Indian Myth and LegendMackenzie, Donald A. (Donald Alexander)
History
Indian Myth and Legend
Mackenzie, Donald A. (Donald Alexander)
Hindu mythology; Legends -- India
As most of the early peoples were nomadic, or periodically nomadic,
there must have been in localities a good deal of interracial and
intertribal fusion, with the result that intermediate varieties were
produced. It follows that the intellectual life of the mingling peoples
would be strongly influenced by admixture as well as by contact with
great civilizations.
It now remains for us to deal with the Aryan problem in India. Dr.
Haddon considers that the invading Aryans were “perhaps associated
with Turki tribes” when they settled in the Punjab.[14] Prior to this
racial movement, the Kassites, whose origin is obscure, assisted
by bands of Aryans, overthrew the Hammurabi dynasty in Babylon and
established the Kassite dynasty between 2000 B.C. and 1700 B.C. At
this period the domesticated horse was introduced, and its Babylonian
name, “the ass of the East”, is an indication whence it came. Another
Aryan invasion farther west is marked by the establishment of the
Mitanni kingdom between the area controlled by the Assyrians and the
Hittites. Its kings had names which are clearly Aryan. These included
Saushatar, Artatatama, Sutarna, and Tushratta. The latter was the
correspondent in the Tel-el-Amarna letters of his kinsmen the Egyptian
Pharaohs, Amenhotep the Magnificent, and the famous Akhenaton. The two
royal houses had intermarried after the wars of Thothmes III. It is
impossible to fix the date of the rise of the Mitanni power, which held
sway for a period over Assyria, but we know that it existed in 1500
B.C. The horse was introduced into Egypt before 1580 B.C.
[14] _The Wanderings of Peoples_, A. C. Haddon, p. 21.
It is generally believed that the Aryans were the tamers of the horse
which revolutionized warfare in ancient days, and caused great empires
to be overthrown and new empires to be formed. When the Aryans entered
India they had chariots and swift steeds.
There is no general agreement as to the date of settlement in the
Punjab. Some authorities favour 2000 B.C., others 1700 B.C.; Professor
Macdonell still adheres to 1200 B.C.[15] It is possible that the
infusion was at first a gradual one, and that it was propelled by
successive folk-waves. The period from the earliest migrations until
about 800 or 700 B.C. is usually referred to as the Vedic Age, during
which the Vedas, or more particularly the invocatory hymns to the
deities, were composed and compiled. At the close of this Age the area
of Aryan control had extended eastward as far as the upper reaches of
the Jumna and Ganges rivers. A number of tribal states or communities
are referred to in the hymns.
[15] _Vedic Index of Names and Subjects_ (1912), p. viii.
It is of importance to note that the social and religious organization
of the Vedic Aryans was based upon the principle of “father right”,
as contrasted with the principle of “mother right”, recognized by
representative communities of the Brown race.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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