas as a reference group outside the official pattern of

society, as formulated by the anoient authors, did not mean to justify

aggression against them. This is an important aspect as almost all

references to the mlecchas are given in relation to the rules of

exclusion for the arya. Passive avoidance of mlecchas, their ways

and their territories seemed to be the theoretical principle which

guided the stereotyped attitudes towards them. But stereotypes are

often distorted, and were in this case as well. It is of crucial

importance to examine not only the Instances but also the reasons for

these variations and when they occurred.

There is a significant lack of material on the social and

behavioural discrimination of the mlecchas during the centuries B.C.

Almost all the references to them in this period are in a linguistic

context, namely, the firm injunction, particularly to brahmanas, to

avoid mleccha^vac,^ ^ Having discussed these in an earlier chapter,

it will suffice here to reiterate that the difference in the speech of

the mlecchas was the only feature they wished to notice for their purpose

Their concern was mainly to maintain the exclusiveness of brahmana

1°3. Mbh., VI, 41, 103.

104. Sat. Br.. III. 2, 1, 23-24 —

This is the first reference to the mlecchas, which is given
in the context of their speech; Panipi, Til, 2, 18;
I, 220; X, 121, gives the verbal forms of the word mlecciia;
Gautama Dhs.. I, 9, 17 does not allow snatakas to speak to mlecchas
Patafijali, I, 1, 1 repeats the passage from the Sa t , B r . to
emphasize the importance of learning grammar.
 203

105
speech in order to create a society dependent solely on their expertise.

The socio-economic threat from mleccha groups, both indigenous and

foreign, was absent during this period, so that there was no threat

to the supremacy of the ksatriya^brahmana control at the top of the

social ladder. It is wrong to suggest that there was 110 awareness

of mleccha customs and behaviour among the authors of the Veda-

vSamhitas and particularly the hharmasutras. It is unlikely that later

writers of the Epics, Puranaa and Smrtis all of a sudden became aware

of this issue. Even the foreign writer Megasthenes of the third

century B.C. observed that the Indians were surrounded by barbarian

■t
tribes who differed from the rest of the population. A significant

exception among the brahmanical writers is Kautilya who mentions certain

features about the mlecchas which are not repeated elsewhere.

Kautilya forbids the members of the four varnas to sell their

offspring but adds that it is not an offence for the mleccha to do so —

mlecchanam adosah pra.jam vikretum adhatuA va/ / 3

na tv evaryasya ctasabh5vah/ / 107 '

The Sudras were looked upon as part of the arya community in this case

and were therefore clearly distinguished from the mlecchas. There

is no reference, however, to the identification of the mlecchas in this

instance. Their custom is recorded perhaps because it was quite common

and therefore generally known and, more importantly, it was to bo made

known to the members of the brahmanical society that they were not

to follow it. If they did, they were to pay fines varying according

105, D.D. ICosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History.

”
1975* pp.278-280 discusses the role of the Sanskrit language and
the brahmanas in 'extending the Aryan mode of produc tion in to new ‘
areas *
■*'
.
*A * , 9

4' #
106, McCrindle, India as described by Mogasthene’s*and ArrianWius'dO-PI. ‘
4Q7«- A.S.. Ill, 13, 3-4* *Eor the mlecchas it is not an offenqe to
,^ S.ell offspringHor keep it as a pladgq.Vl^Thpre shall be no. slavery
for an arya in any circumstances.1. ''

108, Ibid.. Ill, 13# 1-2, In III, 7» 27 they are considered equal to
mixed castes.
to th^r caste.
109 -
Kangle "believes that mlecchanam would seem to denote
110
foreigners as well as tribals not absorbed in Aryan society# It

is difficult to ascertain which tribal groups sold their offspring as

slaves during the period in which ICautilya wrote# If we accept that he

9

wrote during the Mauryan period or earlier, he could be referring to the

system of slavery among the Greeks who in India were known as the

Yavanas or Yonas# A Buddhist text, the Ma.i.jhima Nikaya of around the

same period mentions the custom among the Yonas and Kambojas where
111
an arya could become a dasa and vice versa#

Kautilya1s injunction, like most brahmanical ones was meant for

the aryas and the mention of the mleccha custom was incidental# Berrett

further observes that he probably had Hindus in mind who were willing
112
to buy mleccha offspring# Whatever the intentions, the mlecchas are

not commended for their behaviour but at the same time they are not

spoken of in derogatory terms*

This is not a characteristic of all references to mlecchas in the

Artha^astra. At least twice they are listed in the same category

113
as thieves and are considered a menace to the State# y As spies much

sought after, they are listed with humpbacks, dwarfs, eunuchs, women
114
skilled in the arts, the dumb and indeed, in another passage, men

and women of mleocha.jatis were known to be easily disguised as hump-

backs, dwarfs, kiratas# dumb and deaf persons, idiots and blind persons#

In both these instances their abilities were to be' deployed against the

enemy and for the protection of the king.

109. A.o.* III, 13, 1-2.

110. R,P. Kangle, The ICautillya Arthagastra. Pt. II, foot note to III,
.13, 3.

111. Ma.i.jhima M k a y a . II, 149*

112. J..D.M* Perre/bt, .JjilgHO. Vol.I, 1957,p,*91.

113* AjS.** V n , 10, 16; Vii, 14, 27; XIII, 5, 15 - These have been
discussed fully above.
 205

A striking feature in these citations and in some others of the

same text is that for the first time there is reference to 1various
116
mlecoha^.jatis *» Jati here cannot be taken to mean 1caste1 in the

sense of hierarchical groupings in the brahmanical society based on

birth. The reference was probably to the different communities of

mlecchas that existed in various parts of India who must have been

identified by their respective occupations and particularly by their

proximity to the settled urban and rural way of life that was consi­

dered most conducive to the practice of the vama£ramadharma. It is

important to note that there is a clear contrast between those mlecchas

who were known to belong to groups, probably tribal groups, and there­

fore collectively called mleccha.jatis and those that were simply called

mlecchas as in the first verse discussed above (ill, 13, 3 - mlecchanam’).

The latter form could have alluded to foreigners in India who were

not necessarily settled in identifiable communities. Finally, it must

be recalled that the ArthaSastra also has the use of mleccha as an

117
adjective for wild tribes - atavi,

Knowledge about the mlecchas was thus not totally absent in

brahmanical circles. As to the fourth and third centuries B.C., we

can say that the state indirectly upheld the brahmanic system even

though there is no doubt that A6oka gave positive patronage to Buddhism.

He, however, did not attack the supremacy of the brahmanas and ksatrlyas

in any way. On the other hand, a strong and well established govern­

ment had prevented foreign invasions and A^olca's policy of Dhamma had

kept all elements of the population, including tribesmen, temporarily

VII, 14, 2 7 -G j,.coraganatavikaml ec.cha.jatTh.am ,»„) ;

XIII, 5, 15 (coraprakrtlnajfi mleccha.jatlnaii. ,TTT~
XIV, •1, 2 (.. ,'mleocha.iatiyair abhlpretaih stribhih,»);
I, 12, 21 (,.mlecchaj^tayah..). *

117* A.5., XII, 4," 23^ (mleochatavika); VII', 10, 16 (mlecchatavlbhir).

 206

pacified during his reign# The competition from the Buddhists did not

affect the broad attitudes towards the mlecchas.

It is several times stated in the Nikaya that the outlying regions

118
of majjhimadesa are inhabited by the unintelligent milakkhas.
119
where both monks and lay disciples are forbidden to travel. The

point that only a few men are reborn in the middle districts while

numerous peoples are reborn among the milakkhas is also observed in

the early Jaina sutras in a slightly different manner. The TJtta-radhyayana

Sutra notes that *though one be born as a man, it is a rare chance to

be an arya; for many are the Dasyus and Milakkhus,. in the

SutrakrdaAga it is implied that the milakkhas are ignorant and unintelli­

gent as they repeat what the aryas have said without understanding its
A

meaning. The next sutra observes: fSo the ignorant, though

pretending to possess knowledge, do not know the truth, just as an

119c
uninstructed milakkha.'

Just as the reforming efforts of Buddhism and Jainism did not

bring about any fundamental change in the position of the lower orders
120
of society, neither did they affect the notion that because certain

11®* AAg.. N ,. I, 35? Saifiyutta P .. V, 4-66; Dxgha N ., III, 264 *— ■*

..atha kho ete bahutara satta ye paccantimeeu janapadesu
pacca.jayanti aviifflataresu milakkhesu// '. .many are reborn in
the outlying regions among the unintelligent milakkhas.1

119. Aftg. il.. IV, 226.

119a. Uttaradhyayana Sutra# X, 16 — ladhdana vl manusattnnati arlattam

punravi dullaham/ bahave dasyu milakfdiuya .. I[ J \ 6//*
119b. SutrakrdaAga. I, 1, 2, 15 — milaklchu amilakkhussa jaha vuttdnubhasae/
na heum se vi.janal bhasiam t1nubhasae//15// It is also implied
that the milakkfias had a different language and that they did
not understand the language of the aryas.

119c. Ibid.. I, 1, 2,- 16 — evaman naniya nanajfi vayaiTrbavi sayam sayoiTi/

nicchayatthaifi na yanamti milakkhuvva abohiya/

120. R.S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 195®, p.138.

 207

groups followed a different way of life, especially one that was

distasteful in their view, they were to he called milakkhas. In

Buddhism, however, it was a basic principle that neither caste nor the

fact of belonging to a foreign community would be an impediment to

anyone who wished to join the Order,

The question of mleccha behaviour began to disturb brahmana

writers to a considerable degree in the early centuries A.B,, when

it became apparent in their writings. Though the early Butras and

religious literature had not dwelt on the behaviour of the mlecchas,

the cultural importance of Sanskrit as a language for ritual purposes

and the ritual purity of Sryavarta were constantly emphasised. But

the cultural exclusiveness of the aryas ultimately rested on the strength

of the sigtas,
— 121
Aryavarta was a land of 6istas. By slstas was meant men of

pure birth and, even more, important, great learning and almost invariably

these were brahmanas, In all matters of Dharma their practices were to

122 _
be followed. The authority of the brahmanas in Aryavarta was well
1 1 J -

123
entrenched and.to a certain degree unquestioned, until real decline

of this authority set in with the first foreign invasions and

settlements in madhyadeSa. The close and convenient alliance between

the ksatriyas and brahmanas was disrupted and replaced by other ruling

classes. As a result of these ohangea the Sastras advocated strong

resistance against foreign influence, in particular by strengthening

the rules of exalusion from particular areas for the arya and avoidance

of contact with certain types of people. Prayagcitta or expiation

became a more popular means of purification.

121, Baudhayana Bhs», I, 1, 5-6,

122, Baudhayana Dhs.. I, 2, 9-10; Vasistha Dhs.. I, 4-75

Mahabhasya. VI,, 3, 109•

123* They advised kings to accept as valid usages of other countries,

jatis. grenis. etc, but always emphasized that nothing should
oppose the smrti. (Discussed above).
 208

l^ ie Yisnusmrti is the first lawhook to detail the various acts

from which an arya is excluded in relation to a mleccha* Unlike the

124
Gautama Uharmasutra where speaking to a mleccha was forbidden only

for the snataka* Visnu extends it further to all aryas* A person

125
defiled hy such an act is recommended to sip water afterwards* In

the chapter on the duties of householders, and in particular, their

eating habits he enjoins that food must not be taken from a 'bad dish1

—— bhande bhavadusite*

Hie commentary explains that this is similar to the dishes used by the
126
mlecchas. But most important of all references to the mlecchas in

this Smrti is a whole section which enumerates all kinds of acts that

aryas are forbidden to carry out amongst mlecchas or in mleccha country,

127
They are as follows:

na ml ecchavis aye £raddhain kuryat/l/

'He must not#offer a sraddha in a country inhabited by mlecchas*'

na gacchen mlecchavisayam/2/ ^pg

'He must not visit a country inhabited by mlecchas*1

paranipanesv apah prXtva (pitva?) tat samyam upagacchatlti/3/

'Ey (constantly)'drinking water from (or bathing in)*"a pool
situated in a foreign (barbarous) country, he becomes equal to
its inhabitants,'

caturvarnyavyasthanaifi yasmin dese na vidyate/

sa mlecchadeSe vi.jneya aryavartas tatah parah/4//64//
'Those countries where the four varnas’are not known is
mleochadesa. the others beyond that are called Uryavarta.'

All these precepts remain the basis for future smrtikaras though writers

add variations depending on the area and circumstances in which the

particular text was written.

124. Gautama Bhs*. I. 9. 17, 125. Visnusmrti, XXIX. 75-76.

126, The commentary called Yai,jayanti by Nanda pandita to Visnu

LXVIII, 49 •“ bhavena cittavrttya, dusite mlecchadibhandasadt:.6of..

127, Visnusmrti* LXXXIV, 1-4.

128, The commentary to this verse, LXXXIV, 2 adds that it is not allowed
except on pilgrimage — tirthayatrafo vina mlecchadesam na gaochet/

129. Julius Jolly, The Institutes of Visnu. SBH, Oxford 1880,

Translation LXXXIV, 3.
 209

There are two points that emerge from the injunctions related in

the Visnusmrti. Firstly, the slightest contact with the mleccha in

the form of visiting his country or even performing a ceremony in

such places was considered undesirable. It was worse to constantly

drink water or bathe in such a country as that would equate the person

witV^bhe mleccha. This thus establishes that the mleccha is impure. But

his impurity is worse than that of an untouchable or the sudra because

the mleccha does not acknowledge the system of the four varnasi and there­

by the authority of the brahmanas. This brings us to the second point

which is that mleccha groups were identifiable by their non-observance

of caste rules and consequently, their behavioural norms in the family *

and in society were contrary to those laid down in the Jastra, There­

fore, any description about the impurity of mlecchas was related to

this factor.

We now examine how mleccha behaviour was a threat to established

society. It is a permanent feature during the Kali age, though the

Puranas and the Mahabharata

i -i-i — r- - speak of it in the future tense. The

destruction of the mlecchas. as we shall see, will only come with Kalki

but at that point in time, in the distant future, the whole human race

is said to be destroyed.

The general increase in mleccha influence which begins in the

Puranas with the Kali age, is first recorded in the Yuga Purana. This

initially explains, as do all the other Puranas. the ideal condition of

men in the ICrta Yuga which was followed by the Treta and Pvapara Yugas
130
and in each successive age Dharma is reduced. Bad times befall the

country politically, ethically and socially, according to the Yuga

130, Yuga Purana. (Ed. B.R, Mankad), 1951» text linen 11-75-
 210

Parana writer, with the invasion of the Yavanas, Pancalas and Mathuras.*^ ^

The mleooha influence is spread through a kins: called Smlata who was not
JILTTJBTIB #

only oppressive but who disrupted the sooial order of castes —

tatah sa mleccha amlato raktakso raktavastrabhrt/136

tato#varnas tu caturali s a ---
varnansavasth.itan sarvan lcrtva purnavyavasthi(tan) / 139
amlato lohitaksaS ca vipatsyati safejkUiavah/l 40 132

The association of the mlecchas with the disruption of the varna

oriented society is significant and recurs again. Not only did the

mlecchas not conform to the rules and regulations of that system but

they created a situation whereby the system did not function in

accordance with the wishes of the brahmanas. It is for this reason

that the Markandeya Purana pronounces that the four castes must be

safeguarded according to their respective rules of righteousness and

133
dasas. mlecchas and others who live in wickedness must be slain. y

In most other Puranas the Kali Yuga sees the final dominance of

of mleccha dharma which is in direct opposition to the ’proper way of

existence1. The chief features of the former were vice, violence,

hatred, falsehood, lack of virtue in women, neglect in the authority

of the Srorti, the study of the Veda and the performance, of sacrifice

were no longer popular, people were largely impious and addicted to

134
bad custom. More importantly, there is also the concern that (lie

ksatriyas and vaisyas were gradually being exterminated, the sudrao

befriended the brahmanas and acted their part. We are further informed

131• The deteriorating social and ethical standards in all Puranas

are blamed on foreign invasions. The political aspects in"those
sections on Kali Age have been discussed in Chapter VII.

132* Yuga P .. text lines, 136;138-140 *" fThis red-eyed and red- a I;hired
mleccha Amla^a •• will destroy the four varnas by making all
old-established varnas low placed.'

133# Mark. P ., CXXV, 57 - paripalaniyam akhilam catiirvarnyaiii svadliarmatah/

hanta.vya dasyayo mleccha ye canye dtistac estitab/4

134* These features are listed in a lengthy and repetitive manner in

Vayu P. . 58, 30ff; 99, 392-400.
 211

that the 6udras were respected everywhere (sudrabhivadinas sarve), they

propogated the faith of the impious (pasandanam pravartakah) and the

brahmanas. unsupported by the kings, depended on the §udras for their

livelihood.

The early Puranas almost all present similar versions of this

•l""rni
calamity and characteristically blame both the aryas and mlecchas for

it. The Matsya Purana, which is supposed to have drawn its material
136
on the Kali Age from both the Brahmanda and Vayu Puranas , gives a

shorter version which is as follows. It first lists in general the

bad conditions of the age such as the presence of disease, sorrow, the

failure of rain, prevalence of terror etc. The account also begins with

the statement 'the people will steadily deteriorate by adopting a

contrary course of life,.'

rj

—— viparyayena vartante ksayam esyanti vai pxajah/

subsequently, 'the contrary course of life' is elucidated. It isg

1) that people will not observe the rules of varnaSrama end thereby

are unrighteous —

varnasramaparibhrasta adharmaniratas ca tah/32

2) they will not abide by the observances of religion, of gruti and

smrti and therefore also destroy the varnasrama — —

Irautasmarte'tisithile nastavarna6rame
r ------- ' ■J _ " -J_T1..1- ,
T " '
tatha/46
r' • # > « r*

and finally, 3) brahmanas

—• . . - I ■■ 1 will be superseded by gudras
*“ - in that the

latter will recite mantras and the former will be anxioiis to please them

in many ways —

brahmanah sudrayonisthah sudra vai mantra.yona.yali//47

upasthasyanti tan vipras tadartham abhilipsavah746 138

135. Vayu P .. 58, 38-49; Brahmanda P., II, 31, 39-49*

136. Hazra, Puranic Records.., pp.174-75 places the Vayu and ^nhnvinda
versions between A.D. 200 - 275 *

137. Matsya P .. 273, 26-31.

138. Matsya P.. 273, 32; 46 -4 8 * 'Brahmanas will be b o m of £udras (or

will study under £udras) and &udras will be the source of mantras
(or take to teaching mantras).'(47) 'Those brahmanas will adore"sudras
anxious to acquire wealth from them (or anxious to get the meaning
of ’them)*1 (48)
 212

The Vi s h u and Bhagavata Puranas in their descriptions of the same

139
add that brahmanas will he slain under these conditions.

The Mahabharata in a similar tone of doom bewails that in the

Kali Age ’the whole world will be filled with mleccha behaviour and

notions, sacrifices will cease, there will be joy nowhere and general

rejoicing will disappear,’ ——

mlecchabhutam jagatsarvam niskriyafl yajhavarjitam/

bhavisyati niranandam anutsavam atho tathk// 140

Prominent among the misdeeds spoken of here are those concerned with

brahmanas and caste system, 1) Brahmanas will speak disrespectfully

of the Vedas — —

brahmana vedanindakah/

and 2) there will only be remnants of the brahmana, ksatriya and

vaisya orders and men will become members of one common order —

brahmanah ksatriya vaisya na sisyanti .ianadhi.ua/

0 ««■ % w ft— 11 i ii».'im iir hiin *>m < "i > w n m i i i.i ... i uK urrr/

ekavarnas tada loko bhavisyati yugaksaye// 1/]1

As a result of the earth being full of mlecchas, the bratunana^s, it is

1/12
also stated, will flee in all directions for fear of the burden oC taxes,

It has been suggested that these accounts refer to the period of

chaos between the fall of the Mauryas and the rise of the Gupta empire,

Jayaswal even goes to the extent to interpret literally the Purante

statements that rulers killed brahmanas, ruled in terror, exacted unfair

taxes etc., to the activities of the Yavana, Saka and Kusana kings,
0 0

13 9. Visnu P.. IV, 24, 17ff?Bhagavata P.,XII,i,39-49? XII, 2, 12ff.

140. Mbh., Ill, 188, 29.

141. Mbh., III, 188, 26; 41,

142. Mbh.. Ill, 188, 70 - mahimlecchasam akirna bhavisyatitato’olrat/

karabharabhayad vipra bhajlsyauti dfso iaSa/ / 7 0

143. R*8. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958, p.215,

144. K.P. Jayaswal, History of India 150 A,I). - 550 A.P.. pp. 150-153,
 213

Jayaswal himself creates an exaggerated picture as the common feature

145
of all these accounts ^ is not so much what the mleccha did "but the

plight of the brahmanas. the breakdown of the varnagrama system and

how the &udras were getting out of control. These were views of that

group in society who had lost or were about to lose their old privi­

leges, and could do nothing about that except spread doom* Clearly,

we cannot accept the above views as those that were generally accepted
1A&
by all ancient Indians, They, however, had the effect of wrongly

perpetuating the notion in Indian tradition that the term mleccha had

always denoted actively anti-brahmanical persons. The descriptions

of the Kali Age, R.S, Sharma has rightly pointed out, made * in the

form of complaints cannot be brushed aside as figments of imagination*

They depict the pitiable plight of the brahmanas on account of the

activities of the Greeks, Sakas and Kusanas, It is likely that their

invasions caused an upheaval among the gudras who were seething with

discontent. Naturally they turned against the brahmanas who were the
»

1 /1 7
authors of discriminatory provisions against them,'

The fact that the brahmanas were incapable of reasserting their

111 J I l # -.-T

old rights is evident from the fact that they proposed unlikely and

impracticable solutions to the problem of the. mlecchas, All Itirnnaa

end their sections on the Kali Age with the statement that Visnu
*•
in

the form of Kalki will destroy the whole race of keatriyas who are
1Aft
like mlecchas. Only the Vayu Purana refers to the exploits of fremiti

145* The prophetic note and future tense used in these accounts must
be ignored as they represent the conditions of their present state,

146, In chapters VI and VII it will be seen how all tribes end
foreigners were not called mlecchas and there is a great Oe.il
of Inconsistency on the matter in all brahmaaiical writing,

147, U.S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India, p.214,

148, kalklria tu hatah sarve arya mleccha^ ca sarvatah/ Matsya P ,,

273# 27? Vayu, ft., 98, 1-14S Brahmanda P.. II, ^8, 43;
Bhagavata P .. X, 40, 22,
 214

who raised an army of armed brahmanas that set out to annihilate the
' I1 fcn"
149
peoples suoh as vrsalas and mlecchas. In the Mahabharata

salutations are accorded to Kalki who, though only in the distant

future, will destroy the mlecchas but bring protection to dharma

150
and its re-establishment*

The desire for the eradication of the mlecchas did not obviously

materialise. The brahmanas. like all other groups in ancient Indian

society, had to accept their presence. Manu, the smrtikara par

excellence of the period between^, 200 B.C. - ji . 200 A.I)., makes it

clear that he was not merely concerned about mlecchas but also about
— 151
aryas and indeed all those outside the varnasramadharma. J However,

against this background it is easier to understand why deliberate

attempts were made to describe them as impure. Characteristic state­

ments to avoid them and their ways were common but, as we shall next

examine, often in the same text, contrary statements occur* These

are clear signs of how attitudes, not only to certain powerful outside

groups, but to the whole concept of the mleccha changed*

The inherent impurity of the mlecchas was implicit in the fact

that they did not perform the graddha.' ^ This was an important

ceremony which required the offering of food and prayers.to ancestors

by which kin ties and caste status were confirmed* The Matsya Parana

excluded inhabitants of the mleccha country^ ^ from being invited to

149* Vayu P .. 58, 88-90.

150. Mbh., Appendix, 12, 7» 19-20 - hanisyati kaler ante mleochres

turagavahana/ dharmasamsthapanarthaya tasmai kalatmane nomeh/20.
App•,12, 6, 3SM0: ~ *

151. Manu. X, 4 3 .

152. Mbh.. Ill, 188, 4 5 .

153* P*V. Kane, History of theBharmaiastra. Vol.I, p a103quotes the

same verse from theMatsya Purana, butperhaps a different version,
which states that it is brahmanas from the mleccha country who
are not allowed to attend the ^raddha feast.
 154
the sraddha feast. J The ~Vayu. contrary to the above view, refers

to the mlecchas offering oblations to pitrs (i.e. performing sraddha)

155
along with the four varnas. ^ The different account in the Vayu

probably alluded to a powerful group of mlecchas that were supported

by brahmanas, as it was impossible to perform a sradctha without their

support•

Exclusive mleccha groups had the support of brahmanas but this

does not apply to all mlecchas. On the other hand, the sectarian spirit

of the Puranas applied to everybody. The glories of Ka&i are sung in

the Matsya Purina and here it is stated that brahmanas. ksatriyas.

vaisyas. sudras and mlecchas. if they died in that city reached the
156
realm of Siva and attained salvation. J In the same Purina even a

mleccha is said to be moved by compassion at the sight of a woman being

157
burned, Though a mleccha must be killed for protection, he must be

judged by his adtions. It is related that a person who knows dharma

kills mlecchas for the protection of cows, brahmanas. children, women

the old and suffering —

gobrahmanahitarthaya balastrrraksanaya ca/

vrddhaturaparitrane yo hinasti sa dliarmavit/

154. Matsya P .. XVI, 16 krtaghnln hastikans tadvan ml ecchade san fvas inah/
trisafikur barbaradravavitadrnvidcakohknhhi/T'i 6
var.jayel lifiginah sarvan srlddliakala vl soaat ah/
purvedyur aparedyur ya yinltatma n.imant•i.1;ij e J 17
The Brahmanda P., II, 16, 59 declares the country of the Andhras
to be unfit*for the sraddha

155. Vayu P .. 63, 110-112. 156. Matsya P.. CLXXXI, 19-20,

157. Matsya P .. CLXXXYIII, 51.

158. Mbh. Appendix. 12, 12,15-16.

Bat, it is added that where there is a sinful brahmana and a dharmic

and pure mleccha, the latter is to be considered true and honest,

brahmanah papakarma ca mleccho va dharmikah &ucih/ ^ .

sreyams tatra bhaven mleccho brahmanah papakrn na ca/

Again in the Mahabharata the mlecchas are noted for keeping the vow of

fasts, Yudhi^hira in his conversation with Bhxsma is unable to give

a reason for such an observance among them as he had heard that only
■1f C\
brahmanas and ksatriyas observe the vow of fasts.

These passages reflect the variations in attitudes towards mlecchas

which is evidence of the flexibility inherent in the historical sdtuation

faced by the brahmanic society. But the persistent prejudice towards

outsiders could not be removed altogether and had to be justified •—

asamvasah pra.jayante mlecchas capi na saAsayah/

narah papasamibara lobh^ohaVamanvit^h// 108

1Those men that are of sinful conduct and that yield to the influence

of cupidity and stupidity without doubt, take birth as mlecchas with

whom one must not be associated,1 161

In the next two chapters we proceed to discuss the designation

mlecchas for all outsiders^ and,in the light of the above discussion

the ambiguity in its use will be better understandable,

159* Mbh, Appendix, 12, 12, 17—19•

160. Mbh., XIII, 109, 1-2 sarvesam eva varnanajli mlecchan'Tm ca iv!jvbt\aha/
upavase matir.lyam karanaia ca na vidmaho/7l
brahmaksatrena niyamas •K'cartavyT). itl nah srutam/
upavase*kathani teslih krtyam astl pltani.'d?ia/72
*There is a variant reading kartavya
 217

Chapter VI

TRIBES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DESIGNATED

AS MLECCHA

The existence of mlecchas as a large reference group outside

the varnagrama system was definite in brahmajjical writing. Further,

the role and status of the brahmana was pre-eminently emphasized in

the Dharmagastra texts# They were also to a large extent

responsible for laying down the rules and precepts for the

avoidance of mleooha groups, their speech, their habitat and way

of life.

The rules for the designation of particular groups of outsiders

as Mlecchas were, however, absent. This created a situation

whereby brahmanic writers were clear and consistent about the

criterion which determined mlecchar-hood in theoretical terms, but

in the use of the term mleccha as a designation for groups of

outsiders there was a certain degree of flexibility. This gave rise

to its wide and varied application and one is left the initial

impression that the apparent ambiguity in its use was due to the

ignorance of literary writers about people who had different cultural

attributes, Ve cannot, however, accept this explanation as there

was awareness in all types of brahmanical writing about both tribal

and foreign groups who were known to them by their respective names

and sometimes without the designation mleccha. Another point which

has to be accepted is that the term was not applied, at any stage,

to people belonging to one ethnic, religious or linguistic group.

The emphasis in this chapter is, to analyze and understand, in

detail, the term mleccha in a wider context along with other allied

terms as Dasyu, Kirata, Sahara, Pulinda and Nisada. We begin with

a brief review of the initial cultural differentiation on the

Indian subcontinent.
 218

Both the ooncept of mleccha and the word itself occur in the
■1
literature belonging to the Indo-Aryan speaking culture. The

dating of the Aryan arrival to India has been a subject of great

controversy and will continue to be so until fresh and unambiguous

evidence is produced. The Rg Veda, the earliest extant text of the

Indo-Aryans, has been attributed to about 1500-1200 B.C. The

history of Indo-Aryan migration into the subcontinent must be

understood in a correct perspective before one is able to evaluate

attitudes of the Indo-Aryans towards the original inhabitants. When

one speaks of the Indo-Aryan advance into the G-angetic country, it is

not simply the migration of certain tribes, but the extension of a

certain way of life. Its chief characteristic and organization

developed on Indian soil and projected certain basic values. The

developments of society between 1500-800 B.C. produced the society

reflected in the Pharmasutras of the fifth to the third century B. C,

Later, in the Smrtis these notions were elaborated and further

reinterpreted by the commentators of these texts. The view

represented in the Pharma&astra influenced other brahmanical writing

throughout the course of ancient Indian history.

Historical studies of India have often taken the coming of the

Indo-Aryans as their starting point. This is justifiable in a

study on some aspect of the Indo-Aryans themselves, but not when

it involves their relationship with people who were clearly

1* In accordance with scholarly practice, 1Indo-Aryan1 is used

by us to indicate the Indian branch of the Aryan (i.,£,
Indo-Iranian) sub-group of the Indo-European group”*of
languages. On these and related terms see T. Burrow,
•The Early Aryans', in A. L. Basham, A Cultural History of
India. 1975. pp. 20-29.
 219

different from them. Archaeological evidence throws light on the

existence of a variety of cultures before and after their coming,

the majority of which can definitely be identified as non-Aryan,

The earliest of these cultures are pre-Harappan settlements in the

upland valleys of Baluchistan and southern Afghanistan, Radio carbon

samples from a hearth in its uppermost levels at Killi Ghul Muhammad,

a typical site of this culture, has yielded dates of 3688 B.C. and
2
3712 B.C. Rana Ghundai, Quetta and Amri are other local cultures

of the same type in different regions. Pre-Harappan cultures also

extended into Punjab, northern Rajputana and Sind as the famous Sothi

cultures of the Sarasvati Valley and these are often called proto-

Harappan. What is particularly exciting in these recent excavations

is the fact that there is repeated evidence of continuity from pre-

Harappan times, proving definitely that the brilliant civilization

of the Indus valley did not burst out suddenly at the middle of the

third millennium B.C. (c. 2300-1750 B.C.), It had a background of

at least five or more centuries when, as far as material culture is

concerned, distinctive settlement patterns had been evdhred. The

Harappan culture itself was not confined to the Indus Valley.

It extended as far south as the Narmada(settlement of Bhagatrav)

and in the east as far as the upper Ganga-Jamuna Doab (Alamgirpur) •

Most interesting of all is the archaeological evidence which

shows the existence of post-Harappan cultures flourishing in the

Indus and the Ganges Valleys. We need to concentrate here on the

Ganges Valley where the bridge between the Harappan and post-Harappan

is the Ochre Coloured Culture (_c. 1400-1200 B. C.).^ The Ochre

2. B. and R. Allchin, The Birth of Indian Civilization, 1968, p.101.

3. The chronology of these cultures is based on radio-carbon dating
which we have not been able to study. Therefore the dates have been
quoted from a secondary source, R. Thapar, Presidential Address,
IHC. 1969, p. 16.
 221

Coloured Pottery is associated with the Copper Hoard Cultures

especially after the excavations at Rupar (Punjab). Remnants of

the latter are also found at innumerable sites in the Loab, Bihar

and West Bengal. Next in succession are the Painted Grey Ware

settlements (jc. 1000-400 B.C.). These produced a more sophisticated

pottery, and besides copper, the technology included an effective

knowledge of iron. The crop pattern comprised a fair share of rice

and the culture had the horse among its domesticated animals.^

Finally after the Painted Grey Ware came the Northern Black Polished

Ware (c_. 500-100 B.C.) which is associated with urbanization in the

Gangetic Valley and may well be a product of combined Aryan and

indigenous cultures.

One conclusion deduced from this survey is that there was no

one single dominant culture that existed when the Indo-Aryans settled

down in India. Nothing definite has yet emerged about the authorship

of these post-Harappan cultures. B. Heine Geldem writing in 1936 —

(’Archaeological traces of Vedie. Aryans1, Journal of the Indian

Society of Oriental Art. IV,) first identified the Copper Hoards

7
as traces of Indo-Aryan migration. Stuart Piggott initially agreed

with him but later wrote! fIt is tempting to associate this movement

with something more than trade, and to see in it the colonization of

the Ganges Basin by refugees and displaced persons from the Punjab —

the disposition of hoards itself suggests a time of insecurity and

8 Constant findings of more and more copper
economic instability*

4. B, B. L a i, ’ E xca va tio n s a t H a s tin a p u r', A I , V o ls . X - X I I , 1954-55,

p. 4 Map f o r th e d is t r ib u t i o n o f P a in te d Grey Ware.
5. There i s n o th in g d e f in it e about th e a u th o rs h ip o f th e pre-Karappan
and Harappan c u ltu r e s e it h e r , and a l o t w i l l be re v e a le d on the
decipherm ent o f th e Indus s c r ip t .
6 . B. B. L a i, ’ The Copper H oard s,* A I , V o l. V I I , 1951, P* 31 •
7* S. P ig g o t t , 'P r e h is t o r ic Copper H o a rd s ', A n t iq u it y . V o l. L X X II,
1944, pp. 173-183.
8. S. Piggott. P r e h is to r ic I n d ia . 1950, p. 238.
 222

hoards have extended as far east as Bihar and West Bengal.^ This

has led B. B. Lai to 'write: fAt present these tracts are known to

be chiefly occupied by Mundas, Santhals and other tribes belonging

to the proto-Australoid group of Indian population* Can it then be

said that the ancestors of these proto-Australoid tribes were

10
responsible for the copper hoards?' There is no positive evidence

to answer this question in the affirmative, even though literature

is full of references to aboriginal tribes that were encountered

by the Indo-Aryans. One argument, Lai himself points out, against

this theory is that the cultural equipment of these tribes at present

makes one doubt whether 3000 years ago their ancestors were capable

of producing these hoards.

The Indo-Aryans have more emphatically been archaeologically

11
identified with the Painted Grey Ware cultures by several scholars,

Lai bases his arguments mainly on his excavations at Hastinapur,

Kuruksetra, Mathura and other such sites that are mentioned in the

Mahabharata. Moreover, he believes that the Sarasvatl-Brsadvatl

Valley, where a considerable number of Painted Grey Ware objects have

been found, to be the early home of the Indo-Aryans, Wheeler modifies

12
his theory by adding that there were two waves of Aryan migration.

The general broad view following from this theory is that the heirs

of these cultures (P. G. W.) were pre-Aryan immigrants because of the

9. B. B. Lai, 'The Copper Hoards', AI, Vol. VII, p. 21 — Map for

the distribution of Copper Hoards,

1°* ibid. P. 39.

11, B. B. Lai, 'Excavations at Hastinapur', AI, Vol. X-XII,

1954-56, pp. 5-1515 M* Wheeler, Indus Civilization and beyond,
1966, pp. 93-102.

12. This theory was first formulated by Hoernle and further endorsed
by Grierson. A. P. R, Hoernle, A Grammar of Eastern Hindi. 1880,
pp. xxx-xxxii} G. Grierson, Imperial Gazetteer of India. I, 1907,
PP. 357-59.
 223

west Asiatio influences i.e. the horse and the use of iron. Above

all the proto-Indian tribes were too primitive to evolve such

cultures.

There are several points against this view. Firstly, the two

wave theory of Aryan immigration is based on linguistic and philological

evidence and philologists do not unanimously agree with it. Secondly,

the horse and iron could have been known to the Indians before the

Aryans actually migrated. On -the other hand, there are other reasons

suggested by scholars for the non-Aryan authorship of these oultures.

For instance, rice has been found at most sites which indicates that

the people of the Upper Gangetic Valley were well acquainted with

rice and its uses about 3000 years ago. To quote — 'Here it may

be pointed out that the use of husk as binder for mud walls indicated

the knowledge of a natural produce which comes to the people when

they have used it for a considerable period. It may not, therefore,

be mere speculation to draw the conclusion that the people of the

upper Gangetic Valley had been using rice long before what the age
"1^5
of Hastinapur indicates.' Secondly S. R, Das (A Study of the Aryan

authorship of Cemetery-H pottery and Painted Grey Ware. Calcutta,

1A
1962, pp. 4-7) mentions passages from the Rg Veda where the Aryan

preference for wood in rituals is stated and in the Satapatha Brahmana

associating wheel-made ware with the asuras i.e. non-Aryans. Thus,

the Painted Grey Ware cultures possibly may. be said to have had

a non-Aryan authorship.and later began to.be associated with Indo-Aryans.

The above discussion may apparently have seemed irrelevant

but it has definitely made one hesitant to accept the current

13. B. B. Lai, M , Vol. XI, 1954, p. 133.

14, Quoted by D. K. Chakrabarti, 'The Aryan Hypothesis in Indian

Archaeology', Indian Studies. Vol. XIX, iv, 19^8, p. 350.
 224

hypothesis of an 1Aryan invasion* put forward "by some scholars* J

Even if it is conceded that the Rg Veda contains references to

an Aryan invasion in the Indus region, this would not apply to

other parts of Northern India. However, in the first place the

Rg Yeda itself gives no clear reference to an invasion and most of

the information to support this theory is "based on inferences.

Secondly, in the Ganges Valley there is no archaeological evidence

of people having fled or migrated.

The Indo-Aryan immigrants were united "by one important factor:

that of language which was derived from the common Indo-European

language group. This by no means suggests that they all spoke the
16
same language. .Linguistic and literary evidence points to the

fact that the Rryas lived in the vicinity of those who spoke an
17 18
alien language (mrdhravac)• ' In the Satapatha Brahmana those

who utter unintelligible words are mleochas. The question of who

the people with an alien and unintelligible language were is, however,
19
difficult to answer. In the Gangetic Valley at least no other

language survives today which we can attribute to a particular people

of that region. There is no doubt that the Indo-Aryans were successful

in spreading their language and propagating their literature in this

region. The theory that their success was due to their military

superiority is outdated. In fact, the Indo-Aryans themselves were

15# M. Wheeler, The Indus Civilization. 1968, pp. 129-130

16 . T, Burrow, The Sanskrit Language. 1975»(^pt.)y discusses in detail

the Dravidian and non-Aryan influences in Vedio and Classical Sanskrit,

17. Bg Veda, V, 29, 10; I, 174, 2; V, 32, 8; etc.

1®« -S&t. Br.. 2* 1 > 2 4 .

19. ’This has been discussed in the chapter dealing with mleccha
speech - Chapter III. Cf, map no. Ill, p. 133 showing the
spread of the Indo-Aryan language system in India.
 225

20
never one “
united tribal group# However, the one thing that all

the various Indo-Aryan tribal groups had in common was their socio­

economic structure which must have led to a superior mode of

production from the one already prevalent on the subcontinent*

According to Hr# Thapar, 'their association with iron technology

would probably explain why they were so successful in spreading the

21
Indo-Aryan language system through a major part of Northern India' •

As will be discussed in the following pages of this chapter, the

forest tribes of both the Himalayan and Vindhyan mountains, formed

a major group of people to be designated as mlecchas* Can this be

explained only by their primitive means of production?

Against this background, it was not surprising that the authors

of the Vedic hymns and the following Brahmanic literature, should

have distinguished between themselves and people unlike themselves.

22
The word mlecoha occurs for the first time in the gatapatha Brahmana

but it does not naturally follow that the initial distinction dates

back to this period# In the Eg Veda it is manifest in the relation­

ship between the Aryas and the Dasas/Basyus•

The Rg Ye da describes early Aryan tribal life in the Sapta-Sindhu

region and from its aocounts emerges a fairly clear picture of the

situation at the time. It was essentially a non-urban society

evolving from a nomadic to a settled agricultural life with a knowledge

of both iron and copper technology. It also mentions a series of

related tribes speaking a common language, sharing a common religion,

and designating themselves by the name Arya# and who were in a

20. A point discussed briefly in the Introduction, Chp, I.

21. R, Thapar, 'Image of the Barbarian in early India', CSSH.

Vol. XIII, 1971, pp. 408-409.

22. gat# Br.. Ill, 2, 1, 24.

 226

permanent state of conflict with a hostile group of people known

variously as Hasa or Dasyu.

One point must he clarified, before we discuss the relationship

of the dasa and the dasyu with the aryas. Were the terms dasa and

dasyu alluding to two distinct groups of people or just two words

indicating a certain cultural pattern? It would be futile to engage in

a lengthy controversy on this subject as ultimately it will still

be difficult to establish which people were meant by these terms# Even

if one conceded that they were two distinct people, it does not

seem that the authors of the Rg Veda differentiated between them#

Thus the best solution seems to be to specify in which context

each term occurs instead of assuming that they are identical terms.

The implication of dasa and dasyu being demons or non-human

beings may exist in the texts but not all denotations are of this

nature# Moreover, there are a fair number of indications to prove that

they were a real people# A mention of the physical appearance of

dasyus (anas — noseless or more probably flat-nosed), occurs in

23
the fifth book# The same verse refers to them as hostile speakers

(mrdhravao) # Mrdhravac in another context has been rendered as

unintelligble speech^ and in another as injurious s p e e c h T h e

rendering of anas as 'noseless1 according to Keith and Macdonell

'is quite possible, and would accord well with the flat-nosed

aborigines of the Dravidian type, whose language still persists

among the Brahuis, who are found in the north west. There are

scholars who disagree with this view and there is ground to criticize

23. H&V., V, 29, 10*

24:. Rg V ** I, 174* 2 — * Indra humbled such tribes.

25. Rg V ., V, 52, 8 — Vrtra, the evil-speaking ogre; X, 23, 5

for wicked people.

26, Keith and Macdonell, Vedic Index. Vol. I, p. 347*

 227

it as one cannot label any Dravidian types as being flat-nosed.

The second point about the 'hostile enemies* of the Eryas

is that they were not a nomadic people but had well established

roots in certain regions — one reason why they could effectively

fight back the Aryans* Indra cast down the iron forts of the dasyus^
28
and he wandered about shattering the cities of the dasas. The

dasa-vi£ah are quite often mentioned, the term could either be translated
29
as 'das a tribes* or 'dasa clans'. ' The dasyu wealth was a great

attraction for the aryas. They begged Indra to help them destroy the

wealthy dasyus and elsewhere, in a completely different context,

Indra*s help is implored to distribute the treasure gathered after

_ 3 -)
demolishing the dasas. ’Hie wealth of the dasyus and dasas was

considerable but no indication is given of what this wealth might

have been. The Rg Veda simply states that the wealth gained was
32
from the mountains and plains. Whatever this wealth may have been

it was strongly desired by the Aryas.

While the main reason for overpowering these people was the

acquisition of material wealth, the impression given by the hymn

writers was that they had to be subdued because they were riteless,
33
indifferent to gods, had no proper laws and so on. The dasyus

were infidels and lawless from the Aryan point of view, which does

necessarily mean that they were demons and uncivilized..

27* ftg Veda. II, 20, 8, — the dasa forts are mentioned; III, 12, 6;
IV, 3 2 , 10.

28, Rg Veda, I, 103, 3.

29.* Rg Veda, I, 130, 3» IV, 28, 4? VT, 25, 2. — Griffiths translates

vi&ah as race, which is of course incorrect.

30* Rg Veda.I, 33, 4.

31. Rg Veda,VIII, 40, 6.

32. Rg Veda,X, 6 9 , 6.
33* Rg Veda. X, 22, 8, — a-karman; keeping alien laws; VIII, JO, 11,
a-devaya; indifferent to the gods and also to sacrifice; X,5 1 » 8,
have no laws.
 228

What emerges from this survey is, that the dasas and dasyus

had a distinct way of life, were different from the aryas in

colour,^ certainly in language and above all in religion and

customs. The aryas themselves contrast the arya-varna with the

35
dasa-varna. The early struggle between the two peoples led to

the Aryans gaining the upper hand. That all the dasas and dasyus

became slaves or were vanquished is an archaic theory. There are

36
stray references to dasas being employed by the Aryans, but on

the whole large groups of people continued to remain outside the

arya system.

The term dasyu continued to be used by later writers of brahmanio

thought not in exactly the same context. In the period of the later

Samhitas and Brahmana texts, even though the Aryans continued to

extend their territory, principally in the east, into the Ganges

valley, references to conflicts with the dasa and dasyu are rare.

On the whole, in the Rg Veda, it remained a word to convey the meaning

of an outsider and definitely of someone who is held in low esteem.

In the Aitareya Brahmana for the first time it is specified that

the dasyus are such people as the Andhras, ^abaras, Puqdras, Pulindas,

Mutibas and others. This statement is reaffirmed in the Sa&dhayana

£rauta Sutra. These people are called the progeny of the sons of

ViSvamitra who had disobeyed their father. Further, it is said that

they lived in large numbers beyond the borders (fthe ends of the earth1),

34* Rg Veda,1, 130, 8, — krsna-tvac; their black skin is mentioned,

35* Rg Veda. Ill, 34 t 9> :— arya-varna; I, 104, 2, — dasa-varna.

36* Rg Veda.X, 62, 10, — Yadu and Turva have two dasas in their
service,

37. Ait. Br.. VII, 18; SaAkh. S. S.. XV, 26.

Here it is possible to speculate that sons of the people mentioned

above were those encountered by Vedic immigrants who were then pushed

back into areas still unexplored by the Vedic settlers. The very

fact that they still presented a potential threat to the Aryan

value system, made traditional writers formalize the concept of mlecoha

38
during this period. Later, some of the Indo-Aryans themselves,

ostensibly influenced by mleocha ideas and practices were classified

as dasyus.

According to Manufs scheme all those tribes not belonging to

the four varnas are dasyus whether they speak the language of the
— 39
mleochas or that of the aryas. The Dharmasutras and the earlier

Smrtis do not oontain this passage. The commentators of Manu do not

all agree on the precise definition of a dasyu, Medhatithi and

Kulluka^ define the Dasyu as one of the following tribes —

Paundrakas, Kodas, Dravidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, £>akas, Paradas,

CInas, Kiratas and Daradas, These are precisely the tribes and people

who are elsewhere in the Puranas and the Mahabharata^ listed with
42
the Mleochas. Narayana and Nandana, on the other hand, classify

the dasyu among the fifteen pratiloma castes. Their status in the

caste hierarchy is at the lower end. Manu, in another context,

43
refers to the Candalas as dasyus.

38, The word mlecoha occurs in the Sat. Dr. for the first time.
Sat. Dr.. Ill, 2, 1, 24.

39* Manu, X, 45,

40. Medhatithi and Kulluka on Manu, X, 32, — — the verse is about a

a dasyu begetting on a ayogava woman a sairandhra. This verse
also occurs in Vasigtha, III, 45? Vi gnu, XXIII., 50;
Yajnavalkya, I, 192.

41* Matsya P ., L , 7&? CXLIV, 50-50* Mbh. (refers throughout to the

. Critical Edition), I, 165, 30-38? Mbh., II, 29, 7-15?
Mbh., Ill, 48, 16-22; Mbh.. VTI, 68, 36-44*

42. Narayana and Nandana on Manu.-X, 32.

 230

All the Dharmasutras and Smrtis have long lists of the mixed

castes which are called anuloma and pratiloma castes. These chapters

on varnasaifikara are highly theoretical. It seems very unlikely that

large portions of population should have been the progeny of illegiti­

mate unions as is portrayed by these texts. However, they very

clearly reflect what was, in practice, happening on the Indian sub­

continent i.e. the intermixture of various peoples. The formulation

of such strict rules on maintaining endogamous caste groups by the

authors of the Dharmalastras was only because they saw the need to

strengthen their own position and thereby uphold the rights of the

'twice-born'* For this they had, at least apparently, to reject all

outsiders.

The term dasyu can thus in these texts be equated with the

term mlecoha in the sense that both were applied to outsiders —

people who were noticeable for not observing the rites and rituals of

the brahmanical society. Both were also general terms expressing

backwardness and inferior status and not names of a particular

people. The similarity of the meanings of these two words is,

however, limited; it does not imply that the word mleccha replaced

dasyu. After the beginning of the Christian era the term dasyu is

rarely used in a prominent way. The non-Aryan tribes are referred

to in literature by their individual names like Nisada, Pulinda,

Sahara etc. and not by the terms mlecoha. dasa or dasyu. The term

mleccha. however, remained in common usage.

Having discussed the word mleccha and its relationship with the

dasyu. it is now imperative to establish its connexion with other

allied terms, particularly names of tribes which are often called

mleccha. Names of tribes^ have been listed with much precision and

then qualified by the phrase 'are called mleccha'. The fact,, however,

44* Names of tribes along with people who inhabited the fringes of
Aryan culture and also people of mixed castes.
 231

is that all tribes were not at all times included, in the category

of mleochas. In the following pages an analysis of some of the

important individual tribes and people lumped together as mleccha

will be made. Here two broad groups can be distinguished. There is

a significant category of tribes - Kirata, Sahara, Pulinda, Nisada -

who were said to be inhabitants of either the Vindhyas or the

Himalayan regions. In the second category we discuss briefly the

status of the Andhras and the Pun^ras whose designation as mleochas

is highly questionable.

The Kiratas are a typical example of the first group — a tribal

people living in forests and mountains and designated as mleccha.

Kiratas in early mythological stories- are described as ugly and

obnoxious. Monier-Williams defines them as 'a degraded mountain

tribe (inhabiting woods and mountains and living by hunting,

having become sudraa by their neglect of all prescribed rites, also

\ 45
regarded as mlecchas:j1. The St. Petersburg Dictionary adds that

they are a 'despised mountain people'.^

The above statements are substantiated by early literary

47
references. The Atharva Veda refers to a Kirata girl (kairatika)

who 'digs a remedy, with golden shovels, upon the ridges of the

mountains'.^ The Va.iasaneyi SaAhita and the Taittirlya Brahmana , ^

describing a Purusamedha sacrifice, dedicate a Kirata to the caves

45* Monier-Williams, The Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1889, P* 283 »

The meaning is also extended to mean 'pygmy', 'horseman',
•herb', etc.

46. Bothlingk and Roth, Sanskrit Dictionary. 1855> p* 290,

47. Atharva Veda. X, 4» 14*

48. W, D. Whitney, Atharva Veda Sainhita. 1905» X, 4* 14» 'khanati

bhes.jam'.

49. Va.i. Sam.. XXX, 16; Tait. Br.. Ill, 4, 12, 1.

 2^2

(guhabhyah kiratam ... This can be translated as either a Kirata

to the caves or a Kirata for the caves). Amidst countless references

of this kind there is an interesting one where Kirata and Akuli appear
__ 50
as two priests opposed to the Gaupayanas. This passage does not

imply that the Kiratas were assimilated into Hindu society but

merely used the word Kirata as a designation for a hostile priest.^

Looking at it from a different angle it would not be far-fetched

to speculate that these Thostile priests* were representatives of

a power which held some significant economic or political control

in the region where the Pancaviifi&a Brahmana was compiled and were

therefore able to oppose an important brahmanical ceremony. One

would imagine that such opposition to the 'official system* was not

rare, but that the traditional writers consciously or unconsciously

failed to note it in their, literature. How they reacted to this

opposition is not discussed at all, though a deliberate attempt is

made to avoid the Kiratas — a people who indulge in bad habits and

practise peculiar customs.

However, they must have at some stage been oonnected with the
52
brahmanical hierarchy as Manu regards them as degraded ksatriyas.

According to Suniti Kumar Chatterjee this has deeper implications

namely, '...that they were, to some extent at least, advanced in

civilization or military organisation and as such could not be

53
dismissed as utter barbarians.'^ It is true that the Kiratas

5°. Pane. Br., XIII, 12, 5.

51. Keith & Macdonell, Vedic Index. Vol. I.

52. Manu, X, 4 4 .

53* S, K. Chatterjee, 'ICirata-Jana^-Krti', JMS, XVI, 1950, P* 162*

 235

were politically and. militarily strong (discussed below) but they

were classed as degraded ksatrivas along with the Yavanas, £3akas,

etc, because all of them were non-Hindus,

Before elaborating on the above point, it is essential to

settle another issue; that of their original home. The theory

that the true Kiratas are to be identified with the Kirantis living in

present-day Nepal is accepted by several scholars. But, there is no

such unanimity on this point in the original sources.

That they were originally connected with the forests of

eastern India is substantiated by one set of sources. It must

be mentioned here that no particular text shows consistency on this

point, BhTmasena in his eastern wanderings conquered seven kings

of the Kiratas living around *Indra mountain1.^ The unassailable

troops of Bhagadatta, king of Pragjyotisa in present Assam, was

crowded with Ginas and Kiratas — all looking like figures of gold.

At several points in the Mahabharata the Kiratas are listed with the

Ginas and therefore it may not be unlikely to suggest that this was

because of their common Mongolian origin,. The eastern home of the

Kiratas is further endorsed by statements of the Puranas, 'On the

east of Bharata dwell the Kiratas and on the west the Yavanas', is
rc
repeated in most of them. But nearly e v e r y Purana has a dual
56
identification of the Kirata country. The Brhatsaiihita gives

a very vague picture of their location. It ascribes them to the

54* Mbh. I I , 27, 13* It is not possible to identify the location o f Indra
mountain. However, as BhTmasena is said to have conquered it
immediately after Videha, possibly it was in the eastern Vindhyas.

55* Mark. P.. LVII, 8; Matsya P .. GXIV, 11, Garuda P., Chp. 55, p. 139*

56. Mark. P .. LVII, 40, places it as northern country; LVIII, 32;

45; 50; has it as the various parts of the tortoise; Matsya P..
GXIV, 5 6 , places it in Madhyade^a; CXXI, 45, describes Kirata
and Pulinda country watered by the river Ganges which striking
against the Vindhya falls into the HIMini Ganges,
 254

south-west and north-east divisions of Bharatavarsa.

*57 The

Mahabharata when it describes Nakula's southern conquests include

that of certain mleccha tribes residing on the sea coast and the
58
Kiratas are one of them. More positive evidence to their living

in the Vindhyan region is given by the £>ravana-Be^go^a inscription of

Narasimha II which, though late (10th century A.D.), states that the

king broke the power of the Kiratas or mountain tribes in the

59
neighbourhood of the Vindhya mountains. Thurston gives the

names of certain tribes — Bedars, Ekaris among others — who call

60
themselves Kiratas, A Western Ganga king Satyavakya Koftgu#avarman

is also denoted as the destroyer of the groups of Kiratas living

61
m the Vindhyas.

The apparently contradictory statements mentioned above

may, in fact, not be contradictory. It is quite unlikely that

one single tribe of Kiratas should have migrated over such a

large area but, it is possible that the term Kirata was used in

a wider context by the ancient Indian writers.

The name Kirata in the course of time came to be used as a

common noun i,.©,. to mean a savage, hunter, mountain habitant, etc.

In other words, Kirata was used specifically for people characterized

by such livelihoods as hunting and fishing, Kiratas as hunters

are referred to as late as the 17 th century where eighteen other

62
professional designations are listed. But the most famous usage

57. Brhatsamhita. XIV, 18.

58. Mbh., II, 29, 7-8.

59. El, Vol. V, p. 170, 179.

60. E, Thurston, Castes and tribes of Southern India. Ill, p. 294.

61. B. L. Hice, EC, Vol. II, p. 11.9.

62. El, Vol. XX, p. 90, n. 2.

 235

of Kirata as a primitive hunter and mountaineer is in the

CA
Kiratar.juniya story. Ronnow and Penz.er go to the extent

of suggesting that Sahara, Pulinda, Bhilla, Kirata were designations

of a similar kind applied t'o primitive tribes. So widely was the

term used in this sense that even foreign traveller Alheruni 3

mentions Kirata and Pulinda under the definition of *hunters in the

plains, robbers1.

Their physical appearance as portrayed in the Epics also

gives the impression that they were forest tribes. The Ramayana ^

describes them as wearing thick top-knots and subsisting on raw

67
flesh. The Mahabharata.. on the other hand, mentions them attired in

skins, eating fruits and roots and living on the northern slopes

of the Himalayas, The latter also emphasizes their warlike spirit.

The Kiratas were undoubtedly also the name of a politically

important people. ViSakhadatta in his play the Mudraraksasa brings

on the scene the Yavanas and the Kiratas in a manner which clearly

indicates that the latter were important enough to play a conspiratorial

role. Viradhagupta describes how the city of Kusumapura was

blockaded on all sides by the forces of Candragupta led by the

3akas, Yavanas, Kiratas, Kambojas, Parasikas, Valhikas and others.^®

63# Mbh., XII, 38-41 • At several places in the Mahabharata P. G. Roy

■translates Kirata to mean hunter.

6 4 * K. Ronnow, 'Kirata — A study on someAncientIndian Tribes',

Le Monde Oriental. XXX, 1936, PP*90-170* N,M. Penzer,
The Ocean Story. Vol. II, pp. 164 ff«

6 5 . Alberuni, Vol. I, p. 262 (ir. Saohau).

66. Ram., IV, XL, 30.

67. Mbh.. II, 4 8 , 7-8*

68. Mudraraksasa. II, 1 3 .

 236

They are also said to have fought in the Mahabharata War. At the

Ra.jasuya performed by Yuddhisthira, their tribute included loads

of sandalwood, aloe, heaps of valuable skins and a variety of

69
animals and birds. The Kirata kingdom must definitely have been.

one of the eighteen atavika-ra.jyas. These kingdoms, which are

referred to as early as Kautilya and repeated in several inscriptions

(probably the same as the vana-rastras of the Byhatsamhita)

were powerful and important in their own right. The Allahabad

71
Pillar Inscription' of Samudragupta also mentions the atavika-

ra.ias among his opponents who were temporarily subdued by him.

There were also Kiratas in the Himalayan region, as follows from

the faot that their name is mentioned in the Nepal VamSavalis which
72
which were of course compiled very late. This, however, shows

that politically the Kiratas had established themselves in that

region.

In the Nepal VatfiSavali after a line of legendary kings, the

Kiratas are said to have ruled Nepal. This probably gives the

impression as though the name Kirata denoted, in this case only,

a single tribe. One such tribe may have existed and today survives

in the form of the Kiranti in eastern India. But, when ancient

writers referred to the Kirata generally they must definitely have

understood several other tribes. The question is whether Kirata

was a general term applied to tribes in eastern India only or

69. Mbh.. II, 47, 12-20.

70, Brhatsa&hita. XLV, 29-30.

71 * The Allahabad Stone Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta,

0X1.,Vol. Ill, No. 1, line 21.

72. B. C, Law, Anoient Indian Tribes. II, 1934, P* 54*

 257

denoted any forest tribes?

It is plausible to conclude that when Kirata was used in a

general context, it applied to any forest tribe. However, when

it was applied to a specific tribe, this tribe must have been one

of the many tribes, which even today inhabit the north eastern hills

of India. The first mentioned use of the term became more frequent

both in literature and inscriptions. This suggests that Kirata

gradually acquired a wider connotation namely, as a common noun#

Mleocha and Kirata are usually listed together as names

along with various others. Though they are often not called

mleochas. the attitudes of the traditional writers towards them is

not very different. In the Amarakosa (5th century A.B.), Kirata

is used synonomously with Sahara, Pullnda and Bheda and called

73
a mleocha ,jati. These Kirata were clearly primitive hunters,

irrespective of geographical or linguistic location. On the

other hand, the Kiratas who are called degraded ksatrtvas along with

the Yavanas in the Manava Bharma&astra. or the warlike people of the

Mahabharata and the Mudraraksasa. may not necessarily have been

called mleocha as they formed a distinct category as non-Hindus.

There are two tribes that can definitely be called mloccha

tribes. They are the 3abaras and Pulindas. It will be appropriate

to discuss them together as they are so often mentioned in the

same context. Less frequently the Kirata and Bhilla are also

Included with them in a similar category. But, Sahara and

Pulinda in particular became generic names for barbarous tribes.

7a
Among the brahmanical sources the Amarakosa. a lexicon of

of the fifth century A. D., gives the definition of mleccha t

jatis

73* Amarakosa. II, 10, 20.

74. Ibid.
 230

to "be the Be da, Kirata, Sahara and Pulinda tribes, thus suggesting

that the use of these words was synonymous* A similar reference

75
occurs in the Jaina texts where irdlakkha is defined as Varavara,

Saravara and Pulindra tribes. In the Buddhist texts and particularly

76
in the Mahavaiflsa Pulindas are mentioned as children of the

demoness who married prince.Vijaya and the region where they lived

is now oalled ^abaragamva. These references will be discussed in

detail later, but have initially helped to establish the fact

that the names Sahara and Pulinda for some particular reason were

inseparable according to ancient religious writers,

77
In the Aitareya Brahmana dabana and Pulinda along with

the Mutlbas, Andhras and Pundras, were people who live in large

numbers beyond the borders. This is the first reference to them in

brahma^ical literature. The Greek writers do not fail to mention

78
them. Megasthenes mentions several tribes beyond the Indus

and among them the Sibrae whom McCrindle identified with the

Sauvlras of the Mahabharata as the latter are always mentioned near

79
near the Indus. Ptolemy gives both the Sabaras and the Pulindas in
80 81
the Greek forms Sabarai and Poulindai Agriophagoi respectively,
82
Cunningham regarded the Sabarai of Ptolemy and the Sauri

75* Acarafiga Sutra. II, 3* 8* — SBE, Vol. 22, ft. nt. 2.

7 6 * Mahavaiftsa, VII, 68.

77. Ait. Br.. VII, 18; Saflkh. S. S.. XV, 26.

78, J, W. McCrindle, AncientIndia as described by Megasthenes and

Arrian, 1926, p. 155*

79 • Ibid., p. 155# note 11.

80. J. W, McCrindle, Ancient India as described by Ptolemy, 1885#. 80,

p. 172.

81. Ptolemy, 6 4 * p* 156.

82. Ptolemy, p. 175*

 2^9

of Pliny as the same and he identified "both as the aboriginal

£avaras or Suars, a wild race living in the jungle, whose country

spreads as far south as the Pennar river. The Poulindai are

83
equated by McCrindle ^ with the Pulinda of Hindu works. The word

Agriophagoi attached to Poulindai, he explains, is an epithet that

indicates that the Pulinda were a tribe that subsisted on raw flesh,

roots and wild fruits.

The mention of the Phyllitai tribe by Ptolemy^ is linked

85
by Lassen with the Bhills — — Phyllitai being a transliteration
86
of Bhills with an appended Greek termination. Yule thinks it

not impossible that the Phyllitai represent the Pulinda as the

latter in Hindu works indicate a variety of aboriginal races.

All the three names of tribes mentioned above in the Greek

sources can be located, generally, south of the Ganges basin,

east of the river Indus and in the western part of the Deccan

plateau. The food which they were supposed to eat clearly suggests

that they were tribes of the forests with primitive means of

subsistence. So far, from Greek sources, the Sabaras and Pulindas

seem to have been two distinct tribes but with similar attributes,
87
® ie Arthagastra, also mentions the Sabaras and Pulindas

together as peoples who guard the regions between the frontiers and
88
the interior of the kingdom. The ASokan Edicts have the name

Pulinda which occurs in different forms in the various versions

83. Ptolemy, p. 157•

8 4 , Ptolemy, 66, p. 159*

85, Ptolemy, p. 160,

86. Ibid.

Artha^astra. II, 1, 6,
88, CJ.L.I. Inscriptions of A§oka, H# E. XIII.
of the. Rock Edict XIII. It occurs as Palida in the Shabliazgarhl
89
version, Palade in the Kalsi version and finally Pariftda in the
• 90 ** 91
G i m a r version. Buhler reads all these as Pulinda because the

Pulindas had been mentioned once before in the Aitareya Brahmana

(VXI, 1Q) with the Andhras and both these people inhabited the same

region .i.e.* the Vindhyas.

The Pulindas are mentioned by ASoka in connection with the

success his policy of Dhammavi.ia;ya had achieved amongst his

borderers. In ViSakhadattafs play, the Mudraraksasa^ the

Sabaras are mentioned as allies of Malayaketu against Candragupta.

Thus, both the Pulindas and the Sabaras were elements to be

reckoned with, whether they had to be kept passive through

appeasement or used as fighting forces. In the Mahabharata the

army of Vasistha, created by NandinI, his wishing cow, consisted

of Sabaras and Pulindas among others, ^

The most persistent question that has arisen about almost all

the tribes discussed so far, has been with regard to their

habitation. As some of the literary references will show,

the Sabaras and Pulindas are both associated with the central part

of India jl.e, the Vindhyan region.

89. P. C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. No. 81, R.E. XIII.

90. Q.I»I«* 3, pp. 43-47.

91. G. Buhler, 'Beitragezur Erklarung der A£oka - Inschriften1,

ZDMG, Vol. LX, 1886, p. 138, note 10.

92. Mudrarak sas a . V, 11,Poona, 1923 — In two other editions of the

play (Poona, 1940) (Varanasi, 1972) the Sabaras replaced
by the Magadhas in the list of people.
 241

In the Brhatsamhita the Sabaras are placed in the aparanta

94
region as those people who are still strong ^ and the Pulindas as

the insurmountable tribe of the border region (pratyanta) B o t h

tribes are mentioned together as those destroyed by the ICurus and

— 96
the Pailcalas. However, the same author shows considerable

inconsistency. At places he couples the Sabaras with the U$ras,

VaAgas, Suhmas, KaliAgas Bahlikas, Sakas, Yavanas, Magadhas, people

97
of Pragjyot.ii=sa, Cinas and Kambojas" and in another, speaks of them

with the Xbhiras, Fahlavas, Mallas, Matsyas and Sakas, Similarly

the Pulindas are mentioned with the Higadas, Mekalas, A£makas,

Tripuradela, Saliyutadefia etc.^ and also with the Kiratas, Vi takas,

Sailayas, Dravidas eto.^^ There is no clarity, as in the Amarakosa'^

about who the Pulindas and Sabaras were* Since they are linked up

with so many different tribes is it possible that the use of the

words Pulinda and Sahara was more general in the Brhatsamhita. rather

than as two names for specific tribes?

In their lists of the countries and people of Bharatavarsa the

102
Puranas mention the Sabaras and Pulindas, The Markanfleya Parana

has the Savaras and the Pulindas as people who dwell in the Balesinapatha,
103
The Mateya Purana ' also includes them amongst the southern countries.

However, in an earlier passage of the same Purana* Pulinda is called

a .ianapada of the north. The same is true of the Marlcapdeya Purana

94# Brhatsainhita. IX, 15#

95. Brhat., IX, 17.
96. Brhat,. IX, 29.
97* Brhat.. XVI, 1#
98. Brhat., V, 38.
99. Brhat.. V, 39.
100. Brhat., XVI, 2.
'101. Amarakosa, II, 10, 20.
102. Mark.,P.. LVII, 47.
1°3. Matsya P .. CXIV, 48-49.
104. Matsya P .. CXIV, 41.
 242

where Pulindas, in another verse are listed as people of the west.10^

106
According to Pargiter there appears to have been a northern

branch of the Pulindas, Except for these two Puranas none of the others

allude to this northern branch of the Pulindas, The Puranic lists

107
of the Vamana and the Vayu confirm the statements that the Sabara

and the Pulinda'are countries of Daksinipatha,^®

The Sabara and the Pulinda are not mentioned as often as some of

the other tribal people in theMahabharata. Only once they are

109
mentioned together. The Pulindas at least occupied the middle portion
110 111
of the Deccan and extended eastwards where they had a great city.

There is little doubt, therefore, that the Sabaras and Pulindas

were inhabitants of the forests of the central Vindhya region. About

the habitation of the Kiratas and the Nisadas, one could hardly

have reached such a positive conclusion. This brings us to the next

important question and that is, were the two terms Sabara and Pulinda

applied to specific tribes as tribal names or were they mere

designations for forest dwellers? To answer this, one will have to

analyse more closely those references to them which imply the latter

possibility.
112
T^e Mahavamsa. the great chronicle of Ceylon, mentions the

Pulinda as the progeny of king Vi joya from his yakkhint wife and

direct descendants of his son and daughter from that wife. Geiger
115y

1°5* Mark. P .. LVII, 50.

106, P. E. Pargiter, The Markandeya Purana, p. 355*

107. Vamana P ., XIII, 48-50.

108« Vayu-P., XLV, 126.
109. Mbh., XII, 14, 8. 110. Mbh., II, 26, 10,
111* Mbh.. VI, 10, 60; App. II, 13, 11pr.
112* Mahavamsa. VII, 68.
113* Geiger., The Mahavafisa. 1980, p. 60, note 5* Land inland between
Colombo, Kalutara, Galle and the mountains is today called
Sabaragamuva which Geiger states iB from Sanskrit Sabara,
a synonym of Pulinda.
 243

gives the explanation of Pulinda as — 'a designation of barbarous

tribes, is here evidently of the Waeddas.' What is important here is

that the Pulindas are dwellers of the mountains and forests of

central Ceylon. Also the yakkhas and the yakkhinis (yaksas and

yakginis) are super natural beings living in forested regions and

so to establish a more effective connexion of the Waeddas with their

habitation they are made descendants of a yakkhinl. Without

seeking for a deeper explanation, it is clear that the Pulindas

of the Mahavamsa were forest-dwellers and any tribal connexion between

the tribes of the Vindhya and the Waeddas of central Ceylon would

indeed be far-fetched.
114
In the fifth century A.D. the author of the Amarakosa ^ defined

the word mlecoha as the Bheda, Kirata, Sabara and Pulinda tribes.

The four names are understood as mleccha.iatis in this context and

therefore, to a certain degree were synonymous. The reason for all of

them being described as such was probably that they were inhabitants

of the forests using similar means of production. In his lexicon,

Amarasirfiha makes the distinction between the Candala and the mleccha-

jatis. The Cabala, Plava, Matanga, Divaklrti, Janaugama, Msada,

Svapaka, AntevasI, Pukkasa are given as the various Caiidalas^^ whereas

only four names are given as the mleccha.iatis. Both these groups of

people are listed in the Sudravarga of chapter X. A clear distinction

was thus maintained betweenwild tribes and other low castes. This

does not suggest the Sabara and Pulinda were two ethnic tribes; on

the contrary all those called by these two names were mlecchas. Also

there must have definitely existed more tribal names than are mentioned

in the Amarakosa and it seems that the author cat e.gori%ed most of

these under the four names he distinctly mentioned — Bheda, Kirata,

114. Amarakosa. II, 10, 20,

115. Ibid.. II, 10, 19.

 244

Sabara, Pulinda.

This brings us to the issue as to whether Sabara and Pulinda

oould have specific meanings rather than being merely names. The

problem is similar to the elucidation of the meaning of the word

mleocha which could also, have been a tribal name initially but as

we have seen, acquired a more general meaning; that of a barbarian,

a foreigner, etc.
116
According to Monier-Williams the word Sabara means wicked,

malicious, injury and offence. The Pali Text Society dictionary

besides giving its meaning as an aboriginal tribe also adds that it

117 118
means savage. A Prakrit dictionary calls them barbarians of

an Anariya country,
119
Pulinda in Monier-Williamsf dictionary y is given as 1) the

name of a barbarous tribe and 2) as a barbarian, a mountaineer. Like

Sabara, it ' also signifies an Anariya people and country in the

120
Prakrit Proper Names dictionary. Both the words were thus

synonyms for barbarian.

Though not very often, Sabara and Pulinda are used to denote
121
occupations. Shamasastry in his translation of the Arthafiastra

understands Sabara as archers and Pulinda as hunters. Both the

words are used together with Vagurikas or trap-keepers, Candalas

and aranyaoara or wild tribes; all of whom are to guard the interior

of the kingdom between the actual domain of the king and the frontier

116. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1889, p. 1065.

117. Rhys Davids, Pali Text Society Dictionary, 1925, P* 159*

118. Mehta & Chandra, Prakrit Proper Names. Pt, II, p. 754*

119* M-Williams, Op. Cit.. p. 6 3 8 ,

120. Mehta & Chandra, Op. Cit.. Pt. I, p. 474*

121# A. £ .. II, 1, 4 8 , Mysore, 1923, P* 49*

areas* The context' in which they were used seems to suggest that in

this case they were used as common nouns to denote occupation, as

1 00
wild tribes (aranyaoara) are also mentioned collectively. Kangle

in his edition simply transliterates these names.

In the Kathasaritsagara Pulinda and Sabara are very commonly

interchanged as words which sometimes denote a particular people

but common nouns at other times. Another striding point in the

same text is that the use of the term Bhilla is often substituted

for both Pulinda and Sabara as the case may be. The Ka thas aritsagara

consistently regards the Vindhyan hills as the home of the Sabaras,

*123
Pulindas and Bhillas# The name of a Savara (=Sabara) chief,
124
at one point in the story, is Pulindaka. Pulindaka in the earlier
125
part of the story is the kings of the Pulindas. ^ Yet again Pulindaka
126
is the friendly king of the Bhillas, living in the land of Chedi.
127
The three terms are used together when a hunt is being described '

but no other elaboration is given. Also it is very common, in the

same text, for the king of the Savaras to be called a Bhilla or

128
that of the Pulindas to be called a Savara.

On the whole the text gives the impression that the forests and

hills of the Vindhyas were -under the powerful control of these tribes

and to people who came from the plains, they all looked alike and

followed the same religious customs. Perhaps for this reason they

were indiscriminately called by any of^three names. Amongst themselves

122. A. S.. II, 1, 6.

123. Kathasaritsagara. I, VII, 25-26; II, XII, 44-45? X, 133~1'14»

124. Ibid.. IV, XXII, 64-65.

 246

129
the tribes helped each other , and were not always cruel as is
130
so often portrayed, ^

The Jaina texts do not differ from the Brahmanical and Buddhist

tradition in their attitudes towards the Sabaras and Pulindas. The

monks and nuns are forbidden to go through countries of the milakkhas

131
when on pilgrimage. ' The commentary adds that milakkha means
132
Varvara, Sarvara, Pulindra, etc. J The countries of the milakkhus

in this case must also allude to the Vindhyan region.

Thus, there can be no doubt that the Sabaras and Pulindas were

designated as mlecohas.

The designation of aboriginal tribes as mleocha was common and

seriously intended. But for one such group, the Risadas, the application

of this designation is complicated. Several references to them^

straight through from early Vedic literature, have confused rather than

simplified the problem for those writing on them,

Uisada, 1seems to denote not so much a particular tribe but to

be the general term for a non-Aryan tribe who were not under Aryan
- 133
control as the Sudras were,...1 Similarly — 'References to the

four varnas in Vedic literature includes mention of the Nisada who

appear to have been a non-Aryan tribe who succeeded in remaining outside

134
Aryan control.1 On the other hand, there axe opinions to the

contrary, Por instance — '....the Ni§adas are referred to a number of

times and emerge with a full-fledged tribal personality within the

129# ICathasaritsagara. XII, Cl, 46,

150. Ibid.. IV, XXII, 64-65; VI, XXX, 38; I, VII, 25-26.

131. AcaxaAga Sutra, II, 3* 8.

132. Commentary on the AcaraAgasutram, II, 3> 8, (Sanskrit chaya by

' Xtmaramaji, Ludhiana, 1963 - 6 4 )
133. Macdonell & Keith, Vedic Index, I, p. 453#
134* R* Thapar, ’The image of the Barbarian in early India’, CSSH, Vol.
XIII, 1 9 7 1 • P. 4 2 2 .
 247
155
Aryan social framework.* The case of the Nisadas is therefore

interesting and needs to he further elucidated.

The first point, whether the Nigadas were one single ethnic

tribe, or a general terra used for all aborigines, is similar to

the case of the Kiratas, the Sabaras and the Pulindas discussed

above. This raises the question as to whether Nisada, Sabara, Pulinda,

Kirata can be understood as synonyms and, if not, what kind of

difference there was in their status relative to each other as

Outsiders to the varna system*? Nisada in later references also

began to be used as a common noun to denote an occupational caste.

Hence, a hunter or a fisherman could be called a Nisada even though

he did not belong to the tribe by a similar name in both the

Pharma£astra and non-Pharmagastra texts,(Discussed below). Therefore,

the case of the Ni§ada is peculiar. They seem to have been both

*outside* and *inside* the Aryan social system. We start with the
136
premise that being given a low ritual status does not necessarily

mean that they were all incorporated into the hierarchy of the varna-

,1ati system.
157 -v
The Nirukta, while explaining the words panca.jana mama hotram

.jusadhvam in the Rg Veda X, 53» 4 1 remarks that according to the

Aupamanyava the *five tribes* are the Brahmana, Ksatriya, Vai£ya,

Sudra (as the four varnas) and the Nisada. The word nisada

in the Va.iasaneyf Saifihita y is explained by the commentator Mahidhara

to indicate the Bhlls,a well .known tribe of Central India and the

135* J* N. Jha, *From tribe to untouchable; The case of the Nisadas,y

in Indian Society. 1974* p. 6 7 . *

1 56 . Manu. X, 8, etc. (other citations given below).

I
157* Nirukta. Ill, 8.

138. Va.i, Sam.. XVI, 2 7 ,

 246

Vindhyan tracts. The Saithita further establishes their status

as that of a full-fledged tribe when it states that the i ^ i is to

be performed by a Nisada chieftain.

Except for Mahidhara (on the Va.jasaneyl Saifihita). if these

early references apply to Ni§adas as a particular tribe, they may

suggest their superiority over other indigenous tribes of that period;

either as a more technologically advanced one or merely as far as

their numerical strength was concerned. On the other hand, there

is a possibility that Nisada was also a general term used for certain

non-Aryan tribes. The citation in the Nirukta is most frequently

quoted in support of this. However, evidence from later literature

may prove more convincing on this point. At this stage there is not

the slightest basis to suggest that they were part of the yarna hierarchy

especially in the period of the gg Veda They are mentioned with

the four varnas in the Nirukta but clearly quite distinct from, -them, though

they could take part in sacrifice.

That the Nisadas were a settled people is shown by several

texts which discuss the ViSva^it sacrifice.1^ This sacrifice requires

a temporary residence among the Ni§adas. But, it is difficult to

define the specific area of their habitat. The majority of references

suggest the hills and forests around the Vindhya ranges. The Nisadas

occupied the highlands of Malwa and Central India as noted in the

142
second book of the Mahabharata. while the third book mentions

139* Tait. Sam., IV, 5* 4> 2; Kathaka Sam.. XVII, 13; Mait. Sam., II, 95;
Pane . Br.. XVI. 6, 8.

140. H. S. Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958» P# 7*1*

"141* Rausltaki Br.« XXV, 15? Latayayana S.S.. VIII, 2, 8; (mentions

a ni§ada village); Paifc., Br.« XVI, 6, 8.

142. Mbh., II, 28,. 5-6*,. .

 249

Nigadaras$ra as a region of the Sarasvati and Western India.

The Nisadas are a people who live in the Madhyade^a region (central

India) according to the Markaodeya Purana. The BrhatsajTihita sees

Nisadarastra to the south east of Madhyade^a.^^ Most of the other

Puranas and the 5anti Parvan of the Mahabharata regard king Vena

as the progenitor of the Nisadas who dwell in the Vindhya mountains,

The concentration of the Nisadas in these regions of Central

India may he connected with the movements of the Indo-Aryans hoth

in western and eastern India, It is not unlikely that the former

were the first inhabitants of the then thickly forested Gangetic Valley

before the Aryans with their superior technology deforested the area.

This would also explain the mention of the Nisadas in early Vedic

literature as people whose presence could not be ignored. The majority

of the Nisadas were driven down to the Vindhya tracts where they

continued their primitive economies of fishing and hunting. This

also seems to suggest rather clearly that Nisada was a term applied

not to one tribe or group but to several; all of whom had one thing

in common — their mode of production and living.

Gradually, it is becoming clearer that the Nisadas, whether a-

single tribe or otherwise, were an important force to be reckoned

with. Their resistance against the brahmanical system, as well as

their later assimilation, seems to follow from their classification

as an alien tribe, even of cannibals, by the witters of the Epics

and as a low caste by the writers of the Dharmagastra,

143. Mbh., H I , 130, 4.

144. Mark. P .. LVIII, 18. Pargiter in his translation of the same

Purana considers them specially a forest people and scattered all
over northern and central India,

145* B. C. Law, Ancient Indian Tribes. 1934, PP. 61-62,

146. The significance of the Vena story and references to it will be

discussed below*
 There were those Nisadas who were partly subjugated and

then absorbed at the lowest ritual level. As usual, they were

given a place in the largely theoretical system of mixed castes.

Thus, the Nisadas became an anuloma caste being the offspring of

— 147
a brahmana and his £udra wife. A difference between the Nisadas

and the ParaSavas is maintained by some Sutra and Smyti writers ,"^8

while most others consider the two names synonyms. It seems likely

that the ParaSavas were a section of the Ni§ada community. Their

occupation is almost always stated as that of fishermen and hunters.

149
Kautilya assigns to all the mixed castes of the ludras. With

slight differences Of opinion on detail, all the Sastra writers agree

on assigning a low status to them^and according to V. N. Jha •...

relegated them in a course of time to the position of untouchables .1"^8

It was not uncommon for tribes to form such castes which were

brought in relation to the varna system — — this being the only means

of absorbing small independent groups into the mainstream of the

1superior social order.1 However, this mechanism was only partially

successful. This is known to us from the non-Pharma^astra material.

Undoubtedly the Nisadas continued to form a peripheral culture

outside brahmanical dominance, and were looked down upon as vulgar,

low and above all as 1uncivilized* by the brahmanas. In other words

they were regarded as barbarians or mlecchas.

The well known connection of the Nisadas with mleccha is established

147* Baudh. Dhs.. I, 9, 3, Vasistha Dhs.. XVIII, 8; Hanu. X, 8?

Ya.igavalkya. I, 91? A.""g7T*III. 7, 21; Mbh., XI, 48, 5; _
Ramayana. Ayodh. K.. 50, 33 mentions Guha, king of the Nisadas
to have belonged to the nigada.jati.

148. Gautama Uhs.. IV, 14; Ya.inavalkya. I, 91*

 251

in more than one Purana and also in the Mahabharata, when the
151
story of king Vena is related# There the mythical origin of the

Niigada is given as followsj There was chaos on earth because of the

evil deeds of king Vena# His deeds were evil because he did not

follow the rules of the varnasramadliarma# The sages therefore,

churned his left thigh and from it emerged a man like a charred

log with a flat face and extremely short# The brahmanas ordered him

to ’sit down* (nisida) and thus he became a Nisada. According to

some versions he became the progenitor of the Nisadas dwelling in

the Vindhya mountains who were known for their wicked deeds. According

to the Matsya Purana he was the ancestor of the Mlecohas. ^ ^ Whether

Mleccha or Nisada, the progeny of this dark man were fishermen, wild

mountain tribes, and all those who delight in adharma; in other words,

they were barbarians.

This myth may have been used by the writers of the Puraijas to

explain the existing situation and justify their own attitudes towards

these people. This becomes clear when we notice the same story

continues to relate that the right arm of Ve;na was churned to

produce the righteous Prthu, who brought law and peace back to the

earth. The forest kingdoms — atavika ragtra or vana rastra «—~

of the Vindhya region remained aloof from the correct ritualistic

concepts and speech. Politically, when the policy of appeasement

failed, these kingdoms were subjugated by force, if only temporarily.

Besides the association with mlecchas, Nisadas are listed with

-■■ i.i.i ip. i - « ,^.7 *

151# The story is related in the various Purapas with variations,

Brahmanda P .. II# 36; 158-173 ? Brahma P .. IV, 60-68;
Matsya*P.# X, 4-10; Visnu P., I, 15, 37? Vavu P., I, 120-122;
Bhag. P .. IV, 14, 42-46; Mbh-* XII» 59, 10T-103*

152# Matsya P .# X, 7*

"153* 0> !..!>> Vol. Ill, No# 2, ’The Allahabad Pillar Inscription of
Samudragupta’, line 21•
 252

' 154
with cannibals, Karnapravaras, Kalamukhas, Raksasas and also

with such people that possess only one leg, eyesontheforehead

etc. Yet these peculiar looking tribes are said tohave fought on

both sides during the Mahabharata war and brought valuable tribute
**
after the Rajasuya of Yuddhisthira,
1*35 As early as the Aitareya

Brahmana they are considered evil-doers and thieves who rob wealthy

men in forests.

If Nisada is a general term 3,pplied to people with barbaric

occupations, customs and speech, it fits in exactly with the description

a flfl-ecoha and sometimes they were even called mleccha. Either

the Nigada were one of the Mleccha tribes, or merely one of the many

terms used to express the fact that there was a category of people

who were not £udras nor untouchables bub reckoned outside the varna

hierarchy* If the Nigadas accepted the ways of the brahmanical society,

or in other words 'wished to better their material conditions', they

could be included in a low caste. However, this was not true of all

mleccha tribes, .The Kiratas, for instance, were given the status

of vratya k satriyas. There is a suggestion by R, S. Sharma that

the Nisadas fell from the status they had enjoyed in the later Vedic
158
society. This can only be accepted if we understand the term

Nisada in the Vedic texts and in the Epic and Puranio ones to mean

the same peoples.

However, it cannot be overlooked that generally, the usage of

the terms Kirata, Sabara, Pulinda, Nisada varied over the time span of

several centuries in the literary texts. It would be an oversimplification

.154, Mbh,, II, 28, 44“45«

155- Mbh., II, 47, 12-20,

156, Ait. Br,, VIII, 2, 7.

157# Astadhyayi.:IV, i, 100, The Nisada gotra is mentioned in the
ganapatha of Pacini though it does not occur in other gotra lists,
158* R, S, Sharma, On. Cit.. 1958, p, 129
 253

M AP NO. X
ANCIENT INDIA
TRIBES AND PEOPLES KOWN TO LITERARY W R ITERS.

GANDHARA MADRA "

KIRATA
BARBARA
PRAGJYOTISA

ANGA -o
»VA

SUHMA
LATA
SUR^STR

ANDHRA

APARA PURVA
SAMUDRA Q. SAMUDRA
 254

to regard them as synonymous terms as they each originally signified

the names of particular tribes* There nevertheless developed

secondary meanings of these terms which sometimes alluded to

the occupations or the way of life of these tribes. We shall

subsequently return to a further analysis of these terms when we

examine the reasons why ancient literary writers often referred to

them collectively as mleochas*

Those people residing in east, west, south or north-west India —

the Andhra, the Pundra, the M ga, the Karaboja, the Madra, the

Sindhu SauvTra, the Bahlika etc, — who were not, or only partly

brahmanized at different stages, or had displeased the brahmanas, were

rather inconsistently designated as mleochas, We shall first examine

the case of the Pundras and Andhras in detail and consequently examine

the views of the Brahmins, Buddhists and Jainas about non-tribal

indigenous peoples of the subcontinent.

The Pundra were specifically a definite people. Both literature

and inscriptions give a consistent picture of them residing in

Eastern India, There is, however, some uncertainty about the precise

form of their name. It varies between Pundra, Paundra, Paun&rakas

or Paundrika. The two most commonly occurring forms are Pundra

159 160
and Paundra. Pargiter is of the opinion that the two different

tribes occupying two different countries. The enumeration of countries

and peoples lacks precision in the Epics and Puranas* so that the..

distinction cannot be pushed any further. In later literary

references and epigraphic records the distinction is never maintained.

Essentially, Pundras or Paundras are undoubtedly proto-Bengalis of

m o d e m Bengal,

In the first reference to Pundras in the Aitareya Brahmana,

............. ............ ................. 1iO " '.f ■ ■...................... i .......... i ....

159* Mbh.* VI, 10, 49; Menu, X, 44.

160# F# E# Pargiter, fAnoient Countries in Eastern India*, JASB. Vol.
LXVI, 1897, p. 85.
 255

Vi&vamitra curses his sons with the progeny of dasyus such

as the Andhras, .Pundras, Saharas, Pulindas and Mutlbas. They are

161
supposed to live in large numbers beyond the borders. In the

same story, as it is found in the Mahabharata, the disobedient

sons of ViAvamitra are simply cursed to be dog^eaters and mleochas.

According to Manu the Paundrakas along with other people were

originally ksatriyas but because of their neglect of sacred rites

162
and of brahmanas they were later degraded to the status of Audras.

■While on the one, hand the Pundras are listed with people such

as the Yavanas, Sakas, Kiratas, Pulindas, Andhras and others of the

1mleocha category1, on the other, they are simply mentioned as

an eastern people with no derogatory term to qualify their status.

163
Baudhayana ^ mentions them with the Sauviras, Vangas and ICaliftgas
16A
as peoples of mixed origin. The Mahabharata adds to this the

Ka6is, Koiialas, Karu&as. In the Harivamga. Jarasadhana, king of

Magadha held sway over the Pundras, Vangas, AAgas, KaliAgas •

Describing the exploits of the same king, the Mahabharata says

that he defeated many rulers of the east and north and also certain
165
mleccha tribes. ' The Puranas give the reasons why these peoples were

linked together, Pundra, AAga, VaAga, KaliAga, Suhraa were the

166
five eponymous sons of king Bali. The Matsya Purana gives a little

more precision by adding that they were ksatriyas. This is similar

to the story of foreigners in Indian society being given the status of

ksatriyas in the Puranas. (Discussed in chapter VIl), The Mahabharata

161• Ait. Br.. VII, 18; SaAkh. S. S.. XV, 26.

162, Manu. X, 45-44*

"165* B'audh. Dhs.. I, 1, 2, 14, 164- Mbh.. VII, 10, 14-15*

1,65. Mbh... XII. 4. 7-8; HarivamSa, Chp. 116.

166. Brahma P .. XIII, 30; Matsya P .. XLVIII, 23-25; Agni P .. CCLXXVI,
10-11; Vi^nu P .. IV, 18, 1-2; Harivamia. 23, 29*
 256

attributes the names of their dominions to them.^^ The mythical

stories of the Epics and the Puranas were in most cases attempts

to explain or justify existing conditions at the time when the stories

were written. Therefore, it is more likely that "because these

people were neighbours they had to be grouped together. Pargiter

identified Vanga as Central Bengal, Pundra as North West Bengal,

Suhma as the Hooghly and Midnapur districts and KaliAga as Orissa,

Fortunately in this case one does not have to rely only on

suppositions. Inscriptional evidence attests the existence of

Pu#^ravardhana, a very important town of eastern India. As Pu^anagala

it appears for the first time in a fragmentary Mauryan Brahmi

inscription, palae©graphically datable in the third century B.C.

and discovered at Mahasthan, seven miles north of Bogra.^^ The

language used in the inscription is Prakrit and scholars have identified

the Brahmi script as belonging to the third century B.C. Though

the inscription contains only six lines of writing and is very

fragmentary, it proves one point, namely that Pup^anagala was already

170
an important centre at that time. Bhandarkar has summed up the

context of the inscription as follows! *It appears that some ruler of

the Mauryan period, if not of the Mauryan family, had issued an order

to the Mahamatra stationed at Pundranagar with a view to relieve the

distress caused, apparently, by famine to the people called SaifnraAgiyas• •

167. Mbh.. I, 98* 52:. (Star passage *1042 in the Crt, Ed.).

168. F. E. Pargiter, AIHT. p. 272, note 5*

165 * D. C. Sircar, Select Insor., 'Mahasthan Fragmentary Stone Plaque

Inscription1, Not. 45* PP. 82-85; K* Mukherji & S. K. Maity,
Corpus of Bengal Inscriptions. 1967* p. 39* P. R. Bhandarkar,
♦Mauryan Brahmi Inscription of Mahasthan1, El, Vol. XXI, pp> 85-91*
B. M. Barua, 'The old Brahmi Inscription of Mahasthan*, IH^,
Vol. X, 1934, PP. 57-66 -(p-s-f,

1 70 . Bhandarkar, Op. Cit.. p. 8 7 .

 257

Hie Mahamatra of Pundranagar was entrusted with the execution of

this order.*
171
Pundravardhana, according to Bhandarkar, is without doubt

m o d e m Mahasthan, a conclusion which he Based on Cunningham's account

and that of the Chinese traveller Yuan Chwang. Even if this

identification he proved wrong, Pundravardhana is definitely in

present Bangladesh. We know from the A^okan inscriptions that Kalihga

was the only remaining kingdom to the east not to be included in the

Mauryan dominions. However, no A^okan inscription has been found in

Bengal or Bangladesh, ©he Mahasthan inscription proves to some

degree that the Pundra country had some connexion with the Maurya

empire even though it may not have directly under their control. The

alphabet and language of this record are exactly like those of the

A^okan edicts. Therefore, despite the absence of A&okan inscriptions

in the Pundra country there is no reason to conclude that it was not

part of the Mauryan empire.

172
At least two other inscriptions ' of the early period prove

that the Pundras were a recognised people. Both these inscriptions

are of the Sanchi stupa, and mention simply that inhabitants of

Punavadhana were among those who contributed to the building of the

stupas1 railings and toranas. This information definitely indicates

that the Pundras were already in the second or first century B.C.

sufficiently prosperous to be able to make donations to a foundation

that was located far from their country. Pundravardhana, as a, bhukti

175
(province), is mentioned in several Gupta inscriptions; three of

which were discovered at Damodarpur in the Dinajpur District of

171* Bhandarkar, Op. Cit.. p. 8 8 .

172. El, Vol. JI, 'Inscriptions of the Sanchi Stupa', No, 1; No* 102,
p. 108; No. 217, P. 380.

173. Bit Vol. XV, pp. 1?0ff. Gupta Eras 124, 163, 224.
 258

Bangladesh. Epigraphic records of the medieval period with

particular reference to those of the Palas and the Senas of Bengal

continue to make frequent mention of the Pundravardhana bhuktl.

Their centre of activity always remained in eastern India.

In the light of these data it seems surprising that the Puii^ras

should have been held in low esteem by the brahmanas of madhyadega.

One probable reason is that their country was part of that territory

which in the view of the brahmana writers, because it was not

dominated by them, remained impure and unfit for i§raddha ceremonies.

For the same reason the Angas and KaliAgas were also shunned for
175
unrighteous behaviour. Pargiter, in his article on 1Ancient Countries

in Eastern India*, writes: *Originally these nations did not belong

to the Aryan stock; they appear to have been mleochas. The story

of the five brothers (sons of king Bali) no doubt indicate that

these nations were brought within the Aryan pale...*

Brahmanism, thus took a considerable time to spread over Bengal

and even longer for it to establish any positive control over that

region. Even the inscriptional evidence does not prove that the

brahmanical way of life was prevelant amongst the Pundras in the

third century B.C. This must have been another reason why they were

called mleochas till the early centuries A.B.

Pundra, unlike Kirata, Nisada, Sabara or Pulinda, was a term

applied only to a specific people living in eastern India, and did

not at any stage mean a forest or mountain people. To writers of

the Aitareya Brahmana they were said to live in the border areas

merely because during that period brahmanical activity was centred

174* B. C. Law, Ancient Indian Tribes. 1926, pp. 18-19* These grants
have not been studied in detail as they are dated later than the
period under study.

175. F. E. Pargiter, *Ancient Countries in Eastern India*, JASB, Vol.

LXVI, 1897# P. 95 •
 259

around the middle Ganges Valley, When the Magadhan region became

the centre of empires under the Mauryan rulers, the Pundra country

became well known. However, it seems likely that it was only

during the Gupta period that the original inhabitants of Bengal

(Pundras) became followers of Brahmanism on a large scale, though

they may have known about it earlier, Bhandarkar^^ has reason

to believe that it was through Jainism that 'Aryan culture* first

disseminated in Ancient Bengal. Their association with mleochas

declined as the varnagramadharma spread gradually over the whole of

eastern India.

The religious Slite, in this case the Buddhist and Brahmanic,

vji
initially regarded peoples of the south, whom they had not had contact)

with suspicion. Ignorance about their ways, speech and customs,

which were therefore naturally alien to them, were in certain

instances dubbed as mleccha/milakkha. In the next few pages we

examine the position of the Andhras.

The use of the word Andhra in most of brahmanic literature is

varied and therefore the context in which it is used has to be

Li
carefully considered. In Buddhisthit occurs as Andha. Probably

keeping this in mind Monier-Williams has also given more than one
177
meaning of the word andhra as follows: ' 1) name of a people, 2) a

man of a low caste who lives by killing game, 5) an Andhra-.jati

4) the dynasty of Andhras - Andhra bhrtya.

The main issue which confronts us is connected with Andhras as

a people or a tribe who were called borderers or listed as mleochas

176. B. R. Bhandarkar, El, Vol. XXI, p. 90. It is difficult to ascertain

what Bhandarkar meant by *Aryan culture*. However, the attitude
of the Jainas regarding eastern India \\ras quite different from
that of the Brahmins and is discussed below,

177* Monier-Williams, The Sanskrit English Bictionary. 1889, p. 45*

 260

in literary sources. On the other hand, there are a number of

^atavahana inscriptions which prove the existence of a well-

established dynasty, which is often equated with Andhra or Andhra

bhrtya in the Puranio tradition. The controversy that the &atavahana

could be part of the Andhra people is impossible to resolve as the

inscriptions of the various ^atavahana kings do not mention the name

Andhra at all. In the Dharmasutra and Smrti tradition Andhra occurs

as the name of a caste.

Ve begin with the earliest mention of the name Andhra in the

178
Aitareya Brahmana. In this context they are borderers (called

dasyus) and listed along with the Pundras, Sabaras, Pulindas, and

Mutlbas • The Andhras alluded to in this case are probably a tribe

of the Deccan. During the period of the Aitareya Brahmana we do ,

not know the exact limit of Aryan civilization, but one can safely

state that it could not have spread beyond the Vindhya mountains. In

the east the AAga, Pundra, VaAga countries of Bengal remained outside

brahmanic influence at least till the propagation of Buddhism and

and Jainism in these parts. The hilly tracts and forests of the

Vindhyan region remained free from brahmanical control and even

political control of both Hindu and non-Hindu kings for many centuries.

But by the second and third centuries B.C. Buddhism had become a

popular religion south of the Vindhyas as is shown by the Buddhist

edifices at Amaravatl.

Next the Andhras are mentioned in the thirteenth and fifth

179
Rock Edicts of ASoka 17 along with the Pulindas and the Bhojas and

Pitinikas as people to whom ASoka taught the Dhamma so- vigorously.

178* Ait. Br,. VII, 18; Sankh. S. S .. XV, 26 .

179# E. Hultzsch, 'Inscriptions of Afioka', C. I. I .. Vol. I, R. E,.

XIII and R. E. V.
 261

The Bhojas and Pitinikas have been placed on the western border
180
of Aloka1s empire. The Pulindas, as we have seen were a tribe

of the western Vindhyan forests in ancient India, The Andhras,

though not identified as inhabiting the Krsna-Godavari delta in these

edicts, were nevertheless part of A&oka’s empire. They are not

mentioned with other southern peoples — their Dravidian neighbours —

the Codas, Pandyas, Keralaputas, Satiyaputas as these were outside his

181
direct administrative control.

Prom the middle of the first century B.C. the ^atavahana

dynasty became powerful in the Western Deccan. That they rose to

power in the west is concluded from the fact that most of the early

^atavahana inscriptions are found in the west, in Nanaghata, Nasik

and Karle. Hoards of their coins have also been found in this region.

Lastly there is no mention of the early ^atavahana rulers in the

182
Amaravati inscriptions. Their political centre was around Paithan

in Maharashtra,

It is unlikely that the 3atavahana kings belonged to the Andhra

tribe. According to H. C, Raychaudhuri, fthe name 11Andhra" probably

came to be applied to the kings in later times when they lost their

northern and western possessions and became purely an Andhra power

183
governing the territory at the mouth of the river Kpgp.a.*
18A
Gopalachari is of another view. He says: 1Scions of the royal

“I00* C. I. I .. Vol. I, R. E. XIII, pp. 43-47.

181. Ibid., R, E. II.

182. El., Vol. VIII, has most the the early ^atavahana inscript;i.ornP
E. J. Rap son, Catalogue of the coins of the Andhra dynasty Western
Ksatrapas.... 1908.
R, Chanda, ’Some unpublished Amaravati Inscriptions’, El, Vol.
XV, Eos. 4, 5* 6, 10, 19, pp. 258-275.

183. H. C. Raychaudhuri, FHAI. 1953, PP. 412-413.

184., K. Gopalachari, Early History of the Andhra .country, 1941 > P* 26*
 262

family in Andhrade£a might have passed into service of the Mauryan

kings and so have gone to Western Deccan as viceroys, thereby getting

the Puranio appellation Andhra bhrtya.' There are many suggestions

to link up the £>atavahana kings with the Andhras while, on the other
185
hand, Sukthankar ^ is of the opinion that it is conceivable to think

that the ^atavahanas had no connection with the Andhra people and

country.

One of the earliest references to a 6atavahana king is in the

• 1 fif*
Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela. The reference iB to the

name Satkaiini of the western region where Kharavela dispatched an

army in his second year, Satakani could either be the third or the

seventh king in the list of Andhra kings of the Matsya Purana,^8^

The Puranas on the whole list thirty Andhra kings who ruled for
188
300 years. Many of the names of kings in the Puranas are identical

with the names of kings called featavahana in the inscriptions.

Outside the Puranas there is no independent authority that asserts

the Satavahana and Andhra connection and even the inscriptions do

not mention the name Andhra, What the inscriptions do specify is

that Satavahana is a family name. We come across the expressions

Satavahana Kula and Sadavahana Kule in the Nasik Cave inscriptions,

The Puranas, on the other hand, possibly considering the Satavahanas

185# V# S. Sukthankar, *0n the home of the so-called Andhra kings1,

BORI, Vol. I, pt, i, 1918, p. 41#

186, D, C. Sircar, Sel, Inscr., Wo, 91 , P# 207#

187. Matsya P .. CCLXXIII, 3-4#

108* Bhag. P .. XII, 1, 22; Vayu P ., XLV, 127; XI*VII, 47;

Matsya P ., COLXXIII, 1-2; 16-17; 25#

189. El, Vol. VIII, *Nasik Cave Inscriptions1, No, 2, p, 60; No, 22,*
P* 93.
 263

as a family name of the Andhras called them by the latter name.

They sometimes refer to the Satavahanas as Andhra.jatlyah (Andhra

caste or tribe) and Ahdhrabhrtya (Andhra servants). We know that

elsewhere, too, Andhra occurs as a tribal name^^ but the Satavahanas

may not have belonged to this tribe. The Satavahanas may well have

been ethnically different — at least originally — from the

(Telugu speaking) Andhras over which they came to rule at a later

stage.

It is important for us to accept the fact that Andhra was

first a tribal name and it is in this context that it was used

by the writers of Brahmandcal literature. This will partly explain

why they were listed with mleocha tribes.

It is also probably due to the tribal connection that Manu

191
mentions the Andhras as hunters, Sahara, Pulinda, Kirata, and

Nisada are also tribal names associated with hunting and fishing.

Of these Wisada is the only other tribe that is also the name of

a caste. Unlike Nisada, Andhra as a caste does not occur in the

192
Sutra literature, Manu states that a Andhra is the offspring of

a Vaidehaka father and a Karavara mother and who dwells outside the

village, Meda is another new caste mentioned for the first time
193
in the Manusmrti. The two castes Meda and Andhraka occur together
_ 194
again in the Nalanda Copper Plate of Devapaladeva. 'Illis Plate

lists the people in the service of the royal household and the Andhra3

and Medas are listed with the Cabalas as "the lowest group.

”190, Ait. Br,T VII. 18; Bhag. P .. II, 4 , 18.

191 • Manu, X, 4 8 *

192. Manu, X, % .

193* Manu. X, 4 8 *Monier-Williams, Op. Cit., 1889, p. 795•

194* El* Vol. XVII, p. 321, lines32-33.

 264

Andhra as a caste occurs comparatively late in the history

of hharmasastra literature. By the early centuries A.B, the

brahmanical way of life must have been well established in the

Andhra country, Xpastamba, a well accepted authority regarding the

performance of sacrifice and duties of the twice bom, is said to

have been a native of Andhra country,1^ The Andhra caste were

clearly not all the people of this country but rather a name of a

caste of hunter^, irrespective of whether they lived in north or

south India.

Thus, the use of the word Andhra as a caste name is distinct

and cannot be linked with the Andhra tribe or people. The brahmanical

tradition of the north followed an uncomplimentary attitude towards

these Andhras also. The only explanation for this is that the

brahmanas of the north were genuinely ignorant about the south.

The Brahmanda Purana, for instance, declares the Andhra country unfit

for lilddha ceremonies.1^6 While on the other hand Xpastamba,

a law giver of the south, describes the rules and regulations for

the performance of the Sraddha and even remarks on the slight difference

of customs in the north when performing the graddlm.1^

The case of the Andhras is similar to that of the Pundras, They

stood out as a different people, though not necessarily uncivilized.

However, initially they did not fulfil the requirements of being

civilized according to the brahmanical point of view, It was with

the spread of the varnasramadharma in these regions that they ceased

to be outsiders. The early association of particularly the Andhras

with mleccha arose because Andhra.in the Aitareya Brahmana was the name

195* G* Buhler, SBE. Vol. II, Introduction, pp. xxxi-xxxvii,

196. Brahmanda P .. II, 16, 59; III, 14, 80.

197* Apastamba Dhs.. II, 7 , 1 7 , 1-25.

 265

of a tribe. As will be seen further, tribal people were and

are considered outsiders to the official system.

Irrespective of ethnic origins, religion, speech and customs,

names of indigenous peoples known as mlecchas/milakkhas are listed

in ancient literary sources. Certain tribal names recur in most

lists as contained in the Buddhist Brahmanic and Jaina texts. There is

a striking absence of lists of mleccha/milakkha peoples by name in

early source material, as for example in the Buddhist Dikayas,

the Dharmasutras or in any of the early Jaina Ajfigas. Information about

mleooha attributes, is however, not lacking in these texts. At this

point it is essential to emphasize that while Brahmanic and Jaina writers

largely agree in the form and content by which they designate tribals

and non-tribals as mlecchas. the Buddhist writers differ from them.

In the first place, there are very few references to the

designation of peoples as milakkhas in Buddhist sources .in general.

This may be explained either by their lack of concern for the subject

or simply caution. An exception to this rule is the fifth century

commentator Buddhaghosa, who in his many commentaries on the Pali Canon

maintains a consistent picture of designating certain peoples as

milakkha. In the Samantapasadika Buddhaghosa explains that mllakkha

must be understood as a term for non-Aryan peoples, the Andha Damila

etc, — milakkhakam nama yo koci anariyako andhadamlladi.1^ In the

Manorathapurani. his commentary on the Aflguttara Nlkaya the Damila,

Kirata, Yavana etc. languages are called milaldcliabhasa3 — damila™

_ _ 199
kiratayavanadi - mllakkhanam bhasa... In yet another commentary,

the SammohavinodanI. he establishes the superiority of Magadhabhasa

over the language of the Andhakas, Kiratas, Yonakas, Pamilas etc., but

198# Samantapasadika (on the Vinaya P .. I, 8, 4)» Vol. I, p. 255*

199* Manorathapurani. Vol. II, p, 289.

 266

adds that irrespective of parenthood one should strive to learn

Hagadhabhas a, the language of Buddha vac ana.

Buddhaghosa in all probability reflected the Buddhist attitudes

of his day. There is no doubt that they saw in the Andha (Andhra),

Damira (Tamil), Kirata, among others, cultural differences of

speech, custom etc. which initially at least, were considered alien

and barbaric to them. One cannot, however, overlook the fact that

the Buddhist missionary spirit generally permitted mllakkha peoples

to become Buddhists. The absence of lengthy lists of milaklcha

peoples in Buddhist literature, unlike those in Brahmanical literature,

is therefore not surprising.

In direct contrast the list of milakkha peoples as they occur in

the Jaina Afigas and Upafigas show similarities with the Brahmanic

tradition of designating peoples as mleccha. Names of non-Aryan

peoples occurs in several Aflgas and Upafigas though not always with
202
the designation milakkha. They are sometimes preserved in the form

of a list of female slaves of these races who worked in the royal

203
households, ' We shall examine the lists as they occur in the

200. Sammohavinodani. VibhaAgatthakatha. 388*

201. The term adi in the above references denotes that there must ho.ve
been other such people .i.e., milakkhas who were not mentioned
by name.

202. J. Charpentier, The Uttaradhyayanasutra. 1922, p. 26 differentiates

between two sorts of lists that occur in the Canonical works.
He considers the shorter lists that occur in the Bhagavatl and
Jnatadharmakatha (fifth and sixth aAgas) and several of the upangan
to be the early ones.
283* Aupapatika. (First upaAga). para.53 lists maid servants of the
queen as follows j bhllhim.ldrm.j,jhhiin chilaihim vamamhlifi vadahl.rih.im
babbarihiifi pausiyahim .1oniyahiin palhaviyahim islntyahiifi charuini-
yahim lasiyahim lausiyahiiii damilxhiA simhallhiiR arablhiih pulimdlhim
pakkanihim bahalihim maru.mdlhim sabarlhim parasihim _nanadeslh:uit7
The same list occurs in Bhagavatl. sutra, 380, sutra, 143.
The eighth and ninth aAgas also have the same list of foreign
female servants — L. B. Barnett, The Antagada-Dasao and
Anuttarovayaiya-Basao. 1907> P* 28.
 267

Prasnavyakarana, -the tenth Anga and the Prannapana. the fourth

Upa&ga as these give the longest lists and the latter at least, clearly

states that there are two types of peoples —— the ariyas and the

milakkhas# The Pra6navyakarana is, however, considered a very late

composition mainly because of its style and w r i t i n g . T h e Pra.jnapana

is stated to he the work of Arya &yama, a patriarch who is said to

he 'identical with Kalakacarya whom tradition places in the time

of Gardahhilla, the father of Vikramaditya.1 (between 74-61 B.C.)*^

The date given to this upaftga by Jaina tradition is difficult to

accept and in Charpentier's opinion the enumeration of milakkha

peoples must date back to the beginning of the Christian era in

disagreement with Weber who puts down for them a late date*^^

These lists were constantly extended with new names which makes

it very difficult to fix their dating definitely.

207
The list in the Prasnavyakarana begins with the question :

ima ya bahave milakkhu.iati, ke te? - 'there are many milaldchu.

jat1s.

which are they?* and subsequently, ennmerares them as follows!"

208
Saka (Saka), Javana (Yavana), Sahara (Sahara), Babvara (Barbara),

Gaya (Kaya), Muruftda, Uda (Odra), Bhadaga (Bhadaka), Tittiya (Tittika),

Paklcaniya (Pakkanika), ICulakkha (Kulaksa), Goda (Gauda), Sihala (Simliala),

204* A. Weber, Indisohe Studien. Vol. XVI, 1883, pp. 351-3:52.

205* J. Charpentier, Op. Cit.. p. 26.

206. Ibid., p. 27.

207- Prasnavyakarana with Abhayadeva's commentary, (Agamodaya

Samiti),Bombay, 1919, sutra 4 .

208, Tie forms given within brackets are those available

from the commentary of Abhayadeva which was
written in Sanskrit.
 268

Parasa, KoAca (Kro&ca), AAdha, Davila (Dravida), Billala (Bilvala),

PuliAda (Pulindra), Arosa (Arosa), Doba, Pokkana, Gamdhaharaga

(Gandhaharaka) ,BahalTya (Bahalika), Jalla, Roma, Masa (Masa),

Bausa (BakuSa), Malaya, CuAcuma (Cahchuka), Culiya (Culika), KoiTikanaga

(KoAkanaka), Meta (Meda), Panhava (Panhava), Malava, Mahura, Abhasiya

(Abhasika), Anakka, Cina (Gina), Lahasiya (Lahasika), Khasa, Khasiya.

(Khasika), Nehura (hehara), Marahattha (Maharastra), Muttia (Maustika),

Araba, Dobilaga (Dobilaka), Kuhana, Kekaya, Huna, .Romaga (Romaka),

Ruru, Maruga (Maruka), CilayavisayavasI (Cilatavisayavasl), The

« „ 209
Prajnapana, 7 in its list of milakkhas cites the same names, often

in the same order of succession but with variations that appear in the

form of wrong spellings* It begins its account with the statement

that Man is divided into two groups: milikkhu and ariya *» a(ya)rlya

ya milikkhu ya* se lcim taA mililddiu? The question as to who the

milikkhus are is next answered. The milikkhus peoples are noted as

follows:- Saga, Javana, Cilaya, Sahara, Babbara, Muruinda, Bdda, Bhadaga,

Mnnaga, Pakkaniya, Kulakkha, Goda, Sihala, Farasa, Godha, Koftca,

Damila, PuliAda, Harosa, Dobava, Gandharava,I&haliya, Ayyala, Roma,

Pasa,Pausa, Malaya, BaAdhuya, Suyali, KoAlcana, Gameya, Palha.va, Malava,

Maggara, Abhasiya, Kanavira, Lhasiya, Khasa, Khasiya, ^Toha, Ramo^ha,

DoAbilaga, Lausa, Pausa, Kakkeya, Akkhaga, Buna, Romaga, Bharu,

Maruya, Cilaya, Viyavasi. The passage is concluded thus: eyamadi

se 'ttaA milakkhu — 'These and others are called mililddiu'.

It is difficult to identify all these names and some of them

such as DoAbilaga, Doba, Pokkana or Foha and several others lost

their original form through carelessness of the -various redactors

210
of these texts. The Sakas, Yavanas, Sabaras, Babbaras, Cilavas

209. Pra.jha/pana. I, 36-37*

210. J. 0, Jain, Life as Depicted in the Jain Canons, 1947, in Chapter
IV, Geographical Lexicon, has a separate section on non-Aryan
countries pp. 358-366. Some of them he has been unable to identify.
 269

211
(Kirata), MuruAdas, Siinhalas, Puliftdas, Andhras, Dravidas,

Khasas, Bahlikas, Bunas and some others occur in both these lists

noted above and are easy to identify* The Cina (for Chinese), Araba

(for Arabs), Kuha$a (Kusana?), Maraha^ha (Mahara^ra) are names

significantly absent from the Pra.jnapana version and may indicate

that it was the earlier list that was later added to. It is, however,

accepted that the entire Jaina Canon was put to writing in the

fifth century A.D. That its writers were influenced by the Brahmanic

idea of designating particular peoples as mleochas cannot be

ruled out.

In the Mahabharata. Vasistha creates a mleooha army to combat the

armies of Vi&vamitra, This army consists of the Pahlavas, Sabaras,

Sakas, Yavanas, Pundras, Kiratae, Dramidas, Sinhalas, Barbaras,

Daradas, Mleochas and several other mleccha ganas — tair yis.p^tair

212
mahatsainyam nanamlecchaganais tada/ Manu in an effort to resolve

the conflict between ritual status and actual political status of

certain foreign kings, describes some of the above mentioned peoples

as vrsalas and not mlecchas. These are the Paundrakas, Dravidas,

Kambojas, Yavanas, &akas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Kiratas, Daradas and

213
Khasas. ' It is worthyof notethat the reasonwhythey werecalled

vrsalas is because they disobeyed theinjunctions ofbral'mianas or

showed disrespect towards them.

Therefore, though there were important differences in emphasis

between the Buddhist, Jaina and Brahmanic writers, they agreed on the

designation of certain indigenous peoples as mlecchas/mllakkhas„

Two points .gradually emerge at the end of this chapter, Pirntly,

the use of the word mleccha for aboriginal tribes (both, residing in the

211. Ibid., p. 359.

212. Mbh., I, 165, 35-37.

213* Manu. X, 43-44*

 270

Himalayan regions of the north and the Vindhyan regions of Central

India) was a well accepted practice of ancient Indian writers. Its

use, on the other hand, for the not or partly brahmaniaed peoples of 'v

south, east and west India was inconsistent, hesitant and apparently

reflected the sheer ignorance of these writers concerning such peoples.

This was closely linked with the rise to political and economic power

of some of these peoples which consequently made it possible for

them to employ brahmanas and perform sacrifices.

Aboriginals were apparently ostracised because of their

backwardness and repulsive habits. It was thus that they were S'e&n

uncultured barbarians in almost every aspect of life, without any

attempt at an objective analysis. In reality, however, their

primitive mode of production hindered the expansion of brahmanic

Hinduism, These pockets of tribal culture remained concentrated, in

the main, in the mountainous and forested regions of the Himalayas and

the Vindhyas, The fact that these tribes could not follow correct

ritual and speech were thus not the only reasons why they were called

barbarians. The Buddhist and Jaina sources also call them milakkhas,

which only proves the point that the distinction was not religious.

That people such as the Pundras and Andhras were looked upon

with a similar attitude can be explained in a different way. Materially

these people were not unlike the Aryans themselves nor did they live

like savages in the forest. However, these kingdoms formed the

border areas away from the nucleus of brahmanical political and

religious power and authority. Language and correct speech were

important aspects of the brahmanical system at any level. More

precisely the knowledge of Sanskrit was crucial to being an arya

and thereby performing the correct ritual. Once this was achieved and

the land made pure for the performance of £raddha ceremonies, these

extreme areas ceased to be called mlecchadega.

 271

Attempts by the Dharmagastra writers to assimilate outsiders,

particularly tribes, clearly were no more than, an afterthought.

Because the Nisadas, for instance, are mentioned as a low caste,

or the Kiratas as degraded ksatriyas this doe3 not imply that these

people then ceased to be called mleccha. It is also difficult to

imagine that large sections of the population were the outcome of

illicit unions. How long they remained as mlecchas outside the

varna system depended mainly on the strength of their resistance.

Another striking point emerges and that is that despite the

drastic difference of physical appearance, custom, speech etc.

of these people they were all listed together as mleccha. This

is not difficult to understand and can be explained by the fact

that to the brahmana writers these people were all outside the

yarnagramadhanna. However, some informal hierarchy of mlecchas

must have been laid down by the brahmanas and preference was given

to those who were most useful to them. This is apparent in the

fact that individual tribes and peoples were often distinguished

and not always designated as mlecchas.

ftUftMA

(
 275

Chapter VII
FOREIGNERS DESIGNATED AS MLECCHAS.

As the title suggests, the fundamental problem to be discussed

in this chapter is to ascertain whether all foreigners in ancient

India were regarded as mlecchas. But first, a brief note about the

use of the term foreigner in the ancient Indian context and its

relation with the term mleccha.

In m o d e m English usage a foreigner iss'l) a person b o m in

•j

another country; an alien, 2) one of another country; an outsider,1

The same meaning applies when one speaks of a foreigner in ancient

India, However, *India* is, with reference to the ancient period

normally used to include regions beyond the frontiers of the present-

day Republic of India* Indeed, today the area, often called the

South Asian subcontinent, consists of five completely independent

states — Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, The

brahmanical civilization grew up in this subcontinent, bounded along

the north by the Himalayas,

The central mass of the Himalayas may have proved impregnable,

but contact with areas beyond was always maintained through the moun­

tain passes of the Hindukush and further, for in the north-west no

insuperable barrier existed which impeded the flow of trade or of

armies between India and the outside world. The river valleys and

certain accessible mountain passes at the eastern extremity of the

Himalayan range, however, afforded comparatively less easy contact.

Thus, the ancient Indians did not live in isolation and in some c^ses,

as in the present context, their history and ideas have to be studied

and understood against an Asian background.

1, Little & Onions, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, p.754.

 274

The term mleocha is in no way synonymous with the word 'foreigner'

in the sense of one belonging to areas outside the subcontinent, as

it had the connotation of barbarism attached to it. Therefore, also

some others who were not foreigners could be designated as mleccha.2

Yet,the most common meaning given to mleooha in m o d e m Sanskrit and

Pali dictionaries is that of 'foreigner'*^ 'Foreigner* is nevergiven

as the only meaning^ and is sometimes stated as the second one'*;the

g
first one being a barbarian. In a similar way mleccha is also at

present commonly used to designate a 'foreigner* in nearly all the

m o d e m Indo-Aryan languages and Tamil as well.^

But the problem of the designation of foreigners as mlecchas is

more complicated than it seems. There was a considerable amount of

difference between what was intended by the Hindu lawgivers and what

2. The Amarakosa, II, 20, a Sanskrit lexicon, defines mleooha-.jatis

as the BedaJ Kirata, Sahara and Pulinda tribes. In the previous
chapter we discussed how certain indigenous tribes and inhabitants
of the Indian subcontinent were called mlecchas.

3. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1899, p. 037;

Bohtlingk & Roth, Sanskrit Bictionary't" " l V o l . V, p.934;
Davids & Stede, Pali English Dictionary. 1925* P*157;
R.C. Childers, Pali Dictionary, p.247.

4. Ibid.

5. Davids & Stede, Op. Cit.. p.157? Childers, Op. Cit.. p.247;
V.S. Apte, Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1912, p.776.

6. Sanskrit like most Indian languages has a distinct word in its

vocabulary for 'foreigner* — videsi. parade§1. etc. though these
words normally indicate people from other parts of India.
• Monier-Williams, Op. Cit.. p.284.
In Hindi it is videsi. in Marathi paradesaca. in Bengali bidesi etc.

7. Shyam Sunderdas, Hindi Sabda Sahara. 1916, Vol. 3, pp.2837-38;

S.C. Mitra, Bengali English Dictionary. Calcutta, 1911, p.970;
J.T. Molesworth, A Dictionary. Marathi and English. Bomi5ayf t
p .67 2; Bhai Maya Singh, The Pun.iabi Dictionary, Lahore, 1895, p,7 ■11
R.L. Turner, A Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of jbho
Nepali Language. London, 1931, p.521; B.N. Mehta, TheJIodorii
.Gujarati English Dictionary. Baroda, 1925 , p.1232; TamirLexTcon.
Vol. V, Madras, 1952, p.3206. The word occurs as mileccan and
is borrowed from Sanskrit. ~
 275
actually happened. In many cases Indian literary tradition merely stated

the theoretical principle, which in this case implied that all those

outside the varna system were mlecchas. But this theoretical principle

"became difficult to observe because of the peculiar circumstances created

by those foreigners who not only invaded Aryavarta but even became

its political masters.

The Aryans were originally themselves foreign to the Indian

subcontinent, but the concept of mleccha was introduced by them to

differentiate their ways from the ways of those whom they considered
0
less civilized. Since their advent several other types of foreigners
9
have been known to the Indians and during the period before A.D. 60(r

there were a large number of foreign invasions in northern India:

those of the Achaemenids, the Greeks, the Parthians, the Scythians,

the Kusanas and the Huns.

• .
The Sanskrit terms used in ancient Indian writings to designate

certain foreign groups that will be discussed in this chapter are

Yavana, Saka, Pahlava, Kusaha and Buna, in particularYavana, Saka

and Huna, the terms which, in the period before A.D. 600, occur more

frequently than the others.

One general point that must be borne in mind about the use of

terms such as Yavana or Saka in Sanskrit texts is that in most

instances they were not used to indicate one particular ethnical or

racial group. This is clearly apparent from the references to these

terms in Epic and Puranic literature. Even if the original meaning

of each of these terms was confined to one particular group of foreigners,

it is unlikely that it retained itsinitial meaning for long. The

8. The first extant reference to mleccha is in the Satapatba Brahmana

III, 2, 1, 24* In this case mleccha speech must be avoided by tfie
Aryas.

9. Foreign invasions of India continued after that date, but for the
purpose of this study we are concerned with only these that took
place before A.D, 600.
 276

laxity in the use of these terms further creates the problem of

identifying the Yavanas, Sakas, Pahlavas etc. with definite types

of foreigners who, as we know from other sources, actually came to

India. The problem of the identification of groups like the Yavanas

or Sakas will, however, remain peripheral since the emphasis in this

chapter is on the attitude of the literary dlite towards them,

Yavana is the earliest of the above-mentioned terms found in

literature to indicate a particular kind of foreigner. The earliest

_ “JQ
reference is in the Astadhyayi of Fanini. Before discussing the

implications of its occurrence in the Astadhyayi, it is important to

explain why the Sanskrit term Yavana has hitherto been considered the

ancient appellation for the Greeks by most scholars. The premise on

which most scholars work is that Yavana is a Sanskritized form of

11 hi
Yona, which is derived from Old Persian Yauna, Greek \(ove a and
12
Hebrew Yawan are the other forms of this word and they are all taken

to mean the same people namely, the Ionians, Although these terms .

originally designated the Greek settlers on the west coast of Asia

Minor and the adjoining islands there developed secondary meanings.

The Old Persian form Yauna, meaning all kinds of Greeks was used

for the first time in the records of Darius and other Achaemenids,

10, Astadhyayi. IV, 1, 49*

11, R.G, Kent, Old Persian Grammar Texts Lexicon. American Oriental
Society, 1950» p*204; C. Bartholomae, Altiranisches Worterbuch.
Strassburg, 1§04* p.1231.

12, Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 9» Jerusalem, 1971? 'Javan*, 9* 1301.

In modern Hebrew the term is Javan which reflects the Hellenic
tribal name Ionia ( ) Itoyla) and designates the west coast of Asia
Minor and the. Aegean archipelago.

13* H.G. Liddell & R, Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon. 1, Oxford,

p.847, MtAjv'ia - their country.

14* B.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. Vol. I, Inscriptions of the Akhaemenians,

Nos, 1, 2, 4 & 5? E*J* Rapson, CHI, Vol. I, 1922, p.540,
 277
15
With evidence from Greek classical sources and numismatics A.K, Narain

also shows that the Persians commonly* used Yauna for those Greeks who

had settled in several cities of Asia Minor long before Alexander of

Macedonia came to power. There are traces of it being borrowed by

16
the Indians without any modification. However, the more common and

the earliest use of the Sanskritized form Yavana can be traced back
17
to Fanini and that of the Prakrit form Yona to the inscriptions of
18
ASoka and to the Pali texts#

The etymologies of Sanskrit words given by the Indian grammarians

are mainly based on the theory that all words are derived from a verbal

root by means of affixes and other processes# Thus attempts to find

an etymology of the word yavana, whether initially foreign of Indian,

have been made by Indian grammarians # It has been derived from the

root yu in three different ways# Firstly, yu means 'keeping away',

19
'averting* and dveso yavana signifies 'removing hostility1# Secondly,

from yu meaning 'mixing*, 'mingling' it can be implied that the Yavanas

20
were a mixed people. Without stating the name of the Sanskrit author

R,. Mitra has quoted that the Yavanas were ' a mixed race or one in

which no distinction of caste is observed' (i.,£, yauti mi6rayati va

21
mi^ribhavati sarwatra .jatibhedabhavat iti yavanah) , which also

15* A.K, Narain, The Indo-Greeks. 1954# pp.2-6#

16# Mbh., XII, 207, 40#

Astadhyayi. IV, 1, 49.

18# Inscriptions of ASoka, R.E. II, V, XIII, (O.I.I#, Nos. 2, 8, 2J>).

19# Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1899, p#848.

20# Ibid., p# 848.

21# R# Mitra, 'On the supposed identity of the Yavanas..#', JASBy

XLIII, p.253, ft.nt#*
 278

supports the above derivation, Finally, the same root means 'quick1,
22
'swift', which either suggests that the Yavanas were a swift or
02 OA
intrepid race 3 or that they had a quick mode of conveyance.

One cannot base any arguments on these fanciful etymologies and

above all, they do not explain the relation of Yavana with the Old

Persian form Yauna, But a closer look at the Pali and Prakrit forms

of the same word may throw light on this aspect. The most common
25
Prakrit form for Yavana is Yona, The variation Yonaka is attested in
26
other texts, T a m has suggested a derivation of Yonaka independently
)I 07
of Yona and Yavana, from Greek lutn/koa« The relation of Yonaka
28
with Yona could be similar to that of Madraka with Madra, Yona is

closer to the Old Persian form Yauna, which may suggest that Yavana is

a secondary Sanskriti^ation of Yona, It is interesting to note that

in the Mahabharata we also find Yauna although normally Yavana is used

29 50
in this text, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit retains Sanskrit Yavana,

22, Monier-Williams, p,848,

23* R. Mitra, JASB, XLIII, p.253.

24, A,K, Narain, The Indo-Greeks, Appendix I, p.1 65 .

25, Inscriptions of ASoka, R, E, II, V, XIII, (0,1,1,, Nos,2, 8, 23);

MahavaAsa, XII, 5* XXIX, 39* Pipava&sa. VIII, 9?
Ma.i.jhima Nikaya. V, 3, 93 •

26, Milindapanha. I, 2 (SBE, Vol, 35); Mahavajfisa, XII, 4?

Dipavafisa, VIII, 7; J£, Vol, VIII, No, 18, 'Nasik Gave
Inscriptions', line 1, p,90,

27, W.W, Tam, Greeks in Bac.tria and India, 193-8, PP* 416-17*

28, Astadhyayi, IV, 2, 100, PataHjali's varttika 2 explains — —

madro bhaktir asya madrau va bhaktir asya madraka iti eva yath a syat/

29, Mbh,, XII,- 200, 4 0 . ’

30, P. Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Biotionary,

Vol, II, 1953, p.447. He gives the meaning of yavana as 'a
barbarian people (Greek or Western)'.
 279

It can thus he postulated that Yona and Yavana may have

etymologically developed side by side and had some links with similar

forms that were used in West Asia, The connexion of these two words

is similar to that of milakkha and mleccha and one cannot conclusively

suggest which was the original form. But like mleccha. Yavana is the
51
earliest attested form in Indian literature,^
52
The sutra of Panini
^ which teaches the use of the affix anuk,
„ ,„y

gives yavananl as one of the examples. Katyayana's varttika^ further

explains that in the case of the word yavana the affix is added to

indicate handwriting i.e. yavanalllpyam. Thus yavananl could indicate

'yavana writing'. Louis Renbu in his edition of La Grammaire de Panini

has .translated yavanah as 'grec* and yavananl as 'ecriture grecque'.^

The important point here is to find out why it should be presumed that

the writing referred to by Panini was Greek, Neither he nor any other

independent source, direct or circumstantial, gives any hint to the

identification of yavananl with Greek writing during that period.

It is reasonable that Panini knew of some script that was foreign

yavananl. and not Sanskrit, The people called Yavana must have

inhabited some area near his homeland and must have been known well

enough to the Indian of his age for him to refer to their writing to

explain a grammatical rule. Fanini is said to hav© been an inhabitant

of Salatura which haB been identified as a place in the vicinity of

51 • Sat. Br.. Ill, 2, 1, 24. (First occurrence of mleccha);

Astadhyayi. IV, 1, 49* (First occurrence of YavanaX#

32. Astadhyayi. IV, 1, 49*

33* Varttika 3 on Panini

. ^ IV, 1, 49#

34# Louis Renou, La Grammaire de Panini. 1966, IV, 1, 49*

 200

T&xila.
35 like other Indian sources. Panini associated the Yavanas

with the Klmbojas.^ A Yona state is mentioned in the Ha.i.jhima Nikaya^

as flourishing along with that of the Kambojas in the time of Buddha.

The old Persian inscriptions of around the same period mention the
38
Yauna, Gandhara and Saka together more than once. This suggests

that the Yonas or Yavanas were a frontier people like the Kambojas and

Gandharas from an early period. At the height of the Achaemenid empire

that part of India adjoining Iran had formed an administrative unit of

the Persian empire. Greek soldiers and officials constituted an import

39
tant element in this administration. However, these Greeks may have

intermarried with the Persians and other local families,^0 To Panini

and the Indians of his day the Yavanas were therefore undoubtedly a

foreign people, with some Greek association but permanently settled in

the north-west. There is little information available from Panini

41
about his attitude towards the Yavanas.

In the Gautama Pharmasutra Yavana is a mixed caste? the offspring

35* V.S. Agrawala, India as known to Panini, 1953, pp.9”10. As far

as the date of Panini is concerned ‘the"ma;jority of scholars agree
on placing him in*the fifth or fourth century B.C.
Vinternitz, HIL, Vol. Ill, 1927» p.42» Keith, A History of
Sanskrit Literature. 1928, p*426; Agrawala, Op. Cit.. p.475s
Rapson, CHI. Vol. I, p.540.

36* Panini Ganapatha 178 on II, 1, 72.

• * •

37* Ma.j.jhima Nikaya. II, 149.

38, Sircar, Sel. Inscr*. Ho, 2, fPersepolis Inscription of Daraya-

va ush (Darius c,. 522-486 B.C.)1, lines 12-13, 18, p.7;
No. 5, 'Persepolis Inscription of Khshayarsha (Xerxes „c,. 486-465)',
lines 2 3 , 25-26, p.12; etc.

39. E.J. Rapson, Op. Cit.. p.540.

40, A.K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks. 1954, P«5*

41. Although the use of the word Yavana is attested inthe fifth or
fourth century B.C., it is unlikely that thepeople it designates
were regarded as mlecchas.
 281
_ 42
of a Su&ra and a Ksatriya. Gautama is considered the earliest of

all the Dharmasutras hut there is still some controversy on whether

this text is to he dated before or after the invasion of Alexander

Thus tiuhler argued: 'As there is no historical evidence to show that

the Indians became acquainted with the Greeks before the invasion

of Alexander in the fourth century B.C., it has been held that the

works containing the word Yavana cannot have been composed before
43
300 B.C.' ^ However, Gautama was the earliest of the Dharmasutra

writers and his mention of the Yavanas as a mixed caste and not as

mlecchas is significant* Mixed castes as a result of anuloma and

pratiloma connections between sudras and members of the higher varnas

'were nothing more than backward tribes, who were annexed to the four

original and recognised varnas by giving them a wholly arbitrary

genes is.'^ The Yavanas were not a backward tribe but as has been

discussed earlier, Greeks who had settled in the north-west of India

before the fourth century B.C., The system of caste hierarchy

does not seem to have existed in the community of the Yavanas. The

Ma.j.jhima Nikaya tells us that among the Yonas, the Kambojas and other
_ /JCj
border people there werp only two classes: the aryas and the dasa.

It is expressly stated in the same Buddhist text that only among the

Yonas can an arya become a dasa and vice versa. It is unlikely that

there was any conscious attempt by Hindu law writers to include all

Yavanas in the caste system and the theory that they were all the

mixture of Ksatriya males and Sudra females is even more far-fetchecl,^

42© Gautama Dhs,, IV, 21,

43* G, Buhler, The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, SBE Vol, 2, p. Ivi,
but^the term Yavana need not necessarily have implied Greeks,

44# R*S, Sharma, Sudras in Ancient India. 1958* p*119*

D
45* Ma.j.jhima Nikaya, II, 149 yonar-kambo.jesu annesu ca paccantlmesu
.janapadesu dveva vanna, ayyo c'eva daso ca; ayyo hatvd. daso
hoti. daso hatva ayyo hoti.

46* Gautama Dhs*. IV, 21 j Baudhavana Dhs., II, 2, 3*

 282

It is plausible to assume that those Yavanas who had migrated further

inland into Sryavarta and lived in the caste-divided society dominated

by brahmanas, had to be accomodated as mixed castes.

i rii tt— _ ..J
At a later date

(second century B.C.), the Yonas continue to be singled out as a

people amidst whom the two classes of brahmanas and sramanas do not

exist.^.

Although the use of the term Yavana is attested in Indian

literature before the Creeks actually invaded India and dominated

parts of it politically, it is almost certain that it later became

synonymous with Indo-Greek.^8 The Indo-Greeks do not designate them­

selves as Yavanas, neither in their coin legends which are in Creek

or Prakrit, or in the few inscriptions that can be attributed to them,^

Indian literary sources, on the other hand, do not specify the names

of any Greek kings whom they call Yavana or Yavanadhipa or Yavanaraja

- 50
except for the inscription of Rudradaman. The field is therefore

left open to make inferences. Attempts such as the identification

of Demetrius (i) with Dattamitra of the Mahabharata by 'i'anr^ or with

_ 52
the word dharmamlta in the Yuga Parana by Jayaswal^ have been made
55
but neither is convincing. There is no doubt, however, about the

47* Hultzsch, C.I.I.. Vol. I, R.E. XIII Kalsi version, pp. 44-47•
None of the other versions of this edict have theselines in full.

48. A.K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks. 1954, P*1#

49. V.A. Smith, Catalogue of the Goins in the Indian Museum Calcutta,
1906, pp.7-55; Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Inscriptions of the Indo-
Greeks *, pp.99-108.
50# D.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. 'Junagarh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman',
I, p.171 text line 8, yavanara.jena tus[alaphenadhistaya

51. W.W. Tam, 'Demetrias in Sind', JRAS, 1940, p.179»

52. K.P. Jayaswal, 'Historical data in the Garga Safihita andthe

Brahmin Empire,' JBORS. Vol. XIV, 1928, p.411* Sec. 7» line 4 0 .

55* Narain, The Indo-Greeks. pp.59-44 gives other similar examples.

 285
54-
identification of Menander with Milinda who has "been immortalized
** 55
in the Pali work Milindapanha.

However, it must he stated that Yavana did not always indicate

the Greeks. It ultimately came to denote any group of people that

came from West Asia or the eastern Mediterranean."^ Early Tamil

literature also speaks of the Yavanas, particularly their settlements

in the trading ports of the peninsula. Here, too* they are referred
57
to as mleccha since they spoke a hard and rough language. 'Therefore,

a significant point that emerges ahout the Sanskrit use of the term

Yavana is the flexibility with which it was deployed. Within the broad

sense of its usage it always denoted a foreign people; foreign not

necessarily to the subcontinent, but definitely to the brahmanical

system that tried to assign to them the status of a low people and of

mlecchas.

The use of other Sanskrit words to denote particular groups of

foreigners like Saka, Pahlava and Huna, was somewhat more specific.

The context in which all these names are mentioned is similar and the

Sakas and the Pahlavas, in particular, are frequently listed together

with the Yavanas.

The Pahlavas are seldom mentioned on their own in ancient Indian

texts, Monier-Williams gives the meaning of Pahlava as the name of a

54# Tam, Greeks in Bactria and India, p.414.

55. Rhys Davids, The Questions of King Milinda. SBE Vols, XXXV &
XXXVI, Oxford 1889.

56, Ra.iatara&girir. VIII, 2264 refers to the Yavanas,' According to

Stein the Yavanas meant here are undoubtedly the Muhammadans
and they served in the Kasmir army.'

57* N, Subramaniam, Pre-Pallava Tamil Index. Madras, 19^6, p. 716'"-"

Here it is noted that Adiyarkkunallar generally designates them
’Milechchar1• Other references given here are Ahananlira. 149#
9# Manimekalai XIX, 108; etc.
 264

58
people, either Parthian or Persian, Hie Pahlavas have been
59
identified with Indo-Parthians^ who held sway over north-west

India for more than a century after the collapse of the Bactrian power

there and until the invasion ofthe Scythian tribes. It has been

suggested that these kings were originally Scythians who had settled

in the Gazani-Itandahar region during the reign of Phraates II and

60
Artabanus II from c_. 156-124 B*C. There is some difficulty in

distinguishing between the Saka and Parthian dynasties in India,

61
which arises basically from the identification of their coinB, *•

According to Thomas, *It would seem probable that the tribes from

eastern Iran who invaded India included diverse elements mingled

indistinguishably together, so that it is not possible to assert that

62
one dynasty is definitely Parthian while another Saka, 1 This state­

ment of ^homas may be correct but the Sanskrit writers always maintained

a difference between the Sakas and Pahlavas and though the latter, in

this sense the Indo-Parthians, acquired political ascendancy only for

a short period, they are mentioned as often as the Yavanas and Sakas

58. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit English Dictionary. 1889* p.612.

59* S. Konow, C.I.I., Vol, II, p.xv.

60. Narain, The! Indo-Greeks, pp. 140ff,

61. V, Smith, Catalogue of the coins in the Indian Museum Calcutta.

1906, pp.59-62/ Elsewhere ("'The''Indo-Pa^'hian Dynasties % ZdliG,
60, 1906, pp. 49 ff). Smith makes no distinction between the
Saka and Pahlava rulers. There is generally some controversy in
identifying the coins of the individual Pahlava and Saka rulers
of the northern branch. (E.g. Maues, the joint issues of Azes
and Azilises). However, unlike Smith other numismatists — »
P. Gardner, BM Catalogue of the coins of the Greeks and the
Scythio IClngs of Bactria and India. 1886; E.J, Rapson, Indian
Coins, 1898 — assign some coins to the 6aka family of northern
India and some to the Indo—Parthian dynasty.

62* P.W.- Thomas, *Sakastana', JRAS. 1906, p,215*

 285
63
"by the ancient Indians,

The name 3aka in Sanskrit was perhaps the Indian!zation of Old

Persian Saka, Information about the latter can he gathered from various

Persian, Classical and Chinese sources, Saka was the ancient ethnic

designation for not one, hut several central Asian tribes. The earliest

mention in Classical sources of these tribes, as Z,kv D o i (Scythian),

64
is by Herodotus, ^ who refers to them as wandering tribes which had
65
no towns, Prom the Persian and the Classical sources discussed by

F.W. Thomas it follows that the names Saka and Scythian were used to
66
denote the same tribes. Some of the Old Persian inscriptions of .the

Achaemenid period enumerate Saka among the peoples included in the

empire of Darius and that of his successor X e r x e s D . C . Sircar has

Sanskritized the Old Persian text of these inscriptions and for Saka

he transcribes Saka, Both Sircar and Sulcumar Sen translate Saka as

68
Scythian, Further it has been recognised by scholars that Saka is

63. Manu. X, 44? Mbh.. I, 165, 34; III, 48, 20; V, 4, 15; XII, 6 5 , 13;
Brahmanda P., II, 16, 47-48; II, 31, 73; III, 6 3 , 120, 123; *
Matsya*?,, 114, 40-415 121, 45*

Herodotus, — *- (Tr. 0, Rawlinson), I, 104; II, 110; VII, 10 etc.

Ibid.. IV, 18-20,

66, Thomas, JRAS, 1906, pp. 181 ff.

67, Sircar, Sel, Inscr.. Ho. 1 — Bisutun (Behistiin) Column (No* 1),
Inscription of Baraya%sh (=d)arius, c_. 522-486 B.C*), line 16-17,
PP* 4-8; No. 2 — Persepolis Inscription (e) of Darayava, usli
(sDarius), line 18, pp. 7-8^ No. 4 — Naqsh - i - Rustam
Inscription (a) of DarayavaVsh (=Darius), line 28, pp. 10-11;
No. - Persepolis Inscription (h) of Khshayarsha (^Xerxes, .c*
486-465 B.C.), line 26, pp. 12-14*

68, Sircar, ibid., No. 2 ’Persepolis Inscription (e) of Darayave^ush,

lines,17-19, p.7 — Hindush Candara Saka Maka Thatiy Darayavn.\ish
Khashayattiya yadiya"^ 'Text 8’^ skritized — p.8
Sindhuh (India == district on the Indus), Candliarah (Ganderia) P
Sakah (Scythians), Makah (Malcae)
saitisati Dharayadvasuh Ksayathyah - yadi,
S, Sen, Old Persian Inscriptions etc., 1941, -“ishtun Inscriptions
Column I, lines 15-17, P*6; Persepolis Inscriptions, lines 9-10,
p. 94; Nax6 - i Rustam Inscriptions, lines 19-20, p,98?
Inscriptions of Xerxes, the Daiva Inscriptions, lines 19-20, p.151,
 286
6g
identifiable with the Sai of the Chinese annals.

Unquestionably the Sakas known to the ancient Indians and men­

tioned by them in their literature originally came from Central Asia.

They were a branch of the Scythian horde that inhabited the region

north of Bactria. The Saka incursions into India took place over a

considerable period of time and were closely linked with tribal move­

ments in Central Asia, particularly with those of the Yueh-chih,

The migrations of the Yueh-chih are related in the Chinese Annals of ■

the first Han dynasty (T fsien - Han - Shu^ and the Annals of the hater
TO
Han dynasty (IIou - Han - Shu) •

The Yueh-chih who occupied the territory adjoining the Mongolian

provinces of the Hsiung-nu, were defeated by the latter and subsequently

had to move westwards:. The Hsiao or Little Yueh-chih moved southwards

among the Tibetans while the Ta Yueh-chih or the main branch continued

to move westwards and fell upon the Sakas who then occupied the terri­

tory north-east of Sogdiana and Bactria.

The date around which the Yueh-chih pushed westward and displaced

the iSakas is taken to around 165 B.C.^ But it was only around 145 B.C.

that the pressure from these Scythian nomads brought about the decline
72
of Bactria,' Strabo informs us of the tribes that drove the Greeks

69. S. Konow, C.I.I.. Vol. II, Introduction p.xvi;

J.M. Rosenfield, The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans0 1967» p.122.

70. Summarized bys S. Chattopadhyaya, Sakas in India, 1955? PP*1~5»

Early History of North India O.200 B.C. - A.B„ £50 . 1968, pp.60-65*
Also discussed by: Tam, Op. Cit.. pp.252-255; Konow,
pp. xvii-xxxi; Rosenfield, Op. Cit., pp. 121-122.
Certain passages from the Chinese texts have been translated by
E. Zurcher, fThe Yueh-chih and Kani§ka in the Chinese Sources1,
pp.358-370, in Papers on the Date of Kaniska, Ed, A.I., Basham,
Leiden, 1968.

71. E.J. Rapson, CHI. Vol. I, 1922, p. 495;

H.C, Baychaudhuri, PHAI 1953? p.431*

72*. S, Chattopadhyaya, History of H. India, 19&8, p.60j

Tam, Greeks in Bactria and India, p.285 regards the Scythian
conquest of Bactria a myth.
 287

out of Bac.tria;'fThe Asii, the Pasiani, the Tochari, and the Sacaxauli,

who came from the country on the side of the Jaxartes, over against the
73
Sacae and Sogdiani, which country was also in occupation of the S a c a e y

The Sakas, however, did not remain in Bactria. After Bactria some of

them axe said to have moved and taken one route leading to Mesopotamia
7A
and the other through Herat and Seistan to India*

The Chinese accounts have this to say about the Saka or Sais-

*Formerly, when the Hsiung^-nu had defeated the Great Yueh-chih, the

Yueh-chih went west and became rulers of Tar-hsia, whereas the Sal King

(or; the Sai-wang) went southwards and became ruler(s) of Chi-pin,

The Sai race was divided and dispersed and everywhere they formed
75
several kingdoms ...* Besides stating that the Saiwang occupied

Ki-pin, the above passage also clearly points out that the Sai formed

several kingdoms. Thus from the outset one has to suggest the possi­

bility of at least two major groups of Sakas that came to India.

Konow has pursued the theory that the word Sai-wang should be
76
interpreted as Saka Murunda and the territory of Ki-pin that they
77
occupied should be identified as Kapisa.'1 There has been considerable

controversy about the identification of Ki-pin, According to Chatto­

padhyaya its identification with KaSmir during the Ilan period is most

plausible and thereby concludes that the Joalcas entered through Kasmir
78
and settled somewhere in the Kasmir and Punjab region,

75* Strabo, (Tr. Geographica. Hamilton & Falconer) XI, 5, 11-15 ,

74* Chattopadhyaya, Sakas in India. 1955» P #6*

75* E, Zurcher, Papers on the date of Kaniska. p.565.

76. Konow, C.I.I.. Vol. II, pp.xx ff.

77* Konow, El. No.20 ’Taxila Inscription of the year 156', XIV, pr!f.29'l-2.

78, Chattopadhyaya, Sakas .in India, pp. 5-4 • E.J, Bap son, CHI,
p.5^3 presents arguments against Ki-pin being Kasmir and""the
main reason against the Sakas entering India through this area
is that it is physically impossible.
 288

It cannot, however, be positively stated that all the Sakas

entered India through KaSmir. The earliest group of Sakas that became
79
politically important in India" had been closely associated with and
80
culturally influenced by the Parthians . In their movements further

westwards from Bactria, the Sakas had to inevitably encounter the

Parthians who then controlled eastern Iran. There were political

struggles between the Sakas and the Parthian monarchs before the reign
81
of Mithradates II (128-88 B.C.) and it was he who put an end to the
Op
struggles between the kings of Parthia and their Scythian subjects*

and also established the Parthian suzerainty over Seistan and Kandahar.

Prom eastern Iran the Sakas migrated to India just after the reign of
83
Mithradates II and according to Rapson the Sakas like the Pahlavas

came to India through Ariana (west and south Afghanistan and Baluchistan),

through the Parthian provinces of Seistan and Arachosia via the Bolan

Pass into the country of the lower Indus which was called lndo~Scythia
0A
by the Greek geographers and Salca-dvipa in Indian literature, By the

first century B.C. the Saka hordes had successfully replaced the Boctrian

and Parthian rulers in parts of northern India, though they may have

been Satraps for some time under the Indo-Parthians.

The Saka political power in India waB concentrated in at least

three separate regions. In the north-west they settled in Gandhara,

the Swat Valley and Western Punjab and it is in this region that there

79* Very little is known about the political history of the Sai-wang
or the Muruij^as of Ki-pin.

80. Parthian influence is clearly noticeable in their coins and in

India it is difficult to distinguish the two dynasties from their
coins (discussed above).

81. N.C. Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia. 1938, p.31* 33^39

82. Rapson, Op. Cit.. p.567.

83* IConow, Op. Cit., p.xxxvi.

84# Rapson, Op. Cit.. p*564* Thomas disagrees that the Sakas came to
India through Kasmir or through Afghanistan. In his opinion
they came through Sindh and the Valley of the Indus. (JRAS. 1906,p.216)
 289

is a difficulty in distinguishing between the ^aka and Fahlava rulers

that we have discussed above# The Mathura region was another major

centre of Saka dominion, where there is unmistakable evidence to show

a well-established dynasty of Saka ksatrapas who preceeded the Kusanas.^

There is no information available about the relation of the £§akas who

86
became politically important in Mathura and the Sakas of Taxila,

Though it is difficult to establish how and when the Sakas gained

mastery over Mathura, there is little doubt that their power ended with
87
the Kusana of Mathura and eastern India, ' Finally, around Malwa and

Kathiawar the Sakas, also known as the Western Ksatrapas, established

at least two important dynasties. In this region they held political

sway till the fourth century A.D. and were a serious threat to the
88
Satavahana power in the Deccan. Some of the inscriptions of these

Saka rulers present information which entirely contradicts the br&hmanio

claim to dubb all £akas as mlecchas.^

85. Sircar, Sel. Xnscr.. Wo, 24, ’Mathura Lion Capital Inscription
of the time of Ranjuvula and. Sodasa', pp.112-118;
J. Allan, Catalogue of Indian Coins in the British Museum, p.cxv.

86. Tarn, Greeks in Bactria and India, p<*325 thinks that they reached
Mathura independently of their advance up the Indus and perhaps
they came from Malwa. IConow, JIH, 1933, p.23, thinks that the
Mathura Saka chief had to leave Malwa after Vikramaditya asserted
his independence in that country.

87. S. Chattopadhyaya, Sakas in India. 1955, P«30«

88. One of the Satavahana inscriptions refers to thefact that ft.iri

Satakani Gautamiputa crushed the pride of the ks^briya and
and destroyed the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas. ■> Sircar, Sol.^
Inscr,, Wo. 86, 'Wasik Cave Inscription of Vasishthrputra Fuiumavi1
line 5, p.78; El, Vol. VII, Wo.2, p.59ff.

89. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. Inscriptions of the £akas ofWestern India,.

pp.157-182 they are the earliest to be composed in good
literary Sanskrit and in the Junagadha inscription of Rudracfunana,
the king is said to have prevented £he mixing of castes and thereby
protected the law of varna.
Rapson, Catalogue of Coins.... 1908, p.civ, 'there is 110 doubt
that they were of foreign non-Indian nationality.'
 290

Among the many references to the Scythians, Herodotus also states

that the Persians used Saka in a loose w a y ^ to designate all Scythian

people. The Indians probably continued to use it in a similar manner

and to denote the same people i.e., certain central Asian tribes that

came to India, since they do not at any stage specify which group of

Sakas they meant. This is an interesting parallel with the Persian

use of Yauna for the Greeks settled in the eastern provinces of the

Achaemenid empire and the similar early use of Yavana for the same

people,

Wot surprisingly, in India, the oldest certain mention of the

Saka people is in compound with the Yavanas and occurs in the Maha-
91
bhasya. The sutra of Panini which Patanjali commentates on is a

dvandva compound put in the neuter singular and denotes that the
92
Sudras are not excluded. The commentary raises the question as to

what the exact meaning of the word niravasita is. The first answer,

and the most improbable one, given is that it means 'excluded from
93
i.e. not dwelling in Aryavarta.1 Against this it is objected that

in that case we should not be able to have the dvandvaSaJcayavanam

since the dakas and Yavanas live outside Aryavarta, but, however, we

do have such a compound. Prom this passage we can draw the inference

that the Sakas, at the time of Patanjali,_i.e. about the middle of the
94
second century B.C., were known to live outside Aryavarta and were

90* Herodotus. VTI, 64*

91* Mahabhasya, II, 4> 10, In the varttika on Panini, VI, 2, 94 the
compound word Sakandhuh occurs. Its meaning is difficult to ascertain
but it is unlikely that in this context Saka refers to the name of
a peopl^, .

92,. Astadhyayi, II, 4> 10 — Sudranam aniravasit anam. Renou in M s

translation adds: Sudras not excluded from the society of the high
classes — 'Sudra §ui ne sont pas exclus (de la society dec
classes supdrieures),f

93» Patanjali (II, 4, 10) describes Aryavarta, as the region to the

east of Adarsa, west of Kalakavana, to the south of the Himalaya
and to the north of Pariyatra, part of the Vindhyas in the west.

94. Wintemitz, HIL, Vol. Ill, p.390.

 291

associated with the Yavanas in some way or other. Although only a

OK
Yavana invasion of Madhyamika and Saketa is mentioned in this text,

the presence of the Sakas, as we have seen, soon "became widespread and

could not have gone unnoticed "by the brahmana authors of the Epics and

Puranas.

Just as the Sakas played a role in the decline of the Greek king­

doms of Bactria and north-west India, the Kusanas were the political

successors of the Sakas in northern India, Therefore one set of foreign

rulers was replaced by another which also had central Asian associations.

The Kusana empire by the time of Kaniska included a considerable part

of India and the two main centres of their power were Peshawar and

Mathura,

The Kusanas entered India through the Kabul valley in the first
• •
century A.D, If the term mleccha was meant to be indiscriminately

applied to all foreigners that came to India, then apparently, the

Kusanas are a clear exoeption. The term Kusana does not occur in
96
Sanskrit, The possibility that they were known in Sanskrit literature

under a different name cannot be excluded.

The name Kusana has been differently interpreted as denoting

97 98 99
historically, a race, a tribe, a family, or a dynasty. B,N.

Mukherjee presents the etymological evolution of the term Kusana in

great depth and concludes:1the name Kushaha = Kuei-shuang originally

95, Mahabhasya. Ill, 2, 111, BiSCussed below,

9 6 , M. Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 1889*

97, J,E» Pleet, ,The name Kushan', JRAS, 1914, i, p.381?

F.W, Thomas, JRAS, 1915, ii, P.532.

98, Konow, 0,1,1,. Vol. II, i, p,xlvi, xlix,

99, E,J, Rapson, CHI, I, p.525; Konow, El, Vol, 2.1, p»59,
Rosenfield, The Dynastic Arts of the Kushanas, p,7
It appears on coins as a suffix to the individual king's name
Shaonanoshao Kaneshki Koshano (King of Kings, JCanishkha the
Kushan)# The same appears^on inscriptions as well — Konow,
0.1,1*. Vol. II, p.68.
 292

meant a tribe or group, or sect or family of the Yueh-chih people1

The Yueh-chih migrations westwards led them to settle in Ta/-hsia.

The Hou-Han-Shu (118, 9a) continues to describe their conditions:

formerly when the Yueh-chih had been routed by the Hsiung-nu, they

moved to Tar-hsia and divided their country into five hsi-hou (yabgu)

of Hsiu-mi, Shuang-mi, ICuei-shuang, Hsi-tun and Tu«mi, More than a

hundred years later, the yabgu of Kuei-shuang (named) Ch1iu-chiu-ch1ueh

attacked and destroyed the (other) yabgu and established himself as

101
(their) king; the kingdom was named ICuei-shuang.1 It was this

dominant branch of the Yueh-chih, the Kuei-shuang or the Kusanas, that

came to India.

Sten Konow has consistently argued that the ICusanas were of

• •
Saka-Iranian origin. He bases his arguments on the grounds that the

language used on the Kusana coins and inscriptions shows a close

• m
affinity with language used by the ^akas. This affinity leads him
102
to suggest that they were a Saka clan or family. La Vallee Poussin,

in accordance with the views of Thomas and Grousset, also holds that
103
the Kusanas were Scythians1. Working on this assumption, could

the Sanskrit use of Saka have been loose enough to include the Kusanas?

But to pursue this thesis there has to be some literary, epigraphio

or numismatic evidence that would give even the slightest hint about

the Kusanas in India being known as Sakas.

• •

100, B.N, Mukherjee, Studies in Kushaha Genealogy and Chronology. p*19

101* E. Zurcher, Papers on the date of Kaniska, p.3 67 .

102, Konow1s views summarized from — C.I.l., Vol. II, pp.li-liii:

JIH, *Ifotes on..Indo-Scythian Chronology1, 1953^ P« Iff. Konpw
(JIH, p.6) identifies the Asiani with the Yueh-chih and the
Tocharians as inhabitants of Bactria before the invasion of the
Yueh-chih of that region.

103. La Vall6e Poussin, L fInde Aux Temps des Mauryas.,., p.303, p.308.
 293

On the other hand, Tusara or Tukhara of the Epic and Puranic texts

has heen suggested as another appellationfor the Kusanas in India

0 #

and this seems to be more plausible# The Tukharas are identified with

the Tokharians or Tocharians, the nomadic conquerors of Bactria. Strabo^^

mentions the ToXapoi (Tochari) as one of the Saka tribes that drove the

Greeks out of Bactria. The reference to the word Tou-cli'u-lo in Chinese

texts is further connected with Tochari and Tukhara by scholars and

Sir H.W, Bailey establishes the philological relation between these

words

The Indian sources do not give any further details that would

help to clarify the identification of the Tocharians or. Tukharas with

the Kusanas. The Puranic lists indicate that there were fourteen
* •
•» 106
Tusara kings that succeeded the Yavanas and these, according to

B.N. Puri, are precisely the rulers called ICushana in inscriptions

107 _
and coins1. Not only are the Tusara kings mentioned but the Tusaras
0 0
as a people are mentioned almost consistently with the Sakas, Yavanas,

Daradas, Paradas, Khasas, Cinas, Harahunas etc.^^ and are sometimes

109
called mlecchas. Therefore, it is quite probable that while the

Kusana rulers do not use the tribal epithet* the Indian sources conti-
m - 110
nue to name them as Tusaras.
0

104. Strabo, XI, 5, 15; XI, 8, 2.

105. S, L6vi, 'Notes sur les Indo-Scythes1, JAf 1897, IX, p.10 n„1,
points out that in the Chinese version of the Bodhlsattva^ch^ryyajr*
nirddesa the name Yueh-chih has been substituted by Tou-ch'u-lo.
Further, since the Tar*Yueh-chih is identical to the Tochari of the
Classical sources and to the TuJdiara of the Sanskrit ones it
should not be surprising that the name Tocharian dynasty does
not appear in documents.
B.N. Mukherjeq, Kushana Genealogy and Chronology, p.23, pp.25"/>6,
also suggests the equation Yueh-chifo=Tou-ch1u-lo.
Sir H.W, Bailey, 'Ttaugara', BSOAS, VIII, pp.887^890.
106. Matsya P .. 273, 19; Vayu P ., 99, 360; Brahmanda P., Ill, 74, 172.
107# B.N, Puri, India under the Kushanas, 1965 , P«6.
108, Mbh.. II, 47, 26; III, 48, 20; etc.; Ramayana, Kishk. K., XLIV,
15; Vayu P., 58, 83; Matsya P .. 144, 57? Brahinanda P.. II, 31, 73;
Markandeya P,, LVII, 39; etc. **
109* Harivaifisa. 85, 19*
110, B.N. Puri, Op. Cit., p.8.
 294

Although it cannot be conclusively established by what name the

Kusanas were known in Indian writings, the role that they played in

the socio-economic affairs of northern India for at least two centuries

could not have been totally ignored by the brahmanaa. By conquering

vast parts of the Gangetic valley down to Yaranasx or even farther

east they had disturbed the orderly existence of every day life.

Further, the fact that the Kusana kings worked essentially in a

Buddhist framework, they may have posed a threat to the brahmanical

supremacy. The Indians were too weak to resist this foreign invasion

even less than the earlier incursions, and thus ultimately the period

of foreign domination was described as one of the evils of the Kali

111
age.

Remnants of Kusana power persisted in Gandhara, Western Punjab

112
and parts of KaSmir till the middle of the fourth century A.D„,

while the &akas who had established a prosperous kingdom in Gujerat

and part of Malwa continued to rule till the end of the fourth century
113
A.D, x In the meantime the Gupta Kings succeeded in creating a vast

empire from their original nucleus in the Ganges basin. The atmosphere

was ideal for the growth of Classical Hinduism though Buddhism and

Jainism did not fail to receive the patronage of the Gupta emperors.

However, the supremacy of both the new political and the new socio-

religious system, did not remain unchallenged. The challenge came in

the form of yet another foreign invasion and this time the mlecoh-is

were the Hunas.

•

111, ’Discussed below,

112, Altekar & Majumdar, The Yakataka^-Gupta Age.1954* pphi6-22 acme

of the Indian provinces of tfte Kusanas were conquered by the
Sassanians, though the former continued to rule as feudatories
under their ascendancy. Later under Kidara the Kusanas probably
expanded their domain into Kasmir and central Punjabi

113, Chattopadhyaya, Sakas in India. 1955* P#52,

 295

The Hunas who came to India are known as the Fphthalites or the

White Huns, They are often confused with the Hiung-nus hut the

Chinese writers are always careful to distinguish between the Hiung-

nus that quarelled with the Yueh-chih and compelled them to move
11A
towards the west and the Ye-ti-li-do or Yeda jl.e, Epthalites. ^

The Hunas became a factor in Indian history from about the middle

of the fifth century A.D, and continued for less than hundred years.

The threat of their invasion was felt at the end of the reign of the

Gupta emperor ICumaragupta (d, 455 A,D.) but it was in the reign of

Skandagupta that serious attempts to forestall these invaders was

taken. There are references in the Junagadha inscription to a struggle

with hostile kings including those against the mlecchas whose pride
115
is finally broken. This inscription belongs to the early years of
116
Skandagupta*s reign. Later, in the Bhitari Stone Pillar inscription
- 117
the serious conflict which he had with the Hunas is described, ' The
118
war with the mlecchas probably refers to his fight with the Ilunas,

Allan also thinks that the mlecchas are the Hunas and that a story in

the Kathasaritsagara seems to preserve the memory of Skandagupta and

119
his victory over the Hunas, Chattopadhyaya disagrees with the above

view; according to him the mlecchas were *some enemies’ whom Slcandagupta

114. R. Ghirshmann, Les Chionites-Iiephtalites, 1948* pp. 115m119»

Chattopadhyaya, History of North India,,, 1968 , p,23'l.

115* J.F, Fleet, C.I.I., Vol. Ill, 1886, ’Jxmagadha Rock Inscription
of Skandagupta*, No. 14* line 4 * PP*58'"^5,

116. Ibid., p.59.

117# J.F. Fleet, Op. Cit., ’Bhitari Stone Inscription’, No. 13»
line 1,5? PP.53-56.

118. Majumdar, Vakataka-Gupta Age, p.165 .

119# Allan, Catalogue of Gupta Coins. London 1914* p.aclvif

Kathasaritsagara. XVTII, 171 •— The mlecchas who inflict even the
gods and brahmanas with oppression.
 296

had to fight with immediately after his father’s death# His suggestion

is that the battle with these enemies took place somewhere in the

Saurastra region# As to the mlecchas# he suggests that they consisted

of different groups, possibly Greeks and Persians, who in later times

120
were denoted by the term Yavana.

The Hunas, however, are known in literature even before they

actually invaded India# In the MahabKarata the Hunas are mentioned

121
as an outside people, located to the north along with the CInas,
122 123
with the Ramathas and other kings of the west, and as mlecchas.

In the RaghuvaifiSa. when the details of Raghu’s western conquests are

124
described, the Hunas are placed on the northernmost part of the Indus#
•
125 _
Their country is mentioned in most Puranas. In the Vayu Purana the

hill country of the Kiratas is mentioned together with that of the

Hunas while in the Visnu Purana the Hunas are among the several people
« ■— « p""""■' *
126
mentioned who drank water from the rivers of Bharatavarsa.

It is therefore clear that the Sanskrit terms Yavana, Saka, Pahlava

and Huna refer to foreign groups and their rulers who initially came

from outside the Indian subcontinent. By military conquest they esta­

blished themselves as the political masters of parts of northern and

western India, a process which began with Yavana rule in the second

century B.C. and continued with brief intervals dovm to the sixth

century A.D. The Sakas and the Kusanas were the most successful groups,

120# Chattopadhyaya, History of Horth India.... pp.218-219*

121. Mbh#, III, 48, 21; II, 47, 19.

122. Mbh., II, 29, 11.

123 . Mbh., VI, 1 0 ,' 6 4 .

*124 . Raghuva&sa, IV, 67-68 — their women are pictured as having made
their cheeks pale-red.

*125. Markandeya P.. LVIII, 4 6 .

126# Vayu P.. 45, 136; Visnu P.. II, 3, 17*

 297

M AP N O .X II
INDIA C.150A.D

+ f 7 f V + + * v"
t f . +, . * * * x * K X * * * I
f-t"
. .1 +
i + . +- . x ’
'*«**/-'».
•« yK x /rV
7 „ **. *» *v
**I Kushan E m pire
,^ f *V x * ^ ? KASHM W estern Satraps
H V d> * VGANDH^RA
_ v.^r'O > .</. rr~>^ *
kapica ^ ^ C / X * A ndhra Kingdom

M odern C ities

Probable Boundary

nr\7iharV
ur vinar * A * Delhin|
* v+ • (+
■*t-». *
— »• * * * „^ *1ndf;aprastha
y ' +*
m a r u e, c M a t h u r a
^ S>) N D l» ° « t ? v V O - X * ■»
ff Karachi J E S T E R _
v .Pataliputra
7 y ° D c, ^ o o o o o o o 9y\ v ■» Praya
*> ec S A T R A P
o 0 0 _ o o o

K ACC U jja in *^
O o - o - o 0 o

Calcutt
URASHTR A ^ ,;
o° O .
.- O 13 vv
Junaqad
O /v l \J

S u r D a r a k a^L ^
»urparaKat J l\-j >> NvDjshthana
r£t H R A Vj * '
Bombaycy^ v v<
v v K l' h/ G D O M

APARA PURVA
SAMUDRA SAMUDRA
o/M ad ras

O LA

Kilometres
IM HALA
Miles ■— u---u
XX) 200 300 400
 29U

both in terms of the length of time that they ruled and in so far as

they penetrated farthest into the interior of India*

FOREIGNERS IN BRAHMANICAL TRADITION:

F- — " -■'T * ,« « r rrr-Ti r— ~ .11. n_fLMi..-.-

It is fortunate that we can reconstruct at least the political

history of foreign rulers in India from different sources such as

coins, inscriptions and foreign accounts, as the Indian literary

127
tradition has very little to say about it. f On the other hand,

information about the migration of foreigners in general, that must

have occurred along with, and in the wake of these conquests, is

lacking. In the present context we are not concerned merely in evaluating

whether foreign kings were regarded as mlecchas but rather, whether all

foreigners were thus designated. It must be stated from the outset

that brahmanical literature very rarely refers to the status of the

Yavanas, Sakas or Hunas .i.e. whether they were nobles or commoners.

As to the original meaning of the term mleccha there seems little

doubt that it was applied to the primitive tribes of the forests and

mountains, or simply to people about whom the brahmanical writers

were ignorant. The earliest occurrence of the word is in the £>ata™

128
patha Brahmana where the mlecchas are looked down upon because of

their speech. The unintelligible words he’lavah he’lavah in this

1“ FT, r-.TT-T-ir-l . ^

passage can either be attributed to people who mispronounce Sanskrit

129
or to those who speak a Prakrit dialect. It is unlikely that in

127# The Puranas are the only texts that list the number of foreign
kings of’each dynasty and also ;b]ae. length of time they ruled
which in most cases is exaggerated. The Puranic account of these
dynasties is discussed below.

^28. Sat. Br.. Ill, 2, 1, 24.

129* K*C. Chatter.jee. Patan.jali1s Mahabhasya. 1957* pp. 10-11,

 299

this text the allusion is to any incomprehensible speech of foreigners.

There is evidence that the Indians of the Yedic and Brahmahic period
1 "50
had had contact with people of foreign countries. Furthermore,

during the reign of Darius (522-486 B.C.) the Persians ruled over the
151
Indus valley region and adjoining areas. ^ The Persians, known as

Pahlavas in later Sanskrit literature, are not designated as mlecchas

during this period, apparently because they did not interfere with the-

brahmanical way of life. But this is a very weak argument because,

except for the above-mentioned passage in the Satapatha Brahmana

(ill, 2, 1, 24), there is no further example of mleccha in the Vedas

or Brahmanas.
1 ■#— i
Yavanas are mentioned by Panini in one of his sutras but
V « pm ,

132 _
not as mlecchas. In the Gautama Dharmasutra Yavana is noted as a
133
mixed caste but again not as a mleccha. The creation of the image

of foreigners as mlecchas i.e. barbarians, thus cannot be attributed

to the early authors of the brahmanical texts.

154
Alexander's invasion is well-known in ancient Indian history*

The whole of the Achaemenid empire, including its Indian provinces,

succumbed to his armies. His campaign meant the end of the Persian

ascendancy in the north-west but did not leave any lasting political

impression in the form of Greek rule there. More important, it did

not affect the social structure of Brahmanism or disturb the supremacy

of the brahmanas in MadhyadeSa. Alexander is. not mentioned in any

"■',l1 '• 1
literary texts so that it is impossible to ascertain how he or his

Greek or Macedonian soldiers were designated.

150. E.J. Rapson, CHI. Vol. I, 1922, pp.319-342.

D.C. Sircar, (Ed) Foreigners in Ancient India..., 1970 contains
articles which attempt to show the role played by foreigners
in general, throughout ancient India.

131. D.C. Sircar, Sel. Inscr.. Chp.I, 'Inscriptions of the Akhaemenianstf

Nos. 1, 2, 4 & 5*

132. Astadhyayl. IV, 1, 49*

133. Gautama Dhs.. IV, 21.

134* E.J. Rapson, • f Ch. XV.

 500

While the disintegration of Alexander's empire was taking place,

in India there emerged an empire which put an effective stop to foreign

invasions for some time* The Mauryan kings exchanged envoys with the

Seleucid successors of Alexander who xmled over portions of the

Achaemenid empire contiguous with India* Mauryan domination was clearly

felt in certain portions of Afghanistan and Baluchistan* Asoka recog*-

nised the existence on the northern fringes of his empire as on the

135
southern, of certain peoples whose independent or semi-independent

status did not justify their inclusion into his kingdom* At the same

time they were important enough and entitled to be mentioned separately.

The Yonas are mentioned again with the Gandharas, Kambojas, Ristikas,

Petegikas and other western borderers in another edict where the

1^6
Mahamatras are instructed to establish Dhamma among these people. ^

In the thirteenth Rock Indict the Yonas and Kambojas appear as peoples

among whom his policy of Dhamma had succeeded* ^his list continues

in the same Edict to include the Yona king Amtiyoka and four other

kings together with such people as the Codas, Pandyas, Keralaputras

137
and Satiyaputras* '

Ybna for Yavana is used consistently in all the three Rock Edicts

of Agoka* However, two of the references are to a Yona king Ajfttiyoka,

The references to Yona in Rock Edicts II, V, XIII, are to a group of

people settled in the northwest near the territory of the Rambojan and

135* Hultzsch, C.l.I** I, R.E, IX, Girnar version, p,2ff;

Sircar, Sel* Inscr.* R.E, II, Girnar version, No<>7» pp,18-19-

136. Hultzsch, C.l.I.* I, R.E, y, Girnar pp.8-10; Kalsi pp.32-33?

Shahbazgarhi pp.55-56; Mansehra pp.74~75j Sircar, Sel. Inscr.
R.E, Y, R0, 10, Mansehra version,..

137* Hultzsch, C.l.I.* I, R.E. XIII, Kalsi p.43 ffj Shahbazgarhx p.66ff;
Mansehra p.81 ff.; Sircar, Sel. Inscr*. No, 18, Shahbazgarhx
version p. 35ff*

13Q# Hultzsch, C.I.I., I, pp.3-4, ft. nt. 11. Afitiyoga has been
identified with Antiochus II The os (260-246 B!
,C.).
the Gandharas. BUt like most other Indian sources Asoka, too, used the

term Yona in a loose way and it is impossible to establish whether by

Yona he meant Greeks whose presence dated back to the time of

Alexander or those who had settled before him and had become a peiv-

manent element in the diverse population of the north-west.

The mention of the Yonas with the ICambojas and Gandharas agrees
139
with similar lists of people that appear in Sanskrit texts. But ■

Asoka does not call any of these foreign peoples mlecchas. The word

or its Prakrit equivalent milakkha does not occur anywhere in Asoka's

Edicts, His attitude towards them was not different from that adopted

towards his southern borderers. Everywhere alike two kinds of medical

treatments were to be established (R.E. II) and for the well-being of

all of them the law of morality must be spread among them (R.E. V and

XIIl). In one instance the Yonas are singled out and it is proclaimed

that the two classes of brahmanas and &ramanas do not exist among them."^^
1“ I — L . T IT _ —

Thus, under Asoka*s rule the Yonas were a border people from the

political point of view, as geographically they were located beyond

his kingdom and could therefore not be brought under the direct

administration of his empire. *

The Mauryan imperial edifice gradually fell apart after the reign.

of Alloka. Beyond the Hindukush, at the same time, the kingdoms of

Bactria and Parthia were just beginning to emerge and India was still
'141
free from foreign attacks. .We are informed by Kalhana that a son
»
of ASoka, named Jalauka, had taken possession of Kafimir. Ne is supposed
142
to have crushed a horde of Mlecchas and advanced as far as ICanauj.

There is a view :that the Mlecchas 'probably refer to the Eactrian

139. Mbh.. XII, 65, 13-14; Manu. X, 43-44.

140. Hultzsch, C.l.I. R.E. XIII Kalsi version, pp.44-47* None of

the other versions of this edict have these lines in full,

141 • Ra.jataraflginl. I, 107-108.

 502

Greeks1.
143 Narain is opposed to this view and h im s e lf suggests

that either Kalhana was attributing a later Indo-Greek invasion to the

time of Jalauka or he simply referred to the incursion of some tribes

from the borders as a horde of mlecchas.^44 In reconstructing the

history of KaSmir, Kalhana has used the term mleccha several times
145
to describe foreigners especially the Muslims. ^ It is therefore

not unlikely that in the above instance, too, he meant foreigners,

but wrongly attributed them to the reign of Jalauka since we have

evidence that Greek invasions did take place not very much later,

probably during the reign of Pusyamitra SuAga,

Though the SuAgas controlled key centres of power, their empire

was definitely not as large as that of the Mauryas, but even so they

could not retain it for long. The performance of two asvamedha

-1 A C.

sacrifices by Pusyamitra was in vain and the SuAga, empire dwindled

*
within a hundred years. Patanjali, who is generally considered a

contemporary of Pusyamitra SuAga (c.• 185-15° B.C.), mentions a Yavana

invasion which presumably took place during his lifetime. The context

in which he relates the invasion is to illustrate the use of the imper­

fect tense to denote an event that has recently happened. The vfrtrbika

further explains that it is also used to indicate an event which is

out of sight of the person who is speaking but one which is generally
147
known, tArunad Yavanah Sake tain1 (the Yavana was besieging Sake to,)

143# R#K, Mookerji, Age o f Im p e ria l Unity. p .9 ° *

144# A.K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks. p#9*

145* Ra.jataraAgini . VII. 166-176; VIII, 2760-2764;VIII, 2843, 2859,

146 . Mahabhasya, Ill, 2, 123.

147. Louis Renou, La Grammaire de Panini. 1966, III,2, 111*

11 1 | V '*J |“
 505

and 'Arunad Yavano Madhyamlkam* (The Yavana was besieging Madhyamilca)

1Aft
are the two examples that are given* If these axe not hypothetical

examples one can infer that a Yavana invasion of Sgketa and Madhyamika

occurred in the second century B*C Like Fanini, Patanjali, too,

does not refer to the Yavanas as mlecchas. Elsewhere in his Bhasya,

he states that the Yavanas and Sakas do not live \ri.thin the confines
150
of what he describes as Aryavarta, ^

Political events in northern India, particularly after the close

of the Maurya period, become confused involving the rule of various

foreign rulers. The Indo-Greek invasions were the beginning, followed

by those of the Sakas and the Kusanas. These events undoubtedly changed

the politioal scene as the indigenous kings were replaced by foreign

ones, but their effects on the brahmanical system were also gradually

felt. The fact that certain powerful foreign groups existed outside

the official social system controlled by the brahmanas could not be

ignored for long by its upholders; later attempts were made to account

for their existence.

Sanskrit literary sources rarely give accounts of the actual

invasions of the Yavanas, Sakas, Pahlavas or Hunas. The Yuga Purana

1r-i
section of the Garga Saifihita is unique in this respect. J It describes

148, Mahabhasya. Ill, 2, 111.

149* The value of the examples from the Mahabhasya has been disputed
by some scholars as these may have been 'standard1 examples
current in some schools of grammar,

150# Mahabhasya, II, 4, 10*

151# The MSS, of .the Yuga Purana which have been edited;
K.P. Jayaswal, 'Historical data in the Garga SsuSihita and the
Brahmin Empire1, JBORS, Vol. XIV, 1928, pp.400-451•
L.R. Mankad, 1 A critically edited text of the Yuga Purana',
j t j p h s . Vol. XX, 1947, pp.52-64; *
B.C. Sircar, 'The account of the Yavanas in the Yuga Purana',
JRAS, 1965, pp.7-20;
H, Kern, The Brhatsajfihita. pp.52-40. The Ms. used by him is now
lost.
 304

the Yavana and Saka invasions at some length and mentions a few other

foreign invasions#

The Yuga Purana is the earliest among the extant works of the
152
Purana type# Kern assigns this text to_c. 5° B.C. and considers
•
155 _
it contemporaneous with certain portions of the Mahabharata.

Jayaswal has dated it hack to the latter half of the first century
154
B.C. One problem about the dating of this text is to decide whether

it could refer to an earlier period even if it was not composed earlier

than the first century B.C. Since the language used in the different

manuscripts of the Yuga Purana is often corrupt, there is no unanimity

about some of the interpretations. There is for instance, a difference

of opinion as to whether the Yavanas attacked Pataliputra (iCusumadhvaja,

Puspapura) alone after occupying Pancala and Mathura*^ or with the

156
help of the Pancalas and Mathuras.

The account begins with a description of the good life during the

first three yugas, followed by vivid details of the evils during the

Kali yuga* Foremost among these evils are the foreign invasions,

commencing with that of the Yavanas. The latter stayed in Madhyadesa

for a short while as soon a war broke out among them. Before the advent

of the first group of Saka rulers is related, seven powerful rulers of

Saketa are said to have reigned. Next the names of four foreign kings

— — Xmlata, G-opala (jayaswal has Gopalobhama), Pusyaka and Anaranya

* . «

152# None of the other Puranas discusses the Yavana and £aka invasions
of ^ndia but they do give a list of the foreign dynasties.

153. Kern, Brhatsaifihita. Introduction, pp.39-40.

154. Jayaswal, JBORS. XIV, p.399.

155# Kern, Op.Cit#. p.37; Sircar, JRAS. 19^3» P.17*

■156. Jayaswal, JBORS. XIV, p.410; Mankad, JUPHS. XX, p.38.

 505

(jayaswal has Savila) — * are mentioned. According to Jayaswal these

157
are mleccha kings and Greeks • Except for Smla^a who is called a

mleccha. there is no indication in the text of the others being called

158
mlecchas or Yavanas, Towards the end of this account there is
159
another mention of the Saka conquerors. ?

The absence of precise data in the above account makes it diffi­

cult to identify these rulers with the Greek and Scythian rulers

known to us from numismatic and inscriptional sources. Attempts

160
at identification have, however, been made. But the major signi­

ficance of this account is that it gives us a fair insight into the

sort of attitudes that were held by its authors and the contemporary

6lite about foreign rulers in general. The description of the Yavana

attack on Pataliputra is followed in a prophetic way by a description

of the eviln'ess of the Yavanas — *They will eat up (i.e. oppress)

the people (and) will b u m (alive) five rulers at Nagara (Pataliputra)1,

The Saka kings are described as greedy, very powerful, wicked and
162
sinful. The portrayal of the king named Ttmlata is particularly

striking 1the red-eyed foreigner (mleccha) will destroy the four

165
castes by making all old established castes low placed.1 J Finally,

157. Jayaswal, JBORS, XXV, p.419-

158* B.R. Mankad, Yuga Puranam, text line 156 —

tatah sa mleccha amlato raktakso raktavastrabhrt
'’■ '' '' ' ' .11 I I 1'■T■'
159* According to Jayaswal (p. 4 1 4 2 0 ) the first group of 6akas
referred to were those who ruled over Mathura and the latter
group are the £akas of Western India.

160, Sircar, JRAS, 1963 , p.15; Jayaswal, JBORS, XIV, pp.415, 416, 418, 420.

161, Sircar, JRAS, 1965* Text and Trans. B, lines 1-2, pp.17-18j
Mankad, JUPHS. 1947# Text lines 111-112, p.55» Trans, p.59 —
gives another translation for these lines but conveys the same
same impression that the Yavanas are feared as oppressors.

162, Jayaswal, JBORS. XIV, Section 9* lines 55-57» PP*404> 411•

Ibid.. Section 11, lines 6 5 , 67- 6 8 , p.419.

 506

the second group of Sakas is made responsible for the population losing
164*
their conduct and being degraded in their own acts# ^ The rest of the

account then describes the evils of the Kali age in general#

The people suffered because these invasions brought in their

wake physical disaster and destruction, as wars usually do. But what

is more striking are the constant references to the demoralisation

of the people and the mixture of castes, which clearly reflects

the fear among the brahmana authors that their old established authority

was at stake. The presence of foreigners also meant that there were

large groups of people outside the caste system.

In the Yuga Purana the Yavanas and the Sakas are in fact not

called mlecchas# However, the early centuries A#D# saw the formulation

of a number of mythical stories, narrated in the Epics and the Puranas,

which sought to attribute to them Indian origin and in the process

called them mlecchas. The Purana texts# in particular, also present

us with a small section on the names of foreign dynasties, as part of

the whole account that lists the dynasties which reigned in India during

the Kali age. As far as content and new material is concerned this

narrative about foreign rulers is almost useless, but from the point

of view of the study of brahmanical attitudes it is imperative to dis­

cuss its worth.

The Matsya# Vayu. Brahmanda. Visnu# Bhagavata. Garuda and Bhavisya

Puranas
n..I 1 -Q n contain different versions of the account of the dynasties of

the Kali age# Of these we will concentrate on those related in the

first three since they are not only the earlier ones but also because

"I^4* Ibid.# Section 15» lines 106-110.

 307
1gR
they give comparatively the most detailed description, ^ The prophetic

nature of all these versions cannot be missed but evidently they were:

not prophecies as the texts were compiled after the events they
166
describe took place and further *there is no doubt that these

accounts have been steadily revised in detail,,’

Thus it is said that besides the splendid ksatriya stock of the

families of Aila and Iksvaku, those who shall be kings in the future

will be ksatriyas, parasavas, sudras and others who will be foreigners,

Andhras, Sakas and Pulindas, Culikas and Yavanas, Kaivartas, Abhlras

168
and Sabaras and others who will be of mleccha origin. Detail about

these kings is limited and not very reliable. The ten Abhira kings

are said to rule for sixty-seven years, the seven Gardabhins or Garda-

bhllas for seventy-two years, the eighteen gakas169 for one hundred

and eighty-three years, the eight Yavanas for eighty-seven years, the
170
fourteen Tusaras for seven thousand years,' the thirteen Murundas

165* F.E. Pargiter, The Purana Texts of the Dynasties of the Kali Age,
Oxford 1913♦ p,v-vi* T&e Visnu and the Bhagavata are similar
in their accounts and often little more than a string of names
(p.vi). The Garuda is even more condensed than the Bhagavata and
therefore a very late version, Finally, thes:© is only one copy
of the Bhavisya that contains the dynastic matter (the Sri
Venkate&avara Ed,) but this account is worthless and dilates on
more 'recent’ history,

166, Pargiter, DKA, 1913» pp.xxvi-xxviii, assumed that these accounts

were composed gradually first in Prakrit that had been l-ecited
by bards and minstrels but the Sanskrit forms were given the
shape of a prophecy uttered by Vyasa.

167'. Ibid,, p*ix.

168, Matsya P «, 50, 72-76? Vayu P ,, 99» 265-270. These verses do not
appear in the other Puranas,

169, The Brahmanda and the Vayu have 10 Saka kings,

170, The Matsya has J000 years, the Vayu and Brahmanda have 500 years
but according to Pargiter 107 and 105 years are meant respectively.
 306

along with low caste men; all of mleccha origin for two hundred years,
171 172
and finally the eleven Mannas for one hundred and three years.

In the introduction of the section on the Kali age in the Matsya

1 1 •*— (50* 72—'7^), ^

Purana i0 stated that those kings who will arise in the

future will be ksatriyas. parasavas. sudras and foreigners and the

Sanskrit word used for the last group is bahi^cara ('outsider1) but

not mleccha ——-

ksatrah para^ayah sudras tatha fnye ye bahiscarah (5 0 , 75)

The next line, however, names the Sakas and Yavanas with other people

like the Andhras, Pulindas, Culikas, Kaivartas, Abhiras and Sabaras and

ends with the words 'and others of mleccha origin'—

andhah sakah pulindas ca culika yavanas tatha. kaivartabhira-

sabara ye canye mlecchasambhavah(50 * 76)'

Here it may be implied that the names of the groups mentioned above and

some others not listed, were of mleccha origin. In the Vayu (99, 265-

270) which is the only other Purana that has this passage, the kings

that will arise in the future will be ksatriyas. parasavas. sudras and

dvi.jatis —

ksatrah parasavah Sudras tatha ye ca dvi.jatayah (99* 267 )

and further continues the list with the Andhras, Sakas, Pulindas, Tulikas

(for Culikas), Yavanas, Kaivartas, Ebhlras and other mleccha ;'iatis — —

andhrah sakah pulindas ca tulika yavanaih saha kaivartabhirasabara

ye canye ml e6cha.iatayah (99* 268)

171 • The Matsya has 19 Huna kings,

’172# Matsya P .. 273* 17-24* Vayu P., 99* 35Q—365» Brahmanda P ,, III,
74* 171-179*. •.The dynastic list in the Matsya, Purana *ends here
with the"local and mleccha dynasties (50, 24 )* and*therefore it
has been regarded the first compilation. The Vayu and Brahmanda
Puranas continue to list dynasties after this period. Brahmaqfla P.,
Ill,*74, 179-200; Vayu P ., 99, 366-388. The Visnu and the”''
Bhagavata Puranas. however, copy their lists from these two but
summarize themI
The Vayu does not indicate their mleccha origin but simply states that

they are mleccha.jatis. There is no doubt that foreign peoples and

their kings were considered mlecchas but the designation for the latter

was sometimes carefully avoided as is evident from other passages in the

same texts.

The section on the Kali age which lists the various names of

dynasties (listed above) does not mention either the mleccha origin

or the mleccha status of any of the following foreign groups: the

Yavanas, the Tusaras, the Sakas, or the Hunas, It is only the thirteen

Murundas along with low-caste men whose mleccha origin*"^ and status'*^

are indicated, Pargiter, however, regards all these as mleccha dynasties,

and according to him the brahmanas who revised the accounts in the
" '1
Vayu
■
and Brahmanda
■ -« •'
Puranas
• '
during the Gupta period merely revised the

language and not the statements because firstly, they had few data for
17 6
precise calculations and secondly, they had little inclination to

alter facts about mleccha or sudra dynasties. Yet, Pargiter himself

_ 177
points out that in the revised editions of the Puranas, '' there is

an allusion to Hahapana's successors and this, he rightly suggests,

may be due to the fact that these Sakas fostered brshmanism and

Sanskrit learning*

The brahmanas were clearly aware of the rule of foreign dynasties

but chose to ignore them and sometimes their mleccha origins as it

173. Matsya P .. 273, 22.

174. Vayu P.. 9^ 363; Brahmanda P.. Ill, 74. 177.

r'1 ' rL»•' 11_r"1
175. Pargiter, PICA, p.xxvi.

176. Ibid. With regards to the Sakas particularly they should have
added another period of sixty or seventy years.

177. Vayu P.. 99, 366-372; Brahmanda P.. Ill, 74, 179-185.

178. Pargiter, DKA, p.xxvi, ft. note 2,

 311

suited them. Political expediency may have been one of the reasons

for this, as court brahmanas could not have maintained their position

without royal support. But when the foreign rulers adopted brahmanic

ways the question of dubbing them as mlecchas could not arise as then

their behavicur could not be considered 'uncivilized1.

It cannot, however, be overlooked that not all foreign kings

adopted brahmanic ways, and even if they did, this happened only after

a period of time. Secondly, there is no evidence that foreigners

in general, particularly soldiers and merchants, who migrated to India

during this period, behaved as the brahmanas expected them to. Thus
1 '■~r
■k*1® Pur^ as describe the unsettled conditions of the country between the

second and fourth centuries A.D, in rather gloomy and exaggerated

terms — —

bhavisyantiha yavana dharmatahkamato 'rthatah/

naiva *murdhabhi siktas te bhavisyanti naradhipah//
yugadosaduracarf. bhavisyanti nrpas tu te/
strinam balavadhenaiva*hatva caiva parasparam//
bhoksyanti kalisese tu vasudham parthivas tatha/
udi todi tavamsas te uditastamitan taMilT?
bhavisyantiha paryaye kalena prthiviksitah/
vihinas tu bhavisyanti dharmatahkamato 'rthatah//
tair vimi§ra .janapada arya mleccha^ ca sarvasah/
viparyayena vartante ksayam esyanti vai pra.jah// 179

(There will be Yavanas here by reason of religious feeling (Dharma) or

ambition or plunder; they will not be kings solemnly anointed, but will

follow evil customs by reason of the corruption of the age. Massacring

180
women and children, and killing one another, kings will enjoy the

earth at the end of the Kali age. Kings of continual upstart races,

falling as soon as they arise, will exist in succession through Pate.

They will be destitute of righteousness, affection, and wealth. Mingled

181
with them will be TSrya and Mleccha folk everywhere; they prevail in

179. Matsya P . 273, 25-27? Vayu P .. 99, 388-393; Brahmanda P., Ill,
74, 200-203; Visnu P.. IV, 24, 18-19; Bhagavata P..**X1I. 1,
41-43. The dethils in each Purana differ and the text cited
above is the one reconstructed by Pargiter from all the Puranas.
• - • ' -

180. The Bhagavata adds that cattle and brahmanas were also massacred.

181. The Visnu Purina adds that these people will be 'audacious through
■ royal support. f"~
 312

182
turn; the population will perish.1 However gloomy a picture the

Purana writers tried to depict, foreigners and foreign rulers were a

social and political reality. Simultaneously, therefore, we have

accounts in the form of stories in Indian literature, to explain their

existence in India.

One of the most popular of these is that which describes their

183
creation by Nandini, the magical cow of Vasistha. ^ To combat the

army of ViSvamitra who was forcibly taking her away from Vasi^ha,

Nandini created a strong mleccha army. These mlecchas in their mani­

fold armours and brandishing arms comprised among others the Yavanas,

Sakas and Pahlavas,

The gist of the legend is the fight between Visvamitra and

Vasistha - the ksatriya and the brahmana — and it was the brahmana

who had foreigners to fight for him. Further, it does not appear

that it was the object of the account to represent this miraculous

creation as the origin of the different tribes and peoples because

the description of the way in which they were brought forth is quite
185
incredible. The intention probably was to offer some explanation for

the presence of a large army consisting of peoples which already formed

different elements of the population and were in particular noted for

their military might.

182, Pargiter, DKA. Translation, p.74#

183, Mbh., I, 165, 30-38» flamayana, I, LV, 18-20,

184, The other people created from the magical cow that formed the
army of Vasistha were the Sabaras, the Pundras, the Kiratas,
the Dramfdas, the Simhalas, the Barbaras,*the Daradas and Mlecchas.

185, Mbh., I, 165» 34-38 — From her anus she (Vasistha*s cow) created
the Pahlavas, the Sabaras and Sakas from her dung, from her
urine she created the Yavanas and from her foam she brought
forth the Pundras, Kiratas, Drami das, Siifihalas, Barbaras,
Daradas and Mecchas.
 51^

The military capabilities of the Yavanas, $akas and Pahlavas

were well appreciated by both the Pandavas and the Kauravas, and

before the war began the former sent messengers to their friends

to collect an army. Among the friends are mentioned the kings of

186
the Sakas, the Pahlavas, the Daradas and the Kambojas, They,
187
however, allied with both the parties. Like most other kings they

attended the Rajasuya celebrations of Yudhi^thira and waited

188
at the gates of -the city to pay their tribute. In the Mudraraksasa,

Cajgtakya also availed of 3aka and Yavana help in his conspiracy against

Malayake tu.

There is another explanation for the Indian ancestry of the

Yavanas in particular supplied by the Epics and Puranas. They are

classed as descendants of Turvasu, one of the four sons of Yayati.

Turva&u and his brothers declined to accede to their father's request

that they should exchange their condition of youthful vigour for

his decrepitude, and were in consequence cursed by him. They were

190
cursed to rule over people such as the Yavanas, Bhojas and Yadavas.
191 „
In the Rg Veda the Yadus and Turm^asare dubbed as dasas. According

to Chattopadhyaya they were not the pre-Aryan inhabitants of India

192
but came to India after the Vedic people had established.themselves.

186. Mbh., V, 4, 15.

187. Mbh., v, 196, 7; VI, 52,7; VII, 19, 7i VII, 95, 54, 57; 45; etc.
188. Mbh,, II, 47, 12- 1 5 .

189* Mudraraksasa. II, 15»

190. Mbh., I, 80, 25-24; Matsya P .. 54. 29-50.

191« Rg Veda,X, 62, 10.

192. S. Chattopadhyaya, Racial Affinities of Early North Indian Tribes,

1975, p. 2 — Indra brought the Turvasas and Yadus from a distant
land safely over the sea (Rg Yeda, VI, 20, 12).
 514

R, Shafer, taking the etymology of names Yadu, TurvuAa, Anu,' Puru

and hruhy^mto consideration, concludes that they "belonged to hostile

193
trihes who attacked the Aryans* The Yavanas as the sons of Turva^u

are distinct from the Mlecchas who are the sons of Anu in the Mahabharata,

but both these people were in some ways outside the original Aryan

fold* The Yavanas as the descendants of Turvagsu are portrayed as

people who had impure practices and precepts, who ate meat, who were

sinful and anarya. ^ ^

The allusions to the Yavanas, Sakas, Pahlavas as essential

constituents of Indian society is emphasized at greater length in the

two accounts that will be discussed next. The first account occurs,

with variations in detail, in the I-IarivaMa* the Ramayana and in some

Puraftas. The achievements of the Tk^vaku dynasty were temporarily

halted when the kingdom of Bahu was vanquished by the Haihaya and
• 195
Talajangha tribes, assisted by the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas

and Paradas,

Sagara, the son of Bahu, recovered his kingdom by exterminating

the Haihayas and the Talajafighas and would also have destroyed the

Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas and Pahlavas but these tribes applied

to Yasistha, the family priest of Sagara, for protection. Vasistha

absolved them from the duties of their castes and Sagara contented

himself with making the Yavanas shave the upper half of their heads,

the Paradas to wear long hair, the Pahlavas to let their beards grow

193* R. Shafer, Ethnography* in Ancient India. 1953» PP. 17-18*

194. Mbh# (Tr.) P. C. Roy, Yol. I, p. 179.

195* Visnu P.. IY, 3, 26; Brahmanda P.* Ill, 48, 22-26.

196. The list of people who assisted them varies in each text;
Yayu P ., 88, 122, 128, has Paravas instead of Paradas;
Bhagavata P .. IX, 8, 1-5» lists the Yavanas, Sakas and Barbaras
only. Mbh** III, 106, 8,
 315

in -obedience to his commands. He also absolved them from the

established duties to offer oblations to the fire and to study

197
the Yedas, In this manner, the Visnu Parana adds, being unable

to carry out religious rites and abandoned by the brahmanas, these

198 -
different tribes became mlecchas. The Bhagavata Purana, vrtiich is

relatively late (eighth-ninth century A, D,) and sectarian, significantly

recasts the story by omitting any reference to the restrictions

imposed on the religion of these people but simply refers to their

199 poo
ugly appearance, 7 The account in the Harivamsa agrees in the

main with that of the Puranas, but the author of this text adds that the

3akas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Mahi§ikast Daravas, Cholas

and Keralas had all been ksatriyas before Sagara acting on Vasigjjha's
201
advice deprived them of their social and religious status.

The statement that Sagara barred them from the study of the

sacred texts and from en.-joying the assistance of brahmanas

T'-”“ 1,14 implies that
they had these privileges before. Therefore, they must have been

ksatriyas when they were defeated by Sagara (Harivaitiga, X, 44-45).

They could not have otherwise claimed the protection of Yasistha* It

is, of course, impossible to accept the historicity of the claim that

the Yavanas, Sakas etc, allied with the Haihayas and the Talajatfghas to

to defeat the Iksvakus, However, the Yavanas and 6akas had become kings

and controlled northern Indian politics for some time. The brahmanas in

general could not have maintained their positions and privileges intact

197. Vayu P ., 88, 122, 136-143? Brahmanda P.. Ill, 48, 43-49?
Ill, 63, 119-134.

198. Visnu ;P., IV, 3, 38-41.

199. Bhagavata P ,, IX, 8, 6-10,

280. HarivaiTiga, X, 41-45.

201. Ibid,, X, 44-45.

 316

without their patronage. As some of these princes did not, however,

live in the manner expected of Hindu rulers, a compromise had to he

found. The ingenious solution was to regard these kings as

erstwhile ksatriyas who had been degraded. Being originally ksatriyas

they could, at least theoretically, become ksatriyas again although,

in the eyes of the brahmanas they may have behaved like mlecohas.

The second and slightly different account that portrays these

foreign groups as degraded ksatriyas occurs in the Manava Dharma§astra

and in the Anutas ana parvan of the Mahabharata. Manu declares that the

Kambojas, Yavanas, £>akas, Paradas, Pahlavas, Ginas and some other

tribes were originally ksatriyas but sank to the position of Sudras

(vysalas) because of their neglect of the sacred rites and disrespect

_ 202
1*° brahmanas. Medhatithi in his bhasya explains that these people

became 'low bom' because in their respective countries one does not

meet with any clear division of the four castes and above all they
203
inhabit the borders of Sryavarta, ^

Clearly, Manu himself was not certain as to what status the

foreign rulers should be given. In the-very next verse he contradicts

himself by stating that all those whose origin is other than that

described in the purugasukta are to be regarded as dasyus, irrespective

of whether they speak the language of aryas or of the mlecchas.^0^

Kulluka, another of Manu's commentators, explains this verse in the

words: 'All the tribes, which by loss of sacred rites and so forth,

have become outcastes from the pale of the four castes, brahmanas„

202, Manu. X,. (

43-44. The people mentioned in this verse as vrsala
are the Pau^drakas, Odras, Dravidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas,
Paradas, Pahlavas, CInas, Kiratas, Paradas and IChasas,

203* Medhatithi on Manu. X, 44*

204, Manu. X, 45*

 317

ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudraa,whether they speak the language of the

00 ^I
mleochas or of the aryas, are called dasyusI

Although Manu is the only Smpti writer who has this yerse, it

occurs twice in the Mahahharata: 'These kgatriya tribes viz. laakas,

Yavanas, Kambojas, Dravidas, Kalindas, Pulindas, Usinaras and Mahisakas

206
have become vrsalas from seeing no brahmanas.' The lists of kgatriya-

.iatis in the Mahabharata and the Manava Dharmasastra vary, but

in both cases, the names of foreign peoples are mentioned. However,

while in the latter this particular verse occurs in the chapter on

mixed castes, in the former it is followed by passages written in

glorification of brahmanas: '...the brahmanas cannot be conquered by

anyone upon earth. The world cannot be ruled in opposition to

207
brahmanas; ..,' This may have been meant as a warning to foreign

rulers to abide by the caste rules. There is no evidence to the

effect that these princes deliberately tried to antagonise the brahmanas.

On the contrary, in the case of the Sakas, we have information that

208
they made conscious attempts to appease them. In fact they fitted

in comfortably in the caste hierarchy, and, again, in the case of the

Sakas of Western India, the kings did their utmost to prevent the
209
mixing of castes and protect the law of varna.

However, it must not be overlooked that such attempts cannot be

attributed to all foreign rulers and certainly not to all foreigners.

A more important conclusion, however, is the fact that ancient

Indian attitudes represented in the literary sources available to us

are by no means homogenous and ultimately, it seems that some schools

205. Kulluka on Manu. X, 45*

206. Mbh., XIII, 33, 19-21; Mbh., XIII, 35, 17-18 --- here additional
tribes have been mentioned the Mekalas, Latas, Paundras, Paradas,
Barbaras and Kiratas.
207 . Mbh.. XIII, 35.
208. E.I., No. 10, 'Nasilc Cave Inscription', p. J8 — large donations
of cows and villages are made to brahmanas.
209. E.I.. VIII, No. 6 , 'Junagadha Inscription of Rudradaman', pp. 36-49.
of "brahmanas regarded only some foreigners as mleochas and not others,

whereas other schools which seemed to regard all foreigners as mlecchas*

We have quoted the ahove instance mentioned in a Nasik Cave inscription

where the king Rsabhadatta gave cows (numbering 300,000) and

villages (numbering 16) to the brahmanas. He is also said to have fed

210
thousands of brahmanas all the year around* Chattopadhyaya raises

the question as to whether all these brahmanas were Indians, for the Saka
211
Brahmanas,'Brakhmanoi Magoi* were already present in the country*

His statement finds some support in the Epics and the Puranas,
212
which inform us that among the Sakas the Magas were the brahmanas,

the Magadhas the ksatriyas* the Manas as the vaisyas and the Mandagas
213 - „
the £udras* The Mahabharata* a melting pot of the various periods

of Indian history, informs us of the operation of the varna §ramadharma

21A
in Sakadvlpa, which was an ideal place to live in, + Raj Kumar Arora

emphasises the fact that the Maga Brahmanas, whom, he specifically

links with the priestly class of Sakadvlpa, became closely associated

with the Bhavisya Parana* in his words: 'They made the Bhavisya the

the mouth piece and repository of their distinctive ideas and thoughts

210* E,I** VIII, No* 10, p* YQ ff *—■- t " s ( , d a w rus -LW<£-■£>ov-y

of 3)iY\i\<£\ <\Kci -tVe- Son-ii*'W w c>f NdK ^trhe. .
211. S, Chattopadhyaya, Qakas in India. 1955» p. 40*

212. Satya Shrava, The Sakas in India, Lahore, 1947* tries to establish
the antiquity of the Sakas in India as inhabitants of Sakadvlpa
who were civilized tribes and this explains the references in Manu
and the Mahabharata to their becoming degraded for want of
brahmana preachers pp. 7-8,

215* Visnu P.* II, 4, 69» 1? Bhavisya P.. I, 139» 75-74» the Bhavisya
names the four classes of Saka-dvTpa as Maga, Magadha, Garjaga and
Mandaga*
 319

215
which marked it off from other Puranic compilations,1 J

There are at least three unsolved problems concerning the

association of the Sakas, particularly of Y/estem India, with the Maga

brahmanas, Firstly, the latter are stated as the inhabitants of

Sakadvlpa, the identification of which has not been unanimously agreed

on. Secondly, the period of the migration to India of the Magi priests

of ancient Iran, the ancestors of the Maga brahmanas. has to be

determined with greater certainty. Finally, the question remains

whether these Maga brahmanas can legitimately be called the only priests

whom the Sakas patronised, Chattopadhyaya is convinced of the last

point and even goes so far as to suggest that they were regarded

as fthe best of the Brahmanas by the orthodox Indian society,1

Elsewhere, he himself points out that Rsabhadatta, when, on his

pilgrimage to Pugkara, he gave the brahmanas three hundred cows and a

village, he undoubtedly gave them to Indian brahmanas.

217'

From our point of view it is immaterial whether the brahmanas

patronized by the 3akas were indigenous or of the kind of the Magas who

were initially foreign but later became Indianized. In the Byhatsaifohita

the Sakas are called kings belonging to the mleccha .jatls« who are

best known in astrological circles of that period for their establishment

„ 218
of an eras

£aka nama mleccha.jatayo ra.janas te yasmin kale

vileramadityadevena vyapaditah sa kalo loke galea
iti pras iddhah/
219
The BrhatsaAhita has been dated in the fifth century A. D. by Kern"

215• R. K, Arpra, Historical and Cultural Bata from the Bhavisya Purana,
1972, p. 31 , p. 21.

216. Chattopadhyaya, £akas in India. Appendix I, p, 87.

217. Ibid.. p. 40.

218. Brhatsaifihita, VIII, 20, Bhatta IXtpalaTs commentary, (Benaras Ed,),

219# Kern, Brhatsaflihita. Introduction, p. 3*

 320

at a time, when the Sakas were well known to have been defeated by the
220
great Hindu monarch Candragupta II. This meant that the supremacy

of Sakas in western India had ended by the time B h a ^ a TJtpala wrote

his commentary on the Brhatsajfihita (10th century A. D.). This could

be a probable reason for Bhatta Utpala1s designation of the Sakas as

221
kings of mleccha-.jatis. When, therefore, Alberuni alludes to the

barbarism of the Sakas and of one Saka in particular, who tyrannized

the country and forced the Hindus to consider and represent themselves

as Sakas, he, in fact, reflected the views of the Indians with whom he

came into contact in the eleventh century A. D, In the above case

it was the Saka kings and not the Sakas as a people,that have been

designated as mlecchas. Elsewhere in the Brhatsaifihita the Yavanas

have been described as mlecchas.

This is clearly not a reference to the Yavanas as a politically

and economically powerful community, but to the Yavana astrologers

who came into contact with Indians of the same profession:

mleccha hi yavanas tegu samyak gastram idam sthitam/,

rsivat te 'pi pu.jyante kim punar daivavid c i v i l ~

!lThe Greeks are mlecchas, amongst them this science is duly established

therefore even they (although mlecchas) are honoured as rsis; how much
007
more (praise is due to an) astrologer who is a brahmaiia. f J This

verse is interesting as it clearly classes the Yavanas as mlecchas,

Varahamihira calls them mlecchas. but in the same verse praises theix

system of astrology and honours them as ygis. This is by no means the

only place where the intellectual abilities of the Yavanas are noted.

220. Chattopadhyaya, History of North India..., 1968, pp, 204^205*

221. Alberuni, (Tr. Sachau), 1910, Vol. II, Chp. XLIX,

222. Brhatsaifihita. II, 15.

223. Ibid., ( K e m fs edition), p. 35.

 321

In the Mahabharata the Yavanas are considered omniscient — sarvajna-

OO/f
yavanah (the all-knowing yavanas). 4 But the uniqueness of the ahove

verse is that simulaneously they are called mlecchas. This indicates

that the term mlecoha, when applied to foreigners, may not necessarily

have been opprobrious. There is therefore,no doubt that the brahmanical

tradition recognized the merits, accomplishments and abilities of these

people but designated them as mlecchas all the same.

Throughout the Mahabharata the Yavanas, Sakas and Pahlavas are

associated with mlecchas and tribal peoples of ancient India, They

poq ooA
are classed with the Barbaras, 7 the Mlecchas and with mountain
227
tribes. Many mlecoha kingdoms — Andhra, Saka, Pulinda, Yavana,

Kamboja, Aurnika, Sudra, Xbhira — are said to be improperly governed

p p o
and wholly destined to be sinful and false. In the Santi Parvan,

the Audrakas, Utsas, Pulindas, Sabaras, Yaunas, Kambojas, G-andharas,

Kiratas, Barbaras are dubbed as sinful creatures and are characterized

by practices similar to those of the Candalas, ravens and vultures.22^

They are in particular mentioned with the people of the Punjab and

the northwest. The Yavanas, Gandharas, Cinas, Barbaras, Sakas, Tusaras,

Kankas, Pahlavas, Madralcas, Ramathas, Kambojas, are expected to perform

230
certain duties, which are different from those performed by the

brahmanas. ksatriyas. vaisyas and gudras. A rather harsh opinion is

entertained by the people of madhyadesa about the people of Punjab, Sind

and Gandhara, expressed by Karna when the Madras, Gandharas, Sindhus and

Sauviras are called mlecchas in their practices and are considered to

224. Mbh., 7111, 45, 36.

225# Mbh.. II, 27, 289*- Sakas and Barbaras,

226. Mbh.. II, 29, 15 - Pahlavas, Barbaras and those Mlecchas residing
on the sea-coast.
227. Mbh., IX, 1, 26-27; IX, 2, 16-18.
228. Mbh., Ill, 186, 28-30.
229. Mbh.. XII, 200, 38-41.
230. Mbh. XII, 65, 13-14.
 231
have a total disregard of duties. y

Geographically, too, the Yavanas, Sakas, Pahlavas are placed in

the northwest. This information is supplied by the Puranas and the

lists of people given by them in this context are not different from
232
those that occur in the Mahabharata. In most Puranas the

description of the geography of Bharatavar§a begins by stating that

the Yavanas dwell in the west, the Kiratas in the east and in the

centre reside the people belonging to the four varnaa. ^ ^ The

Byhatsailihita also confirms the statements of the Puranas about the

234
habitation of the Yavanas, Sakas and Pahlavas.

Most of the references to the Sakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas

discussed above suggest that these peoples had become permanent

residents of JCryavarta. J It is also clearly apparent that the

Yavanas, Sakas and the Pahlavas are mentioned together with indigenous

tribes, irrespective of the fact that basic differences of speech,

appearance, and behaviour existed between them. One reason for this

may have been the fact that neither followed the way of life prescribed

by the brahmanas, They were thus described as mlecchas. so characterized

because they were wedded to creations of their own fancy which other
236
people could not understand. !Other people1 in this case were the

231. Mbh., VIII, 27, 73-91; viii, 3 0 .

232. Markandeya P.. LVII, 35-38; Brahmanda P.. II, 16, 4 6—49 ? Matey a P.,
114, 4.6 -4 3 ; Vamana P ., XIII, 37-43;**Vayu P., 45, 115-120,

233. Visnu P., II, 3, 8; Brahmanda P., II, 16, 11-13; MrkmideyaJ?,, LVII,
7-8; Matsya P., 114 , 9-12; *Vayu P .. 45, 81-83. The'Vayu and "the
Matsya Puranas call both the Kiratas and the Yavanas mlecchas 0

234« Brhatsaiihita. XIV, 21.

235. Whether the area of habitation was a discriminatory factor for

these people to be regarded as mlecchas has been discussed in
chapter V.
 323

upholders of the varnasramadharma themselves. If and when these people

began to abide by the laws of the varna oriented society, they were

not spoken of in hostile terms or regarded as mlecchas.

Of the Sanskrit names for foreigners that have been discussed,

Huna has not appeared in the same contexts as Yavana, Saka and Pahlava,

This is not because the attitudes of the Sanskrit writers towards them

were different. As a political force the Hurras emerged on the Indian

237
scene only in the fifth century A. D. 1 It was perhaps for the same

reason that they are also not mentioned in Manu's list of degraded
238
ksatriyas or in other similar lists, ^ By the time of the Huna

invasions India was familiar not only with invasions but with governments

under foreign kings. Unlike the Yavanas, uSakas and Pahlavas, there

is evidence to show that the Hunas were designated as mlecchas

239
immediately after they invaded India. Although the effect of the

Hmja invasions on the Gupta empire has sometimes been exaggerated, they

were partly responsible for its decline. By the end of the fifth

century A. D., they attacked again under their chief Toramana and

conquered a substantial part of Aryavarta.*^ Toramana's son and

241
successor, Mihirakula, is particularly remembered for his cruelty,

and Hsuan Tsang gives a description of his violence which, it seems,

242
was directed mainly against the Buddhists and the Jains, 1 Thus the

barbarism of the Hunas could not have gone unnoticed by the section

237* Fleet, C.I.I.. Ill, 1886, 'Bhitari Stone Pillar Inscription',

Ho. 13, line 15, pp. 55-56.

238* Manu, X, 43-44? HarivaMa, X, 41-45, Mbh,, I, 165, 30-38; etc.

The Manu-smrti is said to have been compiled by £, A, D. 200 end
. the Mahabharata, according to Vinternitz, (HIL, I, p.465.) ’cannot
have received its present form earlier than the fourth century B.C.
or later than the fourth century A. D.1

239. Fleet, Op, Git.. 'Junagadha Rock Inscription', No, 14, line 15,.
pp. 58-65.

240. Ibid., 'Eran Stone Boar Inscription1, p, 158.

241. Ra.jataraftginl , I, 306-307.

242. S. Beal, ffuddhist_ffecords of the Western World. I, pp. 171 fY.
 324

of the brahmajjical community that had continually regarded all

outsiders as mlecchas,

Foreign invasions to India "before A. D, 600, as we have seen,

mainly occurred from the north-west of the subcontinent, This in

no way Implies that it was only this region on its immediate

surroundings that witnessed the reign of foreign rulers and the

intermingling of the indigenous conquered subjects with foreign armies

and others who migrated in their wake, Though north-western and

western India were most exposed to foreign influence and presence,

there is no doubt that with the military and political success of such

rulers as the Kusanas and Sakas, these influences spread to most parts

of northern and western India, The Indians, the majority of whom

were followers of brahmanism, were not forced to mix with foreign

communities but economic expediency like the performance of certain

jobs connected with the government and the court or the doing of

trade with foreign merchants, required close contacts with them.

The intermingling of the two communities was undoubtedly very

common, but the two sections of the brahmanical society that were most

disturbed by foreign presence were the brahmanas and the ksatriyas. This

was not because they were the more conservative sections of the

society - for when it suited them even they ignored rules laid down by

the law-givers or more cleverly made new ones — but because their

sanctioned authority was in danger of being weakened. Changes at

level of elite groups was brought about by the Yavana, Saka and

Kusana invasions. Ritual status sanctioned by the Dharmagastras

could only be acquired by birth which these rulers did not possess.

Their actual status, expressed in terms of political and economic

power, stood in direct opposition to the above-mentioned theoretical

principle. Ancient Hindu law writers made no attempts to resolve this

contradiction and nowhere do they state that acquisition of such

 325

power mitigated, the fact of their being mlecchas.

In other texts, however, this confusion was resolved in a

different manner, partially through the influence of the political

atmosphere. Thereby the term mleccha was applied to foreigners in

a vague and ambiguous manner which makes it difficult for us to

indiscriminately label all Yavanas, dakas, Pahlavas, Kusanas and Hunas

as mlecchas. The common idea that a foreigner was a barbarian because

initially his behaviour and particularly his speech were different,

applied to ancient India as well. The Brahmanic propaganda

through literature and oral tradition of mythical stories, perpetuated

the idea of a foreigner as a mleccha in India* Only they, the Brahmanas,

could judge when the speech and behaviour of a foreigner would

cease to be regarded as those of a mleccha.

 326

RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION

The basic approach in the preceding chapters of our thesis

has been to reconstruct the course of development in the attitudes

towards mlecchas and outsiders which, in our opinion, evolved

as a consequence of the reaction of ancient Indians, predominantly

brahmanas. to safeguard their social system and values# Their

views, however, remained fundamentally related to the essence of

Pharma#

It must be reasserted that the essence of Pharma was eternal

and constituted the only all-important presumption in their outlook

and belief. There is no need to re-emphasize that Pharma meant

to them conformity with the 'natural order of things'. Therefore,

the changes in the attitudes towards mlecchas. irrespective of

whether they were forced or intentional, were also considered an

integral part of their stand#

In this sense the concept of Pharma gave U3 a stable

viewpoint to evaluate and understand; at least in theoretical terms,

the Brahmanic approach to the problem of the mlecchas. Pu.rj.ng

the. course of history different definitions of Pharma as conceived

by the Smrti writers had been accepted in response to the needs of

time, place and circumstance. Some flexibility within the concept

of Pharma allowed for the imposition of new rules, variations

on them, as well as their observance in practice or, if necessary,

means of making them inoperative# As a result it was made

acceptable to hold different levels of opinion in the treatment

accorded to mlecchas and outsiders#

In addition, the compelling forces of political expediency,

economic exigencies, foreign invasions, new religious movements

directed in determining and shaping, to a very large extent, the

attitude of the established society towards outsiders in general

and their designation as mlecchas#

 327

Within this approach described above and within the limits

of the available sources, mainly religious literature, we began

our thesis with the investigation of the beliefs and ideals

upon which the Brahmanic society was founded and its social system

constituted. We were able, against this background, to determine

the criteroi from which the appreciation of the attitudes towards

mlecchas and outsiders was made. We also considered it important

to establish that the Brahmanic 6lite, though Indo-European features

predominated, was in all probability affected by pre-existing Indian

cultures even at the earliest stages.

Next, from the testimony of all extant religious writings

we concluded that there was a broad classification of mleccha

groups. They included non-Indo-Aryan tribesmen, foreigners from

outside Bharatavarsa and all other outsiders who did not conform to

the values, ideas and norms of the 6llte. This was also true of the

Buddhists and Jains who had set up their own norms of behaviour

according to which they categorized certain groups of peoples as

milakkhas.

We further tried to probe into the etymological origins of

the terms mleccha/milakkha in the hope that it would throw some

light on the subject of relating their original applications to a

specific people whose speech marked the initial basis of distinction*

The phonetic relationship between these two terms, we postulated,

could be related to the influence of a proto-Dravidian substratum

on vernacular Ihrakrits. We were unable to prove conclusively on a

definite etymon for mleccha, and mllakkha. The discussion of their

etymology and the various theories put forward to explain it

raised the important problem to determine to whom the designation

mleccha or milakkha initially applied. This concept undoubtedly

originated from the encounter of the Indo-Aryan speaking tribes

with peoples of different speech in the Indian subcontinent.

 528

The meat immediate issue that we enquired into was, therefore,

the speech differentiation between the ar.yas and those who were

described as mlecchas, The Brahmanic society had excluded

mlecchas on account of their speech because it was either indistinct

or unintelligible and was not appropriate for ritual purposes. But

speech was not the sole consideration for discriminating against

mlecchas.

Further, we recognized that habitation, like speech, was also

only an indication of the concern felt by the brahmanas to avoid

contact with mleccha areas and inhabit them. Sryavarta was the most

sacred land but was not permanently defined and the definition of

mleochade&a consequently was relative to its limits. The only

areas that were demarcated more or less permanently as mleccha

lands were the abodes of forest and hill tribes.

Finally, it has to be reiterated and agreed that distinction on

the basis of speech and habitation partly highlighted the culturo,!

hiatus between the ar.yas and the mlecchas and partly emphasized t.

the means by which the aryas were expected to protect and safeguard

the 1purity1 of their social system.

We endeavoured not to underestimate the role of speech and

habitation in stressing the differences between mlecchas as a reference

group and the established society. But nevertheless, it was

accepted that these factors were inextricably interwoven with the

continuance of the concept of varnasramadharma as the foundation of

brahmapical society. We observed that in at least the 3)iiarma£asirao

the acceptance or non-acceptance of the varna&ramadharma seemed

to be crucial in determining mleochahood. In reality, we found

that the overriding concern was to uphold the norms of brahmanic

way of life and these by their very nature meant the maintainance

of the ascendancy of the brahmana and of the kpatriya.

 329

At this juncture we concluded that even in brahman.i.cal

circles the political acceptance of mleccha groups as spies,

soldiers or military allies was conceded. This suggested that in

actual practice the injunctions in the Dharmafeastra to avoid

mlecchas were not followed to the letter. In spite of the

participation of some mlecchas in the politico-economic field

the latter were viewed as culturally different and inevitably

continued to be looked down upon with distaste. The brahmanic

elite’s indoctrination of the belief in their cultural superiority

was largely responsible for the prevalence and perpetuation of

these prejudices in the Indian mind.

The cultural differentiation shown towards the mlecchas/milakkhas

as a reference group on account of their speech, custom, etc,

was a persistent feature in the writings of the Buddhists, Jains

and Brahmanas throughout the period we have studied. The use of the

terms mleccha/roilakkha in the majority of instances, particularly

in the centuries B.C., indicated the basis of distinction. In fact,

in the period before -the second and first century B.C., a tendency

was noticed where mleccha as a designation for either tribesmen or

for foreigners was not defined.

Attitudes towards any one group of mlecchas was never rigid

and static and, as a whole, the designation of outsiders as mlecchas

grew slowly and gradually, A precise formulation of when .and why

certain outside groups were to be described as mlecchas wac never

laid down as absolute in any period. Therefore, it was difficult

to conceive of a consistent idea of the designation of all outsider :

as fflleooha as one would have expected. It was not possible to

suggest that the vagueness of ancient literary writers on the

subject was the reason for the ambiguity in the use of mleccha

as a designation. On the other hand, there was a shrewd awareness

in their writings concerning people with different cultural

 330

attributes who were known by their respective names, though not

necessarily with the designation mleccha.

In the chapters on the designation of tribes and foreigners

there appeared an apparent contradiction between the theoretical

assertions of the Dharma^astras on the one hand, and the actual

historical situation of the other. In our opinion the process of

foreign political domination in parts of India, which began with the

rule of the Indo-Greeks in the second century B.C; and continued

with brief intervals to the sixth century A.D. significantly

disturbed the theoretical criteria for dubbing and rejecting all

outsiders as mlecchas.

Earlier, in the evolution of the Brahmanical system,

extraneous pressures, economic, political or religious, undermined

the authority and importance of the bralimana ritual system. For

instance, the rise of Buddhism and Jainism (sixth century B.C.), had

been a threat to the position of the old-established dlite, This

had called for changes in the socio-religious field but in the

context of our thesis we were not able to discover significantly

precise or emphatic change in the attitude towards mlecchas.

Foreign invasions and immigrations before the beginning of the

Christian era also did not substantially affect the social structure

of Brahmanism and more importantly, did not disturb the supremacy

of the brahmanas in madhyade&a.

Around the early centures A.D. the momentum of foreign

invasions and migrations forced the pace of change and introduced

a new dimension in the social thought of Smrti and Pursnic writers

about the problem of mlecchas. Powerful foreign groups could not

remain outside the official system controlled by brahmanas for

long nor could they be ignored. We noticed that the climax of

this social consciousness was reached when the brahmapa ^lite

 331

expressed their readiness to honour and recognize certain foreign

and tribal kings and were even prepared to invent new rules and

circumvent the existing rules of the Dharma^astras to accord them

a new social status.

They fabricated new and suitable genealogies in support of

their new status. They designated them as vrStya ksatriyas. We

come across mythical allusions which refer to foreign and tribal

elements, who had become politically important, as essential

constituents of Indian society. In one myth it is mentioned that

Vasistha, a brahmana had a mleccha army to fight on his behalf against

Vi^vamitra, originally a ksatriya. Again, there is an indication that

attitudes towards primitive hill and forest tribes, which had become

politically important, also had begun to change.

The changes in the social organization and the manner in

which they were affected, introduced a new element in the relationship

between certain foreign kings and brahmanic society. In such cases

the permanent confrontation and antagonism between outsiders and

the established society was avoided. The problem of conflict between

cultural and ethnic groups is a basic human problem. The solution

of the problem by the brahmapas ultimately, led to the foundation

of a sociological concept, remarkable for its efficacy.

The ancient Smrti writers do not expressly prescribe any

rites for bringing into the Brahmanic fold a person or persons,

however powerful* We can be sceptical, therefore, that, as there

was no planned or pre-determined policy in this regard, the

changes that were brought about in the attitude towards

mlecchas were accidental. Or, we could accept the view.-, that the

changes followed a natural course. However, we cannot forget thr I;

brahmanic social system had the elasticity of attitudes inherent

in their faith in Dharma. Secondly, it must be appreciated that

the brahmanic 6lite was acutely aware of the presence of outsiders

 332

and mlecchas and the problem they created# Therefore, we must not

assume that they had no well considered approach to the subject#

From the study in our thesis we examined that in the beginning

the theoretical assertions of the brahmanas excluded mlecchas and

foreigners from society, and treated all of them as one large

reference and marginal group. Later, they adopted only a vacillating

attitude when compelled to do so by force of circumstances. There

seemed to be an apparent contradiction in their thinking and in

their actions in immediate terms. We are of the opinion that the

social devices had been positively conceived in terms of a gradual

evolution which was mostly concerned with conserving the principles

of their ultimate faith in the eternal Dharma that gave it

authority. In that process, new ideas or elements were added,

fundamentally safeguarding and perpetuating the position and

privileges of 61ite groups.

By the sixth century A.B. a stage was reached in the

evolution of social thought with regard to the attitudes towards

mlecchas in northern India which presages a situation in which

different cultural groups could co-exist. This was a unique

contribution in human experience made by the brahmanic society

in ancient India,

The problem of the mlecchas that confronted Brahmanic society

was similar in nature to the problem of the barbarians as faced by

the Graeco-Roman civilization and the Chinese civilization in the

ancient world. The interaction of cultural groups had been a

challenge to other societies as well. The problem also reflects

a contemporary concern. The way the Brahmanic society met the

challenge was to seek a solution through the temporizing concept of

Dharma which implicitly expects and permits changes in the social

institutions and forms according to time (kala) and place•(de6a).

 333

The course that the Brahmanic society had followed in devising

their attitudes towards mlecchas and outsiders was spread over

centuries and has left a deep imprint on the history of India.

 334

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ORIGINAL SOURCES

I - Sanskrit Texts and Translations

(i) Vedic Texts

Atharva Veda Sajlfihita s with the bhasya of Sayanacarya,

Ed* Pandit Pandurang Shankar, 4 Vols.,

Bombay, 1895*

: Tr. W. D* Whitney, 2 Vols*, HOS,

Yols* VII and VIII, 1905 .

Rg Veda Saifthita : The hymns of the Rg Veda in the

Samhita and Pada Text3 , Ed* Max Muller,

2 Vols., London, 1877*

: with the commentary of Sayana, 5 Vols.,

Vaidika Samshodhan Mo,tidal, Poona,

1933-51*

: The hymns of the Rg Veda, Tr*

R* T. H. Griffith, 4 Vols.,

Benares, 1099*

Aitare.ya Xranvaka : Ed. and Tr. A* B. Keith, Oxford, 1909 .

Aitareya Brahmana : with the bhasya of Sayanacarya,

Ed, Ka^Inatli oaotri Xgase, 2 Vols,,

ASS 32, Poona, 1896.

: The Aitare.ya. Brahman?im of tho Rg Vocla,

Tr. Martin Haug, SBH, Allahabad, 1922.

: The Rg Veda Brahmanas s KausItaJd juid

Aitare.ya Brahmanas. Tr. A. B, Keith,

IIOS, Vol. XXV, Cambridge, 1971*

Kathaka Saifihita : Ed. Leopold von Schroder, Leipzig,

1900-1910.

1. The titles of the texts are arranged in alphabetical order, i.e.*.

in the order of the Nagarl alphabet*
 335

Kausltaki Brahmana • (or ^anldiar

yana Brahmana)

Ed* Hari Narayana Apte, ASS 65,

Poona, 1911*

: Tr. A. B. Keith, HOS, Vol. XXV,

Cambridge, 1971*

ICausItaki Brahmana : Ed. Gulab Rau Vajesamkara Cliaya,

ASS, Poona, 1911*

Kausltaki
1 11 1 Brahmana TJuanisad
IIII« W M |
■■■.... ..
*11H«
: Tr., Ed^E. B, Cowell, CSS, Varanasi, 1968

Chandogya Uuani^ad. : Ed. and Tr. Emile Senart, Paris, 1950#

! Ihe Thirteen Principal Unanlsads.

Tr* R. E. Hume, Oxford, 1931.

Tandyamahabrahmana i (belonging to the Sama Veda) with

the commentary of Sayanacarya, Ed.

Pandit A. Cliinnaswami Sastr.l, 2 Vols.,

KSS 105, Benares, 1936.

: Ed, Anandachandra VedFhi fcayugtsa,

2 Vols., Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1074*

Taittiriya Brahmana ; of the Black Ya.jur Vo da with the

commentary of Sayanacatrya, 3 Vols.,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1870.

: with commentary Ved/lx Idiaprakasa of

Sayaya, 3 Vols., ASS 37, Poona, inc?n.

Taittiriya Samhita s The Samhita of the Black Ya.jur Veda,

with commentary of Madhave Hoarya,

Ed. Pandit Satyavxatu SamaarnmT,

6, Vols., Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 'ISl'h

: The Veda of the Black ^ojyaol..,

Tr, A, B, Keith, 2 Vols,, HOS, Vol.

.XVIII and XIX, Cambridge, 1914*

Panoavifisa Brahmana : Ed. Anandachandra VedantavagLJa,

2 Vols. Bib, Ind., Calcutta, 1870~74*

 356

Byhadaranvaka Uoanipad With the commentary of

Sarikaracarya, Almora, 1950*

Tr, R. E, Hume, Oxford, 1931*

Maitrayani Samhita Ed. Leopold von Schroder,

Leipzig, 192j5»

Latayayana ^rautasutra with the commentary of Agnisvami,

Ed. Snandacandra Vedantavagusa,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1872.

Va.iasaneyi Samhita of the £ukla Ya.jur Ye da.

‘Ed. with Hindi Tr., Giri Prasada

Varma, Mirzapur, 1873*

Satanatha Brahmana In the Madhyandina recensions,

Ajmere, 1902 .

according to the text of the

Madhyandina School, Tr,

J. Eggeling, 4 Vols., SBE,

Oxford, 1882-1885*

of the White Ya.jur Veda with the

commentary of Sayaya, Ed, Rearya

Satyavrata Samasraml, Bib. Ind.,

6 Vols., Calcutta, 1903 ,

in the Kanva
• recension,*

Ed. Vidyadhara Sharma Gaud a and

Chandradhara Sharma, ICas.i,

Saiavat, 1994-7*

^arMiayana Aranyaka Ed. Vinayaka Ganeaa Apte, ASS, 9 0 ,

Poona, 1922.

Tr. A. B, Keith, London, 190S„

Saflkhayana Efrauta Sutra with the commentary of Varadat fcasu l;a

Anartlya, Ed. Alfred Hillebrandt,

2 Vols., Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1888.

 357

£afilchayana &rauta Sutra s a major ya.iiilka of the Eg Veda.

Ed, Lokesh Chandra, Tr, W. Caland,

Nagpur, 1953*

(ii) Smrti Texts

Apastamba Dharmasutra : Aphorisms on the sacred law of

the Hindus. Ed. G. Buhler,

Bombay, 1932.

i Tr. Sacred Lav/s of the Ar.yas.

SBE, Vols. II and XIV,

Oxford, 1879-82.

Katyayana Smrti • Ed. and Tr. P. V. Kane,

Bombay, 1933*

Grhyasutras. : of Saftkhayana, R&valaysna,

Paraskara, Khadira, Gobhila,

Hiranayake sin and Apanfcamba.

Tr. H. Oldenberg, SBE,

Vols. XXIX and XXX, Oxford, 1886-92

Gautama Dharmasutra : with 'Mitaksara1 Sanskrit

commentary of Ilaradatta,

Ed. Umesh Chandra Pandey with

his Hindi commentary, CSS,

Varanasi, 1966.

: with the commentary of

Maskarin, Ed. Srinivasacliarya,

Mysore, 1917*

DharmasHtras i of Rpastamba, Gautama, Vaniskhiu

and Baudhayana, Tr.G. Buhler, 0 Vols,

SBE, Vol. II and XIV, Oxford, 1879-82.

Narada Smrti : Ed. J. Jolly, Bib, Ind., Calcutta,

1885, Tr. SBE, Vol. XXXIII,

 338

Byhasuati Smrti Ed, K.V, Rang&swami Aiyangar,

GOS, Baroda, 1941- ^ * SBE,

Vol, XXXIII.

Baudhayana Bharmasutra The Baudhayana dharma.sastra.

Ed, E, Hultzsch, Leipzig, 1884.

with the Vivaraya Commentary

by Sri Govinda Swami, Ed.

Pandit A. Chinnaswami Sastri,

ICSS 104, Benaras, 1934*

Para^ara Smrti Ed. H* Chandrakanta Tarlcalankara,

3 Vols., Bib. Ind., Calcutta,

1889-1899.

Institutes of Para&ara.

Ed. Krishpakamal Bha]■tacbary a ,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1887,

Manu Smrti (or) Institutes of Manu with the

ManavaDharma^astra commentaries of Medhalithi,

Sarvajnanarayapa, Ku 1luka,

Baghavananda, Nandam and

Ramacandra, Ed. Visvunatha

Narayana Mandalika, 2 Vols,

Bombay, 1886.

Manu Smrti with the Mfonubhasyn *

of Medhatitlil. Ed, H. Gafignnabhn

Jha, 3 Vols., Bib, Bid *, Colon tLo „1939

Tr. Calcutta, 1924-26,

The Lav/s of Manu (with ex bracts r-om

seven commentaries), Tr. G, Buhlec,

SBE, Vol. XXV, Oxford, 1806.

 559

Ya.inavallcya Smrti : with the commentary of V.i.jnane6vara

called The M tainsara. Tr. (Bk.l)

/•
Srisa Chandra Vidyar^iava,

Allahabad, 1918.

: with the commentary of Mitra

Misra* g VTramitrodaya and

Vijhanesvara's Mitaksara.

CSS, Benaras, 1924*

: with commentary Balakrlda of

Visvarupacharya, Ed. M.T. Gayapati

Sastri, Trivandrum, 1922.

: commentary of Aparaka, Ed. Hari

Narayana Apte, ASS 4 6 , Poona, 1905 .

Vasistha Lharmasutra
■■■■■■■l>' ♦ »■" .........
.......... .... . : Aphorisms on the Sacred haws _of the

Aryas. Ed. A. A. Fulmer, BSS

Bombay, 1883.

Vignu Smrti : with commentary

u of No.ucki Fundita
•«

called Yai.jayanti. Ed. J, Jolly,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1081.

: Institutes of Vi m u. Tr. J„ Jolly.

«ni m»i\ wmimmmmmim i» imwm i m ” *

. SBE, Yol. VII, Oxford, 1000.

Sukraniti : of Sri MaharsI Sulcracarya,

Ed. Srr Pand.it BrahmananJcara M;ufr 1,

with ‘Yidyotini' Hindi Common 1r;jy ,

CSS, Varanasi, i960 .

; Tr. B.K. Sarkar, SBH, Allahabad, 1 9 1 4 .

Smrticandrika : The collection of Hindu h y p Ter I . ..r

J. R, Gharpure, Bombay, 1918-

(iii) Epic and Puranic Texts

Affni Parana : Ed. Rajendralala Mitra, 3 Vols,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1879*

 340

Afim Purana ! Agni Puranam. Ed. and Tr.

M. B. Butta, 2 Vols., Calcutta, 1904#

Garuda Purana : Ed. and Tr. M. N. Butta,

Calcutta, 190Q.

Devibha^avata Parana : Tr. Swami Vijnanand, SBH, Vol. XXYI,

Allahabad, 1921-23#

Brahma Parana : Ed, Hari Narayana Apte, ASS 28,

Poona, 1Q95#

Brahraavaivarta Purana
■. . . . . . . ■■**!"' ■ ■■ ■ ■ i ■ i m . » « —
: Tr. Rajendra Bath Sen, SBH, Vol. XXIY,

Allahabad, 1921-23.

Brahmanda Purana
» » ' ■M l • ■ H 'llll ■■■■ I ■ ■ ■ ♦ »
: Ed.,Bombay, 1906.

Bhaffavata Purana : Ed., Bombay, 1905#

Mats.va Purana : Ed. Hari Barayana Apte, ASS 54,

Poona, 1907.

: Matsya Puraiiam, Tr. Jumna Baa

Akhtar, SBA Vol. I, Delhi, 1972e

MahabhSrata : critically edited by various

scholars, V, S, Sukthankar et al.,

19 Yols., BORI, Poona, 1933-66.

! The Pratilca Index prepared by P. 1..

Vaidya, 6 Vols. BORI, Poona,

1967-72.

: The Mahabharata of Krishna

Bv/aipayana Yyasa, Tr, P. C. Roy.

11 Vols., Calcutta, 1919~*35#

Marlcandeya Purana : Ed. Rev. K. M, Banerjea,

Bib, Ind., Calcutta, 1862.

s Tr. P. E, Pargiber, Bib. Ind.,

Calcutta, 1904#

Yuga Purana : Ed. D.R. Manltad, Vallabhvidyanagara,

1951#
 341

Ramayana : critically edited by various

scholars, G. II. Bhatt et al..

6 Vols., Oriental Institute,

Baroda, 1960-71.

! Hamayana of Valmiki, Tr. Hari

Prasad Shastri, 3 Vols.,

London, 1952-59#

Vamana Purana : Ed, A. S. Gupta, Varanasi, 1967*

Vayu Purana : Ed. Ea^endralala Mitra,

2 Vols. Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1880.

: Ed.Hari Barayana Apte, ASS 49»

Poona, 1905#

Visnu Purana : v/ith two commentaries called the

Vlsnuchittayavyakhya and the

Atmaprakasa by Sridharasvamin,

2 Vols., Bombay, 1910,

: Tr. H, II. Wilson, Calcutta, 1961,

Siva Purana : Tr. J, L. Shastri, 4 Vols,

Delhi, 1970.

Harivaii^a : critically edited, P. L. Va.idya,

2 Vols., BORI, Poona, 1969 - 71 ,

: Tr. (French) Simon Alexander Lauglois,

3 Vols., London, 1834*

(iv) Other Sanskrit Texts

Abhidhana Cintamani ; of Sri Heinacandrac arya ,

Ed. Hemichandra Sastri and

Sri Haragovincl Sastri. with

Hindi commentary and notes,

Varanasi, 1964 *
Amarako6a : with the commentary of

Mahesvara, Ed. Vamanacharya

Jhalalcikar, Bombay, 1896.

/
: Ed. Pay^it Sivadatta, Bombay, 1944#

: of Amarasimhu wi th RamasramJ

(Vyakhyasudha) commentary of

of Bhanuji DTksita (Ramasrama),

✓
Ed. Pandit Hargovind Sastri,

Varanasi, 1970*

Arthasastra : Ed. and Tr. R, Shamsastry,

Bangalore, 1915#

: The ICautiliya Arthasastra.

Ed. and Tr. R. P. Kangle,

3 Vols., Bombay, 1969-72,

AstgdhyayX : Payini. Ed. Otto Bohtlingk,

Bonn, 1639*

: Paninifs Graromatxlc. Tr, (German)

Otto Bohtlingk, Leipzig', 1887,

5 The Asht&dhvayl of Pauini. Ed, and Tr

/
Srisa Chandra Vasu, 4 Vols.

Benaras, 1897, Allahabad, 1894#

: La Grammaire de Panini. Ed, and Tr,

(French) Louis Renou, 2 Vols,, Paris,

1966 .
Kathasaritsagara : Tr, C. H. Tawney, Calcutta, 1880*

: of Somadevabhatta, Ed. Pandurau'--

Kasinath Parab and Pandit Dorgaji'-asad

Bombay, 1930.

t The ocean of story being C, If, Tavmey

translation of Soinadeva1s Kathasarit-

sagara, Ed. with notes N. M. Penzer,

10 Vols. Motilal Banarsidass, 1968

 343

Kavyamimafosa ; of Rajasekhara, Ed. C. D. Dalai

and Pandit R, A. Sastri,

(Revised by IC. S. Ramaswami Sastri),

Siromani Oriental Institute,

Baroda, 1935*

Tantravarttika : of Kumarila. Bhatta, commentary

/
on Sabara Bhasya on the PIXrvamimatnsa

sutra of Jaimini, Tr. M. Ganganatha

Jha, 2 Vols., Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1924*

Dhatunatha .r ' : of Hemachandra with author's own

commentary, Ed. Johann Kirste,

Bombay, 1901.

Batyasastra : of Bharatamuni with the commentary

Abhinavabharati by Abhluavagupta

acarya, Ed. K. S. Ramaswami Sastri

Siromani, GOS, Baroda, 1926-86,

: Tr. Manmohan Ghosh, Calcutta, 1950.

Bamalii^ganusasana : of Amarasimha with the commentcry

TBcasarvaova of Vandyn.ghatiya

Sarvananda, Ed. T, Gnyupati Saslri,

2 Vols., TSS, Trivandrum, 1914-1917#

B.ighantuaeffa s of Acarya I-Iemacandrasuri with

— / j
Vacanacarya Sri Sriv; il1abhagan j *s

Ed, Muniraja Sri Pupyavijaya,

Ahmedabad, 1968.

Bighantu and Nirukta : Ed, and Tr. Lakshnian Sarup,

Oxford, 1920,

B.yhatsamhita : The Byhat 5a.tih.ita of Varahasriihhvj.,

Ed, H. Kern, Bib. Ind.,

Calcutta, I869.
 344

Brhatsamhita
— III I Mil
; with commentary of Bhattotapala,

Ed* M. Sudhakara PvivedT,

2 Vols*, Vizianasoxam Sanskrit

Series, Vol. X, London, 1895*

Mahabhayya : The Vyakgrana ilnh^jhasya,

Ed* F. Kielhorn, 3 Vols,

Bombay, 1892-1909.

:Patan.iali1s Mahabhasya,

Ed, and Tr. IC. G, Ghatterjee,

Calcutta, 1957*

: Lectures on Patan.jali^ Mahabhaaya

P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri,

Vol. I, Annamalaimgar, 1944*

MSdhavIya Phatuvrtti : of Sayanacharya, Ed. Pay.dit Sada.

*• / ''' • T-,
Siva Sarina Sastri and Pandit
aa

Anarrba Sastri Pliadako, KSS 103,

Benaras, 1934*

Midraralc^asa : or the Signet ring by Visdk badat bn,*

Ed. and Tr. K. II* Phruva,

Poona, 1923*

i of Visakhadatta, Ed. nod Tr,

R. B. Karmarkar, Poona, 1940.

: of Visakhadatta, Ed, Ja&ndisha

Chandra Misra, CSS, Varanasi, 1372*

Raj?huvamsa : of Kalidasa, Ed, Ear ayana Rama

Acarya, Bombay, 1948*

Ra.iataranginl : of Kalhana, A Chronicle of the

Kin,^3 of Kasrnlr. Sir If. A, Sbeln,

2 Vols., London, 1900,

Sahara Bhasya ; Shabara Bhhyya. Tr. Ganganath Jha,

3 Vols., Baroda, 1933"36.

 345
Slokavar 11ika : of Kumarila, Tr* II. Gnnganatha Jha,

Bib. Ind., Calcutta, 1910-1908.

II - Buddhist Texts and Translations

Afiguttara Nikaya : Ed, Rey. R. Morris and E, Hardy,

5 Vols,, PTS, London, 1883-1900.

: Tr. Vols. I, II and V by P. L.

Woodward, and Vols. Ill and IV

by E. M. Hare, PTS,

London, 1932-36.

Aryamafi.iusrT MulaLcalna : Ed. T, Ganapati Sastri, TSS,

Trivandrum, 1920,

Khuddaka Nikaya : The Apadana. Ed. M. E. Lilley,

2 Vols., PTS, London, 1925-27.

Jataka i with commentary, Ed. V. Eausholl,

(vol. VII Index by D. Anderson),

London, 1077-97-

: Tr, by various hands (Ed. E.B, Cowell)

6 Vols., London, 1895-1907 ..

Thera and Theri-gathS : Ed. H. Olderiberg and R, Pischel,

PTS, Oxford, 1930,

Theragatha : Tr, K. R. Norman, PTS, London, 1969*

Divyavadana : Ed. E. B, Cowell and P.A . Noil,

Amsterdam, 1970.

Digha Nikaya : Ed, T. W. Rhys Davids and

J . E. Carpenter1, 3 Vols.,

PTS, London, 1890-1911,

: Tr. T. W* Rhys Davids, 3‘Vols,,

SBE, Vol. XI, pts, i and ii,

London, 1899-1921,

Dlpavamsa : Ed, H, Olderiberg, London, 1879*

Dhammapada ; Ed. Suriyagoda Sumaftgala Thera,

PTS, London, 1914*

 346

Papanoasudani Ma.i.jhinianikayabthakatba of

Buddhaghosacariya, Ed.

I. B. Horner, 5 Yols.,

PTS., London, 1922-57*

Ma.i.ihima Nikaya Ed. Y, Trencker and K, Chalmers,

4 Yols., PTS, London, 1888-99.

Tr. Lord Chalmers, 2 Yols,

London, 1926-27*

ManorathapuranT Buddhaghosa's commentary on the

Anguttara Nikaya. (after the Ms.

of E. Hardy), E.d M. Walleser and

H. Kopp, 5 Yols., PTS, London, 1924-56.

Mahava&sa Ed, W. Geiger, PTS, London, 1908,

Tr. W. Geiger, PTS, London, 1912,

Colombo, i960 .

Milindapanho Ed, Y. Trenckner, London, 1928.

Tr. T. W. Hliyo Davids, 3.BE,

Yols. XXXV and XXXVI, Oxford, 1090 -94 .

Lalitavistara Ed. S. Lefmann, 2 Yols,, Hallo,

1902 -8 .

Ya.irasucI of Asvaghosa, Ed, and Tr. Suj.it

Kumar Mukhopadhyaya, Sanhinike Uw,

1950.

Vinaya Pitakam Ed. H. Oldenberg, 5 Yols,, London ,

1879-93*

Tr, I. B. Horner, 5 Yols,, Londont

1938-52.

H. Oldenberg) 3 Yols., SBE,

Yol. XIII, XYII and XX,

Oxford, 1881-85.
 347

Samantapasadika : Buddhaghosa's commentary on the

Vinaya Pitaka. Ed. J. Takakusu

and M. Eagai, Vol. I, PTS,

London, 1924*

Samrnoha-Vinodani s commentary on the Vibhangat thakatha

of the Ahhldhamma Pitake.

Ed. A. P. Buddhadatta Thero,

PTS, London, 1923 .

Samyutta Nikaya 1 Ed. L, Peer, 6 Vols. (index Vol. VI

by Mrs. Rhys Davids, 19^4)» PTS,

London, 1884-1898*

: Tr. E. L. Woodward and Mrs. Rhys

Davids, 5 Vols, PTS, London,

1881-1930.

Snmaftgala Vilaslni : Buddhaghosa's commentary on the

Digha Nikaya. Ed* T. W„ Rhys Davids

and J. Carpenter, Vol. I and

W. Stede, Vols. II and III, 3 Vols.

PTS, London, 1086, 1931-32.

Ill - Jaina Texts and Translations

Antagada-Dasan and : Ed. P. L, Vaidya,, Poona, 1932,

Anuttaravayaiya-Dasao ; Tr, L. D. Barnett, London, 1907*

Ayaramga Sutta : of the Svetambara Jains,

Ed. H. Jacobi, PTS, London, 1882.

Acarangasutram : with Sanskrit chaya and Hindi

padartha. Commentary by

Atmaramaji Maharaja,, Ed. Muni

Samadarsi, 2 Vols., Ludhiana, 1963 - 64 *

Uttaradhyayanasutra : being the first mulasutra of the

Svetambara Jains, Ed. J. Charpentier,

Uppsala, 1922.
 348

Qvaiva (or Aupapatikas utra) with

Abhayadeva1s commentary, Ed* Muni

HeraasECgara, Agamodaya Samiti,

Bombay, 1916*

Ogha-Niryukti with Drona1s vribti (commentary),

Kevali Srimada Bhadrabahu Swanii,

Agamodaya Samiti, Bombay, 1919*

Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu Ed. H. Jacobi, Leipzig, 1879#

Jambudvipapra.iSapt ih with commentary of Santioandra,

Bombay, 1920,

Jaina Sutras Gaina Sutras. Tr, H. Jacobi,

2 Vols., SBE, Vol.XXII and XLV,

Oxford, 1884-95•

Prainapana ascribed to Syamacharya, commentary

by Malayagiri, Agamodaya Samiti,

Bombay, 1918-19.

Prasna-Vvakarana with Abhaya-deva’s commentary,

Agamodaya Samiti, Bombay, 1919.

Bha&avati Sutra (or Vyakhyapra;inapti). with

Abhayadeva’s commentary,

Agamodaya Sami t.i, Boml >ay, 1910-21 *

Sutrakrdanga with the commentary of Sxlamkaoavya,

Agamodaya Samiti, Bombay, 1917*

Suvaaadam Ed, P. L, Vaidya, Bombay, 1228.

Sthanaiiga Sutra with commentary of Abhayadeva,

Ed, Venicandra
•
Surcandra.7

2 Vols., Bombay, 1918-20.

IV - Classical and Foreign Accounts

(Translations)

Beal, Samuel Buddhist Records of the Western World

I, London, 1906.
 349

Beal, Samuel : The Life of Hieun~tsiangf

London, 1914*

4 Navels of Fah-hian and Sung-yun.

London, 1869*

Giles, H. A. : The Travels of Fa-haien or

Record of Buddhist Kingdoms.

Cambridge, 1923*

Godley, A. D. ! Herodotus. 4 Vols., 1926,

Hamilton, H. G. and : Geographica. London, 1809-90

Falconer, V/#

Legge, James : A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms.

Oxford, 1886,

McCrindle, J. W. : Ancient India as Described in Classical

Literature, Wes trains ter, 1901; SI;,

Leonardo, 1971*

: Ancient India as Bescr 11>■>d _by

ICtesias the- Knidian, Lot idon, 1Q82 •

s Ancient India as Bp scribed Jbr

y

by Ptolemy. London, 1005»

s Ancient India as Described by

Megasthenes and Arrian, Calcutta, 1926,

Rawlinson, George s History of Herodotus. 4 VoIn,

London, 1862,

Saohau, Edward G. : A lb eruni1s India (Tx*, and Ed,),

London, 1888.

Watson, B. * Records of the Grand Kisl;oi::i.ai

of China transla.ted_ froin^ S-.illi Ch i

of Ssu-ma Chi’ion, 2 Vols,,

Hew York, 1961-6 3 .

Watters, T. : On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India

(Ed. Rhys Davids and S. W. Bushell)

2 Vols., London, 1904-0 5 ,

 350

V - Inscriptions and Coins

Allan, J. : Catalogue o f Gupta c o in s .

London, 1914*

: B r i t i s h Museum C atalogue o f In d ia n

c o in s , London, 193&.

Barua, B. M. : ’ The o ld Brahrai I n s c r ip t io n o f

M ahaathan', IH g, V o l. X, 1934,

pp. 57-66.

Baa ale, Radhagovinda : Asokan Inscriptions (Ed.)

Calcutta, 1957.

Bhattacharya, Sachchidananda * S e le c t Asokan E pigraphs ( w ith

A n n o ta tio n s ), C a lc u tta , 1960,

Bhandarkar, B* R, : ’Inscriptions of Northern India

in Brahmi and its Derivative Scripts

from 0.A. 1). 200’ Ejl., Vols. XIX,

XX, XXI, nil, XXIII.

Bloch, Jules : Les inscription d.’A&oha. Paris, 1950.

Fleet, John Faithful : Insoripti.ons of the Early Gupta

and their sue eg?sons . C.IL I.

V o l. Ill, Calcutta, 1000.

Gardner, P. : British Museum Catalogue of the

Coins of the Greeks and the

London, 1886,

Hultzsch, E. : Inscriptions of A6oka, Col.I. Vol.,J,

Oxford, 1925.

Konow, Sten 1 K h a ro s h tl I n s o r lp t io n s t V o l. II,

p t. i , C a lc u tta , 1929*

: ’ T a x ila Inscription of the year’

136 ', a,Vol. XXV, pp. 291-2.

 351

Luder, H. : 'L u d e r’ s L i s t o f I n s c r ip t io n s 1

El, Vol. X,

Maity, S. K. and : Corpus of Bengal Inscriptions

Mukherji, R. hearing on the history and

civilization of Bengal,

C a lc u tta , 1967#

Rapoonf E. J. : Catalogue o f the Coins o f the

Andhra d yn a sty. W estern K s a tra p a s ... .

London, 1908.

Sen, Sulcuraar : Old P e rsia n I n s c r ip t io n s o f

the Achaemenian Emperors.

C a lc u tta , 1941*

Sircar, Dines Chandra : Select Inscriptions hearing on Indian

history and civilization «

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