The Land of Five Rivers 

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By Khshatrapa Gandasa

The Sakas

The Scythians inhabiting Central Asia at the time of Herodotus (5th century B.C.) consisted of 4 main branches known as the MassaGatae, Sacae, Alani, and Sarmatians, sharing a common language, ethnicity and culture. Ancient Greek (e.g. Herodotus, Pliny, Plotemy, Arrian) and Persian sources (Darius's historians) from the 5th century place the MassaGatea as the most southerly group in the Central Asian steppe. The earliest Scythians who entered the northern regions of South Asia were from this group. Historians derive "Jat" fom "Gatae", "Ahir" from "Avar", "Saka" from "Scythii", "Gujjar" from "Khazar", "Thakur" from "Tukharian", "Saurashtra" from "Saura Matii" or "Sarmatians", "Sessodia" (a Rajput clan) from "Sassanian", "Madra" from "Medes", "Trigartta" from "Tyri Getae" and "Sulika" from "Seleucids". "Massa" means "grand" or "big" in old Iranian - the language of the Scythians.

The early Sakas or Scythians are remembered by Greek (e.g. Herodotus, Megatheses, Pliny, Ptolemy) and Persian historians of antiquity as tall, large framed and fierce warriors who were unrivalled on the horse. Herodotus from the 5th century BC writes in an eye-witness account of the Scythians: "they were the most manly and law-abiding of the Thracian tribes. If they could combine under one ruler, they would be the most powerful nation on earth." According to their origin myth recorded by Herodotus, the Sakas arose when three things fell from the sky: the i) plough, ii) sword and iii) cup. The progenitor of the Sakas picked them up and hence the Saka race began its long history of conquering lands, releasing its bounties and enjoying the fruits of their labor (the cup has a ceremonial-spiritual-festive symbolism). The relevance of these symbols and codes of life and culture to the traditional Punjabi and northwest society are tantalizingly obvious. A branch of the Sakas kown as the Alani reached regions of Europe, Asia Minor and the Middle East. They have been connected to the Goths of France/Spain, Saxons and the Juts of Denmark.

Entry into India

Some of these Saka tribes entered northwest India through the Khyber pass, others through the more southerly Bolan pass which opens into Dera Ismail Khan in Sindh -- an entry point into Gujarat and Rajasthan. From here some invading groups went north (Punjab), others went south (Maharasthra), and others further east (UP, MP). This explains why some Jat, Gujjar and Rajput clans claim descent from Rajasthan (Chauhan, Powar, Rathi, Sial etc.) while others from Afghanistan (e.g. Mann, Her, Bhullar, Gill, Bajwa, Sandhu, etc.). This is supported by the fact that the oldest Rajput geneologies (10th centuries) do not extend into the northwest's Gandharan Buddhist period (400 B.C. - 900 AD).

Sir Cunningham (former Director General of Indian Archeological survey) writes:

"the different races of the Scythians which succesively appeared as conquerors in the border provinces of Persian and India are the following in the order of arrival: Sakas or Sacae (the Su or Sai of the Chinese - B.C. ?), Kushans (the great Yue-Chi (Yuti) of the Chinese - B.C. 163), Kiddarite or later Kushans (the little Yue-chi of the Chinese - A.D. 450) and Epthalites or White Huns (the Yetha of the Chinese - 470 A.D.).

Cunningham further notes that

". . . the successive Scythian invasions of the Sakas, the Kushans, and the White Huns, were followed by permanent settlements of large bodies of their countrymen . . ".

Cunningham and Tod regard the Huns to be the last Scythian wave to have entered India.

Herodotus reveals that the Scythians as far back as the 5th century B.C. had political control over Central Asia and the northern subcontinent up to the river Ganges. Later Indo-Scythic clans and dynasties (e.g. Mauryas, Rajputs) extended their control to other tracts of the northern subcontinent. The largest Saka imperial dynasties of Sakasthan include the Satraps (204 BC to 78 AD), Kushanas (50 AD - 380), Virkas (420 AD - 640) while others like the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan-Guptas (320 AD - 515) expanded their empires towards the east.

According to Ethnographers and historians like Cunningham, Todd, Ibbetson, Elliot, Ephilstone, Dahiya, Dhillon, Banerjea, etc., the agrarian and artisan communities (e.g. Jats, Gujars, Ahirs, Rajputs, Lohars, Tarkhans etc.) of the entire west are derived from the war-like Scythians who settled north-western and western South Asia in successive waves between 500 B.C. to 500 AD. Down to this day, the very name of the region `Gujarat' is derived from the name `Khazar', whilst `Saurashtra' denotes `Sun-worshipper', a common term for the Scythians. The Gujarat-Rajasthan region continues to be the most Scythic region in the world.

The oldest Rajputs clans found in southern and western Rajasthan arose much later from earlier Scythic groups; or are of Hun origin (5-6th century AD); and many are no doubt of mixed Scythic-Hun origin. Virtually all are of Scythic descent.

Sakastan : The Saka States

Uptil the advent of Mohammed Ghori in the 13th century, the west and northwest was politically unified with the subcontinent for only 92 years under the Mauryas since the start of Saptha Sindhva's Vedic period (1500 BC). For most of its independant history it was under the rule of Saka kings. The west was also independant from the rest of India, existing under its Saka dynasties for virtually the entire period of history. The term `Sakastan' which is found on coins, was applied to the Rajasthan-Gujarat core region, and at its greatest extent included Punjab, UP and Haryana as well.

The largest Saka imperial dynasties of Sakasthana include the Satraps (204 BC to 78 AD), Kushanas (50 AD - 380), Virkas (420 AD - 640) while others like the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan-Guptas (320 AD - 515) expanded their empires towards the east. A brief selected list of Saka rulers of Punjab and the northwest spanning 16 centuries includes Porus (4th century BC), Mauryas (3rd century BC), Rudradaman, Azes, Maues, Soter Megas (2nd century BC), Azilises, Wima Kadphises (1st century AD), Kanishka I, Haviska (2nd century), Vasudeva (3rd century), Vyaghra rata and Yasovardhana.

Mauryas

The Mauryas were themselves perhaps of Scythic origin. D.B. Spooner who evacuated Pataliputra was struck by his findings and writes in his article "The Zoroastrian Period of Indian History" as follows:

"For Chandragupta' s times, the evidences are more numerous and more detailed, and indicate a following of Persian customs all along the line - in public works, in ceremonial, in penal institutions, everything".

The theory of a Scythic descent of the Mauryas is supported by the following pieces of evidence :

• Mauryan coins have the symbol of the sun, a branch, a humped bull and mountain (Dehiya, p.155). All these are pre-eminently Scythian MassaGetae icons who were Sun worshippers with the high mount symbolizing earth and the irregular curving lines alongside it symbolizing water. The tree branch is a symbol of productivity of the earth - agriculture and soldiering were the traditional noble occupations of Sakas. The historians of Darius record that when he attempted to attack the Scythian MassaGetae (an old-Iranian culture of Central Asia) along the Black sea in the 5th century BC, "the Saka kings swore by the sun god and refused to surrender earth and water".

• The clan name of Toramana and Mahirgula, viz Jauvla, is still available among Indian Jats who are now called Jauhl.

• Jat/Gujar clans and villages named Maur and Dharan exist even today in Punjab, Haryana, Bihar and western MP.

• The Puranas do not even refer to the largest imperial dynasties of the north such as the Mauryas (324 - 232 BC) and Dharan Guptas (320 AD - 515) as "Kshatriyas". Regarding the Mauryas, Dehiya [p.147] states "Another indication of the foreign origin [ ie. Saka ] of these people is . . . The Vishnu Purana calls them [ Gupta rulers ] Sudras. The Markandeya Purana brands the Mauryas as Asura. The Yuga Purana called them `utterly irreligious, though posing as religious'. The Mudra Rakshasa calls these people as Mlecchas and Chandragupta himself is called 'Kulahina', an upstart of unknown family".

It has also been suggested that this Scythic influence was occasioned by the immigration of Iranic Scyhtians fleeing the Greek conquest. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the main civilizing impetus behind the Mauryan empire was Scythic.

Dateless revisionist Brahmanist monkey tales with reincarnating imaginary devtas may lie BUT inscriptions/coins texts do not - unless read by crooked and bigoted Brahmin and Bania historians like Majumdar and Bhevelkar turning "Jarta" (Sanskrit for "Jata") into "Guptas" and "Gartas" into "Guha" (cave)! Only unbiased non-Brahminist research can help uncover the true past of the Scythians of India.

Gupta

Some historians also feel that the Guptas were of Scythic origin. The term "Gupta" in this theory is considered a misnamed version of "Jarta" found in early texts and inscriptions by modern pro-Brahmanist historians (e.g. Majumdar, Belvelkar, Satavalekar). "Jarta" is thus thought to be the Sanskritized form of "Jat" as other Saka tribal names such as "Gujar" become "Gurjara" and "Munda" become "Marunda". Gupta is derived from "Goptri" meaning "military governor" as in the inscription of Skandagupta (Dehiya, p 176). It was not a surname or clan name but a title.

P. L. Gupta writes "The most common gold coins of the Guptas appear to be the direct descendants of the gold coins of the later Kushans . . .". He adds that the standing pose of the Gupta kings at the altar is almost identical to that of the Kushan kings, as is their dress - Kushan long coats and trousers (uchkin, salwar/kameez). The Kushana or Kasvan tribe of the Sakas had ruled over Sakasthan (west and northwest) in the period from 1st century to 4rd century AD. The early Gupta coins are significantly called "dinar" and their weight is the same as those of westerly Kushana coins. Moreover, Alberuni (an Arab who traveled to southasia in A.D. 1030) learnt that "the Guptas were powerful but bad and the locals (in the Gangetic region) celebrated the end of their rule by starting a new era" (Dehiya, p. 190). This again supports the Scythian origin of the Guptas: the end of the Saka empire in the eastern subcontinent was a cause of celebration to the gangetic Brahmins.

Regarding the Guptas, Dehiya [p.181] states "The coins of SamudraGupta, Chandragupta I, Kacha, Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, Kumaragupta I, Skandagupta, etc. all have the central asian long coat and trousers and boots and long swords. This is the most significant fact proving that the Guptas were in fact central asian Jats (a Saka tribe; derived from Getae) . . . ".

However, the fact that the Guptas were responsible for the rise of Vaishnavism and the revival of Brahmanism goes against their purported Scythic origin. The features described above may be explained in terms of their adoption of certain Saka customs as they conquered Sakastan. In conclusion, most historians consider the Guptas to be neo-Brahminist. With their advent began the slide of India into casteism and the dark ages which immediately preceded the Islamist Liberation.

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