Royal Asiatic Society 1910
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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY 1910 ANCIENT INDIAN GENEALOGIES AND CHRONOLOGY BY F. E. PARGITER, M.A. subject that I venture to discuss in this paper is one that may seem surprising and even fantastic, and yet, if any orderliness can be introduced into the earliest Indian ages, it can only be attained by examining and co-ordinating all the genealogical and quasi-historical data which have been handed down in Sanskrit books. The subject has been before my mind for many years, and it has been only after long consideration of all the relevant information, which I have been able to collect out of all those books, especially the Epics and Puranas, that it has seemed to me some measure of order may be educed out of the chaos of material. That information is con- densed in the following pages, and no statement is made without citing the authorities that support it. I may say that the conclusions set out here were not reached from any preconceived ideas, except this one (if it merits that description), that the ancient ksatriya literature deserves to be examined from a common-sense point of view on the supposition that it may contain genuine tradition, however much distorted in the course of time. It was only after investigating the subject piecemeal, following each detail JRAS. 1910. 1 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. INSEAD, on 27 Aug 2018 at 09:22:30, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00081648 2 ANCIENT INDIAN GENEALOGIES AND CHRONOLOGY into other details to which it led and continually re- arranging them as their number and mutual relations developed, that something definite seemed at first to emerge out of the chaos, and then gradually the subject seemed to shape itself into some degree of order. Even if my views should not commend themselves to others, yet the material collected here and the method of treatment may, I hope, be of some service to others in elucidating the subject. Hitherto ancient India has appeared rather like a view in a photograph, with the various distant objects shown, it is true, yet somewhat flattened in perspective ; and it has been my endeavour in this paper to apply the stereoscopic process to it, so as to make the vista of the past stand out in something like its true distances. It is a commonplace that early history concerns itself almost entirely with celebrated men and their personal deeds. Nothing more than that can then be expected in the accounts that have come down to us about ancient India, and on the whole that is all that is offered in Sanskrit books, if we consider the matter that is primarily genealogical or quasi-historical and the stories introduced therein to explain or illustrate it. In ancient India there were two classes of celebrated men, kings and rishis (this word may fairly be Anglicized), and early Indian chronicles deal almost wholly with them. A remarkable distinction must, however, be noted between the genealogical accounts of kings and rishis. A king's life was conditioned by his family, his capital, and his territories. The rishi's life had no such bounds ; his youth was spent in the hermitage of some spiritual preceptor whose teaching he desired, and after he had finished his studies his life was passed wherever he chose to fix his hermitage, or in any capital where a king welcomed his ministrations, or in any spot where he could best carry out austerities (tapas). The kings belonged to dynasties, and were proud of and cherished the memory and fame of Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. INSEAD, on 27 Aug 2018 at 09:22:30, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00081648 ANCIENT INDIAN GENEALOGIES AND CHRONOLOGY 3 their ancestors. The rishis developed no similar priestly succession; they cared little about preserving particulars of their lineage, though a patronymic or gotra name attested descent in most families. Kings hoped to transmit their realm and lineage, enhanced by their own fame, to an enduring posterity. The rishis sought eminence in sacred erudition and the power of austerities, and their successors were their spiritual rather than their natural sons. With kings the dynasty was the great idea, each king being a link in its perpetuation and exaltation. With the rishis sacred lore was the great idea, each rishi being a link in its transmission and glorification. Individual ambition existed among both classes, but the main result ultimately was this—among ksatriyas the royal dynasty formed the enduring memory, and among brahmans religious doctrine and priestly power constituted the permanent achievement. It is clear, then, that genealogical accounts and stories of royal exploits were the essential features of the ksatriya record, while genealogies were but a collateral detail with the ancient brahmans. Royal genealogies have been handed down in many compositions ; x brahmanical genealogies can hardly be said to exist. The former constituted one of the main subjects which every Purana was expected to set out; the latter are nowhere mentioned as a matter that required particular attention. Marriage alliances were subjects of great moment with kings; the stories told about rishis indicate that their lineage was by no means unblemished. The three great ksatriya lines, 1 The references to the various works cited are taken from the following editions:—Mahdbharata and Harivarhsa, Calc., 1835; Rdmd- yana, Bomb. ; Kurma, Mdrkandeya, and Vdyu Puranas, Biblioth. Indica ; Agni, Garuda, Linga, and Matsya Puranas, Jivananda Vidyasagara's Calc. editions of 1882, 1890, 1885, and 1876 respectively ; Bhdgavata Purana, Bomb. ; Brahma and Pad-ma Puranas, Anandasrama Bomb. Series; Visnu Purana, Wilson's Translation. The chapter is quoted as well as the verse in the MBh. and Hariv., because the numbering of the verses is not always correct. It is indicated throughout by italic figures. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. INSEAD, on 27 Aug 2018 at 09:22:30, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00081648 4 ANCIENT INDIAN GENEALOGIES AND CHRONOLOGY the Solar and Lunar and Yadava dynasties, profess to exhibit more than fifty well-remembered generations ; among rishi families it is rare to find a list of five continuous descents. The longest that I am aware of is this—Vasistha, Saktri, Paraiara, Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa, Suka Araneya and his sons1-—yet even in this line Vasistha is probably only a gotra name. The most copious list of brahman families of common origin is that of the sons and descendants of Visvamitra,2 and the longest line of brahmanical descent is that attributed to Vltahavya the Haihaya;3 and both of them were ksatriyas by birth who became brahmans.4 This marked difference can only be explained on the ground that royal lineages were not the concern of rishis, but of court bards and court priests. This ksatriya literature grew up in virtual independence of brahmanical literature, and only when it had developed into an imposing mass and had attained great popular appreciation was it taken over by the brahmans as a not unworthy branch of knowledge. It wTas then that it was arranged and augmented with stories and discourses fashioned after brahmanical ideas. The desire of handing down their genealogies and royal exploits existed thus among kings, and they had the 1 MBh. i, 177, 6757-60 ; 178, 6792-4 ; GO, 2208-9 ; xii, 351, 13642-3 ; 231, 8483-5 ; 326, 12195-7. Kurma, i, 19, 20-7. Hariv. 18, 977-81. 2 MBh. xii, 49, 1771-2; xiii, 4, 248-60. Bhdgav. ix, 16, 28-37. Brahma, 10, 55-66. Vayu, ii, 39, 93-9. Hariv. 27, 1460-74; 32, 1767-76. 3 MBh. xiii, 30, 1997-2005. 4 Vltahavya gained brahmanhood {MBh. xiii, 30, 1983-97, 2005-6) because a Bhargava rishi falsely asserted by implication that he was a brahman, and the assertion had to stand good. Visvamitra's difficulty lay in the fact that he was of pure ksatriya lineage. Not a few royal ksatriyas had no difficulty in becoming brahmans, because there had been brahman paternity in their near ancestry ; thus among King Vitatha's descendants (see p. 45) were Kanva, Maudgalya, and other brahmans. Brahman paternity was sufficient in those days. See p. 37 and p. 45, n. 3. The mother might be of the lowest class, as was Vyasa's mother, or was unnecessary according to various stories. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. INSEAD, on 27 Aug 2018 at 09:22:30, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0035869X00081648 ANCIENT INDIAN GENEALOGIES AND CHRONOLOGY 5 means of doing so in bards and court priests. There was also a strong popular interest in the traditions and ballads relating to famous kings, and a class of men existed who learnt the old stories and genealogies, for nothing less than this can be implied by the many terms used to describe them, such as purd-vid, purdna-jna, pauranika, vamsa-vid, vamAa-purdna-jna ; and they were both brahmans and others, for the words dvija, vipra, and jana are often added to the description. Such men or perhaps popular traditions are referred to in other expressions, such as ity anumsrumah, iti srutam, udd- haranti, etc. These old genealogies, therefore, with their incidental stories are not to be looked upon as legends or fables devoid of basis or substance, but contain genuine historical tradition, and may well be considered and dealt with from a common-sense point of view.