Mahabharat Times
Continuation of Jambudwipa Series
Compared to Ramayana, which is a simple story of adventure of a prince in
exile, Mahabharata is a story of generations of kings encompassing many
dynasties and regions with encyclopedic detail. To restrict it to a limited
geographical context is an extremely difficult exercise. Yet, attempts were
made, and the most popular one is its identification with the Painted Grey Ware
cultures of Upper Ganges Basin as the central stage of the epic.
Central to this geographical context is the capital city, of feuding
cousins in the principal story,
Hastināpura.
A site near Meerut was excavated by Prof. Lal in early fifties. Majority
scholars are of the opinion that it is the same as Hastinapur, the capital city
of Kurus in Mahabharata. Fortunately, it is one of the sites where proper
archeological method was followed and the sequence of occupation over long
period – from 1300 BCE to the 15th century CE – is established. See table.
Pre 800 BCE Vedic Period
800 – 600 BCE Brahmanic Period
600 – 400 BCE Upanishadic Period
Pargiter’s examination of Puranas had thrown up some very strong arguments
against this conventional chronology. But he belonged to late 19th
and early 20th Century, a fact that had forced him to fit the data –
he so painstakingly collated – into a chronology agreed by majority.
His
inferences have left more unanswered questions than settling the matter. Nevertheless
he had to agree – though reluctantly – to a date of 2200 BCE or earlier for the
beginning of Puranic tradition.
Therefore, it can only be counterproductive if we continue to delve on
conventional chronology given in our text books.
Aryan Invasion is a closed chapter in our historiography.
Our Ancient Indian Historical Sources – Puranas and Epics – have adequate
data to reconstruct India’s prehistory.
Our challenge is not to be carried away to make religious brownies but to
anchor the tradition in verifiable archaeological fact.
A date is given…
Mahapadma abhisekatstu
yavaj janma Pariksitah
evam varşa-sahasram tu
jneyam pancadasuttaram
1050 years have passed
between birth of Parikshit
and
coronation of Mahapadma
Puranas also say that Nandas ruled for 90 years and were replaced by
Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta, known in Greek sources as Sandrocottus, came
to power in 321 BCE. Therefore, Parikshit
was born in 321 + 90 + 1050 = 1461 BCE. As per the epic and puranic tradition,
Parikshit is posthumous son of Abhimanyu, who died in the Great War. That takes
the main story of Mahabharata to circa 1500 BCE.
Now let us look at the genealogical table of Bharata lineage. The table
shows the list of kings between the close of Treta Yuga, marked by the story of
Ramayana, to the end of Dwapara Yuga, marked by the Mahabharata. The capital,
Hastinapura was built by Hasti, an ancestor of the heroes of the epic who
reigned 20 generations before the war. Taking an average of 18 years per
generation, considering factors related to a declining civilization, we may
conclude that the capital was founded around 1850 BCE. See table.
If you look at the archaeological sequence of Hastinapura excavated by Prof.
Lal, there is a thin layer of Pre 1200 BCE before one reaches the natural soil.
This earliest level consisted of sporadic occupations with the presence of
Ochre Colored Pottery. OCP is seen as a degenerate continuation of Late
Harappan style by many. Even if it is an independent style, archaeological
continuity at many sites is noted. Whereas, Painted Grey Ware always occurred
after a short gap in occupation or presence of Black and Red pottery in between.
Therefore, the site Hastinapura excavated by Prof. Lal cannot be the city in Mahabharata. It is
probably a settlement that came into existence a few centuries after the
original city was destroyed by floods. This original capital must have been
somewhere to the west-northwest of the doab. There are more than 563 candidates
that show Late-Harappan occupation between Sutlej and Yamuna in the time
bracket 1900-1400 BCE. The easternmost site being Alamgirpur – 30 miles to the
west of Ganges – the capital cannot be further east.
This brings us to the
possibility that the city belonged to a period when Yamuna was still flowing
westward into Drishadvati valley, course of erstwhile Saraswati or commonly
called Ganga as a remembrance of its past glory. So the city of Hastinapura,
was in the environs of the region currently known as Kurukshetra – the Land of
Kurus – where the battle had taken place.
Let us look at the simple logic.
The
present identification of Hastinapur falls between the Panchala capital,
Ahicchatra and the battlefield Kurukshetra. So it is reasonable to assume that
the capital of Kurus was on the Drishadvati valley when a large volume of
Yamuna headwaters still flowed into it.
You may ask, “Why the Drishadvati Valley?”
Archaeologically speaking, the largest concentration of Late-Harappan
sites – 563 by the latest count – is between Sutlej and Yamuna with Drishadvati
at its center.
Secondly, Viswamitra, the progenitor of Bharata race, The Bull of Bharatas
(Bharata-Rishabha) has his wife Drishadvati, indicating a connection. I have
indicated in my earlier post (Geography of Ramayana) a possible connection between Kekeya region
and the rise of Bharatas.
Thirdly and most importantly, the legend of Balarama associated with the
destruction of Hastinapura.
BALARAMA ... BLACK & RED WARE ... IRON
RICE CULTIVATION ... END OF
HARAPPAN ERA
Mahabharata and most of the principal puranas relate this story.
Balarama, angered by the abduction of his son, Samba, threatens to destroy
the Elephant City. He wields his plough and makes a furrow drawing the waters
of Yamuna away from the city. This indicates a riparian migration of the
headwaters of Yamuna away from Drishadvati valley to its current channel. This
had happened towards the end of Late-Harappan phase, hastening its end.
We know that this archaeological phase was followed immediately by the BRW
phase from circa 1400 BCE. Black and Red pottery is associated with the sites
of Gujarat and Malva before its spread to the Gangetic basin. The culture has
strong association with rice as its staple. BRW phase heralded the widest
spread of agrarian cultures to the east and south of the subcontinent. Rice
cultivation involves transplantation of seedlings and Balarama’s another name
is Sankarshana – meaning ‘Transplant’
or ‘Transplanter’.
All these indicate a disruption in the Bharata line after the Mahabharata.
Attempts later at connecting the ruling lineage of Kāmpilya with the
protagonists of Mahabharata legend had taken place during the reign of Adhisima
Krishna, who claimed his descent from its heroes. See table.
His name – Adhisima-Krishna – suggests a final reconciliation of Yadava
and Bharata lines and the incorporation of Yadava heroes into the epic.
Puranas make Adhisimakrishna a contemporary of Senajit of Magadha and
Divakara of Ayodhya in the east, bringing the middle Gangetic basin into
civilization orbit coinciding with the establishment of early BRW and PGW centers
there leading up to the Second Urbanization.
So what was the original Hastinapura, the celebrated Elephant City?
Is it Banawali or Rakhigarhi? Both are large enough to qualify.
Since
Rakhigarhi probably falls on late Yamuna-Drishadvati course,
I shall cast my
vote on Rakhigarhi … until further evidence.
So rich and informative an article.
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