Fwd: Mitanni : people of Indic origin

[Guest guest]

[note from kishore patnaik: I remember seeing a paper by M Kelkar. If

he is on this group, I request him to please post the same]

Mitanni

The Mitanni were a people of Indic origin who ruled a vast kingdom

(with a common Hurrian population) in West Asia in the second

millennium BC. Mitanni arose near the sources of the Khabur River in

Mesopotamia sometime after 1500 BC. It was a feudal state led by a

warrior nobility. The kingdom ruled northern Mesopotamia (including

Syria) for about 300 years, out of their capital of Washshukanni, (or

Wassukkani, or Vasukhani, meaning " a mine of wealth. " ) Their warriors

were called marya, which is the proper Sanskrit term for it.

By approximately 1350 BC, the Mitanni kingdom had weakened, and had

become practically dependent on the Hittites, then under the rule of

Shuppiluliuma I. Assyria, previously under Mitanni control, was able

to assert its independence during the reign of Ashuruballit I in

approximately 1330 BC.

 

They seem to have venerated Vedic deities and their nobility used

Indo-Aryan names, and worshipped Indo-Aryan gods. In a treaty between

the Hittites and the Mitanni, Indic deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and

Nasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. A text by a Mitannian named Kikkuli

uses words such as aika (eka, one), tera (tri, three), panza (pancha,

five), satta (sapta, seven), na (nava, nine), vartana (vartana,

round). Another text has babru (babhru, brown), parita (palita,

grey), and pinkara (pingala, red). Their chief festival was the

celebration of vishuva (solstice) very much like in India. It is not

only the kings who had Sanskrit names; a large number of other

Sanskrit names have been unearthed in the records from the area.

 

CHRONOLOGY OF MITANNI RULERSHIP

Kirta 1500 BC-1490 BC

 

Suttarna I 1490 BC-1470 BC

 

Baratarna 1470 BC-1450 BC

 

Parsatatar 1450 BC-1440 BC

 

Saustatar 1440 BC-1410 BC

 

Artatama 1410 BC-1400 BC

 

Suttarna II 1400 BC-1385 BC

 

Artashumara 1385 BC-1380 BC

 

Tushratta 1380 BC-1350 BC

 

Mattivaza 1350 BC-1320 BC

 

Sattuara I 1320 BC-1300 BC

 

Vashasatta 1300 BC-1280 BC

 

Sattuara II 1280 BC-1270 BC

 

The name Sutarna I means ( " good sun " ). He was followed by Paratarna I

( " great sun " ), Parashukshatra ( " ruler with axe " ), Saukshatra ( " son of

Sukshatra, the good ruler " ), Paratarna II, Artatama or Ritadhama

( " abiding in cosmic law " ), Sutarna II, Dasharatha, and finally

Mativaja (Matiwazza, " whose wealth is prayer " ) during whose lifetime

the Mitanni state appears to have become a vassal to Assyria.

 

The daughter of the King Tushratta (Tushyaratha or Dasharatha),

Princess Tadukhipa, became the second queen of Akhenaten; the

daughter of King Artatama was married to Thutmose IV, Akhenaten's

grandfather; and the daughter of Sutarna II (Gilukhipa) was married

to his father, Amenhotep III, the great builder of temples who ruled

during 1390-1352 BC ( " khipa " of these names is the Sanskrit " kshipa, "

night). In his old age, Amenhotep wrote to Dasharatha many times

wishing to marry his daughter, Tadukhipa. It appears that by the time

she arrived Amenhotep III was dead. Tadukhipa married the new king

Akhenaten and she became famous as the queen Kiya (short for Khipa).

 

--- End forwarded message ---