PERSICA XVI, 2000 49 THE SIXTEEN LANDS OF VIDEVDAT 1 AIRYÂN¢M VAÊJAH AND THE HOMELAND OF THE IRANIANS Willem Vogelsang Research School CNWS Universiteit Leiden 1. Introduction The Vidêvdât (Av. vi.daêva.dâta, ‘Law against the Daevas’),1 formerly commonly known as the Vendidâd, forms part of the so-called Younger Avesta.2 It deals mainly with purification and atonement. The language of the text is marked by various ‘mistakes’ in inflexion, in contrast to other, apparently much older parts of the Avesta, as for instance the ‘Old Avestan’ Gâthâs. A relatively late date for its final composition has therefore commonly been accepted; a date as late as the post-Achaemenid period was suggested by I. Gershevitch.3 The first chapter (fargerd) of the Vidêvdât contains a list of sixteen lands which, according to the text, were created by Ahura Mazdâ. The list starts with the land of Airyân¢m Vaêjah, ‘the expanse of the Aryans’,4 and ends with a reference to the land along the Ra∞hâ, a mythical river the name of which is also found in ancient Indian sources (compare Skt. Rasâ). At the end of the list the text informs us that there were many other beautiful countries. In keeping with Zoroastrian mythology, all of the sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazdâ were plagued, according to the text, by a particular counter-creation of A∞gra Mainyu, the evil entity in Zoroastrianism and Ahura Mazdâ’s opponent. These curses are mentioned in the text, but since some of the relevant words occur only once in the Avesta and their etymology still poses many problems, their meaning often remains unclear.5 1 For the name itself, see Benveniste 1970. 2 For a short introduction to Avestan literature, see Gershevitch 1968: 10-28, with pp. 26-29 particu- larly concerned with the Vidêvdât. 3 Gershevitch 1968. Henning (1942) has suggested that one of the measuring systems that are referred to in the Vidêvdât, is of Graeco-Roman origin. 4 For another etymology and meaning of the word (‘Stromschnelle’), see Oettinger, unpublished ms., p. 372. 5 For a discussion of these words, see Christensen 1943: 61ff. 50 WILLEM VOGELSANG The contents and arrangement of Vidêvdât 1 have long been a topic of discussion.6 The sequence of the names was interpreted by H.S. Nyberg7 and D. Monchi-Zadeh8 as being arranged in the form of a boustrophedon, whereby the majority of the lands are located in Eastern Irân, while some should be situated in Western Irân. H. Humbach9 interpreted the list as a series of semi-circulars, reaching from Eastern to Western Irân, with the centre in the mountains between Parthia and Areia, called the Masdoranon Oros by Ptolemy (VI 5.1). According to Humbach, the name of this mountain range reflects the name of Ahura Mazdâ. Another interpretation of the Vidêvdât list was brought forward by Gh. Gnoli.10 He holds the opinion that all the lands belong to the Eastern Iranian world, and that the first name of the list, Airyân¢m Vaêjah, should be regarded as the cen- tre of Zoroastrian worship, and be located in or near Seistân (along the Afghânistân-Irân border). While many of the names in the list can be compared with names that occur in other sources (e.g. the Achaemenid inscriptions and classical sources), others remain to be con- vincingly identified. An additional problem is the question whether all of the lands that are mentioned in the list refer to an actual geographical location, or whether in at least some cases we are dealing with mythical names that bear no direct relationship to a spe- cific area. Such a point has often been brought forward as regards the first and the last names in the list: Airyân¢m Vaêjah (No. 1) and Upa-Aodaêshu-Ra∞hayâ (No. 16). Another, but related problem is the question whether the list was originally composed as it is now, or whether it incorporates one or more smaller sections that were combined or added upon, for instance with the first name of the present list. That the full text of Vidêvdât 1 was re-edited subsequent to its first composition seems indicated by the apparent interpolations in the passages dealing with Airyân¢m Vaêjah (Vid. 1,3) and Var¢na (Vid. 1,14). Whether the sequence of geographical names contained in the text was also seriously altered remains a moot point. Leaving aside the problem of the history of the text prior to its final composition, I start this paper from the assumption that at the time it was composed as it stands today, it was regarded as a coherent, and realistic survey of some of the lands of Ahura Mazdâ worship.11 In other words, the present list must, at some time, have made sense to its ‘consumers’, the people using the list. This means that all the lands included in the list had, at least to the composer and his audience, a specific geographical location, however vaguely defined. The possibility that some of the lands also had a mythical significance still remains.12 6 A. Christensen (1943); Gh. Gnoli (1967; 1975; 1977; 1980); E. Herzfeld (1947: 738-770); H. Humbach (1960); M. Molé (1951); D. Monchi-Zadeh (1975: 115ff.), and H.S. Nyberg (1938: 314ff.). For further references, see Gnoli, ‘Avestan Geography’, in the Encyclopaedia Iranica. 7 H.S. Nyberg 1938. 8 D. Monchi-Zadeh 1975. 9 H. Humbach 1960: 36ff. 10 Gh. Gnoli 1980. 11 In doing so I follow Gnoli’s argument (1980) against a predominant mythological explanation of Avestan geography; this does not mean however that I concur with his identifications. 12 As in the case of Atlantis, most Europeans are still likely to locate that mythic land somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, far in the west, although no one would actually set out to go there. THE SIXTEEN LANDS OF VIDÊVDÂT 1 51 It is the purpose of the present article to shed some light on the location, or (at the time of final composition) imagined location of some of the names in the list, including Airyân¢m Vaêjah (No. 1) and Xn¢nta (No. 9), and subsequently to try to place the list in an historical context and elaborate upon the significance of the list in a wider perspective. 2. The list Below follows the list of names in the sequence in which the various districts are named (Vid. I,2-19): 1. Airyân¢m Vaêjah 9. Xn¢nta, land of the Vehrkânas 2. Sugdian Gava 10. Haraxvaitî 3. Mouru 11. Haêtumant 4. Bâxdî 12. Ragâ 5. Nisâya 13. Caxra 6. Harôiva 14. Var¢na 7. Vaêk¢r¢ta 15. Hapta.h¢ndu 8. Urvâ 16. Upa-Aodaêshu-Ra∞hayâ A number of the above mentioned lands can relatively easily be identified. Gava (No. 2) is referred to in the text as the land of the Sugdas. This means that it can be located in or near ancient and medieval Sogdia.13 The heartland of Sogdia has traditionally been the district around modern Samarkand, the Marakanda of the classical authors.14 This was almost certainly the case during the Achaemenid period, for it was at Marakanda (mod- ern Samarkand) that Alexander found the Sogdian basileia (Arrian, Anab. Alex. III.30.6).15 Yet, the particular name of Gava may be compared to that of Gabae.16 This place is mentioned by Arrian (Anab. Alex. IV 17.4) in his biography of Alexander the Great as the rallying point of Spitamenes and his troops for invading Sogdia in 328 B.C. The “Sogdian stronghold” of Gava was located close to the land of the Massagetae. Con- sequently its most likely location was somewhere in the west of ancient Sogdia, close to the Kara Kum desert where the Massagetae used to live.17 If Gava and Gabae refer to an identical place, then the present text appears to refer to a situation whereby the centre of Sogdia was regarded to lie, not at Samarkand, but further to the west, perhaps at or near Bukhârâ. The hypothesis that Gava/Gabae and Sogdia may originally have been different districts seems supported by a passage in the Avestan Mihr Yasht (X 14), which gives the sequence “Gava, Sogdia and Choresmia”.18 The name of Mouru (No. 3) is comparable to that of ancient Margiana, the land in the delta of the modern Murghâb river. Its early rise as an agricultural centre and a cross- roads of caravan tracks is amply demonstrated in written records and archaeological remains.19 13 See Bailey 1932. For further remarks, see Gnoli 1980: 121ff. 14 Compare Vogelsang 1992: 72-74 for a brief historical geography of Sogdia. 15 Curtius (VII 6.10) tells that the Sogdian capital was surrounded by a wall of seventy stadia (some 13 kilometres) length; the ruins of modern Afrâsiyâb, the ancient site of Marakanda, cover an area of c. 220 ha (cf. Pugachenkova and Rtveladze, Enc. Ir., s.v. ‘Afrâsiâb’). 16 Compare Humbach 1961: 69. Curtius (VIII 4,1) however, reads Gazaba. See also Humbach 1961: 69. 17 Von Schwarz 1906; Vogelsang 1992: 232. 18 This translation differs from that given by Gershevitch (1959: 80-81). 19 Sarianidi 1998; Vogelsang 1992: 56-58. 52 WILLEM VOGELSANG The name of Baxdi (No. 4) (in the text described as ¢r¢dwô.drafsha, ‘[with] uplifted banner’20) may be identified with the district of ancient Bactra, around modern Balkh in North Afghânistân. The name of Bactra/Bâxdî originally referred to the river (modern Balkhâb) that flows down the Hindu Kush mountains northwards towards the Amu Daryâ.