List of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes

This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indic religions.

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From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent – Indus Valley (roughly today's Punjab), Western India, Northern India, Central India, and also in areas of the southern part like Sri Lanka and the Maldives through and after a complex process of migration, assimilation of other peoples and language shift.[1][2][3]

Ancestors
Map 1: Indo-European migrations as described in The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony
Map 2: Sintashta-Petrovka culture (red), its expansion into the Andronovo culture (orange) during the 2nd millennium BC, showing the overlap with the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (chartreuse green) in the south and also with the Afanasievo culture in the east. The location of the earliest chariots is shown in magenta. Several scholars associate Proto-Indo-Iranians with Sintashta-Petrovka culture.[2] These scholars also may associate some mentions in the Avesta (sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism), like the Airyanəm Vaēǰō – "Aryans' Expanse", as distant memories that were retained by oral tradition of this old land of origin.[4] There are also mentions of Āryāvarta – "Aryans Abode" (in sacred Hindu scriptures such as Dharmashastras and Sutras), the Hindu counterpart of Airyanəm Vaēǰō, although it refers to Northern India and they are later.
Map 3: The extent of the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), according to the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. The BMAC culture and peoples influenced migrating Indo-Iranians that came from the north.
Map 4: The approximate extent of the Vedic period Āryāvarta is highlighted in pale yellow
Map 5: This detailed map shows the locations of kingdoms and republics mentioned in the Indian epics or Bharata Khanda.

Vedic tribes
  • Alina people (RV 7.18.7)
  • Anu (RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5)
  • Āyu
  • Bhajeratha
  • Bhalanas
  • Bharatas- The Bharatas are a major Aryan clan, especially in Mandala 3 attributed to the Bharata sage Vishvamitra. The entire Bharata clan is described as crossing over, with their chariots and wagons, at the confluence of the Vipash (Beas River) and Shutudri (Satlej). The Bharatas are mentioned as the protagonists in the Battle of the Ten Kings in Mandala 7 (7.18 etc.), where they are on the winning side. They appear to have been successful in the early power-struggles between the various Aryan and non-Aryan clans so that they continue to dominate in post-Rigvedic texts, and later in the (Epic) tradition. "Bhārata" today is the official name of the Republic of India (see also Etymology of India).
  • Chedi
  • Dasa
  • Dasyu
  • Dṛbhīka
  • Druhyus (Rigveda, RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5)
  • Gandhara
  • Guṅgu
  • Ikshvaku dynasty
  • Krivi
  • Kīkaṭa
  • Kuru
  • Mahīna
  • Malankhara
  • Maujavant
  • Matsya
  • Nahuṣa
  • Paktha
  • Panis
  • Pārāvata
  • Parsu (Parśu)
  • Puru (Pūru)
  • Ruśama (RV Mandala 8)
  • Sārasvata
  • Srñjaya
  • Tritsu(RV 7.18, 7.33, 7.83)
  • Yadu: Of Indo-Aryan origin,Yadu is one of the five early Rigvedic tribes (panchajana, panchakrishtya or panchamanusha) mentioned in the Rigveda.[5][6][7] The Yadus had a tribal union with the Turvasha tribe, and were frequently described together.[8][9] The Yadus were a Aryan tribe.[7] By the time of the arrival of the Puru and Bharata tribes, the Yadu-Turvashas were settled in Punjab, with the Yadus possibly residing along the Yamuna River.[10]
    In Mandalas 4 and 5 of the Rigveda, the god Indra is stated to have saved the Yadu-Turvashas from drowning when they crossed rivers.[11][12] In Mandala 6, the Yadu-Turvashas are stated to have been "brought from far away" by Indra.[13][14] The Yadu-Turvashas are treated relatively positively in Mandalas 5, 6, and 8,[15] and are stated to be the occasional allies and enemies of the Puru-Bharatas.[11] In the Battle of the Ten Kings, the Yadus were defeated by Bharata chieftain Sudas.[16]

Pancha Jana (Five tribes)

(पञ्च जना – Páñca Jánāḥ / Pancha-janah) The pancha Jana are five tribes inexplicitly listed together during the (Āryāvarta of this time, c. 1700–1500 BCE, roughly corresponds with the Punjab and closer regions) (see the map of Early Vedic Period)

  • Anu (in the southwest part of early Āryāvarta)
  • Druhyu (in the north part of early Āryāvarta)
  • Puru (ancestors of the Paurava) (in the centre and east parts of early Āryāvarta, including Sarasvati river region)
  • Turvaśa (Turvasha) (in the centre and south parts of early Āryāvarta): The Turvashas (Sanskrit: तुर्वश, Turvaśa) were one of the five major peoples[17] (panchajana, panchakrishtya or panchamanusha) mentioned in the Rigveda. [18] The Turvashas had a tribal union with the Yadu tribe, and were frequently described together.[19][20] The Turvashas were a partly Indo-Aryan-acculturated Indus tribe.[21] By the time of the arrival of the Puru and Bharata tribes, the Yadu-Turvashas were settled in Punjab.[22] By the time of the Shatapatha Brahmana (7th-6th centuries BCE),[23][24] the Turvashas are linked to the Panchalas. [22]
    Alfred Ludvig first conjectured that Turvīti and Vayya could have been connected with the Turvasha tribe, a notion that is still considered only speculation according to Witzel.[25][26] In Mandalas 4 and 5 of the Rigveda, the god Indra is stated to have saved the Yadu-Turvashas from drowning when they crossed rivers.[11][12] In Mandala 6, the Yadu-Turvashas are stated to have been "brought from far away" by Indra.[13][14] The Yadu-Turvashas are treated relatively positively in Mandalas 5, 6, and 8,[15] and are stated to be the occasional allies and enemies of the Puru-Bharatas.[11]
  • Yadu (in the southeast and south parts of early Āryāvarta)

Janapadas

Early Janapadas (peoples / tribes) (c. 1700–1100 BCE)
Map 6: Early Vedic Culture (1700–1100 BCE) and location of early Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes

After roughly 1700 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes were swiftly expanding through ancient northern India, therefore the number of peoples, tribes and clans was increasing (as well as the number of Indo-Aryan language speakers) and Āryāvarta was becoming a very large area (see the map on the right side).

  • Aja – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Ambaśṭha – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Aṅga – Prachya Āryāvarta – Eastern Āryāvarta (Madhya-desha and Prachya Āryāvarta – Central and Eastern Āryāvarta in Vamana).
  • Anu – is a Vedic Sanskrit term for one of the 5 major tribes in the Rigveda, RV 1.108.8, RV 8.10.5 (both times listed together with the Druhyu) and, much later also in the Mahabharata.[27] In the late Vedic period, one of the Anu kings, King Anga, is mentioned as a "chakravartin" (AB 8.22). Ānava, the vrddhi derivation of Anu, is the name of a ruler in the Rigvedic account of the Battle of the Ten Kings (7.18.13) and at 8.4.1 with the Turvaśa (tribe). The meaning ánu "living, human" (Naighantu) cannot be substantiated for the Rigveda [28] and may have been derived from the tribal name. (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Āyu[29] –
  • Bhajeratha[30]
  • Bhalana – The Bhalanas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Some scholars have argued that the Bhalanas lived in South Central and Western Pakistan, and that the Bolan Pass, around which live the Brahui people, are the Bhalana people and abode.[27][31] (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Bharadvāja – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Bhrigus[32]
  • Bheda – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Bodha – (Madhya-desha Āryāvarta – Central Āryāvarta)
  • Druhyu – The Druhyu were a people of Vedic India. They are mentioned in the Rigveda,[33] usually together with the Anu tribe.[34] Some early scholars have placed them in the northwestern region.[31]: I 395  The later texts, the Epic and the Puranas, locate them in the "north", that is, in Gandhara, Aratta and Setu. (Vishnu Purana IV.17) The Druhyus were driven out of the land of the seven rivers, and their next king, Gandhara, settled in a north-western region which became known as Gandhāra. The sons of the later Druhyu king Pracetas too settle in the "northern" (udīcya) region (Bhagavata 9.23.15–16; Visnu 4.17.5; Vayu 99.11–12; Brahmanda 3.74.11–12 and Matsya 48.9.). Recently, some writers[35] have confirmed that the Druhyu are the ancestors of the European peoples, or of the Celtic Druid class.[36] The word Druid (Gallic Celtic druides), however, is derived from Proto-Indo-European vid "to see, to know' [37] It has also been alleged that the Rg Veda and the Puranas describe this tribe as migrating North,.[35][36] However, there is nothing of this in the Rigveda and the Puranas merely mention that the Druhyu are "adjacent (āśrita) to the North". (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  • Gandharis[38] (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)
  1. Guṅgu[39]
  2. Iksvaku[40] (Pratichya Āryāvarta – Western Āryāvarta)

Late Janapadas (peoples / tribes) (c. 1100–500 BCE)
Map 7: Late Vedic era map showing the boundaries of Āryāvarta with Janapadas in northern India. Beginning of Iron Age kingdoms in India— Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha.

From roughly 1100 to 500 BCE Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes expanded even further throughout ancient northern India (see the map 6).

According to political scientist Sudama Misra, the Kalinga janapada originally comprised the area covered by the Puri and Ganjam districts.reference-Sudama Misra (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana. p. 78.

Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE)
Map 8: Mahajanapadas roughly in 500 BCE.

महाजनपद – Mahajanapada Shodasa Mahajanapadas (Sixteen Mahajanapadas) The Mahajanapadas were sixteen great kingdoms and republics that emerged after the more powerful political entities (initially based on the territories of peoples and tribes) had conquered many others. According to the Anguttara Nikaya, Digha Nikaya, Chulla-Niddesa (Buddhist Canon)

According to the Vyākhyāprajñapti / Bhagavati Sutra (Jain text)

Mentions by Ancient Greek authors (Classical Age)
Map 9: Ancient regions of Iranian Plateau and part of South Central Asia showing ancient Iranian peoples and tribes; this map also shows ancient peoples of the Indus Valley in Northwest Ancient India.

Northwest Ancient India – Indus River Basin

Other regions of Ancient India (India Intra Gangem)

Possible Indo-Aryan or other peoples / tribes / clans
  • Alina (RV 7.18.7) (RV = Rigveda) – They were one of the tribes defeated by Sudas of the Bharatas at the Dasarajna (Ten Kings Battle).[31]: I 39  It is suggested that they lived to the north-east of the Kambojas (possible ancestors of the Nuristani that live in Nurestan) because in the 7th century CE, the land was mentioned by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang.[31]: I 39  It is possible that they are connected with the Alans or Alani people who are a nomadic Iranian tribe. Alans is a dialectal cognate of Aryāna, itself derived from the root arya-, meaning 'Aryan', the common self-designation of Indo-Iranian peoples. It probably came in use in the early history of the Alans for the purpose of uniting a heterogeneous group of tribes through the invocation of a common, ancestral 'Aryan' origin. The historian S. Talageri identifies them with the Greeks (Hellenes).[50] However, the dating of the Rigveda and the hypothetical historic time for the Dasarajna (Battle of Ten Kings) occurred millennia before Hellenes were recorded in India.
  • Parsu (Parśu) – The Parsus have been connected with the Persians based on the evidence of an Assyrian inscription from 844 BC referring to the Persians as Parshu, and the Behistun Inscription of Darius I of Persia referring to Parsa as the home of the Persians. Pârsâ, is the Old Persian name for the Persis region Pars province as well as the root for the term Persian.
  • Shakya – a clan of Iron Age India (1st millennium BCE), habitating an area in Greater Magadha, on the foothills of the Himalaya mountains. This is also the clan in which Siddhartha Gautama (also known as Buddha or Shakyamuni – Sage of the Shakyas) (c. 6th to 4th centuries BCE) was born into, whose teachings became the foundation of Buddhism. According to Chandra Das, the name "Shakya" is derived from the Sanskrit word "śakya," which means "the one who is capable". Some scholars argue that the Shakya were of Scythian (Saka) origin (part of the Iranian peoples) and assimilated into Indo-Aryan peoples.[51][52]
  • Sogdi (Sogdoí), people that inhabited where is today the Sibi Division valley in Balochistan, between Balochistan and Sindh, and most of the Larkana Division, and parts of the Sukkur Division to the west of the Indus river, in Sindh (see map 8), their main city was called Sogdorum Regia (maybe today's Sukkur) by the ancient Greek and Roman authors, and was on the Indus river banks. They may have been an Indo-Aryan people of the Indus valley with a coincidental name with the Sogdians, or, as the name could tell, a branch of the Sogdians, the "Indus Sogdians", in a region of the west Indus valley.
  • Kāmboja (Kamboja) (ancestors of the Nuristani and Kamboj peoples, sometimes included in the Indo-Aryan peoples, or of the Iranian Pamirian peoples – Pamiris or Badakhshani people)

Hypothetical Indo-Aryans
  • Mitanni Indo-Aryans (c. 1500–1300 BCE) – hypothetical ancient people of the northern Middle East in the Mitanni kingdom (part of today's far western Iran, northwestern Iraq, northern Syria and southeastern Turkey), that spoke the hypothetical Mitanni Indo-Aryan (a language that was superstrate of Hurrian, a non-Indo-European language) and merged with the Hurrians, many of them as a social elite, in the course of the Indo-Aryan migration (towards West in this case).

See also


References
  1. Anthony, David W. (2007), The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World, Princeton University Press
  2. Mallory, J.P.; Douglas Q. Adams (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5.
  3. Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press
  4. Anthony, David W. (2007). The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05887-0
  5. Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Delhi: Pearson Education. p. 187. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
  6. Jamison, Stephanie; Brereton, Joel (2014). The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India. Oxford University Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780199370184.
  7. Witzel, Michael (1999). "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan: (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 5: 3, 33. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.411.6137.
  8. Witzel, Michael (2001). "Autochthonous Aryans?: The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 7: 7.
  9. Erdosy, George; Witzel, Michael (1995). Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics. De Gruyter. p. 204.
  10. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 262.
  11. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 235.
  12. Jamison & Brereton 2014, p. 605, 695.
  13. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 222, 262.
  14. Jamison & Brereton 2014, p. 829.
  15. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 237.
  16. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 239.
  17. Jamison & Brereton 2014, p. 54.
  18. Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Delhi: Pearson Education. p. 187. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0.
  19. Witzel, Michael (2001). "Autochthonous Aryans?: The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts" (PDF). Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 7: 7.
  20. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 204
  21. Witzel, Michael (1999). "Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan: (Ṛgvedic, Middle and Late Vedic)". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 5: 3, 33. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.411.6137.
  22. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 236.
  23. "Early Indian history: Linguistic and textual parametres." in The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, edited by G. Erdosy (1995), p. 136
  24. Jan N. Bremmer (2007). The Strange World of Human Sacrifice. Peeters Publishers. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-90-429-1843-6. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  25. Macdonell, Arthur Anthony (1995) [1912]. Vedic index of names and subjects. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. p. 317. ISBN 81-208-1332-4.
  26. Erdosy & Witzel 1995, p. 234
  27. Talageri, S. G. (2005). The Rigveda as a source of Indo-European history. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History, 332.
  28. Mayrhofer, Etym. Dict. 1986, pt. 1, p. 74
  29. Bloomfield, M. (1899). The Myth of Purūravas, Urvaçī, and Âyu. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 20, 180–183.
  30. Zimmer, S. (1986). On a special meaning of jána- in the Rgveda. Indo-Iranian Journal, 29(2), 109–115.
  31. A. A. Macdonell and A. B. Keith (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects.
  32. Weller, H. (1937). WHO WERE THE BHRIGUIDS?. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 18(3), 296–302.
  33. e.g. RV 1.108.8; 7.18; 8.10.5; 6.46.8
  34. Hopkins, E. W. (1893). Problematic passages in the Rig-Veda. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 15, 252–283.
  35. Talageri 2000
  36. Sanskrit in English
  37. F. Le Roux & C.-J.Guyonvarc'h, Les Druides, Paris 1982: 37
  38. Warraich, M. T. A. GANDHARA: AN APPRAISAL OF ITS MEANINGS AND HISTORY.
  39. Grassmann, H. (Ed.). (1876). Rig-veda (Vol. 1). FA Brockhaus.
  40. PINCOTT, F. ART. XIX.—The First Mandala of the Rig-Veda. By. Journal of the Boy. Asiat. Son, 16(Part II).
  41. Rig-Veda-Sanhitá: A collection of ancient Hindu hymns... Vol. 3. 1857.
  42. Pike, A. (1992). Indo-Aryan Deities and Worship as Contained in the Rig-Veda. Kessinger Pub.
  43. Perry, E. D. (1885). Indra in the Rig-Veda. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 11, 117–208.
  44. Griffith, R. T. (2009). The Rig-Veda. The Rig Veda.
  45. Muller, F. M. (1869). Rig-veda-sanhita (Vol. 1).
  46. Witzel, M. (1999). Aryan and Non-Aryan names in Vedic India. Data for the linguistic situation, c. 1900–500 BC. Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia, Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology. Cambridge Mass.: Harvard University (Harvard Oriental Series: Opera Minora III).
  47. Frawley, D. (2001). The Rig Veda and the History of India: Rig Veda Bharata Itihasa. Aditya Prakashan.
  48. Ian Worthington 2014, p. 219.
  49. Peter Green 2013, p. 418.
  50. The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis, Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi 2000
  51. Jayarava Attwood, Possible Iranian Origins for the Śākyas and Aspects of Buddhism. Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies 2012 (3): 47–69
  52. Christopher I. Beckwith, "Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia", 2016, pp 1–21

Further reading
  • Anthony, David W. (2007). The Horse The Wheel And Language. How Bronze-Age Riders From the Eurasian Steppes Shaped The Modern World. Princeton University Press ISBN 978-0-691-14818-2
  • Frawley David: The Rig Veda and the History of India, 2001. (Aditya Prakashan), ISBN 81-7742-039-9
  • Mallory, J.P.; Douglas Q. Adams (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. ISBN 978-1-884964-98-5
  • Misra, Sudama (1973). Janapada state in ancient India. Vārāṇasī: Bhāratīya Vidyā Prakāśana.
  • Pargiter, F.E. [1922] 1979. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. New Delhi: Cosmo.
  • Parpola, Asko (2015), The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization, Oxford University Press
  • Talageri, Shrikant: The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis 2000, ISBN 81-7742-010-0 [6]; --Aryan Invasion Theory and Indian Nationalism. 1993.
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