S. S. JAIN SUBODH P.G.(AUTONOMOUS) COLLEGE, JAIPUR
Affiliated to University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
II CIA B.A. (Pass/Subsidiary) I Semester Test, Oct. - 2019
History
Duration: 2 Hours
Instructions to the Candidates
Note:- Each paper consists of one major question with internal choice. Students are required to answer any one question from each paper.
Max. Marks - 10
Paper-I
History of India-I ( Beginning to 1200 A.D.)
Q.1 Write a short note on Mahajanapadas.
OR
Discuss the main teachings of Buddhism. What is its contribution to Indian culture?
Paper-II
Max. Marks -10
History of Rajasthan (Earliest Times to 1956 A.D.)
Q.2 Examine critically the various theories regarding the origin of Rajputs.
OR
Give a brief account of Ala - ud - Din's conquest of Ranthambore and Chittor. What were the main causes of his victory?
ANSWERS..
Ans.1
The Mahajanapadas
We recall that a few janapadas arose towards the end of the Vedic period. However, with progress in agriculture and settlement by 500 BC, they became a common feature. Around 450 BC, over forty janapadas covering even Afghanistan and south-eastern Central Asia are mentioned by Panini. However, the major part of southern India was excluded. The Pali texts show that the janapadas grew into mahajanapadas, that is large states or countries. These texts mention sixteen of them. Nine of them also We may occur in Panini not as mahajanapadas but as janapadas. In the age of the Buddha we find sixteen large states called mahajanapadas. Most of these states arose in the upper and mid-Gangetic plains, including the doab area covered by the Ganges, Yamuna, and their tributaries. They were mostly situated north of the Vindhyas and extended from the north-west frontier to Bihar. Of these, Magadha, Koshala, Vatsa, and Avanti seem to have been powerful. Beginning from the east, we hear of the kingdom of Anga which covered the modern districts of Monghyr and Bhagalpur. It had its capital at Champa, which shows signs of habitation in the fifth century BC, and there is a mud fort dating to that century. Eventually the kingdom of Anga was swallowed by its powerful neighbour Magadha.
Magadha embraced the former districts of Patna, Gaya, and parts of Shahabad, and grew to be the leading state of the time. Its earlier capital was Rajgir, and later Pataliputra. Both were fortified, and show signs of habitation around the fifth century BC. North of the Ganges, in Tirhut division lay the state of the Vajjis which included eight clans. However, the most powerful dynasty was that of the Lichchhavis with their capital at Vaishali which is coterminous with the village of Basarh in Vaishali district. The Puranas push the antiquity of Vaishali to a much earlier period, but archaeologically Basarh was not settled until the sixth century BC. Further west we find the kingdom of Kashi with its capital at Varanasi. Excavations at Rajghat show that the earliest habitations started around 500 BC, and the city was enclosed by mud embankments at about the same time. Initially Kashi appears to have been the most powerful of the states, but eventually it succumbed to the power of Koshala.
Koshala embraced the area occupied by eastern UP and had its capital at Shravasti, which is coterminous with Sahet-Mahet on the borders of Gonda and Bahraich districts of UP. Diggings indicate that Sahet-Mahet was barely settled in the sixth century BC, but we see the beginnings of a mud fort. Koshala had an important city called Ayodhya which is associated with the story in the Ramayana. Excavations however show that it was not settled on any scale before the fifth century BC. Koshala also included the tribal republican territory of the Shakyas of Kapilavastu. The capital of Kapilavastu is identified with Piprahwa in Basti district. Habitation at Piprahwa did not occur earlier than c. 500 BC. Lumbini, which is situated at a distance of 15 km from Piprahwa in Nepal, served as another capital of the Shakyas. In an Ashokan inscription, it is called the birthplace of Gautama Buddha.
In the neighbourhood of Koshala lay the republican clan of the Mallas, whose territory touched the northern border of Vajji state. One of the capitals of the Mallas was at Kushinara where Gautama Buddha passed away. Kushinara is coterminous with Kasia in Deoria district.
Further west was the kingdom of the Vatsas, along the bank of the Yamuna, with its capital at Kaushambi near Allahabad. The Vatsas were a Kuru clan who had shifted from Hastinapur and settled at Kaushambi. Kaushambi was chosen because of its location near the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna. In the fifth century BC, it had a mud fortification, as excavations reveal.
We also hear of the older states of the Kurus and the Panchalas which were situated in western UP, but they no longer enjoyed the political significance they had attained in the later Vedic period.
In central Malwa and the adjoining parts of MP lay the state of Avanti. It was divided into two parts, the northern part with its capital at Ujjain, and the southern part at Mahishamati. Both these towns became fairly important from the fifth century BC onwards, though eventually Ujjain surpassed Mahishamati. It developed large-scale working in iron and erected strong fortifications.
The political history of India from the sixth century BC onwards was one of struggles among these states for supremacy. Eventually the kingdom of Magadha emerged as the most powerful and founded an empire. In the north-west, Gandhara and Kamboja were important mahajanapadas. Kamboja is called a janapada in Panini and a mahajanapada in the Pali texts. It was located in Central Asia in the Pamir area which largely covered modern Tajikistan. In Tajikistan, the remains of a horse, chariots and spoked wheels, cremation, and svastika, which are associated with the Indo-Aryan speakers dating to between 1500 and 1000 BC, have been found. Around 500 BC, both Sanskrit and Pali were spoken in Kamboja, which was connected with Pataliputra by the uttarapatha.\
Ans.2
On the basis of the different opinions, the origin of the Rajputs can be classified into 5 broader theories.
1. Vedic Kshatriya Origin
2. Agnikund Origin Theory
3. Surya and Chandra Vanshi Origin
4. Brahmin Origin Theory
5. Theory of Foreign Origin
1. Vedic Kshatriya Origin
The Divine origin theory can be traced from the ancient Indian scriptures and texts. This tradition seems to be applicable on the Rajputs too. According to Manusmriti, the Kshatriyas originated from Brahma. From Rg.veda Mandal-X Purush Sukta, it is known that the Kshatriyas were born from the arms of Brahma and the duty of de- fence of the other 3 varnas was their task. After the 7th century the Kshatriyas were unable to perform this task well, but their association with Brahma gained importance. In order to restablish the former glory of the Kshatriya rulers, the bards (Charans and Bhats) reaffirmed the divine origin principle in their poems and compositions. An inscription found at Naddharharan bears the title Raghuvansa Krit it seems that it was a deliberate attempt to establish a link of the Rajputs with Rama and Krishna of the Epic period.
These descriptions point to the fact that if the Rajputs are the descendants of Rama and Krishna of the Ramayana and Mahabharata neriod, then they are the descendent of Vedic Aryans. G.H. Ojha and C.M.Vaidya are the main supporters of this theory. They believe that the Rajputs like ancient Kshatriyas worshipped horse and weap- ons, believed in yajnas and sacrifices. Their physical features bears resemblance with the Aryans. The Kshatriyas laid down their lives for guarding the vedic civilization. They followed the codes of mo- rality and conduct as mentioned in the Epics in the battles with Muslims. Hence all these evidences point to the Rajputs being the descendents of the vedic Aryans.
2. Theory of Agnikund Origin
The fire pit (Agni Kund) origin finds earliest mention in the various puranas, as also in the 10th century work of Padmagupta- Navasaha-sankacharita and also an inscription of the 10th century of Agnikula chief, discovered at Hottal in the Nanded district in Maharastra. According to Padmagupta, Parmara was born from the fire pit of Vashistha to rescue his kamadhenu. This story finds sub- sequent repetition in the Parmara Inscriptions of 11th century. In the Nanded Inscription of the Agnikula chief, the family of chiefs has been mentioned as agnikula, vahni kula, Pavaka kula etc. They owed their allegience to king Someshwara I of the Chalukyas of Kalyani (1042-68 A.D.). Their ancestor rescued the Kamdhenu of Rishi Agastya in the valley of Mount Kailash from some rulers. The rishi produced a strong man, after offering oblation to the fire, who rescued his cow. This man is represented as the progenitor of the Agnikund dynasty. Chandbardai in Prithviraj Raso is the main exponent of this theory. He states that the Rajputs originated from Agnikund / fire al- ter. He writes that some Rishis like Vishwamitra, Gautama & Agastya were conducting religious rituals on the Abu Mountain, which was Obstructed by the demons, Therefore, to kill these demons, Muni Vashistha produced 3 warriors from the Agnikund namely Parmara, Chalukya and Pratihara. When these warriors were unsuccessful against the demons then Vashistha produced the fourth warrior, armed with weapons and named him Chauhan, who secured the blessings of Godess Ashapuri and was able to drive the demons away. In this way four clans of Rajputs originated from these four warriors. The bards ie Charans and Bhats believed in the truth of this account- and repeated it in their compositions subsequently. There are a number of historians, who doubt the historicity of this account and reject this theory. Jagdish Singh Gehlot considers the Agnikund thoery as a product of the mind of the author of Prithviraj Raso. On the basis of modern researches Agnivamsha can- not be accepted as a separate clan. Therefore, Gehlot rejects this theory.
Some historians opine that those Kshatriyas who had adopted Buddhism during ancient time, entered into the folds of Hinduism by undergoing the fire purification ritual and came to be known as Agnivashi. There is also a possibility of the tribals (like bhils and Minas) joining the Kshatriya Varna after fire purification at the Agnikund. There is a third possibility of the opening of the doors of Hindu religion for foreigners like Sakas, Hunas, Yeu-chi etc. who had permanently settled in India, after they were purified by the yajna. A modern scholar opines that the Rajputs were Agnihotri Brahmins, who gave up fire worship, wielded arms instead and were known as Agnivamshi Kshatriya. The wielding of arms and weapons by brahamanas was not a novel feature. Among such diverse views, a little truth about agnikund that can be partially accepted is the element of the fire purification ritual, by undergoing which, an en- trance to the Kshatriya fold was possible by Buddhist and foreigners. Willams Crooke opines that Agnikund refers to purification by fire..through fire alter, the Kshatriyas will purified, to enable them to enter the folds of Hinduism again. On this basis, many foreigt scholars have tried to prove that Rajputs were foreigners, who underwent the fire purification and became a part of the Vedic Kshatrıya Varna. But this tale of the Agnikund Origin of Rajput, seems to be illogical and difficult to accept.
3. Surya & Chandra Vanshi Origin
The Charans while compiling the History of Rajputs, in the 10th century, have referred them to be Surya and Chandra Vamshis. It seems that in emvlation of the Divine Origin theory which was taken up by the rulers at different periods, the Rajputs, too called them- selves as descendents of Rama, which was subsequently accepted by the Charans to appease their patrons. Certain inscriptions of the 13h century also testify to the Surya and Chandra Vamshi Rajput e.g. The Chittor Inscription of 1274 and Ankaleshwar Inscription of 1285. In the Inscription of 1230 in the Tejpal Temple, King Dhrumapala has been called a Surya Vanshi also in the Inscription in the Harshanath temple in Sikar District the Chauhans are referred as Surya Vanshi. This fact is further supported by our ancient texts. Vedvyas has mentioned the names of 57 kings of Suryavamshi from Surya Putra Vaivasnath till Rama. Puranas also throw light to this effect. From the Agnipurana, we get to know that the Rajputs were the descen- dents of Chandra Vamshi Krishna and Arjuna and Surya Vamshi Rama and Luv-Kush. It is probably on this basis only that Shri Jagdish Singh Gehlot remarks the present dynasties of Rajputs are the descendents of Surya and Chandra. Vamshi Kshatriya, who were known in the Vedic and Puranic age as Rajanya, Ugra, Kshatriya etc. They are neither foreigners nor descendents of non-aryans as envisaged by some Europeon writers Dr. Dasrath Sharma further supports this theory, he says that the principle of Agnikund was the imagination of the minds of Charans and Bhats, which was solely based on providing a high status/pedestal to their patrons. The Rajputs were the Surya and Chandra Vamshi only.
4. Brahmin Origin Theory
The earliest exponent of this theory was Dr. Bhandarkar. This theory gains credence from the fact that historically there have been Brahmin kings. Ravana was a Brahmin and ruled Lanka. Brahmins have been revered by the Kshatriya kings for instance King Janak of Mithila and Dashratha of Ayodhya held Rishi Vishwamitra (a Brahmin) in great esteem. It is known that the Pratiharas of Mandore (Jodhpur) were Brahmin, they were the descendents of Brahmin Harishchandra and Madra. The Pratiharas of Abu were the descendents of Rishi Vashistha. Sometimes the rulers took up the Gotra of their Purohit. "Pingalsutra Kriti", an ancient literary scripture states that the Rajputs were the descendents of the Brahmins. Modern Historian Dr. Gopinath Sharma states that the Guhilots of Mewar, whose ancestor was Guhedutt was a Nagar Brahmin Dr. G.H. Ojha accepts
5. Foreign Orign Theory
Many foreign tribes came to India at different time period, settled down and became an integral part of Indian religion and culture. On this basis certain historians have tried too prove that the Rajputs were foreigners. Col James Tod, states that the Rajputs are the descendants of Sakas & Scythians. Tod believes that foreigners like Greek, Sakas, Hunas, Ye-chi (Kushan) came from central asia and so the Rajputs too were foreigners who came from central asia. He accepts the Agnikund theory and on this basis, he tries to prove that the Rajputs were foreigners, who entered India around 6th century. When these invaders carved kingdom for themselves, then by the fire purification ritual they were accepted in the folds of Hinduism because they were warriors and administrators, they were classed as Kshatriya and known as Rajputs. In order tó prove his theory, Tod has found similarities-certain traditions and rituals of Rajputs and Sakas Scythians & Hunas, like worship of horse, weapons ashwamegh yagna, love of liquor, superstitions tradition of Bhats and position of women etc. Rajputs offered blood and liquor to their diety and loved blood sports hence they could not be the descendants of place loving aryan hindus.
V.A.Smith believes that the Rajputs appeared suddenly in the and 9th century hence, were the descendants of Hunas. He believed that the foreign Gurjars, conquered a tract of land and named it Gujarat. In the same way, when the rule of Hunas came to an end they styled themselves as Rajputs. On this basis Smith opines that the Hunas particularly settled and flourished in Rajputana and Punjab area, they were mostly Gurjars.
Besides these, the Rajputs displayed exempläry courage and bravery, in guarding the Vedic culture and civilization, even at the cost of their lives, which was an impossibility, if they were foreigners guarding a foreign culture.
In such a situation, most scholars have considered the Rajputs as descendants of India Aryans (with some foreign blood too). Different foreign invaders came to India, settled down and subsequently accepted Indian civilization and culture. They were also accepted by the India culture. Finally Dr. Kanoongo points out that the story of Agnikund cannot be accepted in this progressive age, the Surya & Chandra. Origin can be a imaginary fact. In whetever form they might have originated, the fact is that they have retained the traditions of Kshatriyas of the Epic Age in History.
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