Political History Of Ancient India

SR No.: 032292
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta
Publication Year: 1950
Total Pages: 714
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 17 MB

Page 54

AIL A-KURU MIGRATION
25
Purū-ravas Aila,' Āyu, Yayāti Nahushya, Pūru,“ Bharata Dauḥshanti Saudyumni, Ajamidha, Ķiksha," Sanivaraņa, Kuru,9 Uchchaiḥýravas, 10 Pratīpa Prātisatvana or Prātisutvana,!1 Balhika Prātipiya, Samtanu,13 and Dhritarāshtra Vaichitravīrya.14
The occurrence of these names in the Vedic texts probably proves their historicity,15 but it is difficult to say how far the epic account of their relationship with one another or with Parikshit, and the traditional order of succession, are reliable. Some of the kings may not have been connected with the Kurus at all. Others, e.g., Uchchaihśravas Kaupayeya, Balhika Prātipiya and Samtanu, were undoubtedly of the same race (Kauravya) as Parikshit.16
Purū-ravas Aila, the first king in the above list, is represented in. epic tales as the son of a ruler who migrated from Bāhli in Central Asia to Mid-India.17 It may be
1 Rig Veda, X. 95; Sat. Br.,
5 Sat. Br.. XIII. 5. 4. 11-12; Ait. Br. XI. 5. 1. 1.
viii, 23. 2 Rig Veda I. 53. 10 ; 11. 14.
6 R. V., IV. 44. 6. 7, etc.
7 R. V. VIII. 68. 15. 3 R. V., 1. 31. 17; X. 63. 1.
.8 R. V., VIII. 51. 1. (Vedic Index, 4 R. V., VII. 8. 4 ; 18. 13.
II. 442). 9 Frequently mentioned in the Brāhmaṇa literature, cf. Kuru-śravaņa, RigVeda, X. 33.4. See, however, foot note 15 below.
10 Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmana, III. 29. 1-3. 11 Atharva-Veda, XX. 129. 2. 12 Sat. Br., XII. 9. 3. 3. 13 R. V., X. 98. 14 Kathaka Samhitā, X. 6.
15 It should, however, be noted that no individual king named Kuru is mentioned in Vedic literature. Kuru is the name of a people in the Vedic texts.
16 Jaiminiya Up. Br. III. 29.1 ; Sat. Br., XII.9. 3; Nirukta, ed. by Kshemaāja Srikrishņa Dāsa Śresthi, p. 130; Brihaddevatā, VII, 155-156 ; Studies in Indian Antiquities, pp. 7-8. .
17 Rām., VII. 103, 21-22. This Bāhli lay outside the Madhyadeśa and is associated with Kārddama kings. The reference is doubtless to Balkh or Bactria in the Oxus Valley. For a discussion about its identity see IHQ, 1933, 37-39. The Matsya Purāna, 12. 14 ff, distinctly mentions llavrita-Varsha (in Central Asia) as the realm of the parent of Purū-ravas. Mbh. (I11. 90.22-25) however seems to locate the birth place of Purū-ravas on a hill near the source of the Ganges.
O.P. 90–4