HOME





Battle Of The Ten Kings
The Battle of the Ten Kings (, ) was first alluded to in the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda (RV) and took place between a king of the Bharatas named King Sudas versus a confederation of tribes. It resulted in a decisive victory for the Bharatas and subsequent formation of the Kuru polity. The Battle of the Ten Kings, mentioned in the Rigveda may have "formed the 'nucleus' of story" of the Kurukshetra War in the Mahabharata. Battle Book 3 of the Rig Veda states that the Bharata tribe crossed Beas river and Sutlej river, moving towards the (future) Kurukshetra area where they came across a nascent (and temporary) inter-tribal alliance of both Indo-Aryans and non-Indo-Aryans. This alliance was confronted in a battle, which is described in the 18th hymn (verses 5-21) of Book 7. The exact motivations are unclear; Michael Witzel argues that it might have been a product of intra-tribal resentment or intrigues of an ousted family priest, while Ranbir Chakravarti argues that t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ravi River
The Ravi River is a transboundary river in South Asia, flowing through northwestern India and eastern Pakistan, and is one of five major rivers of the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers of the Punjab (Sutlej and Beas River) were allocated to India. Subsequently, the Indus Basin Project was developed in Pakistan, which transfers waters from western rivers of the Indus system to replenish the portion of the Ravi River lying in that country. Many inter-basin water transfers, irrigation, hydropower and multipurpose projects have been built in India. History According to ancient history traced to Vedas, the Ravi River was known as (). The Ravi was known as Purushni or Irawati to Indians in Vedic times and as Hydraotes () and Hyarotis (Ὑαρῶτις) to the Ancient Greeks. Part of the Battle of the Ten Kings was fought on a river, which according to Yaska (Nirukta 9.26) refers to the Ravi river at Punjab. Ge ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Sudas
''For other uses, see Suda (other) and Souda (other) Sudās Paijavana was an Indo-Aryan tribal king of the Bharatas, during the main or middle Rigvedic period (c. 14th century BCE). He led his tribe to victory in the Battle of the Ten Kings near the Paruṣṇī (modern Ravi River) in Punjab, defeating an alliance of the powerful Puru tribe with other tribes, for which he was eulogized by his purohita Vashistha in a hymn of the Rigveda. His victory established the ascendency of the Bhārata clan, allowing them to move eastwards and settle in Kurukshetra, paving the way for the emergence of the Kuru "super-tribe" or tribal union, which dominated northern India in the subsequent period. Family Sudās' ancestors include Pijavana, Divodāsa Atithigva, and Devavant, although scholars disagree regarding the order of these ancestors chronologically. According to Witzel, Divodāsa was the father of Sudās, but he includes Pijavana on the grid of Bharata ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Michael Witzel
Michael Witzel (born July 18, 1943) is a German-American philologist, comparative mythologist and Indologist. Witzel is the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University and the editor of the Harvard Oriental Series (volumes 50–100). He has researched a number of Indian sacred texts, particularly the Vedas. Biography Michael Witzel was born July 18, 1943, in Schwiebus, Germany (modern Świebodzin, Poland). He studied indology in West Germany from 1965 to 1971 under Paul Thieme, H.-P. Schmidt, K. Hoffmann, and J. Narten, as well as in Nepal (1972 to 1973) under Mīmāmsaka Jununath Pandit.Michael Witzel's curriculum vitae
accessed September 13, 2007.
From 1972 to 1978, he led the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project and the Nepal Research Centre in

Mleccha
Mleccha () is a Sanskrit term referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, foreigners or invaders deemed distinct and separate from the Vedic tribes. In Vedic Brahmanical discourse, the term is used to refer to foreigners (anāryans) who are considered outside the realm of Vedic dharma. ''Mleccha'' was traditionally applied to denote foreigners or outsiders who did not belong to the Vedic cultural milieu, regardless of their race or skin colour. These individuals were considered outside the Varna system and the ritualistic framework of Vedic society. Historical sources identify various groups as mlecchas, including the Śākas, Huns, Chinese, Greeks, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Bahlikas, Rishikas, and Daradas. Other groups designated as mlecchas include the Barbaras, Kiratas, Paradas, Saka-Greeks, Indo-Greeks, Pulindas, and Scythians. Further identifications include the Kushans, Kinnaras, Tusharas, and Nishadas. The designation further extends to include groups ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Indo-Aryans
Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia and introduced the Proto-Indo-Aryan language. The early Indo-Aryan peoples were known to be closely related to the Indo-Iranian group that have resided north of the Indus River; an evident connection in cultural, linguistic, and historical ties. Today, Indo-Aryan speakers are found south of the Indus, across the modern-day regions of Bangladesh, Nepal, eastern-Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and northern-India. History Proto-Indo-Iranians The introduction of the Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent was the outcome of a migration of Indo-Aryan people from Central Asia into the northern Indian subcontinent (modern-day Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). These migrations started approxi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Sutlej River
The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of the Indus River. The combination of the Sutlej and Chenab rivers in the plains of Punjab forms the Panjnad, which finally flows into the Indus River at Mithankot. In India, the Bhakra Dam is built around the river Sutlej to provide irrigation and other facilities to the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana. The waters of the Sutlej are allocated to India under the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, and are mostly diverted to irrigation canals in India like the Sirhind Canal, Bhakra Main Line and the Rajasthan canal. The mean annual flow is 14 million acre feet (MAF) (roughly 1.727 × 1013 L) upstream of Ropar barrage, downstream of the Bhakra dam. It has several major hydroelectric points, including the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Mandala 3
The third Mandala of the Rigveda has 62 hymns, mainly to Agni and Indra. It is one of the "family books" (mandalas 2-7), the oldest core of the Rigveda in Nepal, which were composed in early Vedic period (1500 – 1000 BCE). Most hymns in this book are attributed to . The verse 3.62.10 gained great importance in Hinduism as the Gayatri Mantra. List of incipits The dedication as given by Griffith is in square brackets: 3.1 (235) [ Agni.] 3.2 (236) gni. 3.3 (237) gni. 3.4 (238) [ Apris.] 3.5 (239) gni. 3.6 (240) gni. 3.7 (241) gni. 3.8 (242) acrificial Post. 3.9 (243) gni. 3.10 (244) gni. 3.11 (245) gni. 3.12 (246) [ Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war.  volumes Indra is the m ...-Agni.] 3.13 (247) gni. 3.14 (248) gni. 3.15 (249) gni. 3.16 (250) gni. 3.17 (251) gni. 3.18 (252) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandava, Pāṇḍavas. It also contains Hindu philosophy, philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or ''puruṣārtha'' (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the ''Mahābhārata'' are the ''Bhagavad Gita'', the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha (sage), Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an Ramopakhyana, abbreviated version of the ''Rāmāyaṇa'', often considered as works in their own right. Traditionally, the authorship of the ''Mahābhārata'' is attributed to Vyasa, Vy ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kurukshetra War
The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu Indian epic poetry, epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The war is used as the context for the dialogues of the ''Bhagavad Gita. Background The ''Mahābhārata'' is an account of the life and deeds of several generations of a ruling dynasty called the Kuru (Hindu mythology), Kuru clan. Central to the epic is an account of a war that took place between two rival families belonging to this clan. Kurukshetra (literally "Kshetram, Region of the Kurus"), also known as Dharmakshetra (the "Region of Dharma"), was the battleground on which the Kurukshetra War was fought. The first ''Mahābhārata'' says that this site was chosen because a sin committed on land was forgiven because of the land's sanctity. The events of the war make up more than a quarter of the ''Mahabharata''. The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and History of Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia, being attested from the ''Rigveda'', where a ' is a Rigvedic tribes, ruler, see for example the Battle of the Ten Kings, ', the "Battle of Ten Kings". The title has equivalent cognates in other Indo-European languages, notably the Latin Rex (title), Rex and the Celtic languages, Celtic Rix. Raja-ruled Indian states While most of the British Raj, Indian salute states (those granted a Salute#Heavy arms: gun salutes, gun salute by the The Crown, British Crown) were ruled by a Maharaja (or variation; some promoted from an earlier Raja- or equivalent style), even exclusively from 13 guns up, a number had Rajas: ; Hereditary salutes of 11-guns : * the R ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Rigveda
The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Shakha of the many survive today, namely the Shakala Shakha, Śakalya Shakha. Much of the contents contained in the remaining Shakhas are now lost or are not available in the public forum. The ''Rigveda'' is the oldest known Vedic Sanskrit text. Its early layers are among the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. Most scholars believe that the sounds and texts of the ''Rigveda'' have been orally transmitted with precision since the 2nd millennium BCE, through Indian mathematics#Styles of memorisation, methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, though the dates are not confirmed and remain contentious till concrete evidence surfaces. Philolog ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]