Ramanisblog

Tag: List of Rigvedic tribes

  • Indian Brahmin Migration To Europe 8000 Years DNA Proof

    I have been trying to fathom the mystery of Human migration in the world.

    There are descriptions of Great Flood in almost all the mythologies,Jewish, Christian, Mayan,Incas, Sumerian.

    But the Great Floods do not get such detailed references anywhere as in Tamil Classics belonging to Tamil Sangam Era, which is erroneously dated around 3 BC.

    The internal evidence in the Texts, external references found in world literature, Vedic Texts and Geology assigns an earlier date.

    There is a study which states that the Tamils were very much an advanced civilisation around 74,000 years ago.

    Please refer my Post.

    And there is site reflecting Tamil Culture, 1 Million year old, in Pallavaram Cheanni, Tamil Nadu, India.

    Tamil quotes the Vedas and they quote Tamil.

    Read my Post on this.

    So it is well nigh impossible to assign exact dates for these two or which precedes the other because of the Time frame involved, on the available evidence now.

    Dating of these are verified by Astronomy, Astro-archeology and of course by Anthropology,Cultural,Linguistic similarities and Archeology.

    Yet another source is Genome Study, the Study of Genes.

    By studying  and comparing the Genes of the present population with the ancient skeletons found around the world, one can arrive at a conclusion.

    When one looks at Human population in the Europe, one finds that it seems to start abruptly, with the statement that People migrated from Asia.

    From where in Asia and Why?

    The Western science has been silent till now.

    Now research of DNA has come a long way and they prove that the migration took place from India, then called Bharatavarsha.

    Reference in The Bhagavatha Purana states that the ancestor of Lord Rama, Satyavrata Manu migrated from the South of Vindhya Mountains to Ayodhya and Manu’ son Ikshvaku founded the Ikshvaku Dynasty.

    Please read my Post, Rama’s ancestor Dravida, migrated from South.

    At the same time Shiva with his son Ganesha moved westwards  through Middle East ,Europe,Africa,South America, North America, Central America, Russia to Arctic where the Rig Veda was composed.

    Then they returned to India through the Khyber Pass and this event has been taken as Aryan Invasion of India.

    Please read my Posts on each point.

    Now that the far Eastern and American civilizations are traced to Santana Dharma, it is evident that the people of the far east( in relation to the west, here they mean the now Middle east), it is the Sanatana Dharma Tribes which migrated to these places.

    Read my Post Vedic Tribes.

    The Reports.

    Human Migration, In and Out of India.jpg Human Migration, In and Out of India.

    * I have provided this Map to inform readers of the other view that the initial Migration to India was from Africa.I disagree with this view.Check My Posts on this.

    A new study has revealed that Indians belonging to higher castes are genetically closer to Europeans than are individuals from lower castes, whose genetic profiles are closer to those of Asians.

    The study compared genetic markers—located on the Y chromosome and the mitochondrial DNA—between 265 Indian men of various castes and 750 African, Asian, European and other Indian men. To broaden the study, 40 markers from chromosomes 1 to 22 were analyzed from more than 600 individuals from different castes and continents. The comparison of the markers among these groups confirmed that genetic similarities to Europeans increased as caste rank increased.

    The study, led by Michael Bamshad of the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, and his colleagues, is reported to be the most comprehensive genetic analysis to date of the impact of European migrations on the structure and origin of the current Indian population. The article appears in the current issue of Genome Research.

    The caste system, defined in ancient Sanskrit texts, determines a person’s rank in society: The Brahmin, who were traditionally priests and scholars, held the highest rank in Hindu society. Warriors and rulers made up the Kshatriya who were the next in line to the Brahmin. Merchants, traders, farmers, and artisans were the third caste called the Vysya. The Shudra were the fourth rank and consisted of laborers. Because of strict rules forbidding marriage between men and women of different castes, these four classes remained distinct for thousands of years.

    Bamshad’s team found that Y chromosomes from the Brahmin and Kshatriya closely resembled European Y chromosomes rather than Asian Y chromosomes. The Y chromosomes from the lower castes bore more similarities to the Asian Y chromosome. The mitochondrial DNA showed the same pattern.

    The authors believe their results support the notion that Europeans who migrated into India between 3,000 and 8,000 years ago may have merged with or imposed their social structure on the native northern Indians and placed themselves into the highest castes.

    Analysis of the paternally transmitted Y chromosome among Indians in general indicated that the Y chromosome had a more European flavor. Maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA among Indians is more Asian than European. This suggests that the Europeans who entered India were predominantly male.

    . . .

    .

    That required developing new computational methods for genetic analysis. “Figuring out how these populations are related is extremely hard,” Reich says. “There’s a lot that happened in Europe in the last 8,000 years, and this history acts like a veil, making it difficult to discern what happened at the beginning of this period. We had to find statistics that were able to tell us what happened deep in the past without getting confused by 8,000 years of intervening history, when massive and important events occurred.”

    “What we find is unambiguous evidence that people in Europe today have all three of these ancestries: early European farmers who brought agriculture to Europe, the indigenous hunter-gatherers who were in Europe prior to 8,000 years ago, and these ancient north Eurasians,” Reich says. Further analyses showed that describing present-day Europeans as a mixture of the three populations is a good fit for most, although not all, populations.

    When the study began, the ancient north Eurasian population was a “ghost population”—identified based on genetic patterns without any ancient DNA. But in 2013, another group analyzed DNA from two skeletons found in Siberia, one from 24,000 years ago and one from 17,000 years ago, and found that it shared genetic similarities with Europeans and North Americans. The ghost, Reich says, had been found.

    Although DNA from ancient north Eurasians is present in nearly all modern Europeans, Reich’s team did not find it in their ancient hunter-gatherers or the ancient farmers. That means the north Eurasian line of ancestry was introduced into Europe after agriculture had been established, a scenario most archaeologists had thought unlikely.

    “We have this amazing observation that only two ancestries are represented among the first farmers, from about 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. And then suddenly everybody today has ancient north Eurasian ancestry,” Reich says. “So there must have been a later movement of this ancestry into Europe.”

    Anthropologists have long thought that densely settled populations would be resistant to the arrival of new groups. “But this is hard evidence that exactly such a major migration occurred,” Reich says. “It’s very important because it’s a major contributor to Europeans today.” The time of the ancient north Eurasians’ arrival remains to be determined, but Reich says their later-than-expected movement into Europe might help explain the complex mix of languages that exists there today…

    ..Anatole Klyosov is a friend of yours? That is positively awesome. The y-DNA R1a1a matter still seems to be shrouded in mystery to a large extent. There is a basic split between Northern Europe and Asia which has become apparent. Here is a blog post from the Polish Genetics and Anthropology Blog run by one of our very own forum members which summarizes the findings. A major division within R1a1a emerges: Southern Europe and Asia vs. Northern Europe –

    As mentioned on this blog recently, there’s a lot of action on different fronts to try and decipher the story of R1a1a. Many new SNPs are being discovered, and one of the most fascinating found to date is Z93. This marker appears to be a signal of a major split within R1a1a, with most samples from north of the Alps and Carpathians coming back Z93-. These include Brits, Germans, Poles, Finns, Scandinavians and Russians. The Z93+ crowd features Italians, Spaniards, Indians, Pakistanis, Ashkenazim Jews, Hungarians, Turks and Arabs. Eventually, I’ll put together a comprehensive post about all the newly discovered SNPs within R1a1a, and what they might mean. Till then, the link below might be of use to all those interested in how things are going.

    Thus far, all the South-Asian participants of the Family Tree DNA R1a1a and Subclades Y-DNA Project have tested positive for the Z93 SNP, which, as mentioned, seems to be the defining SNP which separates Northern European and Asiatic R1a1a indviduals. From the R1a1a spreadsheet, I will list a few Indian individuals who have tested for the relevant SNPs in question;
    – An individual who lists his surname as Bajwa. The Bajwa are a Jatt clan from the Punjabi-speaking areas of Northwest India. This individual is listed as positive (+) for Z93.
    – An individual who is of a Nair background from Kerala, southern India. He is positive for both Z93 and L342.2+, which is downstream from Z93.
    -An individual who lists his surname as Kamath. Kamath is a very common surname among the Saraswat Brahmins of the Konkan coast of India. He is positive for L342.2. Given that this is downstream from Z93, it is likely he is also Z93+.
    – A Bihari Brahmin individual who lists his last name as Dikshit. As in the last two individuals, he has not tested for Z93 but is L342.2+ and L657+, both downstream from Z93.
    – An individual who lists his surname as Khokar. Khokar is a Punjabi-specific surname borne by a variety of clans of various ethnic groups in the Punjab region. While the individual doesn’t seem to have tested for Z93, he is L342.2+, thus he is likely to be Z93+ as well.

    I personally think it would be highly fallacious to form any conclusions based on such small sampling. More R1a1a South-Asians most certainly need to get themselves tested. But thus far, all the Indian individuals seem to be Z93+. I asked Polako, the forum enthusiast on everything R1a1a about all this, and this is what he had to say. However, going by the results thus far, I have no idea as to how we could possibly go about tracking the Indo-European migration to India and their patrilineal descendants (Brahmins, etc) if all South-Asian R1a1a individuals are indistinguishable from each other. This, to me, make absolutely no sense. I will refrain from concluding anything on the matter for now, though. The apparent lack of SNP differentiation between various South-Asian R1a1a individuals also doesn’t quite corroborate with the appreciable variation and differences in the autosomal DNA admixture proportions of the various castes and tribes of India.

    The T. Kivisild et al study is actually based on y-DNA and mtDNA Haplogroups, not autosomal DNA. The map which you posted is actually a multidimensional scaling plot of eight Indian and seven western Eurasian populations, using Fst distances calculated for 16 Y-Chromosomal SNP haplogroups. In terms of autosomal DNA however, the Punjabis cluster firmly within South-Asia, along with other more North-Westerly groups such as the Pathans, Sindhis and Kashmiris. Additionally, they tend to exhibit elevated amounts of West-Asian and Northeastern European admixture relative to other South Asian groups; which is quite typical of Northwest Indian and Pakistani groups.

    The Lambadis are a nomadic tribe affiliated with the Banjaras of Northwest India found in south and west India. The Castes and Tribes of South India (1909) by Edgar Thurston and K. Rangachari has an interesting introductory account on them;

    The Lambadis are also called Lambani, Brinjari or Banjari, Boipari, Sugali or Sukali. By some Sugali is said to be a corruption of supari (betel nut), because they formerly traded largely therein.”The Banjaras,” Mr. G. A. Grierson writes, “are the well- known tribe of carriers who are found all over Western and Southern India. One of their principal sub-castes is known under the name of Labhani, and this name (or some related one) is often applied to the whole tribe. The two names appear each under many variations, such as Banjari, Vanjarl, Brinjari, Labhani, Labani, Labana, Lambadi, and Lambani. The name Banjara and its congeners is probably derived from the Sanskrit Vanijyakarakas, a merchant, through the Prakrit Vanij-jaarao, a trader. The derivation of Labhani or Labani, etc., is obscure. It has been suggested that it means salt carrier from the Sanskrit lavanah, salt, because the tribe carried salt, but this explanation goes against several phonetic rules, and does not account for the forms of the word like LabhanI or LambanI. Banjari falls into two main dialects — that of the Panjab and Gujarat, and that of elsewhere (of which we may take the Labhani of Berar as the standard). All these different dialects are ultimately to be referred to the language of Western Rajputana (Rajasthan). The Labhani of Berar possesses the characteristics of an old form of speech, which has been preserved unchanged for some centuries. It may be said to be based partly on Marwari and partly on Northern Gujarati. It is noted by Mr. Grierson that the Banjari dialect of Southern India is mixed with the surrounding Dravidian languages.

    Oddly enough, the Lambadi of Andhra Pradesh according to the same Kivisild et al. (2005) study exhibited y-DNA R1b at 27%, which is quite atypical for Indians in general.

    Citation.

    http://www.hhmi.org/news/modern-europeans-descended-three-groups-ancestors

    http://www.forumbiodiversity.com/showthread.php/25479-Brahmin-caste-R-M17-affinities-with-Europeans-or-lack-thereof-(split)-mod?s=58e5b2b489abad795b20a2acde8a7a64

    http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/05_01/Indo-European.shtml

    Related articles

  • Tamils Vedic Tribes Yadus Turvasas Rig Veda

    I had an interesting comment to one of my Posts.

    ‘If the Tamils have been mentioned in the Vedas, is The Tamil Sangam mentioned in the Vedas , Ramayana and Mahabharata?’

    The answer is that the Vedas or the Ithihasas do not mention the Tamil Sangam, though the Tamil Classical Poetry of the Tamil Sangams mention the Vedas, Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

    Krishna as a Toddler.jpgLord Krishna attended Tamil Poet summit.jpg
    Toddler Krishna.

    I shall provide the answer to the question at the end of the Post.

    To understand the Vedic references to other communities, one has to understand the Tribal Groups during the Rig Vedic period.

    What were they and where were they?

    ‘

    five major tribal groups mentioned in Rig Veda : Yadus, TurvaSas, Anus, Druhyus and Purus. Tthe TRkSis are not included because they are referred to as people beyond the Vedic Aryan realm.

    It is emphasised however that the Rig Veda hymns are composed under the patronage of Purus, who alone among the five named above are Aryas or Aryans, as is meant in the text. Only the PUrus are addressed as “Arya” in the Rig Veda. The other four may or may not have been of the same racial stock but, to the Rigvedic people and the composers of Rig Veda hymns, they are considered and termed as non-Aryans or “an-Arya”.

    ‘

    Rig Veda hymns include in mention and references : with Aryas – the Purus – on one part, and the other part comprising of Yadus, TurvaSas, Anus and Druhyus,

    But there are two distinct words by which the Rig Veda refers to these others :

    a. DAsas

    b. Dasyus

    It is necessary to understand the distinction between the two words.

    The word DAsa is found in 54 hymns (63 verses) :

    I.   32.11; 92.8; 103.3; 104.2; 158.5; 174.7;

    II.  11.2, 4; 12.4; 13.8; 20.6, 7;

    III.  12.6; 34.1;

    IV.  18.9; 28.4; 30.14, 15, 21; 32.10;

    V.  30.5, 7-9; 33.4; 34.6;

    VI.  20.6, 10; 22.10; 25.2; 26.5; 33.3;  47.21; 60.6;

    VII.  19.2; 83.1; 86.7; 99.4;

    VIII.  5.31; 24.27; 32.2; 40.6; 46.32; 51.9;  56.3, 70.10, 96.18;

    X.  22.8; 23.2; 38.3; 49.6, 7; 54.1; 62.10; 69.6;
    73.7; 83.1; 86.19; 99.6; 102.3; 120.2;  138.3; 148.2.

    The word Dasyu is found in 65 hymns (80 verses) :

    I   33.4, 7, 9; 36.18; 51.5, 6, 8; 53.4; 59.6;
    63.4; 78.4; 100.18; 101.5; 103.3, 4; 104.5;
    117.3, 21; 175.3.

    II 11.18, 19; 12.10; 13.9: 15.9; 20.8;
    III. 29.9; 34.6, 9; 49.2
    IV. 16.9, 10, 12; 28.3, 4; 38.1;
    V. 4.6; 7.10; 14.4; 29.10; 30.9; 31.5, 7; 70.3;
    VI. 14.3; 16.15; 18.3; 23.2; 24.8; 29.6; 31.4; 45.24;
    VII. 5.6; 6.3; 19.4;
    VIII. 6.14; 14.14; 39.8; 50.8; 70.11; 76.11; 77.3;  98.6;
    IX. 41.2; 47.2; 88.4; 92.5;
    X. 22.8; 47.4; 48.2; 49.3; 55.8; 73.5; 83.3, 6;
    95.7; 99.7, 8; 105.7, 11; 170.2.

    There are two distinct aspects that differentiates the DAsas and Dasyus :

    1. The term DAsa clearly refers to other tribes (ie. non-PUru tribes)

    while the term Dasyu refers to their priestly classes (ie. non-Vedic priestly classes).

    [This is apart from the fact that both the terms are freely used to refer to the atmospheric demons as much as to human enemies to whom they basically refer.]

    a.  According to IV. 28.4, the Dasyus are a section among the DAsas.

    b.  The Dasyus are referred to in terms which clearly show

    that the cause of hostility is religious in nature :

    ayajña (worshipless): VII.6.3.
    ayajvan (worshipless): I.33.4; VIII.70.11.
    avrata (riteless): I.51.8; 175.3; VI.14.3; IX.41.2.
    akarmA (riteless): X.22.8.
    adeva (godless): VIII.70.11.
    aSraddha (faithless): VII.6.3.
    amanyamAna (faithless): I.33.9; 11.22.10.
    anyavrata (followers of different rites): VIII.70.11; X.22.8.
    abrahma (prayerless): IV.16.9.

    Not one of these abusive terms are used even once in reference to Dasas.

    c.  The family-wise pattern of references to them also shows

    that the Dasyus are priestly rivals while the DAsas are secular rivals.

    The Dasyus are referred to by all the nine priestly families of RSis,

    but never by the non-priestly family of RSis (the Bharatas).

    The DAsas are referred to by the Bharatas (X.69.6; 102.3) also but not by the most purely ritualistic family of RSis, the KaSyapas, nor in the purely ritualistic of MaNDalas, the MaNDala IX.

    d.  The Dasyus, being priestly entities, do not figure as powerful persons or persons to be feared, but the DAsas, being secular entities (tribes, tribal warriors, kings, etc.) do figure as powerful persons or persons to be feared:

    In three references (VIII.5.31; 46.32; 51.9), the DAsas are rich patrons.

    In seven references, the DAsas are powerful enemies from whose fury and powerful weapons the composers ask the Gods for protection (I.104.2; VIII.24.27; X.22.8; 54.1; 69.6; 102.3) or from whom the Gods rescue the RSis (I.158.5).

    In three others, the word DAsa refers to powerful atmospheric demons who hold the celestial waters in their thrall (I.32.11; V.30.5; VIII.96.18).

    In contrast, Dasyus never figure as rich or powerful enemies. They are depicted as sly enemies who incite others into acts of boldness (VI.24.8).

    e. While both DAsas and Dasyus are referred to as enemies of the Aryas, it is only the DAsas, and never the Dasyus, who are sometimes bracketed together with the Aryas.

    Seven verses refer to both Aryas and DAsas as enemies (VI.22.10; 33.3; 60.6; VII.83.1; X.38.3; 69.6; 83.1; 102.3) and one verse refers to both Aryas and DAsas together in friendly terms (VIII.51.9).

    This is because both, the word DAsa and the word Arya, refer to broad secular or tribal entities, while the word Dasyu refers to priestly entities : thus, one would generally say “both Christians and Muslims”, or “both padres and mullahs”, but not “both Christians and mullahs” or “both Muslims and padres”.

    2. The second difference is in the degree of hostility towards the two.

    The Dasyus are clearly regarded with uncompromising hostility,

    while that towards the DAsas is relatively mild and tempered :

    a.  The word Dasyu has a purely hostile connotation even when it occurs in the name or title of heroes :

    Trasadasyu = “tormentor of the Dasyus”.
    DasyavevRka = “a wolf towards the Dasyus”.

    It is clear , then, that the Tamils who were living South od the Vindhyas are the people being referred to as Dasyus.

    This is confirmed by the information that Sage Viswamitra banished his sons to the Dasyu Region for disobeying him.

    Apasthamba, a descendant of these excommunicated sons of Viswamitra complied the Apasthamba Sutra which incorporated the Tamils’ customs like Mangalya Sutra for marriages.

    Lord Krishna married a Pandyan Princess and had a child through her;he had her married to a Pandyan prince.

    Please read my Post on this.

    Yadu families, after the Dwaraka deluge migrated to the South.

    The connection between the Yadus and the other Vedic tribes, though frowned upon, continued.

    The system of worship by the Dravidas, called by the Purus as Dasyus, was differnt.Tthey had Lord Shiva as the First Siddha and were more inclined towards the worship of Reality without Form.

    Reference to this may be found in Thirumoolar’s Thirumandiram, where Formless worship is emphasized and one may find reference to passages ridiculing the idolatry practices.

    Siva Vakkiyar, A Siddha observes thus.

    “NATTA KALLAI DEIVAMENDRU, NAALU PUTPAM SAATHIYE; SUTRI VANDHU MONEMONAVENDRU SOLLUM MANDHIRAM EADHADAA. NATTA KALLUM PESUMO?NATHAN ULLIRRUKAYIL; SUTTA SATTI SATTUVAM KARICHUVAYA ARIYUMO?’

    Why do you go around an Idol, chanting?

    Would the Idol speak when the God is within You”

    However Tamils, at a later period worshiped various Gods.

    They divided the lands into five, assigning Gods to each land.

    Kurinji-Mountainous Region- Murugan, Subrahmanya.

    Mullai-Forest areas, Maayon, Krishna,

    Martham,Coplands-Indra..

    Neydhal , Seashore, Varuna and

    Palai, Desert, Kotravai, Durga.

    And these Tamil Kings fought with the Vedic tribes of the North and have won many a battle.

    Ravana, belonging to Vedic people (though many people dispute this,he was a Vedic scholar) was defeated by a Pandya King and signed a peace treaty with him.

    Even Krishna and Arjuna fought with the southern tribes.

    No wonder the people of the North viewed the people of the South as Hostile, Dasyus and did not refer to the Tamil Sangam.

    I am continuing my research in this area as I am sure the there would be a reference to the Tamil Sangams.

    The present post is with the resources available to me now.

    * Please read my Post Rama’s Ancestor Manu a Dravida.

     

    Citation and Reference.

    https://vamadevananda.wordpress.com/tag/druhyus/

  • World’s First War Immigration 5000 BC Dasarajnya Harappa

    Unlike the other religious literature, Hinduism report events as they were, it does not whitewash history,be it the killing of Vaali by Lord Rama,the tactics adopted by Krishna in  Mahabharata battle,matricide even by sages.

    These texts portray people and society as it were, with real people with normal human foibles.

    They explain that there were people, when spirituality was in the ascendency, there were people, kings ,driven by greed went to war with each other.

    If Indian history and Puranas were to have been concocted all the characters could have been shown as pure as fresh snow.

    Not so.

    In the earliest literature of humanity,rig veda there is a reference to a Battle of Ten Kings, around 5000 BC-this could have been earlier.

    This was fought on the banks of river Ravi.

    This place is now known as Harappa, which, along with is one of the earliest sites which reveals the high levels of culture in the Vedic period.

    The Dasarajnya War.

    India north west kingdoms, rige vedic period.bmp.
    India North west kingdoms, rige vedic period.

    ‘

    The Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá) is a battle alluded to in the Rigveda (Book 7, hymns 18, 33 and 83.4-8), the ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns. It was a battle between tribal kingdoms of Vedic Aryans: an “internecine war”, as the 1911 Britannica puts it, as opposed to the more frequent accounts of Aryans fighting Dasyus. K. F. Geldner in his 1951 translation of the Rigveda considers the hymns as “obviously based on an historical event”, even though all details save for what is preserved in the hymns have been lost. Further details have been provided in an incisive discussion of this hymn by H.P. Schmidt.[2]

    Battle of the Ten Kings
    Date c. 14th century BCE[1]
    Location Near Parusni River (modern Ravi),Punjab
    Result Decisive Trtsu-Bharata victory
    Territorial
    changes    		 Rigvedic tribes conquered by Sudas

    • Bharatas settle in Kurukshetra
    • Emergence of Kuru Kingdom
    Belligerents
    Trtsu-Bharata (Indo-Aryans) Alinas
    Anu
    Bhrigus (Indo-Aryans)
    Bhalanas
    Dasa (Dahae?)
    Druhyus (Gandharis)
    Matsya (Indo-Aryans)
    Parsu (Persians?)
    Purus (Indo-Aryans)
    Panis (Parni?)
    Commanders and leaders
    King Sudas
    Vashishta    		 The Ten Kings
    Vishvamitra
    Strength
    Unknown but less More than 6,666
    Casualties and losses
    Unknown but less 6,666 (Mandala 7)

    The battle took place during the middle or main Rigvedic period,[3] near the Ravi River in Punjab. Some of the powerful Purutribes like the Bharatas, allied with other tribes of the north west India and guided by the royal sage Vishvamitra, were defeated by the Trtsu (Puru) king Sudas in battle, celebrated in a hymn by Sudas’ poet and priest Vasistha (RV 7.18). There are diffferent account as to when this battle actually took place due to different hypothesis from different scholars. Some date it back to near 3000-4000 BC whie other consider it to be dated around the 14th century BC…

    The Trtsu are the tribe led by king Sudas. Sudas himself is included in the “ten kings”, as the Trtsus are said to be surrounded by ten kings in 7.33.5. But it is not made explicit how this number is supposed to be broken down: if of the tribes mentioned in 7.18, the Turvasas, Yaksuss (pun for Yadu),[2] Matsyas, Bhrgus, Druhyus, Pakthas, Bhalanas, Alinas, Shivas and Visanins are counted, the full number is reached, leaving the Anavas (7.18.14), the Ajas and Sigrus (7.18.19) and the “21 men of both Vaikarna tribes” (7.18.11) without a king, and implying that Bheda (7.18.19, also mentioned 7.33.3 and 7.83.4, the main leader slain by Sudas), Shimyu (7.18.5), and Kavasa (7.18.12) are the names of individual kings. The Bharatas are named among the enemies in 7.33 but not in 7.18.

    • Alinas: One of the tribes defeated by Sudas at the Dasarajna,[4] and it was suggested that they lived to the north-east of Nuristan, because the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Hiouen Thsang.[5]
    • Anu: Some place them in the Paruṣṇī (Ravi) area.[6]
    • Bhrigus: Probably the priestly family descended from the ancient Kavi Bhrigu. Later, they are related to the composition of parts of the Atharva Veda (Bhṛgv-Āṅgirasa) .
    • Bhalanas: Fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in the Bolan Pass area. [7]
    • Druhyus: Some align them with the Gandhari (RV I 1.126.7).
    • Matsya are only mentioned in the RV (7.18.6), but later in connection with the Śālva.[8]
    • Parsu: The Parśu have been connected by some with the ancient Persians.[9]
    • Purus: one of the major tribal confederations in the Rigveda.
    • Panis: also the name of a class of demons; later associated with the Scythians.

    The battle itself took place on the banks of the Parusni (Ravi). The warriors of Sudas are described as white-robed (shvityanca), wearing hair-knots on the right side of their heads (daksinataskaparda), having flying banners (krtádhvaj) (RV 7.83.2), while the ten kings do not sacrifice (áyajyavaḥ). It appears (7.18.5) that Sudas managed to cross the Parusni safely, while his foes, trying to pursue, were scattered by a flood and either drowned or were slaughtered by Sudas’ men:

    7.18.9 As to their goal they sped to their destruction: they sought Parusni; e’en the swift returned not.
    Indra abandoned, to Sudas the manly, the swiftly flying foes, unmanly babblers.
    7.18.9 They went like kine unherded from the pasture, each clinging to a friend as chance directed.
    They who drive spotted steeds, sent down by Prsni, gave ear, the Warriors and the harnessed horses. (trans. Griffith)

    Kavaṣa and the Druhyu were “overwhelmed by Indra” while still in the water (7.18.10). The slain warriors of the Anu and Druhyus are numbered 6,666 (7.18.14).

    In the aftermath of the battle, the Bharatas under Sudas (7.33.6), received tribute from the Ajas, the Sigrus and the Yaksus (= Yadu, 7.18.20), and Indra destroyed the seven fortifications of the enemies, and gave the treasures of Anu to Sudas (7.18.13). 7.18.17 stresses that this was a victory against all odds, compared to a lamb defeating a lion.

    Citation.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ten_Kings

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