Āryāvarta
Āryāvarta (Sanskrit: आर्यावर्त, "abode of the Aryans") is the ancient name for northern and central India, where the ancient culture of the Indo-Aryans was based.
The Manu Smriti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the western sea".
The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati in the desert, to the west of Kalakavana, to the north of the mountains of Pariyatra and Vindhya and to the south of the Himalaya. Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kalakavana[1], east of Adarsana[2], south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas. In BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the Ganga - Yamuna doab, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15. Some sutras recommend expiatory acts for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta. Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra recommends this for those who have crossed the boundaries of Āryāvarta and ventured into far away places[3]
Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya defines Āryāvarta like the Vasistha Dharma Sutra.
Āryāvarta may thus have different definitions. In some later texts, Northwest-India (which earlier texts consider as part of "Āryāvarta") is even seen as "impure", probably due to invasions. The Karnaparva 43.5-8 states that those who live on the Sindhu and the five rivers of the Punjab are impure and dharmabahya.
Classical sources
The Manusmṛti (2.22) gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern Sea (Bay of Bengal) to the Western Sea (Arabian Sea)".[4][5]
The Vasistha Dharma Sutra I.8-9 and 12-13 locates the Āryāvarta to the east of the disappearance of the Sarasvati River in the desert, to the west of the Kālakavana, to the north of the Pariyatra Mountains and the Vindhya Range and to the south of the Himalayas.[6]
The Baudhayana Dharmasutra (BDS) 1.1.2.10 gives similar definitions and declares that Āryāvarta is the land that lies west of Kālakavana, east of Adarsana, south of the Himalayas and north of the Vindhyas, but in BDS 1.1.2.11 Āryāvarta is confined to the doab of the Ganges-Yamuna, and BDS 1.1.2.13-15. Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya[citation needed] defines Āryāvarta like the Vasistha Dharmasutra.
The Gurjara-Pratihara king in the tenth century was titled the Maharajadhiraja of Aryavarta.[7]
- For example, the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa remarks that in the lands of Kurupañcalas speech is at its best
- PV Kane, History [1] [archive]
- See P.V. Kane. http://www.srimatham.com/uploads/5/5/4/9/5549439/history_of_dharma_sastras.pdf [archive] volII, part I, p.33
Notes
- ↑ region of modern Allahabad
- ↑ where the Sarasvati disappears
- ↑ Vishal Agarwal, "Is there Vedic evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India?" [archive]
- ↑ Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam (ed.). India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 70.
- ↑ Michael Cook (2014), Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective, Princeton University Press, p.68: "Aryavarta [...] is defined by Manu as extending from the Himalayas in the north to the Vindhyas of Central India in the south and from the sea in the west to the sea in the east."
- ↑ Neelis 2010, p. 194.
- ↑ André Wink (2002). Al-Hind: Early medieval India and the expansion of Islam, 7th-11th centuries [archive]. BRILL. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-391-04173-8.
References
- Kane, Pandurang Vaman: History of Dharmasastra: (ancient and mediaeval, religious and civil law) Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona (1962-1975)
- Kane, Pandurang Vaman (1962). History of Dharmaśāstra: (ancient and mediaeval religious and civil law in India). Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Neelis, Jason (19 November 2010). Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia [archive]. BRILL. ISBN 90-04-18159-8.
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