Āryāvarta

Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, ,Aryavarta
Monier Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary (1899) ) is a term for the northern Indian subcontinent in the ancient Hindu texts such as ''Dharmashastras'' and ''Sutras'', referring to the areas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain and surrounding regions settled during and after the Indo-Aryan migrations by Indo-Aryan tribes and where Indo-Aryan religion and rituals predominated. The limits of ''Āryāvarta'' extended over time, as reflected in the various sources, as the influence of the Brahmanical ideology spread eastwards in post-Vedic times.

Geographical boundaries

Ganges-Yamuna doab

The Baudhayana ''Dharmasutra'' (BDS) 1.1.2.10 (perhaps compiled in the 8th to 6th centuries BCE) declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kālakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the doab of the Ganges-Yamuna. BDS 1.1.2.13-15 considers people from beyond this area as of mixed origin, and hence not worthy of emulation by the Aryans. Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta. Baudhayana ''Srautasutra'' recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Aryavarta and ventured into far away places.

The '' Vasistha Dharma Sutra'' (oldest sutras ca. 500–300 BCE) I.8-9 and 12-13 locates the Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati River in the desert, to the west of the Kālakavana, to the north of the Pariyatra Mountains and the Vindhya Range and to the south of the Himalayas.

Patanjali's (mid-2nd century BCE) defines Āryāvarta like the '' Vashistha Dharmasutra''. According to Bronkhost, he "situates it essentially in the Ganges plan, between the Thar desert in the west and the confluence of the rivers Ganges (Ganga) and Jumna (Yamuna) in the east."

From sea to sea

The '' Manusmṛti'' (dated between 2nd cent. BCE to 3rd cent. CE) (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya Ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".

The ''Manava Dharmasastra'' (ca.150-250 CE) gives ''aryavarta'' as stretching from the eastern to the western seas, reflecting the growing sphere of influence of the Brahmanical ideology.

Loss of northwest India

The post-Vedic period of the Second Urbanisation saw a decline of Brahmanism. With the growth of cities, which threatened the income and patronage of the rural Brahmins; the rise of Buddhism; and the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great (327-325 BCE), the rise of the Maurya Empire (322-185 BCE), and the Saka invasions and rule of northwestern India (2nd c. BC - 4th c. CE), Brahmanism faced a grave threat to its existence.

The decline of Brahmanism was overcome by providing new services and incorporating the non-Vedic Indo-Aryan religious heritage of the eastern Ganges plain and local religious traditions, giving rise to the Hindu synthesis.

Other regional designations

The ''Manusmṛti'' mentions '' Brahmavarta'' as the region between the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati in northwest India. The text defines the area as the place where the "good" people are born, the twice-born who adhere to the Vedic dharma, in contrast to the '' mleccha''s, who live outside the Aryan territory and Vedic traditions. The precise location and size of the region has been the subject of academic uncertainty. Some scholars, such as the archaeologists Bridget Allchin and Raymond Allchin, believe the term ''Brahmavarta'' to be synonymous with Aryavarta.

'' Madhyadesa'' extended from the upper reaches of the Ganges and the Yamuna to the confluence of the two rivers at Prayaga, and was the region where, during the time of the Mahajanapadas, the Kuru Kingdom and Pañcāla existed. The entire region is considered sacred in the Hindu mythology as gods and heroes mentioned in the two epics, the ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', lived here.

Political history

Kanyakubja or modern day Kannauj was a central city of Aryavarta and was used as capital-city from 510 CE to 1197 CE under Maukharis, Harshavardhana, Varmans, Pratiharas and Gahadavala dynasty.

The Gurjara-Pratihara king in the tenth century was titled the ''Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta''. Devapala, the emperor of Pala Empire was known to be the ''Overlord of Aryavarta''.

See also

* Names of India
* Indo-Aryan migrations
* Bharata Khanda
* Airyanem Vaejah, its Zoroastrian counterpart
*History of India

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aryavarta

Vedic period
Places in Hindu mythology
Historical Indian regions
North India