Indology XI The Dasharajnya War : The War of Ten Kings

January 20, 2009

Indology XIThe Dasharajnya War : The War of Ten Kings[Time Line: Dasharajnya War c.3000bc, Ramayana c.2200bc, Mahabharata c.1500bc]When asked about the ancient classics of India, most would quicklyreply with The Ramayana and The

Mahabharata. Although this answer iscorrect, there is an even more ancient story that has been forgottenby the bulk of Indians and Hindus globally. That ancient story iscalled the Dasharajnya or 'War of 10 Kings'. Long before theRamayana, there lived a descendent of India's eponymous king, Bharata,named Sudas. King Sudas was the 16th generation descendant of EmperorBharata – whom India is named after. Sudas was the grandson of thepowerful king Divodas Atithigva (who had his empire in the regions ofPunjab and was married to Madhavi) and he was the son of KingPijavana.In the Rig Veda, King Sudas is called "Paijavana" (VII.18.21-25) , 'Sonof Pijavana'. Pijavana means also (like Yavana), 'one who speeds' or afast mover. Yavana is hence here, an adaptation of Javana, and a Vedicterm referring to any great monarch, or peoples that migrated fastdefeating others. Divodas earned fame as a warrior by

waging a longwar with the powerful non-Arya King Sambara whom he ultimatelydefeated and killed. According to the 8th book of the Rg Veda, "…King Divodasa destroyed the 99 towns of the Dasa Chief Sambara andkilled Sambara and Varci in the country of Udabraja. The Vedic Rsisused to ascribe these heroic deeds to the Vedic God Indra by sayingthat Indra rent the 99 cities of Sambara for Divodasa and "savedDivodasa with wonderful means of safety"…". Sudas inherited thekingdom from his grandfather and greatly expanded it. In the process,he alienated all the neighboring kingdoms surrounding him. Afteryears of subjugation, a group of roughly a dozen or "ten" ("dasha")kings and chieftans ("raja; rajnya") formed a confederacy to combinetheir strength and defeat King Sudas once and for all. In a war thatwould span many years with a number of key battles, Sudas was able todefeat the entire confederacy of

kings and emerge victorious. Hispriests, Vishvamitra and Vasishtha eulogized him for his remarkablevictory and those words of praise along with details of the war can befound in the Rg Veda.Some historians from India have taken a negationist stance to ancientIndian history and cling to outdated theories such as the AIT (AryanInvasion Theory) which highly influences their interpretation of theRg Veda – especially as it relates to the Dasharajnya War. Thesehistorians, whether Marxist or simply Western-biased have taken the150-year old theory about a supposed 'invasion' of India by Aryansaround 1500 BCE as a hard fact and a milestone from which to definethe remainder of Indian history. As a result, the ample evidence ofroyal and priestly chronologies in the Vedas that, when correlatedcritically with the Puranas, clearly describe a few hundredgenerations between the founder of India's recorded

civilization,Vivasvata and his son, Manu Vaivasanta and the generation livingtoday, must be completely ignored and converted into fantasy. Thesehistorians therefore avoid any views that consider these ancient kingsto have been real and instead interpret them to be fictional. In otherwords, according to them, India did not have a succession of kings asEgypt did, but rather was an unknown mystery before the Buddha and anymention of kings or priests' names must be considered as mythologywith no underlying historical basis. Given that position, it isimpossible for these 'eminent' historians to even consider that theroyal Indian chronologies when placed in order put Vivasvata at atimeframe long before 3000 BCE and actually closer to 4000 BCE. It isa documented historical occurrence that directly conflicts with thecolonial theories of 'White Aryans' conquering 'Black Dravidians' tocreate an 'evil caste

system' which is responsible for the poverty ofIndia and which can only be solved with external (read 'colonialist' )intervention. As an example, here is the interpretation of the 10Kings War by historian Romila Thapar:"If you read the hymns the plea to the gods Indra, Agni, whosoever itis, is help us go and attack this 'dasa' village or this 'dasapura',help us get the cattle of the 'dasa'. It is always the cattle thatthey are wanting. There is no question of help us go into battle andtake over a whole territory. It is limited to small areas of attack.They are mobile pastoralists and the cattle raids and the predatoryraids are surrogate for warfare. There are in fact no great battles orcampaigns. Even the famous battle of ten kings is over the change thatis taking place that is being brought into function over the riverwaters of the Ravi. It is not as if there is huge encampment on aplain and

the two armies have got together and are fighting eachother. None of that. It is something i.e. very much localized andcontrolled." http://www.indoarya ns.org/romila- thapar-aryans. htmlIn fact, many historians claim that this war can only be interpretedas a skirmish over cows and not a kingdom!It is important to note that the Sanskrit word 'Arya' (English:'Aryan') has no racial connotation in the Vedas and is a termoriginally used to identify the members of the Puru-Bharata Dynasty.Over many centuries, this term gained a broader acceptance as adescription of any royal dynasty, then eventually came to be used todescribe anyone 'civilized' (in opposition to those still leading anunrefined, non-Vedic or even anti-Vedic existence in mountains orjungles who would be referred to as 'dasa', 'dasyu', 'mleccha'

and/or'rakshasa').The interpretation of the significance of the Dasharajnya from thelate award-winning historian, P.L. Bhargava however is quitedifferent. Based on his research reading hundreds of texts in originalSanskrit:"Sudas is regarded by the Rigveda as a Bharata king of the Trtsudynasty. The Puranas elucidate the statements of the Rigveda. … AsVisvamitra himself informs us, under his guidance, Sudas won manyvictories in the east, west and north of his kingdom. … The greatestachievement of Sudas was his thumping victory of a confederacy of tenkings. … is described … in hymn 18 of the seventh book of the Rigveda.The information is supplemented by three other hymns, viz. nos. 19, 33and 83. From these hymns it appears that the old hostility betweenthe Bhrgus and the Haihayas played an important part in deciding theaffiliations in this battle. The Bhrgus are clearly mentioned

in verse6 of hymn 18, as fighting on the side of the enemies of Sudas. On theother hand, Vitahavya, the great-grandson of the Haihaya kingSahasrabahu, is mentioned in verse 3 of hymn 19, as having beenprotected by god Indra along with Sudas, which seems to imply that hewas an ally of Sudas. … Sudas was one of the greatest kings of theRigvedic age. … In recognition of this, he was, like Bharata,consecrated by his priest Vasistha with the Aindra Mahabhiseka,signifying universal sovereignty. "http://www.amazon. com/Founders- Indias-Civilizat ion-Lives- Pre-Buddha/ dp/0895819031The Dasharajnya War or "war of 10 kings" was a turning point in thehistory of India because it firmly re-established the dominance of thePuru-Bharata Dynasty over smaller royal dynasties and tribal

chieftansover the Sapta-Sindhu region going west towards present-dayAfghanistan/ Persia and east towards Uttar Pradesh. This Puru-BharataDynasty provided the continuity of leadership which is documented inthe ancient scriptures of Sanathana Dharma (Hinduism) – particularlythe Rigveda. The fact that this great story, which I believe must beraised to the standard of 'epic' in all fairness, is relativelyunknown and forgotten is surprising and raises questions. When didthis war occur? Where did this all happen? Why is it important and whyshould it be raised to the level of India's two existing epics, namelythe Ramayana and the Mahabharata?Dating the Dasharajnya WarGiven that we have existing archaeological data to approximate thetimeframe of the Buddha and before him the Mahabharata War, it wouldbe helpful to determine a realistic timeframe for the Dasharajnya Warin order to provide yet

another milestone in the long continuum ofIndian history. Since the Dasharajnya itself presupposes a lineage ofkings before Sudas going back approximately one thousand years toVivasvata, any milestone we agree upon for this war helps put Indianhistory in a chronological framework.In his excellent book, The Myth of the Aryan Invasion, VamadevaShastra (David Frawley) dates the Dasharajnya War to 3700 BCE(http://www.indiasta r.com/ancient. htm) and comments on its historicalimportance:"Referring to the famous Battle of the Ten Kings in the Rig Veda, 3700B.C., Frawley writes: "The Vedic war is a question of values, notrace. It is a conflict between spiritual values and materialisticvalues, which occurs in all societies. Sometimes arya people becomeun-arya by a change in values, as indicated in the battle

ofSudas....Even names of famous Vedic kings, such as Sudas and Devadasahave the ending of das or dasa meaning 'servant'." Sudas ruled theland of Sapta Sindhu, centered around the mighty Sarasvati river,which flowed from the Himalayas to the Rann of Kutch. After the Battleof the Ten Kings, many Indians migrated westwards into Iran andbeyond. "In the books by historian P.L. Bhargava however, he arrives at adifferent date for this war. He takes the 3100 BCE date popularlyused as the beginning of this Kali Yuga (Dark Age) as the beginning ofthe royal dynasties of India starting with Vivasvata. He uses a regnalperiod of between 16 and 17 years from Vivasvata, who lived 40generations before Sudas to arrive at approximately 2350 BCE as thetimeframe of the Dasharajnya War.Based on my research however, I have found that a regnal period of 16or 17 years is too brief. Given that kingship was

generallytransferred from father to eldest son after the son has completededucation and perhaps some real martial experience (i.e., real war), aregnal period would more likely be between 20 and 30 years – with anaverage at 25 years. A study of most ancient civilizations shows thisto be a very reasonable estimate. Therefore, I have estimated thatthe Dasharajnya War most like occurred around 2900 BCE based onaligning Puranic Kings' lists along with known archaeological evidence(please refer to the Royal Chronology of India,http://www.indiahis toryonline. com/chron. html). A dating of 2900 BCEis not as distant as Vamadeva Shastra's estimate of 3700 BCE nor asrecent as P.L. Bhargava's estimate of 2350 BCE, and actually fallsabout in between these two dates. In addition, my discussions withhistorian and author Shrikant

Talageri, confirm that this timeframe isreasonably supported by the evidence within the Rigveda and otherliterature.Details of the Dasharajna WarThe list of confederate kings and chieftans involved in this war isactually slightly over ten, but was referred to roughly as 'dasha'(ten) as a shorthand in the Rg Veda.1. Puru2. Yadu3. Turvasa4. Anu5. Druhyu6. Alina7. Paktha ('Pathan'; 'Pashthun')8. Bhalinas9. Siva10. Visanin11. Simyu12. Vaikarna13. others…The war comprised AT LEAST two notable battles:Parushni River Battle (western border of Bharata kingdom) first mainbattle of warYamuna River Battle (eastern border of Bharata kingdom) after the warwas supposedly done, Sudas was attacked on the east by King Bheda (andhis Ajas, Sigrus and Yaksus) while Sudas was occupied on the Parusni.Sudas defeated them too. 12,000 warriors were

killed from the Druhyusand Anu Kings alone (supposedly a total of 66,666 soldiers fought).This group of 10 may have been led by King Chayamana (of Abhivarta -present Iran). Sudas took over the main area on the Saraswati andNorth, East and West of it. South of it was controlled by non-Aryakingdoms of Krkata and Pramaganda.Interesting notes about the Dasharajnya War:Dasharajnya War mentioned in RV 7,18; 7, 83; and 1-8. This greatbattle was fought on the Parushni River (Ravi River) with Bharata KingSudas defeating a confederacy of 10+ kings (Anu & Druhyu Kings andover 10 other tribal chieftans and kings). (Source: 'Ancient IndianHistoriography: Sources and Interpretations' , G.P. Singh, 2003)Rg Vedic hymn (III. 53.14) mentions Kikata and its King Pramaganda.The reference is to Sudas's battle with the Kikatas and their KingPramagandha (whose name is connected by many scholars with the

wordMagadha = Pra-Magandha) . Indian tradition is very unanimous inidentifying Kikata with Magadha (e.g. Bhagvata Purana I.3.24 and VayuPurana 108.73-74. Nirukta merely says 'anarya janapada' and the worddoes not occur in the other Samhitas). This clinches the origin ofthe Bharatas in Uttar Pradesh: the expansion of the Bharatas underSudAs took place in two directions, eastwards into Bihar, andwestwards across the SarasvatI into the Punjab. Clearly, only ahomeland in the area between KASI and KurukSetra fits into thispicture.Emperor Chayamana on the Sarasvati River: Even on the political andadministrative fronts, the Vedic people were highly organised. Notonly did they have sabhas and samitis which dealt with legislative andperhaps judiciary matters, but they also had a well-establishedhierarchy amongst the rulers, viz. samrat, rajan and rajaka. Thus, inRV 6.27.8 Abhyavarti Chayamana is

stated to be a Samrat. (Soverign),while RV 8.21.8 states that, dwelling beside the Sarasvati river,Chitra alone is the Rajan (king) while the rest are mere Rajakas(kinglings or petty chieftains). That these gradations were absolutelyreal is duly confirmed by the Satapatha Brahmana (V.1.1.12-13) , whichsays: 'By offering the Rajasuya he becomes Raja and by the Vajapeya hebecomes Samrat, and the office of the Rajan is lower and that of theSamraj, the higher (raja vai rajasuyenestva bhavati, samrat vajapeyenal avaram hi rajyam param samrajyam). (Source:http://www.geocitie s.com/ifihhome/ articles/ bbl002.html)AbhyAvartin CAyamAna is an Anu king, and he clearly appears as a heroin VI.27. However, it is equally clear that this is only because he isan ally of the Bharata king SRnjaya: his descendant Kavi CAyamAna

whoappears (though not in Griffith's translation) in VII.18.9 as an enemyof the Bharata king SudAs, is referred to in hostile terms. In RVVII.18.8, he was killed while fleeing from battle. He was an enemy ofSudas and son of Cayamana. He was probably brother of AbhyavartinCayamana who is mentioned as the conqueror of the Vrcicantas under theleadership of Varasikha (RV VII.27.5,8). (Source: The Vishvamitrasand the Vasisthas, Umesh Chandra Sharma, Viveka Publications, 1975).Sudas was well known for having two sage advisors, Vasishtha andVisvamitra. He was an author of Hymn 133 of the 10th book of the RgVeda in addition to being a great warrior and king. He gave much tohis priest, Vashistha (200 cows, 2 chariots, 4 horses with goldtrappings,.. .).Sudas and Bheda: King Sudas also fought with the non-Aryan King Bhedawho led 3 tribes (Ajas, Sigrus, Yaksus) against Sudas. King Sudasbeat them

all at a battle on the Yamuna River.All enemies of Sudas were defeated, thousands were killed, severaldrowned and swept away by the mighty rivers and the remaining fledaway. Sudas' armies marched in all directions except the South. Heemerged victorious and several gifts were presented to him by thedefeated enemy. It was really a great historical event. (Source: TheVishvamitras and the Vasisthas, Umesh Chandra Sharma, VivekaPublications, 1975)Location of the Dasharajnya WarHistorian P.L. Bhargava created the following map in his book, 'Indiain the Vedic Age' in order to show the areas described in the Rg Veda:King Sudas, being the heir to the Puru-Bharata Dynasty, had hiskingdom centered in the southeastern region of the Sapta-Sindhu withhis capital most likely directly upon the Sarasvati River. Eventhough this river dried up around 1900 BCE (due to tectonic activity:http://www.scribd. com/doc/6087426/ Saraswati- in-Hindu- Civilizational- History-and- Culture),many archaeological ruins of cities along this river-bed exist(http://micheldanino .voiceofdharma. com/indus. html). It is verypossible that one of the larger archeological ruins may be the remainsof what was once his capital city. The correlation of ancientscripture and literature with archaeology has been successfullyaccomplished in the Middle East (Biblical Archaeology:http://www.bib- arch.org), but much remains to be done as far as 'VedicArchaeology' goes(http://www.archaeol ogyonline. net/artifacts/ scientific- verif-vedas. html).Some additional geographical detail can be gathered from the work ofhistorian, U.C. Sharma:Vedic texts like Shatapatha and Aitareya Brahmanas list a group of tento sixteen kings, including a number of figures of the Rig Veda likeSudas, as having conquered the region of India from "sea to sea."Lands of the Vedic people are mentioned in these texts from Gandhara(Afghanistan) in the west to Videha (Bihar) in the east, and south toVidarbha (Maharashtra) , as well as from the western to the easternoceans.Sudas's capital city was on the Sarasvati River. His queen was named Sudevi.The battle of the ten kings was led against the Turvashas (one of thefive vedic people of the RV), the Bhrigus (a family of Vedic seersrelated to the Angirasas), the Druhyus (one of the five vedicpeoples), the

Kavashas (a family of Rishis), the Anus (Vedic) (one ofthe five Vedic peoples) and others (e.g. RV. 7.18.6; 5.13.14;7.18.12). Rig Veda 7.83.1-6 tells that Sudas defeated both Aryas andDasyus.Part of this battle is also fought on the Parusni river, whichaccording to Yaska (nirukta 9.26) refers to the Iravati river (RaviRiver) in the Punjab. When Sudas was conquering all around him (withVishvamitra as his purohit), he conquered to the east, west and north(but not south). Apparently, there was not major kingdom to conquerto the south and/or no land worthy of conquering south (present-dayRajasthan).The last battle was fought on the banks of the Parushni, where thearmies of 10+ kings were defeated. There seems to be an earlierbattle against Bheda, the Ajas, the Sigrus, and the Yaksus, where manyhorses were offered as tribute to the conqueror. Indra made even thevast flowing waters (of the

Parusni) shallow and easily fordable toSudas; he who is fit to be lauded by our hymn, has made the arrogantSimyu and his imprecations the floating dirt (on the surface) of therivers.(Source: The Vishvamitras and the Vasisthas, Umesh Chandra Sharma,Viveka Publications, 1975)Why the Dasharajnya deserves to become India's Third EpicThe first of the three major Ithihaasas (historical Epics) of Indiawas the Dasharajnya War (War of 10 Kings). The other two wereobviously the Ramayana and the Mahabharata - which occurred later inIndian history. The Dasarajnya War was a Vedic Epic, the Ramayana ismentioned at the end of the Vedas and the Mahabharata Epic ispost-Vedic. Unfortunately, the Dasharajnya War was never eulogizedand remembered by bards and wandering poets in the manner that theother two epics were and thus most Indians are not aware of this veryimportant historical event.It

is my strong opinion that the Dasharajnya War should be elevated toits proper status – that of the first Ithihaasa of India. When viewedtogether, the three Ithihaasas show the transition of history in Indiavery clearly. The Dasharajnya shows the consolidation of power inNorth-Central India with the Puru-Bharata Dynasty, its impact on Indiaand surrounding nations (notably Persia) and its consequent reflectionin the consolidation of religious knowledge in the Rg Veda. This inturn would help bring about a new interest in the study of the Vedasnot only as scripture, but also as an encyclopedia of ancient, VedicIndia. The Ramayana shows the expansion of royal power beyond theGanga River region into the full breadth of the Indian Peninsula andbeyond into the island of Lanka – at a time when most areas were stilltribal and not yet part of organized kingdoms. The Mahabharata showsa Bharatiya civilization

integrated from all four cardinal directionswith interdependencies among kingdoms strong enough to result in oneinter-kingdom conflict boiling over into the first major civil war ofIndia.In the manner of the Ramayana and Mahabharata and to have all three ofthese epics officially recognized as the 3 Ithihaasas of SanathanaDharma and India, a newly written Dasharajnya Epic can then becomepart of the vast source material for a newer, more logical view ofIndian history and an important component in studying the historicalevolution of Sanathana Dharma (Hinduism).ConclusionThe Dasharajnya War was a key event in India's history and itsprotagonist, King Sudas, an exemplary figure. We do a great disserviceto India and Dharma by ignoring his legacy. By remembering this eventand by raising it up to the status of India's first epic in a trilogyof epics, we not only pay respect to our ancestor, but

we develop aclearer understanding of India's history and the amazing twists andturns of events that all tie together to create a civilization thatwould continue many millennia after that epic war.Niraj MohankaIndologistNote : Hindu Council UK (HCUK) is the foremost and largest nationalnetwork of the Hindu temple bodies and cultural organisationsco-ordinating all different schools of Hindu theology within the UK.HCUK is the representative umbrella body for the British Hindu issuesfor which a UK wide mandate was received during a two yearconsultation with the British Hindu public culminating in its launchin November 1994.HCUK Admin Office:Boardman House, 64 The Broadway, London E15 1NG.T: 020 8432 0400 W: www.hinducounciluk. org F: 020 84320393

January 20, 2009

Dear Shri Venkata Krishnan ji,Namaste,Mr. Niraj Mohanka attempted a good subject. However I will like to point out that on the basis of sound astronomical facts Dr. P.V.Vartak had found that the date of VIswamitra was in the 8th Millennium BCE. Therefore I believe that the date of KKing Sudas has also to be in the 8th Millennium BCE. Secondly according to Bhagavat Purana the King Bharata, after whom our country got its name, was son of Rishabhnath.Regards,Sunil K. Bhattacharjya--- On Tue, 1/20/09, venkata krishnan <bcvk71 wrote:venkata krishnan <bcvk71 Indology XI The Dasharajnya War : The War of Ten

Kings"Ancientindianastrologygroup" Tuesday, January 20, 2009, 12:33 AM