Ashva

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Ashva and chariot

Aśvaḥ (अश्व) is the Sanskrit word for a horse, one of the significant animals finding references in the Vedas as well as later Hindu scriptures. The corresponding Avestan term is aspa. The word is cognate to Latin equus, Greek ίππος (hippos), Germanic *ehwaz and Baltic *ašvā all from PIE *hek'wos.

Vedic period

Further information: History of the horse in South Asia

There are repeated references to the horse the Vedas (c. 1500 - 500 BC). In particular the Rigveda has many equestrian scenes, often associated with chariots. The Ashvins are divine twins named for their horsemanship. The earliest undisputed finds of horse remains in South Asia are from the Swat culture (c. 1500 - 500 BC).

• In fact, MEADOW et al (1994) admit that no remains of the true horse have been found even at the Bronze Age sites of Central Asia! And it is through these areas that the horse rich Indo-Iranians are said to have passed before reaching Iran and India.No scholar has yet been able to show an archaeological trail of horses from Central Asia into the Punjab in any period which he can allot to the Aryans. A correlation of the presence of the archaeological records of horses with the dates and areas suggested for the RV hymns is not part of any AIT formulation, and no-one can demand that it be a compulsory part of any OIT formulation.

But, as I pointed out in my 1993 book, both linguistics and archaeology disprove the idea that Indo-Europeans introduced the horse into India: the Dravidian and Austric words are totally independent of IE *ekwo; and in fact the common, and almost universal, Indoaryan word today (from Classical Sanskrit ghotaka) is one of the words which Witzel would immediately brand a “substrate word” (on account of “the retroflex sound alone”, as per his logic in §8). As for the archaeological record, I have quoted the Encyclopaedia Britannica in my earlier book (TALAGERI 1993:161) as follows: “Curiously, however, it is precisely in those regions that used iron, and were associated with the horse, that the Indo-Aryan languages did not spread. Even today, these are the regions of the Dravidian language group.” In addition, the three following claims warrant further investigation:One: the domesticated horse is found at Mahagara and Koldihwa in the 5th to 7th millennium BC. Both these sites are located in Eastern Uttar Pradesh (KAZANAS 1999:34). Two: the anatomy of the horse, as described in the Rigveda and other Vedic texts, is different from that of the Central Asian horse (supposedly brought to India by the Indo-Aryan speakers) and in fact similar to extinct (?) and modern tropical varieties of horses (like the Arabian horse). Three: the acquaintance of the Harappans with the horse is proved by the excavation of horse bones as well as terracotta horse figurines at various sites (e.g., at Lothal from levels dated around 2250 BC).(Talageri 2001)

• The only two deified or glorified horses in the Rigveda, both race-horses, are identified with the Tṛkṣis of the northernmost Swat area: Dadhikrās (identified with Trasadasyu) and Tārkṣya (identified by the name itself).

• The horse is associated with the northwestern Soma areas, and the Bhṛgu rishi Dadhyañc, who introduced the secrets of the northwestern Soma to Indra, is supposed to have the head of a horse (I.116.12; 117.22; 119.9).

• Horses are rare and prized animals in the Old Rigveda: so rare that Sudās is presented with horse-heads as tribute by supplicant or defeated tribes (VII.18.19).

• Personal names with aśva only appear in the New Rigveda (see later along with the names with ratha).

• the release of a horse in the open and battle with anyone who tries to capture it is the first aspect, which shows the animal to be a rare and coveted one, for possessing which kings or tribes could enter into war. This is the only aspect found in the Old Rigveda (III.53), where there is no reference to the rare animal being actually ritually killed.

• Everything else connected with the actual ritual horse sacrifice is found only in the New Rigveda, by which time possibly horses from the northwest were more easily available. Hymns I.162-163 describe the actual ritual horse sacrifice, X.157.1-3 were the verses recited at the sacrifice, and the word aśvamedha (though only as a personal name) is found only in V.27.5; VIII.68.15-16.

Puranic legend

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Uchchaihshravas

The legend states that the first horse emerged from the depth of the ocean during the churning of the oceans. It was a horse with white color and had two wings. It was known by the name of Uchchaihshravas. The legend continues that Indra, king of the devas, took away the mythical horse to his celestial abode, the svarga (heaven). Subsequently, Indra severed the wings of the horse and presented the same to the mankind. The wings were severed to ensure that the horse would remain on the earth (prithvi) and not fly back to Indra’s svarga.

Archaeology

Paleolithic

Remains of the Equus namadicus have been found from Pleistocene levels in India. The Equus namadicus is closely related to the Equus sivalensis. The Equus sivalensis lived in the Himalayan foothills in prehistoric times and it is assumed it was extinct during the last Ice Age.

Bronze Age

Remains of horses have been claimed to have been found in deposits at Mahagara near Allahabad (dated to around 2265 BC to 1480 BC, described as Equus ferus caballus Linn), Hallur in Karnataka (c.1500 - 1300 BC, described as Equus ferus caballus), Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa ("small horse"), Lothal (e.g., a terracotta figurine and a molar horse tooth, dated to 2200 BC), Kalibangan, and Kuntasi (dated to 2300–1900 BC). Horse remains from the Harappan site Surkotada (dated to 2400-1700 BC) have been identified by A.K. Sharma as Equus ferus caballus. The horse specialist Sandor Bökönyi (1997) later confirmed these conclusions and stated the excavated tooth specimens could "in all probability be considered remnants of true horses [i.e. Equus ferus caballus]". Bökönyi stated that "The occurrence of true horse (Equus caballus L.) was evidenced by the enamel pattern of the upper and lower cheek and teeth and by the size and form of incisors and phalanges (toe bones).". However, archaeologists like Meadow (1997) disagree, on the grounds that the remains of the Equus ferus caballus horse are difficult to distinguish from other equid species such as Equus asinus (donkeys) or Equus hemionus (onagers). An alleged clay model of a horse has been found in Mohenjo-Daro and an alleged horse figurine in Periano Ghundai in the Indus Valley.

Trautmann (1982) thus remarked the supply and import of horses has "always" been a preoccupation of the Indians and "it is a structure of its history, then, that India has always been dependent upon western and central Asia for horses." The paucity of horse remains could also be explained by India's climatic factors which lead to decay of horse bones. Horse bones may also be rare because horses were probably not eaten or used in burials by the Harappans.

Other sites, such as the BMAC complex (which some consider as Indo-Iranian), are at least as poor in horse remains as the Harappan sites. The horse only appears in Mesopotamia from around 1800 BC as a ridden animal and acquires military significance with the invention of the chariot. Domestication of the horse before the second millennium appears to be confined to its native habitat (the Great Steppe).

Colin Renfrew (1999) also remarked, "the significance of the horse ... has been much exaggerated", and Bryant holds, "using such negative evidence, by the same logic used to eliminate India as a candidate, ultimately any potential homeland can be disqualified due to lacking some fundamental Proto-Indo-European item or another". Renfrew's statement refers to his own Anatolian hypothesis, which is criticized by mainstream scholarship on similar grounds.

In RV 1.162.18, the sacrificial horse is described as having 34 (2x17) ribs:

The four-and-thirty ribs of the Swift Charger, kin to the Gods, the slayer's hatchet pierces.

Cut ye with skill, so that the parts be flawless, and piece by piece declaring them dissect them. (trans. Griffith)

Frawley (2005) speculates that the Rigvedic horse could therefore be the Indian Equus sivalensis (which may or may not have had 34 ribs; modern horses usually have 36, with occasional specimens of 34 or 38).

In Baltic languages

The word Ašva is recorded as a noun meaning female horse in Prussian Lithuanians language. References however are few, as the word had almost fallen out of use at the time, and include: Lexicon Germano-Lithvanicvm et Litvanico-Germanicvm, darinnen... von Iacobo Brodowskij, Praecentore Trempensi (written somewhere between 1713 and 1744); Littauisch-Deutsches und Deutsch-Littauisches Lexicon. Königsberg. 1744; Littauisch-deutsches und Deutsch-littauisches Wörter-Buch. Königsberg. 1800; Littauisch-deutsches Wörterbuch von Friedrich Kurschat. Halle a. S.1883.; Wörterbuch der Littauischen Sprache von G. H. F. Nesselmann. Königsberg 1851.;

See also

• Ashvamedha
• Ashvins
• Ratha

References

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola
• Lietuvių kalbos žodynas ^[archive]

https://talageri.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-horse-and-chariot-in-ait-oit-debate.html ^[archive]